Chapter Seventeen
Neith
He smirks and holds up a set of keys, “I said, are you ready to go? We can talk more when we are in town, but I want to get going in case one of the guys finishes their report. I want you to myself for a bit.”
I try not to show how much his words have affected me, they shouldn’t, but he has said two really sweet things in the space of five minutes, and I’m not used to being on the end of sweet things, so it’s sort of throwing me through a fucking loop.
I chuckle, “Yeah I’m ready to go.” As I follow him out of the front door I add with mock shock, “Hold up, you mean we’re actually going to drive somewhere?”
He chuckles as he leads me around the side of the house that I haven’t seen yet, and I see a truly huge garage, I mean it’s fucking ginormous. I guess it makes sense, there are a lot of them living here, and I know just from how much I have on my card that they have more than enough money to buy a lot of nice cars if that’s their thing, and if you have nice cars then you need somewhere secure to keep them, hence the giant garage.
My eyes widen slightly as I realize that I can buy myself a fucking car. I don’t know much about cars, but I sure as hell appreciate them. Like many people, I have a few that I would love to own. That is something that I really need to think about before I purchase. Raiden then says probably the only words that could stop me from thinking about cars at that moment in time.
“How do you feel about motorbikes?” Raiden looks slightly apprehensive as he leads the way into the third garage along.
I stare at the beautiful bikes in front of me, “Wow, some of these are really fucking rare. Before you ask, I love bikes. There is something freeing about being on a bike; it feels like fucking flying. There is nothing quite like it, as far as I am concerned. I know enough about them to recognize that some of these are really fucking rare, but that’s about it. I don’t really know much about them mechanically,” I pause, my eyes still running over the bikes, as I correct my previous statement, “Actually, I guess that’s not strictly true. I know enough that I could fix a simple issue. Enough to keep the bike going.” I finally pull my eyes away from the bikes to look at a smiling Raiden, “I’m sorry you asked me a question?”
He chuckles again, “Don’t worry, I think you answered it perfectly.” He gets a contemplative look on his face as he asks, “I’m pretty sure I know the answer to this question from the way that you have been speaking about bikes, but do you ride?”
I grin, “Yes, I ride.”
I’m fucking good too, I think it’s because I have no real fear of dying, so I take risks that I probably shouldn’t. My lack of fear of dying doesn’t come from the fact that when I should die, I go to the Darkness Friend. As bad as it sounds for a long time, it just hasn’t mattered to me either way, living or dying. I should clarify I don’t have a death wish, but I have always been very comfortable with death. For years, I have been aware that I could die at any second, and that could really be it for me.
My life has not been safe or even remotely close to it for a long time, so my options were: I lived in fear, and I let that fear control my actions and my life no matter how long or short it may be, or I embraced it. I chose to embrace it; I acknowledge that I could die at any moment and not come back. It has allowed me not to live my very dangerous life in fear. It has also allowed me to have a certain level of confidence in certain situations and a distinct lack of fear.
I watch as Raiden walks across the garage and types a code into a lock box secured to the wall, he picks out another set of keys, shuts the box, and then turns back around with a smile on his face.
“Do you think you can keep up?” he asks, his eyes flashing with challenge.
My body fizzes with excitement, and I bounce on my toes. I try to reply casually, but I know that my excitement is evident and giving me away. “I think I’ll manage. Unless, of course, you have cheated and given me a bike that isn’t as powerful as yours?”
Raiden shakes his head, his smile widening, “I would never.” I raise my eyebrow, “I may have briefly considered it, but I had a feeling you would kick my ass.”
“Damn straight,” I grin. “Which one do I get to ride?”
“Actually, I should give you a choice. Do you want the Honda Cbr 1000 or one of the Harley’s?”
I can’t believe that he is giving me a choice of which bike I can ride right now, and a choice of those bikes, I mean they are fucking beautiful. I would love to own any of the Harley’s in here, but the Honda, painted in this oil slick kind of paint that changes color if I shift angles when I’m looking at it, has been my dream bike for a long fucking time.
Memories try to push forward of the man who owns one similar but in matte black, one that I used to ride on the back of and take for rides myself. Memories of laughter and fun and a time before he grew too dark. I push it all away, making sure that my expression doesn’t falter in the slightest.
The man I remember no longer exists. It’s as simple as that.
Those memories make me hesitate, but only for a moment. I fucking love this bike, and it is still my dream to own one someday.
“The Honda,” I say, pointing to the purple beauty.
Raiden’s eyebrows rise, clearly surprised at my choice. I’m not sure whether he is surprised that I knew which one the Honda was or just surprised that I wanted to ride it, but his smile quickly covers his surprise.
“It just so happens that I love those bikes so much that I have two,” he points to where a dark emerald green one sits further back in the garage, lost in the sea of other bikes.
My smile widens, “Perfect.”
His smile becomes softer, and he replies, “Yeah.”
He hands me the keys and walks back to the door that we came through, picking up two helmets and giving me one. I raise my eyebrow in question because one of them definitely looks like it's my size, and the guys all have bigger heads than I do. Not in a weird way, they aren’t disproportionate or anything. An image of Reed with a giant head flashes across my mind’s eye, and I have to try really fucking hard not to laugh because it’s fucking hilarious.
Before I can get too carried away with my wayward thoughts, Raiden thankfully answers my silent question.
“I had Doc conjure you a helmet,” he explains.
“Oh, of course. Thank you.” I say as I take the helmet off him and pull it on. I shouldn’t be surprised that it fits me exactly, but I am. I don’t know how Doc does it. Well, he uses magic, but that doesn’t detract from how amazing it is.
Raiden pulls on his own, and somehow, it makes him look really fucking hot. I don’t know how that works, but the helmet, the boots, the whole biker look really turns me on. Fortunately, my mouth is working with my brain instead of against it for a change, and it stays shut and doesn’t tell him how much I want to fuck him in this garage. Maybe on one of these bikes. Oh, I do love my imagination. I’m going to have to save that image for later.
He presses a button, opens the garage door, and then gestures toward the helmets. “These are connected, so we can still talk to each other. The way into town is pretty straightforward but a decent ride.”
“Good,” I reply, my smile huge, although I’m not sure that he can see it.
We waste no more time and get on the bikes. As I turn the key and the bike growls to life beneath me, a shiver of excitement runs through me. It has been far too fucking long since I have had the rumble of a bike beneath me.
I glance over to Raiden, wanting to share the excitement with him, only to find his attention already on me, a look in his eyes that sends an entirely different kind of shiver through me, and my clit pulses in response.
I move the bike slowly to the door and then stop next to him in the doorway.
“We’ll take it easy so you can get used to the bike,” he says, “if I go too fast and you need me to slow down, let me know.”
Now, at this point in time I could tell him just how experienced I am when it comes to bikes, especially this one, but I decide it would be more fun to mess with him a little bit, so I just nod.
“Okay, will do,” I reply as seriously as I can manage.
He seems to be satisfied by my answer, and we slowly pull out of the garage. I let him take the lead because I have no fucking idea where I am going, and it would be weird if I tried to go in front. As we drive past the front of the house, Reed is coming out of the front door, he does a double take when he sees us drive past, and I wave, hoping he can tell that I’m smiling, and I don’t look like I’m constipated or some shit.
Surprise lights up his features before amusement dances in his eyes, he waves back at me, then turns straight back around and heads back into the house, which is weird because I swear that he was walking out of the door when we came around the corner, not heading back inside.
“What was that about?” I ask Raiden through the helmets as we pick up a little bit more speed, and head down the long driveway to the gates that I walked through on the first night.
“Nothing,” Raiden replies, although something in his voice tells me that may not be entirely true.
I let it drop, since I get easily distracted by the giant gates opening to let us through without us stopping. He must have one of those button thingys, that means you can open the gates as you approach, oh, or maybe, there are some kind of chips on the bikes that automatically open them. That would be so cool.
I roll my eyes at my thoughts; I am clearly very easily impressed.
Reed
I can’t help it, I have to tell them now it’s just too damn funny, and my run can wait.
“I thought you were going for a run?” River asks as I walk back into the meeting room where everyone has spread out to write our reports.
I couldn’t sit still, I had too much energy running through me, and ever since I let my magic out in the clearing near the portal, I have been finding it more challenging to keep it leashed. I’m still doing it, obviously, but I don’t want to. She didn’t look at me in fear, she thought I was hot with my wings out. I don’t ever want to forget that look of heat and wonder on her face as she stared up at me. I have never wanted to kiss someone more than I wanted to kiss her in that moment, and the only thing that held me back was the fact that she just fucking died and then came back.
I won't forget that either.
“I was,” I reply and then take a seat, “guess which bike he’s let her ride?”
Ransom’s eyes widen, “No fucking way, the Honda?”
“The green one, right?” Griff asks, when I shake my head and grin, he chuckles.
“Seriously?” Evander asks, “He let her ride his favorite bike, the one that even we aren’t allowed to touch?”
I nod, “Yep, and he didn’t even seem bothered by it.”
The table is silent for a moment before Doc sits up straighter, his eyes flash gold briefly as he asks, “Wait, she rides?”
His magic has been a lot more reactive than I have ever known it to be since Neith showed up on our doorstep. It’s certainly curious, especially since his magic is usually quite difficult to work with. He has way more than he should have, but he usually has to coax it out in order to get it to work. It’s apathetic and lazy. It has been the opposite of that recently. But then again, I can’t say much, my magic is behaving out of the norm and so is Raiden’s, and River’s for that matter. The way that his kitsune behaved with Neith is completely out of character for the usually laid-back shifter.
It's something that I need to keep an eye on, although I have no idea what it could mean.
River groans as he makes the connection too. “Oh fuck, I bet she looks stunning on a bike.”
“That’s an understatement,” I mutter.
Everyone lapses into silence again, although this time, it’s for an entirely different reason. I would be willing to bet that Neith on Raiden’s bike is playing through their minds.
She didn’t just look hot straddling that bike, she looked completely at ease and at home on it. It wouldn’t surprise me if Raiden has underestimated what she is capable of, he was driving down the driveway a lot more cautiously than he normally does.
“Damn,” Griff says, and I smirk. He continues, with a slight grin of his own, “How weird would it be if I was outside washing one of my cars when they came home?”
I chuckle, and everyone smiles, but I can see that they are genuinely considering the question.
After a beat of silence, Evander says, “I think it would look less weird if we were all out there washing cars.”
“I don’t think that would be less weird,” Ransom points out. He shrugs, “But I really want to see Neith riding Raiden’s bike, so I think we should do it anyway.”
“Agreed,” the whole table, including myself, reply.
It’s a no-brainer, really. I don’t think we are even bothered if she does see right through us. Which is really likely because it’s winter, and it’s still fucking cold outside, so it is even more weird that we will be cleaning our cars out there.
Evander’s expression is full of amusement as he replies, “Alright, I guess that’s a plan then. Let’s get these reports written quickly so we can make sure that we are out there when they get back.”
Everyone starts to write again, and the sound of keyboards tapping fills the room. My need for a run has diminished now that I need to get the report finished as quickly as possible, so I don’t miss Neith coming back on the bike.
“Wait,” River says after a while, breaking the silence in the room and gaining our attention, making us all look at him.
“What?” Ransom questions, his eyebrows rising as he scrubs a hand through his hair.
“Wouldn’t it make more sense for us to do something like clear out the garages?” he suggests.
“Well, it would still be weird,” Doc replies, “but it would make more sense than cleaning the cars in the middle of fucking winter.”
Laughter echoes through the room.
“So, new plan then?” I ask, unable to stop the amusement from leaking into my voice.
“It still doesn’t make much sense, but sure, we’ll clear out the garages instead.” Evander agrees.
“To be honest, they do need doing anyway,” Griff replies, wincing slightly.
“Apart from Raiden’s, he always keeps his spotless,” River adds, pulling a face and looking slightly envious.
“Wait, so our fake task that we were just going to do so that we can see Neith on a bike has turned into an actual task of clearing out our garages?” Doc asks.
“Yeah,” Evander nods with a frown.
River points at Doc, “To be fair, it’s your own fault that you’re involved in the garage clearing out.”
“He’s right,” Griff agrees, “you’ve only just fully moved in, but you’ve had your garage of vehicles and stuff here since we moved in.”
Doc crosses his arms over his chest and smirks, “Hey, you guys offered. Who am I to turn down a super secure garage that is easily accessible to me and big enough for all of my toys.”
“Fair point,” River replies.
“It does mean that you have to help now though,” I grin.
Doc nods, “Yeah, but it will be worth it to see Neith on a bike, Raiden’s bike.”
“Does anyone else find it interesting that Neith has managed to slip past all of Raiden’s defenses in a shorter amount of time than even we were able to do?” Evander asks, glancing up from his screen once again and looking at all of us.
I shake my head, “If you had asked me on day one, I would have said that I was surprised by how quickly she has managed it but after knowing her for a few days, I am entirely unsurprised, there’s just something about Neith.”
“I couldn’t agree more,” Ransom replies. “I think the surprises and changes are only just beginning when it comes to Neith.”
“Definitely,” Doc agrees, “there is a lot that we don’t know about her and her life, and she reacts as someone would who had been through a significant amount of trauma.”
A rumble builds in my chest. I can’t help it, and I’m not the only one who is making their displeasure at Doc’s words known.