Chapter 72 Kiera
KIERA
What did she mean by that? My mind raced with options, other ways that my two saviors could pay me back for covering their asses.
But as Leo climbed back on her bike, throwing her long, muscular leg over the seat and lowering her ass to the leather. She held out her hand to me, beckoning me closer with two bent fingers.
Crossing my arms, I stood in front of her. The sun had set while I was cleaning the car, and all I had to warm myself against the chilly November air was my flimsy sweater.
Despite the cold, Leo ripped off her leather jacket. Its massive Valemont Violence patch took up nearly the entire back panel of the coat. It was what hid underneath the coat that made my heart skip a beat.
Her arms — the size of my fucking skull — strained the arm bands of her beige tshirt.
My eyes traveled across the fabric to her broad chest, her pecks pulling at the cotton tee as she looked up at me.
Her neck veins popped out from the skin, ropes decorating the handle of her sword tattoo like crawling vines.
Fuck.
“Put this on, Princess.” Leo held out her jacket to me, a gentler hand than I knew she wanted.
Without another word, Spencer snatched the bag of snacks from my hands and leaned on her bike.
I slipped the jacket on, the warmth of Leo’s body still holding in the leather. It felt like being wrapped up in her arms, surrounded by her… unable to escape her. Between my legs, I felt my pussy throb for her, something I couldn’t quite understand.
Once the jacket was on, Leo patted the small seat behind her.
But before I could sit, a loud, blaring drone came from my phone. Along with the incessant vibration, a notification popped up on my screen:
Greene County, NY AMBER ALERT: MISSING WOMAN, 19, BLACK 2014 TOYOTA CAMRY.
My heart sank in my chest. “Fuck.”
Without even reading their screens, Leo and Spencer sighed.
Spencer shook her head. “Fucking hell. I can’t believe this. It’s like the fifth woman in two months.”
A sense of dread washed over all of us as we stared out into the darkness of the night. There was nothing we could do, not now. All we could offer were open eyes.
We let the moment sit for a second before Leo met my eyes again. “Let’s get your mind off of it. You’re safe with us.”
Gripping her shoulders, I lifted my leg over the bike and slipped into place behind her.
“Hold on tight.” Leo grumbled as she pressed her helmet into place, lowering the visor as she revved the engine of the Ducati to life.
Before she could take off, Spencer stepped next to me and placed a helmet on my head. With a wink, she stepped back from the bike. “Be safe, babe.”
As soon as the helmet was secured into place, Leo let the bike rip off the sidewalk and onto the concrete of the parking lot.
“Jesus.” I mumbled to myself, knowing she’d never hear me over the bike’s low growl. Instead, I just tightened my grip around her body, letting my hands create a lock over my forearms.
Resting my head on her back, I worried about the cold wind on her skin. As she peeled off to the dead center of the empty parking lot, I could see her skin rising with goosebumps and turning a light pink.
Just as we hit the dead center, Leo turned her head to look at me as the bike slowed to a stop. “Lean with me, follow my weight.”
Tapping to confirm, I nodded my head. I had no fucking idea what Major Callahan had in mind. But I wasn’t about to ignore her orders.
Squeezing tight, a part of me worried I’d suffocate her.
She’d probably like that.
With a rev and a throttle, Leo stood up on the foot rests, leaning her massive body over the handlebars and pulling me with her. Doing as I was told, I followed her weight and let myself move forward.
The wheels began to spin as Leo kept her grip on the accelerator, but she kept the front straight as she tilted her body to the right.
Like magic, the bike started to spin in circles as the smell of burning rubber snuck past my visor and into my nose. “Fuck!” I screamed as we spun around, the donuts moving faster and faster on each rotation.
Under my arms, I could feel Leo’s stomach move as she laughed. A scream of childlike joy rippled through her chest as she let the bike spin out.
I could feel her body shifting to do the work, to force the bike into submission.
The wind beat into us, nothing in this empty lot stopping it from battering into us as we spun — creating our own little vortex at the edge of Valemont.
Only once the smell of gasoline hit my nose did Leo stop. Leaning back on the seat and letting the bike do a few speedy laps around the edge of the huge lot. We’d left a thick black ring of tire marks where Leo’s Ducati had burned into the asphalt.
Once we’d ridden off the donuts, Leo pulled the bike back to the curb and sidled up to Spencer’s blue motorcycle.
Since we’d left, Spence had thrown on her helmet and popped open a bag of chips while she watched us. As soon as we came to a stop, Spencer nodded. “Not bad, 15 donuts in a minute.”
Leo lifted her visor. “Liar. I counted 17.”
That familiar smirk of Spencer’s took over her face as she made eye contact with me. “What’d you think of that?”
My grip around Leo hadn’t loosened at all despite being parked, still holding on like I might fall off at any moment.
I couldn’t find the words, just opened my mouth and tried to find something to say.
Looking over her shoulder, Leo tilted her head toward Spencer’s bike. “Why don’t you go show her how you felt about it?”
Of course, I knew I couldn’t really show either of them how I felt. Because if I did, I’d have to spread my legs, let them feel the slick mess that was forming between my lips. And now was certainly not the time for that.
Especially not without understanding what the fuck these feelings really were.
Before I could move, Spencer rose from her bike. “Actually, I’m gonna go use the little dyke's room.”
“Too scared to beat my record.” Leo called after her. Taking in a deep breath, Leo stood and turned, sitting back down facing me. “So, how was it?”
“Dangerous.” Crossing my arms, I looked up at the sky. Despite the bright lights in the parking lot, the stars were still visible out here. “I promised my dad I’d never ride one.”
“He wasn’t a fan?”
I laughed as I met her eyes, darker now than they were in the day. “The opposite. He loved them. Always working on them when I was little. But he hated the idea of his little girl on one.”
A gentle hand rested on my knee as Leo nodded. “To be fair, I would advise every patient to avoid them. They’re deathtraps.”
Raising an eyebrow, I hoped she would see the irony. But damn if she didn’t look fucking hot on this Ducati.
“Speaking of patients, can I ask you something?” Leo continued. A simple nod was enough to spur her on. “I don’t want to overstep but I’ve noticed a few things and just wanted to ask you about it.”
“Shoot.”
Her eyes were soft as she met my gaze, making sure that I was really looking at her. “The wounds on your hands and the bruises… they took a long time to heal. And I’ve noticed you have significant fatigue when you do physical activities.”
Snorting, I shrugged. “Doesn’t everybody?”
Doctor Leo ignored my light tone. “Not really. Most people don’t experience any pain or prolonged fatigue after exercise. And I also noticed that you’re double jointed.”
“Yeah cool, right?” Immediately, I pulled out my favorite party trick — bending my thumb down to my wrist.
Reaching out, Spencer grabbed my hand and held it. “Kiera, you told me doctors used to tell you that it was just being clumsy. But did you ever talk to them about the pain?”
My brow furrowed, the seriousness of what we were talking about starting to set in. “No, my mom used to tell me it was normal. That her mother used to complain about stairs too. Then she’d yell at me to get back on the treadmill and walk it off.”
“I’m really sorry no one’s ever validated what you were experiencing. But I’d like to do that, if you’d let me.” Pouting, Leo looked soft and warm.
With a nod, I swallowed. “What’s the prognosis, Doc?”
A gentle smile took over her face. “Well, I’m not a rheumatologist but I think you may have something called Hypermobile Ehlers Danlos Syndrome.
It’s commonly referred to as being “double jointed” but it really means that the connective tissue in your joints — well, really, all of your connective tissue — is a little bit stretchy, so to speak. ”
“Like Elastigirl?”
Chuckling, Leo nodded. “Yeah, kind of. But in some cases it can cause pain and chronic fatigue. Do you feel like that resembles your experience?”
A pit formed in my chest, something hollowing out as I realized that it did. That it was exactly what I’d been feeling my whole life. And it had been ignored… by everyone.
All I could manage was a nod.
Sensing the fear on my face, Leo moved her hands up my thighs and squeezed them through my jeans. “I promise it’s nothing we can’t work with. There’s a lot we can do to make your normal activities less strenuous and manage your pain. If you’d let me.”
Just as I opened my mouth to answer her, the automatic glass doors of SaleMart swung open. Walking out, Spencer clapped her gloves hands together and straddled her bike. “Let’s ride, Bunny.” Spence tapped the back seat of her bike.
With a wink, Leo released my legs. “Just something to think about, Princess.”
Standing from the bike, I pulled my jittery leg off Leo’s Ducati and moved over to the Suzuki.
Between the donuts in the parking lot and Leo’s revelation, the world felt like it was spinning.
I felt Spencer’s shoulders stiffen as I grabbed on, positioning myself on the bike.
My body was shaky, my limbs uncoordinated like I’d just been fucked to hell and back.
It made my throat tight. If this was what their bikes did to me, what would happen if I let them both have me? The way they’d been asking.
Passing the snacks to Leo, Spencer looked over her shoulder at me, flashing her dark eyes at my green. “See, we’re very good at sharing.”
Before I could answer, she reached her gloved hand to my visor and flicked it down before pulling her own over her eyes. Faster than Leo, Spencer whipped the blue bike off the curb and into the lot.
The engine was warm and so was she, desperate to take me for a spin and show off. As the bike jolted forward, my body pressed into Spencer’s. Hoping she couldn’t feel my facing heart through her thick jacket, I squeezed her waist tight.
My body couldn’t figure out what was happening to it — chest tight with anxiety, clit throbbing with anticipation, heart pulsing for more.
But Spencer, as usual, didn’t bother giving me any time to think. Instead, she sped around the edges of the lot. Picking up speed, she leaned her body to the left as she took each corner, taking mine with her.
Once we’d gotten a few laps in, she took us to the center of the lot, just next to the dark burns the Ducati had left in the asphalt.
“Follow me, Bunny.” Spencer yelled through the visor.
Nodding, I leaned forward with her. A pro now, I shifted along with Spencer’s body as she started her donuts. The suzuki gave a louder whir than Leo’s bike, the spin moving faster as the leaner bike accelerated in place.
As I watched, clinging to Spencer’s back as the smoke and burnt rubber smell filled my mask, I started to understand how all of it was happening.
The pressure of our weight on the front wheel had anchored the bike to that spot while the lighter tail-end of the bike’s RPM increased, desperate to escape the trap we’d made for it.
An inaudible huff escaped my lungs as I realized just how similar I was to this fucking motorcycle.
My whole life had felt like a spinning wheel, manically circling the same dark point.
And all I needed as an experienced rider to pull me off.
Just then, Spencer leaned off the front wheel, releasing the pressure and letting the bike move forward. Throttling the engine, Spencer drove us back to the front of the store where Leo was leaning back on her bike. Her leg was hiked up high on the side fairing.
She tousled her walnut brown hair, smoothing back what little length was on the top of her military-esque haircut. “Not bad.”
Spencer flicked up her visor as she pulled the bike up next to Leo’s. “Bullshit, that was at least 17.”
With a half-assed shrug, Callahan pursed her lips. “15 at best.”
Reaching across the bikes, Spencer shoved her bestie as she grabbed a bag of snacks from Leo’s lap. “Sore loser.”
Spencer extended the bag back to me. But as I rifled through the treasure trove of goodies, I couldn't bring myself to eat. The combination of the donuts and the diagnosis made me nauseous as we sat on the bikes.
“What’d you think of that, Princess?” Leo smiled.
Barely able to steady myself enough to reply, I shook my head. “You two are insane.”
Spencer flashed a smile and wink. “More like crazy for you.”
Resting her toned forearms on the handles of the Ducati, Leo nodded toward the parking lot. “Want a lesson?”
My throat tightened, suddenly nervous. I’d been taught how to ride a bike years ago, when I was far too young to learn. But my dad wanted me to learn early, praying that if I broke my promise to never ride one, I’d at least know what I was doing.
As I opened my mouth to reply, a loud siren whooped in the distance. The flicker of red and blue lights appeared on the horizon.
Spencer threw her visor back down and revved her engine. “Lesson will have to wait, Bunny.”
Grabbing me, Leo set me back on the blue bike and nodded. “See you at home.”
Once I was on the bike, Spencer peeled off the sidewalk with Leo following just behind us. Zipping off into the night, Spencer leaned low over the handle bars.
Fuck. Are we really running from the cops?