Prologue #2
Without thought, I find myself starting to clean up my stuff on the table and shove it in my bag.
Axel’s presence is so commanding it’s like I have no choice but to follow along with what he wants without hesitation or questioning if it’s something I really want to do.
Part of me feels like this is about to change my entire life.
One decision that means spending time with the one man I compare every other one to because he was the first guy I gave my heart to.
Once everything is packed up, Axel takes my bag from me as he slides out of the booth and holds out his hand for me.
I take it and slide out of the seat while Aiden watches on with anger filling his face as he watches me leave him alone and follow Axel from the diner.
I can feel several sets of eyes on me and I know they’re coming from the table Axel was sitting at.
No one he’s sitting with knows me. If they were around when we were in school, I’m not sure they would remember me.
It’s not like I stood out or anything. Not unless Jess and her merry band of skanks were bullying me.
I didn’t go to parties or dances like everyone else.
I rarely went to football games. When I was in high school, you were more likely to find me in the garage with my dad than anywhere else.
“Where are we going?” I ask Axel as he leads me from the diner without a word.
“I’m takin’ you home, Little Fairy. What the fuck are you doin’ with a douche like that guy?” he questions me, not pausing or looking at me as he leads me to his bike. A bike I haven’t been on in over two years.
Axel gave me my first ride on a motorcycle.
I was seventeen and he had been riding for over a year.
Marcus was home and wanted to go out on his bike.
So, they made it a family trip. Instead of letting me go home like I planned on doing, Axel led me to his bike and told me I was going with them.
His parents also went with us. I was the second person to ride on Axel’s bike with him, his mom being the first one.
I fell in love the second we pulled out and I was never once scared of being with him on the bike.
Axel had my complete trust as always and made sure I wasn’t hurt or scared the entire time.
“He’s someone I go to school with. We study together and he’s helped me when I need it,” I answer him, my voice wavering as nerves fill me because this version of Axel isn’t someone I know.
I’ve seen him take charge of a situation in the past, but something in the way he’s holding himself is different tonight. I’m not sure where this ride will lead us, but I’m here for it.
“Find a different study partner. Where’s Shelly? Study with her,” he states as if that’s the last he needs to say on the subject.
“Shelly and I aren’t taking the same classes and we don’t go to the same school. She’s in a different state now, Axel. You would know that if you didn’t disappear from our lives the second the graduation ceremony was over,” I tell him, letting a little bit of the hurt I’m still feeling out.
Axel doesn’t say anything as he stores my bag in one of his saddle bags before grabbing his helmet and turning to face me.
His face is blank of every thought and emotion as usual as I look up at him.
Neither one of us says a word as he straps the helmet on my head before reaching in his pocket and pulling out one of his many bandanas.
I bought him so many of the things when we were in school and he got his bike.
I watch as he ties it around his face so only his eyes remain showing.
“Your back gonna be up for the ride?” Axel asks me, reminding me of the accident I try to forget on a daily basis.
“Yeah.”
I squeal a little as he lifts me like I weigh nothing and sets me on the back of his bike.
Axel then gets on in front of me and I automatically wrap my arms around his body.
My hands are under his cut and I feel the muscles of his stomach tense and relax as he starts his bike and revs it a few times.
We pull away from the diner and I close my eyes as I enjoy the ride.
Axel hasn’t been to my new apartment not far from campus and I realize I never told him where I live.
Still, he manages to go to my complex and pull in front of the building I live in.
Axel shuts his bike off and climbs off before lifting me once again from the seat.
He removes the helmet from my head, never once taking his eyes off of me.
There’s a tension between us as I dream of him leaning down and kissing me.
It’s something I’ve wished for since that first kiss during a stupid game.
I’m not sure who moves first, but it feels like slow motion as our lips move closer and closer together before Axel’s are pressed to mine.
He slides his tongue along the seam of my lips and I don’t hesitate to open for him.
My hands press against his chest before sliding up and wrapping around his neck as I lean up on my toes.
Axel wraps his arms around my waist and pulls my body completely against his.
Our tongues tangle as he takes possession of my mouth and kisses me as if he’s been dying to do it for years.
There’s a certain desperation to our kiss I’ve never experienced before and it sends a thrill through me.
“Fuck,” Axel groans when he breaks the kiss and rests his forehead against mine as we both try to catch our breath. “Invite me inside, Little Fairy.”
It’s a demand. One I want to follow as I step away from him and lace our fingers together.
Axel grabs my bag from his saddle bag before we head inside my small apartment.
I live alone and I’m grateful for that in this moment.
Axel digs in my bag and pulls out my keys when we get to my door.
He unlocks it and waits for me to make the final decision as I open it and pull him inside with me.
The second the door closes behind us, Axel drops my bag and his mouth is back on mine.
I’m held against the door as Axel holds my hands above my head and presses his hard body against mine.
There isn’t an inch of us that’s not touching.
“Take me to your room,” he orders me when I pull away from the kiss and keep my eyes closed because I don’t want to wake up if this is a dream.
Opening my eyes, I look up at Axel and see the heat in his eyes as he stares at me.
Without a word, I slide out from between him and the door and head for my bedroom.
A confidence I’ve never felt before fills me as I start to remove my clothes and let them fall to the floor as I walk in front of Axel.
I look back over my shoulder to find him removing his cut and keeping it over his arm as his eyes travel up and down my exposed body very slowly.
My upper body is bare as we enter my room and I stop at the end of my bed.
“Don’t stop strippin’ now, Little Fairy. Let me see every fuckin’ inch of you,” Axel says, laying his vest on top of my dresser that’s next to him before he leans against the wall and makes no move to strip out of his clothes or take a step closer to me.
I unbutton my jeans and slowly slide them down my legs while toeing off my sneakers.
My panties go with my jeans, leaving me completely exposed to Axel’s wandering eyes.
Again, he rakes his gaze up and down my body and I feel every second of it like a gentle caress against my skin and he’s standing feet away from me.
For the first time, I don’t want to cover my body or hide from the man in front of me.
He used to know everything about me and I’m allowing myself to be completely bare and vulnerable in front of him.
There is no hiding when it comes to Axel and I know this already.
He won’t let me keep any part of myself from him.
“Get on the bed, Little Fairy,” he states and I obey him as I sit on my bed and watch as he reaches behind his head and removes his shirt one handed in that sexy way only men seem to be able to do. He wastes no time in undoing his jeans. Axel isn’t wearing underwear as I take in his body.
Axel has an entire sleeve of tattoos on his right arm now and one on his left peck.
A smattering of chest hair covers his chest with a line leading from his belly button down to his cock.
I’ve seen him without a shirt plenty of times when we were in school, but tonight it’s like I’m seeing him with new eyes.
Axel is sexy as hell and he knows I think that when I look at his face again.
There’s a knowing smirk I’ve seen on his face a million times and a feral glint in his eyes I’ve never seen before.
“See somethin’ ya like, Little Fairy?” he questions me, his voice deeper and husky as he stalks toward me like a predator.
“Yes,” I whisper as he steps up and opens my legs with his rough hands.
Axel’s hands linger on my legs as he slowly trails them up my skin toward my aching center.
“Are you sure you want this, Sheridan?” Axel questions me, stopping just short of where I really want him. “This will be a one-time thing between us. I can’t guarantee anythin’ more than that.”
“I’ve wanted this for years, Axel,” I tell him, my voice coming out breathless in a way I’ve never sounded before.