Stepping out into the night, Dawn felt Cade’s arm folding around her shoulder. Her first instinct was to head for her car, the only way she ever worked her way from Point A to Point B.
“Not so fast,” Cade said. “Come this way.”
Falling into the sound of his voice, Dawn let him lead her away from her building, and she started to part her lips, ready to joke that she’d rather not hoof it all the way back to the Pub when she spied his handlebars poking through the shadows of the nearby alleyway. The chrome sparkled in the moonlight, and Dawn nearly smiled at the thought of racing down the road with the motor pulsing between her legs, her arms tightening around his broad back, as she kissed his neck and…
“Wait,” she said. “I…I’ve never done this before.”
“And here I thought that you were game for anything,” he said with a dark laugh. Dawn felt her cheeks flush, but she forced her gaze to his eyes and managed to flash him a small grin.
“Most things,” Dawn said. “But I guess even I have my limits.”
“I’d argue that,” Cade said.
“Never rode a bike,” she said.
“But I don’t do cars. You gonna ride with me, this is how I roll.”
Dawn stepped closer the bike. As she ran her hands over the smooth leather seat, she wondered how hard it could really be. She knew how to ride a simpler brand of bike. The kind with a wicker basket and purple ribbons flicking against her wrists as she pushed the pedals and rang the shiny silver bell.
But appearances aside, this would be miles from the same thing.
“Okay,” Dawn started. “You want to show me how it works?”
“It ain’t rocket science,” he said. “But I wouldn’t pass up the chance to teach you a few things.”
Lifting her into his arms, Cade softly settled her ass on the sloping leather, his fingers trailing down her legs. His touch rested around her knee, and he pressed into the denim before he looked back into her eyes.
“First things first,” he stared. “Swing each leg over. You have to mount the girl to make it work.”
“And you would know, right?” she teased.
Dawn wiggled her eyebrows before his blank face, and she slowly took hold of his hand, pushing his touch deeper, as he leaned forward and breathed against her lips.
“I didn’t hear any complaints,” he said.
“None to give,” Dawn said. “So far you’ve kept it up like a pro.”
His smile singed her heart, and Dawn relaxed into his hand. She liked this. Liked playing with him. Flirting. For a second, she wished that the story wasn’t even part of the equation. Better to have just wandered into Pub 22 in search of a drink and nothing else. Anything to just be with him and not have to even think about where it would inevitably lead in the end.
“So, I take it you’re a satisfied customer?” he asked.
Nodding into his shoulder, Dawn felt of his free hand pushing under her chin, and she expected his hottest kiss yet when Cade simply pecked her mouth, as he ran his fingers though her clipped locks and licked his lips.
“I do like this,” he said. “Your hair was longer in your bio pic.”
“It was time for a change,” Dawn said. “On all fronts.”
Now he kissed her with rising passion, and Dawn winded her arms around his waist, clasping him closer, as she left his lips only to sigh into his taut cheek.
“So, am I the first guy you’ve ever fucked for a story?” he asked.
Dawn pushed away from him, her fingers tightening around the cuffs of his jacket. “What the hell do you take me for?” she spat. “You think I’m some slut?”
“Careful,” he said. “Wasn’t me that left out a major piece of the puzzle.”
Conceding the point, Dawn rested her chin to her chest.
“Only way I could think to go about it,” she murmured.
“I can think of like a million other ways.” Cade kissed her eyes and cradled her face in his hands, as he moaned into her ears. “And I think I’m glad that you did, Dawn.”
Staring into his eyes again, she let her rage slip away. One way or the other, she was in. And the fact that he wanted her to ride knowing the truth said something for her.
And for him.
“Alright then,” Dawn said. “What do I do next?”
“This. Again.”
He seized her hair and crushed his mouth to hers. Dawn imagined that he already knew how to ride like a pro. Could they push past the Pub and find some quiet spot to be alone? No reason she couldn’t make up the bulk of her copy with some sweet pillow talk. Anything to be alone with him.
“And now you learn what it is to ride with an Alpha.”
Centering her body on the seat, Cade mounted before her, clutching the handlebars, as he brought the motor to life. Her eyes raced up the length of his neck, and even as she basked in the sight of his blonde hair, she shifted into protective mode, as she touched her hands to his shoulders.
“No helmet?” she asked.
“Seriously? What kind of man do you think I am?”
In some ways, the verdict was still out on that. But in other ways, his daring made sense when compared to the steel in his eyes, and she started to fall into his back when he reached for her wrists at his chest.
“Kind that knows what he’s doing?” she asked.
“Don’t you ever forget that,” he said. “Hang on. Lean into the turns. You’ll be just fine.”
As desired, the bike hummed under her thighs, and Dawn was ready for an adventure when she stretched close to his ear and whispered softly.
“What about me?” she asked. “Even an Alpha’s girl doesn’t get a helmet?”
“Any girl with me doesn’t have to worry about that shit,” he promised. “Stay close and enjoy the wind.”
With that, he pushed away from the alley, and they hit the road. At the first corner, Dawn followed his order and pressed her body closer to his back. He accelerated his speed, and Dawn followed his advice and stretched into the wind. As the wind whipped through her hair and her eyes grew moist, she felt her heart thumping in her chest. For a second, there was the thought that she might fall, but it had nothing on the strength of his stance, his back curling under her arms as he pushed the bike into a straight line and took off at a mad pace. It was the path that she had already followed, but in the open air with his chest tight under her fingers, Dawn felt the real ride. She glanced into the sky and saw new stars when Cade cast her a quick glance.
“Smooth sailing now,” he promised. “Just be sure turn your head when we hit the Pub.”
Nodding into his neck, Dawn settled into the roar of the engine, and the way ahead seemed clear. She would walk into the Pub on his arm and trust that he would smack down any man who threatened her presence. Call in the Stone Age, but she wanted to cling to him and feel as if nothing bad would ever touch her as long as she was at his side.
Did she dare to…?
“Dawn?”
Her arms hit the open air, and Dawn savored the feeling of flight as the bike raced towards the horizon. Michael might have her head, but she liked flying at his back, her fingers clutching the air until Cade barked back at her to turn.
“Cade, I don’t want to—”
“We’re turning now!”
The swerve of the bike brought her arms back around his chest, and she leaned into his body, as the bike skidded through the dirt and the stones, her body just coming down from the feeling of flight when he finally applied the break, stilling the motor before he stepped down and pulled her away from the leather.
“What the hell was that all about?” he asked in a thick voice. “Didn’t I tell you to—?”
“I…it’s on you, Cade.”
Stretching to the tips of her toes, Dawn tried to kiss him when he turned his head, obeying his own orders as he scowled.
“On me?” he demanded. “What that hell are you talking about?”
“You’re making me feel new things,” she whispered.
“And what?” he asked. “You gonna do right by me by falling down?”
“Cade, I…” She bit her words back and softly touched his cheek, as she bowed her head. “I’m sorry,” she said. “It was just really exciting.”
“What was?” he asked.
“To be with you. Like that.”
He tilted his head to the side, and she caught a hint of his smile, as he snorted and took hold of her hand.
“Just keep your feet on the ground and your eyes front.”
Cade started to pull her towards the Pub when she suddenly felt playful and curled his body into a corner of the building.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” he demanded.
“Eyes front,” she said. “Right on you.”
Dawn kissed him fast, as she pushed her arms around his neck. She felt the protests pouring though his lips before he melted into her mouth, and she held him in the space of the kiss until he finally came up for air, his eyes burrowing into hers as he spoke.
“You don’t…you don’t really play fair,” he said.
“Like you should talk. Making me want you even more when you ask me to look away.”
Cade palmed her face, a light moan leaving his lips when his head shifted into a soft nod. She curved her cheek into his palm and lifted her brow to the tips of his fingers as he finally relaxed around her and kissed her hair.
“So maybe it’s more than just the story you’re after?” he asked.
Dawn laughed as she gripped his arms. Her deadline still loomed, and Michael always demanded perfection and nothing less. But in this moment, his orders had nothing on the wind still trickling though her hair, and Dawn stated to nod into his chest when the sound of grinding gears sent her flying from his body.
She’d have preferred crashing into the open road, but—
“Hold up,” Cade said.
His words wanted her to stay besides the building, and as he walked away from her, she saw him reach for his calf, his hand revealing a sharp blade, as he stepped to the front of the Pub. The others Alphas started to pour forth, but Dawn was close to Cade.
“Cade? Is there a problem or—“
“Or what, Lenny,” he said. “Got your piece?”
The little man fumbled with the pistol suddenly in his hands, and Dawn saw the large Alpha, the one that had first laid hands on her pushing towards the fresh action at hand. His aim was straight, as his piece rested around his finger, and Dawn held back as he led the charge at Cade’s side.
“Fucking Panthers,” the big man muttered.
“Fucking play it cool, Georgie boy.”
Dawn held her breath against the Pub’s façade, relaxing slightly when she realized that there were only two so-called Panthers. The Alphas could take them down with a single look, and her mind returned to the story. Soon, she would lay with Cade again, and he would tell her everything between soft kisses.
“We’re back, Everett,” the older Panther yelled, his hands in the air, as he forced a smile through his crinkled beard.
“We’re back,” Cade countered. “Boss Man says you’re never going to threaten any of his ever again.”
“That’d be some trick,” the man scoffed. “Word is that is that Mama Bear is long gone. And as for the kids…”
Dawn watched as Cade’s face stayed like slate. Keeping silent, her mind raced around the idea of her notes.
Whitaker was the boss. Laid low because of his kids, of his family. All gone now. Except for…
“You got eyes in your head,” Cade threatened. “We’re here on our own.”
“Not quite.”
Dawn held her breath, as she huddled in the shadows, and as hard as she tried to make herself invisible or pray that the man’s eyes would at least see past her, she felt his stare on her face, looking up to see his smirk captured in the moonlight.
“I’ve seen her before,” the man said with a smirk. “Wonder how she fits into the picture.”
He took a step towards her when Cade cut him off, his jaw tight as he shook his head.
“Nothing to do with this,” he said. “Just some tail, you know?”
Hating the insult, Dawn recovered quickly. She knew it had to be a lie. Something for their benefit. Otherwise…
“Well, let’s take a taste! Atticus?”
The old man whistled for his companion to take charge, and the younger man, far more lithe, tumbled to the ground, his gun still steady in his hands as he rolled to his feet.
“Leave her alone!” Cade screamed. Dawn tried to run when the man’s hands were at her legs, and he hoisted her closer to his chest, the barrel at her cheek, as the older man laughed and Cade wrestled him to the ground with a quick push and the tip of his blade to his neck.
“Think we want to hear what she has to say first.”