The roar of his bike is definitely going to be what gives us away, but I don’t bother waiting around to see who we’ve woken up. Carefully getting on behind him, it feels good to wrap my arms around him like this.
We’ve gone on plenty of rides before, but this doesn’t feel as casual as the others.
The world shrinks to the tunnel of our headlight, carving a path through the sleeping pines, and the engine’s growl echoes off the dense walls of forest on either side.
The road is a winding, dark ribbon, and he takes the curves with a lean that presses me closer. I can’t lock my hands tight over his stomach, so I flatten my palms against the solid plane of his chest instead. My right hand rests just left of center. And there it is—the frantic, rhythmic hammering of his heart against my palm, a wild drumbeat felt through the soft cotton of his t-shirt.
Is it the thrill of the speed, the night, the stolen escape? Or is it… this? Us, pressed together in the roaring dark, me wrapped up in his leather?
I press my cheek against the space between his shoulder blades, the vibration of the engine humming through my bones.The wind is a cold slap, but where I’m fused against him, I’m warm.
The pines begin to thin, the darkness ahead softening from pitch to a velvety indigo. Pinpricks of gold appear—porch lights, a distant streetlamp—marking the outskirts of the small town.
Reaching my apartment complex doesn’t take long. Pulling into the parking lot, I note that I should apologize to my neighbors if any of them complain about the loud rumbling.
Hopping off and letting ourselves in using his key, we kick off our shoes. Hesitating on giving him back his cut, he doesn’t seem to be in any rush to get it back.
Instead, he’s too busy pouring me a cup of water and encouraging me to drink by taking one of my hands and wrapping it around the glass. It’s almost funny how often he cares for me. Coming from the person who always has to care for people, it’s nice to be concerned about.
Warden’s always been that way, though. He’s not road captain for nothing. He’s not the type of guy to take risks if it means anyone gets hurt under his watch. Even before that, when I first met him, he’d had plenty of experience when it came to tending another person’s health.
“I’m a pain, aren’t I? You don’t have to lie. It’s okay.” Sipping from the glass, the water is a blessing. “Thank you.”
His mouth slants, and he pauses long enough to make me wonder if he’d actually complain. Then the corners of his eyes crinkle, giving away that he’s just messing with me. He plucks the glass away once it’s empty and, without a doubt, considers making me drink a second one before setting it to the side. “Ready to go settle down?”
Oh. Now that I’m here, I feel more relaxed, but less tired. Will he be upset if I don’t fall back asleep? The ride created this rush, and I’m not entirely sure what to do with myself.
“I think I need a shower. I feel… gross.” I tug at my clothes and grimace at the few drops of whatever I drank last night that stained my shirt. Hot water is usually just what I need to drain my energy, so a quick wash may as well be a lullaby. “After that, totally.”
Nodding, he helps himself to my fridge as I drift away.
Once I’m alone in my bathroom, I take in a much-needed breath. Catching my reflection in the mirror, I grimace at the woman staring back.
These last few weeks have really done some damage to my appearance. More than any call I’d get at work. Poking and prodding at my face after turning on the shower, the reflection slowly fades, leaving behind a steamy surface. Stripping away the weight of today, I’m under the hot stream in no time.
The glass door separating me from the world barely has enough time to cloud over when there’s a knock at the door. Worried something is wrong, I’m swiping a path to see when Warden makes his way inside. As soon as the door is shut behind him, he’s pressing his back to it.
My skin warms hotter than the water itself as I feel his eyes try to see past the haze.
“Care for company?”
For such an innocent-sounding question, there is anything but when it comes to this man.
8
Warden
This woman has a pull on me that was created the first time I laid my eyes on her. Like an invisible string is always right there connecting us, there’s always a time when I feel a tug yanking me toward her.
At this very moment, it’s the hiss of the shower that makes me wonder what in the hell I’m doing standing in the middle of her kitchen eating a handful of blueberries for.
There’s something much sweeter on the other side of her apartment. She’s not drunk off her ass anymore. And sure, I may be the last thing she wants to deal with now that she’s sober, but how I feel hasn’t changed in the slightest.
I still want her. Very much so. Especially when every day, I’ve been dealing with constant hard-ons that have been relieved by nothing but the curl of my fist. I can’t take much more of this for much longer.
By the time I’m standing in the bathroom, drinking in her naked form from a distance, I’m feeling that same pull. It’s taking strength to wait for an answer, to not tear at my clothes and join her.
We’ve only showered a few times together, and it’s always been after we’ve spent the late hours together. Unlike then, cleaning is the last thing on my mind.
