Saylor noticed by the third time it happened.
“You know,” she murmured as we walked past a row of bikes waiting near inspection, “you don’t have to glare at every man who looks in my direction.”
“Sure as fuck do, baby,” I grunted. “Need them to know you’re mine.”
“I think you’ve sufficiently established that.”
I shrugged. “Gotta be sure. Besides, never hurts to remind everyone else.”
She tilted her head, her eyes dancing. “So you’re just going to keep doing it?”
“Yup.”
Her lips pressed together, fighting a smile. “At least you’re honest.”
“Never said I was reasonable.”
“True.” She put a little more sway in her hips and winked at me, sending my blood rushing south. “Are you sure just keeping me plastered to your side isn’t enough?”
I bent close, letting my mouth brush the shell of her ear. “Keep teasing me, baby. See what happens when I finally get you somewhere private.”
Her breath caught, and I felt the tiny shiver move through her before she tried to hide it by turning toward the nearest bike. Cute attempt. Failed completely, though.
As the night went on, she kept winning people over without trying. She was curious, smart, and comfortable admitting when she wanted to understand something better, and that combination made people want to teach her rather than brush her off.
Watching her fit into my world felt like seeing a custom build of mine fire clean on the first start.
She belonged here. With me.
Only one thing would make my claim indisputable, and I planned to ask Kane to order it for me soon.
I stole kisses whenever I could get thirty seconds and a shadowed corner. One came behind a stack of tire racks, my hand at her throat and her back against a concrete pillar while engines screamed somewhere beyond us. Another happened near the garage entrance after she smiled too damn bright at something Axle said and I decided I needed that mouth back under mine before anyone else got the idea they could make her laugh like that.
By the final race, I was completely fucking done.
Saylor stood beside me near the paddock fence, cheering when Jana crossed the finish line with a strong run that had Nitro looking smug enough to be insufferable for at least a week. She bounced on her toes, clapping, her whole face lit with excitement, and I couldn’t stop staring.
When we headed back to my bike, she was still buzzing with excitement, talking a mile a minute. She was fucking adorable. I wasn’t sure how she managed to be both cute and sexy at once.
But my attention narrowed down to the way her mouth moved, and the fact that my hands were about to be on her with a lot less restraint. I handed her the helmet, helped her secure it, then climbed on and waited for her to settle behind me. As soon as her arms wrapped around me, I made the decision I’d been fighting since her apartment.
I didn’t point the bike toward her place.
It took her a few minutes to notice, probably because she was still riding the high of the night. And maybe because she trusted me enough not to panic when I took a different route.
At the next red light, she lifted her voice over the engine. “Levi, this isn’t the way to my apartment.”
“No.”
“Where are we going?”
“My place.”
She went still behind me, and I waited for anything that would tell me to slow down. Instead, her arms tightened around my waist, her body pressing closer, and that was all the answer I needed. The light changed, and I opened the throttle, the bike shooting forward into the humid night while satisfaction burned through my veins.
The compound gates opened as we approached, a prospect lifting his chin when he saw me and smartly pretending not to notice the woman wrapped around my back. Bikes lined the lot under the security lights, and voices spilled faintly from inside the clubhouse. But my focus was Saylor and the brutal need riding me hard enough to make every second between the gate and my parking spot feel too long.
I killed the engine and barely gave it time to settle before I was off the bike and reaching for her. She pulled off the helmet,her hair tumbling around her flushed face. Taking it from her to set on the seat, I wrapped my hands around her waist and lifted her down. Her boots hit the pavement, but she didn’t get more than one breath before I hauled her against me.
