Page 90 of Falcon

Chapter 19

Faith

There’s something to be said about being in a sexy vintage car, with a sensual man by your side, in the beautiful Southern California air. It’s good for the mind, body, soul, and certainly good for the libido, because I’m a tingly ball of hormones over here, watching him handle this car with ease, the way he handles me.

He whips through the streets like he’s done this a million times. There’s confidence in every move. It’s a fearlessness I recognize from the videos I’ve watched of his fights, and from the times we’ve had sex.

He doesn’t second-guess. He commits like he knows what he is doing is right, and one-hundred-percent of the time, at least where my body is concerned, it’s so, so right.

“Where are we going?” I ask him loudly, over the roar of the engine and the wind whipping around us.

“To my favorite spot in the world. In my opinion, you can’t come here and miss the view from there.”

“Is it a place you share often?” I would be lying if I said there wasn’t a pang of jealousy in my gut. I don’t want to go places he has taken other girls. Something about that just makes me feel gross. I mean, I’m probably being stupid. I know he’s had other girls in the car, and probably in his house, but he called the place we are going his favorite. That has to be next level. Right?

“I don’t share this with anyone,” he says, and my heart stops. “It’s a special place I use when I need to think or just get away.”

“And you want to share this with me?”

“More than anything.”

I lean across the center of the car and place a kiss to his cheek. “Thank you.”

***

There are no words to describe how beautiful this view is. He drove us up into the canyons, and at first, it looked like we were well on our way to a dead end. We would pass a few cars here and there but the farther we went, the more secluded everything became.

The scent of the salty air became stronger with each passing mile and before I knew it, we came to a stop at a cliff overlooking the rocky shoreline of the Pacific Ocean.

There isn’t a soul around us. There isn’t a single person on the beach below us.

It’s him and me.

“Wow.” I unbuckle and stand so I can see over the windshield. “Falcon, this is incredible.”

The warm breeze kisses my skin and I close my eyes, letting it all soak in.

I can sense he’s stood up next to me and propped himself up by the elbows on the windshield.

“I found this place when I first came to LA, after I got custody of Nora at eighteen years old. I was struggling with what I was going to do with custody of a fourteen-year-old kid when I was still a child myself. Nora and I had gotten into a disagreement about something. Fuck, I don’t even remember what it was over, but I asked our neighbor to keep an eye on the apartment and I left Nora there and went for a drive. I didn’t even know where I was going; I just ended up here. I sat up here on the edge of the cliff for two hours and just thought about everything. My mom, my dad, Nora, fighting, anything that was on my mind, I sorted through it right here. I’ve bounced around many things in this very spot. Anytime I travel, I come here first. Anytime I have something stressing me out, I come here. This is my safe spot. This is mine.”

The way the sun is shining down over him right now makes him look almost ethereal. His face is so relaxed and his stature is at ease.

“Can we go stand out there? I’d like to see it up close and personal.”

“Yeah, absolutely. Let’s go.”

We climb out of the car and meet hand in hand in front, then walk toward the cliff ledge.

“I can grab a blanket or something from the trunk if you want. We can sit.”

“I don’t mind sitting on the ground. I’m not opposed to getting dirty.”

“That, baby, I’m all too aware of.”

Once we find a place to sit on the rocks so we can see over to the water. He curls an arm around me and tucks me into his side, resting his chin on top of my head.

“Are you nervous?” I ask him.

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