Page 71 of Broken

“Calli.”

I want to get away from him.

“I’m taking you home,” he comes right up to me, puts his hand on my waist and leans close to my ear. “I will never force you to tell me something you’re afraid to. But I won’t let you walk away into potential danger.”

“Danger?” I whisper.

“There are a lot of scary ass people in the world. And I’m not the kind of guy who would let any woman be alone at this time of night.”

Well, that isn’t as surprising as it should be. I’ve seen how he takes care of his staff. Especially Lucky. Whether or not he knows it, he looks out for her. It makes sense he’d do the same for the woman he brought back to his place.

I’m not even sure he would have kicked me out if I didn’t freak out first. Sure, he left my apartment the first time, but that was different. This is different.

He goes to the closet and grabs a hoodie, tossing it to me. “Put that on. It’s cold on the back of a bike.”

“The back of a bike?” I blurt.

He doesn’t answer, just grabs his phone and keys and leaves me standing in his bedroom with my mouth hanging open.

When I get my feet to unstick, we head down the back staircase. This time I take more time to notice things, like the door with a glass window that leads into the shop. And theprivate room where we had our first… moment. And I did that other thing.

Jesus. How had I forgotten that?

Garrett is propping the door open for me, holding on to two helmets. I snap out of the mortification and step out into the back alley. His bike is parked off to the side, his car is a little further away. For a moment, I wonder why he isn’t taking the car, then he strides to the bike and swings his leg over it.

And my ovaries constrict. Holy fucking shit, that was hot. Any fear of getting on the back of that thing flitters away when he crooks his fingers for me to come over.

Sin is going to lose her shit when she hears about all of this. I mean, would it be wrong to say I changed my mind and go back upstairs?

Garrett positions me in front of him and puts the helmet on me. It’s not like a regular bicycle helmet. It’s heavier, and a lot tighter around my face. He makes sure he has done it up properly, then takes my hand, twisting around to help me.

He tells me where to put my feet and that I need to hold on to him. Tightly. I do as he said, and wait while he puts on his helmet, then he starts up the bike. The rumble between my legs has my thighs clenching all over again.

I wobble a little when he uses his heel to move the kickstand. He turns to me again, as far as he can with our bodies so close.

“Calli, I said, hold on tight.”

“I am.”

He takes my hands and pulls them around him. But apparently that isn’t enough, because one of his hands snakes under my knee and he runs it backward beneath my thigh. With one unexpected tug, he pulls my body forward until it’s flush against his.

Hopefully, he didn’t hear the moan that slipped out over the roar of the bike. When he turns the bike, then throttles the engine and picks up speed, I have no choice but to hold on.

For the first five minutes of the ride, my eyes are squeezed tight. Instead of watching everything whizzing past, I focus on the scent of his hoodie, the feel of his body pressed to mine.

It crosses my mind to slide my hand down and see if he is feeling the same way I am right now, but I don’t want to cause an accident. Besides, what are the chances he randomly pops an erection while riding his bike?

No, it’s me being insanely turned on by this. So much so I forget to be scared.

When we pull up outside my place, it’s difficult to let go. I’m grateful for his support when I try to get off. He dismounts and helps me with the helmet.

“Thanks for the ride,” I tell him. “Both of them.”

He ducks his head and chuckles. Holy shit, he has dimples. I can’t believe how many times I’ve been around him and not seen that before.

“No problem, on either count.”

I don’t want to leave this with him making the last crack. I think back on the earlier conversation. About piercing me. I’ll never do it. I don’t care what Katja says about the pleasure you get from it, because nipples are more than enough. Still, it’s fun to leave him with a visual.

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