Page 47 of Driving Whiskey Wild
He helped her onto the bike, then climbed on in front of her and showed her how to hold him. Wrapping herself around Bullet felt as natural as baking a cake. This was where she belonged, with Bullet, no matter where he was.
“Ready, angel?”
“As ready as I’ll ever be.”
The motorcycle roared to life, vibrating like thunder beneath her. As good as that felt, it didn’t feel half as incredible as the way it rumbled up Bullet’s body, humming through his back and radiating against her heart.
“I think I’m going to love this!” she yelled.
He lifted her hand to his lips and pressed a kiss there before pulling her arms around him tighter and putting on his helmet.
As he drove down the driveway, she felt like she was flying. She inhaled the grassy, leafy scents of fall, which took on a sharper, more vibrant aroma. He stopped at the end of the long driveway to ask how she was doing and she gave him a thumbs-up. He revved the engine and turned onto the main drag, heading out of Peaceful Harbor and toward their newest adventure.
BULLET STOPPED TO check in with Finlay two or three times during the beginning of their ride, and he was thrilled that she not only wasn’t freaking out, but was bubbling over with enthusiasm. Seeing her on his bike, with that leather jacket and helmet, was almost the biggest aphrodisiac he’d ever encountered. But nothing was more of a turn-on than Finlay Wilson wearing one of her frilly little dresses and that sunshine smile.
About an hour outside of the harbor, he turned off the highway, heading up a narrow mountain road, to give Finlay the experience of riding the back roads. The sun had kicked up, gracing them with a gorgeous day. If he were riding with the guys, he’d keep on going for hours, but as incredible as it felt to have Finlay pressed up against him, he wanted her in his arms. He physically ached with love for her. Like his heart had never fully functioned, and she made it work harder than it ever had. That was a new and exquisite pain, one he hoped never ended.
He followed the windy mountain roads until they came to a meadow, when Finlay yanked at his jacket, indicating she wanted to stop. He pulled over and removed his helmet, stepping off the bike to see his bright-eyed girl.
“You okay?”
She tugged at her helmet, and he helped her take it off.
“That was amazing. Fantastic. It was so romantic, holding on to you. I can’t explain it, but…” She rose onto her toes, still straddling the bike, and pressed her lips to his.
“I wish I knew more about romance for you, baby.”
Her smile cut straight to his heart.
“Just saying that is more romantic than anything I could dream up.” She grabbed him by the jacket and pulled him closer. “I get it now. All of it, Bullet. The closeness of the club, the way these rides become a part of you. The reason you sometimes get edgy when you don’t have a chance to ride.”
“I don’t get that way much when I’m with you, do I?”
“No, but sometimes I see something there, and then when you come home from work and step off your bike, that look is gone.”
“That’s me coming home to you, baby.” He lifted her off the bike and kissed her hard. He ran his fingers through her hair and held on tight with both hands, angling her face up so he could gaze into her eyes. “You slay my demons and make everything seem possible. I want everything with you, Fins. I want days of riding and nights of making love until the sun comes up. And right now, pretty girl,” he said as he lifted her into his arms and carried her across the meadow, “I need to love you.”
She laughed and kissed him as he carried her through the tall flowers and grass to the far side of the meadow, out of sight from any passersby. He lowered her to her feet, taking her in another sensual kiss.
“You okay here?” he asked against her lips.
She pushed his jacket from his shoulders without hesitation or embarrassment, and that trust nearly did him in. He tugged off his shirt and laid it on the ground. Their mouths came together in slow, loving kisses as they undressed each other and sank down to the grass. Cool air brushed over their skin, but her flesh was warm to the touch, gorgeous in the sun’s rays.
“God, I love you, baby,” he said between urgent kisses as he loved every inch of her body, worshipping her scars and that heavenly paradise between her legs. He guided her legs over his shoulders, devouring her, teasing over the special spot that made her quiver and shake. She pulled at his hair, holding his mouth tight against her swollen sex as he took his fill.
“Please, Bullet.”
He lifted her hips, feasting on her, feeling the rush of her approaching orgasm in her quickening breaths, the flexing of her thighs. He gripped her ass, holding it tight in the way he’d learned made her climaxes even more intense. She cried out, her body bucking wildly as she shattered against his mouth. He didn’t relent, holding her tighter, plunging his tongue deeper, through the very last pulse of her release. Then he sheathed his cock and drove into her in one hard thrust.
“Ah!” she cried out as his mouth came down over hers.
She was right there with him, meeting every thrust of his hips, every stroke of his tongue, with an eager, loving motion of her own. Every breath she took, every noise she made, roused his passion. Long, surrendering moans came from both of them as they yielded to their love. As they soared up toward the clouds, he was filled with an incredible sense of completeness.
They lay together for a long while afterward, until Bullet had no choice but to reluctantly break their connection so he could take care of the condom.
He helped her on with her panties and sweater and put on his briefs, still too hot to be dressed. Then he lay on his back with Finlay tucked against his side. Her thigh moved over his, and she ran her fingers along his chest. He laced their hands together and kissed her knuckles.
“When we’re close,” she said softly, “I feel like we fall into this world of our own, and nothing else matters or exists. Is that terribly selfish? I mean, the real world is out there. Poor Sarah is struggling to heal her family and make ends meet, and people around the world are suffering, and here we are in this blissful meadow.”
“You’re the least selfish person I know.”
“No, not even close. That would be you.” She unlaced their fingers and touched his skull ring. “Is that for the Dark Knights?”
“No. It was my grandfather’s. The other one I wear was my uncle Axel’s, my father’s brother. He died when I was on tour, and Bear held on to it for me.”
“But you wear three sometimes.”
“The third was my old man’s. He gave it to me when I went into the military.”
“Do you think you’ll ever tell your family about the time you were in the hospital? The truth of how you almost died?”
He shifted his eyes up to the clear blue sky. Talking with Finlay about his past was easier now, since they’d talked about it quite a few times. She was too curious to let many questions go unanswered, and he knew this one bothered her because not only did she hate lies as much as he did, but she loved his family. She was too bighearted to let it go.
She straddled him, and his blond angel smiled down on him. “How long were you in the hospital?”
“Several weeks in the hospital and a couple months of rehab. I came home about eight months after I was discharged.”
“You’re not going to answer me about telling them, are you?”
She didn’t say it accusingly. She said it with acceptance and without judgment, and that made him hurt in a whole new way. “Babe, I can think of a hundred reasons not to tell them, but not one reason to do it.”
Her expression turned serious. “Do you think they’d be hurt knowing you didn’t tell them in the first place?”
“Definitely. They’d want to know all the details, and who knows what kind of shit that’ll bring up. Some things are just better left unsaid.”
“Are you protecting them, or yourself?” Again, there was no judgment, just the need to understand shining in her eyes.
“Both, to be honest.”
She nodded and ran her finger over the names tattooed on the right side of his chest. “Would it bother you to tell me whose names these are?”
“Fallen brothers. Guys I couldn’t save.”
She squinted, lowering her face so she could look more closely. “There are so many I can barely read most of them.”
“They’re not for anyone else to read. They’re for me.”
Her gaze met his. “Should I not try?”
“No, babe. My body is your body. Go ahead.”
She shifted so she was lying on his other side and began whispering the names as she read them and pressing kisses over each one. “Dreamer.” Kiss. “S. Nelson.” Kiss. “Brinks. Michael Z.” Kiss. Kiss.
He closed his eyes against the pang of painful memories accompanying each one. When he’d started honoring his fallen brothers, he hadn’t known if he’d remember them, but with each name she spoke, he knew he’d never forget. Many he hadn’t known well. Some he’d met on missions, known them for only minutes or hours before they were killed. Others he’d known for years. He listened to her sweet voice, concentrating on that instead of the heartache.
