Page 15 of The Fire and the Roar

“And did it help?”

“It did.”

“Good. You can build on that, right? Keep working with him—not on a bed, though.”

I let out a small laugh.

“Babe—” He took the guitar from me and placed it carefully on the floor. “I know you’re worried about Leo, about us, the store, and everything you’ve left behind. But we all want this for you. Me, Georgia, your cousin the cop. All my brothers in Meager and in Colorado are behind you one hundred percent. Leo took off to keep you out of his shitstorm. For God’s sake, tonight you even had a Flame of Hell looking out for you, supporting you.”

A grin twitched my lips. “That is true.”

“Listen, for me, riding clears my head, fills me up,” he continued. “For you, it’s singing, performing on a stage, right?”

“Yes.”

“Imagine you’re up on a stage singing your own words, your own truth for a change? Imagine the guys playing music that brings your words to life. All of you, in that song together.”

“The best,” I breathed.

“Yeah. Keep on, baby. Let go of all that noise you got stuck in your head and do what you got to do. No time for fear. Use what you got going on to fuel it. That’s genuine. That’s what a song needs, right? ” He tapped a finger against my temple and brought it down to my heart. His lips brushed over that spot on my chest. “I figure there are plenty of songs that need you to sing ‘em. You got to work to find ‘em.”

Tugging me down on the bed, he settled my head on his chest, pulling me close. “You are worth everything to me. All the things we’re doing right now? Yeah, challenging, sucks a lot of the time, and worth it. We got this. This is your time, so get back on your bike and ride over the edge.”

He let out a long sigh. He was tired. He’d ridden long and hard all the way from Colorado to get to me. On his bike in the winter, for fuck’s sake. To be with me for one night. And here he was helping me, listening to me. Really listening. My lips trembled, and I bit down. He believed in me without any doubts. Supported me unquestioningly. His trust, I’d once told him, was a great honor. It was, it was.

I rubbed his neck, stroked his chest, and he let out a small moan. A grin nudged at my lips as I listened to his breaths. One day we’d be one of those millions of couples in America whose Valentine’s Day was filled with choosing special cards for each other, planning dinner, buying flowers, lingerie, perfume, fancy chocolates, dressing up for the big date out. Nothing on our minds but a good time. Fun.

A low rumble rolled through his chest, and an arm went around my hips. But what all those couples really wanted, what they truly only wanted, wasthis, what Wreck and I had. Our fire. Right this very moment.

A tear slid down my cheek as I stroked the side of Wreck’s face. The hard lines of his jaw finally relaxed, his lips parted, his breathing settled.

My love fell fast asleep in my embrace.

Chapter Seven

Heart candies lay crushed allover the twisted sheets.

“Shower…” Wreck groaned.

We both got up slowly and went into the bathroom and climbed into the small shower stall. He scrubbed my scalp, running his fingers through my hair.

“You spoil me.” I turned around and rinsed off and rubbed soap onto his beautiful broad back rippling with muscles. I massaged his shoulders, down his spine.

“Feels so good,” he murmured.

The water pressure in the shower was unusually strong, and thankfully, the water very hot. It wouldn’t last long, though. Wreck stood under the force of it, face-up, lips parted as I admired him, water falling over him, sluicing over his flesh. Steam rose from his skin. His morning wood was extreme.

My hand slid over his cock, rubbing up and down. His eyes opened, and he narrowed them at me, wiping water from his face. His lips puckered. My pulse raced. I knew that look.

Last time.

In one quick move, he lifted me up, and my legs circled his waist as my back met hard tile. He angled inside me, his fingers digging into my hips. Holding me up. Always holding me up. That’s what love was, wasn’t it? This flow of holding each other up, to protect, for the light to see, to keep warm and safe.

I closed my eyes and felt it all. Felt the water beating down us, felt Wreck’s body driving against mine, joining mine. Union. This was mine. This would keep me warm for the many nights ahead without him. And keep him warm too. My face pressed into his neck, and I reveled in the feel of his muscles flexing and throbbing, all the small noises and grunts rumbling in his throat, through his chest.

He let me down, and we stared at each other under the water. He swept a hand down my throat, my chest and grinned at me. I planted a kiss on those perfect lips and handed him the towel. He wrapped it around both of us and rubbed vigorously.

I laughed. “My mom used to do that to us when we were little. The heat never worked right in that house, and she’d have the three of us in the bathtub together. We’d all want to get out of the tub at the same time, and she’d wrap all three of us in this huge towel, and the four of us would laugh.”

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