Chapter 75: Some Kind of Wild Love
- DEX -
Ken finishes installing the security system in the main house, and the motorcycle is finally delivered in the driveway. Raya comes outside to check it out, and god—her in my shirt next to my bike? I’m tempted to ask if I can take some photos of her, but that will definitely make her feel uncomfortable.
"Are you going to take it for a ride?" She asks, standing back and admiring it while I remain only admiring her.
"I was thinking about it. It usually helps clear my head."
Her hand runs over the seat, following the curve of it and for some reason her touching my bike is such a turn on. I would never have expected that.
"Want to go for a ride with me?" The words leave before I have a chance to think about it. She’s still recovering. It’s probably not a good idea.
Her hand pauses on the seat, and she looks at me with those big, innocent eyes full of excitement. "Really?"
Well, I can’t back out now.
"It’s a nice night, but it might get chilly. Do you have a jacket?"
"Yeah, I’ll grab it!" She darts off around the house toward the back, and I groan watching her go. She is so adorable and so incredibly sexy at the same time.
After going over the Verdure line with Raya and seeing how enthusiastic she is about it, I contacted Liz right away to set up a meeting between the two of them tomorrow. Liz sounds cautiously interested. I’m sure she’s thinking it’s too good to be true to have Mobius working on her ads and marketing for an affordable rate, but if it makes Raya happy and gives her experience toward eventually joining the creative team, it’s more than worth it.
I would do the Verdure project for free if I could, but I can’t entirely justify that. It’s not like Liz owns a non-profit or something. Not only would Lawson throw a fit about it, but I’m sure the board would too. In fact, I’m supposed to be doing the opposite right now—I’m supposed to be finding big clients for the company to help prove myself and also cushion the blow of dad’s illness once it gets out. And how would I explain that I’m offering our services for free? I don’t think new love is a justifiable excuse when it’s costing the company money.
Raya comes back with a jacket pulled over my shirt and a big grin on her face, and I honestly would have never expected her to be this excited.
"I’ve never been on a motorcycle before," she says, a little breathless from running.
"Well I’m happy to be your first," I tell her, because I can’t help it, and I pull the second helmet out to secure onto her head, buckling it under her chin with her blonde hair spilling out the sides. "Is that comfortable enough?"
She nods, and I help her climb on.
"You’re going to wear one too, right?" She asks.
"Of course." I rarely wear a helmet in the city, but I will absolutely wear one for her. "If at any time you need me to stop, tap my shoulder or my... anywhere really."
"Okay," she nods, trying to match my serious demeanor but her smile won’t cooperate. "Are there any other rules I need to know?"
"Just hang on tight."
Once I climb on, I have her wrap her arms around me. She does it loosely, and I start the bike, waiting to make sure she doesn’t change her mind and decide this isn’t for her. It’s loud, and it’s going to be fast. I’m actually not entirely comfortable with this myself, since she was just in that accident last week. It seems a little too risky, because you can’t always anticipate what other people are going to do on the road. I wish I would have thought this through first, but having her straddling me from behind isn’t exactly the worst thing in the world either.
When we pick up a little speed riding down the tree-lined road that leads away from the house, Raya’s arms tighten around my chest. And a feeling of absolute perfection hums through me.
She doesn’t seem uncomfortable at all as we find the outlying roads and avoid traffic. The sun is starting to sink toward the horizon, and the most brilliant golds and reds spray across the sky while we pass trees and fields, heading toward the country rather than the city. It will be safer there with fewer stupid drivers to worry about.
These are all places I’ve been before. I know the backroads. I know where they lead—the country homes and fields and vast stretches of land that almost make the city feel like it’s a million miles away. These are the places I would ride when I was still living here, still grieving from my mother’s death, still trying to sort out what it means to be alive and facing the inevitable loss that comes with living. And this is where I finally found a semblance of peace.
Now, with Raya holding tight behind me, a new kind of peace settles in. It almost feels like I’ve found the answer that I was seeking back then—as if I’ve come full circle with the discovery of this one person who seems to have been waiting for me all along. Now I have a chance to rediscover these places with her—see them with new eyes.
We’ve been riding for about half an hour when I pull over by a small airstrip that gets very few flights in and out. It’s a quiet place to check and see how Raya’s holding up to the ride and give her a chance to stretch her legs.
"What do you think?" I ask as I help her down, and she unbuckles her helmet.
"It’s amazing." She’s still grinning, and I wonder if she hasn’t stopped smiling the whole time. "You aren’t going fast enough, though. You’re too worried about me."
That makes me chuckle. "You’re complaining that I’m not going fast enough? That’s a surprise."
"No, I’m not complaining. It’s amazing. It feels free. I can’t imagine what it’s like driving and being able to go as fast as you want as far as you want. I get it," she nods, and when she pulls the helmet off, her hair goes spilling everywhere.
"Raya," I say, swallowing roughly as she gazes up at me with the sunset behind her.
She smiles, and I swear it hits me straight in the heart. "Yeah?"
I chuckle at the hair of hers that is everywhere. It looks like a lion’s mane—fierce and wild and beautiful. I reach up to run my hands through it—not to tame it—but to feel the way the wind has made it untamed. The wind has a way of doing that.
Her smile falls to a thoughtful one, and when her eyes drop to my lips, I kiss her before she has the chance to do it first this time. My hands tangle in her hair as the entire world narrows to this one point that exists where we’re touching—where I’m getting lost in her sweet silk and heat and the way we slide together so effortlessly. I don’t know how I’m ever going to get enough of her.
Mine.
The growl rises again in my mind, and an echo of it rises in my throat so that I’m growling softly while I’m kissing her—offering her that instinctual claim of possession. If I could devour her, I might, and when she whimpers into my mouth, I’m certain of it.
I break away, forehead dropping to hers as I squeeze my eyes shut, attempting to get this desire under control. But before I can, Raya pulls me back down, demanding my mouth and arching into my body, and god, if she didn’t have an injury she was recovering from, I’d take her right here—prop her up against my bike and find a way to finally shatter those dreams with an even better reality.
"Dex," she whimpers, and the sound tugs on something so deep, I can’t even say it’s my heart. It’s deeper than that. But the feeling shimmers like the sunset, lighting me up brilliantly from the inside.
"Yes, my love?" I ask softly, caressing her face and cherishing every part, and not even tripping over the fact that I just used that term of endearment because it’s so true and so natural. I want to touch and consume and devour and protect every part of her. If this isn’t some kind of wild love, then I don’t know what is.
She doesn’t seem phased by it either. She’s still arched into me, still silently offering herself. "I’m scared," she whispers, "I want you so badly. I’m scared this isn’t real. How do I know it’s real and I’m not going to wake up to find that you’ve disappeared?"
"It’s real. I’m not going to disappear. I’m right here."
