president, worked on bikes
in Dad’s garage until the Rebels bought it to run their own show.
By then, I was working in the shop every day after school. Just
wrenching, nothing fancy. Nothing at all like Bear can do. You know
him? That man is amazing.”
She murmured, “I’ve seen some of his work.
Very nice.” Bear and Diablo were names with
which she was familiar, and Winger, married to DeeDee, was a man
she had known well. Lockee, their daughter, had been only a little older than she was, so the two girls were
thrown together whenever there was a meeting where families were invited. Winger and Lockee
died several years ago in a car wreck, and it still shocked her to
think that bright, vibrant Lockee would never grow older. Lockee
would never meet and marry a man she loved, never bear his
children. All the things any girl hoped to experience, now an
impossibility.
“Yeah, nice is an understatement. Being
around the guys made me realize that the club, being a member, was
something I wanted. More than anything, I wanted it. Slate forced me to wait until I was legal to
officially prospect in, but now I’m nearly at the nine-month mark,
still going strong.” In the darkness, she saw his silhouette move
and then caught a glint from his teeth as he smiled.
“So you’re twenty-one?” Mela was surprised
at her disappointment at the revelation. She’d thought he was
older. He both looked and acted more mature than most of the boys
her own age.
“Twenty-two now,” Hurley told her, that
glint of smile shining at her again. “My birthday was
yesterday.”
“Seriously?” She shifted to sit upright and he moved with her, reaching out to place his
palm on her back, supporting her confidently. “Your birthday was
yesterday? That deserves some cake or something. Some kind of
celebration.” Heat spread through her from his touch, and
impulsively s he placed her hand on his forearm and
leaned forward, intending to brush her lips across his
cheek.
“ Happy birth— ” she began, interrupted when he turned his head and
pressed his lips to hers. Her eyes dipped closed of their
own volition, and her small gasp of surprise must have seemed an
invitation because his mouth opened, velvet tongue boldly trailing
across her bottom lip. The kiss ended slowly, Hurley pressing his
lips to hers twice, gently working her mouth before sliding his
cheek next to hers. Bad idea , she thought. Very bad idea. Terrible idea. Breathlessly
she finished, “—day.”
She felt the supporting arm slide further
around her back as his other hand came up, sweeping the hair off
her neck so he could dust kisses up the column of her throat.
“Mmmm.” The noise he made in the back of his throat was low and sexy, and she couldn’t stop the shiver that
rolled through her again. “Thank you,” he murmured,
kissing the hinge of her jaw — “for the” — moving back to nip her earlobe — “birthday” — lips back to her jaw, trailing
along it as he kissed up to her mouth — “wishes.”
The heat from his hands traveled up and down
her arms, tingles of sensation trailing the path of his palms where
they moved over her skin. Wanting more, she arched her neck, and he accepted the silent invitation, pressing
hard, open-mouthed kisses along her jaw and
back up to her mouth. This time, when his
tongue teased along her lips, she opened to
him, feeling that same shiver work its way up her spine as he swept
into her mouth, possessing her in a way that made her wet between
her legs. Dios . Desire curling in her belly, inner muscles
clenching down on emptiness. Lips working, caressing her mouth, he
tangled their tongues together, and she felt
his hands shifting her closer as the kiss deepened, the taste of
him flooding her senses.
Her hands were winding helplessly, one
twisted in his shirt, trying to pull him closer, and the other
twined in his hair, threading through and cupping the back of his
head. Want him . Pulling him against her body