If he'd had a conscious, he'd have felt bad about what he was doing. He would have thought twice before picking the lock to her room, perfectly, so smoothly that no one would ever know he'd done it. He'd have felt bad rummaging through her things to look for a wallet, some identifying information. He'd have felt bad once he found the wallet and her ID and memorized the information on it. He'd have felt bad breaking into the safe, pulling down the duffel bag, and seeing what was inside. He'd have felt bad putting it back, putting everything back where it belonged, and leaving without a trace.
He would have felt bad about all those things, but he didn't. He just felt confident that he was about to come into a lot of money. If not from the Immortal Soulz, at least from that jackpot the girl was hiding in her room. She certainly didn't come by it honestly – and even if she had, who cared? Girls who hid huge bundles of cash in duffel bags in hotel safes weren't, generally, very interested in going to the cops to report missing money. Maybe he'd leave her a wad, if he was feeling generous. Maybe he should just take it now and hit the road …
But no, he knew it would be better to wait. If he played things right, he could get his pay from the Immortal Soulz and the girl's money. Then he'd be sitting real pretty.
In the meantime, he had her name and address. That was a good place to start. Hell, it was a great place to start. He hummed a little tune as he left the room, clicking the door softly behind him, and headed to his truck. He didn't know why it had suddenly come into his head, but he liked it.
"You ain't goin' nowhere," he sang softly to himself as he eased into the driver's seat and turned the key. He had a lot of digging to do that night.
As he headed down the town's only road and back towards the shack that was passing for his basecamp until the job was done, he kept an eye out for the telltale glint of a bike pulled off to the side of the road. He had a feeling that Reign had taken his sweetheart out on a little ride, and from the chemistry between the two he figured that ride was going to take quite an interesting turn once the girl had that engine between her knees …
14
Ten minutes after agreeing to Reign's pleas to join him on a bike ride, I was standing outside the bar, the cool desert air laying lightly on my shoulders. I was nervous, but not as piss-your-pants scared as I thought I'd be. I was holding a borrowed helmet in one hand, and wearing a borrowed leather jacket in the other.
Both had been borrowed from Honey, who had gotten significantly drunker in the time I'd been talking to Reign and who was more than excited to whip them out from behind the bar and present them to me.
She sure did like me a lot more when she was stumbling and slurring than she did when she was tending bar. But she wasn't a sloppy drunk, don't get that idea. She was only as drunk as everyone else in the bar, Reign and myself excluded. She'd come outside with us; the girl she'd been with earlier followed her like a silent shadow. I almost wanted to talk to the young thing, but she didn't seem very friendly anyway.
"When I first … .when I first got on a bike … shit, I was like … I'm gonna die! But then … then it was so fun, and really … really just fucking … something else, man, I tell you what it's … fuck, you're gonna love it," Honey was saying.
Reign had disappeared behind the bar; I heard the telltale sign of an engine kicking to life. Moments later, he arrived astride a bright, shining Harley, shimmering blue and almost throbbing with power. My heart clenched up like a fist. He somehow looked even more handsome with his helmet on, which was ridiculous since I couldn't even see his face.
He let the bike stall and beckoned me to come closer. I did, slowly, anxiously, rethinking my decision to go along for the (literal) ride. But now, with Honey staring at me, I felt even more compelled to go through with it; I still wanted her to like me, even if I didn't know why that would be something I wanted. I just knew that she'd probably start acting like a bitch again if I proved myself to be too cowardly to get on the back of a motorcycle.
And, dammit, I wanted to prove it to myself, too. Sleeping with Reign had been one thing; for one, I'd been drunk, which made it worlds easier. For another, that had been something my body wanted. But almost no part of me wanted to get onto the bike, except for a small but compelling voice in my head that wanted me to do everything. Just to try it. Just to see if I could. Just to prove that I wasn't a coward.
With my heart in my throat and my bladder threatening to empty itself at any moment, I swung one leg around the humming bike and planted myself into the passenger saddle. The bike was vibrating softly; I lifted up my feet and leaned forward, wrapping my arms around Reign. Even through the helmet, I could smell him, musky and delectable. With my body pressed tightly against his and the slightest shaking of the engine, I could already tell what one of the attractions of motorcycles was.
The engine kicked up again as Reign put it in gear, and the pleasant warmth that was spreading through me from the vibrations was quickly forgotten as I cried out. I wanted to stop this now, before it even started, my brain screaming as I realized that this was for real, not just play.
But my cries were swallowed up by the wind and the sound of the engine as we suddenly flew away from the bar, tires hitting the road with a gravelly thump, the roar of the bike surrounding us like four walls. The town melted away in an instant, it seemed; we couldn't possibly have been going the speed limit, but no one was around to give a damn.
As the road opened up into desert, with the black shadows of the mountains bleeding upwards into a star-filled night, I was awestruck by the feeling. It was scary – a little – but more than anything it was … free. It was like being let loose onto the world, like the first time your parents let you stay out all night, like turning 18. It was like winning the lotto: all your cares erased in an instant.
It was just me and the bike and Reign and the whole world of evening spread out like a feast before us. A feast made of miles and mountains and air flavored with sweet desert flowers. Even the battery ram of noise in my ears was a part of it. And the feeling between my legs …
Well, let's just say, I'd never used a vibrator but I could definitely see the appeal once I felt that thrumming between my thighs. My body shook slightly with the bike as my knees clenched harder around Reign's waist.
The sensation was half-painful, actually, or at least so intense that it blurred the line between pleasure and pain. I felt my hips moving slightly, gyrating against the saddle, as my cheeks flushed from the feeling. And it was so naughty, feeling myself grow aroused from the sensation, out there on the open road. I thought about what it would be like to be naked just then, nothing in between me and the vibrations, my hands exploring Reign's muscled chest from behind …
"Need a little break?" I heard Reign shout, and I realized just how hard I was gripping him. I was holding him like a toddler afraid to get into the pool.
"M … maybe," I shouted back, slightly embarrassed. We couldn't have been riding more than ten minutes, but I really was getting quite overwhelmed. I wanted a few minutes to cool down, in more ways than one. Of course, I should have known that cooling down was not in the cards for me that night.
Reign angled the bike off the road, and I experienced a few painful shocks to the tailbone as he slowed down, the bike bouncing slightly on the uneven ground. My body still tingled with excitement as he turned off the engine and removed his helmet. It was a moment still before I gathered the courage to unfurl my arms from around his waist and plant my feet back on the ground.
As I dismounted, the world seemed to shift and sway around me, a feeling I could remember vaguely from horseback riding as a young girl. My legs were wobbly and a subtle ache in my thighs mingled with a throbbing sensation in my pussy. A sensation that was far from unpleasant. As I pulled my own helmet off, shaking my long black hair out, I noticed the stars above us were spread out like thousands of twinkling Christmas lights. The nearly-full moon illuminated the dunes and distant shapes. I leaned against the bike and sighed deeply. Reign came to my side.
"So, what did you think of your first ride?" he said with a grin that told me he already knew my answer. I returned it with a grin of my own, wondering if he could see the fierce blush on my cheeks.
"It was … well, it was something, Reign," I admitted. "I mean … you were right … .it's like … it's not like anything else on earth!"
"Well, some things are similar," he said, his voice dropping slightly. The lower octave felt like a feather tickling my ear. I knew that voice already. I'd only known this guy a day, but that voice told me that I was going to get to know him even better by the time the next day dawned.