She swallowed hard and gripped the helmet in her hands. Luca put his on and held out a hand to her. “Come on, baby. Ride with me.”
She pulled the helmet on, feeling ridiculous with the heavy thing balanced on her head. He pulled her closer and helped her strap it on, then tugged on her hand again so she was forced to either slide onto the bike or jump across to the other side.
“Can’t we take a car?” she asked, her heart already pounding in her throat.
Luca shook his head. “This is faster and I can take it places I can’t take a car. We want to lose the vultures, not lead them to where we’re going.”
He pulled on her arms and wrapped them around his waist. “Just hold on tight. You’ll be fine.”
Constance tightened her arms about him and leaned her face against his back. Hmm, this form of transportation did have its benefits, she’d say that much.
Luca kicked the bike on and revved the engine. It vibrated between her legs and Constance gasped, pressing her thighs closer to Luca. She couldn’t really hear him over the sound of the bike, but his laughter rumbled against her chest. Okay, so she could definitely learn to enjoy certain aspects of riding the thing.
He hit a button on a control dangling from the keychain and the garage door opened. “Hold on,” he yelled back to her.
Before she had a chance to respond, he released the throttle and they were off. She sucked in a breath, squeezed her eyes tight, and held on for dear life. Luca didn’t take it slow, either. He flew out of the garage and through the narrow space in the barely opened gate. He must have hit the button again once they were through because when she looked back, everything had started closing. He cranked a hard right onto the main road, and they were gone. She squeezed her eyes shut and held on for dear life.
After a second, once she realized they were still moving and had not died in a ball of twisted fiery metal, Constance opened her eyes and risked a glance behind them. Three of the cars that had been parked in front of the house were following them, photographers hanging out the windows of two of them while their fellows drove.
“There’s three of them following us!” she yelled to Luca.
He nodded and patted her hand, squeezing it tight. “Hold on!” he yelled back.
She renewed her grip on him and held on while he weaved in and out of traffic, gunning ahead when no one was in front of them and zooming around anyone who got in their way. The cars behind them kept up for a few minutes but gradually they began to drop back. They couldn’t weave around the other cars the way Luca could.
“We’re losing them!” she yelled, adrenaline rushing through her.
“Wahoo!” Luca shouted, giving the bike a little extra juice.
The motorcycle flew, pulling ahead of everyone else and finally leaving the congested, narrow streets of town behind them. Constance laughed, and shouted, “Wahoo!” along with him. Exhilaration pumped through her, igniting every cell in her body. The huge machine beneath her still vibrated with power and so did the man between her thighs. Her breath caught in her throat, a wave of desire rolling through her so strongly she moaned aloud.
She pressed closer to Luca. As always, he seemed to know exactly what she wanted. He reached a hand back, dragging it up her thigh, his nails lightly biting into her skin. She gasped again.
“How much farther?” she yelled at the vicinity of his ear.
“We’re almost there!”
Thank God, because if he didn’t touch her soon she might explode from the pressure building inside. She spread her legs wider, trying to get as close to him as she could without upsetting the delicate balance of the bike. She was wearing a sundress and they were flying over asphalt. The last thing in the world she wanted was to make him wreck, but if he couldn’t touch her just yet, maybe she could have a little fun with him. Carefully.
She let her hands trail down his belly until they skirted the band of his jeans. She knew the exact moment he realized what she was going to do. He sat up straighter, every muscle in his body that was pressed so tightly against her tensed and she was pretty sure he held his breath. His back no longer expanded and contrasted with each breath.
She let her hands dip farther until they found the hardening bulge straining against the seam of his jeans. She pressed against him, her fingers caressing the contours of his rigid length. The bike swerved slightly, and she stopped tormenting him so she could renew her death grip around his waist. Okay, so that had been a bad idea. Sort of. Excitement still thrummed through her. She’d never been so alive, so aware.
Luca turned the bike onto a narrow dirt path with trees overhanging so far it was almost impassable. He had to reduce the speed of the bike to a near crawl to get through the growth unscathed. He reached behind him and Constance gasped when his hand gripped her thigh, squeezing it and pulling it slightly over his own leg as far as he could. She draped herself around him, her hands reaching around to find him hard and straining for release.