CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX Sweet Re

Rebel—

I called Brayden from the airport when I changed planes and gave him my flight number. He was shocked at first, and maybe even a little pissed I’d risked my father’s wrath. But that didn’t last more than a moment before I could hear the smile in his voice and the excitement that he’d be seeing me in mere hours.

When I stride off the jetway into the terminal and follow the crowd of disembarking passengers making their way toward baggage claim, my stomach is in knots. I can’t help wondering if Blood will keep my secret and for how long, but I’m also filled with excitement. In a matter of moments, I’m going to see my love again. I’m bursting with eagerness and fighting the urge to run through the airport.

The crowd is funneled toward a set of escalators that take us down a level. Slowly, the lower level comes into view, and I see a pair of boots and jeans. He’s standing there with a dozen red roses in his hand, searching every face coming down the escalator, and I see the moment he finds me. His face lights up with the biggest smile I’ve ever seen.

My heart melts at the sight of him, and I can’t wait to get to him, willing the escalator to hurry as it carries me to him. I dash off the last step and into his arms, and it’s like I’m whole again. We clutch each other for a long time, rocking and fusing into one being again, then finally his mouth finds mine, and we kiss. I don’t want to stop, but eventually, a crowd starts to applaud and whistle around us, and we break apart, laughing.

“For you, my love.” Brayden hands me the flowers, and I dip my head, breathing in the sweet scent.

“Thank you. They’re lovely.”

“I can’t believe you’re really here,” he murmurs. “It’s like a dream.”

“I couldn’t take it another day. I had to be with you,” I whisper.

He nods. “I’ve felt the same way. It’s been hell being apart from you. Why didn’t you tell me you were coming when you bought the plane ticket?”

“I didn’t want you to stop me.”

People are moving around us like a stream around a rock.

Brayden puts his arm around my shoulders and turns me toward the exit. “Come on. Let’s get out of here.”

He ushers me to the parking garage and to a pickup truck.

“Is this yours?” I ask when he pulls the passenger door open for me.

“Yes, ma’am.”

I climb inside, and he leans to give me another kiss, then tosses my bag in the truck bed.

He drives one-handed all the way to his place, keeping his other hand laced with mine.

When we turn in the trailer park where he told me he lives, I take it all in. It’s neat and well kept, and even the landscaping is gorgeous. I see a lot of cars that look like they belong to an older demographic and wonder what they think of their biker neighbor.

Brayden slows and stops in front of a single-wide on the right.

“Shit,” he mutters under his breath, and I follow his gaze to the little red Chevy Sonic hatchback parked in his drive. A sexy girl walks out, holding her purse and keys, her hair tied up in a handkerchief.

“Who’s that?”

“Girl who cleans my place.” He gives me a bashful grin. “It was a wreck. I didn’t want you to see it that way, so I called in a favor, and she came right over. Plus, I promised her an extra hundred.” He pulls on his door handle. “Wait here. Let me pay her.”

“You didn’t have to do that for me,” I say.

“Oh, yeah, I did. Believe me, you’ll be happy I didn’t leave it a mess.”

I watch his sexy ass as he strolls toward the girl and pulls some money from his wallet. She climbs in her car and backs out, waggling her fingers in a wave as she drives off.

Brayden climbs in the truck and swings it into the drive, then grabs my bag and opens my door for me. It takes me right back to the night we met.

He leads me inside, and I take in the place. It smells fresh and clean and looks spotless. We’re barely in the door when he drops my bag, sets the roses on a nearby table, and throws me over his shoulder.

I squeal as he carries me through the place to the bedroom, setting me at the foot of the freshly made bed.

There’s a gleam in his eyes, and I grin.

“Turn around and bend over,” he says in a low, growly voice, his gaze burning hot into mine.

Oh, how long I’ve waited to see that look again. My lips part, and my breathing comes faster.

“Bend over, pretty girl.”

I suddenly feel shy, like it’s our first time, but I give him what he wants. What we both want. I bend over the foot of the bed and tilt my ass in the air.

He yanks down my yoga pants, the ones that had been so comfortable on the plane, taking my panties with them. Then he flips the tail of my shirt, exposing me to his hungry gaze.

“There’s that sweet ass I’ve dreamt about for weeks. Up on your toes, baby. I want to see those firm, round cheeks thrust high for me.”

I do as he commands.

“That’s my girl. Now spread your legs.”

I move my feet apart as far as my leggings will allow. He sees my predicament and bends to slip off my shoes and remove my leggings and panties. Then he taps my inner ankle, indicating for me to spread farther. I feel the cool air on my exposed wet pussy.

Glancing over my shoulder, I see his gaze latch onto what’s now revealed to him. He licks his lips, and his hands close over my hips. I shiver in anticipation.

“Fuck, Rebel, my cock is throbbing and hard as steel for you.” He unzips his pants and takes his erection in his hand, then rubs it along my cheeks and crack. “You feel that, baby? You feel how hard I am for you?”

“Yes,” I moan, and press against him, seeking it out, wanting more. His cock pulses against my body, and he smacks my ass cheek with his hand, making me jump and gasp.

“I love to see that jiggle for me.”

I turn to look at him, and those hungry eyes of his suck me under. I’m desperate for him to touch me. “Please, Brayden.”

“Anything you want. I can’t deny you, Rebel,” he says and sinks into me, giving me every inch of him, and my mouth forms a perfect O, my lids drifting closed.

He wraps an arm around my waist and his other hand dips between my legs, his long fingers searching for my clit. When he finds it, he rubs lazy circles around it until I’m whimpering and writhing and begging for more.

I try to urge him on, rocking against him, but he stays in me unmoving, except for those fingers on my clit that are driving me wild. And somehow, it’s all that more erotic as he holds me locked in place and gives me all the time I need to climb toward orgasm. I can tell it’s going to be huge, because the waves of pleasure are getting bigger and bigger.

Once he has me so worked up he must know I’m about to explode, he grabs my hips in his hands and fucks me, slowly at first, dragging it out, making me feel every inch of his cock as he draws it over my sensitive nerves.

God, that’s good, but I’m greedy. I wriggle my hips, demanding more intensity.

His hands leave my hips and skate up my back, shoving my bra up until my breasts pop into his waiting hands. He teases and pinches my nipples, and I skyrocket into the heavens, ecstasy flooding over me as he pounds into me, then locks his body and comes hard, calling my name.

He collapses against me, pinning my body to the bed. I feel his hand in my hair, pushing my dark locks to the side. He finds my spine with his mouth and presses soft kisses that trail up to my nape, then pulls my shirt and bra the rest of the way off.

“I want to hold your naked body against me tonight,” he whispers, going up on a knee. Hooking an arm around my waist, he drags me up the bed to the pillows, and gathers me close to him.

I wrap my arm around his waist; his skin is slick with sweat, but I don’t care. I love the feel of him. I can’t get enough of just touching him.

There’s so much we need to talk about, but I fall exhausted into sleep, just so relieved to be where I belong.

When I awaken and move my stiff muscles, I see Brayden’s eyes shining in the moonlight pouring through the sheer curtains. He meets my gaze.

I’m hesitant to bring anything up that will disrupt the mood, but I need to know how he feels about what I’ve decided. Has he lain awake, worrying?

“I’m not going back,” I whisper, and his body tenses. I immediately fear the worst. He doesn’t want me out here, at least not permanently. Maybe I was a fling after all, like Blood and my mother tried to warn me.

I scramble from the bed and take the sheet with me, wrapping myself in it like armor. I move to the window and stare out at the starry night sky.

Brayden follows, his hands settling on my shoulders and pulling my back against his chest. “What’s wrong, baby?”

“You don’t want me to stay, do you?”

“Of course, I do.”

“Why didn’t you say it?”

“Because I know this won’t be tolerated by our fathers. Does your father even know you’re here?”

I shake my head. “I didn’t want anyone trying to stop me. The only person I told was Blood, and only because he came by the garage just as I was leaving.”

“Won’t he tell Shades?”

“He promised me he wouldn’t say anything unless my father asked him outright.”

“What about your mom? Where will everyone think you’ve gone?”

“I asked her to watch Daisy while I spent the weekend with my girlfriends. That made her happy. She knows how depressed I’ve been since you left. Maybe she thinks I’m getting over it.” I shrug. “Anyway, she won’t look for me until Monday.”

“What happens when Monday comes around?”

“I was hoping you’d help me figure that out.”

He strokes my upper arms. “I’ve considered giving up my patch for you and running away.”

His revelation, while noble, makes me sad, and I feel my heart sink like a stone. “I don’t want to make you do that. I don’t want to be the reason you give up what you love. You’d come to resent me for it.”

“No, I wouldn’t.”

I shake my head. “That can’t be the answer, Brayden. I won’t allow it.”

He chuckles behind me. “Oh, you won’t allow it, huh?”

“No.”

“Okay. Fine. God, I swear there’s nothing I’d deny you.”

“I’m starting to wonder if this situation is hopeless,” I whisper.

He wraps his arms around me and presses his cheek to mine. “We’ll figure it out. I swear it to you, babe. Now come back to bed. I’m not done with this sweet body yet.”

The next morning, I’m snuggled against Brayden’s warm chest, having gotten the best night of sleep I’ve had since he left. I’m so relaxed, I don’t want to move. Birds are chirping outside, and somewhere in the distance, someone is mowing their lawn.

It’s calming, listening to that mundane sound and knowing there’s nowhere we have to be. At least, I hope there isn’t. I never even bothered to ask Brayden about that.

I’m totally relaxed and content to listen to Brayden’s heart beating under my ear and feel the rhythmic rise and fall of his chest.

All that is broken by the unmistakable sound of a couple of Harley engines approaching from the road.