36

36

STACEY

We grab a burger, chips and a drink from a fast-food place. We haven’t spoken in the two hours since we left the hotel. He grabs my hand while we walk through the mall to one of the stores but quickly drops it when he realises his mistake.

I scowl at him when he asks if I want anything while walking past clothes that would take me years to afford.

When Kyle calls me to tell me Nora is going in for her annual scan on her liver, Kade keeps his eyes on me, smoking a cigarette.

I want to go back to the room, alone, and lie in bed. I want to get away from this imbecile who just did about four one-eighties in his mood.

Him and Lu really are twins. Moody bastards.

“Do we need to go anywhere else?”

Kade nods once.

“Where?”

“You’ll see,” is his response.

“I’ve had better conversations with your grandmother,” I say, intentionally shouldering him as we walk. “And that’s saying something.”

We get in another Uber, and Kade’s knee bumps mine. I glance at him, but he’s staring out the window. “Just pull in here.”

My eyes widen when I see where we are. “No.”

“Yes.” He gets out and pulls my door open. “Come on.”

“No.”

He laughs and grabs my hand, yanking me out and thanking the driver. “Stop being a shitebag.”

I point at the sign. “I’m not going on a motorbike!”

Kade ignores me and saunters into the building, fingers wrapped around my wrist lightly. I sit at the reception in a huff, debating whether I should run now or pretend he kidnapped me.

To my horror, he buys one.

Buys. A motorbike. Outright.

Ten minutes later, he walks towards me with two helmets. “Let’s go.”

“Absolutely not.”

“I’ll throw you over my shoulder.”

Disregarding the building terror in my gut, I get up and walk towards the back, through the doors and into the car park, where a black motorbike sits, waiting to end my life.

“Jesus, Kade. No. I’m not going on that huge thing! It will honestly kill me.”

He gives me a look. “Are we still talking about the bike?”

“Shut up.”

The worker chuckles, arms folded and leaning against the wall. “Our most recent model. And most expensive.”

I scowl at Kade. “Stop throwing money around.”

He shakes his head and nods to the death trap. “Get on the bike.”

“No,” I reply, my heart beginning to race as he approaches me, lifting his hand and tucking a loose strand of hair behind my ear.

“Stop that.” I knock his touch away. “I’ll get a ride back to the hotel.”

“You either climb on or I bend you over it.”

He’s serious. The heated look in his eyes is enough to make my pussy instantly wet.

“I’m happy with both. You choose.”

The man behind us clears his throat and dismisses himself.

“What will it be then, Stacey?”

I force a snort. “Neither are realistic.”

“If you think I won’t pull off your little black dress and make it realistic, you’re wrong.”

My inner walls clench on nothing but the image of him doing just that. I swallow hard, the pulse in my neck fluttering, and I try to appear unaffected. I wet my lips with my tongue and note his gaze dropping to my mouth. “There are cameras.”

He smirks. “You better get on the bike then.”

Idiot.

I know for a fact he means it too. If I tell him to bend me over, he will. Why is there a daring part of me that wants him to? We’d get caught and arrested for indecent exposure and public sexual acts, no doubt.

Not that we haven’t fucked in public.

When he sees I’ve given up the argument, he looks amused with himself and goes over to the bike, checking all the buttons or whatever it is that has his attention.

“Where are we going?”

He shrugs. “A drive. Somewhere to pass time.”

“Because you’re hiding from the she-devil?”

Kade glances up at me as he turns on the bike, the roar of the engine making me jump. My insides flip, and I’m not sure if I’m turned on or terrified. Maybe both.

“Exactly. Who are you hiding from?”

“Why do you do what you do?” I ask instead of replying as Kade hands me my helmet. “Like, the bad stuff and the… escorting.”

He rubs the back of his neck before pulling on his helmet, visor up. “The money?”

“Are you asking me or telling me?”

The stupid helmet won’t sit right, and when I try for the fourth time, he steps towards me, taking it from my hands. “It’s good money. There’s nothing wrong with being a sex worker.”

“I never said there was. I’m a pole dancer, and we’re always sexualised. I’d never shame someone for their profession.”

He doesn’t respond, loosening the straps. His dark lashes are so long and thick. I stare at them, at his brows and the small bruise on his cheek.

Let me fucking kiss you.

I wanted him to kiss me. But it would be too complicated if I let him. My feelings are still there – he’s just passing time.

I gulp. I was his first, and at one point, he told me he couldn’t imagine ever fucking anyone else. We were in love. We had a future, and we were going to make Luciella understand what we meant to each other. No one could come between us. Ever.

Then someone did.

“How did you get involved in that line of work?” Please, just tell me. I need to understand. I want to understand. “Is that why you were trained to use a gun?”

“I was trained to use a lot of weapons.” He reaches up behind me and pulls at my ponytail until it’s loose, wrapping the band around his wrist. Kade runs his fingers through my hair, messy in my face. His tone is soft. “Stop asking questions.”

“When did it start?”

“Why did you fuck him?”

I stare at him, wide-eyed. “I… I…” Say it, Stacey. Say it!

Kade shakes his head at my silence. “Exactly. Stop asking me questions and I won’t ask you.”

I lower my gaze. “I just want to understand.”

The helmet fits over my head perfectly now, and he fastens the clip at my chin. His closeness is making butterflies go wild, and I want to hug him. I have the sudden, annoying urge to crush my body into his in an embrace.

I want to cry – to sob in his arms.

Kade steps back, his eyes tracing my body, from my dress to my shoes and then up to the large helmet. “You don’t need to understand. It’s my life now.”

“Do you enjoy it? You can at least tell me if you’re happy.”

Lips thinning, he pulls his visor down then throws his long leg over the bike and taps the seat behind him. “Get on.”

“Will you ever quit?”

He sighs. “Come on, Stacey. It’s been two years. There’s no reason for you to know any of this.”

I cross my arms. “Can you quit?”

His head drops in annoyance. “It’s very improbable that the opportunity to walk away comes up. Now, get on, unless you want the second option? Fucking you in only a helmet sounds hot.”

I stand beside the bike. “But—”

He hits my visor, and it closes over my face, ending the conversation. He can’t see through the tint, but I’m narrowing my eyes at him as he holds out his hand to help me climb on behind him.

Kade looks over his shoulder. “The helmets are hooked up to the bike’s Bluetooth. Connect your phone.”

“Why would I do that?”

I can tell he’s raising a brow. “Music.”

“While you’re driving?” I ask, mortified. “No! You need to concentrate.”

“Stop being annoying. I’ve shot guns while driving and have never even come close to crashing.”

I slap his shoulder. “You did what? And what if you go too fast and I can’t hold on and fall off?”

The bike vibrates under me as he kicks the stand. He raises his voice so I can hear. “Just connect your fucking phone, Stacey.”

I lean back and pull my phone out. “You know, Base shouldn’t be calling Luciella Moodypants when she has you as a brother.” The helmet beeps as my Bluetooth connects and I open my music playlist. “You’re by far the moodiest person I’ve ever met,” I say under my breath.

“I heard that,” he replies, his voice now echoing in my helmet.

Of course.“Just when I thought I’d get some peace from you.”

I don’t hear what he replies as “4runner” by Brenn! starts playing.

He reaches behind him and takes my arms, snaking them around him. “Hold tight, Freckles.”

I shriek as he takes off, and I decide that this will be my last day on earth. He’s going far too fast, and I think I might fly off.

The bike dips to the side as he takes a right, and I’m sure I’m about to lose a kneecap.

“I’m scared,” I admit, screwing my eyes shut on a scream as he pushes forward through traffic. “Slow down!”

“Every time you scream, I’ll go faster.”

“Fuck you!” I yell over the music. “Fucking fuck you, Kade Mitchell!”

I hear the smile as he says, “I will as soon as we stop.”

“I’m going to kill you.”

He laughs again.

I wrap my arms around him tighter as he sets off to the right, the wind whipping my hair around us. He zips to the side more, so close to hitting the ground, and I find myself gripping his top.

“I’m so cold,” I gasp.

Kade quickly slows down and pulls off to the side. “You should’ve said.” The helmet comes off, then he pulls off his hoodie and gives me it. “Here.”

“Won’t you get cold?”

He shakes his head as he puts the helmet back on.

Kade helps me get my helmet off and pulls the hoodie over me before putting the helmet back on. I sigh at the warmth. I feel him around me. My helmet rests against his back as he starts off, going at a steady pace before he speeds up, and my pulse spikes from the adrenaline.

I keep my eyes open this time, enjoying it, the view around us merging until it becomes a mass of lights and colours, and I find myself smiling.

I’m smiling so hard my face hurts.

He slows as we approach a stop sign and waits for cars to pass at the intersection. “I heard you giggle, Freckles. I think you secretly like it.”

“I did not,” I say through a grin, my arms still around him, even though we’re not moving. “I coughed.”

“That’s a lie.”

My leg tenses as he reaches back, circling his fingers around my thigh and sending flutters everywhere. Waiting. The lights are still red, and a huge part of me wants them to stay red.

“Your cough sounds like you have asthma.”

I swallow as his thumb moves against my leg. “Shut up.”

He chuckles deeply.

The lights turn green, and his touch vanishes as we set off once more.

We eventually stop near a beach, where the sun is nearly gone behind the sea. Orange, red and yellow hues dance together as people still surf, a group of underage teenagers drink around a fire, music playing on a speaker, and a couple sit in the sand, watching the sky like us.

We keep our helmets on, and when Kade’s hand finds my leg again, I keep my arms around him. A few minutes go by before I speak. “I don’t want to go home anytime soon.”

“You want to go somewhere else?” he asks, and when I nod, we sit for another ten minutes, comfortably, before he drives us to a quiet pier.

The bike moves over the wood until we come to a stop between loads of boats. He kicks the stand out. We’re invisible. No one can see us. Was that his plan? Is he going to try to fuck me here?

Is this all about sex?

“Get off,” he orders me, and I frown in confusion.

When I don’t move, he says, “Sit in front of me.”

Deftones is playing through the helmets, a band I’ve noticed Kade’s also been listening to a lot recently. He helps me off, and before I can ask what’s going on, he lifts me up and sits me in front of him, so we’re face to face. He shifts back, so it’s more comfortable, my legs draped over his.

He flips his visor open, then mine, his eyes as breath-taking as ever. “You want to sit here for a while?”

I bite my lip, the bike warm beneath me. “And do what?”

“I can think of a few things.”

I tilt my head as he reaches up and unclips my helmet, then pulls it off. It drops on the pier beneath us, the hoodie following. We can still hear the music.

The breeze hits my skin, but that’s not the reason for my hard nipples or the shivers running up my spine. His touch is electrifying.

“Are you going to let me kiss you yet?”

I shake my head, and Kade huffs.

My heart pounds in my chest as he traces his finger along my collarbone then hooks it under one of my dress straps and pulls it down my arm. The other follows. He unclips my bra and throws it aside.

The cold air hits my breasts, and Kade grazes his fingers over them both until I’m panting.

He’s hard.

Is it even possible to have sex in this position?

“There are so many things I want to do to you right now. I don’t think I can wait until we get back to the room.”

My breath hitches as one hand cups my breast, caressing it as his thumb rubs over my nipple, his other hand sliding up my bare thigh. “What are you going to do to me?”

Kade looks at me with a dark, hooded gaze. “Everything.”

The bike stays steady as Kade moves aside my underwear to feel how soaked I am.

My head drops back as he circles his thumb on my clit, pulling his helmet off so he can capture a nipple in his mouth. It lasts seconds before he tugs it between his teeth and draws back, sliding me fully into his lap.

I grind against his cock, and my lungs stutter from the sensation. He snakes an arm around the small of my back to help me move against him.

Then Kade halts me by grabbing my hip, shifting me as he frees his cock and positions me above him, crowning my entrance.

He pauses. “Are you on birth control?”

My eyes go wide. “Now you’re asking? You’ve cum in me like five times in the past ten days.”

“Are you though?”

I nod, shivering as he rubs the head of his cock up and down my pussy. “I’m on the pill.”

“You got pregnant last time on the pill,” he says, pulling me down and sinking deep, making me bite my lip to stop from moaning out in the open. We might not be able to be seen, but someone might hear us. “Who’s to say it won’t happen again?”

“It won’t.”

“Fuck,” he mutters as I slowly roll into him, taking control while he keeps us upright on the motorbike. “I love how responsive you are to me.”

Whimpering, I take more of his length. “It’s a hot setting – don’t let it get to your head.”

He releases a breathy laugh. “Sure, Freckles.”

I gasp as he thrusts upwards to meet my movements.

“Fuck me faster,” he demands.

I lean forward, my spine tingling, toes curling as I ride him, hitting that sensitive spot that has me seeing stars already. “Kade,” I breathe. His mouth bumps against mine, and I pull back a touch.

Our lips are so close, we’re breathing the same air. His gaze drops to my mouth, and I dig my teeth into my bottom lip.

“Kiss me,” he says. “If you want me to beg, then I’ll fucking beg you to kiss me, Stacey. Please.” The last word is a whisper.

My fingers brush through his hair as I contemplate pressing my lips to his. Just once. I can kiss him once.

“Am I interrupting?”

We flinch and abruptly pull away from each other, Kade’s cock slipping free, and he yanks up my dress to conceal my breasts. He shoves his erection away and stands, but he freezes when he turns around.

“You’re a hard man to find, Kade Mitchell. I thought you were smart though. You’re supposed to use your untraceable bank account when you don’t want to be found, remember?” the man says.

He’s Scottish, and I know his face from somewhere.

“Do you want to introduce me to your lady friend?”

I clamber off the bike and grab Kade’s hoodie, holding it to my body. My heart hammers in my chest, my building high completely gone.

The tall, older man reaches his hand out. “Archie Sawyer. I’m pleased to meet you. What’s your name?”

“Don’t speak to her,” Kade snaps, pulling me behind him. “What the fuck do you want?”

Archie hums. “Right now, I want to know who has your attention more than your work. Who is she?”

Kade is silent.

“She’s a beautiful little thing,” he says. “Is she a client?”

When he tries to move around Kade, Kade stops him with a hand to his chest – walks him back a few steps then shoves him. “Stay the fuck away from her.”

“Interesting.”

My body trembles as he looks intently at me then glances at Kade.

“I’ll leave you two to it. I highly suggest you turn on your phone, so I don’t need to have my men track you down again.”

He turns away from us, takes a few steps and stops. But then he lifts his phone. Kade isn’t fast enough to stand in the way when he takes a picture of me.

The man stares at his screen then peers up at me and winks, before slowly making his way back to a black SUV parked near the pier.

“We need to go,” Kade bursts out as the car drives off. He’s panicking as he lifts me onto the bike and straps my helmet into place. “I’ve put you in so much danger. I’m sorry.”