As if in slow motion, my gaze floats down the rest of the formation to my own kissing partner until our eyes are locked. Three years. It has been three years since Kal kissed me last. Three years of aching for our spark and only getting it, muted, in the arms of his men.
Why now? Why, when the very last thing I want to do is kiss him?
Sugar, that is the biggest lie you have told yourself in a long time.
Our eye contact breaks as he gives the crowd the attention they need. A friendly wave and congenial smile, his green eyes creasing at the corners.
Leather gloves cover the blood on his hands, and the shit in which he trods hides in the deep tread of his riding boots. His outward display of kinship with the community holds up pretty damn well.
The collective rev of their bikes pulls me out of my daze. All eyes in the formation turn to Vee, waiting for the signal. He holds up three tattooed fingers, then two. My focus jumps back to my lane just as Kal lifts his feet and rotates the twist-and-go throttle unique to electric bikes.
The roar coming from the rest of the motorcycles completely engulfs the whistle purring from his electric one. Closing my eyes and imagining he is someone else, I bend forward. It takes all of two seconds or less for Kal to get to me. Unexpectedly, though, something makes contact with the back of my head, and my eyes pop open wide. In a matter of a single blink, seemingly slowed in time, my mind processes what went wrong, or right, depending on whose point of view: Due to the type of motorcycle Kal has, a hog and sports hybrid, he was unable to get it up — heh — as easily as the other guys can.
Kal had let go of the handlebar with one hand to scoop it around my neck, pull my face in closer, and press our mouths together.
Unfortunately, his inability to get his back tire up as high as a full endo made it possible for him to bounce back down and still keep his mouth on mine.
Rough hand securing my neck and head and fingers weaving into my hair, Kal slowly slips his tongue between my lips and pulls me forward to bring our bodies closer.
It is physically impossible for me to pull away. Not just because he is holding me, but because I have been waiting. Waiting to feel all of him in a single kiss just one more time before I leave and we separate forever. When Kal kisses me, his soul pours out and overfills me, and my cup has been incredibly dry for way too long.
Our mouths separate and eyes lock. In the next heartbeat, Kal releases me, rides away, and everything comes rushing back into awareness all at once — the event, the drugs starting to settle in my system… and my achingly desperate physical needs.