The excitement and buzz she’d initially felt were transforming into a feeling of nostalgia, and when the sparkle in her eyes started to disappear, I could see the moment she remembered why this was only a memory and not something that she continued to do.
“I didn’t know you rode horses,” I responded, moving in closer to her, my chest pressed softly against her back in a show of support. I didn’t want to push her to talk about something that obviously wasn’t an entirely pleasant memory, but I wanted her to know I was right here for her if she needed me.
“My horse, Delilah, she got spooked one day when we came across someone walking their dogs on the trail,” she recalled quietly. Her hand reached back, her fingers unconsciously brushing across my jeans in circles while she continued to stare down at the river trail below us. “She threw me off, and I hit my head on a rock. There was blood, and an air ambulance, and I stayed in the hospital for a few days.”
I felt the muscles in my body tighten at the thought of Meyah getting hurt, even if she was just a little girl at the time. “It’s understandable that you wouldn’t have wanted to get back on a horse after that,” I reassured her, but she shook her head.
“No. I was ready to go riding again the week after,” she argued. “I missed my friends, and I missed Delilah. I’d seen people thrown off their horses before. Sometimes you get hurt, other times you just laugh it off and get back on. I didn’t want to lose something I loved so much, so I was ready just to suck it up and get back on.”
She turned to face me, her body slumped and defeated.
“Okay… I’m confused then. Why don’t you ride anymore?”
“My mom,” she growled, her brow tightening into a scowl. “She wouldn’t let me ride anymore. She said it was too dangerous. That I could get really hurt.” Suddenly she pulled away from me kicking at the gravel with her feet and sending it flying.
“Hey, hey!” I called, chasing after her and grabbing hold of her arm. “I’m not exactly looking at having my bike repainted because someone kicked a bunch of little stones at it. So if we could keep the flying rocks to a minimum,” I tried to joke, but I could see the sadness and agitation on her face.
“Sorry,” she murmured. “It’s just annoying, you know… I can’t do anything without my mom trying to pad me with cotton wool. I lost a lot of friends when I stopped riding. Until recently, I wasn’t allowed to hang out with Uncle Leo all that much. And she won’t let me go to any parties… even the ones with parents at them because she’s scared I’m going to become some kind of drug addict. Not that I get invited anymore anyway.”
I couldn’t stop the laughter that bubbled up and spilled out my mouth even though I knew she was truly hurt by how things were with the kids at school. At first, she looked horrified I found this so amusing, but the shocked look on her face soon transformed into a smile, and then the giggles started.
“I love how your mom will let you hang out at a biker clubhouse but thinks that it’s going to be some high school party that’s going to convert you to drugs,” I snorted in amusement.
She ran her fingers through her hair tossing it back away from her face before looking up at me with a wide grin. “Wow! I have some problems, right?” she confessed, shaking her head like she couldn’t believe this was happening right now.
“Trust me, you aren’t the only one,” I offered.
She threw her arms out wide and spun around, her thick, dark chocolate hair flying around her. “Maybe I should have made a list… things to do today that I know will piss off my mother. Any ideas?”
I smirked taking two large steps forward and sweeping her up into my arms mid-twirl. She screamed in a mixture of surprise and delight wrapping her legs around my waist and almost choking me as she clung tightly to my neck. I carried her back to my bike, one arm around her waist, the other holding up her perfectly round ass which I couldn’t help but squeeze while it was placed so perfectly.
She screamed again and swatted at my back with her hand. “Cut it out, you fiend!” She laughed.
The mixture of our laughter echoed like music through the dense forest around us. It was like the perfect symphony—my deep tone, her light tinkle swirling together with the rush of water and rustling of the leaves. It was just us alone, laughing, sharing stories about our past. Well, she was at least. I still wasn’t sure if I was ready to share one of my own.
I’d spent so long staying away from Meyah keeping her at arm's length and watching her from afar, I just wasn’t ready to let my failures taint this time I finally had with her.
Lifting her body higher, I threw my leg over my bike and sat down with Meyah facing me, her back to the handlebars and her legs hooked over mine. With her ass firmly on the seat, she finally loosened her death grip on me sitting back just slightly but keeping her fingers intertwined at the back of my neck.
“I’m pretty sure we can’t ride like this,” she whispered with a soft smile.
I raised my eyebrows. “I’m willing to give it a go if you are,” I teased with a smirk.
“Turn the key then,” she dared, evidently not realizing who she was dealing with. I reached behind her for the keys and started the motor. It rumbled to life beneath us, and I smirked as her eyes lit up in surprise.
Leaning forward, my lips brushed across her ear as I reached up and unhooked her hands from behind my neck. “I’m pretty sure we can add this to your list,” I suggested loud enough for her to hear over the bassy idle. Grabbing her thighs, I pulled her ass right up against my crotch before placing my hand on her stomach and sliding it up the center of her body, slowly forcing her to lay back until her head was lying between the handlebars.
I licked my lips as I stared down at her unable to keep my hands from tracing the waistband of her jeans and the way they rested low on her hips. With her body stretched out across my bike, her T-shirt was lifted, exposing a sliver of creamy, soft skin that was so perfect and damn untainted. “I think I’ve fucking died,” I muttered to myself, knowing she couldn’t hear me, but the way her stomach started moving with laughter told me she’d probably figured it out from the movement of my lips.
Placing my hands on her hips, I used my thumbs to draw gentle circles on her skin right on her hip bones and looked up, finding her watching me carefully with a warm smile. Her eyes brightened, and her smile grew wider when she pressed her hips down against me and gave them a little wiggle.
My cock twitched seeing the playful nature that was inside her. It was new to me to see her so beautifully free and not hiding herself. Meyah had always been somewhat of an addiction to me, the innocence and need to protect her was what drew me in. That damsel in distress bullshit had me obsessed with watching her like a fucking stalker, but it was all the little things I learned about her that kept me fascinated and made me want her more and more.
Like the way she chewed on the end of her pen while she was studying, or how she often hid her smile with her hand when she was sitting with a large group of people. The way she always put others first. The way she would blush when I walked into a room, and how no matter how hurt she was or the bullshit she went through at school, she always led with her heart on her sleeve.
Oh, and the way she handled a gun?
Jesus fucking Christ, that was sexy.