She took his arm, deciding that going with him wherever would be way more fun than returning home for a nap. As he led her to the parking lot and pointed out his bike, her trepidation took root. This was a vehicle capable of reaching speeds just belowmach 1, after all, and the best she’d ever done on two wheels was ride back and forth from school until she was old enough for her parents to buy her a car. What if she fell off?
“It’s okay,” he broke into her thoughts. “You won’t fall off.”
She stared at him. Had she spoken out loud, or was he just that good at reading her mind? “If I do, I’m suing,” she warned him snippily.
He shrugged, patting down her helmet and making sure it was properly buckled. “Sure—ifyou survive.”
“Max!” she squealed, but he was already getting on, motioning to her to clamber on behind him.
“Hang on to me and don’t let go. When I lean, you lean. You’ll get the hang of it, I promise.”
She began trying to find excuses. “I can’t go far.”
“We won’t.”
“I can’t be out late.”
“You won’t be.”
“I promised to take the kids down to the beach tomorrow. I’m going to need to get home early enough to rest.”
“Sienna,” he said, a paragon of amused patience. He twisted to look at her, sitting anxiously behind him and clinging to his jacket like a limpet. He pressed a kiss onto her lips, and before he turned around again, said, “Hold me tight.”
Then the wicked machine between their legs roared, and they were off. The first few minutes were probably the most terrifying of her life, as streets and buildings and pedestrians began to flit by. She tried praying, but couldn’t remember any words. So, she switched to incoherent entreaties to any deity that might be listening, that she would arrive wherever this man was taking her, intact and in one piece.
And then she began to notice things: the way the wind whipped at the tips of her hair protruding below the edge of the helmet, making it flow backwards. The way the warmth of his chest permeated her body, even through the leathers that he wore. The way her chin fit perfectly into the crook of the back of his neck. The way he smelled.
The purr of the bike became a whispered song, echoed through the vibrations between her legs. She pressed down against the seat experimentally, feeling the thrum, discovering that the feeling was arousing. Her body woke up, assailed on all sides by many stimuli.
She squeezed her eyes shut, and experimentally pushed her pelvis down again, and was rewarded by a sharp spear of pleasure.
This was good.
Surreptitiously, she began pressing down and easing up, over and over, until her mind was completely focused on the hum between her legs, and the way the vibrations of the engine were transferred within her body, down through her legs and up through her torso. Her excitement climbed, and she squeezed the leather of Max’s jacket between her fingers, wishing her chest was bare—or his back, so she could feel much more. The muscles of her thighs strained, and to her astonishment, she discovered that she was almost there….
“Were here,” he announced, his voice loud in her ear, and she opened her eyes to discover that he had slowed drastically outside of a large walled space that looked like an amusement park. Beyond the walls she could see the tops of tents, a Ferris wheel and a roller coaster.
It took her a while to overcome both her shock and disappointment: shock at what she had been trying to do and disappointment at the fact that she’d failed.
He switched off the bike and put the kickstand down, then removed his helmet. Peering at her. “You, okay?”
She took her helmet off, too, and from the look in his eyes she knew that her face was deeply flushed, pupils dilated in excitement.
“I see you enjoyed the ride,” he purred, in a way that implied he knew exactly how much she’d enjoyed it.
Sienna flushed even deeper. “Once in a lifetime experience,” she answered, flustered.
“Doesn’t have to be.”
He helped her off, and they looked at the amusement park. It was locked up tight, which was surprising because it was summer and most of the time they would be teeming with holidaymakers.
“It’s open on Saturdays and Sundays. They close on Mondays to give employees a break. Deep cleaning, minor repairs, that sort of thing.”
“Shoot.” To her surprise, she was a bit disappointed. She hadn’t been to an amusement park in years. “Maybe another evening.”
But Max was striding towards the main gates as if he didn’t have a care. She hurried after him. “What are you doing?”
He was already clambering up the fence, agile and swift. “Breaking and entering, obviously.”