Page 31 of Ironside
Turning my head, I tilted my chin up to look at him.
“So, what can you read about me right now?”
Ironside shifted to fully face me, leaning in, searching my gaze with that all-consuming, unwavering intensity that never failed to make me flustered. I wasn’t used to beingseenlike this so directly, so intensely and intimately.
“It looks to me,” he mused. “Like you’re ready to go home.”
I shook my head.
“Nope. I’m having fun and I don’t want this to end yet.”
He chuckled.
“That’s not what I meant, petal.”
It took a split second for me to grasp what he was saying.
“As in…spend the night with you?”
He took my hand, smoothing his thumb over my knuckles.
“Only if that’s what you want. There’s no rush.”
I chewed my lower lip, considering. In the back of my mind, I’d been thinking about it all week. For the past few days, I spent an hour or two with my dilators, hoping to be better prepared the next time we tried to have sex again.
Meeting his club. Going home with him. This was moving so much faster than I’d ever experienced with anyone else. I usually preferred to take things slow. But it seemed with Ironside, I was willing to race into everything at top speed.
“Well, you just read me like a book, didn’t you?” I said.
Ironside rumbled a soft laugh as he looped an arm around my shoulders, kissing my temple.
“I’ll text one of the boys to get your car and park it at the clubhouse overnight.”
He led me to his bike—a gorgeous Harley-Davidson, glossy black with chrome accents, and a hint of burgundy red, mirroring the same color palette in his tattoo sleeves. He buckled a helmet on my head, his knuckles grazing my throat as he worked.
I twisted my fingers into the worn, cracked leather of his cut, heart pounding with anticipation.
“Are you nervous?” he asked, flicking a quick glance up to meet my eyes.
“A little. Just because I’ve never been on a motorcycle before. But going home with you…” I shook my head. “I’m not nervous about that at all.”
“Good.”
Ironside pulled me close with a kiss that stole my breath away. I whimpered against his mouth, arching into him.
A wolf whistle split the air. Ironside and I broke apart to see Pretty Boy, Trooper, Brass, and Psycho clustered near a barbecue with beers in hand, elbowing each other and laughing as they pointed at us.
“Looks like the cranky old bachelor is finally changing his ways,” Trooper called, triumphant. “I’ll be making a fat wad of cash in no time!”
“Goddamn idiots,” Ironside muttered under his breath. “Ignore them, petal. Let’s get outta here.”
He climbed onto his bike and helped me to get settled behind him. I wrapped my arms around his middle, pressed up against his back. He gave the engine an ear-splitting roar before rolling out onto the road.
It was exhilarating to watch Juniper Creek fly by in a blur, the wind teasing at my skirt and biting at my cheeks. I felt like I had wings, soaring over the pavement. Ironside reached back and curved his hand into the crook behind my knee. With my thighs bracketing his hips, and my hands inside his cut, it felt just as close and intimate as sex, despite being fully clothed.
A few minutes later, Ironside pulled into the driveway of a cabin, nestled in an outcropping of thick pine trees. Large windows and a wraparound porch made the humble little cabin look spacious and roomy. Off to one side of the yard was a pond, with lawn chairs and a fire pit, creating a peaceful oasis shielded from the rest of the world.
Ironside had barely removed my helmet before he cupped the back of my neck, kissing me with a sweep of his tongue between my lips. My knees turned wobbly, all thoughts wiped from my mind.
