Page 9 of Challenge Me

You turned and stared at the empty passenger seat, so I appeared there, ready to defend art, legacy, and the dignity of my speakers. I expected irritation. Perhaps a lecture. Perhaps you would storm out in a huff and condemn me to another week of garage dust, but instead…

You smiled.

The realization moved through me hotter than fuel. You liked that. You liked me taking control. So I pushed it a little further.

“Move.”

Your brows shot up.

I did not give you time to decide whether to be offended. I reached for you, lifted you from the driver’s seat, and set you down in the passenger seat with as much care as my growing impatience allowed. You made a soft, indignant sound that would have been far more convincing if your heartbeat had not immediately betrayed you, skipping in excitement as my hands squeezed around you.

I took your place behind the wheel.

Not because I needed to, not exactly. I was the wheel. I was the engine. I was the body wrapped around us both.

But I wanted you to see me there.

Your heartbeat had changed. Faster now.

You were excited.

That excitement, faint as it was, spread to me like an infection. Intoxicating. Dangerous. I felt it in my engine, in my tires, in the shadows curling around the edges of the cabin.

I revved hard. The sound rolled out of me, deep and pleased and utterly indecent. You leaned back in the passenger seat, gaze fixed on me. Curious. Alert. Still pretending you might stop me if you wished to.

You did not stop me.

Between us, tension tightened like a spring.

I knew you wanted more. The way your eyes traced me gave you away. Over my hands, my mouth, the shadowy shape I wore for your sake, the body I made because humans preferred bodies even when they were sitting inside something far more intimate.

I could guess what you were thinking.

Not here.

Not in this garage, not beneath these ugly lights, surrounded by tools, lesson plans, and the distant echo of other people’s expectations.

You needed to be far away from the school, from your responsibilities.

My engine roared.

The tires squealed against concrete as I rolled forward, slow enough to give you one final chance to object, fast enough that we both knew you would not.

Your hand curled around the edge of the seat, and your breathing changed, hitching and quick.

Good.

Tonight, I was going to make us both feel young again.

Chapter Four

Lai

Tonight, I was going to let chaos consume me. Maybe it was Al’s turn to bail me out for once–not that I was stupid enough to get caught. There was a difference between recklessness and incompetence, and I had always taken pride in knowing where that line was.

One night of surrendering to my element instead of pretending I was above it. Fuck it, right? One night.

The road unspooled ahead of Ghost and me, black and gleaming. The manor had disappeared behind us miles ago.