Sly (Dragon Riders MC Book 5) Read online

  With my hair almost done air-drying, I threw open the door of my closet. I’d hung up a few specific items that needed to come out of my bags, and I wanted to wear one of the dresses this evening. Even though I was almost convinced I’d be on the back of a motorcycle, I still wanted to wear something that would knock his socks off.

  But did I go trashy or classy?

  “Classyyyyy,” I hissed.

  I reached for the off-shouldered navy dress with white polka dots. I pulled out my matching navy heels with a small white bow on the backs of the heels and I quickly threw the clothes on. I fluffed my hair out before deciding to pin it up, so it wouldn’t get in my face while we were riding around. And after splashing on a bit of neutral makeup—complete with lip gloss—I smoothed my hands down my dress.

  “You look like a million bucks,” I whispered.

  I grabbed my purse and walked out into the living room, peeking out the window every so often. Even though I knew I’d hear the bike Sly pulled up in, I couldn't help but watch out for his presence. I’d been thinking about him all week. Fantasizing about what might happen between the two of us tonight. What would he wear? Where would we go? What kinds of trouble might I get into with him?

  Just don’t compromise Ben’s job.

  “Or talk about him at all,” I murmured to myself.

  When I heard that dull roar off in the distance, though, it ripped me away from my thoughts. Excitement rushed through my veins as my nipples puckered with need. I pressed my hands into them and rubbed a bit, trying to get them to warm up and go away. A shiver had filled my body. One of anticipation and worry, all wrapped together in one. My knees grew weak the closer the roar of that engine got. And when I saw a lean man on a bike pull up, I slipped out the front door and locked it behind me.

  Before meeting Sly outside.

  He slid his helmet off. “Well, I’ll be damned.”

  I grinned. “Hey there, yourself.”

  His eyes fell down my body. “You look like a million fucking bucks, you know that?”

  I walked up to him. “And you look very nice in leather.”

  He chuckled. “My specialty. Though, you stole my thunder on poker night.”

  I leaned against him. “Got a helmet for me, handsome?”

  He wrapped his arm around me. “I’ve got much more than that for you.”

  I thought he was going to kiss me, and he was so close I figured he would. His breath pulsed against my lips and it made me weak in my bones. But instead of kissing me, he simply smiled before he released me. And when he reached around to the back of his bike, a helmet came into view.

  A helmet he handed to me. “Can’t be too careful with precious cargo aboard.”

  I giggled. “My hero.”

  “Want me to put it on you?”

  I winked. “Always.”

  He chuckled as I held still, and he slid the helmet onto my head. But not before tucking my hair behind my ears and pushing it away from my shoulders. The care he took with me caught me off-guard. The way he easily slid the helmet onto my head and took the time to adjust the chinstrap boasted of a calm, a commitment, and a care I wouldn’t have expected from a man like himself.

  “There. Should be good now,” Sly said.

  I smiled, even though he couldn’t see it. “Thank you.”

  He scooted up. “Need help getting on?”

  I threw my leg over the bike. “Nah. I got it.”

  He chuckled. “A woman after my own heart. Make sure to hang on tight now, all right?”

  I threaded my arms around his waist. “Trust me, I don’t plan on letting go.”

  With a rev of his engine and a push of his feet, we were off. I clung to his leather jacket like a bottom-feeder to the ocean floor. I’d never been on the back of a bike before, but I tried not to show it. I tried not to laugh every time we took a sharp turn or squeal every time he sped up. If my brother was infiltrating this crew and riding a bike of his own, I had to make all of this look as natural as possible.

  Even though it was the most unnatural thing for me in the entire world.

  Once we hit the open road, though, I settled my head against Sly’s back. I couldn't believe how hot he had been when he first pulled up, especially in this leather jacket. And the tight, dark-wash jeans he wore? Left literally nothing to the imagination. And it gave me a great view of something I wanted to play around with later. Not to mention, the white t-shirt he wore. It clung to his chest and made me want to rip the damn thing off him just to see what it hid with such effort and might.

  Maybe if I played my cards right, I’d be able to find out firsthand.

  “So, you thought about what you might want to do?” Sly asked.

  His voice popped up in my ear and I almost yelped at the shock.

  “Microphones in the helmet. Nice,” I said.

  “They’re pretty standard now. But yes.”

  I nodded. “Well, I figured maybe we’d do food?”

  “Any particular kind?”

  I shrugged. “Whatever you like. I’m not picky.”

  He chuckled. “All right. Well, know where you want to go?”

  “Can’t say I really care about that, either. I just don’t like Thai food.”

  “You and me both. I don’t like the texture of Thai food. Always feels—”

  “—overcooked?”

  He snickered. “Yep. That’s a very good way to put it.”

  It almost felt like we were bonding. “Is there a place we could go that had a porch we could sit out on and eat?”

  “A nature lover, huh?”

  “I like a good view sometimes, yeah.”

  “I suppose it’s only fair for you to have a good view if I’ve already got one.”

  I blushed furiously beneath that helmet. “Well, if we’re talking about those kinds of views, then I guess we’ll have to wait until dessert.”

  A hefty pause hung over both of us before Sly took the next left. I clung to him, trying my best not to fall off the back of the damn thing as he weaved his way through the woods. Where the hell was this man taking me? Where the fuck were we going? Did I say something wrong? Did I give my brother away somehow?

  Is he about to kill me?

  Then, I smelled it. I smelled it before I saw it and it made my mouth water. The smell of fish, oil, and fries melded together as we came upon a random-ass parking lot that sat right in front of a place called Seafood Fairy’s. The name itself was enough to make me curious. But when Sly pulled up to the drive-thru, I became even more confused.

  “We aren’t going inside?” I asked.

  But all he did was start ordering.

  “What can I get ya?” the person behind the speaker asked.

  “Uh, yeah, can I get a loaded number one with an extra order of shrimp?”

  “What to drink?”

  My eyes danced over the menu as Sly kept ordering. “Mello Yello, if you have it.”

  “Mountain Dew good?” the woman asked.

  “Sure, why not. And for the lady I’d like to get—”

  I flipped my visor up. “A number two, hold the slaw. Extra fries and extra tartar sauce. Also, an order of that shrimp sounds wonderful, as does an order of sweet corn hushpuppies. And an iced tea to drink.”

  “Anything for dessert?” the woman asked.

  “Not for me. Sly?”

  He peered over his shoulder at me in his helmet and I could’ve sworn I saw him grinning from beyond his flipped-up visor.

  “That’ll be it,” he said.

  “Pull around for your total.”

  We inched around and Sly paid for our food. Then, he got off and put the food and drinks into a compartment space right there on the back of his bike. I wanted to ask him where we were going to eat, but the surprise was half the fun. So, I simply clung to him as we sped away from the seafood joint and traveled deeper into the woods.

  I didn’t think we’d ever stop bouncing and riding over dirt, rocks, and twigs until the horizon
finally broke.

  And when I saw the pristine lake stretching out in front of us in the middle of a meadow, I gasped.

  “My God,” I breathed.

  “Give me a second. I got a blanket in my other compartment,” Sly said.

  I watched in awe as we parked by the immovable waters. Sly slid his helmet off and got off his bike, preparing a space for us to sit down and eat. He spread the blanket and got out our food as I watched him in awe, and I was in such shock at the subtle romance of it all that I had completely forgotten to take off my helmet.

  Until he walked over to me and eased it off my head.

  “That probably feels better, doesn’t it?” he asked.

  I snickered. “A picnic?”

  He stowed the helmets away. “Not a fan of them?”

  I shook my head quickly. “No, no, no. I love them. I just didn’t take you for a picnic person.”

  He chuckled. “There’s more to me than meets the eye. Just like there is with you.”

  And when his eyes met mine, I didn’t even hear the danger in his last response.

  Though, I should have.

  I should have taken it to heart. I should have cut things off right then and there. But instead, I took the hand he offered me as he helped me off the bike. I followed him over to the picnic blanket along the lake’s shoreline as we began to eat. And as I hummed and gasped over how absolutely incredible the food tasted, I felt Sly’s eyes on me the entire time.

  “I’m so sorry. But this is fucking fantastic,” I said with my mouth full.

  He popped a fry into his mouth. “That’s why I took us there. Best fucking seafood in town, but only the locals know about it.”

  “Well, I grew up in this town, and I didn’t know shit about that place.”

  I felt his eyes on the profile of my face. “You grew up around here?”

  I slowly looked over at him. “I mean, I haven’t lived here for a few years now. But when I was a kid, yeah. Me and my brother lived around here.”

  “Where at?”

  I pointed off to the west. “Toward downtown. Well, what we call ‘downtown’ around here. It hasn’t been downtown ever since the splash pad got moved to the other side of town. But at one point in time, that strip of shops with those boutique stores and—”

  “—oh, oh, oh! I know where you’re talking about. That street that has all those shops on one side and all those medical practices on the other?”

  I nodded fervently. “That’s the one! Scout’s Lane used to be Main Street back when I was a child. And those medical practices used to be all sorts of things. Like, the movie theater. Oh, man, I loved that movie theater. They had these reclining seats with cup holders and little desks you could pivot in front of you to put your snacks on. I spent so many of my Friday nights at that place.”

  I looked over at Sly and found him devouring my every word, and suddenly I felt in the spotlight.

  “My apologies. I ramble sometimes when I get excited,” I said.

  He took my hand. “Never apologize for getting excited.”

  My eyes fell to our connection. “I loved growing up here, you know.”

  “What made you leave then? For so many years?”

  My eyes turned out toward the water. “I don’t know. Just… school. I went to this community college a couple of towns over to try and start a new life for myself.”

  “What was wrong with this life?”

  I shook my head. “Nothing. Nothing’s wrong with it. I guess I just grew up with such immense family pressure to be this successful person that I just wanted to get away from the pressure for a little while.”

  “And you just stayed away?”

  I sighed softly. “Yeah, I guess I did.”

  He scooted closer to me. “What kind of pressure were you under?”

  I leaned my head against his shoulder. “Well, my parents built their own e-Commerce business after my father got laid off from a few jobs. My mother figured, ‘Hey, if you can’t hold down these jobs, let’s just make you a job.’ And they fucking did it. Sold it off a few years back and they’re currently living up their retirement in Italy, of all places.”

  “Sounds like the life.”

  “Yeah. It does.”

  “But why didn’t they give the business to you and your brother?”

  I scoffed. “Million-dollar question, huh? I don’t know. I mean my brother’s always had his own ambitions and goals in life. Lofty ones, too. And me? I guess I was always that child that flew by the seat of my pants. Made it up as I went along. I got a useless Associate’s degree and ended up working as a paralegal there for a while before the office closed down for good.”

  “A paralegal. Like, in a lawyer’s office?”

  I nodded softly. “Yep. That’s the one.”

  “Huh.”

  I picked my head up. “What?”

  He looked over at me. “Nothing. Just thinking.”

  “About what?”

  For a split second, I saw something rush behind his eyes. But very quickly, they darkened, as if Sly had something else on his mind.

  Or forced himself to think about something else.

  “Sly, are you okay?” I asked.

  He cocked his body to face mine. “I’m just fine.”

  “Then, why are you looking at me like that?”

  He leaned closely into me. “Because I think I’m ready for dessert. How about you?”

  5

  Sly

  I couldn’t take it any longer. There was something so soothing and so vulnerable about her presence that I had to push things along. Every time she spoke—every time she looked up at me with those beautiful doe eyes of hers— something inside of me cracked. Something I didn’t like. I was letting this woman get beneath my skin and I couldn't do that. The guys were counting on me.

  All of this rode on my shoulders.

  “Dessert, huh?” she asked.

  I put on my best grin. “That is, of course, unless you’d like a bit of romance first.”

  She cocked her head. “Never took you for the romantic type, Mr. Sly.”

  I scooted even closer to her. “Yet, here we are. Enjoying a picnic by a small lake.”

  “I suppose we are, yes.”

  I reached out slowly and tucked a small strand of hair behind her ear, and when our eyes locked that shitty feeling filled my gut again. What the hell was up with this woman? Why did nothing but a glance suddenly have me questioning everything I was doing?

  To hell with it. Either kiss her or back off.

  So, I did the only thing I could do to shut the voices off in my head.

  I leaned forward, capturing her lips with my own. She sighed against me, as if she’d been holding her breath. Waiting for me to make a move. And it made me feel powerful inside. I wrapped my arm around her and pulled her into my lap in one fell swoop, causing her to squeal and giggle.

  The sweetest sounds my ears had ever heard in all their life.

  Shake it, Sly. You got this.

  My tongue fell against hers for the first time and my heart took flight. It was as if I’d never really lived until this moment. As if I’d been living in some black and white film noir before she kissed me and colors filled the screen. My back slowly lowered to the blanket. She straddled me, rocking against my stiffening cock with nothing but those damp cotton panties beneath her beautiful navy dress. I gripped the fabric in my palms, wanting nothing more than to rip this thing off her. Our mouths pressed together fervently, our tongues dueling for battle as she hovered over me. Her tits, pressing against my chest. Her hips, swiveling and bucking, as if she already knew what she wanted.

  “Sly,” she moaned softly.

  And I was a fucking goner.

  With my arms flying around her waist, I flipped her over. I rolled her onto her back as my body blanketed hers away from the rest of the world. The beast within me rattled around in its cage. Begging to be set free so it could fulfill its carnal delight. She tasted phenomenal
, like soda, hushpuppies, and lust. It was a taste I committed to memory. Hell, I committed everything about that moment to memory.

  Even the moment she pressed her hands against my chest.

  “Sly?” she asked.

  I kissed down her neck. “Damn it, you smell wonderful.”

  “Sly, hold on.”

  I paused. “Is everything all right?”

  She giggled. “I think—”

  I lifted my head. “Tara, what is it?”

  Then, she started giggling louder. “I think—I might have rolled over onto my hushpuppies.”

  I scrambled off her and took her hands, pulling her up to her feet. And when we looked down at the blanket, all we saw were four crushed hushpuppies that had been practically ground into my blanket. I stifled my laughter as I turned her around, brushing the crumbs and crushed corn off the back of her dress. But the grease stain alone would take a washing or two in order to get out.

  Tara kept laughing. “Is it bad?”

  I chuckled. “The grease will take some stain remover. But other than that, you’re fine.”

  “Oh, a man who knows how to do laundry. Be still my beating heart.”

  I snickered. “I live alone. I know how to do a lot of things.”

  She turned back around to face me. “Like… cook?”

  I quirked an eyebrow. “Already trying to wiggle your way into my place?”

  She shrugged. “I mean, your bed has to be better than this blanket, right?”

  I wrapped my arm around her waist, pulling her close. “We could go see and find out.”

  As her arms draped around my neck, I’d never felt so relaxed in all of my life. This woman did something to me, and I wondered if this was what all of my other guys had been through. I wondered if their women made them this exact same way. Relaxed, and distracted. On top of the world, and powerful.

  I’m in so much trouble.

  “What is it?” Tara asked.

  I blinked. “What is what?”

  Her fingertips danced across my forehead. “Your eyes got far away, and your brow wrinkled up. I figured you had lost yourself in thought.”

  I grinned. “Ask the guys. I don’t get lost in anything. Especially thought.”

  “Just because you don’t admit it to the guys doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen, Sly.”