"You must be very lucky, getting this kind of view all the time." It occurred to her how little of the real world she saw nowadays, how her life the last few months had consisted of sitting in bed, then sitting in a car, and then sitting on a couch.

"Give my thanks every day that I get to breathe this air, see this sky," he looked across to her, "kiss these women." He took a swig of his beer. "Could've spent my days looking at metal fences, waking up to Bubba and fightin' off rapes and s.h.i.t."

She chuckled. "Yeah, I guess that is an improvement." She watched him drink and gaze out across the sky and was reluctant to interrupt his peace, his "moment," but her question could not be contained.

"How did you know my dad?"

"Ol' Lorenzo?" He smiled and set his beer on the balcony. "Come here."

She set her drink down and felt his rough hands wrap around her waist. Her groin rubbed against his and his hands settled around her backside. "Lorenzo was the next best thing to a dad I had. My real one got knifed over some dumb s.h.i.t and my Ma ran off when a man like me came along." His steely gray eyes glinted like knives in the dim light. "History repeats itself, you could say."

Wow, that's messed up. "Wait... how old were you when you met him?"

He picked her up by her legs and then sat down on a nearby chair. She sat in his lap, her b.r.e.a.s.t.s now level with his face. But they did nothing to break his concentration. Admirable.

He smiled. Whether it was at her question or for being so close to her ample chest, she couldn't tell. "I wasn't some young innocent kid, if that's what you were expecting. By the time we met, I was a rip-roaring, dyed-in-the-wool drunk who didn't give a f.u.c.k. A mean son of a b.i.t.c.h. Or at least I thought I was."

He stroked her long auburn hair and kept an arm around her soft waist. "Ya see, he was the only one who saw why I was getting in so many fights, tearing places apart. 'Cause I had nothing to lose. No responsibility." His hands skimmed down her voluptuous curves, lightly plucking at her senses with a tantalizing touch that seemed alien coming from a man like him. "Nothing to call my own."

She gasped at his touch and her heart fluttered. "And," she gulped, "he gave you a bike? A motorcycle?"

He chuckled. "Oh! You know this story!?"

"Yeah, I mean he told me a long time ago he gave a man a bike once"

"He gave that man his life and his freedom. Then again, he always had a habit for understatement. Guess my embellishments make up for it." He reached behind and retrieved his beer, finishing it off in one smooth gulp.

"Granted, the thing finally kicked out on me years down the road. But I'll never forget it, or the man who gave it to me."

"Neither will I. I wish I knew him more." Her face fell into a sad smile. "All my life I wanted to get away from home, away from his doting. And now that I'm back, I want nothing more. He was my home, the glue that held us all together.

"I know it sounds stupid or cliched, but it all has to be for a reason. Has to be. No one loses what I have for it all to mean nothing." She stopped when she saw Liam's face. For once, he didn't sport an amused smirk or a devilish light in his eyes. "I'm sorry. I'm sure you didn't invite me along for my rants. Just chug a beer and look happy, right?"

He smiled and rubbed his hands around her soft hips. "I can get a woman to chug beer and look happy anywhere. Honesty, on the other hand, is like drawing blood from stone." He paused, his brow furrowed in thought. "Maybe... maybe you lost one home to find another."

She sighed and laid her head on his leather jacket, reveling in the supple material. "I wish life was like that. Maybe it is. But not here. Not in this town." Liam's scent was primal and masculine and sent a soaring heat across her skin. So many men smelled like nothing, or worse, even sweet. This man's musk made her arch her back like a feline. She tried to contain herself and subtly grinded forward in his lap to ease the delicate throb between her legs.

"You might be surprised." His hands, large and powerful, traced down her back and settled on her hips..

Please G.o.d, no more surprises. I'm tired of getting my a.s.s kicked, even if it all means something. She realized she had been feeling him up in silence and her cheeks flushed. "Oh yeah my bad. Sorry. Your jacket feels good." She gulped back extra saliva and blinked her eyes. Was I drooling?

"It better. You'd think it was padded with c.o.ke for them to charge what they do." He brought her down closer and pressed her full b.r.e.a.s.t.s against his chest. His eyes fell to his wrist, taking in the digital glare of his watch. "Hey, it's about that time for a ride," he whispered in her ear and she shuddered.

He can't mean right here, can he?

She felt his mighty heart beat and his strong hands against her hips, moving her up and down his jeans. "My bike's been waiting all night."

Yeah. That's right. Just a bike ride between two acquaintances... nothing more.

She got up off his chest and breathed deeply, reluctant to be away from his scent and rea.s.suring embrace. "That sounds" her right pocket vibrated and a cutesy jingle floated in the air, saccharine against the heavier music blaring from inside the bar. "Hold on a sec." She pulled out her phone while Liam reclined back in his seat, arms behind his head. Does nothing surprise him?

On the other end of the line was Jimmy, up and about, his voice healthy but still in as much trouble as ever. A laundry accident was in the making. The washer had seized up and spewed water across the linoleum. Within the hour, Joelle would have a new surprise. Swampy carpet. She told him to watch it and then hung up. "Shoot. I'm so sorry, but my dumb little brother messed up again and my sister is out with Prince Charming. We can't ride tonight."

Liam shrugged. "Do what ya gotta do. I'll come by on Sunday. Then we'll have our ride." His eyes glanced over to the cross hanging within her decolletage "There's another world out there, Joelle. It just needs to be seen through the speed and wind."

A handsome grin stretched his rugged figures and p.r.o.nounced his square jawline. "Can't wait to show it to you."

As they both got up, she felt his hands linger on her bottom and then fade away. She smiled in turn.

Sounds like a date.

For the rest of Friday night and all through Sat.u.r.day, Joelle fretted over the upcoming ride. Jimmy's issue with the washer had been easy enough to fix and Josie was in a peaceful period with her man. All the cards were stacked for a good, easy time. No interruptions, no screams... it was peaceful.

The last time she had been so relaxed and happy-go-lucky was when she had come down to visit her father. Just being around Liam had taken her into the past, to a simpler time. Content and full of zest. Another part of her was not so sentimental, but craved his masculine touch. He was as unbending as an oak, stable and confident, and yet in his eyes she had seen the primal cunning and hunger of a wolf.

"Hey, like, when is your boyfriend coming around? 'Cause Mike is coming and we kinda want some alone time," said Josie. She eyed her sister and took in her coiffed tresses shining in the family room's amber light. "Wow, you're really dressed up for a motorcycle ride."

Joelle took her eyes away from her motorcycle magazine and met her sister's gaze. "Thanks. But for Liam? I dunno. Sometime soon." That's a good question. He never does anything too specific, does he?

Josie scoffed and walked off while Jimmy's videogames blared from his room. Joelle's heart leapt with joy when she heard a knock on the door. A frantic knock. Weird. Didn't hear his motorcycle.

"Hey Josie! What the f.u.c.k!? Open the f.u.c.kin' door!" Mike's voice slurred from the front.

Joelle's joy withered like winter leaves. Oh G.o.d. Please behave, please behave.

"I've been working all G.o.dd.a.m.n day, tired as a dog and my girl changes the locks like a two-timing b.i.t.c.h!"

That's 'cause you broke the last set, idiot.

She considered warning her sister off, but it was too late. Josie already had her hands around the locks, her happy face now timid but expectant, as if the evening would still turn out as she hoped. "Hold on baby, I'm here."

The second the locks came undone, the door smashed open with enough force to send chills down Joelle's spine. Her muscles tensed and she sucked in her breath. Mike came through the open s.p.a.ce like an enraged ox, his hands around Josie's shoulders.

"Here I am, breakin' my f.u.c.king back on the job to support us and I hear you had lunch with Pete!" His jaw grinded and he pushed Josie against the kitchen counter. Joelle reached across the couch for the home phone but it did no good. Mike's head snapped to the side like a rabid dog, catching her with his peripheral vision. "You leave that phone right there!"

Tears streamed down Josie's cheeks. "I swear, baby, he meant nothing by it! It was just lunch!" Her sob broken words incensed Mike further. He slapped her across the cheek and her tender flesh throbbed red. More cries erupted from the kitchen.

"You don't have lunch with other men when I'm your man! I swear to G.o.d if you go out with that little fruitcake again I'll gut his a.s.s and leave him out to dry in the desert. You get me!?"

Josie looked down but Mike held her face up by the chin. "Yes, baby, it won't happen ag" She stopped when a looming silhouette filled the doorway. Joelle, too, saw a dusky shadow fall across Mike's back. In the silence, Mike turned around and let Josie collapse to the floor.

Mike's back straightened and his fists balled up. "Think you got the wrong house old timer, now f.u.c.k off."

Fear and relief swelled in Joelle's heart when she saw Liam come into view. Though standing, he had the stance of a relaxed jungle panther, a predator observing his prey.

"Oh, I think I got the house just right, cowboy. You need to settle down."

Mike's eyes narrowed and veins popped out along his neck. "Or you'll what? Beat me with a walker? Puss out and call the cops? Who the f.u.c.k do you think you are bro, walking up on me"

In a blur of black, Liam's gloved hand shot forward. His thumb pressed into Mike's throat, to the tune of horrendous wheezes and coughs. "You know, the problem with cutting your teeth on bar room pukes and dumb little girls is that you start gettin' ideas... ideas like you're worth a d.a.m.n in a fight."

Mike fell to his knees and his eyes swam with water.

Please, please don't kill him!

Mike batted at Liam's arm, his strength waning.

"The world don't look like an oyster now that you can't shout and slap your way through it, does it?"

Josie screamed, her face drenched in tears. "Please! You're killing him!" Joelle was speechless, her palm over her mouth, overcome with the excitement of it all.

"Not the usual kind of p.u.s.s.y men kill over, but you ain't worth it all the same. It's your lucky day, cowboy." Liam released one hand only to sock Mike in the face with other. His nose snapped as he fell to the floor.

"Oh my G.o.d! What's wrong with you!? You just can't punch him!" Josie fell over Mike's prostrate form. He coughed while a dark red puddle blossomed from his ruined nose.

Liam stepped over the duo and into the family room, his hand extended to Joelle. "You ready?"

Joelle's hand trembled until it came into his rea.s.suring grip. "Thank you..." she murmured, her breath still caught in her throat. "Thank you so much." she said more clearly, and her lips parted to receive him. He plundered her lips as if they were some luscious trophy and she moaned in kind, eager to receive the kiss of a champion. His tongue teased hers for a moment while her hips pressed against his. They both pulled away. "I was so tired of that a.s.shole." she whispered in his ear.

Liam shrugged. "He was in my way."

As they sped down the road Joelle wept tears of joy, chilling her cheeks in the wind. The steady thrum of Liam's bike made her feel like she was riding a steel tiger. Its insistent growls and powerful acceleration sent a pleasurable buzz up between her legs.

G.o.d, he's like a commando! Liam took sharp turns with ease and drifted down steep inclines like a falcon riding the wind. Great power and great danger pa.s.sed just under her feet, an unforgiving concrete sea that would have loved nothing more than the taste of soft flesh hitting at 70 miles per hour.

Such palpable threat was thrilling, almost as much as when she watched her man smack another one down. And with such ease. That was hot. He deserved it anyway. She felt guilty for being aroused by such brutish behavior, but Liam's actions tapped into a primal part of her being. The part of her being that wanted to be saved and to offer herself to the superior man, the conqueror. Here was a man who followed no laws but his own, and she l.u.s.ted for him all the more for it.

Her groin was soaked with arousal. Every time Liam hit the gas and the seat rumbled, she ground down and experienced every exquisite throb and thrum that stimulated her nub. For once she was appreciative of the motorcycle's deafening roar and how it hid her carnal moans and longing gasps.

She kept her eyes closed and relished the feel of it all. How if she kept her arms around Liam's broad chest she swore she could feel the man's power radiate into her, as if he was as just as much an engine as the beast he rode. Being surrounded by such vehicular and masculine strength put her in an ecstatic daze, where pleasure descended down her body in lazy waves. She had never felt so feminine before.

When she opened her eyes, the bike had stopped at last. Purple dusk had retreated before the advance of blackest night. Liam tossed his helmet to the ground and she lost her breath as she took in the view of the city sprawled out below their isolated bluff.

"Oh my... I've never seen it like this."

"Yeah, amazing what's around the corner."

Or on the hill. She watched Liam with hungry eyes. Any misgivings she had about giving herself to him had all but evaporated. Every girl needs to get with the bad boy at least once, right? Josie's had her whole life to be stupid. At least I know what I'm doing and I know what I want. Seeing his silver-flecked hair in the starlight and the night shadows play across his chiseled face cemented the fact that he was the perfect man.

His heavy brow and deep eyes contained the very same glints of savagery that had brought Mike to his knees. Liam's fearless ardor stirred an irresistible hunger in Joelle's soul. One that could only be sated by the most primal and wild of unions.

He heard her steps behind him and whisked her in front by the waist. Both were bathed in the twinkling warm light of the city below. She sighed at his gesture. She hoped those very same hands would take them both past the point of no return. She wanted to be trapped, to be held down, to be... conquered.

The red flare of the rambling traffic's brake lights contrasted against the cobalt glare of office buildings and parking lots. "Everything looks big from the street. Everything important." said Liam as he ran his hands down Joelle's flanks, loosening the belt around her pants.

Yesss.

"Up here it's a different kind of view. Ya see how small everything is. You see people scurrying around with their little lives in this sandbox of concrete, not feeling Death's breath on their neck 'till their hearts don't tick right. Like some joke set up before they were born, all for the punchline of being too weak to do what they've dreamed their whole life at the end."

He tugged down her jeans and revealed the creamy flesh of her round backside. He's going to do it, she thought, and grabbed his stiffening member. He nuzzled her neck, kissing in between whispers. Long-held moans of yearning escaped from her lips.

"Me? I don't see the point of that. What good is freedom without the strength to enjoy it?" his other hand skimmed up the smooth skin of her belly, teasing just below her silk-cupped b.r.e.a.s.t.s, "without a good woman to enjoy it with?"

His words were just sound to her, pleasant sound, but nothing more. She was attuned to the language of feeling, and right now he was saying all the right things. Touching all the right places. His fingers explored down her waist and thumbed at her quivering nub.

That was all it took. She lost her legs in pleasure and he caught her. Her soft lips mewled and gasped her sweet release to his ear. He laid her down in the dirt while he undid his belt. The loosened pants revealed a virile bulge in his boxers, a bulge that betrayed carnal intent. She strummed herself hard, hoping for one more little release before he took her.

He fell over her and trapped her lips with his, continuing what they had started back at the house. His hands undid her b.u.t.toned blouse one by one. b.u.t.tons flew and glimpses of smooth skin filled the gap that satin left behind.

Joelle reached down to his groin and sprung free what would be hers. His thick c.o.c.k hung in her hand like a weapon, radiating just as much power as the man himself. It's gorgeous... and it's mine. She shivered with l.u.s.t at the thought of him burying it deep inside her. Visions of how it might feel exploding between her legs sent another deep pang of arousal to her core.

"Men can wait entire lifetimes for a woman like you," he said in between breaths and kisses, his heavy member close to her groin.

"Then stop waiting and take me," she whispered, pulling her pink panties to the side. Her engorged flower glistened and yearned for his hard intruder.

His leather coat was draped over them, keeping them both warm. At once he plunged his heated thickness into her wanting folds, hard and slow, drawing out the pleasurable friction in her tight pa.s.sage as much as possible.

The feeling incensed Liam's l.u.s.ts and he tore away her frilly bra, exposing her round and heavy b.r.e.a.s.t.s at last.

I hope he likes them...

Her doubts were erased the instant his hot mouth fell on one of her nipples. He tormented her with the slide and swipe of his tongue. Once he brought a nipple to a hard nub he buried his face in the other breast, stirring up a musical moan up from her curled lips.

His c.o.c.k picked up the pace and pushed into her with more intense thrusts. He held himself steady with his hands around her shoulders. She was locked in his grip, trapped beneath his pounding rod. Feminine juices sloshed up his shaft and spread to her inner thighs.

The head of his member stroked the quivering walls of her womanhood. Sensations she'd never felt before flared through her loins and teased her nerves. She cried out and clutched him; her p.u.s.s.y throbbed and contracted around his thickness in l.u.s.tful pulses.

She pushed back against him when she felt him pull out. "Please no, baby... keep it in..." she gasped, squeezing her inner walls around him. She needed him closer. Deeper. For him not to be in her up to the hilt was a separation too far.

Liam's need to hear the sweet sound of her sighs pushed him on. His fingers plucked at her hard nipples while the full length of his manhood slid deep into her hot, wet core. The excitement in her b.r.e.a.s.t.s sent pangs of heat and pleasure to her nub,whose arousal throbbed in time with her heartbeat.

Flesh met flesh and a pleasurable tension grew tighter and tighter within Joelle's body. The velvet grip of her love ca.n.a.l spurred her lover on. The divine friction had lured Liam onto the path of ultimate climax. The bulging veins in his neck, the dangerous fire in his eyes, all told her that the instinct that resided in all men had finally come over him.

Her breaths were half moan and half whisper, seducing his ears while her clenching womanhood did the rest. Thick and feminine legs wrapped around Liam, trapping him as much as he trapped her. There would be no release... until release.

"Do it, Liam!" she cried, her voice husky and frayed, "put it all inside me!" She saw his eyes widen to her words. She felt his rough hands squeeze her soft bosom. His body stiffened to the explosive charge within.

Oh G.o.d, this is it!

His mouth fell over hers, their tongues dallied as one. He pushed himself deep inside her, to the root. Come in me. She felt his tool turn rigid and his heavy b.a.l.l.s draw up. Yes! Buried within the hot confines of her pink walls, a searing warmth bloomed from the tip of his head.

She gasped and twitched with each virile spurt. He's conquered me. More hot seed sprayed in rhythmic pulses, flooding her ripe womb with his love and l.u.s.t. Her hips bucked and her p.u.s.s.y contracted over and over, overcome in the throes of o.r.g.a.s.m.

Joelle's body jittered and twitched in ecstasy. Liam's body thrust in hers as much as possible, enslaved to his primal masculine instinct in this moment of pa.s.sion. Her round b.r.e.a.s.t.s billowed out under his hard chest as he sank down on her.