Sand Angel Page 0,50
one she wore the first day. Obviously, she intended to ride. Drew sighed as he got to his feet and moved toward his clothes lying on the floor. Guess he couldn’t ask for more than her promise to be careful. Of course, he would be right there with her, because he wasn’t letting her out of his sight.
Chapter Fifteen
The musty scent of dirt filled the air as a quad raced by Zoë, spraying gritty sand from its back tires. A cloud of dust engulfed her along with the irritation that she wasn’t creating the haze. She never rode at the back of the pack. But today was different. Josh rode on one side of her quad, Drew on the other. They had her boxed in at a subdued pace as they cut through the Dunes. The gentle swells they guided her over made her think of a carnival ride, controlled and safe.
Talk about having your wings clipped. The need for speed crawled across her nerve endings, making her teeth clench. Great. Now she had a mouthful of dirt. She spat the nasty taste from her mouth. She knew the boys meant well, but this wasn’t who she was. She didn’t do casual riding—it was no less than balls to the wall for her. Her need for an adrenaline rush could almost be described as a junkie needing a fix. Zoë felt like she was itching to climb out of her skin.
When she sped up, so did Josh and Drew. Their proximity made it difficult to maneuver without taking a chance of running into them. No way could they be having fun. Fun was tackling the tallest mountain, soaring over a cliff, leading the crowd or racing. This was child’s play and she’d had enough.
Zoë gassed it and they followed suit. The roar of the engine was something that had always turned her on. She couldn’t explain it, but perhaps it was the vibration filtering through her body, between her legs. Josh and Drew weren’t expecting her sudden slow down as they rushed past her. Both of them cut the gas at the same time, snapping their hooded gazes back at her. Immediately, she made a sharp turn and headed in a different direction. They made no hesitation in making an about-face, but now she determined the pace and decided where they would go.
Covered from head to toe in her red riding gear, gloves, helmet and goggles, the cool breeze caressed only her bare neck and cheeks. She felt free, invincible as she left the ground and caught air. It was an awesome feeling. She controlled the three hundred pounds of metal beneath her that landed and continued to rip through the sand. Glancing over her shoulder, she saw Josh take the jump and then Drew. Both made a solid landing that made her smile. They were ready to try something a little more challenging. Perhaps it was time for China Wall.
There was always approximately two hundred feet between her and Josh and Drew as she raced up and down one mountain of sand and then the next. She rode hell-bent, cutting grooves in the sand, loving the high arc the sand made diffusing from beneath her back tires. She didn’t stop until she came to an enormous swell of sand. Quads, bikes, rails, Rhinos and even a truck or two aligned the base of the peak. A rider on a 250 Honda CR was trying to climb it.
As Zoë pulled her goggles and helmet off, she murmured, “Not enough speed. Wrong gear. He isn’t going to make it.” She called it right. His engine choked as he tried to switch gears, and his bike began to lose traction, slowly slipping back down the mountain.
Josh and Drew pulled up next to her. If the concerned looks they shared as they removed their helmets and goggles meant anything, they weren’t happy with her.
Oh well.
As a quad approached the steep incline, she grumbled, “You’re sitting too far back.” In disbelief, she watched him jerk back on the handlebars. “Wrong thing to do, buddy. Argh…” Everyone gasped as the quad flipped backward, thankfully tossing the rider aside and out of harm’s way. In a dramatic roll, both quad and rider tumbled head over heels down the mountainside. She prayed both stayed on their separate paths and didn’t meet. When they finally came to a stop, several men quickly made their way to the rider, while others headed to the quad. When the rider rose