Joker (Hell's Ankhor #8) - Aiden Bates Page 0,49

toaster.” He nodded toward the toaster on the counter, sitting unplugged. “Do you mind?”

I rolled my eyes. “Come on, it’s not that bad.”

Joker laughed as he pulled a few slices of bread from the packaging and dropped them into the toaster. “I just don’t want you to get too scared,” he said.

“Funny,” I said as I busied myself getting the sausage out of the freezer and onto the stove. “I just prefer the oven.”

“Sure,” Joker said with a grin. He cracked a few eggs into a bowl and started whisking them.

I checked the heat on the pan, then added a little butter before it got too hot, greasing it up so that when I added the sausages, there’d be a little sizzle and crisping on the edges but not too much—didn’t want them to get overly greasy. I was just about to drop the sausages into the sizzling pan when—

“Aah!” I said, jumping as the toaster noisily popped up. Every time, I thought I was ready for it, and it always surprised me.

Joker laughed, abandoning his eggs to wrap his arms around my waist as I grumbled. He dropped an affectionate kiss on my neck. “I’ll use the oven next time.”

“Toast is now banned, actually,” I complained. But I did turn my head for a real kiss.

Breakfast came together easily, and we ate on the couch like we usually did for dinner, feet kicked up on the coffee table. “So,” I said. “Where do you wanna go on a date today?”

Joker flushed, that same indecisive look fluttering across his face. I set my plate down and took a sip of my coffee instead. Maybe this was the moment—maybe he was realizing he’d made a mistake agreeing to a date and was about to thank me for breakfast and run out the door, same as he had after that first blowjob.

“I was just thinking about that actually,” he said quietly.

I braced myself.

“Do you want to go somewhere, uh, special to me?” he asked.

Oh. That wasn’t what I was expecting. But maybe I should have been expecting it. Because Joker had a tendency to do that—to surprise me. And, unlike the toaster, I liked this kind surprise. I liked it when it came from Joker.

I smiled over my mug at him. “Definitely. Where is it? What are we doing?”

“Do you mind if it’s a surprise?” he asked.

“I think I can handle that,” I said. “Since you asked.”

If Joker wanted to take me somewhere special to him, I was happy to be stuck wondering where exactly that was until we got there. Each little insight into his true self was like a gift—and I was willing to accept the boundaries he put up around them. I was willing to be patient with him, and he was showing me, slowly, that my patience was paying off.

“Okay,” Joker said with a pleased little smile. “Great. We can take my bike.”

I immediately cringed a little. “Both of us?”

“Yeah,” Joker said, grinning. “I’ve got a backseat.”

“You know I’ve never ridden a bike, right?” I asked.

“I know,” Joker said. “It’s cute.”

“What’s cute about that?” I asked, brandishing my fork at him as I returned to my plate.

“You have the whole motorcycle-club image down,” Joker said with a grin. “The tattoos, the clothes, the piercing… and yet you’ve never been on a bike.”

“Never had the chance,” I admitted with a shrug. “Never trusted anyone enough to get on the back of one.”

“But you trust me?” Joker asked.

“Guess so,” I said with a smile. “Enough to get on your bike, at least.”

“That’s a start,” Joker said. He bit his lower lip as he grinned, and his eyes glittered with anticipation.

We finished eating breakfast and got dressed in a hurry, distracted only a little by wandering hands and teasing touches. I followed Joker out the side door to where his bike was parked. God, I couldn’t get enough of him in that leather jacket. He swung his leg over his bike, then nodded at the seat behind him.

He handed me his helmet, and I pulled it on dutifully. “What about you?” I asked.

Joker shrugged. “Only got one. Don’t worry about it.”

“You ride without a helmet?” I asked.

“Sometimes,” Joker said.

“That doesn’t seem safe.” I swung my leg over the bike and wrapped my arms tight around his waist.

“It’s not,” Joker agreed. “But sometimes the thrill is worth it.”

I filed that away to address later. He definitely had a self-destructive streak—but I wasn’t going to push on that now. He knew the risks