She had never been on a motorcycle—had she?
“Helmet.” Lifting one of the two helmets from the handlebars, he handed it to her.
Fitting it over her head, she then sat silently as he secured the strap before strapping his own in place.
“We’re linked through com sets in the helmets.” His voice came through the padded helmet, roughened, a male rasp of concern and dangerous interest.
“Just ignore the screams of terror.” She tried to laugh off her racing heart as she placed her hands tentatively at his hard waist.
“Here.” Gripping her wrists, he pulled her forward.
Her br**sts pressed against his back in less than a second, the heat of his body sinking through her clothes straight to her ni**les and sensitizing them instantly.
“Hold on tight, sweetheart,” he growled through the link. “Losing you off the back of this bike wouldn’t be the highlight of my day.”
“It’s not exactly penciled into my bucket list either,” she assured him ruefully as the terror from minutes before began to ease away.
“We’re in agreement then.”
As his words trailed off, the beast of a machine turned over and began throbbing with leashed power between her thighs.
The heavy vibration was shockingly sensual.
With her arms wrapped tight around Stygian’s waist, her knees pressing against his thighs, Liza found herself growing more aroused by the second.
God, what he did to her.
Mating heat.
The gossip rags had listed the signs of it over and over again, and the overwhelming need, almost impossible to control, headed the list.
But number one was the kiss.
They all agreed, the kiss came first—somewhere.
To the lips, the neck—her heart beat heavier at the thought—the ni**les or the clitoris.
The thought of his lips touching her in any of those areas was enough to cause her thighs to clench in an involuntary reaction.
A reaction she couldn’t control, and one she was beginning to fear was more her hunger, and even less some animalistic phenomenon impossible to control.
But she didn’t have to admit that to Stygian.
CHAPTER 6
Window Lake shimmered iridescent blue and green beneath the cloudless sky, its calming waters lapping gently at the bank beneath the pristine cottonwood and pinon trees that shaded the picnic shelter Stygian had pulled the Harley up to.
He quickly dismounted before placing his hand at the small of her back and urging her up the slight incline. The six-table shelter had been built to catch the soft breeze that rippled out over the lake.
The water was fed by a vast, previously unknown lake far beneath the ground. It had been tapped into when the oil company had received permission to drill in the area.
The oil had camouflaged the lake below, but once the drill had burrowed past the oil it was seeking and broke through the thin layer of bedrock separating them, all hell had broken loose and Window Lake had been born.
Stepping up to the tabletop, Liza sat down slowly, elbows braced on her knees, facing the water. Stygian sat likewise on the table in front of her, facing her, watching her intently.
“Now, why was it so imperative that I take this ride with you?” Tilting her head, she watched him curiously. “You’ve been determined to get me alone since the meeting with Jonas.”
“I can’t simply want to spend time with a beautiful woman?” he asked, his expression thoughtful now. “You’re intelligent, beautiful, interesting. What other reason could I have?”