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Caught off guard, I simply stared at his hand. “Right now?”
He slipped his palm into mine. His touch spread warmth through my body like an inferno as he pulled me toward the stairs. “Trust me. You’ll love it.”
I was too shocked to do anything but follow him until we reached the street level, where he plopped the helmet on my head. His intense gaze roved over my face as he buckled it into place.
Was he…smoldering at me?
“What are you?—”
I stopped when I saw the motorcycle, adorned with a matching dragon crest painted along its side. I’d never ridden on a motorcycle before, but after reading more than a few books involving them, I’d added the experience to my bucket list. They seemed dangerous in an adventurous and fun way.
Sadly, I’d never known anyone who had a motorcycle before today. I guess times were a-changing.
He grabbed the other helmet and tugged it onto his head then swung a leg over the bike. He started it up and revved the engine before facing me. “Get on.”
“Nic, wait, I’m not even dressed in real clothes, like going out in public clothes,” I gestured to myself, panicking slightly, ”and, uh, I’ve got stuff?—”
“You don’t need to impress me, Bree. I happen to find you uncomfortably sexy right now.” His gaze captured mine as he adjusted the front of his jeans, proving his point.
Heat flushed across my cheeks as I stood there, dumbfounded. My heart and head were at war with one another. I wanted nothing more than to slide on that bike behind him, feeling his warmth between my thighs, a thought that had me gulping.
Except this kind of behavior was reckless. I had to get back to my job soon, and I hardly knew Dominic. I mean, I knew quite a bit about him from my years watching him fight and my recent internet stalking.
But I didn’t really know him, and everything I’d read practically screamed to stay far, far away from him.
“When was the last time you did something for yourself?” His words cut to my core and snatched my breath away. His smirk taunted me, knowing he’d struck a nerve. “Live a little. Now, get on.”
He was right. I never did anything for myself besides read, and that was only when I had breaks. I mean, sure, I’d let him pamper me before our date, but that was because I’d been kidnapped and forced to enjoy it.
Stop overthinking it, Bree!
Before I could dart away faster than a spooked clownfish, I slung my leg over the bike behind him and wrapped my arms around his waist. It was like holding onto a… Well, a dragon. The man was all hard muscle and delightfully rigid planes.
A rumble passed through his body into mine, teasing every nerve. “I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want you gripping a little lower. Hold on tight, beautiful.”
He revved the engine again and the tires squealed against the asphalt before we shot forward. With a precision that demonstrated his obvious experience but did little to calm my racing pulse, he wove around cars and dodged pedestrians, rarely slowing down.
My heart pounded with every wild second, and on more than one occasion, I squeezed my eyes shut and prayed for mercy. But as we flew through the streets of D.C., the fear slowly melted into something else—exhilaration.
If I thought riding the Metro trains was the closest sensation to swimming, it was nothing compared to the rush of wind through my hair and tugging at my clothes.
I had the wildest urge to let go of his waist and raise my arms toward the sky, but I didn’t. Not that I was afraid, necessarily. Gifted types were much stronger than typical humans, and we healed faster too.
No, I just didn’t want to let Dominic go. I leaned into his warmth and smiled.
We followed a winding road away from the bustling city streets, where the trees towered toward the sky and formed leafy archways over our heads. In my decade of living on land, I’d never once explored this far away from home. While I didn’t regret it, I realized how much I’d been missing out on.
He slowed, and I peeked around him to see why we were stopping. Only we didn’t stop. He turned off the main road onto a barely visible path leading through the trees and then revved the engine. We soared through a sea of green, bushes and overhanging branches trying to impede our way.
When he finally slowed again and stopped, I leaned around his shoulders and gasped.
CHAPTER 21
Bree
The most magnificent sight sprawled out before us. I slid off the bike and removed my helmet, leaving it on the seat before I climbed up onto a large rock to see better.
We had parked between trees near the edge of a river. The water fell over a series of steep, jagged rocks and created beautifully cascading waterfalls. Roaring as they stretched across the expanse, the falls sent spray up into the air and created rainbows everywhere I looked.
