“Like?”
“There you go again . . . probing. Maybe you should have been a psychologist.”
Funny he should mention that. “That was Lacey’s major.”
“Was?”
“Yes. She dropped out midway through her master’s.”
“Why?”
“Because she met Bo and joined the Hellraisers.”
“You don’t approve.”
Her head shot up. “What makes you say that?” His smirk irritated her. He seemed to be able to read her so well. Was she that transparent?
“The tone of your voice.”
“Oh. Well, it’s not that I don’t approve.”
“Maybe she didn’t want to be a psychologist after all.”
“I guess not.”
He tilted his head and studied her. “But you don’t believe that.”
She leaned against the trunk of the tree, wondering how the topic had drifted to Lacey, when what she really wanted was to talk about him. But she supposed having someone to talk to about her best friend wasn’t a bad idea. “Honestly? I don’t know what to believe. She had a complete personality transformation in the past year.”
“Since she met Bo.”
“Yes.”
“Falling in love can change someone. Maybe meeting Bo switched her priorities.”
“It shouldn’t.”
“Bo’s lifestyle is a lot different than Lacey’s. Maybe he introduced her to things she’d never known before, forced her to examine the life she had and she found it lacking. Maybe she prefers the life of the Hellraisers to one of academia.”
Huh. She’d never thought of those things. Now it was her turn to study him. “You’re very smart for—”
He laughed. “For what? For a biker?”
“I’m sorry. That didn’t come out like I meant it to.”
“If you think bikers are so dumb, what are you doing here, Ava?”
“It isn’t what I meant at all. I guess I just have my own preconceived notions of who bikers are. I didn’t expect . . .” She couldn’t go on. There was nothing she could say to get her foot out of her mouth.
“Go ahead,” he said, laughter still tingeing his voice. “It takes a lot to insult me. I really want to know what you think.”
“I guess I don’t expect you all to be college educated.”
“We’re not. I’m not. But some are. Bikers come from all walks of life, Ava. Open your eyes and take a look around. Talk to some of the people in biker groups. They’re anything from day laborers to doctors, from fast-food employees to scientists, and everything in between. All you need is a love of motorcycles and riding.”
“To be in a regular motorcycle club, you mean. Not necessarily the Hellraisers.”
Rick grabbed a hunk of grass and pulled it, then let it sift through his fingers, piece by piece, to the ground. “The Hellraisers are different. They’re more like a lifestyle.”
“So there is a difference in the type of people who become Hellraisers?”
“Maybe.”
She sighed. “You confuse me.”
“Good. I’d hate to think I was predictable.”
“You’re definitely not predictable.”
He leaned in, and once again she inhaled the scent of leather, of horses, and the outdoors. Of him. She mainly liked his scent and moved a little closer.
“Predictable is boring. It’s safe. Knowing everything about someone is the kiss of death to a relationship.”
He was coming closer, and she knew he was going to kiss her. “Knowing everything about someone means you can trust them.”
He paused, his lips lifting. “I don’t think you can ever trust someone completely. Or know everything there is about them. That’s part of the fun. Peeling the layers back a bit at a time instead of all at once.”
“Like what we’re doing now?”
“Yes.”
So close she felt his breath brush her cheek. He combed his fingers through her ponytail, letting the tendrils fall back onto her shoulder like a soft rain. Her lips parted on a sigh and he pressed his mouth to hers.
God, it was sweet. The day was warm but there was a cool breeze. She needed it to cool down her raging libido, which had come to life in an instant as soon as Rick’s lips touched hers. She melted into him and he pulled her onto his lap. She went willingly, his arms wrapping around her in a cocoon. Oh, she liked the feel of him surrounding her. She laid her hand on his chest where his jacket was open, felt his heart beating—strong, steady, gradually increasing in rhythm as his lips plundered hers. She imagined her heart doing the same, pumping a mad rhythm as his tongue slid between her parted lips. He dipped her head down in the crook of his arm, cradling her as he kissed her with more depth, more passion, until she was swimming in sensation and wholly unable to catch a breath.
This was madness, this loss of control out here in the wilderness. Already her mind was pummeled by images of what Rick could do to her out here, and all of them were naughty, forbidden, and everything she wanted. Undressing her completely, until she was naked to the elements, then licking every part of her body until he devoured her pu**y, making her come over and over until her screams echoed off the canyon walls.
She shuddered in his arms and he pulled away, looking down on her with eyes dark with passion.
“Do you want to peel some layers, Ava?”
Physical or psychological? She didn’t know what he meant. Should she ask? Did it matter?
Why did she find it so hard to breathe whenever he got close to her? She wasn’t a teenager anymore. She was an adult. A woman experienced in sex and relationships. Yet her pulse raced and all her intimate body parts swelled and throbbed in anticipation, as if this was the first time, the first man.
Getting involved in an intimate relationship with Rick wasn’t why she had come to the Hellraisers. She was supposed to be spending time with Lacey.
But finding out more about bikers might give her insight into what the attraction was to Lacey. And that might help.
You’re making excuses. You want him. So he wasn’t part of her overall plan for being here this week. So what? Why couldn’t she just jump into something without thinking about it, plotting it, charting it, or examining it a hundred different ways?
Rick smiled and gently lifted her off his lap, then stood, held his hand out. “Come on.”