Against the Ropes (26 page)

I wasn’t afraid

A limo drops us off at the Speedaway Exotic Car Racetrack, located at an abandoned airfield about an hour outside Fontana. We are greeted by the owners, Crash and Dirty Dan, both allegedly bikers. However, with their short, cropped brown hair, matching blue-and-white coveralls, mirrored aviator sunglasses, and perfect smiles, they look more like male models. Maybe I should tell Amanda to join a motorcycle club.

They walk us over to a tall, chain-link fence and show us the track. The runways have been resurfaced and joined to form a giant oval. At various points, straight stretches of pavement run for miles into the horizon, marked only by hay bales and orange netting. Skid marks indicate where drivers have gone off the track and spun out into the grass. At least there are no trees or buildings for anyone to hit.

We tour through massive warehouses filled with a mouthwatering array of exotic cars, from Lamborghinis to Porsches, and Ferraris to Audis. I walk around the Aston Martin, James Bond’s vehicle of choice, and imagine myself behind the wheel.

“What are you driving today?” Dirty Dan asks, coming up behind me.

“If I had a choice, it would be this.” I stroke the hood of the Aston Martin. “But I don’t think Max will agree.

Dirty Dan gives me a wink. “I’ve always wanted to see a pretty girl behind the wheel. How about I get you prepped and ready to go? Max’s clients aren’t due for another half hour, which gives us plenty of time to run through the short course we inflict on all our drivers for insurance purposes. With that face and your training and safety certificates in your hand, he won’t be able to say no.”

He holds out a hand, and his cheeky grin is all the encouragement I need to follow him to the main clubhouse.

By the time we’re done, an hour later, Max’s clients have arrived and are in the process of setting up their equipment. Max explains they have developed a system to remotely control the vehicles so racetracks and driving schools can operate without an instructor in the vehicle. I join everyone on a shady viewing platform overlooking the track while Crash suits up and climbs into an Audi R8.

At a signal from one of the clients, Crash hits the gas and the Audi roars around the track. The clients stop and start his vehicle, and then make it perform a dizzying array of tricks. When Crash pulls up in front of us, everyone cheers.

“Might be worth the investment they are seeking after all,” Max muses.

We spend the rest of the afternoon watching Crash and Dirty Dan test the system on different vehicles. Max’s eyes light up when it passes the final test in my Aston Martin. He excuses himself to talk to his clients, and Dirty Dan climbs up to the viewing platform and tosses me the keys, a helmet, and a pair of coveralls.

“Try it out,” he says with a wink.

My mouth waters. Me…in an Aston Martin going as fast as I want. The temptation is almost too much, but I’ve learned my lesson about Max’s overprotectiveness. “I’d better ask Max. He has strong views on things he thinks might be dangerous.” I say the right words. I will do the right thing. But in the end, if he says no, I’m going anyway.

I catch Max between conversations. “Is it okay if I take the Aston Martin for a spin? Dirty Dan gave me the safety lecture. I have my certificate.” I hold up the white and gold embossed paper with my name printed neatly in the center. To my dismay, Max doesn’t even glance at it.

“No.”

“I’m a good driver. Steve had me take the same driving course as the police cadets. I promise I’ll be careful.”

He shakes his head. “It’s a new technology. I came here because Crash and Dirty Dan are experts. They can handle any emergency.”

“But it worked perfectly on every test,” I complain.

“No.”

“I’ll go with her,” Dirty Dan interjects. “If the system fails, I’ll be there to take over. It will be no different from any member of the public going out on the track.”

I throw my arms around Max, tilt back my head, and bat my eyelashes. I am not above all-out begging to get behind the wheel. “Pleeeeeeeeeease.”

A smile tugs at his lips. He looks from Dirty Dan to me and back to Dirty Dan. His jaw tightens. “One hundred miles an hour. Tops.”

“Come on, Max! It has a top speed of two twenty. You can’t expect me to get in a car like that and not—”

“One hundred or nothing.”

“Fine,” I sulk. He won’t be able to do anything once I get behind the wheel.

Max grunts and looks at Dirty Dan. “No risky maneuvers. Just a few laps around the oval, and keep an eye on her. She’s hard to control.”

“She’s standing right here.” I wave my hands in his face. “You don’t have to talk about her as if she doesn’t understand what’s going on.”

Dirty Dan snorts a laugh and leads me down to the vehicle. A thrill runs through me when I slide into the form-fitting bucket seat and breathe in the new car smell of polish and leather. The gray interior is all curved lines and soft angles. The high-tech dash looks like something out of a spaceship. Dirty Dan helps me adjust the seat and runs through the instrument panel, but all I really care about is the speedometer.

We pull on our helmets and Dirty Dan points out a few more features. “It will do zero to sixty in 4.7 seconds, and we’ve put in paddle shifters because most people don’t know how to operate a manual transmission.”

“I do.”

Dirty Dan grins. “Why am I not surprised?”

My hands shake as I turn the key and start the engine; I glance at the window and wave to Max. Even from here I can see the tension in his body. Poor Max. He thinks he is tense now. In zero to sixty seconds, I’ll show him tense.

“Ready to go?”

I nod and hit the accelerator. The vehicle roars to life and I am thrown back in my seat when we shoot down the speedway. It takes me half a lap to get a feel for the vehicle, but once I am comfortable, I press the pedal to the floor and the speedometer needle creeps upward. One hundred. One twenty. One fifty. One seventy-five. I glance over at Dirty Dan and he gives me a wink.

“Doing well. Just keep it steady. No sudden moves.”

When we hit one-eighty, my grin stretches from ear to ear, and excitement takes my breath away. Everything outside us is a blur—Max, his clients, the clubhouse. My only reality is here—Dirty Dan, the Aston Martin, and me.

“You are one hot little package,” Dirty Dan murmurs. “Look at you go. No fear in you at all. You handle the vehicle better than most of the clients I’ve taken out. Why did Max never bring you here before?”

“We haven’t known each other long.”

The steering wheel jerks suddenly to the side and I glance over at Dirty Dan. “What was that?”

He shakes his head. “Don’t know. Maybe you hit a rough patch. Make sure you keep your hands at ten and two.”

I slide my hands into correct position and the steering wrenches again, this time turning so sharply I almost lose my grip. The car veers to the edge of the pavement.

“Crap,” Dan mutters. He pushes a red button, frowns, and pushes it again. “Looks like something is wrong with their remote system and the manual override. Slow down and pull over.”

Before I can hit the brakes, the steering wheel spins out of my grasp.

“Look out!” Dirty Dan grabs for the steering wheel just as we fly off the track. We spin, round and round and round across the grass. It takes both Dirty Dan and I to hold the wheel straight until the vehicle is under control. We finally come to rest at the side of the track, and I take a huge breath, adrenaline pumping through my veins.

“Wow!” Dirty Dan unbuckles our seat belts. “They have some serious bugs in their system. Good thing you decided to go for a spin.”

I swallow hard and nod. My heart is pounding. My body is trembling. What a ride!

“You okay?”

I flash him a smile. “I’m good to go again. Maybe this time we should take a car without the new system.”

His eyes widen and he grins. “Damn girl, if things don’t work out with Max—”

Uh-oh. Max.

The door flies open and Max reaches inside and drags me out into the big, bright, sunny world. He rips off my helmet and runs his hands up and down my body.

“I’m fine, Max. There was a problem with the system but we got it under control. I want to go back out but in a normal car.”

“Absolutely not.”

“I loved it. It was so exciting.”

“I said NO.” His voice carries across the racetrack and draws the attention of everyone in the vicinity.

He spins around and slams Dirty Dan against the vehicle. “You were supposed to keep her speed down. What happened?”

“She’s a great driver,” Dirty Dan protests. “She handled that car like an expert. I didn’t think it would be a problem, especially with the new system in place.”

“Max.” I place my hand on his arm. “I wanted to go fast. Just…chill.”

“Chill?” His icy tone freezes my blood. He grasps my elbow and leads me away from the group. “I brought you here. You are my responsibility. You could have been seriously injured. Something happens to my judgment around you. I knew better than to let you drive.”

His jaw is tight. His eyes are hard. He bristles with protective anger. Adrenaline still pounds through my veins, and the entire experience has left me inexplicably and incontrovertibly aroused. I curl into his body and press myself against his heat. “I wasn’t afraid. Not for one second. There’s nothing to hit out here, and Dirty Dan knew what to do.”

His body stirs against mine, and he closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. “It will never happen again,” he says.

We hold each other for the longest time. Max’s heart slows to a steady rhythm and his muscles relax. He rests his cheek on my head. “There was nothing I could do.”

“I know, Max. I know that was particularly hard for you. But life is like that. You can’t control everything.”

He tightens his arms around me. “I can control you.”

“I’m afraid I’m uncontrollable.” I laugh lightly. “I like dangerous and exciting. That’s why I like you.”

Max chuckles. “Am I dangerous and exciting?”

“Very dangerous.” I slide my arms around his neck. “And very exciting when you go all-protective alpha-male crazy. It makes me”—I search for the right words—“want you. So much. Now.”

My words have the desired effect. Max grabs my hand and half walks, half drags me to the car warehouse. Once inside the cool, dark space, he locks the door. Light filters through cracks in the joints and shines through the small windows dotted around the massive space. Beautiful, exotic cars in a rainbow of colors gleam in two neat rows.

We stare at each other for a long moment. With a groan, Max pulls me into his chest and covers my lips with a hard kiss. I thread my fingers through his hair and pull him down for more.

“Fuck.” His first word in five minutes isn’t exactly what I wanted to hear, but I’ll take what I can get.

“Yes,” I breathe against his lips. “Now.” My heart pounds. My pulse races, and with Max in my arms, my arousal soars.

“You push me right to the edge.” His husky murmur inflames my desire, and I rub myself against the evidence of his need as it strains against his fly.

“I thought you liked it right on the edge.”

He makes a choking sound, and in ten seconds flat he has me stripped and pressed up against the door.

“Which car should we ride, biker chick?”

My words catch in my throat. “Lamborghini?”

“Too low for what I have in mind.”

He takes my hand and leads me to a brilliant red Audi. “Over you go, baby.” He leans me over the hood of the vehicle, and my nipples tighten at the erotic sensation of hard metal against my soft flesh. I twist to look over my shoulder and Max presses me back down. “Stay still. Hands on the hood in front of you.”

My pulse races and need licks through my veins. I position my hands on the Audi’s smooth surface.

“What is your safe word?”

I tense. Why do I need to remember my safe word now? “Agusta.”

Max strips off my yoga pants and biker chick undies. Then he caresses my bottom cheeks. I tremble. I want him so much, I am ready to beg.

“You disobeyed me,” he murmurs. “You put yourself in danger. You need to be punished so you learn not to do it again.”

“What?” A thrill of fear ratchets through me.

“You didn’t trust my judgment,” he continues. “I set the speed limit to keep you safe.”

“Please,” I whimper. “No games. I need you.”

“I have needs too. I need to know you won’t do anything like that again. Ten smacks for disobeying me.” He brings his hand down across my behind, smacking me hard. Pain explodes across my cheek and I shriek.

“Max, no. You’re angry.”

“Do you need to use your safe word?”

My entire body trembles even as a burning flush spreads outward from my bottom. Moisture trickles down my thigh. The nightmare dances at the fringes of my consciousness. Anger and violence. We were always heading in this direction. This is the last step before the end.

No. This is not the same. He cares for me. He loves me. He promised he would never hurt me. “No.”

“Good. Because I’m just getting started.” He strikes again, this time low on my other cheek.

I gasp and try to wiggle free. Max’s hand tightens on my back. “Don’t move or I’ll punish you for that too.” He smoothes a hand over my flaming cheeks and my tension eases. Two smacks. Not so bad.

Smack. Smack. Smack. He alternates cheeks and strike zones. Nowhere is safe. My bottom flames and I press my hips against the metal, trying to find stimulation for the throbbing bundle of nerves between my legs.

“No you don’t.” Max kicks my legs apart and pulls my hips back. “First punishment. Then pleasure.”

He slides his hand between my legs and through my wet folds. “Damn, baby. You’re so wet. I knew this would excite you.” He flicks his finger over my sweet spot and the shock of pleasure makes my knees buckle.

“Not yet. I’m not done with you.” He repositions me on the vehicle and lands two more swats on my flaming skin. “Why are you being punished?”

“Because I scared you?”

“No.” He strikes again, harder this time. “Because you didn’t trust me to protect you. Never again are you going to put yourself in danger. Understood?”