Full Throttle (25 page)

Sammy never before had a
protector,
never had a champion, and right now she would have given Josh anything just to be
able stay in his strong, kind, capable arms. She didn’t want to talk to the
police,
she didn’t want to talk to the firemen. All she
wanted was to be wrapped in Josh’s arms and held like she never had been in her
entire life.

The whole evening, while they doused the fire and
made the area safe, was a blur of sound, flashing lights, and pain. When Josh huddled
her floppy, exhausted body into his car and drove her to his apartment, Sammy
could barely muster an argument.

Shocked, tired, and now genuinely frightened by her
stalker, Sammy willingly went with Josh to his home.

Chapter
Twenty One

One week later.

Sammy sat with her legs up on Josh’s trendy and
stylish leather sofa. She glanced around at the cold square lines and bland
colors, wondering just why Josh had chosen this as his place to live. From the
time she spent with him, which was pretty much every minute, bar a few times he’d
gone off to visit his suppliers, Sammy had come to the conclusion Josh was a
warm, loving, man who liked his comforts.

He was a man who liked his coffee black, his showers
scorching hot and his toast this side of burnt. Josh was not chatty, but Sammy
had learned so much from his looks and his lust-laden touches to know that he
would not choose décor like this. She had imagined a place filled with soft,
dark leather and the odd piece of art made up of motorbike parts. This place
was … empty, as if Josh was just staying here until he found something better, as
if he was considering taking off at any minute.

That idea gave Sammy a stomach ache.

In the last week Sammy realized that her feelings
for Josh were intensifying. From the moment he’d held her as her parent’s place
burned down, to the long three hours the police had questioned her about the
fire, the stalker, and her crash, Josh had been at her side making her feel protected.
He never once made her feel rushed or silly. And twice now, Sammy had lost the
fight against her tears. Once, when the police scaled up the search for her
stalker, and second, when she had been told her bike was going to cost her more
money than she had to fix it. She could use her parent’s inheritance, but that
idea still felt like stealing, especially on something as frivolous as a
motorbike.

But both times she’d cried, Josh had held her as if
he’d never let her go.

Both times Sammy had thought she would die from the
pain. Both times Josh had taken her to bed to show her the softer side of him.
Josh was a fantastic lover, and over the past week he taught her so much. Sammy
had become bold in the bedroom, even allowing her mouth to roam wherever she pleased.
She was getting very attached to Josh, so much so that it frightened her how
much she missed him when he wasn’t around. At first, Sammy thought it was
because of the fire and how shook up she had been, but the longer she stayed
around her gruff, sexy, demanding biker, the more she realized she’d become
infatuated. She might even admit to herself that she had fallen in love.

Sammy stared at her leg cast and sighed. How had she
let herself fall in love within a week?

Josh pushed through the front door, yanking Sammy
from her frightening revelation. He found her almost immediately, and Sammy
loved how his grin spread across his mouth seductively. “Hi, honey, I’m home.” he
said and Sammy grinned back.

He placed the shopping bags down at the door to the kitchen
and strode over to her, leaning on the back of the sofa to kiss her shoulder as
his gaze passed over the schoolbooks she was marking.

“Are you sure you want to go back to work this week?”

Sammy nodded and sighed when Josh nibbled at her ear
and sucked in her lobe.

“Are you sure you don’t want to stay here with me
all day?” he added as he stroked his hand over her shoulder to cup one of her
breasts through the tight, Triumph motorcycle t-shirt Josh had gifted her.

Sammy stared at his darkly tanned hand and hummed as
he found her nipple through the fabric. He was insatiable, his lust never
dimming. Not that’s she was complaining, Sammy had never felt so wanted.

But this wasn’t real life. Real life was the fact
her parents house was ashes. Real life was a madman who, she had been informed,
probably held a vendetta against her father and not really her, though clearly
her father’s death hadn’t been enough to put him off. The police had no clue,
really. Josh had become a little obsessed with figuring it out. He was asking
her lots of questions
. Why won’t he leave
you alone now you’re father is dead?
And the note she received last week
with the photos of her and Josh, where the stalker had said he was disappointed
she hadn’t died? Those words of wanting to go to her funeral really played
around in her mind. Was this something more than a vendetta? Sammy had no clue.
It worried her, since the fire, the threats seemed somehow, more real.

She felt as if the weight of the world was upon her
now.

And real life was the inevitable notion that this
thing with Josh would end soon. Sure, he had asked for more from her, but for
her to move in to his house? No.
And for her to be around day
and night?
She doubted Josh, the bachelor, would want that. No matter
what he
said.
She would be alone again.

Cooled by that notion, and the stunningly stupid
knowledge that she had fallen in love, Sammy leaned forward and broke Josh’s contact.
She turned around and forced herself to smile. “I have to get back to work. I
want to get back, I miss it.” Plus, being there might give her something else
to think about.

Josh stood up and ran his hand through his hair,
tapped the back of the sofa, and sighed. “Are you sure it’s safe?”

Sammy sucked in a breath and squared her shoulders.
“It’s a school, Josh, of course it’s safe. Besides, I never received a letter
there at all. I think it’s the safest place to be, actually.”

Josh studied her expression for a long time before
he dipped and claimed her mouth in a hard, consuming kiss. Sammy willingly opened
her mouth and reveled in the darkly erotic way he tasted her with his tongue, reminding
Sammy of all the times he tasted her core in the same way.

Josh pulled back after a long time, nipped her chin,
and whispered, “Brave woman.”

Sammy frowned a little. Josh stood up. “Why don’t we
celebrate
then.
We should go to my local tonight for a
drink.”

Sammy paled and shook her head. “No—”

But Josh wasn’t listening as he nodded and grinned.

“My friend is back from Iraq, tonight is his last
night, and I know he wants to meet you.” He reached for Sammy’s hands and
pulled her to her feet. Pain no longer bloomed in her leg, and she was able to
at least put a little weight onto her cast. Her bruises had dulled but Sammy
still felt worried about what his friends would think of her.

“You told him about me?” Sammy asked, a little
shocked she wasn’t his dirty secret. Sammy had imagined Josh kept quiet about
her. She had imaginings of Josh feeling a little embarrassed by being shacked
up with a math geek, a cripple.

To say she was surprised about him wanting to take
her to his local, and that his friend already knew about her, was an
understatement.

Josh frowned.
“Of course.”
He helped her around the sofa and locked her in his arms. He placed his hands
flat on her bum and kissed her upturned mouth hungrily. “And Tony will be
there. Sunday is a good night to go.” He kissed her neck and sucked hard until
Sammy felt an answering pulse between her legs. Josh kissed her neck and
nibbled her ear. “Plus, everyone owns a race bike, so you’ll get to ogle all of
the machines in the car park.” He waggled his eyebrows.

Sammy giggled at Josh’s gravelly tone. He made an
engine noise in his throat and she threw back her head and laughed. Josh lifted
her in his arms and turned for the bedroom.

Sammy had got very used to being carried
around,
she would miss it when her leg was healed.

“First though, I just want to make sure you know who
your man is. There will be a lot of men in bike leathers, and I want to make
sure your sexy green gaze doesn’t stray.”

Sammy bit her lip when Josh placed her on the bed.
The intense look in his dark stare gave her shivers, and when he showed her who
her man was, Sammy made sure she showed him just who his woman was, too.

But his words played around her mind. M
ake sure your sexy green gaze doesn’t stray
.
It made her wonder if maybe, Josh felt the same way about her.

****

Josh stood at the bar watching Sammy as she chatted
enthusiastically to Tony about bikes. Her gaze sparkled with interest when Tony
spoke about his new Daytona. Josh knew Sammy was pining for
her
own
machine. She’d hardly mentioned her beloved Ducati since she found
out about how mangled it had been, but Josh knew her heart hurt over it. Though
Sammy had inherited money from her parents, she told Josh all about how she had
saved to buy the bike, so she could claim it as hers and hers alone.

The woman was fucking amazing.

Paige, Jason’s younger sister and barmaid, sauntered
over to where Josh was waiting and smiled through her bright red lipstick. “What
can I get you, Josh?” she asked, raising her voice over the rowdy crowd in the local
tonight.

Josh leaned over and placed an order for three pints
and grinned when she spun and flicked the bird to a customer yelling for her to
move that fine ass and get him his fucking drinks. The bloke, rather than irritating
Paige, clearly amused her as she yelled back. “I’m busy serving Josh. You’ll
get yours in time.”

The bloke grinned, rubbed his hand over his chin,
and shook his head. “That a promise, Paige?”

Paige grinned and blew the waiting biker a kiss.

Josh shook his head. “I wouldn’t let Jason catch you
offering yourself like that. He’s already strung out about your partying as it
is.”

Paige scowled at him, slammed one of the pints on
the bar and snatched up another glass. “Yeah, well, my big brother needs to
watch his own backside for the next nine months and stop worrying about me.”
Paige lifted her gaze and raised a stern eyebrow. “I’m a big girl.”

Josh placed a twenty on the bar and waited for Paige
to give him his change, then pocketed the money, picked up his pints, and
turned just in time to see Sammy throw back her head and laugh. He stopped
moving, stunned by the sound. Her hair was down, flowing around her shoulders,
and she was wearing a plain white t-shirt and a pair of jeans. One leg of trousers
had been chopped off to allow for her cast but as she sat at the table, you
couldn’t see. She had put on some makeup, not much though. She didn’t need it.
Her eyes sparkled, especially when she laughed.

“Does she have a sister?”

Josh stopped gawking at Sammy and turned towards his
friend, Mark, and shook his head. “Even if she did, I wouldn’t give her your
number.”

Mark laughed, and Josh grinned. They had been
friends for a while, and Josh knew Mark’s reputation. The man was a personal
trainer, a fireman, and women flocked to him hoping to sweep the man off his
race bike. But Mark was the kind of bloke that loved ‘em and left ‘em with no
twinge of guilt.

“She is bloody hot.” Mark said as he sipped his pint
and shook his head. “She’s got that librarian, good girl thing down. Man, look
at those lips.”

Josh scowled, hating to hear his friend talk about
Sammy that way, but there was no denying,
Sammy
did
have that look. He watched her for a moment and grinned. Oh, yeah, she did have
that dirty librarian look about her. Josh decided he was going to get her a
pair of glasses and high heels. Yeah, that would be fun. He glanced at Mark and
found his friend still watching Sammy. He frowned.

“Stop thinking about my woman, you wanker.” Josh scowled.

Mark grinned and sipped his beer. “Where did you
find her? I might have to hang out at libraries more often.”

“Horny bastard.”
Josh
said. “She was in Tony’s bike tour group.”

Mark raised his brows in shock and looked directly at
Josh. “She rides?”

Josh grinned.
“Oh, yeah.
A sexy little Ducati.”
He had a vision of her the first time
he saw her, taking off her helmet and letting all that blonde hair out, and
Josh needed to get back to her before any of these bastard bikers watching her
made a move.

Mark looked gob-smacked as he sucked in air through
his teeth. “She looks that good and rides a fucking bike?
You
lucky bastard.”

He made his way back to Sammy, grinning when he
heard Mark groan behind him.
“Fucking lucky bastard.”

Josh put the three drinks down and kissed Sammy as
she stared up at him. He placed himself next to her and sat, proud as fuck,
next to the sexiest woman alive.