Road Hawks (MC Romance)

This is a work of fiction. Any names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons--living or dead--is entirely coincidental.

Angel on Fire @ 2014 by Kelly Lawson. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embedded in critical articles or reviews.

ROAD HAWKS

Alexa
Saunders had been on the road for more than four hours and she could feel the fatigue getting to her. As she rode her black Honda Valkyrie on the lonely highway, she could not help but notice the distinct roar of a Harley Street 750 behind her. She would have turned around if she could but she had to keep her eyes on the road. She slowed down and allowed for the Harley to catch up with her…and it did. The rider, a masculine tattooed man rode alongside her Honda, his eyes on her for a long minute before he finally smiled and rode ahead. Alexa smiled to herself and went on riding, feeling the cold wind against her wrist where her jacket and gloves parted. It was not long before she heard the familiar roar again. She smiled to herself when she saw the Harley in view. Suddenly, she did not feel so tired anymore.

“Playing games, aren’t we?”
she thought as she rode past the powerful machine only to have it ride up to where she was again, and ride along her own bike. This time she turned and looked at the masculine rider and smiled.
“Perfection,”
she thought before she revved up and rode past him.

What followed next was a dance of sorts, with the Harley and Honda passing each other every so often, giving the two riders a chance to steal a glance at each other. The dance went on for a couple of miles before the Harley took a sharp right turn, getting off the highway. Alexa was not new on the highway, this was a road she had come to know well, the very same road that she grew up riding down, and she was sure that there was absolutely nothing on the right side of it. But that was not her concern. She went on riding, counting the miles until she got home.

She had only gone for a couple of miles when she once again heard the Harley’s roar. This time, she did not give it time to catch up. The sun was almost going down and she was still a few hours from Staling City, her home town.
“Maybe I should stop over at the Ripples Inn,”
she thought as she sped up towards Ripples, a motel she had stayed at time and again. When she got there an hour later, she got off the bike and took her backpack before heading in.

“Alexa! I had no idea you were coming,” Rob Livingstone, the innkeeper and a longtime friend to Alexa said excitedly. She walked up to the counter and smiled at him.

“In my defense, I really thought I would make it to Staling by nightfall,” Alexa said as she put her helmet on the counter and shook out her long brunette hair.

“Well, you are just in time for some of the wife’s pot roast. Will you be joining us for dinner?” Rob asked. Alexa smiled and shook her head.

“Maybe you could just send it over to my room. It’s been a long ride,” she said.

“As you wish,” Rob said with a smile.

“Same room as usual?” she asked as she handed Rob a hundred dollar bill.

“It’s always available for you,” Rob said as he handed her two twenties and a key card. She smiled and picked up her helmet before heading out. “I’ll have the roast sent over,” Rob called after her as she walked out.

“You have got to be kidding me,”
Alexa thought when she got out of the reception. Right there in front of her was the Harley Davidson Street 750. The muscled tattooed man was leaned against it and now that he had taken off his helmet, she could see his long ash blond hair. She walked up to him, a smile on her face. “If I didn’t know any better I would think you were stalking me,” she said. The man smiled and shrugged, a carefree sort of shrug that said he didn’t really care what she thought.

“How would you feel if I was?” he asked.

“Depends. You got the balls to find out?” she asked. The man laughed and looked at her. Alexa had a curvy supple body and the fitting leather pants and jacket she wore only made her curves look sexier. She could feel his lingering stare on her, but she did not mind. “Beautiful machine you’ve got there,” she said as she looked at the Harley. She put her hand on the handlebars and caressed them slowly, her eyes never leaving his. “Street 750,” she said finally.

“You know your engines,” the man said.

“Engines have been my whole life,” she said looking at him.

“Trace Wilkes,” he said stretching his hand to her. She looked at his hand for a long minute (almost as if she was trying to decide whether she wanted to take it or not) before she shook it.

“Alexa Saunders,” she said as she pulled her hand away.

“How about we go down to the diner and get something to eat?” Trace asked. Alexa looked at him and shook her head.

“I kind of have dinner plans already,” she said before she walked away towards one of the building blocks.

“Like to play hard to get, huh?” Trace called after her. Alexa smiled but she did not turn. She walked right up to her room, knowing full well that Trace was watching her swaying hips. She loved the room she always stayed in at the Ripples. It overlooked the lake down below and had lots of natural light. It was also the only room with a hot tub out on the back porch. The presidential suite, Rob liked to call it. When she got into the room, she walked over to the bed and dumped her helmet and backpack and then sat on the bed to take off her boots. She then took off her leather attire and walked to the shower, where she stood under the running water for a long time before she began soaping herself up. She was barely done soaping up when she heard a knock on her door.

“Oh Rob, you always had the worst timing,”
she thought as she turned off the water and step out of the bathroom. She put on a bathrobe and dried her face with its corner as she walked to the door. “Hey Rob, I was just…” her words trailed off when she saw Trace standing at her doorstep.

“Hello again,” he said smiling.

“Hi…this is not a very good time as you can see,” she said looking at Trace who was holding up a bottle of single malt scotch. “It is not a good time for that either,” she said.

“One drink and then I’ll go,” he said. Alexa looked into his eyes and without knowing it, she smiled. She loved his persistence, the way he came after her with such zeal. She liked that in a man. She stepped aside and let him in.

“One drink,” she said as she closed the door. “Give me a minute.” She walked back to the bathroom and started the shower again, standing under the running water. She did not see any reason why she should have to put her bath on hold just because Trace ‘macho man’ Wilkes thought he could drop by unannounced. When she was done, she took her time oiling her body and drying her hair before she put on the robe again and walked out of the bathroom. Trace was on the back porch looking at the hot tub.

“I must say, your room is far better than mine. Is there some kind of deal you made with the management?” he asked. Alexa smiled and shook her head.

“Ripples is just…part of me,” she said. Trace turned around and looked at her.

“Like the road is?” he asked. She shrugged and nodded.

“So, you’re here. Let’s have our one drink,” she said as she took a glass from the table in the middle of the room. She picked up the bottle of scotch and looked at it for a long time before she looked up. “Good year,” she said as she opened the bottle.

“You know, now that I look at you, you don’t look like a scotch girl,” he said as she poured him a drink. She pushed the glass towards him and sat down. She took a long gulp of the scotch. “I guess I was wrong,” he said when she took another big gulp and looked at him.

“So is this what you always do? Get a girl drunk so that you can have her as you will?” she asked. Trace laughed and shook his head.

“I don’t need to get a girl drunk to do with her as I will. If I want a girl, I usually get the girl. Mostly because she gives herself to me willingly,” he said as he looked at her. Alexa didn’t know why but she could feel her cheeks flushing. He was getting to her, and she could tell he was loving the effect he had on her.

“They give themselves to you?” she asked surprised at just how much he believed in himself. The way he talked she would have thought him to be a Roman soldier back when women were considered property, mere spoils of war.

“They do,” he said with a smile.

“So, where are you headed, Trace Wilkes?” she asked.

“Why? Do you want to come with me?”

She smiled and shrugged.

“Maybe. Or maybe I want to see how off course you really are.”

“Oakland,” he said with a smile of his own. She looked at him for a long second before she took another gulp.

“I told you I had dinner plans. I believe we are done here,” she said as she stood up. Trace looked at her and smiled. He could see her body outlined in the robe, her cleavage that was barely covered rose and fell as she took each breath. He looked at her and stood up.

“Maybe we should have another drink, soon,” he said.

“Depends. Are you going to come down to Staling City?” she asked.

“That’s where you’re headed? Staling?” he asked. She put the cover back on the scotch and handed the bottle to him. Trace reached over and took the bottle from her, his fingertips lingering on her wrist. For some reason, she felt a tingle go down her spine before she pulled away. “It was nice meeting you, Alexa,” he said before he walked towards the door. She walked over and smiled at him.

“Likewise,” she said as she opened the door for him.

She was not sure what she was feeling for him, but there was something. She was not the kind of woman to moon over a man; she was always in charge, and for her to meet a man that made her feel submissive, almost helpless made her feel something she had never felt before. When she shut the door, she leaned against it and closed her eyes. She found herself wondering what Trace’s naked body would feel like against her own. How his muscular arms would feel around her and how his lips would feel against her own full ones.

She was still leaning against the door when she heard a knock again. She opened the door expecting to see Rob with a steaming plate of pot roast, but instead it was Trace again. She looked at him, wondering what he could possibly want a second time. She opened her mouth to speak but he stepped forward and slipped an arm around her waist, making her gasp in surprise.

“What…?” she started to ask before he silenced her with one long, deep kiss. When he finally pulled away, she was almost out of breath. “What was that for?” she asked, looking into his eyes.

“No reason really comes to mind,” he said as he stepped into the room and let the door swing shut. She had never been on the receiving end of such a bold move. All this was new to her. “I can stop if you want me to,” he said in a low voice. She looked into his eyes again as she slowly gave in to strong arm that held her against him.

“Why would I want you to?” she asked before she kissed him.

Just like she had wondered before, his kiss was more than soft and searching. With his lips on hers she could feel just how much he wanted her, how much her body was screaming for him to make her his. When she pulled away, she put her hands on the two long straps that held her robe together, trying to maintain some sense of control, but he wouldn’t let her. He put his hand on hers and gently pushed them down before he took over the task and opened the robe. She noticed a smile playing on his lips as he looked at her beautiful naked body. She had a large tattoo that went all the way to the back from her lower waist.

“Nice ink,” he commented. She looked down at her tattoo and smirked. “I’ll show you mine if you show me yours,” he said. She smiled and turned around. His eyes fell down to her well-rounded ass — it was the first thing he saw, rather than the entwined vine tattoo that ran all the way to her shoulder. “What is it?” he asked.

“The vine of life,” she said. “There is a name in there. If you look close enough you will see it, it was my sister.” Trace looked at her and then walked round to face her. He maintained his intense eye contact as he took off his jacket. He then took off his black sleeveless t-shirt and let it drop to the floor. She looked at the familiar hawk and skull tattoo and then looked up at him. Suddenly everything made sense. The control, the macho attitude, the tattoos. “You’re a hawk,” she said looking into his eyes.