Throttle MC: A Stepbrother Romance (7 page)

Still inside me, Ryker falls forward, being careful not to crush me, and pulls me against him on the bed.  We’re kissing now, deeply, passionately, as though we know it’s not over yet.  Time passes, I don’t know how much, and I sleep.  When I wake, he is still beside me, stroking my hair away from my face.

“We shouldn’t have done that,” I say.  Because I have to say something.  

“I know,” he replies. He kisses me again, deeply.

After a few minutes, wordlessly, he gets up.  I hear him go into the bathroom, flush the condom, and run the water in the sink.  He comes back with a warm washcloth and hands it to me without speaking.  I take it, strangely touched at this kindness.

As I wipe myself, he grabs his jeans from the floor and pulls them on, then does the same with his T-shirt.  “I’ll wait for you out there,” he says quietly, and slips out the door.

I sit on the bed and watch him leave.  I glance around the room and notice my own shredded tee on the floor.  Slowly, I stand and pick it up, but instead of throwing it in the trash can by my bed, I open a drawer of the dresser and tuck it inside. 

So much for ignoring her. 

I don’t know how I managed to fool myself into thinking I’d be able to stay away from Hadley, especially with her under the same roof.  Just knowing she was there, it was like she was some sort of beacon sending out a signal.  I could barely think straight, knowing she was just upstairs. 

When Lon asked me to drive her back to the garage to pick up her car, I should have told him I had something else going on.  Anything to stay away from her. But I didn’t. 

Fuck me.

We didn’t say much on the way over to the garage.  I think Hadley hadn’t realized I’d be bringing her over on the bike, because she seemed a little startled and nervous when we walked out of the house and she saw my chopper sitting there.  But she got on behind me anyway, and when she wrapped her arms around my waist, I got hard so fast it was like we hadn’t just spent the last twenty minutes fucking each other’s brains out. I drove her back to Cooper’s, feeling the thrum of the bike underneath us and her thighs pressed up against my ass.  When we got there, she jumped off the bike like it was on fire and ran towards the garage without looking back at me.

I followed her a few seconds later and saw her talking to Lon. He looked up at me and waved as I walked up. “Thanks for bringing her, Ryke.”

“No problem,” I muttered, trying as hard as I fucking could to act natural. Then, turning to Hadley, I asked, “You got everything you need?”

She opened her mouth to respond, but just then, a bellow came from the other side of the garage.  “Hadley!”

I watched her turn and look across the garage.  Her eyes widened in shock and recognition, and she broke into a wide smile as she saw Jimmy come striding toward her.  He lifted her up and engulfed her in a big bear hug as she squealed: “Jimmy! Oh my God!”

My initial reaction of surprise turned to barely suppressed rage as I watched their reunion.  I saw him press her tight little body up against him, and felt a sudden urge to murder the motherfucker. 
Calm down, Ryker. 

I walked over to Lon and said in what I hoped was a neutral tone, “Those two know each other, eh?”

“Yeah,” he replied, his voice conveying nothing.  They were playmates as kids.” I knew Jimmy had been around longer than me, but I didn’t know it was that much longer. I grunted and continued to watch them out of the corner of my eye.

“You back for good?” Jimmy was asking her.

“No, just for a little while,” she replied, a happy grin on her face as she looked up at him.

“I was the one fixed your car,” Jimmy said proudly.  “Did a complete tune-up.  Should be running like a top now.”

She laughed easily.  “That’d be a first.” The warm smile she gave him made my blood beat in my temples.  “You look good, Jimmy.”

I turned in disgust and walked back to the clubhouse. If I had to watch more of this, I was gonna blow my stack.  Even more so because I had absolutely no right to be so fucked up about this. Hadley was not mine.  She never would be mine.  For all intents and purposes, she was my fucking sister.  And I had damn well better put what happened this morning out of my mind and get used to that fact. 

Back inside, I ignored the fact that it was still the morning and went to the bar to grab a bottle of beer.  Opening it, I took a long, deep swig.  I closed my eyes as I swallowed, trying to mentally clear my mind. 
Focus.  Stop thinking about Hadley.  This morning never happened.

 It never fucking happened.

Benny was sitting at the bar watching TV, and I wandered over to shoot the shit with him.  He’s a funny fucker, always good for a story, and I was hoping he’d keep my mind off things.  But my efforts to get away from the fucking Hadley-Jimmy reunion show didn’t quite work, because a few minutes later I heard their voices behind me as they entered the clubhouse.  Jimmy was saying something in a low voice, and Hadley laughed -- a bright, happy sound that just made my mood that much worse.  For some reason, it infuriated me that Jimmy could make her laugh like that.  The easy way she touched his arm as they talked made me want to go over there and bash his fucking skull in. I wondered if they had ever been more than friends, back in the day. I was hit by a wave of almost uncontrollable rage at the thought.
Goddamn.
  I had to get control of that shit.

“Shit, Hads,” Jimmy was saying to her, “You’ve gone all college girl on me.  You need a good dose of Cheyenne to bring you back to normal.” He threw his arm around her shoulders possessively. “Let’s go on a ride this afternoon.  Go hang out, like old times.”

Hadley smiled, but moved away from him slightly, detaching his arm from her.  “Maybe later, Jimmy.  I’m still getting my bearings.  Rain check?”

Jimmy’s expression darkened, and a flicker of anger was quickly replaced by an easy grin.  “Yeah, sure.  Maybe tomorrow?”

“Maybe,” Hadley nodded.  “And thanks for fixing my car, Jimmy.  I really appreciate it.”

“Hey, no problem,” he practically crowed.  “Your dad wanted the best mechanic to take care of it, so...” I stifled a snort of laughter.  Fuckin’ Jimmy was far from being the best mechanic on staff.  I thought it was a lot more likely that when Lon told the garage whose car it was, Jimmy had taken it upon himself to fix it.  I was beginning to think Jimmy had designs on Hadley, and I realized with a surge of frustration that there wasn’t a damn thing I could do about it. 

Hadley turned and noticed me at that moment.  She walked up to where I was standing and looked into my eyes.  “Thanks again for bringing me here,” she said quietly. 

“Any time,” I replied.  The image of her perfect tits and the smell of her came back to me and I frowned and looked away for a moment.  When I had composed myself enough to look back, she was blushing a deep red. 

“Hey, Ryker.” Jimmy had come up next to us, and his voice was a little too loud.  “So, you met my Hadley girl, eh?” He swung his arm around her shoulders, and I knew he couldn’t know it, but I wanted nothing more than to detach his arm from her and break it for him. 

“Uh, yeah, considering her mom is with my dad and I live under their roof.”  My tone was icier than I intended.

His eyes narrowed, and Hadley squirmed a little under his grip. “Yeah, well, she may be your sister now, but I’ve known her a lot longer than you have.”
What the fuck does he even mean by that?  Hadley’s not your fucking possession, son.

Hadley gently moved out from under his arm and looked at the two of us.  I wondered what she was thinking.  I wondered again if there had been anything between her and Jimmy, before.  The thought made my blood boil.
Chill, Ryker.  They were just kids back then. How much could have happened?

“Hey!” Benny called from the entrance to the garage.  “Chapel in five minutes.”

“Yeah, I know,” I called back, my eyes never leaving Hadley’s. “You all set?” I asked her.

Her gaze held mine for a moment.  “Yeah.  Tell Dad I’m going to go run some errands.  I’ll see him back at the house later.”

“Sure thing.”

She turned away, toward the front door, and walked out to her car.  Both Jimmy and I watched her go.  “I used to hit that, back in the day,” Jimmy said casually, and then walked away.

It was all I could do to not bust his fucking face open.

It was a relief to escape the club and get in my car.  The last twenty-four hours had been overwhelming, to say the least, and I needed some space.  I pulled out of the garage lot and turned left toward downtown Cheyenne. 

I was still reeling from what had happened between me and Ryker that morning.  It had been completely wrong, completely unexpected.

And the best sex of my life.

Though I could hardly be described as all that experienced, honestly.  Since my early days fooling around with Jimmy, I hadn’t had any boyfriends in high school.  College had definitely provided me with some sort of sexual education, for better or worse. Most of the boys I had dated in college had been underwhelming in the sex department, and I had graduated marveling at my classmates’ seeming obsession with it.  Most of what I had experienced had been no great shakes.  The few orgasms I had ever had had happened when I was alone, in the dark, on one of the rare occasions that my roommate was gone.  The fact that the boys I dated couldn’t manage to produce the same feelings in me I chalked up to their clumsiness, and the fact that they were clearly much more interested in their own pleasure than mine.  But maybe all boys were like that, I wondered? I hadn’t had any experiences to convince me otherwise. 

Until this morning.

Ryker had done things to me – I felt heat spread through my body at the mere thought – that no one ever had.  Made me feel ways I had never felt before, not even in the dark stillness of my own room. From the moment he had touched me, I burned with a need I scarcely recognized.  Even now, thinking about it, an aching sensation began between my legs, and I shifted in my seat as I imagined his hardness pressed up against me, filling me.  Before I knew it, my breath was coming in shallow pants, and I had to physically shake my head and turn on the radio to get my mind off of Ryker Stone.

I couldn’t believe that the one man who had been able to make me feel like this was my stepbrother. It was a level of unfairness that seemed almost cosmic.  It was like a Greek tragedy.  Like the gods were punishing me for something.

I took a deep breath and let it out slowly, willing myself to think of something else.  My stomach rumbled loudly, and I realized that I hadn’t yet eaten anything today.  As I drove into downtown, I saw a familiar sight: Crouse’s Restaurant, the local diner where I had eaten countless times as a kid.  A slight smile played across my face as memories came back to me, and I decided to go have breakfast there, for old time’s sake.

The tinkling bell that used to alert the staff to customers entering had been replaced by an electronic beeping noise, but otherwise the restaurant looked almost exactly the way I had remembered it.
Well, at least something around here hasn’t changed.
  I walked up to the counter and sat down.  It seemed I had missed the breakfast crowd; the only other patrons were a table full of senior citizens having coffee and shooting the breeze.  After a few moments, a short-ish redhead in a waitress uniform came out of the back and approached me. Her eyes widened in recognition.  “Hadley Cooper?” she asked in a surprised voice.

“Yes?” I replied, cocking my head to look at her.  “Do I.... Oh!  Lucy Boyer!”

My former classmate grinned with pleasure.  “I can’t believe you remember me!” she said.  “It’s been so long!”

“I can’t believe you remember
me
,” I laughed.  “I’m the one who’s been gone for seven years.”

Lucy’s eyes grew wide. “God, has it been that long? Jesus, we were in middle school when you left, weren’t we?” She shook her head in amazement.  “Time flies, huh?”

“No kidding,” I agreed.

“Oh!” She laughed, a bubbly sound that I remembered from the halls of Cheyenne Area Middle School. “I guess you probably want something to eat, huh? I’ll grab you a menu.”

“No need,” I replied, grinning back at her. “I’ll have two blueberry pancakes and a side of bacon.” It had been my favorite breakfast since I was a little girl. Does anybody not love blueberry pancakes? “And coffee.”

She nodded.  “Coming right up.”

Lucy went into the kitchen for a moment, then came back and grabbed a heavy white mug from under the counter.  Placing it in front of me, she filled it from the glass carafe behind her. “Just made this a little bit ago.  Cream?”

“No thanks, I take it black.”  I thanked her and picked up the cup, savoring the warmth and heft of it in my hand.

“So,” she began, leaning against the counter. “What are you doing back here in town? What have you been doing with yourself for the last seven years?”