Page 22 of Primal
“I’m wearing a dress. And… I’m not getting on that, Finn.” I vehemently shake my head as my palms begin to sweat. Motorcycles have always made me nervous. Being on one, surrounded by the insane drivers filling the city streets, is absolutely terrifying.
“It’s perfectly safe,” he insists. “I promise I won’t let anything happen to you.”
I believe him. My heart thumps, and I swallow hard as I agree against my better judgment. “Okay...”
A broad smile spreads across his face as he steps away from the bike. He stares into my eyes as he reaches out his hand and tenderly tucks my hair behind my ears. My heart races faster, but it isn’t nerves about the motorcycle anymore when he closes the distance between us. He gathers my hair into a loose ponytail at the nape of my neck and twists it down my back.
“It’ll keep it out of your face,” he informs me as he lifts the helmet over my head. It squeezes snugly and is much heavier than expected. The weight is only exemplified—and it pulls me off-balance—when he tips my head back to fasten the strap beneath my chin. Holding the strap, he pulls me toward him and kisses the helmet covering my lips. Even with inches of plastic and padding between us, my stomach flutters.
Finn puts on his helmet and climbs onto the bike before extending his hand to me. Holding onto him for balance, I hesitate for a moment before lifting my leg over the bike and climbing onto the seat behind him until I’m inches from his back. He pulls my hand around his body, and I instinctually wrap my other around him. Grabbing my wrists, he taps my hands against his abs and shouts through the helmet, “You hold on tight and lean when I do, understood?”
He turns over the ignition on the motorcycle, which vibrates beneath me. My arms tighten around him, squeezing so hard as I fist his shirt that it must hurt. “I’ve got you,” he shouts over the rumble of the engine. Lifting the kickstand, he pulls slowly onto the street. We crawl with traffic for several blocks before coming to a stop at an intersection.
Finn reaches back with one hand and lightly taps my knee. His hand drags up the bare skin of my thigh to the hemline of my dress, tucked firmly underneath me, as he praises, “You’re doing so good.” Even with the hot summer air and the bike radiating heat beneath me, goosebumps prickle over my skin.
“Are you ready?” he asks, and I nod against him when my answer is muffled by my helmet. “Then, hold tight,piscín.”
He revs the engine, and the vibrations pleasingly rattle through my thighs and up my body. I squeeze my legs firmly against his to calm the tingling sensation as I grip his shirt harder. The light turns green, and I squeal as he peels through the intersection and onto the empty road before us. He continues to pick up speed, and I squeeze against him even harder. “Finn!” I nervously wince when we abruptly merge and whiz past a taxi. He weaves through the busy New York traffic with precision without slowing, and I watch as the city dwindles.
Where are we going?
With fewer cars on the road, Finn maneuvers the bike with only his right hand. He gives a gentle squeeze on my right hand to loosen my hold on the tight ball of cotton in my fist. As I tighten my left hand’s grip, he pulls my right up to his chest and splays my fingers. His heart pounds against my palm just as hard as mine is against his back, and it takes a second for me to register that his is racing for a different reason. Lacing his fingers with mine, he holds my hand against him as we ride.
And suddenly, I don’t care where we’re going.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
FINNIGAN
Since promising to move at her speed a few nights ago, I have had only a handful of stolen kisses on church property with Catlin.Not nearly as many as I would like.
Choosing to use the Scrambler to drive her to New Rochelle is undeniably a cheap way to have her pressed against me, but I couldn’t help myself.Ineed more.Had she refused the ride on my motorcycle, I would’ve had no issue using a rideshare instead.
But fuck, am I ever glad she didn’t.
She clings to me so tightly, though, that I’m quite certain she needed this as much as I did. I relish in the feel of her arms wrapped around me and her thighs quivering lightly against mine with every mile. I’ve fucked my hand several times in the past few days, imagining her beneath me with her limbs wrapping around me just like this. Having her this close makes my cock twitch each time those images come barreling through my thoughts.
Fuck, Finn.
Pay attention to the road.
Slipping my fingers from hers, which are splayed across my chest, I rub her hand before retaking the handlebars with both hands to navigate a series of rapidly approaching sharp turns. Her arms tighten their hold—her hand remaining steadfast over my beating heart—as she effortlessly moves with me through every turn.
We pull to a stop before a tall, wrought-iron gate. I press the entry code into the call box on my left as Catlin taps my chest to garner my attention over the loud hum of the bike, shouting, “Where are we?”
“Your birthday dinner,” I reply over the engine with a smirk beneath my helmet before pulling through the gate as it slowly opens and proceeding up the drive. Coming to a stop beside Tristan’s Aston Martin, I lower the kickstand and turn off the bike before removing my helmet. I reluctantly slide Catlin’s hands from me, and I tug lightly, gesturing for her to dismount. “You first,piscín.”
The moment she slides from behind me and climbs from the bike, I miss the feel of her against me. I watch for a second as she struggles to remove her helmet before lending her a hand. “Is this your place?” she asks as I place the helmet on the bike.
“No.” I scoff. While I love this house and spend a ton of time here, I couldn’t imagine a quiet life out here in the suburbs. “This is Declan and Quinn’s place. Everyone is probably out back on the deck.”
“Everyone?” Her voice ticks up. “I wasn?—”
“Relax.,piscín,” I drape my arm around her shoulders and pull her into me. Pressing my lips to her forehead, I inform her, “It’s just your friends and my brothers.”
Like I’ve ever brought any girl to my family…
…but Catlin isn’t any girl.