Page 43 of March 5

Voices grew louder. Dio took another deep breath and let her go.

Reluctantly, she stepped away from him. She looked into his eyes, needing the validation that she wasn't crazy.

His tormented gaze, hot and bothered, stared back at her.

Her stomach fluttered. She couldn't catch her breath. Lightheaded and dazed, she stood in the middle of the hallway as kids swarmed out of the room behind her.

Dio blinked, stepping away from her. A mask of pain gripped his features.

She reached for him to find out what he wasn'ttelling her, but his longer strides took him into the main room of the clubhouse, and she lost track of him in the crowd.

"Skye?"

She turned, searching through the faces until she found her dad. Now that the emergency was unfounded and she could go home, all she wanted to do was get back to the apartment and fall into bed to replay what had happened between her and Dio.

Her dad hooked her neck, bringing her closer. "It's safe to leave now."

"I heard." She hugged her dad. "I'm glad everything is okay."

The thought of losing her dad again always left her with a hollow feeling in her chest. She'd lost him to a prison sentence when she was a baby, and he was out of her life until she and Aunt Brooke moved to Seaglass Cove when she was eight years old.

She couldn't remember her real mom, who she learned died in a fire caused by her drug addiction. The same fire that her dad was blamed for that killed her mom and three other people. But her dad wasn't the guilty one. He was there because he came to save her.

"I love you, Dad." She kissed his cheek.

She hugged Aunt Brooke. "I'll call you tomorrow."

"Love you." Aunt Brooke leaned against her dad. "Drive safe."

She grabbed her jacket and got halfway across the room when her aunt called her name. Turning around, she cocked her head in question.

"Hang on. Your dad will have to take youhome." Aunt Brooke held up her finger. "You don't have your car."

She pressed her hand to her forehead, having forgotten that Dio had brought her to the clubhouse.

"I'll take you home." Dio stepped beside her and put his hand on her back.

Her aunt relaxed. Her dad raised his hand in thanks. They trusted Dio with her life. Why couldn't Dio see what she could see? No one would question their relationship if they decided to get together.

"Come on, princess."

Warmth filled her body, and she melted against his arm. She had more time with him. Time to hold onto him longer. Time to convince herself that she wasn't wrong.

She only wished she lived far away and could ride behind him, holding him for hours.

At his bike, she slipped on her jacket. "I forgot my helmet inside."

"I already grabbed it." He took it off his handlebar and handed it to her.

"Thanks."

When he straddled the Harley, he gave her his hand. She held on to him as she climbed onto the back of the seat, found the foot pegs, and plastered herself behind him.

"Hold on." He started the motorcycle.

She wrapped her arms around his waist and pressed her cheek against the back of his shoulder. Her fingers curled into the leather of his vest, feeling his hard stomach. Her pussy beat to the rhythm of her heart, and she squeezed her thighs, cupping her body around him.

Other girls talked about their sexual desires and experiences with this boy or that boy in such a flippant way, as if each conquest got them closer to their goal. A goal they weren't even aware of yet.