Page 31 of Rebel's Fairytale

“Lock the handle behind you,” she mumbled, distracted by his words. Stepping out into her garage and descending the few stairs, Bri looked down at her boots. They were black leather, with a very low heel, and a laced leather strap up the outside of the calf over a leather panel. The strap zigzagged down to her ankle where it stopped with a silver buckle. They were simple, but cute. She loved them.

“Ruby.” When she looked over at him coming down the stairs and stopping at her side, he grinned at her. “Ireallylike your boots.“ He winked at her. “Ready to go?”

When she nodded and smiled at him, he took her hand, and they headed for the exit door to the left of the garage door.

Once they stepped through the doorway, Bri used her key to lock the door before sliding her keys into the zipper pocket on the side of her jacket and zipped it closed. Excitement grew in her gut as they approached his bike. She couldn’t wait to have the experience, but more importantly, she couldn’t wait to share it with him.

Chapter ten

Rebel

AsmuchasRebelloved the way Ruby fisted his shirt in her hands, every single time she did it, if she didn’t stop, he was going to pull over a lot sooner than he planned. It combined the feeling of her touch with an I-don’t-want-to-let-you-go vibe that sparked his lust and sent his imagination flying.

The giggle she gave when he started the bike and the way she held on tight as he took off made him smile. She liked it, and that was important. If she was going to be with a biker, and shewasgoing to be withthisbiker, then she had to enjoy being on the back of his bike.

He liked the feel of her thighs surrounding him and her chest pressed to his back, but it was her hands fisting in his shirt that drove him insane. He’d been hard since they passed the town line. Every time he cranked up the speed, she tightened her grip, making him think of her gripping other things.

An hour into the ride, he saw the sign for the state beach, and relief coursed through him. Finally, they had reached their destination. He slowed the bike and took a right into the parking area. After backing his bike into a spot near the end of the lot, close to a copse of trees, he killed the engine and looked at her over his shoulder.

Under the rim of the helmet she was wearing, he could see the exhilaration and joy in her eyes. Yeah, his Ruby fucking loved being on a bike. “You good?”

She unhooked the helmet and pulled it off her head. With a smile, she nodded. “Yeah. That was… awesome.”

Rebel chuckled and climbed off his bike. He took the helmet from her hands and stowed it away in one of his saddlebags. When she started to climb off the bike, he stopped her. He loved watching her braid her hair before she got on the bike, but now he wanted it free again. She had the most beautiful golden hair, and he wanted access to it.

Standing at her side and gazing into her eyes, he reached up and slid the hair tie from the end of the braid. Maintaining eye contact, he slowly undid her braid, running his fingers through her hair. When he got up close to her scalp, he fisted the hair on the back of her head and leaned forward. He stopped an inch from her lips and whispered, “I love your hair, Ruby.”

He watched as she visibly swallowed hard. Then, she blushed. “I’m kinda fond of yours too.” Staring back at him, she reached up and pulled the hair tie from his hair, letting it fall around their faces.

“Yeah?” His gaze dropped to her lips.

“Yeah,” she breathed and ran her tongue along her bottom lip.

He apparently took too long, because she reached between them and gripped his beard to pull him close. Rebel had always been good at taking orders, so he followed her silent command and took her lips in a slow, sensual kiss.

Breaths mingling, tongues caressing, he couldn’t get enough of her, and it appeared she felt the same about him.

After a few minutes, he pulled back and cleared his throat. He needed to collect himself or he would be taking her on his bike in the parking lot of the state beach. Rebel really didn’t want their first time to be like that. He took a few deep breaths before he slid both of their hair ties in the pocket of his jeans and retrieved the small blanket from his other saddlebag. He held out his free hand to help her off the bike.

When she took his hand and began to dismount, he heard her giggle. “What’s so funny, Ruby?”

She looked at him, a grin on her face. “We’re acting like teenagers, unable to control our hormones.”

He shifted behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. Holding her close and walking slowly toward the walkway, he asked into her ear, “Something wrong with that?”

She shook her head and turned so she could look at him over her shoulder. “Not one thing.”

He pecked her cheek and moved back to her side, shifting one of his arms over her shoulders. When she pressed herself into his side as they made their way down the walkway, Rebel was positive he had never been happier in his life.

Messer

Messer pulled her Land Rover into a spot at the Hen House Inn and let out an annoyed sigh. She hated small towns. While they were great for finding intel, since everyone knew everything about everybody, she found them claustrophobic. And they always seemed to name their businesses corny names that were cutesy and not very professional.

She imagined the person who owned the inn was very nice, but the name made her cringe. Shoving down her disdain for the name of the place, she grabbed her two suitcases and her large duffle from the back of the vehicle and headed inside.

The lobby of the inn wasn’t as gaudy as she expected it to be. The wall behind the counter was a nice, muted teal with dark gray pin-striping and the other walls of the lobby, and for as far as she could see down the hallway, were the dark gray with a thick, muted teal, horizontal stripe down the center. All the furniture and the desk were dark gray, and all the detailing was muted teal. It was all very pulled together without being too much.

The woman behind the counter was older than Messer, but she was beautiful and pulled off the teal color of her short hair very nicely. With a smile, she greeted, “Welcome to the Hen House. I’m the owner. People just call me Mama Hen.”