ROMANCE: Bad Boy Obsession (Stepbrother Biker Taboo Forbidden Romance Thriller Collection) (New Adult Contemporary Romance Stepbrother Short Stories Collection Book 5) (2 page)

Chapter Four

As nerves grew increasingly more prominent inside of her, Lily reached across to the small work bench and picked up one of the bike helmets. The bike beneath her rattled and she let out a startled gasp, she wasn’t used to how unstable the bike was. With a hand placed carefully on her side Mason calmed her and still the bike. His hand brought a sense of safety to Lily that she definitely hadn’t been expecting. If she had to match one word with Mason then ‘safety’ would be the furthest thing from her mind yet as he steadied her that was exactly what she felt. It confused her but the moment did not last long enough for her to over think it, soon Mason removed his hand and Lily sat bemused on the bike.

Shaking off the strange feelings Lily carefully put the helmet on, being sure to buckle it correctly, despite the sensation Mason had caused the nerves were still pulsing through her. As soon as she had fastened the simple helmet Mason turned to her and she could so easily see the humor in expression. He was trying not to laugh as he surveyed how ridiculous Lily looked in the helmet and she knew it. If she had been confident enough to release her firm grip on the bike she knew she would have hit him in the arm. After trying and failing to hide his laugher Mason grabbed his own helmet and put it on quickly with an expertise that Lily was shocked to find that she was impressed with.

The bike started up beneath her and Lily let out a scream that was quickly muffled by her own hand. “I hope you’re not going to scream the entire way, it’ll be rather distracting,” Mason said with a laugh and Lily’s face flushed red in response.

“Of course not,” Lily shouted over the loud thunder of the bike’s engine. She vowed then, to herself that no matter what happened she would not let a single noise break free from her lips.

“Good because it’s going to be a bumpy ride, I’d hold on if I was you,” Mason shouted.

Quickly without thinking about it Lily wrapped her arms around Mason’s muscled torso and the bike kicked into life. She barely had time to tighten her hold as it surged forwards with a speed she had not been expecting. To the sound of Mason’s relentless laugher the bike flew out of the garage and into the, thankfully, empty street. Lily pushed her mouth tightly shut in an attempt to halt the screams that so desperately wanted to come out. At that moment she had never been so grateful for the control that she had, she knew that if she made a noise she would never in her life time live it down. 

As the bike raced on down the street dodging and weaving through the traffic it was the warmth of her hands on Mason’s body that distracted her. His body was warmer than she could ever have believed and as her arms wrapped around it she felt comforted. For the all the likely sources of comfort that there was in the world again she hadn’t expected it to have come from the heavily tattooed and sarcastic Mason. She knew that while his personality was going to take some getting used to it was his body that would be the biggest challenge; as her fingers dug harder and harder into his muscles and their speed increased she knew her heart was beating faster for reasons other than just the thrill of the ride.

“I do like my chest and if you continue to dig your nails into it I am going to have to blame the scars on you,” Mason shouted as he slowed to a stop at the traffic lights.

Lily breathed in deeply, instantly feeling guilty. “I’m sorry!” she shouted over the engine that seemed slightly quieter now the bike had been set free, “You did say to hold on tightly though!” she laughed.

“I didn’t think you would mistake tight for ‘hard enough to actually imbed your nails inside me’!” Mason snickered sarcastically. Before Lily could think of a response the lights changed to amber and the bike flew forwards again leaving her struggling to regain her hold on Mason.

Terrified that she would fly off the back of the bike she slammed her body against his, holding on for dear life. Her act was met with heavy and loud laughter from Mason, the noise came so freely from him that his whole body vibrated against Lily’s chest. Frowning at his misplaced humor Lily tried to release her hold but as she slowly slipped backwards on the seat again she tightened it with more force that before. She had no idea if she was hurting him or not but as the bike sped on she realized that she liked the feeling of her body pressed against his, a feeling that she knew she shouldn’t enjoy as much as she did.

Chapter Five

Minutes passed by and with each one Lily’s hammering heart calmed a little more; before long she began to relax and enjoy the ride. It was the freedom that it brought that she loved the most, flying down the streets with enough speed to make everything a blur around her. While she prayed that it wasn’t a blur for Mason she was more than enjoying the lack of knowing exactly where they were going. Up until now she had recognized the streets as ones she had played on as a child but now the ones that passed her by were foreign.

Lily released her hold on Mason and while it had been slightly reluctantly she made up for it by placing her head against the muscles in his back. It had been almost instinctive for her to put her head against him and she was trying her best not to over think what it meant. After a few minutes had passed and she had grown more comfortable she decided that she would keep it there, knowing that Mason hadn’t complained just made it slightly easier. She hoped as she held herself close to him and while he gave her a new found freedom that he wasn’t as bad as she had previously imagined.

The thought was not long lived as Mason flew the bike to the side with no warning and unsuspecting of what he was doing Lily screamed loudly. The sound was welcomed by Mason with an equally as loud laughter. He pushed the bike even faster to Lily’s disbelief and with a short but terrifying leap into the air the bike was no longer on the road. Through trees and over large mounds of dirt the bike truly came to life. After the shock had registered and Lily had pulled herself back from the brink of a heart attack she found herself screaming with the dangerous thrill rather than with a fear of the unknown.

It wasn’t long before Lily realized that Mason took each dirt mound with excellent precision gaining the most amount of air time with each jump. The bike twisted and flipped under his control and not once did she feel that they might crash or were even close to crashing. For the second time in less than an hour she felt a strange sense of safety with him. To her the sensation felt good, unexpected but very good. Much to Lily’s disappointment after what felt like only the third or fourth time of them flying through the air, but in fact was the thirtieth, the bike slowed to a stop and Mason switched off the engine.

“Why are we stopping so soon?” Lily almost whined and Mason’s eyebrows rose sarcastically at the sound of her voice.

“A little sad are we?” he teased but his eyes softened. Lily stared into his eyes as he faced her on the bike and felt her mind go blank, she really had never seen a blue more intense than the shade of Mason’s eyes. They almost put her brown eyes to shame she thought.

Silence fell around them, disturbed only by the sound of birds chirping somewhere in the trees that surrounded them. “Maybe,” Lily finally admitted with a purposeful pout that made Mason smile. While she knew she shouldn’t think it, Lily liked the way Mason’s smile twisted his lips; it was gentler than his smirk, much more inviting.

“If I carry on now we won’t have enough in the tank to get us home,” Mason explained softly and his voice didn’t falter, none of the sarcasm returned.

“Us home,” Lily repeated in a whispered voice. It felt odd for her to think the words, let alone say them aloud. Until now, after the drama of the night before, she had not considered it to be their home. She felt guilty now for thinking him to be an intruder, he had of course lived there while she had been away and he would continue to do so after she left again.

“It’s strange isn’t it,” Mason said equally as quietly and Lily could tell he was thinking the same as her. For Mason she had probably been the intruder, it had just been him before she had arrived.

“But then we are strangers,” Lily said as though it had just occurred to her. She was sat alone in the forest on the motorbike of a stranger with only him to keep her company; the concept would have been extremely funny to her only hours ago.

“Strangers who share a house,” Mason said with a laugh but it was not his seemingly normal sarcastic one, it was more that he honestly found it funny instead of teasing her.

Lily paused in thought as Mason’s words registered with her. “I don’t hate the idea,” she admitted finally.

Mason looked her in to her eyes and nodded but a small hint of laughter pulled at his lips. “I do,” he said and a smirk plastered across his previously friendly smile.

No longer afraid of the bike toppling over on her Lily reached out to hit Mason on the arm. He was too quick for her though and before she could touch his bronzed skin he had grabbed her arm and twisted his whole body around to face her. The anger in his face at her move quickly melted away as their eyes met and they stared at each other. He still held her arm though and as heat pounded through her body she was more than aware of the fact.

Lily searched Mason’s eyes desperately but with no real knowledge of what it was exactly that she was looking for. She simply looked into the depth of the blue as he stared back equally as intently at the brown in hers. Mason’s grip on her arm slowly loosened and she felt herself moving towards him, leaning into his body. Mason watched her as her breathing deepened and her body stilled, just a mere fraction of a centimeter away from his own. Lily could feel every breath that caressed her skin and the gentle breeze that brushed against her lips.

Her heartbeat quickened and as her eyes stayed locked on his and the bright blue darkened she felt his lips on hers. The feeling instantly took her breath away and as Mason moved his mouth against hers her head fogged. A second passed before she reacted and she did so with an intensity that shocked even her. Mason dropped her wrist now and instead wrapped his arms around her, pulling her closer to him. She kissed him back with the same fiery passion he had shared with her and a moan of pleasure crept from her lips.

Lily leant impossibly closer and as she did the once firmness beneath her rocked dangerously. She had no time to stop or even prepare as their lips parted and the bike they had been sat on fell to the ground. Together they fell heavy onto the forest floor and a cry of pain broke from Lily’s lips as the bike crashed down on her. The sweetness that had filled her only moments before were now left long forgotten.

Chapter Six

“Are you kidding me?” Mason shouted angrily as he looked down at the tangled mess of Lily and his bike on the ground. Through her startled brown eyes and her mess of blonde hair Lily looked up at him as he paced the dirt, clearly fuming at the state of his bike.

“Fine I’ll just help myself up then,” she shouted at him. Struggling under the weight of the bike she fought to free herself as Mason looked on, no longer as angry as before and instead his furious expression had been replaced by humor.

“It’s your stupid bike, the least you could do is get it off me,” Lily said as she scowled at Mason. The things she had felt only seconds before meant nothing now as she took in his sarcasm, he really was a jerk she thought with angry that could easily rival his.

“You knocked it over, get yourself up,” Mason said harshly as his shoes scuffed at the dirt under his feet.

“Fine, have it your way!” Lily shouted. With all the strength she could muster in her aching arms she lifted the bike off her and pushed it down so it fell heavy on the ground. She looked on in humor as a few pieces flew off and landed a couple of meters away.

“You really are kidding me right?” Mason said and to Lily his earlier anger seemed like nothing in comparison to the fury that now burned in his eyes.

“I warned you,” Lily said casually as she pulled herself off of the ground and dusted off her shorts. As she noticed the painfully bleeding graze on her leg she wished she had worn her jeans from yesterday instead of keeping on the short shorts from her luggage.

Mason stormed over to where Lily now stood examining the cut on her leg. As his body shook with anger he stopped just a little away from her, not daring to get closer than he needed to. Slowly Lily looked up into his eyes and the anger that she saw stunned even her. He was as close now almost as they had been on the bike but while then the intensity had been to levels she had only ever imagined before now only the smallest hint of that remained. As she stared into his vibrant eyes she could see that there was so much burying the feelings he had let surface a short time ago.

“Why?” he questioned her and for a second she was unsure exactly what he was referring to. She thought back to the kiss it had been so passionate but she had a feeling that was something he did not want to discuss and at this moment neither really did she.

“It was an accident,” Lily whispered and she knew that despite the topic being taboo that she was answering both why they had kissed and why the bike had fallen over.

Mason backed away from her and throwing his helmet to the ground he ran his hands through his short brown hair. With a loud sigh he let them drop roughly to his side before looking back at her. She should have known that this kind of anger should have been expected yet here she was with the stranger she shared a house with, unsure of exactly what to do to make everything ok again.

“Will it run?” Lily asked slowly, hoping that her honestly curious question would not make matters worse but before the questioned had even fully left her lips she knew she couldn’t have been more wrong.

“For you sake I hope it will,” Mason spat back at her as he paced the ground not daring to stare at his bike for too long, it was obvious to Lily that he cared about the bike more than he cared to admit and for some strange reason that made her warm to him. Normally Lily would have backed away from the harshness of his voice but as she looked into his eyes she knew that in a way he had not meant it, in a way he was just taking out his pain on her and for now she decided she would let me.

Slowly Lily stood up and under the wary glare of Mason she walked over to the bike. She bent down and without any hesitation she wrapped her fingers around the handle bars and tried to pull it up towards her. It was heavier than she had expected and while she had only managed to pull it a couple of centimeters off the ground it still slowly started to slip from her grip. Giving Mason a look of urgency she was beyond pleased when he jogged over to her and gave her a hand in pulling the bike from the ground.

Lily backed away as Mason took the full weight of the bike and kicked out the stand to support it. Beyond a couple scratches she couldn’t see any problem with it but then it was not her eye that could tell and as Mason circled the bike again and again she grew increasingly more worried. To calm her renewed nerves she wandered over to the small hedges and patches of dirt where the broken bike pieces had fallen. By the time Lily had walked back over to Mason her arms were full to the brim with bike trimmings and Mason was climbing carefully onto the bike, his helmet now back in place.

As she struggled with the various pointy pieces of bike she stared up at Mason as he kicked the bike into life and the same thunderous roar Lily had heard before broke her eardrums once again. “Please don’t leave me here,” Lily said in a whispered voice. Lily watched as in an instant everything drained from Mason’s face and the most heartfelt laughter she had ever heard came thundering from his lips. Every single time his eyes closed and reopened to see her stood there yet another wave of laughter erupted from his mouth.

“I change my mind, leave me here,” Lily said with a pout and she picked out the strangest looking piece of plastic from her arms and held it up, “I’m sure I can barter my way back home with these bike pieces, this thingy,” she said waving the piece around, “Is sure to get me at last half way from wherever it is that we are,”. In astonishment Mason stared at her and a fresh wave of laughter filled the forest, from both of them this time.

“Get on before I really do leave you behind,” Mason said between his rolling laughter. Without having to be told twice Lily awkwardly climbed onto the back on the bike, all the while being sure not to a drop a single piece of the invaluable pieces just in case he changed his mind. In the short time Lily had known Mason she would definitely not put it past him to change his mind because as much as she hated it he was becoming an expert at changing her own.