Page 1

Chapter 1

Need For Speed

CHANCE

Two Years Ago,

Bridgeport, California Indie One Thousand Super Bikes League Qualifier

T he scent of gasoline in the air is so strong it makes my head spin.

“Ready?”

My older brother clasps my shoulder and I nod. “As ready as I’ll ever be,” I chuckle to steady my nerves.

Ares lifts the visor of his helmet and grins at me. “You got this. You’re the second fastest Hunter brother on the planet. Don’t tell Atlas I said that.”

“You’re just buttering me up,” I snort, shaking my head. “Don’t think I can’t see through it.”

His smile widens. “Maybe. Atlas and I owe you, though. We won’t forget how you stepped up for us today.”

I don my own helmet, busying myself with the chin strap to hide the tremor of my fingers. “He shouldn’t have gone to Florida with Heather. It’s hurricane season and he’s really taken a stupid risk. All flights were canceled and fuck knows if he’s going to be able to fly home tonight.”

Ares sighs. “Heather is his girlfriend and that cheerleading invitational is the biggest deal in the country after nationals. I don’t blame him for wanting to support her. But you’re right, the timing could have been better.”

No shit. “Whatever.” I grunt. “But he’s stuck in a storm, and I have to cover for him.”

“Atlas and I won’t forget that you stepped up when we needed you.” He says, suddenly serious.

That pretty much settles it. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for my brothers. Having their gratitude is huge. Maybe they’ll finally see me as an equal, rather than their annoying little brother.

I have no doubt that Ares and Atlas love me, but their bond is something I’ve been looking in from the outside since forever. No matter how much I have been yearning to be a part of it, I’ve always been an outsider.

I’m two years younger than them and, while there’s a definite family resemblance between us, they’re identical twins.

I know I’ll never share what they have, but there’s nothing I wouldn’t do to get as close to them as they’ll let me.

Maybe today is my opportunity to prove myself to them. If I qualify for tomorrow’s race for Atlas, he’s going to finally see me as his peer; they both will.

“Come on, bro,” Levin’s hand lands on my shoulder too. “Let’s show this town that we’re the fastest on and off the ice.”

My nerves settle, at least partially. “I fucking hope so. At least in my skates, I know I have no rivals. If I end up last, or I put even one tiny scratch on Atlas’s precious bike, I’ll have to move to New York with my mom. My brothers will never let me live it down.”

“Ha,” Lev chuckles. “Your brothers are going to be the least of your worries.”

My eyes follow where his gloved finger is pointing and I bark out a mirthless laugh. “Are you fucking kidding me? What the fuck is Coach doing here?”

Lev’s smile doesn’t falter. “I can only assume your old man invited him. I guess we’ll have a lot to explain. Especially if we don’t qualify for tomorrow’s race.”

I roll my eyes at my best friend. “At least I can tell Coach that this is a one off. What’s your excuse for joining the Star Arrows?”

“Whether it’s on the ice or on the tarmac, the need for speed runs in my blood. Anything that’s worth having in life is fast and I love a challenge.”

I kinda get it. I love taking out one of my brothers’ bikes for a run along the coast. I’m more than happy with one of their street legal bikes, though. Hockey is where I excel. I’ll leave the racing to them. Today’s the exception, I guess.

“Have you thought about what you’re going to do if we have a game on the same day as a race?”

Lev shrugs. “The season of the Super Bikes League ends right before the hockey season begins. For now, I’m happy with the Super Bikes. It’s not like my parents would allow me to miss school to follow them around the world to the Moto GP races. So don’t worry, I’m going to be by your side on the ice.”

His words make me feel better. I’m the current hockey star of our family. Ares and Atlas have the racing, and I’m proud of them for signing up with Ducati as rookies for the upcoming Moto GP season. The Super Bikes League is only one of the ways my brothers earned their contracts with their dream team. They’ve been racing in Moto 3 and 2 since they were seventeen. But they have been racing in the European Talent Cup since they were fourteen. Racing is their passion and another thing that cements their unbreakable bond.

I love riding a bike too, but my talent and passion is in hockey. That’s why I’m closer to our dad, who’s a retired professional hockey player and coaches our college town’s team.

Our plan for me doesn’t involve racing, but the NHL.

“Good,” I exhale, relieved that Lev isn’t planning to quit hockey for racing. I consider him my brother just as much as Ares and Atlas; I’m actually closer to him rather than my own brothers, despite not sharing any DNA.

I lower the visor on my helmet, as Adam, our team’s mechanic, tells me I’m good to go.

Fuck. I’d be lying if I said that I’m not nervous about riding this legit monster. Probably nothing compared to the official Moto GP bikes, but the California Super Bikes league is earning its own spot in the racing world, despite being new and privately organized.

The bikes I’ve seen racing in this league are almost as powerful as the Moto GP prototypes.

If I wasn’t this nervous, I’d see the irony in the fact that I’m about to ride Atlas’s precious MTT 420-RR. This baby isn’t even street legal and Ares is the only other human being allowed to even touch it.

You shouldn’t have followed your girlfriend to her cheerleading competition.

In all fairness, Atlas should have flown back last night. I know my brother loves me, but I don’t stand a chance against his twin, his bike, and his girlfriend. It bugs me like hell. Especially because I know Heather doesn’t deserve the level of devotion Atlas has for her.

If she did, she wouldn’t have tried to hook up with me after last year’s championship final, when Atlas was in Spain as an alternate on the Moto GP team.

“Hey, watch where the fuck you’re going!” I snap, as someone shoulder checks me, almost causing me to crash into my own bike that’s sitting on its stand.

Un-fucking believable.

I shake my head at the leather clad person, who doesn’t even stop to apologize and to check that they didn’t cause any damage. “Who the fuck is that?” I ask, pointing at the black helmet that’s now barely visible and out of our paddock.

“No fucking clue,” Lev scowls, right before he lowers his own visor. “They’re obviously racing, at least judging by the black leather suit and the helmet. I don’t know any teams who are in totally black suits, though.”

He’s right. There are about ten teams enrolled in the California Super Bikes League, and none of them has a completely black livery. “Their helmet didn’t have a logo either.” I grumble.

Lev mounts his bike. “In theory, it could be an independent racer. Anyone with a suitable 1000cc bike can enroll in the qualifiers here. Whether they can get a spot in tomorrow’s lineup without a garage and a team of mechanics to back them up is debatable, though.”

We get called to line up, and I throw my leg over Atlas’s bike, taking it off the stand. “Regardless, I don’t like that practically anyone can walk around our paddock and garage just like this. With all these expensive bikes around, I’d expect better security.”

Lev agrees. “True. I’ll tell Ares after we qualify. He can talk to the Safety Officer or even the Race Director.”

Once our engines are on, it’s impossible to hear anything other than their roars.

My pulse skyrockets as I line up behind Ares’s Kawasaki and another rider on a BMW; Lev is by my side on his Damon Hypersport. The very distinctive, almost throaty noise of a Ducati makes me turn to look behind me a couple of seconds before the traffic light in front of me changes from red to amber.

The guy in black is right behind me on a mean-looking Ducati. Whoever that is, they’re going to eat my fucking dust. There are only two ways this can go today. Either Atlas is gonna owe me, or I won’t hear the end of this if I fuck this up and he doesn’t get a spot on the starting line tomorrow.

ZARA

“Where the fuck were you?” Calvin’s voice makes me literally crawl out of my skin as I get caught trying to sneak out of his motorhome and back into the garage area.

His dark glare causes my throat to close up, as butterflies gather in the pit of my stomach. My skin erupts in goosebumps as Cal advances toward me.

“Zara, I asked you a question,” he growls, advancing until my back hits the outer wall of his RV. “You’re supposed to be my lucky charm. Why the fuck weren’t you watching the race, like you’re supposed to do?”

I cross my arms over my chest in the futile attempt to put some distance between us, but I have nowhere to go.

My heartbeat is now thundering in my ears as I take in Cal’s tall, lean frame clad in his black and yellow leather race suit.

“I—” my voice catches at the way his dark obsidian eyes bore into mine. Cal is hot, the quintessential bad boy.

The kind of guy my mom has always been telling me to stay away from. God, she’s going to be pissed if she finds out I followed Cal to Bridgeport for the Super Bikes race this weekend. Hopefully, she’s not going to bump into Wren’s mom and ask her how our sleepover is going.

“Zara.” Cal grabs my wrists, his chest touching mine. “I asked you a question.”

Our foreheads are touching, his lips just a breath away from mine.

“I’ve been watching the race,” I swear. “I just had to use the bathroom?—”

“Bull-fucking-shit.” Cal advances until there’s no more space between us. The warm metal of the RV is searing the sliver of skin between my jeans and tank top. “I always know where you are, jail-bait. I like to catch a glimpse of your perfect little tits during a pit stop. It makes my cock hard and makes me ride faster, imagining riding you after I win. That’s why I brought you with me this weekend. To look pretty, bring me luck and hopefully—finally—seal the fucking deal and get us to the finish line.”

I swallow, my nipples hard and the space between my legs throbbing painfully. “I was there, I swear.”

Cal’s hand closes around my throat, pinning me against the RV wall. “You’re lying, Zara. You weren’t there and the entire day went to shit. Tomorrow I’m gonna start behind the Hunter brothers and some fucking new guy racing without a team. I’ve already lost to Ares and Atlas Hunter two weeks ago in Shell Cove, when you couldn’t come to watch me because you had finals at school or some stupid shit like that.”

My temper flares at his tone.

Maybe I should consider that he has me pinned, that his hand is closed around my throat, but this is how Cal and I are. We’re both passionate and a little reckless and I’m not going to back down. “You know I can’t miss school to follow you around. I’m already going to be grounded until I’m thirty if my mom finds out I’m not at my friend’s home in Shell Cove this weekend.”

That was the wrong thing to say.

“I should have listened to Zaid and Taz when they told me not to waste my time with high school girls.” Cal sneers, pressing me harder against the metal of the RV’s wall.

He’s so hard, I can feel him through the leather of his pants. My body reacts with the usual confusing mix of arousal and fear. “Cal, I’m sorry, I?—”

“You,” he bites out, grinding his erection against my center. “Can make it up to me for not watching the race like you were supposed to.”

His fingers tighten against my throat as his lips crush mine with bruising intensity.

He doesn’t ease me into the kiss, he doesn’t ask permission. Cal just pushes his tongue inside my mouth. His kiss is hard, punishing. It hurts more than it feels good.

But I don’t reject him. Not yet.

My body fears him and craves him at the same time.

His hand leaves my throat to descend to my breasts. He cups one, kneading and squeezing so hard that the pain is almost more than the pleasure.

“Fuck, you taste so good,” he growls, leaving my lips to kiss a hot trail down the column of my neck. “Every time I think Taz and Zaid are right and I should move on, I remember why I’m being so fucking patient with you, jail-bait. If your mouth and your tits drive me so crazy, I can only imagine how your tight little cunt is going to feel when you squeeze my cock until I fill you to the brim with my jizz.”

I squeeze my eyes closed, flinching at his language.

All my girlfriends say they love dirty talk, but the way Cal uses the C-word makes me feel like this is all wrong.

My hand covers his when his fingers fumble with the button of my jeans. “No, babe,” I plead. “Wait.”

He swats my hand away, popping the button open. “I’m tired of waiting, Zara. What I need from my girl is for her to watch my races, to be proud of me. And a fucking to unload my adrenaline, to satisfy my needs. I need to come and I need to fuck. I’m sick and tired of going home with blue balls every fucking time we hang out. It’s about time you earn your spot by my side.”

I grab his wrist with both hands when he begins lowering my zipper. “Cal, wait. Please. I swear we will. It’s just… I want my first time to be special. I’m not ready, I?—”

The good news is that he stops trying to undo my jeans.

The bad news is that Cal isn’t on my same page. “I’m going to make it special, I promise.” He pulls me to his chest and presses me against the wall at the same time. “What’s more special than being the girl who gets to fuck the future Super Bikes champion, huh? Every girl in Bridgeport and I bet every girl in Shell Cove would die to be in your place. I’ve been patient, but it’s been three months. I like you, Zara, and you bring me good luck. But no girl is worth three months of frustrating hand jobs. Stop being a fucking boring, goody two shoes and let me take what’s mine.”

I struggle against him, managing to keep him at arm's length for a few precious seconds, just long enough to catch my breath. “I’m not ready. Please, Cal?—”

My back hits the RV wall again. Harder this time. So hard that my teeth gnash with jarring violence. So hard that I’m surprised they don’t shatter.

“Stop whining and grow the fuck up!” Cal yells, grabbing me by my shoulders and slamming me against the wall again. “I swear to God, Zara, we can do this the nice way and make your first time fun; or we can do it the hard way and I can take what I want without worrying if it’s good for you. I’ll come either way. It’s up to you how the fuck you want it.”

“Cal, let’s go inside. Here everyone can see us.” I’m so scared, I’m not thinking straight.

Probably the fact that we are outside is the only reason why Cal hasn’t been more aggressive.

“Let them watch.” His smile doesn’t reach his eyes. “They gave us a shitty living area at the edge of the paddock, anyway. No one will bother us. The team is going to the promoter’s party. I told Zaid and Taz that we’ll catch up later. Come on, Zara. Stop being a cock tease. Let me fuck you against the wall, and then we’ll go out and party all night the way you like.”

I shake my head, tears stinging my eyes to find their way out. What the fuck is wrong with me? I was planning to go all the way with Cal this weekend. But this isn’t how I thought it would happen. I was hoping we’d get a room somewhere nice, away from his teammates. That he would be nice and charming, like he used to be when we first started seeing each other.

“Please, Cal. We have all weekend. I’m just not ready right now.”

Red searing pain blooms on my cheek as my head snaps to one side. I cup my throbbing face, blinking rapidly, confused.

Did he just hit me?

I open my mouth, too stunned to even ask, when the next hit comes on the opposite side.

This time, I’m sure Cal slapped me. It isn’t just because I saw the hit. I can taste blood.

“We’re done playing, jail-bait. I was going to be nice, but I guess this is how you really want it. I knew I didn’t like you just because you have a cute ass and a smart mouth. You’re perfect for me. You want to be fucked hard and you’re just egging me on, like the good little slut I’ve always known you are.”

His body is back on mine, pressing me against the wall.

Cal pins me to the wall with his body and I hear rather than see the zipper of his race suit being lowered.

Adrenaline floods my body as I see my opportunity to get away. He fumbles to take his cock out of the constraints of the thick leather without undressing his upper body.

I have one shot at this. If I miss, or I’m too slow, I don’t know what he’s going to do to me.

There isn’t a lot of room to maneuver as I prepare to kick him between his legs as hard as I can.

“Get your fucking hands off of her!”

Someone yells, and Cal is yanked off of me by strong hands and punched in the face. The noise of bone hitting bone is deafening.

He lands on the ground in a heap and the stranger comes to check on me, his voice now lower, and a lot softer than a few seconds ago.

“Are you ok?” he asks.

I think I nod. I can’t be too sure. I’m too mesmerized by the bluest eyes I’ve ever seen.

ARES

I’ve never liked Calvin Fox.

He’s a douche on and off the fucking tarmac. While I never thought he and I would ever be friends, however, I didn’t think he was this big a piece of shit.

“What the fuck is going on?” I snarl, getting right in his face.

“What’s it to you, asshole?” he sputters, his teeth red with blood as he wipes his mouth with the back of his hand. “This is between me and my girl. You better fuck off before I teach you one hell of a lesson on how to mind your own fucking business.”

I laugh. “You made it my business when you decided to put your hands on a woman half your size, asshole. I’ve always thought you were a waste of space on the racetrack, but this takes the fucking cake.”

The bastard gets back on his feet, swaying a little as blood keeps pouring from a cut on his lips. “You got me by surprise. Had you not sucker punched me, there’s no way you would’ve landed one single hit. If you want to go, I’m more than happy to show you what I can do when I’m prepared.”

I can’t help but chuckle at him. I have a couple of inches and probably a good thirty pounds on him. I’m also much faster than him, on and off the racetrack. “You’re not worth me getting my hands dirty with your sorry ass, Fox. Wait until I report you to the Race Director for hitting a woman. You’re already in the third line, so you were gonna eat my dust anyway, but this will get you kicked out of tomorrow’s race. Maybe even excluded from the League once and for all.”

Cocky assholes like Fox don’t know when to cut their losses and fuck off.

“If you think I’m the one who’s getting disqualified, you’re delusional as well as arrogant. You hit me first. Unprovoked.”

I take a step toward him, my fists already clenched at my sides. “Unprovoked? You were hitting a woman. Fuck knows what else you were gonna do to her, if I hadn’t stepped in.”

The motherfucker must have a fucking death wish, because he doesn’t back down.

“Like I said before, mind your own fucking business, Hunter. That’s my girlfriend, and she’s being a little bitch. I didn’t plan on hurting her. I was just keeping her in line.”

I already didn’t like Calvin Fox, but I hate him more with every new word that comes out of his mouth. “What kind of piece of shit hits his girlfriend? Look at her,” I say, turning to look at the dark-haired girl who’s still flattened against the wall of Fox’s RV, looking at us with huge green eyes, full of fear. “Hey, are you ok?” I take one step closer, careful not to spook her. She’s shaking like a leaf and a red bruise is forming on one of her cheekbones.

She shakes her head. “No, I’m not. But thank you for—hey, watch out!”

I was so concerned about her that I totally forgot about Fox and I don’t see his right hook come for me until it’s too late to avoid it.

He’s on me in seconds, but he’s lost the surprise factor he had on his side when he landed that hit.

“Go back to your garage, you spoiled little brat,” Fox snarls, pummeling me with weak-ass fists. “And let me handle my girl.”

I bet his girl could cause more damage if she wanted to. At least she’s much prettier to look at.

“Is that how you treat a woman, you fucking asshole?” I grunt, grabbing him by one side of his open race suit with one hand and rearing back the other with the intention of punching his lights out. “Whatever is your problem with her, hitting a woman puts you in the wrong to begin with.”

A sick sense of satisfaction expands in my chest when my knuckles connect with his face. I can feel my skin splitting open, but right now I don’t give a fuck. Seeing someone beat on somebody weaker makes me lose my shit, and I’ve disliked Fox from the moment we crossed paths last year on the Moto 2 circuit.

I land a couple of hard hits on his face, while he hunches to protect himself and to try to hit my stomach.

Fuck, this hurts like hell. I wish I hadn’t changed out of my race suit. The leather would provide a little more padding than my t-shirt.

He hits my solar plexus hard, but I keep my balance and put all my weight into my next hit.

“Hey, dude.” Someone grabs me from behind. “Stop, you’re going to kill each other.”

“Chance, let me go.” I growl.

“What the fuck is going on?” Levin asks from behind Calvin. He has him into a headlock, and the bastard is struggling like hell to get free. He has no idea that Lev has faced defensemen three times his size on the ice. “If you’re trying to get kicked out of tomorrow’s race, you’re doing one hell of a job.”

I exhale, some of the tension leaving my body. “I heard crying and screaming when I was leaving the paddock and I saw that fucker hit that girl.”

Chance lets me go when he sees the girl, turning his attention to Fox. “What the fuck? Then maybe I should let my brother hit you. I already have a bone to pick with you for how you almost knocked me off my bike when we left the track. I was going to report you to the Race Director for reckless riding off the track. But maybe I should just help my brother teach you some fucking manners.”

“Great,” Fox chuckles, spitting a wad of saliva mixed with blood onto the ground. “I didn’t realize you weren’t the more annoying twin. You still look alike, but you aren’t Atlas Hunter. How many of you are there, huh? Did your parents start a douche factory?”

It’s no surprise that Fox hates our guts just as much as we hate him and his teammates. “You’re right,” I grin. “That’s my baby brother, Chance. Atlas got stuck in Miami and Chance covered for him today.”

Calvin Fox looks at us with blatant disgust. “Great. As if two of you weren’t enough.”

I’m usually the quiet one, but in Atlas’s absence, Chance is just as much a smart ass as my twin brother.

“That’s rude. We don’t even know each other,” Chance says, with mock hurt in his voice. “It doesn’t matter though, right? Our team doesn’t even need Atlas to outride you and your teammates.”

Fox glares at us. “Fuck off. All of you. You should thank me for not going to the cops to press charges for assault.”

This guy is something else, I swear. “You’re pressing charges?” I turn to the girl, who’s been looking at us like you watch a tennis match. “Sweetie, if you want to report this piece of shit, I can walk you to the sheriff’s stand. I’m sure they haven’t left yet.”

With the commotion of this whole situation, I had barely taken a look at her. She’s young. Much younger than Fox. And she’s pretty. Long, dark brown hair and big, intense green eyes. Pouty lips and a petite frame.

She’s hugging herself, shaking her head.

My eyes go straight to the way that pose makes her tits stand out, but I avert my gaze, focusing on the way her lips are trembling.

“No,” she finally says. “No, I don’t want to go to the cops. I just—I don’t know what to do. I came here with Cal. I?—”

“You better get your ass in that RV and we’ll talk about what kind of behavior I expect from my fucking girl.” Fox barks out.

“I don’t think so.” We say it in unison, so I smile at Chance and Lev.

“Ha,” Cal laughs. “How fucking adorable. I thought you were teammates. I had no idea you were in a choir too.”

I ignore the asshole as my eyes meet the girl’s. “Can we take you anywhere? I don’t mind giving you a ride home if you need me to.”

Her gaze flits from me to Fox and back again. “I’m not going with Cal. But I can’t go home to Shell Cove. I lied to my mom to come here, and the friend I told her I was going to stay with is spending the night at her boyfriend’s. I have nowhere to go.”

If she had to lie to her mother, she’s probably as young as I think she is. She looks about sixteen or seventeen, even though she’s trying to look older with that smokey eye and black eyeliner.

Why am I not surprised that Fox would chase after a high school girl?

I mean, fuck. I know Atlas is dating a high school girl, but we’re eighteen and Heather is sixteen. It isn’t a huge difference. He’s also very respectful of the rules and curfews Heather’s parents insist on. Fox must be at least twenty-one. And from where I’m standing, he was about to force himself on his underage girlfriend.

My mind is instantly made up. “We’re going to the promoter party and we have rooms at the same hotel the party is at. I can bunk with my brother and you can have my room if you want.”

She takes a cautious step around Fox, walking up to me. “Are you sure?”

I nod. “Positive. You can hang with us at the party, if you want. Tomorrow we have the race and a huge after party. If you want to stick around for that, we can drive you home on Sunday morning. You’re on our way. We’re from Star Cove.”

The girl smiles for the first time since we walked in on her and Fox. “Thank you, that would be awesome. I can pay you back for the room, or at least Venmo you some of the money.”

I’m about to shake my head and tell her that we’re good; our sponsor pays for our accommodation and they don’t care what we do with our rooms.

“Are you shitting me?” Fox opens his mouth before I can. “Would you seriously go with a bunch of strangers, rather than with me?”

“In a heartbeat,” she glares at him. “Since these strangers stopped you from hurting me and they’re offering me a safe place to stay tonight.”

“Ha,” the fucker laughs. “If you think they’re not going to try to get paid in nature for their help, you aren’t just a slut. You’re a stupid slut.”

Fuck this guy.

I’m about to offer him another reminder that the way he treats women has a lot to be desired, but Chance’s hand lands on my shoulder.

My little brother shakes his head, and for once, he’s the wisest one between us.

“I’d rather take my chances with these strangers,” the girl bites out. “Than spend another second with you.”

Her hand reaches up to rub the spot on her face where Fox hit her, and red hot fury courses through me again.

“Do whatever the fuck you want,” Fox sneers. “I can find tons of willing pussy at that party tonight. Just in case you thought you’re my only option.”

She grabs a black duffel bag that’s on the ground by the RV’s door. “I’m ready to go,” she says, stopping by my side and completely ignoring Fox.

“By the way,” the asshole’s voice is full of malice. “Don’t let her ‘Virgin Mary’ act fool you. She might be a little cock tease, but everyone around town knows that as long as you’re some kind of jock or have a nice ride, she’s a sure thing.”