Page 81 of Reckoning

“I can’t drive, can I?” She says. “They banned me.”

I roll my eyes, like I give a fuck what the Governor or the Police have to say about it.

“You could always teach me to ride.” She half-whispers.

“What?”

“You could. Surely, in a pursuit, a motorbike is better? And it definitely was more fun than a car.”

My lips curl. “Maybe that was just being on my bike.”

She blushes, shaking her head at the blatant innuendo. “You could teach me, though.”

“You really want to learn?”

She nods before casting her eyes back to where I know my men are all watching. “Would they have a problem with it? A woman learning?”

“No.” I mutter. “They’d probably respect you more.”

Her face lights up. “Well, now you have to teach me.”

I’m curious as to why she thinks she needs to earn their respect, but I admire it to. She doesn’t seem to want to just swanny around the entire time, acting like my men are her subordinates. No, she might be a society princess but from what I can tell she’s as down to earth as the rest of us. She might speak with a fancy arse accent but she’s not stuck up, she’s not pretentious, as far as I can tell.

I jerk my head, signalling for her to follow.

“Is this the part where you tie me up and throw me in the sea because I’m too high maintenance?” She teases.

Again, I run my eyes over her before I think. “If I’m tying you up, Sofia, it won’t be because I’m going to chuck you in the sea.”

She gulps, her cheeks flush and I’ll admit I like the way she seems almost shy, bashful even around me. Perhaps that’s what I need to do then, to tease that part out of her, to get her all hot and bothered and maybe she’ll act from a place of desire, not a place of fear.

I hold my bike out, tell her to clamber on. She eyes it warily, like she hasn’t already had her legs straddling it. It’s far too big, I doubt she’d have the strength to control it by herself but I’m not stupid enough to try that.

I clamber on behind, scooting close enough that my groin makes contact with that perfect fucking arse.

She tenses, and if anything that makes my dick harden more. She’s so flighty, and though I know the reasons why, it’s taking every ounce of control I have not to just hold her down and show her exactly why she should be scared around me.

“Grab the handles.” I instruct.

She bends forward, gripping them so tightly her knuckles turn white.

Slowly I tell her what to do, how to accelerate, where to put her foot for the brakes. My hands are right next to hers, holding the bike steady and as we start to move I can feel her excitement. The bike vibrates beneath us. Her body seems to shift, like she’s noticing it more.

I’m half tempted to place my hand on her hip, to pull her back enough so that she can ‘truly’ feel the engine beneath her but perhaps that’s a step to far.

Besides, I think it’s better to edge her, to tease her, to build this up like a frog in a hot pan.

I’ll heat the water, I’ll watch as she slowly starts to sweat and when she does break, I’ll be the one to witness it, I’ll be the one to savour it. I’ll be the one to enjoy it.

Sofia

The house is quiet. Rose left after breakfast for a meeting with her lawyer and Roman and Ben disappeared off, no doubt to cause more havoc before we finally pull the rug right out from under Darius.

I let Lara play in her room with her new toys, and I’m sat in the parlour, book in hand, feeling restless though I can’t put my finger on why.

We’re almost at the finish line.

We’re so close to ending this that I can practically see our victory - I can taste it.