Page 57 of Tiger's Voyage

“I don’t think so. Have you guys even heard of the wordbudget?”

Kishan shrugged. “We lived with nothing for centuries. Time to make up for it.”

He had a point, so I let it go. A pair of black leather jackets with racing stripes in red and blue were lifted from a cabinet. Kishan tossed me yet another jacket. “Here. Kadam had this one made especially for you. It should fit.”

I shrugged into the jacket, but protested, “There’s no room for me on the bike anyway, so maybe you guys better go by yourselves.”

“Sure there is,” Ren replied as he zipped up his jacket.

Wow.I didn’t think it was possible for him to look any more intoxicating than he already did. But a leather-clad Ren, helmet in hand, standing next to the gorgeous racing motorcycle made my brain go numb. It was a this-is-your-brain-on-drugs moment. Well, a this-is-your-brain-on-seeing-Ren-in-tight-leather moment anyway. If the Ducati Company was smart, they would have used him in a commercial and given him the bikes for free.

Ren popped the back cover off his bike to reveal a hidden seat. “See?”

He handed me a black helmet while I stared at him.

Kishan cleared his throat. “I think Kelsey needs to ride with me.”

Ren stiffened. “I don’t think so.”

“Be reasonable. You’ll get sick, have an accident, and she’ll get hurt.”

Ren clenched his jaw. “It will be fine. I can control it.”

“I won’t let you take that risk with her, and if you would stop being jealous for a minute, you’d agree with me.”

“He’s right, Ren,” I interjected and touched his leather sleeve regretfully. “I’m scared enough of these machines without worrying if you’re going to get sick. I’ll go with Kishan.”

Ren sighed with frustration. “Fine.” He touched my cheek briefly, smiled wistfully, and then helped me put on my helmet, whispering, “Hold on tight. Kishan likes to take curves at deep angles.”

Kishan popped the back piece off his bike and helped me to straddle the bike. Then he swung on and pulled on his helmet. “Are you ready?”

“I guess.”

“Hold on to me and lean when I do.”

I wrapped my arms around Kishan, clutching him for dear life while he balanced us and kick-started the bike. It roared to life, followed by Ren’s. He rolled up to us, frowned at Kishan, and then looked at me. I could tell he was smiling from the crinkling around his eyes.

Ren took off first, heading down the ramp and skidding into a sharp ninety-degree turn before accelerating down the dock at breakneck speed. Kishan followed at a reasonable speed.

Once we had a straight shot down the dock, he sped up and chased Ren toward the town. I was nervous at first, mentally ticking off a list of all the possible ways I could die while joyriding on a motorcycle, but then I relaxed and started to have fun. Kishan was very skilled and was obviously holding back to make me feel more comfortable. Ren slowed down to keep pace with us, and we rode through town slowly enough that I could get a good feel for its layout.

By the time we’d been through most of the town, I was itching for more speed.Huh. Apparently, I’m a motorcycle junkie.It made me feel powerful and free, and I wanted to go faster. We stopped at the edge of town, and I asked Kishan if there was a place we could race. Ren pulled up near us so the brothers could confer. They agreed to race, but both insisted that we not do anything too dangerous. Thanks to the curse, they could heal quickly, but I couldn’t, and neither wanted to risk hurting me.

We rode out of town to an area with miles of deserted dirt roads. Ren scoped out the path ahead and came back to warn us that there were a few small jumps and turns. The brothers lined up their bikes, revved their engines, and Ren gave the signal to go.

Ren got ahead of us quickly, probably because Kishan was being more cautious with me, and the extra weight of two people was slowing him down.

I yelled, “Faster!” and heard Kishan laugh as he twisted the accelerator for more speed. We came upon the first hill that shot us into the air for a few seconds. We landed hard just before a turn appeared. Kishan leaned into it. I leaned too and edged closer to him, linking my hands around his waist. He accelerated again, and we drew closer to Ren who took a jump so fast he almost lost control of the bike and wiped out—but he somehow righted himself and kept going.

As Kishan and I came to the same jump, he sped up at the last second. We flew on some good air and touched down, back wheel before the front. I laughed out loud. We immediately dipped into a right turn before accelerating again. When we got to the end of the road, we rolled to a stop next to Ren, who was leaning against his bike, looking quite nonchalant.

Kishan and I got off the bike too and removed our helmets. I grabbed Kishan in a hug and blurted out all at once, “That was so fun! You’re really good! I wasn’t scared at all. Thank you!”

He hugged me back. “Anytime, Kells.”

Ren scowled. “I’m hungry. Let’s get lunch and shop in the market.”

We sped quickly back to town and parked the bikes outside a large market. Several people stopped to watch us. I would have stopped too if I saw two gorgeous, leather-clad men with beautiful motorcycles. They looked like movie stars.