Page 76 of Ivory's Ruin Romance

Adrian’s bike purred, rolling ahead just like she asked it to. Her heart shot into her throat, but she kept her hands steady, vibrations coursing through her fingers as she gently brought the beast of metal and speed and power past the front gate. Then she slowed to a stop, and Adrian put his foot down for support.

Exhilaration flooded her system. Against all the odds she stacked against herself, she came out victorious. She drove the frickin bike.

“I did it,” she breathed, twisting and then repeating louder, “I really did it!”

He squeezed her thighs. “You did.”

He didn’t need to use words to express his pride. Moreover, her own satisfaction welled up and threatened to burst out of her chest. Such a silly thing to think she couldn’t drive fifteen feet past the fence, but she did. She tamed the monster she never thought she could conquer.

“Want to go again?” Adrian asked.

She nodded, not only unafraid but eager to explore this new superpower. “Can I?”

“Try driving in a loop around the warehouse,” he suggested. “Take the corners easy and watch out for puddles.”

Nodding again, her confidence began to grow. The tires moved nice and smooth over the pavement. At the first turn, she tried to go as slow as possible but soon realized the bike needed more momentum. Sucking in a deep breath, she added more, and it purred a little louder. The wind rushed a little faster. Cold air whisked against her skin and replaced anxiety with something indescribable, a thrilling, pulsing entity in her chest.

Joy.

After finishing her first loop, she went again. And again. She built up the courage to wind around the sheds and warehouses, gaining more speed and even venturing out to the quiet main road where she dared to drive as fast as she would in a regular vehicle.

Elation bubbled through her, and a smile stretched so wide it made her cheeks hurt. The kind of hurt she’d gladly feel every day. One of the rare human experiences that made the world seem large and the gift of living in it even larger. At last, she could breathe easy.

The sun faded, clouds winning their perpetual war, and as the mist thickened to a quiet drizzle, she pulled up to the warehouse and brought them to a stop. Popping out the kickstand and shutting off the engine, she took off her helmet and gazed into the sky.

Her laughter filled the air.

She peeled off the gloves and stretched her hands into the cool, refreshing rain. Flecks of water hit her cheeks, washing away the weight of unfulfilled expectations, the worry and stress of making every right step, calculating every decision, and looking out for everyone else except herself.

Just this once, she had confronted her fear. And even though it had been at the request of her knight, she knew he’d done it for her.

That fact sent her heart soaring most of all. His wounds had been clear from the beginning. The darkness shrouding his presence, the scars on his hands mirroring the ones on his heart—but she never thought he would see her wounds, and take the time to tend to her as she had for him.

Hanging her helmet on the bike handle, she leaned back as Adrian wrapped his warm arms around her waist and rested his helmet on the opposite handle. Then his lips were in her hair, tickling her ears, kissing the hollow of her neck, and repeating the process on the other side.

Her laughter wouldn’t stop, even as Adrian’s lips formed a smile against her rain-slick skin.

“Rule number one,” he whispered. “Remember to look after yourself.” He turned her head so he could speak not only with words but with eyes that shone brighter than the sun. Eyes that couldn’t have been any happier or more sincere. “If you aren’t sure how, then I’ll show you. Every day, I’ll teach you how special you are in every way I can think of. It won’t always be something you’ll like, but know that for me, you come first. No matter what.”

She shook her head in awe, heat rising in her cheeks despite the rain until she burned with an emotion that surely hadn’t been discovered. Gratitude and happiness, hope and love, admiration and attraction all in one.

“And I’ll never let you forget you’re my black knight,” she replied, voice lowering to a husky whisper as she ran out of breath, lungs starved for air as she drank in the feeling of belonging to such a man. A man more god than human. “My dark, chivalrous, sexy savior.”

He hummed as if her words were a sacred prayer. One that pleased him very much. “A little sadistic, too. Don’t forget that part.” He grinned as he trailed a hand up her thigh while the other wrapped over the ribbon at her neck. His rings pressed into her skin, the metal cold and unforgiving as raindrops rolled down her face.

Her breath hitched, cut off not from the strength of his touch but the gentleness of it, as if he was feeling out every part of her, creating a map that he’d use to uncover her most treasured secrets and hide them away for himself.

Her clothes were damp, and the heat of Adrian’s touch seeped into her skin like wildfire. A searing blaze that she wanted to consume her, to devour her alive until all she felt was flame and fire and flesh. Nothing could quench her desire to burn for him and for him alone. She arched back, floating and drowning and burning all at once. Surely she’d perish if not for him holding her so close.

“Are there other rules?” she asked breathlessly, moaning as he pressed his hips into her from behind, the thick length of his erection hard and swollen along his thigh, nudging against her ass.

“Dammit,” he hissed as if to scold himself. “Yes, there are.” His fingers tightened around her throat like he couldn’t bear to let her speak, much less move.

“Rule number two,” he murmured. “You tell me everything, and I’ll do the same for you. No secrets. There’s not a single thing you could think or feel that I won’t care about. Tell me if you’re angry or if you’re scared. Tell me if you want to be held, or pet, or fed. Tell me when your pussy is wet and needy, if you need to be fucked, and how you’d like me to do it.”

The hand on her thigh inched up to the place where the seam of her pants met, where she was indeed very wet and needy, and it had nothing to do with the strands of hair sticking to her face or the droplets running over her chest and down her stomach. She trembled, pushing her hips into his hand.

“Yes,” she moan-whispered, not entirely sure what question she was replying to, but knowing the answer was undoubtably yes. “I want you to fill me. I’ve wanted—”

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