Page 30 of Illicit Illustration

“I’m gonna help you up first, just hold on to the back of the seat and then once I’m settled, you can wrap your arms around me.” He didn’t even wait, turning me sideways and effortlessly lifting me up while I awkwardly tried to throw my leg over the bike to straddle it. God, I was such a fucking mess. He slipped in front of me in one clearly practiced motion, and I tried to breathe as he reached back toward me with one of his gloved hands.

“Don’t be shy. Wrap yourself around me and hold on tight with your head against my back. When I lean, just move with me and you’ll be fine. Rest your boots on the pegs, so it’s easier to keep your balance.”

He waited for me to get into position, reaching back to squeeze my thigh as he flicked his face screen closed. I did the same to mine and rested my covered cheek against his shoulder blades, trying not to let the vibrations between my legs once the bike purred to life make me do anything embarrassing. I’d already humped the poor guy once; he didn’t need me to do it again.

I was sure he could feel my heart beating wildly as he pushed up the kickstand and walked the bike backward. He definitely heard me squeal when he rotated the throttle and the engine revved, the vibration of his laugh carrying through the material of both our coats.

Trying not to freak out, I closed my eyes and held on tight when he pulled out onto the main road that led toward Butterfly Ridge. It wasn’t a far ride, but it felt like an eternity with my stomach in my throat as he sped up, leaning into turns and winding down the side of the mountain before he dipped toward the valley where our neighboring town was nestled.

Jayden’s whiskey distillery was perched on the edge of town, hovering next to a ridge that overlooked the sprawling valley, the ski resort on a neighboring ridge a few miles away. I’d spent a lot of time there as a kid, learning how to ski with my cousins. I’d never been as good at it as Colette, who was now an instructor, but I wasn’t as terrible as I thought I’d be at it.

When the bike slowed, I took a deep breath, hoping I hadn’t been a terrible first-time passenger for Reid. I’d done what he asked and held him tightly around the curves, but hopefully I hadn’t made it hard for him to breathe, wrapping around him like a koala.

He slowed, stopping near the loading dock at the back of the building and engaging the kickstand. The bike tilted as he climbed off and he held his hand out for me. I guess I’d never taken the timeto appreciate it before, but Reid in full riding gear with his helmet on, was kinda fucking hot.

And there was something seriously wrong with me that that was the first thing I thought of as I stumbled off the side of the bike and into his arms. I could feel his laughter more than I could hear it, his hands bracing my arms until I gained my balance.

Once I was steady, he pulled off his helmet, laying it gently on the ground at his feet before he pulled off mine.

“Vibrations throw off your balance?” he asked with a chuckle as he reached back, pulling my ponytail from beneath my coat and giving it a playful tug before letting go.

“Something like that,” I replied, still a little breathless from how much I’d liked it. Both the vibrations between my legs while we rode, and him pulling my ponytail. I wasn’t sure which one was causing the blush to creep up my neck again, but Reid caught it, grinning as he brushed a gloved knuckle over my pink cheek.

“Let me go open the doors and I’ll be back for you and the bike.”

Nodding, I tried to muster the courage I needed to tell Reid about the setting for this scene. Although… Maybe it’d be easier to let him listen to the audiobook and hear it firsthand, instead of me bumbling through an explanation.

He came back a few moments later, leading me into the dark warehouse space, the door clanging shut behind me as I followed him, holding onto both our helmets. My brain was hazy as I stopped when he did, watching him get the bike situated by the back windows that overlooked the snowy woods behind the building.

It was almost romantic, the dark, quiet building, and the man dressed in way too much leather not to be hazardous to my libido. Watching him, I could envision how the heroine in the book was taken by her mysterious rider, seduced by his words and the way he touched her body. How the cool metal against her naked back would have made her desperate for him…

“You okay, Haz?” Reid asked, coming up beside me and reaching down to unzip my coat. I’d completely forgotten I still had it on.While I’d been off in imagination station, Reid had already gotten the tripod and camera set up. He pressed the remote into my hand once he’d pulled my sleeve loose, tossing my coat on top of his next to our helmets.

“Oh, uh. Yeah. Good. I’m good. Why? Do I not look okay?”

He shook his head, an amused chuckle escaping his lips as he grabbed my free hand and tugged me toward the bike. “Spill. What are we doing here?”

Ah, the moment of truth. Reaching into my pocket, I pulled out my phone and the case with my earbuds, extending the headphones toward him while I tried to get the audiobook queued up to where the scene started. I’d already listened to it an obnoxious number of times, so I didn’t need to, but clearly Reid thought otherwise when he put one earbud in his ear and smoothed the flyaway hairs that’d escaped my ponytail before pressing the other one into mine.

“You ready?” I asked, my voice cracking which made my cheeks flare hotter.

“Go for it.”

As the deep male narrator’s voice started setting the scene, I was almost transfixed by the look in Reid’s eyes as he listened. He only broke my gaze momentarily when the narrator detailed the hero pulling his shirt over his head.

It was like Reid was being led by the audio, stalking toward me and removing my hair tie, running his fingers through my hair moments after it was happening in our ears. When it got to where he slowly unbuttoned the heroine’s jeans, peeling them down her legs before he pulled them and her boots free, Reid followed suit, smoothing his palms up the backs of my legs as he stood back up, pausing briefly to rub his thumb against the scar on my calf.

But I didn’t have time to focus on how it felt to have his hand there, Reid only hesitating for a moment when the narrator described taking off her shirt in the audio before he pulled mine over my head in one smooth motion.

We both listened, staring at each other as the narrator cursed when he took in what the heroine was wearing, Reid following suit with a rumbling, “Fuck, look at you.”

The heroine looked away, embarrassed, and I did the same, Reid’s thumb on my chin stopping me from breaking his gaze entirely.

When the hero picked her up with his hands clasped on the backs of her thighs and carried her to the bike to rest her on the seat, Reid did the same a few moments later. He tipped me backward toward the handlebars, urging me to straddle the bike. The leather seat was still warm underneath me as his rough palm traced down the center of my chest. When the hero’s hand slipped beneath the lace of the heroine’s tiny thong, Reid didn’t follow suit with that one, but he effortlessly lifted my hips before he straddled the bike and settled me onto his lap, my legs draped on either side of him.

Closing my eyes tightly, I tried not to hyperventilate as Reid’s fingers traced my body, lingering on the edge of the lace covering my breasts, and tracing the boning down the front of the bustier to tickle the sensitive skin near my belly button. I shifted, sighing as the lace of my thong pressed tighter against where it was barely covering me, the firm leather of Reid’s pants providing just enough friction until I was almost as aroused as the moaning heroine in my ear.

Reid’s fingers dipped just beneath the edge of the lace, pulling back and snapping the elastic to get my attention. My eyes flickered open to meet his, the pupils almost blown as he stared down at me. I wondered if he was as aroused as I was simply by listening andalmostreenacting the words playing in our ears.

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