Page 126 of Boost

As much as I salivated over my man wearing nothing but the ink under his dark skin, I doubted that men turning up in just that was acceptable—even for the King himself.

He eased out of bed without letting me go. “Do you mind making me a coffee, please? I’ll be down in two minutes.”

“Of course.” I kissed him quickly, then giggled while fending off his hands that demanded to explore my body.

“Focus, Rafael. Get in the zone.”

His heated gaze looked me over again, and his voice came gritty. “Baby, Iamin the zone.”

Clicking my fingers, I spurred him to take action. Arlo had given me a heads-up about the meet tonight—thanks to his unnamed sources. It had been months since Raf attended a race, and I knew he was missing it terribly.

He didn’t say outright, but I saw the twitch of his knee late at night and the repetitive checking of his watch. It made my heart ache to see him trying so hard to ignore the longing that pulled from deep within his bones, and I couldn’t wait to see him in his element again tonight.

I stood inourkitchen, dressed in the same outfit I’d worn the first time Roxiee and I naively attended our first street race; stilettos, skin-tight leather pants, and a top that revealed far too much cleavage to feel secure, and made coffee as if this was my normal after-midnight routine.

I filled two glass travel mugs and had them in-hand by the time Raf jogged down the stairs, fully dressed. Although it was his usual attire—dark jeans and a crew neck, plus black boots—my heart still did a double-skip at the sight.

“What time are we aiming for?” he asked, after dropping a kiss to my mouth and accepting his coffee.

“Two.”

“All I want to do is peel those off and bury deep in you again,” he grumbled.

I squirmed my legs together. “While that idea is more than appealing, we have somewhere to be.”

Excitement danced in his eyes. “Fuck, I love you.”

“I know.”

Something else entered his gaze. Something I couldn’t decipher. Something that made me wary.

“Is everything okay?”

We’d been living together for three months now, and recently he’d had fleeting moments of acting a little strange.

Raf shook away his thoughts and graced me with his signature cock-sure smile.

“Everything’s good, baby girl. Now, let’sride.”

* * *

-Raf-

Tonight was like every other time I headed to a meet, only so much better with Greer in the passenger seat looking fuckable in that damn outfit. It took me back eight months to the moment I first laid eyes on her—the moment I also laid an unconscious claim to her body. And now I had the heart and soul to go with it in one tight package of pure-fucking-perfection.

Heading across town in my Supra, I glanced over at Greer and snickered. “How’d you know about tonight, mamacita?”

Her smile cast light on the night around us. “I have my ways.”

And I had mine. Though tonight was different. I’d made decisions over the last while, and Greer pulling this little stunt tonight was the confirmation I’d been waiting for.

For many reasons, tonight was the last and first nights of my life as I knew it, and I was as nervous as fuck. I was sure Greer had noticed the shift in me; no matter how hard I tried to hide it, I couldn’t completely. The truth was, I was about to do something monumental, and I was shitting myself.

The closer we got to the meeting point, the more kitted-out cars joined us on the road, all heading in the same direction. The crowd came into view as soon as we entered the vacant lot.

Music. Under-car neon lights. Scantily clad women. Joints being passed. Engines revving. It brought it all back; my love for the street, and also my reasons for letting it go.

I parked up and met Greer at the hood. Tucking her under my arm, I waited for Shades to show himself. It wouldn’t take long; word here spreads faster than I took a quarter mile.

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