: Chapter 20

Max

With my motorbike purring between my thighs, I arrived outside the apartment. Halfway up the steps, Lia waited. Alone.

I hopped off the bike and pulled off my helmet. “Where’s Evie?”

“With your sister.”

Something in her tone sent electric anticipation through me.

Lia stood, her long, dark skirt brushing slender ankles over her sandals. A sliver of exposed waist peeked out from under a white cropped blouse.

I couldn’t help but stare.

Though I’d seen hints of the girl she used to be, Lia was all woman.

“She just fell asleep. We have an hour,” she continued. “I wanted to talk.”

“Talk,” I repeated.

Lia held my gaze. Usually, when someone wanted to talk, it wasn’t about anything good. Maybe she was leaving again. Maybe she regretted our kiss and needed a guarantee it wouldn’t happen again.

Except I didn’t think it was any of those things.

In a haze of fascination, I tipped my head at my bike. “Let me take ye for a ride.”

Lia considered it for a second then advanced down the steps and passed me. I stopped her with a hand around her bare upper arm and held out my helmet.

She let me place it on her head, then I slipped off my leather jacket and draped it over her shoulders. She climbed onto the Interceptor after me, her body flush to mine. Without hesitation, she hugged me, fingers curling into my T-shirt.

A jolt of memory rocked me. We’d done this once before. I’d biked into Inverness and driven her around town. She’d been the first girl on the back of my motorbike. The last, too. I couldn’t bring myself to repeat it after she left.

Nor could I talk about it now, so instead, I revved, kicked off, and sped us away.

On our driving tour, I’d already shown Lia the estate and now just concentrated on the rush of her tight hold and the open road. I took us out past the hangar and into the hills, slowing where tarmac turned to gravel.

I knew every inch of the estate, and there was a place I used to go when I needed time to think.

A place I’d gone to a lot after Lia left me.

But on the way, another location snagged my attention. I pulled off the road and out onto the grassy slope, the hangar far below. Then I stopped the engine and twisted around.

“A couple of years ago, not long after ye and I met, this guy who was obsessed with Cait tried to kidnap her. I was with her, and he marched us at gunpoint across this slope.”

Lia opened her visor, astonishment in her wide eyes. “God. He had a gun on you both?”

“Aye.” I never really talked to anyone about what had happened. The focus hadn’t been on me, I was incidental to the scene. Still, it haunted me.

“What happened?” Lia asked at my extended pause.

“Lochie and a group of my family members hunted us down. They rescued us, though nearly everyone was hurt from it.”

“You, too?”

“Broken arm. But I barely mattered. I healed up fine.” I tapped the site of the injury.

Lia’s soft fingertips gently caressed the same place.

I held my breath.

On the drive, her touch had driven me wild. Her tender care now threatened far more.

“Is the man in jail?” she asked even softer.

“Fucker escaped justice by dying.” My tone came out gruff. “I’ve no idea why I’m telling ye this.”

“I’m glad you did.”

I was glad, too, but I hid my emotion by continuing our journey.

Beyond those slopes, the estate grew wilder. The road dwindled to a bumpy mud track descending a glen, and heather grew in thick clumps amid dense green shrubs. I loved our home in spring. New life everywhere. Though my affinity was in engines, I’d been raised as an outdoorsman. Being out here with no one else around was freeing.

Being here with the Lia was something else entirely.

At a stand of trees on one side of the glen, I stopped the bike and helped Lia climb off before dismounting myself.

She removed the helmet and jacket, brushed out her skirt, and took in the view. The evergreen trees above us made a thick canopy in the warm afternoon and left a dense pile of pine needles underfoot.

“It’s so pretty here,” she uttered.

“Gorgeous.”

She peeked back to find me staring at her, and pink decorated her cheeks. I kind of loved that I’d put that blush there.

“What did ye want to talk about?” I asked.

“A few things.” She interlaced her fingers but kept her gaze on me. “First, you asked how I named Evie. Evelyn was my mother’s name. It felt right to honour her even though Evie and I never knew her.”

Something passed over Lia’s expression and my heart dropped.

She took a few paces away then turned back. “My second point is related to that. I’ve had this realisation about doing things solely to please other people. I’ve done that all my life, and I thought it was right. But it isn’t, not always.”

I stood taller. She was talking about me. Us.

“I made a series of huge mistakes when it came to you. I wish I could go back in time and act differently. I wish I could rewrite it all.”

The words fell from me before I could control myself. “Do it then.”

Lia jerked her gaze up. “What?”

She’d already begun this, rewriting meeting my brother as a final encounter with me.

“Start over with me,” I urged. “Go back to the start, and we’ll do it differently.”

Resolve settled in her features. Lia advanced on me a couple of steps.

Fuck the version of me who knew this was a terrible idea. Heat had been building between us, and if we didn’t channel it, we’d burn.

“The day we met,” she whispered, her gaze tracing over my form, “you had come to town for some reason, and I saw you walk by my hotel.”

“I’d gone to the police station,” I admitted. “I’d been caught speeding, and they wanted a word as I had priors.”

“What does that mean?”

“I’d got into trouble once or twice. Nothing major.”

“Such a bad boy.” She hummed, inching closer. “I’d never seen anyone like you before. I don’t mean your looks, though with your red hair and leathers, you stood out. I mean the way you made me feel.”

“Describe it to me.”

“Hot. Needy. I was so attracted to you after just one look.”

The same had applied in reverse. I’d caught a glimpse of her on the hotel steps, and she’d stolen my breath. All sweet, fair, and compelling.

Lia continued. “I had to talk to you. When you came back, I stepped outside like I was being controlled by someone else. Then you saw me and smiled this sexy smirk. It was a shot to the heart.” Her palm pressed over her chest. “I can’t remember who spoke first, but you asked what I was doing. I said: right now? You replied—”

“For the rest of your life,” I finished for her. “Can’t believe I came out with such a cheesy line.”

“It made me laugh. Then you invited me for a walk.”

I had. We’d strolled all the way from her hotel to the banks of the river Ness and onto Ness Islands.

“Then I walked ye home and asked if ye were busy the next day.”

Lia’s lips curved into a soft smile. “You did, and we walked out again. It was like I’d gone back in time a hundred years and was being courted. I’d only arrived that morning, and it was my first summer without a tutor. Dad hadn’t expected to stay there as long as we did, so I was at a loose end. I’d thought fate had sent you to me.”

“I was fascinated with ye,” I gave my side of it. “Ye sounded half English and half something else. Ye talked about moving from city to city like that was a normal thing. Ye had no street sense at all, so I knew ye were sheltered. And when we made our pact not to share personal details beyond our first names, ye didnae seem real. Every time I left, I thought I’d imagined ye.”

“You’d come home here.” She gestured to the estate, filling in gaps in her story. “I didn’t even get close to imagining this place.”

“Where did ye think I lived?”

“In a nice house with a nice family. Which was partially right, just missing the whole of your amazing life.” Lia sighed, her shoulders lowering. “After a week of knowing you, Dad said we’d be leaving in a day. His work was almost done, and we’d catch a flight.”

“Ye didn’t tell me that.”

“I know.”

Then realisation dawned. “That’s why ye kissed me.”

“One of the reasons. The main one was that, if I didn’t, I would’ve died of need.”

Lia closed the distance between us and pressed up on her toes, bringing her mouth to mine. It wasn’t the slow, experimental touch of lips from a few days ago. Lia arched into me and, just like that, our reenactment was over and new ground forged.

I gripped her waist, holding her while she led the way.

A tilt of her head perfected our connection, and Lia’s soft lips moved over mine in insistent sweeps, her intent clear. She wanted to show me she was better at this. That she could impress me.

I allowed her the control, my muscles aching with the need to dominate her.

Then her tongue slid over mine, and I was done.

She tasted like a fucking rainbow.

This woman was mine.

With a growl of desire, I picked her up and walked us to my bike, setting her down on the leather seat. Then I attacked her mouth, fusing our lips. Lia moaned, sending fireworks skittering down my veins.

We’d written out two years of not being together and were turning an innocent first kiss into something more. Deeper. Darker.

Seated on the sturdy bike, Lia wrapped her legs around my waist, her skirt hitched up over her thighs. I held her head, still locked in that kiss, but drifted a hand to her thigh, stroking up her skin.

Lia tightened her grip on me, showing me she wanted this.

Skimming higher, I found the line of her underwear.

More than I could admit, I wanted to fuck her. My dick strained in my jeans, wide awake and ready to go. Except that was the worst fucking idea.

That didn’t mean I couldn’t give her more than I had that first time.

“What do ye need?” I dragged my mouth from hers and kissed her throat, tangling a finger in the elastic strap of her satin thong.

Lia gave a soft whimper. “With you, everything.”

Ah Christ. I moved my mouth over her hot skin and into the gap in her blouse. A constraining button gave way, allowing me to nudge her lace bra cup aside.

Lia dropped her head back, draping over the metallic orange tank to support herself on the bike’s handlebar.

There had never, ever been a sexier sight.

I nuzzled deeper until I found her nipple then sucked hard. At the same moment, I brought my fingers to her pussy, over her damp underwear.

“Max,” Lia begged.

I teased, licking her into a harder peak. “Tell me what ye want me to do.”

“That. More.”

I slid my hand into her knickers to find her soaking, and I glanced over her clit. “This?”

“God, yes,” she cursed.

I kept up the motion and moved to her other nipple, undoing another button to expose her to my touch.

No one could see us. Even if someone walked by, we were concealed in the tree line. I’d never want to share her.

In slow circles, I rubbed her clit. Her slickness begged to be tasted, though.

I straightened, and Lia raised her head, cheeks flushed. Her tits spilled from her bra.

“Ye have no idea what a gorgeous sight ye make. Turn around, bend over the bike,” I ordered.

She peeked around to check we were alone but didn’t hesitate positioning herself over my motorbike, her skirt in a bunch around her waist. Her long legs led to her pert, fuckable arse, and I stared for a long moment, even more desperate to unzip myself and slam into her.

Instead, I knelt and landed my mouth right at the juncture of her thighs. Lia yelped, and I loved the sound.

Grabbing both her ankles, I widened her stance so I had the space I needed, then I tore her underwear away. With my fingers, I held her open for me and licked into her from behind.

“Max,” she repeated, strained.

“So fucking perfect,” I mumbled, dizzy from her taste.

While I loved on her with my mouth, I worked her clit with my fingers. Her breathing stuttered, and her moans increased. Then I slid a finger inside her, followed by a second.

She tightened around me, and my breathing stalled, memories flooding in.

Our first time together had been inexperienced and so tender.

This needed to be a race to get her off.

She surged against me. I used both hands on her, focusing on every little sound and movement she gave up. Her pleasure was mine. Then I sank my teeth into her perfect arse cheek.

Lia cried out, squeezing my fingers.

I didn’t let up, keeping going with my actions. She pushed up on her toes, half hanging over the bike, then shouted my name once more. Coming.

Fuck. I slowed, hugging onto her backside.

Lia moaned long. My breath came in rasps, and I worked her through her orgasm, a goner for the moment.

After her final throbs, Lia reinstated her skirt then dropped to sit on the forest floor beside me. She kissed me, not afraid of tasting herself on my lips.

“That was different from our first kiss,” she commented.

I gave up a surprised laugh. “Aye, a bit.”

Without thought, I ran my arm around her shoulders and hugged her to me. For a long while, we sat together, just existing.

Something had changed between us. I couldn’t read her mind, but my walls were falling. Not all that long ago, I’d hated her. Even the thought of her drove rage through me.

Now… The same strength of emotion remained, but under an entirely different name.

By mutual agreement, we ended our interlude from the world, getting back on the bike. Lia grumbled at me for destroying her underwear, but it had all been worth it.

I drove us to my sister’s, unable to keep the smile from my face.

Cait gave us a curious once-over but beckoned Lia inside to collect Evie. At the door, Lochie emerged, casting a look over me. He frowned and gestured at my face.

“What’s wrong with your expression?”

I drove my eyebrows together. “Nothing. What are ye talking about?”

My burly brother-in-law squinted. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen ye like that before.”

“For fuck’s sake. Like what?”

Lochie grinned. “Happy.”

I glowered at the man, and his smile turned to outright amusement. Lia emerged with our bairn and thanked my family for looking after her. Then we walked back to the castle, me pushing my bike, Lia carrying a chirpy Evie.

At the steps, I took the tiny lass for a cuddle. “I’m supposed to be working this evening. I can cancel…” I’d already told her my plans, but I regretted them, even though I had so much to do.

“No, it’s okay. Come back tomorrow. I’m spending the morning with Effie, so I’ll see you after.” She took Evie then climbed a step.

I leaned in and kissed her, hard, then dropped a softer kiss to my daughter’s curls.

“Count on it.”

Lia and I were on a collision course, and this time, I wasn’t about to let it end in a wreck.