Macy went back to her seat, then took a large mouthful of her water to steady herself. She'd just said she would take a ride on Brad Gelderman's bike. It was approaching dark, and she was sure someone would see her, but she felt the reckless need to do this. Go with him wherever he wanted to take her, if only for one night.
Have some fun, Macy. Don't think. When you're ready you'll know.
Her therapist, Jillian, had talked about getting involved with another man. She had urged Macy to do so, if she felt she was ready and the right man turned up.
“You're a person who likes contact, Macy. Someone who, with the right man, will experience a healthy and happy relationship.”
She knew Brad wasn’t thinking about a relationship with her, just like she wasn’t with him, but was he thinking about having some fun, and by that she meant sex? Her limbs felt unsteady about that beautiful man wanting her. Did she want it… him?
“You are a lot stronger than you give yourself credit for, Macy. You've lived alone, unsupported by anyone but yourself, and raised a wonderful boy. You are no longer dependent, but independent.”
Macy felt a rush of pleasure at the memory of Jillian's words. Damn it, she was independent. She looked to where Brad Gelderman had gone. How long would he wait for her?
“That's a mighty fierce frown you got going on there, Macy.”
“Hey, Newman,” Macy said to the tall, elegantly dressed man who fell into the seat beside her. “Just tired, I guess. It was a nice wedding, don't you think?”
Paul Theodore Newman, child of much loved Mr. and Mrs. Newman, had handled the notoriety of his name by smiling, talking, and having good friends at his side when he got into fights as a child. He had a headful of blond curls, intelligent eyes, and was a looker, but compared to Brad he paled. It wasn't fair, but as Newman was her friend she'd never looked at him any other way.
“Yeah, all that bridesmaiding must take it out of you, I'm thinking.”
“Not a word, Newman, but I take your meaning, and yes, it is exhausting, all that giggling and stuff.”
“Stuff being?”
“Annabelle and Branna are continually talking about Jake and Ethan. Then there’s the smile.”
“Smile?”
“I term it the secret lovers smile.”
“Ah, that one, gotcha, and yes, it’s bloody annoying.”
“I swear, Newman, I’m happy for them. I am, but it makes you want to bring up your lunch.”
He took her hand in his and squeezed it tight.
“Yeah, but only because we're jealous. But that'll be our little secret, okay?”
“Okay, and it's bad of us to be jealous because our friends are happy, FYI.”
“It’s normal,” he amended. “And I actually quite like my single status, thank you, but I wish I had the hots for you, Macy.”
She giggled.
“It would certainly tie things up neatly.”
“It would, but the thing is you'd murder me by the end of the first week.”
“True, and you'd think me neurotic.”
His eyes lost their humor and turned serious. “You doing okay, sweetheart?”
“Sure, I'm doing great. Really,” Macy added as he looked doubtful. “It’s just that coming to a wedding reminds me of the fact that mine was empty. That ridiculous grand ceremony and all the trimmings that went with it were all just a silly girl’s foolish dreams.”
“Not so foolish.” Newman kissed her cheek. “It was your dream, Macy, and dreams should happen for sweet little girls. Promise me you won't give up on finding them again.”
Macy swallowed the snort of denial and instead nodded. “Promise.”
“And now I have to dance with that really hot chick in the tight orange dress.”
“You're so loose, Newman.”
“Damn straight, you should try it sometime.”
Getting to her feet after he had left, she thought yes! Damn it, she should. Grabbing her bag, she wound her way circuitously through the guests so no one close to her would realize what she was doing. Reaching the door, she slipped out and turned right.
Brad was where he'd said he'd be, standing beside his bike. Big and black, with gleaming polished chrome, it looked as formidable as him. His arms were folded, legs parted, eyes on her as she approached.
“Sorry, I got delayed by Newman.”
“Newman being?”
“Another protector.”
“I like that so many people care about you, Macy,” he said, picking up his helmet and lowering it onto her head. “But I swear, I have never been the recipient of so many threatening looks in my life before.”
“It's nice they care.”
“I was thinking the word suffocating was a better term.”
He held his leather jacket out for her to slip on.
“You can't be serious, that thing will be like a dress on me.”
“It'll keep you warm, so humor me, okay?”
She did as he asked. Her hands reached halfway down his sleeves, and she could easily have fit Billy in there with her. It smelled of him, and felt wonderful on her bare skin. She let him zip it up, because she had no hands to help.
“You look cute.”
“Most definitely the look I was going for.”
His laugh was a low rumble. Then he lifted her and lowered her onto the back of his bike.
“I'm wearing a short skirt and heels.”
“Really, I hadn't noticed,” he said, looking at her thighs that were now exposed before putting his leg over the bike and lifting it off the stand. He came down hard on the kick start once and the engine roared to life. A surge of exhilaration flooded her. She was on a motorbike!
“You ready?”
“Yes.”
“Hold on.”
He turned the throttle and suddenly they were moving. Wrapping her arms around him, she held tight as he roared through the town. Macy kept her eyes closed; she didn't want to see anyone, she wanted to pretend she was alone with Brad. This was suspending reality, she thought. Tomorrow her life would return to normal. There would be trash to take out and her little boy to care for and love, but right now she was single, young, and sexy. Brad would leave Howling, and she may not ever see him again. So tonight was for being reckless and having fun.
They took the main road out of town, and she enjoyed the breeze on her face and legs. Her dress had ridden high, but Macy didn’t care.
“You okay?”
“Oh yes.”
He laughed, the sound carrying to her on the air.
They followed the lake, and it was beautiful anytime, but with the moon illuminating it, it was magical. Her town, she thought with pride. Brad was seeing it at its best.
They rode for a while, and she enjoyed the purr of the engine and the feel of Brad between her thighs. His stomach was hard beneath her fingers, and she wondered what it would be like to run her hands and mouth over his abs. Dare she try?
He saw the park and pulled in, then they headed to the edge where the trees lined the bank. Nudging the bike behind some, he shut off the engine and lowered the stand. Getting off, he then removed her helmet and picked her up, lowering her to the ground gently.
“You have a beautiful town here, Macy. Shame I won't be staying long enough to explore it.”
She slipped off the jacket and draped it over the seat.
“You don't want to stay and spend time with Ethan?”
He hesitated. It was only brief, but because she was focused on him she saw it.
“I have to get back soon.”
His tone told her not to delve, so she didn't. Tonight was for first meetings, just as if she were a teenager necking for the first time. Looking at the rigid line of his shoulders, she thought she'd possibly like to do a bit more than necking with Brad Gelderman, and wasn't that a terrifying thought for many reasons. One being she'd never in her life had those thoughts, and two was that she didn't think she had the strength to do anything with this man or any man for that matter. Brian had destroyed her in many ways, and this was just another.
They walked to the water’s edge and stood in companionable silence looking over the lake to the dark shadows beyond.
“I bet those mountains are something in the daylight.”
“They are.”
He turned to look down at her. “You'll probably find this hard to believe, but I didn't bring you here to seduce you, Macy. I just wanted to get away from the wedding for a while, and I wanted you as company.”
“I wouldn't have come if I didn't want to, Brad.”
He cupped her cheek, his thumb stroking her skin. It felt wonderful and Macy closed her eyes. Barely a second passed before his lips were on hers.
She'd thought they would be hard, but they were anything but. He took her under in seconds. Macy forgot to breathe as his mouth made love to hers. She didn't know where the kisses stopped or started, only that for the first time in her life a man’s touch made her feel wonderful. Her body had ignited, her breasts tingled, and heat pooled between her thighs.
“Macy.” He whispered her name, and she almost believed the reverence in his voice. Almost, but not quite, believed the raw need that one word had resonated with.
His hand moved down her body, fisted in the fabric of her dress, and then she felt the heat of his palm on her thigh, shivered as it moved upward.
“I want these wrapped around me.”
“Yes.” She reveled in the passion stirring inside her. Feelings she'd never experienced, built. Maybe she could do this, if the liquid heat racing through her was any indication.
He kissed her again; this time it was almost savage in its intensity, and Macy pulled back. Not completely, but enough so the contact was broken.
“I need to ask you some things before we do this, okay?”
Brad nodded down at the lush woman in his arms. She felt so good pressed against him, every soft curve hiking his passions each time she moved.
“Macy, honey.” He found his voice. “Have we got a problem here?”
“No.” She shook her head. “It's my problem, not yours, but I want this. I need you to understand that, Brad.”
Moving on instinct he hadn't known he had, Brad cupped her face in both hands softly. Something told him this woman needed gentle right now.
“I'm trying.”
“We need to take this slow, and I need to feel like I have some control, if that's all right with you?”
He knew there was shit happening here that he didn’t understand. Brad was sure that someone had hurt this woman, and it had likely been her ex. The sudden urge to find the bastard and make him pay shocked him as much as his need to be here with her.
“Sure as hell is hard, honey. I mean, what man wouldn’t want to be here, with a sexy woman who wants to have sex with him and take control? You do want sex, right? Or did I read that wrong?”
Her smile was small.
“I want it, but I had a difficult relationship, Brad. I should probably tell you that right off, and you’re the first man I've been near in four years. I’m not sure why I decided you were safe, but I have. So if that's too much for you to handle, I can understand that. Let's face it, we only met a few hours ago, and you're probably already regretting this, bringing me here.”
He should be, but instead he slid his fingers around the back of her neck and stroked the soft skin he found there.
“You want me to kill him?”
“No, he's been locked away, but thanks for the offer.”
His stomach clenched at the thought of this woman in the hands of a man so bad he was behind bars.
“I want you, Brad.”
She looked up at him with so much longing in her eyes he felt it settle heavily inside his chest.
“I want to be normal again, and I thought with you, for just tonight, maybe I could.”
Brad felt like he was wading through a minefield with no protection.
“Well now, honey, you're looking at the wrong person if you want normal.”
She managed a little snuffle.
“What did I do that frightened you?”
“The kiss just got a bit rough.”
“Okay, I think I got it.”
Brad took her hands in his and placed them on his chest.
“Do you want this, Macy, or would you rather I took you home?”
“I do want it, Brad. One night of passion, one night to experience all the things I have heard other women talk about.”
“Christ.” He managed a harsh bite of laughter. “Don't put too much pressure on me, honey, I may not be able to perform.”
“Something tells me you never leave a woman unsatisfied.”
From anyone else that would be a pickup line, but from this woman, it wasn't.
“Okay, so you want to take the lead?”
“Would you mind that?”
He laughed again. “You kidding me? A sexy woman doing whatever the hell she wants to me. It’s a fantasy.”
She was silent, and Brad could see she was thinking, trying to find the courage to overcome whatever the hell was going on inside her.
“Macy, let me take you home, honey. The park, where anyone could turn up or drive by, is probably not the best place for this experience.”
“No one will come. Everyone who lives out here is at the wedding.”
She then placed a hand on his chest and walked him backward so they were hidden behind some bushes. She urged him down onto the grass. Once he was seated, legs stretched out before him, she straddled his thighs and sat in his lap. Brad was sure he’d just combusted.
“Now,” she whispered as his body fired to life. “I want to look at your body.”
Her hands tugged his shirt over his head, and then her fingers were on him. She traced the top of his shoulder, then the ridge of the scar that was a reminder of Mark’s death.
“What happened?”
“An accident.”
His eyes closed as she leaned forward and placed a kiss on the scar.
“I'll be gentle with you, I promise.”
“Appreciate it,” he managed, although the words sounded choked.
“You are a beautiful man, Brad Gelderman.”
This time it was he who felt fear. No one else, with just a small touch, had made him feel like he did at that moment. “Let me take you home now, Macy.” It was almost a plea.
She shook her head again, and her treacherous fingers moved lower, tracing his pecs, and then lower, to his stomach.
“You have so many muscles.” She was concentrating, her features focused on his body.
He could do nothing to bite back the moan of appreciation as she flattened her palm and stroked the taut skin.
“It's hard,” she murmured.
Something is hard.
“You have an amazing body, Brad.”
“Th-thank you,” he gritted out.
She kissed him, her mouth soft and wet on his skin, leaving a trail of fire as her lips traveled over his shoulder.
“You taste good too.”
“I'm dying here.” His groan wasn’t loud, more a growl.
“Why?” She lifted her head, her eyes now inches from his, and he lost himself in them.
“Because of your touch, and the feel of your lips on my skin, baby. You're sexy, and I want you very much.”
“Oh.” She gave him a slow smile that increased his tension, and then started kissing his chest. Her hands moved too, trailing over his skin.
Brad couldn't stop another long, slow moan as she reached the waistband of his jeans.
“I like hearing you moan.”
“Keep doing that and you’ll hear more.”
Her huff of breath brushed his damp skin.
“I—he never let me do this.”
“Your husband?” Brad wheezed as she moved over his chest, placing small kisses and long licks.
“Yes. I was never allowed to be in control.”
“Well, you are now,” he gritted out as she touched him through his jeans.
She’d kissed him everywhere, he was sure. No inch of his chest was left untouched, and Brad was fairly certain that for the first time he was going to disgrace himself by coming with his pants on.
“Macy, you’re killing me here, baby.”
“I've never incited anyone's passions before.”
“I find that hard to believe,” Brad said, placing his hands on her hips and pulling her against him. “My passions were incited the first time I saw you in this dress, walking down the aisle. I remember thinking, that is one sexy bridesmaid.”
“Thank you for saying that.”
“I don't lie, Macy.”
“Okay.” Her eyes no longer held fear, instead they were filled with sensual heat.
“I need to touch you too. Will you take off your dress for me?”
She bit her lip, and he thought about those teeth sinking into him, and closed his eyes.
“If you don't want to—”
“No.” She eased back down his thighs, then grabbed the hem and lifted it, dropping the dress to the ground.
“Jesus.” Brad's whisper was fierce. “How the hell do you figure you don't incite passion looking like that?”
Her skin was sun kissed and smooth, stomach softly rounded, her breasts cupped in cream satin, and he wanted to run his mouth over every inch of her.
“Thank you,” she said in a prim little voice.
“Macy—”
“I don't want to talk about me.”
“Okay, then we won't. Can I touch you?”
“Yes, I want you to, now.”