Throttled (Wild Riders #1) by Elizabeth Lee
The first time I saw her I knew that I was going to enjoy our time together. Why wouldn’t I? She was made just for me. I’d been waiting for a moment like this. For a moment when I knew that I was exactly where I was supposed to be. The nervousness coursing through my veins was matched only by the thrill of feeling her under my body. I’d longed for this. Ached to put my hands on her. To turn her on and learn what made her tick. What made her bend to my will. I needed to control her more than I needed to take my next breath. My heart raced as I approached.
Why am I so nervous?
I was usually calm in these situations. I was Reid Travers, damn it. I was a professional. The tremble in my hand—the one that I quickly shook off—warned that I was entering some unknown territory. How could something so pretty—so wanted—make me feel this way? Maybe it was the fact that as I approached I could see my future unfolding. The future I’d asked for. Sacrificed everything for. The action-packed, everything-you’ve-ever-wanted, thrill ride that I’d always dreamed of.
With her.
I circled her slowly and reached my hand out to touch her. The charge that had been building between us released in a single spark as I first made contact. As I ran my hand over her sleek curves, I was practically salivating. The moment I straddled her, my muscles began to tense. As I settled into position, I took a deep breath and felt my lips curl into a wicked grin.
She was so responsive. So ready. My body gripped hers and she gripped mine right back. Like I said, she was made for me and I was damn sure built for her. She took all six-foot-three inches, two-hundred pounds of me with ease.
“So what do you think?” The voice of the man responsible for delivering my new favorite thing in the entire world asked, pulling me out of my intoxicated state and reminding me that we were not alone.
“She’s perfect,” I replied without looking up. Adrenaline had replaced anxiety and I was more than ready to give her a go. I could have sat there for hours and explained to him why, but what I really wanted to do was see if she ran as good as she looked. “Fucking perfect.”
“The bike was built to your exact specifications, but everything is adjustable. Suspension, brakes, throttle. I’m sure your mechanic will be able to tweak it all to your liking.”
“I’m sure she’s just fine,” I assured him.
He was crazy if he thought I was going to let anyone but me handle her. I’d be making the adjustments. If she even needed any. From where I was sitting she was exactly what I’d asked for, tight and loose in all the right places. Though I wouldn’t know for sure until I did what I did best. I moved into position and within seconds she roared to life.
It was time to ride.
“Where in the f*ck are we going? I’m pretty sure we’ve already passed Timbuktu and that was the turn for BFE,” Brett Sallinger practically growled through the phone line.
“We’ll be there in a few,” I laughed before hanging up on him.
Looking into my side view mirror of the pick-up I was driving, pulling an enclosed trailer with our precious cargo, I could see him giving me a wide-eyed look of disbelief from the Ford Expedition he was following me in, pulling his airstream trailer loaded with all our belongings we knew we couldn’t live without for the next few months. I shook my head as we drove down the gravel roads that led back to the property I’d recently purchased. Following these roads that I’d driven so many times before, seeing the land unchanged after all these years, I let out a deep contented sigh. I rolled the window down and took a deep breath in, allowing the air to permeate my senses once again. A smell that I never noticed before now brought on a sense of peace I didn’t realize I was missing. His concern for our whereabouts was understandable. Since I was literally taking him into the middle of nowhere and all. But to me? It wasn’t the middle of nowhere at all. It was the middle of everything.
“It’s been a while, huh?” My brother, Hoyt, said from his seat riding shotgun. I could see the nostalgia on his face as we pulled to a stop on the flat piece of land.
“Yeah.” I stepped out of the truck and as soon as my feet hit the dirt, it hit me.
I was home. For the first time in seven years.
The property we were standing on had once belonged to my parents, and even though I had said I would eventually come back, I hadn’t known if it would ever be possible. When I left, my parents had sold the land I’d grown up on—the land I’d learned to ride on—to fund my racing career. It wasn’t even a career then. It was a whim and prayer that I could take my talent to the next level. Luckily, I had been able to. Which is exactly why I was back. I was going to give them back everything they’d sacrificed to support me. I was going to give them their dream home and finally erase the financial burden they’d carried with them to help me.
I stared out across the grass-covered land. One hundred acres. It was everything my parents had ever wanted. They had plans—literal blueprints prepared—to build their dream home right where I was standing.
“Where are the hills?” Brett’s skepticism about the Midwest was evident. “How in the hell did you learn to ride the way you do in a place this... flat?” He walked up next to where my brother and I were standing.
“There’s a track down there,” I informed him, pointing at the timber on the far side of the property. “Or, there to used to be.”