Ride Hard (Raven Riders #1)(54)
HAVEN HAD PROMISED herself no more holing away in her room, so when her full belly left her sleepy in the late morning, she changed into a tank top and a pair of shorts and took a blanket out into the backyard while Cora headed over to the chop shop to hang with Phoenix, Jeb, and Blake. Haven didn’t mind being alone, since she knew she was likely to fall asleep. It was a gorgeous, warm May day, and the views of the mountains and the valley were stunning from the Raven clubhouse. The perfect recipe for a nap that would pass the time until she and Dare could finally talk.
She found a flat spot with a particularly good view under the long, swaying branches of a weeping willow tree to spread out her blanket, and then she did something that not too long ago would’ve been unthinkable—she lay down and closed her eyes right there in the grass. Her father’s house had a big built-in pool in the backyard, but Haven hadn’t used it since she’d been a kid. No way could she wear a swimsuit and bare that much of her body in that house. Ever. Here, though? She didn’t have a single concern that she wouldn’t be safe.
With the breeze blowing and the birds singing and the distant strains of music coming from somewhere, Haven fell asleep quickly. When she woke up, she wasn’t sure how long she’d slept, but she was absolutely ecstatic about having done something so simple as laying out in the sun to take a nap. Stretching pulled a long, moaning yawn out of her and—
“Good nap?” came a man’s voice from behind her.
She whirled onto her elbows. Dare. Sitting in his jeans, black T-shirt, and cut with his knees up and his back against the willow’s trunk.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
The look he gave her turned the sleepy warmth flowing through her body into something darker, something needier, something hotter. “Watching you sleep,” he said. He gave his bottom lip a long, slow flick of his tongue.
Haven was suddenly ravenous for a taste of that tongue, that lip, that harsh, masculine mouth. “Why?” she breathed.
“’Cause I don’t seem to be able to stay away from you, no matter how hard I try.” His blunt honesty did nothing to rein in her arousal. Instead, his declarations made her heart race and her hips press instinctively toward the ground, seeking a friction that wasn’t there but that she wanted desperately.
What would it be like to give such blunt honesty in return? Goose bumps erupted over her warm skin the moment she decided to find out. “What if I don’t want you to stay away?”
He looked away for a long moment, and Haven worried she’d said the wrong thing, but when he looked back, the battle playing out on his expression told her he’d liked what she’d said. A lot.
“There’s a lake on the compound not too far from here,” he said, his voice like gravel, his gaze running over her body. Then his eyes returned to hers. “Any chance you’d like to go for a swim?”
She grinned. “Really? That would be awesome.” She pushed up to sit on folded legs. “Oh, except I don’t have a swimsuit.”
“You could wear what you have on,” he said, his gaze dragging over her again. “And take other clothes to change into.”
“Okay, I’ll do that,” Haven said. “Let me just grab some things.” Up in her room, her gaze snagged on her notebook while she grabbed other clothes. Going skinny dipping was on her list, but no way she could do that in broad daylight with Dare. Could she? No. No, she wasn’t that brave. Not yet. Maybe never. She grabbed some clothes and a towel from the bathroom and met Dare out in front, where he was waiting for her on his bike.
He stuffed her things in a compartment on the side of his bike and gave her a hand on. “Put this on,” he said, handing her a helmet.
“Why don’t you wear one?” she asked as she slipped it on and put down the visor.
He grinned over his shoulder. “I do on longer trips, but, you know, I like to flaunt the rules and live dangerously, too.”
The words were innocent enough, but the echo of what she’d written in her notebook made her stomach flip-flop.
“Ready?” he asked.
She wrapped her arms around his stomach and rested her head on his shoulder. “Yes.”
Haven hadn’t been sure she’d get to ride with Dare again, so being on the back of his bike made her almost giddy with happiness. They left the clubhouse heading in a different direction than they’d ridden the other day, and within a few minutes arrived at an appealingly rugged cabin nestled in the woods. Clouds blocked the sun, casting the house in shade, but it didn’t detract from the secluded peacefulness of the wooded lot.
Dare eased the bike to a stop in the driveway and kicked out his boots to steady them. “Just need to grab some things,” he said, helping her off the bike. “Come on in.”
“This is your place?” she asked, her eyes drinking in the almost picturesque setting, the rustic log fa?ade, the separate garage that sat at the back of the lot.
“Yeah,” he said, leading them up onto the small porch. He unlocked the door and gestured for her to go first.
Haven wasn’t sure what to expect of the place where Dare lived. She so associated him with the clubhouse that she’d never imagined him in his own space. The interior was all warm, rough-hewn wood, limestone accents, and earth tones. It was masculine but inviting, even though there wasn’t a lot that personalized the space. “This is really nice,” she said. Much of the first floor was open, and her gaze went right to the kitchen. Drawn by the granite counters, she headed there, her hands smoothing over the cool surface.