Ride Hard (Raven Riders #1)(92)
Haven clutched at his hand and his shoulder, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t keep all this emotion from overwhelming her. A tear spilled from the corner of one eye.
He kissed it away, still swaying with her to the strains of a soulful electric guitar. “Don’t cry, pretty girl,” he said in a low, rumbling voice. “I’ve got you.”
She gave a quick nod and took a deep breath. And then she forced herself to be, to feel, to live in this moment she might never get again. Dancing with Dare, tight in his arms, bodies brushing together. Their faces were so close that the scruff on his jaw kept catching her cheek, but she wouldn’t have changed that for anything. Not anything at all.
He had her.
Her hand slid up to the back of his hair, her fingers toying with the long, soft lengths of it. She tilted her head back—and the look on his face sent her heart into a sprint. Desire. Affection. Longing. It burned from his eyes and carved pained lines into his forehead. Haven didn’t have a lot of experience, and she hadn’t been around a lot of men this way, and she’d certainly never been in love. Well, not really. Not like this. But none of that kept her from knowing that the expression he wore was one of some kind of love. Because his face looked like her chest felt.
“Dare,” she whispered.
“Haven,” he said, leaning down and kissing her softly, slowly, deeply. The kiss went on and on as they danced in a slow, rocking circle. When he finally pulled away, he leaned his forehead against hers, his eyes closed. The next words that came out of his mouth . . . were sung. Gravelly, rasping, so damn sexy. “I say, my darling, you were wonderful tonight.”
His eyelids flipped open, a note of uncertainty in their brown depths. And Haven kissed that away with everything she was worth.
And then the music changed. For a moment, he didn’t stop even though the beat was entirely different. And when he did, that longing was back on his face again. “I . . . I wish things were different, Haven. Safer. For you.”
“So do I,” she whispered, and even though the words broke her heart, they also gave her something she’d never before had. The belief that someone wanted her. The knowledge that Dare wanted her. And if things were different . . .
No, she wasn’t going to waste her last night with him on an endless circle of useless wishes. Not when she had him in her grasp right now.
She pulled out of his arms but kept hold of his hand. “Come to bed with me. I want as much of you as I can get before I have to go.”
Humor slid into his eyes, though that longing was still there. “I love hearing what you want.”
“Good. Get used to it. Because I plan to tell you all night long,” she said, smiling even as heat filled her cheeks.
Dare winked and grinned. “Who is this brazen woman?”
Haven turned on him and threw her arms around his neck. “The woman I was always meant to be. Thanks to you.”
Without missing a beat, Dare kissed her hard and deep, and then he hiked her into his arms, her thighs coming around his waist. He carried her through the clubhouse that way, and she imagined some of the other men must’ve seen, because they went right past the open rec room doors.
But Haven didn’t care. Not about anyone or anything else in the whole wide world.
BY FIVE O’CLOCK on Friday afternoon, Dare felt like a time bomb ready to explode. Dread hung over him like a shroud. No matter how hard he fought it off, his brain was tripping warning bells all over the place about tonight. He felt like he was missing something. And on top of everything, he’d been so busy setting up the security measures they’d brainstormed and dealing with normal race-day issues that he hadn’t seen Haven once since he’d left her bed this morning. And now it was almost time for her to go.
Maybe it was better that way. Maybe they should let the incredible night they’d spent loving and talking and occasionally sleeping together be their good-bye. Because he wasn’t sure how the f*ck he was going to let her go if he saw her again anyway.
And now cars were pouring into the lot as race fans arrived early to eat dinner at the track or visit with the pit crews down on the field. From where Dare stood inside the control room they’d set up in the office next to the ticket window, his gaze scanned over three monitors playing feeds from various security cameras—one on each of the parking lot entrances recording vehicle information and one on the box office windows capturing faces. Randall’s men’s pictures and car descriptions were taped down on the table in front of the monitors. Joker and Blake were manning those feeds and had walkie-talkies to communicate incoming trouble if they saw it.
“Stay in touch.” Dare clapped Joker on his mountainous shoulder.
“You know it, boss,” the guy said.
Dare left the control room and passed through the back of the ticket and betting office, where four of his men were manning the windows, two of which would close once the races started at seven. For right now, though, all four guys were too busy to talk. Continuing outside, Dare checked the time on his cell again. Quarter after five. Caine, Tank, and Domino should be back any minute with everything they needed to start the road trip with Haven and Cora out to Missouri.
Dare hated how f*cked their usual procedures were going to be on this relocation. Phoenix usually headed them up, but given that the Iron Cross might be in play here, everyone agreed he should stay local. So Caine was leading this trip, which was fine, though the guy wasn’t particularly good at putting people at ease. And the last thing Dare wanted was for Haven to feel uncomfortable or scared. On top of it all, they’d never rushed through making relocation arrangements so fast, and that pissed him off on Haven’s behalf. Because she deserved the best from them. Certainly, the best from him.