Nova (Silver Saints MC)

In my peripheral vision, I saw her head tilt to the side and study me for a moment. My innocent little angel was probably trying to figure out why my words had been loaded with tension. “Um, okay.”

I cleared my throat and moved around again. Trying to take my mind off her gorgeous body and all the things I planned to eat off it eventually, I asked, “Were you headed to college before all this?” I wanted to know what I would be dealing with once I made it perfectly clear to her that I wasn’t letting her go.

“Yeah, I was,” she said, though her tone lacked all enthusiasm.

“To get away?” I speculated on a hunch.

After a few beats, she nodded. “I just graduated high school. I don’t exactly have any skills. College seemed like the only option.”

“What were you going to study?”

She shrugged as she stared out the window, watching the scenery as it turned into fields rather than stores and subdivisions. “I hadn’t thought that far ahead.”

The town was well behind us now, so I downshifted and slowly pulled to the side of the road. “Your turn, angel.”

Her face lit up, and she scrambled out of the car, making me laugh.

Once we’d switched places and were firmly belted in, I started explaining, praying she’d take to it easily and not destroy my transmission. “That’s the clutch, that’s the brake. I put the car in neutral, so you can shift into first gear now. Good. Now take your foot off the brake. Okay, slowly ease off the clutch and apply pressure to the accelerator.”

Rylee followed my instructions beautifully, and I breathed a sigh of relief when she shifted into second gear without grinding or killing the car. “Now, shift gears as you gain speed. Around every fifteen—holy shit!”

I slammed back into my seat as Rylee hit the accelerator and took off like a bat out of hell. I started to yell for her to slow down, but she shifted gears smoothly as if she’d been doing it all her life. We hit a sharp bend in the road, and she maneuvered it with complete ease.

My jaw had dropped in shock, but the rest of me was on fire. Watching her handle my car with such finesse was hot as fuck. “Where did you learn to drive like this?”

Rylee threw me a beaming smile. “My dad taught me. He thought everyone should learn manual before automatic. Plus, I wanted to be able to drive the cars we fixed up.”

“Fixed up?” Arya had mentioned that Rylee liked classic cars and went to shows, but I hadn’t realized she’d helped build them.

“Yep.” She continued telling me about the projects she worked on with her dad, and an idea began to form in my head. It would work perfectly with my plans to marry her and knock her up as soon as possible.

After about an hour, she yawned, and I told her to pull over so we could switch back. She had to be exhausted after being woken in the middle of the night, plus the adrenaline had long worn off.

“Sleep, angel. We’ll probably be there when you wake up.”

“But—”

“Sleep,” I demanded sternly. “You need to rest because you’re gonna need your energy later.”

She looked at me curiously, but I just left it at that. I reached across her and pulled the lever to recline her seat. She was out in minutes.

6

Rylee

The passenger seat of Nova’s car wasn’t the most comfortable place to sleep, but I felt safer with him than I had since my dad died, which made up for the inconvenience of using my seat belt as a pillow. I didn’t wake up until he gently shook my shoulder right before he pulled through the gate at the club’s compound. “Wow, I guess I was more tired than I thought. I hope I didn’t snore or anything.”

“You might’ve let out a few sleepy snorts.” Nova’s dark eyes crinkled at the edges as he flashed me a grin. “But they were adorable as fuck.”

Deciding that it wouldn’t do me any good to be embarrassed, I smiled back at him and snapped the strap of my seat belt. “At least I didn’t drool all over this. It would’ve sucked if you had to hunt down a new one because I left stains all over the material while using it for a pillow.”

“Nah, the sacrifice would’ve been worth it. It was important for you to rest.”

This was the second time he mentioned me needing to rest. I wasn’t sure what that was all about, but I didn’t get the chance to ask about it before he parked next to a row of motorcycles in front of a big building. A couple of guys walked over, jerking their chins in greeting at Nova when he climbed out of the car. I was slow to follow, and Nova had already rounded the front of the car to open my door for me by the time I undid my seat belt and reached for the handle. Sliding my palm against his, I smiled up at him. “Thanks.”