Biker's Virgin

I was about to call out after her, but I thought better of it. Instead, I followed the path she took until I arrived at one of the hall’s five large, semicircular balconies that overlooked part of the resort and a fantastic section of the ocean just beyond. The sea was bathed in moonlight, and I could see dark purples and dancing grays in the blue of the waves that bowed at the shore.

Molly stood at the very edge of the balcony. Her perfect hourglass silhouette put the view to shame. I approached her cautiously, aware that the alcohol was making me do things I would have considered risky. If I had been sober and in full command of my faculties, I would have realized that the night was too romantic, the mood was too calming, and Molly was too beautiful for me to approach.

I walked up to her on the balcony and put my hand on her shoulder. She shook me off violently and took a step back.

“What do you want, Tristan?” she demanded.

Taken back by her fierceness, I tried to figure out what was causing her anger. “Molly,” I started weakly. “I’m sorry about last week… I… I should never have interrupted your date.”

She shook her head in frustration. “That’s what you’re apologizing for?”

“I…yes.”

“Great,” she replied, but her tone sounded sarcastic more than sincere. “Thanks for that. Excuse me.”

She walked around me and headed back to the party. Completely taken off guard, I followed her back through the gathering and straight out of the hall. She was walking down one of the deserted corridors in the direction of her suite when I caught up with her.

“Molly…wait,” I said, grabbing her hand and forcing her to turn around to face me.

Her eyes were blue fire when they met mine. “This is all just a game to you, isn’t it?” she demanded. “And I’m just another piece on your chessboard.”

I stared at her for a moment. “That’s not true,” I said softly. “Nor is that fair.”

“Ever since I got here, I’ve felt something between us,” she said blatantly. “It was subtle at first, but it’s got stronger and stronger. There’s something there, but you won’t acknowledge it. Because you’re a coward; you’re scared.”

“I am scared,” I blurted out.

Molly stopped short, and I realized that she hadn’t expected me to admit to anything. “What are you scared of, Tristan?”

I shouldn’t have answered her. I knew that. I should have turned around and walked away. But how could I possibly walk away from her now? Her eyes were beckoning, her body was leaning into mine, and her lips were only inches from mine.

“I’m scared of how much I want you,” I said.

The anger drained from her face, and I realized that my admission had justified every emotion she had experienced in the last few weeks. She was waiting for the truth, and she had finally received it. I had been fighting the truth all this time, and I had finally released the words that were clawing at me from the inside.

And after that, there was nothing else left to do but kiss her.

Chapter Sixteen

Molly

It happened as unexpectedly as that first kiss. One second he was staring at me with some unrecognizable emotion flitting through his eyes, and the next his lips had descended on mine, and he was kissing me passionately.

There was no lead up to the kiss, no caution in the way he approached me. There was no subtlety or hesitation. There was no build up and no anticipation. It happened all at once.

I could feel his hands on my body; his lips pushed hard against mine. I could hear the grappling of his breath mixed in with mine. I could feel his tongue, warm and sweet with the taste of eggnog and rum, against my mouth.

This kiss was much like the first one: bold, hard, passionate, and

intoxicating, but everything was heightened somehow. It was as though the six years between our first kiss and this one had made everything come into living color.

I could feel my heart pounding against my chest, I could feel goosebumps prickle my skin, and I felt almost as though I could hear Tristan’s heartbeat, too. My body was alive with need and desire, and I could sense that he was battling with the same untenable emotions.

When we broke apart, we were both panting deeply, as though we had just taken part in a hundred-mile sprint. My lips felt sore and raw, and Tristan was looking at me intensely. I thought I saw a conflict in his eyes, but couldn’t be sure. I wasn’t about to let this moment pass. I wouldn’t allow him to simply walk away from me now—not after all this time, not like he did the last time.

I took his hand and pulled him along to my suite. Surprisingly, he came without a fight. I could sense a little shock mixed in between us. We were both shocked at what had just happened, and now that it had happened, it almost felt like it had been inevitable.

Tristan followed me inside. We walked to my bedroom together. I didn’t bother turning on the lights because I had left the blinds open and the light from the sky and the ocean flooded the room and bathed it in romantic blue light. When I turned around to face Tristan, he was looking at me with an unreadable expression on his face.