Free WRECKED: CHOSEN FEW MC - BOOK TWO: OUTLAW BIKER/ALPHA ROMANCE by Nessa Connor

know a person anyway? She’d slept with men she thought she knew, men that came from her world, only to find that she didn’t know them at all, that she’d misjudged their intentions. Others had been disappointments in other ways. There were no guarantees, no sure bets.
    Greg downshifted and turned the bike up a hill. She felt the G forces as he leaned the bike and powered back up, getting up to speed and then shifting back to the higher gear, his movements as graceful as those of a dancer in a ballet. She was swept up in it, and felt herself precariously swept up in her feelings for this powerful man even more than the sensations of riding the bike.
    Heady stuff, Mel.
    * * *
    In the warm afternoon Greg stopped the ride at a small cafe perched on the end of a pier, out over the water. They watched as seagulls and terns circled and played, and a one-legged seagull stood on a pier piling, looking unconcerned, almost regal, as they ate hamburgers and onion rings at a table under an umbrella.
    Melanie felt carefree… as if they had forever ahead of them and no concerns. She hadn’t felt that way in a long time. Too long. It made her want to stay inside the bubble of that moment.
    Actually, her feeling was of being carefree and also wanted—sexually. She ate her meal aware of the delicious look Greg was giving her. His pale blue eyes watched her every movement with rapt attention. He was wondering too. It pleased her that he was also trying to determine what would happen next. She knew it as certainly as she knew how to breathe, that he’d brought her here with no plan, but discovery. He drove her to this place, telling her how great the food was, and she’d found everything fresh and delicious. With his intense and intensely flattering focus on her, she wondered if he even tasted his food. It was all exciting and slightly embarrassing. It also assured her that she wasn’t imagining the electricity she felt running between them.
    When they’d finished, they sipped iced tea and sat for a time. She wanted to talk, to exchange ideas, learn about each other, but words didn’t come. A comfortable silence enshrouded them, and neither seemed willing to destroy it. She felt good.
    At some point, without her even noticing, he’d taken her hand, and held it gently. Then, as the shadows lengthened, he smiled. “We’d better head back.”
    “Now?” A flicker of disappointment coursed through her.
    “I made a promise to a beautiful lady. I intend to keep it.”
    Her heart ached. She didn’t want to leave, yet she had been the one to set a time, to insist he get her home. This had to be nothing but a test—she needed to see if he would honor that promise. And now that it seemed he would, part of her wanted to take back the demand, to just let time flow on.
    That way led along a dangerous path—one she wasn’t yet ready to take. Not yet.
    If you are going to ease your way into this, stick to your guns.
    “I guess we should.”
    He didn’t blink, but she saw something flicker in his face. After a moment, she felt sure it was approval. But what was he approving of? Perhaps he liked strong women, women who knew their own minds. Or maybe it was something else. These were early days. You couldn’t trust reading the expression of someone you barely knew, even if it seemed right. You couldn’t expect to know a person after one ride up the coast no matter how exhilarating it had been.
    And she had the return ride to look forward to.
    Once again the big machine was kicked into life. This close its roar was almost deafening, but when you were sitting on the back and knew that in a moment you’d feel the way the bike seemed to defy gravity, it felt exciting. As she pressed up against Greg and put her arms around him, she put her hand on his chest. After a moment, he put his hand on hers. It was an affectionate gesture, a reassuring touch, and yet, an incredibly arousing one. The touch of his bare skin against hers was