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"I'd appreciate it." She crossed her arms, and I got to work.
They fit over her tight jeans. Sure she would be hot, but two layers of protection was better than one. No chance I wanted Lux to end up like Clint.
I helped her zip up the jacket when I finished with her legs. Her glorious blue eyes held mine. The air sparked between us until I plonked a helmet on her head. Barbie pink.
"They didn't have a black one?" She squinted angry cat eyes at me through the visor.
"Nope. All out." I grinned, the most relaxed I'd been in years. If only we weren't making the trip to find out about a mysterious house, I'd supposedly purchased in Key West. "Come on, get on. I won't go too fast but let me know if you get tired or your arms ache. We'll stop in about three hours." I couldn't kiss her, so instead, I tapped lightly on her helmet before pulling on my gloves and indicating a pair to her. She complied, clucking her tongue, and waited for me to climb on the bike, then swung up after me.
I loved how natural she seemed to be. I fired the engine and squeezed her knee that pressed tight against my hips. I thought I caught her turning her face to the house, just for a moment, but then she leaned forward, her body tight against mine. I took off, determined not to let thoughts of our first hotel stop cloud my mind. Best that we made it to the hotel instead of in a ditch.
As we made our way out of town, I surprised her by talking.
"Hey, can you hear me?"
She gasped, audibly surprised. "Yes. How are you doing this?"
"Magic," I said and then paused. But it did sort of seem like magic. The technology was incredible, and I excitedly explained how it worked. "So we can talk or listen to music if you want or talk or neither. It's up to you."
She tightened her grip around my waist. "How about some music for now?"
I got the feeling she was still caught up in the fight with her mom and needed time to think. "You got it." I switched on the playlist I'd made of songs from the eighties—mostly hair bands and rock. All songs I hoped she'd like. Immediately, I got my answer when she began to laugh. It was one of my favorite sounds.
"I love you, Rush," she said, hugging me to her again. Some of the anxiety she'd been holding onto was gone. I heard the change in her voice.
I patted her hands. "The feeling is mutual, Luxy."
* * *
The ride was smooth.There wasn't a lot of traffic, and the sky was gracious and presented us with cloud cover without rain. We listened to music the whole time unless I had a question. When we reached the three-hour mark, I asked if she was ready to stop.
"No, I can keep going," she said.
So I pushed us on for an extra hour. When I noted a sign for a hotel just off the freeway, I took it. "We're going to stop for the evening. Get a hotel. Eat and stretch our legs."
"Sounds good," she said.
Something felt off. Like she'd pushed herself too far or worse. I hoped she wasn't getting sick.
Once we parked, I helped her off. I could feel her body shaking. "Fuck, Lux. You should've told me you needed a break."
"I'm okay," she said, but she didn't sound like it. "Maybe we should get some food as soon as possible?" Her eyes shone with exhaustion.
"We'll get a room. Put our stuff away and then get you some food." I gritted my teeth, worried about her as I removed my helmet and leathers, then helped her do the same.
Check-in was smooth, and once I had the keycard, we headed to the elevator. She leaned against me, and my pulse quickened. There was definitely something wrong. The lady at the desk had confirmed there was room service. I'd asked if she would mind placing an order for two burgers, and she agreed.
"You doing alright?" I asked Lux, squeezing her fingers as we rode the elevator up to our floor.
"Yeah, I'm fine." She leaned against me, and I kissed the top of her head. She was pale and still shaking.
"Let me get you some water," I said when we entered the room. I set down our bags and helped her over to the bed. Then got a bottle of water from my bag and opened it before handing it over.
"Thank you," she said and drank some. Then, smiled and chugged down some more.
I removed my jacket and helped her do the same. "I don't know whether to be more worried or pissed," I said, knowing that when I was scared, that tended to come out as anger. I took a deep breath.
"No need." Her smile grew. "This is helping, and so is looking at you. Damn, but you're sexy when you're rumpled.
