Wild Desire: A Curvy Girl Steamy Romance (Wild Heart Mountain: Wild Rider’s MC Book 14)

I take the mountain bends quicker than I should on my way to get to Cassie. She called twenty minutes ago in tears. I couldn’t get the whole story out of her, but I got the message; she needs me.

Cassie’s waiting outside the gates when I pull up to her place. She’s clutching a small rucksack to her chest that’s bursting at the seams and has a laptop bag slung over her shoulder.

I pull up beside her and slide off the bike.

“Are you okay? Are you hurt?”

“I’m fine. But please…” She glances furtively behind her. “Get me out of here.”

I’ve got so many questions, but there’s an urgency to her voice, and the way she glances behind her makes me think her parents wouldn’t be happy to know I’m here stealing away their daughter.

“Will these fit in your saddlebag? I didn’t know how much I could take.”

She hands me her laptop bag and rucksack, which is heavier than I expected. I open the saddlebag and slide her laptop bag in, then try to cram in the rucksack. There’s not much give in it.

“What you got in here?”

She looks at me sheepishly. “Books.”

Of course it’s books. I don’t question her. I just shuffle the weight around until I make it all fit.

She’s wearing a thick sweater, but it’s a cold day and it won’t be enough.

I take my jacket off. “You’re going to need to wear this.”

Cassie slides my jacket on, and I love how she looks wearing my cut. I hand her my spare helmet and make sure it’s clicked on properly before getting on the bike.

“Please, let’s just go,” she says.

I rev up the engine, and we head down the mountain. Cassie clings onto me, her small fingers tight around my waist. Something’s troubling her, and I’ll protect her in any way she needs me to. But I need to know what I’m protecting her from.

This side of the mountain looks out over the Hope Valley with the town of Hope in the distance. Mansions dot the landscape, and we pass the occasional driveway leading down to a house as big as her parents’ with views just as good. This is the high-end side of the mountain, and the road rushes past beneath us as we leave it behind.

Another twenty minutes and we drive through Wild with its one pub and convenience store, a world away from the mansions on Cassie’s side of the mountain.

My instinct is to take her to the club headquarters. She’ll be safe there. But I don’t know what the situation is, and knowing Cassie, she won’t like to be around people. Instead, I take her to a lookout spot. It’s down a gravel road, so no one will see my bike if her parents come looking for her.

We park, and I turn to her on the bike. “Let’s sit for a while and look at the view.”

She slides her helmet off, and we walk over to the boulders that sit to one side of a small picnic area. We climb up and sit next to each other, looking out at the valley below us.

It’s a long, comfortable silence. I never feel the need to talk when I’m with Cassie. I think she feels the same.

Our thighs bump together, and heat shoots through my veins. The memory of kissing her and touching her and making her come undone floods my brain.

But I put all those thoughts aside because right now, I need to know what’s going on with my girl.

“What do you need, Cassie?” I ask. “I’m here for you. I will take care of you. I will protect you in any way you need. Just tell me what it is.”

She plays with the zipper on my jacket. “I don’t want to go back there.”

“Why? Did something happen?” My fists clench. I don’t know how bad the situation is with her parents, but if they laid a finger on her, I’ll go back there and make them pay.

“No,” she says. “Nothing bad.” She sighs. “I just… I don’t want to live there anymore.”

I unclench my fists and let out a long breath. If they’re not physically hurting her, then it must be something they said.

“Did your parents say something?”

She presses her lips together and looks out at the view.

“I’ve just had enough. I’m twenty-three years old. It’s time I stood on my own two feet.”

There’s something she’s not telling me, but I don’t push. The best thing I can do for Cassie right now is to be here for her, however she needs me.

“I don’t want to live there anymore, but I don’t have anywhere else to go.”

I take her hand in mine, and she looks up at me. Her eyes are wide and troubled, and I want to ease that pain for her.

“Of course you have somewhere to go, Cassie. You can come stay with me.”

Something flickers over her face, and I wonder if I’m moving too fast. Maybe last night was a one-off for her. Maybe she just wanted a quick fumble with the rough biker boy.

But when I look into her wide eyes, I’m sure that’s not the case.

“Last night was… incredible,” I say. “And if you want to do that again, we can. But if you don’t want to, there’s no pressure, Cassie.”

It seems Cassie’s spent her life doing what her parents have wanted. I want to help her find what it is she wants. I just hope that’s me.

“I can tell you what I want. I want you to come stay with me at my cabin as my woman.”

She sucks in a breath.

“But if you’re not ready for that, you can stay as my friend.”

I should take her to the club headquarters. We’ve got spare rooms, and they’re used often by women who need somewhere to stay. But I’m a selfish bastard, and I want to keep her to myself.

“I can’t give you the same comfort you’re used to, Cassie. My cabin is small. I don’t have a butler or a cleaner or separate bathrooms, but you’re welcome to stay.”

She smiles and squeezes my hand. “It sounds perfect.”

She’s perfect. That’s what I want to tell her. But I don’t want to scare her right now. She needs a sanctuary, and I can be that for her.

There’s plenty of time for her to realize she belongs to me.noveldrama