Page 55 of Kings Have No Mercy

“Do it. Now.”

The command comes out as a growl against the wind. The sound’s sexy to my ears, awakening something inside me. A sudden pulse of desire that blossoms into a wave of courage.

First I open my eyes. Then I sit up slightly. I admire the surroundings zipping by on either side of us. Nothing but land and more land. Road for miles. We’re alone on the highway. Just the two of us traversing what feels like the never-ending landscape that leads home.

I inhale a quivering breath that only intensifies my sense of nerves.

It’s now or never.

Just do it.

DO IT.

I sit rigidly on the seat behind Mason and urge my left arm to let go. Unwrap itself from around his middle. It falls away and I almost instinctively squeeze it right back around him.

“Syd!” he yells over the loud summer air.

“OKAY!” I yell back.

I go for it. I lift up my left arm while my right cinches tighter around him. The moment feels like taking a leap, jumping off the edge of a terrifying cliff.

But I do it—I let go and stick my arm straight up in the air as if I can touch the wind as it whips by. Laughter gasps out of me the moment I do. It feels like I’m soaring on my own.

I’m not just on the back of a motorcycle, tagging along with Mason, speeding away from his problems.

I’m flying down an open highway, bathed by the bright sunshine, weightless and free.

For the first time in a long time without the weight of grief and trauma. It’s been left behind at the penitentiary with Mason’s issues.

Instead, the world is opening up to us—wide, vast and limitless. I’m on the back of Mason’s bike and we’re riding without anything to lose. With no real destination in mind.

Life suddenly feels brighter. The air, sweeter. I savor its warmth and lift my other arm up. Both stretch toward the sky with the wind in my hair. More laughter rolls out of me ’til I’m feeling delirious with joy.

I can only describe the ride like a rollercoaster on steroids. But so much more than that. So much more than a moment. Something inside me has stirred, and I’m not sure I can ever put it back in its box.

You’d think I’d be afraid. I’d rush to clutch onto Mason again.

An unspoken trust has developed mere miles into our journey on the open road.

He keeps us steady. He still serves as an anchor, my body propped up against his back. He checks on me with a quick glance over his shoulder, and though he makes no sound, IswearI see a tug at the corner of his mouth.

The experience becomes so surreal that by the time we stop again, I’m riding a high. Touching solid ground feels unnatural and unwanted.

Mason helps me slide off with an expression I can’t place.

I don’t care. I’m a bundle of energy, launching myself at him. My arms fly out and ribbon around him, not even considering what I’m doing.

He catches me at the last possible second with a swing. That’s how we remain, my legs kicked out and his body solidly in place.

His hands curl up the sides of my torso, grazing the sides of my breasts, and it’s not until our gazes meet that we both realize what we’re doing. He drops me to my feet, and I take a wide step back.

Still breathless and a little delirious, I can’t even be apologetic.

“Sorry,” I mutter, hardly convincingly. I run my hand over my messy, once neatly combed mane and let out another soft laugh. “That was such a rush!”

A slight grin crosses his mouth with a raise of his brows. “You liked it?”

“Liked it?! Are you sure you guys don’t let women into the club?”