Helios Awakened (The Helios Chronicles #1) (3 page)

He shook his head again, grinning wildly as he reached down to pick up the cooler. He knew that going with her was likely a mistake but a part of him was pushing him forward nonetheless.
What could go wrong?
He wondered and then thought nervously,
everything
.

Madison couldn’t believe what she had done but there was no turning back now. This incredibly hot man was clearly interested in her and she planned on taking full advantage of that. It had been a long time since she had those feelings for someone, that all-consuming desire to be with them and to feel them near you at any cost. Although she was perfectly capable of satisfying her own needs when the mood arose, she was more than willing to allow someone else to take over. Could that someone be Andrew? She wasn’t sure, but what she was sure about was that her desire for him was stronger than anything she had ever felt before. Where that took her, she would just have to wait and see.

Andrew watched as she adjusted her shorts and shirt, and as she did so her shorts rode up just a little, revealing a tad of her sumptuous backside. His mouth parted as he once again readjusted himself, hoping to God that she would not notice his raging hard on. The sound of her bracelets clinking together caused him to shake his head and get some kind of control over himself. 
Only a city girl would wear jewelry to the lake,
 he thought, grinning slightly. As he continued to watch her, it was becoming abundantly clear that he was likely in over his head with this girl. He was enflamed with want and yearning and that scared the hell out of him.

As he gained momentary control of the cloud of longing he had for her, he realized that in his haste to accept her invitation that he didn't have any swim shorts on him which meant he would need to go to the house before heading out. He briefly wondered if his aunt was still home and what she would say about the situation. As they approached her vehicle, he cleared his throat.

“We need to swing by my aunt and uncles place so I can grab my shorts,” he said as he set the cooler in the backseat.

“Oh sure, absolutely. I wouldn’t want you to have to swim in the nude or anything,” she replied with the playfulness that he already loved immensely. She walked around to the driver’s seat and slipped inside, giggling at her wittiness.

“Pop the trunk so I can put away your jack.”

She did so and watched him load up her jack and flat tire. She would need to get that fixed sometime soon. When he was done he approached her side of the car. Andrew smiled and leaned into the open car window. He stared at her, giving her a penetrating gaze as he tried to steady his belief that being with her was indeed a good thing to do. For Madison, it was as if she were swept into a sea of blissful contentment. His eyes entranced her as they seemed to change colors depending on how the sun hit his face. Right now they seemed to be blue, while earlier they appeared to be green. Either way, she was mesmerized by them, lost in the hurt and desire she saw reflected at her. She recognized immediately that she was in over her head.

“Follow me, beautiful.” His voice melted the hot air. She longed to hear it whispered to her in the throes of passion.

“Anywhere,” Madison heard herself say in a small and timid voice.

Andrew grinned again and tapped the open window frame with his long fingers before he abruptly stood, walking towards a motorcycle just a few feet away. 
Wait! When did that get here?
 Madison looked at him, stunned when he threw his leg over the seat and cranked the motor. The seat shimmied slightly from the vibration of the bike which made his shirt rustle up, exposing his lower back again and the top of his boxer briefs. Madison sat dumbfounded as she watched him maneuver in front of her car, and as he passed her window he looked over his shoulder and winked. She sat there like a gaping fool before turning her key in the ignition, having completely forgotten that the car was already running. She looked down, shaking her head, and just as she brought her eyes back up, she saw him chuckle right before a cloud of dust flew up in front of her. She quickly put her car in gear and followed through the dusty trail he left behind, realizing, without a doubt, that she would indeed follow him anywhere.

Andrew glanced back after he passed her just to make sure she was still following him and that she hadn’t already changed her mind about him tagging along. When he saw her watching him with her lips slightly parted he couldn’t help himself, he winked and then laughed again as he blew ahead of her. He glanced back a second time and was pleased to see her keeping a good distance behind him. He was thankful that she wasn’t one of those people that didn’t care about riders and followed too closely. He couldn’t help but allow his mind to fantasize about Madison sitting on the back of his Harley, holding onto him tightly as they made their way over the many desert roads only to find a nice shaded spot to make love under. He quickly shook his head, angry at the wayward thoughts that she was eliciting
. 

Andrew took a deep breath as he pulled up to his aunt and uncle’s modular house. It wasn’t much to look at from the outside but the inside was very nice. Nicer than most of the places he had ever stayed in. He switched his bike off and quickly walked inside, tossing his keys on the table near the door. His aunt looked up as he walked in, thinking he looked somehow happier than she was used to seeing him.

“Did you get it taken care of, Andrew?” she asked as she looked back down at her magazine.

“Yeah, it’s good, Auntie. Hey, Madison asked me to go to the lake with her so I am gonna head out. I don’t know what time I will be home,” Andrew quickly said, making his way to his room to fetch his swim trunks.

When he turned around he saw her at his door, a concerned and worried expression on her normally jovial face. He understood her concern but he was a grown man and really didn’t need permission. Well, technically he did need permission but not from her. But as he thought about it, going to the lake was not against his parole, so really he was free to do what he wanted. Well, technically he wasn’t truly free either. He sighed at the complexity of his life.

“Do you think that’s a good idea, Andrew?” she asked, a tenor of nervousness coming through her tone.

“Probably not, but...” He hesitated and then took another long breath as he shoved a pair of board shorts into his pocket. “I like her. She’s nice.”

Olivia watched him carefully. He had always struggled. His entire life had been filled with chaos and despair. Her sister, Kimberly, hadn’t exactly been the maternal type and Andrew Senior had been a disaster from the start. The two of them together was a nightmare waiting to happen. Being so far from Chicago, she didn’t know the struggles that Andrew had gone through and by the time she did find out, it was too late. He was not interested in help from any of them. She had always regretted not intervening earlier on, not taking him away sooner. She often wondered if she had, would his fate have changed. Of course, she would never know the answer to that.

When he was eligible for parole a few years ago she had not hesitated at all in asking him to stay with them. It was the least she could do but she never felt it was quite enough to make up for his childhood. She had initially worried that her husband, Aaron, wouldn’t understand but, as usual, she had underestimated his level of compassion. Aaron had done his best to develop a relationship with Andrew, to be a father figure of sorts, but Andrew kept him at a distance. She understood why he didn’t trust anyone but it hurt her just the same.

As Olivia watched her nephew give her that lost little boy look, she was filled once again with remorse. 
Why did I write Kimberly off?
 She was consumed with guilt and had an overwhelming desire to have Andrew know love, to know what it felt like to depend on someone, truly and unequivocally. She didn’t know Grandma Downing’s granddaughter at all but if she could put a smile on Andrew’s normally melancholy face then she couldn’t be too bad. She let out a soft breath as she offered him a small smile.

“Be careful, Andrew.”

“I will,” he said, kissing her on the forehead before he passed through the door.

Olivia stood there, watching him leave. “Please Lord, watch over him and help him to make good choices today and please don’t let this girl break his heart. He has already been through so much.”

 She closed her eyes, feeling moisture in the corners, before she walked back to the couch and picked up her magazine, catching up on the latest Hollywood gossip and trying to forget all the bad things that had happened in her nephew’s life. She had sincerely hoped that when he came to them that he could start a new life for himself, maybe this was that start.

Madison anxiously tapped her fingers on the steering wheel, waiting for him to come out of the house. She glanced back at his motorcycle, imagining riding on it with him, her hands resting on his waist and locking right at his abdomen. It wasn’t one of those big bikes so she would need to move real close to him, close enough so that her breasts would touch his back and her head could rest on his strong, wide shoulders. She shook her head. She needed to focus on controlling her desire. Had it really been that long since she had a man look at her the way he did? Had she ever had a man look at her like that, full of carnal want and need? She couldn’t actually remember a time where that was true. She knew Kurtis cared about her. Well, cared is too strong of a word. He wanted her but she didn’t share the sentiment. This man, however, was already making her feel like some sort of cat in heat, sticking her tail up and begging him to mount her. If she was this aroused already, she seriously worried how she would respond to seeing him in his swim trunks. Just then, the door of the house swung open and he smiled at her, casually strolling up to the car and sliding inside. Madison watched him, suddenly nervous. Picking up on her change in demeanor, Andrew questioned his decision to go but then she smiled at him and his heart started beating once again, until she peeled out of the trailer park like some kind of crazed woman on a mission.

“You know you aren’t in New York,” he joked, as he gripped the inside door handle, holding on for dear life as she swerved unnecessarily fast around a corner.

“Hahaha, Mister I drive a motorcycle in flip flops with no helmet,” she said, offering him a sideways glance and an arched brow.

He tried his best not to smile back but her smart mouth and attitude were a serious turn on for him. He traced his lips with his tongue, pulling his bottom lip into his mouth again. She made him feel like some lovesick teenager, which left him both exhilarated and frightened. He had never actually been a teenager, in the normal sense of the word, so all of this felt new and he was once again left unsure of himself.

“Well, I am probably a lot safer on my Harley than with your crazy driving,” he finally said as a grin spread into a smile instantly.

He could see her smirk from where he was sitting and as she glanced at him again he was left awestruck at how beautiful she was and how her deep brown eyes held such warmth and adoration in them. He had been with several women in his lifetime but none he had ever loved. Most were a means to an end for him or the culmination of a night spent getting high. This felt different to him.

“How long have you had that Harley?” she asked curiously, bringing him out of his thoughts.

“About a year now. My uncle knew I was looking for one and he was able to arrange for an exchange with a friend of his. My uncle paid for it and then I paid him back. I made my final payment last month,” he said proudly.

“What kind is it?” she wondered out loud.

“It’s a 2005 Harley 883XL. It’s a sweet bike that was well maintained. It has an Evolution engine, 53 horsepower at 6,000 rpm’s. I mean it’s not the most powerful of the Harley’s but it was all I could afford. One day I want a real nice sportster, maybe a Forty Eight or a Nightster or even one of the XR1200x or one of the 1200’s so I can customize it ...”

Andrew continued to talk excitedly about motorcycles. Madison didn’t know very much about them. She didn’t see too many of them in the city except for the occasional middle-aged banker or lawyer trying to relive their lost youth. Weekend warriors she liked to call them, like in the movie Wild Hogs. She couldn’t help but chuckle a little at that thought and wondered if Andrew would still be riding when he was older.

“I’m sorry, I get excited talking about bikes,” he said hesitantly, having heard her chuckle and wondering if he was getting carried away.

The only thing he had been interested in when he got out of prison was motorcycles. His uncle helped him go to school to learn how to work on them in hopes he might find a job as a mechanic, unfortunately no one in town would hire him.

“Oh, no, you’re fine, really. I just had a flash of that movie Wild Hogs,” she said with a shrug and smile.

He rolled his eyes at her but also found himself laughing at the same time. His laugh sounded like angels singing to Madison and she was left with a strong desire to hear him do that all the time. She could be funny. Well, more smart-ass than funny but he seemed to find her amusing. She had to hear him do that more often.

“Have you ever ridden before?” he asked.

“No. City girl, remember?” she said with a smirk and he found himself smiling once again.

“Maybe I can take you for a ride sometime,” Andrew said, the words coming out before he recognized what he had done.

She turned to him and her smile switched to something else, something he recognized as desire. In that moment, he realized that she wanted him as much as he wanted her. Now he was really worried. She continued to stare at him with lust filled eyes and then swerved slightly. She quickly turned around and shook her head slightly.