Chapter 244

• Leah's POV
• The sun bled out over the coastal city as Darren gunned the motorcycle through the weaving crowds, the traffic shuttling around us like a frantic pulse. I clung to him, my helmet pressing into his back, my arms locked tight around his waist, feeling the heat of his body sear through me. The sky was a mess of red and orange, spilling over the buildings like a wound, and the sea's salty stink mixed with the exhaust choking the air. Last night clawed at my mind—his hands, his mouth, his desperation sinking into me after years of waiting. We'd fucked all night, a brutal, beautiful collision that tore past every fantasy I'd nursed in the dark. It played over and over in my head, a sad, desperate reel I couldn't stop watching—every thrust, every whispered curse, every moment I'd surrendered to him. Thinking of it, I tightened my grip, my fingers digging into his leather jacket like I could claw the memory into permanence.
• He pulled the bike to a stop by the sea, the engine's growl dying as dusk draped over us, heavy and thick. We shed our helmets, and I followed him onto the beach, our hands tangled together, the sand cold and gritty under my boots. The waves roared in the distance, a low, relentless snarl that barely touched the noise in my skull. We walked, silent, the weight of last night hanging between us like a noose.