Riding Bitch by Melinda Barron

mistake.”
    Felicia’s mouth dropped open. Then she repeated the number. “Are you kidding me?”
    “No,” he said. He had the phone to his ear, as if he was waiting for someone to answer. She had no trouble hearing the loud, “Where the fuck are you?” from the man he’d just called. “Your mother is going ape shit, man. Get your ass here.”
    He walked away from her, and Felicia was painfully aware that he’d turned his back on her as she’d stood there, her hands cuffed together, on the side of a road in Texas.
    She could hear him talking, but he was doing it so fast she really couldn’t follow what he was saying; something about a photo shoot and gallery.
    He was back at her side. He took her face in his hands and kissed her. “I’m so sorry, Fee. I have to go home.”
    “I understand. Ten thousand is a lot of money.” Why did she feel like she was going to cry? He wouldn’t notice, because he’d moved to the back of the bike. “You can take me to the airport in Albuquerque first, if that’s okay, or I can take the train down.”
    He’d been adjusting things in the trailer when she spoke. His head popped around the side, a shocked look on his face.
    “Excuse me?”
    “My car, it’s in Albuquerque.”
    He’d moved beside her now. He took her hands in his and squeezed. “You’re under the impression this means the end of the trip. It’s just a detour. We can come back here the day after the showing. It’s only a five-hour drive.”
    When she didn’t answer, he continued, “If you’re tired of riding bitch, I have an SUV we can bring.”
    “No, I love it. It’s just…”
    “Fee, this isn’t just a week of fun for me. I was hoping you felt the same.”
    What were the right words here? She wasn’t sure, so she just blurted out, “I love you, Ash.” She’d said it a few times already, but for some reason it felt different now, with the chance that their time together was over.
    “I love you too. I always have. I always will. This isn’t the most romantic spot in the world, with you standing there, handcuffs still around your wrists after you just jacked me off, but…will you marry me?”
    He’d said those words to her once before, in a much different way, a different time, a different place. The first time, he’d barely been eighteen years old, and his voice had warbled. A few hours later he’d been in jail, his face bloodied. Now his words were sure, the look on his face confident; the only reminder of the first time was the scar on his face.
    Her answer then was the same as it was now.
    “Yes.” She held up her manacled wrists. “But I hope you don’t expect me to wear these the whole time we’re married.”
    Ash pulled her to him, one hand on the back of her neck, the other on the small of her back. With her hands trapped between them he kissed her, harder and deeper than he ever had before. She shivered in his arms, her mind racing over what was happening.
    When the kiss broke, he stepped back. He grabbed hold of the chain between her hands and wiggled it. The look on his face was pure lust. “I might give you a night off from these, depending on whether or not you’re a good girl.”
    “I can be very good,” she said as he undid the cuffs.
    “We’ll keep these around just in case,” he replied. He stuffed them in his pocket and then stroked her cheeks. “I want nothing more than to go and play with you down in the canyon, but…”
    “Duty calls,” she finished for him. “We’ll have lots of time to play later wh—”
    “When we’re married,” he finished for her.
    “Yes,” she said, the words sinking into her skin, soaking into her bones.
    She was going to be Mrs. Ash Chee, something she’d wanted since she was fifteen years old. All those times she’d practiced writing that name in her notebook in school was going to pay off.
    * * * *
    They pulled into Ash’s driveway six hours later, after stopping for dinner along the way. As the bike puttered to a