Chapter 22: An Intimate Stranger

The Quinn Residence, Backwoods, Temperance, South Dakota....

Tossing and turning amid almost feverish dreams, Layla Quinn found herself unable to get proper rest following her hour long cold shower as thought of the handsome older biker came flooding back despite her attempts to suppress her apparent attraction to him. The kiss replayed for the umpteenth time and she found herself longing for what might have been in the wake of it all coming to an end and his leaving town soon afterward. The revving of engines filled her ears as she was once more back at the diner with an apron on her waist and standing behind the counter awaiting someone to place an order. He came from the shadows, his pristine biker cut draped over his broad shoulders and his heavily muscled arms indicated that he'd been quite strong as he approached her. His grey eyes locking on hers as if she'd been the only one in the room.

"W-What can I get you?" she asked rather nervously despite everything that had happened between them.

"Nothing I want is on the menu." he replied in a strange drawl in terms of an accent with well seeped humor.

"W-Well..." she began still finding herself nervous as Brick, the name she came to know the handsome biker by, leapt over the countertop and cornered her against a nearby wall.

He was quite an impressive sight standing before her at his full towering height, suddenly and inexplicably shirtless aside from the obvious black leather biker cut and the same hypnotic grey eyes that she couldn't look away from as he leaned down and crushed his lips into hers as the heat between them seemed to take hold of their mutual senses.

Brick's smile seemed to please Layla as she watched him pull back with his unkempt dark hair and perfect white teeth. Unable to help herself, she took a few moments to run her fingers along his sweat slick and well toned abs as he continued to stare into her eyes with a none too subtle longing behind them as he reacted to the softness of her touch.

The coolness of a gentle breeze was welcome as it passed between the two of them and they found themselves kissing once again beneath the cool white glow of the full moon and the black velvet sky that loomed above them. The beating of their hearts had been wild in nature as she could hear it as loudly as she had their mutual breaths in the wake of the kiss.

There was something about Brick Kenneally that she couldn't seem to shake even from her subconscious as the kissing between them continued and became more intense to the point of him lifting her up off the ground as she found herself wrapping her arms around his neck and her legs around his well toned waist.

The heat from their shared kiss was something else as the recollection and details of the first time they encountered one another seemed to be matched sensation for sensation as Layla took note of the older man's apparent arousal. If looks were deceiving, Brick appeared to be no older than her as far as his handsome features and youthful nature had been concerned but she knew all too well that he'd not been some run of the mill school boy.

She'd known those types all too well and had not been too fond of them. The stories of many a girl having been fondled by an inexperienced boy trying to play cool were increasing in number as the days past. Brick was most definitely a man, his impressive strength and willingness to put himself in harm's way without a second thought to how the situation would affect him had been a clear indication of it.

Most of the boys her age were either superficial or too cowardly to speak to women and the ones that were bold enough to do so were even more of a problem as there was nothing going for them aside from an attempt at engaging in sex more often than not. Despite his arousal, Brick appeared to have been caught off guard by the kiss just as much as she had.

Layla stared into his eyes marveling at how they often reminded her of what a full moon would look like as he smiled in her direction. She didn't seem to mind the thick facial hair nor the fact that he had been much stronger than his appearance would indicate as he didn't appear to struggle when he lifted her off the ground.

He kissed her again, despite only having done so once before he got ahold of his senses and backed away from her. For a moment, she realized that this had only been a dream and one in combination of what she wished had happened, but she couldn't bring herself to want it to end.

Another kiss and she was content to linger in this oddly forbidden place as long as she possibly could with Brick's arms wrapped around her and the feeling of his toned body against hers. The heat from his leather vest was welcome due to the breeze and he seemed intent on having her for himself.

Layla had been lost in the moment when the sound of a blaring alarm clock had gotten her attention and the image was shattered and Brick disappeared as the first lights of the early morning sun appeared bursting through the drapes that lined her bedroom window. She pulled back the covers and tossed them aside as she leaned against her pillow and stared at the ceiling of her bedroom and the dark beige drapes that did little to keep out the few rays from sun that managed to burst through her room and light it up of it's own accord. For a moment, she considered it a pity that she was interrupted just when the dream was really about to get somewhere.

After several moments of sulking about her lost dream and the onset of what was to be another long day, Layla sighed as she forced herself to sit up in bed and prepare her mind for the beginning of another day in the small town of Temperance, South Dakota.