“I do. I do. I’ve just been so concerned with looking out for us... you know, just trying to protect us from being hurt, that I’m not even sure I know how to be truly happy without worrying about losing that happiness. Oh God, I’m not even making sense.” I buried my face in my hands. I wasn’t coherent. What was wrong with me?
I felt Ryker lean in, clasping his fingers around my wrists, lowering my hands.
“You are making sense, babe. And don’t worry, you’ll be so happy that you’ll just forget to be afraid. I’ll simply leave you no choice.”
He was beaming widely now. I laughed as some of that anxiety just melted away. I was so immensely happy. He wasn’t put off by my fears. He wanted to fight them alongside me.
“I know how Avery is feeling,” he said, pushing strands of my wet hair behind my ears. “My dad left when I was young. I don’t even remember him too much, honestly. But I do remember how shitty everything was for my family. How abandoned we all felt, like we were just afterthoughts. Leaving kids should be illegal.”
“Yeah, it should,” I whispered, wiggling my arms around his torso, wanting to be a little closer to him. I wanted to protect him. From what, I wasn’t sure. It wasn’t like he needed my protection anyway, but maybe I could take his mind off those unhappy memories. Yes, I could definitely do that.
“I don’t know if I can give you two something I didn’t have, or at least don’t remember. But I sure as hell want to.”
I couldn’t believe he actually doubted himself.
“I think you can do anything you want.” I looked up at him, kissing his jaw, feeling like my heart was about to explode.
“Oh, yeah?”
I nodded firmly, kissing down his neck.
“Didn’t know you held me in such high esteem.”
“I definitely do.”
“And you didn’t tell me before... why?” His teasing tone was back. Mission accomplished. I’d distracted him.
“Doesn’t quite pack the same punch if I say it repeatedly. I’ve been saving it for a special occasion.”
“I see.”
I smiled against his chest when he gripped my hips, pulling me flush against him. I continued kissing down his torso as if nothing had changed... even when he undid my towel, letting it fall to the floor. I’d discovered a new side to Ryker tonight, and honestly a new side to me as well.
“You’re very important to me, Ryker,” I whispered against his skin, taking off his towel as well. He tilted my head up, drawing his thumb under my lower lip.
I was going to combust under his gaze. I just knew it. He pulled me back up until our lips were level.
“What are you doing to me, Heather?” he murmured. “Since I met you, I keep wanting things I never even thought about before. I imagine them down to every last detail.”
I couldn’t believe he wanted me and Avery to spend more time at his apartment, to be part of his life. I’d never felt so... precious. As if he was willing to do everything for me.
“I want you so much. All the time,” he went on. We moved to the bedroom, walking clumsily, too busy touching each other to pay much attention to our surroundings. Ryker tilted my head back, just holding me like that for a beat before sealing his lips over mine. I groaned at the primal way he claimed my mouth—passionate and demanding. He was pure fire. He skimmed his hands down my body, teasing the sides of my breasts with his thumbs before descending even lower.
Sliding his hands under my ass cheeks, he lifted me up. I groaned, digging my fingernails in his arms when my clit collided with his hard-on. He hoisted me up slowly, drawing the entire length of him across my opening, teasing my clit more and more until my legs were shaking before lowering me down so I was sitting on the edge of the bed.
***
Ryker
One taste was all it took for me to become insatiable. I just couldn’t get enough of her lips; I wanted to explore them every way imaginable. Gentle, and hard, then gentle again. I was in completely over my head. It hadn’t ever felt this intense. I pushed her hair to one side, gathering it in my fist, tilting her head so I could explore her neck all I wanted. I drew my mouth slowly over her skin, enjoying every time she caught her breath, the way the muscles in her entire body seemed to strum together as I went lower. When I reached her shoulder, I changed course, moving lower toward her breasts. I let go of her hair, looking up at her when my mouth hovered just over her nipple.
Heather’s eyes were wide and full of lust. I could ask anything of her, and she’d give it to me. And that was exactly what I wanted: her complete surrender.
I licked her nipple once, smiling when she jerked back on instinct, just out of my reach. I needed her in another position: more at my mercy. Like this, sitting at the edge of the bed, she could get away too easily. She looked up at me with a hint of shyness.
“You’re beautiful, Heather.”
I stayed where I was, a good two feet away from the bed, drinking in every part of her. When our gazes locked, she licked her lower lip.
“You like watching me get naked?” I asked.
“Might be among my top ten favorite views.”
I laughed, stalking toward her.
“Top ten, huh? Not even top three?”
She rolled her eyes playfully, running her hand down my chest, making a circle around my navel before lowering her hand even more.
“We have to be quiet,” she murmured.
I gripped the headboard when she wrapped her hand around my cock, circling around the crown with her thumb before tracing that same path with her tongue.
“Fuck!” I hadn’t expected it to be so intense. Everything was heightened with Heather. When she looked up at me, I just wanted to bury myself inside her, but instead I let her take charge... for now.
She took me in her mouth, slow and deep. Fuck. Fuck. I was going to splinter the wood or sprain my hand if I gripped the headboard any tighter. I was breathing in through my nose, out through my mouth, pacing myself. Pulling back, she licked up from the base, going slowly, driving me crazy. When she pressed the flat of her tongue against it, I dropped my head back, groaning. She clamped her lips tight around my cock, and on instinct, I moved my hips back and forth, watching her. Her eyes glinted playfully as she gripped the base of my cock with one hand, my ass with the other. Her nails pressed into my skin. She moved her mouth up and down, slowly and then faster, increasing the rhythm. Energy shot through me. Fuck. I ran one hand through her hair before fisting it.
Leaning to one side, I reached between her legs. When I traced my fingers down her pussy, realizing how wet she was from having her mouth on me, I nearly lost my mind. I circled her clit slowly, until she grasped the sheet with her free hand. Her moans reverberated against my cock, sending a jolt of pleasure through me.
“Babe!” I groaned, pulling out slowly. I pushed her back on the bed, spreading her legs, leaning over her. I moved my mouth up one inner thigh while dragging my fingers up the other one. Her skin turned sensitive everywhere I touched or licked.
When I pressed my tongue flat against her clit, I heard her swallow hard, felt the muscles in her belly contract in anticipation.
“Rykeeeer.”
I held her thighs firmly, watching her come apart with every lash of my tongue, until her thighs were shaking.