Chapter 9
NINE
BEST SECOND OF MY LIFE
Ryder
Momentarily surprised by her words, I didn’t move. One simple sentence had rendered me utterly useless and incapable of thought.
But I wasn’t going to pass up such an immeasurable opportunity. So, I stepped back and dropped to my knees.
A perfectly placed rug cushioned my landing, protecting my knees from the hard tile floor. But I would have kneeled on broken glass for the woman staring down at me. It had been second nature to heed her suggestion even if it hadn’t been totally serious.
My eyes slowly roamed up her body. Her toes were a perfectly painted shade of light purple, and her legs were remarkably smooth. I refrained from reaching out and touching them just yet as I continued my perusal of her body. I’d glimpsed a peek of her blue bikini beneath the black crocheted cover-up that hung almost to her mid-thigh. Little holes all throughout the material were like a tease of what was beneath. Just enough to allow your imagination to run wild with the knowledge but not enough for a full picture .
The fabric hugged her hips and trailed down her arms to her similarly manicured fingers. Higher yet, I eyed the curve of her breast and licked my lips at the sight of her heaving chest. I dragged my eyes over her jaw just like I wanted to with my lips and decided that I would die if I didn’t get my mouth on hers and soon.
Her slightly parted, plump lips were begging to be nipped and kissed.
“Better?”
She tilted her chin slightly and ran her tongue over her bottom lip. No words left those lips, but she did hum her approval which was more than enough for me. Trapped by her blue-gray eyes, they darkened as her pupils dilated. I held that intense stare and lifted my shaking hands, skimming my fingers along the smooth skin of her muscular calves and slipping them higher. Her gasp was soft, barely audible from where I kneeled before her, but I noted it. With a light touch, I grazed the backs of her knees and continued a cautious ascent.
The fabric of her cover-up brushed the backs of my hands, and I devoured each one of the minute changes to her expression. The higher my hands climbed, the harder it was for her to contain her reactions. Her fingers gripped the counter behind her, and her muscles tensed beneath my touch.
My heart was pounding a merciless beat, and every second that ticked by, when she was allowing me to touch her, was the single best second of my life.
Holding my breath, I moved one more inch and barely caressed the perfect crease of her ass, where the top of her thighs curved into two round cheeks. But any further exploration was quickly stopped. Caroline’s hand snapped forward, fingers tangling in my hair and tugging my head back.
There was a sharp bite of pain then pleasure that speared directly to my cock which throbbed in appreciation. Apparently, I liked pain. I hadn’t ever experienced that before, and I wasn’t sure i f it was because it was Caroline inflicting it, but I didn’t have time to truly examine the foreign feeling.
She swallowed slowly, keeping her grip tight, and said, “I thought you were going to beg.”
“Please.” The word tumbled from my mouth before I could contemplate it. But her reaction was instant. Her fingers tightened in my hair and tilted my neck farther back. “ Please ,” I said again.
“Come on, Ryder,” she said. “We both know you can do better than that.”
The smooth, honeyed tone of her voice washed over me, and I smiled at the invitation. Her eyes narrowed on my lips, and I shifted my hands to her hips, gripping them beneath her swimsuit cover-up. Squeezing her like she was my hair, I groaned when she tugged once again.
“Please, please let me really touch you,” I said through a quick exhalation. “You’re so fucking incredible, so perfect. I want just a taste of that perfection. I’ll take whatever you want to give me.”
Watching her eyes dance with intrigue, her hand in my hair loosened. I licked my lips and leaned forward. She let her fingers run through my hair as my forehead met her hip.
“I want to touch and taste every inch of you. I want to press my tongue into your perfect cu?—”
A sharp knock on the door made us both freeze, and abruptly quieted my words. It took everything in me not to groan in frustration. I was making such good progress; I could feel her walls crumbling with each second that passed.
“Caroline? Natalie sent me to come get you,” Theo called out from the other side of the door. “They want to cut the cake, and I think the kids are planning a riot.”
“ Fuck ,” Caroline cursed as she slipped from my grip. “Get up.”
I did as she instructed, but I was much less worried about Theo than she was. My mom might have been Caroline’s best friend, but Theo was mine. And he wouldn’t say anything .
She took a deep breath and smoothed her hands down her swimsuit cover-up, although nothing was out of place. “Okay, this is what’s going to happen,” she said. “I’m going to go out there, and you’re going to stay in here for at least two minutes. Then you’ll come out.”
She was panicky and very serious while I was…not. I casually readjusted my erection and stuffed my hands in my pockets, biting my cheek to keep from smiling.
“Okay?” she asked when I didn’t respond to her very well thought out plan.
I nodded. “Yes, ma’am. Whatever you want.”
She rolled her eyes, but they lingered on me for too long for her to actually be annoyed. Unable to suppress my smile any longer, my lips curved, and she blinked slowly before turning and shaking her head.
What I wouldn’t have given to read her mind.
Quickly, she slipped out the door and shut it behind her. I didn’t give it but half a second before I was opening the door and stepping out as well. Caroline stopped mid-sentence and halfway to her bedroom door. Theo was right behind her, and turned to look at me with wide, surprised eyes.
He glanced from me to the bathroom door then back to Caroline. He didn’t say anything, he didn’t have to. The look on his face was enough to tell me exactly what he thought.
Caroline shook her head, but didn’t say anything either as she strode from the room, firmly shutting the door without looking back.
Theo stared at the door for a long second then looked back at me. I gave him a shrug and a grin, but he also just shook his head. “Do I really want to know?”
“No, probably not.”
“Great. I’ll see you out there then.” He walked out the door, and I decided to wait the two minutes Caroline had requested. Especially when her scent still lingered around me which meant it was more like five minutes before I had control of myself again and eventually left the room.