Chapter 30
THIRTY
A TWELVE-FOOT DROP
Ryder
It was almost two in the morning, but the thought of going to sleep alone, in my own bed when Caroline was only two doors down, seemed impossible.
I tossed my wet towel over the shower door and ran a hand through my damp hair as I stepped back into my room for the weekend.
I didn’t know places like this actually existed. Especially in our part of the country.
Each room, although not as elegant or elaborate as the rest of the property, was decorated with antique finishes and every detail in mind. I wasn’t an expert on interior design, but it was feminine and pretty. And I was nervous about touching anything.
I glanced around the room at the lighter green accents they’d chosen and headed for the door. My hand landed on the silver knob, but before I turned it, I pressed my ear to the dark wood and listened.
Even early in the morning when we all had to be wedding-ready a few hours later, there were still voices up and down the hallwa y. They weren’t loud, but they were there. Which meant I had to either wait for them to eventually go to sleep or find another way to sneak into Caroline’s room.
And I refused to wait. Spinning, I took one look at the patio doors and strode across the room. I didn’t hesitate to push open one of the French doors, but when I did, I pretended to be interested in the courtyard below and the gardens in the distance rather than look immediately to my right. I had to fake nonchalance in case Theo or my mom was on or near their own patio.
When I didn’t hear anything or see anything out of the corner of my eye, I chanced a look toward their room.
Nothing.
I stepped as close as I could on the little stone balcony. The curtains were drawn and there wasn’t any light from behind or around them. I waited a full minute before I felt confident that they were asleep and the coast was clear.
One balcony further—which should have been Caroline’s room—was illuminated by the soft light inside.
There was a fleeting moment where I wondered if what I was about to do was ridiculous, but the thought was gone as quickly as it appeared. Yes, I was crazy enough to hop balcony-to-balcony and climb across the exterior of the house to get to Caroline’s room.
It was worth it even if nothing happened. Even if I only got to glimpse her beautiful scowl at my somewhat absurd antics, it would be worth the possibility of falling twelve feet onto the unforgiving stone patio.
The distance between each patio wasn’t more than several feet, and as long as I shimmied across the little ledge between them, I would make it. Hopefully.
I didn’t think about it too long. I braced my hands on the edge of the patio railing and hoisted myself on top of it. The stone was sturdy enough to hold my weight as I crouched and reached for the brick, ivy-covered wall.
Holding on for my life to an imperfection in the wall, I placed one fo ot then the other on the very small, much less sturdy ledge. My heart was attempting to escape my chest as I shimmied across. And I almost fell once but managed to make it to Theo and my mom’s patio.
My landing was louder than I hoped, and I cringed as I waited to see if either of them heard me. When no sound emanated from their room, I crept across their patio and didn’t hesitate to find the ledge on the opposite side. Having done it once, the second time was much easier.
My landing on Caroline’s patio was even less graceful, though. I tumbled down from the railing and landed on the floor with a resounding thud. Gripping my hip and knowing there would be a bruise the next day, I was writhing when I noticed the curtains move and Caroline peeking out between them.
I sucked in a breath through clenched teeth and ignored the pain radiating from my hip. I stood and waved at Caroline. She was wearing a pair of tiny sleep shorts and an oversized T-shirt. My T-shirt I’d lent her more than a month ago. Suddenly, the pain in my hip was forgotten.
Her hair was damp from the shower, and she was wearing light purple frame glasses.
“Want to let me in?” I whispered and mimed for good measure, pointing to the door handle and pretending to open it.
She rolled her eyes and threw her arms out to her sides in an obvious exasperated gesture. She shook her head and said, “I can’t.” Not that I could hear her, I just read her lips.
“Why not?”
“It’s stuck,” she said and made a show of unlocking the door and tugging on it. Sure enough, it didn’t move, and my heart sank.
Glancing back and forth across the patio, I spotted a window on the other side just beyond the railing. I motioned to it, and Caroline’s eyes followed. Her eyebrows shot up, and she looked at me like I was crazy.
But still, she turned and walked into her bathroom. A few second s later, the light turned on, and she was pushing open the window.
“You are insane,” she said.
I was already climbing back on top of the railing for the fourth time when I smiled. “Insane for you. Now, watch out.”
She groaned and stepped back. I hopped onto the ledge and swung one leg into the window. Thankfully, I had long legs and could reach the floor as I slipped through the opening.
It was more graceful than my other two landings, but I still managed to almost fall against Caroline. I caught myself on the counter with her wedged between me and the marble surface. I grunted at the impact and stopped my forward trajectory before I could hurt her.
“Hi,” I said with a smile after I’d steadied myself.
She scowled up at me, and I proved that yes, seeing her annoyed expression—the furrow between her brows and down-turned lips—was worth it.
“Hi,” she managed to say back as she crossed her arms over her chest. “Why on earth would you do that? You could have seriously hurt yourself.”
I shrugged and lifted my hands to toss her damp hair over her shoulders and clasp each side of her neck. “To see you, and it was worth it.”
She didn’t try to pull away when I fitted my lips against hers, and I felt her body relax as the seconds ticked by. Her arms dropped to her sides, and her mouth opened as I coaxed her lips apart with a quick brush of my tongue.
Her hands dropped to my waist, and her fingers dipped beneath my shirt, teasing my skin and sending goose bumps up and down my torso. Every swipe of her nails and subtle moan against my lips eased any lingering anxious energy I felt any time I was away from her.
I didn’t voice that thought, though. I just lost myself in her.
“Ryder,” she muttered my name against my lips and pressed her palms against my chest. I took the cue and leaned back. “It’s two in the morning, and I have to be up at seven. I’m exhausted. I don’t think I can do this tonight.”
I nodded and kissed her once more. “Okay, we don’t have to do anything. I’d still like to stay, though.”
In the faint bathroom light, her eyes darted between mine. She was so hard to read, but it was almost like I could see the myriad of thoughts bouncing around her mind. We hadn’t stayed the night unless it had been preceded by carnal, uninhibited sex. I knew she was considering what it would mean if I spent the night in her bed and we didn’t have sex or fool around in any way.
I took a breath and opened my mouth to further plead my case when she surprised me.
“Fine,” she said and pushed harder against my chest, slipping from between me and the counter.
Although I expected her to put up more of a fight, I wasn’t going to question her answer. Instead, I followed her out of the bathroom and shut the light off behind me. She dropped her glasses on the bedside table and crawled across the bed. I couldn’t help but appreciate the curve of her ass peeking out of the bottom of her shorts as I toed off my shoes and slipped off my shirt.
She shut off the light on the opposite bedside table, and the room descended into darkness. The only light that remained was from the moon streaming in through the window and partially open curtains.
I lifted the sheet and slid into the bed. For a place so old, the air conditioning worked incredibly well. The bed was cold, but it was more of an excuse to curl up against Caroline. I wrapped my arms around her, squeezing one beneath her head and tossing the other over her hips, until every part of her back was pressed against my front.
She adjusted the pillow, so it was wedged between her head and my arm and burrowed farther into the blankets, tucking them beneath her chin .
“You’re such a cuddler,” she mumbled, and I laughed as I kissed behind her ear. I nestled my nose into her clean hair and breathed her in. She smelled clean and warm and safe.
“You can pretend you don’t like it, but I know the truth.”
“And what might the truth be?”
My hand flattened against her stomach, where her T-shirt had ridden high enough to expose her skin, and I tugged her closer into me. She couldn’t have gotten any closer no matter how hard I tried. I drew random patterns around her navel and up and down her stomach. When she shivered, I smiled.
“That you actually love it. I know that every time you tell me you hate me or I’m annoying, you don’t really mean it,” I said, and she pressed her ass harder into me, grinding against my obvious erection. “It’s part of that hard exterior you try so hard to keep up. Why do you do that, Caroline? Is it all for me? You don’t have to protect yourself from me.”
She didn’t respond, and I knew better than to expect her to, no matter how much I wanted to hear her tell me why she wouldn’t let me in. My mom, our age difference, it was trivial. They were obstacles we could easily overcome.
My questions hung in the air around us. The only sound was our quiet breathing and the occasional noise emanating from beyond the window or rustle of the sheets. Even the sounds in the hallway had died down. She scooted away from me, and I tensed, prepared for her to demand I leave. The shameful walk—or climb—back to my room would be torturous knowing what and who I left behind.
But she didn’t ask me to leave, and suddenly, my body was tensing for a whole other reason. The little bit of space she’d made, she used to slip her hand between our bodies and palmed my cock through my sweats.
“I thought you were too tired,” I groaned.
“I changed my mind,” she retorted quickly, slipping her hand beneath my waistband and swiping her thumb through the pre-cum collecting at the tip .
Another groan stuck in my throat as I pushed my hips up into her hand. Even in the awkward position, with her hand twisted behind her and her fist upside down, she skillfully worked me into a reasonable frenzy.
“Your cock pressing against my ass is hard to ignore,” she said. “And an orgasm would help me sleep.”
Nudging her shorts down, she slipped them off her legs and allowed me to tug her closer once again. My cock wedged between her ass cheeks, I lifted her leg and propped it on top of both of mine. The change allowed me more room and the ability to slide the head of my pounding erection against her dripping slit.
“Are you saying I have a big dick? Too big to ignore?”
I tossed the pillow she’d wedged between her head and my arm away and tightened my forearm around her upper chest, pulling her toward me. She sucked in a sharp breath. I reached down and grabbed the base of my cock, running it back and forth as best I could. But she quickly took over, canting her hips over my length and getting me nice and wet.
“Would it really give you that much satisfaction for me to compliment your cock?” she asked in a breathy, low voice.
“Mmm…yes,” I answered honestly against her neck.
“Thankfully for you, I’m feeling generous.” She reached between her legs and found the underside of my cock, pressing it harder against her cunt as she rode me. “You have the prettiest cock I’ve ever seen, Ryder. And the things you do with it make me want it all the time. It’s big and thick and perfect. And?—”
One thrust and her words disappeared on a whimpered gasp. I was perfect? Her cunt was the epitome of the word. Warm and soft and tight and better than anything else. I didn’t have to experience another damn person to know there was nothing better out there.
“You know how much I love when you praise me or call me a good boy,” I said when I finally caught my breath and started a slow, rolling motion. “It shouldn’t be a surprise that I like compliments.”
I tightened my hold around her chest and wrapped my other arm around her stomach, effectively holding her in place as I picked up the pace.
“Fuck, yes,” she moaned a little too loudly.
I smiled into her hair and nipped at the shell of her ear. “My mom’s in the next room, pretty girl. You don’t want her to hear how much you love her son’s cock, do you?”
Her pussy fluttered around me, and her arousal made it easy to slip in and out. “You like that?” I asked.
“No,” she said automatically.
I chuckled and hoped the bed didn’t start squeaking. It was one thing to pretend like my mom would hear us, it was another for it to actually happen.
“You can lie, but your pussy can’t. I think you like the idea that this is forbidden. That you’re not supposed to be fucking me.”
She growled, and I felt the sound emanate from low in her stomach, vibrating up her throat with increased intensity.
“You’re so fucking chatty tonight,” she said. She shifted and wrapped her hand around mine, moving it until my palm was against her throat. “You want to be my good boy? Don’t hold back. Shut up and fuck me.”
As she requested, I tightened my hand around her throat and fucked her harder. My hips bounced against her ass and the delightful sounds that came with it were music to my ears.
“Yes, right there. Fuck, Ryder, you’re such a good boy. You fuck me so well. I can’t wait to return the favor.”
The visions her words produced were enough to make my orgasm bear down on me. The thought of her naked, wearing a strap-on, and bossing me around made my balls draw up and my brain short circuit. All control disappeared in an instant and being quiet was the furthest thing from my mind.
I rolled over on top of her and let her take most of my weight. My han d wrapped around the back of her neck, and I shoved her face into the pretty white sheets. Any cries that escaped her lips were muffled by the blankets beneath her. Her T-shirt was pushed up, showing off the planes of her back in the dim moonlight, and I ran my free hand down her exposed skin until I reached her ass that bounced with each of my movements. I spread her cheeks apart and gaped at where my cock disappeared inside her cunt. Where it wrapped around me and sucked me in deeper again and again.
“Deeper,” she moaned, and my eyes rolled back in my head as I made the adjustment. With her legs pressed together beneath me, she was tighter than anything I’d ever felt.
“Fuck, you feel so good. Your pussy is incredible. I want to live and die between your legs, baby.”
I didn’t know what I was saying. Words were tumbling from my lips as my orgasm churned.
Caroline’s body tensed beneath me, her noises becoming more frantic as her own orgasm materialized. She slammed her hand over her mouth as her pussy seized my cock and milked me dry.
Her beautiful face contorted in pleasure, and I forced my eyes to stay open as bliss overwhelmed my senses. I didn’t want to miss a second. I wanted to experience every sensation with her.
“Holy shit,” she mumbled, dropping her hand and letting her eyes fall closed. She was breathing hard, and I dropped down next to her, also trying to catch my breath. I rolled to my side, and she came with me. She reached back and rested her hand on my forearm, squeezing once.
“Don’t,” she said. “Don’t pull out. Not yet.” My slowly softening cock was sensitive, but I did as she requested. She wanted me inside her longer. And I didn’t mind staying there forever, feeling every aftershock or inadvertent tightening of her cunt. Each time, it was like an electric current running up my shaft.
We lay like that for a long time. Our intertwined fingers rested on top of her exposed thigh, that was when I noticed the ring a round one of her fingers. Subtly, I looked down and saw the purple rhinestone flower glinting in the moonlight filtering in through the windows. I hid my smile against her neck as I lifted my other hand to run my fingers through her hair. I enjoyed every second as her body relaxed and her breathing evened out.
The tightness in my chest expanded until I thought it was going to burst. Until I thought I’d never experience calm and contentment like that ever again.
“It’s not just for you.”
Her voice was barely above a whisper, and she’d been quiet for so long I’d thought she’d fallen asleep.
“What isn’t?” I asked in a similarly low voice, still raking my fingers through her hair.
“My hard exterior, as you called it.”
My fingers faltered, and I had to swallow before I asked, “It’s not?”
“No, it’s for us,” she whispered and squeezed my fingers where our hands were still intertwined against her thigh. I squeezed back. “To protect us both.”
The tightness in my chest morphed from calmness and contentment to apprehension and doubt. I had nothing to say. I didn’t know how to respond or what words she wanted to hear. Protecting herself, us , was noble, but I had no idea what she was protecting us from. From the outcome of what we were doing?
None of the thoughts bouncing around my head were coherent enough to voice, so the silence eventually filtered in once again. I slipped my arm beneath her head and wrapped the other back around her, trying to convey the torrent of emotions by touch alone.
Like she felt everything I wanted her to, she sighed. “Because without it, I’m worried about what will happen.”