Chapter 5 Ryan
RYAN
When Rose exits the bathroom, the armor’s back on. I see new determination in her expression.
The kiss in the elevator was something else. This woman fits with me; I can tell. The vibe is pure connection, and I want to explore what happens when we kiss without getting interrupted. I was this close to taking her in the elevator, and I can’t wait to get my hands on her again.
“Come here.” I pull her toward me, but she holds up a hand.
I drop my hold on her arms immediately. If she wants to put a pause on this, I’ll back off. It will be a shame, but I’ll do what she wants.
She takes a deep breath. “I have rules.”
Well, there’s a surprise. She’s got this all thought out, and I like that.
“Go on.”
“Rule one.” She holds up a finger. “No names.”
My lips quirk upward. “You mean your name isn’t Rose?”
She shakes her head. “No. But it’s what you can call me. We don’t share real names.”
I wonder what she’s hiding or running from.
Or maybe, just like me, she wants to escape the real world for a while.
I already checked her ring finger, and there’s no ring or indentation that would indicate one usually sits there, which would be a deal breaker for me. I won’t be a party to an affair.
“Two.” She holds up a second finger. “This is for one night only. One time only.”
If the kiss is an indication of what the sex is going to be like, then it would be a shame to only do it once. But I’m deploying in two days, and she’s passing through, so there’s not much chance of a repeat performance anyway.
“Okay.”
She presses her lips together, and her forehead creases into a small frown. “I can’t remember the third rule.”
“I’ve got one.”
She turns her big eyes to me.
“We use protection.”
“Oh, yeah.” She nods. “That was my rule too. I’ve got condoms.”
She pulls a packet out of her purse. The box is dented like it’s been in there for a while. “I don’t do this often.”
“Hey, I’m not judging.”
She sticks her chin out. “Good, because even if I did, there’s nothing wrong with a sexually active woman.”
Her eyes hold a note of challenge in them. She’s fiery. But she’s overthinking this.
“Three rules. One night only, we use protection, and no real names. Got it.”
Then I finally pull her toward me and do what I’ve been itching to do since I first felt her lips on mine. I kiss her, hard. Her body melts against me, and she parts her lips with a little sigh.
As her scent surrounds me, my hunger for her grows. The taste of her lipstick, the sticky consistency, and the soft sounds she makes, like a kitten purring, etch themselves on my brain.
My hand runs up her back and rests at the nape of her neck. Her skin is warm and soft, and her pulse beats beneath my fingers.
I hold back, giving her the chance to pull away, to make a different decision. But instead, her fingertips trace down my chest, trailing over every ridge of muscle under my tight t-shirt.
“Should we move to the bed?” Her voice is breathy, and her feline eyes flash up to mine.
“Are you sure this is what you want?”
She keeps her gaze locked with mine as her fingertips slide over my belt buckle and to the bulge beneath. An involuntary shiver racks my body as she gently squeezes me.
“I’m sure.”
As the pressure against my pants increases, her smile widens, and she squeezes me again. I groan at her light, feminine touch.
I’m done kissing, I want more of this woman. I want to feel her skin and explore all her secret places. I want to make her writhe under me so she forgets why she’s here, and above all, I don’t want her to regret her decision.
I scoop my arm under her legs and lift her into my arms. With a surprised squeal, she grabs a hold of my shoulders. In two strides I’m at the bed, and I throw her down on the covers. She scrambles onto her elbows and stares up at me with wide eyes.
“Too rough?”
She shakes her head. “No.”
Her hands reach for me, and her fingers loop through my belt buckle. Together, we pull off my pants, and then I climb onto the bed to undress her. Behind her bold moves, she’s trembling.
“Hey.” I tilt her head up so her gaze meets mine. “You can back out anytime.”
“I know.” Her voice is softer this time, less certain. “I don’t want to back out. I just…”
Her voice trails off, and I run a hand over her cheek. “You want me to leave?”
She pulls my hand toward her, and I lean in to hear her. “No. It’s . . . just . . . I don’t usually do this.”
The admission costs her, and the confident mask slips. For a moment, I glimpse the vulnerable woman beneath.
“Neither do I.”
She raises an eyebrow. “You’re telling me you, a soldier, have never picked up a woman at a bar before?”
I don’t bother to correct her that I’m a sailor, not a soldier. Her skepticism has taken the focus off her, and I kiss the palm of her hand. “Not never. But not for a long time.”
“Why not?”
My mouth moves over her wrist, and her pule flutters under my lips.
“I got picky in my old age.” My lips trail up the inside of her arm, planting soft kisses on her skin. With each kiss, I sense her relaxing more and more.
She closes her eyes, and her voice turns breathy. “Why tonight?”
An image flashes into my brain. The slow piano music, rain splashing on asphalt, the weight of the coffin on my shoulders.
I squeeze my eyes shut tight. “Because I want to do something joyful.”
She goes still, and when I open my eyes, she’s staring at me, her gaze soft. Her finger traces my cheek.
“We can stop anytime you want,” she repeats my words back to me. This beautiful stranger who doesn’t know anything about me or what I’ve been through in the last few weeks but is pulling me toward her with comfort and understanding.
“Or we can create some joy.” I pull her toward me and kiss her deeply. My hands run down her throat and over her chest.
“I’ll take the second option,” she breathes out on a sigh.
This time when we kiss, there’s a new hunger, a new understanding. We’re both running from something, and we both need this.
We peel our clothes off until there’s nothing between us. We don’t speak again, and whenever I glance at Rose, she has her eyes closed. But I don’t mind. I strum her body, loving the way she reacts to my touch.
Dropping down to the floor, I part her thighs, my lips pressing against her soft skin, and she giggles.
“That tickles.”
I rub my bristles against her thigh, and she gasps.
“But it also feels fucking amazing.” Her smile is pure joy, and her eyes open in wonder as if she’s never had a man between her legs. I don’t want to ask and break the spell. I’ll just make damn sure she enjoys it.
Grabbing her leg, I hook it over my shoulder, opening her up to me. My kisses slowly climb up her inner leg until I reach the apex of her thigh.
Then I close my mouth over her sensitive nub. Rose writhes on the bed as small moans escape her lips. The more I move, the louder they become, until she’s shrieking and pulling the bedsheets as an orgasm wracks her body.
When I join her on the bed, she’s panting hard, and her eyes are wide with wonder.
“Are you okay?”
She looks up at me and nods. “It’s never…I’ve never…”
“You’ve never come before?” I can’t keep the surprise out of my voice. I can’t tell if she means no one’s ever gone down on her or if she’s never come at all. She must’ve had some pretty shitty lovers if she’s never had an orgasm.
She looks down, embarrassed, and takes a long breath. When she looks back at me, the mask is back in place, and she reaches for my length, which sticks straight out. All other thoughts flee when her hands close around it.
“Should I get the condoms?” Her hands tug me with firm, rhythmic strokes as she wiggles toward the end of the bed. Her legs are spread, and her sex glistens before me. When she raises her hips, the tip of my cock brushes against her swollen pussy lips.
My body jerks, and I almost lose it. Every animal part of me wants to ram inside her and fuck her senseless. She senses my need because she tilts her hips more, and my cock trails the length of her slick lips until I’m resting the tip at her entrance.
“Fuck.” I use every restraint I’ve learned as a Navy SEAL to stay still and not drive it home. “Condoms. Now.”
She hesitates, her body heaving, sweaty and breathless. Her nipples are dark and hard, and her sex beckons to me.
Then she lowers her hips and scrambles over the bed to her purse. I let out a long breath as my heart races. That was fucking close.
Rose fumbles with the condom, and I help her slide it on. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I wonder at her inexperience, but then she climbs onto my lap, and there’s nothing in my mind but the sensation of her body pressed against me.
She straddles me, and I sense the tension running through her body. So I kiss her neck and her throat and her mouth until she relaxes. Finally, her body moves with mine, and when we both need more, I lift her hips and slide myself inside her.
She’s so tight; I can’t breathe. I cling onto her, willing myself not to lose it. Rose’s eyes are wide, and I kiss her softly as my hands caress her body, until she relaxes enough to move down another inch.
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah.” She digs her fingers into my shoulder. “It feels…I feel… full.”
Her voice is breathy and wondrous, making me wonder again how many times Rose has done this. Whoever she did this with before didn’t give her the whole experience.
I rock her gently while I kiss every part of her. My hand slides between us, and I strum her softly and then harder as the rocking gets faster.
As she releases, her inner walls clench me so tight I cry out, releasing in an unexpected burst of sensation that shatters me completely.
We cling to each other, our bodies trembling as we come down from the high.
Afterward, I get her a glass of water from the bathroom, and when I re-enter the bedroom, I see her tucked under the covers. I pull them back to join her, and she looks over her shoulder, looking surprised to find me climbing into bed beside her.
“Is this okay?” I sidle up to her. My body fits against hers, and I put my arm around her and rest it on her hips. “I can leave if you want.”
She doesn’t say anything, and I think she’s going to kick me out, which would be a shame. I don’t want to leave her yet.
After a long minute, she picks my arm up from her hip and pulls it around her. Then she tucks it over her belly and puts her arm over the top.
“Stay.” Her voice is already soft with sleep, and in moments, Rose is fast asleep.