Chapter 27
CHAPTER TWENTY- SEVEN
PENNY
I don’t know what it was about Ryder, but the second his mouth was on mine, my mind calmed.
A small part of me still reeled at the fact I’d been slowly opening up to him, telling him things I’d never shared before.
I’d shown him my darkest past, and he hadn’t offered me empty platitudes or condemnation.
He’d given me simple understanding and an easy affection I’d come to crave.
I felt safe and comfortable, and most shocking of all…
happy. He thought the best of me, and because of that, I could as well.
So I let go as the rain hovered in the air all around us.
Visibility had diminished enough that we were in a bubble of our own.
I couldn’t see much more than the man in front of me, which left me to feel everything a hundred times over.
The weight of his body pinning me against the truck.
The cool mist covering us. Ryder’s warm hands on me.
“Here comes the rain,” he murmured.
Only seconds later, it started to come down, soaking into our clothes, clanging on the roof of the truck. Even then, we didn’t move, letting it sluice off us. One of Ryder’s legs pressed snug between mine and his fingers tangled in my hair, keeping it out of my face.
The nearly unbearable pressure built between my thighs… And the sure but honey-slow movement of his lips against mine as he kissed me was overwhelming, his hard body driving my own crazy. When he groaned softly against my mouth, I felt the sound all the way to my toes.
“You smell amazing,” he whispered, the tip of his nose lightly grazing along my jaw. When he got to my throat, he took a nibble. “And taste even better.”
I felt boneless, like I might die if he stopped touching me, but when I shivered, he lifted his head, sanity coming back into his eyes.
“You’re cold.” Pulling me away from the truck enough to open the door, he helped me in, then a few seconds later, slid behind the wheel.
Dripping wet, soaked to the bone, we stared at each other.
I had no idea who moved first, but in one blink we’d somehow met in the middle, kissing, touching, moaning.
Or maybe that was just me. I still didn’t understand how I could want him at this magnitude, utterly without reason, especially since I’d always so fiercely claimed I no longer wanted any attachments. But I did.
I wanted him more than I wanted that dream café.
I wanted him more than I wanted to be able to pay the bills.
I wanted him more than I’d ever wanted anything in my entire life.
And the feeling of his hands on me, the warmth in them over my chilled skin, the way he touched me— like he was just as helplessly thrown by this as I was and needed to get closer, closer, closer.
Every movement of his hands, his lips, his body dragged me nearer to oblivion.
I couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think. I’d never felt sexier, and never felt more out of control at the same time.
I wanted this never to stop. My entire body vibrated with desire, but the console between us kept getting in the way, until with a growl of annoyance, he hauled me over it and into his lap, maneuvering me so I straddled him.
“Did I tell you how gorgeous you look tonight?” he asked in that low, husky voice. “I can’t keep my hands off you. I want…God, the things I want to do to you, Pen.”
“Tell me.” Was that really my voice, all wobbly?
“I want to touch you for hours, taste you, breathe in those breathy little whimpers of yours when I make you come over and over?—”
I kissed him, hard , sliding my hands beneath his shirt, touching heated wet skin over hard sinew. His abs, his chest, up and then down again, slowing as I reached the waistband of his jeans.
“You’re hot.”
He chuckled. “Thank you.”
“No, I mean your body.”
“Again, thank you.”
With a snort, I dropped my face to the crook of his neck. “Temperature wise! You’re always so warm! It’s clearly your fault that we’ve fogged up all the windows…”
And they were fogged up, completely, leaving us cocooned in a whole world all to ourselves.
Ryder’s warm palm encircled my neck, his thumb tipping my face to his, holding my gaze captive as his free hand skimmed up my thigh, taking my sundress with it, his rough fingers feeling incredible on my skin.
The heat in his eyes burned with an intensity that made every part of my body pull taut with anticipation, and then we were kissing again, slow and deep and delicious.
When we broke apart to breathe, his mouth simply shifted southbound, down my throat, his teeth scraping over my collarbone as he nudged the straps of my dress to fall from my shoulders.
I touched every inch of him I could reach, my hips rocking the softest part of me into the hardest part of him. It was a thrill to feel what I could do to him, that I wasn’t alone in this, and my only goal became to get him inside of me.
“Don’t stop.”
“Never,” he said, his lips finding mine once more to seal the promise while I worked at his shirt, which I needed off. Yesterday.
He pulled it over his head in one easy motion and my fingers immediately slid over his shoulders, over the tattoos inked into his skin and up into his hair, eliciting a very rough, very male sound of pleasure.
He was way ahead of me, tugging the cup of my bra down so he could get his mouth on bare skin.
He teased my nipple with his tongue, sucking little kisses, and then gave a light tug with his teeth that had me gasping.
The sound seemed to pull his focus back to my mouth.
Sealing his lips against mine once again, he cupped my ass, using the hold to rock us against each other, setting a rhythm that made me desperate for more.
I popped open the buttons on his Levi’s and reached in, finding exactly what I wanted.
“Oh fuck,” he rasped when I wrapped my hand around him.
My sentiments exactly. I gave an experimental stroke, and he swore again, still managing to get into my undies.
For a single heartbeat, I lost concentration, trying to remember which pair I was wearing, hoping they were something sexy.
But then he stroked the pads of his fingers over me and I stopped thinking.
Stopped breathing too, and on his second stroke, I rocked to meet those fingers, quivering, already on the very edge?—
His phone rang, but he ignored it. When it went off again, he swore, tugged the thing from his pocket, and tossed it somewhere behind us.
I gaped at him. “What if it was important?”
“It’s Caleb. He’ll figure it out…” Turning his full attention back on me, his eyes promised all sorts of wicked, dirty, wonderful things coming my way.
I shakily said his name and gave him another stroke. He groaned, his eyes drifting shut, head falling back. Leaning in, I pressed my mouth to his throat.
His hands slid down my body and into my undies as he rumbled out, “Going for my jugular?”
With a low laugh, I sank my teeth into him, then laved the spot with my tongue. “I can’t believe Mr. Always In Control of Himself let that happen.”
He squeezed my ass with both palms, then slid his fingers lower. Then lower still…
“I can’t seem to control myself around you. Believe me, I’ve tried.” Lifting his head, he flashed a smile, then kissed my shoulder as he gave a targeted swirl of those long, diabolical fingers, eliciting a shockingly needy sound from my lips.
“Love how you melt for me. Love watching you come,” he breathed, bringing me close to doing just that.
“Ryder…”
A hard rap sounding against the driver’ s side window startled me so hard I nearly leapt right out of my skin. We both swiveled to look out, but the window was still completely fogged over, little drops of condensation running in rivulets down the glass.
I scrambled back into my seat, fumbling to right my clothes, shoving my hair out of my face, my heart pounding hard in my ears. “Who’s out there?”
“I don’t know.” Ryder was buttoning his jeans when the rap came again.
Not a hand hitting the window, but something harder. Ryder put a hand on my thigh to calm me and gave a quiet we’re okay smile. With his other hand, he powered down the window.
And came face to face with a cop.
Instantly, I was transported to a different time and place, to that night in Seattle when Mitch had shown up, aggressive and tense.
I’d mistakenly thought I could talk him down.
When he’d gotten loud, a neighbor called the cops.
They’d hauled us both outside to sit on the curb for the world to see and judge.
I’d held a dish towel to my bleeding face while Mitch yelled at everyone that it’d been all my fault.
At first, I’d been relieved to have the police there, thinking I’d be safe, but the abrupt, aloof way they’d questioned me had been almost as scary as the incident itself. I’d never forget how helpless and very alone I’d felt.
Now, through the rain, the cop leaned in and eyed us both for a long moment. “License and registration, please.”
Without a word, Ryder leaned into me, reaching to pull the paperwork from his glove box. He then retrieved his license from his wallet and handed both over.
While I was trying to stave off heart failure.
“Stay put,” the officer said, and then turned and walked back to his squad car.
My heart pounded in my ears. I hadn’t had a panic attack in a very long time, but it barreled down on me like a freight train. What would happen? Would Ryder get a ticket? Would he blame me? Would he?—
His hand squeezed gently on my thigh. Then he frowned, leaning in to see me better, stilling at whatever he saw on my face.
“Penny? Hey, it’s okay?—”
Trembling from head to toe, I shook my head. He didn’t know that, couldn’t know what might happen. What if he made us get out of the truck and?—
“Penny, I need you to take a deep breath for me, okay? In like this…” He demonstrated by taking in a deep inhale. “Now slowly let it out.”
So I breathed, feeling like an idiot. “I never did this,” I managed. “I never got caught doing anything wrong when I was a teenager.”
A small smile tilted his lips. “Better late than never.”
I shook my head. “What if he arrests us for indecent exposure?”
“We’re not getting arrested,” he said. “He couldn’t see in the window, and nothing was exposed when I rolled it down.” Again, he gently squeezed my thigh with warm, strong fingers. “It’s going to be okay.”
I let out a shuddery breath. “I can’t believe we almost did it in your truck.”
His smile was wry. “Been a long time since I’ve been caught with my pants down.”
I choked on a disbelieving laugh. “This has actually happened to you before?”
“Well, yeah, but in my defense, I was sixteen and, as we’ve already established, really stupid. But I’d rather have you in my bed tonight, with lots of time.” His voice was pure wicked sin. “Lots and lots of time, Penny.”
Another knock came at the window, and once again, I nearly climbed out of my own skin. Would have, if Ryder hadn’t kept that grounding hand on my leg.
“I’m letting you off with a warning,” the cop said sternly, handing over Ryder’s license and registration as he slid a gaze between us both.
I shrank back, hating myself for it, but all he said was, “Get a room.”
And then he walked away.
I waited for Ryder’s reaction. I’d been waiting for it since the knock on the window. But all he did was turn to me with a smile. “You’re a fun date.”
And then he took us on the road.
The night was dark and still stormy. The only thing visible through the driving rain was the outline of the rolling hills and the tall, militant shadows of craggy trees. As we drove, he reached for my hand and glanced over at me.
“I’m good,” I said with faux calm, keeping my face to the side window, trying to get myself together. I was doing a shitty job of it—still trembling, still having trouble drawing a deep breath, still a little lost in that long ago memory.
The moment we left the woods and turned onto the curvy two-lane road that would lead us back through Star Falls, Ryder pulled over at a lookout point and turned off the engine.
“Come here,” he said softly.
“Isn’t this how we got into trouble in the first place?” I’d tried to sound glib, tried to infuse laughter into my voice, but I knew I’d failed.
He didn’t reach for me as he had the first time.
This time, he simply held out his arms, making the choice mine.
Which made it no decision at all. I climbed over the console and crawled back into those waiting arms. I sighed in relief, soaking up his warm, steady presence for a long moment, neither of us talking, just Ryder running a hand up and down my back.
“You’re still shaking,” he murmured, dipping his head so he could meet my gaze. “You cold?”
Unable to form actual words, I just nodded and burrowed in.
He cranked the heater and directed all the vents my way, then tightened his grip on me, sharing his body heat, warming me up as I took a deep breath and slowly let it shudder out of me. I hated the feeling of being out of control, but surrounded by Ryder, it was quickly dissipating.
“Better?” he asked, his jaw pressed to mine.
As I was beginning to understand, when I was with him, everything was always better.