Chapter Thirty-One
My insides areon fire as Ryker brings me across the sports field with an arm around my waist, towards the hulking shadow of the GODs house. We must have been underground for longer than I thought, because the sun has set, and a near-perfect half moon shines down like a sleepy eye amid the stars. The air is chilly, but I barely feel it through the feverish flush of my skin.
This is going to be different. I can’t put my finger on the exact change, but something between us shifted when Ryker showed me the Crypt. No, not shifted—snapped. Even that night in his bed, when my world erupted beneath his touch, he didn’t let himself lose control—he’s been holding back all this time.
Not anymore.
He doesn’t speak as we approach the house. He doesn’t need to. His breathing, rapid and shallow, tells me everything I need to know—that he’s feeling the same thing as me. A pull that transcends everything physical, not a want but a need.
I need you, Ryker Pendragon.
Through the door. Up the stairs. Into his bedroom. He doesn’t turn on the lights. I barely have time to kick off my shoes before he pulls me over to the bed, scoops me onto the mattress, and pins me there by the mouth, his scorching lips frantic as they work against mine. His body aligns with my own instinctually, the bulge in his jeans finding the soft, throbbing heat between my thighs that so desperately craves it.
Soft gasps spill from me unbidden. I grasp at his shirt, his jacket, but can’t get a grip on the smooth leather—he stills my frantic fingers with his own, bringing my wrists above my head and holding them there with one hand as he shrugs the jacket off. He tosses it off to the side—from the ensuing crash, he knocked something over, but he either doesn’t hear or doesn’t care. His shirt goes next, and even in the faint moonlight filtering through the window, I can see that his body is perfect, sculpted like ancient depictions of the gods—which he is, of course; a GOD, the king of GODs.
“Lia,” he growls, dipping back down until his lips hover over my own.
Ryker.
“I’ve never—” I start unsure how to even word it. “I told you, I—I’m a virgin.”
The smile that plays across his lips at my words makes my heart race even faster.
“I know,” he all but purrs in satisfaction. “It’s one thing about you that drives me crazy. Knowing that no other man has ever touched you… knowing that you’re all mine. Knowing that I’ll be the one to break you.”
As sinister as his words sound, it sends chills through me that are more pleasurable than they probably should be. His desire to break me. The possessiveness in his voice.
It’s addicting and I can’t help but want more.
His shoulders are rough beneath my touch. The taut pull of his muscles as he bends me in half, the way he rolls his hips against mine, kindling a fire in the friction between our jeans?—
I can feel it building already. That spiral galaxy of pure sensation that starts at my core and radiates through my whole body…
But he’s not letting me get it so easily this time.
He slides a hand under the small of my back and lifts me into an arch. My shirt spills back, and he grabs at the clasp of my bra, growling in the back of his throat when the hooks refuse to come undone.
“Let me,” I whisper.
He does, sitting up again to give me the space—but I can sense his impatience rippling in the air between us. Bra loosened, I tug it off, taking my shirt with it and tossing them both aside.
The moment that the cool air grazes my nipples, they harden. Ryker’s eyes narrow, and he lowers his lips to my chest—a gasp flees my lips as his mouth parts over one of the sensitive buds. “Oh my God?—”
A chuckle escapes him as he touches me slowly, almost reverently, trembling with the effort of holding himself back. He’s drawing the moment out, and I love and hate him for it.
With one hand he cups my head. His fingers lace through my hair before he pulls hard, drawing a gasp from deep inside of me. Inside of me—oh God, I want him inside of me. I want every last boundary between us destroyed, set aflame.
“Fuck,” he snarls, his lips leaving my breast to graze my throat. “Tell me you’re mine. Say it.”
“I’m yours,” I gasp out. More—I need more—I try to go for the zipper of my pants, but he catches my wrists and forces them above my head once more, leaving me to writhe against him in wordless desperation.
“Again.”
“I’m yours.”
His grip on my hair loosens, and before I can process what’s happening, he’s plunging it past my waistband, under my panties, straight to the part of me that aches most desperately for him.
“I’m yours,” I cry out again—not at his command; because I need him to know how true it is. I’ve given myself over to him, and I’m ready, I’m frantic for him to take me in my entirety.
More electric friction. The squeal of zippers being undone. My hips shift as I work my way out of my pants and underwear, until there’s nothing left, nothing at all but the impossibly soft sheet below me and the raging, thundering heat of Ryker’s body against mine.
His fingers probe between my thighs, teasing. Oh God, I’m wet, soaking, and I understand somehow that it’s there for him—that warm slickness is meant to guide him inside of me, where he belongs.
“I’m yours,” I whisper once more, barely able to squeeze the words out between my escalating gasps. “Please… I need you.”
“Not yet,” he replies, growling the words against my skin. “You’re not ready.”
No—I want him now, more than anything, and I’d tell him so if I could, but he stops me short with the light pressure of his fingers sliding inside of me, causing a soft cry to escape my lips
It hurts only for a moment, before his body begins to slide down between my legs. Soft feather light kisses brush across my skin as he continues to probe me, rubbing gentle circles with his thumb over my clit, jolting my body with unexpected pleasure
Before I know it, his mouth latches onto my aching clit. The pleasure increases in wild waves as a knot begins to form in my lower belly that I can’t control. Higher and higher, more than I can take, screams of pleasure falling from my lips—I can’t take anymore?—
And then he’s thrusting another finger inside me, and my back is lifting from the bed as I gasp for air that I hadn’t realized I needed.
“Take a deep breath,” he whispers, kissing the inside of my thigh. “You’ll adjust. I have to make sure you can handle me.”
Gazing down at him, his blue eyes shine up at me in a way I never expected to see him look at me. Instead of the intense demanding gaze he gives everyone else there’s a look that says so much more. A sweeter side to him, a side that is almost vulnerable.
I cry out as his mouth descends upon me once again. His fingers thrust a little harder until they hook inside me, hitting a spot that tips me over the edge—spots dance before my eyes; I’m barely aware that I’m screaming for him?—
He pulls back. I’m a gasping mess—he’s reaching for something, I can see through half-closed lashes, and a metallic ripping sound sharpens my attention—I blink several times, eyes widening, and I finally get a proper look at the gorgeous length between his legs.
Hard, thick, rigid—standing at attention as he pulls a condom over it with practiced ease—and then his eyes are on me once more, hands gripping my thighs as he pulls me closer to him.
“It will only hurt for a second…”
He guides himself in with a hand, his thumb stroking the quivering, hyper-sensitive skin that lines my entrance, easing me open. The feeling of him is hard and heavy, broad enough to draw out a whimper from between my half-numb lips. It’s like nothing I’ve ever felt—hurts, yes, but in a way that makes me want to push it farther, to see just how much I can endure.
“Oh—” I gasp, biting my bottom lip as I adjust to him.
“Shh…” he hushes me, a sinister smile peeking the corner of his lips. “You’re so fucking tight.”
He thrusts forward, and I move with him. Rough and uneven, but that doesn’t matter. It’s perfect because it’s him. I’ve needed this even before I knew it—and now, finally, finally, we’re together in the way that we were always meant to be.
My voice is long gone, dissolved into a litany of moans. But that doesn’t matter. When we come, it’s different this time. Fuller, surer. His breath is a heated, growling mess against my neck, his thrusts are harder and faster by the second, and I’m undone, shuddering around him, convulsing under the weight of his body as I let the tidal wave of sheer pleasure take me to a place I never could have imagined.
Ryker.
Clarity returns to me a bit at a time, my head spinning with stars. He’s slumped over me, his cheek against mine, fingers tracing delicate swirls along my jawline.
“Such a good girl,” he purrs. “My little dove.”
And in that moment, swept with a wave of dizzy exhaustion, I forget everything that isn’t him. It’s only me and Ryker, tangled together atop these soft sheets, and I could never ask for anything more.
A bang on the door shatters our serenity.
“Ryker!” Freddie.
“Jesus fucking—” Ryker groans and pulls me closer, growling deep in his chest. I nuzzle against his shoulder, giggling—after everything we just went through, his indignance is kind of adorable.
“Come on, I know you’re in there. You sure were fuckin’ loud enough. Mind getting your pants on and giving me a hand with the goddamn call I just got?”
Ryker throws a hand over his face, drags in a heavy sigh, and gently pulls away from me. “Christ, I don’t?—”
“It’s okay,” I promise, half-sitting up. It isn’t okay, not really—I would stay here for hours if I could—but I’ll survive. This isn’t the end; this is barely even the beginning. “If you have to go, then go.”
“This isn’t what I had in mind,” he grumbles, pressing a quick kiss to my lips. “I was hoping to fuck you a few more times before we had to call it a night.”
I smirk and slip away from his embrace, glancing over my shoulder at his surly face. “Well, I guess that means we will just have to pick back up later. I really should go anyway, get some sleep. The girls sent a message out earlier about an early dance practice.”
“Is that right?”
I barely get a nod in before his arms are wrapping around me pulling me back onto the bed. Rolling me onto my back, his body covering mine once more.
“What if I don’t want to let you go?”
“Dude! Will you pull your dick out of your little bunny and help me out already?”
Bunny? Is he fucking serious?
Letting a heavy breath escape me, I lean up, kissing him once more. “Doesn’t look like you have a choice.”
With one last growl of frustration, he pulls himself off of me and climbs to his feet. His bare body is just as beautiful from behind as it is from the front, perfectly sculpted from top to bottom, elegant even as he pulls on his black boxers in a series of sharp, frustrated jerks.
“Ryker,” Freddie whines?—
“If you bang on that door one more fucking time,” Ryker snaps, “I will cut off your ballsack and feed it to you with a garnish of rat poison. Give me five minutes.”
“Whatever.” Freddie’s voice is far more subdued now—I guess he knows to take Ryker’s threats seriously, no matter how ridiculous they sound. “Just hurry the fuck up, man.”
I slide off the bed and begin to gather my own clothing. My skin is still hyper-sensitive, and the texture of fabric against it is surprisingly harsh—unlike Ryker’s touch as he embraces me from behind, his lips finding the crook of my neck.
“We will be picking this back up, dove. I’m not even close to finished with you.”
“I know.” I shiver, and his grip tightens around me. “But… just for now… I should get going.”
When I leave his room a few minutes later, my face hurts from smiling. I somehow manage to make it back to my room, practically floating on the cool night air, and I’ve just begun to undress for bed when the bathroom light clicks on.
“And where have you been?”
“Oh my—” I whirl around to find Harper standing in the doorway—arms crossed, face as smug as I’ve ever seen it, clad in a frilly pink nightgown. Since when does she stay up this late? “What are you—shouldn’t you be in bed?”
“Nope. No changing the subject.” She taps the toe of one slipper against the floor. “Well? You were with Ryker, right? Did you guys finally fuck?”
“Can you keep it down a notch?” I beg, glancing nervously at the door to the living room.
“Fine.” She lowers her voice to an exaggerated stage whisper. “Did you guys finally fuck or not?”
“I—no—I mean yes, but—I don’t?—”
She raises an eyebrow.
“Yes,” I admit at last, heat tingling in my cheeks. “We… hung out.”
“Hung out.” She sounds far from impressed. “Okay, sure. But you can’t just leave it at that. Come on, how was it? Is his cock as gigantic as people say it is? How many positions did you try? Did he bite you? Slap your ass?—?”
Her volume is escalating again, and I wave a frantic hand. “People will hear?—”
“Nobody will hear,” she insists, but she does lower her voice. “But come on, give a girl something to work with here. I’m dying of curiosity.”
Of course she is—and she’s not going to let me go until I tell her something. But I don’t want to spill all the details just yet—I’m still processing them myself.
“Yes… we had sex. No… he didn’t smack my—ass. It was great… and then we had to cut things short because Freddie needed him for something. And I have practice in the morning. That’s it.”
She stares at me, lips pursed, eyes narrowed. When she opens her mouth, I brace myself for her to call me out?—
“Remind me to kick Freddie in the balls for fucking up your first time.”
Oh.
I can’t help but laugh. Kicking Freddie in the balls sounds like a good way to get your skull caved in—or your eyeballs removed or something; I get the feeling that he’s got some incredibly weird tastes.
But Harper seems deadly serious. She doesn’t even crack a smile.
“That’s, um, quite the image. I really, really would advise you not to do that, though.”
“Ha. The look on his face would be worth it.” She sighs and rolls her eyes. “Okay, okay, I get it. You’re tired, I’m tired. I know you’re holding back from me, though. I’ll get my details in due time; don’t you forget it.”
I shake my head, but I can’t keep a grin from my face. “Yeah, I’m sure you will. G’night, Harper.”
“Night.”
The bathroom door closes, and I let myself exhale, sinking onto my bed. She’s wrong—I’m not tired. I don’t know if I’m going to get a wink of sleep tonight… but that’s just fine. My mind is ablaze with the memory of Ryker’s touch, and I’m content to stay here, replaying every detail over and over, until the sun rises.