Chapter 9
CHAPTER NINE
RYO
“Iwill punch you in the throat if you keep staring at me,” I threatened the man sitting on the couch next to me.
He hummed low and kissed my neck before chuckling in a way that made my pulse race. It reminded me of the noises he made while he was inside me.
He should have left.
He should be bored now that he had me.
If anything, sleeping with this man had made him worse.
He’d been glued to my side all afternoon.
Wolf had even told me to get out of his office when Link kept talking and touching things, since he didn’t want to be far from me for some insane reason.
Link had also sent his bodyguard home, since he’d invited himself to stay the night and told Bradshaw to come back tomorrow morning.
“But I like staring at you,” he simply said.
Sighing, I rolled my eyes, making sure that on the outside I looked put out from his attention, while on the inside, I was starting to like it.
And that sent my chest into a panicked flutter.
He made my body hum from everything he said and did.
Like now, how he absently traced his inked fingers up and down my arm.
Did he know how the action made my stomach flutter like it was on a roller coaster?
There was a knock before the door opened. I straightened and pulled my arm away as Katon stepped in.
He bowed. “Dinner will be ready in an hour.”
I nodded once, and he disappeared back out the door.
If I faced Link, would I see him upset at me for pulling away?
I wasn’t sure I could get used to being comfortable with him around other people. Maybe I would around Wolf and Ruin, but being affectionate in front of anyone else didn’t sit right with me.
I was always the stoic one. The cold, stern assistant and personal guard to Taro-Sama “Wolf” Takahashi.
A warm hand settled on the middle of my back. “I’m already looking forward to all the food.”
Looking over my shoulder, it was to see him smiling with a gentle gleam to his gaze.
My heart skipped a beat.
“Yes. There may be others from Wolf’s family present too.” Meaning there would be an audience, and I’d be on high alert.
He winked. “Promise I’ll be on my best behaviour.”
My lips twitched as humour rolled through me. “I have yet to see this best behaviour.”
Chuckling, he reached up and swiped a finger along my jaw. “For you, baby.”
“Don’t call me that,” I ordered, but with no real push.
He grinned.
This man.
He acted like he didn’t have a care in the world, and maybe in his mind, he didn’t, but all I saw was the danger, the risk, the judgements, the hate.
I wished I could be more like him, but I couldn’t.
The way I was had saved Wolf on many occasions because I didn’t trust easily.
Except, it seemed, with this man.
He leaned forward and pressed his lips against mine.
However, before the kiss could deepen, Link’s phone rang. He pulled away, grinned, and yanked me back against him at the same time as he took his cell from his pocket and chuckled at the screen. “Missing me?”
For a moment, I tensed and wondered if it was one of his lovers.
But since I had Link stuck to my back, he felt me still.
“One sec, Trav.” He muted the call and turned to me. “Baby?”
“Don’t.”
“Snook, it’s just Travis. I always talk to him like that, but we’ve only ever been friends. The guy’s as straight as they come.”
I nodded, suddenly feeling foolish for my instant reaction.
Maybe I trusted him, but not others.
People would want his time and attention.
He kissed my neck before he unmuted the call. “Yo ho, what’s up?”
“I heard the takeover of Wolf’s clients isn’t going as smooth as you hoped.”
What?
Standing, I spun on him with my hands on my hips.
“Ah, shit, bro…. No, wait, I’m gonna get into trouble.”
“Who is giving you trouble, Link?” I demanded. “How many? You will tell me. Did you lie about the thugs? Was it one of Wolf’s clients who shot at you? I want names. Let me deal with them. Wolf still owns 10 percent, which means I can help.” My hands tingled for a weapon.
I heard laughter come through the phone before Link said, “No. It’s my boyfriend—”
“I am not your boyfriend,” I snapped.
“Ryo. Yeah, Wolf’s guy, but he’s my guy now.”
“I am not.”
Link grinned. “No, no, I’m wearing him down. He’ll love me in the end, and that’s when I’ll slide a ring on his finger.”
I glared. “You will not.” I waved a hand about. “Hang up. I want to know everything.”
“Yeah, mate, we’ll do dinner soon, and I’ll bring him. Give Vi and Izzy a kiss for me.”
When the call ended, he sat forward and threw his phone onto the coffee table behind my legs before he grabbed me and pulled me down to lay on the couch.
He got up and straddled my hips.
“Fuckin’ love you being protective, but, baby, I’ve got a handle on it.”
I glowered up at him. “You were shot at.”
“I know.” He leaned down and kissed my jaw. “Nothing I can’t deal with, snook.”
“Let me speak with Wolf’s previous clients. They’ll listen to me. They feared me.”
He trailed his tongue up and down my neck.
It was hard to think.
My cock throbbed.
“And I’ll make them scared of me too. Wolf may still own 10 percent, but he’s a silent partner for a reason. He wants to keep his family safe. You’re a part of that family.”
“What about you?” I blurted.
It was lucky he pulled back to grin down at me, because I pulled my arm up to hang over my burning face.
“It doesn’t matter,” I tried.
“Oh no, it really does. Baby, are you asking for me to give up that world because you’re scared for my safety?”
I threw my arm off and glared. “No. Do not be stupid.” I shoved at him.
He talked like he would already consider doing it for me, and that made me wild.
Happy and angry, jittery and relaxed. Mixed up and messed up.
I shoved at him again, but he grabbed my arms and held them to the couch above my head.
“It’s all right, snook. We can table that. I get it. It’s too serious and too soon for you.”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about. Fuck me and get bored already,” I demanded.
His grin turned devilish. “Never.”
My heart bounded and leaped, knocking into my ribs. My ears rang with how fast my blood pumped through my veins.
He couldn’t mean never.
He would grow bored and leave eventually.
And when that time came, I wasn’t sure I would survive the fall because this man made me feel too many things in such a short amount of time.
He’d crawled his way under my skin and dug his nails in to stay deep.
“Get off me,” I whispered, emotions suddenly clogging my senses. I ground my teeth together and narrowed my gaze, blocking it all out.
“Baby.” The way he softly and gently said it made me think he knew what I was thinking.
That he could destroy me.
“Off,” I ordered.
He leaned in and kissed my cheek and then the corner of my mouth where he said, “I’m gonna climb off you, snook, but I want you to know I ain’t going anywhere. I like you a hell’va lot, Ryo baby, just as you are.”
My body melted into the couch, and I closed my eyes.
Link hummed and kissed my jaw near my ear. “Yeah, I’ll show you, lover, that I’m gonna stick to you in a way you’ll never doubt I want to be at your side.”
His weight lifted off me. Hopefully, he was unaware of how much he made me light up on the inside.
In a way I never had before.
I was seen with this man, and that choked me up.
“Come on, baby.” I glanced to see him holding his hand out.
With a thick throat, I placed mine in his, and he helped me off the couch.
As I pulled my hand from his, I went to walk off, but an arm slid around my waist, and I felt his lips on the back of my neck.
“Last thing I’m gonna say before we hit dinner. Need you to remember you’re the only one I’m involved with. I’d never answer a call like that to anyone other than a friend because I only want you in my bed and warming my heart like the way you are.”
“Stop,” I pleaded.
Suddenly I felt unable to hear any more nice and sweet words from him.
“You got it, baby.” He pressed his lips to my shoulder before he stepped around me and took my hand, leading me to the door. “We should get to the dining room early, anyway. I ain’t missing out on any of that good food.” He rubbed at his stomach and then opened the door.
I removed my hand from his, but I couldn’t look at him afterward.
I didn’t want to see the disappointment.
Maybe I needed to tell him I couldn’t be anything he wanted.
Stepping out of the room, I stopped. “Link, I….” How was I supposed to say it? “You…. I can’t….” I would never be enough for him.
He deserved better.
Someone who could share and show their attraction and attention to someone they cared for in public.
Someone who wasn’t me.
Link tapped his foot against mine twice, and when I brought my gaze up to his, he grinned. “Baby, you be you, and I’ll come along for the ride, no matter. Don’t stress, yeah? I’ll take it all as it comes. In public, you lead. I’ll be the best boyfriend—”
“You’re not my boyfriend,” I said, but I didn’t have the heat behind my words this time.
I was tired of lying to myself, no matter how much it scared me.
Link grinned and tipped his chin at me. “Behind closed doors, I am.”
My jaw clenched. “How could you settle for that? You deserve—”
“Hey, I ain’t settling. You’re worth everything.”
I closed my eyes and turned my face away. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“All good, baby. One day you’ll see.”
I sighed. “See what?”
“See that we’re gonna have the best life together.”
Dear God, this man.
Shaking my head, I turned and started for the dining room. Link stepped up beside me and followed with a spring in his step.
He didn’t care I walked in silence, and I liked that he didn’t bother making small talk.
It was like he just enjoyed being close.
You idiot, he’s proved that since he got here.
But why did he like being around me?
Seriously, why me? I didn’t understand it. No one else wanted to stay or to understand me or to spend more time with me other than getting off.
Would I ever understand him?