16. Lila
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Lila
The storm rattled the cabin, but I barely noticed it. My focus was entirely on Ryan.
His confession kept echoing in my head, looping over and over. I think I’m falling for you.
Those words had cracked something open in me, something I wasn’t ready to name.
It wasn’t just his words, though. It was the way he looked at me when he said them. Like I was the only thing in the room that mattered. Like I wasn’t broken or messy or caught in a situation that defied logic.
Like I was just me.
I stood up from the couch, still holding his hand. “Come with me.”
His brows knitted together, and I could tell he was overthinking it, debating whether to ask questions or push back. But he didn’t. He just nodded and let me lead him down the hallway to my room.
I closed the door behind us, muffling the sound of the wind outside. Ryan stood near the bed, his tall frame seeming to take up all the available space. His green eyes were on me, full of questions he wasn’t asking.
“Lila…” His voice was low, cautious.
I walked toward him, closing the distance between us. “You don’t have to say anything. Just… be here with me.”
He swallowed hard, his Adam’s apple bobbing. “I’m here.”
I reached up, resting a hand on his chest. His heartbeat thudded beneath my palm, steady and strong, grounding me in a way I desperately needed.
“I’m still figuring all of this out,” I confessed. “But I know I feel something for you, Ryan. Something real.”
His eyes softened, and he covered my hand with his own. “You’re not alone in that.”
I tilted my head up, closing the gap between us. Our lips met in a kiss that was tender, unhurried. It wasn’t like the kisses we’d shared before, filled with heat and hunger.
This one was different. Gentle. Meaningful.
I let myself get lost in it, in him. His hands slid to my waist, pulling me closer, and I felt the tension in his body start to ease.
When we broke apart, I looked up at him, my fingers tracing the edge of his jaw. “Stay with me tonight.”
His eyes darkened, his breath hitching. “Are you sure?”
I nodded. “I don’t want to be alone. And I don’t want you to be, either.”
He hesitated for a heartbeat, then nodded. “Okay.”
Ryan’s hand slid from my waist to the small of my back, his touch firm and steady. But his gaze—God, his gaze—was anything but steady. His green eyes burned with an intensity that sent a shiver racing down my spine.
I stepped closer, my hands finding their way to his chest, then sliding upward to his shoulders. His breath hitched, and I felt the muscles beneath my palms tense as if he were holding himself back.
“You don’t have to,” I whispered, barely able to hear my own words over the pounding of my heart.
His eyes searched mine, the tension in his jaw softening. “Don’t have to what?”
“Hesitate,” I said simply.
That was all it took.
He cupped my face with both hands, his thumbs brushing over my cheeks, and kissed me. This time, there was no holding back.
The tenderness from earlier morphed into something deeper, more consuming. His lips moved against mine with a hunger that made my knees weak, and I clung to him, letting him support my weight.
Ryan’s hands moved, sliding down my sides, his touch igniting a trail of heat wherever it landed. When his fingers splayed across my lower back, pulling me flush against him, I gasped into his mouth, and he took that as an invitation to deepen the kiss.
My hands found their way into his hair, tugging slightly, and he groaned… a deep, guttural sound that sent a fresh wave of heat through me.
The world outside ceased to exist. It was just us, tangled in each other, our breaths mingling as we lost ourselves in the moment.
“Lila,” he murmured against my lips, his voice rough with emotion. “Tell me if this is too much. If you want me to stop?—”
“I don’t want you to stop,” I cut him off, my fingers tugging at the hem of his shirt. “Not tonight.”
He didn’t need more encouragement. He pulled his shirt over his head in one swift motion, and I took a moment to marvel at him—the strong lines of his body, the way his skin glowed in the soft light.
But it was his eyes that held me captive, the way they looked at me like I was something precious, something worth fighting for.
Before I could answer him, his fingers edged my panties to one side, and he traced along my soaking wet slit. I gasped and bucked, my body already ready for him. It took every inch of my self-control not to wrap around him.
“You really like me?” I tossed my head back as he plunged a finger deep into me. “Oh fuck, you have no idea what you do to me too, Ryan.”
I was sure he didn’t need me to tell him that. He had to be well aware after everything that had happened between us. But he groaned in sheer ecstasy as I said those words, like they meant a lot to him.
He pushed another finger in, and another, before swirling his thumb against my clit. I wanted to grab on to him, to hold myself upright, but I didn’t have the strength.
Instead, I fell backward against the wall with him coming with me.
He could easily rest against me so his fingers could massage me deeper. He was touching parts of me that I wasn’t sure had been explored before, and it was phenomenal.
“Oh shit,” I called out, the desire rocketing through me. “Fucking hell, Ryan. That feels incredible.”
“Yeah, you like that?” He kissed all over my throat in between his words. “You want more?”
“I want everything,” I gasped out. “I want everything from you.”
He started inching my panties down, staring into my eyes the entire time. I had no air in my lungs as I watched him get on his knees, stripping the clothing off me.
It was kind of terrifying to be so exposed for him, yet at the same time, my foot pressed against the wall and my thighs parted willingly for him.
Even if it scared me, I wanted him to see all of me. I could see he was filled with lust.
“Fucking hell.” He slipped up my body with his hands grazing up me as he went. “Lila, you are something else.”
The next time he kissed me with everything that he had, I slipped my hands down his chest toward his pants. Because I was trembling it wasn’t easy to pull his zipper apart, but I just about managed it.
I shoved his jeans down a little, his underwear sliding down as well. It wasn’t long before his thick, throbbing erection was between my fingers.
Oh my god.
He was huge, pulsing for me, wanting to be inside of me. But that didn’t stop me from sliding to my knees…
I’d had him inside of me before, but seeing him so close caused me to gasp out in complete shock. He was massive, and now I needed to try and fit him between my lips.
But first I decided to stroke him with my hands. I did so, all the way from his tip down to his base.
His thighs tensed up as the pleasure gripped him, and he shuddered violently at the same time. If he liked me holding on to him this much, then my mouth was going to drive him wild.
I moved my lips in closer, gently pressing them against his tip for just a second, my hot breath shooting down over him. He practically yelled out in bliss as even this turned him on.
I could hardly believe it. This man was like a damn playboy with women tossing themselves at him left, right, and center, but it was me who had him tonight. It was my tongue gently flicking along his length, driving him wild.
“Shit,” he moaned as I dragged my lips up and down him, tasting every inch of him with my tongue. “Fuck, Lila, you are too much. I…”
I glanced up to see his head tilt backward, lolling in bliss.
“I…”
I really wanted to know where that sentence was going to end, but it seemed that I had Ryan so much under my control that he couldn’t get his words out.
I kinda liked that, having all this power over him.
I sucked and licked him everywhere, my pulse racing painfully as I did. I adored his deep masculine, sweet-and-salty taste. I wanted more of it. So much more of it.
I gripped onto his butt to make sure that he couldn’t move while I continued to pleasure him as much as I could with my mouth. I enjoyed the sensation so much that I felt a fluttering at my core.
This was also turning me on, sending me wild, and he hadn’t even touched me yet.
“Oh…” I moaned, my word vibrating down his length. “Oh, wow.”
“I can’t… I can’t…” He pulled me back, tearing my lips from him. “I can’t take it.”
“What do you mean?” I rasped as he tugged me to my feet. “Did I do something wrong?”
“Oh, hell no,” he growled, crashing his lips against mine to claim me as his own. “It was too right. I was going to lose my mind. I need to be inside of you.”
He grabbed me and lifted me onto the dresser, pressing my back against the mirror as he tore my T-shirt off. I didn’t have anything on underneath, so my flushed skin leaned back against the cold mirror, making me squeal.
It didn’t do anything to cool me down, though. I had flames licking all over my skin. I was on damn fire.
“Come here.” He kicked off his pants and dragged me to him, his cock immediately teasing my entrance. His mouth bumped into my throat as his hand bunched up in my hair. “Fucking hell, you’re sexy.”
I pulled myself toward him and pushed him inside of me, the first thrust sending a shock wave of pleasure through me.
The intensity of it nearly sent me crashing to the floor, but luckily, he was there to hold me upright, to keep me still while each thrust caused me to see delicious stars that filled me with joy.
Fuck, I think I’m falling, too, I thought desperately as I flew to heaven.
But I couldn’t get too stuck in that thought, because the pleasure cascaded and crashed through me hard, almost shattering my bones with hot bliss.
I lost myself and my mind switched off completely as I became a slave to my sensations. Ryan had me soaring, flying high, and I didn’t want to ever leave this place—these arms, this passion and lust.
This was utter heaven, and that was exactly why I was in so much trouble.
His fingers dug deeply into my skin as the pleasure erupted from him, flooding me. I listened intently, soaking up every single sound as it vibrated from his throat.
Those sounds were fucking amazing, and so was knowing that I was the one to coax them from him.
I wanted to capture this moment, to keep it with me forever, to keep it with me always.
* * *
The storm had finally eased when I opened my eyes, though the cabin still hummed with the memory of last night’s chaos.
Sunlight filtered through the curtains, soft and pale, and for a moment, everything felt still. Peaceful, even.
I stretched, feeling Ryan’s warmth beside me. His arm was draped over my waist, his breathing slow and steady. It made me feel…safe. Whole.
I couldn’t help the small smile that tugged at my lips as I replayed the night in my mind. The passion, yes, but also the tenderness.
The way he looked at me, like I was more than just a complication in his life. Like I was someone he wanted.
For the first time in a long time, I felt empowered. Not just because of what happened between us, but because I’d let myself have it.
I hadn’t shied away, hadn’t second-guessed myself into oblivion. I took what I wanted.
But that warmth was short-lived.
My phone buzzed on the nightstand, breaking through the quiet. I frowned, reaching for it. The screen lit up, and the number was unrecognizable. A text.
Do you really think you can start over? You’ll never escape what’s coming. Watch your back.
A shiver ran down my spine as I read the message, the cryptic words sinking into me like cold, wet stones. My throat tightened, and I felt my pulse quicken.
Who could this be?
I stared at the screen, my mind racing through possibilities. A wrong number, maybe? Some random stranger?
But the words felt deliberate, intentional, and they unsettled me in a way I couldn’t quite explain.
“Lila?” Ryan stirred beside me, his voice groggy.
I quickly turned the screen off, setting the phone back on the nightstand. “It’s nothing,” I lied, my voice shaky. “Go back to sleep.”
His brows furrowed, and he blinked sleepily at me. “You sure?”
“Yeah,” I said, forcing a smile I didn’t feel. “Just a weird text. Probably spam or something.”
He didn’t look entirely convinced, but he didn’t press me. Instead, he wrapped an arm around my waist again and kissed my shoulder lightly. “Okay. Try to relax.”
But as I lay back down, staring at the ceiling, the unease lingered.
Something about the text… it felt… wrong. I couldn’t shake the feeling that it wasn’t random—that it was meant for me.
I took a deep breath, trying to steady myself. Maybe it was nothing. Maybe I was overreacting. But as I closed my eyes, the words lingered in the back of my mind like a shadow I couldn’t escape.
The storm outside had passed, but inside me, another one was beginning to brew.