Chapter 24
Heather
“Troops, I’m home,” I called the second I entered the apartment.
No one answered. In fact, the whole place was suspiciously quiet.
I returned earlier than I’d thought so it wasn’t Avery’s bedtime yet.
Considering she usually fought tooth and nail for any additional minute, I wasn’t sure what was going on.
Tiptoeing to Avery’s bedroom, I discovered her sleeping soundly. Oh, wow. That was a first.
Hearing the water running in my bathroom, I headed that way. Ryker was showering. Oh, yum. He was just… perfection. Taut skin and toned muscles everywhere I looked. I rarely had the opportunity to just drink him in like now, so I planned to take advantage of it for as long as possible.
“Had your fill?” Ryker asked in a teasing tone.
“Not by a long shot.” I grinned, shrugging. I’d been so lost in the act of admiring him that I hadn’t realized he was watching me.
Ryker’s mouth curled up in a smile. He moved one finger in a come here motion.
I walked toward him slowly, eyeing the spray of water.
I stopped at the edge of the shower, heart beating wildly.
Was this drop-dead sexy man really here, in my shower?
Or was he a vision? I ran a hand from one shoulder to the other, tracing a pattern over his chest, feeling his wet skin under my fingers.
He kissed me the next second. Oh, yeah. He was real.
The touch electrified my lips, and the way he explored me made me weak in the knees. I clasped his shoulders, needing more support. Next thing I knew, Ryker’s hands were gripping my hips. What was he planning?
He pulled me with him under the shower, getting my clothes completely wet. I half laughed, half yelped.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
“What’s it look like?” He grinned widely. I was full-on laughing now.
I wasn’t spontaneous, but Ryker was making me discover all sorts of things about myself. Like the fact that I relished these small, unexpected moments.
He kissed me again before I could answer. Pressing my back against the tiles, he deepened the kiss, exploring me with so much urgency that I felt on fire. Not just the simmering kind, but a full-on inferno.
I felt wanted, claimed with every stroke of his tongue, every inch of skin he bared.
I had no idea when he’d undone the zipper of my skirt.
I’d been too consumed by feeling his hard, naked body pressed against mine.
When I was buck naked, he turned off the water, and we both stepped out of the shower.
He wrapped a towel around me and another around himself before pulling me in a bear hug.
“My clothes are drenched,” I said, glancing at the pile. I would have pinched him, but he had me firmly captive in his hug. “Why did you pull me in the shower?”
“I didn’t plan on it.”
“So you just couldn’t help yourself?”
“Exactly. Just saw you standing there and wanted you with me.”
I sighed, just sinking against him. Well, I was completely disarmed now. I disentangled myself from his arms, turning around, running my fingers over his chest.
“What are you doing?” he asked.
“Getting my fill of you. And shhhh… your voice is too sexy. It’s distracting me.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
He was silent right until I reached the hem of the towel he’d wrapped around his lower body.
“Heather….” His voice was dangerously low.
“All done, had my fill.”
“Really?”
“For now,” I amended.
“We’ll see about that.” Ryker’s smile was wolfish now. And his voice was still in that lower octave that made my entire body tingle. “How was your evening?” he asked.
“Excellent. The interview was just what I needed. I’m going to edit it tomorrow morning while it’s still fresh.”
“You can do it tonight if you want.”
“Ha! I’ve got you here to kiss and touch as much as I want, and you think I’ll waste my time editing?”
“Happy to know I’m more important than editing.” He wiggled his eyebrows, but then he swallowed hard, looking at me intently. “I want to talk to you about something.”
“Okay.”
“So… Avery made me a friendship card today.”
“Oh, that’s cute. She does those sometimes.”
“Yeah… but she made that after telling me she’d prefer if I was her friend, and not her dad. Because dads leave.”
My vision faded at the corners. I blinked a few times. My throat wasn’t just dry now; I had a lump the size of a fist at the base of it too.
“She… she said that?” My voice was shaky.
“Yes. And I was thinking, why don’t you two spend some time at my apartment too? Maybe then she’ll trust that I want to stick around. That I’m here to stay.”
Air rushed out of me. I hadn’t expected this, not in a million years.
“You want us at your apartment?” I whispered. Yes, I was double-checking, but I just couldn’t help myself.
“Yes. I want you two to be part of my life. You’re more important to me than I even thought possible, Heather. Both of you.”
“Ryker… wow, this is so surreal,” I whispered.
He frowned. “And you don’t want it?”
“I do. I do. I’ve just been so concerned with looking out for us…
you know, just trying to protect us from being hurt, that I’m not even sure I know how to be truly happy without worrying about losing that happiness.
Oh God, I’m not even making sense.” I buried my face in my hands.
I wasn’t coherent. What was wrong with me?
I felt Ryker lean in, clasping his fingers around my wrists, lowering my hands.
“You are making sense, babe. And don’t worry, you’ll be so happy that you’ll just forget to be afraid. I’ll simply leave you no choice.”
He was beaming widely now. I laughed as some of that anxiety just melted away. I was so immensely happy. He wasn’t put off by my fears. He wanted to fight them alongside me.
“I know how Avery is feeling,” he said, pushing strands of my wet hair behind my ears.
“My dad left when I was young. I don’t even remember him too much, honestly.
But I do remember how shitty everything was for my family.
How abandoned we all felt, like we were just afterthoughts. Leaving kids should be illegal.”
“Yeah, it should,” I whispered, wiggling my arms around his torso, wanting to be a little closer to him. I wanted to protect him. From what, I wasn’t sure. It wasn’t like he needed my protection anyway, but maybe I could take his mind off those unhappy memories. Yes, I could definitely do that.
“I don’t know if I can give you two something I didn’t have, or at least don’t remember. But I sure as hell want to.”
I couldn’t believe he actually doubted himself.
“I think you can do anything you want.” I looked up at him, kissing his jaw, feeling like my heart was about to explode.
“Oh, yeah?”
I nodded firmly, kissing down his neck.
“Didn’t know you held me in such high esteem.”
“I definitely do.”
“And you didn’t tell me before… why?” His teasing tone was back. Mission accomplished. I’d distracted him.
“Doesn’t quite pack the same punch if I say it repeatedly. I’ve been saving it for a special occasion.”
“I see.”
I smiled against his chest when he gripped my hips, pulling me flush against him. I continued kissing down his torso as if nothing had changed… even when he undid my towel, letting it fall to the floor. I’d discovered a new side to Ryker tonight, and honestly a new side to me as well.
“You’re very important to me, Ryker,” I whispered against his skin, taking off his towel as well. He tilted my head up, drawing his thumb under my lower lip.
I was going to combust under his gaze. I just knew it. He pulled me back up until our lips were level.
“What are you doing to me, Heather?” he murmured. “Since I met you, I keep wanting things I never even thought about before. I imagine them down to every last detail.”
I couldn’t believe he wanted me and Avery to spend more time at his apartment, to be part of his life. I’d never felt so… precious. As if he was willing to do everything for me.
“I want you so much. All the time,” he went on.
We moved to the bedroom, walking clumsily, too busy touching each other to pay much attention to our surroundings.
Ryker tilted my head back, just holding me like that for a beat before sealing his lips over mine.
I groaned at the primal way he claimed my mouth—passionate and demanding.
He was pure fire. He skimmed his hands down my body, teasing the sides of my breasts with his thumbs before descending even lower.
Sliding his hands under my ass cheeks, he lifted me up.
I groaned, digging my fingernails in his arms when my clit collided with his hard-on.
He hoisted me up slowly, drawing the entire length of him across my opening, teasing my clit more and more until my legs were shaking before lowering me down so I was sitting on the edge of the bed.
Ryker
One taste was all it took for me to become insatiable.
I just couldn’t get enough of her lips; I wanted to explore them every way imaginable.
Gentle, and hard, then gentle again. I was in completely over my head.
It hadn’t ever felt this intense. I pushed her hair to one side, gathering it in my fist, tilting her head so I could explore her neck all I wanted.
I drew my mouth slowly over her skin, enjoying every time she caught her breath, the way the muscles in her entire body seemed to strum together as I went lower.
When I reached her shoulder, I changed course, moving lower toward her breasts.
I let go of her hair, looking up at her when my mouth hovered just over her nipple.
Heather’s eyes were wide and full of lust. I could ask anything of her, and she’d give it to me. And that was exactly what I wanted: her complete surrender.
I licked her nipple once, smiling when she jerked back on instinct, just out of my reach. I needed her in another position: more at my mercy. Like this, sitting at the edge of the bed, she could get away too easily. She looked up at me with a hint of shyness.
“You’re beautiful, Heather.”