16. Ridge
Sixteen
Ridge
S weet Jesus Christ, I was a dead man.
That was the only coherent thought firing through my lust-addled brain as I drank in the glorious sight before me. Emma Harrison, soaked to the bone, those skintight jeans clinging to every lush curve like a surgically-implanted second skin. Her flimsy t-shirt was a ruined, transparent mess, tiny pebbled peaks straining against the drenched cotton in a way that damn near stopped my heart.
And that hair…those wild mahogany tendrils clung to the elegant column of her neck, trailing rivulets of water that I wanted nothing more than to chase with my tongue. To nuzzle aside those dripping strands, bare her creamy flesh to my hungry mouth, and taste the intoxicating salt-sweet of her skin as she writhed and whimpered beneath me.
Visions of sinking my teeth into the plump swell of her thighs flooded my mind, hazy images of spreading those sinfully long legs and burying myself to the hilt in her slick, velvet heat. Of crushing her lush body against mine as she arched and keened and—
A stinging barrage of icy droplets slapped my face, the shocking chill shocking the air from my lungs and mercifully shattering the X-rated fantasies holding me hostage.
“Dad! Water fight!” Lily shrieked, her lithe body contorting gleefully as she sent another volley of liquid fire in my direction.
“Yeah, c’mon, Ridge!” Emma taunted, a wicked glint sparking in those summer-sky eyes as she flung a wave of shimmering spray toward my stunned face. Her full lips curved into a smug smile, chest heaving with each ragged pant in a way that made my mouth go Sahara dry. “Don’t tell me you’re afraid of a couple of little girls.”
This infuriatingly gorgeous woman was going to be the death of me…but what a way to go.
“Dad, help!” Cody yelled, desperately trying to block the barrage as Scooby joined in the chaos, massive paws churning the creek into a roiling current. Clearly, it was every man—and beast—for himself.
“Get ‘em, Avis,” I growled at the squealing ball of energy bouncing at my feet, unable to tear my eyes from Emma’s drenched, impossibly perfect form.
Avery needed no further prompting. With a mighty squeal of delight, she launched herself into the fray, blessed distraction that she was. Launching an arcing wave of spray in Emma’s direction, then dissolving into peals of tinkling laughter at the shocked squawk her efforts earned her.
That sound, rich with unbridled joy, pierced straight through my lustful haze and locked me onto the true prize—the light in my daughters’ eyes, the music of their happiness. Whatever dangerous desires Emma awakened in the darker corners of my soul, they would always, always pale in comparison to the unconditional love I felt for my daughters.
“Alright, alright,” I grumbled with as much long-suffering growl as I could muster, lips twitching in a reluctant smile as Cody and Lily both wheeled on me with triumphant whoops, twin sets of bright eyes dancing. “You rugrats want a war? You got it.”
With that, I launched myself into the gushing creek, cutting through the icy current in a series of powerful overhand strokes, every muscle contracting and releasing like a well-oiled machine. As I neared the shallows where my girls were making a futile stand, I dove beneath the churning surface for several strokes, using the rushing water to propel me forward.
Then I exploded upward, my drenched torso cleaving through the crystalline surface. I was momentarily blinded as shimmering droplets cascaded everywhere, grinning fiercely at the chorus of squeals and screams that greeted my arrival. My vision cleared just in time to take in the tantalizing sight of Emma backpedalling furiously, slim fingers raking those soaked strands off her forehead in an unconsciously seductive move.
But the teasing smirk curving those sinful lips was my undoing. In that instant, all semblance of restraint, of the carefully curated boundaries I’d erected between us, crumbled to dust. I lunged for her with a speed that surprised even me, grasping that slippery, taut body around the waist and crushing her against my heaving chest as I staggered backwards into the shallows once more.
She gasped a throaty, breathy sound that speared straight to my groin. Every lush inch of her moulded against me in that staggeringly intimate clinch—from the velvet swell of her breasts rasping against my bare skin to the deliriously soft plane of her belly undulating with each quick inhale. Twin sets of fingers splayed across my shoulders, palms sliding up my nape in a searing caress that dragged my face down to hers…
…and that’s when I lost it. Completely. Utterly. With a guttural growl of pure possession, I angled my head, intent on crushing those taunting lips beneath mine—
“Sweet! You little hellions finally get to witness a PG-13 version of The Waterhole!”
The jarring shout rang out across the creek with all the subtlety of a gunshot, shattering the heated tension thrumming between Emma and me like a wrecking ball through plate glass. She recoiled from my embrace as if scorched, stumbling backward with a strangled gasp, those kissable lips I’d been a hairsbreadth away from devouring now pursed into a tight line.
Cheeks stained a furious crimson, she wouldn’t—couldn’t—meet my burning gaze as she put miles of the icy creek between us in a flurry of splashing retreat. Which was just as well, because I felt the first licks of humiliated flames crackling beneath my own skin as realization slammed into me with brutal force.
Ethan Harrison. The guy who had become one of my closest friends over the past four years since buying this prime slice of Maine wine country. Emma’s older brother, who had welcomed me into their inner circle after my messiest life implosion—only to catch me mere seconds away from mauling his baby sister like a Neanderthal laying claim to his cave bride.
He was lounging on the grassy bank like he didn’t have a care in the world, grinning at me in that fucked-up, cocky way only he could fully master—the same maddening expression that had bonded our friendship through plenty of hijinks and dramatics these past few years.
“Perfect!” He crowed with a dramatic flourish of his hands, somehow making the designer hiking gear draped across his lean frame look as casual as worn denim. “Give me two more minutes of that and I might actually start believing you can be fun to be around, Big Daddy Ridge.”
The muscle in my jaw ticked as I absorbed the familiar jab, the old nickname he’d insisted on using ever since I became a single father. Crossing my arms over my chest, I summoned the fiercest glower in my arsenal—the one that had grown ass men quaking in their boots and hedge fund hotshots soiling themselves.
Ethan, that smug son of a bitch, only grinned wider.
“If you showed up with some help you’ll see I am a hoot to be around,” I gruffed, aiming for levity to diffuse the palpable tension crackling between us.
Ethan’s stormy gaze flicked from me to his sister and back again, that arrogant brow inching higher as realization seemed to dawn behind those silver-dollar eyes. A slow, knowing smirk curved his lips as he shook his head in mock disappointment.
“Oh, the only good thing about hanging out with you is those little hellions,” he declared with an exaggerated sigh, leveraging easily to his feet.
A knee-jerk surge of irritation flared hot and bright within me at his typically dismissive jibe. I opened my mouth, a blistering retort prepared to strike back when the shrill peal of childish laughter pierced the heavy air. Cody came tearing past, a sheet of shimmering droplets trailing in his wake as he zigged and zagged along the grassy bank, a whirlwind of chubby limbs and breathless giggles and golden curls.
“Save me, Dad!” he squealed over one narrow shoulder, the syllables stretching into a familiar high-pitched shriek as Ethan gave chase, those long legs rapidly devouring the distance between them.
Catching the younger boy around the middle, Ethan easily hoisted Cody’s squirming body aloft with one arm as though he weighed no more than a feather. With his free hand, he mussed that tousled mop of hair, utterly impervious to the slew of protests and attempted slaps the boy rained down on him.
“Say uncle, you little rugrat!” Ethan bellowed over the joyous din, fingers skittering across Cody’s ribcage in merciless tickle assault.
An unbidden smile tugged at the corners of my mouth as I watched them, an old-as-time dance of chase and wrestle and roughhousing. Some of the lingering sparks of irritation sputtered and waned as an unexpected swell of gratitude washed over me for my friend’s easy acceptance of my children, his unquestioning way of folding them into his world.
I knew all too well the harsh dismissal and subtle condescension most men displayed when forced to interact with kids in their dating sphere. Ethan had never once treated Lily, Cody, and Avery as anything other than a bonus part of the package, from the very first day four years ago when he’d shown up on my doorstep with a handful of Wines from his Vineyard.
That innate ease around children was only one of the many surprising facets that drew me to the fast-talking city slicker in those early days, forming the unlikely bond that had evolved and endured through all the chaos and turmoil that followed.
“Daddy, help!” Cody gasped between wheezing shrieks of mirth. “Uncle! Uncle!”
Far from rushing in to play the gallant hero, I stood back with my hands shoved into the front pockets of my jeans, content to watch the merriment unfold for a few indulgent moments longer.
A flurry of splashing nearby drew my attention toward the creek once more, where Emma had waded the deeper portion, Lily clinging to her back like a miniature koala. Avery shrieked and stomped in the shallows at their feet, gleefully beaning clumps of mud at her sisters until Emma leaned down to scoop her up as well, cuddling both little girls to her chest amidst a chorus of giggles and playful shrieks.
The sight struck me with the same visceral pang of yearning—and bone-deep relief—that watching Ethan with Cody had provoked. Maybe it was simply the lonely single father in me responding to the surreal scenario playing out on all sides, two virtual strangers stepping seamlessly into the gaping holes in my world without hesitation or judgment.
Or maybe it was more primal than that, some innate part of my psyche recognizing the potential for fulfillment, of having all the fragmented pieces of my existence finally knit back together into a cohesive whole.
Whatever the reason, I felt the last vestiges of the simmering irritation Ethan’s teasing had sparked within me flicker and gutter out into embers of contentment. For perhaps the first time in longer than I could remember, I found myself thoroughly at ease, unguarded in a way that allowed the joyous sounds and pastoral setting to simply wash over me.
A sudden clamor near the creek bank shattered the tranquil spell, and my head whipped around to find Cody launching himself into the shallow current in a full body cannonball, soaking his uncle from head-to-toe. Lily and Avery released unified shrieks of delight, undoubtedly priming to follow suit with their own kamikaze maneuvers.
In that instant, every paternal instinct blazed into high gear, and I was moving before conscious thought could override pure reflex.
“Hold up there, mavericks,” I rumbled, foregoing the gentle stroll in favor of striding directly into the creek with purpose, boots and all. “Need to have a ground rule on jumping before you scramble someone’s skull.”
Cody almost vibrated with hyperactive intensity, bouncing along the creek bed in a way that kicked up mini-geysers of spray. “Aw, c’mon, Dad! We’re just getting warmed up over here!”
His eyes shone with manic exhilaration—an expression that would have sent lesser men running for the hills. But for me, it was just another feisty challenge to wrangle, a call to employ that special blend of stone-cold focus and playful grit required whenever these three wild heathens got a full head of steam behind them.
Snagging Cody by the scruff of his kid-sized henley, I pegged him with my sternest look as he writhed and squirmed like a landed fish. “You know the rules in the creek, sprout. No jumping or roughhousing until I give the all—”
A deafening war whoop cut me off, and I twisted just in time to catch Emma go sailing past in a reckless, pinwheeling leap that looked equal parts elegant and utterly unhinged. Her toned body knifed through the water in a picture-perfect arc, sending a tsunami of liquid fire crashing over all of us.
The next thing I knew, the creek had detonated into sheer pandemonium…
The tranquil burble of the creek provided a soothing underscore to the raucous peals of childish laughter echoing up from the water’s edge. Ethan and I sat together on the grassy bank, our gazes instinctively tracking the whirlwind of activity unfolding downstream.
Emma stood knee-deep in the rushing current, her glorious mane of mahogany spilling in rain-soaked tendrils down her curved back. Even from this distance, I could make out the adorable smattering of freckles dusted across the bridge of her pert nose, the delicious pout of those full lips as she flung a wave of sparkling liquid at my offspring.
A strange, unfamiliar ache blossomed in my chest - both searing and soothing in the same breath. It was as if witnessing this unguarded display of Emma’s vibrant spirit had cleaved away years of accumulated weariness and cynicism. For once, the world seemed almost…incandescent.
“Still can’t quite wrap my mind around Ridge frolicking and making goo-goo eyes over my little sister,” Ethan murmured, the words barely registering over the thunderous cadence of my pulse.
My spine stiffened at the low rumble of his voice, but I couldn’t tear my gaze from the hypnotic shimmy of Emma’s hips as she twisted and swayed in the crystalline depths. Christ, she was stunning…
“You, uh, might want to blink soon there, big guy,” Ethan drawled, that infuriating smugness practically dripping from his tone once more. “Unless you were planning on hauling my sister over your shoulder and making a break for it.”
I could practically envision the crooked grin twisting his mouth out of the corner of my eye. With a herculean effort, I managed to wrench my focus from the living temptation in the water and aim a halfhearted glare at my so-called friend.
“Watch it, jackass,” I grumbled without much heat. Truth be told, the mental image his quip had conjured was…decidedly less objectionable than it ought to be.
Ethan merely spread his hands in an infuriatingly casual shrug, eyes sparkling with wicked delight. “What? Just calling it like I see it, stud. And for what it’s worth, I wouldn’t mind it.”
He must have caught the reflexive flicker of surprise across my features, because that shit-eating grin deepened to downright salacious levels.
“I mean, I wouldn’t be friends with someone I wouldn’t want around my sister, you know? You’ve become like another annoyingly overprotective big brother these last few years.”
My mouth opened to unleash a suitably pithy retort before clamping shut once more. There was no use denying the obvious - the insane, undeniable pull I felt toward Emma . And judging by the blatantly appraising look Ethan slanted her way for a long beat before winking conspiratorially at me, he wasn’t the only one picking up on those reckless vibes.
I was well and truly screwed.
“I know, but…” The resigned whisper slipped free before I could rein it back. Steeling myself, I dragged my gaze away from the siren song of Emma’s radiant smile to meet Ethan’s quasi-understanding expression. “I can’t. She has a whole life ahead of herself. I can’t take that from her.”
A muscle ticked along the granite line of my jaw, sparks of equal parts longing and self-loathing flaring to brilliant life behind my stony facade. How could I possibly upend Emma’s vibrant potential with my own jaded, emotionally-constipated bullshit? No matter how tempting the thought of her smiling up at me like that night after infinite night…
“My first priority has to be my kids,” I grated, striving to convince myself as much as Ethan with the unyielding cadence of the words. “They’ve already been through enough upheaval. It’s not fair to them…or to Emma.”
Is it?
A bitter twist of my lips accompanied the unspoken question hanging in the verdant silence. Of course it wasn’t fair - to saddle Emma with the baggage and obligation of my fractured little tribe. She was vibrant, full of promise and untrammeled potential. What right did I have to threaten that with my stalled existence and cavalcade of issues?
And anyway, she’ll soon figure out I’m not worth it. The derisive musing slipped through my battered defenses uninvited, propelled by a rogue current of self-loathing and fear. I’m not enough.
The dam cracked further at that insidious whisper, floodgates of insecurity and past failure threatening to burst free. When I wasn’t enough three years ago, how can I possibly be now? After being so thoroughly, utterly…rejected? Abandoned with nothing but the soot-stained embers of my life to pick through?
No…Emma deserved better than the hollow, ash-choked husk I’d become. She’d inevitably realize that soon enough and flit away, drawn to the brilliance of someone capable of putting her first. Always.
And I…I would be fine with that, right?
A sharp pang reverberated through my chest as an unbidden image flashed behind my rigor-stiffened eyelids - Emma bestowing one of those radiant smiles on some faceless other, the man who could bask in her light and affection unencumbered. My throat constricted as if someone’s hands were closing off my airway, crushing the bittersweet longing simmering there into painful whorl of yearning.
I shook my head sharply, risking a surreptitious glance back toward the pearlescent allure of Emma’s form clad in that thin, clinging cotton sundress. So much for not being drawn like a moth to her incandescent flame.
As if sensing the renewed weight of my stare, Emma’s eyes flicked upward to catch mine, those coffee-brown depths glinting with mirth and something softer, hazier. My chest constricted anew at the heart-stopping smile curving those lush lips, muscles clenching with the primal urge to surge to my feet and simply…take as I helplessly tracked every sinuous line and enticing curve made even more stark by the damp fabric.
Christ, she was beautiful. Captivating in a way that had nothing to do with mere superficial appeal and everything to do with the radiant luminescence spilling forth from her very essence. A light that soothed as much as it enflamed, inviting a man to lay himself bare and bask in her warmth and acceptance.
If only I were man enough to slough off the shackles of this desolate solitude and reach for that bright promise…
Emma’s pace slowed to an idle saunter, powerful thighs fluid with each rolling step as she waded closer. The unhurried rhythm allowed for a torturously thorough perusal of those tantalizing planes and valleys sculpted by God’s own hands. With each passing instant, my molten stare roved higher until searing straight down the shadowed valley between the slopes of her breasts, desire searing palpably in my veins.
I shifted, jaw clenching as my body tightened in instinctual response to the feral siren call of lush, honeyed flesh laid temptingly bare. It would be ecstasy to relinquish my vice-like control at last and simply haul Emma close, to sink into the sweet sanctuary of her embrace and lose myself utterly for once in this drawn-out nightmare.
To render her incoherent and besotted with pleasure, shattering all composure until only the hot, sparking tangle of our naked desire remained.
A rough shudder racked my frame as Emma crept closer still, narrow feet leaving fleeting divots in the grassy verge. Mere yards separated us now, her sun-drenched aureole of musk and salt moisture enveloping me in a fragrant cloud of enticement.
Unable to bear another interminable second of torment, I dragged my heated stare toward the horizon’s distant perimeter, chest heaving with each ragged inhale. Still, my focus was inexorably drawn back to trace Emma’s every lithesome movement with the restless roam of eyes gone feral.
When at last she reached her apparent destination - a half-dozen paces from where I sat hunched and seething - those full, kiss-swollen lips curved in a devastating smile meant for me alone.
“Having fun out here, cowboy?”
The honeyed murmur washed over me like a balm, soothing yet stoking the banked embers of craving I fought viciously to constrain. Emma arched one elegant brow, using the pretense of wringing out her sodden hair to lean forward and put those spectacular breasts on lush display. An unmistakable invitation blazed between us, rife with challenge and simmering promise.
A strangled noise rumbled up from the depths of my constricted chest as I strained for a full breath, powerless against the infernal torment of this Venus rising from the deep like a mythical siren. Every sinew tensed as if bracing for impact, desperation and guilty yearning swirling together in a maelstrom of pure, visceral hunger.
Emma’s tongue darted out, trailing a glistening path across her plump lower lip with exquisite leisure. An unspoken question - perhaps an explicit dare - hung between us in the inhalation before she chose to utterly upend my world once more.
“You look like you could use a drink…or something stronger.”
Darkness closed in around the periphery, vision narrowing to that tantalizing sliver of decadent flesh and indefinable light. Emma’s heated regard had become a crosshairs seeking out the hairline fractures in my stoic veneer, zeroing in with unerring precision until every possibility was laid achingly bare.
For the span of one finite heartbeat, I teetered on that razor-sharp threshold, my soul hanging in the inescapable gravitic pull of her radiance.
Just one word from those honeyed lips and I would shatter completely, relinquishing every shred of restraint and control to the scorching longing roaring through my veins. I could already feel my tattered defenses crumbling away to ashen ruin in the searing path of her gaze, powerless in the thrall of temptation’s sweet Siren song.
Then a raucous squeal clove the charged tension with childish glee, wrenching me back to stark reality. Three small, familiar forms hurtled out of the brush and toward Emma’s splendidly bewitching form, alighting against those toned legs with the uncaring enthusiasm of youth’s unrestrained zeal.
Once more that unbreakable anchor, the keystone of my tortured existence.
Cody, Avery and Lily.
Blinking hard, I shunted aside all forbidden wisps of longing and allowed my paternal focus to crystallize with the clarity of bone-deep instinct. From that singular vantage, Emma’s sensual invitation transformed into something more profound - an oasis for my parched spirit to sup from at long last.
“Give yourself a chance to find happiness, Ridge.” Ethan slapped my shoulders standing up and leaving.