43. Ryan
The pasta is cooking, and the porcini sauce is almost ready when June knocks on the door.
I try to ignore how my pulse seems to accelerate. “Come in.”
“Hi, it smells fantastic in here. What are you cooking?”
Her voice is as sweet as her taste. Not hearing from her all day did a number on me. I’ve never experienced feeling insecure about a girl before. But the way she sounds so open and warm puts me at ease instantly.
“Fettuccini ai funghi. I hope you like mushrooms.”
“Love them.” She walks over holding two bottles of wine—red and white. “I didn’t know what you were cooking, so I brought both options.”
“You didn’t need to bring anything, Peaches.”
She sets the bottles on the kitchen island. “Nonsense. I can’t show up for dinner empty-handed, and you already have dessert covered.”
I smile. “You have no idea.”
Her cheeks turn bright red. “Do you need any help?”
“Nah, I’m good.”
Her gaze focuses on the sling I have to wear. “How’s your arm?”
“My arm is fine. The problem is my shoulder. I pulled a muscle.”
“I’m not sure how all the WAGs can stand watching their partners getting hit like that. My heart stopped beating for a second.”
I’ve had women say shit like that to me before, but only June sounds genuine. I can’t help grinning. “Aw. You truly were worried about me.”
“Of course I was. You didn’t believe me?”
“Honestly, I was already medicated when you texted. My memory is a bit fuzzy. But I’m happy you care.” I reply sincerely. I am happy, and it’s a damn strange feeling when it’s caused by a woman. “Come here. I want you to try this.” I hold the spoon out and wait for her to walk over.
She stops next to me, smelling like the first day of spring. Her scent is fresh and floral without being sickly sweet. I feed her the sauce, not taking my eyes from hers. She holds my stare, and the moment becomes charged with electricity. If the food wasn’t the type that demands to be consumed immediately, I’d fuck her right here over the counter.
“It’s delicious,” she breathes out.
“Good.” My gaze drops to her lips, and I lean closer, but she steps away before I can kiss her.
“I can’t stay long,” she blurts out.
“Why not?” Disappointment laces my question. Maybe she was avoiding me earlier.
“I have to bake a million cupcakes for a school fundraiser.”
Disappointment turns into delight. I beam, not believing my luck. There’s nothing sexier than baking with someone you desperately want to fuck. “You’ve come to the right person. I’ll help you.”
Her brows arch. “Oh, no. I couldn’t ask you to do that.”
“You aren’t. I’m offering. You know I love to bake. You don’t want to deny an injured man, do you?”
Chuckling, she shakes her head. “Lay on the guilt trip, why don’t you?”
“Hey, I gotta use all the arsenal at my disposal.”
The sound of a text message chimes in the room. I glance at my phone quickly, but it wasn’t mine. June is looking at her phone now with her brows furrowed.
“What’s wrong, Peaches?”
She puts the phone back in her pocket. “Nothing.”
Bullshit. One thing June can’t do is lie. “I can tell it wasn’t nothing. Is someone bothering you?”
Immediately I think that her ex is harassing her. It’s a damn shame that scumbag wasn’t around when we went to June’s apartment.
She hunches her shoulders. “It was a text from Danika, the woman Bill was cheating on me with.”
“What did she want? Please don’t tell me she’s begging you to take that piece of shit back.”
“No. She’s mad at me for going to the party with Jake, and then attending last night’s game. I’m not even sure how she knows I was there last night.”
“If you were hanging out with the WAGs, it was posted on their social media accounts. But how is that her damn business?”
June runs her fingers through her hair. “I think she’s mad that I’m not crying in a dark room, moaning about losing Bill.”
I narrow my eyes. “And you said that woman was your friend?”
She laughs in derision. “I know. Stupid, right?’
I turn off the stove and move closer. June swivels in her chair, tilting her face up. She’s damn beautiful, but her looks aren’t what’s pulling me to her. It’s her heart. She’s the only woman who has ever truly wanted to know me. I’m unraveling, and I don’t care.
Carefully, I run my fingers over her cheek. “Not stupid. Some people hide their true nature well.”
“I guess.” She looks at my mouth, and hell, I’m not letting her escape again.
Cupping her face, I shorten the distance between us and claim her sweet lips. June parts them with a sigh, setting my body aflame. I step closer, moving my hand to the back of her head and deepening the kiss. She wraps her arms around my waist, caging me in her space. Not that I ever want to leave.
The timer goes off, cutting our fun short. Reluctantly, I lean back. “Pasta is ready.”
“Are you sure you don’t want my help cleaning up?”
“I’m sure.” Ryan carries our dishes to the sink with one hand. “This should be quick. Then, we can start on your cupcakes.”
I get up from my chair. “I’ll go grab the ingredients.”
He curls his lips into a crooked grin. “I have ingredients.”
Oh, he’s being sassy. So can I. With my hands on my lips, I ask, “Really? Do you also have baking cups and rainbow sprinkles?”
He rubs the back of his neck, looking adorably sheepish. “Eh... no.”
I laugh. “All right, then. I’ll be right back.”
I zoom out of his apartment before I succumb to Ryan’s charms and forget baking all together. He’s been acting sweeter and more relaxed since he opened up to me. Maybe he’s beginning to trust me. I don’t take the elevator, instead opting for the stairs. I’m eager to get this chore over with so I can move on to sexy times. It’s funny how I could go for weeks, even months, without thinking about sex when I was dating Bill. Now, I’m turned on every time I think about the guys, which is often.
I left the dry ingredients on the counter. I just need to pack everything and grab stuff from the fridge. I notice that Winston’s water bowl is empty, so I grab it to fill it up first. But when I turn on the faucet, water sprays in all directions, drenching me in seconds.
“What the hell!”
I try to shut it off, but the damn thing is broken. I try to contain the spray with a dish towel, but it barely does a thing. I should have known something would go wrong. I went too long without any disasters in my life.
Winston runs over, and jumps excitedly, thinking this is all play. But all he’s doing is making more of a mess. “No, Winston.” I pick him up and put him in his crate. “I’ll let you out soon. Promise.”
I run back to the kitchen and drop into a crouch to check under the sink. The first order of business is to shut off the water supply. I locate the valve, but it’s old and rusty, and it doesn’t budge.
“Oh come on.”
The hissing from the water jet gets louder. That towel is about to give. I probably didn’t tie it hard enough.
“Peaches, I came to ask—” Ryan says from the front door.
“Help!”
“Oh shit.” He runs over and drops next to me. “Scooch. Let me shut off the water.”
“I was trying, but it’s stuck.”
Naturally, Ryan and his bulging muscles have no problem turning the valve. “There. Done.”
I spring to my feet. “What a mess. I need to clean this up.”
He unfurls from his crouch and stares at me, sporting a grin.
“What?” I ask.
Holding my stare, he runs his fingertips across my collarbone, eliciting a throaty moan from me. “Your clothes are soaked through.”
I’m wearing a white button-down shirt that’s now see-through. Okay. I’m no longer thinking about mopping the floor. “My clothes aren’t the only things that are wet.”
He reaches for the back of my head and twists a lock of my hair around his fist. But instead of kissing me as I thought he would, he tilts my head back and runs his hot tongue over the column of my neck.
“Ryan...”
He keeps going south over the fabric until he finds my nipple and sucks it into his mouth, hard. My legs turn into jelly, and my knees almost buckle. Carefully, I grab his arms, needing the support to stay upright. Ryan takes my hand and guides it to his rock-hard erection while giving attention to my nipple.
“Feel how hard I am for you already, Peaches,” he whispers against my feverish skin.
“I want to taste you, Ryan.” I step back and, keeping eye contact, drop to my knees.
I unzip his pants, loving how smoldering his gaze is. He grabs my hair again, and when I suck his cock into my mouth, he tugs a little.
“Peaches, I love your mouth on me.”
I take my time savoring Ryan, sucking his length until it hits the back of my throat, and toying with the sensitive head. He grunts, pulling my hair harder until it hurts. The pain spurs me on. He starts to move, thrusting his hips forward.
“Fuck, Peaches. You suck me so good.”
I’m lost in the moment, getting more and more aroused by watching Ryan lose control. His lips are parted, and his eyes are hooded.
“Fuck, Peaches,” Mrs. Carpenter’s parrot says suddenly, and I freeze.
Ryan whips his face to the parrot’s cage. “Oh no.”
I release his cock and turn, remembering the how-you-doin’ incident. “Is he going to start repeating that nonstop too?”
“Well, he’s a parrot.” He laughs.
“Fuck, Peaches,” the parrot repeats, making Ryan laugh harder.
I get up. “Don’t laugh. This is mortifying.”
Ryan walks to the kitchen counter and grabs something from my ingredient bag. He turns, holding a container of icing and smiling like a fiend. “I have an idea.”
My brows shoot to the heavens. “What? Kill the bird by feeding it icing?”
He shakes his head. “Tsk. No, I’m the one who’s in the mood for something sweet again.”
“Oh.”
His cock is still hard despite the interruption, and suddenly I want to lick icing from it. “Not here. Let’s go back to your apartment.”
“Too far.” He takes my hand and steers me into the master bedroom. “I’ve never been in Mrs. Carpenter’s room.”
“Thank fuck you haven’t.” I laugh.
He turns me around, bringing me flat against his body to kiss me deeply. I melt against his hard frame, loving how powerful and possessive he is. I consider myself a feminist, but in this moment, I don’t care about any of that.
Ryan steps back, his eyes burning with desire, then he removes his sling. “Time to get you out of these wet clothes.”
Unexpectedly, he yanks the sides apart, popping several buttons off. “Ryan!”
“Sorry, Peaches. I’m hungry.”
He kisses me hard, leaning forward till we both fall on the mattress. His mouth is ravenous, and his tongue is relentless, trailing a fiery path over my body, burning me, branding me. The same frenzy sweeps over me, and all I want is to rip off his clothes and feel his skin against mine. But I’m worried about his shoulder. Now that the sling is off, I have to be even more careful. Our clothes finally come off, and then Ryan’s cock is pressing against my clit.
I grab a fistful of his hair and yank it back, forcing him to look at me. “I need you now.”
“Do you have a condom, Peaches?”
I arch a brow. “You don’t have one in your pocket?”
He chuckles. “I wasn’t expecting to find you wet and ready for me.”
“Oh my God.” I laugh.
He kisses the crook of my neck, then whispers in my ear. “I love the sound of your laughter, beautiful.”
Goose bumps spread over my skin, and my heart pumps at breakneck speed, propelled by an insatiable craving. I’m already addicted to this man even though this is only our third time together. I’m addicted to all of them, like a sexually deprived deviant.
“Condoms are in the bathroom under the sink.”
Ryan jumps out of bed like a ninja, and while he’s getting a condom, I open the can of icing and scoop a dollop onto my fingers.
“You got into the icing without me?” He returns to the bed with the whole box of condoms.
“I couldn’t resist.” I smear some over his chest, then lick it off.
He groans. “Peaches...”
With icing coating my tongue, I kiss him hard. He grabs my ass, digging his fingers into my skin possessively. His erection presses against my belly, hard and smooth. Ryan matches my passion stroke for stroke before pulling back and gripping my wrist. He keeps his heated gaze glued to mine while he sucks my fingers into his mouth. I hold his stare, lost in his eyes. My heart is overflowing with emotion, and it isn’t only lust. Trying to stop what’s happening to me would be like trying to stop the tide. Impossible.
I reach for the box of condoms and take one out while maintaining eye contact.
“Put it on, Peaches.”
I rip the packet with my teeth and then lean back to roll the condom down his dick. The moment protection is in place, he lies down and makes me sit astride him. “You’re riding me tonight, gorgeous. I want to see your lovely tits bounce as you move.”
I bet the visual is hot as hell for him, but with me on top, it’s probably easier on his shoulder too. “I always wanted to be a cowgirl.”
He rewards me with a crooked grin. “Is that so?”
I press my palm over his chest, so I don’t fall off. That would be embarrassing. My pussy is slick with arousal, making it easy to impale myself on Ryan’s cock. The stretch and the sensation of being filled by him is glorious.
Closing my eyes, I let out a throaty moan, “Ryan...”
Ryan hisses. “Peaches... you’re so fucking tight.”
I open my eyes and begin to move, slowly at first. I want to get used to his girth. I can’t believe he fucked my ass and I survived. His fingers dig into my hips, and he begins to move as well, pistoning into me every time I come down. The synchronized movements make me see stars when he hits my special spot. Ryan not having a piercing like Jake isn’t making a damn bit of difference. He’s more than capable of destroying my pussy.
“God, you’re beautiful.” He sits up suddenly and sucks one of my nipples into his mouth.
I gasp, loving this new layer of pleasure. We’re moving faster now. Ryan keeps one arm looped around my waist while I ride his cock as hard as I can. I can feel him getting harder inside of me, and I’m winding up tighter and tighter, ready to explode.
He releases my nipple to kiss me as if he’s dying and I’m his only salvation. I grab his hair, pulling at the strands. I’m gasping for air when the orgasm hits like a hurricane, sending me spinning out of control.
Ryan keeps moving faster and faster, and maybe it’s another minute before he groans against my mouth, and his dick pulses inside of me. His entire body shakes, joining mine in the frisson.
Breathing hard, he says, “I’m never happy when I have to sit out games. But I am now.”
My heart overflows with emotion. I’m still flying high, caught in post-orgasm bliss. No one could fault me if I mistake my reaction for falling in love.