Chapter 15
Later that evening…
Stephanie had spent the afternoon by herself, rehashing the fight with Ries, and coming to the conclusion that she was penalizing him for having a past.
She felt terrible about her behavior – but also about his treatment of her. She knew he only wanted to protect her and that she meant a great deal to him – but she couldn’t stand being dependent on someone else.
She couldn’t stand the distance between them. After she ate supper alone, she went searching for the only man to ever stir her heart so deeply.
She found him in his room, reclining on the bed and flipping through the television channels. She observed him from the doorway, an idea forming in her mind. She yearned for the closeness they had experienced right after he’d gotten shot.
She knew he was still a little sore but he’d not taken any pain meds all day today. It meant he was clear headed and she decided she needed answers.
She needed to know if the intimacy and sexual chemistry she’d experienced with Ries had been a temporary situation or if there was something there that might be worth saving.
She backed out of the doorway and returned to the guest room she’d been using the last several days.
She freshened up in the bathroom, removed her bra and donned the button-down shirt she’d borrowed from his closet several days before.
She left her skimpy lace thong on but removed her leggings and her socks.
She brushed out her hair, leaving it down around her shoulders and unbuttoned two more buttons on the shirt, ensuring that her audience would have a tantalizing glimpse of her unfettered breasts with each step she took.
She returned to his room and slowly approached the bed. Ries looked up and his eyes instantly filled with heat. She felt sexy beneath his stare, and when he slid to the side of the bed, she found herself slowing her steps and toying with the buttons at the top of his shirt.
The hem of the shirt brushed against the top of her thighs with each step she took, her pulse sped up, and memories of being loved by Ries assailed her.
She paused a few steps away from him and bit her bottom lip as doubts entered her mind. Ries had been acting so cold toward her, and then with the snap of his fingers he could switch gears and he was the most attentive and passionate man she’d ever met.
Ries was only wearing a pair of black silk boxers, and when she glanced down, she could see the evidence of his desire for her, but then as she raised her eyes up, she caught sight of the healing wound in his shoulder.
He was no longer wearing the sling and only a small bandage covered the wound now.
“How are you feeling?” she asked, gesturing toward his shoulder.
Ries glanced at it and then smiled at her, getting to his feet and closing the distance between them. He brushed the back of his fingers over her cheek and then cupped her jaw, tilting her head up as he took possession of her lips.
Long moments later, he skimmed his lips over her jaw and down her neck, nibbling at the tender cord where her neck and shoulder met before venturing lower.
Stephanie gasped when he skimmed his hands down her sides before bringing them back up and cupping her breasts through the thin fabric of the shirt. She reached for him, squeezing his sides and then she placed her lips on his chest.
She skimmed her mouth over his collar bones, moving a step closer so that his erection brushed against her lower stomach, making them both groan with need.
Stephanie let her fingers brush the waistband of his boxers, and when he released one of her breasts and delved beneath the shirt, she followed her instincts and started pushing his boxers off.
Ries answered her move by unbuttoning her shirt and sliding it off her shoulders and gently removing her thong, leaving her completely naked, just as he was.
Stephanie slowly worked him back toward the mattress, using her hands, teeth, lips and tongue to seduce him as he did the same to her.
Their breaths were mingling and when his thighs hit the mattress, he deftly turned them and then lowered her down, coming up over the top of her and settling between her thighs.
Her wet center surrounded him, and Stephanie arched up against him, but Ries wouldn’t be hurried. He whispered Greek words in her ears, starting at her temple and working his way down her body with kisses and caresses.
“Ries,” she murmured when he ventured down and latched onto one hard nipple, sucking on her so that she felt the movement of his mouth to her core.
“Shush, let me love you. I know these last few days have been hard, I wanted to keep you safe.”
Stephanie arched against him as he moved his hand between them and sought entrance to her wet heat. “That feels so good.”
“You are everything that is sweet, and good…much too good for someone like me, but I can’t let you go. You are so sexy.”
Stephanie soaked up his praise, letting it soothe her battered soul and smooth the doubts away. She started to reach between them, thinking to learn more about his body but Ries chuckled and then grabbed her fingers before she could touch him.
“Not yet, agapi?méni?. I want to make this last,” Ries whispered near her ear. He continued moving her arm up until it was lying on the pillow above her head. He kissed her and murmured, “Leave your arm right there.”
“Ries?” she questioned him, when he did the same with her other arm, crossing her wrists and then sitting up so that he was on his knees between her thighs.
He skimmed his hands up and down her sides, moving his thumbs and palms ever closer to her breasts, but circling them and never quite touching her where she wanted his touch most. Not until he had her writhing in pleasure.
When he placed his hands on her nipples, squeezing the tips just until she arched and began to moan in pain, pleasure arched through Stephanie and she was sure she could orgasm just from his touch alone.
Ries seemed to sense how close to the edge she was and he backed off, skimming his hands over her torso again, this time his aim was much lower. He moved his body down with his hands, spreading her thighs until the back of her knees were riding on his shoulders.
“Ries, I don’t want to hurt you,” she reached for him, starting to move her legs, but Ries gave her a stern look and nipped the inside of her thigh. “Stephanie, put your arms back and hold still. You won’t hurt me.”
“But…”
“Trust me to take you where you need to go. To where we both want to go,” he watched her until she returned her hands over her head and relaxed her leg muscles.
Only then did he use his mouth and fingers to drive her to the brink, time and time again, always pulling back just before her body was ready to splinter into a million pieces.
Stephanie was on a rollercoaster and each time he pulled back from letting her come, she grew more frantic with need until she was a shivering mass of pleasure mixed with the pain of denial.
“Ries, I don’t want…”
“Shush,” he moved back up her body and kissed her roughly before sliding to the side of her thigh and abruptly turning her over so that she was lying on her stomach.
When Stephanie automatically pushed her hands against the mattress, Ries slapped her butt and then covered her with his body, pulling her back so that she was on her hands and knees, and holding her with firm hands when she tried to change position.
Stephanie was so shocked that Ries had spanked her, she couldn’t even find her words. When he pulled her hips back to his own and entered her roughly, she gasped and all thoughts about his actions were pushed aside as he took them both to paradise.
He moved within her, setting up a pounding rhythm and urging her to let go and come with him.
Stephanie, on a tight wire of emotion and pleasure for the last hour, was helpless to do anything but comply and a few thrusts later, she screamed his name as she rocketed toward the stars and shivered in his arms.
Ries held her up as he thrust a few more times, groaning her name as he too found his release in her body. They stayed that way for a long time.
As her wits came back to her, she felt him gently clean her up with a warm washcloth, ignoring her feeble protest and urging her to rest for a bit. Stephanie was still on a pleasure high when Ries quietly left the bedroom and she lay there for a long time.
Her mind slowly coming back to reality as doubts and questions surfaced.
Ries has never been like that before, but he seemed to expect my participation with his dominant behavior. I wonder if he was like that with all of the other women who came before me? Did they like it and that’s why he thought it was okay to treat me like that without even asking?
She had to admit she had enjoyed it – but it also put her in mind of other things. Where had he developed those skills? Did he have a ‘protocol’ he simply used on every woman he came across? What else might he do without asking her?
She rolled over to her side and hugged the pillow close, inhaling his scent and frowning when her body clenched in renewed need.
“Down girl, we’ve had enough for one night.”
No matter the answers to her questions, she had to admit that she’d liked it. A lot.
Ries left the bedroom, grabbing his robe off the chair on his way out and headed for the bedroom at the end of the hall.
For the last few days, he’d been putting distance between himself and Stephanie. Not because he wanted to but because he knew if he didn’t, he wouldn’t be able to keep her safe and protected. He needed to be able to say ‘no’ to her – even if she had saved his life.
If she disobeyed his orders again, Ries knew, it could very easily end differently. He would never forget the terror that seized him as he felt bullets whizz past, so close to Stephanie’s body beside his.
He had been doing so well. He had not caved into her demands or let himself be swayed by her anger at his refusal. He had felt almost capable of handling her in the way that was most important: keeping her safe.
Yet all of that had just been blown out of the water. By her.
Why?
That was the question that he couldn’t ignore or answer. He’d known Stephanie was hurt and angered by the way he’d been treating her, and yet, she’d come to him with the intent of seducing him.
Old insecurities sounded in his brain, reminding him that women who acted like Stephanie had tonight only did so because they were afraid of losing his good favor.
The thought that she might have had an ulterior motive for coming to his room tonight diminished the joy they’d found in one another’s arms. It put a bad taste in Ries’ mouth and brought back doubts he’d hoped were gone.