Chapter 16 #2
But only with him. Only with Riley.
Then he was gone, standing to pull off his clothes, help her out of her panties and retrieve a condom from his wallet. Rolling it onto a long, thick erection, he never took his eyes off her. He came down on top of her, kissing her furiously before withdrawing slowly. “Is this still good?”
“Mmm, so good. Don’t stop.”
“I won’t stop, sweetheart.”
She loved when he called her that, especially when he looked at her with such affection as he said it. The sensation of falling, of stepping off a cliff into the unknown, overtook her as he pushed into her, stretching her to the absolute limit.
Jordan always said the lean guys came packing, and that thought, out of nowhere, almost made her laugh at the worst possible moment.
“Talk to me. Tell me you’re okay.”
“I’m okay.” She smoothed her hands over his back and down over his ass, giving a gentle tug to encourage him.
“I’m very okay.” For so long, she’d known that eventually she’d have to do this again, hopefully with someone she cared about and who cared about her.
One stroke at a time, Riley was repairing her broken heart, putting the pieces back together and bringing out emotions she’d never experienced before.
“You feel so good,” he whispered, his lips skimming over her neck. “So, so good.” Raising himself up on his muscular arms, he gazed down at her, watching over her as he made love to her.
His concern and tenderness were just what she needed to let go of her painful past to focus on a future that suddenly looked a whole lot brighter than it had in a very long time.
This, Riley thought, is life-changing, that elusive thing people talked about but couldn’t ever seem to quantify.
This had to be experienced to be fully understood.
Gazing down at her, he saw dark hair spread out on a white pillow, the olive tone of her smooth, silky skin, swollen lips, dark pink nipples and big brown eyes gazing up at him with trust and affection.
His heart filled to overflowing with emotions, all of them tied up in her.
“Nik…”
“Yes,” she said, sounding as breathless as he felt.
God, he hoped this meant as much to her as it did to him.
Her eyes closed, her lips parted, her fingers dug into the flesh of his back, and her internal muscles tightened.
Riley picked up the pace, moving faster until she cried out from the powerful release that took him along with her on the ride of his life. Afterward, he collapsed on top of her, and even his worries that he might be crushing her couldn’t seem to permeate the bliss.
Her arms around him kept him from moving as he focused on breathing and stopping his head from spinning. “Still okay?” he asked when he could speak again.
“Mmm-hmm. Very okay.”
“Very okay is very good.”
“Yes, it is.” Her hand moved in soothing strokes on his back, the gesture comforting and arousing at the same time.
He breathed in the fresh, clean scent of her, committing the fragrance to memory because he never wanted to forget a single detail of this first time with her. When he could summon the strength to move, he wrapped his arms around her and brought her with him when he turned onto his back.
Nikki reached for the down comforter and pulled it up, enveloping them in a cozy, warm cocoon that he wanted to wallow in for days.
They’d come up only for air and food. Outside, the wind continued to howl, rattling the storm windows as the icy snow pinged against the glass.
In a few hours, he’d be required to go back out and help clean up after the storm. But for right now…
He smoothed a hand over her back, reveling in the softness of her skin.
“Thank you,” she whispered after a long period of silence.
“For what?”
“For making that so perfect for me. I’ve sort of dreaded it for all this time.”
“You made it rather perfect for me, too.”
“Really?”
“Um, you couldn’t tell by my… enthusiasm?”
Her low chuckle rumbled through his chest. “You were rather enthusiastic.”
“You inspired my enthusiasm. Remember when you said you suck at this stuff?”
She gave a small nod.
“You really, really don’t.”
“That’s good to know.” Kissing his chest, she said, “Could I ask you something?”
“Anything you want.”
“Have you had… a lot of girlfriends?”
“Not really. There’ve been… How to say this?”
“Hookups?”
“Yeah, that, but not what I’d refer to as an actual girlfriend.”
“How come?”
“I never met anyone I wanted to spend that much time with, until last fall when this gorgeous girl needed my help with a leaking roof. Then she left without saying goodbye, and I was so afraid I’d never see her again.”
“I’m really glad I came back.”
He kissed her shoulder and playfully nibbled on her neck. “So am I. You have no idea how glad I am. I thought about going after you, but that would’ve required asking Mac to ask your grandmother where you were, which would’ve involved my entire family.”
She raised her head off his chest, her eyes wide with surprise. “You really thought about trying to find me?”
“I more than thought about it. I did a search for you online, but that led nowhere. Other than a few mentions of you in relation to Jordan, you don’t exist online.”
“That’s intentional. We’ve had to be really careful about people being able to find us, especially since the tape went public.
I was panic-stricken at first that all the publicity would bring back everything that happened with Griffin, but Jordan and Zane are big enough stars that the story stayed focused on them.
I kept waiting to be dragged into it, but thankfully it never happened. ”
“Thank God for that.”
“I know. Gram and I were so afraid of having to relive that nightmare yet again. There’s been some really weird stalker stuff that led Jordan to hire security for when she travels.” Her brows furrowed. “When she isn’t dodging them, that is.”
“Why would she dodge her security if people are stalking her?”
“Good question. I had to tell her detail where to find her when she took off to join Zane on tour. They were pissed, to say the least.”
“Who hired them?”
“My grandmother did, against Jordan’s wishes, but I was all for it.”
“Is it okay to say that I’m really glad you’re nowhere near the madness that is your sister’s life?”
“Yes, it’s okay to say that. I’m glad to be away from it, too. But you should know… That’s not the only reason I came here.”
“No?”
“I was also hoping to see you again. All the way across the country and on the rocky ferry ride, I just kept wondering if you’d still be here.
I didn’t know anything about you other than you were Mac’s cousin, and my grandmother adores him.
If you hadn’t come to find me, I was prepared to try to track down Mac and ask him how to get in touch with you. ”
Ridiculously moved to hear that she had been willing to go to such lengths to find him, Riley tightened his hold on her and kissed the top of her head. “I’m really glad I came over as soon as I heard you were back.”
“So am I. But now I’m kind of afraid…”
“Of what?” he asked, alarmed to hear her say she was afraid. He never wanted her to be afraid of anything ever again, even if that wasn’t possible.
“Your old boss made you a hell of an offer.”
“He’s got nothing on you.” He moved both hands down to squeeze her ass, laughing when she gasped in response. “I swear I’m not going anywhere, Nikki. Not as long as you want me here with you.”
“I’m apt to want you here with me for quite some time,” she said, squirming on top of him.
His cock went hard inside her. “Hold that thought for a second,” he said, easing her off him so he could deal with the condom—and get another one.