Chapter Thirteen
Melting into the mattress, I let out a soft moan as Ryder drops kisses all over my naked body. His tongue circles my navel, and the next thing I know, it’s between my legs again. Wow. The man certainly knows how to make me lose control.
I’m definitely not in the habit of giving it up or handing it over so easily.
But he makes me want to let go and enjoy the moment.
For once, I don’t want to think about yesterday and what I could’ve done differently, or worry about what I need to do tomorrow.
No, right now I merely want to be in the present.
To soak up these precious moments with Ryder.
I came so close to running off, and I would have if he hadn’t shown up at my door.
It seems like our adventure together is about to continue to Africa.
And while the prospect of finding such an incredible trove is tantalizing, I can’t pretend I’m also not looking forward to spending more time with him.
Another release slams through me, and I’m panting hard when he pulls back. With a pained expression and low curse, he mutters, “I don’t have protection.’’
“Top drawer,” I murmur. “Although they’re probably expired.”
He reaches over, pulls the drawer open and rummages around. With a smirk, he triumphantly lifts a foiled packet. “Thank Christ. Otherwise, I would’ve been running out to the drugstore with a massive hard-on.” Squinting, he checks the date. “Not expired.”
“Shocking,” I admit. “It’s, ah, been a while.”
“Time to change that.” He unbuttons his jeans. “And if it makes you feel any better—same.”
I’m so curious about him, and I shift onto my elbows. “I’m surprised you don’t have a girlfriend.”
“I’m surprised you don’t have a boyfriend.”
“Really? If you haven’t noticed, I usually wear disguises, and I never let myself get close to anyone except my marks. And that’s for a very brief time.”
He pauses after unzipping. “You let me get close. And, trust me, I notice everything about you.”
A wave of panic slices through me. I’ve allowed him to see far too much of the real me. Getting close means possibly getting hurt. Maybe it’s time to pull back and just focus on the physical. God knows, I need to get laid. I can feel my walls starting to rise, feel fear setting in.
“Delaney,” he whispers, “if you want to know the truth, I haven’t had a girlfriend since college.
I’m a thirty-three-year-old bachelor who’d rather build shit in his office or hang out with his friends than wade back into the dating pool.
I’ve had casual hook-ups over the years, but there’s been no one special. At least, not until I met you.”
My heart ricochets around in my chest. “You don’t have to tell me sweet nothings to get into my pants, Ryder. My knickers are long gone.”
“That’s not what I’m doing.” He stretches out, covering my body with his bigger one, but taking care to keep his full weight off me.
“This isn’t a game,” he murmurs, tracing his finger along my cheek and down my jawline.
“I’ve had my eye on you for a while now.
You intrigued me as Bella, and now that the disguises are off, I’m fully fascinated.
I’d like to get to know you better. The real you. ”
As much as I’d like that, too, I don’t say anything back. I never knew my mother, but it’s a loss I felt keenly growing up. And after losing my dad, I was never so alone. The idea of letting someone else get close—close enough to love—and then losing them too? It would devastate me.
It’s best to keep things light. It’s not a game, it’s self-preservation.
“How about less talk and more action, Mr. McKay.” I slide my hand between our bodies and cup his hard cock through the denim. My experience might be total shite when it comes to a man pleasing me during sex, but I have full faith in Ryder. I think if anyone can fuck me right, it’s him.
Ryder drops his head and groans. “You have no idea how much I like your hands on me,” he growls.
“Take your pants off.” I squeeze, and he kisses me hard before pulling back. Between blinks, he’s shucked his pants and boxers. My attention zeroes in on his very large cock, standing straight up, and I squeeze my thighs together in anticipation. It’s a lot, but I’m up for the challenge.
Mesmerized, I watch him roughly pump himself a couple of times then roll the condom on.
In a flash, he’s back on the bed, and I part my legs, eagerly wrapping them around his waist. He drags his sheathed cock through my wet folds, notching himself at my entrance.
Digging my nails into his shoulders, I pull in a sharp breath as he begins to push inside.
My body stretches, getting used to his size, and I do my best not to tense.
Once he’s fully seated, he pauses. “Delaney?” I open my eyes. “Are you okay?”
I nod hard, arching up and taking him deeper. We both groan, and he begins to move, thrusting in and out. His pace and rhythm couldn’t be more perfect, and when he reaches down and begins rubbing my swollen clit, I lose the last shreds of my control.
My entire world shifts as the orgasm rockets through me.
A cry erupts from my throat, and I scratch my nails down his back, round my hands over his tight ass and squeeze.
He pulls out, adjusts my hips and plunges deep again, chasing after his release.
Pumping hard and fast. Bracing on his elbows, hands fisted on either side of my head, he locks gazes with me as he comes.
Something passes between us. Something inexplicable. Something I’ve never felt before. I’m lost in his molten brown eyes, unable to look away as the bliss consumes him, and they dilate with pleasure before rolling back in his head.
“Fuckkkk,” he groans and drops his face into the curve of my shoulder, burying his nose in my long hair. “Oh, God, Delaney. Fuck.”
His warm breath fills my ear, tickling it, and I’m still panting almost as hard as he is. “You can say that again,” I whisper, and he lets out a hoarse laugh. For a long moment, neither of us moves. It’s like we want to stay frozen in time, savoring our connection.
But then he kisses my neck and pulls out. “I’ll be right back.”
I watch him pad over to the bathroom, presumably to take care of the condom, and I release a shaky sigh.
After covering up with the sheet, I prop my back against the pillows and try to wrap my head around what just happened.
But I can’t. I don’t understand any of the foreign feelings washing over me.
All I know is I like it all far too much.
So much that I’m already hoping we can do it again. Very soon.
When Ryder strolls back in, naked body on full display, my mouth waters. Oh, my God. When did I become such a wanton woman? I guess after finding a man who knows how to give me orgasms. Three, in fact.
Three and counting, that wanton part of me thinks.
He has a shit-eating grin on his face. “See something you like, my little English rose?”
“As a matter of fact, I do.” Pushing away from the stack of pillows, I crawl over to the bed’s edge, dragging the sheet with me.
Boldly reaching out, I wrap my hands around his cock and begin stroking it.
His head falls back, hips lightly thrusting, as I work his impressive cock back to full mast. “You have quite the stamina,” I tease.
“Baby, I’m always hard around you.” He stares down at me, chest rising and falling hard. “What would you like to do next? You going to wrap those pretty lips around me?”
I flick my tongue against his tip in answer, and the muscles in his abs seem to quiver. “Is that what you want? Me to suck until you blow?”
“I want it more than anything,” he rasps, sliding his hand through my hair.
Opening my mouth wide, I take his cock between my lips and suck him to the back of my throat. A shudder tears through his body and his fingers twist hard through my hair. His hips start to move, lightly thrusting, as I continue to suck and lick and tease.
“Delaney,” he warns, trying to pull back, but I don’t let him. I can tell he’s on the verge, and, more than anything, I want him to mark me. To let go completely and come on me like I came on him earlier.
With a pop of suction, I draw back. At the same time, I drop the sheet, exposing myself. “Do it… please. On me.”
An unholy light blazes to life in his dark eyes as he grabs his cock and explodes, covering my breasts with his warm release. I drag my fingers through the sticky warmth, circling it over my nipples. My pussy pulses and my mouth drops open, disbelief washing over me. I think…
I cry out and arch as another orgasm hits me out of nowhere.
Ryder grabs me, pushing me back onto the bed and kisses me hard, his hand sliding between my legs. His fingers circle my clit, drawing the pleasure out until I’m screaming into his mouth. He gentles his caress, leaving me a shaking mass of limbs and confusion.
“How?” I’m at a loss. “You didn’t even touch me…”
He’s looking at me so intently, like he’s staring into my soul. “Maybe I did touch you.” I frown, not understanding, until he lays a hand over my heart.
Oh, God. He means he touched my heart. No, no, no. I can’t fall in love with him.
“We are not doing anything as stupid as falling in love, Ryder McKay,” I tell him, voice fierce. “I forbid it.”
His lips twitch, and I punch his shoulder.
“This isn’t funny!” I declare, starting to panic.
“Stop analyzing everything, baby,” he practically purrs. “Just… feel.”
I swallow hard, melting a little as he kisses me passionately. It soothes my nerves and sets me at ease. He seems to have figured out how to make me unwind.
“I think we should move this to the shower,” he suggests. “I made a bit of a mess on you.”
My cheeks heat up. I have no idea what came over me. Well, I know who did, but that’s not the point. This man sets me on fire. Somehow, he found the button that turns my sexy on, and I’m not complaining. That switch has been broken for a very long time.
Before I realize it, he also manages to convince me to meet his team.
To be fair, I’m pressed against the tiles, wet and vulnerable, and he’s balls-deep.
I’m not exactly in my right frame of mind as he edges me toward another orgasm, and my feeble attempt at putting up a fight loses out when he threatens to withhold letting me finish.
My body refuses to let that happen, and I end up promising to do whatever he wants as long as he lets me come.
He gives me a wicked smile, adds his fingers exactly where I need, and I shatter with a scream.
Sneaky man.
So that’s how I end up here at the A-Squared office the next morning.
I’m not exactly thrilled about it, and now that I’ve had a chance to recover, my guard is firmly in place.
I don’t know Ryder’s friends on a personal level, and I certainly don’t trust them.
They’ve always been my rivals, and I’ve managed to learn enough about this group to stay on my toes and be wary.
The way they’re looking at me right now as we walk into the conference room and sit down at a large round table tells me they’re very concerned about their friend hanging out with a bad influence. Inwardly, I roll my eyes, reminding myself these people are all thieves, too.
Or, at least, they used to be.
And for the first time, I’m not wearing some kind of disguise. Hell, I’m barely wearing makeup. Right now, I’m allowing them to see what I really look like. No wig covering my dark hair, no contacts making my eyes dry and itchy. Just me. Just Delaney.
My focus shifts to Cole Vaughn, a former police detective and Addison Mills’s new fiancé. I’m still not sure how these two complete opposites managed to fall in love and make it work, but I can’t miss the way he looks at her, and how she flushes under his constant and doting attention.
Addison—or Addie, as I’ve heard Ryder call her—is the boss.
A gorgeous blonde with direct cobalt-blue eyes.
She’s a fierce badass, extremely crafty and intelligent.
Cole sits on her right, and Knox Beckett takes the seat on her other side.
Knox is a charmer who, a lot like me, relies on his smooth-talking nature and good looks.
And then there’s the incredibly beautiful woman who drops down in a chair beside me.
Brighton Leroux. Total sex bomb. Her long-lashed, emerald-green eyes flick from me to Ryder, and I can’t miss the hint of a smirk curving her bright red lips. I’m not sure why she looks so amused.
But there’s not a trace of amusement on the last man in their crew.
Lincoln Decker, their muscle and safecracker, appears the least happy about my presence.
His deep scowl only makes his face look more rugged, and I avoid making eye contact with him because the former MMA champ has that intimidating glower down to an art.
Despite the coolness in the room, the moment Ryder presses his knee against mine, I know he has my back.
Other than my dad, no man has ever gone out of his way to protect or reassure me like Ryder is doing right now.
His concern that I’m comfortable is sweet and I feel cracks splintering through my walls.
Careful, Delaney, I warn myself. You can’t trust these people.
That old saying—keep your friends close, but your enemies closer—fills my head.
And that’s exactly what I plan on doing.
I’m still learning to trust Ryder, so it’s going to take time for me to warm up to this group and vice versa.
But that doesn’t mean I can’t pull a page from Knox’s handbook and turn on the charisma.
Because deep down? The raw truth is I’d like nothing more than for Ryder’s friends to like me. To look past what they think they know about Bella Diamond. And to accept me for who I really am.