Chapter 13
Chapter Thirteen
SAM
The next morning, when Ryker’s alarm went off, I once again woke up pressed against his side. My blanket had probably been kicked onto the floor again, so I was naturally sharing his.
Ryker slapped his alarm off, then rolled over to face me. He scooped me into his muscular arms and gave me a tight squeeze as he wrapped his entire body around me. We stayed like that for a few minutes, his breaths deep and gentle, while I tried to keep mine even, pretending that I was still asleep.
This had become our morning ritual, one that I very much looked forward to, and today was the last morning I’d get to indulge in our secret cuddle session.
As always, Ryker slipped out of bed and tucked me back under the covers again before he padded out of the room. It was only when the sound of the shower started did I dare to peek my eyes open.
Gray’s amber pupils stared at me, probably judging me for being a creeper who enjoyed this cuddle time with his daddy a little too much. That or he was annoyed that Ryker getting out of bed had jostled him from his own cuddling.
Gray’s eyes glowed in the dim early morning light as he stalked toward me, very slowly, as if the slower he went, the more he blended into the background. Newsflash: it was hard for a cat this big not to be noticed, but he didn’t seem aware of that.
A second later, he made the slow climb over my body and turned around a few times until he found the perfect position right on top of my chest. I’d learned over the past week that this was Gray’s preferred spot, and Gray didn’t give a rat’s ass if his own fat ass might suffocate us.
I groaned but allowed him to stay in place. The little cutie was too hard to resist, much like his sexy daddy…
And as if summoned by the evil devil that was my wicked thoughts, the very man himself sneaked back into the room. He didn’t bother turning on the light as he walked to his dresser, but that didn’t stop me from making out the defined muscles on his back in the shadow of the early morning.
He looked like a fucking wet dream standing there with his back to me, naked except for the towel wrapped low on his waist. I held my breath, half-wishing the towel would drop and let me catch a glimpse of those tight glutes, but I also feared what the sight might do to me. I was already slightly out of breath with Gray pressing on my lungs and seeing Ryker like this threatened to take the rest of my breath away.
I squeezed my eyes shut to keep my naughty mind from imagining what lay underneath that white towel. Just in time, too, as I heard the soft plop of fabric land on the carpet.
I will not creep on my roommate .
I repeated in my head, and it took every single ounce of willpower to keep from sneaking a peak at Ryker in all his naked glorious form, but I managed to keep my lids firmly shut and my curiosity boxed away.
My breathing was shallow as rustling filled the room from Ryker’s dressing. A minute later, the sound inched closer, and even with my eyes closed, I could sense he was walking in our direction.
It was another one of his routines. After he changed, he’d always return to bed and say goodbye to Gray, telling him to be a good boy and that he’d miss him.
The sweet action was completely unexpected but also totally like him at the same time. There was no doubt Ryker loved his cat like it was his own child, and that fact made me like him just that tiny bit more.
Not that I needed even more reason to like him.
I felt the bed shift as Ryker cooed to his cat. I peeked my eyes open just a sliver to see him reach over to stroke Gray’s chin. His purring became so loud, I felt the vibrations all the way to my toes.
He chuckled, the sound deep and low, and shooting straight toward my groin. I squeezed my lids tight again, willing away the desire that was building in the pit of my stomach.
Why did Ryker have to be so sexy?
It was a question I found myself asking pretty often during this past week of living with him.
It was only after Ryker left for work and I heard the front door shut that I finally let out my unsteady breath.
“I’m in trouble, aren’t I?” I thought out loud to Gray. Those amber eyes peered at me for a brief second and then I swore on my life: the freaking cat nodded!
It was a hot shot to my system and had me jumping out of Ryker’s bed instead of curling up and soaking in his faint scent that’d lingered on his sheets like I’d done the past few days. I really needed some fresh air, and to just not be here right now, so I headed to Gramps’.
I’d spent the rest of the morning hanging out with Junior and Gramps while Lana was away at work. Junior had regained his energy, laughing and cooing at everything in sight. He didn’t look like a baby who’d gone to the clinic with a fever just last week.
While Gramps took a quick nap after lunch, I set on the very important task of teaching my nephew to say “unckie” as his first word. Junior did not understand the seriousness of the situation and babbled and laughed the entire lesson. I couldn’t even be mad at him ’cause he was so cute.
When Gramps woke, I headed back to the apartment. The mattress company had sent a notification that they were out for delivery.
I arrived back at the apartment just as a truck pulled up. A bulky man saw me exit my car and waved toward me.
“You Sam?” he asked.
“That’s me. I’m right upstairs. Let me get the door for you,” I said and pointed to my unit on the second floor.
Another man walked out of the passenger side of the truck and helped the first man carry the mattress up the stairs. I followed them back to the parking lot and watched as they unloaded the plastic-wrapped mattress from the back of the truck. The mattress was a queen size, smaller than Ryker’s king, but it was big enough for just me.
I was very unhelpful as I stood by and watched them slowly lug my new bed up the stairs. At that moment, Annabelle’s front door opened, and our little landlady appeared.
“Afternoon,” I greeted her with a smile.
Annabelle returned the smile, glanced at the delivery truck, then at the two men who had gotten the mattress onto the second floor clearing.
“Are you two all right, dearie?” Annabelle asked with a frown.
“Of course. Why wouldn’t we be?” I replied.
“Well, did you and Ryker get into an argument recently?” she asked, the concern apparent on her face.
I frowned with her, unsure why she would think Ryker and I were fighting, and then hit me…
Ryker and I were supposed to be a loving couple, and loving couples usually slept together. And now here she was, catching me red-handed while I was having a new bed delivered.
Things have been going so well that I thought we were in the clear and had gotten away with our little lie. But I’ve been terribly wrong. I fucked up, and now our first tribulation arrived.
“Oh, no. It’s not what you think. I…I ordered the bed for the guest room so that my sister and nephew could come spend the night if they wanted to!” I spouted the first lie that popped into my mind.
Sweat trickled down my back as I stood frozen under Anabelle’s hard scrutiny.
“Just thought Gramps would want some time alone every once in a while, you know?” I added with a laugh.
Annabelle had her gray eyebrow raised as she continued to examine me. Just when I thought our cover was fully blown, and I’d ruined everything, Annabelle laughed lightly.
“Why, that’s just wonderful to hear, dearie,” she said and took a step closer to me. She held a hand up to her mouth as if sharing a secret with me. I leaned forward to hear what she had to say. “If we’re being honest, I’ve been a bit…concerned about you and Ryker’s relationship.”
“I’m telling you, there’s nothing to be concerned about. Me and Ryker? We’re as in love as two lovebirds can be,” I rambled.
Annabelle didn’t look too convinced. “Not to pry, dearie, but I’ve noticed a lack of late-night …activities . I’m sure Gina mentioned it to you as well, the thin walls, I mean. At first, I figured you two were tired from the move. But then I thought to myself, a young couple living together for the first time and not a single bed squeak or pounding of the walls. Well, I know me and my late husband could barely keep our hands to ourselves back in our day, so that has to mean one thing…”
Her gaze turned from knowing to sorrowful.
“It’s okay, dearie. I understand. It’s not easy to have some difficulties ,” she said, casting another pitiful glance towards my privates.
My hand discreetly covered my front to block her view, while my jaw dropped so low it might as well hit the floor.
Most landlords would be issuing a noise complaint if their tenants’ late-night activities have gotten too loud, yet here Annabelle was worried that Ryker and I weren’t getting it on enough. Moreover, she somehow concluded the only reason she wasn’t hearing any sex noises was because I had an issue with my downstairs equipment.
I was mortified, and in full disbelief that I was having this conversation with somebody my gramps’ age.
“I…I’m perfectly healthy, thank you very much,” I sputtered.
“It’s fine, dearie. There’s nothing I haven’t seen at my age. You don’t have to hide it from me,” she says sympathetically.
“I’m not hiding anything, because there is nothing to hide! I’m a perfectly healthy man with a perfectly normal libido!”
Annabelle still looked skeptical but didn’t push. “All right, dearie. You let me know if you need anything now,” she said, then turned to leave to do whatever the hell she had planned to do besides question my sexual function.
I was so flabbergasted by the entire situation that my feet stayed planted right there until the two men from the mattress company came back down after finishing their task. They quickly handed me the receipt, then hightailed it out of there, probably frightened by my crazed expression.
Holy fuck.
The entire town was going to think I had erectile dysfunction or something. I could already imagine it.
Annabelle going into town, meeting up with the local gossips, and telling them about me and Ryker’s dead bed life. Word was sure to spread around like wildfire until every single person in town knew me as the poor Monroe boy who couldn’t get it up.
I spent the entire afternoon trying and failing to focus on work. Instead, my mind kept replaying the interaction with Annabelle, and I knew something had to be done about it.
My head flew toward the front door at the first sound of the jiggling of keys. Ryker entered, looking a little tired and sweaty, but he had a sun-kissed glow that, if this was any other time, I would have been dazzled by. But right now, I was still worked up from this afternoon.
I sprung up from my seat at the dining table to meet Ryker and pulled him the rest of the way inside. He barely managed to pull the key from the doorknob and hopped to keep himself from falling as I pulled him along. At least he had the foresight to kick the door closed as he followed me.
“Whoa, there. What’s the emergency?” he asked, naturally confused by my actions.
“We need to have sex,” I said, leaving no room for argument.
“Wait what?”
“Sex. You and me. Getting frisky in the sheets,” I stated.
Ryker’s jaw was hanging, probably as low as mine was earlier today. The blush I found ever so adorable made its appearance again, crawling up his neck and bleeding into his sun-kissed skin.
It was only then that I realized I’d been so anxious that I was leaving out some very important keywords.
I used my fingers to press my eyelids, trying to calm myself. “What I meant to say was that we need to pretend to have sex.”
Ryker was no less confused, but he wasn’t frozen in shock anymore.
“Back up. Why don’t you tell me where this is all coming from?”
And so I did. I told him about my poorly timed encounter with Annabelle right when my mattress was being delivered. I told him what she said, and how she’d implied that I might have some medical issues that prevented us from expressing our love physically.
Ryker tried to hold back his smile when I finished my story, but I didn’t miss the way his lips curved up.
“This isn’t a laughing matter,” I grumbled and crossed my arms to prove just how upset I was by the situation.
My appearance must have been so funny, because suddenly Ryker wasn’t holding back anymore. The damn broke and loud laughs echoed in the living room.
“It’s not funny!” I yelled, pounding a fist into his chest. His damn chest was so hard that he probably didn’t even feel the hit. Ryker continued laughing his ass off, and I used my other fist to launch another attack. Before I could pull my hand back, Ryker captured it against his chest.
The amusement was still clear in his eyes, but at least he wasn’t laughing out loud anymore.
“Who cares what a little old lady thinks?” Ryker said, eyes softening as he looked at me.
“It won’t be just her. You and I both know the town basically lives for gossip,” I grumbled.
“Then I’ll go down tomorrow and tell Annabelle that I’m the reason we’re not having sex.”
“Wait a second… Do you hate the idea of having fake sex with me so much that you would rather tell Annabelle and practically the entire town that you have issues with your dick?”
The amusement quickly faded from his expression. “You know that’s not what I mean. I just don’t think we have to put ourselves in an awkward situation to prove something to others.”
I continued accusing him.
“Just admit it,” I demanded. “Just admit you find me disgusting.”
“Sam, I don’t find you disgusting,” Ryker said, now sounding exasperated.
“Yeah? Then prove it.”
“This is ridiculous, Sam.”
A rational part of me knew I was worked up over some silly little words, and that I was making a big deal out of nothing, but after stewing over this anxiety all afternoon and now Ryker being all defensive about performing a little act with me in bed, rational Sam had completely left the room.
Ryker let go of my fist to run a hand through his short brown locks. I took a step closer to him until our chests were pressed against each other. This close, I was forced to look up at his face.
“This week must have been torturous for you,” I accused.
“What?”
“Having to share your bed with me. You must’ve hated every second of it, but you were too nice to take back your offer of letting me sleep in your bed.”
“No, Sam?—”
“Lucky for you, my bed’s here now, so you won’t have to spend another night with me,” I said, then turned to escape to my room with my tail between my legs.
I’d been embarrassed as hell when Annabelle insinuated that I might have a problem in the sheets, but nothing could compare to the humiliation caused by Ryker’s rejection.
Before I succeeded in making my escape, Ryker grabbed my arm to stop me. I shouted in protest, telling him to let me go, but it fell on deaf ears.
Ryker—damn him—used his beautiful muscles against me and pulled me toward his room. He didn’t even give me the illusion that I could resist. He dragged me, and didn’t stop until he pushed me on top of his bed.
I landed with a soft oomph . The pillows we used last night softening my fall.
“What are you?—”
Ryker steadied one knee on the mattress as he crawled until he was completely over me. His hands landed on either side of my body, boxing me in.
He leaned down, and then suddenly he was all in my space.
“Is this enough to prove to you just how much I didn’t dislike you in my bed?” he said, voice low and husky.
I gulped as I watched him get closer…until I was able to catch a whiff of his scent. Nature and wood filled my senses, along with the musk of a man who had worked hard. It shouldn’t have been sexy, but the intoxicating scent was doing something to my head.
Having just come back from a long day of work, traces of dirt were staining parts of his skin. Dried flakes ran a streak down the side of his neck, and I wondered what he did to get it there.
I wanted to reach out and wipe his skin clean for him, but before I could, I caught the almost suffocating look in Ryker’s eyes.
“If I could,” Ryker said throatily. His voice was a rasp of his usual self. “I’d call the damn mattress company and tell them to take your damn bed away just so I can keep you in mine.”
The confession was a shot straight through my chest and had a confusing mix of emotions washing through me.
He couldn’t possibly mean what I thought he meant…right?
Straight people said gay things all the time—at least that’s what my gay college friends had told me. I couldn’t get my hopes up because of that, but then he leaned in even closer until his lips settled by my ear and his breath against my skin sent a shiver through me.
“If you want to make the wall shake so hard that the entire building knows what we’re up to, then you better be prepared to cry all pretty for me, honey .”
The use of the same term of endearment I’d been using on him sounded completely different on his lips.
Ryker didn’t plan on making it easy for me. He gathered my hands and placed them over my head, using one of his to keep them captive. Even under him like this, completely at his mercy, with those predatory eyes drilling into me, I didn’t feel any fear. I now knew Ryker well enough to know he’d never hurt a fly. Instead, my pants started filling with need.
Ryker shot me a damn sexy smirk that told me he knew exactly what he was doing. I opened my mouth to give him a piece of my mind, but before I can get any words out, Ryker pulled my legs so they’re on either side of him and ground the lower half of his body hard against me.
I cried out, mostly from shock, but also from the delicious pressure the action made against my hard cock. I knew I wasn’t the only one affected by the movement, too.
Something hard pressed against my erection, but I didn’t have time to ponder on it before Ryker was moving again. Another hard thrust sent another thrill of friction down my spine. Ryker’s wooden bed frame shook and pounded against the wall.
He hadn’t been lying about making the wall shake.
Ryker used his free hand to cup my hip. His finger gripped so tightly I knew there would be marks after this.
That thought worked me up even more. Being marked by him. A reminder I was his , at least for a moment.
I was still bound by his hands and underneath him completely to his will, but that didn’t mean I was just going to lie there and take it.
I thrust my hips up, meeting him just as he ground down again. Another delicious wave of pleasure rippled through me. Ryker’s eyes pierced into mine, and the raw need in them had me whimpering.
“Please…” I begged, for what I didn’t know, but I did know that I needed more. This was all supposed to be pretend, but I selfishly wished I could feel him closer. I wanted our layers of clothes off and to really feel the heat of his skin.
“We shouldn’t,” he whispered. I didn’t know whether he was trying to convince me or himself.
“I want to. Please,” I begged again. I ground up again and tried to get closer to him, but it wasn’t enough.
“Fuck,” Ryker cursed. His grip on my hip tightened. I could see the battle warring in his eyes, so I saw the exact moment he gave in to the desire.
I didn’t care if he was caught up in the moment, knowing that he wanted this, too, was giving life to hope that I shouldn’t be indulging. But I pushed that problem into the back of my mind for me to worry about later and focused on enjoying this moment.
Ryker released my hand to push down the sweats I was wearing. I followed suit and unbuckled his jeans. He still had his work boots on, which was my fault, considering I was on him before he could even get through the front door.
But a little dirt never hurt nobody.
I was anxious to get his cock out of his underwear, but I only got a brief glimpse of it before Ryker took both of us in his hand.
His erection felt velvety against mine and contrasted with the rough calluses of Ryker’s hand. The different sensations only heightened my need as Ryker stroked us dry, only using our precum as lubricant.
It was a sloppy hand job at best, but that didn’t matter. Not when the hottest man in town was making the sexiest face I’d ever seen as he stroked us off. It wasn’t going to take much to get me over, and I was just going to have to accept that.
Ryker looked like he wasn’t too far off, either. He leaned down, and for a split second, I thought he was going to kiss me.
Was I ready to get kissed by Ryker? That was a question I couldn’t answer, but did I want to be kissed by him?
Hell, yes!
But instead of going for my lips, he leaned lower to nibble gently on my neck and licked a stripe down to the base of my neck, where he bit down harder. The action caught me by surprise and a loud moan escaped me as I shot into his fist.
Ryker wasn’t far behind. His breath burned as he released his own loud moans onto my skin.
I think it was safe to say the entire building knew what we were up to.