44. Ryder
RYDER
My legs bounced as I watched Rosalie play the new guitar Anson had sent over. The look on her face when she’d opened it made my heart clench.
I wanted her to be that excited for me, too.
Now, she sat on the couch, playing a tune softly, singing every now and then. Sometimes she’d pause to scribble on paper before going back to the guitar.
I’d been watching her for well over an hour now, and it wasn’t getting easier. I had to take my mind off shit.
I had to tell her how I felt. It was going to drive me mad, and Klaus was right. Basically, shit or get off the pot.
Anxiety wasn’t really my thing. I’d never had it a day in my life until recently, when it came to Rosalie. I was torturing myself with her, and I really needed to put an end to it.
Fucking Cole had come over that morning and brought her a breakfast he’d made. I’d scowled at him the entire time as he gave me a smug look.
Luckily, I heard him tell her that he was on shift until tomorrow morning, so I wouldn’t have to deal with his ass for a full twenty-four hours.
And I doubted Ethan or Enzo would show up since apparently now they had our address.
“Red?” I called out.
She looked up at me. “Yeah?”
“Dinner?”
“Ooh, yeah.” She said, setting her guitar aside. “What are you thinking?”
“Lasagna?”
She came to me, smiling. “Sounds perfect.”
We set to work after that, a comfortable silence falling over us. Or maybe it was comfortable for her, but for me, it was killing me.
“How’s your song coming along?” I asked.
“I think I’m stuck on the chorus,” she said with a sigh.
“Maybe I can help after dinner,” I offered.
She gave me a smile. “I’d like that. Ani suggested that you help me too.”
Of course, he did. God, he and the guys were fucking Cupids, or at least trying to be. I appreciated their faith in this, but damn. The anxiety really was killing me.
We continued working, laughing as we layered the lasagna. Finally, it was in the oven.
I breathed out, unable to take it anymore.
She turned, a smile on her pretty face, and I took her hand and pulled her against me.
“Dance with me, Red,” I murmured.
She stared up at me as we slow-danced around the kitchen. We always had music playing, but now it was just silence, us staring at one another.
I twirled her gently, her back against my front. We swayed together for a moment, my lips at her ear. I could see the goosebumps along her skin. She smelled like heaven to me. I inhaled gently, my eyes closed as we rocked.
I could do this.
I could fucking do this.
I spun her around gently again and stared down at her. Her big green eyes peered up at me through long, thick lashes.
Fuck it. I’d never know until I tried.
Fuck, please let her feel the same.
I closed the space between us and brushed my lips against hers.
She didn’t pull away from me, but she didn’t kiss me back either. Instead, she crinkled her brows as I shifted away to assess the situation.
“Ry?” Her voice was soft.
“Red,” I answered back thickly.
“Did you… kiss me?”
“Not memorable enough to know?” I chuckled softly. “Then maybe I should do it again.” I threw caution to the wind and claimed her lips once more, this time making my intentions known.
She didn’t kiss me back for a moment, and my heart fell. I thought I had my answer, but then…
Her lips parted, and her tongue slid against mine.
I groaned softly, deepening the kiss.
I’d kissed her many years ago in a restaurant after the horsemen left her. It wasn’t anything like this, though.
That had been amazing.
This?
This was out of this world.
The kiss quickly turned heated, and I lifted her easily and placed her on the counter, our lips still fused to one another’s. I tangled my fingers in her hair, desperate for more of her.
Her hands rested on my chest, and then her fingers were in my hair.
I groaned softly again as she tugged me closer, her tongue still dancing with mine.
I ran my hands up her bare thighs and beneath her skirt. I wasn’t sure if she’d let me, but since I was just throwing caution to the wind, I went for it.
I gripped her hips tightly beneath her skirt and tugged her close to me so she could feel how hard she had my cock. She let out a soft gasp against my lips as I pressed against her pussy with my dick.
I wasn’t even sure how far to push her, but we were here, and I wanted what I wanted, so I moved her panties aside and brushed my fingers against her drenched pussy.
She gasped against my lips and broke the kiss off.
“I’m sorry,” I said immediately, swallowing hard as she stared up at me, her chest heaving. I’d pulled my hand away already, my damn heart in my throat.
“Ry?” she questioned, her throat bobbing. “Oh, my god. What did we just do? Oh god. Oh my god.”
“Hey. Hey, Rosalie. Hey.” I reached out to cradle her face, noting I’d made her cry. “Fuck, Red. Don’t cry.”
“I can’t do this. The guys—”
“They know,” I said softly. “They know how I feel.”
“What?” She frowned at me, tears still trickling down her cheeks.
“Rosalie… I-I…”
She searched me with those mesmerizing green eyes, waiting for me to make what I’d done better.
I swallowed. “The guys know. They know my feelings. They… they gave me their blessing for this.”
“They did?” she whispered.
I nodded and cradled her face. “Yeah. They told me I needed to tell you so you could put me out of my misery.”
“How do you feel?”
“Isn’t it obvious, Red? I fucking love you.” My voice shook. “I have loved you more and more with each passing day. You are in my dreams each night. And in my nightmares I’m alone without you, praying you feel even a little bit for me.”
“You love me?”
“I do,” I whispered. “So fucking much.”
She continued to stare at me wordlessly.
“Red? Say something. You’re killing me,” I said, laughing nervously.
“I…”
I held my breath, waiting for the hammer to fall and kill my ass.
“I love you too, Ry.”
I blinked at her in complete shock. Of all the things I thought she’d tell me, that wasn’t one of them.
“What? You do?”
She nodded. “Yeah. I do.”
“Fuck.” I crushed my lips against hers, and this time she didn’t hesitate to kiss me back.
If I thought the other kiss was good, this one was nothing compared to it.
This one meant forever as far as I was concerned.
I cradled her face with both hands as we kissed. She twisted her fingers in my shirt. It took me a moment to realize she was unbuttoning it, but the moment I got the hint, I said hell with it and pulled it clean over my head and tossed it to the floor.
She let out a soft little laugh before I captured her lips with mine again, this time lifting her off the counter.
The moment her legs wrapped around my waist, I knew I had to say what was on my mind.
“Red, if you don’t want me to fuck you breathless, then tell me now because I’m about to rock your world.”
She replied with a kiss, and that was it. The deal was sealed.
I took her straight to the bedroom and lay her down in bed before slowly peeling off her pretty little dress.
My hands shook as I removed it, and it only got worse as I finished undressing her, tossing her panties to the floor.
I sat back and stared down at her.
“Wow,” I murmured thickly. “Fuck, Red, you’re a gorgeous little thing.”
Her cheeks flushed pink, and she grabbed a blanket to cover herself.
“Hey,” I said gently, reaching for her. “We don’t have to if you’re nervous. I can wait.”
She came to me easily, and I raked my fingers through her soft curls.
“I want to,” she said softly. “I want you, Ry.”
I kissed her forehead fiercely. “Then you’ll have me.”
I lay her gently back onto the bed and unzipped my pants. I pushed them down my hips before kicking them off. She made to look away as I put my thumbs in the waistband of my boxers, but I reached out and turned her to face me.
“Eyes on me,” I murmured. “If I’ve seen you, then you see me.”
She stared back at me as I slowly pushed my boxers off, my cock springing free.
Her lips parted as she took me in, her cheeks pink.
I smirked at that. I knew I was a big guy, but it looked like I may have exceeded her expectations.
She cleared her throat and looked away.
I chuckled softly and moved in to kiss her again. She kissed me back, and before long, she was beneath me, her breathing heavy as I touched her like I’d been dreaming of.
I kissed along her jaw to her neck to her collarbone as I cradled her breasts. I was barely holding myself together as I trailed my lips along the soft mounds, relishing in the way her breathing picked up.
I sucked a nipple into my mouth, making her whimper. Then I did it to her other one, all while making sure my hands were still cradling her breasts.
Finally, I moved down her toned abdomen until I got to her bare pussy. Her breath caught again, and she reached for me.
“What pretty girl?” I murmured, looking up at her.
“You don’t have to,” she said softly.
I blinked at her. “Have to? Red, I’ve been dreaming of eating your pussy for a long time. I’m going to swallow you whole, baby.”
And that was all the warning she got before I was lavishing her pussy with my tongue, basking in everything she was.
Fuck, she tasted like heaven.
Such a sweet meal.
I didn’t know her body, but I knew her, so I worked with what I had. I didn’t want to come up short because she did have all the guys, and I for a fact knew Anson knew how to fuck and get her off. He’d always had game.
I sucked her clit, listening as her breathing picked up. I pushed a finger into her pussy, noting how fucking tight she was. She moaned softly, the sound doing something to me.
I’d heard her moan before through walls as I stood watch outside doors over the years while Anson fucked her.
Now it was my turn.
Her body began to tremble, so I doubled my efforts. It paid off because moments later, she was coming hard, her body shaking.
She was a squirter.
Fuck me. My first.
She came down from her orgasm, her body still trembling slightly as I moved up it.
“You’re so pretty when you come,” I murmured in her ear.
“Ry…God.”
I smiled before kissing along her jaw.
“Can you do it again for me?” I asked softly as I gently rubbed her clit. She moaned, but didn’t push me away.
Like I said.
Perfect.