3. Sariya
sariya
. . .
Dammit,he was kissing her again.
He hadn’t kissed her like this in seven years and Sariya swore it felt like just yesterday when she’d melted in this man’s arms and spread her legs for him. Surely, she wasn’t about to do that again, was she?
With one hand on her ass, holding her firmly against his burgeoning arousal, Ro moved his other hand up until it was cupping the back of her head, again maintaining all the control. She was trapped in his embrace, her own hands moving up and down his back, her head tilting to the side as he deepened the kiss. His tongue mastering her mouth in that memory-clearing way she hated but loved at the same damn time.
But this wasn’t what she was supposed to be doing here. Hadn’t they come to his house to discuss business? If her bones weren’t in danger of dissolving as a result of this hot ass kiss, she would’ve probably kicked herself for that ridiculous question. Who goes to a man’s—a man as fine as Ro’s—house at almost midnight expecting to seriously sit down and discuss business? She had, well, on some level she had. On another level there’d been nosiness. She wanted to see this house he’d bought, to get a better grasp on the man he had grown into in the last seven years. She wasn’t disappointed.
Not about that at least, but when he broke the kiss to rest his forehead on hers, she almost sobbed. Instead, she stood there with her eyes closed trying to catch her breath as it sounded like he was doing the same.
“We can’t,” she whispered. “Not again, Ro.”
His next sigh was heavier, and her eyes popped open to find him already staring at her.
“Sariya.” Her name always sounded like a wounded plea on his lips.
“We talked about this already,” she started, but he cut her off.
“No. You talked,” he told her. “You talked that morning and I listened to every word you said. I let you shower, get dressed and leave that room knowing I’d never stop wanting you.”
She trembled at the memory. “It was the right thing to do.”
“For who?” he asked. “Because I clearly remember telling you I didn’t agree.”
“You also didn’t offer any other solution,” she countered.
“A solution for what? For us being together? It was simple for me. It’s always been simple for me. I want you, you want me, end of story.”
She moved out of his grasp then and was actually surprised that he let her go. That was the thing about Ro. He was assertive, almost dominant in some ways, but he never forced her. Never pushed to change her mind when she seemed to have decided. She respected him immensely for that, even while acknowledging that a small part of her had wished he’d fought a little harder for them seven years ago.
“We’re supposed to be discussing business,” she said and sat on the couch.
For a moment he only stood there, looking even more delectable than he had the night of his sister’s wedding. His hair was a little shorter on top now, the twists he’d worn on top back then, now a tightly coiled bush. That and those few grays in his goatee weren’t the only things that had changed physically about him over the years. It could’ve been the thick sweater he wore, but he felt bulkier at the top. His biceps, when she’d gripped them after he pulled her to him in front of Donyell’s truck, felt more defined. His face was pretty much the same though, those dark eyes that went from laughing to stormy to lustful in a matter of seconds. She wondered if that only happened when she was around?
Finally, he dragged a hand down his face and dropped onto the sectional, a whole cushion away from where she sat.
“You’re right,” he said and moved one of the sapphire blue pillows from behind him so he could sit back.
There were two more of those same color pillows, along with three white ones, situated on the sectional as well. She didn’t sit all the way back, but instead sat sort of sideways, one leg pulled up to rest on the cushion—being sure to keep her shoes off the furniture—as she faced him.
“Tell me about your new job,” she prompted him.
He shook his head. “Nah, tell me more about what you really want to do for your patients. How do you plan to help them now that the clinic is closed?”
“Well,” she said and sighed. “I’m not totally sure. It’s like I have this loose idea of what I want to do but I haven’t really figured out how to implement it. Which is why I haven’t said anything to anyone about it.”
The look he gave her reminded her that he wasn’t just anyone. He was Ro, the guy who’d been like a big brother—but not exactly—to her since she was ten years old. He’d been just as protective of her as he had been of Donyell, just as annoying and just as nosy when it came to anything she was doing and whoever she was doing it with.
But there’d always been a difference in the way he looked at her once she hit a certain age and the way he spoke to her. It had been one of the first signs to encourage the crush she’d harbored for him.
“Okay, tell me about it,” he said as casually as if he’d asked her to tell him her name.
Was it really that easy? Had the fire that had just been burning so bright between them simply been put out for this conversation to take place? She wanted to kick herself for flip-flopping. If this were anyone else, she’d be the first to say make up your mind—you either want this man to fuck your brains out or you don’t.
She cleared her throat and hopefully that wild ass thought that had just soared through her mind too.
“I imagine a facility where all the best parts about the former clinic can be implemented. A calming and supportive place where patients suffering from chronic pain can come and receive relief without judgment. Where, if they want it, they can also receive more intensive holistic healing. Bonnie is amazing with her whole person—body, mind, spirit and emotions—belief in optimal health and wellness. Her practice had mainly been home-based, but she’d enjoyed the time she was able to come into the clinic to work. So, I think I’d be able to work out a schedule with her.
And then, there’s the counseling component. I feel like that’s essential to complete healing as well. Not carrying so much emotional baggage can only open up outlets to healing. Bonnie kind of covers some of that, but the two therapists we had on staff really established a rapport with many of our patients. And that’s the part that really breaks my heart, because so many of them have been left out in the cold. Just when they’d started making progress, the doors were closed, locked and subpoenas were sent to all of us to testify.”
“For real? Testify about what?” he asked. “You didn’t have anything to do with what management was doing.”
“No,” she said with a shake of her head. “I didn’t. But I still have a date scheduled at the end of the month for a deposition.”
“You’re not going by yourself. Did you get a lawyer? If not, I’ll get you one.”
She tilted her head and could only stare at him. “Yes, I, um, Uncle Larry knew a guy whose cousin is a lawyer. I called him last week as soon as I received the subpoena.”
“Text me the guy’s name,” he said. “And I’ll check him out. You don’t want just anybody with a degree representing you.” Then he reached into his back pocket and pulled out his phone. “I’ve got at least two people I know can help you out. I’m gonna shoot them a text right now and let them know to be on standby.”
“Wait a minute. I just told you I called someone already,” she told him.
He only glanced up at her briefly before he turned his attention back to his phone. “I don’t know that dude. And I’m not letting you go to something like that without proper representation.”
She leaned over then and grabbed his wrist intending to stop him from completing and sending the text. “Stop it, Ro. You’re being ridiculous. I’ll be fine with the guy I have.”
The look he gave her then was dry and he returned his attention to typing the text as if her hand wasn’t still on his wrist. When she jerked on his wrist to get his fingers away from the phone he glared at her. “You playing?” he asked with arched brows.
“No, you are,” she replied. “Just stop sending the message and we can finish talking. You said you wanted to hear about my plans.”
“And I do,” he said. “But I also want to make sure you’re straight when you go to that deposition. So, why don’t you release my hand and slide your butt back over to your side of the couch.”
“No.” It was an instinctive answer. “Plus, it’s too late at night for you to be texting people unless it’s an emergency or a booty call. I know this text isn’t an emergency, so I’ll just assume it’s not the booty call either.”
“Oh, you got jokes,” he said and let his lips slide into a grin that didn’t reach his eyes. “Let me go, Sariya.”
“No,” she repeated.
Now their gazes were locked, similar to the way they used to do when they’d have those stare offs, or when they’d play that hand slapping game which Ro always won after he’d slapped her poor hands until they radiated with pain.
“Sariya.” The warning tone in the way he said her name went ignored. He didn’t scare her.
“Ronan,” she replied.
He chuckled then, but kept his gaze on hers. “Oh, so you are ready to play,” he said. “Bet. Then here’s how this is gonna go, either you release my wrist or I push your ass back on these cushions and fuck all that playing out of you.”
And now she was silent. She was still. She was…aroused.
On a quick huff, she said, “You wouldn’t.”
The grin that spread across his face now was nothing short of menacing. It was panty droppingly sexy and a mere distraction for how quickly he moved. Before she could even blink, he had her back pressed against those very cushions he’d just mentioned, his body spread on top of hers and his phone, well that was somewhere she didn’t even know and didn’t care. Her immediate thoughts had slid down their bodies to rest at the erection quickly coming to life against her thigh.
“So, you still in the mood to play?” he asked, glaring down at her.
His eyes darkened with the lust she’d been fighting desperately to ignore. During the pinning down he’d just executed, one of his arms had gone around her waist while the other had gripped her arm. He now pushed that arm up above her head. Then deftly maneuvered the arm he had at her back, until he was able to push her other arm up to meet its partner. There, he used one hand to lock both her wrists above her head.
He reared back a little more and looked down at her body. “You out here wearing this little ass shirt. Look how fast that shit rose up. I can see the edge of your bra.” He groaned after that last word. “Fuckin’ black lace.”
She squirmed beneath his perusal. “Don’t look,” she shot back.
Not get the hell off of me. Not, I’m about to go home. Not, I don’t want to fuck you, Ro. Because all of that would’ve been a denial she couldn’t quite accept.
He smirked. “Oh, I’m gonna do more than look. With your sexy self,” he muttered before bringing his mouth back down to hers. He nipped her bottom lip first, pulling it away just a bit before letting it go and nipping it again. This time he sank his teeth into her plump lip until she hissed. Then he released it and licked his tongue over the spot he’d just kissed. That licking grew intense really quick and before she could get out a moan, he’d sucked it completely into his mouth.
She couldn’t help it she circled her hips beneath him. Shimming just a little until she could lift up and grind her pussy against his dick. Clothes be damned, that shit still felt good.
In the next instant, Ro was dipping his tongue inside her mouth again, this time to pull her tongue into his as he sucked and met the gyrations of her hips with thrusts of his own. She whimpered and lifted her legs until she could wrap them around Ro’s waist and clasp them at the ankles. He released her tongue and growled.
“Hell, fuckin’ yeah, baby,” he whispered roughly into her ear before burying his face in her neck. “I missed feeling you wrapped around me like this, Sariya.” He bit her neck. She gasped and he licked the spot until she moaned.
“You miss me baby?” He ground into her again. “Tell me you missed me.”
“I did.” The words fell from her mouth on a whimper.
“Uh huh,” he said. “I want the words, Sariya. Give me the words.”
She wanted so much in this moment. To be naked. For him to be naked. To have him buried deep inside her. To flip his ass over and ride him until her come dripped down his dick.
“Yes,” she whispered. “Yes, I missed you, Ro. I missed you so much.”
And she had. That was the absolute truth. From the moment she’d walked out of his hotel room she’d missed him and wanted him even more than she had before she’d experienced him. But she hadn’t turned back and she hadn’t answered any of his text messages that day or in the weeks after he’d returned to Denver. The break had to be clean for it to last. And it had until his birthday rolled around that December, and she’d been the one checking the time since Denver was three hours behind them on the east coast, until she knew he would be just waking up, and she’d texted him.
He’d responded and their normal check-in on each other had resumed. The relationship they had when she was simply Donyell’s best friend was back and that was how it should be.
But not tonight. Tonight, this frenzied heat that had circled them the moment they stared at each other at the lounge, was a full-blown inferno. And it was singeing her skin, making her erratic breaths come loudly and almost painfully as she accepted that she was going to need more.
“How much?” he whispered and pulled back so he could look into her face. “How much did you miss me?”
She held his gaze wanting desperately to be able to move her arms. To run her fingers along the line of his jaw or cup the back of his head and bring him back down for another searing kiss. “A lot,” she replied without him having to insist on a response. “How much did you miss me?”
“Too fuckin’ much,” he replied with a frown. “Too much, baby. I don’t know why you had to put us through that. I should punish you for putting us through that. Shouldn’t I?”
Noooooo, her mind screamed. She didn’t want to be punished a moment longer than the seven years being apart had already done. But then, the grimace on Ro’s face, the way he pulled his bottom lip between his teeth right after he asked that question had her pussy throbbing and her chest heaving. “Yes,” she whispered. “Punish me, baby.”
His smile was quick and potent. The kiss he dropped on her lips was wet, sloppy and enticing as he tried to suck her tongue right out of her mouth, then nipped first her bottom and then her top lip until she moaned. He released her wrists and hurriedly unzipped her shirt. “Take this little shit off,” he said, easing back so he could push the material from her shoulders.
She lowered her arms so he could pull off the sleeves. Then he ripped her bra. Tore that thin lace like it was paper and peeled it away from her breasts. His mouth came down over her nipple and applied instant suction, until she was arching up off the cushions. “Shit!” she hissed and clamped her hands onto his shoulders.
With his other hand he squeezed her left breast. Palming and kneading that one while his mouth sucked and his teeth scraped along the nipple of the right one. She felt like she was being ravaged, the pleasure/pain peaks slamming into her with a vengeance as he expertly applied his teeth, tongue and hands to the job of arousing her beyond belief. Ro loved her breasts. That night in the hotel, after their first round, he’d propped himself up on an elbow and stared down at her as he used his free hand to rub and tweak her nipples, cup her breasts in the same way he was doing now and tell her how gorgeous they were.
“I missed these, babies,” he crooned over nipple. “Y’all miss daddy?” he asked and she almost giggled.
But he switched places then hands and teeth assaulted the opposite breast until his name tumbled from her lips.
He lifted his head to stare up at her and because she’d instantly missed his mouth from her nipple she opened her eyes to glance down at him. “What’s my name?”
She sighed and swiped her tongue over her lips. “Ronan,” she replied.
“Say it again,” he commanded and dipped his head to lick her nipple.
“Ronan,” she whimpered.
“Again,” he said, this time his voice muffled because he was already sucking her breast into his mouth again.
“Rooonaaan,” she wailed and pressed her hands to the back of his head to keep him in place.
Her pussy throbbed now, as she continued to undulate beneath him. There was no way to get enough friction, to have him exactly where she wanted him to release the buildup inside of her. Not like this. Not while they were fully dressed.
As if reading her mind, Ro pulled his mouth from her breast with a loud suction sound and she fell back on the cushion. He eased her legs from around him and pushed back until he was on his knees. Then he unzipped the side of her boots, pulling them off one by one. Her socks were removed next before he reached up to unsnap and unzip her pants. She lifted her ass to assist in getting the fitted material past her hips. He’d grabbed the band of her panties at the same time, so that now he was sliding them both down her legs and off.
After he tossed the items onto the floor his gaze remained fixed on her now naked body. He cupped the ankle of her left leg and lifted it until he could prop it on the back of the sectional. The action spread her open for him and he groaned, his tongue coming out to snake along his lips. “Seven years,” he whispered. “Seven long ass years, Sariya.”
She wanted to apologize, wanted to admit she’d been a fool to push him away, but she didn’t. “We have now,” she said quietly.
His gaze shot up to hers and he gave her a little nod. “You’re right,” he said, “We have now and forever.”
Sariya didn’t have a moment to respond because he’d lowered himself and put his mouth between her legs. He hungrily licked at her clit, down her vulva to her center then back up to her clit again. Over and over again until she was squirming and whimpering and running so fast toward that release she was out of breath. But then, just when she was about to explode, he pulled back. His breathing ragged, lips glazed with her juices. He pulled the sweater up and over his head, taking the ribbed tank he wore beneath it off too. Then he lifted her right leg, put it up on his shoulder and went back to work, this time pushing two fingers inside her while his tongue lavished her once more.
He wanted everything this time. Every moan, scream and cry. Every drop of her release. Every beat of her heart. He wanted it and he wasn’t going to stop until he had it all.
When she trembled, stilled and cried out beneath him, he kept licking, kept stroking his fingers inside her until she calmed. Then he eased back and moved off the sectional. He knelt down to remove the Oxford dress boots he wore and stood to release the snap and zipper of his jeans. She watched him beneath hooded lids, her mouth slightly parted as she worked to steady her breathing. He liked those eyes like this, when there was just a hint of a golden glow amidst the deep brown. He loved how swollen her lips looked after his kisses and bites, how hard her nipples were and the glistening moisture on her bare mound leftover from his mouth.
Her body had all these amazing curves, the small pouch of her stomach, the definition of her calf, the arch in her foot.
There wasn’t an inch of her that he couldn’t see beneath these golden lights and he loved it. But it was when she lifted her arms to him and whispered, “Ro, baby, please,” that he knew there was no coming back from this moment. Sure, he’d let that now and forever slip a few moments ago because her kisses were just too good, her body beneath his felt too right. But this right here, seeing her like this, her body and her voice calling to him simultaneously. It was over. He was done. And he would absolutely kill whoever tried to come between them at this point.
He went to her, taking each of her hands and bringing them to his lips so he could kiss and suckle each finger. Then he was between her legs again, instead of pushing her arms above her head this time, he wrapped them around his neck and waited while his dick found the haven it had been longing for.
“Look at me, Sariya,” he said when he applied the smallest amount of pressure as the tip of his dick rested against her entrance and her eyes fluttered closed. “Look. At. Me.”
She opened her eyes slowly and focused them on him. “There’s no going back this time,” he said and pushed the tip into her.
She gasped and pulled her bottom lip between her teeth.
“Do you hear me?” he asked and pushed in just a little bit more.
“Mmmm hmmm.” She nodded.
His brow furrowed as he trembled with how fuckin’ good she felt trying to suck him completely inside of her. “You are not leaving me again,” he said and eased in a little more. He’d rested his elbows on either side of her face to keep the bulk of his weight off of her, but now his arms shook with the effort to resist ramming into her and immediately reveling in the full pleasure that was her pussy. “Never. Ever. Again.”
“Ronan,” she sighed, her nails digging into his back.
“I don’t want to hear it, baby. I will chase your ass to the ends of the earth this time and drag you right back here. You’re not leaving me again,” he said, then lowered his forehead to rest against hers.
She moved, circled her hips, lifted them off the cushions, chanted some spell or something, that pulled his dick in further as her walls clutched him even tighter. He sucked in a breath and fought like hell not to cry like a baby, it felt so damn good.
“You left me, remember?” she asked, her voice making him open his eyes to find her watching him.
“You. Left. Me.” She locked her legs around his waist and used her strength to pull him in deeper.
He moaned and then chuckled. “Sneaky ass,” he chided, then kissed the tip of her nose. “You’re right though, I did leave because you told me there was no chance for us. But I’m here now, baby. And I’m here to stay,” he said sinking the rest of his length into her, until they were both gasping.
Then he pulled out to the tip, before thrusting deep again. “I’m not leaving,” he told her and pulled out again. “And neither are you.” When he slammed into her that time it was with the full intention of fucking them both senseless and that’s exactly what he did.