Chapter 9 Ryder #2
“Always have and always will?” I tease her pulsing seam, gliding over it. The tip catches between her legs, and she pumps against it.
“Yes, that. Just, please.” Her hips beg.
“Tell me the truth, Charlie. I want to know… oh fuck.”
Trying to get it out of her, I had a plan, but I’ve already pushed through her threshold and am gliding into her tight channel.
“Tell me the truth,” I say breathlessly, fucking her.
I could explode. She feels so good as I hold on to her hips, watching my cock disappear as I enter her over and over. My jaw drops, and my eyelids flutter.
Every muscle in my body is spasming when she turns the side of her face to me and says, “Ryder, you put that condom on, right?”
“I uh…” I have to think. Did I? She feels too insanely good for us to have anything between us. “I thought you said you were on birth control.”
“I did, but I still need a condom. Accidents happen, you know?”
Next thing I know, I’m practically collapsing—so close to release—as my length exits her, and she turns around.
“Okay,” I say. “You know I wasn’t lying, though. I just took all my tests. I swear.”
She looks so worried. I try to console her, but I’m not sure it helps.
“I’m not worried about the tests. I believe you.”
“Okay, good, because I would never lie to you. You know that, right?” Reaching into my drawer for that box of condoms I bought, I hope I didn’t leave them in the car.
That would suck because even though Charlie is on birth control, I’ve had my tests, and I trust her, too, she seems panicked.
My fingers fumble with the package, and I roll a rubber onto my aching hard dick.
“Do you want me to put on two?” I’m joking—sort of—but she hesitates. Really? “I’ll put on two, if it makes you happy. Though you know, I’m not nearly as loose as the tabloids make me out to be.” Then again, she should know how warped everything in the news is.
‘‘It’s okay. One is fine,” she says, but I know she was thinking about it. Now, she’s pulling at my hips and licking her lips. She crawls onto her hands and knees, and I climb onto the bed. I shove into her tight little pussy, and she moans, pressing back into me.
“God, you feel good. I could wear ten rubbers, and you’d still feel incredible.
” I pump in and out of her as her channel tightens around me.
She moans as my fingers pinch her nipples and rub her clit.
I bite into her neck with kisses as I bang her to infinity.
My legs and arms tremble. My breath is a jerky vibration as pleasure fills me to the core.
She spasms around me, and I’m right there with her, over the edge and back.
I cry her name as I release everything in me.
Then…
“I should go.” Charlie wastes no time after she destroys me. I mean, I still have hot seed spurting out of me as I kiss the side of her face and ear, and she pants underneath me.
“Please, don’t. Stay the night. Whatever you have to do can wait.
I’ll sleep better with you here. Which means…
I’ll do a better job tomorrow,” I say, pulling out of her and throwing off the condom.
She rolls onto her back, and I lift the covers from under her and crawl in, pulling them over us. “Like two peas in a pod,” I say.
“I really need to go,” she says, but I scoop her into my arms and hold her against my chest.
“No, you don’t.” I brush back her hair, admiring her freckles as her lashes lower.
She cuddles into me, murmuring, “Don’t let me fall asleep.” But her eyes close, and her muscles relax into me. As she drifts off, I’m not about to disturb her. Instead, I watch her and let my mind wander.
The woman must work herself to the bone because she seems exhausted.
I need to convince her to move to Vancouver.
Maybe I will, considering she didn’t want to spend time with me, and she’s in my bed.
Known for talking my way through life, I can be very convincing.
She’s a hard sell, though I get it. I wouldn’t want anything to do with me if the same thing happened to my father as hers.
But this was us. Charlie and Ryder. We had a connection from the beginning.
Surely, we could get past it if I made it up to her.
I had the money to help her if she’d only let me.
If she accepted, I’d give her everything I could.
I would never blame her for something her father did. Maybe she could get beyond blaming me.
Hours must go by that she’s sleeping next to me, and I think about everything.
Fantasizing about having her back if she agreed to work for my family’s company, I wonder how can I entice her.
I get she has hard feelings, and I wish she’d accept some shares above the massive salary I promised.
Would it make up for her father’s losses years ago?
Probably not. My mind wanders off when her phone rings on the nightstand.
I let it ring until I lean over and see the name on it.
Pettie?
Some guy named Pettie—obviously a pet name—is calling her at two in the morning. My defenses rise. It’s like someone is peeing on my grass even though I have no claim to it. I want to answer the phone and tell him he shouldn’t mess with what’s mine. Though I know better, and I ignore it.
But it rings again. I can’t believe it doesn’t wake her, but it’s not that loud of a ring. I answer it.
“Hi, Pettie,” I say growly, feeling like a stalker. But I have waited eight years to have Charlie in my bed again. I’m not letting some guy named Pettie call Charlie in the middle of the night for a booty call when she’s mine.
“Who’s this? Where’s my mom?” It’s a little kid’s voice.
What the actual fuck?
“Your mom?” I stutter in shock, not believing what I’m hearing. How the fuck did I not know—or did Lee not tell me—Charlie has a kid? Fuck, my mind jumps to the worst conclusion. She isn’t married, is she?
The kid is talking, but I don’t hear it. I’m so shocked. Charlie wakes up and grabs the phone from me.
“Pettie? Is everything okay?” She’s looking side-eyed, obviously insecure about not sharing this with me, but more concerned about her child’s well-being. “Uh-huh, yeah, okay. It’s okay, honey…” She talks into the phone, biting her lip while looking at me.
After she hangs up, she throws on her clothes and says, “I have to go.” Like nothing just happened.
“You have a kid?” I ask, trying to be calm because it’s not my business.
“Yep.” She’s slipping on her shoes as I sit in bed naked, feeling like a bus hit me.
“You’re not married, are you?” I ask.
“Nope.” She doesn’t look at me, just at her phone.
She’s so cold. It’s like she’s a dude, I’m just a hook-up, and she has more important business than cuddling with me.
But I’m not some guy she can just walk all over.
I’m Ryder Alexander, socialite, CEO, or ex-CEO, heir of one of the biggest fucking real estate dynasties in North America. She can’t treat me like this.
“Uh, cool. Can I meet him?” I ask.
“Who?”
“Pettie. You know I love kids, right?”
“Why? Because you are one?”
“That was uncalled for.”
“You’re right. I’m sorry. I just have some things to do. Talk tomorrow?” She walks to the door.
“Yeah, sure,” I say like a fool when I should have asked what her story is.
The part about her mom helping her makes sense now, though I’m still shell-shocked.
I blow out a breath and let my head fall back into the pillows—like I’ll get any sleep tonight.
I should think about my big day tomorrow.
Instead, I search the socials for clues about Charlie’s life and what she’s been up to since she left Vancouver.
I can’t find anything personal about her, though.
Eventually, I give up and stare at the ceiling for a while before I fall asleep.