Chapter 5

When Skylar returned home she felt lighter and freer than when she’d boarded the plane to California. The report she’d read from Kendra was excellent news for their company. In addition to ETI, Kendra had signed up an artisan soap maker and a management company that handled a dozen different singers and bands. Businesses like those were why they’d started their company in the first place and she was satisfied that things had finally started to look up.

Business was good and if the last two nights in California had been any indication, things between her and Ryder were better than good. He was a giving and imaginative lover with infinite patience. She smiled and let her thoughts wander to the time she’d spent exploring his body, and what a beautiful body it was. He’d lain completely still while her fingers and then her mouth explored every inch of him. She wanted to learn what he liked so she could please him the way he pleased her. Her mouth tasted his nipples which he liked, and down his stomach which he loved. When her lips wrapped around his length, Skylar wasn’t sure who liked it more, her or Ryder.

He’d groaned and wrapped her hair around his hands. She’d been overwhelmed by the scent and taste of him combined with his firm fingers rubbing her scalp and the twinge of pain from where he pulled her hair. It had been too much sensation and she’d erupted when he filled her throat. She’d been embarrassed until Ryder’s dark blue gaze honed in on her, full of desire and lifted her until her legs straddled his face. She blushed as she opened the door to her apartment, thinking of how naughty she’d felt and how satisfied.

He had awoken her body and her heart. For so long Skylar had ignored her own needs and desires as a woman, in favor of building her career. Now she was glad that she had because she knew she’d been waiting for Ryder. She’d arrived home from California four days ago and they’d seen each other every day. And her worked hadn’t suffered a bit.

That had been her worry for years, that she would lose herself in a man the way her mother had done time and again. So far that hadn’t been a problem because Ryder was as dedicated to his company as she was to hers. They could make it work, she realized, when she heard a knock at her door. She marched on bare feet to the door and opened it to the biggest bouquet she’d ever seen. “Hello?” She called out to the person behind the flowers and a pimple faced kid peeked around the side.

“Are you Ms. Morris?”

“I am.”

He held out the flowers. “These are for you miss.” He bent over and picked up another vase, “These too.”

Skylar nodded him in and showed him where to set the other vase. “Here you go,” she handed the kid a five and he smiled brightly and wished her a good night. Skylar smiled at the rainbow tulips and put them on the dining room table. The roses, she smiled, were orange, white and lavender. Love, desire and enchantment. Those would go in her bedroom. She pulled out the card.

Missing your sweet face already. See you soon. Love, Ryder.

She smiled and picked up the phone just as her doorbell rang again. She shot off a text to thank Ryder and then opened the door to find another stranger standing with a bag in hand.

“Ms. Morris?” She nodded and the guy shoved the bag into her arms. “Dinner for you. Have a good night.” He was gone before she could say a word so she closed the door and sat the bag down.

She smiled into the empty apartment. Ryder was so sweet and thoughtful. It was exactly those things she loved about him most.

***

“Why are you in such a good mood?” Hunter strolled into his brother’s office and took a seat.

“Am I in a good mood?” Ryder didn’t know how much to share because he and Hunter had never been the sharing type of brothers.

“You’re practically glowing,” he scoffed and feigned disgust.

“I’m seeing someone. It’s going well.”

Hunter’s smile was wide and genuine. He was happy for his brother. “Anyone I know?” He saw the moment his brother’s smile dimmed. “It is.”

“Don’t worry, it’s not Mimi.”

“It wouldn’t bother me if it was.”

Ryder stared at his brother long enough to make him squirm. “Right.” They both knew it was a lie so he didn’t call his brother on it.

Hunter left that statement alone. He knew Ryder knew all about it because he and Mimi were close, but he wouldn’t talk about it. With anyone. “Skylar.” They needed to get this out in the open and he would be the one to do it.

“Yes.”

“I didn’t know you liked her Ryder. If I did, I never would’ve gone after her.” He laughed at his brother’s skeptical look. “Okay I would have flirted with her mercilessly to rile you up, but I wouldn’t have asked her out.”

Ryder relaxed. “I know. But how did you know?”

Hunter looked over his shoulder and leaned in. “I overheard you and Mimi talking. I realized what an ass I was being so I fixed it.”

Ryder’s brows furrowed. “What do you mean?”

Hunter shrugged. “All you need to know is that it was handled. And things are going well so I made the right choice.”

Ryder didn’t like that comment but he was glad Hunter was finally being an adult. He switched topics. “Do you have a trip to England booked?”

Hunter nodded. “I leave next week and I’ll be gone for two weeks, unless you need me someplace else.”

“For now all we need is London but I’m looking into some other options and I’ll keep you in the loop.” He stood and grabbed a sheet of paper from a nearby printer. “You have signed more than half of all the new leads brought in by the new marketing campaign, congratulations.”

Hunter frowned. “Thanks, I think.”

Ryder smiled. “You’ve done good, very good Hunter.” He pulled an envelope from his desk drawer. “This is a bonus for your hard work.”

Hunter’s green eyes went wide with shock. “For real?”

“Yep. Don’t spend it all on one lady.” He laughed at his own joke and saw that familiar charming smile cross Hunter’s face.

“Never, little brother.” Hunter didn’t understand what had just happened between him and his brother, but he wouldn’t fight it. “So are we good?”

“We’re always good Hunter.”

He nodded and left, passing Mimi on the way out. “Hi Mimi, how’s it going?”

“Fine, Hunter,” she said and brushed by him to speak with Ryder. “You have a lunch meeting,” she handed him a slip of paper.

“Thanks.” He read the note, smiled and grabbed his jacket. When he arrived at Skylar’s apartment he knocked loud to be heard over the music playing on the other side of the door.

Kendra flung the door open with a harried smile. “Come in Ryder, I was just leaving.”

Ryder was confused when Kendra pulled him in and somehow switched their positions. “See you, then,” he said and closed the door, locking it. He went toward the sound of the music and stopped dead in his tracks at the sight before him. “Holy hell.”

Skylar turned, looking the perfect blend of innocent and sex kitten dressed in a sexy hot pink contraption made mostly of ribbons and lace. It strategically covered her most sacred spots without really covering anything and judging by the look on his face, she had succeeded. “Ryder.”

“You look amazing.” He stalked over to her and pushed her against the wall and attacked her mouth. His hands were everywhere all at once, her breasts, her waist, her hips and grabbing her hair. “God you taste good,” he groaned and kissed his way down her body.

She gasped loudly when he lifted one leg over his shoulder and licked at her core until those gasps turned to screams. She grabbed on to his hair to keep her upright and pushed her hips forward, feeding him more of her. “Ryder, yes!” She groaned and one hand tightened on her hips while two fingers sank deep inside her. “Ryder!” She called his name on a long scream that shook them both when his mouth curled over her most sensitive spot and sucked her to completion.

“Babe you taste so good.” He stood and kissed her hard.

“I like how I taste on your mouth,” she purred while she undid his pants and pushed them down. “I need you in me now,” she said and jumped into his arms, wrapping her legs around his waist.

In less than a second he was buried deep inside her and thrusting his way to heaven, because that’s what it felt like to be inside Skylar. His Skylar. That’s how he thought of her now. Ryder was out of his mind with lust and Skylar licked and nipped at his neck and ear, crying out with every thrust.

“Oh yes, Ryder. You feel so good.” She whispered words of encouragement, naughty words and just plain dirty words in his ear, loving the way he responded. “Fuck me, Ryder,” she said and he drove into her like a man on a mission, sending them both over the edge at the same time. She smiled and slid down the wall, taking him with her.

Ryder struggled to take air into his lungs, especially with her hands still all over his body. He looked down at her, love shining in his eyes, as she struggled to catch her breath too. “You are so sexy Skylar, but when you come you take my breath away.”

A small gasp was her only respond for several long seconds and then she wrapped her arms around his midsection. “God, I love you.” His entire body stiffened under her and Skylar felt that she’d made a mistake. A big one. She took several breaths for strength, for confidence before she spoke. “Ryder,” she began when he cut her off.

“I love you too.”

Skylar popped up so quick it was comical. “You do?”

He opened one blue eye and looked up at her. “I do.” He pulled her in close so he wouldn’t have to look at her for his next question. “I have a question for you.”

“Shoot,” she told him with a goofy grin on her face.

“Am I your fallback guy?” He braced himself for her answer.

Again she popped up, this time her eyes were blazing with anger and she sat on him. “What did you just ask me?”

His eyes were closed but he still flung an arm over his face. “You heard me. I need to know.”

Skylar pushed his arm away and grabbed both sides of his face a bit harder than she needed to get his attention. “Why would you ask me something like that?”

His eyes bore into hers. “Something Hunter said to me earlier. After you said you loved me, I realized I did too, love you I mean,” he smiled nervously. “But now I need to know. Are you with me because Hunter didn’t want to see you anymore?”

Skylar smacked his chest with the back of your hand. “What did he say?”

“Just that he never would’ve gone after you if he knew I was into you and that he ‘fixed it’.”

She sat back and he groaned when her moisture dripped onto his growing erection. “That little sneak!” She adjusted their bodies until she took him inside her again. “Our second date was bad, I mean spectacularly awful. It was so bad I just left without a look back. Now I’m thinking he did that on purpose.” Skylar leaned over and kissed his forehead, his cheeks and sank back down on him.

He groaned and clenched her hips. “So?”

“So no you’re not my fallback guy. I said yes to Hunter because there was no spark and therefore no risk.” She bounced a few times until his eyes closed and his head rolled back. “I love you Ryder. Only you.”

He quickly flipped their positions. “Good, because I don’t love anyone else but you Skylar.”

“How much,” her laugh turned into a moan under his sensual onslaught.

“This much,” he said and proceeded to show her for the next few hours.