Chapter Twenty
His back to the door, Ryder sat at the bar nursing a beer and didn’t see Sophie walk in. But when the bartender looked past him, his eyes widening, Ryder knew she’d arrived. Picking up the bottle, he took a sip, turned to watch her approach, and started to choke.
Jesus fucking Christ.
“Damn,” the bartender said, which was pretty much the understatement of the century.
Sophie sauntered toward him wearing a scrap of black fabric Ryder supposed could pass as a dress and mile-high heels. Her hips swayed to the beat of the music playing in the background, and all the blood rushed from his head and straight to his cock.
He growled to the bartender, “She’s mine.”
The bartender laughed. “Lucky guy.”
“You have no idea.”
She was practically making men drop like flies in her wake as she walked to the empty stool next to him. She smiled, her full red lips holding the same sins as the apple Eve held out to Adam. When she spoke her voice was a husky purr. “Is this seat taken?”
Ryder immediately caught her game. His whispered fantasy to her a few weeks ago. And suddenly her wanting to meet him instead of driving together made sense. His mind started to spin with all the directions he could take this.
His gaze flickered over her wild hair, crimson lips, and tiny body. She looked incredible. He gestured to the seat. “It’s all yours, darlin’.”
“Thank you.” She slid onto the chair and smiled at the bartender, who looked at her like he wanted to eat her for dinner despite Ryder’s warning. He would have taken offense but couldn’t really blame the guy.
Her tongue darted out to wet her red lips. “Can I get a dirty martini?”
The bartender shook his head as though clearing it from a daze. “Sure thing.”
She crossed her legs and shifted her attention toward Ryder. “I’m passing through and my car broke down.”
He met her gaze. “So you’re stranded?”
“Yes.” One bare shoulder shrugged. “I need help, but my cell phone’s dead, and with the bar right here it seemed like a sign I should come in.” She gave him the most obscene look and licked her lips again. “You wouldn’t happen to know anyone trustworthy, would you?”
He put his drink down on the bar and slid his hand on the counter, facing her more fully. “Today’s your lucky day.”
“Why’s that?” She batted dark, thick lashes.
“I’m a cop.”
She pursed her lips and sighed, “Ooohhh, that is lucky.”
The bartender returned and set her drink on the bar.
Ryder didn’t look away from Sophie. “It’s on me.”
“Sure thing, buddy.”
“Thank you.” She put her hand on his knee and leaned forward, and Ryder practically fell into her cleavage. “That’s very sweet of you.”
“I’m a stand-up guy.” Palm searing his skin through his jeans, she squeezed before moving away to pick up her martini.
She took a sip, glanced pointedly at his erection, and smiled. “I can see that.”
He didn’t even miss a beat. His gaze dipped to her breasts spilling out over the fabric. “Where are you going dressed like that?”
She puffed out her bottom lip. “I had a date, but he stood me up.”
Wouldn’t happen in a million years, but he clucked sympathetically. “Poor thing.”
“I know, right?”
“His loss.”
Her eyes roamed hot and hungry over him. “Maybe this night isn’t a disaster after all.”
He leaned close to her. “I can guarantee you it won’t be.”
She sucked in a breath and lowered her lashes. “Oh?”
“You have my word.” He wanted to take her off the stool and impale her right this second, but he wasn’t going to do that. She’d gone through a lot of trouble for him, and he’d play along until they both couldn’t take it anymore.
Unlike a stranger in a bar, he knew her now. Knew all her kinks and secrets, exactly what turned her on the most, and he’d pull out every trick in his considerable arsenal to make her so on edge, so wet, she begged for his cock.
They were alike this way.
She took another sip of her drink before fishing out the toothpick that skewered two olives. Slowly, seductively she slipped one between her lips. His mind went numb when she swiped her tongue across the olive’s flesh before she bit down and took it off the stem with her teeth.
He bit back a groan.
She chewed and swallowed before saying, “It’s such a relief to run into a man who can help me. Thank you.”
His tongue felt a bit thick and he cleared his throat. “That’s what I’m here for, to protect and serve.”
She tucked a lock of wild blond hair behind her ear. “Do you have a gun?”
“I do.” He wanted to bite her.
She shifted, turning so her legs knocked against his. He opened his knees and she slid her clasped thighs between them. She leaned closer and whispered, “Handcuffs?”
He dipped his head. “Why? Do you need to be arrested?”
“Maybe.” She licked her lips. “I’ve been told I’m very bad sometimes.”
“I can handle you.” He moved to her ear. “I’m not above restraining you if the situation calls for it.”
She sucked in a little gasp. “My name’s Sophie.”
“Ryder.”
They moved back to a reasonable distance apart, neither ready to end the game.
They were just getting started.
* * *
Sophie was a crazy person. Absolutely out of her mind.
They’d been playing at seduction for over an hour, each growing increasingly bold. She was so hot she might go insane.
He slid his hand onto her thigh and met her gaze. “Are you wet?”
“Yes.”
His silver eyes, burning like molten steel, hooded. “Spread your legs so I can find out for myself.”
She glanced around the bar as though she was nervous. As though she shouldn’t. Even though they both knew this couldn’t be more up her alley.
The place was reasonably crowded, perfect for their game, and they still sat at the bar. There weren’t so many people that anyone stood over them, but there were enough to make it interesting.
She licked her lips. “What kind of woman does that make me?”
He leaned close. “The fun kind.” Even closer. “The kind that gets off by being touched in public.” Still closer, so their lips were inches apart. “The exciting kind.”
Her legs were still situated between his, and she spread them before saying in a throaty whisper, “I never do this.”
“There’s a first time for everything.” His grasp on her leg tightened. “Open for me.”
“This is so inappropriate.” Which was exactly why she liked it. She spread her legs, just enough to give him access.
The hand closer to the bar slid between her thighs. A second later his knuckles brushed over her damp panties. They were barely there, black and thin mesh. She gasped at the contact, his touch like an electric shock through her system. The excitement was that much greater because they were surrounded by people.
“That’s a good sound.” He rubbed his knuckles up and down where she wanted him most. “If I kept going, would you come?”
She was so on edge it wouldn’t take long, and she wasn’t about to deny it. “Yes.”
His expression turned feral. “Right here at the bar?”
“Yes.”
He hissed out a breath. “I’d like to see that.”
She’d anticipated everything, not necessarily the particulars of how things would play out, but the highlights. She tilted her head and moved to his ear. “I probably shouldn’t tell you this, but my panties have ties holding them together.”
He growled. “Undo them for me.”
He bracketed her body, pulling her chair closer and putting his feet on it to shield her just enough. She reached to the side of her hip and pulled the string loose.
“Do you guys want another round?” the bartender asked.
With two other people this might have broken the spell, but with them, it just upped their excitement.
“No.” Ryder’s voice was clipped and thick with lust at the same time.
There was shuffling, and Sophie slipped the bow on the other side.
He tugged at the fabric, baring her to him. Again his knuckles rubbed against her slippery flesh. “Someone’s wet.”
She shifted, tilting her hips slightly into his hand. “Well, someone’s been a real tease.”
“I think you like to be teased.”
“I think you’re right.”
“How long do you think you can keep this up? Being close but not going over?”
“I don’t know. Why don’t you find out?”
And he did.
She made it twenty minutes with him rubbing his knuckles over her clit, pulling back when she got close, before she started begging. She clutched at his shirt and suddenly, just like that, the game was over and shit got real. In a breathless moan, she said, “Ryder.”
“Had enough, darlin’?” His voice was harsh, almost guttural.
She gasped. “Please.”
“Please what?”
“Fuck me.” She scraped her teeth over his jaw. “I swear I’m going to come the second you take me.”
He moved his hand away from where he tormented her, dragging her panties from between her legs and shoving them in his pocket. He stood, took her hand, and called out to the bartender, “We’ll be right back.”
The guy gave them a smirk, nodding.
Ryder pulled her through the tables, past the dance floor and down a corridor before he came to a tiny alcove. He tucked her into the corner and said in a voice thick with desire, “This isn’t going to be pretty.”
She gripped him around the neck. “I don’t want pretty. I want what only you can give me.”
“And what’s that?” He lifted her leg, and she planted her foot on the wall while he unbuttoned his pants and slid his zipper down.
“Dirty, raw fucking.” She had no shame around him, and best of all, she didn’t have to pretend otherwise.
He kissed her, hard. It was demanding and ruthless. All tongue and teeth and snarling. Like they were two animals that didn’t care about civility. Which maybe, together, they were.
He pulled back and gripped her hair tight in his fist. “That’s right, only me, Sophie.”
“Only you.” She tilted her hips and glanced at the hallway. “Anyone that comes down the hall is going to see us.”
“Do you care?”
“Nope.” He slid a hand into his pocket where she knew he carried condoms, since as he said, they couldn’t go anywhere without it being a possibility, and she grabbed his wrist. “Take me.”
He paused, and when he met her gaze his eyes smoldered. “Bare?”
She reached between him, grasped his cock, and slid up and down the length. “I don’t want barriers.”
He made a feral sound in the back of his throat, gripped her hair tighter, and claimed her mouth, his kiss so filthy her knees went weak. He pushed away her hand and guided his cock to her entrance. But instead of entering her, he rubbed the head along her clit, pulling away to whisper on a harsh breath, “Is this what you want?”
“Yes.” She rocked back, wrapping her arms around his waist and digging her nails into his back. “Yes.”
On the next pass, he impaled her and she cried out. With one hand still tight in her hair he put his hand over her mouth, thrusting into her.
They went a bit wild. Held up only by the wall at her back and the brace of her leg against the wall, she let him do all the work, pounding inside her, and when he hit a particularly good spot, she bit his hand.
“Fuck, Sophie.” He moved faster, harder.
Head lolling back, her eyes fluttered closed. Trapped against the wall, one of Ryder’s hands in her hair, the other covering her mouth, his hot, harsh breath in her ear, she’d never felt so completely taken.
She dug her nails harder into his skin as she tightened, coiling tight on the very precipice.
He tilted her head and ordered, “Look at me.”
Her lashes blinked open and their eyes met.
“Don’t look away.” He released his hold on her mouth, covering her lips with a kiss before pulling back to look into her eyes.
What she saw there stunned her. A need and burning desire that matched her own. The same feral wildness that lived inside her. She whispered, “Ryder.”
“I know, Sophie.” He thrust hard and she keened. “You’re mine.”
“Yes.”
“No matter what happens, you and I . . .” He trailed off.
She gripped him around the neck, pulling him closer. She didn’t know where the words came from, but when she spoke them, she knew they were true. “You’re it for me.”
“Yes. Nobody else.”
“Nobody.” He was her home. The only place she’d ever truly belonged.
“Come on my cock, Soph, show me.” He shifted angles, hitting the perfect spot, and she went over the edge.
The orgasm stormed through her in a blinding rush. She came so hard it blurred her vision and left her without sound as it racked through her body in powerful, heart-wrenching waves.
Eyes locked, he followed her over. And in that moment, she opened, like she’d never opened to anyone in her entire life. She surrendered to it, and Ryder, giving in to what she wanted most.
To belong. To him.
* * *
Ryder rolled off Sophie, panting for breath and staring up at the ceiling. He ran his hand through his sweat-damp hair. “Holy shit.”
Next to him, she laughed. “No kidding.”
The interlude at the bar had only whetted their appetite, and after they’d left they’d gone straight to his bed and hadn’t left. It was like something had broken between them, and whatever barriers they’d kept had been stripped away.
She felt like his now. Like she’d crawled inside and become a part of him. He wanted her to stay. There was no getting around that fact. He wasn’t ready to bring it up, but he was ready to do something else.
He turned onto his side and, propping his head on the pillow, slid his arm around her waist. A stirring of nerves danced across his skin. He knew her now. How she’d grown up. How she was disconnected from her parents. And while it didn’t seem to bother her, it made her detached from a family unit, and he wasn’t sure how she’d respond to his question.
Not that it would stop him. “I want to ask you something.”
She was all lazy and satiated, content like a cat, and she smiled. “What’s that?”
He cleared his throat. “Sunday I’m going to my parents’ for dinner. It will be them and my sisters.”
She tensed, fractionally. “All right, I can find something to occupy me.”
He tightened his hold on her. “No, I want you to come with me.”
She blinked. “You want me to come?”
“Yes.”
She bit her bottom lip. “But . . .”
“Don’t say no. I want them to meet you.”
“Why?”
“Because it’s important to me.” He leaned down and brushed a kiss over her lips. “I want them all to meet you, but especially my mom.”
“Why her especially?”
He grinned. “Because she’s going to love you.”
“Are you sure?” Sophie’s expression creased with concern.
“Positive.” He pulled her close, rolling over onto his back so she was draped on top of him. “Please come home with me, Soph.”
She relaxed into him. “All right. I will.”
“Thank you.” He tickled down her spine, like he knew she liked.
She rolled off him, staring up at the ceiling, silent for several minutes before she pulled the sheet up over her breasts, tucking it tight around her before her hands settled. “Ryder?”
“Yes, Sophie?”
Her fingers tightened on the sheet. “I . . .” She trailed off.
He rested his open palm on her stomach. “Do you want to tell me?”
She blinked at him, her dark eyes luminous and filled with secrets. “Tell you what?”
“Whatever it is in your past that makes you leery?” He brushed a kiss over her lips. “I want to know. I’ve been waiting for you to be ready.”
She tugged the sheet higher. “You have?”
“I have.”
She shook her head. “I don’t know if I can say it.”
“I think you can. I think you want to. You’re just afraid. But don’t worry, I have you.”
Her brow furrowed. “I actually believe that.”
“Because it’s true.”
She took a deep breath. “I’ve never had that before.”
He pulled her close. “You have it now.”
“It scares me.” She shivered against him. “I don’t want to lose myself in you.”
“You won’t.” He kissed her temple. “You’re too strong for that.”
She was vulnerable right now. Maybe more vulnerable than he’d ever seen her. The desire to protect her, to comfort her sat heavy in his chest.
She clutched at his arm. “That’s where you’re wrong.”
Arm curled around her waist, he tightened his hold on her. “Tell me, and it will lose some of its power over you.”
“How do you know that?”
“Because confession is good for the soul.”
“Maybe.” She bit her bottom lip and sighed. “I want to tell you.”
“And I want to hear. So let it all go, darlin’. I’ll catch you, I promise.”
She nodded. “You know my parents left as soon as I was eighteen.”
“I do.”
“It wasn’t like they gave me a ton of supervision, but they were still around. But suddenly there I was, still a kid, off on her own. I was as crazy as you would think I’d be. I partied, hooked up with guys, was up for anything. It was fun, or at least that’s what I told myself. All manic, wild energy. I loved anything dangerous and risky. When I met Tony, he was everything I’d ever wanted in a guy.” She darted her gaze up to him. “He was so dangerous, so exciting.”
As her words clicked into place with what he understood about her, things started to make sense. He nodded, wanting her to continue. “Go on.”
“It started just as you’d expect. We met at a party, and from the second we laid eyes on each other, it was game on. We were like glue from that moment.” She cleared her throat, shrugging. “It was crazy. We were crazy. And it felt like I’d finally found my person. That thing I’d lost when Maddie had her accident suddenly found a new home, only it was better because it was with my boyfriend.”
“I understand,” he murmured, not wanting to interrupt her too much and ruin her flow.
“Over time, things started to change. He started making excuses not to see me, or canceling plans. Sometimes he’d show up hours late, and when I called him on it, he’d tell me I was crazy. I thought he was cheating on me, and he made me believe I was nuts. It went on and on until my life became about him, and his moods, and how he felt about me that day.” She smiled, all sad and full of loss.
Ryder squeezed her tighter, wishing he could take it all away from her. “It’s okay. Get it all out.”
She clutched at the sheet, her knuckles whitening. “Of course he was cheating on me. He made me dependent on him and then made me feel insane for being addicted. It was awful.” A tear slipped down her cheek. “And you know the worst thing?”
“What’s that?” He smoothed his hand over her tense muscles.
“He left me.” She shook her head. “Can you believe that? I didn’t wise up, he left me. And when he did, it felt like the worst kind of abandonment. I lost it. I crawled into my bed and didn’t come out until Maddie and Penelope dragged me out. It was the worst time of my life, and once I got my head on straight, I swore I’d never fall for anyone like that again.”
He nodded, slowly, and said softly, “And you kept your promise.”
“I did.” She blinked up at him. “Until you.”
He cupped her cheek and ran his thumb down the smooth skin. “I’m not him, Soph.”
“I know that.” She bit her lip. “But the way you consume me feels the same.”
It was a huge admission for her, and all her resistance and instinctive response to him fell into place. “I won’t take advantage of it. Can you at least believe that?”
“I think I can. I want to.”
“That’s all I can ask for.”
She sighed. “This is getting complicated.”
It was, but he had faith. Someone this perfect for him couldn’t be an accident. “Would you change it?”
She shook her head against his chest. “No, I wouldn’t.”
“Then that’s all that matters.” At least, that’s what he wanted to believe.