Chapter Thirteen

“Where are we going?”

“You’ll see,” I smile.

It’s Thursday evening, and I wanted to do something special for her.

Only, I never knew picking a restaurant to take her for dinner would be so damn hard. Did I go expensive and try to impress her? But then knowing her, expensive wasn’t going to do the trick. Maybe she’d like somewhere more intimate?

In the end, I compromised and booked us into one of the top restaurants in London that caters only for couples, and only twenty at a time. I glance over at her. She looks stunning. Her black dress, although short, is elegant with a high neckline and a low cut back.

“Do you always drive?” she asks me. I’m surprised by her question.

“Yes, unless I plan to drink excessively. I like driving. Why?”

“I don’t know, I’ve been watching too much TV. People with money always seem to have drivers,” she smiles.

“Maybe over in the States it’s different, but here,” I shrug. “I travel so much that I don’t get that much time to drive. I feel bad for her.”

“Her?” she giggles and I smile. “It’s a car, Ryder. It doesn’t have feelings.”

“You can attach emotion to any object. And if you can do that, you can feel emotion for anything.”

“So you feel for your poor little car, but not for anything that’s actually significant?” she teases.

“I never said that,” I protest, laughing. “Is this you believing everything you read again?”

“No,” she replies, tilting her head. “When was your last serious relationship?”

“Define serious,” I say, narrowing my eyes.

“Ha! See, you don’t even know the definition of the word!” Her tone is triumphant. “When was the last time you were in a relationship that involved contact with that person more than once? When was the last time you couldn’t breathe without having that person near you? When was the last time you’d have done anything for someone else?”

Does this count?

“Honestly? I don’t think I’ve ever felt that strongly about another person. I’ve had relationships—serious ones,” I add, in reply to her grin, “but they were always second to tennis. Nobody wants to come second.”

“I understand that,” she mumbles. Her expression grows wistful.

“Jake?” I guess and she nods.

“I’ve avoided dating in the past for that very reason. I always thought I’d never be able to give my all to a relationship. He will always come first. Every single time.”

“Any man who doesn’t get that isn’t worth your time,” I say. She’s likening her situation to mine when in reality they couldn’t be more different. I put a game before my relationships. She puts a child—her child. I admired her strength.

“You’d be surprised at the number of guys who don’t share your point of view.”

“Maybe it’s a British thing. We’re supposed to be more chivalrous than our American counterparts,” I joke.

She laughs. “And arrogant.”

I grin. I’ll take that.

**

We talk more over dinner, and then go for a walk along the river. Everything about this woman surprises me. I reach for her hand, smiling as she closes her fingers around mine.

“It’s really pretty,” she comments. She is staring out at the lights as they twinkle against the gentle ripples of the water, but the only thing I’m staring at is her. She catches me and blushes. I smile, because I love how she blushes. She possesses a different kind of confidence, unlike anything I’ve seen before. It’s internal. Almost soulful.

“You’re staring at me,” she whispers.

“I am.” I grin. I reach over and tuck her hair behind her ear.

Her eyes meet mine as I run my fingers through her hair and cradle the back of her head. I press my lips against hers. She reciprocates, her sweet lips so soft against mine. It is every bit as amazing as I imagined it would be, and at the same time, I’m stunned that a kiss could feel so damn good. My head is a mess of feelings and shit.

What the hell is wrong with me?

She’s speechless as she gazes up at me. I smile and tilt her head, burying my face in the crook of her neck. The sweet scent of body wash and shampoo engulfs my senses as I run kisses down her neck. She sighs and snuggles up against my warmth.

“I should probably get you back to the hotel,” I murmur, kissing her again.

“You probably should,” she agrees. “You should also probably walk me to my room.” Her eyes gleam as she stares up at me and I smile.

“I also should probably make sure you get to bed safely,” I smirk.

**

She is undressing and we’re not even in the room yet.

She’s facing me as she walks backwards through the entrance to her suite. Laughing, I catch the jacket she tosses at me. She’s unbuttoning her shirt by the time I safely close the door behind me.

“You little exhibitionist.” I throw the jacket aside and grab hold of her.

She squeals as I kiss her neck. “God, stop, stop,” she cries, laughing. “It tickles.”

I stop and lift her face to mine, kissing her tenderly. Somewhere in the midst of our kissing she loses her shirt. I admire her slender figure, my hands sitting on the curve of her hips as I drown myself in her kiss again.

Her fingers trickle over my crotch and she smiles. Yes, I’m hard. But I’m still cautious about moving this too fast. I’ve done fast before. Hell, I’ve done everything before, except slow. The slower this goes, the longer I’ll have with her.

“Come here,” I say. I lead her into the bedroom where I sit on the edge of the bed. She stands in front of me. I run my fingers over the bare skin of her stomach. By now, all she’s wearing is a black skirt, a bra, and panties.

Well, I assume she’s wearing panties.

I reach up under her skirt and loop my fingers around the skimpy material that separates my fingers from her wetness. And oh, God, is she wet. She gasps as I slowly roll them down until they are nothing more than a pool of pale blue around her ankles. She kicks them aside and parts her legs slightly—just enough for me to run my hand up the inner side of her thigh.

“Put your hands on my shoulders,” I order her. She does, and I run my middle finger along her opening of her pussy. She inhales sharply. I plunge a finger inside her, slowly manoeuvring it around. I pull my finger out and lift it to my mouth, running my tongue over her juices.

“You taste so sweet. I’m addicted to your pussy,” I chuckle. She leans in and kisses me, her lips crushing against mine. She climbs onto my lap and the tip of my cock buries itself in her entrance. So fucking soft…

I groan and roll her onto the bed. If we’d stayed in that position for much longer, I wouldn’t have been able to control myself.

“Still too sore?” she whispers and I nod, my mouth devouring hers. She moans as I free her breast and rub her nipple against the palm of my hand. I push her skirt up and spread her legs. She gasps as my mouth covers her pussy, my tongue sliding inside of her.

God, I am addicted. I could do this all fucking day.

I thrust a finger inside of her as I tease her with my tongue. She moans, lifting her hips off the bed. I feel her grab at my hair, her hand clenching into a fist as she pulls. I slither up her body and free her other breast, closing my mouth around her nipple, my fingers thrusting inside her as I suck.

“Oh God,” she yells.

I lift my head and meet her lips, kissing her fiercely while circling her spot. She groans, her thighs clenching together, trapping my hand between her legs. “Holy crap, oh fuck,” she cries. “Stop, stop, stop.”

She frees my hand, allowing me out. I chuckle and curve my hand around her neck, caressing her face. We kiss, our lips moulding together as she struggles to catch her breath.

“Your turn,” she whispers, a devious glint in her eyes. I raise my eyebrows as she crawls down the bed until she’s eye level with my cock. I groan as she wraps her fingers around it. She leans over, arse up in the air, and tongues the tip. I clutch at the pillow behind my head and groan. Fucking unbelievable.

My cock is throbbing, demanding more. I have to resist the urge to force myself down her throat. I gasp as her lips taste me, her tongue curling around my length.

I’m almost smothering myself with the damn pillow, because she has me so aroused. I can’t focus on anything other than her mouth, my cock, and what’s about to explode out of it.

“Faster,” I urge. She complies, her mouth sliding up and down. “Fuck,” I curse, coating the back of her throat. “Fuuck yes!”

My back arches. The pain is easy to ignore because I’m in ecstasy. My high drags on and on as her soft lips move over me. Oh God, this feels amazing.

She grins and sidles up next to me, pressing her arse against my body.

I wrap my arms around her waist and kiss her neck. “That was fucking amazing,” I whisper, my voice hoarse.

She laughs and shakes her head. “You are amazing, Ryder.”

I grin and hold her closer. I’m fucked, and all I want to do is sleep, but I’m also mindful that it’s almost time for her and Jake to go back home. I run my fingernails over her back. She sighs, and shivers against my touch. I want to make the most of the time we have left, and not think about what happens when she goes back home.

But it’s hard, because it’s a reality we are going to have to face, and I know before I figure out what this is, I need to work out what I want.