Chapter Sixteen
Ryder
Looking at her across the table in the candlelight with the soft glow dancing over flawless skin gives me a warm feeling inside. She’s so radiant and for the life of me I can’t understand how any man in his right mind would give her up. Her ex-husband has to be the stupidest motherfucker in the world. I don’t plan on being that dumb. I know what I have in front of me and she’s too special a woman to lose. I never thought I’d be ready to settle down with anyone. I was pretty much ready to live the rest of my life alone and only having meaningless sex. That was until the day I literally crashed into this house. One look into Madison’s eyes and I knew I was home.
Her boys are amazing too. I wouldn’t mind spending every single night in front of the television holding Caleb in my arms while Aiden snuggled in my lap. In fact, that’s exactly how it was last week when they were on vacation. We’d watch a movie as Madison fixed us dessert in the kitchen. A few times we’d fallen asleep before we had a chance to eat it. By the time the week was over I’d gotten so comfortable with them it never dawned on me I had to go home. They weren’t my family, but shit there’s nothing I want more now.
“You okay?” Madison’s cerulean gaze searches my face, her brows furrowed into a deep V. “Ryder?”
I smile, taking her hand in mine to place a kiss on her palm. “Yeah. C’mon, I have a surprise for you.” I pull her up to stand and guide her toward the back door. “Wait here, I’ll get your coat and boots.”
“What do you have up those sneaky sleeves of yours Ryder Storm?”
“If I told you then it wouldn’t be a surprise, now would it?” After helping her into her coat and boots, I have her turn toward me. “Cover your eyes.”
“Cover my eyes?”
“Yes, cover them.” When she does I tilt her head up and gently brush my lips over hers in a ghost of a kiss.
“Was that the surprise?”
A low chuckle escapes my throat. “No.”
“Because I’d totally be okay with that if it were.”
I kiss the tip of her nose. “Keep your eyes closed.” When I open the door onto the patio a gust of cold air blows into the kitchen, bringing a healthy dusting of snow along with it. Her golden hair is veiled in hundreds of sparkling white flakes and I smile at how beautiful she is even from the back. I lower my eyes to curve of her hips then to her ass. Oh yeah, she is definitely beautiful from the back.
“Ryder it’s getting cold.”
“Sorry Peaches.” Closing the distance between us, I wind my arms around her waist. She starts to lower her hands and I whisper in her ear as my growing erection presses into her lower back. “Keep those eyes covered.”
Her breath hitches and she shivers. “Is that the surprise?” She asks, referring to my aching cock that is getting so hard it’s becoming painful.
I take a step back because If I continue to stand behind her, I’ll burst any second. “No smarty pants that is not the surprise. Well, not now anyway.” I take her by the elbows, guiding her out the door and onto the patio. “Open.”
Her eyes go wide, her jaw slack with surprise. She looks around the small backyard, then above her head. “Ryder, it’s beautiful.”
The twinkling white Christmas lights wrapped around the steel garden archway dims in comparison to the sparkle in her eyes. She takes a few steps away from me as she surveys her surroundings. While she was gone this afternoon I not only cooked her dinner, but I also decorated the entire backyard with hundreds, maybe even thousands of lights. I twined them around the trunks of the trees, the fence, and the patio furniture. Okay, it wasn’t the best job, but I was in a rush to get everything done in time. Besides, the haphazard way I put them up makes them look even more beautiful. The snow falling is also an added unexpected cool element.
Stepping off the slate patio and onto the snow covered grass, she tilts her back and lifts her arms as she spins. “It’s like a winter wonderland.”
I lean against the archway, drinking in the scene in front of me. If I thought she couldn’t get any more beautiful than I already thought she was, boy I was wrong. Her long hair floats on the frosty breeze, shimmering in the glow of the lights. The smile on her face is breathtaking and the small giggle she lets out brings a satisfied grin to my own. “You like it?”
She runs over to me, smashing her body against mine. “I love it.”
She squeezes my waist so tight I can barely breath, yet she still isn’t close enough for me. I wrap my arms around her, holding her in an unbreakable embrace. I inhale the familiar scent of sweet peaches that is now branded in my memory. I will never forget this moment for as long as I live, and I hope she doesn’t either. The second she tries to step away from me, I slowly push her back and grip the cold steel of the archway, caging her in. A few of the lights are stabbing the palms of my hands, but I don’t care. I don’t want her to move from this spot. She’s not going anywhere until I see her face flush from my touch and hear her pleading whimpers in my ears.
She peers up at me with a questioning gaze. “What are you doing?”
I dip my head to her neck, brushing the thick fur of her hood away with my nose until my lips touch her warm skin. I lower my hand and bunch one side of her dress up while my other hand finds its way to the silky fabric of her panties. “I think you know what I’m doing.”
“Ryder is it’s so cold. We should go inside.”
I slide my hand into her panties and suck her bottom lip into my mouth. I flash her a wicked grin. “This won’t take long.” My finger barely skims over her already swollen clit before I slowly delve it into her pussy. Her soft moan grabs me by the balls, causing them to ache in a way that if I don’t get a reprieve soon, I’ll explode without even being inside her. I thrust two fingers inside her hard and slow. If I have to suffer than she’s going suffer right along with me. The more she grinds her hips seeking a faster pace, the slower and harder I go. I push a third finger into her soaked pussy and she throws her head back.
“Ah.”
I chuckle into the curve of her neck, gently nipping the skin. “I told you this wouldn’t take long.” I palm her ass, pulling her close to me while I work her into a heated frenzy as I stroke her clit with the pad of my thumb. Her tight walls clench around my fingers and she shudders, coating my hand with her release. I pull my fingers out and furiously claim her mouth with mine. I’m so fucking overheated; my skin sizzling as the falling snow hits my skin.
She blinks her heavy lids as a satisfied grin pulls at the corners of her mouth. “Your turn.”
“Fuck yeah it is.” I reach for the buckle of my pants, unfastening it and pull down my zipper.
The playful glint in her eyes doesn’t escape me as she reaches behind her. Before I have a chance to question what she’s doing, she pulls the elastic waistband of my boxer briefs and shoves a handful of snow from the archway into the cotton fabric. The icy flakes shock my raging hard on into submission and I both curse and laugh into the frigid air. “Fuck!” She takes off running into the backyard but can’t get far in that flimsy dress and oversized snow boots. I catch up to her in a few strides and grab her by the waist, tickling her. I throw her over my shoulder and she squeals a protest as I walk us back toward the house. I smack her hard on her ass. “Now, it’s war.”