My eyes eased open as the sun streamed through the sheer curtains in the room. I felt the soft mattress underneath my body and the silken sheets that slipped over my bare legs. There was something strong behind me. An arm clinging to me as I laid there, trying to get my bearings. But the moment I heard Ryder’s rumbling voice in my ear I scooted my body back into his.

“Morning, sunshine.”

“You used to call me that in high school,” I said with a grin.

“And I’m calling you it now.”

“I kind of like it.”

I turned over in his arms and kissed the tip of his nose. The sleep that hazed his eyes and the warmth of his skin tugged at a part of me that had laid dormant for so long. My eyes connected with his and my hand rose to his chest. My fingers traced along every line his muscles formed for me. My hand slid up his chest. His neck. His jawline. Threaded through his hair as his eyes lazily closed. I couldn’t stop touching him I couldn’t stop reassuring myself that this was real. That he was there, and I was there, in his bed as the sun bathed our naked bodies in its limelight.

I pressed my cheek to his chest and felt his heartbeat. His strong, unrelenting heartbeat.

It felt natural for me to be in this position with him. To lay across his body and cloak him with my own. His hand wrapped tighter around my body and pulled me close, my leg slipping between his. I felt different. Not in a bad way… but different. I felt Ryder’s fingers combing through my hair, easing out the knots that had formed during the night as we slept soundly against one another.

Huh.

Not one nightmare.

“Hungry?” Ryder asked.

“Not if it means we have to move,” I said.

“Who said you were moving?”

“How else are we getting breakfast?”

“There is another person in this bed, you know.”

I closed my eyes and sighed. Those damn habits I was still having trouble breaking. Ryder’s large hand splayed across my back and began to rub. I felt the tension in my muscles release. I felt my body giving itself over to him again. I cradled into the strength of his body and closed my eyes, then wrapped my arms tighter around him.

Then, my stomach let out the most aggressive roar I’d ever heard it give.

“Sounds like someone’s hungry,” he said, chuckling.

“Just a few more minutes,” I said.

“How about this? I go make breakfast, then bring it back here to eat.”

“In bed?”

“Yep. We’ll eat. We’ll wake up. We’ll talk. We’ll refuse to put clothes on and spend the morning rubbing on each other until we can’t take it any longer.”

I giggled as Ryder rolled me over in bed. He pinned my wrists to the bed and growled playfully, causing my nipples to pucker. He kissed my lips-- a soft, sensual warmth behind them-- and I felt my hips roll playfully into his.

“I’m gonna need some energy if that happens, though,” he said with a wink.

“Fine. Fine. Okay. I relent. Leave me here to be naked and shiver to death before you get back with food.”

“I see you’re still a drama queen as well.”

I stuck my tongue out at him and it caused him to laugh.

He rolled off my body and I watched his massive form stand to his feet. His perky ass flexed for me as he bent down to gather up his jeans from the floor. Every muscle twitched and every patch of skin I could touch last night was covered in marks. Nail marks. Teeth marks. Suction marks. He was a mural I painted on in the throes of ecstasy, and the thick muscles that pulled over his body glistened in the rays of the sun. He jumped into his pants and I bit back a groan, then he peeked at me from over his shoulder.

Like the cheeky little fuck he was.

“Enjoying the view?” Ryder asked.

“You’re relentless,” I said.

“And you’re staring.”

He leaned over to me and captured my lips as my cheeks tinted with embarrassment.

“But I like it,” Ryder said lowly.

I sank back into the sheets and watched him walk out of the room. I knew him making breakfast was the defining moment of his recuperation. Not that pinning me against the shower wall wasn’t, but this was different. We knew he had his strength back, but his coordination left much to the imagination. But with the show of coordination he had last night and the way he pressed every button my body had to offer, it brought about the theory that maybe he was better.

Maybe Ryder was done recuperating.

I could hear him clinking around in the kitchen, whistling to himself. Pots were banging and coffee was percolating and the smell of eggs and bacon wafted up the stairs. He was putting that coordination to good use. Fixing a breakfast for two to then bring up the stairs and eat in bed. It was the ultimate show of the fact that he was okay to live his own life now. That he could take care of himself now.

That he didn’t need my care any longer.

Did that mean I had to leave?

I sank further into the bed and turned over onto my side. Where would I go if I left? I didn’t have a place to stay, and I wasn’t going back to that apartment. Part of me wanted to stay here with Ryder, but would he really allow that? I mean, I felt connected with him. I felt like something was growing between us. But when he signed up to protect me, he didn’t sign up for me to move in with him.

He sure as hell didn’t sign up for me to fall in love with him again.

I closed my eyes and uttered the statement in a whisper.

“I love you, Ryder.”

My heart leapt for joy but my brain was screaming ‘no’. I was in love with Ryder. And the sound of it falling from my lips filled me with such joy. I closed my eyes and thought about the night before. How raw and intimate the moment between us had been. His arms felt as good as they had the first day I was in his home. Hell, they felt as good as the first time I was in them, period. All those years in high school when I gave my virginity to the bad boy I’d fallen in love with.

It felt like that, but multiplied.

My feelings for him were only growing. The mere fact that uttering that phrase made me so happy meant I was on a fast track to have my heart broken again. I was damaged. Recuperating from years upon years of manipulative abuse. I couldn’t hop into another relationship. Anyone could tell me that. Everyone probably would.

But as I heard Ryder coming up the steps with our breakfast, I knew.

He didn’t need me any longer.

“Breakfast for two,” he said.

I turned over and allowed myself to drink in the moment. Ryder, with his chiseled shoulders and his swollen chest and his washboard abs, bringing me breakfast on a tray that smelled decadent. His jeans clung to his strong legs and the smile that crossed his face lit up those brooding, stoic brown eyes.

I memorized him just like that. Happy, without an ounce of regret to weigh him down.

“There’s bacon, eggs, coffee, apple juice, toast, jelly, peanut butter, and ketchup.”

“Ketchup?” I asked.

“You don’t put ketchup on your eggs?”

“You do?” I asked as I wrinkled my nose.

“Can’t win ‘em all,” he said with a playful sigh. “Sit up. I’ll hand you your tray.”

“Such excellent service. Does the delivery boy accept tips?”

Ryder’s eyes flashed with a flicker of darkness that made my spine run cold.

“Depends on the tip,” he said.

“Then I guess we should talk about what that tip should be,” I said as I patted the bed beside me.

Ryder slid into bed next to me, nestling against my side. He pulled his own tray onto his lap before handing me my coffee and my juice. Creamer and sugar until the coffee wasn’t recognizable. Just the way I liked it. I took a long pull and sighed into the cup, drinking in the taste and relishing the smell.

“Your coffee’s better than mine,” I said.

“I’ll give you my recipe sometime,” he said.

“Wait, do you actually do something different with it?”

“I do.”

“What?” I asked.

I looked up at him and found him grinning down at me.

“I guess since you're pretty, I’ll go ahead and tell you. I sprinkle cinnamon in with the grounds and put a pod of cardamom in it before it’s brewed.”

“What?” I asked flatly.

“I know. The guys would slaughter me with jokes if they knew I doctored up coffee like that. But every time they come over and rave about the coffee I make I have to bury a grin.”

“The toughest men on the planet like frilly coffee and they don’t even know it,” I said. “Incredible.”

I took another pull of my coffee and closed my eyes. These were the moments with Ryder I enjoyed so much. When there was no pretense or expectations. Nothing to rush off to or talk about. Just the playful banter and the little jokes that only the two of us would get after spending years getting to know one another.

After weathering all we had together.

“Do you ever wonder where you’ll go from here?” I asked.

“What do you mean?”

“Do you ever wonder if there’s something greater out there for you? Like, beyond your company.”

“Haven’t really thought about it, no. I’m happy with where I am. I have a house I love. A company I grew. Employees I care about. A job I’m passionate about. That’s all a man needs, really.”

I felt my heart sink a little as I took another sip of the outstanding coffee in my mug.

I was going to miss his coffee.

“Why do you ask?”

My eyes gazed out the window as the air conditioning kicked on. It fluttered the curtains and gave me glimpses of the whole of Ryder’s property. Rolling green hills lined with lush green trees. There was a gazebo off in the distance that looked to be surrounded by a cute little garden. Everything about this place was beautiful and safe. The more I discovered about it, the more I enjoyed it.

And the harder it would be to leave it.

“No reason,” I said. “Just letting my mind wander.”

“You want to know what my mind’s wondering about?” Ryder asked.

“What?”

“What you had in mind for the delivery boy,” he said.

And I smiled over the top of my mug as a wolfish grin crossed his face.