Leaving some time for Ophelia to get to the living room, Harlow waited until she heard the hallway door close before shrugging off Penzance’s arm and rushing over to Ryske.
“Crash,” she breathed and planted her hands on his chest to rise onto her tiptoes.
When she tried to seek his mouth, he ducked his head back and pulled away. Harlow didn’t know what to think. She was speechless. Ryske hadn’t moved away from Ophelia when she’d kissed him, and Harlow had been pleased at his lack of response. But he’d gone a step further with her. He didn’t even pretend to let her be near him. He broke her heart and disconnected from her completely.
Turning around slowly, Harlow found him facing the opposite counter, near the fridge, his hands braced apart on it, his head bowed.
“Rejected by my home,” she whispered.
“Yo, dude, nothing happened. Don’t—”
Ryske’s head snapped to the side. Over the angle of his straight arm, he glared at Penzance. “You think I need you to tell me that?” he growled. “You think I need you to tell me that what she was doing in there was bullshit? You don’t have a goddamn fucking clue about her.”
Harlow was still standing there sort of bereft when Ryske turned suddenly and grabbed her wrist. Spinning her around, he slammed her against the counter by the fridge. “The first noise she makes is a breathy little whimper,” Ryske said, driving a hand through her hair to clear it from the side of her neck and push her head aside.
Moving in close, he ducked to kiss the sensitive spot behind her ear, just at her hairline. Kissing and nibbling, he did nothing but hold her hair away from his mouth and tease her with barely there touches of his tongue and his lips.
Her body grew heavier. She grabbed for the top of the fridge at her left when her knees began to buckle and her eyes rolled back. When her lips parted, she did make a sound like a breathy whimper, but she didn’t care, she wasn’t paying attention to specifics.
“Crash,” she whispered.
His lips slid down an inch. Harlow grabbed for his shoulder, but he snatched her right hand and pressed it onto the counter.
Taking his mouth away from its tormenting, Ryske turned toward Penzance again. “After that comes her second stage.”
She was still drifting on the tickles of pleasure left by his mouth when he snaked a hand between the flaps of the shirt she was wearing to run a finger down to her clit. Harlow gasped and tried to grab for him again, but he put her hand back on the counter.
“Crash,” she begged when he began to rub slow lines and circles over her most sensitive spot. “Oh, God, Crash.”
Her eyes closed as her head fell against the upper kitchen cabinet behind her. “She starts to pant,” Ryske said.
Harlow’s lips parted and her breathing grew shallower. Instinct made her leg rise to curl high around his hip. Digging her foot into his ass, she tried to pull him as close to her as she could, pressing her bent knee into his torso so hard that it would probably leave a bruise.
“Crash,” she groaned, tensing her leg. He was still pleasuring her, moving his finger in circles and down through her juices to slick his fingertips then sliding them higher to stimulate her again.
“She begs, grits her teeth, hisses at me… She starts to whine, and groan, and asks for what she wants.”
“Fuck me, Crash,” she whimpered. “Oh, God, fuck me.”
Harlow was aware that he’d been talking, that his words were matter-of-fact, and he wasn’t as engaged in what he was doing to her as he usually would be. She couldn’t figure out what was going on and didn’t really care when she felt this good.
“What do you want, baby? Huh?” he asked, his breath warming her temple.
Draped across this counter, Harlow was struggling to keep herself upright. Clinging to the top of the fridge and the counter, she pushed her torso back to lift her coiled leg higher.
“I want you inside me… Now, Crash. Oh, God please…”
Throwing her head back again, she did grit her teeth and tried to breathe through the building urgency of her need that was reaching critical mass.
“Trink, look at me,” he said, his voice soft. She brought her chin down and managed to open her eyes a fraction. “Did he touch you?” She blinked; her mouth opened wide when he sped his intimate caress. “Did he?” Forcing herself to shake her head, it rolled on the cabinet door. “I’m not gonna kill him. I’ll get close, but I promise not to kill him… Did he touch you?”
“What the fuck, Ryske?” Penzance demanded from across the room. “You’re not fucking—”
“You shut the fuck up, I’m talking to my girl.” Their eyes hadn’t left each other. She read his need, but shook her head. “Good girl.”
Still massaging her clit with one hand, he used the other to clasp the side of her head to pull her up for the kiss she’d craved. Ryske kept kissing her and stimulating her until the desperate squeak of orgasm wracked through her. He masked the sound with his mouth, pushing his tongue deeper into her mouth when she began to shake and grab for him.
The moment it subsided, he snatched his mouth away, leaving her gasping into the air. “Lover,” she said, tightening the grip of her leg when he attempted to step back. Grabbing for his jeans, she tried to unbuckle his belt. Ryske grabbed her wrists and slammed them back against the cabinet behind her. “Please… I know you want me.”
There was no mistaking the reaction he’d had to her. Whether it was touching her, or the sight of her, or the sounds she made, Harlow didn’t know. But that bulge in his jeans was definitely her favorite friend.
Leaning in, he let his mouth hover over hers. “Always.”
“Then fuck me, Crash,” she said, trying to steal his mouth, but he ducked back. “Fuck me, right here… I’ll be quiet.”
He smirked. “You can’t be quiet, Trink.”
“I need you,” she whispered and let her eyes descend. “I can’t send you back to her like that… I can’t.”
“Then you better do something about it,” he murmured and crooked a brow.
She knew exactly what he wanted. When she nodded, he winked and loosened his grip on her wrists, letting her slide down his body onto her knees.
“Oh, God,” Penzance groaned when she started to unfasten Ryske’s jeans. “You’re not really gonna… She’s not gonna…”
“You can turn around,” Ryske said, “keep lookout.”
The smug swagger in his voice was enough to make her peek up and smile. Her love had forgiven her the slight, but wasn’t going to miss this opportunity to stake his ownership. Harlow took him into her mouth and sucked him deep, wishing she could make him feel the depth of her love.
“Welcome to my fucking nightmare,” Penzance groaned.
Harlow kept working, pleasing her man, giving him her every effort. Rolling her eyes upward, she found him watching her and smiled.
“Want to shut up? My girl’s concentrating,” Ryske said. “You’re a good girl, Trink. Oh, that’s it, baby.”
Using the side of his fist, Ryske punched the cabinet she’d been leaning on before. The bang it caused wasn’t loud, but it was significant. Just as he knew her, she knew him. Harlow knew how long to tease him, how long to suck, to lick, to kiss, and tongue and tease. She pampered every part of him. Using her tongue, her lips, and her hands, she pleasured him until he grabbed a handful of her hair and thrust himself deep into her mouth. He forced her to take him hard as he burst against her tongue, filling her mouth with his seminal gift.
Ryske relaxed and his hand drifted from her hair. “Up,” he said. She sprang to her feet and began to put his dick back in his pants, fastening him back up. “Panties at all times.”
Her fingers stilled on his belt for a moment. “I don’t have panties here,” she said and finished buckling him. “You couldn’t have told me that before I went home tonight?”
“You were at home tonight?”
She would’ve thought he got a quick rundown of her night from their friend. “Noon didn’t tell you?
”
“Maze went home with Noon, I haven’t spoken to him. I caught a ride with Ophelia.”
Wearing a grin, she arched her body against his, and was delighted to feel his fingers in her hair. “Yes, I was home. I left a present for you.”
“Oh, yeah?” he asked, watching his fingers in her locks. “What present?”
“It’s under your pillow.”
“Our pillow,” he said, bunching up her hair and using his grip on it to pull her head back. “How did this happen?”
“Ophelia caught Penzance and me coming out of the bedroom at the club. She put the pieces together all wrong and thought I’d been riding him.”
“You didn’t correct her?”
“And tell her what? That I was riding you?” she asked, opening the fridge to take out a beer for him. “It worked out anyway. She was so excited that I was having sex with someone who wasn’t you that she ordered Penzance to take me out for a drink and to spend the night here.”
“So she knew you’d be here,” he muttered, drinking his beer.
“Yes. She wanted you to see what you saw. I don’t know, maybe it was her plan to erase any residual feelings you may have for me.” Recalling what it had been like to see him witness her in that predicament, feelings of sorrow filled her. “I’m sorry, baby.”
Wrapping her arms around his waist, she leaned back enough to make way for his bottle. But he rested an arm around her shoulders, claiming her even while he drank.
When he lowered the bottle, he put it on the counter and scooped a hand around the back of her head to pull her close for a kiss. “You did nothing wrong, Trink. You know I knew that.”
“I know,” she said, pressing her face to his chest to breathe him in. “Don’t suppose you’d consider joining me in my bedroom.”
He laughed and kissed the top of her head. “You know I would in a heartbeat.”
“You know, I don’t get it,” Penzance said, finally leaving his position right by the door. “You were stressed out about his mood and he had a face like thunder. No way you believed she’d been faithful.”
The shot of tension that went through Ryske made Harlow tighten her embrace. “Baby,” she warned.
“You don’t have a fucking clue, asshole,” Ryske growled and began to strengthen his own arm around her shoulders, pulling her so hard against him that she couldn’t move. “I don’t have a goddamn doubt in my girl, not one. But see she thinks you and me are boys, and she trusts my boys… Only I know better, Zance.”
“Yeah?” he asked, widening his stance and folding his arms. “And what do you think you know?”
“That you think every woman alive is fair game.”
“Is that right?” Penzance asked, his chin rose and his gaze moved to the side. “There was a time plenty would’ve said the same thing about you.”
“Yeah, before Trinket,” Ryske said. “Show me your equivalent and I’ll chill.”
A coolness overcame Penzance who leveled his attention on Ryske. “You don’t give her enough credit. Harlow knows a play and recognizes a player when she sees one.”
“Damn right she does. She sized me up in a second. Sized you up too… But you haven’t had to see some of the shit she’s been through. I won’t let you compromise her.”
“She can take care of herself.”
“When I’m around, she doesn’t have to.”
Penzance’s head tilted. “ ‘Cept you’re not around, are you? I’ve been watching her tail since she’s been here, and I don’t know if you have any idea just how much danger she’s in here every minute.” He pointed at her. “You saw the bruise on her face, right?”
“Yeah,” Ryske snarled. “Proof you’re not that great at what you claim to do.”
“Better than you, no doubt about it.”
“Stop it,” she said. “Both of you. God, we get ten minutes alone and all you want to do is fight.”
Ryske wasn’t going to let up just because she got pissy. “Look me in the eye, Zance, and tell me you didn’t think about it.”
Penzance’s upper body slanted forward a fraction. “Excuse me? You’re asking if I want to fuck your girlfriend?”
Harlow loosened. “I’m not really his girlfriend right now, I—” Ryske turned a glare on her that shut her up fast. With a sheepish smile, she touched his lip. “I love you.”
He drew his eyes back to Penzance. “Did you think about it?”
“Fucking her? Sure!” he said and opened his arms wide. “The woman is hot, Ryske, and she’s got spunk. Sorry to tell you, bud. I’m not the only guy who’d shtup her given half a chance.”
Ryske pulled away and started to turn, but she grabbed his ribs to pull him back. “But he knows I’m not available. He knows I’m yours. He wouldn’t, Crash. He wouldn’t.”
Harlow was sure Penzance wouldn’t compromise her. She knew for a fact that he wouldn’t force himself on her. Even if she was incapacitated, he wouldn’t take advantage of her. Harlow didn’t understand why he wouldn’t make that clear to Ryske.
“Sure, I would,” Penzance said. “I’ve got no loyalty to him and he’s got none to me. That’s what we’re really saying here, isn’t it?”
Ryske had spoken of his time with Penzance in terms of what they had in common. Her love had no idea why Penzance had left. Thinking about it from his perspective, Harlow guessed it must have been quite hurtful that his friend just vanished without explanation or farewell.
“This is a bigger discussion,” she said, stroking Ryske’s chest and eyeing Penzance. “Please don’t provoke him. Don’t provoke each other.”
“I want to punch him in the face,” Ryske growled.
She laid her hands flat on him. “I know,” Harlow soothed. “I know, baby.”
“Oh, come on and try it,” Penzance said.
When Ryske tried to move again, she balled her hands, gripping his shirt, using more force to hold him back.
“I thought you two were professionals,” she hissed, scolding them both. “This is a job. We each have our role. If you want to go our separate ways after, that’s what we’ll do.” Ryske looked at her again, his brow low. “Not us.”
“Hmm,” he said in a disapproving way.
She gave him a pat. “You’re going to be an uncle and we have a wedding to get to,” she muttered wondering how the hell she’d get to Lena’s wedding if all this crap was still going on in their lives.
“If you’re dating me, you’ve got to take me to the wedding,” Penzance said.
Harlow took a chance to glare at him too. “First off, I’m taking a bunch of people to the wedding, so far you’re not on the list. Do you really want to see Emma again while sitting at my table?” That shut him up. “Yeah, I didn’t think so, lover boy.”
“You see why I don’t trust him?” Ryske growled.
Laying a hand on his cheek, she smoothed her thumb along his jaw. “But you trust me, Crash. And I promise, if he ever lays a hand on me in that way… I’ll let you kill him.”
Accepting the promise, Ryske bowed to touch his lips to hers.
In the moment they met, Penzance called out. “Hey!”
When they turned they saw he’d backed up to let the door hit him as someone came in, giving the couple a chance to separate. Ryske took his beer to the other end of the island. Harlow opened the fridge to retrieve one as Penzance stepped forward to let Ophelia inside.
“Just what is going on in here?” she demanded, growling at Penzance, probably because he got in the way of the door.
“We’re having an orgy, Fi, what does it look like?” Ryske asked, sauntering away from his place at the end of the island, acting like he’d been at that spot a while, even though, in truth, he’d only just arrived there. “Wishing these two well with whatever the hell is going on between them.” When he got to Ophelia, he hooked an arm around her neck. “Come on, let’s get this over with.”
He took her out of the room, leaving Harlow alone with Penzance. She breathed out a sigh
of relief. Ryske was appeased, he’d control Ophelia, so they could all relax. At least, she could until she spied Penzance.
Marching over to him, she thrust the beer at his stomach, then pinched his arm. “What the hell was that? ‘Sure, I would.’ Why would you say something like that?”
“Because I would,” he said. That he was still playing only aggravated her more. “Oh, untwist your panties, Har. He deserved it. He’s so up his own ass.”
“You hurt him.”
That claim startled Penzance. For a minute, he didn’t say anything. “I… what? No, I didn’t.”
“You fucked off out of his life. You abandoned him. You guys were close, right?”
“Yeah, but we’ve seen each other since. Our paths crossed once in a while. It’s not a big deal with him.”
“That’s what he wants you to think,” she said, but knew Ryske better than that.
For a second, he blustered, then settled on a scowl. “How the hell do you know? I just told you what happened tonight.”
“Because I know Ryske,” she said. “A damn sight better than you ever did apparently.” She took his arm. “Now let’s get out there and get this over with. I’m ready for this night to be done.”
Ophelia probably didn’t have much on the agenda. The point had been for Ryske to stumble on her and Penzance, so Ophelia had achieved her goal.
Harlow was tired and didn’t want to think about conniving any more tonight. She’d have to stay in game mode for just a little longer. Thankfully, Ryske was there. Without the strength his proximity gave her, she might not have made it.
22
As Harlow expected, the “party” had been short.
The renovations Ophelia wanted were top of the agenda. She really pushed her ideas and crowed over the success of the changes she’d put in place. No one was enthusiastic. Though, that might have been because of the late hour.
Parratt changed the subject at the first opportunity. Arjan, their Pothos supplier, had the ability to increase supply if the consortium paid to have production facilities expanded. That meant more financial investment on all of their parts.
Go Full Circle (A Go Novel Book 5) Page 16
