“Wow. I bet you got into a lot of trouble as a kid.” She traced the rim of her wine glass.
“Hell yeah. Gave our parents daily heart attacks. I’m surprised they survived raising all ten of us.”
“Holy shit. Ten?”
He raised his glass. “Aye. Six girls ’n four boys, lass.”
“Not bad, sir. Not bad a’tall.” She laughed. “I guess you were never bored.”
“Nope. Never a dull moment in my house growing up.” He sat back and smoothed his tie. “Never any privacy, either.”
She pouted and batted her long lashes. “Poor baby.”
“Teasing me?”
“It’s our deal.” She licked her lips. “A requirement, I think.”
“Well, in that case—” he leaned forward, “—bring it on.”
“You love it.” She swallowed the last of her wine.
“I’d never admit that.” He chuckled. “You want some dessert?”
She gazed at him over the top of her wine glass. “Yep, but not here.”
Looking over his shoulder, he signaled the waitress “Check please?”
Maiya sat back and giggled.
His mother didn’t raise no fool. Maiya decided what she wanted for dessert, and he planned to make sure she got it.
Maiya nibbled her thumbnail as Ryan paid. He’d grown up with nine siblings. Amazing. She bet they had family dinner each night at a dining room table inside a nice house. A real house, not one with wheels.
It made her think back to the typical label she’d given him. The comment, meant as a teasing joke, probably stung. She’d heard about how kids growing up in large families struggled to be individuals.
Hell, she’d grown up alone and struggled to find her own individuality. Half the time, she had no idea who she was or where she belonged. Mostly she’d tried to be invisible. Especially to her mother.
As she’d grown into a young woman, she was done being invisible, making a point to stand out—in fact, she’d made a hobby of it. At times, Maiya still didn’t know who she was deep inside.
She’d be hard-pressed to admit it, but how Ryan grew up sent little barbs of envy scraping through her veins. As a child, she’d spent many nights longing for his brand of normal. As an adult, she’d learned normal didn’t fit anyway.
Maiya was fine with being different. Or at least she had been until now. Now, all she could think about was that she didn’t fit, and for the first time since she was a kid, she wanted to. More importantly, she wanted to fit with Ryan. Frustrated with herself, she pushed the thoughts away.
“You ready?” Ryan held out his hand to her.
Was she? Ready or not, this was happening. Time to step up to the plate or get off the field. Standing, she steadied herself, took a deep breath and placed her hand in his. “Yes.”
Such a small answer to his small question. Both so much bigger than they appeared.
When they got outside, the cool night air wrapped around her. He let go of her hand and motioned for the valet attendant. Maiya walked off to the side and lit a cigarette. The cool menthol smoke slid into her lungs, and she held it in for a second longer than normal. Her head buzzed and she exhaled, watching Ryan talk to the attendant. He wasn’t a prince coming to rescue her from some fire-breathing snaggle-toothed dragon, and this wasn’t a fairytale. It was just dinner.
Two adults having dinner.
Two adults about to have consensual sex.
Nothing more, nothing less.
It didn’t matter he’d taken her to one of the nicest places in L.A. It didn’t.
Maiya needed to keep her heart locked up and emotions turned off. Safe. She needed to stay safe. But she had a feeling he’d already extricated her heart from its nest of safety. She may as well top off the night with some sweaty sex. Fuck it. An orgasm—or five—ought to send her spinning into oblivion.
When the attendant pulled up with the car, Maiya put out her cigarette, popped a mint into her mouth and walked over to Ryan.
His gaze was pinned to her. Her breath caught in her throat at the steadfast expression in his gaze. The breeze picked up and blew his tie to the side and he smoothed it down his chest in what seemed a practiced gesture.
The wine made her movements slow and languid. The nicotine she’d inhaled raced through her blood in fierce competition with the alcohol, making her feel hyper-in-tune to all movement around her. All she focused on was him though. His sculpted face, his sparkling blue-gray eyes, his edible lips and his broad shoulders.
“Your chariot awaits.” Ryan took her hand and helped her into the car. He leaned in when she was seated and placed a light kiss on her cheek. Coming around the car, he slid behind the wheel.
She touched where his lips had been. “That was sweet.”
“I can be…on occasion.”
They made the drive in relative silence. Norah Jones’s “Come Away with Me” played soft and low from the radio, and she hummed along. He traced her fingers, drawing little circles on the back of her hand and then her palm.
The lights of the city glittered in the not-too-far-away distance. Maiya kept her eyes on the passing scenery and her pulse beat a steady drum beneath his fingertips. The music wove its way in and around her and she let herself melt into the soft leather of the seat.
Closing her eyes, she took it all in and let herself…feel.
Chapter Eleven
Ryan glanced at Maiya and then made the turn into the parking garage of her hotel. She was humming, but she looked like she was sleeping. Her expression was soft, relaxed—sweet. He parked in a spot closest to the elevator, turned off the car and looked at her again.
She opened her eyes and blinked a couple of times, and then met his gaze with a modest smile arching her lips.
“You ready?”
She nodded but said nothing more.
Ryan kissed her fingers and then stepped from the car. He couldn’t shake the idea that this was far more than just sex. He wasn’t sure how to feel. Thinking about it scared him too much though, so he pushed the fear aside and opened her car door.
He did things for Maiya he shouldn’t, yet he couldn’t stop himself. A deep motivation to take care of her, in a way he was sure no one else had, kept rising to the top and propelling him. Opening her car door, helping her in or out of the car, taking her to dinner and ordering her meal for her—but he didn’t want it to have to mean anything more than simple polite gestures. Nevertheless, it did mean more didn’t it? It meant more to him than he was ready to admit to himself, least of all her.
He helped Maiya from the car and curled an arm around her waist. Pressing his body against hers, Ryan kissed her. Slow and easy at first, and then deeper. She breathed a sigh and wrapped her arms around his neck.
A spark caught at the base of his spine and fire spread, licking slow and easy, up his back. Pulling away, Ryan grabbed her hand and tugged her toward the elevator. He needed to get her upstairs, now.
When they got in the elevator, she was on him before he even had a chance to blink. He turned them and pressed her against the back wall, shielding her from the elevator camera, enjoying the feel of her soft curves against his body. Running his hands up her sides, he passed his palms over her breasts, thumbed her nipples and kissed her.
Maiya arched and speared her hands into his hair, gripped the strands and pulled. Ryan growled into her mouth and rubbed his erection against her abdomen. He nipped at her bottom lip and she clutched his hair tighter. Delving deeper into her mouth, he found her tongue. Heaven. He couldn’t stop kissing her, drowning in the taste of her strawberry gloss and the wine from dinner.
Ryan’s heart raced, thudding in his ears. The things he planned to do to her once they made it to her room spun through his mind, riding the waves of arousal pulsing through him. She broke the kiss with a gasp for air. Ryan moved to her neck, suc
ked and grazed his teeth over the soft skin—
The elevator dinged and the door opened. “Please tell me this is your floor.”
She let out a little groan and pushed at his shoulders. “Yes, come on.”
He stepped back and she took his hand and led the way down the hall.
Maiya tilted her head, studying Ryan while he leaned against the wall outside her hotel room. The light in his eyes and the expression on his face was all devilish-James-Dean style, and she suspected the bad boy he’d shown her in the conference room was laying in wait under all the polish.
“After you.” He gestured with his hand for her to enter.
“Thank you, sir.” Stepping inside, she set her purse on the dresser. When she heard the hotel room door close, she turned to face him.
He’d taken two steps into the room and stopped, and then, with a raised brow, spread his arms out at his sides. “Well, you’ve got me here. What will you do with me?”
“I was going to ask you the same thing.”
Ryan walked farther into the room and sat on the bed. Maiya stayed where she was, frozen between the bed and dresser, watching him out of the corner of her eye. Then she felt the heat of his hand on the back of her thigh through her skirt.
“Turn toward me, please.”
Annnnd here we go. The bad boy just made his appearance. Front and fucking center. She pivoted and faced him. This was it. From here on out, the rest of the night, he’d dictate how things would go between them. Just like in the conference room.
Ryan removed his tie and unbuttoned the two top buttons of his shirt. His expression was dark, unreadable. Unaffected. “Take off your clothes.”
Her stomach jumped like a child on a trampoline. Part fear, part excitement at his commands and change in demeanor. Could she do this? Could she submit to his commands? Giving up control was so foreign to her, but in order to do it, she needed to trust him. And also trust he’d understand how hard it was for her to give him this power over her. It scared her. Mostly because she liked it.
Her throat gone dry, Maiya swallowed. With a deep breath, she took a small step back, pulled her blouse from the confines of her skirt and then raised shaking figures to the buttons. With care, she unbuttoned them. One, two, three… Breathe, Maiya…until she reached the end. She parted the halves of her top and slid it down her arms, revealing her red push-up bra, but also the tattoos covering both arms. Catching the loose fabric, she folded it and placed it on the dresser behind her. Then turned back to him.
He scrubbed his hand over his mouth, but his eyes remained hard, intent on her. “Keep going.”
A flush of heat spread up her neck and face, and her heart pounded in her ears. For the first time in her life, Maiya felt self-conscious of her tattoos. Ryan was the only person from work, aside from Jodi, she let see her art. Funny, that’s what stood out in her mind. Not the fact she was half-naked in front of him, but that she was covered in ink. What if he didn’t like them?
As if knowing her trepidation, he spoke. His expression soft, along with his words. “They’re beautiful, baby… You’re beautiful.” Then, in a blink, his face returned to its former intense focus on her. “Now, keep going.”
Hello whiplash? He went from being the softhearted man she’d come to know in the last week to the bad boy now sitting in front of her, and then back again. Two sides of the same coin. Like her. But the speed in which he made the change set her on edge. His actions kept her in a state of doubt, never knowing what to expect, yet knowing without question what she could count on.
Maiya took a deep breath, willing the waves of fear away, and moved her hands to the back of her skirt. Peeling down the zipper, she hooked her thumbs in the waistband and pushed the fabric over her hips. She stood before him, almost, but not quite, naked. Wearing only her red bra and cotton, red lace thong.
“Fucking hell, woman.”
She couldn’t suppress the nervous giggle that bubbled up. His expression changed. Now, he looked at her like she was a meal and he was a starving man.
The awareness made her belly tighten. Her skin tingled at the promise in his eyes, and her clit answered as well, swelling and throbbing. He couldn’t know the effect he was having on her.
“Step closer.”
When she did, he traced a line with his fingertip down her stomach to the waistband of her panties. She gasped, and her stomach muscles clenched in response to the feather-light touch.
“Take off your bra.”
With no hesitation, Maiya reached behind her, unhooking the clasp. The motion forced her chest to thrust forward and his gaze fixed on her breasts. She moved her hands around to the front and slid the straps down her arms.
There was no talking aside from his short commands. The low whir of the ventilation system muffled any outside noise in the hotel and the only other sound was her breathing. She was beyond aroused and her body hummed in an over sensitized state. Never before had she been this aware of a man. With her mind a tangled web of emotions, Ryan’s eyes were her focal point—a beacon to guide her through the storm raging inside her body and mind. And she locked on to them, desperate to keep herself afloat.
“Touch your nipples for me.”
Doing as he asked, she took her nipples between her fingertips and pinched them. They hardened in response, and she gasped at the small sting.
“Nice. I like that.” Reaching between her legs, he stroked over her panty-covered mound. “You’re hot here, Maiya.”
She rocked her hips forward into his fingers. “Yes,” she whispered, unable to find her voice. She pinched her nipples again and exhaled a sharp breath.
He watched her, and continued his motion, swiping his fingers from her ass to clit. Gentle strokes, back and forth, back and forth…building her climax, but not enough to send her over.
Her insides were molten lava and each nerve under her skin tingled and sparked. With every sensation, her breath hitched in her chest. Cupping her breasts, she massaged and squeezed them together.
This was the hottest fucking thing she’d ever experienced. The quiet of the room, his fingers dancing along her covered slit, and the sensations from touching her own breasts. Every action mingled together creating an atmosphere of pure, unadulterated sexual tension. The air was thick with it.
When Miaya finally came, she wasn’t sure she’d survive it.
Ryan’s mouth watered. Maiya’s moisture soaked through her panties on to his fingers—he had to taste her.
He’d taken all choice away from her and she liked it. He liked it too. The hard-on the size of the Empire State Building he was sporting was proof of that. Ryan was intent on ignoring it because each time he passed the pads of his fingers over Maiya’s clit her body jerked, and damn him to hell, he wasn’t going to stop. Delicious. However, he wanted the last remaining barrier gone. “Take these off.”
She let go of her breasts and slid her panties down her thighs. When she bent forward, her breasts swayed close to his mouth. Snaking his tongue out, he licked one peaked nipple.
She grabbed his shoulders and arched into him. “Fuck, Ryan.”
He chuckled and sucked the point into his mouth. She moved to straddle his lap and he jerked his mouth away. “Stay standing.” She protested and he slapped her ass, one quick, sharp swat. “Be a good girl, Maiya.”
“Ryan!” She stayed standing, but tightened her grip on his shoulders.
Rewarding her, he dragged his tongue over the flushed tip again and pinched the other. “So sweet. Your nipples taste like candy.”
She jerked against him. He smiled around her delicious flesh and trailed his other hand down her torso, following the path to her flat stomach and then between her legs. She had very little pubic hair and he stroked the fine curls, careful to only graze the top of her clit.
She whimpered and he ventured lower with his fingers. Running his
index finger through her bare and smooth slit, Ryan found the hot wetness he sought. A bolt of lust shot from his spine to his dick, tightening his balls. She was dripping for him.
Ryan groaned and released her nipple from his mouth. He wanted to watch her face when he touched her pussy. Sliding his fingers through her folds again, he held her gaze. “Play with your tits again for me, baby.”
Maiya’s eyes widened and then her head fell back on her shoulders. He loved this. Circling her opening with two fingers, he dipped them inside, pulling more slickness out and over her clit. As he rubbed the tight bundle of nerves in little circles, she rolled her hips forward. Fuck, she was killing him. “Oh yeah, that’s it, baby. Look at me. I want to see your eyes.”
Maiya gazed down at him and panted, little whimpers escaping on each quick breath. She swiped her tongue across her bottom lip and played with her breasts. Cupping them, she massaged and then pinched her nipples between her fingers.
The way he needed her to do.
Back and forth, he moved his fingers, bringing more of her wetness with him to lubricate her folds. She cried out and tensed. She was close; he could feel it. Her little clit swelling further each time he rubbed it. “Don’t come until I tell you, Maiya.”
“What? Are you nuts?” Her eyes were wild with shock.
Ryan stopped his movement and pressed his palm against her mound. “You said you’d be good.” With his free hand, he slapped her ass. A little harder than the last time.
“Fuck. Fuck. Fuck!” She sucked in a breath and exhaled closing her eyes. “Yes. Okay. Yes.”
“Good girl.” He pressed his palm tight to her clit again, and drove two fingers inside her. Her pussy clamped down around his fingers and he almost came in his pants. Dear God, she was tight. Keeping his fingers buried deep, Ryan gripped her mound and lay back on the bed, pulling her with him. “On my face, now.”
Maiya climbed over his body and settled her knees on either side of his head, perching herself above his face. She gave him everything he wanted. Deep pleasure and satisfaction from her submission pulsed through his body and his dick grew harder than he thought possible. With a growl, Ryan latched on to her clit with his mouth.
Unworthy Heart: The Donnellys, Book 1 Page 7
