Arrogant

by Drea Blackery

  He tossed the towel aside and got under the covers with me, tucking my back to his front and pillowing my head with his bicep. I lay in the warm cocoon of soft sheets and Ryland’s warm body, feeling lethargic from the orgasms he'd just given me.

  “Do you regret this?” he asked after a moment.

  “No.” I played with the hairs on his arm. “I'm just happy we've sorted it out.”

  “Me too.” Ryland exhaled silently, his breath warming my neck. “I thought I’d have to watch you go to another guy, fall in love with him. I won't know what to do if that happened,” he admitted in a low voice.

  “You’ll probably kill him,” I teased.

  “I thought about it,” Ryland said solemnly. “But I realized that I can’t, not if you loved him. I can’t hurt you again. I thought I’d have to stand by and watch.”

  I felt a sudden heat prickling my eyes, and I turned over to face Ryland.

  “I'm sorry,” I whispered. “I shouldn't have said those hurtful things yesterday. I was angry and let it get the better of me.”

  Ryland smiled faintly, tucking a strand of hair behind my ears. “Forgiven.”

  Feeling warm and safe, I curled closer against him. “Thanks for coming after me today.”

  “I'll always come after you, love.”

  “For what it's worth, I wanted to go to you too.” I bit my lip. “I was still working out an apology in my head, but I want you to know that I won't let you go either.”

  Ryland's eyes were warm as he gazed down at me. “How do you always know what to say to me?”

  “It's only with you,” I said ruefully. “Most people find me too blunt.”

  “Most people are idiots.”

  “Have I told you how much I love when you take my side without question?”

  “Nope, but you can start now.” Ryland propped his head up on a fist, cocking an eyebrow at me. “What else do you love about me? My hotness? My brains?”

  “It definitely isn't your cockiness,” I retorted.

  “Stop lying, Allie cat, we both know that's your favorite part. You like having a smug asshole like me at your mercy.”

  “You?” I teased. “At my mercy?”

  “Yep,” Ryland stated simply.

  My heart gave a thump at the possessiveness in his expression. He really was mine.

  “Ryland,” I hedged. “About my father… Karin said something that stuck with me. She said that you were just as much a victim as we were. And she’s right.” I met Ryland’s gaze. “Your father manipulated you emotionally from the start.”

  Ryland brushed his thumb over my cheek, his expression shuttered. “That doesn't change the fact that I lied to you.”

  “It doesn't,” I admitted, “but you didn't know me when we first met. You wouldn't have known how I'd react. And after that, you were afraid to lose me."

  “I was. And I hurt you because of that,” he said quietly.

  “You would've told me everything, wouldn't you?”

  Ryland caressed my cheek, holding my gaze. “Yeah. After I'd sorted everything out.”

  I believed him.

  I fidgeted with the covers. “I think I could forgive you in time, but…”

  Ryland stiffened, his gaze sharpening.

  “But what?” he said, looking so hopeful that I had to bite back a smile.

  “But I would like it if…you continued to chase me. It felt nice."

  A slow smile spread across Ryland's face. “I wasn't planning to stop, Allie cat.”

  “Good,” I smiled back.

  Ryland eased back down, tucking my head into the crook of his neck. I stroked the warm skin over his heart, reveling in the new intimacy between us.

  “I think I owe your sister a favor,” he mused, “since she put in a good word for me and all that.”

  “My sister? What about me?”

  “Hmm, fair enough. What do you want? Name anything.”

  “I want a spaceship. That will teach you to say things like “Name anything.””

  Ryland scoffed. “You'll need to try harder, Allie cat. It would take a few months for negotiations plus government regulations, but I'm pretty sure I could work something out.”

  I pulled away to stare at him. “Are you kidding me? You can buy a spaceship?”

  Ryland smirked. “If I liquidate my assets, I can buy several spaceships.”

  The easy way he said had me doing a double-blink.

  Just a couple of months ago, Ryland would have considered it blasphemy to even think about it.

  I bit back a smile.

  “Fine, then I want the moon,” I said instead.

  “Tough luck, kitty cat. According to the Outer Space Treaty, no one’s allowed to own the moon.” Ryland drew his brows in thought. “But I can get you moon rocks, or name a crater after you. You want that?”

  I laughed at his seriousness. “You're supposed to reply with “I'll throw a lasso around it and pull it down.” George Bailey, It's a Wonderful Life? No? How can you not know it, it's a classic movie.”

  “Even if I have heard of it, you know I can't say shit like that with a straight face. My balls will fall right off.” Ryland’s lips curved knowingly. “Those cheesy sex books were yours, weren't they? I knew you were secretly a perv.”

  My cheeks reddened. “For the last time, they're romance novels.”

  “Whatever you say, perv.”

  I raised my fist threateningly, but Ryland went straight for my weak spot.

  He tickled my side, and I screamed.

  We wrestled in the bed with me on the losing end until I finally gave in.

  “Okay, sorry!” I gasped. “No—stop, please!”

  Ryland finally eased off, bracing his forearms on either side of my head and trapping me in the bed with his body. His weight felt heavy and delicious on top of me.

  “You know I can't say no when you beg,” he grinned.

  We watched each other, out-of-breath and aroused. There was something new between us that I couldn’t name, but loved.

  “I don't need anything,” I smiled, answering his earlier question. “I just want you.”

  Ryland’s brows drew together, as if those words made him ache somewhere.

  “You drive me crazy, you know that?” he murmured, his deep voice rumbling against my chest. “Every time I think I can't like you even more, you do or say something that makes me want to eat you up. It's like I'm addicted to you.”

  I reached up and brushed aside his hair that had fallen over his forehead. “Glad to know I rank right up there with meth.”

  “The purest kind too, not just any low-grade street shit.”

  “Thanks,” I said archly. “I sound like such a great catch.”

  “You are. How do I put it?” Ryland angled his head, considering. “It's like everything was black and white before you, and now it's in color.”

  “So, I'm actually LSD?”

  Ryland ducked down and nipped my earlobe.

  “Okay, fine,” I laughed. “Let's just say I'm…art. How about that? I'm a nice art piece that brightens your room, and quite possibly your life.”

  “Yeah.” Ryland ground his growing erection against my belly. “A very nice…hot…fuckable piece of art.”

  I snickered, parting my legs for him. “Is that what you’ve been doing to my portrait?”

  Ryland smirked down at me as he yanked the covers off our bodies and grabbed another condom. His cock was already hard and erect, ready for our next round.

  “Fuck yeah,” he said smugly as he parted my knees and settled between them. “I’ve been doing all kinds of shit to you, and you didn’t even know it.”

  “Show me.” I licked my lips, my eyes going heavy-lidded. “Do it all to my body.”

  Ryland’s smile was wolfish as he plunged into me.

  “I didn't know it was so big from the inside,” Allie said as we made our way into the theatre.

  It was her first time to a Broadway production, and she was looking aro
und with her mouth open like a baby bird's.

  The Cats musical was totally up her alley, but people prancing around the stage in furry pants was not my jam—give me CGI explosions any day.

  Naturally, that meant that we were going to see Cats.

  God, I was whipped, but hell if I didn't like it.

  “We'll come here as many times as you want,” I told her. “Except for Cats. This is the first and last time.”

  “Hmm. Pretty sure I could change your mind.”

  I'm pretty sure she could too, but I could at least put up a fight.

  We made our way into the theatre and to our seats in the orchestra section, where Allie continued to look around her in open excitement.

  It was a fresh change from the people around us, who all looked like they were in a contest to see who could give the least fucks or be the most unimpressed.

  I had the same look on my face, except that in my case, I was trying to curb the sheer pleasure of having Allie beside me as my woman. She looked downright stunning in the dark green dress that she'd bought specially for this occasion, and I had to keep reminding myself not to stare or touch her.

  Easier said than done.

  The neckline of her dress was a deep V that showed the curves of her breasts. If I just tugged one of her shoulder straps to the side, it would release—

  “Stop staring at my boobs,” Allie hissed at me. “It’s so obvious.”

  “Can’t help it,” I said, still ogling. “It’s your fault for looking so damned hot.”

  Allie folded her arms across her chest pointedly, looking at me with a raised brow that she copied from me.

  “Fine,” I growled. “But you can’t escape later.”

  We settled back into the seats, and as Allie went through the brochures and program, my hand automatically reached for hers, as if by clockwork.

  That was something that still surprised and freaked me, even after a week of being with her.

  It was like I had this itch to be near Allie all the time. It didn’t even have to be fucking, or even talking. Just knowing that she was in the other room, or sleeping in my bed while I was working in the study was enough to make me grin like an idiot.

  To make things sweeter, Allie had agreed to move into my penthouse, while Karin had taken up in the apartment suite downstairs. The arrangement was perfect—it made Allie happy to be close to her sister, and it made me happy to be close to Allie.

  I couldn't believe that I once thought I could screw her out of my system. Shit, I used to be such an idiot.

  “I love this,” Allie said softly, leaning her head on my shoulder. “Let's do this often.”

  “Sure thing,” I found myself saying.

  Just another thing that had changed.

  Other than saying shit that had never come out of my mouth before, I was doing something I had never done with another woman: Making plans for the future.

  Last night, we’d been downtown for dinner, and I'd caught Allie looking at a figurine of the Eiffel Tower in a toy shop window.

  “Let's go to Paris,” were the words that came out of my mouth.

  Allie had smiled hopefully, in that way that made me want to give her anything she asked for. Lasso the fucking moon, or whatever.

  “Really? When?” she breathed.

  “We can go right now, if you want. We'll fly out there tonight, and I'll take you to the top and you can look out at all of Paris.”

  She'd laughed, looking happier than I'd ever seen. Damn if it didn’t make me feel good that I’d put that smile there.

  “Thanks,” she’d said, “but you can't. You have a meeting tomorrow morning.”

  “I can work something out. If the company collapses when I’m not there, it’s a sign of poor leadership.”

  "Still, I don't want you getting into another fight with your dad.” Allie turned back to the shop window, tapping a finger on the glass. “You've been there before, right? Is it as amazing as it looks in the pictures?”

  “It's alright.”

  “Alright?" she'd echoed at me. "Are we talking about the same thing here?”

  I folded my arms, bending closer to look at the figurine she was so interested in. “You know by now I can't see past the commercial value of a building.”

  “Poor guy, you're missing out on so much. I'll cure you one day.”

  What Allie didn't know was that she already was. I was starting to see things in a new light, through her lens.

  Just yesterday, I found myself laughing—laughing—at a photo she sent me. She’d tried baking cookies, but the pan came out looking like bird-shit.

  It was that bad.

  Worthy had been in my office at that time, and the man stared at me like he’d never seen me laugh before.

  Now that I thought about it, before Allie, I probably hadn’t. Not in a real way.

  This past week with her had been just a taste, and now that I knew how my life could look like with her in it, I couldn't let her go.

  Having her was like coming up for air after a long time in the water.

  I wasn’t going back.

  My phone suddenly vibrated in my pocket, and holding that thought, I checked my phone.

  A text from Theo.

  “Plan in motion. Get ready.”

  I frowned. The fuck did that mean?

  I quickly texted back “WTF?”, but a couple of minutes passed, and there was still no reply. I'd have to drop him a call after this.

  The lights in the theatre went dark then, and the red curtains parted to music.

  Allie sat straighter, her gray eyes wide with attention. I was content to watch her, playing with her hand and running my thumb over the back of her fingers.

  Slowly, Allie leaned in towards me. I bent my head to catch what she wanted to say.

  “By the way,” she murmured, her eyes still on the stage. “I’m not wearing a bra.”

  Fuck.

  My attention shot straight to the curves of her breasts peeking from the V in her dress.

  From her posture, the dress gaped slightly away from her chest.

  I saw just a hint of her dark pink areola.

  My cock went rock hard immediately.

  “More,” I said hoarsely. “Show me.”

  Allie wasn’t watching me, but she obliged, changing her posture so that her dress gaped even more.

  I could see her entire nipple now.

  Shit.

  I adjusted my seating.

  Thank fuck it was dark in the theatre. My cock was bulging in my pants, and I’d kill anyone else who saw Allie like this.

  Keeping my eyes on her breasts, I settled into my seat to watch a show of a totally different kind—and to torture myself for the next two hours.

  At the intermission, Allie clapped as if the musical was the best thing after wagyu steak.

  And I was suffering from the worst case of blue-balls ever.

  We were only halfway through.

  Fuck me.

  “Did you see the costumes?” she gushed as we filed out of the theatre to grab a drink. “And the sets, and the singing?”

  “Hard not to,” I said tightly. “I was right there beside you.”

  Allie looked at me through her lashes. “You were busy watching something else, weren’t you?”

  I knew what she was thinking, and damn, but I loved that Allie had a dirty mind. She looked so squeaky-clean on the outside, with her books and her wary attitude, but it was a different story in the bedroom.

  Once I had her clothes off, and her under—or on top—of me, Allie moaned and begged and fucked me like I’d never been fucked, and in turn she let me fuck her like I’d fantasized about.

  Talk about a sexual dream come true.

  But now?

  Now I was in some serious shit. I couldn’t take another minute of this, let alone another hour.

  My hand went down to pinch her ass on the pretext of guiding her down the aisle.

  “Don’t,” she protested, darting a
quick look around. “Someone might see.”

  “But you like that,” I murmured low in her ear in a way that I knew aroused her. “Remember that time in the greenhouse? And that night when you let me fuck you against the windows? The whole city would have seen if they’d just looked up.”

  “That’s different,” she said, though goosebumps were already showing up on her upper arm.

  I smirked. “Like hell. You were turned on then, just like you’re turned on now.”

  My hand grasped her waist as we exited the theatre into the main hallway, and I backed her into a wall out of the way of the thinning crowd around us.

  “I want to fuck you,” I told her in a low voice, bringing our faces close together. “The way you watched the show, that face you made, the way you teased me right before knowing I couldn’t do a damned thing about it… I was this close to dragging you back to the car and fucking you raw.”

  Allie drew in a shaky breath as she looked up at me through her lashes, her fingers toying with my tie.

  “Are you going to?” she asked huskily, her eyes bright with excitement.

  Shit, she made me so hard.

  “Change of plans,” I rasped. “I need you. Right fucking now.”

  Her eyes widened as I took her hand, leading her down the hall and away from the thinning crowd.

  I pushed through a set of doors at the end, and thank fuck, it opened into a dark and empty theater. There were dimmed lights on the stage and along the aisles, but other than that, the recessed entrance we were in was completely hidden in shadow.

  I cornered Allie in the darkness, reaching for the straps of her dress urgently.

  “Ryland, we can't,” she protested weakly. “There are people outside…”

  I took her wrists and pinned them above her, crushing her against the door with my body.

  “Then you'll just have to keep it quiet,” I murmured, tilting my head to look down at her.

  Allie bit her lip, wavering.

  Going in for the kill, I leaned in and kissed my way down the smooth skin of her neck.

  Allie moaned softly and wrapped her arms around my neck, letting her head fall back to give me better access.

  That’s when I knew I had her.

  “What are you doing to me?” I murmured. She was so damned beautiful, and tasted so sweet. I'd never met anyone like her.