Love Online

by Penelope Ward

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  * * *

  EDEN

  Ollie was finishing off a glass of warm milk, something I often gave him close to bedtime.

  “I emailed Ryder today,” he announced. “But he didn’t write back like he normally does.”

  My heart sank.

  “Well, I’m sure he was just busy. Maybe he didn’t get it yet.”

  “Yeah, maybe.”

  Ollie now anticipated Ryder’s emails every day. As much as I hadn’t wanted Ryder to engage with my brother because I didn’t believe he could keep it up forever, it was so sweet to see Ollie’s face light up whenever he told me about the messages. You’d think it was Gilbert Gottfried himself emailing or something.

  Ollie’s app had a button he could press that read aloud any emails he received. It always amused me to hear the robotic voice sounding out Ryder’s words.

  The problem was Ollie could be a bit obsessive. He didn’t realize how busy Ryder was back in L.A., and Ryder had now trained Ollie to expect an email every day. It wasn’t realistic to expect that to continue infinitely. Though I could certainly relate to unrealistic hopes.

  “It’s getting late,” I said. “We’d better get you to bed.”

  “But I want to wait to see if he writes back.”

  “You can’t wait all night. Maybe if you go to sleep, you’ll wake up to an email.” As much as I hated getting his hopes up like that, I couldn’t have Ollie staying up too much past his bedtime because I needed to start my show. I always waited until I knew he was asleep, so some nights I started late as it was. I was lucky my brother wasn’t a light sleeper. The few times he had woken up during my show and knocked on my door, I’d paused it to attend to him. But overall, he slept through almost anything.

  Suddenly, my doorbell rang. That was odd for this time of night. Even though I probably should have peeked out the window first, I opened the door and immediately regretted it when I found a man I didn’t recognize standing there.

  My heartbeat sped up, and I instinctively shut the door a tad so only my head was peeking out. “Can I help you?”

  He smiled, displaying prominent dimples. “I didn’t mean to startle you. I’m Christian. I just moved across the street. It looks like I got a piece of your mail. I wanted to return it.”

  When he handed it to me, I was mortified. The packaging was open. It was a dildo I’d ordered.

  Mortified.

  “I’m sorry,” he said. “I opened it before I saw that the name on the package wasn’t my grandmother’s.”

  I looked down at the hot pink silicone rod, noting the words on the box: Ribbed for your pleasure.

  “Well, this is embarrassing.”

  Christian’s face turned a little red. “Don’t be embarrassed. Please.”

  Upon closer look, I could see he was only a little older than me. He had beautiful, big brown eyes and a nice smile. He was actually pretty cute.

  “Where exactly across the street do you live?”

  He pointed. “The gray house right there.”

  “That’s Mary Hannigan’s house. Did something happen to her?” Mary was a woman in her nineties who’d lived across the street for more than sixty years. She and my mother had been close.

  “Oh, no. I’m sorry to scare you. I’m her grandson. I live a few hours north of here, but I work remotely, so I can spend my time wherever I like. I moved in with her temporarily to keep an eye on her. She’s been slowing down lately.”

  “I see. Well, it’s good to hear nothing happened.”

  He lingered in the doorway. I felt like maybe I was being rude by not inviting him in, but I didn’t have too much time before my show. Although, Ollie wasn’t anywhere near sleepy, so he’d probably be up for a bit, and I’d have to start late.

  What the hell…

  “Did you want to come in?”

  “Sure. I’d love to.” Christian followed me into the house.

  “Can I get you some tea or coffee?” I asked.

  “Coffee would be excellent, if it’s not too much trouble.”

  “Not at all. I have a Keurig, so it’s easy.”

  I placed my hand on Ollie’s head. “This is Ollie, my little brother. Ollie, this is Christian, Mary’s grandson. He’s going to be living across the street for a while.”

  “Hi.” Ollie waved. “I’m blind.”

  Occasionally, when I introduced Ollie to new people, he felt the need to start out with “I’m blind.” I guess it made him feel better to get it out of the way.

  Christian smiled. “Well, thank you for the heads up. It’s really nice to meet you, Ollie.”

  “You would have figured it out, but…”

  “I appreciate you telling me.”

  “I have to go to bed. I’m not leaving because you’re boring or anything.”

  “I won’t take it personally.” He chuckled.

  I excused myself to help get Ollie settled into bed before returning to the kitchen where Christian had taken a seat at the table.

  After I fixed Christian’s coffee and handed it to him, he said, “Wow. You have your hands full, huh?”

  “Yeah. I’m his caretaker since our mother died.”

  “I hope you don’t mind, but my grandmother filled me in on everything. She was telling me about your mother, so I already knew about Ollie. And she thinks you’re amazing. Now I can see why.”

  I felt a little flush at the compliment. “Thank you. She’s pretty awesome herself.”

  Christian reminded me of someone, and then I realized it was the actor Henry Cavill. If I wasn’t so taken with a certain ScreenGod, I might have developed a crush on him. But at the moment, I only had eyes for Ryder McNamara.

  “My grandmother also told me that back when you had a car, you used to take her shopping. Thank you for that.”

  “Yeah. My car shit the bed a while ago, and I haven’t gotten around to replacing it. I walk everywhere now. Probably why I’m so skinny.”

  “You’re perfect.”

  Okay. He’s most definitely flirting with me.

  His eyes lingered on mine before he suddenly looked down. “I’m sorry. That kind of just slipped out.”

  “No worries. Thank you for the compliment.”

  He took a sip of his coffee. “Well, I have a car, so if you ever need a ride anywhere, you let me know, okay?”

  “Thanks. I appreciate that.”

  Over the next several minutes, Christian told me a little about his job as a web developer. He was easy to talk to, and I enjoyed not being the only adult around for a change. I looked at the clock and figured I had about ten more minutes before I had to kick him out so I could work.

  The doorbell rang, and I jumped a bit. Two people showing up at the door in one night was definitely a rarity. With Christian here, I felt confident getting up to answer it.

  When I opened the door, my heart felt like it was going to explode. Before I could even process it, Ryder had pulled me into his arms and kissed me so passionately, it felt like he was devouring my soul.

  I was in shock. Total shock. So much so that when he finally released me, I was dizzy. I’d practically forgotten there was another man in my house.

  Ryder’s eyes suddenly darted to the area behind me where I turned to see Christian now standing.

  Ryder swallowed, looking like he’d been punched in the gut. His mood completely darkened. “Who’s this?”

  I coughed. “This is Christian. I just met him, actually. He’s my neighbor’s grandson. He came over to drop off my mail that got delivered there by accident.”

  Ryder entered the house, and his eyes wandered over to the two mugs of coffee on the kitchen table. He was silent.

  “Christian, this is Ryder, my…”

  When I hesitated, Ryder said, “Boyfriend.”

  Okay, then.

  Christian blew out a breath. “Nice to meet you.”

  Rather than offering a hand, Ryder crossed his arms. “Same.”

  Ryde
r’s eyes then landed on the dildo sticking out of the open package on the kitchen counter.

  “What’s this?” he asked, lifting it.

  “Oh…” I laughed nervously. “That’s what Christian delivered, unfortunately. It was sent to his grandmother, Mary, instead. Quite embarrassing.”

  He was just staring at me now. “I see.”

  Things could not have been more awkward. I felt horrible. I could only imagine how this looked to him.

  Christian clapped his hands together. “Well, I’d better go and let you two have some privacy.” His gaze traveled back to me. “It was really great meeting you, Eden.”

  “Likewise.”

  He looked over at Ryder. “It was a pleasure.”

  Ryder sucked in his jaw and nodded but didn’t say anything as Christian exited the house.

  God, why had I invited Christian in? I never would have chosen to hurt Ryder like this.

  I turned toward him. “Why didn’t you tell me you were coming?”

  “I wanted to surprise you. Unfortunately, I was the one who got the surprise.”

  I knew if there was ever a time to put aside my pride, it was now. This man had come all the way from California to surprise me, only to find me having coffee with another guy. Even if it meant nothing, he had every right to be upset.

  I placed my hands around his face. “Listen to me. I know what that looked like. But there was absolutely nothing happening there. You have to trust me. I’ve spent this entire week miserable, missing you like crazy. Then, when Ollie said he hadn’t heard back from you today like he normally does… I’m not gonna lie—I got a little paranoid. Now I know it’s because you were on a plane. I am so fucking crazy about you, Ryder.”

  He stared into my eyes for a long time. I hoped he could see the truth pouring out of them.

  His shoulders relaxed. “I felt like I’d been going crazy as it was, and then to see you with him. I just…”

  I ran my fingers through his hair, and he closed his eyes. “I would’ve felt the same if I’d traveled all that way only to walk in on you having coffee with a woman. I get it. But that doesn’t change the fact that what you saw was meaningless.”

  “I overreacted, but the truth is—this is the kind of shit that will happen when I’m not around. There will always be some other guy trying to nab you. You’re such a fucking catch, Eden. I don’t think you realize it, because you’re humble.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Oh yeah…with my baggage and my crazy-ass job? I’m such a catch.”

  “Your brother isn’t baggage. He’s the fucking bomb. And your job is how I met you, so as much as I hate it sometimes, I’m damn thankful for it. You’re beautiful and smart. And that guy was making a play for you, whether you realize it or not. I can’t fucking blame him, but I still want to kill him.”

  I lifted my brow. “Boyfriend, huh?”

  “I know we haven’t really talked about that, but I wasn’t about to lose an opportunity to stake my claim.” He looked over at my kitchen clock. “You’re late for work.”

  “I can’t work with you here.”

  “Yes, you can. And you will. I want to watch you.”

  That took me by surprise. “What? I thought it bothered you.”

  His voice was gruff. “It does…but I want to watch anyway.”

  “After what you’ve told me about how you feel about my job, how could you want to witness…everything?”

  “Morbid curiosity?” He tucked a piece of hair behind my ear. “I want to see it all, no holds barred. I want to watch you get ready. And then I want to watch your show, every second of it.”

  Even though it was against my better judgment, I wasn’t going to deny him anything tonight.

  “Okay,” I said.

  The tension in the air was thick as Ryder followed me into my bedroom. I could feel the heat emanating from his body, and the hairs on my back stiffened. His cologne wafted in the air, his smell alone turning me on. I didn’t want to work tonight. I wanted to just lie in bed with him.

  He sat in the chair in the corner of my room. Even though he looked exhausted from his flight, he was still sexy as all hell as he leaned back and stared over at me. His hair was perfectly tousled, and he wore a collared shirt. He was dressed exactly the way I imagined he did when he wheeled and dealed in Hollywood. Fuck hot. He must have hopped on the plane straight from work.

  A few buttons were opened at the top of his shirt, and his sleeves were rolled up. The watch he was wearing had to have cost thousands.

  He relaxed farther into the chair. “Show me everything. Tell me what you do to get ready.”

  His sexy glare made me a little nervous and turned me on at the same time.

  “First, I take off all of my clothes, and I change into a fresh thong.” I took a pile of panties out of my drawer and placed them on his lap. “Do you have a preference?”

  He ran his fingers along them and wrapped a royal blue lace one around his hand. “This one. Definitely.”

  His eyes followed as I removed my cotton panties and tossed them aside before sliding the thong up my legs and over my crotch.

  He swallowed as I lifted my shirt over my head and unsnapped my bra. Ryder’s breathing quickened. He licked his lips as my breasts sprang free.

  “You’re so fucking beautiful,” he muttered.

  He continued to watch me intently as I put a camisole on and brushed my hair at the vanity. Through the mirror, I could see him behind my reflection. When our eyes met, he flashed me the sexiest smile that gave me goosebumps. I still didn’t know what was happening between us, but I was damn happy he’d come back.

  I turned around to face him. “Okay, I’m just about ready. You sure you wanna watch?”

  He gestured with his index finger. “Come here first.”

  My nipples stiffened as I approached him. He pulled me onto his lap so I straddled him on the chair. His cock was bursting through his pants, as hard as you could possibly imagine. I tensed my muscles over him and could feel my wetness seeping through the material of my thong.

  He moved my body over him, grinding into me. He pulled my face to his but stopped just short of kissing me, instead whispering, “I want you to think about me every second you’re on tonight. Think about how hard I am for you, and know that I’ll be right here waiting when you’re done.”

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  * * *

  RYDER

  It took a while for her to relax into her normal cam-girl persona. My being here was making her nervous. After about thirty minutes, though, she started to get her groove back.

  She’d glance over at me from time to time and we’d exchange smiles. I even managed to stop myself from intervening after she’d taken off her shirt for five minutes. But with each passing second, my desire for her grew stronger. The need to touch her grew stronger. The need to steal her away from these strangers grew stronger.

  The ultimate test of my resistance happened when some guy requested a private chat.

  Eden left her audience long enough to whisper to me, “Are you sure you want to watch this?”

  I wouldn’t have dreamed of leaving her now. As hard as I knew it would be, I was all in. “Yes,” I said.

  “Okay.” Her breathing was rapid. “But just remember that I’m thinking about you every step of this, okay?”

  She returned to the bed and clicked on whatever it was she used to transition to the private chat room.

  She sat with her legs crossed and smiled when she seemed to notice him on the screen. “Hi, Greg.”

  Fuck you, Greg.

  “Hey, Montana. You’re looking beautiful as always tonight,” I heard him say.

  I couldn’t see his face because the computer was turned away from me.

  “Thank you. How was your day?”

  “Really stressful.”

  They went back and forth talking for a while, and it was actually boring me a little. I was tuning out until I heard him say, “I would love to look at your
ass tonight.”

  That definitely got my attention. It felt like all the blood in my body suddenly rushed to my face. Fuck. I was wrong. I really couldn’t handle this.

  Eden stared straight at me as she slowly slid her panties down her legs. Then she got on all fours and stuck her ass in the air. I’d never seen it from this angle. Since I couldn’t see the man on the screen, I tried to forget he was there for a moment as I fixated on her.

  Then came his voice again. “Make yourself come while I jerk off to your ass.”

  My body stiffened. It took everything in me not to explode from the combination of jealousy and arousal. This was a test of endurance—one I wasn’t sure I was going to pass. She’d told me to remember she was thinking of me, but it was damn hard. I refused to touch myself, to willingly get off on the fact that another man was getting off on her—even though I was hard as fuck.

  Staring at her ass, I was ready to explode.

  Then there just came a point when enough was enough. I couldn’t take it any more, and no man in his right mind in my position should have been expected to handle this.

  I wanted to give that man the surprise of his fucking life, show him who this girl really belonged to.

  So, I did.

  She turned her head and noticed me approaching the bed. I’d done it slowly enough so she could have stopped me if she’d wanted to. She didn’t move, though.

  The next thing I knew, my mouth was on her butt, devouring the skin of her ass cheeks and gently biting her.

  “Holy shit,” I heard the man say.

  I laughed inwardly. You weren’t expecting me, were you, fool?

  Refusing to look at him, I flipped Eden over and buried my face between her legs. I flicked my tongue along her tender skin before pressing it against her beautiful mound, licking her up and down from her clit to her asshole as she wriggled beneath my mouth.

  She grabbed a fistful of my hair and pulled on it, guiding my face into her.

  Fuck yes.

  I began to fuck her with my mouth, desperately staking my claim with my tongue. Her breathing quickened. That told me she loved it, so I kept at it, so engrossed that I’d practically forgotten that this dude was watching me eat her out. Eden certainly seemed oblivious to anything but me.