I glance down at my watch. In ten minutes Ryder will be here and I can finally be happy.
Not having him around this past year has been hard. We’ve spent hours on the phone, but nothing is the same as having him with me. When he left, my parents threatened to call the cops if he came back. I refused to put him in any danger and I decided that we would just have to wait to be with each other.
My eyes focus on the end of the street, on the turn where Ryder will come from any minute now.
Glancing down at my watch again I see that an hour has passed. Maybe he hit traffic or stopped at a store.
He’s coming.
Another hour.
I hope he isn’t hurt.
Another.
Just turn onto the street.
Please.
Another.
He promised.
The light begins to fade. The street lights come on, their soft glow illuminating the trees that line our street.
He’ll be here.
As the cool evening air tickles my skin, I pull a sweater out of my bag and drape it over my lap. There’s no point in putting it on just to take it off when I get in Ryder’s car. He always has the heat up way too high.
He loves me, he won’t leave me.
It’s dark now.
When he left he swore he’d be back.
The light in the Johnson’s top window goes out. They put their twins to bed at the same time every night. They’re about the same age as Joey. Sometimes they play together. I wonder if they’ll play when I’m gone?
The wind has picked up now, sending a chill straight through my bones. The tear streaks down my face have caused all my makeup to run and my chest hurts so bad that I have to look down just to make sure it hasn’t been ripped open.
He really never came.
He never loved me.
I’m alone.
Chapter Fifteen
Megan
“Oh my God.” My hand covers my mouth. I feel sick.
How could she . . .
How . . .
“How could they do that to me?”
Ryder moves close to me but I can’t even look at him.
“They watched me grieve for months and didn’t say a word.” Tears stream fast down my face and I let them. My hands are too heavy to lift them to wipe my cheeks dry.
“Hey.” Ryder lifts me onto his lap and cups my face. “What’s going on?”
“I was grounded the entire week before I graduated—before you were supposed to come get me. They confiscated my phone.” I look at him as what I'm saying sets in. “I didn't text you. I sat on my porch waiting for you for eight hours. My parents watched me cry myself to sleep for months. They never said a word.”
Ryder pulls me against his chest, tucking my head under his chin, his arms coming around me, protecting me, comforting me. “Shit, I should have come anyway. I wanted to. What the messages said . . . they were the things I always feared. It was easy to believe them.”
We sit for the longest time. I listen to the beating of his heart, breathing in time with it, syncing us. Every time I try to speak, a new wave hits me and he holds me tighter, whispering in my ear, telling me he’s here.
He’s here.
But seven years later.
How could they?
When I pull away and meet his eyes, Ryder is a completely different person to the one I’ve spent the last few years hating. All the resentment, the hurt I felt toward him has dissipated.
Vanished.
Gone.
He did love me back then. And the way he’s looking at me now, it makes me think he may love me still.
“All these years.” My forehead rests on his.
“You still in touch with them?” His voice is hard and I know it’s taking a lot for him to hold everything he’s feeling in. After all, they didn’t just steal this time from me.
They stole it from us.
I shook my head. “I guess they expected I would give up on all my plans and stay home. When I left for school in September, they told me I was no longer welcome in their home. They cut me off. I haven’t spoken to them since.”
He kisses me and I lean against him. “You’re better off without them.”
“I still can’t believe all of this.”
After a minute, he sighs. “All we can do now is move past it. We can finally be together and drop all the shit that we thought we knew. I want you, and no matter what I thought you did, I’ve never stopped loving you.”
Hearing him say those words throws me over the edge. I crash my lips to his. I need him now, and for the first time since he showed up, I'm not scared of what might happen.
His hands grip the bottom of my shirt as he rips it over my head. I do the same to him, taking a minute to appreciate the man in front of me. His sculpted chest is covered in different tattoos, the ink following each ridge and plane of his skin. Where once he was lithe and toned, he is now muscular and broad.
The boy I once knew has grown up.
He unclasps my bra, letting it fall to the floor. With our mouths latched together, our tongues entangled as if we need each other to breathe, he stands up, his fingers gripping my ass, holding me tightly against his body.
“Bedroom,” I moan. “Second door.” He walks down the hall. With a low growl he continues his path, his head dipping, his tongue trailing down my neck and landing on my chest. I throw my head back as his mouth envelops my nipple. I hear my door slam shut and then he drops me, my back hitting the soft bed.
Ryder yanks my pants down my legs, taking my underwear with them. For a minute he looks down at my body, his eyes taking me in, a fire igniting in them as he keeps his gaze on me but lowers his hands to pop the button on his jeans, pushing them down off his hips.
My eyes widen as I take in all of him. “You like what you see?” He climbs onto the bed, the mattress dipping, and he moves up to hover over me.
“Very much.”
His hand trails up my body, leaving goose bumps in its wake. “I’ve dreamt about this, having you underneath me again, for seven years. Every night I went to sleep, I reached out for you. I hope you didn't have any plans tonight because, now that I have you, we aren’t leaving this bed for a long fucking while.”
I laugh as he kisses the skin between my breasts. Each time he lifts his head his kiss moves lower and lower, my eyes tracking his, feeling his strong hands splay over my hip bones, a huge smile on his face. My body tenses as I ready myself for what he’s about to do. He finally lowers his mouth, his tongue tracing a line up me, stopping at my clit. I grip the sheets, the material bunched in my tensed hands. A moan escapes me as his tongue enters me and his thumb glides down, circling my clit. I start to buck, unable to stay still with the pleasure crackling through me.
He nips at my skin and I groan. “Don’t hold back. I want to hear you. I want to know how good I’m making you feel.”
I can feel my body building. “Ryder!” My body explodes into a million pieces.
Ryder crawls closer to my face. “Hearing you scream my name while my tongue was inside of you was the sexiest thing I’ve ever fucking heard. Only thing better would be hearing you scream while my dick is inside you.”
My hands trail up his arms and play with the hair at the back of his neck. “You keep talking like that, you won’t even need to touch me for me to go over the edge again.”
“Maybe we'll have to try that someday. For now, I need you.” His hand grips my ass and pulls me closer to him. “You on the pill? I want to be inside you and feel every inch, nothing between us.”
The way he asks shocks me. “I am.”
His tongue peeks out, wetting the crease of his lips. He leans down, kissing my neck, inching closer to my entrance. I arch my back, begging him to take me because more than anything I want to feel him inside me, to be close with him again.
When he slides in I gasp, giving myself a moment to adjust to his size. Once he starts to move, a moan falls out of my lips an
d I almost don’t even recognize my own voice.
“Let me hear you, babe,” Ryder’s rough voice growls out.
He starts to move faster and I dig my nails into the skin on his back.
Everything inside of me tightens.
His arms tense as he moves. “Fuck, you are so goddamn tight. I can't last much longer.”
“I’m close.” My voice is breathy. I can’t think straight.
When his head dips and he nips at my neck, I fall off the cliff, arching into him as he stills and a loud growl reverberates through his chest.
Ryder collapses on the bed next to me. “Jesus Christ, I missed you.”
I missed him, too.
More than I’m willing to admit.
Chapter Sixteen
Megan
As the alarm goes off, all I want to do is ignore it. Having Ryder here next to me feels like home, and I don’t want to get up and risk everything going back to the way it was before.
I reach over and turn it off, swinging my legs over the side of the bed. A strong arm catches me around the waist, pulling me flush against his body. “Stay home today. We have years to make up for.” His lips press against my neck. As much as I don’t want to get out of our little bubble, I have work to do; work that won’t get done with my lazing in bed all day.
“I have to go. I need to stop by the office and pick up some paperwork, then I need to get started on the work I left at the garage.”
I turn, giving him a kiss on the lips, then stand up and just look at him for a moment. Seeing him in my bed, the sheets only covering the bottom half of his body . . .
It’s almost enough for me to say screw it and jump back in bed.
He stands up grabbing his clothes from last night and I can't help but watch his strong, fluid movements. There is nothing unsure or shy about him. He’s a man who knows who he is and he’s comfortable with that.
He pulls his T-shirt down over his stomach and catches me looking, shooting me a wink and a crooked smile. “I'll give you a ride in.”
“Um, no, it’s okay.” My clothes hang over the chair so I grab them and sling them over my arm. “I’m going to grab a shower and then take my car today.”
I give him a quick kiss and make my way to the bathroom. If I didn’t get out of there quick, the little bit of willpower I had would have been gone.
I keep the shower slightly cool, needing it to wake me up properly. I’m exhausted. Being with Ryder last night was better than I could have imagined, but it’s been a while since I stayed up most of the night with a guy. Coffee will be second up on the agenda. I hear the bathroom door open.
“I’m kinda surprised you can even walk after your sex Olympics last night.” Chrissy laughs. “I mean, damn, I almost got off listening to the two of you.”
I peek out from behind the curtain. “Eww! Really?”
She shrugs and reaches over to the sink to grab her toothbrush. “Maybe you should be a little quieter next time if you don’t want me listening.”
I roll my eyes, ducking back behind the curtain, listening to her gargle and spit. She’s insane, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.
“Can we do dinner tonight?” I call out over the sound of the shower. “I wanna tell you some stuff. Oh, and maybe we can get you a pair of headphones to drown out the screaming because if I have anything to say about it, there’ll be a lot more of that.”
“Oh really?”
I freeze.
Chrissy’s voice isn’t that deep. And I don’t get goose bumps when she talks, either.
Slowly peering around the shower curtain, I see Ryder.
Alone.
Damn Chrissy.
Of course, why wouldn’t I completely embarrass myself? My silent prayer for the floor to swallow me whole goes unanswered.
“No need to be embarrassed, princess, I absolutely love making you scream. I’ll see you in a little bit.” He shoots me a smile before walking out of the bathroom.
I finish getting ready, the entire time feeling lighter than I ever have before. The hurt from before hasn’t vanished, but I don’t blame Ryder anymore. If I hadn’t already decided to cut my parents off long ago, I certainly would right now.
I go in search of coffee, finding Chrissy pouring herself a cup. I grab a cup of my own and hold it out to her. As she fills it up, she shoots me a smile. I glance around the room, making sure we’re alone, before I hiss, “You could have told me when you walked out of the bathroom, then maybe I wouldn’t have made a total ass of myself.”
“Yeah, but where would be the fun in that?” She laughs putting her cup in the sink. “So I’d ask how last night went, but given the fine piece of ass that just sauntered out of here, dressed in the same clothes he was wearing last night, I think I can figure it out on my own.”
There isn’t time to go into detail about everything that happened, but I quickly fill her in on my parents and what they did. With each word out of my mouth, her jaw drops lower and lower, and by the time I’m finished she’s taken a seat at the kitchen table. For the first time in her life, I think she might actually be speechless.
Spoke too soon.
“I cannot believe that.” She reaches for my hand and gives it a squeeze. It’s a small gesture, but she knows me well enough to know that anything more will just open a can of worms. “So I’m guessing biker boy will be a permanent figure around here then?” She cocks an eyebrow.
Ah, humor.
That I can deal with.
“I think I might keep him around for a while.” I shoot her a wink and grab my purse and keys. “I’ll see you later. I have a ton of work to do today.”
“Oh, I'm sure you'll be workin' it.”
I give her a wave, ignoring the shimmy she chases me down the hall with, and head out to my car with a definite spring in my step. Even the journey to work feels better today. Traffic is light, the radio plays some of my favorite songs, and I manage to avoid every single red light.
The office is fairly quiet. I head to my desk and gather up everything I brought back from the garage. I don’t know why I thought I could do everything I needed to here. I got some stuff done, but nothing close to what I could do when I was there, and that’s even with Ryder to distract me.
On my way out I stop at the reception desk, letting Andrea know I’ll be out for the rest of the day, and possibly the remainder of the week.
“Megan, I didn’t expect to see you here.”
I turn to see Connor sauntering up the hallway, his shirtsleeves pushed up to his elbows, his hair sticking up like he’s just run his hands through it. I give him a smile but he doesn’t return it.
“I had to pick up some papers before I went back to the clubhouse.” He nods once but then his eyes drop to the floor and weird silence ensues. “I’ll see you later?”
I say it like a question but I know I won’t see him. Things are so awkward, and that’s all my fault. I don’t blame him for being a little “off” with me.
The drive to the clubhouse is quick and as soon as I’m through the door, I get to work. I still want to impress Mr. Duncan. I’d really like a promotion when this whole thing is over.
The door opens and Jaz walks in. “Thought maybe you could use some help again.”
“I’d love some.” I smile as she sits down.
I expect her to get right to work, so when she doesn’t I turn my head. She’s studying me. “How are things? I know you were shocked when you found out Tracker claimed you. Have you spoken to him about it?”
I’d actually forgotten all about that. We were so focused on working through our other issues, that one kind of slipped right through the cracks.
“Things are actually really good. We worked through a bunch of history we had last night.” I can't control the huge smile on my face.
She smiles back, then reaches over to grab a file from the mountain I brought back from the office. “That’s great, at least you guys worked it out. How do you feel about being an old lady?�
� She glances up at me.
Wait, what?
“An old lady?”
“Oh yeah.” She laughs. “That's what you're called once a brother claims you. We all secretly hate it, but it’s a sign of respect from the guys.”
I blink twice, and then shake my head and shrug. “That is definitely something I’m going to need to get used to. I honestly have no idea what I’m doing. The boy I knew is nothing like the man he is today.”
Warm fingers slip over mine and I look up. “How about you have lunch with me and the girls today? We can give you a crash course on the dos and don’ts.”
“I’d like that.” It makes me feel good that the girls have been so accepting of me, from lunch the other day, to Jaz helping me out here, and then offering to take me under their wing. I feel like a fish out of water, but Jaz is making it easier. I appreciate that more than I can tell her.
Ryder walks in, nodding at Jaz before his eyes come to me. “Hey, you wanna go grab a bite to eat?”
“Sorry, she’s already taken.” Jaz looks up from her phone, where she’s been furiously tapping away, and stands up. She loops her arm through mine and we walk out of the garage.
Jaz walks with me to the clubhouse. I see Lucy, Nikki, Izzy, and a girl I’ve never met before. She lifts her chin in greeting and I smile. “Megan, this is Tracie.” Jaz pulls out a chair for me, taking the one next to it.
The girls have some sandwiches, sodas, and chips on the table. It’s nothing fancy, but the way my stomach is feeling, I doubt I’ll eat much anyway.
“Hey, guys, thanks for having lunch with me.”
“No problem. Jaz told us you were going to need the crash course.” She gestures around the table. “We’ve given that a time or two.” Lucy laughs.
“Okay, grab yourself a sandwich and we can jump into this,” Nikki says, popping open a can of soda. “Jaz said she already told you about the dumbass nickname they stick us with, but one of the big things you need to know just coming in is that there are going to be times when Tracker’s doing things that he just can't tell you about. It doesn't mean he doesn't trust you, but you aren't a brother, and club business is club business. You can't take offense.”
Sever (Deathstalkers MC Book 6) Page 7
