Ryker (Hope City Book 5)

by Kris Michaels

  "You're sure you're okay?"

  "What? Yeah. Mom called this morning.”

  He took a drink of the massive, ice-cold soda and watched her, waiting for her to tell him what was actually happening. He'd been a cop for far too long not to trust his gut. Something else was going on, something she wasn't telling him. Brie cleared her throat. “She and Dad think it would be a good idea if you moved into Blay’s apartment until you figure out what happened last night.”

  She tore her fry in half and nibbled on the damn thing. He could tell she was in pain, but she was trying not to show it. He dipped a fry into the ketchup and ate it before he responded. “First, we know what happened last night. Someone was trying to kill me. I will not put others at risk. What happened to you?”

  Brie leaned back in the small chair and stared at him. “I told you, and we'll have to figure something out because you aren’t getting rid of me. Brody and Amber have guns.”

  “And what about their kid?” Ryker picked up his burger with one hand and took a massive bite. He wasn't ready to give up on what really happened to her, but he'd reattack that later.

  “Oh, like Mom wouldn’t love to have a reason to have Gage at the house.” Brie picked up her shake.

  “I met him today, you know,” Ryker spoke around his food.

  “Gage?” Brie’s eyebrows popped toward heaven.

  “Blay. He was here this morning. Offered me the apartment temporarily.” He dipped another fry.

  “He’s a good kid.” Brie nibbled on a fry. “It isn’t a bad idea.”

  “The person I met today was a full-grown man, and it isn’t the best idea either.” Ryker shook his head. “I can get a room at a hotel.”

  “Wouldn’t that put you at risk?”

  “I don’t think so. I believe the people who shot at me were sending a message.” He leaned back and took a drink of his soda.

  “So, us moving into a full apartment where I can cook us meals and take care of you is less preferable than us moving into a hotel room and having access to nothing.” She nodded her head. “Got it.”

  “Manipulation.” He picked up the burger again. “Doesn’t work on me.” He took a bite and sat it down, wiping his chin with one of the paper-thin napkins that were in the bag.

  “I don’t like the idea of a hotel.” She grabbed another fry and tore it into pieces, not really eating it. “Brody and Amber can load the apartment with food and bring our clothes from the house. You’d be able to heal, and I could hide for the next week with you. Roger has everything he needs, and he said he’d call if he ran into problems.”

  A wave of exhaustion rolled through him. As much as he hated to admit it, hiding for a week sounded like a fantastic idea. Minus the day he’d have to travel to New York, it sounded perfect. “Okay, but make sure Blay isn’t doing this against his will.”

  “Oh, I guarantee Mom probably guilted him into it, but welcome to our world.” Brie chuckled. “If you can’t think of something better by tonight, we’ll accept. And a hotel room is not a better idea, by the way.” She pointed the straw of her drink at him as she spoke.

  He nodded and closed his eyes. “My brothers stopped by this morning.”

  She cocked her head at him. “All of them? That's kinda sweet.”

  More like bittersweet. “No, just Xander and Killian. We worked through a few things.”

  “And these things you worked through involve…” She let the sentence go, asking for information she had every right to know.

  “Our mother. Their father. A past that isn’t pretty but not their fault—nor mine.” He looked at his half-eaten burger and fries. “I think I’ll save this for later. I’m tired.”

  Brie was on her feet and at his side immediately. At least she wasn't shaking when she helped him stand and make his way back to his bed. He’d just laid down when a nurse swooped in to take his vitals again and give him another pain pill. Brie put their lunch back into the bag and moved the chair to sit beside him. “You don’t have to stay.” He smiled at her surprised look.

  “I know, but I want to. I have a book on my phone app that I want to read and being near you makes me feel… safer.” She gave him a sad smile and winced. “I’m sorry for being clingy.”

  “I feel better with you here, too. You’re not clingy.” He closed his eyes. Her warm hand covered his, and he sighed. He felt so much better with her by his side.

  Chapter 12

  Well, hell. The apartment was way better than a hotel room. Brianna picked him up from the West Entrance, just in case someone was watching the hospital. He would not parade out the main patient entrance and wave a fucking flag in their face. Additionally, he wore a Hope City Captains cap tugged down, obscuring any direct recognition. Was it overkill? Probably, but for Brie’s safety, yeah, he’d go the extra mile.

  “Do you want to lie down?” Brie asked as she engaged the second deadbolt.

  “God, no. I want a hot shower.”

  “Doc said not to get those stitches wet.” Brie smiled at him. “Blay has an amazing bathtub.”

  He groaned. “Babe, I am so not a bathtub type of guy.”

  She smiled and started walking backward through the living room that boasted floor-to-ceiling views of the harbor. “Did I mention the tub is big enough for both of us?”

  Ryker smiled and started after her. “No ma’am, you did not.” The puffiness that had dominated her cheek and eye yesterday had receded. Makeup mostly covered the black under her eye.

  “No?” She reached down and grabbed the hem of her shirt and pulled it over her head. The leopard print bra was new. She popped the top button of her slacks. “I could have sworn I mentioned it. Olympic-sized. With jets.” She kicked off one heel and then the other, backing away from him as he moved forward.

  She shimmied from her slacks at the end of the hall she was leading him down.

  “I’m starting to see the benefits of taking a bath.”

  “Right? We need to loosen all those miserably tight muscles.”

  His woman turned, and he groaned. That leopard print thong framed her beautiful ass. His body was fully on board with this bath thing, especially as the doc hadn’t put any limitations on him other than the obvious no lifting bullshit. Yeah, his muscle was tight and getting tighter behind sweats.

  “I’m going to turn on the water and then I’ll come back and help you with that problem that has popped up.” She gave a low throaty laugh that did nothing to help the problem and everything to exacerbate it.

  He followed her into a black marble haven. The shower took up one corner of the room. He gazed longingly at the array of showerheads that begged him to ignore the doctor’s advice and step under them. He followed Brianna around the corner. “That is not a tub. That’s a freaking jacuzzi.”

  “He installed extra vents to prevent the moisture from causing problems and reinforced the floor studs.” Brie laughed. “I heard about this project every Sunday for months.”

  “Your brother has a freaking jacuzzi in his bathroom.” A four-seat jacuzzi with steps and shelves installed around the thing, Blay’d mounted a TV in the nook's corner, exactly where any man would mount a sixty-five-inch television. “I may never leave.” Ryker did a three-hundred-sixty-degree turn. “Damn, your brother is a genius.”

  Brie slid the bra straps off her shoulders and reached behind her, freeing her full breasts. Damn, he’d never tire of looking at her. Those soft, feminine curves beckoned him closer. She shimmied out of the thong and met him halfway.

  “Let’s get you out of this.” She kissed him until he groaned in urgency. With a sexy chuckle, she worked the safety pins, releasing his t-shirt, and then carefully helped him remove the material. The sling went next. He was careful to keep his arm tucked close to his body. Brie reached past him to one of the shelves. She peeled a clear plastic sheet off its backing and carefully placed it over the bandage already on the surgical incision. “This is going to pull your chest hair when we take it off.” She smoothed
the sticky material onto his skin. “But it will keep your stitches dry and still allow you to relax.”

  “You were planning on this?” He nodded to the jacuzzi.

  “Since the moment you told me we could stay here. I asked the nurses what I could use to protect your surgical site. They got me several of these sheets. The PTs use them when they do hydrotherapy for knee replacements and such.” Her hands smoothed down his chest, past his arm that laid uselessly at his side and down to his waistband. She tugged the sweats and bent down with the effort. Her breath against his cock damn near made him pass out. He reached down with his good hand and threaded his fingers through her hair. She tapped his foot, and he lifted it. She repeated the process on the other side.

  Brie cupped his erection and licked a hot, wet stripe up the underside of his cock. Fuck, yeah, her mouth was so damn good against him. She stood up and extended her hand. “Come with me.”

  To the ends of the earth and beyond. All she had to do was ask, and he’d follow her anywhere. She got into the jacuzzi first and steadied him as he found his footing.

  “I lowered the temperature last night. The nurses said not to make it too hot, but it’s warm enough to be comfortable.”

  He leaned back against the molded seatback and fuck him if he didn’t feel like crying. The heat and the gentle movement of the jets were exactly what he needed. “Fuck, babe. This is perfect.” He swallowed hard and let his head fall back.

  “No, not yet it isn’t.” She cupped his shaft, which popped his eyes open. Brie chuckled. “Shhh. You just sit there and enjoy. Doctor Brie’s orders.” She rolled to her side, perching her hip against a small molded ledge and freeing both hands. She kissed his good shoulder as she moved closer. “Just relax.” One hand cupped his balls, the other worked his shaft. Her tongue licked the rim of his ear and then funneled inside his ear in the same rhythm of her hand.

  He shuddered and tightened his abs against a too-quick onslaught. “Babe, so good.” His head lolled against the seatback as he surrendered to her touch. Her fingers rolled his balls, giving them a small tug when she tightened her hand and squeezed the head of his cock. He grabbed her leg with his good arm, looking for something, anything, to ground him to her. She bit his earlobe, and that was it. His back arched against his orgasm. A zing of pain lanced from his shoulder to his fingertips as he came in her hand.

  He reached for her after she removed the washcloth in which she’d captured his release. “Let me make you feel good.”

  “You make me feel good just by being here beside me.” She held herself away from him. He could tell she was afraid she’d hurt him.

  “Not the same thing.” He wanted to give her pleasure, to make her lose her mind and forget about the stress she was under, too.

  “I don’t think it’s a good idea. I can wait until those stitches are out.” She licked up the column of his neck to his ear and whispered, “But when those stitches are gone, I’m going to ride you like a bucking bronco.”

  He knew his woman. “Think you can last that long?”

  “One hundred percent, Mr. Terrell.”

  Brie braced herself, her arms against the headboard as Ryker slid into her from behind. She’d resisted his advances for two-and-a-half days. But today, he wanted her, and damn it, she needed him. His big hand held her hip as he eased out and then back in. His hot, hard cock electrified every nerve ending in her body. A ripple of sensation shimmered across her skin. She leaned back as he thrust forward. The slow, languid way he was taking her was the reason her insides rippled, tightened, and sizzled. She threw her head back and gasped as she came. Her body seized around him as waves of pleasure engulfed her. She felt him climax and allowed herself to lower to her elbows. Panting to regain her breath, she reached around and grabbed his thigh. “You… okay?”

  He rubbed her hip with his hand. “Yeah… Perfect… You?” He was breathless too.

  “No. I’m kicking myself for not doing that sooner.” He moved away, and she flopped to the side. He dropped to his heels. God, what a sight he was. Sweaty from making love to her, he glistened.

  She snorted and then laughed. At least he didn’t sparkle.

  Ryker cocked his head and glared at her. “Laughing after sex should be a communal thing. Otherwise, one of us is likely to get a complex.”

  She laughed harder and forced herself to crawl to where he sat. “I was laughing, but not at you. A joke that isn’t funny unless you’ve read vampire romance novels.”

  He put his hand under her chin and dropped a kiss on her lips. “Sorry, never indulged.”

  “Too bad. The sparkle joke was pretty––” A resounding knock at the front door stopped her response.

  “What the hell?” She scrambled from the bed and threw on a robe.

  “Don’t open the door without finding out who it is.” Ryker’s shout followed her down the hall.

  “I’m not two!”

  His, “Thank God,” reply made her snort another laugh.

  “Who is it?” She sang the question loudly as she neared the door.

  “Brie, it’s Brody. Have you checked your phone?”

  She frowned and unlocked the locks, opening the door enough to see her brother. “Not lately. Why?”

  He glanced down at her robe and rolled his eyes. “The horde is about to descend on you. I’ve diverted them to my place, but everyone and the McBrides are coming for Sunday dinner in about thirty minutes.” Brody waved at her robe. “You two need to get presentable and come upstairs.”

  “What? Dinner isn’t until six!”

  “They want to visit.” Brody gave her a fake-ass smile. “I’m heading to the store for beer and wine. Get upstairs and help Amber, will ya?”

  “Yeah, of course. I just need to…”

  Brody groaned and turned away. “I don’t want to know. Not ever.” He headed down the stairs. “Do you hear me? Never!”

  She shut the door and fell against it. “Damn it.”

  “What?”

  “We are having a family event.”

  “When?”

  “Thirty minutes. Upstairs. The entire troop is descending.”

  “Oh. Okay. I need to clean up.” Ryker turned and headed down the hall.

  “Wait, aren’t you intimidated in the slightest?” She jogged across the plush carpet of the living room after him.

  He stopped and turned. “Not in the slightest. I know most of them, and I’d like to meet your family.”

  “But it’s not just my family. The McBrides are coming, too.”

  “Babe, are you worried they won’t like me?” Ryker tugged her to him, carefully tucking her against his good shoulder. He kissed her hair and held her tightly.

  “No. I guess I just don’t want you to not like them.”

  “Babe, they’re important to you. I’ll like them. Now, let’s get cleaned up and get upstairs.”

  Chapter 13

  “Stop staring. He’s a big boy, he’ll be all right,” Tara McBride whispered as they put together a tray of finger foods from the hodgepodge of potluck dishes that had been streaming in the door for the last ten minutes.

  “Was it this hard when Carter met your family?” She glanced up again, finding Ryker across the room talking to Brock and Brody. From the frowns on all of their faces, the conversation wasn’t pleasant. A tingle of apprehension zipped through her. “Oh, shoot. Should I interrupt?”

  “No, look.” Tara nodded as the three men sought out her father, who was talking to Colm McBride. “It is probably business. Not a family issue.”

  Her father’s smile diminished, and he folded his arms, focusing intently. He nodded his head and his eyebrows drew together. She agreed with Tara, “Yeah, looks like business.”

  “He is gorgeous, Brie.” Tara bumped her with her hip and smiled.

  Brie checked to make sure they were alone before she returned her friend’s smile. “I never imagined I could fall in love in three months’ time, but Tara, I’m lost. He is so wonderful.”


  “When you meet the right man, you just know it. That was the way it was for me and Carter.” Tara grabbed one of the open wine bottles and motioned for her to swipe a couple of stemless wine glasses. She held them as Tara filled them. “So, fill in the details. I haven’t seen or talked to you in almost two months. We have to make time for each other.”

  They moved into a corner by the front door, just a few feet away from the kitchen in case someone needed them, but Sharon and her mother were in their element, arranging and organizing. “Right? You’re busy with your family and I’ve been spending all my time with Ryker.”

  “How are you managing that? Hover Mother letting one of her birds fly the coop?”

  Tara giggled when she rolled her eyes. “Mom is blessedly busy with Gage. But seriously, she’s been very supportive of my relationship with Ryker, even if my brother had a cow or twenty.”

  “What? Who? You mean more than the normal macho positioning?” Tara swung her gaze past her and swept the room, her eyes landing on her husband. As if he knew she was looking, Carter turned in her direction and smiled back at her. A tinge of a blush rose to Tara’s face.

  “Brody. He had a tantrum and had the audacity to bring up Ryker’s age. As if that was any of his business.”

  “Why how much older is he?” Tara lifted her wineglass to her lips.

  “Almost fourteen years.”

  Tara’s eyes popped, and she immediately looked at Ryker. “No way.”

  “Way. He’ll be forty-seven soon.” Brie took a drink of her wine.

  “Girl, every woman in America wants her husband to be that buff when he turns forty-seven.” Tara shook her head. “Tell Brody to shove off.”

  “Oh, she did.” Amber and Kallie strolled from the kitchen. Amber held a glass of wine; Kallie carried her usual—bourbon, neat. Amber chuckled, “He was a little full of himself for a while. I think he was more concerned with what the relationship would do to his and Ryker’s work association more than Brie and the Captain actually being together.”