Ryker (Hope City Book 5)
Page 20
“Stop. You sound like the moms,” Caitlyn groaned. “Please don't turn into a matchmaker. You remember how much you hated it, right?”
Brie raised her hand. “I hated it and I found someone without my mother's help, thank you very much.”
“Speaking of Ryker, when are you getting married?” Bekki croaked the question, still coughing a bit.
“This spring. I want to get married here in the backyard when all the flowers are blooming.”
“Oh, man, the moms are going to freak. I can see it now. Our get-togethers will be scheduled around making centerpieces and flowery shit.” Erin rolled her eyes.
“As long as I can drink, I can work a glue gun.” Brie held up her almost-empty glass. “Thank you in advance for the slightly lopsided centerpieces, the fact that you'll all have to find and wear dresses in shades of yellow, and deal with Hover Mother and her sidekick, Glarin' Sharon.”
They all raised their glasses in unison. Brie took a sip and glanced at her watch as Ryker's brothers stood. He motioned for her to join him and she smiled. They'd say goodbye to the brothers and then she was going to take her man home and make love to him. Now that his arm was gaining strength, the nights were becoming more... animated.
Tara leaned into her and whispered, “I know what that smile means.”
Brie glanced at her friend. “Did I hear grandma has Colleen tonight?”
“Oh, yeah.” Tara wiggled her eyebrows. “Should we go snag our men?”
Brie stood and offered her friend a hand up. “Let's go.”
Brie smoothed her brush through her hair and stood back away from the mirror. The new lavender camisole and boy shorts were nothing but lace. She smiled at the way they fit. A small dab of expensive perfume on her wrists and she was ready to play a little game with her man. She was probably going to make a damn fool of herself, but whatever.
She called through the door, “Ryker?”
“Yeah, babe?”
She drew a breath and pushed down the nerves. “What are you doing?”
“Laying down. Do you need something?”
“Yeah, would you come here for a moment?”
She grabbed her phone and connected it to the wireless speaker in the bedroom. She pushed play and opened the door. At the first beat of Mother Freedom, she started dancing.
Ryker froze, standing gloriously naked beside the bed. His eyes widened and his mouth opened. She'd taken dance lessons when she was little and more recently pole dancing classes at her gym. It was so easy to sexualize the moves she remembered. She weaved closer to him and shimmied away when he reached for her, his shell-shocked expression still very much in place.
With each drop of bass she unfastened one of the small hooks in the front of her camisole. Ryker finally blinked and sat down on the bed. She smiled and moved forward. She'd never seen a lap dance, but...
“Holy fuck.” Ryker's hands fell on her hips as she straddled him and gyrated against him, keeping her moves in beat with the music. She held his hands to her hips and bent backward. He tightened his grip, which was exactly what she needed. She stretched her arms above her head and arched back while sitting on his lap. Her hips kept beat with the song. She straightened and popped the last two hooks holding her cami together. The lace split open.
Ryker's hands rounded to her ass, and he moved her closer. The dance and the music faded into oblivion when his lips found her breast. He laid back on the bed, bringing her with him. He feasted on her breasts, pushing electrified shards of sensation to her core. Their hips moved in perfect harmony, building the tingling thrum just under her skin. He released her tender nipple, and she moved away from him. She ran her hand across his healed incision, then down his chest. She reached behind her and stroked his very hard cock.
Rising to her knees, she let her fingers trail across the lace of her panties. Ryker's eyes followed her movements. She reached between her legs and released the two tiny snaps securing the lace together. She knew the moment Ryker saw her Brazilian wax. He arched, and she was on her back. He dropped to his knees on the floor and with his good arm tugged her to the edge of the bed. Tongue, lips, teeth, and his five o'clock shadow created delicious friction against her freshly bared skin. She tried to buck against his mouth. God, she needed... more.
“I've got you, babe.”
She'd said that out loud? Ryker entered her, one knee on the bed beside her hip, the other leg leveraged against the floor. He bent her leg toward her shoulder, and she gasped as he groaned. She called his name and begged for more. Her finish came fast and hard. She shouted his name and held onto him as he orgasmed right after her.
“Holy hell, woman. Are you trying to kill me?” His words muffled in her hair where he'd dropped after he'd finished.
She panted. “That was good, huh?”
He jacked up his head. Her hair stuck to his face. “That was better than good. When... how... dancing? You're going to kill me.” He dropped back down onto the bed.
“So, I take it you don't want me to do that again?” She shrieked when he jolted up suddenly.
“No, you need to do that again. Fuck, it was so hot I wanted to devour you.”
“I think you accomplished that.” She laughed and he waggled his eyebrows at her.
Suddenly serious, he bent down and kissed her. “You are the most amazing gift. I love you.”
She cupped his cheek with her hand. “You are my life.” She felt the weight of her love for him settle around her. They were two halves of a whole.
He lowered for another kiss and she fell into the man who'd awakened her soul and saved her life. Her protector, her lover, her friend... her world.
Epilogue
Bekki King watched her sister Brie and her fiancé say goodbye to Ryker's brothers. Half-brothers. Which was a major problem. Killian Ganas was a name she knew well. The man’s corporation had won a slew of city contracts. According to some, too many.
Caitlyn and Erin stayed silent until Brie and Tara were out of earshot. “Care to tell me what that look is for?” Caitlyn nudged her.
“What look?” She still had her eyes pegged on Killian Ganas. The man was a walking wet dream. Tall, sexy, built, and until just a few moments ago, completely doable.
“I’ve known you my entire life. I know when you’re up to something. What did Brie say that made you choke on your wine?”
Erin ran her finger around the rim of her wineglass. “I heard that. She told Bekki that their last name isn’t Terrell, it’s Ganas.” Erin chuckled. “That’s when she inhaled her wine and Brie started caving in her spine.”
“Do you know him?” Caitlyn leaned to watch the men leave.
“I know of him.” Bekki leaned back in her chair as Brie and Ryker said their goodbyes.
Erin stared at her and cocked her head. “Of him? What does that mean?”
“He’s been mentioned by a couple people during the background research for a story I’m working on.”
Caitlyn leaned back and stared at her. “That doesn’t sound good.”
Bekki waved off the concern. “It doesn’t sound like anything. Until I find out facts, mentions and rumors are just that. How many times have I gone into a story thinking it would turn out one way and have it hook radically and lead me into a different direction?” Except Killian Ganas was the different direction her story had taken. Damn it.
Caitlyn sniggered. “I don’t know… all of them?”
“Exactly. I choked because I recognized the name. You know the Ganas family is loaded. Like, really loaded. Right?”
“Why does that matter?” Erin got up. “Rich does not make a person good.”
And wasn’t that the truth of the day? “True, just a point of conversation.” Bekki stood too. “I better head home. I have several appointments first thing in the morning and I need my beauty sleep.”
Caitlyn held up a hand and Bekki braced to pull her up off the grass. Erin was halfway across the lawn when Caitlyn spoke. “You can’t fool me. You�
�re going after that guy, as in an investigation, aren’t you?”
Bekki nodded her head. “I am. I'm going after him with everything I can muster.”
“That won’t bode well for family relations.”
“Neither does being a crook.”
Caitlyn sighed. “Well, there is that.”
Would you like to read more? Click here for Killian and Brie’s story and here for Rory McBride’s story!
Also by Kris Michaels
Hope City
HOPE CITY DUET - Brock and Sean
HOPE CITY - Brody- Book 3
Hope City - Ryker - Book 5
Kings of the Guardian Series
Jacob: Kings of the Guardian Book 1
Joseph: Kings of the Guardian Book 2
Adam: Kings of the Guardian Book 3
Jason: Kings of the Guardian Book 4
Jared: Kings of the Guardian Book 5
Jasmine: Kings of the Guardian Book 6
Chief: The Kings of Guardian Book 7
Jewell: Kings of the Guardian Book 8
Jade: Kings of the Guardian Book 9
Justin: Kings of the Guardian Book 10
Christmas with the Kings The Kings of Guardian
Drake: Kings of the Guardian Book 11
Dixon: Kings of the Guardian Book 12
Passages: The Kings of Guardian Book 13
A Backwater Blessing: A Kings of Guardian and Heart's Desire Crossover Novella
Montana Guardian: A Kings of Guardian Novella
Guardian Defenders Series
Gabriel
Maliki
Guardian Security Shadow World
Anubis (Guardian Shadow World Book 1)
Asp (Guardian Shadow World Book 2)
Lycos (Guardian Shadow World Book 3)
Thanatos (Guardian Shadow World Book 4)
Tempest (Guardian Shadow World Book 5)
Smoke (Guardian Shadow World Book 6)
STAND ALONE NOVELS
SEAL Forever - Silver SEALs
A Heart's Desire - Stand Alone
Hot SEAL, Single Malt (SEALs in Paradise)
Hot SEAL, Savannah Nights (SEALs in Paradise)
About the Author
USA Today and Amazon Bestselling Author, Kris Michaels is the alter ego of a happily married wife and mother. She writes romance, usually with characters from military and law enforcement backgrounds.