by Ella Brooke
That had to be it.
Shoving the tuna back into the refrigerator, I decided on some peanut butter instead. Skipped the jelly. The plainer the better until this flu thing passed. Mary breezed into the kitchen and grabbed a paper bag to start with her preparations.
“You are moving so slow, Sis. You get to work late and you know that creeper, Alan, will be up your butt.”
Sighing, I spread the PB over my multigrain slice. “Yes, but he’s backed off some these last few months. It’s been better than it used to be.”
“Best not to tempt things.” She frowned and put a hand to my head. “You might want to tone down the sex-a-thons with Ryker, though. I’m glad you’re happy and that an oh-so-wise sister got you to take the plunge.”
“Thank you.” I mimed tossing a glob of peanut butter at her, and she dodged me playfully. “I love how my sister is modest too.”
She brought a hand to her chest and winked. “You just need to appreciate me more. I am a genius.”
“Sure.” I rolled my eyes at her. “You just scream modest.”
“But, I’m serious. Do I need to have a talk to Ryker about letting you rest too? You look like death warmed over.”
My stomach lurched again, and I swallowed hard to keep anything from crawling its way up my throat. “I just caught a cold from a coworker. It’s got nothing to do with Ryker.”
“Still, you’re never around, and you don’t sleep enough. Don’t let him tire you out.” My sister grabbed a few chips from the bag and munched loudly. “Even if he’s a fun ride.”
“I have no comment on that.”
“Of course you don’t. Seriously, you need to rest. Also, okay, I maybe miss my sister a little. I don’t want to come off as the lonely old maid.”
“At twenty-four,” I kidded. “Oh, please.”
“But if I could see a little more of you, then that would really be awesome.”
I finished packing my lunch and then turned to hug her closely. “Mare, there’s nothing that’ll ever come between us. I’m sorry if I’ve been really caught up in the honeymoon period lately. I swear, next weekend will be all about us.”
“Good, and if you still look this pale, then our first step is going to be to the doctor’s office.”
I hugged her close again, burying my nose in her soft auburn hair. “I’ll be fine. I’m the big sister. It’s my job to be looking after you.”
She pulled away and playfully slapped at my shoulder. “Doesn’t mean I can’t keep an eye on you once in a while.” Snatching up her lunch bag, she hurried off for her keys and windbreaker. “You get rest when you come home and stay well, okay? I really am worried, Sis.”
“And I’m fine. Now scoot before your gorilla of a boss gets all up on you too.”
With a little bow, she hurried out of the front door. Chuckling to myself, I slipped chips into my bag and was halfway to the door myself when my cell phone rang. I yanked it out and smiled, despite my queasy stomach, when I saw it was Ryker calling. “Hello, babe.”
“My siren,” he said, his voice that sultry, low growl I loved so much. The one that made my belly flare with warmth and my clit thrum to life. God, even his voice just got me hot. What could I say? Ryker was intensely talented. “How are you?”
“Good, but I have a busy weekend of shows to do. What’s up?”
“Well, on Monday, I have something special planned. Would you like to meet my son, Ian? I think it’s time. I’ll understand if you think it’s too soon, but he’s been asking about my new ‘friend’ and where I visit sometimes on weekends when he’s at Aunt Melanie’s.” He sighed. “I know some women could see a son as baggage—”
“I’d never think that.” It was completely the opposite, in fact. My heart was pounding in my chest. I knew from the way he’d talked about his late wife and Ian both that his family meant so much to Ryker. The fact that he thought enough of me to introduce me to Ian was a huge honor. “In fact, I’m flattered. I’d love to. Maybe after we get everything sort of smoothed over or introduced to Ian, then we can have a big family dinner with Mary too. She’d love to meet you.”
Maybe lecture you a little, but she’d dig meeting you too.
“Great. Then you remember where my airfield is. Be there and be dressed in clothes you can go hiking in. I’m taking us all on a little excursion.”
“I don’t understand…do I need like camping gear too?”
“Oh, you’ll see. Now, until Monday, darling, can’t wait to see you.”
***
Ryker
I’d never met a woman like Penelope, with her kindness or her sweet smile that had just made people love her. I knew I never would, but there was a similar energy with Savannah. Her broad smile and kind words had disarmed my usually shy son. Together, they joked and chatted about their favorite Disney movies and songs all the way down the steep trail. When Ian had been nervous to mount his burro on the ride down the winding sides of the Grand Canyon, she’d calmed him. She’d taught him how to calm the animal by petting the top of his head and offering him a small sugar cube. Then, she’d helped show him down the hill the rest of the way, doing a better job than the guide.
No one would ever replace my wife.
I could never think of that, and I never would, but when I saw Ian’s smile—the first time I’d seen it in all its glory since Penelope’s death—then I knew I had someone truly special in my life, someone I could trust with my family as well as my heart. Someone who I couldn’t help falling for.
We came to the end of the ride soon enough, and the guide helped me unpack the feast I’d squirreled away in the saddle bags on my burro and a few spare ones that had accompanied us. The guides, being smooth enough, made logical excuses to go to a corner of the canyon floor and leave us to our meal. I set the red-and-white checkered blanket on the dirt and then pulled out the grape juice, water, champagne, sandwiches, chips and cake slices. It wasn’t just Ian’s eyes that grew wide at the feast before us.
I sat down on one corner of the blanket, and Ian took a place next to me on my right. He placed a hand over mine, and I knew he still was a bit nervous, still trying to figure everything out. I’d picked a good place for them to start bonding. Ian was obsessed with the Grand Canyon, had been since his first scout trip with me here last month. It was a place he felt free to rattle off facts about all the geological history and the tribes that had once roamed these plains. He’d regaled Savannah with many of the same facts he must have memorized on his first trip through here. I was so proud of him, just wishing his prick classmates could see how amazing he was too.
Savannah sat off to my right. She didn’t lean in or snuggle into me as she normally would have, and I appreciated that. She understood so well how hard I was working to keep Ian on an even keel, to let him know everything would be okay if he just trusted Savannah. And me, that this would never be like Bella. I’d never allow any woman as heinous near him again. If I hadn’t been so lost in a haze of grief and lust, I never would have to begin with.
Savannah filled up our plates and poured juice for him and champagne for us. Then she winked at Ian and held her chicken salad sandwich up for a toast. “To an awesome trail ride, right, partner?”
Ian grinned and tapped her sandwich with his. “Right!”
He took a bite and started munching away happily, and I followed suit. Savannah was the one to break the silence first. “So, Ian, you’ve told me so many cool facts today about the canyon. Are there other things you like? Your dad says you’re big into dinosaurs. Which is your favorite?”
“I used to like Tyrannosaurus when I saw Jurassic Park the first time, but then I found out what he really looked like with all the feathers and how he’d have really walked, and he wasn’t as cool to me. I think raptors are fun and the pterodactyls. I think flying is so cool.”
Savannah winked. “I always preferred pterodactyls too, but I don’t think I like flying very much. I think the helicopter ride out here made me feel a little g
reen around the gills.”
“What does that mean?” he asked, biting into his sandwich again.
“Made my head spin a little. Maybe I’m best at being a girl on the ground.”
He nodded at that. “Maybe. Do you want to know more about the raptors?”
She reached out and patted the top of his head, the same thing I always did to comfort him, although I certainly hadn’t told her about it. I held my breath, waiting for Ian to go stiff. He’d always liked when I did or when his mom had. But he froze up when even Melanie or Davis tried.
I let out a huge sigh of relief, a giant smile breaking across my face, when Ian leaned into Savannah’s gesture.
“Yes! I can tell you all the things about the raptors. Did you know that even if they looked scary, they were only thirty-three pounds?”
***
The rest of the day passed like a dream; seeing her and Ian talking animatedly about dinosaur facts (and I had a feeling she’d been studying up just to be able to keep up with him before our trip) filled my heart. I hadn’t seen him so happy in forever, and even more than the new skills classes he was in or the scouts, I knew what Ian needed. He needed someone steady in his life like Savannah.
He needed that extra touch she could and had been bringing into our lives.
We’d been dating about two months, but I was falling hard. I knew that sooner, rather than later, I’d be proposing. I just had to get her to trust me, to understand that life wasn’t whatever harsh hell she thought it was. She might have been treated like shit by her mother and father. Clearly, some other guy had beaten her heart to a pulp. But I wouldn’t let her down. I wouldn’t let her sister down either. We could make it work, make it all work as one big family.
I knew it.
I could build a damn billion dollar empire with an app. I could do anything I put my mind to.
After we got back to Vegas, I dropped Ian off for an overnight with his Aunt Melanie. By now, I owed my dear sister a trip to Paris, Cancun, and Vancouver. If I kept using her for impromptu sitting during her exam periods, I was going to have to send her on a grand world tour. It’d be worth it, as long as I could have the time I needed and craved with Savannah but would also be sure that my son was safe and cared for.
Even if Melanie gave me that too-knowing smirk when I dropped Ian off.
Little sisters, such sneaks.
Now, my siren and I were curled up on the sofa in my penthouse, looking over the fire. Definitely overkill in April in the desert, but I’d turned the AC up to compensate. The view was worth it, the hypnotic dance of the flames. I wanted her to enjoy everything the penthouse had to offer. Hell, I wanted her to enjoy everything I had to offer her.
She snuggled into my shoulder. “I really love Ian.”
“I think he likes you too.”
Savannah stilled next to me. “I hope so. I can’t imagine how hard it would be to lose a mom. I mean, mine was already halfway out the door. It was kind of a relief, hard as it was, for her to finally be off on the road with her newest boyfriend and leaving us behind. I just…I’m so sorry you lost your wife.”
My heart caught in my throat, and it was hard to speak. Hell, hard to breathe. I missed Penelope every day of my life, but lately I was haunted by the promise she’d had me make the night before she’d died.
You need to find someone. I want you to have someone to love you too.
I can’t…not ever again.
You and Ian can’t stop living. Please, keep going on for me.
But it was so hard. Every day, some small part of me felt like I was betraying her too. Finally, I found the words again. “I miss her so much it hurts, but Ian and I…we need a life too. For so many years it felt like we’d died with Penelope.”
Savannah looked up at me, her brown eyes brimming with sincerity. “What changed?”
“I found someone, someone who brought happiness into my life again, darling.”
She swallowed hard. “Really? You’ve dated models and everyone else. I’m just me. I mean, after all, the Green Fairy is just a role. It’s all smoke and mirrors and costume changes. I’m no one.”
I stroked her thick, curly hair back from her forehead. “Who hurt you?”
“What?”
“I know your parents were…”
“They sucked, but I have Mary, and we were all we ever needed.”
“But who else? I know you have all these walls up, you make these jokes about how you’re not good enough, except you are.”
“There was a guy. I mean, everyone has a past, right?”
“What did he do?”
“He cheated.” She started to say something else, but tears streamed down her face. “I…I can’t get into all of it. It was terrible and humiliating, and it broke me. I just…he had to be right. My first boyfriend, the first guy I ever…” She shook her head. “I did something wrong, and he didn’t like me.”
My nostrils flared, and I kissed her so hard then that our teeth almost clacked together. My tongue tangled hungrily with hers, and I needed her to feel everything I felt for her, every bit of lust and passion and fire. She moaned under my grip, and I pulled back long enough to say a few words to her.
“Whoever he was, he was a fucking moron.”
She burst out giggling. “I don’t know if that’s true. He was talented as hell. He’s in New York now on a TV show. I’m just the Green Fairy.”
“You’re so talented that anyone who sees you on stage can see it. It’s why that Alan Edgerton ass ties you up in contracts and red tape. It’s why the house is always packed for your show. Your chance will come. In fact, I could…”
“No, I want to make it on my own. No calls and no favors.” She breathed a heavy sigh as her tears dried on her cheeks. “If I’m not good enough on my own, then I’m not good enough. I’ve seen what happens when people call in deals or stab each other over. I want nothing to do with that crap.”
“But just a call to some friends?”
“No, I don’t want nepotism.” She kissed me again, the hint of mint on her lips. “I only want you.”
“And I want you, but I need you to believe that, to understand how much you’re in me now, in my blood and my soul. You’re one hell of a woman, siren, and you need to believe that.”
I slid off the sofa and got onto my knees before her on the couch. Bending low, I yanked off her socks and then grabbed for her yoga pants. She frowned at me, but I kept working even as she let me continue. Tugging firmly, I stripped her pants off her legs and stroked my hands up her creamy thighs.
She’d worn plain white cotton underwear, nothing exciting, but to me, Savannah was so damn sexy that I couldn’t resist her. It didn’t matter if she was in her corset at The Bacchanal, her lacy pink number, or the cotton panties now…no matter what she wore or didn’t, I found her the most gorgeous and appealing woman on earth.
I kissed the fabric at her pussy; it was already soaking for me. I never had that problem with Savannah. There was never a time that she wasn’t ready for me. Leaning down, I licked the outside of the soft cotton, sampling the sweet nectar just beneath the fabric.
She squirmed a little and blushed. “You don’t have to.”
I gripped her knees and kneaded them between my hands. “You don’t like it?”
Savannah frowned and didn’t make eye contact with me. “I don’t know. Samson…the ex hated it. He never did it.”
“Let me guess, the kind of idiot Neanderthal that always wanted head from you…” Frankly who wouldn’t? She was brilliant at it. “…but never returned the favor. God, siren, you had quite the selfish ass for a lover. But you don’t have that now.”
I licked the inseam of her thigh for emphasis.
She shook her head. “I just know that guys hate it.”
“Immature, dumbass boys hate it. Real men know how to appreciate the finest wine that a woman can make.”
She rolled her eyes. “You don’t have to lie.”
“I’m not,
sweetheart, now spread your legs. I’m going in.”
Chapter Eleven
Savannah
Holy crap.
Holy fucking shit.
I’d had so many things that I’d never done before. God, I had a bucket list of all the places I wanted to visit and things I wanted to do. I’d never thought that having Ryker Eden eat me out would be one that could come true. After Samson, I’d been convinced that men didn’t do that. But now I was sitting naked from the waist down on his sofa with my legs spread wide and his head in between my knees. He was nuzzling at the soft curls on my vagina and taking his time just rubbing my labia with his fingers before he actually parted those too.
Grinning, he looked up at me with those hypnotic sapphire eyes, those eyes that could get me to do anything. Except now, he was looking at me with such devotion. I felt like a goddess and like he was my supplicant, like I was Cleopatra and he was one of my subjects. God, I was a golden idol, and he was ready to blaspheme before me.
But men…they hated this, right?
It certainly didn’t feel like it, not with the way he ran his hands over my thighs and massaged and teased my most private lips.
“Are you ready, darling?” he asked, his voice a low rumble that seemed to vibrate against my legs.
“God yes.”
His tongue lanced out and licked small strokes against my labia. With one hand he maneuvered enough to press his knuckles against my clit. My heart was pounding, that sensitive bundle of nerves was pulsing, and my blood felt heated, as if it were boiling in my veins. With the other hand, he gripped my right thigh and massaged it, his fingers digging into me.
I bucked my hips reflexively, giving him access to all of me. Urging him with my body to thrust his tongue inside me. Maybe he was desperate for my juices, or maybe he was ready as well, but even as his thumb ground a tantalizing pressure against my clit, Ryker plunged his tongue deep into my core. He flicked his tongue up and down against my inner channel, and I flexed my hips again. Digging my hands into his hair, I moaned and road his face, gave him access to everything he wanted.
