Ryder (Player Card Series Book 3)

by Ellie Danes

  “I did this for you, sit down,” she said. “Can you have wine tonight?”

  “Sure, but just one glass.” I pulled the chair out and sat waiting. She placed a plate of food in front of me and I was a little jealous that it seemed she could cook better than me.

  “This looks amazing.”

  “Thanks.” She smiled and brought back her own plate.

  Once we settled in, I raised my wine glass and toasted. “To many more home-cooked dinners together.”

  She laughed and clinked her glass with mine.

  “Any way to get some veggies in you,” she said with a smirk.

  “I don’t have to cook to have something to put in you.” I winked.

  “Oh dear god, can we eat?” She flushed and looked down at her plate. I loved making her blush, and it was a beautiful sight when she did.

  I took the first bite of my chicken and moaned at the flavor. There was something in this dish I had never thought about adding.

  “Is there cinnamon in this?” I asked.

  “Yes, and cumin. It's my grandmother’s take on Moroccan chicken.” She smiled as her fork disappeared between her lips. I knew I was supposed to be concentrating on eating, but watching her eat was distracting. I watched her for a few more minutes until she looked up at me.

  “What?”

  “You're beautiful, and your mouth is an amazing work of art.”

  The shy smile that crossed her face was a sight to behold.

  “Will you please eat?” she insisted.

  “Maybe?” I messed with her, just to be difficult.

  “If I promise to suck your dick like dessert after dinner, will you eat and stop watching me?”

  I choked on the sip of wine I had just taken. I never knew what was going to come out of her mouth, and to be honest, this time I was shocked. After I had stopped coughing, I reached across the table and took her hand, trying not to laugh.

  “I’m done.” I went to stand, and she slapped my hand away.

  “Cute. Clean your plate like a good boy, and I will make sure you are well taken care of later.”

  I laughed and started shoving food into my mouth as quickly as I could.

  “Oh, my god. Can we please have a nice dinner without your dick being involved?” Her eyes narrowed.

  I smiled. “Maybe.”

  I changed the topic from the sex-filled conversation and asked about the clothing line. I watched her face light up as she talked. It was refreshing. After all the phone conversations about how much she hated her regular day job, I was glad that this seemed to give her what she needed, what she wanted.

  She stood, took my empty plate, and moved to the sink. I went to get up and help her, but she waved me off.

  “Sit back down. I made dessert.”

  “I usually just eat a cookie for dessert.”

  “Well, not tonight. I made a clean dessert so you can enjoy it. Maybe we can even take it to the bedroom and enjoy it.” She raised an eyebrow. I sat back in my seat and felt all the blood leave my upper body and travel directly to my cock. She went to the fridge and pulled out something. When she turned back to me, she had a skewer of fruit drizzled in chocolate. She pulled a grape from the top with her tongue, and I was a goner. There was nothing she could have said that would have kept me in that chair.

  I reached her in two long strides and pulled her to me. She raised the skewer to my mouth, and I pulled a strawberry from it, held it in my mouth until her lips closed in, and bit it. It was sensual in a way I had never experienced. Her eyes closed as she chewed, thoroughly enjoying her half of the fruit. I leaned in and kissed her neck until I reached her mouth once more. A hint of strawberry lingered on her tongue but mostly the chocolate. I groaned into her mouth at the flavor. The chocolate enhanced her natural taste, and it drove me wild.

  “About that dessert.” I smiled, lifted her, and walked her over to the counter. She winced when I placed her on the granite island countertop.

  “Cold,” she grumbled.

  “Not for long.” I leaned forward, and I laid my hand on her stomach and pushed gently until she was on her back. I was leaning in to kiss her when my phone started ringing. By the ringtone, I knew it was Tristan.

  “Dammit.”

  “Who is it? I've never heard that ringtone.”

  “It's fucking Tristan. I had to give him his own tone so I would know to answer or risk the wrath of ignoring him, or so he claimed.”

  She smiled and started to disengage.

  “Yeah?” I barked as I lifted the phone to my ear.

  “Good day to you too,” he replied. Surely by now he should know I am not much for talking on the phone. He continued, “I got a very important phone call a few minutes ago and thought you would want to know.”

  “Okay,” I snapped.

  “You busy or something?”

  “You could say that.”

  I thought I heard him snickering through the phone. “Tell her I said hello.”

  “Um.”

  “I know she’s there because you’re never short with me even though you don’t like the phone.”

  “Tristan says hi,” I said to her.

  “Hi.” She smiled and then jumped from the counter and started cleaning the dishes.

  “Pay-per-view is happening.”

  “That's great news! Thanks for calling.” My tone immediately perked up.

  “I'll let you get back to your houseguest. I’ll be in touch soon.” He ended the call.

  “So?” Zoey turned toward me with a plate in her hand.

  “We got Pay-per-view.” I grabbed her up and hugged her.

  The moment had been lost, but I also knew that it would come again later. We cleaned the kitchen, and I laughed as she looked around for something to put the leftovers in.

  “You don't have any containers for leftovers?”

  “I never have leftovers.” I smiled and pulled out one of the containers I used to for prepping my meals for each week.

  “I do have these, though. I can eat this tomorrow for lunch.”

  “I know you’re going to be super busy, so I can do some work from here,” she said.

  “I don't have any plans for tomorrow except spending a little time with you.” I kissed her forehead. “Maybe we’ll stay in bed all day.”

  Her grin lit up the room. “I want you to stay home, you know, but I also realize you need to work out and stay focused on this fight, even more so now.”

  “One day off isn't going to kill me. I’ll do my cardio and lift cycles, but I'm not going to spar tomorrow. I'm going to come home and spend time with you. You’re leaving the day after tomorrow, and I still have over thirty-five days until the fight. I'll be fine.”

  “Tristan and your father, and probably even Curtis, might disagree with your logic.”

  “It's my decision. It's my body and my fight. I've got this, and I'm gonna have you for the next forty-eight hours, and I don't give a flying fuck what anyone thinks but you.”

  After we had cleaned up the dishes, we settled on the couch. We laughed and acted goofy, and if I was honest with myself, it was exactly what I’d needed. Sex was great, but having her with me in the flesh was rejuvenating.

  I was flipping channels when I came across one of my favorites movies, 300, and stopped to watch it. She scrunched her nose when she saw it was a “fighting movie,” as she called it. Once they moved into battle, she paid more attention. When the boy was killed, I saw a tear leave her eye.

  “I thought you were only watching for the abs.” I poked at her.

  “These are all the abs I need right here,” she said against my chest before she sat up to look at me. “Off with your shirt,” she demanded.

  I pulled it over my head and looked down at her as I threw it across the room. She kissed my chest, biting at my nipples before moving down my body. She kissed and nibbled all the way to my belly button. My erection almost hurt it expanded so quickly. Having her breasts rubbing against it as she licked a
cross my stomach didn’t help.

  She kissed me again, then reached into my shorts and took my erection in her hand. I moved to push my shorts out of the way. She pulled at them as I lifted my hips and then smiled up at me before looking down and placing a kiss to the head of my cock. I watched as she moved slowly over me. Then, without warning, she dropped her mouth over me and took me as far into her mouth as she could. I felt my balls tighten and I almost lost it in her mouth with that one movement. It felt so good I had to think about anything other than the feeling she was bringing on. The tingling started to lessen, but as soon as I looked at her mouth covering me, it came back full force.

  I wanted this to last. After all, didn’t every man want a blowjob to last forever? She was squeezing just on the verge of pain as she ran her tongue down the large vein on the underside of my dick. Her hand moved lower and tightened. I felt it coming and tensed. A grin spread over her lips, and she pulled back to watch as my orgasm exploded out of me, stronger than anything I had ever felt. My body shook. I pulled her to me and kissed her as I tried to position her so that I could get inside of her, but she held firm.

  “This is about you.” She kissed me softly.

  “And this will be about you.” I leaned into her. I wasn't a two-shot guy, or at least I never had been until her. It was like I could have an erection every five minutes with her around. My dick started to swell again. I was going to get inside of her no matter how much she pushed me away.

  “I want to be inside of you,” I whined as she tried to shuffle out of my hands.

  She stood from the couch, grinned at me and said, “Then come fuck me.” She smiled and crooked her finger at me to follow her before sauntering down the hall and turning the corner.

  She didn’t have to tell me twice. By the time I was halfway down the hallway, the water in my shower was running. When I entered the bathroom, she was leaned over the counter reaching for a towel. I slipped my hand between her legs, causing her to jump.

  “Mmmm, so wet,” I said. “And you haven’t even gotten in the shower yet. I wonder how that happened.”

  She turned and rubbed her breasts against me, then stepped into the shower. I followed, pressing her against the wall the water sprayed us. She pushed against my hips, trying to gain leverage. She tried to act like she didn't want me, playing hard to get, but with two wiggles, I was pushing into her tightness. She groaned and moved, and I pushed and pulled. It wasn't romantic, it was hard and primal and resulted in orgasms that very possibly drew the attention of my neighbors.

  Once we both caught our breath, I sat her down on the shower seat and washed her body, then mine, before stepping out of the shower with her. I wrapped her in a towel and took her to my bed.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Zoey

  I vaguely remembered Ryder kissing me goodbye when he left to get his workout, so when I opened my eyes, it was no major surprise that he wasn’t back yet. My body was used to waking up rather early for work. Had he still been beside me, I would have stayed in bed, but since he wasn’t back yet, I got up, grabbed one of his t-shirts, made some coffee, and pulled my computer out of my work bag. While the coffee brewed, I spread several fabric swatches and some sketches across the coffee table. One particular fabric was a newly invented by a company out of Italy, and it was my new favorite. It felt like silk on your skin but was absorbent like a sponge. The best thing about it was that it didn't stick to you when it was wet.

  I wasn't sure how it would work without doubling it up, but I wanted to try it. I was having a hard time with the colors, though. The trunks Ryder had worn at both fights were red and black, so I was trying to stick with those. Amy had told me to use whatever colors I wanted. She had their marketing department working on branding for Ryder so I told her to have them stick with the red and black scheme, but at the moment, I was questioning myself. I knew Ryder didn’t care, but for some reason, I felt the color scheme should stay on the dark side until we started the women's line.

  These days, men wore whatever color they liked, and Tristan had jokingly told me that he liked pink and purple too, but Ryder didn’t come across as a pink and purple kinda guy. Just over an hour later, I had a black swatch laid across three different shades of red trying to decide on one.

  My phone rang, yanking me from my choices. I didn’t recognize the number, but it was based in New York, so I answered it without hesitation.

  “Hello?” I said to silence.

  “Hello?” I repeated. After another long pause, there was a bit of commotion that kept me from hanging up.

  “Zoey?” The voice made me suck in my breath.

  Peter—my douche of an ex-boyfriend.

  “How did you get this number? Why are you calling me?”

  “I just wanted to talk to you. Please don’t hang up. I know I was a jerk, but I miss you, and I know that what we had could be great again.”

  “I don't want to talk to you.” He’d been an unapologetic cheater, and the very sound of his voice made me feel ill and unhappy.

  “I know, and I don't deserve your time, but I really need to talk to you and I was hoping we could have dinner, maybe tonight?”

  I wanted to scream and reach through the phone and punch him all at the same time. “How convenient that you would think I don't have any plans. I'm actually out of town with my boyfriend. I need to go. Please do not call me again.” I pressed the end call button as hard as I could on a digital screen and slammed the phone down on the coffee table just as the front door clicked shut. I looked up, startled.

  “You okay?” Ryder approached.

  I quickly pulled myself together. “Yeah, unsolicited phone call.” I couldn't believe how easily the lie slipped off my tongue. Why I lied, I didn't know. I didn't want to talk about him. I didn't even want to think about him, and now his face was racing through my head, his voice in my ears.

  “You must really hate telemarketers,” Ryder said with a laugh. “Is this the fabric?” He picked up the black swatch from the table.

  “Yeah. What do you think?” I asked as he rubbed it between his fingers.

  “Feels cool. Doesn't seem to stretch much, though.” He pulled at the fabric.

  “Yeah, I noticed that, too. They’re sending over another sample that has the same qualities but has more give. Hopefully, it’s stretchy enough to move with you and not be constricting.” I looked over his tree trunk legs and worried that this material might not be the best choice.

  “It feels so good though. It's soft. Feels like women's panties almost,” he said seriously.

  “Panties? It feels like panties?” I forced back my amusement.

  “Well, it does. I can't help they made this material, and it feels like panties. I like it, but if it feels as thin as it is, there isn't going to be a lot of sweat absorbed in this.”

  “Actually, it will absorb more than half its weight in sweat and still not stick to you.”

  “Really?”

  “Yeah. Let me show you.” I poured a little bit of water from the bottle I’d left on the table the night before and then dropped the fabric on top of it. I watched as the water wicked into the material and then was gone. He picked it up again.

  “It doesn't feel wet. Damp, yes, but not wet like I expected.”

  I took the fabric from his hand a repeated the process and dropped it in the water again, then lifted it and handed it to him again. He rubbed it between his fingers and felt the wetness, but also the coolness of the fabric.

  “This is amazing.” He smiled and dropped down onto the couch next to me, looking over my sketches.

  “You've been working on this all morning?” he asked as his gaze moved to the screen of my tablet.

  “For the last hour or so. I did some laundry for you and cleaned a little.”

  “Why would you do that?” he asked, sounding shocked.

  “I thought it would help you out a bit.” I typed on the keyboard. I was sending an email about when I should expect the next rou
nd of fabric for testing. They were currently in the process of making a pair of workout shorts and a shirt. I needed Ryder’s measurements and reached for my tape and asked him to stand. The next few minutes were spent laughing as I measured very aspect of his body. I ooed and awed at each measurement. He laughed and adjusted his erection as I measured his inseam. He never moved, but I was eye level with cock. With one movement, it would be in my face, but I had too much work to do and to be honest, he was a little stinky. When I looked up at him, he smirked.

  “Since I don’t think I can talk you into measuring other parts of my body at the moment, I’m gonna go shower. By the look on your face, I'm not smelling so hot.”

  “I won’t deny a shower might be a good idea.” I smiled and reached for his hand. He pulled me to my feet and kissed me softly before walking down the hall and into his room. I sat back down and sent all the measurements, and within fifteen minutes I had a promise of a suit sent within the next few days. I was excited, and I called Amy to let her know. She was excited too, and I could hear her typing away on her computer.

  “Are you super busy? I can call you later tonight if you don’t have time now.”

  “No, not super busy, just trying to get as much done as I can. I'm going to see my sister tomorrow, and then to LA with Tristan for a meeting with a potential client.”

  “Are you okay?” I asked. “I worry about you.”

  “I'm fine. I have a lot on my plate as usual, but I don't know any other way to live. If I'm still, I feel like I should be doing something. But I would give my left breast for a two-hour nap.”

  I heard Tristan say something in the background.

  Amy laughed. “Apparently, I am not allowed to give away my boobs since it seems they no longer belong to me.”

  “I get that. I’m sure Ryder would say the same. Oh, by the way, I gave them Ryder’s address so he will get the prototypes and can wear them and let us know what he thinks. Pervert told me the material feels like panties.”

  “Hmm. He’s right. It kinda does.” I could hear her smile through the phone. “Okay, wish I had longer to talk, but I’ve gotta run. I’ll be in touch first of the week.”