“I don’t know where the hell you got that fucking idea but it couldn’t be further from the truth.” If he heard her imply one more time that she was some kind of slut for what her father did, he’d spank her ass.
“Just let me go, Ridge.”
Her body deflated, the fight gone.
“Let me hold you, Avery.” How much more personal devastation could she endure?
She yanked her wrists from his hands and turned away. “What for? So you can wallow in disgust and regret all over again? I won’t put you through that. Once was enough.”
Disgust? Regret? Where the hell did she get that?
“You might as well leave now so you don’t make that mistake again. At least you won’t be slinking out like a thief in the night.” Avery stood and stumbled to the living room where she grabbed a bottle and took a long swig.
Okay, now he knew what was happening. He’d pay for leaving her that night in Dover. “You don’t understand, Avery. I wasn’t trying to sneak away.”
“Save it, Gates.” Avery waved the bottle at him. “I’m a big girl. I know a one-night stand when I have one. I’ve had plenty. You aren’t the first and you won’t be the last.”
A hot edge of jealousy stabbed through his chest. It burned hot and wild, spreading until his muscles tightened. “Don’t.”
“Don’t what? Don’t have a life? Sorry, but even women have to have those itches scratched once in a while.” She bent over and picked up an envelope.
Ridge ground his teeth against the pain as he stood, against the raging anger of even thinking about her flesh being touched by another. Limping and dragging his leg, he stalked to her, grabbed her by the arms and jerked her hard against his body.
“Don’t push me,” he snarled a breath away from her sweet, soft, pouty lips. Lips he wanted desperately to sip from.
“What do you care?” Avery sighed, dipped her head, slumping her shoulders. “Look, I’m sorry I took advantage of your grief that night. I shouldn’t have done that to you and I can understand you being pissed and disgusted. It won’t happen again. I learned my lesson.”
She might as well have kneed him in the gut again because he couldn’t breathe. She actually thought she’d taken advantage of him. He’d laugh if he weren’t so fucking dumbfounded.
“Avery.” He didn’t know what to say. Oh, by the way, baby, I’ve been hard for you for ten years and all you have to do is breathe and it gets me horny? What worried him was the “it won’t happen again” part. He’d vowed he wouldn’t take her again but to hear her say it sent ice through his veins.
“These are for you,” she said, handing him some papers. “You have your own personal letter from Cale. Oh, and a life insurance policy. Looks like he was looking out for both of us.”
Ridge took the papers and stood with his mouth slightly ajar as she walked away, drowning her pain in her bottle.
“Have a seat,” she snorted, waving at the floor. “I’d offer you a chair but I don’t seem to have any.”
Again he glanced at the papers in his hand. Looking at them at home would probably be better.
Avery snorted again. “Go ahead and run. You’re good at it.”
Oh, she was in rare form tonight. Always one to prove a point, Ridge stood where he was and opened his letter. He couldn’t stop his hands from trembling as he pulled the two pages from the envelope. Avery plopped on the floor against the wall and watched.
With each line his throat clogged with tears. Cale thanked him for being the best friend he could ask for, thanked him for watching his back and now it was time to watch Avery’s. Two paragraphs lectured him about being so down on himself and asking him to give Avery a chance.
At the end of the letter Cale apologized for not being there to fulfill the plans they had together. Cale told him he loved Ridge like a brother and wished they’d found each other earlier in their lives, that he could have used a friend like him during those lonely, bad times. When Cale said he thought that maybe they’d ended up saving each other in a way, Ridge couldn’t hold back the tears.
Cale was right. If they hadn’t recognized the torment in each other neither would have survived as long as they had. Whether it be from self-destruction or being taken out by an enemy along the way, life would have been short for them both. Together, nothing could hurt or stop them, at least until that day.
Cale went on to say that Ridge could use the life insurance money to pay off the house or do whatever he wanted with it. A token of his thanks for the friendship and brotherhood he needed so badly. Ridge looked at the policy as his chest clenched with anger and grief.
“Yeah, I know,” Avery whispered. “Like money could take his place. Are all men total morons or just the two of you?”
Ridge glared across the small room at her sitting cross-legged on the floor and drowning her grief with that damn bottle of wine. “The one he left you is standard military procedure. I have one in your name too.”
A tidal wave of fury hit him like a ton of bricks making him stagger under its impact. He didn’t need to feel it, he could see the rage etched all over her pretty face and smoldering in her eyes. Avery scrambled to her feet, swaying as she stood. Her alcoholic buzz swam through his head and he silently cursed. She liked to drink as much as her brother did.
“Fuck you,” she snarled, coming across the room at him. “I don’t want your damn death money. I don’t want anything from you. Give it to one of your sophisticated, eye-candy, jeweled-up twits you like to fuck so much.”
Oh, wow. She had a mammoth, out-of-control wrath brewing and didn’t it suck for him that he was so receptive to it. “Knock it off, Avery. You’re drunk and don’t know what you’re talking about.” Her concoction of grief and anger seeped into him, mixing with his emotions. If he didn’t get her under control soon they’d be going head-to-head and someone would get hurt.
“Please,” she sneered, pacing the floor in front of him. “You think I didn’t know about all those women you and Cale picked up at the fancy clubs? The women who wanted nothing more than to spread their legs for a buff soldier?” Her hand waved erratically through the air as she spewed accusations. “Bored, high-class bitches dripping in jewels and fancy clothes begging for a good ride so they could gossip to their friends about it the next day. I bet you gave them the ride of their lives, didn’t ya?”
“Damn it, Avery,” Ridge ground out between his clenched teeth. “Stop it.” She didn’t know that every time he took a woman it was her face he saw, her body he wished he could touch.
“It must have been hard for you stepping down a notch back in Dover.”
Ridge fisted his hands at his side. “I’m warning you, Avery. Stop. Now.” If she didn’t back off he’d do something they both might regret.
“No wonder you harbor so much regret and shame. Lowering your standards the way you did.”
She’d pushed him to his limit. Ridge reached out with lightning speed and gripped her arms. The only regret he had about that night with her had nothing to do with who or what she was. Only that she deserved better than him.
“I’ve never felt one ounce of regret or shame about that night,” he told her in a deep, raspy voice.
“Liar!” Avery yanked out of his grip and pushed hard at his chest.
It took every bit of strength to keep from toppling over. He reached for her again only to have her jab her thumbs into his solar plexus. Ridge doubled over and then threw his weight at her. Avery staggered backward and Ridge kept pushing until he had her against the wall with her arms pinned high above her head.
“You don’t know nearly as much as you think you do,” he snarled in her ear before catching her tiny lobe and sucking it between his lips. The moment of surprise gave him the opportunity to press his body against hers so she couldn’t use her legs to kick.
Her warm, huffing breath washed over his neck, igniting burning embers that wouldn’t die since Dover. Instantly they flashed to life, searing hot flames of desire for o
nly one woman who consumed his body until he was insane. She thought he had regrets? Who would have regrets after tonight?
His cock pulsed as it thickened behind his zipper. Grinding against her mound he heard the slightest heavenly purr from her throat. The taste of her flesh acted as a drug to his system. Each lick of her neck sent him spiraling deeper into a no-return zone. God, she had the sexiest neck, slender, elegant and unbelievably sensitive.
Her flesh quivered each time he touched his tongue to her satin skin. Tiny, desperate mewls emanated from her throat encouraging him, almost demanding he continue, yet at the same time he could sense her apprehension. He didn’t want that. He wanted her as hot and insane as he was. Every muscle in his body coiled as he trailed stinging kisses down the column of her neck and when he reached the junction of her shoulder, he nipped with his teeth.
“Oh. God,” Avery whimpered, turning her head to give him better access.
The sound of her voice, the desperation and pleading hidden beneath her cry, tugged at his heart and cock at the same time. Thick, hot blood surged through his veins and filled his erection to a painful peak. If he didn’t have her soon he’d erupt like a volcano.
Releasing one of her hands, he jerked it between them and pressed her palm against his bulging cock. “Does this feel like regret?” he snarled in a deep, gravelly voice.
Avery closed her eyes and rolled her head back and forth against the wall, torment creasing her lovely face.
“Look at me, damn you.” He was losing control. He’d had a taste of heaven once and his body demanded seconds, thirds, eternity. He needed her like he needed nothing else in this world.
Avery’s eyes opened and she stared through hooded lids. Ridge expected tears to shimmer. Instead, he saw desire and lust reflecting back at him. With one look Avery punched through his chest and wrapped his heart in an iron fist of need.
“Does this feel like regret, baby?” he asked again, rubbing her hand over the iron ridge of his growing erection. “Do you honestly think I could get this fucking hard if I had any regrets at all about taking you?”
Avery’s uncertainty shivered through his brain, catching him by surprise. Her eyes screamed “take me, I dare you”, but her thoughts were fearful. He couldn’t allow that. Damn it, he couldn’t allow her to be afraid he’d hurt her again. If this was what she wanted then by God he’d give it to her. He’d weld himself to her side, to her bed, consume her life until he and Stone could figure out and eliminate the threat to her and then, then he’d find a way to ease away so she could find a man she truly deserved.
Needing her touch, Ridge released the snap on his jeans and lowered his zipper. Curling her fingers around the waistband of his boxers he forced her to lower them until his erection sprang free. Avery, his brave, strong Avery never once glanced away from his face.
Taking her hand, he curled her fingers around his shaft and nearly cried from the pleasure. “Touch me,” he pleaded, stroking her hand up and down his steel cock. “I need you to touch me.” He needed it more than he needed to breathe.
Avery’s breath came in heavy pants but she never looked or pulled away. No, she wanted this as much as he did. Tightening her grip she stroked him up and down until every drop of blood in his body rushed to his cock. The pleasure-pain had his knees buckling and a hoarse, throaty growl rumbling in his chest.
When her thumb swiped across his head and smeared his pre-cum around he almost came right then. Her touch seared his flesh, blazed fire throughout his body. His balls bunched, ready to fill her with his seed. Ridge bit off a silent curse and jerked her hand away. There was so much more he wanted to do to her and it would never happen if she continued to torture him.
Still holding one hand pinned to the wall high above her head, he used his free hand to tug her tank down, freeing her breasts. No bra—his wild temptress didn’t have a bra on tonight and he silently thanked God. Cupping one perfectly round and full breast he skimmed the pad of his thumb across her hard, pebbled nipple. Avery had the most beautiful pink nipples he’d ever seen. Like ripe, lush berries ready to be devoured.
“Aw, Avery,” he whispered, watching as her chest heaved and her breasts grew heavy. “I have so many regrets in life but you will never be one of them.” Glancing into her face he saw her blink rapidly several times and he knew she didn’t understand. “I wanted your soft, supple body the first day I met you,” he told her honestly. “So many times I stood at your bedroom door and watched as you slept wanting nothing more than to climb in bed and feel your skin against mine.”
Ridge lightly pinched her extended nipple and was rewarded with a throaty groan. Yes, this was how he wanted her—lava-hot and out of her mind with lust. He wouldn’t take her just once tonight. He’d take her until his body quivered with exhaustion and she begged for rest.
“Why didn’t you?” she managed, surprising him.
A white lie about now wouldn’t hurt, he thought, anything but telling her the truth. That would come later. “I’m not an easy lover,” he said, nuzzling her neck and teasing her nipple. “I thought you’d be appalled by what I need and want. But you aren’t the fragile flower, are you?”
“No,” she whimpered, pressing her breast against his palm.
Pulling away from her neck, he rested his forehead against hers and stared into her eyes. “I held back in Dover. I won’t hold back now.” This wasn’t a white lie. He couldn’t hold back.
He’d come here tonight intending only to help her deal with her pain and maybe discuss the strange connection they shared. But he’d reached the point of no return and now he would give until they were both sweaty and sated. God forgive him but he could do nothing to stop it.
“Don’t hold back,” she whispered.
A dam broke loose hearing her words. Like an animal drunk on the blood of his kill, Ridge succumbed to the power and lust pumping through his bloodstream. Grabbing her tank top, he ripped the material and then snatched it from her body. Lowering her hand, he turned her around and tied her arms behind her back with the torn material.
How many times had he fallen asleep in the desert at night dreaming of taking her this way? He expected to see a touch of fear in her eyes when he turned her around again. Instead, he was met with flaming lust so alive it nearly scorched his body. Anticipation made his cock leap and throb.
Still staring into her eyes, mesmerized by her sheer willingness, he jerked her shorts down her legs and quickly tossed them across the room. A small scrap of silk covered her perfect pink pussy and his mouth watered. Behind that black silk wait the most intoxicating liquor he’d ever experienced in his life. So potent she could bring him to his knees and make him beg.
“I have to taste you,” he croaked. But not yet. First he wanted her dripping wet and he knew how to do it.
Ridge stood, pressed her back against the wall and then leaned down and sucked one perfectly peaked nipple between his lips. Her cry echoed throughout the house as she pressed against his mouth. Rolling the taut little berry on his tongue, he sucked hard. Avery’s hips bucked, her body jerked and he had to hold her up. God, she was perfect.
With one hand he fisted her silk panties and ripped, letting the material drop to the floor. Now he had her the way he wanted her. All perfect flesh, nothing to obstruct his view or touch. Still tormenting her nipple he cupped her already wet mound and groaned. Sweet nectar of the Gods coated his flesh as he slipped a finger between her outer lips.
“Ridge,” she cried, shaking against him.
“I’m right here, baby,” he spoke around his prize berry. “I have you. You’re so fucking wet, Avery.” Ridge slipped his finger inside her snug opening and quivered from her searing heat. Pre-cum wept from the slit in his cock, eager to mix with her slick, hot juice.
“Please, Ridge,” she whimpered, grinding her hips.
“Please what?” Ridge slipped his finger out and back in, careful not to touch her swollen clit and set her off too soon. He wanted her begging, wild with
lust and insane in his arms.
“I need to come,” she moaned, thrashing her head back and forth against the wall.
“I know you do and you will, when I let you.” Very carefully he set a rhythm of strokes that had her tightening around his finger and drenching his hand with her desire. God, it amazed him how wet she got. Tiny pulses of release rippled around his finger with each wave of fluid she released.
Not ready for her to come, he removed his finger and shivered at the sound of her moan. Tenderly gripping her chin with one hand he turned her toward him and made her watch as he licked her juices from his hand.
“I’ve never tasted anything like you,” he rumbled, lapping up every last drop.
Avery’s eyes dilated and her breathing stuttered. “I bet you say that to all your women,” she mewled.
Instant anger flared. Ridge turned her around and landed a hard, stinging smack on her succulent plump ass. Avery shrieked as thick cream trickled down the insides of her thighs. “One thing I won’t stand for,” he snapped, soothing the red handprint with his palm, “is having you bring up anyone else while I’m with you. Do you understand?”
“Ridge.” She wiggled her ass slightly.
He struck again, a quick smack that had her whimpering and moaning at the same time. “Do you understand?”
“Yes,” she moaned, leaning against him.
Slightly sorry for the brief pain, he wrapped his arms around her and pressed his rock hard cock against her ass. “When I tell you there isn’t anyone like you,” he whispered and then kissed her cheek, “I mean it, baby. You bring a man to his knees.”
“And you can destroy a woman with one touch,” she replied, wrapping her fingers around his cock and stroking as best she could.
Ridge tipped his head back and suppressed a raging growl. God, her hands were magic. Her firm yet gentle touch held the power to make or break him. She empowered him and devastated him all at the same time. How could that be?
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