by Leah Brooke
“What the hell makes you think I don’t like you?”
Alison reached for the door handle, only to have Ryder come out of his seat, leaning over her and slapping a hand on her arm to stop her.
“Ally, why would you think I don’t like you?”
The dumbfounded look in his eyes made her smile.
Touching his arm, she laughed softly.
“Ryder, you’re a lady’s man. You’re one of those men that women go crazy for. You’re gorgeous and sexy as hell, and you’ve got this wildness in you that’s impossible to resist. You could have, and probably have had, any woman you wanted. I understand it would be a challenge for you, and a novelty, to have someone like me to ask you to show me how to please a man, but the novelty would wear off fast.”
Cupping his jaw, she touched her lips to his.
“You’re exciting and the kind of man women would dream of taming, but you’re untamable.” Laughing, she ran her hand down his chest. “You’re a hell of a lot of fun, but I’m sure you’ve broken the hearts of dozens of women who wanted to tame you. Come on. Let’s go inside so we can get back to Dillon.”
She opened the door and jumped to the ground before he could help her and strode straight into the market.
If he had any idea how much she’d come to care for him, or how desperately she wanted the chance to have him as her own personal bad boy, he’d probably laugh at her.
Aware of Ryder’s scrutiny as she talked to Isabel, Alison kept glancing at him, sighing at the anger in his eyes. As soon as she walked away from the older woman, Alison got a cart and started down the first aisle, giggling when Ryder placed his hands next to hers on the cart and walked behind her, his body brushing against hers with every step.
“Okay, so now you’re mad at me. I thought you wanted the truth. Why do you look so pissed off?”
“I’m not pissed off, damn it. I’m—”
“Pissed off. Look, I’m sorry I made you mad. I’m still mad at you for teasing me so much last night, so I guess we’re even. You have to admit, though, you’re not exactly the domestic type.”
“So you want to tame me?”
Alison shivered at the feel of his lips against her neck.
“Like I said, you’re untamable. You’re also very devious—like the way you tried to goad Dillon into spanking me.”
Ryder slid a hand to her belly, making her nipples tingle with awareness.
“I like to play. You like to play, too, and don’t try to pretend that you don’t. I saw your eyes. That doesn’t mean I don’t care for you.”
Sharp teeth tugged her earlobe. “Don’t you want to play with me?”
Alison laughed softly, looking around to make sure no one could see that he cupped her ass.
“I love to play with you, Ryder. I’m still mad at you, though, for trying to make Dillon spank me.”
Ryder pinched her butt, making her yelp.
“Wait until I spank you. Then you’ll really have a reason to be pissed at me.”
Bending low, he scraped his teeth over her shoulder.
“But when I make you come so hard you scream, you’ll forgive me.”
* * * *
Alison couldn’t believe Dillon and Ryder’s fascination with the things she’d bought at the market. It took her much longer than it should have to put things away because they kept taking things out of her hands as soon as she removed them from the bags.
Dillon squinted as he read yet another label.
“They have cereal that has pieces of chocolate candy in it?”
Ryder made a face, holding up a tub for Dillon’s inspection. “Look at this. Cottage cheese. Did you know anyone actually ate this stuff? And you should see how much fruit she bought.”
Alison elbowed him aside. “You’re the one who said we needed more grapes.”
Ryder grinned and slid a hand up her sweater.
“Yeah, but that’s because I pictured you feeding them to me.”
Forcing herself to push his hand away, she reached for another bag.
“Maybe you can feed them to me.”
Ryder laughed. “Darlin’, you sit on my lap naked and I’ll feed you whatever you want.”
Alison laughed back, but she couldn’t help thinking about what Ryder said in the market.
When I make you come so hard you scream, you’ll forgive me.
It sounded so much like Danny, she wanted to cry.
Reminding herself that she wouldn’t be here long enough for it to matter, she took the box of cereal from Dillon and put it in the cupboard. Turning, she smiled to see Dillon striding toward her.
“Did you get your errands done?”
Bending, he lifted her into his arms, carried her into the living room, settled her on his lap, and reached for the remote.
“Yep. Bought your nipple clips. You can wear them when we go to the hotel restaurant Saturday night. Did you and Ryder get a chance to talk?”
Blinking at the abrupt change of subject, Alison looked up at the doorway to the kitchen where Ryder had water running.
“What do you mean ‘nipple clips’? I thought you weren’t going to use them on me.”
After tossing the remote aside, Dillon reached under her sweater, closing his hand over a breast.
“They’re padded and not tight enough to hurt, just tight enough to keep your attention focused on them. That way, you can wear them a little longer, too. Did you have a nice time with Ryder?”
“Why do you keep asking me about Ryder? I can’t go out to a restaurant wearing nipple clips.”
“Sure you can. Tell me about your trip to the market.”
Alison dropped her head against his shoulder, a moan escaping when he used a callused fingertip on her nipple.
“We just bought groceries. Hmm, Dillon, that feels so good.”
He lifted her slightly and removed her sweater altogether, tossing it over the back of the sofa.
“Let’s see if we can make it feel even better. Tell me about your time with Ryder.”
“What if Ryder doesn’t want me to tell you?”
Shaking his head, Dillon danced his fingers to her belly and back up again.
“Ryder and I won’t have any secrets regarding you. That’s the only way a relationship like this works. We share everything. Now, tell me.”
Lying across his lap, she arched into his caress, moaning again when he traced patterns over her breasts and teased her nipples. Everything he said about sharing a woman convinced her more and more that she could never be the woman for them.
It made every moment she spent with them even more special.
“Ryder rubbed my butt and kept trying to sneak a hand up my sweater when he thought no one was watching. It took twice as long to shop as it should have, but it was fun.”
Dillon tugged a nipple, smiling down at her when she gasped.
“And you didn’t get to talk at all?”
Twisting restlessly, Alison rubbed her thighs together against the heat that had begun to gather there.
“We just talked about him not really liking me. I think he was surprised that I knew. Dillon, let’s go to bed.”
Closing his fingers around a nipple, Dillon tugged slightly.
“You think Ryder doesn’t like you?”
“Dillon, I don’t want to talk about this.” She tried to lift up, but Dillon wouldn’t let her.
Using the forearm resting against her stomach, Dillon held her down and tugged her nipple a little harder.
“Answer me.”
Recognizing the icy steel in his tone, Alison shivered with both alarm and arousal. How something that made her so nervous could also arouse her so much, she didn’t know, but it did.
“Ryder only wants to have sex. Even if he doesn’t like me the rest of the time, he likes me when we’re naked, and that’s fine. That’s the deal we made, and I don’t expect anything else.”
Wrapping her arms around Dillon’s neck, she pulled him down for a kiss, needing
to feel close to him again.
To her surprise, he allowed her to lead, remaining still while she brushed his lips with hers.
Nibbling at his firm bottom lip, she smiled. “I missed you while I was at the market.”
“Did you?”
“Hmm, mmm. Let’s go to bed.”
Dillon parted her lips with his, pushing past them with his tongue just as her legs were lifted from the sofa and Ryder sat, pulling her feet onto his lap.
She held Dillon tighter as Ryder removed her shoes and socks and started rubbing her feet, his hands going under her pant legs to rub her calves.
Dillon lifted his head and stared down at her, his eyes dark with possession as he continued to manipulate her nipples.
“Did you tell Ryder that you don’t think he likes you?”
Alison slid a glance toward Ryder, not at all surprised that he watched them. “Of course.”
She lifted a brow, silently daring him to contradict her and get her in trouble with Dillon.
Inclining his head, Ryder rubbed a hand over her thighs.
“She did. I’m going to have to see what I can do to convince her otherwise.” He reached up to unfasten her jeans and tugged them down her hips and off of her with a speed and expertise that never ceased to excite her.
“You don’t have to—”
Ryder ripped her panties and tossed the torn scrap of material aside, leaving her totally naked and draped over them.
“Oh, I think I do, and I want to.”
Expecting him to spread her legs and play with her pussy, she sucked in a breath when he took her foot in his hand and kissed her ankle, sending shivers of delight up her leg and to her center.
With a hand in her hair, Dillon turned her away from Ryder and toward him and kissed her again, each sweep of his tongue laced with stark possession. The hand he moved over her was filled with confidence and possession.
God, she loved when he touched her as though he owned every part of her, something she never would have admitted out loud.
She shivered with desire when Ryder’s lips began to move upward, kissing and nibbling her calf and then the back of her knee, a place that she’d never thought of as an erogenous zone before, but every caress of his lips there sent tongues of flame to her clit.
Twisting restlessly, and aware of the moisture that now coated her thighs, she lifted into the finger Dillon used to circle her nipple.
Ryder parted her legs, moving the one he held to rest on the back of the sofa, spreading her wide for him, the cool air on her exposed slit a sharp contrast to the fire raging at her center.
Running her hands over Dillon’s big shoulders, she tried to press her hip into the large bulge against it, only to be thwarted when he adjusted her position, sliding her down until her shoulders lay flat over his thigh.
He smiled down at her, his hands moving over her.
“I don’t want to hurt your hip. Just stay put.”
Wiggling, she tried to smile up at him, but Ryder chose that moment to press his lips to her inner thigh, startling a cry from her.
“Dillon, I love when you talk to me that way.”
Taking her wrists in one of his big hands, he lifted them over her head, lifting her breasts and leaving them defenseless.
He ran his fingers over her belly and lower, tracing them over her smooth mound, his eyes indulgent. “What way?”
She held her breath as Ryder’s lips moved higher, letting it out on a frustrated moan when he chuckled and lifted her other foot and started all over again. Her entire leg quivered, the nerves awakened and dancing toward her pussy and making her even wetter.
“You know. All dark and authoritative.”
Digging her heels into Ryder’s back, she lifted her hips in invitation, silently urging him to hurry. He seemed content to take his time, nibbling at her calf and the back of her knee and sending arrows of sizzling heat to her slit.
“You know I like to play. Be still and let me play.”
Keeping her hands over her head, Dillon ran his fingers from her mound to her breasts and back again, stopping to explore along the way and making her body hum.
She held her breath as Ryder moved higher, her stomach muscles quivering as his lips moved over her mound. The skin was smooth there now and so sensitive that the lightest breath blowing over it made her skin tingle and reminded her again that nothing hid her vulnerable slit from his view.
After covering every centimeter, he lifted his head with a groan, his eyes, hooded and dark, moving over her.
“She thinks I just want to play. She doesn’t realize I have a hunger for her that no other woman could ever satisfy. One of these days I’m going to lick every drop of juice from her and not stop until she begs for mercy.”
Alison let out a shuddering breath, holding it again when he slid his pants and underwear to his knees. Eyeing his cock, she smiled, her stomach tightening when he pulled a condom from his pocket and rolled it on.
Lifting her hips restlessly, she felt a fresh warm rush from her slit. “Is that mine?”
Ryder stilled and turned his head, his eyes cool and assessing.
“That’s what I’ve been trying to show you, but that’s not what you want, is it, honey?”
Not quite sure what to say to that, she hesitated, inwardly wincing when Ryder’s expression hardened. With a sigh, he dropped back onto the sofa and reached for her.
“Never mind. Come here, honey.”
Not knowing what to make of his mood, Alison searched his features, reaching out for him when Dillon helped her up.
“Ryder?”
“Hmm?” Gathering her close, he ran his hot hands up and down her spine, bringing them around to cup her breasts, the brush of his fingers over her nipples making her squirm.
She heard and felt Dillon get up and leave the room, going into the nearby bedroom, but Ryder chose that moment to tug her nipples, and she eagerly turned her attention back to him. She smiled when the cock pressing against her abdomen jumped, desperate to get back to the playful Ryder, the one she understood a hell of a lot more than this one.
Rubbing against him, she smiled. “Are you plannin’ to use that, Mister?”
Ryder’s naughty grin sent a surge of relief and need through her.
He rolled a nipple between his thumb and forefinger, providing the perfect amount of pleasure to send her pulse racing. “I sure am, ma’am. Why don’t you get up on your knees for me?”
Holding on to his shoulders, she got to her knees, straddling him. A moan escaped when his lips closed over the nipple he’d tormented, and then another when his hand slid down to her hip, his thumb unerringly finding her clit. Fisting her hands in his hair, she worked it free of the piece of leather he’d restrained it with and ran her fingers through his dark, silky tresses.
“Ryder!”
His thumb teased her clit, his touch so light she wanted to scream. The suction on her nipple sent pleasure straight to where his thumb teased the sensitive nub, making the heated sizzles even stronger.
The hand holding her unscarred hip held her steady as the head of his cock pressed insistently against her pussy opening.
Releasing her nipple, he dropped his head against the back of the sofa, holding on to both of her hips. “I’ve been thinking about getting inside you all day.” He lifted her and then lowered her onto the head of his cock, teasing her entrance.
“Take me inside you, Ally.”
Nervous about being the one doing the taking, the need in his eyes and her determination to please him spurred her on. Fisting her hands on the back of the sofa, Alison sucked in a breath, keeping her eyes on his, and began to lower herself. The muscles in her abdomen quivered, her nerves and raw need making her clumsy, and she appreciated the hands at her hips that guided her.
“That’s it, darlin’. Nice and slow. Damn, honey. You’re so hot and soft. Nice and wet. You’re always wet for me, aren’t you?”
Alison threw her head back and pushed downw
ard, taking the thick head of his cock deeper. With each downward tilt of her hips, she took more and more of him, his cock so hard and going so deep, she started to shake.
“Ryder. Oh, God. It feels so good.” She tried to smile, but the feel of his cock stretching her and sliding over her inner walls made it impossible. “And you’re always hard for me.” She lowered herself the rest of the way, gasping at the fullness.
Ryder smiled and pulled her down onto his chest, making the hard heat inside her shift and push impossibly deeper. “A perfect match.”
He surprised her by cupping the back of her neck and pulling her closer, his actions more affectionate than the demanding the way he’d been before.
Shocked that his kiss contained none of the playfulness she’d expected, she wrapped her arms around his neck, unable to resist the feeling of being cherished she experienced in his arms. Leaning over him, her hair provided a curtain on both sides, creating a private place for the two of them to enjoy, hiding her expression from him and allowing her to savor the precious moment.
His kiss sent her senses soaring, the slight movement of his large hand rocking her over his cock also moving her clit against him and making it swell.
The combination of erotic heat from someone so dark and playful mingling with caring that she’d never hoped to experience in Ryder’s arms had tears stinging her eyes.
As long as she lived, she knew she would never forget this moment.
He explored her mouth with a thoroughness that left her weak and pliable, his kiss coaxing instead of demanding. It lured her deeper, the thrill of having this wild and sexual man kissing her with affection and patience so arousing she went limp, giving herself over to him with an ease she never would have believed herself capable of.
Her pussy clamped down on his cock repeatedly, demanding the satisfaction she knew he could give her, but still he denied her, cradling her against him.
Lifting her head the few inches he allowed, she struggled for air.
“Ryder. Let me move. I want you. I know you want me. I—”
She broke off with a start as another hot hand ran over her bottom, and tried to lift up, but Ryder held her firmly, staring down at her with a look of hunger in his eyes, one so raw with emotion it made her heart trip. “Ryder! Dillon’s—”
