It was back. The sensation that he’d just been hurtled painfully into awareness again. It felt like entering another world, another universe, another dimension. It was like slamming back into his body, a body that felt things like true wonder and pleasure and aching desire, and leaving it, all at the same time.
When he leaned in and crushed his lips to Laura’s, she didn’t protest or pull away. When his hands roved over her t-shirt, she didn’t stop him. When he peeled it away, over her head, she frantically went for her bra, undoing the clasp and shedding it. He pawed at her leggings and peeled them away as he pushed her back against the bed.
Lord, she was beautiful. The single bulb shining overhead illuminated her pale, flawless skin, shapely limbs, full breasts and curvy hips. She blinked up at him and slowly spread her legs apart. And when he looked… god, when he looked… she was glistening, wet, utter perfection.
“You’re- you’re naked,” he ground out. “You’re naked and I’m not going to be able to stop myself. Once I taste you, I’m going to be lost.”
“Then we’ll get lost,” Laura panted. “Together.” She closed her eyes and waited. She made no move to grab her clothes or tell him that she had to leave or that it was too dangerous. She just… wanted him.
And damn him, he was always going to want her.
She was his. From the first second he saw her, he’d known he was going to make her his.
Once he was sure that she was certain, he moved quickly. He slid his hand up her bare leg and she shivered violently at his touch. She gazed up at him, desire making her lids heavy. She blinked slowly, long lashes fluttering up and down, and it seemed like the action happened in slow motion.
He bent his head and trailed kisses, as tender as he could manage, up her leg, tracing the path his hand had just taken. He kissed her, tasted her from her ankle, past her knee, up to her thigh. She was delicious, heady, womanly, her skin satiny smooth. She was fire in his veins, she was his angel, pulling him up from the oblivion that was his life and showing him, giving him, new purpose, new breath, a functioning heart and soul. Touching her was the only true pleasure he’d ever known. Tasting her sweet, soft skin, was the most erotic pleasure that existed in the world.
Ryder gently guided Laura’s knees further apart. He edged closer and he knew the exact second her breath hitched.
He closed his eyes because he was afraid if he didn’t, he’d explode right there, or come undone completely like the last time and there would be nothing gentle, nothing sweet. He wanted to take his time. He wanted to taste her and worship her and make her come alive under his mouth. He wanted to make her come on his mouth, all over his lips and tongue. He wanted to kiss her after, so that she’d taste herself.
They both inhaled sharply when his finger grazed her molten heat. She was so deliciously warm, warm and soaking wet, just like she’d been the night in the alley.
“Fuck, Laura, you’re perfect.” He finally allowed himself to open his eyes. He watched his finger explore her, become slick and wet with her desire. He traced her folds, before skimming over to her clit. The noises she made were beautiful little breathy whimpers that invaded his head and made his dick impossibly hard.
“I was made for you,” she whispered heatedly. “All of me. It’s yours. I’m yours.”
“God,” he hissed. “If you say things like that, I’m going to lose it here.”
He found her smiling wickedly when he glanced up. “You’re not going to get any complaints from me on that front.”
“You’ll enjoy it more if I take my time.”
“I might. Or I might enjoy it just as much if it’s hard and rough and fast and aching like last time.”
Ryder groaned. “I’m trying to be romantic here.” He paused. He truly was shit at this. He’d never been romantic in his life. Never even thought the word or equated it with the few women he’d actually fucked. Fucked. Not anything more than that. Ever. Laura was the first woman he’d ever been inside of without wrapping up. She was the first woman he’d never felt anything for. Ever. “That kind of talk deserves punishment,” he said thickly.
He wanted to do more than just punish her. He wanted to claim her. To mark her as his.
After growing up with a father who claimed to be god, he wasn’t one for religious bullshit, but the first taste of Laura was heaven. Her hips bucked up and her hands scrabbled down. Her fingers gripped the short strands of his hair and she dug her nails erotically into his scalp.
He managed, by some miracle, to go slow and not devour her like an animal. His tongue explored her folds and slipped to her entrance. He didn’t thrust it inside, but instead danced back up to the tight, swollen bud of her clit.
Laura panted when he circled it, applying only the slightest pressure. Her entire back jacked off the bed.
“I think you like that,” he said in his gravelly voice.
“Yes,” she panted. Her nails dug in a little harder, urging his face back to her.
“You taste amazing. So fucking sweet. The sweetest thing I’ve ever tasted in my life.”
To make his point, he blazed a hot path back to her entrance. He paused for a second before he delved inside. Fuck, she was so warm and tight. Her hips rocked hard, into his face. She mewled and when he brought his hand up and replaced his tongue with his finger, her whole body went rigid. Her breathing changed and he knew how close she was. He fucked her with his finger, hard and fast, while he traced little patterns over her clit with his tongue. He didn’t let up, not even when her pussy clenched and throbbed around his finger and her whimpers of pleasure turned into deeper throaty moans.
He pushed her right to the brink and he didn’t stop. Laura’s entire body went rigid below him and she slammed a hand into her mouth and bit down hard to stifle her screams as she came on a hard rush, her hips rocking into his face, her pussy milking his finger, her juices running down her thighs.
It was the hottest, most insanely beautiful thing he’d ever seen in his life.
He was so fucking hard that it hurt. No, it more than hurt. It was all he could think about. Instead of stripping his clothes off and fucking her until she was screaming his name again, he crawled up slowly, dropping hot kisses along her belly, up her ribs, up to her breasts.
Ryder closed his mouth over one hard bud, suckling her nipple. Laura was like a firecracker and he was the flame that set her off. Fresh off the heels of one hell of a climax, she responded by thrusting her chest out, her nipple up into his mouth. She buried her hands in his hair and when she tugged his face up to hers, he didn’t resist. He let her have what she wanted.
He took her mouth in a scorching kiss. He loved when her tongue pushed past the seam of his lips and tangled with his. She moaned when she tasted herself, just as he imagined she would. His cock was probably fucking bruised from straining so hard against his damn zipper.
“I want you,” Laura rasped against his lips.
“I still don’t have a rubber,” he ground out.
“I still don’t want you to use one. I want to feel you. Just- just pull out. Please.”
He kissed her hard, answering her that way. He kept himself upright with one hand on the overly hard mattress and a knee between Laura’s spread legs. He used the other to fumble with his jeans. He somehow managed to push them down, along with his boxers. He freed himself and though it wasn’t comfortable, he didn’t exactly give a shit at the moment. He just needed to be inside her.
When his cockhead butted up against her warm, sweet, tight heat, he had to tear his mouth from Laura’s and grind his teeth together. He actively concentrated on not coming before he even got inside of her. Although, maybe that would be better. He’d definitely last longer if he got it out of the way, embarrassing as it would be.
“Ryder,” she panted near his ear. “Please. I want you inside me.”
Fuck. That raspy plea did him in. He closed his eyes and thrust inside. Like the first time, he wasn’t gentle and it wasn’t slow or romantic. He t
ook her mouth, claiming her entire body as his. He kissed her furiously as he started a blistering pace that made crazy white lights burst behind his closed eyes.
She was so tight. So tight and so incredibly… amazing. He brutalized her lips while their hips smashed together. They just… fit. The desire sweeping through his veins drove him into a pit of madness that he didn’t ever want to crawl out of. He thrust harder, slamming back into her. Laura’s hips rose up at just the right time. She ground against him, seeking her own release. She opened wider, taking all of him, then taking him deeper. Her body was made for him and he was made for her. They just intrinsically worked.
His hard strokes were never practiced or methodical. They were rough and out of time, passionate, their bodies slamming together, their skin sucking and slapping.
He didn’t hold back and when Laura came, his world imploded.
He’d thought she was tight until he felt her climax and then, damn… her muscles tensed so hard around him he felt like he’d just been thrust into a vice, and god, it was amazing. His body tensed up just like hers did and he knew he was close. He let her ride out her waves, her nails clawing at his still clothed shoulders, her hips slamming up into his, her tight pussy milking his cock, tempting him into finding his release before he was ready.
His thrusts were wild and hard until he couldn’t hold back any longer. He tore out of her and spilled himself on her stomach in a hot explosion that did more than make him see stars. His entire body clenched and unclenched and clenched back up all over again. Every muscle tightened as the waves of pleasure rocked him. His groans, as quiet as he could make them, echoed right by Laura’s ear.
Though Ryder tried to hold himself off of her, the bed was too small and there was nowhere to go. If he rolled to the side he would have been on the floor. Instead he pushed up to his knees and stared down at Laura.
If he’d ever seen anything more beautiful, he didn’t know it. Couldn’t remember it. Her pert breasts with the straining nipples, her pussy swollen and wet, his sticky, glistening lines of cum across her stomach… fuck. He’d wanted to mark her as his and he had. It was filthy and dirty, but it was so goddamn erotic too.
His breathing wasn’t even close to regular when Laura glanced around the room and then pointed at her stomach. He swept off his sweater, tore his t-shirt off, and used it to clean her up. He was unapologetic about the gross level of it, but Laura’s eyes gleamed when she found her shirt and tugged it down, like what they’d done was her secret, a secret to cherish, and she didn’t mind one bit that the evidence hadn’t been properly cleansed away.
Ryder pulled his hoodie back on. His eyes found Laura’s just as she was tugging on her leggings. “I have to go,” she breathed. “We both know that.”
“I don’t want you to.”
“Even still. I couldn’t stay here. Even if I was just an ordinary person with an ordinary life, I couldn’t stay here. That wasn’t our path though. Neither of us are ordinary.”
“You’ll never be ordinary to me, even if you were born into civilian life.” He used the term they both knew all too well. Even though that was currently his role, he was still so fresh out of the club, that he had trouble remembering he wasn’t a part of anything at all. He was free, free to do what he wanted.
And still, freedom wasn’t being free at all.
He knew that, but he was reminded again, that he’d never be truly free until Laura was as well.
“You’ll be here again in two days… can you do something for me? Will you check Nico’s schedule? We need to find a time and a place where we can get to him. If he goes out, how many guards he normally has…”
Laura’s head snapped up. “I- Ryder- you’re- asking me to give up my own brother. I’d be just as a part of his death as the person who truly pulled the trigger.”
He stood and gripped her hands in his. He held her that way for a moment before he slammed her into his arms. She fell against his chest and he held her. He closed his eyes and savored the moment, that final moment before he knew he’d have to let her go.
“How many more people are going to die if Nico stays alive? How many lives has he stolen already? He has to be stopped. All his life, a violent ending was his destiny. I know he’s your brother, but he wouldn’t hesitate to kill you or your younger brother. You told me that. He’s- he’s a destroyer…”
“I know,” Laura whispered. “I- I just need time to think. I don’t know if I can do this and live with that for the rest of my life. That it was me.”
“You’d be protecting your brother. Yourself. All those men you know will die in the future. They have families too. Sons. Daughters. Wives. Loved ones.”
“I know,” she said again, brokenly. “I know that. It’s just not- any easier.”
Ryder stayed silent, even when Laura pulled away. He let her go. He let her walk to the door and put her hand on the knob. He let her turn it slowly, softly, quietly. He sat down hard on the edge of the bed. He felt winded, like someone had kicked him square in the chest, when she pulled open the door and slipped out without looking back.
He let her go. Because he had to.
Chapter 12
RYDER
After Laura left, he planned on going out the back door and heading over to meet Shawn for a beer over at a bar in Servant’s territory.
Turned out, Jimmy had other ideas.
Ryder rounded the corner, just about home free, only to nearly slam face first into a tree trunk dressed all in black. Jimmy crossed his arms and raised a brow as Ryder back peddled.
“Going somewhere?”
Ryder squared his shoulders. He’d been through years of juvie and belonged to a biker gang. He’d seen things that would make most grown men piss themselves and cry for their mommies. He’d killed his own fuckwad of a father. He wasn’t intimidated by fucking Jimmy.
“Obviously,” he ground out. “Last time I checked, it wasn’t illegal to go out and have a beer with a friend.”
“It is if that friend just happens to belong to a biker gang. A really bad biker gang that causes a lot of trouble in these parts.”
“No they don’t. This isn’t their territory. And- uh- your little bro here, that’s right. I belonged to a fucking gang for years. I guess I didn’t get around to telling you that the other night, did I?”
Jimmy’s eyes narrowed. “You didn’t. I assume that since you’re here of your own free will, that those days are behind you.”
“For the time being, they might be.”
Jimmy’s scowl deepened. “You’re my little brother. I do care about you. It’s why I gave you a place to stay. I want to catch up on everything that’s happened. On why- on all the things that our mother never wrote to me. I- I can’t apologize for the past. I did a lot of shit wrong by not coming back for you, but I’m here now and so are you and I’m not going to let you walk out that door and fuck your life up again.”
“I’m not fucking it up. I’m not trying to patch in with anyone let alone a piece of shit establishment like the Servants. I have a friend who is trying to get in with them. One of my old brothers.”
“Let me guess. You’re trying to do the right thing and keep his ass out of trouble as well.”
“Wrong again.”
Ryder stared his brother down. Jimmy stepped in front of the door, carefully blocking it with his large form. Looking at Jimmy was like looking at an identical mirror image of himself, just ten years older.
“Look. It’s none of your business.” Ryder dug the toe of his shit-kicker against the tiled floor.
He didn’t want to fight with Jimmy. There was a part of himself that would have loved to kick his brother’s ass, but that was the old Ryder. The Ryder that was so fucking mad at the world for his shit lot in life. The Ryder that didn’t understand that there was only so much Jimmy could have done, that it was their mom, of all people, who should have done better. She’d protected her oldest son and sacrificed herself and her youngest. It still didn’t make
sense, but Jimmy didn’t deserve to have his ass kicked over that. Ryder wanted to wait a few days at least. Find out something else about his brother that deserved a good ass beating before he had the satisfaction of handing one out.
“It is my business,” Jimmy said. He had a black t-shirt on and a pair of black jeans. It looked like he was the one sneaking out. When he folded his arms across his chest, his thick arms rippled. “Because if you go out and get your ass messed up with Servants, a club responsible for fucking up a lot of the people we get in here every single night either through drugs or violence or some other means, that’s my business. If you bring trouble to my front door and threaten the lives of my staff here and the people who rely on this place as the only good thing in their lives, you better believe that’s my business too.”
“I already told you. I’m not going to get messed up with them.”
“If you’re meeting a guy who is one of their prospects, that’s getting messed up with them and I doubt that it’s for any good purposes.” Jimmy stared hard at Ryder, so hard that it actually made him uncomfortable and he broke first and dropped his eyes to the ground.
Fuck. What do you know? His older brother could be just as menacing as any fucker from a rival club or any bastard he’d faced off with in juvie.
“It’s also my business if this involves Laura Cannelli.” Ryder’s head whipped up and he knew he’d given himself away in a fraction of a second. Jimmy stared him down. “She’s a good person, Ryder. Not the kind of woman you fuck around on or fuck and forget about or fuck over. You understand?”
“Fuck you, Jimmy, you don’t know anything about me. Don’t pretend that because we’re brothers you have me cased. I would never hurt her.” Ryder stepped forward and stabbed a finger at Jimmy’s chest. He couldn’t keep his breathing even and he saw fucking red. His brother stood there looking fucking amused at the outburst.
Lonely Rider - The Box Set: A Motorcycle Club Romance - The Complete Series Page 71
