Claimed by Love (Love in Bloom: The Ryders, Book 2): Duke Ryder

by Melissa Foster

“Yes and no. I handle more than divorces. I love the adoption and surrogacy aspects, most of the time. But divorces are a major part of my practice, and I really dislike the way kids are used like currency. There’s so much unhappiness that I’m really thinking of stopping the divorce end of my practice and just handling other aspects of family law.”

  “You are?” Duke asked. “I didn’t realize…”

  “Just thinking about it.”

  He leaned in closer and kissed her softly on the lips. “Whatever makes you happy, I think you should do. And if I can help in any way, let me know.”

  “Wow, Gabby.” Trish shook her head with a serious look in her eyes. “What have you done to my brother? He’s all sappy eyed and mushy.”

  “He’s really great, isn’t he?”

  Jake shook his head. “Gage and I are going to be the only two Ryder bachelors left, aren’t we?”

  They all laughed, and that started the men bantering about settling down. Duke held Gabriella’s gaze before joining in on their conversation, and she felt a feather of hope tickle her heart. It was so easy to get lost in Duke and his family. They were so warm and welcoming, so funny, and so openly loving with one another. Cash hadn’t stopped touching Siena for one second, and their father had kept his arm around their mother since they sat down. She could see herself blending in easily with Siena and Trish, enjoying girls’ nights and chats on the phone. And she knew his family would get along just fine with hers.

  She needed to distract herself or she’d get carried away. She’d only just been able to let go of her worries.

  “When is your next film starting?” Gabriella asked Trish. She’d misjudged Duke’s sister the same way she’d misjudged him the first day they’d met. Trish was a beautiful actress, but she wasn’t the least bit stuck-up or entitled. None of them were.

  “We’re in preproduction mode, so we’re months away from starting,” Trish explained. “Lots of boring meetings, paperwork, PR work. My PR rep splits her time between LA and New York. Shea Steele, do you know of her?”

  “Actually, the ex-husband of one of my clients used her. He was in the entertainment industry, and, well, let’s just say that Shea had a lot of damage control to do after his tawdry messes.” Gabriella sipped her wine and added, “But my client took great pleasure in exposing them.”

  “Yeah, I bet she did.” Siena leaned closer to Cash, and he kissed her cheek. “One thing you never have to worry about with the Ryders is cheating. They’re loyal, possessive, and honest as the sun is hot. I’m sure you already know that from being with Duke.”

  “You have the most possessive of the Ryders, sweetie.” Trish pointed to Siena. “Cash doesn’t know the meaning of smothering.”

  “Sure he does,” Siena said. “And he does it so well.” She cupped Cash’s face between her hands and kissed him.

  Seeing the love between Duke’s parents, and Cash and Siena, gave Gabriella a little more faith in the strength of lasting love away from the island. It was so easy to forget that love could be real and present here, too, when she dealt with the tearing up of marriages day in and day out. She squeezed Duke’s hand, so thankful that she’d stopped trying to keep space between them. She wanted to be closer to Duke. As close as they could possibly be.

  The service was fast and efficient, and by the time they’d finished their meals, Gabriella and the girls had already made plans to meet tomorrow afternoon to go shopping, and after she told them about how close she and Addy were, they’d invited her along, too.

  As they hugged and said goodbye outside the restaurant, the girls exchanged cell phone numbers and confirmed their plans for tomorrow.

  “Sweetheart, it’s easy to see why Duke is so taken with you.” His mother embraced her. “I hope you and Duke will come by the house sometime. We’d love to spend more time with you.”

  “Thank you. I’m so happy to have met the people who raised Duke to be the amazing, loving, intelligent man he is.”

  “You don’t have to suck up to her,” Duke teased as he kissed her cheek. “We’ll come by, Mom. I love you.” He hugged her before moving on to Jake. “I love you, man. So good to see you.”

  “Yeah, you too. I’ll be in touch.” Jake embraced Gabriella. “Take care of my brother.”

  “Always,” she said softly.

  Duke caught her eye and her pulse quickened. He said goodbye to the others, each with a warm embrace followed by those three little words that she hadn’t realized she’d longed to hear from him until just now. Her feelings for Duke had grown so fast, but those three little words were perched on the tip of her tongue, ready to take the leap.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  IT WAS LATE when Duke and Gabriella left the restaurant, and since they’d need to drive out to Duke’s house, which was close to an hour away, depending on traffic, to pick up his clothes for tomorrow, they decided to stay at his house instead. Duke called his driver and arranged to have a car dropped off at Gabriella’s apartment. They stopped at Gabriella’s apartment to pick up a few things, and as she hurried through the bedroom, packing clothes and toiletries, Duke leaned casually against the doorframe watching her. He loved her more with every moment they spent together, but seeing her with his family, introducing her as his girlfriend, had driven that love even deeper. And now, as she packed her things, he wanted to scoop her into his arms and tell her just how much. But he held back. She’d only just begun to trust him, and he didn’t want to smother her.

  Okay, maybe he did, but he’d refrain.

  For a while.

  Maybe.

  “Thank you for spending time with my family tonight.”

  She grabbed an outfit from her closet and zipped up her bag. “I really loved meeting them. The way you guys tease each other reminded me of my family. It’s obvious how much you care about one another. And Trish and Siena are so funny. I adored them. I’m excited to go shopping with them after work tomorrow.”

  He came to her side and turned her in his arms. “We’re all very close. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for any of them, and I hope you know there’s nothing I wouldn’t do for you, either.”

  She melted against him, and it was torture holding back what he really wanted to say.

  “Bring more clothes,” he suggested. “Enough for a few days, at least, in case you want to stay there at another time.” He felt himself getting lost in the well of emotions in her eyes. “I’d tell you to bring all your clothes, but I know that’s asking too much.”

  “Duke…?”

  He kissed her again, deep and sweet. “One day.” He wanted one day very badly.

  They finished gathering her things. An hour later they were turning onto his street and Duke was telling her about his childhood.

  “No way. You cook?” she asked with wide eyes.

  “Cook, do laundry. My parents believed we needed to be able to take care of ourselves. And Trish learned to do all the things we boys did, like fish and mow the yard.”

  “The more I learn about your family, the more I want to meet the rest of them,” she said as he pulled down a long, dark driveway.

  He brought her hand to his lips and kissed it. “Thank you. I think they’d love to meet you, too.”

  “You drive a long way into the city.”

  Duke parked in the circular driveway and cut the engine. He’d bought the three-story stone home a few years ago. It was bigger than he needed, but having too much house was worth it to have the Long Island Sound in his backyard.

  “I need to be in the city for business, but I wouldn’t want to live there full time. I value my privacy, and I love the water too much.”

  “The water? How did I not know that you lived on the water? Mr. Ryder, what other surprises do you have in store for me?”

  He leaned across the console and slid a hand on to the nape of her neck, drawing her closer. “Lots and lots of surprises, for many years to come, baby.” He touched his forehead to hers and inhaled. “You smell so delicious. You smel
l like home. ”

  He pressed his lips to hers, loving the soft sigh that left her lungs as he took the kiss deeper, held on tighter.

  “Your lips…I love your lips.” He kissed her again, and she pushed her fingers into his hair. “God, babe. Your hands. I swear you have the most sensual fingers.”

  “That’s a relief, because something happened when I realized that I was standing in our way, building walls where they didn’t belong. I thought I could make sure that all the right things happen for the island, but that’s not my job, and nothing is worth losing what I feel when I’m with you. When I finally let go of the whole island thing, it was like my feelings had been trapped behind a dam and now they’re completely, totally, flooding me.”

  His heart swelled at her confession. “Let it flow, baby. You’ll never be disappointed.” He sealed his promise with a kiss, and if he weren’t so big, he’d have climbed over the console and made love to her right there.

  He came around to her side of the car and helped her out. Gabriella clutched his shirt and went up on her toes, and he met her halfway for another passionate kiss.

  “I want everything with you, baby.”

  “Yes—everything. Now,” she said, going up on her toes.

  **

  SUDDENLY GABRIELLA WAS in Duke’s arms and he was carrying her up the front steps. They kissed and laughed and kissed some more as he unlocked the door and kicked it shut behind them, all without breaking their connection. His strong legs carried her up a set of stairs, but she was too swept up in the need coursing between them to open her eyes and check things out. For the first time since they’d been together, she finally felt completely free to feel all of the wicked, wonderful emotions that had been brewing inside her.

  Duke stopped walking, and as their lips parted, her eyes fluttered open.

  “Bedroom.” He nipped at her lower lip.

  The raw need in his eyes rivaled the lust pooling between her thighs. “Why’d we stop?”

  “Trying to gain control. I want to last and, baby, if I sink into you now it’s going to be rough, and fast, and…Fuck…I’m sorry.”

  The naughtiness of his words turned her on even more. “Rough and fast and fuck sounds perfect.”

  A guttural sound rumbled through his chest as he crossed the threshold and they tumbled down on the bed in a mass of tangled limbs and desperate sounds. She kicked off her heels as he stripped her clothing away. She grabbed his collar and tore it open, sending buttons bouncing across the hardwood floors.

  “Stores are going to love us,” he teased.

  He pushed up on his knees and peeled off the remaining fabric. Then he was on his feet, and she followed him off the bed, craving his touch as he stripped naked.

  “Holy shit. One day you’re going to do a striptease for me.”

  “I am, am I?” he asked. “That sounds hot.”

  “Thank Addy.” She giggled as she sealed her mouth over his nipple, loving the feel of it pebbling against her tongue as his hands slid over her hips and beneath her ass.

  “Christ, baby. That feels so good.” His low voice slithered over her skin as his fingers found the heat between her thighs.

  She brought her mouth to his other nipple and gave it the same attention as the first, sucking and grazing her teeth over the tip. She bent over to take his hard length in her mouth, and he kept stroking between her legs, dipping his finger inside her, taking her higher and higher as he made love to her mouth.

  “You’ve got the greatest ass,” he said through gritted teeth as he gave it a little slap.

  Her eyes widened—from the titillating thrill of it and the shock of need it sent to her core as much as from surprise.

  He rubbed his hand soothingly over the sting, then dipped his finger inside her again as she worked his shaft with her hand and mouth.

  “Baby, you’re driving me insane,” he ground out.

  His wet fingers stroked up between her cheeks, then back down, teasing over her tight hole.

  “God, Duke.” She panted, trying to control the sensations racing through her, stroking him with her hand as her head tilted back. He lowered his mouth to hers, taking her in a demanding kiss as he slid his finger past the rim of muscles, and she groaned from the pressure—and the eroticism of it—as he sucked her tongue into his mouth, using the same rhythm as his finger in her ass. She gripped his hips and tore her lips from his with the need to drive him just as crazy as he was driving her. She buried his cock in her mouth, sucking hard, and he fisted his hand in her hair and held her in place. His movements were rough and greedy, loving and tender in equal measure, and she was right there with him, wanting everything and anything. Wanting him to consume every inch of her. When he yanked her head back, his shaft slapped against his stomach, and he captured her mouth with his again. His finger probed her ass as his tongue probed her mouth, taking her to the edge of sanity.

  “On the bed,” he said tenderly, but somehow commanding, too. “On your knees, baby.”

  She scrambled onto the bed, knowing without a doubt that Duke wouldn’t do anything that would hurt her, but still a little nervous about what he was going to do.

  “I don’t know what it is, baby, but your gorgeous ass turns me on.”

  She gazed over her shoulder as he pulled her back to the edge of the bed, spread her cheeks, and ran his tongue all the way down to where his finger had been.

  Mother of God. Her eyes rolled back in her head, and her head fell between her shoulders. She never knew that could feel so good, and he didn’t stop there. He moved lower, teasing her swollen sex, then moving between the two while he massaged her cheeks. Every swipe of his tongue drove her further toward oblivion. She fisted her hands in the sheets to stabilize her trembling arms. When his mouth claimed her core again and he buried his tongue deep inside her heat, she surrendered to the overwhelming sensations as she came apart against his tongue.

  “Duke,” she begged.

  “Want me to stop, baby?” He kissed the base of her spine.

  “God, no.” Her body was shaking so badly she went down on her elbows. “I want you inside me. Please. No condom. Just you, baby. Please.”

  He ran his tongue over her wetness again, and her whole body shuddered. God, how she loved his tongue. The head of his cock pressed against her entrance, and she moved her hips back in desperation. He slid the head of his cock in, and she went up on her palms again, pushing her hips back, trying—aching—for more.

  “Duke. Please, I need more. This is torture.”

  “You’re sure, baby? There’s no going back once I’m inside you without a condom.”

  She hung her head between her shoulders. “You have the willpower of a god. Yes, I’m sure. If you don’t take me now, Duke, I swear I’ll tackle you to the ground and do it my way!”

  “Holy hell, you’re the hottest, baby. I’ll let you do me any way you want.”

  He thrust in deep, and she cried out his name, arching her back with the exquisite sensation of his thickness stretching her. He began to move in long, strong thrusts, pulling out almost completely, then driving back in until he was buried to the root, pressed so tightly against her she could feel every delicious inch of him as he ground his hips. Then he started the whole scintillating rhythm again, all while his finger circled and teased her hole.

  She pushed back, wanting more, needing more. He wrapped her hair around his fingers and tugged gently, angling her head so he could see her eyes as he leaned over her back. He stared at her for a long time, buried to the hilt. She couldn’t read his expression. It was full of lust and restraint and something much bigger. He sealed his lips over hers in a languid, sensual kiss that turned her entire being to liquid heat.

  “I am so in love with you, baby,” he said so sweetly she sighed. “If you keep pushing that pretty little ass of yours back at me, I’m going to stop teasing and take it.”

  Her eyes widened. Take it?

  “Don’t worry, baby. I’d never do anything yo
u didn’t want.” He kissed her shoulder, then dragged his tongue all the way across it to her mouth—sending ripples of heat stroking through her—and claimed her in another slow, drugging kiss. “Unless you want more.”

  More? Oh God, this was already more than she’d ever done. Ever. And God help her, she loved it all, craved him, wanted to overdose on Duke, but she wasn’t ready for that kind of more.

  “Duke,” she said eagerly. “Not more…but…” She couldn’t tell him she wanted him to do it, to take her with his finger. It was too naughty to say.

  “I love you, baby, so damn much. I know what you need. I always know what you need.”

  He released her hair and stroked his hands down her back, rained kisses down her spine. She’d never felt so loved, and even though she was giving herself over to him in ways she never had, she felt in control. Her heart was so full of Duke, so full of his love. She was barely holding it together, trying to process his words as he teased her most intimate spots and thrust in and out of her center with impeccable precision.

  He sank his teeth into her shoulder just hard enough to sting at the same time he slid his finger past the tight rim of muscles in her backside. Fireworks sparked through her body. Electricity seemed to arc through the air as her eyes slammed shut and heat consumed her from the inside out, pulsing through her veins, tightening her inner muscles around his shaft.

  “Duke!”

  He continued thrusting, loving, taking her to the edge of delirium with the exquisite pleasure of being so full of him. Right as she was coming down from her climax, he removed his finger and clutched her hips, taking her right back up again. Grinding out her name from behind clenched teeth, he surrendered to their passion. She felt his warm seed filling her, his hands holding her, his body engulfing her, and in that moment, Gabriella truly became his.

  **

  BREATHING HARD FROM the most intense orgasm he’d ever experienced, Duke collapsed against Gabriella’s back. His arm curved around her belly as he pressed his lips to her back and said, “Love you, baby.”

  With her tucked tightly against his chest, he rolled onto his side. Her body fit perfectly against him. He hadn’t planned on professing his love for her, but his emotions were too big to contain.