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

by Melissa Foster

“But I’m glad he asked you to go build a life off the island. We might never have met otherwise. Your grandfather might have allowed someone else to give me the tour.”

  “Maybe so.” With one arm around his waist, she put her other flat against his stomach as they walked. “Don’t worry about me, Duke. I’ve got this. Today was a momentary slip into nostalgia.”

  “That’s just it, baby. Your nostalgia is important to me. I don’t want you to try to ignore it. I want you to feel it, talk to me about it. I’ve heard everything you’ve shared with me, and I’ve thought about every concern, every hope, every hurtful confession. I will not let you down. We can’t be afraid to tell each other things, or our relationship will never make it.”

  “Thank you, but I’m not afraid. I just do better when I lock those thoughts away.”

  He stopped walking and took her hands in his. “We don’t have to talk about it, but I don’t want you locking anything away. I want you, Gabriella. All of you. Not just the sexy parts or the parts that you want me to see.”

  She stepped in closer and pressed her lips to his chest. “Why are you so good?”

  He laughed. “I have clients who would argue that I’m a shrewd bastard, hardly good. I care about you, and I hate to see you struggling over this.”

  “Duke, I can handle whatever happens. Seriously, I can.” Could she? The doubts she’d had before were weaker now. They were lingering doubts at best, and the moment she looked into Duke’s loving eyes, everything became crystal clear. She couldn’t wait to go back to the island with him this weekend and let her family know they were a couple.

  “Whatever happens won’t change my feelings for you. I thought they might, but I love you, Duke, and I know there’s no way anything will change that. Nothing ever will.”

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  DUKE SPENT MONDAY with Pierce and his fiancée, Rebecca Rivera, who worked in his acquisitions department, and Pierce’s sister Emily and her fiancé, Dae Bray, along with Pierce and Duke’s land development teams and financial advisers. The conference room was full, and tensions ran high. They went head-to-head all afternoon and into the early evening, trying to come up with an acceptable compromise. When they finally hit upon an amicable solution and called it a day, with plans for the financial teams to knock heads in the morning and present their calculations late tomorrow afternoon, it was after sundown.

  “That was fun, huh?” Pierce rose to his feet and stretched. “Nothing like a strong negotiation to work up an appetite. Are we still on for dinner?”

  He reached for Rebecca as she gathered her papers. As she took Pierce’s hand, she blew him a kiss. “Give him a minute, Pierce. He probably wants to call the woman he’s making all these changes for.”

  “Gabriella,” Duke said, loving the feel of her name on his tongue and wishing she were right beside him so he could taste her sweet lips.

  Emily’s eyes filled with mischief. Tucking her long dark hair behind her ear, she reached for her cell phone. “I want to call my boyfriend, too.” Her words dripped with sarcasm.

  “My ass.” Dae spun her into his arms and kissed her as she laughed. “Rebecca, do you give Pierce as hard of a time as Em gives me?”

  “My Rebecca?” Pierce said. “She’s the perfect woman.”

  Rebecca rolled her eyes. “Just wait until you see how riled up he gets when the waiter talks to me at the restaurant. I swear it’s fun to watch his claws come out over the littlest things.”

  They joked as they gathered their things, and watching them made Duke long to hear Gabriella’s voice. He stepped outside the conference room and called her.

  “Hey there. I miss you already.”

  He could hear the happiness in her voice.

  “Hi, babe. I miss you, too. How was your day?”

  “Good. We’re still on for court tomorrow with the McGradys, at least as of right now. Mary hasn’t backed out yet.”

  “So she’s not going back to her cheating husband?”

  “Not at the moment, I guess. Sometimes I’m the last to know. How was your meeting?”

  “Long and loud.” He glanced back at the conference room. “I wish you were here with me. I’m getting ready to go to dinner with Pierce and Rebecca and Emily and Dae. You’d really like them. I’d give anything to have you here by my side.”

  “I’m sorry. But as it is I’ll be up all night preparing and going over notes. Oh, your sister called me today, which was really nice. She said that she heard you were out of town and asked if I wanted to meet her, Cash, and Siena for dinner.”

  That didn’t surprise him since he’d told both Cash and Trish that he was heading out to Reno. He was glad they’d called. He didn’t like the idea of Gabriella being left alone. “You didn’t go?” It was already ten in New York.

  “I wish I could have, but with court tomorrow and two client meetings Wednesday, if I didn’t prepare tonight, I’d never have time to review their cases. But I told her we’d catch up another time.”

  “Great. I’m glad she called. She really likes you.”

  “I like her, too.”

  “How long are you going to be at the office?” He didn’t like the idea of her walking home alone in the dark.

  “I don’t know. Another hour or so. I need to try to catch up on some sleep before court tomorrow, so I won’t stay past eleven.”

  “Why don’t I send my driver to wait for you?”

  “Duke, it’s only a few blocks. I think I can handle it.”

  He closed his eyes for a second, reminding himself that she’d made it on her own in New York for years before meeting him. Why should that change now? Even so, he still worried.

  “It would make me feel better, especially if you’re going to be there that much longer.”

  “I can get a cab,” she offered. “Will that make you feel better?”

  “Moderately. I’ll call Ted and have him come by and wait.”

  “You’re impossible.” He heard the tease in her voice and was glad she wasn’t upset. “But I guess I was forewarned. Siena told me that you Ryder boys were an overprotective bunch. Fine. If he doesn’t mind, please tell him eleven. That’ll ensure I don’t stay too late.”

  “Thank you.” Pierce and the others filed out of the conference room. “I’ve got to run, babe. You’ll probably be asleep when we get back to Pierce and Rebecca’s. Talk in the morning?”

  “Aw, and I was so hoping to try phone sex. Addy says it’s super fun.”

  A grin split his lips. “Baby, leave your phone on. I love you.”

  **

  GABRIELLA HAD THOUGHT that Duke was being overprotective, but when she left her office, she was glad she wasn’t walking home alone. As she walked from the building to the car she realized that when she’d previously walked home alone at night, she’d walked with her shoulders hunkered in close to her body and her senses on high alert. It was so different from her life on the island, where she never even locked her doors.

  Duke’s driver, Ted, opened her car door.

  “Thank you for the ride. I really appreciate it.”

  “My pleasure,” he said. He waited until Gabriella was inside her apartment building before getting back into the car and driving away.

  Other than this morning, when she and Duke had dropped off her bags, she hadn’t spent any time at home for several days. It felt strange to be there instead of at Duke’s house, and to be without Duke after work felt even stranger. She didn’t know when Duke was going to call, but she took a warm shower to wash off the bad vibes of the impending divorce case and put on a silk cami and matching panties she’d bought with the girls when they went shopping. Then she settled into bed with her phone and her iPad.

  She Googled Elpitha Island images, smiling when her favorite place appeared before her. Most of the pictures looked like they’d been taken in the last few years. She tried to picture the shoreline speckled with hotels and the island itself mapped with paved roads. Her heartbeat quickened, and she told hers
elf that she was being silly. This was what needed to happen in order for the island not to fail, and that was best for her family and all the people there whom she loved. As she clicked through images of the bank and the library and the plantation-style homes, she felt warm all over. She thought back to Duke touring the island in his suit and forced herself to see beyond Duke. She had to wonder how many people wouldn’t mind their shoes and clothes being covered in dust by the end of the day. That alone might be a deterrent for tourists. The very thing she loved might be killing the island. She thought about what Duke had said about emergency vehicles. When she was in second grade, her friend’s house had burned down. No one was hurt, but they’d had to rebuild. She hadn’t thought of that in years. Had the lack of roads played a part in that tragedy?

  Her thoughts turned to Katarina and her children, her new baby, and sweet Vivi, who she knew wanted to get off the island. Would Vivi still want to leave if there were more people, more jobs, more chances to meet her one true love while she was there with her family? Would anyone?

  How could she have been so shortsighted? How could it have taken her this long to see it?

  And how could Duke have agreed to what he did? He had to do what was best for the island and the people there, regardless of what she wanted.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  DUKE STRETCHED OUT on the king-sized bed in Pierce and Rebecca’s guest room, wearing his boxer briefs and a hungry smile. He’d thought about Gabriella and her taunt of wanting to try phone sex that evening. Could she be any more adorable? Any sexier? He pressed her speed-dial number, already keyed up just thinking about hearing her voice.

  She answered on the first ring, and before he could say a word, she said, “You have to do what’s best for the island.”

  He was momentarily knocked off-kilter. “Okay.”

  “I mean it. I know I vacillate, and I’m a big pain in the ass when we talk about it, but you really must do what’s best for it. I couldn’t live with myself if you didn’t. I’ve been so selfish—”

  He wasn’t sure what had driven her to this line of thinking, but he wished he were there to hold her, to look into her eyes when he responded. “Sweetheart, we’ll do what’s best for everyone. I promise you that, and I don’t break promises. Especially not to the people I love, so please, don’t worry. I’ve got this.”

  A relived sigh filled the airwaves. “Really?”

  “Yes, baby. Really. I wish I was there with you to reassure you. It was nice spending time with everyone, but they’re all so in love. It made me miss you even more.”

  “Aw, Duke. I wish I was there, too. It’s weird being in bed without you.”

  His cock twitched at the thought of his girl in bed. “You’re in bed?”

  “Mm-hm. And I’m so lonely. If only there were a willing, sexy man to keep me company. Someone, maybe, six three or four, with hands that feel so good when they move over my skin and a mouth that should be patented for all the pleasure it gives.”

  “Someone’s been watching porn again,” he teased.

  “No.” She laughed, but he could hear embarrassment in the way she sighed at the end.

  He’d memorized her laughs. There was the sexy, deep, teasing laugh that said she wanted to fool around and was usually accompanied by a sensual gaze. Then she had the real ha-ha that’s funny laugh that was higher pitched and reached all the way to her eyes. And then she had this sweet, feminine, embarrassed laugh that always ended in the most seductive sigh. God, he loved that sigh.

  “Porn was a onetime thing. Those were my words, my thoughts.”

  “You know how much I love touching you.” His voice was as thick with desire as his heart was with love. “Is your light on, baby?”

  “Yes.”

  “Why don’t you turn it off for me, and lie down, get comfortable.” He pictured her getting up to flick the light switch by the door, and as he heard her soft breathing, he pictured her settling back on the bed.

  “Are you in bed, too?” she asked.

  “Yes. The guest room is very masculine, with heavy wood furniture and thick dark curtains. It needs your femininity, Gabriella. I need you.”

  She sighed, and he imagined her luscious lips parted, her eyes heavy with desire.

  “The lights are out, and I’m lying in the middle of the bed, wearing my black Calvin briefs. I can see the moon high in the sky through the crack in the curtains. I wish you were here, baby. I’d love to see you lying naked in the center of this big bed.” She was breathing harder. “With your legs spread and me nestled in between them. Would you like that, baby?”

  “Yes,” she said in a needy whisper.

  “What are you wearing, Gabriella?” He closed his eyes, picturing her in his mind.

  “A silk camisole.”

  “Give me more, baby. What color is it? Does it have those thin straps I love to take off with my teeth? Do you have on panties?”

  She was silent for a beat, and he knew he’d embarrassed her.

  “No pressure, sweetheart. We can just talk, or say good night. Whatever you want.”

  “No,” she said quickly. “I just never knew this could be such a turn-on.”

  “Everything between us is a turn-on, baby. That’s what love does. It makes you care so deeply that you never get enough of the other person.” He heard the words coming from his mouth, so different from anything he’d ever felt, and the truth of them brought another flood of emotions.

  “Relax, baby. It’s just you and me. No one else can hear or see us. You’re always safe with me.”

  “I know.” She paused for a moment. “I’m wearing black silk panties that match my cami. I bought them for you when I was out with the girls and specifically looked for the thin straps, the kind that you could tear off if you pulled too hard. I love when you do that, when you take control and yank my clothes off.”

  “I wish I could do that right now.” He palmed his erection over his briefs. “If I were there, I’d tear those silk panties right off your gorgeous body, bind your wrists above your head, and tease you until you came so hard your body went limp.”

  “Jesus.”

  “Would you like that, baby? For me to lick your thighs, to tease you with my hands, my mouth, my hard cock?”

  “Yes—” Her voice trembled.

  “Take your panties off for me and tell me if you’re wet.” He pushed his briefs off and kicked them to the floor, listening to her breathing quicken as she moved. “It’s okay, baby. I’m right here, hard as steel for you. So fucking hard I ache.”

  “I took off everything, and, Duke?”

  “Yes, baby?”

  “I’m so wet, so ready for you to be inside me. I hate that you’re so far away. I want you to love me with your whole body. I want to feel your chest on mine. I want to feel your mouth sucking on my nipples, licking me…down there.”

  “Christ, baby. I want that, too. Touch yourself. Feel all that heat that I can’t be there to touch.” He stroked himself in tight, hard moves. She made the sexiest mewing sound, and he knew she was close. “Use one hand to fuck yourself, the other on your clit, baby. Pretend it’s my hand and my mouth.”

  “So good,” she said in a heated breath.

  “That’s it, baby. If I were there I’d bury my cock so deep inside you, you wouldn’t know where your body stopped and mine began. I’d suck your nipples so hard you’d feel it burn all the way down to your core.”

  “Yes…Oh God, Duke…”

  “I’m right there with you, baby. You look so sexy when you come. I’m picturing your back arching off the bed, your eyes closed as your thighs fall open wide, then tighten with desire—” Heat burned down his spine.

  “More. Talk dirty to me. I’m almost there.”

  “Christ, baby, that’s so sexy. I want to turn you over and fuck you from behind, feel that gorgeous ass of yours against me. I want to kiss every inch of your beautiful back and work my way down to your ass, then flip you over and suck your clit so I can
feel every pulse when you—”

  “Ohgodohgod. Coming—”

  A stream of words left her lips—So good. Duke. Oh God. Yes—and drew the come right out of him. Hot ribbons shot across his chest as he groaned out her name.

  **

  GABRIELLA CAME SO hard she could do little more than lie there listening to Duke breathe. Her body hummed with pleasure, and she knew it had more to do with Duke’s voice and his sexy, loving words than her touch. He had a way of gathering up everything she needed and doling it out at just the right time.

  “You still with me, baby? You okay?” he asked with the tenderness he always showed her.

  “Yeah. A little embarrassed.” Maybe she should be embarrassed by that confession, but she knew he’d understand. And she felt so close to him. There was nothing she wouldn’t tell him.

  “You’re so beautiful, so trusting. Don’t be embarrassed by anything we do, baby. I wish I was there to hold you. I’d wrap you in my arms and hold you all night long, so you knew you were safe and loved.”

  “You make me feel that way even from far away.” She pulled the sheet over her naked body. “I’ve never done all these things before, and with you I want to do it all. Duke, before that night at the lighthouse, I’d never touched myself in front of a man.”

  “That means you trust me. You feel safe with us. All of this, our talks, our sensuality, our worries, our hopes, that’s what makes up a relationship, and that’s why we’re so good together. I can’t wait to go back to the island with you this weekend and experience it as a couple. I want that with you. I want everything with you, and you’ll never get anything but honesty from me—in words, actions, and emotions.”

  “Thank you. We’re experiencing a lot of my firsts together, and it’s so…I don’t know. It feels big. It feels good.”

  “I wish I would have been your first boyfriend, and we would have shared your first kiss.”

  “I’m not sure you would have liked me back then. I was kind of bossy. My first kiss was with Bill Campbell. He was tall, blond, and the perfect Southern gentleman.”