by Barb Han
She took another step toward him. Now she was so close that he could reach out and touch her. So he did. He took her by the hand and walked her into the bedroom.
By the time he turned around, her hands were already on the fastener of his jeans. He shrugged out of his shirt and then helped her with his pants. Those landed in a pile on the floor along with his boxers.
And then their mouths fused as hands roamed. He cupped her breast, and he could feel her nipple bead against his palm as she gasped. He rolled her nipple between his thumb and forefinger, and she released a sexy moan against his lips.
Her hands were all over his chest and then his arms, his back.
He followed the curve of her hip until her sweet bottom was in his hand. She ground her sex against his.
He had the fleeting thought that he should pull a condom from his side table. Guess it was a little too late for that. The thought of being inside her without a barrier between them sent a thrill rocketing through his body. He wanted to feel her silky skin.
They stood in the bedroom, moonlight streaming around them. He started with her lips and then roamed down, planting a trail of kisses along her chin. He was prepared to take his time even though his body hummed with an urgent need for release.
“I don’t think so,” she said, tugging him onto the bed. She had other ideas about the pace.
He supported his weight with his knees and arms as she wrapped her legs around his midsection. Her fingers curled around his erection, and he had to refocus so this whole thing didn’t end before it even got interesting.
She guided his tip inside her, his tongue plunging in her sweet mouth as his erection dipped into her sweet heat. Her body tensed and he immediately pulled out.
“What’s wrong?” He searched her face for signs of pain, panic beating his chest.
“Nothing. It feels a little too good. I told you that pregnancy hormones intensify everything, didn’t I?”
“Yes.” He remembered that she did.
“Well, I’ve been thinking about doing this with you for months, Ryder.” Her hand was already guiding him back inside her...home. “You have no idea how much I need this.”
Now it was his turn to tense. She was already wet for him. He eased his length inside with a groan as he teased her heat. He went as slowly as he could manage under the circumstances.
She stretched around him and he nearly exploded.
She matched his stride, stroke for stroke, until they worked into a frenzy of heated breaths.
And then she detonated around him, her body clenching and releasing, so he rode to the edge. He let himself think about how amazing she felt with that silky skin squeezing him.
With a final thrust, his entire body tensed and he exploded inside her.
She felt so damn good.
He didn’t pull out right away as his erection pulsed until every last drop drained.
It might’ve been a costly mistake to look in her eyes right then, but he did it anyway. And he saw something mirrored in them that looked a lot like love.
Rather than overanalyze the emotion coursing through him, Ryder rolled onto his back and pulled Faith close. She fit perfectly as she turned on her side and threw her leg over his. Her head rested on his chest and his heart clutched.
This was going to hurt later.
For now, he planned to let himself get lost in the moment.
* * *
FAITH WOKE TO the smell of breakfast cooking in the kitchen. She stirred, a little sore from last night but the happiest she’d been since walking away from Ryder three and a half months ago.
Hadn’t she told her father last night that there’d be consequences to his actions? She was going to try not to eat those words after spending the night in Ryder’s arms. If she was going to go through with her plan, she needed some emotional distance.
There was no way she could let her brain go there...where it was trying to make sex with Ryder a bad thing. It wasn’t. Sex with that man was nothing short of amazing. But she could be honest enough to realize that it was also a dangerous thing even if she couldn’t allow herself to regret it.
She also knew that it couldn’t happen again. Not under any circumstances.
Chapter Nine
“Sit. I’ll make something to eat,” Ryder said after telling Faith good morning. He handed her a cup of decaf.
“Since when did you start cooking?” Faith asked as she took the offering.
He’d already had the talk with himself this morning that sex was just that, sex. They both needed to blow off steam last night—and they did a damn good job of it—and it was the best way to stem the attraction between them that was driving them both to distraction. There was no way they could have sex again.
“Take a seat.” He pointed to the small table and chair.
She did.
“I woke up thinking about what my father said last night,” she said. “If he’s being blackmailed and he doesn’t care about what they’re threatening him with, where does that leave Nicholas?”
“Good question. You won’t like the first thing that pops into my head if I say it,” he said, placing bread in the toaster.
“No. I won’t. Because it’s the same thing I’m thinking,” she replied, and then took a sip of coffee.
“We need to figure out who is behind this,” he said.
“Or I could just let them take me. Maybe that’s why the guys were trying to kidnap me the other day. Whoever is in charge didn’t get the leverage they expected with Nicholas so they decided to up the ante with an actual McCabe. I’m sure they’d take me to wherever Nicholas is being held,” she said.
“Absolutely not. No way.” He stopped what he was doing long enough to stare at her. “Don’t even think about it.”
“But he might be in trouble. Maybe I can help,” she offered.
“Or maybe you can get all three of you killed.”
She drew back with a pained reaction.
“I’m sorry. I’m not trying to be a jerk.” Ryder didn’t want to be so direct, but he needed her to make herself and the baby top priority.
“I know,” she said quietly. “I would never do anything to hurt the little bean.”
“If anyone goes in, it’s going to be me,” he said. “Promise me that you won’t do anything without talking it over with me first and giving me a chance to figure out a better move.”
She sat there for a long moment thinking. He wasn’t sure if she realized that her hand came down over her stomach, but he took it as a good sign.
“You’re right, Ryder. I won’t be stupid,” she said.
“You couldn’t be. You’re too smart for that. But I could see you running in to save him without taking your own life into consideration,” he said. “Your heart is too big and you put yourself last.”
“But it’s not just my life anymore, is it?” It wasn’t really a question, so he didn’t answer.
“I keep thinking about my mom. How she’s endured so much from my father over the years. It’s no wonder she relies on pills. She’s been even more anxious lately, and I can understand why. Living with my father has to be getting to her.”
Ryder grabbed the pieces of toast as soon as they popped up and then put a dollop of butter on each. “You liked it this way at the restaurant the other morning.”
She nodded, smiling.
And that shouldn’t make him feel proud of himself for putting a little sunshine on her face.
“I know your mother isn’t like him. But you can’t give up your life for hers. She made a choice to live with him and you’re not responsible for that decision,” he said.
Faith took a bite of the toast being offered and chewed on it.
“It’s just hard because I’ve always been her safety net,”
she said. “Without me, she has nothing. She’s the reason I came back from college to live here. I had no plans to stay in Bluff.”
“Oh, yeah? Where would you go?” He couldn’t imagine not living in Texas.
“There’s this place up north that I fell in love with one summer. It’s a small town in Michigan on the lake.”
“You mean you didn’t want to come back here for me?” He pretended that she’d just knifed him in the chest.
And that made her laugh.
That was the second time that morning his chest felt full. As it was, he needed to keep the mood as light as possible, especially since he didn’t want her thinking she needed to run off and be valiant. He’d take finding Nicholas seriously but he didn’t want her worrying. That wouldn’t be good for her or the baby.
“Cut it out. The place actually reminds me of your ranch in a weird way. Everyone’s friendly and neighbors know each other. I’m not haunted by my last name there, so no one treats me differently because I’m a McCabe. Not like here in Bluff.” She said the last part under her breath.
“People treat you diff—”
She shot him a look before he could finish.
Of course they did. Even he’d had preconceived ideas about her because of her last name. “I never thought about that before. That must’ve been hard for you growing up in a town so biased against your family. The bias isn’t for no reason, though.”
“Of course not. I can see my father for the person he is now. All hope he was a better man came crashing down around me last night. Plus, pretty much everyone around here wants to be an O’Brien,” she shot back, and he could tell that she was only half joking. “My best friend in high school was Susan Hanover, remember?”
“I never understood the two of you being friends after I got to know you better,” he said. “She was always so manipulative, and that made me think you were the same.”
“How many friends do you think a McCabe has in Bluff?” she asked, like he should’ve figured that out already. “It wasn’t exactly easy growing up here with my family name. Don’t get me wrong. We didn’t go hungry and I’m grateful for small miracles. Plus, I had no idea what my father was truly capable of back then so I thought we were being targeted unfairly.” She blew out a burst of air. “Little did I know.”
She had a point. It must’ve been hard to grow up the only decent McCabe, and that was probably the reason she felt so close to Nicholas and protective of her mother. Ryder was beginning to have a better understanding of why she was so motivated to help out her little brother. “I’m gathering that you and Nicholas share a special connection.”
“He’s the most like me. The only brother I have anything in common with,” she said. “I now know that there are others out there based on what I saw last night. I have no idea how many or who they are but there are more.”
“One step at a time, okay?” he asked, seeing that her stress levels were picking up again. He pulled on all his self-discipline to keep a little distance between them and not repeat last night.
“I heard about what Susan did to Dallas,” she said.
“Trying to peg him as the father of her son to keep her boy safe was wrong on every level, but I can understand a mother’s desperate need to protect her child,” he said.
“The funny thing that she didn’t realize was that all she would’ve had to do was ask any one of you for help and you would’ve done whatever you could. It’s just the way O’Briens are built,” she said, and his chest filled with pride at the admiration in her voice.
“Susan doesn’t think like a normal person,” he said. “And I’m not a knight in shining armor. I’ve been a jerk plenty of times when I should’ve been a shoulder to lean on instead.”
His cell phone buzzed.
“I have no idea who this is,” he said when he checked the screen.
“Do you have any news?” the familiar voice started, and Ryder knew right away who was on the line.
“It’s Celeste,” Ryder said to Faith, holding his hand over the mouthpiece.
“Why did you take off the other day?” he asked Celeste.
“I was done talking. I reported Nicholas as missing, like you said,” she responded. “Have you found out anything on my boy?” Lack of sleep and worry deepened her voice. She had that low smoker’s quality and he figured stress had her doubling up on cigarettes.
“We’re still digging around, but we know very little,” he said. “We believe that a girl by the name of Hannah was recruited to target him at a place called Wired.”
When no hint of recognition came, he added, “Here, let me put you on speaker so we can both explain.”
“Is she there right now?” Celeste said.
“Yes.”
“I didn’t call to talk to her,” she said bitterly.
“Okay. Just me and you, then,” he said, not wanting to scare her off. “Wired is a gaming center where the kids go to connect and play popular computer games.”
That must’ve sounded familiar because she grunted an acknowledgment. He nodded toward Faith, who was leaned forward with all her attention on him.
“The sheriff said he’d let me know if they found anything. Nothing so far.” She sucked in a burst of air. “Sheriff said he can sometimes find missing kids using something about a satellite and a chip in phones. He didn’t have no luck with Nicholas’s. Sheriff also said that Nicholas hasn’t used his phone since eight o’clock the night he went missing.”
Ryder shook his head. Faith nodded that she understood there was no good news.
“Like we said before. Most teenagers wouldn’t be caught without their cell phones,” he said.
“And especially not Nicholas. I used to tease him all the time that that smartphone thing was going to grow out of his fingers when he slept.” She sniffed back a tear.
“Faith discovered someone is blackmailing her father in connection with Nicholas’s disappearance,” Ryder said.
Faith shot him a look that said she wasn’t happy with him for telling Celeste.
He’d deal with that in a minute. Celeste had a right to know.
“Figures that jerk would be tied up with this somehow,” she said, the anger in her voice booming through the speaker.
“He’s not behind it,” he said. “We know that for certain.”
“But he don’t care about Nicholas. That boy could be dead for all Hollister would care. In fact, I’d go one further and say that it would do him a favor for Nicholas to be out of the picture. Then he wouldn’t have to worry about me coming after him for support.”
“Have you tried recently?” he asked, just in case.
“Not since Nicholas was a baby. Once I figured out that Hollister was just using me I didn’t want anything else to do with him or his money. This may sound stupid but he told me that he was going to leave his wife for me. Made all kinds of promises that he probably made to every woman he wanted.” There was a wistful and wise quality to her voice now. And Ryder suspected she was on point with all counts.
“Think we can swing by and check out Nicholas’s room later?” he asked, hoping they’d find a clue there.
A long pause came across the line.
“I’ve been over his room and didn’t find nothing,” Celeste said on a heavy sigh.
“Fresh eyes might help,” he said.
Another few seconds passed without a response.
“I guess letting you look around wouldn’t hurt. The sheriff’s already checked over it and didn’t find anything,” she conceded. “He didn’t say I couldn’t let anyone else have a look at it.”
“I’d still like the chance,” he countered, thinking that it might be time to bring in extra help in the form of a private investigator. Five days missing with no word wasn’t a good sign.
“I
go in to work at eight. You can come by before then. Just you. There’s no room for a McCabe in my house,” she said, leaving no room for question. “They’ve done enough to mess up my life.”
“Just me,” he repeated so that Faith could hear. If it were up to him, he’d bring her with him. He wasn’t calling the shots and might just get lucky and find something that could lead them to Hannah or, better yet, Nicholas. But based on Celeste’s tone when she talked about any McCabe, Ryder knew better than to push the issue of asking if Faith could go with him. Besides, he couldn’t be sure she wouldn’t offend Celeste again. Those two women together were fire and gasoline. Maybe he could help smooth some of that over for Faith and figure out a way for them to forge some kind of bond when Nicholas was home safe.
Celeste didn’t say goodbye. She just ended the call. Her defenses were up.
“Of course she’ll let you come and not me.” Faith blew out a frustrated breath. She stood up and then started pacing. “You know, it might be her blackmailing my father for money since he refused support all those years ago.”
“Yeah, I thought about that, which is why I asked. She said no. I believe her. I mean, why now?” he asked. “Plus, that doesn’t explain the note.”
“I don’t know how a crazy person thinks,” she shot back. “And she could’ve sent him off to camp for a week and written that herself. What mother doesn’t notify the sheriff when her child goes missing?”
Faith was hitting on territory that Ryder didn’t want to go over again. It was a dead end. Celeste wasn’t involved.
“It might be best if you stay here and get some rest anyway,” he said. “I won’t stick around any longer than I have to.”
Faith flashed her eyes at him. “I hope not. She’s a black widow, that woman.”
What was going on there? Was she jealous?
He couldn’t afford to let himself feel the burst of pride. His new mantra was stay objective when it came to Faith. The baby deserved that much from both of them, and getting too attached would only muddy the waters. Good one, O’Brien. Like sleeping with her hadn’t already done that. He told himself that it wasn’t too late to salvage a friendship between them. Anything else had disaster stamped all over it. He had no plans to walk into that trap again no matter how right it had felt at the time. And it had felt damn right.
