“Yeah, my love life is a joke.”
“That’s not what I meant. Looking at you from the outside, I know this thing with Alexis means a lot to you. I’m sure it will all be worth it at the end of the road.”
“What are you, the love doctor?”
He laughed. “Look, Ryder, the road to love is long and hard. Judging from your attitude lately, you’re tired of the hard part. Sexual frustration is a bitch.”
His bark of laughter sounded off from a distance as I picked up my pace down the hill and left him behind.
I pretended not to be waiting for Alexis when we returned to the gym, but the moment she walked in two hours later, everything seemed to stand still, and I abruptly stopped pounding the heavy bag to watch her walk to me.
“What happened to the window?” she exclaimed, wide-eyed and distressed.
“Someone left us a message. Still think your friend Logan is innocent? He watched us leave together last night.”
She sighed, tunneling a hand through her hair. “I don’t know. Everything is so messed up. Maybe you and I should just go back to ignoring each other.”
“What? We need to talk. Now!”
She glanced over at me and nodded, following me into the back office.
“Why’d you leave?” I asked as soon as the door shut.
She sighed, leaning her back against the door. She probably hadn’t moved far from the door because she wanted to make a quick escape. “I didn’t know I was obligated to stay for breakfast.”
“Don’t make it seem like what happened didn’t mean anything, because it meant—”
“It didn’t mean anything!” she screamed as she finally left her post at the door and walked up to me. “Look, Ryder, we’ve been attracted to each other from the beginning. What happened was bound to happen, but we stopped. So why do we have to make it seem like it’s more than it is?”
Her demeanor was so stiff and she was so closed off, I knew no matter what I said I wasn’t going to get through to her. I reached out and pulled her against me. She flinched on contact.
“The reason you ran this morning isn’t because there’s nothing between us. You ran because you feel it, too. You’ve been pushing for this all week, so what changed?” I moved my face closer, and her eyes dropped to my lips, her breaths short and labored. She may be good at hiding her emotions, but her body reacted to me the same way mine responded to her.
“You were right. We are friends, and I don’t want to ruin that,” she argued.
“Yeah, I thought we could make that work, but now I need more. I need to make you mine, see you smile next to me in the morning, and hear you moan my name at night.”
“God, Ryder. Why are you saying these things? We had a good time. Now it’s over.”
“A good time.” I laughed at her nonchalant attitude. “If I wanted to have a good time, I could have brought home any woman in that bar and fucked. But that’s all you have to offer, isn’t it? You’ve been begging me to fuck you all week, but as soon as things get serious, you sneak out like a thief in the night.”
She pushed against my chest, stumbling back slightly. “What the fuck do you want from me?” she yelled, her hazel eyes flaring. The anger was a lot better than the ice-cold glare she was giving me a few moments ago. I pulled her arms until she was pressed against me. She tried to pull away, but my hold was too tight.
She looked in my eyes as I said, “I want you. I want you so badly that I won’t even let you get in my way.” Her eyes widened, but she melted into my embrace. She leaned her head on my shoulder and sighed.
“Why’d you get that tattoo?” Her question was mumbled against my shoulder.
“What does the tattoo have to do with anything?” I pulled her back so I could look into her eyes.
“Everything,” she whispered, then closed her eyes. When she opened them, they glistened with emotions. “You took the most important thing to me and turned it into a permanent part of your body.”
She slid her hands down my side, under my shirt, and pushed to the edge of my jeans. My cock jumped to attention as she splayed her fingers over the tattoo.
“I’m scared to let you in. You’re more important to me than you realize, and I don’t want to lose you because we complicated our friendship.” She hung her head, but I raised her gaze back to mine with a finger under her chin.
“Our relationship has always been complicated because we’ve been fighting against what we feel. Maybe it’s time we do what we really want.”
“And what is that?” She bit her lip and quirked an eyebrow, causing my dick to throb with need. I pulled her further into my embrace so she could feel how she affected me.
“I want you at my side when I fight. I want to laugh with you over dinner.” I put my lips at her ear and continued, “And I want to fuck you so hard at night that your body becomes a permanent fixture in my bed.”
She shivered in my arms as I licked her skin. Then she moaned so sweetly I had to stop myself from pushing her onto the desk and having my way.
“I don’t trust you with my heart.”
“I know, but just give me a chance. I’ve always taken care of you. I promise to take care of your heart.” I kissed her again until we were breathless and had to come up for air.
“I have to get back to my training or Ty will kill us both.”
She whined and clutched my shirt. The look in her eyes was molten sex, and I took a step back to cool the fire that had been ignited between us.
Chapter Twenty
Alexis
“So how did you two meet?” I asked as Ryder threw one of my fries across the table at Ty. After three hours of training, Ty forbade Ryder to even look at my plate of fatty carbs. I was glad Ryder cornered me this morning and made me own up to how I felt about him. I really tried to run away and forget about my attraction to Ryder, but after taking a cab home, I realized there was no way I’d be able to stay there for another three days alone. The six hours I spent in the empty house felt like an eternity. I can’t say if my mom was home I’d have lasted longer, but I knew I would’ve eventually found my way back to Ryder.
“We actually hated each other at first until he kicked my ass. Then we were inseparable,” Ty answered with a smirk.
“I don’t get it. Shouldn’t you have hated him more after he kicked your ass?”
Ty shrugged while Ryder continued to eat his lunch. “Maybe, but I was just amazed by the skills the kid had. Back then he wasn’t the powerhouse you see now. He was pretty scrawny, and I was sure I could take him.”
“You could never take me,” Ryder said in between bites.
“Well, I thought I could take him and show Jenny Hartman that I was the better choice.”
“You guys fought over a girl?” I laughed while staring at Ryder, who was pretending to be too engrossed in his meal to listen to Ty.
“First and last time. But one of us should’ve clued Jenny in, because once the fight was over, she walked away with Marcus Young.”
I nudged my elbow into Ryder’s side, and he finally looked at me. “So you didn’t get the girl?”
He shrugged. “I don’t always get the girl. I’m still fighting to get the one I really want.”
Well, I guess that’s my cue to end the battle. He gazed at me in a way that made my panties moist, causing me to shift in my seat. His phone vibrated against the tabletop, breaking the moment. He picked it up and excused himself. Ty gave me an odd look, and the silence bothered me.
“So… after the fight, you two became close.”
“Yeah. After that, I kept bugging him to teach me how to fight, so he took me to his grandfather’s gym.”
“How old were you?”
“Twelve. That gym became my favorite hangout. We’d spend most of our free time there with Drew and David.”
“Were you any good?”
“Hell, yeah.” His smile lit up his hazel eyes.
“So why aren’t you fighting instead of training?”
His smile dimmed, and he shifted uncomfortably in his seat and gazed out the window. When he looked back my way there was sadness there. Maybe I shouldn’t have asked.
“I got into a car accident a few years ago. Broke my arm in two places, a couple ribs, and my knee got crushed under the dash. After that, my career as a fighter was over.”
Holy shit.
“I’m sorry that happened to you.”
He shrugged, but I knew how one instant could change your life. Alec didn’t walk away from his accident, and it changed everyone who loved him.
“It changed me, but it also affected Ryder. Too much has happened to him. David left, and then he was sure I’d die after they cut me out of that wreckage. Did I mention he was there? He’d been following behind me, so he watched as I skidded off the road and smashed into a tree.”
That was horrible. Ty was like a brother to him, and I could only imagine how devastated he was that night.
“Then he lost Alec without ever getting a chance to fix things. Alec was a great kid, and we all missed having him around.”
I looked up at him in surprise. “You knew Alec?”
He nodded. “Ryder used to bring him around all the time. When everything went down, Alec came by the gym a couple times but stopped when he realized how distant Ryder had become. When Alec died… he really regretted cutting him off, and then he pulled you out of the ocean. I didn’t know how much that night changed him until he became fixated on you.”
“You think he’s fixated on me?” I sat up in my seat, hoping I wasn’t some crazy fascination Ryder would eventually get bored with. He ran a hand over his face and sighed.
“I don’t mean he’s just fixated on you. He’s obviously had feelings for you for years, but after that night, it’s like he finally accepted what he felt.”
“Feelings? For me? How do you know?” I wrung my hands nervously. Ty glanced down at them, placing his hands over mine to still my movements before meeting my gaze.
“Because I know him, and he’s never been this way with anyone.”
Ryder walked up to the table, looked at our joined hands, and frowned.
“Are you two still talking about me?”
“Maybe.” I smiled at him as he slid in next to me in the booth. Ty took his hand off mine, and I put my hand on Ryder’s thigh. His muscles tensed under my touch, and he gave me a warning glare as my hand traveled up, then stilled when I felt his erection pushing against the material of his pants. It was definitely time I fixed that problem.
~*~*~
When we got back to Ryder’s place, his patience vanished and his need to possess me escalated. He dragged me into his room and threw me down onto his bed, pulling his shirt over his head. The slivers of sunlight coming through the blinds illuminated his rippled body.
He crawled onto the bed and looked down at me with one eyebrow arched in question. He probably expected me to pull away again, but I was tired of fighting something I wanted as badly as my next breath. Keeping him at bay was exhausting, and I’d much rather spend my time letting him exhaust me sexually.
I reached up, grabbing the back of his neck and pulling him down until our lips touched. I sucked on his bottom lip as he pressed his weight into me. I ran my hands into his hair and thrust my tongue into his mouth. He groaned and pushed his thigh between my legs, spreading them with one brisk move. His tongue danced with mine. His hips rocked against my tingling core. A hot wave of arousal shot through me as he devoured my mouth with strong thrusts of his tongue. My desire for him was a heated frenzy that made me delirious with lust.
“God, Ryder,” I moaned as he trailed kisses across my collarbone. “I need you… so badly.”
He reached down, and just when I thought he was going to unbutton my shirt, he tore it open. Buttons scattered around us as I gaped at him.
“What’s with you always tearing my clothes?”
“What’s with your clothes always being in my way?” he replied as he yanked my jeans over my hips and down my legs. The minute I was naked, he pulled my legs around his waist, settling between them. His body covered mine completely. His erection poked at my aching center through his jeans as he leaned in to kiss me again. He ran kisses across my face and over my neck, then stopped abruptly.
“You have no idea how much I need you, but I don’t think you’re ready.”
“What?” I gasped as his mouth closed over my nipple, his tongue gliding over the hardened nub like a silken caress. “I’m ready. I’m so… beyond ready.”
My tone was raspy and breathless as he assaulted me with his tongue. I reached down, fumbling with the clasp of his belt buckle. He put a hand over mine to stop me from releasing him.
“Please.” I begged, cupping his hard flesh through his pants.
He pulled my hand away, and I focused on his fingers as he began loosening his belt. The rasp of his zipper seemed to echo in the quiet room, and he pulled down his jeans and underwear in one motion.
Uh-huh, still as impressive as I remembered. I fantasized about this part of him so many times I began to think I imagined how wide he was and how fascinatingly sexy his pierced flesh was. I reached out to touch him, but he pinned my hands over my head and whispered, “I need to touch you first.”
His breaths were heavy as his hand slipped between my legs and parted my wet flesh. I trembled as he skimmed over the throbbing nub, gliding his finger into my welcoming body.
“You’re so wet. You made me wait so long for this? You know how many times I’ve dreamed of this? You—hot, wet, and pleading.”
“Please, Ryder,” I whimpered as he worked me with his deft fingers.
“Oh, you’re definitely going to please me.” He withdrew his finger and reached for the pants he tossed across the bed, pulling out a foil packet. He knelt between my legs, rolling on the condom in record time. As he came back over me, I held on to his shoulders, bracing myself because I knew he was going to stretch me.
His wide tip slowly pushed at my entrance. He glided slowly into me, and my breath caught in the back of my throat. As I shut my eyes, I noticed him watching me closely. His mouth caressed my collarbone with whisper-soft kisses, and then his tongue swept across my nipple. A ripple of pleasure caused me to become slick, and he slipped in to the hilt. My eyes bulged and my muscles tightened from the shock of being so full of him.
“Relax,” he whispered. “Open up and let me have you.” I relaxed my thighs, but he didn’t move. He began sucking on one nipple, then the other until I loosened up under a new surge of arousal. I was wet and he was hard, but he was also large. He filled me so completely; I could feel his cock throbbing inside me. He eased out and slowly drove back into me. I felt the metal studs on the ends of his piercing glide along my walls. My back arched off the bed and sparks shot behind my eyelids as pleasure raced through every cell of my body.
“I know this isn’t what you want, but I feel things for you, Lexi, and I can’t just push them away anymore.”
Another deep thrust wrenched a ragged moan from my lips. He drove into me with expert strokes that shook my defenses.
“Don’t say things like that.” I whimpered on his downward thrust, trembled slightly, and then squeezed my eyes shut as if to block out his soft words. The kind of words that could have me screaming out my love for him long before I was ready.
He pulled back, leaning over me with his palms pressed into the mattress as his thrusts became fierce. Moisture pooled behind my tightly shut eyelids as I danced on the edge of my orgasm. Something amazing was trying to burst free, but I couldn’t grasp it. His fingertip flicked my throbbing clit, and then a wave of rapture hit me so hard I screamed out.
“Oh… Fuck!”
Ryder’s motions slowed down as I rode out my orgasm. Moments later, he pulled out. The shock of losing him inside me didn’t last long as he rolled me over and pulled me on top of him, impaling me with his rigid shaft.
I didn’t like the change in position. My bones felt like j
elly after the orgasm I experienced. I couldn’t move if I wanted to, but it didn’t matter because Ryder guided my body while he rocked into me at a very different angle. He nibbled on my bottom lip, then plunged his tongue into my mouth. His hands cupped my ass, and I began to move along with him as I grew hot with need. I captured his moans and reveled in the power I held over his pleasure. I rotated my hips as he thrust up into my clenching body.
He tore his lips away from mine and threw his head back against the pillow. The veins in his neck popped out, and he roared as I undulated over him and wrung every last drop of pleasure from his body. His cock pulsated inside me with his release.
I collapsed over him, resting my head on his shoulder. Our sweat-soaked bodies clung to each other as he caressed my back and my hair. He placed light kisses on my face, and I enjoyed his tender affections as we basked in the afterglow of our lovemaking. When I finally tried to move, he shook his head at my attempt to pull away from him and gently rolled me over. He pulled off the condom and tossed it in the trash.
He wrapped himself around me. As his breathing evened out, he fell asleep. Silent tears fell from my eyes. What was supposed to be a great sexual experience turned into a flourish of emotions, and I didn’t know what to do with that. As angry as I was at Ryder for bombarding me with his feelings at a time when I couldn’t fight back, I knew deep in my heart I felt it, too.
I was falling in love with Ryder Hayes, and I didn’t think I was ready.
No. I knew I wasn’t ready.
Chapter Twenty-One
Ryder
I made her mine. Nothing was going to stop me from having her.
I put everything on the line for Alexis, and I knew I’d never be the same without her. Sex with her was better than I had imagined but exactly what I knew it would be. It made me feel powerful but weak at the same time. I never felt weak. I was a fighter, and weakness was something I couldn’t comprehend until Lexi ran her hand down my back and absorbed my trembles as I released more than just my semen in her tight body.
Fight for Me Page 12
