His to Claim

by Shelly Bell

  Why had the driver turned off the headlights?

  There was only one reason she could think of.

  Because he didn’t want anyone to see him.

  Was it the same driver who’d run her off the road?

  Hands shaking, she rummaged through her purse for her phone and found it dead.

  She hit the gas, but she couldn’t get the traction to escape the ditch.

  She was trapped.

  EIGHTEEN

  Checking the clock again, Ryder decided he couldn’t wait any longer.

  It was time to call the police.

  Jane had told him she’d be working late tonight, but it was nearly eleven. His calls had gone straight to voice mail and no one answered at her office. He’d been pacing the floor of the family room for nearly an hour to stop himself from thinking the worst. What if something had happened to her? What if Keane had—

  He heard the sound of the apartment door opening and turned that way. Jane’s coat hood was pulled over her head and snow blanketed her.

  “Jane,” he said, his voice coming out on a huge sigh.

  Her gaze jerked toward him and surprise widened her eyes. “You’re still here. I’m sorry you had to wait for me.”

  Sorry? He’d been worried sick, and she was sorry he’d had to wait?

  His gut burned as he fought the urge to bend her over his knee for a spanking. “Of course I’m still here. I wasn’t about to leave until I knew you were safe. Where have you…”

  She removed her coat.

  Was that dried blood on her forehead?

  He rushed over to her. “Jesus. What happened?”

  She looked at him blankly. “I had a minor accident.”

  “Minor? You’re bleeding.”

  Her hand flew to her forehead. “It was nothing. I hit my head on the steering wheel when I slid into a ditch.”

  Nothing?

  What was the matter with her? How could she act so calm?

  Was she in shock?

  He bent over, putting a hand behind her knees and another at the small of her back, and lifted her into his arms.

  “Ryder! What are you doing? Put me down!”

  At least that got a reaction out of her.

  “Why didn’t you call me?” he asked as he sat on the couch and placed her on his lap.

  “I was going to but my cell was dead. I…” She shook her head and her eyes filled with tears.

  He swept the curls off her face. “Jane.”

  She trembled against his chest. “I think someone intentionally ran me off the road.”

  Intentionally? What the fuck?

  Acid churned in his stomach. “Start at the beginning, sweetheart.”

  She gripped his biceps. “I found an SD card hidden behind a picture frame in Evan’s office. I think it might have something to do with why Barbara and Evan died. Ryder…I think they were murdered.”

  As warm as it was in the apartment, cold seeped into his skin. “Did you tell anyone you found it?”

  “No. Even though I was alone, I felt as if I was being watched. I put the card in my purse and left to come home.” Tears slid down her cheeks. “The roads were slippery. A car behind me was speeding and I thought I was going to get hit. But at the last second, he went into another lane. I had about two seconds of relief before he cut back in front of me, causing me to lose control of my car. That’s how I ended up in the ditch. I was only there a minute before a salt truck driver stopped and helped push me out of it.”

  Thank goodness she hadn’t had to wait long. The idea of her sitting in her vehicle, helpless at the side of the road, made him sick. They’d have to talk later about keeping her phone charged, but now wasn’t the time.

  “And the car that ran you off the road?” he asked, sensing there was more to the story.

  Her bottom lip quivered. “Whoever it was pulled over to the side of the road and started backing up toward my car. But the weird part was whoever it was turned off his headlights, as if he didn’t want to be seen.”

  It could have been some harmless prank.

  A teenager or some random asshole.

  But his gut said otherwise.

  He could have lost her tonight.

  He kissed her forehead. “I think it’s possible someone at McKay saw you with the SD card and intentionally ran you off the road to get it.”

  “How? My car and Keane’s were the only ones in the employee parking lot. There was no one else at McKay but us.”

  “None that you knew of, but you said you felt as if you were being watched.” He brushed his hand down her arm. He couldn’t stop touching her. “What made you decide to look for the SD card again?”

  “Keane told me someone from HR was coming by to clean out Evan’s and Barbara’s offices. I thought it would be my last chance to search for it. But he was still in his office when I found it.”

  Keane. It all came back to him.

  “That doesn’t mean he didn’t have some security camera set up,” he pointed out. “He could’ve seen you find it and either went after you himself or sent someone else to do it.”

  That would explain her feeling of being watched.

  Jane chewed on her lip. “Why did he run me off the road? Why not go after me when I was still in the building?”

  “I don’t know,” he said. “Maybe because his henchman hadn’t arrived in time?”

  Or more likely Keane hadn’t wanted anyone to tie her death to McKay.

  “From now on, I’ll drive you to and from work. It’s dark when you leave in the morning, and it’s dark when you return at night. It’s not safe.” He didn’t give her the opportunity to protest. “We need to see what’s on the SD drive. You said it’s in your purse?”

  “Yes, but it’s not going to be any help. I already tried to open the files at McKay and it ended up crashing Barbara’s computer.” She frowned. “I’m wondering if it might have done the same to Evan’s because his was also dead.”

  “I think you and Maddox should move in with me.”

  “No. I’m not going to be run out of my apartment,” she said vehemently. “We don’t even have any proof that the SD card had anything to do with tonight’s accident. Besides, I can’t just leave Dreama here.”

  He nodded once. “Then it’s settled. Until I know you’re safe, I’m moving in.”

  Ryder didn’t need any proof. He wasn’t going to take any risks when it came to Jane’s and Maddox’s lives.

  “Are you sure? My apartment isn’t very big. You won’t have any privacy.”

  She needed to know how much she meant to him and that there was nothing he wouldn’t do for her. Losing her would be like losing the air he breathed. He wouldn’t survive without her.

  Didn’t she understand that?

  He wrapped his hand around the back of her neck and stared into her eyes to make his message clear. “I don’t need my damned privacy. I don’t care if I never have a moment of privacy ever again. I just need you and Maddox safe.”

  She blinked rapidly, her eyes glassy. What was going on in that gorgeous mind of hers? After a deep breath, she put on the fakest smile he’d ever seen and slid off his lap.

  “Thank you for staying here tonight. Did Maddox have his medicine? Did you give him a—”

  “Jane. Stop.” He jumped to his feet and tugged her to him before she could put any more space between them. That’s not what either of them needed tonight. “I did everything. Bath. Reflux meds. Warm bottle of formula. Fresh diaper. Rocked him for five minutes, then put him to bed on his tummy at ten p.m. Let someone take care of you for a change.”

  The tension in her shoulders eased as he held her. His sweet Jane was so used to being in control, she didn’t know how to let go.

  She needed his help.

  She needed him.

  In the past, women had wanted him. Wanted what he could do for them. But they hadn’t truly needed him. Then again, before Jane, he hadn’t had the capacity to do anything but take.

&n
bsp; He tipped back her head to look in her eyes. “Why don’t we take a shower and wash that blood off you?”

  “A shower?” she repeated on a squeak.

  He loved that he could so easily shock her. Her innocence turned him the hell on. “You know that thing you do when you want to get clean? How ’bout I show you how fun it is to use it instead for getting dirty?”

  She snagged her lower lip in her teeth and nodded.

  He snatched her hand and pulled her to the bathroom, where he shut the door behind them. The room wasn’t very big, but she’d made it her own. While the walls and cabinets were all white, she’d added a colorful purple flowered shower curtain with matching bathroom set. It was cute and girly and smelled like his sweet Jane.

  She reached into the shower and turned on the water. He couldn’t help but be pleased that he was the lucky bastard who got to initiate Jane into the joys of sex. She was so vibrant and full of sensuality, from the wildness of her hair to the way she moved her hips back and forth when she walked.

  She completely undid him.

  And she had no idea.

  He removed a condom from his wallet and swiftly shed his clothes. She, too, undressed, showing no sign of the shyness she’d exhibited a month ago when she’d stripped for him on Thanksgiving.

  Condom in hand, he stepped into the tub and, once she joined him, pulled the curtain closed. He set the condom on an empty soap dish and moved closer to her. Steam enveloped them as he lowered his mouth to hers.

  Their kiss started with a slow exploration of tongues and soft caresses of lips. He tried to keep it controlled, but just like always with Jane, he struggled to rein himself in. He was hungry for her. Fucking starving. He spun her around and pushed her back up against the wall. She was just as hungry for him, kissing him with the same intensity.

  They moaned into each other’s mouths, their tongues thrusting and sparring with one another. Her soft tits brushed against his chest, her raspberry nipples poking him. Teasing him.

  His throbbing cock was hard as steel. But it would have to wait. Because this wasn’t about him. It was about giving her what she needed.

  And what she needed was to be dominated.

  He dipped his head to her breast, taking her nipple between his lips. He bit down on it, first gently, then a bit harder, before soothing it with the flat of his tongue. Her hand curled around the back of his head as he moved to torture her other nipple with the same treatment.

  He crouched to the level of her navel and looked up at her. “I need you to stay quiet for me. Can you do that, baby?”

  The last thing they needed to do was wake up Maddox or give a sleeping Dreama an earful.

  Jane’s moans were for his ears only.

  On her nod, he dropped to his knees and leaned toward her pussy. Her fragrant arousal was a heady aphrodisiac. He needed to taste it. Craved it like a drug.

  To give him better access, he lifted her leg and hooked it around his neck. She put a hand on the wall beside her and rested her head against the back wall to balance herself.

  He swiped a finger up her slit, finding her already drenched. “Such a pretty pussy,” he crooned. Spreading her folds apart, he bent forward and licked a path from her entrance to her clit. Her spice hit his tongue, awakening all his senses. He used the tip of his tongue to tease her clit out from beneath its hood and felt it swell in response.

  Jane let out a muffled moan. He couldn’t see her, but it sounded as if she’d put her hand over her mouth.

  She was such a good girl, following his instructions.

  He worked her clit relentlessly, sliding his tongue back and forth and up and down until he found the rhythm that made her cry out the hardest. She rocked her hips, fucking herself against his tongue. Her uninhibited response was so fucking sexy, he could easily do this for hours and never get tired of it. Pleasuring her made him feel powerful and filled him with pride, as did the way she sweetly submitted to him.

  Her bud swelled beneath his tongue to nearly twice the size it had been and her thigh trembled on his collarbone. She glided her fingers through his hair, her nails digging into his scalp.

  He sensed she was close.

  And he knew just what would push her over the edge.

  He reached between her legs to the crack of her ass and carefully inserted the tip of his pinky inside her. Her body jerked and her clitoris pulsed. On a muffled scream, she came. He moved his tongue to her opening, bathing it in her sweet release.

  He removed her leg from his neck, then stood up and seized her lips, giving her a taste of his favorite dessert. Without taking his mouth off hers, he blindly grabbed for the condom, and once he found it, ripped the package open and rolled the latex down his painfully sensitive cock.

  He wasn’t going to last long. “Turn around, bend over, and brace your hands on the wall in front of you.”

  She got into position, pushing her ass out to him and tantalizing him without even knowing it. He just couldn’t help himself.

  He smacked his hand against one globe, the sound of it reverberating in the space. She peered up at him over her shoulder and stuck her ass out farther. That was all the invitation he needed. Not that he needed one. She had a safe word and if she asked him to stop, he would.

  He didn’t go rough with her. For about a minute or two, he playfully swatted the flesh of her behind in a steady rhythm. She moaned over and over until finally, he couldn’t take it anymore. Bending his knees, he aligned his cock to her opening and surged forward, sliding his entire length inside of her in a single thrust.

  Holy shit, she felt amazing at this angle. Her walls clung to him tightly, so tightly, he swore he could feel her heat and every ridge of the flesh inside of her, even through the condom.

  He drove himself in and out of her, the force of it pushing her onto her tippy toes. Setting a fervent pace, he held her hips and pushed her back onto his cock as he thrust into her.

  “Oh God,” Jane cried. “Ryder, I’m coming again.”

  Thank fuck.

  Tension wound tight in his lower abdomen, stretching, and then finally breaking. “I’m with you, baby. I’m there too.” Liquid heat darted up his cock and shot out from the tip into the condom, over and over.

  Breathing hard, he rested his head on Jane’s back, suddenly noticing and not caring that the water of the shower had turned cold.

  This. This was what he’d been missing out on all these years.

  Before Jane, he hadn’t truly understood Domination and submission. It had all been kinky games to him. But he got it now. The connection between Dom and sub. The rush that came from bringing pleasure to a partner.

  He got it.

  And he’d do everything in his power to keep it.

  NINETEEN

  If this was what it would be like to live with Jane, where did he sign up?

  Waking up with a soft, warm Jane in his arms had felt…right. Who cared that it had been six in the morning and they’d only gotten three hours of sleep? Or that the minute he’d slid his fingers inside a wet and willing Jane, Maddox had cock-blocked him by waking up ready for breakfast?

  It had taken a lot of convincing, but he’d gotten Jane to take the day off of work. She’d been in a car accident, her life could be in danger, and she was worried about overseeing some closing that afternoon. Keane could take care of it his own damned self.

  But someone had to look out for Jane.

  And that someone was Ryder.

  Since they had the whole day together, Jane had suggested they walk to the neighborhood’s community center where Maddox could have his first photo with Santa Claus. Frankly, Ryder thought it was kind of silly since Maddox didn’t have a clue about Christmas yet, but he’d smartly kept that to himself. Jane seemed pretty excited about it.

  From the couch where Ryder was feeding Maddox his bottle, he watched Jane shove about a dozen diapers into a bag. “Do you really have to pack that much stuff with you every time you leave?”

  Dro
pping a cold pack into a side compartment of the diaper bag, Jane laughed. “If I have Maddox with me I do. You’ll learn soon enough. Always plan for the unplannable.”

  Words to live by, and not only when it came to having children.

  His son’s mouth glommed on to the bottle’s nipple as if he hadn’t eaten in days. Holding Ryder’s finger in his little fist, Maddox gazed up at him.

  The love Ryder felt for his son was overwhelming. He’d never experienced anything like it. His chest tightened. His throat thickened. And damn it, his eyes even burned. How could he have gone so long without knowing he could love someone so much?

  How could his own father have held him as a baby and not felt the same love surging through him? Was Keane simply incapable of love? Or was it that Ryder wasn’t worth loving?

  Before knowing that Keane might have something to do with the deaths of two people who worked for him, Ryder had already been worried about what Keane would do if he discovered Maddox was his grandson. But knowing now that someone had might be after Jane, Ryder was consumed with fear and rage to the point he could hardly contain it inside. If Jane knew the kinds of thoughts he was entertaining, she’d probably have him committed.

  There was nothing he wouldn’t do to keep Jane and Maddox safe.

  Nothing.

  And that included going after Keane before he had the chance to hurt them.

  What if Keane had ordered those deaths over whatever was on the SD card? If he discovered that Jane now had the card, would he go after her next? Is that why she’d been run off the road?

  Keane seemed to have a soft spot for her. After all, he’d hired her as an intern and had given her a job that gave Jane the means to financially support her son. From what Jane had told him, she and Keane had been close. If that was true, would Keane really harm her? Or would his ruthlessness and greed win out?

  Whether Keane had anything to do with it or not, Ryder would never allow him to be a part of Maddox’s life. He’d proven time and time again that he didn’t know the first thing about raising a child.

  He hated all the unanswered questions. Not only those related to whoever was after the autonomous software, but also what the hell was on that SD card.