by KB Winters
“Ryker, please,” I begged, turning my head back to him, my lips aching for his.
“We have all night, baby.” He smiled down at me. “I’m going to take my time with you now that I have you all to myself.”
My body was impatient but his promise thrilled me. I didn’t know what he had in mind, but I was more than ready to follow wherever he wanted to lead. Ryker spun me around again and perched me on the edge of the bed. His eyes were locked with mine when he parted my legs, dropping at the last second to feast on the sight of my naked body. My cheeks flushed as his eyes ravaged over every inch. I knew there was no detail left unnoticed as he savored me. He traced up and down the insides of my thighs, each trip up and back, getting me hotter and wetter. I was writing with yearning when he finally lowered to his knees before me. He replaced his fingers with his lips, kissing, licking, sucking, and nipping up the inside of one thigh, and then crossing over my dripping wet pussy, before continuing the trail down the other thigh.
“Ryker!” I begged, trying to push his head to my pussy. He resisted, and only moved slower, his hands on the outside of my thighs, his lips and tongue making another torturous pass along the insides. The heat that had started out slow and intense was now a raging forest fire and I was afraid I was going to burn away if he didn’t give me some relief soon. I bucked and arched, using my body to beg for what I wanted. Finally, he brought his lips to my pussy and licked up and down my lips. I moaned out and grabbed his shoulders. I wanted him sucking, licking my clit. God, I needed it. The play of his sculpted muscles under my fingertips only made me crazier. I wanted him inside me, working his muscles to thrust in and out of me. I needed him to fill me and stretch me and fuck me.
I cried out loud as he slid two fingers inside, found the sweet spot only he knew how to find, and pumped into me, while his tongue and lips teased my pulsing clit that was so hungry for his attention. He had me so close and then, he slowed his pace. “Ryker! God!” I gasped and ground my pussy on his fingers, trying to get him to speed up, trying to get that one last touch that would throw me over the edge—but seconds later, he dipped his tongue inside me and searched the opening with strong flicks, and I squirmed, panting, begging him to fuck me.
My hands fisted the quilt on the bed, working it between clenched fingers as Ryker worked his tongue and fingers to drive me to insanity, and that beautiful place that had me seeing stars I screamed when Ryker brought me to the most amazing orgasm I’d ever felt. It ripped through my body so strong, my entire body seized, my toes curled and my heart was hammering in my chest. I came on his fingers and tongue one more time before I could relax and melt into the warm waves. Ryker grinned down at me as he rose to standing again. I sagged back against the bed, but he gathered me into his arms. I hooked my arms around his head and he scooped me up against him. I hooked my legs around his hips and opened my eyes wide with wonder as he carried me away from the bed. He braced me against the wall and only then, did he lower me onto his throbbing cock. I sighed with relief and pure pleasure as he thrust into me the first time.
“You like that, baby?” He growled, thrusting harder.
I nodded and moaned for him, letting him know exactly how much I liked what he was doing. He responded by thrusting harder. The angle unleashed a whole new batch of sensations and all I could do was cling to Ryker’s back, my fingers dug into his firm skin, and ride him as he worked himself in and out of me. I was clawing and panting, ready to explode again, when Ryker throbbed and pulsed. His climax pushing me over the edge of another earth rocking orgasm. I shivered and shuddered against him, and we both came down from the heights together, until all was still and quiet.
“Holy smokes,” I finally stammered against Ryker’s chest. He was still holding me up, my back braced against the wall, and I could feel the vibration of a laugh in his belly before I heard it burst out of him.
“Holy smokes? Man, you really are a country girl.” He set me down and I walked with wobbly legs back to the bed. I collapsed down and stared over at him. “Never change, Everlie.”
When we finally nestled down to sleep that night, we were still nude, and Ryker pulled me against his chest, and I fell asleep minutes after he did, the slow and steady rise and fall of his breathing a sweet lullaby.
Chapter Six
Everlie
My week at the ranch ended long before I was ready to say goodbye to the ranch, and to Ryker. Every day had been spent on some new adventure. Ryker ignored all of his work and unpacking in order to take me out each day. He’d arranged to borrow a pair of horses from a neighbor, so we could go out riding one afternoon. The next day, we’d gone fishing. We never caught anything, but it had been fun basking in the sun, eating the snacks Ryker had brought along for the trip. We also spent a night out under the stars, reminding me of the night he’d rented the truck back in Vegas and taken me out for a countrified date. Other things were more normal, a morning at the farmer’s market, perusing local produce and craft items for sale. We also cooked dinner together most nights and ate together at the table, talking over the events of the day like we were a normal couple. We watched movies, drank wine, and had an embarrassing amount of sex.
Not that I minded.
I’d never been on a proper vacation before, but life on the ranch had me feeling more relaxed and peaceful than I could remember.
Until we reached the final night of my stay. Reality set in and a knot formed in my stomach. When I pushed away my dinner, most of which had been untouched, Ryker finally voiced what I’d been stuffing down all day. “So, I guess we should talk about tomorrow…” His tone and expression told me he didn’t want to say anything, that we’d both be perfectly content to pretend the next day would be a continuation of our time together. We’d rise with the sun and spend another day together, off on some new adventure.
Instead, I’d be sitting alone at an airport gate, waiting to board a plane that would take me back to Vegas.
“Right.” I smoothed back two sections of hair, tucking them behind my ears.
Silence stretched between us as we each grappled with our thoughts. I couldn’t wrap my mind around the idea of going back home. My stay at the ranch had settled into my bones, and I couldn’t imagine living anywhere else. Or, being without Ryker. Our lives had become intertwined and I had no idea how we were going to separate them again.
I didn’t want to know how.
“There’s no way around it, Ev. It’s gonna suck. Major donkey balls.”
I laughed at Ryker’s colorful description and nodded. “Really big ones.”
Ryker smiled and reached across the table for my hand. “We’ll find a way through this. I can come visit you in Vegas, and I’m sure at some point you’ll get a break from the show, and you can come back out here for a weekend or something.”
I wanted to believe him. I would have given anything to uproot the despair and ache in my heart, but it was there and nothing either of us could say was going to change the fact that we were moving in different directions. Even if Ryker didn’t have the ranch, even if he lived in Vegas, or could come more than once a month to visit, it would be hard to keep a relationship together with the grueling hours I’d put in for rehearsals and then the shows themselves once it premiered. I’d told Ryker it was a seven days a week kind of gig, but something told me he didn’t truly understand everything I’d have to do in order to keep my role.
I sighed but it turned to a sob. “Maybe my coming here was a mistake. Now, it just feels like this has all been one, long, drawn out goodbye.”
Ryker came to my side and pulled me from my chair and into his lap. He rubbed my back and shoulders with a soothing hand while I cried into his chest, unable to hold back or slow my tears. “I’m sorry, Ev. I don’t know what to say right now.”
“That’s because there’s nothing to say.” My voice was barely above a whisper.
He hugged me tighter.
We abandoned the cold dinner, and went to bed early. We didn’t hav
e sex, instead, we clung together under the covers, holding each other tight and running our fingers all over each other, committing each line and curve to memory.
* * * *
The morning came all too early. My flight back to Vegas was set to depart at eight, which meant we needed to get on the road before the sun had even risen. Ryker made us a portable breakfast and filled two travel mugs with coffee, while I finished packing my bag. When everything was ready, we trudged from the house and within minutes, we’d pulled out onto the dirt road that would take us to the highway.
It was a long drive, mostly filled with silence. Neither of us had anything left to say. Anything we could come up with, any grain of reassurance, would be pointless. We’d already made promises to each other. We’d promised to stay in touch, to try and visit when possible, and to email or text as often as we could. There was nothing else we could do.
When we arrived at the airport, Ryker maneuvered into a parking space, cut the engine, and we sat still for five minutes, both mulling over our own thoughts. Neither of us made a move to get out of the truck. Instead, we stared with blank expressions at the signs hanging from the roof of the parking garage, each printed with directions and arrows to the different airlines and gates. I didn’t want to fish my ticket from my purse to even check which way I was supposed to go.
“I hate this,” I said, breaking the silence. I rolled my head against the headrest to look over at Ryker. He looked miserable and my heart hurt to see him so down. I reached for his hand that was still clenched around the steering wheel. He let me take his hand and I held on tight, not wanting the moment to arrive when I’d have to let it go.
Possibly for good.
“Me too,” he agreed, following our entwined hands with a troubled stare.
“Do you ever wish we’d never met?” I asked, the question bubbled up before I could fully process what I was asking, and as soon as I said it, I wished I could take it back, fearing he’d take it the wrong way.
Before I could retract it, he answered, “No, not even for a second.”
“Me either.”
“I meant what I said, Everlie. I’m in love with you. There’s nothing I would trade that for. Sure, it hurts like hell right now, knowing you have to walk through those doors and fly away. But, I have to hold onto the hope that we can push through this and that we will find a way back together.”
I smiled at him. “Who knew you were so sentimental? I can’t help but think back to the brooding SEAL I met on a blind date. Gosh, that seems like it was forever ago.”
Ryker laughed softly and brushed his fingers over my cheek. “I have my moments.”
I blinked and my smile faded. “I love you, Ryker Knight.”
Ryker smiled, though it was sad, before pressing another kiss to my lips. When we parted, our foreheads rested together and in the space between us, he whispered, “I love you too.”
* * * *
The flight home dragged on, each hour ticking by at a torturous pace. I couldn’t think of anything but Ryker and the ache in my chest no matter how hard I tried to stuff it all down. When I got off the plane, Tori was there at the gate to pick me up. I didn’t expect to see her, and for the first time since leaving Oklahoma, a smile found its way onto my face.
“How was your vacay with the cowboy?” Tori asked, gathering me into a hug, her auburn curls bouncing wildly around her face. “Tell me everything! Every last, slutty detail.”
I rolled my eyes and pulled out of her crushing embrace. “You want to try saying that a little louder?” I cut a glance to the left and right, but none of the people around us were paying attention.
Tori grabbed my carry-on bag, swung it over her shoulder, and then linked our arms together to drag me out the nearest exit. “Damn, I thought a week of getting banged day and night would loosen you up…”
“Tori!” My cheeks went red hot, but this only made her laugh harder.
“Okay, okay. Tell me something, at least!”
I sighed, the sadness washing back over me. “It was amazing.”
Tori glanced over at me, her eyebrow creased in a skeptical arch. “Sounds like it…you look like you just got home from a funeral, not a week long booty call.”
“I’m in love with him,” I said, ignoring her crass comment.
Tori stopped walking, and I stumbled at the sudden stop, our arms still linked together. Her face was pale and her lips parted like she’d just seen a ghost. “You what?”
“Tori, come on,” I said, tugging at her arm.
“You’re in love with him?” She still wasn’t moving—her feet were planted in the middle of the path leading to the automatic doors out of the airport. “Everlie, you can’t be serious. You don’t even know him!”
“I just spent an entire week with him. Plus, we’ve spent loads of time together before that. How can you say that? Gosh, Tori, I should have known you’d act like this.” I released my arm from hers and started marching toward the doors. I was going back to the apartment, with or without her, and part of me was hoping it would turn out to be a solo journey. I’d had enough of her theatrics. I’d been home for less than half an hour and she was already making things worse.
She flew into action and joined me as I walked through the doors and out onto the sidewalk. The Vegas sun was beating down on us and I silently cursed the heat. I’d gotten used to the much milder weather on the Ranch, where the warm weather had been offset by gentle breezes and cool nights. “Ev! Wait!”
I spun around on the sidewalk and squared off with her. “Listen to me, Victoria, you’re my friend, my best friend, and all I am asking is that you show me some support! Leaving Ryker was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do, even harder than leaving home at eighteen to move halfway across the country, by myself, to start a new life in a crazy city I’d never even visited before! If that doesn’t tell you how serious this is, then I don’t know what will. All I do know, is that I’m not going to try and convince you that what I’m saying is real. I know it is, and I don’t really give a rat’s ass if you do or don’t!”
Tori was slack jawed, marveling at my sassy speech. I didn’t wait for her to recover, and took off down the sidewalk before she could say anything else. Either she would come and apologize, or she wouldn’t. I no longer cared which one she decided.
I crossed the road to where a bank of cabs was waiting for fares, but Tori grabbed me before I could approach one of the drivers. “Everlie, wait! I’m sorry. I just—you caught me off guard, that’s all.”
“Yeah, well it caught me off guard too.”
“So, what does it mean? I mean, you’re not moving there are you?”
I shook my head, unable to speak.
Tori’s eyes were wide, flooded with concern. “It’s over?”
I shrugged and brushed the corners of my eyes, catching the tears before they fell. I was so sick of crying. “We’re going to try and make it work, but I don’t know…” I looked past her shoulder and my eyes caught on a couple at the departures curb. They were locked in, what looked like, a teary eyed embrace, and I had to tear my eyes away before I lost it all over again. “I don’t know,” I repeated, my voice small and quiet.
“Come on, let’s get you home.” Tori stepped forward, wrapped an arm around me, and led me off towards where she’d parked her car.
Chapter Seven
Ryker
It took a concentrated effort to pull myself out of bed the morning after Everlie left to go back to Vegas. Even though she’d only been at the ranch for a week, she’d managed to leave her prints on everything. Each room in the house now held new memories. Even Bowie knew something was wrong. He’d bonded with Everlie, and kept rooting around the house, looking for her.
“She’ll come back,” I said to my four legged companion, scratching between his perked ears. “She has to…”
I spent the day outside, hoping the fresh air and hard labor, mending pasture fences, would keep my mind busy enough so I could momentar
ily stop the pain and loneliness from plaguing me. When dusk fell, I put away my tools and went back into the house. I hadn’t gone grocery shopping and was down to the bare minimum in the pantry. I thought about going into town, but knew everyone would ask where Everlie was. She’d made quite an impression in the short amount of time she’d spent with me. Wherever we went, she’d been sweet and kind to anyone who came up to say hello, which, in a small town, was nearly everyone.
I cracked open a can of chili, set it up on the gas stove, and went to search for some crackers. I was just coming out of the pantry, when my cell phone started buzzing on the butcher block counter top that laid over the large kitchen island. The number was unlisted, but a churning in my gut told me who it was before I’d even answered.
“Marshon?”
“Hey, man,” he answered, his voice missing its normal jovial tone.
“What’s wrong?”
He sighed. “Shit, man. I hate to do this, but Boss needs you back in Vegas. Things are…complicated. We need your help.”
I rolled my eyes and leaned back against the counter. “Really? There’s no one else in the entire FBI that could help?”
“Ryker, I know, this is the last thing you want to do, but Sanderson’s group is a lot larger than we’d originally profiled. We need help chasing down the new leads and making sense of it all. Boss wants you. You have experience with the case and it’ll be a hell of a lot easier to get you up to speed, than bringing in someone new and having to start at the beginning.”
“Then why are you calling? If this is from Boss?” I pushed off the counter and went to stir the pot of chili before it scorched the stainless steel pot.
“You calling me a liar?” Bennett replied, the sound of his teeth grit together, warning me he wasn’t in the mood.
“No,” I said, sighing. “I guess I should have seen this coming. I should have known there was a reason Boss wouldn’t just take my resignation. The whole six weeks to decide was bullshit.”
