“Holy shit,” I mutter as she raises up and forces her body back down against me.
“Oh, god, Maverick. That feels so good,” she mutters as her head falls back. Her cries filter through the air as I raise my hips up meeting her thrust for thrust. Now that we’ve been together, now that I’ve had a taste of her again, I don’t know if I’ll be able to look back.
“I’m going to come,” she moans. Her fingers resume their strumming on her clit, causing her pussy to tighten around me.
“Shit,” I sputter, unable to hold back anymore. With one, two more thrusts I slam into her a third time and unleash a deep moan as my release follows right behind it.
Ryan collapses onto my chest. Holding my hands up, she unbuckles the belt and eases it off my wrists and onto the floor before she wraps her arms around me. She looks so beautiful, almost peaceful like this. The thought of her falling asleep on my chest has memories from the first night I stayed with her in her room floating back through my mind.
* * *
The sound of an alarm clock blaring in the distance rustles me from my sleep as I peek one eye open just as Ryan is rolling out of bed. Still dressed in her bra, she stumbles across the room and down the stairs, leaving only the sound of her soft footsteps in her wake.
A few minutes later, I hear her pad across the hardwood floor as she rounds the end of the bed with her cell phone in hand.
Adjusting the pillow under my arm, I gaze up at her as she takes a seat on the edge of the bed.
“It’s after nine in the morning,” she states as she turns her head toward me. “I’m not sure if you have anywhere to be, but I can give you a ride if you want. I don’t have to be at the shop until noon, so we have some time.”
“That works. I have to be at the funeral home around eleven-thirty. If you want to drop me off at my hotel room, that would be great.”
“How are you doing with everything? I’m sure it can’t be easy knowing he’s gone.”
“Please,” I sigh, knowing my father doesn’t deserve an ounce of sympathy. “You know how I feel about that asshole. Nothing has changed. Except now I don’t have to put up with him, not that I did to begin with.”
“I know you didn’t see eye to eye, but he’s still your dad.”
Her eyes roam over my face, looking for any sign I’m not being truthful.
“He was anything but a dad to me. Anyway, I’m going to meet with the minister today. Thankfully, he left behind a will so most of his last wishes were outlined there. I just have to get all of the shit handled. I’ll likely be in town for a little bit, at least to figure out cleaning out his house and get it up for sale.”
Nodding her head, she looks at me before glancing back down at her phone. I know based on our conversation she wasn’t expecting me to stay, but I also know by the look on her face she wasn’t prepared for me to leave either.
“I’d like to spend some time together while I am here, if that’s alright with you.”
I can see the thoughts swirling around in her head before her eyes meet mine.
“I’d like that.” She smiles as I reach for her hand. She studies our fingers as they wrap together before looking back up to meet my eyes. “I’m sorry; if I didn’t already have appointments booked, I’d come with you. Give you a hand and help you with anything I could. You shouldn’t have to go through all of this alone.”
Sitting up, I let the sheet fall away covering only my bottom half as I wrap my hand in Ryan’s hair, pulling her closer to me. Pressing my mouth against hers, I do my best to avoid the topic of my dad and focus on being here with her. She’s always been able to give me peace when my thoughts get to be too loud.
* * *
I feel relieved after I get all the arrangements made at the funeral home. After I leave, I catch an Uber and get dropped off at Compass Security. Walking along the sidewalk toward the front door, I can see Graham pacing the floor with the phone pressed against his ear.
The doorbell rings when I swing the glass door open.
“Well, that’s not fucking good enough. We need to lock in this account. It’s huge for us, considering the opening is less than a week away.”
Turning to face me, he holds up a finger before marching toward the back of the room and into his office. Giving him a minute to finish up the phone call, I take a seat on the couch in the lobby area. With my arm draped across the back of the cushion, I look around the room to the art hanging on the wall.
It’s been less than two months since Graham moved back to Iowa and he’s accomplished a lot in a short time, kicking off the opening of his security business in Des Moines. I’m completely blown away by what he’s accomplished.
My phone vibrates in my pocket. Reaching in, I pull it out and quickly unlock the screen. I’m so absorbed in a text message from Ryan thanking me for how tired she feels this morning that I don’t even bother paying attention as the doorbell dings again until his voice rings through the room.
“Well, I’ll be fucking damned. Look who it is.” The husky voice has my lip curving up in a small smile.
Hitting send on my text, I slide my phone back in my pocket and move to stand. Holding my hand out in front of me, I’d be lying if I didn’t say it was good to see Dean again.
A lot has changed between us since the last time I stood before him. He still looks just like he did that night, except for the change in his build. He’s obviously changed his workout, adding a lot of bulk and muscle to him than what he had when we were eighteen.
“Here you thought you ran me out of town,” I joke, winking at him.
“Fuck you,” he retorts as I let out a laugh.
Pulling me closer, he claps me on the back in a hug as he mutters how it’s good to see me in my ear.
Leaning back, he widens his stance as he crosses his arms in front of him.
“It’s good to see you back. You plannin’ on staying long?”
“He’s not going anywhere, I’m giving him a job,” Graham says from behind me as I turn to face him. My eyes narrow, knowing now he’s mentioned it in front of Dean, I’m going to have the two of them hounding me until I agree.
“Really? Man, that’s great!”
I shake my head at Graham and the small smile playing at the corner of his mouth.
“Yeah, I don’t know about that. I’m due back on the base after I get everything in order. I’m not sure where I’m going from here.”
Dean’s hand wraps around his jaw, pausing as he tries to read me. It’s no use, I’m a closed book.
“Well, it’s good to have you home. You should stay; I know Ryan will be happy to see you, too.”
Graham passes by Dean, walking around to the other side of the lobby. He glances at me over Dean’s shoulder, knowing that I’ve already been reacquainted with his sister for the first time in years. The rare grin that stretches on his face has me silently telling him to fuck off, which earns me a silent chuckle as he begins shuffling through the papers on the table.
The mention of staying in Everton and Ryan has my mild filtering back to all those nights I spent alone with my thoughts while I was away. I told myself if I ever made it out of there, when I got out of the army for good, I’d come back for her. The only time I feel any peace is when I am wrapped in her arms.
I don’t know if I can bring myself to walk away from her for a second time.
Six
RYAN
I’m busy setting up for my next appointment when the doorbell rings and the sound of Nadia’s voice booms through the front lobby. Her cheery tone as she sings a good morning has the guys grumbling and a smile stretching across my face.
A few seconds later, I hear her knocking on the door as I turn to look at her short five-foot nothing frame.
“Hey,” I say, pulling out the cleaning disinfectant to clean my station.
Nadia crosses the room, perching her hands on the edge of the counter before jumping up to take a seat. Her legs swing back and forth as she stares at me, wait
ing for me to say more. I know what she’s doing here, what she’s hoping to achieve, but I decide to make her beg a little.
“Cut to the chase. I want all the deets.” She smiles, running her finger along her lower lip, waiting.
“What are you talking about?”
“Don’t play coy with me. You know I hate that shit. Spit it the fuck out already,” she finishes with a grin.
“I’m really not sure what you’re talkin’ about, but if you don’t mind I have a client who should be here soon.”
“Yeah, actually, I do mind. You might want to hurry and spit it out if you don’t want to be late,” she says, reclining back against the wall, folding her arms over her chest. “I’m not planning on going anywhere until you tell me what I want to hear.”
Spinning around on my heel, I narrow my eyes at Nadia and toss my gloves down on the counter. The move earns me a loud giggle as I roll my eyes at her.
“There’s really not much to tell. We hung out for a little bit and I gave him a ride home.”
“Don’t even try to lie to me, Ryan. You’re terrible at it, you know that? I want to know the real deal. How many times did you two fuck? Did he go down on you? Was it everything you ever dreamed of and more?”
I hear Chris from the other side of the shop, his chair scraping across the floor as the music turns down. My head peeks over my shoulder as he holds the needle in one hand and his black gloved hand in the other. The look on his face says what I’m thinking, “what the hell is wrong with this girl?”
“It’s nothing for you to be worried about,” I say, raising my eyebrows before looking back at Nadia as I reach over to shut the door as Chris yells out a fuck you. Nadia flashes me an innocent smile, one that says she isn’t the least bit sorry for involving one of my good friends in this conversation.
“Once and yes,” I say, turning back around to finish setting up for my appointment.
“Yes, he went down on you or yes it was everything you’ve dreamed of?”
“Seriously?”
“As a heart attack. You promised, spill it.”
“Yes, he went down on me.”
I decide to ignore her other question, not wanting to get into how perfect the night had been. We were almost frantic in our reunion. It was as though we couldn’t get enough of each other.
“You’re a buzzkill. This isn’t at all as exciting as I’d pictured it to be.”
I smother my smile knowing how annoyed she is that I’m holding out on her.
“Alright, well, if you’re not going to tell me what happened, will you at least tell me if you’re planning on seeing him again?”
That was a question I had no problem answering.
“He said he’s planning on staying in town for about a week and the plan is to spend time together while he’s here.”
As soon as the words pass my lips, the sound of the door ringing again has me opening the door to see who it is, wondering if it’s my next appointment. I glance over at Nadia when I see my brother’s large, stocky frame stalking toward us.
The moment her eyes fall on Dean’s, as she turns back toward me, looking equally annoyed as she is sad. As much as she tries to act like she doesn’t like Dean, I know it’s the exact opposite. She’s always had the biggest crush on him, even back when we were in high school.
“Ryan,” he says, resting his hands above the doorway before glancing over to where Nadia is sitting. A slow smile spreads across his face when he sees her sitting there, legs still swaying to the beat of the music playing overhead. This time though, she’s looking down at her phone using it as a way to distract her from looking at him. It’s a ploy to ignore him, to act like she’s unaffected by his presence.
This girl has always had guys falling all over themselves to get her attention and when the one she wants does, she acts like he doesn’t exist. Something happened with her and Dean back in the day, although she’s never told me enough to fill in the blanks. With the way she just interrogated me about Maverick, I’d love to give her a dose of her own medicine, but there’s something about the pain she’s had on her face when she saw him tells me it would be a dangerous path to go down.
“What are you doing back in town?”
“I had to come back to get some things settled at Compass Security. I’ll be heading back to Chicago on Monday,” he says, pausing and looking back over at Nadia again. He’s waiting for her to look up, to give him even a second of attention. He doesn’t like how she’s blowing him off, and I can’t fault her for doing it.
His eyes look back over to me, his gaze adjusting from the way his eyes narrowed at Nadia back to me. He bites down on his lower lip, clearly lost in his thoughts before he continues.
“Listen, I have something I want to talk to you about before I head back out.”
I put the rest of my stuff down, giving him my full attention.
“What’s up?”
“Um, so I was just by the office and I ran into Maverick,” he says, pausing as he gauges my reaction. He’s trying to put his feelers out, to see how I’m going to react to the news.
Knowing where this is going, I cross my arms over my chest and give him my undivided attention. Nodding my head, I wave my hand out in front of me to urge him to continue.
“He was there with Graham. I should’ve told you about this before, but his dad passed away. I just wanted you to be aware he’s in town, just in case you run into each other. Everton isn’t all that big, so it’s possible.”
The sound of Nadia’s sputtered laughter interrupts us, as my head jolts toward where she’s sitting. Her phone is long since put away and her bright smile is stretched across her face, loving how my brother is seemingly clueless.
My eyes bug out at her, silently asking her to shut up. She’d love more than anything to point out to him how wrong he is about the whole situation.
Dean narrows his eyes before glancing back at me. I can see the questions swirling around in his head, wondering what the hell is going on.
“It’s fine, Dean. You have nothing to worry about,” I say, doing my best to reassure him despite my history with Maverick, there’s nothing for him to be concerned over.
He remembers how hard it was for me after Mav left. Hell, I still remember how difficult it was for him to move past hearing the news his best friend had not only grown feelings and had a romantic relationship, if that’s what you can even call it, with his sister, but after he got the news, the same best friend ended up running out of town.
Dean has admitted to me on more than one occasion he’s sorry for the way he reacted and for any damage he may have done that led to Maverick leaving town. I know he’s talked to Maverick about it after he left; he’s told me about their conversations. Mav has reassured him his departure had nothing to do with their fight and everything to do with what went down with his dad.
“Listen, I know how much he means to you. As much as you both may try to act like you’re not affected by him being in the same town. We’ve been talking to him about staying though, maybe helping Graham get things up and running at Compass Security here. It’s inevitable you’ll run into him. I also know he misses you. So, if you see him, at least give him a chance. Hear him out. Alright?”
As surprised as I am to hear him even acknowledge our feelings, I’m even more surprised to hear they offered him a job. As time went by, I never expected that he would come back, much less come back and stay, although I never gave up hope.
Having Dean acknowledge how much he meant to me tells me he wasn’t oblivious to what was going on over all the years. Despite my best efforts, I have never been able to move on after he left.
Maverick has been the only person who’s been in my heart all these years. He’s the one I’ve craved. I’ve yet to find anyone who makes my body ache the way he does.
“Alright,” I say, not wanting to give him anymore. He may be able to read me, but I can tell he’s not sure what to make of my short, clipped response.
&nb
sp; His eyes narrow, waiting for me to say more, before I give him a small smile hoping to reassure him.
I hear him mutter how he has to get back to the office, but to call him later so we can meet up for dinner while he’s still in town. I nod my head and manage to lift my hand to wave at him. My eye catches sight of the heart tattoo on my forearm and I bite my lip thinking about Maverick.
When he saw my ink, he couldn’t keep his mouth off me. I replay the way his tongue danced across my skin. I never expected for something like that to be so erotic; it was almost mind-blowing.
Maverick promised me when he left he’d carry me with him, but I could tell, him finding out how I’ve carried him with me, both broke his heart but brought us together. It felt like we were joined in a way where, although it had been years since we had spoken or even seen each other, nothing had changed.
Things moved so fast between us after the first night he stayed with me, it was almost like that night joined us, cemented who we were to each other so that nothing could change it. No time, no distance, could erase the way I felt about him.
We were sent on a tailspin after Dean found out we had been seeing each other behind his back. If we hadn’t been sneaking around, maybe Mav wouldn’t have been trying to avoid going to the party without him. Maybe he wouldn’t have taken his dad’s truck which led to him getting in trouble and kicked out.
These are the same thoughts that have plagued me for years since he left. If anything would’ve happened differently, would he have stayed? Would we have gotten more time together? Would we be together now?
The sound of Nadia clearing her throat breaks through my thoughts as I glance over at her.
“You want to tell me what that was about?” I ask, probing her about the awkward tension that seems to envelop her when my brother steps into the room.
“You know how much I despise your brother, especially after what happened with you and Maverick.”
“That’s not the full story and you know it.”
Tattered (Tattered Heart Duet Book 2) Page 4
