“Ryker?”
I crooked my finger, beckoning her forward. She moved woodenly, her steps faltering. I tilted up her chin.
“Trust me,” I murmured, brushing my thumb over her satiny soft lips. “I want this to be the best night of your life.”
“It will be,” she said. “I’m with you.”
Well, fuck.
I palmed her breast, scraping the pad of my thumb over her nipple. It puckered beneath my touch, clearly visible through the thin covering of lace. She shivered, drawing in a sharp breath.
“Is there anything you don’t want to try?” I asked.
She stared at me, her gaze uncertain. “Try? Um, I’m not sure. Like, what are my choices?”
I laughed. “Too many to mention. Come on, Athena. You’re not the shy type. Everyone has something they don’t like. I’d rather not stumble upon that this evening, not when I want it to be perfect.”
She narrowed her eyes. “Are you a Dom?”
I laughed again. “You’ve been reading too many books. Just because I like to use sex toys doesn’t mean I’m into BDSM. And to answer your question, no, I’m not. Authoritative, yes, but not a Dominant. My preferences lie firmly in sex between consenting adults being a partnership, not one exerting control over the other, however consensual it may be. Besides, you’re hardly submissive material, darling. Far too opinionated.”
She ignored my comment, although I detected a brief pout.
“How many toys do you have in there?” she asked, glancing behind her toward my dresser.
“Lots.” I cradled her jaw and bent my head to kiss her. “Stop stalling.” I traced my tongue along her plump bottom lip. “Do you hate a tongue in your pussy?” I nibbled her earlobe. “Or sucking cock?” I trailed my nose down her cheek, breathing in her scent. “What about having your neck kissed?” I tested the theory, placing an open-mouthed kiss directly over her carotid artery where a pulse beat wildly. “What about anal?”
She blushed the color of beetroot, then ducked her head in a very un-Athena-like manner.
“I don’t know,” she mumbled. “I’ve only ever had sex once.”
I took a step back. Frowned. Her comment made no sense. “But we slept together,” I said, stating the obvious.
“Exactly.”
The underlying meaning to her admission slammed into me like a quarterback running for the line. That couldn’t be right. Athena had men falling all over her. I should know. I’d watched from the sidelines wanting to kill each and every one of them as she’d skipped off on their arm for yet another date. Case in point: my behavior with Charles.
“I’m the only guy you’ve had sex with?” I said, my voice barely above a whisper.
She kept her gaze averted. “Yep.”
“Why?”
This wasn’t the way I’d expected the evening to pan out, but getting to the bottom of this suddenly seemed more important than how fast I could get her into bed. This wasn’t some girl I’d picked up in a bar. This was Athena. My obsession. My queen.
She slowly raised her chin, still avoiding full-on eye contact. Her right shoulder hitched. “You’re the one, Ryker. I didn’t want anyone else. I tried, but it…” Another shrug. “It didn’t work out.”
I raked a hand through my hair. Jesus. I was lost for words. Slipping my arms around her waist, I held her flush to my body.
“I am going to give you a night you’ll never forget, and trust me when I say that’s only the start for us.”
Her lids closed, and she trembled in my arms. A deepening ache began in my stomach, fanning outward until my whole body throbbed with need. I kissed her neck again, relishing the softness of her skin, the smell of her. The way she felt beneath my hands, all womanly curves.
“Ryker,” she breathed. “Pl—”
I took her mouth, swallowing the rest of her plea. She moaned, tilting her pelvis to rub against me. My cock jerked, as anxious to move the evening along as I was. Fuck, I’d have to concentrate like hell to make sure I didn’t come in ten seconds.
I sank to my knees and parted her legs. “Next time, crotchless panties, okay, darling?”
“Wh-what?”
I snapped one of her suspenders against her leg. “I have to remove these, and I rather liked them.” I unhooked them, then slid her panties off, leaving her in only a bra, stockings, and high-heeled shoes. I buried my nose between her legs. “You smell damned sexy. So sweet, so delicious, so mine.”
Whatever word she planned to say came out a garbled mess as I rested one leg over my shoulder and pushed my tongue inside her. She dug her fingertips into my shoulders, the lower half of her body shuddering and shaking. I sucked on her clit, harder than I intended. She cried my name, an orgasm tearing through her, and if I hadn’t gripped her ass, she’d have fallen to the floor.
“God, I’m sorry,” she said, her skin damp with perspiration. “So lame.”
I got to my feet. “You’re perfect. Turn around.”
She obeyed immediately. I unfastened her bra, licking a path between her shoulder blades as I eased the straps down her arms, allowing the dainty item to fall to the floor. Reaching for the sleep mask, I slipped it over her head and covered her eyes.
“Ryker…”
Uncertainty and fear of the unknown caused a slight tremor to her tone.
“Shhh.” I kissed her shoulder then helped her to lie on top of the bed. “Don’t think, just feel.”
I undressed and climbed onto the mattress beside her, the cool of the silk sheets exquisite against my burning skin. I turned on the vibrator, put it on the slowest setting, and circled it around the tip of her nipple. She gasped, her body arching. I bent my head and sucked the other nipple into my mouth while continuing to use the vibrator on her sensitive tip.
“Ohhh God.”
Her hips bucked, and a flush raced over her smooth, creamy skin. Athena was very responsive, almost too responsive. Not overly surprising, given her admission. Her body craved sex, needed the release it was built for, and it had a lot of catching up to do.
I trailed the tip of the vibrator over her stomach, the inside of her thighs, her calves, everywhere apart from the place it had been designed to pleasure the most. If I touched her clit right now, she’d explode. I wanted to prolong the buzz, keep her right on the cusp, but equally, I didn’t want to frustrate her too much. We had plenty of time. Her body would need training, to learn to manage its natural tendency to race to the finish line. I originally planned to fuck her with the vibrator first, but now I’d read her body, I changed my mind.
“Now, Ryker, please,” she begged. “I need you.”
I grabbed a condom, parted her thighs, and pushed inside, slowly, an inch at a time. As I’d expected, she was extraordinarily tight. The angle of our bodies meant, as I pushed all the way in, my pelvis brushed her clit. She cried out.
I paused. “Are you okay?”
“Yes, god, yes.” She laughed. “I’m so much more than okay.”
A burst of pleasure erupted within me. I bent my head and kissed her, my tongue stroking hers as I gradually withdrew, then entered her again. I wanted this to last as long as possible, for her and for me.
“More, harder,” she demanded, folding her legs around my waist and tilting her hips.
Oh Christ. I slammed my eyes shut. Cutting off the visuals was the only chance I had to control myself. Athena had an excuse for fast orgasms. I didn’t. But as I pounded into her tight pussy, she came—loudly, spectacularly, beautifully, her ecstatic groans relentless in their volume and length.
The sound of her shallow, panting breaths in my ears, and the smell of her sweet all-natural scent caused nature to take charge of the moment. My balls tightened against my body, and I detonated into the kind of orgasm I’d only had once before in my entire life. I may have slept with a lot of women, but I’d only ever made love to one.
I kissed her again, then buried my face in her neck and curved a hand around the back of her head, panting for a
ir. I slipped off the eye mask and tossed it on the floor.
“Thank you for waiting for me,” I muttered breathlessly.
She stroked a hand over my hair, then trailed her fingernails down my spine. “You were worth the wait.”
16
Athena
I lay on my side, lazily stroking Ryker’s half-mast dick with the tip of my forefinger, both of us sated—for now. Yet I knew time wasn’t on my side. Soon I anticipated he’d descend into a pit of guilt, full of recriminations and “fuck no’s”, and my slice of heaven would be ripped from me before I’d had a chance to properly taste it, to savor it. To build long-lasting memories I could call upon in times of need.
“Next time I’ll wear a cock ring.”
I half lifted my head, startled by his unexpected comment. Next time? Did that mean…?
“What’s a cock ring?”
He threw back the covers, climbed off the bed, then opened the dresser drawer—the same one he’d gone to for the vibrator. He returned holding a thick silver band and dropped it on the bed beside me.
I picked it up. “What do you do with it?” I asked, turning it over, feeling its heavy weight in my palm.
Ryker arched an eyebrow. “What do you think?”
I wrinkled my nose. “You put this around your penis? Why?”
He took it from me. “Actually, this one goes around my cock and balls. Like this.”
He gave me a full demonstration, fitting the contraption around the base of his penis and behind his ball sac. I felt my blush building, heat flooding my face.
“This one? You have more?”
“Yes. There are different types depending on my mood. Metal, like this one, leather, even rope. Some vibrate.” He laughed. “They’re fun.”
“But what does it do?” I asked, my curiosity piquing. “What’s the point of it?”
“Makes me stay hard longer and orgasm much more powerfully.”
“Oh…”
He grinned. “You like the sound of that, Athena?”
I grazed my bottom lip. “Yes,” I whispered, the debauchery of it all surprising the hell out of me. I’d never classed myself as the kind of girl who’d be interested in sex toys, but after what Ryker had done to me tonight, I’d been converted. Or maybe corrupted… not that I cared. I’d had a brief taste of kinky sex and I wanted more.
“Where did you learn all this?” I asked.
He climbed back in bed and lay on his side, his arm tucked beneath his head. I noticed he left the cock ring in place. “Experimentation. And mistakes. Lots of mistakes.”
A flash of jealousy rushed through me at all the women he must have slept with, but then I dismissed it. Everyone had a past. What mattered was the present—and the future.
“Such as?”
He rolled on top of me. “Let’s have this conversation another time.”
His mouth closed over mine, unhurried, his tongue gently stroking, probing, searching. I flushed with heat, dampness coating my inner thighs. My body was already so attuned to his, my pelvis tilting of its own accord, ready to receive him. As he leaned over to the nightstand, I put out a hand to stop him.
“We’re good, Ryker.” I didn’t have the words to tell him I had an IUD fitted to help with painful periods. Talk like that would kill the mood. “And I trust you. I don’t want any barriers between us.”
I broke a smile at the groan he emitted. He pushed forward, and I felt it. The ring. Cool, solid, weird but not at all unpleasant.
I shut my eyes, concentrating on each sensation. The graze of Ryker’s hand on my breast, the feel of his lips pressed to mine, his firm body rubbing against my softer one. The smell of his cologne in my nostrils.
How he felt inside me.
A swell built within me, slow and steady at first, but growing in intensity. It felt like the lower half of my belly was undulating from the inside, an inevitable dash to the end.
Every nerve ending in my body sang. My legs twitched and writhed. I lifted my pelvis seeking more contact, more friction. Just more.
Ryker’s mouth cut off my strangled cry. I expected him to increase his pace, but if anything, he slowed down. He kept pulling out then leisurely pushing back in. I grew impatient. Clamping my hands onto his fine ass, I urged him to speed up.
“Let it happen,” he murmured, his lips touching my ear. He grazed his teeth over my lobe. “Stop being impatient. I told you the cock ring made me last longer. Settle in, Athena. It’s going to be a long night.”
Oh hell. I’m screwed.
Ryker spooned behind me, his chest tight to my back, his hand gently stroking my hip. I felt incredibly loose, as though each individual muscle had been worked on by a top-class masseuse. I couldn’t remember ever feeling this happy, but at the same time, I kept waiting for him to panic, to tell me he’d made a huge mistake. To retreat like he had on every other occasion we’d gotten close. This time, though, would be so much worse. If he broke things off now, I’d have to move away. I wouldn’t be able to stand seeing him on a regular basis and not able to claim the prize I’d suspected, but now knew for sure, had always been mine.
“You okay?” he asked, the deep timbre of his voice rumbling through his chest.
“I think I’m dead.”
I felt his grin against my shoulder. “Be careful what you wish for. You wanted me. You’ve got me.”
I twisted in his arms, scanning the planes of his face barely visible in the dim light. “Do I, though? Have you?”
He brushed his lips over mine. “I’m here, Athena.”
“But for how long? What does this mean, Ryker? Are we together? Or are you going to let guilt get the better of you again when the time comes for us to tell Elliot, and take the easy way out?”
He raised his eyebrows. “You think staying away from you for all these years was taking the easy way out? You’re wrong. So very wrong. Denying my feelings when I knew how you felt about me was a test of the strength of my character. On occasion, it almost broke me.”
“Or maybe it was just a test of your stubbornness.”
He grinned. “That, too.”
I touched his face, his stubble grazing the pads of my fingers. “Be serious.”
He blew a long breath through his nose. “We’re together. Now I’ve finally accepted that my life is meaningless without you in it, I couldn’t let you go even if I wanted to. But I need time to figure out the Elliot situation. Until then, we need to keep this under wraps. Can you give me that, Athena?”
I shook my head. “I can’t give you the time, Ryker, but I can give us time. The way we break the news to Elliot is a problem that we both need to solve.”
His face softened. He tucked my hair behind my ear. “I love you.”
My heart rate kicked up double-time. “You… you do?”
“I do.”
My face crumpled. “I love you, too.”
I flung my arms around his neck, struggling to come to terms with the extent of change that had taken place in a single night. Six weeks ago, I was working in that shitty club watching Hiroto Tanaka paw at those unfortunate, hapless young girls and wondering whether to call his bluff and let him call the police and take my punishment. In the end, though, my choice had brought me here, right into Ryker’s arms.
I drew back. “What did you do to Hiroto? You never told me.”
Ryker grinned. “I hired a PI to dig up some dirt. Turned out he had a mistress who’d given birth to a child, something he hadn’t managed to achieve with his wife. Tanaka had been desperate to have kids, but it hadn’t happened for them. Now, you might expect a disgusting asshole like him to simply swan off into the sunset with his mistress, right? Especially after she’d given him a much longed-for child. Except Hiroto foresaw a slight problem with that plan. See, Mrs. Tanaka happens to come from a very rich, very influential family, and poor Hiroto has expensive tastes. He chose the money over his desire for full-time fatherhood.”
“If he had expensive tastes, what the
hell was he doing running a seedy sex club?”
“Access. Although he had a wife at home and a mistress stashed in a two-bed condo, he also had very… eccentric proclivities which he fulfilled with the working girls.”
I pulled a face. Disgusting man. He deserved everything he got. “What did you do?” I asked, already half-guessing the answer.
He waggled his eyebrows. “Let’s just say Mrs. Tanaka is no longer in the dark about her husband’s secret life. She told my investigator she’d been looking for an excuse to turf him out for years but hadn’t wanted to bring shame on her family. I gave her the ammunition she’d been praying for.”
I put a hand over my mouth. “Oh dear.”
“Indeed,” Ryker said, laughing.
“You’re evil.”
“But cute.”
Now it was my turn to laugh. “Ryker Stone, there is nothing ‘cute’ about you. Deliciously hot, but not cute.”
He arched a brow. “I’ll take deliciously hot.”
I snuggled into his arms and rested my head on his chest, feeling safe, and protected, and loved.
“How come the code to your penthouse is my birthdate?”
He trailed his fingertips up and down my spine, sending a scattering of goose bumps over my skin. “Because every time I entered those digits it made me feel close to you.”
My pulse leaped with pleasure. All these years he’d denied me in public, but privately had been a different matter.
“But surely Elliot thinks that’s weird.”
Ryker tilted up my chin. “The elevator can be set with up to five different passcodes. I’m the only one who has that particular code. And you now, of course.”
“Smart,” I said, nodding.
He winked. “That’s me, darling.”
I poked my finger in his ribs. He faux groaned, then hugged me tightly. As I nestled into his side, a memory from my childhood nudged at me, and I had an urge to share the story. I wanted to make Ryker laugh. I loved the sound of his laugh.
Entranced (The ROGUES Billionaire Series Book 1) Page 13
