Hell in a Handbasket - The Journey (14 page)

He opened the door and motioned me inside. He was wearing a
smile I had never seen him wear before. It was a mixture of excitement with
just a hint of worry. He looked like a little boy who had made a gift for his
mother and he was excited to give it to her but was afraid it wouldn't be good
enough for her. He was so adorable.

I reached up and placed my hand on his cheek. I heard his
breath catch as he placed his hand over mine and closed his eyes for the
briefest of moments.

When he opened his eyes, they were a dark emerald green and
the gold flecks had turned to bronze. His pupils had enlarged and the look on
his face was of a man who was starving. I felt my lower belly tighten and heat
up as my heartbeat quickened and my breathing stopped.

He wrapped his arm around my waist and hoisted me over the
threshold of his office. He placed me back on my feet long enough to lock the
door behind us. My thighs were starting to tighten up and my knees were going
weak. I was wheezing trying to find air. Why was it that when I was around this
man I couldn’t seem to breathe?

As Ryder was locking the door behind us, I took the
opportunity to glance around the office. I noticed his large mahogany desk in a
deep rich finish to the left of the room. Two burgundy leather couches encased
in hand-carved mahogany wood sat in the middle of the room. And that's when it
hit me…Tom's office—that's where I had seen this furniture before.

"Um…Ryder?"

"Yes Maeve?" His voice was deep and raspy.

"This furniture looks an awful lot like Tom's…"

"Maeve, do you really want to talk about furniture
right now?" His voice sounded like he had gravel in his throat, coming out
almost like a growl.

"No, I just…it just…"

"Well?"

"It just…reminded me of Tom's office and yes, I had
some questions…but you're kind of scary right now…"

"I don't want to scare you Maeve, I want to make love
to you!" His face softened and his gaze deepened, encompassing me in a
blanket of warmth that started at the roots of my hair and zipped through my
body to the soles of my feet.

He reached up with his left hand and cupped my cheek. With
his thumb, he traced the outline of my lips and I had a momentary flash of our
first meeting in the airport lobby. He wrapped his right arm around my waist
and carried me past the couch, facing the vast window overlooking the city,
past the coffee table which sat between the couches and over to the couch
facing the doors.

"Maeve, you have no idea what you do to me. I have had
a thing for you since we were
kids,
I never forgot you
and I want you. I want you here, I want you now."

"I'm here, Ryder, take me."

His eyes darkened even more. Oh Holy…

"Maeve, I'm having a hard time here…" His face
was soft yet troubled.

"Ryder? What's wrong?"

"I don't want to scare you or hurt you…" That had
me worried. "But, I want to love you softly, gently yet at the same time I
want to move way past making love and go straight to fucking like
animals." His eyes were sad, his mouth was pulled tight, and his face was
contorted with sadness, pain, and fear.

I smiled and rubbed his face. "I guess it's time for
that safe word then…"

His eyes lit up like a kid on Christmas morning. I giggled.
"I take it you approve of me agreeing to this safe word idea?"

"Oh yes, I do." Waggle, waggle…that made me burst
out laughing.

"Okay, I don't really know the mechanics of a safe
word…what do we do?"

"First of all, we pick a word that won't normally be
used during our encounter and we pick a word which is easy to remember."

"So…let me
get this straight…A word that isn't normally uttered when we have sex? So oh,
God and yes are out of the running?"

He laughed such a
deep laugh. It reminded me to make a recording of his laugh so that when this
was over I would always have it at the ready.

"Those words
would not be eligible, true. Something more
like…
pineapple."

I looked at him
with a look of serious doubt on my face.

"What, you
don't think you can remember pineapple?"

"Oh the
remembering isn't exactly the
problem,
it's my
inability to speak actual words that's the problem. Can we have a safe
sound?" I looked hopeful.

Again with the
vibrating laugh. "No, Maeve. It needs to be a word that you have to make
yourself say. That is if you really want me to stop what I'm doing, it has to
be a word."

"Ok, fine.
But it needs to be a short word. I'm gonna have a hard enough time speaking as
it is."

He chuckled
"Okay, how about…cargo…? Do you think you can remember the word
cargo?"

"Well, I was
hoping for something even shorter. You
know,
one
syllable like…green or red…"

"Sure,
your call.
Green or red?"

I tested out the
words, "Gre…gre…Red…red…red, it's shorter so it seems to work
better."

"Red it is
then."

"I'm gonna
start slow Maeve, but considering how badly I want you, at some point I am sure
the animal in me will take over…are you ready?"

"Ready…ready…red…"

"Red?
You want me to
stop already?"

"What? No? I
was just testing…you know like…testing, testing…"

He chuckled,
"Well stop testing and relax. I want you to be about me as much as I am
going to be about you."

I simply smiled.

Ryder cupped my
face with both hands and placed the softest kiss on my lips. I moaned. With his
right hand, he began to caress my cheek. His left hand turned around and grazed
my skin with his fingernails. "So beautiful…" His right hand wound
its way to the back of my head. He grabbed a handful of my hair and tugged
gently. I felt my heart drop and then liquefy as it poured through my stomach
and pooled between my legs.

The fingernails
of his left hand continued their tantalizing assault of my skin from my face,
down my jaw and neck past my collarbone to the top of my breast. There he
stroked the tops of my breasts over and over. Back and forth, teasing me with
that light scraping. I tried to moan and gasp at the same time. It made a funny
strangled sound.

Ryder chuckled
and started to undo the buttons of my blouse. He was taking his sweet time,
just like he had in Tom's office. His touch electrified my skin. I smacked his
hand, reached down to the hem of my blouse, and pulled the damn thing over my
head.

With a smirk and
droopy eyes, I glanced at him. "Slow later…I am never gonna get to use the
word red if you keep going this agonizingly slow…unless you want me to say red
to going slow?"

At first, the look
on Ryder's face was incredulity, then it transformed to a look of pure pleasure
and wanton abandonment. He reached a hand forward, got painfully close to my
bra, and snapped his fingers. My bra opened and fell away as if possessed,
leaving my breasts exposed, and hanging free. Ryder growled in approval.

He took both
breasts, holding the weight of them in his hands. With his thumbs, he began
rubbing my nipples, causing them to harden into painfully stiff peaks, making
the skin around them pucker. He took my right nipple into his mouth.

The heat and
slickness of his mouth sent shivers running through me, tickling the palms of
my hands and the soles of my feet. His tongue laved my nipple, making it overly
moist. He gently bit my hard bud, causing a brief shot of pain then he stopped
and sucked in a breath of air with such intensity, the cool air flowing over my
wet nipple caused it to swell and harden beyond comfort. It was painful but a
good painful. He took me back into his mouth and sucked hard then bit harder
than before. It hurt and I loved it.

The thought had
me a little concerned. I liked this type of pain. And I wondered where might
that lead…and is Ryder aware of it yet…if not, can I keep it from him? Do I
want to keep it from him…what does this mean?

Ryder lifted
himself up and looked deeply into my face. "Maeve, whatever you are
thinking about, stop! Don't think, just relax and enjoy…okay?"

I barely nodded
and tried to reply.
"Uhhhnnnnnhhh."

"Good girl.
Continue to be a good girl Maeve. I promise I won't hurt you…unless you want me
to…"

My eyes popped
open. Oh shit. He knows…what now…?

"That's
exactly what I'm talking about. What is it?"

"I'm scared
to tell you."

"Sweetheart,
what we are doing and are about to do, well, you need to be able to trust me
completely. You can tell me anything."

"Oh…sure…You're
right, I should…be able to…trust you…I do…it's just…that…I'm embarrassed and a
bit…scared…"

"Ohh…Now you
have my curiosity peaked…" He growled.

I giggled and
blushed like some silly schoolgirl. "It's just…well…"

He bent down and
began to suck my nipple again. My head flopped back and I moaned deep.
"Well Maeve?”

"Well…what?"
I had already
forgotten what we were talking about.

"What has
you embarrassed and scared?" He was licking and nipping all along the
outside of my breast.

"Oh…Uuuhhhhnnnnnn…I
can't seem…to…remember…"

He sat up so
quickly I thought maybe I had fallen off the couch. "Then I'll stop doing
anything until you can remember."

The loss of his
body and his mouth on me left me feeling cold…and I hate the cold!

"It's just
that…well its…some…of the…things…"

He braced his
left hand on the back of the couch and his right hand grasped onto the very
edge of the couch. He leaned over ever so slowly towards my breasts and
stopped. He looked at me expectantly, but didn't move any closer.

I arched my back
trying to get closer to him and he moved back out of my reach.
"Uugghhh…fine…" I closed my eyes and took a deep breath of air,
knowing full well that the only way I was going to get this out, was to rapid-fire
it, without thinking or breathing.

"Some of the
things you were doing to my nipples earlier kind of hurt, and I kind of liked
it. I don't like pain but I liked that and I was scared because I don't know
where it will lead and how much it will hurt and what does it all mean?"

Ryder took a deep
breath. He held it for a minute, which seemed like hours. He finally let it out
slowly, like a tire with a hole in it. "Baby, you think way too
much!"

He walked over to
the far wall behind my head. I turned trying to see where he was going and what
he was doing. He approached another piece of furniture, all hand carved with a
humongous mirror behind it, and then I noticed glasses.

He walked up to
the bar, and turned to face me. "If you'll excuse me, I think I'm going to
change out of this suit. I'll be right back…"

He walked past
the bar and seemed to disappear. A few moments passed and I was starting to get
a little worried. More minutes passed and he finally returned wearing his faded
blue, tight-in-all-the-right-places jeans and a polo shirt, a soft emerald
green that matched his eyes.

He walked behind
the bar, picked up two glasses, and set them on top of the bar. He reached
under the bar and the mirror split into three pieces. The two outer pieces
opened up. The right side showed bottles and bottles of liquids. The left side
looked like a stainless steel refrigerator.

"Oh, I don't
drink alcohol."

"Yes, I
figured as much." He grabbed some bottles from the right side and set them
on the bar then he went to the fridge and retrieved a few bottles from it,
setting them on the bar as well. He started pouring and mixing all the while
shaking his head. When he was finished, he carried the two glasses back to the
couch. He handed one to me.

"Seriously
Ryder, I don't drink."

"Maeve,
honey, I'm not trying to get you drunk. Just trying to help you take the edge
off a bit and help you relax. Hopefully help you stop thinking so much."
He sighed and I felt so bad, like I was a major disappointment to him. I put my
hand on his hand and took the glass he offered.

"I'm
sorry,
I don't mean to be such a disappointment."

He smiled.
"Baby, you are not a disappointment. You are a little high strung and a
bit clueless at times but definitely not a disappointment."

I took a sip of
the drink. "Wow, this is really good."

"See, I'm
not trying to get you drunk…this time…" Waggle, waggle. There went those
gorgeous eyebrows again. "I'm merely hoping you'll be more at ease with
me."

I took a big sip.
"Okay." I smiled.

He watched me
intently as he sipped his drink.

I took a big
gulp. "This is really good."