Quicksilver Dreams (Dreamwalkers) (37 page)

“I
am
like good old Wile E. One day I’ll meet Mrs. Right.”

“She might not like all of your Ms. Today’s,” Ryder said pointedly.

“Then there’s that.” Sy shook his head with mock shame.

“I imagine there are a number of beach-volleyball babes that are hotties just waiting for you to show up,” I offered, grinning. Between his good looks and charm, I imagined he was devastating the local female population and knew it. Falling like bees to honey.

Sy chuckled. “I like her, Ryder. She gets me.”

“Yeah, well, don’t like her too much, and we’ll be just fine,” he grumbled, and it didn’t make sense to me. He was sounding possessive, but I’d seen his face when he realized who I was this morning. Shit. I was going to start crying if I thought about that moment anymore. My badass self turned my tenderhearted self around in my mind, so I stopped seeing his disdainful look. While I was distracted by my dopey thoughts, Sy sped on.

He pulled across the finish line first, and I came across, pitifully, in fourth place. He gave another hoot for winning, which prompted me to throw one of the pillows at him, causing him to chuckle.

“That sucked.” I shook my head. “I want a rematch. I think you cheated.”

“How can I cheat? It’s a car race on a video game!” He threw the pillow back at me.

“I don’t know, but I think you did.”

“Play again?”

“Let’s do it.”

But as I started to make my sports car go, I was suddenly airborne. The control pad fell harmlessly onto the couch, and Ryder was holding me in his arms, striding to his bedroom.

“What the hell? What are you doing?” I sputtered, catching sight of Sy’s look of triumph over Ryder’s shoulder. One would think he’d been trying to engage Ryder’s anger deliberately.

“We need to talk.”

“Okay, fine. But most people in polite society don’t just grab you and haul you off.”

“I never said I was part of polite society.” He kicked his door shut behind us and tossed me down on the bed.

“What’s with all the he-man antics?” I sputtered, making my way in an entirely ungainly fashion to the other side of the bed.

“Stay away from Sy.” Ryder’s deep voice had a steel edge, and his eyes were like granite.

Chapter Eighteen

“What?”

I actually needed a moment to comprehend what he was saying, and when the full import of his words hit, I wanted to throw him out the window. If I wanted to be treated like shit, I could just call my aunt. She’d be delighted to tell me what a horrible individual I was.

“I’m just warning you not to get your hopes up for him. I know he’s good looking, and he’s a helluva lot nicer than I am, but he’s not serious when it comes to women.”

“You’re warning me not to flirt with him?” I was offended on so many levels! Anger started simmering as my blood pressure rose.

He must have had a sense of my impending wrath, because he got this stubborn look on his face, and in his growly voice, he said, “I’m just saying, don’t let his charm fool you. He likes to fuck around.”

“So you think that even though I was with you last night, when I’ve only ever had one other partner, like, once, I’m likely to get together with your friend tonight? In your house?”

“Taylor—”

“I can’t even imagine what you must think of me, and I don’t want to know. You are impossible. This is just not going to work.” I stormed off through the bathroom into the guest room I had taken over earlier, feeling wholly justified in my anger.

“Don’t walk away from me,” he snarled, following me into the guest room and pushing through the door I was about to whip closed.

“Oh, no you don’t,” I snapped, backpedaling away from him as he stalked me across the room. The wall halted my progress, and I held a hand out to stop him from coming any closer. “Just leave me alone! I’ve had to put up with nastiness from my relatives all my life, but I’m not going to stand around and be insulted by you.”

“I wasn’t trying to be insulting,” he said darkly, grasping my arms and pulling me close to his chest. “Would you just listen?”

“That was you
not
trying to be insulting?” I yanked free of him and took a few steps away. I didn’t want to be touched by someone looking down on me. “You just do it well naturally? Nice talent to have. And by the way, your good friend was actually taking time to tell me what a swell guy you are. Don’t you find it absolutely ironic that you think just the opposite of him? What I didn’t tell him was that you’re probably counting your blessings that you found out who I was before anything got too serious.”

“He does know who you are,” he stated quietly. “I told him. I don’t care about that.”

There was remorse in his voice, but I didn’t want to hear it. I wanted to vent my pent-up anger over all the bullshit that had gone down that was not my goddamn fault. “Don’t lie to me! I saw your face. It’s etched into my mind. I was disgusting to you!”

“That’s not how I feel. We were all surprised!”

“Yes, we were. But I became the nonhuman in the room.”

“I didn’t say that!”

“I’m the animal!”

“Taylor!”

“You wouldn’t even listen to me!” I was surprised to find tears filling my eyes again as the memory arose. “I was practically begging you—” They spilled over, but I slashed them away with the back of my hand impatiently.

“I heard you, Taylor. I heard you. I can’t even tell you how sorry I am. In the moment, I felt like my world was crashing around me.” He looked into my eyes steadily. “I didn’t know how to handle the situation. It felt crazy, and then there was Asily...” He shook his head, as though he didn’t know what to say.

“Yeah, well, you weren’t the only one having a moment. I found out who my dad was for the first time.” I rubbed a hand over my eyes, still unable to process the information. Part of me felt like I’d just found out my dad was a loyal Nazi Party member or something.

“There was so much going on, and I lost the ability to think clearly.”

“I get it,” I said in a quiet voice, though I didn’t really. I couldn’t be mad. Everything he’d just said was reasonable, but it still didn’t fix anything, which brought me back to the original point. “You don’t want me jumping in bed with Sy. I’m your sex buddy, and you don’t share. You obviously think I’m a trailer-park skank, but I’m not such a skank that I’d go for your friend after being with you.”

“What the hell are you talking about? Why are you saying this?”

“Because you aren’t saying anything, so I’m left guessing about what you think and feel. And now you’re accusing me of something, and I don’t deserve it. I’d rather just go home and take care of myself. I don’t need anyone.” I jerked the door of the closet open and grabbed my empty bag out of it. “I don’t know how you guys do this on your planet, but ...”

“On my planet?”

“Relationships.” I dumped the bag on the bed and turned to him. “I’m probably considered evil for sleeping with you when we’re not married, or something like that.”

“No, you’re not. If you lived on my planet, I would ask your family for permission to court you.”

“You need permission from the woman’s family?” I asked with some snarkiness.

“Yes.” He tried to hold my gaze. “To show respect for both the woman and her family. It’s a promise that you’re going to protect her and care for her while she is with you, away from the safety of her family.”

“And then what?” I asked curiously, crossing my arms. It sounded a lot like what he was doing with me.

“And then I’d be allowed to be around you, take you places...like what you would do on Earth with a boyfriend, but more formal.”

“What would you do with a girl who didn’t have a family?”

His eyes burned into mine. “I’d ask her if she would consider allowing me to be in her life. Taylor, don’t go.”

“Ryder...” I turned away uncertainly, a mixture of tenderness and fear clogging my throat.

“Please, stay.” He came up behind me and curled his body around mine, his front to my back, his strong arms gently encasing my rib cage. His rumbling voice was soft against my ear. “Tell me I can be in your life.”

“Why?”

“I need you.” He paused a moment and nuzzled the side of my neck, inhaling deeply, which made goose bumps trail delicately down my arms. He rested his forehead against the back of my head before answering in his deep voice. It seemed vulnerable and naked. “I’ve never wanted anyone the way I want you. It’s making me crazy that your life is in danger, and it threw me for a loop that you were tied to my world and the world of my enemy, an enemy that I’ve warred against for my entire lifetime.”

Reluctantly, I allowed myself to acknowledge that I understood that. I couldn’t fault him for that.

“I don’t see you as an enemy.” He nuzzled my ear and squeezed me close to his hard body. “I see you as an innocent. I don’t usually lose control like this. I don’t recognize myself. I can’t seem to control my emotions when I’m around you.”

I didn’t know what to think of that, except that it was working to warm the cold chill that had invaded my heart. “Then what’s this about? Why are you picking a fight with me?” My voice was softening, my spine bending, fitting into the curve of his body almost naturally.

“He was looking at your legs. And you were smiling at him.” Ryder sighed.

“Who is ‘he’? Who are you talking about?”

“Sy.”

“You’re saying Sy was looking at me, and I was smiling at him? So what?”

“I wanted your smile, and you’d stopped giving it to me,” he said simply, as though his actions made perfect sense. “It made me mad. And it was making me nuts that he was enjoying looking at your body.” He said it so logically that I had the sudden urge to giggle, though I tamped it down.

“Is this about you being jealous?”

“I don’t want anyone, which includes Sy, being near you.” He nipped at the side of my neck for emphasis, which made me shiver and feel warm at the same time.

“You know that’s unreasonable, right?” I breathed deeply, trying to remain on topic.

“I know. I don’t think... I’ve experienced jealousy before. I’ve never...cared about anyone as much as I care about you.” He kissed the spot he’d nipped, and more sparks of warmth zinged me, branching out to my breasts, which began to feel fuller.

“You aren’t handling it well.” My voice had acquired that sexy, breathy, I’m-getting-turned-on tone as my heart tapped a quicker beat against my chest. I knew he could hear the change in my tone.

“I’ll do better. And I’ll try not to kill Sy in the meanwhile. You are mine.” He had that gruff, rumbly voice vibrating with raunchy suggestion next to my ear, making my toes curl with expectation.

“Oh, Ryder.” And just like that, warmth blossomed in my heart, and I turned around to face him. His beautiful green eyes were glowing with intensity, and a sense of completion that I couldn’t quite verbalize settled over me. The truth of his words was reflected back at me, and with that, I was done in, a tender smile curling my lips. He saw it, and it was like a weight lifted from his shoulders.

A sinful gleam with a smile to match slid over his face, making his eyes focus in on me with pure, lascivious intent. A sweet ache pulsed gently in response between my thighs, and I realized that in just two days, he had my body trained to respond to a look with sweet anticipation. Day by day, he was becoming a master of my body, learning it intimately and knowing just what buttons to push to make me crazy.

Purposefully, deliberately, he grasped my hips, his fingers digging firmly into my flesh, and he walked me back two steps against the wall, caging me there. His green eyes burned into mine, and he captured my lips in a deep, hot, soul-stirring kiss. It made my blood pound like a bass drum and my senses reel instantly. He was declaring himself, claiming me, owning me, and I welcomed it, wanting to be his. Ryder’s woman. “I love your lips,” he growled against them. “You taste so good.”

“You can have them.” I nipped his scrumptious bottom lip and teased him with the light touch of my tongue, inviting his invasion, his dominance. I craved him. Our energies swirled and braided together, adding to the feeling of heat and desperation.

His tongue was like rough silk as it swept through my mouth, and I sucked on it, refusing to let him go. I felt his deep, guttural moan of pleasure and his sudden loss of control. His arms curled around my back roughly, one hand sliding down to palm and squeeze my ass, curling me into his stiff erection. I found myself crushed against the wall, feeling every inch of his body pressing into mine.

“Your legs have been driving me crazy,” he growled against my lips, and he slid his hand from my ass down my thigh to yank my leg up around his hip, grinding against the apex of my thighs deliciously.

“Oh, Ryder,” I whispered with awe. There was the perfect alignment of his hard cock rubbing against the seam of my shorts, setting off sparks of sensation. “That feels so good.”

“You like that?” He circled his hips slowly, and I held on to his arms as my legs shook, my blood beginning to pool thickly in one major spot.

“Yes,” I exhaled sharply, my lips parted, trying to breathe through the fire building.

He continued the slow grind. “I’ve been visualizing you wrapped around my waist all afternoon. I just want to be deep inside you right now.”

“Yesss. I want that too.” My sex swelled, and more damp heat had me aching and needy. I knew my panties were going to be soaked.

He let go of my leg to peel my shirt off, and seeing the lacy cups of my bra, paused to admire. His eyes flared as he traced the pattern where my nipples stiffened through the transparent, silky material with light, teasing fingers. It was just a light enough touch to make me moan with the sizzling heat that attacked my womb.

“Do you have matching panties?”

“You should find out.”

His eyes were fiery, watching my face, while his fingers undid my button and zipper, dropping my shorts to the ground.

“Damn, Taylor...so fucking hot.” His eyes devoured the white lace of my barely-there thong, running his fingertips over the front of the triangle. I yearned for his fingers to touch me. Helplessly, my hips curled against his hand, feeling such incredible need pumping through me. It was like a thirst that needed immediate quenching.

“Ryder...” I went to yank his shirt loose, but he snagged my hands and manacled them in one of his large ones above my head, arching my breasts out.

“This is a good look for you.” His eyes raked over me. “I want to watch you come,” he murmured, and he ran his fingers down the front of my panties.

“Here?” I gasped, heat from his fingers on my sex making it burn hotter.

“Right here.” He nipped at my ear again. “You’re so fucking wet, I can feel it. So fucking wet,” he rumbled in my ear, gently rubbing the lacy material.

With his strong thigh between my legs, the denim rubbing sensuously on the soft skin of my inner thighs, he used his knee to push my legs farther apart. His fingers pulled the flimsy material of my thong aside and rubbed gently, caressing my hot, sensitive folds. My legs were open to him, my back arched against the wall, and all I could do was moan and writhe as he watched, circling and circling the most sensitive group of nerve endings on my entire body, his heated expression looking darkly satisfied.

A finger found my opening, pumping slowly in and out, and my hips thrust out at him involuntarily. I gasped as fine nerve endings grew hotter, wound tighter and kept me feeling strung with short, choppy breaths of air. I picked up the rhythm as he joined another finger, my muscles beginning to tighten around him. His expression was raw, sensual and demanding that I stay connected to him as he controlled my body. It was so intimate.

His fingers moved harder, the heel of his hand rubbing my clit as we moved together.

“I want to watch you come,” he rasped.

“Yes,” I moaned, and when he stretched me further with a third finger, I went over the top, crying out, my body jerking against him with the force of my orgasm. He captured my cries with his mouth, his lips rubbing against mine as the tremors in my body lessened and subsided, leaving me sensitized, my nerve endings humming.

It took a moment for me to find my scattered thoughts.

“What about you?” I asked shakily, holding onto his shoulders when he released my hands so I wouldn’t just collapse in a puddle of gelatin.

“We’re not done yet,” he replied thickly, and he picked me up to lay me gently on the bed. I sat up on my knees and helped him pull his T-shirt over his head, enjoying running my fingers over the swell of his pecs and along the ridges of his amazing six-pack. Feeling brave, I trailed my hands down to the waistband of his jeans, something I’ve never done before to anyone, and slowly undid each button on his button fly. The lower ones were hard to undo because his cock was hard and full, tightening up the material. My knuckles brushed against his hard flesh, teasingly.