Stronger (The University of Gatica #4) (8 page)

He groaned over and over against her, his tongue working slow and longer strokes as she rolled her hips, her bashfulness long gone to the sensation of him giving her waves of pleasure. He licked once more before looking up at her.

"Come for me. Let me drink you." He moved back down, his words blistering her as she closed her eyes and left her senses focused only on him before her, between her, deep inside of her. She felt the igniting of an orgasm and tightened her body in response, Ryan seeming to understand perfectly as he sucked harder and worked her more deeply.

The scream that left her filled the room, the heavy panting and long groans all belonging to her. He groaned over and over as he lapped at her center. She tightened her grip on his hair, pulling him back as the emotions started to fade.

"Stop, Ryan. Stop..." She jerked her hips, pulling him from her. He sat back and licked at his lips, his eyes dark and ominous. He stood and reached down, pulling her to stand with him, ever so careful of her leg.

"Most divine thing I've ever tasted. Let me tote you to the bedroom and take my time making love to you. Yeah?" He pulled her dress down and moved to pick her up, Chrissy clinging to him.

“Yes, please." She turned and pressed kisses to his chest, her fingers roaming over his back and neck as he moved them up the stairs.

"Your leg still okay?"

"I have legs?" She laughed and he joined her.

Ryan moved her to a large bed, the sheet silky and royal blue. He set her down before the bed and moved behind her, undoing the zipper to her dress and pushing it softly from her shoulders. He moved down her body, his lips kissing and licking down her back, teeth pressing to the top of her butt. She reached back and undid her bra, tossing it across the room.

He stood and turned her toward him, his eyes moving down her as a soft growl left him. "I have no words..." He breathed in deeply, reaching for his slacks as Chrissy stopped him. He looked up at her questioningly.

She pushed his hands away to do it herself, working to get his pants undone, sliding her hands along his hips as the material fell to the floor. He didn't have on underwear and the size of his erection shocked her for a moment, but she hid it as best she could.

"You like?" he asked, reaching for her hand and stroking himself with her fingers.

She reached up with the other hand and stroked him again, her eyes moving up to his face. "I have no words either. So far beyond beautiful." She moved toward him, sliding her arms around his waist as she pressed her lips to his, the saltiness of her own body washing over her tongue.

He lifted her and set her on the bed, moving back to help maneuver her up onto the softness of the sheets. "Protect that leg and let me know if it starts hurting you. We'll stop." He moved above her, sitting back on his heels again as his sex stood proud and erect. He slid his hands up her legs and pushed them open, his tongue darting out again. "I want to taste you again. I want more."

"I want to feel you inside of me. Come here." She reached up and brushed her fingers down his taut stomach.

"Lady’s wishes..." He leaned over, holding himself as he entered her.

Chrissy lifted her hips, anxious to be one with him. He pulled up a little and pressed his chest to hers, his fingers brushing through her hair. "Patience vixen. I've watched you come twice. I'm ready to explode at simply the sight of you naked."

She reached up and slid her hands along his hips to his ass, digging her fingers in and pulling him down as he filled her up. Her head tilted backward as he groaned, his body moving into a deep thrust as his tongue brushed over her breast. He reached down and cupped her butt, his movements so sensual and calculated as he sated himself inside of her. Chrissy reveled in the moment, her body lost to him, her heart finding more than it bargained for. He sat up, lifting her hips and working her deeper, his thumb pressing to her center as he rubbed softly.

"Good, babe? Feel good to you?" He rolled his hips, his movements tensing the eight pack of his abs as sweat glistened on him.

Chrissy reached up and ran her fingers along his stomach just before another orgasm slammed into her. "Harder, Ryan... Harder." She dropped her hands to the bed and pushed up, her knee screaming in protest as he picked up the pace and pounded himself into her as she came undone. He let her finish before laying her down and leaning over, his movements slow and methodical again. He buried his face against her neck and grunted softly as he took his time to reach his own. She wrapped her good leg around him, her fingers scratching desire along the thick muscles of his back.

"Almost there, baby. So fucking tight and wet."

"For you, Ryan. Only for you..." she whispered into his ear as he groaned loudly, his body stiffening as his movements lost rhythm. He picked up his speed as she helped by working him from underneath as best she could.

"Oh, fuck," he yelled and lifted up to a full extension on his arms, his hips pumping fast and hard before slowing. His eyes opened as he pumped into her a few more times, his expression heavy. "Oh fuck..."

She pulled him back on top of her, running her fingers through his hair and kissing the side of his face softly. "So good. I didn't know sex could be so good."

"Me, either." He turned and pressed a soft kiss to her lips before collapsing back on top of her. "I want more."

"Greedy bastard."

"Only for you, baby."

He took her again in the middle of the night, his body pressed to the back of hers in an awkward spoon. His fingers playing between her thighs as he pressed himself deep into her. Chrissy woke wondering if the second time was a dream, but realizing quickly by their positioning it wasn't. She pulled his arm around her, the bed a mess from their night together. She was spent, her body sore and her heart quaking in fear for the thought of falling in love with him.

Too late.

He groaned and pulled her closer. His lips brushed by her shoulder before he moved from her and stretched. Chrissy looked over her shoulder, wanting to get a good look at his magnificent body in the early morning light. She wasn't disappointed.

"Merry Christmas," she whispered.

"You too, beautiful." He touched the side of her head and smiled.

"I'd say this is the best present I could imagine possible."

"Well, that was by far the best night of my life. Damn. The way we fit together." He groaned, running his hand down his stomach and over his soft sex. "I want to just stay in bed and make love to you all day. Every day."

Chrissy laughed and moved to sit up. She reached up and ran her fingers through her hair, which was sure to be a mess. "I wish we could get paid for it. I'd be down."

"Yeah, you would. Down below me." He laughed and moved off the bed. "You want to share the shower?"

"I'm not sure we'd get out of here if we did."

"I'll wash your back if you'll wash mine. No sex. Promise."

"Awww... I love shower sex." She slid off the bed carefully, turning to face him.

"Then definitely shower sex." He moved around the bed toward her as she lifted her hand.

"No, my leg wouldn't be able to handle that. Quick shower and then I need to go. I'm hanging with Jani today and having dinner with my brother tonight for our gift exchange. Jani’s roommate Aileen went home for the holidays, but Jani decided to stick around and train. Trying to make up for the past few months of slacking."

"You're not staying for the whole weekend?" Ryan pouted, his bottom lip extended making him more than hot, as if that was possible.

"I can't. I can come back later tonight if you want to make a mess together?"

"Yes... I want to now, so by tonight I should be rather ravenous." He moved toward her, picking her up as she swatted at him.

"I'm naked. Put me down."

He gave her a funny look, a short laugh leaving him. "I'm naked. Put me down? I think you being naked leaves me wanting to pick you up and not let go."

"Shower only."

"Sure, right." He set her down by the shower and worked to get it started as Chrissy watched his butt.

She reached out and caressed one of the cheeks as he glanced over his shoulder.

"You're asking for trouble miss."

"I love your ass. It's perfect."

"I do a lot of ab and ass workouts. It should be damn near perfect." He moved back, offering a hand to help her into the steamy hot water. "Come on. Get in here before I change my mind and bend you over the sink."

She moved into the warm welcome of the water, the jets perfect, the soft slide of his body against hers far beyond that.

They made it through the shower with nothing more than heavy petting, Chrissy's heart raced again as she pulled on her dress from the night before. Why she hadn't brought a change of clothes was beyond her. She was hoping that she could stick to her guns about him and simply say 'no' to his advances. She rolled her eyes at herself in the bathroom mirror before pulling her long wet hair into a bun and walking out to find him.

Ryan stood in the large kitchen, his back to her, his jeans fitting beautifully. He was drinking from the orange juice container as she walked up and slid her arms around his waist. He offered it to her over his shoulder and she took it, moving back and taking a quick swig too.

"Jason would keel over if he knew I just drank from the jug."

Ryan laughed and put the top on, setting it back in the fridge and turning to face her.

"You and your brother really close?"

"Yeah, he's all I have. Dad died when I was younger and my mother is a worthless drunk." She hated the sound of her voice when she referred to her mother, the malice never seeming to die.

"Sorry. You’re lucky you have Jason. I'm an only child." He shrugged and walked toward the kitchen table. Ryan picked up a blue t-shirt and pulled it over his head before turning to face her. "You ready to go? I'll take you home and if you want to come spend the night with me again, I'll come get you this evening."

"Sounds perfect." She hopped toward him, her eyes moving through the various rooms they walked through looking for her crutches.

"They're still in the car, remember? Want me to tote you?"

"No! I'm sick of being toted." She laughed as he slid an arm around her waist. She leaned against him, making the journey a little easier. He opened her door and moved back, helping her get into the car before moving to his side.

He got in and started the car, stopping to look over at her as his teeth sunk into his bottom lip.

"What?" she asked.

"You. Last night from the car to the bed. So far beyond my wildest sexual imagination. You’re a sex kitten and I want you to be only mine."

"Are you asking me out?" She pulled her seatbelt in place and turned to pin him with confidence she didn't have.

"Would you say yes if I did?"

"Not how this works, buddy."

"Then yeah, I am."

"Then yes. I'll be your sex kitten on one condition."

"Anything."

"Move to UG."

He probably hadn't been expecting her to make things so straightforward, but if Ryan wanted a relationship with her then he was going to have to transfer to her school. He had mumbled something about being willing to consider it, but the conversation had quickly shifted. It wasn't as uncomfortable as she thought it would be, forcing his hand. She wanted to be his and her body had already laid claim to a long life of tensing up and releasing at the demands of his words and the magic of his hands. Now he had a decision to make. She shouldn’t have given him the ultimatum. That’s not how things worked.

Jani sat across from her at the coffee shop, her friend quiet as thoughts of Ryan continued to push through her subconscious. Their hanging out had amounted to the dollar store. It was fun if nothing else.

"What’re you thinking about?" Jani lifted the small white cup to her lips, sucking on the straw loudly.

"Ryan. I like him a lot, but he's from another school."

"True, but he's not Brent. I'd give him a chance."

"I spent last night with him." Chrissy laughed as heat rose into her cheeks.

"Oh wow!” Jani lifted an eyebrow and shot her a sly look. “Any good?"

"Incredible. By far the best sex I've ever had."

“Did you tell Elizabeth?”

“I just got back and changed from his place about the time you showed up. My roommate wasn't there, which leaves me a little worried, but hopefully she'll respond to my text later."

"Is Ryan going with you to the Pinstripe Bowl next week? Aileen got me tickets. I thought we had automatic entrance but since it’s a bowl game, we have to buy tickets. Let me do that before I forget." She reached into her bag and pulled out a small envelope, extending it toward Chrissy.

"I'm going to ask him, but I don't know his plans. He's just about healed from his injury, so I would assume he's going to be headed back to Boston soon to start working with his team." She shrugged, the thought making her sick to her stomach. Her phone buzzed and she picked it up, hoping it was her brother or Elizabeth.

Ryan.

Hey. Just got a demand made on me by my father. My grandmother wants me up there for the rest of the weekend. I'll be back on Monday afternoon or earlier if I can help it. See you on Tuesday in the gym?

Her smile faded. Three days with him being gone? Her body screamed for the loss of what could have happened that night.

"What's the matter?" Jani reached over and touched her arm.

"Nothing. I was supposed to go over to Ryan's tonight after dinner with Jason, but he's going out of town. His dad pulled the holiday card on him I guess."

She texted him back:
Of course. Be safe. Save New Years for me. I got Pinstripe Bowl tickets.

He replied quickly:
Fuck yeah!

It made her smile. Jani asked for more details. She filled her friend in on the rest of the events as of late and shopped into the late afternoon. They stopped at the grocery store on the way back to the dorms, Chrissy wanted to grab a few figure-friendly snacks to keep in the room. She hugged Jani before slipping out of the car and waving goodbye.

Jason would be there to pick her up in an hour, which gave her time for a short nap if nothing else came up.

Moving slowly toward the door, her arms began to ache, the crutches rubbing sore spots where they sat for the last week or so. She gritted her teeth and made it down the hall to her room before pulling them from her and reaching for her key.

"Hey, I'm here. I'll get it." Elizabeth moved in behind her, holding up a key.

"There you are. I was worried about you."

"Yeah, I'm good. Just hung over. Your brother took me back to his apartment because he was worried I was going to start vomiting. He's a great guy. We just woke up." She smiled and walked into the room, holding the door open for Chrissy.

"He didn't try anything on you, did he? I'll kill him if he did."

"Not a thing. He was a perfect gentleman. Carried me everywhere and held my hair while I made a fool of myself."

"Good. I'm too tired to kill him." Chrissy moved to the bed and sat down, letting her crutches drop. "I'm so sick of those freakin’ things."

"One more week, and I'll bet you'll be good to go if you take it easy."

"I hope so."

"Merry Christmas." Elizabeth smirked as if the holiday didn't matter. It honestly didn't feel anything like Christmas anyway.

"Yeah, you too."

"Where were you last night? Did you make it back here? You feeling okay? Jason said you were sick to your stomach."

She smiled. She’d told her uncle it was her knee and Ryan must have told Jason it was her stomach. "I lied. Don't tell Jason. Ryan and I started making out on the back porch and it escalated fast. We got out of there so I wouldn’t get a ticket for public indecency." Chrissy laughed, Elizabeth joining her.

"Jason mentioned you guys were having dinner tonight. Exchanging gifts?"

"Yeah, you want to come with us?" Chrissy glanced over at her friend.

"No, I'm headed to my parents’ house in the next hour, just curious what you got him."

"He's hard as hell to buy for. That's for sure."

"I would think so too." Elizabeth stretched, a long yawn leaving her.

"I got him a rubber chicken with something inappropriate written on it, a gift card to the movie theater and a six pack of Corona."

Elizabeth laughed and got up, starting to gather things from around the room. "I like your brother. He seems like a different kind of guy."

"He's a good guy, but he's still very much a dude."

"I know, but I think if he asked me out I'd go, you know?"

"I think he would be happy to hear that. Want me to put in a plug?"

"Not yet. He asked me to go to the Pinstripe Bowl game with him. I thought you had tickets for us though, so I told him I would check."

"I do have tickets, but if you're going with him, I'll just give Ryan your ticket."

"That works too."

Chrissy closed her eyes, the soft hum of the TV helping her to relax and let everything go. Sleep rolled in quickly, her dreams filled with a handsome hockey player that was much more of a softy than anyone realized.

The sound of someone beating at the door pulled her from her nap, the darkness of the room giving her quick recollection that nighttime had arrived. She moved to stand up, forgetting for a minute that her knee was jacked up and putting weight on it. She yelped and reached for the light, her voice filled with agitation.

"Just a damn minute. I'm crippled." She hopped toward her crutches and slipped them into place, grimacing as she put them under her arms. She moved toward the door, her mood sour at the incessant knocking at her door.

She pulled it open and frowned at her brother. "You don't have a key? Shit."

He moved into the room behind her. "I do, but what if someone was naked? I was trying to be sensitive to you girls."

"By breaking the damn door down with your fists?"

"Ho, ho, ho, Merry Christmas." Jason rubbed his stomach and chuckled like the Santas in the old movies.

"Who are you calling a hoe?"

"Oh, geez! Get your stuff and let's go." He moved past her and looked around as she picked up her purse. "Where's Lizzy?"

"Lizzy? You mean Elizabeth?"

"She likes it when I call her Lizzy." He stuck out his tongue at her, making a rather obnoxious noise. Chrissy rolled her eyes and pulled her ATM card from her purse, slipping it into her jeans.

"She left to see her parents already. I must’ve fallen asleep."

"Did you get my gift or do we need to reschedule?" He put his hands on his hips, the look on his face that of a disappointed three year old. She laughed and pointed to the large white bag from Abercrombie.

"It's there. Grab it and let's go. I'm starving."

He moved to pick it up and walked to the door, holding it for her and starting his inquiries that she knew were to come.

"How’re you feeling? Stomach still upset?"

"It's better. I'm good. Just tired from lugging around these stupid crutches all the time."

"Did Ryan bring you straight home the other night?"

"None of your business."

"I'm your brother."

"Exactly. Where are we eating? What did you have in mind?"

"I'm thinking something Italian. I want pizza. You?"

"Sounds good. There's that new fancy place near the city, Geno’s, which just opened. I heard their deep dish is orgasmic. It takes like forty minutes to make, but you've got plenty of questions for me, I'm sure."

He held the door to the car open for her and took her crutches, his growl playful and humorous.

Jason got in the car after depositing everything in the trunk and looked over at Chrissy. "You're going to love what I got you."

"Oh yeah? New car? Apartment so I don't have to stay in the dorms? New knee to replace this bum one?"

"No. Even better." His smile reached his eyes causing Chrissy to laugh. Her brother would always be a little kid around her, proud of himself for the simplest of feats.

She reached over and rubbed his shoulder. "Lizzy said she was going to go to the game with you on New Year’s Day. I'm going to give Ryan the other ticket I have then."

"Ryan? You seeing him or something?"

"You don't want to save this for the restaurant?"

"Do you?"

"Yes, I think I do. Safer with people around.” She winked at him and tried not to laugh. “Turn on the music and let me just chill for a little bit. I need to prepare for the interview I'm sure you're going to put me through."

"You mean interrogation?”

"Hell, I’m screwed."

"Good. I'm your brother."

"Yes, you keep reminding me."

The wait to get a seat in the brightly colored Italian bistro was about ten minutes longer than expected, their total wait time almost an hour. It was most likely the only thing open on Christmas. Chrissy was starving and cranky by the time they slid into their booth. They both ordered Cokes and quickly agreed on a deep dish meat-lovers with bread and salads to start.

Chrissy pulled her napkin in her lap and looked across the table at her brother. "You want to open gifts first or pepper me with questions?"

"I wanted to tell you that I ran into Brent last week. When I was visiting with the coach from South Central."

"Why were you in South Central?"

"They need a TA for their Tuesday and Thursday freshman practice, and I could use the money and the experience."

"What was Brent doing there?"

"Applying for the same job. I have it in the bag, but of course the dumb-ass asked about you."

"You spoke to him?" Chrissy sat back, taking a sip of her soda and staring at her brother. No one had been more upset about Brent's cheating on her than Jason. He had taken the situation a bit too far, going up to NYU and whooping the poor guy’s ass in front of all of his frat brothers.

"We were in front of the athletic coaches that were doing the hiring. I couldn't respond the way I wanted to. I'm sure he asked about you to simply drive a large hole in my chest in hopes of my acting out and losing the chance at the job."

"But you kept your cool."

"Yep. Asked him if he knew Ryan Phillips."

"Why?"

"He said, 'Who doesn't know Ryan Phillips, dude'." Jason smiled and moved back as the salads arrived. "I told him that was great. Ryan was your new man and you guys looked great together."

"I thought you didn't like Ryan."

"I don't, but I hate Brent more."