by Nicola Marsh
‘Eat. Now,’ he growled, as he began plonking a bit of everything on a paper plate, and she laughed as half of it slid off in his haste.
‘Let me.’ She laid a steadying hand on his, picking up some of the morsels and popping them directly into her mouth.
His muffled groan had her eating faster.
‘Watching you eat is such a fucking turn-on.’
‘Maybe you should eat too?’
She picked up a stuffed bell pepper and brought it to his lips, and as he opened his mouth she popped it in, letting her fingertips linger for a moment. He licked them and it was her turn to squirm.
‘As much as I enjoyed this afternoon’s motel surprise, I’d intended on taking things slow tonight but this foreplay is killing me,’ he said, picking up a chocolate and dragging it across her lips. ‘In a good way.’
The chocolate melted on contact with her tongue and she swirled it over the tip of his thumb, sucking it deeper into her mouth.
Lust blazed in his eyes as he withdrew it and scooted back a fraction. ‘I will not be arrested in my favourite park in Sydney on my first trip back in years,’ he said, his voice low and gravelly.
‘Though it could be kind of fun if I get to use the handcuffs on you,’ she said sweetly, snaffling a piece of Turkish Delight and lifting it to her mouth where she licked the icing sugar off it with small darts of her tongue.
He gritted his teeth so hard his jaw jutted, his gaze riveted to her mouth while he started flinging food back into the cooler.
‘What are you doing? I haven’t finished—’
‘We’re done,’ he said. ‘I’ve had enough of this harbour view. I fancy an indoor picnic instead.’
He leaned over to whisper in her ear, ‘I’m going to snack on all this after I’ve eaten you.’
Her belly flipped and heat pooled between her legs.
With her heart thundering so loudly she could’ve sworn she heard the echo in her ears, she murmured, ‘Hurry.’
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
RYDER HAD GRAND plans to feast off Polly’s body once they got back to her place, yet once again they barely made it through the front door when they pounced on each other.
But he had to see her in that satin blue lingerie so he stilled her frantic hands as she tore his shirt out of his jeans.
‘As much as I want to take you up against this wall again, I want to take things slower this time.’
She made a cute little scoff of frustration. ‘Slow is overrated.’
‘I’ll make it worth your while,’ he murmured, backing her towards the tiny lounge room. ‘Promise.’
‘Okay,’ she said with a shrug, before pushing him down onto the sofa with surprising force. ‘I’m assuming you want to see this?’
With a surprisingly deft move she peeled her singlet over her head, and gave it a swing before flinging it away. That left her sizeable C cups spilling over the top of the flimsy blue satin bra.
‘Fuck,’ he muttered, linking his hands behind his head, determined to enjoy the show she was putting on.
He never would’ve picked Polly to be an extrovert in the bedroom. Then again, he’d often wondered if she’d be a firecracker beneath her prim exterior.
They’d swapped banter for so long, had virtually grown up together, but never in his wildest dreams had he anticipated being privy to this beautiful woman’s sexual revolution.
Because that was what it felt like: she was taking control and loving every minute of it. The sex on the desk in that seedy motel had blown his mind. Not that he knew much about her sexual history, but Archie had once mentioned that she rarely dated. As if a brother would know much about that kind of thing anyway. But Ryder loved taking a front seat to her sexy show, watching the girl he’d once known become the woman wielding her sexuality with power.
‘You’re staring at me,’ she said, a coy smile playing about her mouth as she cocked her hip.
‘Because I’m enjoying the strip show.’ He lowered his hands from behind his head and sat forward. ‘Seriously, Pol, you’re sexy as fuck.’
‘But it’s just a bra.’
He laughed at her deadpan joke. ‘It’s all you.’
Colour suffused her cheeks and spread lower, down her neck and into her chest. And he instantly wondered if her being in the throes of passion would have the same effect.
‘You’re just sexed up from this afternoon and want more of this.’ She unzipped her denim skirt, pushed it over her hips and let it fall to the floor before kicking it away. ‘There. You can sit there drooling or you can do something about it.’
As expected, she rocked the blue satin combo in a big way. And her body... Curves he itched to get his hands on. Light olive skin dusted with freckles. Smooth. Tempting.
He stood so fast she gave a little squeal, and they laughed together as he snagged her hand and tugged her flush against him.
His cock throbbed with the contact but he wanted to make this first time tonight all about her, so he guided her down onto the sofa and knelt in front of her.
Her eyes widened with carnal knowledge as he nudged her knees apart and tugged on the back of them, bringing her closer to the edge.
‘As much as I love those panties on you, they’re coming off. Now.’
‘Fine,’ she said, lifting her butt so he could wriggle them down. ‘I like it when you’re all alpha male.’
He liked looking at her, slick with wanting him.
‘You’ll like this more.’
He licked her pussy with his tongue, sliding his hands under her butt to lift her closer to his mouth. She glistened, so good, so inviting... He licked her again, deeper this time, thrusting his tongue inside her. Over and over, her soft moans driving him wild.
‘Ryder...yeah...so good,’ she whispered, her hand resting on his head, her fingers tugging at his hair as he grazed her clit with his teeth. ‘More...’
He wanted more too so he started lapping at her clit, savouring her muskiness, teasing her by alternating the pace. Slow and fast. Again and again until her hips started moving of their own volition and she thrust towards his mouth.
Her butt tensed in his hands as he sucked at her clit, hard, and she came apart on a primal yell that made him want to do it all over again right this fucking second.
She trembled as he slid his hands out from under her, already reaching for a condom in his back pocket. He’d packed several more in the cooler, hoping for a big night.
Dazed, she watched him get naked and sheathed in record time, but when he reached for her she shook her head.
‘You sit. I get to be on top.’
‘Fuck yeah,’ he said, doing as he was told, loving the confident way she straddled him.
But she didn’t lower herself. Instead, she slid her hands around the back and unhooked her bra, flinging it away to leave her breasts right in front of his face. Big nipples. Pale pink areolas. Perfect.
With a groan, he leaned forward and took a nipple into his mouth, laving it with his tongue while rolling the other between his thumb and forefinger. He loved how she tasted—sweet, somehow. As he swiped at her skin with his tongue, moving from one nipple to the other, she lowered herself onto him, one exquisite, torturous inch at a time. Encasing him in velvet heat.
She eased his head away and anchored her hands on his shoulders. ‘I want to see you.’
He nodded, mute, as she started to ride him. Up and down. With no thought for taking it slow but with sheer abandon, a woman in control, seeking her pleasure.
Biggest fucking turn-on ever.
He rested his hands on her hips but she set the pace and he revelled in seeing her get off the way she wanted to.
As she rode him faster, harder, the tension in his back intensified and his balls tightened. And as she let go, head flung back, he did the same, thrusting into her with so much force
it felt like his head would explode.
When she slumped forward onto him, he took all her weight and wrapped his arms around her waist.
This felt so good...so right...
But it couldn’t last. He couldn’t think this way.
So he did the one thing guaranteed to get them back on track.
Releasing her, he eased away and eyed her with a cocky grin. ‘Are we ever going to make it to your bedroom?’
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
IT HAD BEEN four long days since Ryder had spent the night at Polly’s place, ninety-six hours since she’d come to the startling realisation this thing between them could be more than sex.
Logically, she knew it couldn’t be anything more than a fling. She’d dealt with cold, hard facts for years and that meant she should be counting down the days until he left. And he would, there was no doubt. She understood why, too.
For years, she’d avoided researching Ryder online because she didn’t want to see him living the high life—or who he was living it with. It was stupid enough having a crush on her brother’s best friend and hearing tales via Archie, but seeing firsthand evidence would’ve exacerbated her feeling of inadequacy that someone like her could never be enough for a guy like him.
But with the fundraiser coming up she needed to ensure the promotion for their keynote speaker was accurate, and that meant researching Ryder.
She’d avoided it the last few days, ever since she’d woken before him to find him sprawled in her bed and looking like he belonged there. She’d studied him, how even in sleep, with one hand under his head and the other resting on his ripped abdomen, his ridiculously handsome features slack, he looked like the hottest guy on the planet. He made sexy look effortless, while she resorted to lingerie to make her feel one tenth as wicked.
It had happened while she’d been studying him...the insidious feeling of wanting him in her bed for longer than a night. And when he’d woken and they’d had sex for the fourth time before he’d stood beside her in the kitchen helping whip up scrambled eggs, that feeling had intensified until her throat had ached with holding back the words: ‘I like you beyond the sex and I want more.’
The realisation had been enough to make her bundle him out of her tiny apartment as soon as he’d finished eating and she’d cited a heavy workload to avoid seeing him since.
It wasn’t a lie entirely, considering the fundraiser was taking up all her time. But now she had to proofread the advertising for Ryder and that meant immersing herself in his world online.
The marketing junior had done a good job building him up, citing him as a world-class speaker and renowned life coach who’d faced adversity and inspired people with his tales.
The woman who had a major crush on him wanted to square her shoulders with pride at his achievements, but her logical side was curious: what had he done to deserve the accolades?
Intrigued, she typed Ryder Beale into a search engine and watched the hits pop up. Hundreds of thousands of them. Stunned, she scrolled through a few until one caught her eye, titled Cheating Death.
She clicked on the article from an extreme sports website and read. Incredulous, she read it twice to make sure she’d got the gist of it.
So that was why Ryder had changed his life after the broken leg. Nothing to do with a fractured femur and everything to do with witnessing a horrendous, fatal accident involving a car he should’ve been in.
Slumping in her chair, Polly blinked, surprised to find her eyes moist. Why hadn’t Ryder discussed this with Archie? Or had he, and Archie had never told her? It irked that they’d reconnected this week yet Ryder hadn’t mentioned this to her. Then again, scorching sex didn’t encourage intimate revelations and the one time she’d dug deeper about his gran he’d clammed up.
Going through something so traumatic... He hadn’t been home to Sydney since the broken leg but maybe that had more to do with the accident? Had he experienced survivor’s guilt? Was the accident the catalyst behind him completing his psychology degree and turning to life coaching?
So many questions she wanted to ask him, but after the way he’d shut down on her when she’d probed into his family background, she doubted she’d get the answers she wanted.
So for the next hour she read many articles, learning more about the man she’d fallen for. He’d been hired by people around the world, from major sporting organisations to mega corporations, to provide life coaching. He’d presented at symposiums and conferences, and had garnered quite a reputation in the field. Little wonder he’d been offered a book deal. Readers lapped up this stuff, with ‘key to happiness’ books hitting bestseller charts regularly at the moment.
No great surprise that in times of political and financial turmoil, people wanted to feel good about themselves. And boy, did Ryder make her feel good. But as she compared the articles with the promotion the junior office girls had done for him as the keynote speaker at the Sizzle fundraiser, she wondered what really made the enigmatic man tick.
Acting on a whim, she picked up the phone and called Archie. He answered after seven rings, which meant he was neck-deep in renovations and wouldn’t welcome the interruption.
‘Hey, sis. What’s up?’
She heard the whir of a circular saw winding down in the background. ‘Caught you at a bad time?’
‘Every bloody day is a bad time,’ he said. ‘If I ever mention the R word again, hit me over the head with a mallet.’
‘You love renovating.’
He snorted. ‘As much as I like having you give me a pep talk. Is this urgent? Because I need to get back to butchering this wood.’
‘Not urgent,’ she said, wishing she’d never rung him. The moment she mentioned Ryder’s name he’d know she was asking questions for more than work purposes. Archie knew her better than she knew herself. He’d picked up on her moroseness when their mum had favoured him and he’d do whatever it took to cheer her up—usually buying her a new paranormal novel but still, it was the effort that counted. ‘But Ryder’s doing a speech at Sizzle’s fundraiser and I wanted to make sure the advertising copy is right.’
‘What do you want to know?’
Here went nothing. ‘Did he tell you about the car accident he nearly died in not long after he broke his leg?’
‘Yeah, he mentioned something about it, but he didn’t make it sound like a big deal. Why?’
Her palms grew clammy at the thought of how close Ryder had come to being in that car and she gripped the phone tighter so it wouldn’t slip out of her grasp. ‘I’m doing research to make sure we introduce him correctly at the fundraiser, and came across an article that said he’d cheated death because he should’ve been in that car.’
‘Shit. Really?’
Her heart sank. If Ryder hadn’t mentioned it to Archie, there was no way she could bring it up with him. ‘That’s what the article said, yeah.’
‘Wonder why he never told me?’
‘I guess guys don’t talk about deep stuff,’ she said, wondering if Archie picked up on how hollow her response sounded.
If Ryder wanted to offload to anyone about what he’d been through, Archie would’ve been his go-to person. The fact Ryder hadn’t confided in Archie meant he didn’t want them to know about it, but why? They could’ve found out about it any time by looking him up online so why hide it?
Or was she making too much of this and Ryder had omitted to tell Archie because it wasn’t a big deal?
‘Is that all, sis? Because I really need to get back to this so I can make it to the hardware store before closing.’
‘Yeah, that’s it.’
Archie paused and cleared his throat. ‘Ryder’s a pretty private guy when he wants to be, so my advice is to leave this alone. It could be a simple oversight on his part or we were too busy spinning shit at the time to talk about the deep stuff. But if you and Ryder are getting along, d
on’t nose around too much. He hates it.’
She’d already found that out the hard way. ‘Thanks, Arch.’
‘No worries.’
He rung off, leaving her staring at the phone and contemplating exactly how far she should delve. Because despite her brother’s advice she knew she couldn’t let this go. She may have deluded herself into thinking Ryder was just some guy to have a fling with, a string of one-night stands that wouldn’t matter once he left, but he was a friend first and foremost. She needed to know more, but she was damned if she could come up with an unobtrusive way of doing it.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
RYDER HAD BEEN an adrenaline junkie for most of his life and when he’d no longer been able to paraglide off a cliff or scuba dive in shark-infested waters, he’d sought his high with women. He dated, he had fun, he moved on. Women knew the score and he never deliberately misled them. And he’d certainly never do anything remotely misleading with Polly.
Which was why he currently stood outside Sizzle’s offices second-guessing the wisdom in showing up here unannounced. It was a spontaneous gesture he hoped wouldn’t come back to bite him on the ass.
He’d taken it at face value when she’d told him she’d been snowed under the last few days and couldn’t see him. He’d seen firsthand what sort of a cow her boss was and he’d left her alone. But her short responses to his texts told a different story. She was avoiding him and he wanted to know why.
The sex had been phenomenal and usually by this stage he’d be extricating himself. A part of him had wondered if once he fucked Polly the allure would wear off, a challenge accepted and conquered. But they’d been friends for too long for him to treat her like that. Besides, he still had to do that speech for her fundraiser and it wouldn’t be smart to cool things now.
With that in mind, turning up at her office on the pretext of finalising his speech for the event was a perfectly legitimate excuse. But Polly had this uncanny knack of seeing right through him and she’d know that his impromptu visit had more to do with finding out why he hadn’t heard from her for days.