“Yeah, actually, I feel great. I think part of it was nerves about taking the test. I’m sorry I should have told you I thought I might be pregnant, but I was a mess.”
“You don’t need to apologize, but from now on we work through things together, yeah?”
“Yeah.” I nod. He leans in to kiss me with a kiss that is full of so much love. It’s so hard for me to imagine a time before Ryker Allen.
61
Ryker
I’m over the damn moon right now. I could tell that Claire was worried about what I’d think about her being pregnant, but I couldn’t be happier. I’ve already felt like Brady’s father, but, damn, it feels amazing knowing this woman is carrying my child.
I grab Claire’s hand without saying anything and pull her back into the room. She looks at me with questioning eyes, but I still don’t say anything as I lift her shirt over her head. This beautiful woman looks like a goddess. I plan on spending the rest of our lives showing her how incredible she is. I don’t know what I did to deserve her, but I’m thankful that she sees the good in me, even though I’m less than worthy of her.
After her shirt is lying at our feet, I turn her around, so I can unhook her bra. I slide the straps down and it joins her shirt on the floor. Her back is pressed against my chest, so I wrap my arms around her and cup her full breasts. She has no idea how perfect she is. She leans her head back on my shoulder, which only gives me better access to her. I pull her hair away from her face and run my tongue along her neck.
“Ryke, baby, please.”
“What, sweetheart?” I spin her around so she’s looking at me. “I’m going to worship your gorgeous body and then I’m going to make sweet, sweet love to my future wife. How does that sound?” I rub her flat stomach and bend to lay a gentle kiss on it.
“That sounds wonderful,” she whispers. “I love you.”
“Oh, sweetheart, you have no idea how much I love you.” I devour her mouth as I run my hands through her hair. She tugs on my shirt, asking me to take it off without words. I decide to let her have her way and pull my clothes off as fast as humanly possible. I cannot wait much longer to be inside of her.
As soon as we’re both completely naked, I lift her onto the bed. I can’t take my eyes off the beauty underneath me. She’s panting hard and I can tell that she’s not going to last much longer. I’m feeling the exact same way. We’re both already worked up, so I decide not to waste any more time and gently slide into her.
“You like that, sweetheart?” I ask as I rub her clit. I can’t get enough of this woman.
“Yes.” She pants some more. She seems to be at a loss for words. I can’t say I blame her, if she feels half as good as I do.
I run my hand up and down her right side, stopping at her nipple. After giving it a hard squeeze and getting the reaction I want from her, I lean down and suck hard. Her astounding body immediately comes undone as she lifts herself off the mattress.
“Oh, God, Ryke!” I’ll never get tired of her screaming my name when she comes apart.
We spend the rest of the morning relaxing in bed and even make love one more time before we decide to get up.
“How about we go down to the beach for a bit?” I suggest once we’re up.
“You just want a reason to see my hot ass in a swimsuit.” She winks.
I swat her hot ass. “You better go get yourself ready before I take you back to that bed and have my way with you again.”
“You need to behave yourself, Mr. Allen,” she says as she goes into the bathroom.
This woman is going to be the death of me.
When we get down to the beach, right outside our hotel room, we both slide our shoes off so we can feel the warm sand between our toes. It reminds me of when I used to come to Florida with my dad and sister growing up. One day, I hope we can bring Brady and the new baby back here. I still can’t get over the fact that I’m going to be a father. She has me on cloud nine and I hope to never come back down.
“It’s so beautiful,” Claire says as she stares out at the clear water.
“I agree,” I say looking at her. She has no idea how beautiful she is and that’s one of the things I love most about her.
She lets go of my hand and heads toward the water. I’m unable to move because this woman has me in a trance. I watch as she sits in the sand and nearly gets knocked over when a wave comes to shore. I’m several feet from where she’s sitting but still hear her giggling. I love seeing her so carefree like this. I know she had a hard time leaving Brady, but she deserves this.
When she couldn’t remember me after her accident, I thought my life was over. I didn’t think I’d ever be able to breathe again, but, damn, this woman has made me the luckiest goddamn man in the world.
“Hey, handsome.” She leans into me as I wrap my legs around her. We came here for her friend’s wedding, but I’d give anything to sit here all day with her. We’ll be here for the next few days, so I plan on keeping her naked half the time. The rest of the time we’ll most likely spend out here. Our hotel is on a private beach, so there are very few other people around.
“You’re all wet, sweetheart.” I didn’t mean for that to sound dirty, but my little vixen chuckles.
“Only for you, handsome.” If she’s not careful, I’m going to drag her back to bed for the rest of the afternoon.
“Ms. Davis, you better be careful or I’ll be forced to take you right here, right now. I’d hate for Shayna to have to bail us out of jail after being arrested for indecent exposure on her wedding day.”
She laughs. “Mr. Allen, whatever do you mean?” She turns toward me and bats her eyelashes. She knows she’s driving me crazy and she’s enjoying torturing me way too much.
“That’s it.” I quickly stand and toss her over my shoulder as I start running toward the hotel.
“Ryke! Put me down!” She’s swatting at my ass, making me run faster.
“If you’re going to tease me, Ms. Davis, you will have to be punished.” I lightly pinch her ass.
Once we’re back in our room, I gently toss her on the bed.
“Ryke, I’m all wet!” she yells and tries to stand up from the bed.
“Yes, I know. That’s what got us into this situation, remember?” I waggle my eyebrows at her and start pulling her two-piece suit off her wet body.
“I have sand all over me and I’m getting the bed dirty.” She tries again to get up, but I stop her. I lift her over my shoulder and head to the bathroom.
“Ryke!” She laughs as she uses both hands to hit my ass.
If she’s afraid of getting the bed dirty, I’ll have my way with her in the shower.
62
Claire
I stand in the bathroom, fixing my hair into a braid on the side of my head. It’s nothing elaborate, but Shayna doesn’t like fancy, despite how her parents act at times. The gray, strapless dress I wear hugs my body perfectly. The front dips into a V, showing a good amount of cleavage, which I know Ryke will appreciate.
“Wow, you look gorgeous.” He stands behind me, looking at me through the mirror. He’s wearing a dark gray suit and it looks amazing next to my dress. The buttercup yellow tie he’s wearing matches my jewelry. We look damn hot together.
“So do you, Mr. Allen,” I say as I turn to adjust his tie for him. I’ve never seen him dressed like this, but it’s quite a sight. I’m seriously considering ripping the damn thing off him and taking him back to bed instead of leaving like we need to.
“Sweetheart, if you keep talking dirty, we’re going to be late and Shayna will castrate me.” I laugh at his dramatics, but he’s right. Shayna will kill us both if we’re late for pictures.
We carefully get into the limo Shayna’s parents insisted we ride in. I enjoy all the things they’ve been doing for us, but there’s no way I could possibly repay them.
“You sure you’re doing alright?” Ryke asks as he leans in to rub my flat belly. I know he’ll be excited to watch my body change during t
he pregnancy.
“Yes, I’m fine. I promise.” I kiss his cheek. Thankfully, after this morning, I didn’t throw up again.
The wedding chapel is like a sauna inside, but, thankfully, the ceremony is short and sweet. They invited three hundred people, so it’s no small feat. We spend a long hour shaking hands and hugging all the guests before riding in a limo with the best man and his wife to the reception. Shayna wanted Ryke to sit with us at the wedding party table because it’s only us and the best man Colton and his wife Audrey. Since I’ve been so sick, I wasn’t able to spend much time with them, but they seem like a nice couple.
Dinner hasn’t been served yet, but people are already out on the dance floor acting like drunken idiots. I look over at my best friend, but she doesn’t seem phased by the way any of them are acting.
We’re served our dinner salads and I suddenly need to pee. I hate to leave my food untouched, but I know I’ll wet myself if I don’t go now.
“You okay?” Ryke asks as I try to stand.
“Yeah, I just have to use the bathroom. I promise I’m not sick again.” I kiss the side of his mouth. He smells delicious tonight with the new cologne I got him for his birthday.
When I get to the bathroom, I notice all the stalls are empty. I take a look at myself in the mirror and I’m glad to see I finally have some color back in my cheeks. I have Ryke’s spoiling to thank. He sure knows how to take care of me.
I’m busy reapplying some lipstick after I pee when I hear someone walk in. I look in the mirror and almost fall over in shock.
“There’s my beautiful wife.” What the fuck?
“Trevor? What are you doing here?” I shriek.
“Well, darlin’, that wasn’t the response I was expecting.” He chuckles evilly. “If you recall, the invitation we got was for me and you. I don’t think I saw an invite for any white trash.” He smirks and I want to punch him in the fucking throat.
“I need to leave.” I try walking past him but soon find myself pushed into a stall. “Trevor, please let go of me.” I try to talk calmly, but I’m scared to death. I’ve never been afraid of him, but now I feel the need to get away from him as quickly as I can.
My phone goes off in my purse that lies on my shoulder.
Trevor rips it off me and digs through it looking for my phone. “Ahh, yes. Ryke. That was his name. Fucking lowlife, son-of-a-bitch.” He says this without any emotion on his face, which causes the hairs on my arms to stand at attention.
I’m now seeing red. How dare he talk about Ryke like that? I start banging on his chest, not caring how scared I am.
“Let me go and don’t you ever talk about him!” I scream.
“Hello, Ryke,” he answers my phone. I can hear Ryke on the other end but can’t make out what he’s saying. “This is Trevor Davis. I’m glad you’ve enjoyed fucking my wife, but I’m taking her back.” Oh, my god. If Ryke figures out a way to get in here, he’s going to kill Trevor.
After he ends the call, his hand goes around my neck. “I think it’s time I finished what I started. I could have fucking cared less that you took off to Phoenix but finding out that bastard had what was mine pissed me off. Why did you have to go sleep with that goddamned piece of shit? How do you think that makes me look? Huh? You don’t deserve to be happy. You didn’t know I had another family, did you? Yep.” He pops the “p” in “yep.” “I was fucking her for the last few years and you never even knew. She helped me try to split you and that bar owner up, but now you’ve ripped her away from me. So now it’s time to pay. This time, I think I’ll drive you over a bridge so you don’t have a chance. Brady will be mine,” he hisses in my ear. Oh, my God.
“You tried to kill me!” Oh, my God. Monica wasn’t lying.
I’m revved up on adrenaline and start pounding at his chest in fury. Without thinking, I knee him in the balls, which causes him to fall to his knees.
“You stupid bitch!” he yells as he holds his groin. Then I hear the stall door swing open. Thank God.
Trevor is already on the floor, but Ryke kicks him hard in the face, causing him to fall to his back. Blood squirts from his nose, splattering the wall behind him. “Motherfucker! You ever touch her again, I will end you! You’re lucky I don’t do it now.” He pulls him off the floor by the collar of his shirt and Trevor’s gasping for air. I don’t want him spending his life in prison because of this bastard, but I sickly enjoy watching him beat his ass.
“Ryke, stop!” Trevor’s face is turning blue.
He stops and turns towards me, seeing the worry on my face, and roughly throws Trevor back to the floor.
Now, the police are here, thankfully.
“Sweetheart, I’m so sorry. Are you okay?” He looks me over.
“He is the reason I was in a coma. He caused all this fucking pain,” I cry. I can’t catch my breath as I think about how my husband wanted me dead. I try to wipe at the snot that’s now covering his suit jacket.
“Jesus Christ,” he mumbles under his breath. He grabs both sides of my head, so I’ll look at him. “Everything is going to be fine now. He’ll never hurt you again.” I can see the anger in his eyes, but he’s trying to stay calm for me.
We both turn to watch as my husband is escorted out of the bathroom in handcuffs. My soon to be ex-husband.
“I’m never letting you out of my sight again.” He squeezes me almost painfully tight. I don’t care because right now I feel safe in his arms. As controlling as it sounds, I don’t want to be away from him ever again, not after everything that has happened.
After we’re questioned by the police, we make our way back out to the reception. I’m slightly embarrassed we caused such a ruckus.
“Claire! Are you alright?” Shayna cries. I hate seeing my best friend crying on her wedding day because of me.
“I’m fine, Shay. Ryke kicked his ass.” I chuckle. “My fucking husband is a psychopath.” I laugh in shock. This day has been a mess. First, I found out I’m having a baby with the love of my life. But then this. It’s been a huge rollercoaster. I’m ready to go back to the hotel and sleep. After cuddling with my guy, of course.
We sit at the table and try to enjoy our meals. I don’t want to leave Shayna, but I’m exhausted.
“Go get some rest, Claire. And don’t think for one second I’m mad at you for it.” She squeezes me tight in a hug and looks at Ryke. “Take care of my girl, alright?”
“I’ll always take care of her.” Shayna and I smile at each other. I kiss her and Dennis on the cheek and we head back to the hotel.
When we get into the limo, Ryke tells the driver to take us to the nearest hospital. I give him a questioning look. “I know you said you’re alright, but I want to make sure. Plus, we need to make sure the baby is okay. Please?” There’s no way I can argue with him. This is his child too. Besides, I’m also slightly worried. I can’t handle losing another child.
“There’s your baby, Ms. Davis,” the young nurse says as she rolls an ice-cold wand on my stomach. It’s a bit uncomfortable, but as soon as our little bean appears on the screen, everything else is forgotten.
Ryke leans down and kisses my head, unshed tears in his eyes.
“That’s our baby, sweetheart,” he whispers in my ear. “Looks like we’re going to need a bigger house.”
I gasp. “You want to buy a house with me?” This man is too good to be true.
“Of course.” He kisses my forehead. “I know Trevor didn’t treat you right, but, sweetheart, you need to get used to me doing things for you.”
“I love you, Ryker Allen.”
“I’ll love you forever, sweetheart.” He gifts me with the best panty-melting kiss. Not exactly appropriate, since the nurse is still in the room with us, but that doesn’t stop him.
Once we get the all clear at the hospital, we head back to our suite. The doctor told us everything looked great and I’m ten weeks along with a due date of May 15th. We even got to hear our little beans heartbeat. I’ve never seen Ryke loo
k so proud. He swears we’re having a girl, but we won’t know for a couple months.
“I’m so happy to be having a baby with you.” He wraps me in his arms as we lay on the bed.
“Me too,” I whisper. “Are you going to be disappointed if we have another boy?” I laugh.
“Of course not.” He kisses my head. “I’d love having two boys.” This man melts me every time he speaks.
63
Claire
I carefully climb down from Ryke’s truck. I was scared to death to drive the beast, but it really wasn’t that bad. He’s at home with Brady after I told him that I needed to do something today. He doesn’t know what, but I’m sure he has an idea. I didn’t want to risk him trying to talk me out of it, so I decided to keep it to myself.
I pull the heavy door open that leads to The Espresso Bean. I do a quick scan of all the tables and spot Monica sitting at a corner booth in the back. I got her number out of Ryke’s phone. I jokingly asked him about it and he was worried that I’d think something happened between them. No, I’m done jumping the gun in our relationship. That led to nothing but problems.
“Hey, Claire.” She smiles up at me as she stirs the coffee in front of her.
“Hey, Monica. Thanks for meeting me.” I nervously slide into the booth across from her.
“I wasn’t sure what you liked here so, I just got you a black coffee and they brought out cream for you.” She slides the steaming mug across the table to me.
“This is perfect. Thank you.” I pour two creams into my coffee and then add a pack of sugar. “I wanted to apologize.”
“For what?” She acts genuinely confused even though I was a bitch the last time I saw her.
“Well, for one, I was rude to you when you came over to my brother’s house, but also because I didn’t hear you out when you tried to warn me about Trevor. You were right.” I whisper the last part. Ryke encouraged me to make an appointment to see Desiree. He thought it would be good for me to talk to her after everything that happened in Miami. I couldn’t really argue because he was right. I don’t want to have another downfall again, so I’ll do everything I can.
Revived (Unexpected Series Book 1) Page 24