I look to the shore and Ryder is standing there shirtless with his arms crossed over his chest, nodding and grinning at the same time. “It’s freezing…are you crazy?” he yells out as the water laps at his feet.
I scream back, “I love it. Stop being a wuss.” I wonder if my reply will rile him up. It sure as heck would’ve riled up the young Thomas Wells.
As if on cue he replies, “A wuss? Did you just call me a wuss, baby?”
Then he does it. One giant step in the water, followed by another giant step. He picks up speed, making his way over to me as I attempt to swim away from him. I turn and see he’s gone under and he’s swimming toward me like a fish. He loves the water, spent years training in the water—it’s not a surprise that when I swim away fast that he’s faster. He catches up to me, grabbing my foot first and tugging me toward him. We both rise out of the water and I wrap my body around him, holding his thick shoulders for support. There are some boats offshore causing some larger waves to roll in and we bob up and down.
“Did you call me a wuss?” he asks almost sounding wounded.
I run my hands over his wet hair and his blue eyes glisten from the sun. “Baby, I just wanted you in here with me.” I place a soft kiss on his lips. He kisses me back.
“I’m no wuss. In fact I’m inclined to show you how not wussy I am right here,” he says, whispering into my mouth.
Holy shit! I feel my nipples harden and my core heats from just the thought. His eyes drop to my chest and he lets out a throaty growl. “Damn, woman. How am I supposed to leave this fucking freezer? I have a hard-on from here to Alaska.”
I throw my head back, laughing, but the heat pooling in between my legs from his hard-on pressed into me stops my laughter instantly. He has a serious look on his face so my face grows serious too as I wait for his next words. “I want you, Halo. But if we have sex, you will be mine. Always.”
My heart practically stops and a lone tear makes its way down my cheek. I want to say something but I feel locked in place.
“What is it?” he asks, his features tense with concern.
I want to tell him that he spoke those same words the night he took my virginity here at this very lake, but I’m scared it will ruin the moment. He fears that he won’t be enough for me as Ryder, but what he doesn’t realize is that it’s his soul I love. This soul in front of me captured my heart as a girl. His name doesn’t matter either way.
I lean forward and this time it’s me capturing his lips. His hands run up and down my back grabbing, holding, kneading. The bulge between his legs pulsates between my thighs. I rub against him, needing the friction. I am so hot and horny I could get myself off like this and yell out here in the lake. When a child screams out, “Daddy!” behind us, my eyes fling open, bringing me back to reality. At our age, making out in front of a bunch of families is highly inappropriate. Geez. What would happen if one of my students were here? I’m completely embarrassed by my behavior. I pull away and bow my head.
“I know that was inappropriate of us. We’re behaving like lovesick teenagers.” Ryder speaks my own thoughts.
“Yes,” I breathe out, panting. Although our bodies have separated, I am still so hot for him.
“Can we get to the hotel I booked now? I need you in a bed.” He’s panting as hard as I am.
“Yeah, let’s get out of here,” I agree as we make our way through the water.
Back on shore we towel off quickly. His eyes run hungrily over my body before I slip on the sundress and he growls again. “I’ve got blue balls.” He pouts. It’s funny to see how a huge, muscled guy like Ryder can mimic the pout of his infant son so well.
When we get back to the car he does the quick-change thing between the closely parked cars. He holds up a towel strategically, but I know his ass is bare. My eyes widen. “Hurry,” I hiss. “There are children around.”
“So what? No one can see anything.” He slips on his jeans and tosses me the towel. My heart skips a few beats knowing he’s commando and my insides clench.
“Hotel?” he asks with a devilish grin.
“Yes. Please. Now!” I say very sweetly, blinking up at him. We get in the car. It’s after five, but the heat is still holding strong.
***
Thirty minutes later after navigating heavy traffic on Lakeshore Drive and the Loop, Ryder pulls up to the hotel. The signs says The Langham, and the front of the hotel and the lobby look lavish.
“Ryder, we can’t afford a place like this.”
“I do okay, Halo. I have money saved up from before. Not a whole lot but enough to treat my girl to a night in a fancy place like this. It’s our first time together. I want to make it special.”
I smile as my heart gushes all over the front seat and I lean into him for a quick kiss, knowing that anything more will end with us being a panting mess. I think it’s the fact that we have been teasing each other for months. Making out, getting worked up, pulling away. I swear I have a female version of blue balls, my clit is hurting and throbbing so bad with all the teasing.
As dirty thoughts run through my mind I can’t get to the room fast enough. We give the car to the valet and enter the front doors. I’m very underdressed. My hair is wet and frumpy from the lake, and my bikini is visible through the simple cotton sundress I’m wearing, which is also slightly wet. When I turn my head to Ryder he looks seriously hot. Tight white shirt showing off his muscles. Jeans that hug his behind just right. He looks like a model. He walks up to the woman working the front desk and flashes a smile. She smiles back and practically blushes.
“I have a reservation under Wells,” he says, throwing me off. He pulls out a credit card. Right! Of course he would have to give his real name to match his credit card. The woman checks us in and passes Ryder the room cards. We only have one small bag and my feeling of discomfort grows.
“Why are you fidgeting?” he whispers, as we make our way to the elevator hand in hand. I don’t know how to answer. When my parents were alive we vacationed in these kinds of hotels. I should have been used to the opulence but that was a lifetime ago. My parents only left me the house and its belongings. They never saved up money for a rainy day. They both made large salaries but they also lived an expensive life of restaurants, theater and vacations to remote places. They probably thought they had time to make a plan for me. None of us saw that drunk driver in our future. Now I was a simple girl of simple means and I felt out of place.
“I don’t think I brought the right clothes for this place,” I tell him, wrinkling my nose.
“Halo, for what I have planned you won’t need clothes. We can get room service. Besides we aren’t leaving the room until check-out tomorrow. I need to drive into that body over and over again, baby. Heck, by the time I’m done with you, I may need to carry you out of here.” He grins proudly.
I’m glad he’s proud because my legs feel like they are going to buckle from the sensual promises. The elevator takes us to our floor and we make our way to our room. Ryder fidgets with the room key, getting annoyed when the door doesn’t open for him and I giggle watching. He finally gets the door open and I gasp. The room is huge with ceiling-to-floor windows that show off the beautiful Chicago skyline. I can see the river from here and a variety of building landmarks.
The room is mostly white with a huge white king-size bed in its center. Before I have time to say anything, Ryder turns around and pins me to the door, wrapping his hands around the back of my neck and kissing me deeply. I moan into his mouth and he growls, lifting me as I wrap my legs around his waist and he presses my body into the door.
Our motions are hungry. He presses himself into my thighs and I moan again, knowing he’s commando as his bulge begins a pulsating rhythm. I lower my hands and fidget with his jeans.
“I should shower first,” I say breathlessly.
“Halo, I feel like a man who’s been walking through the desert without water for months. What I need right now is you in that bed and me buried deep inside you
,” he says, as his shoulders rise and fall.
I nod. I’m not coherent. My adrenaline is pumping hard and all I can think of are his words…him buried deep inside me. He lifts me and carries me over to the bed. I lift the sundress over my head and untie the bikini top. Ryder’s eyes glisten with lust. The curtains are open and the sun is beginning to set in a pink and purple sky. Ryder lowers me to the bed and closes his hot mouth over my nipple. I gasp, pressing my chest into him.
“Holy hell, Ryder.” I take in a sharp breath and he moves to the other nipple. With his mouth on me, I lower my hands to the button on his jeans and pop it open. Then I work the zipper. My back is practically bowing off the bed from his mouth on my breasts. He lifts his mouth off and begins kneading both breasts with his rough hands.
“You are so beautiful, baby. These breasts are perfect,” he says with a raspy voice. Then he takes his hands off me to shove down his jeans. I take the opportunity to move a little further up the bed. I still have the bikini bottoms on. I’m not sure why I’m not taking them off. Well…maybe I know why. They cover my C-section incision. That is definitely not sexy. With Ryder completely naked in front of me, I take in his entire form and my pulse quickens. His broad shoulders, the way thick muscle curves along his arms. I lick my lips as my gaze travels down his chest and further down to his cock. He’s thick, long and circumcised. I’m glad I know the truth about Ryder before sleeping with him, I think to myself. It would have been a real shocker to find out the truth about Ryder’s identity when his cock was revealed and I thought it looked familiar.
“You keep looking at me like that, baby, and I may come before I get inside you.” He caresses his cock with his hand and I lick my lips again.
“You are so damn hot,” I say, nodding, knowing how heated I must look.
Ryder growls and I think he is going to position himself above me but he doesn’t. He pulls me up so that I’m on my knees. He’s still standing at the side of the bed. He begins to kiss me, feverishly running his hands wildly through my hair. The kissing is driving me crazy and I press my breasts into his warm chest, enjoying the connection of our bodies. He moves his lips from my mouth and makes his way biting, sucking and nipping, down my neck.
“You taste like heaven,” he says when he reaches the back of my neck. His breath sends shivers down my body. I reach down to stroke his cock. He groans into my neck as I roll my head back. I’m all sensation. I lean forward and begin to spread kisses across his shoulders and down his chest. He lifts my chin, knowing the direction I’m headed. I’m so hungry to taste him.
“Not yet,” he says with a soft commanding tone. His fingers slip onto the sides of my bikini bottoms and he lowers them slowly down my legs and then I kick them off. He steps back, taking in my naked body. I can’t help it—I feel self-conscious. Then he takes a step toward me. “You are so beautiful,” he says as his big, rough hands run over my shoulders, making their way down my back then forward to my stomach. “Don’t hide this scar from me. This is something to be proud of, Halo. This scar is what made you a mother. Think about our son. Think of how we created something so perfect together.” He pauses and I’m in complete awe. His hands run across the scar and as he spreads kisses along my abdomen. My hands wrap around his head holding him close to me.
When I think of scars, I think how he could have died in Afghanistan. Brandon and I came so close to losing him. I also think of the scars on his body now. How his face is completely different and his scars on the inside. The ones that made him run. It makes my heart hurt but it also makes me realize how much I truly love him with every fiber of my being.
We give in to the moment together. He stands, lifting me against his body again as he gazes into my eyes. I know he is Ryder but eyes are a portal to the soul and as I stare into his dark blue eyes, I see Thomas’s beautiful soul. He spins around, almost as if he’s dancing with me, and he smiles. It’s mesmerizing. I let out a laugh and his hands cup my behind, urging my legs around his waist. My wetness rubs along his cock.
He sets me down and my knees are shaky. He takes my hands, guiding me gently so I face one of the hotel’s pristine, white walls. I’m not sure what he has planned. We were always good in bed together. We liked to fuck a lot and we liked to fuck hard but this was different. He presses my hands against the wall and says in gentle, commanding voice, “Spread your feet a little bit.”
Not knowing what to expect gets me fired up even more. He places a gentle kiss on the back of my shoulder and presses his hard body against mine. His left hand curls around my waist and then dips down between my legs. I’m drenched, which is no surprise.
“You are so wet,” he whispers in my ear gruffly. “Do you want me to fuck you?” he asks with the same low, deep tone. Holy hell! Fuck yes! Ryder seems to like it a little rougher. I wonder if it’s from the war or if he was just craving my body as much as I had craved him. Either way, I’m game.
“Yes,” I breathe out heavily. He removes his hand from my clit. I frown from the loss of his touch. I was so close to coming. He places both of his hands on my hips and enters me in one swift movement. He thrusts into me and I brace myself against the wall. His hand dips down to caress my clit as he thrusts in and out of me. My legs feel like they will buckle from the intensity. He picks up speed, thrusting and circling my clit and I begin to cry out.
His mouth is close to my ear, his scruffy beard gently rubbing my sensitive skin. “That’s it, baby, come for me,” he says as he picks up speed even more. Rubbing, thrusting, rubbing and thrusting. I scream out as an orgasm runs through my body. I can feel every strong muscle in his body working hard to get me off. When I’ve almost come down off my high, he begins to thrust even faster and I know he’s close to his own release. He pulls out of me quickly and rubs his cock fast and hard pressing into my back as he comes. The come rubs against my behind and drips down my legs. It’s so hot. So Thomas. So fucking possessive. I love it. I love him.
“I better get a towel,” he says, turning to the bathroom. A moment later he has one towel to clean himself off and another warm, wet towel to wipe me off. “We kind of forgot something, Halo,” he says with a grin.
“Yeah, I’m guessing that would be condoms?” I grin too, still feeling flushed from the intensity of our lovemaking.
“Yeah, and I am nowhere close to being done with you.” He drops the towel on the floor and caresses my face with his thumb. “You’re mine now. I need to brand you all night.”
“I think I saw a gift shop in the lobby. I’m guessing they must sell condoms,” I say but my voice is a little shaky. I walk over to the bed and take a seat. That orgasm was intense.
“Okay, let me run down and see what I can find.” He finds his jeans and shirt and puts them on quickly. “You aren’t on birth control, are you?” he asks and almost winces. This is the part that reminds me that we don’t share a past.
“No, I didn’t see a need to go back on birth control after I had Brandon,” I answer honestly. He was my tenant. I didn’t think we would end up sleeping together.
“That’s what I thought. So basically the last person you slept with was me?” he asks and I’m not sure where he’s going with this.
Huh?
“Uh, yeah.” I roll my eyes not understanding.
“So who’s better—Thomas or me?” he asks with a silly grin. His arms are crossed over his chest inflating him even more.
“I’m not answering that question.” I take a pillow off the bed and throw it at him with a giggle.
He nods and with the same shit-eating grin, he leaves the room to go buy condoms. I take the opportunity to call Jenny quickly and check on Brandon.
After one ring she picks up. “Hey, hon. Your boy is perfect.”
“Thanks, Jenny.”
“He had a bottle and I gave him one of those jars of split peas. He’s good. So have you done the deed?” she asks into the phone.
“Jenny, we can’t talk about this. He isn’t a stranger, he is my husba
nd,” I answer with a giggle.
“’Kay, go have fun. We’re good.”
“Bye, Jenny. Thanks. Give the little guy a kiss from his mom.”
“Done, now bye.” She laughs and I hear the click of the phone. I close my cell and place it on the night table. Then I hop in the shower, desperately needing to wash the heat of the day and the lake water off me.
As I’m shampooing my hair, a thought I don’t like enters my mind. Ryder liked it when I mentioned that he was the last guy I slept with. “Him” being Thomas. I’m now wondering if Thomas slept with someone after he left me. He divorced me—was there someone else? The thought sickens me and the sad part is that I will never have any answers.
As I rinse the shampoo from my hair I feel the presence of a large, naked body behind me and thick, rough hands over my shoulders. I flinch and open my eyes.
I turn to see Ryder with a pleased grin on his face.
“I didn’t hear you come in. You just scared the living shit out of me.” I chortle.
“Sorry, I got what we needed and I called Jenny to check on Brandon. She said you beat me to it…” He cocks a brow.
I laugh. “We must be driving her crazy.”
“So is this what it’s like being a parent? Loving, worrying…”
I gaze warmly at him. This was Thomas’s biggest fear and Ryder is doing a great job. “Sounds about right.” I nod.
“I guess it’s times like this I wish I knew what he was thinking. Why he was scared, why he left you two,” Ryder says, referring to Thomas. His words are a painful reminder of the not too distant past. A part of the past I wish I could forget.
“He was torn up. Losing Rover was hard on him. Iraq was a tough deployment, things happened to him there. Things he couldn’t deal with. He’s not at fault. His intentions were good. He wanted to save the world.”
“Why am I carrying his guilt on my shoulders now?” Ryder asks with brutal honesty.
“I think it’s because you love Brandon so much,” I say.
“Halo, I love you. And not just because you saved me from drowning at the hospital when I had no one.” He looks at me with reverence and I believe every word he’s saying.
Halo Page 24