by Blue Saffire
Ryan catches my hand and brings my fingers to his lips. I watch the heat in his eyes as he sucks them into his mouth. I smile back at him shyly.
We had sex twice already and I still want more of him. I don’t know how we haven’t broken this bed. Ryan gets into the task every time.
I follow his movement with my head as he moves to hover over me. Dropping my gaze down to his chest, I marvel at his chiseled body. I reach to trace the tat on his right arm.
Meanwhile, he starts to nuzzle my temple. I close my eyes and relish the feeling. He places a kiss to my eyelid, causing me to open my eyes and look at him.
“What did you wish for?” he murmurs.
“Not telling you. It’s my wish,” I say.
He chuckles. “Then tell me what you want for your birthday.”
I smile at him and reach down for his length. He laughs loudly, reaching to remove my hand. He brings my fingertips to his lips.
“You can have that anytime. Tell me something that will put a smile on that pretty face.”
I pout and puff my lips out. He pecks my mouth and turns onto his side again. This time he traces my skin with his fingertips.
He leans over to clean the rest of the whipped cream up before it drips off. I’m distracted as I watch him use his tongue to raise goosebumps across my skin. When he’s done, he nips my chin and looks down at me expectantly.
I find my thoughts. My birthday. What do I want for my birthday?
“I don’t know,” I say and laugh.
“Yeah, you do. I see it in your eyes. It’s something expensive. That’s why you don’t want to say. What is it?”
I look at him. I don’t know how he could know that, but he’s right. I do have something that I want.
“It’s a camera.”
He turns for his phone and swipes at the screen to unlock it. He then hands it to me. “Find it.”
I look at him for a moment, but take the phone eventually and search for the camera. I find it and hand the phone back. I observe him closely as he swipes and taps around on his phone.
He reaches over the side of the bed and retrieves his wallet. I watch in awe as he puts his card information into the phone. When he’s finished he tosses his wallet and phone on the nightstand by the unused condoms.
Turning to me, he pecks my lips once again and cups my face. “It’ll be here day after tomorrow.”
“Thank you,” I say breathlessly.
“Anything for you,” he says as he searches my face. “When do you have class?”
I groan. “You had to ruin everything.”
He chuckles. “I want to go out to dinner with you. I’m only trying to figure out your schedule so I can make reservations. Twenty is a big deal. I want to celebrate with my girl.”
I look at him and smile. I reach to adjust my glasses on my face. He has called me his girl a few times. I’m not sure how to feel about that. It makes my heart flutter every time he does.
“I have class tomorrow night.”
“Okay, so I’ll cook for you tomorrow. What about the day after?”
“I have morning classes.”
“Perfect. We’ll go out then.”
He tugs me into the crook of his arm. Suddenly, my lids are super heavy. I yawn.
He kisses the top of my head. “Go to sleep. I’ll clean you up.”
Chapter 7
Dinner
Carmen
I walk into my apartment to find Gigi sitting on the couch drooling all over herself as Ryan moves around my kitchen shirtless. I stop in my tracks and have to wipe up my own drool. Thank God my brother got a call and had to leave me downstairs to take care of some business.
If he’d come up with me to find this, I would’ve had a lot of questions to answer. Heck, I have my own questions. Ryan dropped me at my school’s library this afternoon in his Mustang and said he’d see me later.
I know he said he would cook for me, but I expected to get home and have time to freshen up and clean the place a little. Gigi can be a bit messy. Although from the looks of it she straightened up some for our guest.
Especially her own appearance. It’s seven in the evening and her face is beat to perfection. Jealousy and anger burn inside me. She has enough boyfriends of her own. She doesn’t need to sit here ogling mine.
Boyfriend.
I’m still getting used to saying that’s what he is. At least that’s what I think he is. I bite my lip and start to fidget with the flap on my bag.
Ryan looks up right at that moment. I smile a little when I see he has on my headphones. He takes them off and saunters his tall sexy self over to me.
He looks so good with his jeans riding low on his hips, showing off his V. Man, it’s like his muscles have muscles. They’re so defined and sculpted. Ryan’s not bulky, but he’s lean and toned to perfection. Not too skinny, not to thick. He’s just right.
“Hey, baby,” he croons in that sexy voice of his.
I don’t get to answer. He palms the back of my neck and plants a searing kiss on my lips. I lift on my toes to meet him halfway. He tastes like tomato sauce and something sweet… honey.
I moan into his mouth and he wraps his other arm around me. I melt right into him. When he pulls back, I look up at him all dreamy-eyed.
Gigi clears her throat, causing Ryan and I to turn in her direction. She gives me a pointed look, her eyes bouncing back to Ryan. Ryan turns back to me and takes my bag from my shoulder. He kisses my forehead before he walks off into my bedroom with my things.
“Oh my God,” Gigi whisper-squeals. The walls in this place are paper-thin and sound bounces off them. “You didn’t tell me you were seeing someone.”
“He was here last night.” I shrug.
She palms her face. “I was totally wasted. Like, I heard you two going at it, but I thought it was my imagination or something. Shit, I kicked Frank… Derrick… Evan. Oh hell, I can’t remember his name.” She waves a hand in the air. “I kicked him out because I was faking it and you, honey, didn’t sound like you were pretending one bit. And I can see why not. He’s hot as fuck.”
I blush and turn to look toward the bedroom. He hasn’t come back out yet. I turn back to Gigi and inhale. The place smells wonderful.
“Has he been cooking long?”
“Not really, he rang the bell like an hour ago. Said he was your boyfriend and walked into the place like he owned it. Once he walked right to your bedroom, I figured he must have been here before.”
I palm my face and laugh. That sounds like Ryan. He has a way of making himself at home even if not invited. Since Ireland, I feel like he’s doing that with my heart.
I blink as that thought crosses my mind.
“Carmen,” Ryan calls.
I turn to face him. He has a big box in his hands. I wrinkle my brows and stare at the box. My camera isn’t supposed to arrive until tomorrow.
“What’s that?”
He hands me the gift and plucks me from my seat to take mine and pulls me into his lap. I turn to look at him. He sits expectantly, waiting for me to open the box. Since he doesn’t look like he’s going to tell me what’s in it, I turn back to the box and start to pull the bow and lid off.
My mouth falls open when a camera bag comes into view. It’s personalized with my Japanese name on it. Most people think Nene is a nickname, which it’s not.
It means many things according to which Kanji characters are used. My father chose superiority and heart. Ryan could never know what the use of that name means to me.
The bag is even in my favorite colors, yellow and teal. He must have noticed all the yellow and teal stuff in my bedroom. He’s definitely observant.
I clench the bag to my chest and turn back to face him. Ryan searches my face as I look into his eyes. A slow grin turns up his lips as he takes in the smile on my face.
“Thank you,” I say softly.
“You’re welcome. How was class?”
I shrug. “Class, boring and uneventful.”r />
He laughs. “Wish I could say that about my day, but your friend with the puddle of drool at her feet has made my time here interesting. I swear, she’s like two seconds off of trying to feel on me,” he says.
My lips twitch as I try not to burst into laughter. “Well, you are shirtless in our apartment. Can you blame her?”
He tilts his head to the side as if thinking. He then turns to look at Gigi, who’s sitting with her mouth hanging open. I lift the bag over my lips as I let my laugh spill free.
“I guess you have a point,” Ryan says. “I didn’t want to get sauce all over my shirt.” He winks at Gigi. “I’m taken, sweetheart. It’s kind of rude to stare like that.”
I can’t. I cannot hold it in any longer. I burst out laughing. Gigi’s cheeks glow and she pouts, causing me to laugh more.
“I wasn’t trying to stare.”
“Yeah, you meant to stare. It’s okay. Get it out of your system.”
I slap his shoulder. “Stop it.”
He chuckles. “Okay, I’m sorry, not sorry. Would you like to have dinner with us?”
“It smells good.” Gigi looks at me with longing in her eyes. She can’t cook to save her life. I’m sure she had plans to order something in tonight.
“I don’t know. You were checking out my man,” I tease.
“Babe, be nice. She’s your roommate. Not everyone can be as lucky as you. You saw what she had to deal with last night,” Ry says.
Gigi palms her face. “Ugh, don’t remind me.”
I laugh and shake my head. I haven’t been in this light a mood in so long. I hug my camera bag and sigh.
“I guess you can eat with us. As long as you keep your drool to yourself.”
Ryan snorts. “That’s going to be hard to do.”
“Oh, shut up.” I giggle.
“Nene has never had a boyfriend as far as I’ve known. Shit, she’s never had a hook up for as long as we’ve been roommates. I think I was in shock.”
Ryan stands and places me back in my seat. He rushes into the kitchen and starts to cut off the burners and stir whatever’s in the pots. Gigi scoots closer.
“Where’d you guys meet? Does he have a brother?”
“Six,” I reply. “And they’re all taken as far as I know. Well, there’s one I’m not sure about, but I think he is. We met at the wedding of one of his brother’s.”
She groans and falls over into me. “I’m hanging with all the wrong people.”
“I thought you and that Jack guy were getting along.”
“Pfft.” She lifts her head and places her hands on her hip. “Found out he’s been sleeping with my lab partner. The George she thought he was always going to see was actually me. Prick.”
“Sorry,” I say and frown.
She waves me off. “It’s not your fault the guys I date are assholes.”
She runs a hand through her jet-black hair. Gigi is Korean. When we first met, I thought that she was everything I wanted to be. Carefree and full of life. She does everything her parents tell her not to do. My father would hang me from the roots of my hair if I were anything like Gigi.
“I like this guy. His blunt humor is attractive.”
I feel that jealousy creeping up again. Gigi is a gorgeous girl and way more experienced. I don’t know if I like having Ryan around her.
“Come here, baby,” Ryan calls from the kitchen, breaking into my thoughts.
I turn to find him holding up a spoon. My heart lightens and I smile. It’s my birthday and Ryan Black is in my kitchen cooking for me. I guess I don’t have much to worry about. I tuck my bag back in its box and head into the kitchen.
With confidence I didn’t know I had, I walk up to Ryan, wrap my arms around his waist and kiss his chest. The look he gives me in return makes my heart swell. It’s a huge boost to my ego as well.
Ryan
When Carmen walks over and kisses my chest, something about it causes a shift within me. I look into her eyes and get lost for a second. I haven’t done the relationship thing much, but with Carmen it’s something I want to more than explore.
I meant it when I said I wasn’t letting her go. Little things like the kiss on my chest and holding onto me tightly make me long for something I never knew I wanted.
Fuck. They were right.
I will be the brother to fall the hardest. But look at her. She has on those cute glasses again and she looks so happy.
I feel like an asshole for having to lie to her. Yeah, I’m here because she’s my girl, but this is also a job for me. I spent all morning with her and watched over her before and during her classes. Ne was to pick her up from class and get her back here to me. We’re trying to make this as natural as possible.
“What’s wrong?” Carmen says and her smile starts to fall.
I place an arm around her and dip my head to kiss her lips. If her roommate weren’t here, I’d say fuck this food and eat her. My cock grows in my pants, swelling against her belly.
“Nothing. Just thought of something I need to take care of.”
“Oh, was work busy today? You guys are bounty hunters, right? That can be dangerous.”
“We do bounties and private investigations. No more dangerous than walking outside.”
She gives me a side look. “Somehow, I doubt that,” she says. “I’ve heard stories, remember?”
“Here, taste this.”
Yup, I change the subject. I don’t want to talk about work when she’s my assignment. I’ve learned a lot more about Carmen after sitting with her father.
All the pieces have fallen into place. I wondered why I never met her before. Then there were things I learned about her, when I looked her up after we first met that didn’t make sense to me at the time.
Like the fact that her family makes trips to Japan that she rarely if ever accompanies them on. Carmen is usually sent on trips or to spend time with her aunt Mariah.
Kiyoshi has kept a tight seal on the world that Carmen is exposed to and what the world exposes to her. Now it’s my job to protect the bubble she’s been placed in, which includes keeping her from what I do for a living.
“Mmm,” she moans around the spoon as her eyes light up.
She licks her lips and I follow the movement with my gaze. Man, I should have gotten rid of the roommate. Damn.
I shake my head and turn to place the food on plates. I get everyone a helping of pasta as well as the bread I talked Mom into baking, and get the plates to the table. Once I have them set up, I go back into the bedroom for my shirt.
When I return, both Carmen and her roommate are moaning and devouring the plates in front of them. Carmen looks up and reaches to adjust her glasses. I bite my lip and grin.
I have no idea why that shit turns me on so much, but I’m a straight sucker for a girl in glasses. With a girl as gorgeous as Carmen it’s icing on the cake. Everything about her is perfection.
Her little nose, her slanted eyes, her full lips, her bronzed brown skin—it’s all a perfect complement to her curvy body. Carmen is the type of stunning that makes you stop in your tracks to stare and possibly even follow after her.
I’m drawn to her as I move to the table and peck her lips. Again, Kiyoshi’s voice plays in the back of my head. ‘Do this for me, Ryan, but don’t touch my daughter.’
I never made that promise. I agreed to watch over her. I never said anything about not touching her.
Chapter 8
Gaming & Calls
Carmen
“Yes,” I cheer and pump my arm in the air.
I turn to find Ryan staring at me with a sour look on his face. I’ve kicked his butt at Call of Duty three times in a row. I sit on the couch and do a happy dance.
“I don’t know what I was thinking,” he says. “I opened that cabinet and found a gamer’s wet dream. Why didn’t I think you’d kick my ass?”
I shrug my shoulders. “Because I have a vagina. Most guys don’t think I can play. It’s one of my favorite things to do w
hen I’m not filming or studying.”
“Obviously,” he mumbles.
I laugh and put the headset and controller down on the coffee table. I crawl across the couch and straddle his lap. Ryan grins up at me and places his hands on my waist.
Gigi went out after dinner, but Ryan has been too busy trying to beat me at the game to focus on anything else. While playing is fine, I have something else in mind.
“You’re a sore loser,” I say as I look down at him.
“I never lose.”
“You did tonight.”
He smiles. “Not from where I’m sitting.”
I cup his face and kiss him. Ryan takes over the kiss and holds me to him. Things are starting to heat up when my phone rings.
I groan and fall over onto my side. I know it’s my dad. It’s his time to call. I reach over the edge of the couch and grab the phone from the end table.
“Hey, Daddy,” I say.
“Kon'nichiwa, Nene. Happy birthday.”
“Thanks.”
I have a genuine smile on my face. I almost forgot it’s my birthday. Ryan has made this feel like a regular ‘hang out and chill’ night.
Not that he hasn’t made a fuss with dinner and a cupcake, including a candle. Ryan is just so laid back. It’s been fun with no pressure at all.
“What are you up to this evening?”
“Some gaming before I study.”
Turning onto my back, my legs are on Ryan’s lap. He leans over me to push my T-shirt up and kisses my stomach. I wiggle beneath him and mouth for him to stop distracting me.
He ignores me as his eyes dance with mirth. Fixing his gaze on me, he licks from my belly button up to my breasts. I close my eyes, trying to block him out.
“How was school today?”
“It was good. Nothing new.”
I totally have to commend myself for my voice coming out so smoothly. I bite my lip and open my eyes to see the intense look in Ry’s eyes. I shake my head at him and smile. He’s trouble.
Stop it, I mouth again.