Heartbreakers and Heroes

by Box Set

  Ahead of her, Ryder followed the left edge of the trail and she kept up, then gasped when their destination came into view. “You rode here every day? Trained?” she asked, awed by the expanse of the ultramarine lake and the surrounding verdant meadows with their pops of colorful flowers.

  “Yes.” Ryder braked and eased one clipped foot out of the pedal, then braced the bike with his thighs. “John widened the trail, and we added the drops I used for practice before I got picked up by the university’s team.”

  “It’s like a postcard.” Addison tried to stop next to him, but the forest’s wet leaves made her tires slide and she slipped into his side, nearly toppling them over. “Sorry. Looks like I’ll never get rid of my inner klutz.”

  He wrapped his arm around her, then righted her and the bike. “I’ve seen a ton of pro bikers wipe out here, myself included,” he said, still holding her waist.

  His hand seemed to sear her, brand her as his. A sudden flush spread from her center outward and a shudder trembled through her. Addison tried to remind herself that Ryder’s had reacted like any other guy. But her body refused to hear her strict stay-in-control command. And how could she blame it? Ryder’s touch felt so damned good.

  Out here, in the wilderness, without the pressure to spin his career back into PR heaven, Addison wondered how bad acting on her desire would be. She’d finally put the fantasies she’d spun about him to rest, especially when she knew Ryder had a genuinely good soul. One she yearned to connect with even though she couldn’t rely on it to last forever. Not with his career and future at stake. But afterward, she’d have a precious, amazing secret which made the idea of testing Ryder’s admission about wanting her that way more tantalizing.

  ***

  Addison leaned against Ryder, the metal of their bikes clanging and echoing in the vast empty space, and rested her head on his shoulder. “Thank you for bringing me here,” she said.

  Holding Addison, Ryder could stay in this spot and overlook the vista of the lake, surrounding meadows, and the snow capped mountain peaks in the distance for an eternity. “Worth the ride, right?” he asked, then tightened his hold and pulled her a little closer. She smelled good, her unique floral scent mingling perfectly with the tang of pine needles and sunshine that haloed around them.

  “Absolutely.” She snaked her arm around his waist, and ran her palm over his torso. “You bring all your dates here when you were living in Saddle Creek?”

  Her voice had a husky tone, seductive as sin, and a zing of electricity charged into his groin, making his cock twitch. If he were reading the signals right, Addison had done an about face on her do-not-touch-me edict. “Nope. You’re it,” he said after he doused his lust with a huge dose of ice.

  Ryder had never brought another woman to his practice trail. But he’d wanted to share this place with Addison. And, if he was honest with himself, he’d thought about it long ago when they’d bent their heads over his reams of study sheets. The urge to connect with her at a visceral, trusting level of friendship resurrected from the minute he’d seen her walking across the hospital’s parking lot a week ago.

  “Figured bringing you here might help you with your PR campaign,” he said. “You could use my background to show the public how I overcame all the odds blah blah blah…you’re the genius. I trust you to take what you learn about me and use it well.”

  He’d become a man here, and had learned lessons to last a lifetime. If anyone deserved to know the real Ryder and where he came from—at least this part of his life—it was Addison. She’d never treated him like a spoiled athlete when she’d tutored him. She’d never made him feel like a jock without brains when he had trouble understanding economics concepts. She’d never asked anything of him other than to be her friend.

  “Good idea.”

  Today he’d be that friend. One she could rely on, especially after what she’d revealed to him last night. After their emotionally charged moment, while she’d been hiding in her adjacent room at the Inn, Ryder had called in a lot of favors to make today’s trail ride mean a lot more than a push against nature.

  He hadn’t brought Addison to the lakeside to seduce her, but… her hand continued to trace circles up and down the side of his torso. Holy. Fuck. All.

  “You think you can ride another quarter mile?” he asked through a constricted throat while pointing toward the canvas gazebo he’d arranged to have erected. “I ordered in lunch.”

  She lifted her head, and her hand stopped torturing him with its sexy touches. “I don’t understand. How on earth did you make this happen all the way out in the middle of nowhere?”

  He shot her a look through his wraparound sunglasses, grateful for their cover because he doubted he could hide the heat she’d ignited. “You have your ways of getting things done, I have mine.” Money, connections, and his sister Samantha’s helicopter pilot’s license had been weapons in his arsenal to make things right between him and Addison. He shot her his best commercial stock grin. “You still want protein bars and water, or will you let me make up for not feeding you properly last night?”

  “Define properly.”

  “The best clean eating restaurant in Los Angeles catered the meal.”

  Addison touched his face, then drew it toward her. She brushed her mouth over his—a brief, soft sensation until the tip of her tongue licked his lower lip.

  “Then I’m all in,” she said when she pulled away and spoke in a slow, sensual, and beyond sexy tone before pushing off and riding ahead of him.

  He remained rooted where they’d stopped, unable to take his eyes off her while trying to control the fire pulsing throughout his veins, and thundering in his ears. His lips tingled, and his cock had a life of its own as it strained against the fabric of his shorts.

  No way could he ride in this condition—he channeled every mental way he had to kill his hard-on, but hell. How could he kill it when his sex-starved brain couldn’t stop zoning in on her sweet, round behind and those long, luscious legs? She was hot in her skin tight spandex bike shorts, and figure hugging jersey. Plus, she was fun, unreserved, and playful. He liked her playful, flirtatious side a lot. Maybe too much.

  Something had shifted between last night’s all-business no-way-would-she-act-on-it attraction to Addison’s sexy, come-on-to-him temptation today. He didn’t know why, but right now? Ryder didn’t dare analyze the situation. Not when his entire body, brain, and heart had unified into following up on that challenge.

  Chapter 7

  “Don’t worry,” Addison said when Ryder finally arrived at the picnic site he’d conjured into being with a flick of his mogul wand. “I won’t let it out that I whupped America’s Olympic Gold champion in a mountain bike contest.” She’d pulled off her helmet and removed her cycling shoes before lounging on the luxurious blankets and pillows.

  “Wouldn’t be good for our PR campaign.” Ryder took his time dismounting his bike, leaned it on one of the gazebo’s poles, and then moved into the shelter of the brightly colored canvas. “You check out the basket?”

  Her breath caught in her throat. Dear Lord, watching Ryder was like watching perfection in fluid motion. His body also came with a super, amazing, guaranteed-to-please with a sticker on it loving—based on the size of his bulge.

  A thrill traveled to her core, warming her from the inside out. That she could cause that kind of reaction in Ryder brought a rich, decadent satisfaction that tasted way, way better than the most sinful dessert she’d ever eaten. Sure, self-discipline had its place—at the dining room table—but this was different. Ryder had reached a place in her heart few people, maybe none, had ever seen. Now her heart warred with self-discipline in a big way.

  “Yes.” She pointed to the open lid and the plates she’d already arranged on the red and white striped blanket along with the requisite cutlery to manage eating the delicious meal he’d had flown in. “This looks great—my favorite restaurant’s dishes. How’d you find out about it?”

  He finis
hed taking off his equipment, then lowered himself to the blanket beside her. “Your assistant gave me the name, and the chef pulled together the menu.” Ryder plucked out a container and opened it to reveal a fragrant mélange of mixed fruits lightly glazed with a beyond amazing balsamic vinaigrette.

  Warmth filled her. Ryder had gone to all this trouble and her heart beat faster than she’d ever imagined possible. His scent, all masculine and woodsy, along with the palpable electricity arcing between them amped up the wow factor even more. But Ryder appealed even more because he’d focused his energy on showing her he cared. Her feelings mattered.

  Her tummy grumbled, and she flushed. “We better dig in,” she said, unable to take her eyes off the sinew of his forearms and the fine dark hairs she hoped to discover in other, wonderful places on his body.

  “Absolutely.” Ryder pulled out the rest of the picnic’s containers and locked his gaze onto hers. “I’m starving.”

  His shades no longer hid his eyes, and their brilliant blue color had darkened. Mesmerized, she licked her lips. “And I’m famished,” Addison said. First, she’d dig into the delicious food, then she’d dig into the man who had provided it. No way would she let this opportunity to have what she had always wanted slip from her fingers. But could she have him, then let him go when her emotions were all tangled up with her physical yearning?

  Half an hour later, with the sounds of leaves rustling and birds trilling while they flitted from wildflowers to the branches in the trees in the forest bordering the meadow, Addison finished her last sumptuous bite of the good-for-her lunch. “Chef Stacey outdid herself,” she said. “So yummy.”

  They’d chatted about everything and nothing while enjoying the meal. Their former camaraderie had returned, and Addison sincerely hoped that no matter what happened after this afternoon, they’d remain friends.

  “You want to head back?”

  “No. Not really.” She stretched her legs out, brushing his thigh. “Sun’s still out, and why rush when we have the entire meadow to ourselves?”

  “True,” Ryder said. “No one’s within miles.”

  How incredibly romantic would it be to lie beneath the shelter of the gazebo with Ryder? The sweet aroma of long grass, wildflowers, and clean Montana air mingling with theirs? She wanted, oh how she wanted to pretend this bubble could exist forever.

  He’d never make the first move. Not when she’d denied him yesterday. Addison had to cross the divide she’d erected between them.

  She placed her hand on his, and looked at his profile. How many times had she mentally traced the line of his high brow all the way to his strong jawline? How many times had she fantasized about tunneling her fingers through his dark, unruly hair? How many times had she wanted, yearned, desired to feel his skin slide against hers while they made wild, crazy love?

  How many times had she wanted to carry that love in her heart and know that it was equally returned?

  Too many.

  But she’d let this fantasy to come to life here, in the safety and privacy of their hidden meadow. Where she’d be in control. Period. Because no way would she risk her heart and her future for him. Taking in a deep breath of mountain air to fortify herself, Addison shifted closer to Ryder.

  She brushed her lips onto his cheek and then tasted his spicy skin with her tongue. “I’m still hungry for more,” Addison said.

  ***

  Ryder’s ears thundered and his blood ran hot through his veins all the way to his groin. Holy. Fuck. Yes. He sure as hell was hungry for more, but somehow he forced his sex fogged brain cells to operate. “I didn’t plan this picnic to convince you to have sex with me,” he said. “You said no. I get why. We’re in a professional relationship.” But man, oh fucking man, he wanted to act on the fire Addison had ignited.

  “Exactly,” she said, licking and nibbling her way to his mouth and then rolling over to straddle him. “And this can’t happen again. Not when we get back to reality. But now? In this gorgeous mountain meadow in the middle of Montana? Where gourmet meals are flown in on a whim? This isn’t reality.” Her teeth playfully dragged his lower lip into a kiss.

  His cock hardened to granite. No denying the heat and moisture and the sweet scent of Addison’s arousal. He wanted her. She wanted him. But would once be enough? He’d have to take the chance because saying no wasn’t an option. Not only for the real, physical need burning between them, but he couldn’t lie and reject Addison. As bold as she acted, he’d held her in his arms when she’d been at her most vulnerable and bared her soul to him. He wouldn’t hurt her even it meant fucking up his own mixed up heart.

  “You’re right. This isn’t reality,” he said. This was heaven and he’d lose himself in the moment even if it killed him later.

  “You always were a quick study,” Addison said, then deepened her kiss, sliding her tongue into his mouth.

  Ryder stroked over it and she moaned, writhing her gorgeous ass on his groin. Their kiss spiraled hotter, faster, more demanding while he pulled her even closer and answered her demand for more. Taking. Giving. Taking again.

  She tasted like berries and the wildflowers scenting the light mountain breeze. Now that he could savor her mouth, his entire body was greedy for the rest. His heart even more. “Addison,” he said, cupping her bottom and rolling them until he hovered over her. “You’re so sweet. So, so sweet.”

  “I don’t want to be sweet.” She arched her back and pressed her full breasts against his chest. “I want to be bad. Really, really bad.”

  “Then you’re in luck because I’m the poster boy for bad.”

  Ryder melded his lips onto hers, and kissed her while he roamed his hands over her curves, her soft sighs and moans vibrating into him so deep he nearly lost all control. He slipped his palms under her shirt and hers skimmed beneath his jersey, then traced her way along his back. Their motions matched each other, equals freely exploring each other.

  “Ryder,” she said, her voice ragged, raising her hips to meet his. “More. I want more.”

  Shudders of pleasure coursed through him, and his cock throbbed with the rush of blood filling it. “That makes two of us.”

  Suddenly, slow discovery transformed to fast, frenzied demanding removal of the barriers of their clothing until they were pressed, skin to skin, body to body, sliding together—hot and wet and slick with need. Their breathing rushed in and out, edging them higher and higher to the point of no return.

  Desperation to plunge into her, mindless and lost to the sensations building in him, warred with his desire to please, and take her over the abyss first. Pleasing her won, barely. But he had to show her with his body what his mind still struggled to comprehend.

  He cared.

  Regardless of what happened after today, Ryder wanted Addison to believe she was worthy of love. He wanted her to feel adored. He wanted her to forget he’d ever broken her heart. Ryder wanted to be the man who gave her the power to demand she be cherished for the rest of her life even if he would never be the right guy for her.

  Emotions tangled in his brain, made him want to spill the feelings stirring inside him for Addison, but he blocked the desire by lowering his lips to her breasts and taking one into his mouth. Her hands raked across his shoulders and she arched closer to him.

  Ryder swirled his tongue over her taut, rosy colored nipples and she gasped, her hips wildly moving beneath his. He pinned her with his body, ignored the hot need vibrating deep in his shaft, and continued savoring her breasts one at a time, sucking her in harder until she moaned his name over and over in raw, ragged breaths.

  “You’re so close, Addison. Let yourself go—come for me.”

  “I can’t … it’s too much.”

  “I’ve got you,” Ryder said, then sucked her sweet nipple into his mouth and nipped the sensitive flesh while tracing his hand down the slope of her slim waist until he reached the soft curls covering her slick sex. “Hang onto me, sweetheart. I’ll take you where you want to go.”


  “Oh. I—Ryder…” she threaded her fingers through his hair, and held him to her sexy, responsive breasts. “Now. Touch me now.”

  His heartbeat pounded in his ears and his cock seemed ready to explode, but this was about Addison. He’d give her what her body craved first. Ryder stroked the seam of her sex, parting the flesh until he found the pulsating bundle of nerves at the apex. “Is this what you want?” he asked, looking up from her breast to take in her flushed cheeks and the passion glazing her eyes.

  “Yes. Oh, yes.”

  He slipped his finger into her, then swept her slick arousal over her clit. It jumped at his touch, and shudders waved through her entire body. Oh yeah, she was so damned close to shattering beneath him. “I want you to come for me, then I’m going to make you come all over when I’m inside you.” Ryder moved his cock across her hips to let her feel how he bordered the line between control and losing it completely.

  She moaned, trembled and arched her back, her release shuddering through her and spasming against his hand. He held her until she went limp and soft and pliant in his arms. Raising up on one elbow, Ryder gazed at Addison’s pretty flushed cheeks and her sweet lips.

  “You’re amazing.” He kissed her closed eyelids and brushed her damp hair from her temples. “Never doubt that, Addison.”

  Her gorgeous hazel eyes fluttered open and locked onto his. “You’re not at all what I expected,” she said while spreading her legs languidly to cradle his groin.

  “What did you expect?” he asked, then pressed his forehead onto hers, not daring to admit what thrummed through his sex fevered mind. Like me. Love me. Let me be the guy who’ll protect you and love you forever.

  He’d promised her for now. Asking for more couldn’t be part of the equation.