I can feel the emotional battle being waged inside Ryder. How his heart craves reconciliation. How his mind prescribes caution.
Giving his hand one last sharp squeeze, I detangle my fingers from his. He looks over at me, brows raised. I try to broadcast my thoughts in my eyes as best I can.
Forgiveness doesn’t make you weak, Ryder.
It makes you strong.
I’m not sure he gets the message, but whatever he reads on my face is enough to steel him. With a determined set to his shoulders, he turns back to his mother.
“Mom…”
She’s looking up at him, hope etched on her expression, as he steps forward and pulls her into a tight embrace. She doesn’t say anything, so far as I can hear. But her shoulders shake as she buries her head against his chest, muffling her sobs against his shirt. His big hands stroke her hair.
My throat feels suddenly tight.
Ryder Woods is a good man.
I walk to the other side of the room to give them some privacy, beelining to Carly’s side and avoiding Francesca like my life depends on it. The auburn-haired record exec is talking Linc and Aiden’s ears off, over by the door. Probably about analytical data or sales figures, judging by the tortured looks on their faces.
“Is that his mom?” Carly whispers, her eyes sliding to Ryder.
I nod.
“Didn’t she cut him off a few years ago?”
I nod again.
“And he forgave her…” She whistles lowly, bumping her elbow against mine. “He’s a good one, you know.”
“I know.”
“I’m really happy for you.” She pauses. “Happy you two are finally giving it a shot.”
“Me too.”
“That song he wrote for you… those things he said about you…” She whistles again. “God, Felicity. If you weren’t my best friend, I’d kind of hate you right now.”
I laugh. “Yeah, well, it hasn’t always been a fairy tale.”
“I know, honey. That’s what makes it all the sweeter.”
I glance at her, eyes pricking dangerously, and find hers are glossy, as well. We both smile, despite the looming threat of tears.
“Why is everyone crying?” Lincoln asks, appearing beside us.
“No one is crying,” Carly says immediately, brushing at her cheek.
“Allergies,” I concur, dabbing at my eyes.
He lifts his hands in a gesture of surrender. “Forget I asked.”
Aiden scoffs.
“Something to say, Hill?” Carly snipes at him.
“Nothing at all, Hart,” he shoots back.
“Didn’t realize you two were on a last-name basis.” Linc’s eyes move between them, but they’re far too busy glaring at each other to pay him any attention. He sighs and turns his focus to me. “You want to head back to the hotel? I’m beat. Gonna have Smith drive me in a few.”
“Thanks, but I think I’ll wait for…” My words trail off as my gaze slides to Ryder. He’s still embroiled in a deep conversation with his mother on the other side of the room.
“Ah, right.” Linc’s voice turns serious. “Glad you two are going to try and work things out. Can’t say it’s been easy being around either of you, the past few months. I suddenly understand why Fleetwood Mac broke up.”
“We weren’t that bad!” I protest.
“Whatever you say, Rhiannon.”
I roll my eyes.
“I’m just happy sexual tension isn’t flammable.” He smirks. “The whole bus would’ve gone up in flames.”
I punch him lightly on the arm. “Shut up.”
“You know, Felicity…” Linc’s eyes get serious — a rare event. “That song he sang for you tonight…”
My brows arch.
“You know what it’s about?”
“Of course — the night you two got arrested at The Viper Room.”
“Yeah.” He blows out a breath and runs both hands through his sandy hair. “The thing is, you don’t know the full story about that night…”
It’s nearly three in the morning by the time Ryder and I make it back from the stadium. My mind is spinning after everything Lincoln told me; his is fully engaged with thoughts of his mother.
We don’t speak. We don’t need to. It’s enough just to sit there in the back seat, hands tightly intertwined, supporting each other in silence as Stevens pulls the SUV to a stop outside our hotel. Thankfully, the curb is paparazzi-free as we step out onto the dark sidewalk.
Ryder laughs when he catches sight of my face-splitting yawn. “Tired?”
“Exhausted,” I confirm, looking up at him dreamily.
He reels me in slowly, bringing my body flush against his. I feel my slumbering neurons start to fire as our torsos align. There are dark promises in his eyes as his head descends toward mine.
“Suddenly less tired,” I murmur, craning my neck up. Our lips meet in a lingering kiss that makes my knees shake. I’m full-on panting when he pulls away. “Suddenly, very awake.”
I feel him grin against my lips. “Let’s go to bed, baby.”
“I like the sound of that…”
We turn toward the entrance, eager to get inside. Impatient, after hours of delay, to finally be alone, skin on skin, enjoying a few scant hours together in the privacy of a hotel room before we’re forced to board the bus in the morning, heading for Indiana.
Five hours.
Not nearly long enough for everything I want to do with him.
We keep it PG as we walk through the lobby, fully aware that prying eyes are never far away. But as soon as the elevator doors close behind us, all pretense of propriety disappears. Ryder backs me up against the wall, hands sliding beneath my thighs as he hoists me up against him. My dress rides high as my legs wrap around his waist. My head lolls back as his mouth kisses the column of my throat, torturously slow as he nibbles his way from the hollow beneath my ear down to my collarbones.
“God, Ryder,” I whisper, threading my hands into his thick hair. “I feel like…”
“What, baby?”
“Like I’m not even real unless you’re touching me. Like this, your hands on my skin, is the only time I truly exist.”
His eyes meet mine, burning with intensity. He doesn’t respond — not verbally, at least. His mouth crashes against mine, a brutal attack, an unequivocal declaration that he feels the same way. When the elevator doors chime open on the penthouse floor, he walks out with my legs still wrapped tight around his waist, his mouth never disengaging from mine as he carries me to his suite.
He pins me to the door with his hips so he can retrieve the key from his back pocket. My bones turn to liquid at the contact, my fingers flexing in the fabric of his shirt as he shoves the key into the slot, snarling with impatience. I giggle as the entry finally gives way, swinging inward with a jolt.
All traces of humor quickly fade as Ryder kicks the door shut, carries me toward the king-sized bed, and throws me onto the mattress. He follows me down, so we’re kneeling face-to-face, kissing me as his hands work at the side-zipper of my dress. My fingers yank at the loops of his belt.
We are both restless, jittery with need that has been suppressed for far too long. We’re out of our clothes in record time, staring at each other in the middle of the bed, our eyes devouring, our hands desperate.
I lean forward to kiss the tattoo over his heart, reveling in the groan he unleashes when he feels my lips on his bare skin.
He pulls the pins from my hair, sending it tumbling around my shoulders in soft waves.
“Felicity,” he growls, his forehead dropping to hit mine. I feel his breaths on my lips, coming fast as his heartbeats. I feel the rigidness of his body as he holds his desire on a short leash, even as his hands rove over every square inch of my skin. As though he’s memorizing me. “It’s been so long since I held you. So long since I’ve done this…” He swallows roughly. “I don’t know if I can go slow. I don’t know if I can be gentle, or—”
I stop hi
s words with a finger on his lips. “Ryder.”
His brows lift.
“I don’t want gentle.”
Without waiting another instant, he pushes me back onto the bed, eyes glittering in the darkness. Just the look on his face is enough to make my mouth go dry.
He knocks my knees apart, and I barely have time to take a breath before he’s inside me — so deep, so hard, tears spring to my eyes. His name tears from my throat on a moan. It’s so loud I think the whole floor hears me. Maybe the whole hotel. The whole damn city.
“Felicity.” His mouth hits mine, crushing it in a carnal kiss. “God, Felicity.”
His weight deliriously heavy as he presses me into the mattress, each thrust fraying my nerve endings, each swivel of his hips driving me a little further over the edge of oblivion.
“I love you,” he gasps, driving deeper. Pushing further.
His eyes never waver from mine. And as I stare up at him, I’m overcome by that same feeling I get when we’re onstage together, singing like there’s not another living soul in the word. That same feeling I have when he looks at me with those mismatched irises and everything somehow falls into place, even when the world is coming apart at the seams.
I built my home out of a man, not a place.
“I love you,” I mange to echo, as my whole world dissolves.
I’m finally home.
Chapter Twenty-Four
ryder
She’s so beautiful when she’s asleep.
I’d almost forgotten what it was like — to hold her in my arms, completely unguarded, totally at peace. I can’t stop touching her. Can’t stop running my hands over her bare body, reassuring myself she’s really here in my bed. Her skin against mine, smoother than silk. Her head on my chest, resting over my heart. Her long hair splayed across the sheets in a dark curtain.
The last thing I want to do is wake her. Hell, I’d sell my soul if it meant staying in this bed a few more minutes. But the sun outside is rising, and the minutes until our bus departs are dwindling rapidly.
“Felicity,” I murmur.
She doesn’t stir.
I trace a fingertip along the indentation of her spine and smile when she arches in response, coming awake with a low purr of pleasure.
“Good morning, baby.”
“What time is it,” she rumbles without opening her eyes.
“Time to get up.”
Scowling, she releases an adorable growl, even as she cuddles closer to my chest. I grin as I tilt my head down to press a kiss against her furrowed forehead.
“The bus is going to leave without us.”
“Don’t care.” Her arms tighten. “Not moving.”
“You haven’t even packed your stuff. We have to hit your room before we leave. Unless, of course, you plan on walk-of-shaming it through the lobby in your stage costume.”
She growls again.
“Baby.” I laugh. “You really want to walk all the way to Indianapolis? Because you know Carly won’t hesitate to leave without us, and I doubt those sexy little sandals you’re always wearing will last the trip.”
Her eyes sliver open. “You think my sandals are sexy?”
“Felicity, every damn thing about you is sexy.”
Her smile is bright as the sunshine spilling through the hotel room windows. “I’ve missed this,” she says, her eyes soft and warm. “Waking up with you.”
Fuck, she’s killing me.
When I speak, my tone is gruff. “Me too.”
Eyes glittering gold, she slides up my body, swinging one leg across my hips so she’s straddling me. My cock, which has been in a state of perpetual hardness since the second I woke up and found her in my arms, throbs violently as she wriggles against me, her breasts brushing against my chest, her lush lips planting kisses on the tattoo across my heart.
A low groan rattles from the back of my throat.
“Felicity…” My breaths are labored as her mouth begins to migrate south — kissing a trail across my pecs, down stomach, past my hipbones…
Fuck.
My abs flex as I sit up abruptly, grabbing her by the waist and tossing her backwards. She lands with a squeak, which quickly turns to a gasp as I come down on top of her, caging her in with my elbows planted on the bed beside her head, pinning her wrists to keep her still.
She’s breathing hard, her eyes glazed with lust as she stares up at me.
“Don’t give me that look, Felicity.” My control is hanging by a thread. “If we start this, we’re definitely going to miss the bus.”
She arches beneath me, bringing her bare skin back into contact with mine. I grit my teeth, feeling my restraint slip a fraction.
The bus wouldn’t really leave without us…
“Ryder.” Felicity licks her lips. “The thing is, we’re going to be on that bus for the foreseeable future. And on a bus…” She blinks innocently and my control slips another notch. “There are simply certain activities we won’t be able to do…”
I’m inside her before she finishes her sentence.
We’re an hour late.
Carly glares at us, but otherwise refrains from commenting as we step onboard. Felicity’s happy grin is all the proof she needs that our tardiness was due to a worthy cause.
“Have the lovebirds finally shown their faces?” Lincoln calls, walking out of the galley kitchen with a mug of coffee. His eyes drop to our intertwined hands and he grins. “Guess that’s a yes.”
We don’t bother responding. I load our overnight bags into an empty cubby as Felicity hangs her sparkly dress in a dry-cleaning bag inside the closet by the bathroom. Her eyes meet mine with pure heat as we walk into the lounge area where Aiden is reading. Claiming an empty couch, she leans back against my chest and closes her eyes as the bus engines rumble to life beneath us.
“Tired?” I murmur, planting a kiss on the side of her head.
“Mmmm.”
“Long night, huh?” Linc waggles his brows as he flops down on the couch across from us.
I shoot him a glare, but the girl in my arms merely giggles.
“Um, Felicity?” Carly’s tone is unusually rattled as she walks in, snagging the cushion beside Lincoln. Her eyes are glued to the tablet screen in her hands. “You might want to see this.”
Felicity pushes off my chest moves to her best friend’s side, worry on her features. “What is it?”
Carly’s eyes dart to me. “Actually, Ryder… this concerns you, too. You might want to look as well.”
A lance of unease shoots through me as I join the small huddle around Carly’s tablet, placing my hands on Felicity’s shoulders and rubbing soothing circles. I wince as Carly pulls up the screen to reveal a flashy TNZ article. The headline is bad enough; the video is far worse.
WILDWOOD GETS WILD IN EXPLICIT ELEVATOR HOOKUP
“Oh my god.” Felicity’s murmur is strained. “Oh my god.”
“Fuck,” I curse, watching as a grainy, black and white surveillance tape begins to play: Felicity’s legs around my waist, her hands in my hair, our mouths fused together as I carry her out of the elevator.
I’m filled with incalculable rage, hands fisting at my sides.
“How did they get this?” Felicity sounds pissed and pained in equal measure.
“I assume someone at the hotel saw it and sold the footage for a hefty sum.” Carly grimaces. “It’s shitty, but…”
“What do we do? Do we call the police?” Felicity looks at me, worry in her eyes. “Ryder?”
I nod. “We do. And if the police can’t track down who sold this, I’ll hire a PI to get to the bottom of it. One way or another, the fucker who did this will be held accountable.”
“Not to be the odd man out, here,” Linc interjects. “But why are you so pissed? It’s not like it’s a sex tape.”
Surprisingly, it’s Aiden who cuts in, closing his book with a bang. “Because, Lincoln, it was private. It was theirs. And now, everyone in the world has seen something that was
supposed to belong only to them.” His eyes flash darkly. “Some secrets are worth keeping. Not because you’re embarrassed of them. Because they’re yours to keep.”
We’re all totally silent, staring at him with varying degrees of curiosity. Felicity looks intrigued. Linc looks flat-out confused. Carly looks like she’s about to keel over.
Curiouser and curiouser.
Aiden seems to realize he’s just brought the conversation to a crashing halt, because he scowls and pins me with a severe look. “Isn’t that right, Ryder?”
“Uh.” I clear my throat. “Yeah. Right, of course.”
Carly’s cheeks are bright red and her grip is tight on her tablet. “I’m not sure how best to proceed, here. I already have a call in to Francesca, but she’s on a plane back to LA at the moment. I’ll keep you posted, once I hear from her.” She tucks a stand of blonde hair behind her ear. “We definitely need to speak to your security detail about stepping things up when it comes to vetting any hotel staff you come in contact with… and also dealing with the paparazzi. I have a feeling this video, plus your very public reconciliation on stage last night, is going to stir up a media storm the likes of which the Kardashians have only ever dreamed.”
“It’s that bad?” Felicity asks, horrified.
Carly chews her lip. “Y’all have Wildwood trending worldwide on Twitter.”
I curse again, squeezing Felicity’s shoulders in an attempt to soothe her. I know how much she hates the spotlight; the last thing she needs is a bigger one shining down on her.
“If it’s any consolation at all…” Linc shrugs and sips his coffee. “The video is pretty damn hot. Seriously… well done, you two. If this whole music thing doesn’t work out, you should seriously contemplate a fall-back career in soft-core porn.”
Exhausted from the news of the elevator video as well as our sleepless night, Felicity and I retreat into my bunk for a quick nap before we arrive in Indiana. It’s a tight squeeze, but we manage to fit with my body curling around hers from behind in a spooning position. She tugs the light-blocking curtain closed behind us as she snuggles back against my chest.
Unfaded (Faded Duet Book 2) Page 19