Ryan (The Mallick Brothers #2)

by Jessica Gadziala

  "To my apartment, honey. When we get back there, feel free to settle in."

  "Ryan, we've only known each other a couple..."

  "And it's enough," I cut her off.

  "Enough for what?"

  "Enough for me to know I'm serious about giving this a try. You can't give something a solid try if you don't welcome someone into your life. Take some closet space. Take some drawers. Bring over your knickknacks. Hire fucking painters, I don't care."

  "Ryan, I have my own apartment..."

  "And you can keep it until you feel as serious about me as I'm feeling about you. I get you need that safety net. But make no mistake, if this goes the way I want it to, that apartment is going to have someone else living in it pretty fucking soon."

  Then she leaned down, hiding what was a sweet, shy little smile and pink cheeks, and planted a kiss right into the center of the last name on my family's coat of arms.

  I didn't think she saw it like I did, but that was all the proof I needed. She could have kissed my lips, my cheek, my neck, the center of my chest. But she chose to kiss the emblem of my family, the thing that represented all I was.

  That was why, when she finally passed out, I climbed out of bed and made a couple phone calls, making a plan to meet my father and brothers. Then after that, I called the girls.

  Because if we wanted a future, I had to settle her past.

  As soon as fucking possible.

  FOURTEEN

  Dusty

  I woke up early the next morning to Ryan leaning down where the blanket must have fallen down and sucking my nipple into his mouth.

  To say it was an unexpected and pleasant way to be woken up would be an understatement.

  Feeling my body jerk, he released the one wet, hardened nipple and looked up at me, devilish smile in place, then moved to take my other nipple into his mouth.

  "Ryan, I..." I started, wanting to say that I needed to brush my teeth before anything went any further. Morning breath kisses, yeah, they were never sexy. From the looks of him, he had been up for a while and likely already had a chance to brush.

  "Need me to get a taste of that sweet pussy again?" he asked, giving me a nod. "I know, honey. That's what I'm here for."

  With that, his tongue traced down the center of my chest, pulling the blankets down and continuing down my stomach. And, really, when a man said something like that first thing in the morning when you were too sleep-weary to even muster the energy to object, you let him do what he pleased. Especially seeing as by doing that, he was promising another mind-numbing, soul-crushing orgasm.

  As soon as he was done with that, though, I realized he was nowhere near done. I came to that conclusion because he sat back on his heels and his cock was hard and straining, a bead of precum at the tip, and promise in his eyes. Then he jumped back to the edge of the bed, getting his feet on the floor, and reaching up to snag my ankles, dragging me down toward him. He reached out to the side of me where I saw he had already tossed a condom.

  But first...

  I curled upward, my hands sinking into his hips, the high bed putting me at the perfect angle to lean in and lick the wetness off. He let out a hiss of breath, his hand going behind my head. "Fuck, Dusty," he growled as closed my lips closed around the swollen head and moved down his solid length, taking him as deep as the angle would allow then moving back up, raising my eyes to see his- intense, hungry.

  I forgot how much I missed things like this- like having a man's pleasure completely at your mercy. To know you could make them lose control, fall apart, curse out your name like an oath.

  "Fuck, honey that feels good," he groaned and, as if proving his point, I could feel him growing harder in my mouth as I worked him. "But I need to be inside you. Right now," he added as I heard the condom foil rip and he pulled me backward by my hair. I sucked as hard as I could until he was out of my mouth and he shook his head at me as he reached for his cock and slid the condom on.

  I went to lay back down, but he reached out and grabbed me, pulling me up onto my feet and moving to sit himself down, turning me and pulling me until my back was to his front. "Like this," he told me and I felt my sex tighten and my belly flutter.

  I had never been a prude or un-experimental, and while it was a position I had seen in pretty much every porn I had ever seen, it wasn't one I had ever tried before.

  There was a momentary worry about my legs not being able to hold me for long while he drove me toward orgasm before I felt him reach between us and then slide all the way in.

  Then, well, it was just instinct and need.

  I moved against him, one arm curling up and around the back of his neck, the other pressing into his thigh to keep balance as he hit places I had never felt before, created sensations I hadn't known existed. And when my movements got erratic and sloppy the closer I got, Ryan's hands went to my hips and guided me. Then just like that, his breath in my ear, his body beneath and behind me, I came, crying out his name.

  I could barely lose myself in the waves before he was up, flipping me onto my belly on the mattress, dragging my hips up with his hands, and plowing into me.

  It was fast, hard, relentless, borderline brutal, the sounds of our bodies slamming together filling the air, mixing with his cursing and my moaning as one orgasm seemed to be rolling right into another. Then it did, and my cry was louder than the ones before.

  "Oh, my God," I groaned as I came back down, panting hard, my entire body feeling slick, my limbs heavy and useless.

  "Not done with you yet," he informed me and I realized he was still rock hard inside me.

  "I can't..." I objected, shaking my head. I was pretty sure three was my limit.

  "Wanna bet?" he asked, pulling halfway out of me, grabbing both of my legs and pushing me up the bed slightly, cocking my legs at an angle to one side, then slamming inside me again.

  I curled my upper body to match my lower, looking up at him while he drove inside me. I decided right then and there that there was no sexier image in the world. Every muscle in his body was tensed and corded, his eyes heavy. One of his hands held my legs how he wanted them; the other reached up and squeezed my breast as his hips slammed up against me, pressing as deep as possible each time.

  I was sure there was nothing more amazing than seeing a man on the brink of oblivion as he slammed inside you, wanting to bring you to climax for the fourth time before he found his own.

  Then just like that, I found he won the bet.

  I came, my entire body convulsing hard as he slammed almost painfully deep and came with my name on his lips.

  As soon as I came back down, my eyes looked up to find him panting hard, but a smile pulled at his lips. "Told you so," he said as he slapped my ass hard then slid out of me, giving a delicious little pinch at the soreness there, a soreness I was sure I would feel all day anytime I sat down.

  Somehow, I really liked the idea of that.

  He moved off to the bathroom and I forced my numb, lifeless limbs to carry me across the bed where I snagged the robe we had discarded the night before, pulling it up as I sat off the side of the bed and wrapping it around me.

  Ryan came back out a minute later, not naked like I had expected, but in his slacks and a black button-up that he had left open as he came toward me with a soft smile, grabbing the sides of my robe and pulling me to my feet by them.

  "Don't worry, I ordered breakfast so you can get your strength back," he said, sounding very pleased with himself and his prowess. Which, well, he should.

  "Food. There better be coffee with that," I added as he tucked one side of the robe under the other and pulled up the sash, effortlessly tying it.

  "Wouldn't let you down," he said. "Go shower and whatnot and meet me out in the kitchen."

  I had no idea that when I showered, brushed, changed into jeans and a lightweight white sweater, that when I walked out into the kitchen, he would have a bomb to drop on me.

  I was one sip into my coffee when he announced that he
had to leave for a while.

  Which, well, was fine. He had a life. He had businesses. He had employees. It was to be expected that he would need to get back to them.

  "But I didn't want to leave you alone all day."

  I felt a smile pull at my lips at that. "Hi, have we met? I'm Dusty and I've been locked in my apartment all by myself, Rocky aside, for years."

  He gave me a ghost of a smile at that. "Yeah, but that was your apartment. This is a hotel room you're not comfortable in yet."

  "Ryan, really, I might be a bit of a nervous nellie, but I'm a big girl."

  He sucked in a breath then, giving me an apologetic smile. "I'm afraid it's too late..."

  "Too late for what? Is Eli or Mark coming to hang out or something?" I asked, not entirely opposed to either.

  Sometime during my shower, sore in muscles I hadn't used in ages, having beard burn across my chest, belly, and inner thighs and deciding I liked that way too much, I liked him way too much to ruin it, I decided to make some kind of action plan like my shrink always told me about to help me progress, to get better. I didn't get a chance to flesh it out beyond that thought, but I figured socializing with his family was a step forward. If I could get completely comfortable with them, then I could maybe be okay with the idea of possibly handling a family function.

  That would be huge.

  "Eli and Mark have something they need to do with me today actually. So, ah..."

  Okay, seeing him a little stressed was charming. But I knew how that felt so I let him out of his misery. "Who then?"

  "Fee and Lea. They're Hunter and Shane's women. They've been wanting to meet you and I thought..." he trailed off, sighing. "I probably should have asked first, but I invited them."

  Okay.

  That was okay.

  No reason to freak.

  It wasn't like they were interviewing me as a potential family member or anything. Except, let's get real, they totally would be.

  I had a momentary pang of longing for a stash of makeup. Some coverup for the bruises, some lipstick, anything.

  "Dusty, they're pretty chill chicks, okay? There's nothing to freak out about. Fee is going to show up dressed like she stepped out of a fucking fashion magazine because that's how she is and Lea is gonna be in jeans, tee, and combat boots because that's how she is. They're both going to curse a lot and likely make highly inappropriate sexual jokes because that's what they do. But they're not going to poke and prod at you about anything. They both have pasts too."

  I took a deep breath, figuring I could deal with a little cursing and sexual remarks. I mean, his sister-in-law ran a phone sex business. That was kind of expected.

  "Alright," I said with a nod as I forced myself to eat my food.

  In fact, the more I thought about it, the more interested I got. I wanted to know about his family dynamic. I wanted to see the people he loved so deeply. And maybe a part of me too was excited about the idea of being around some women for a change. My life had been hyper-masculine since I stopped being able to leave my house. Aside from my seeing the woman who lived below me go about her daily life, and the sessions with my shrink, I literally had no contact with women. I had my uncle and Bry. I had the landlord when I occasionally needed him. Now I had Ryan and a bit of Eli and Mark. It would be kind of nice to have some girl talk again.

  "You alright? You're quiet."

  I smiled up at him, having momentarily forgotten he was actually there. "Sorry. Quiet is still my default," I admitted. "I'm not used to having someone around to talk to. I'm fine. When are they coming?"

  "Knowing them, fifteen minutes earlier than I plan on them being here. Just to be pains in the ass. Though Fee tends to run more toward late with the kids now."

  "Oh," I said, feeling another little thrill. "Are the kids coming?" I asked, hearing the eagerness in my own voice.

  You didn't go into teaching kindergarten if you didn't like kids. They were loud and crazy and stressful and unpredictable and not everyone found those qualities cute and endearing. I, for one, always had. I loved every minute of being in my classroom- from the way they would light up when they finally learned all their letters to listening to the God-awful off-key way they would sing along to the glitter spills and glue mishaps and fighting over toys. I loved every second of it.

  And it felt like a big part of me was missing since I lost that.

  "No," he said, looking apologetic. "Not today. I thought maybe that would be a lot all at once. My nieces are cute as fuck, but they're a handful. Becca especially. Fee blames all of us for her. Says we let her get away with anything she wants."

  "Do you?"

  "For the most part," he admitted shamelessly. "She was the first kid any of us had ever really been around. We liked spoiling her."

  "And now she's got you wrapped around her little finger," I said with a smile. I knew how that went. I saw it every day. I once had a mother come up to me and ask me to tell her daughter she wasn't allowed to push the other kids on the playground because she 'didn't want to be the bad guy'. Ridiculous.

  "Something like that," he admitted, putting his coffee cup back on the breakfast cart. I guess that was a perk of living in a hotel occasionally- room service.

  I followed suit, putting what was left of my breakfast on the cart and watching as he rolled it out into the hallway.

  "Come here," he demanded, leaning against the front door. And I was hopeless to do anything but what he asked. His arms circled around my lower back, dragging me against his firm body. "Think they're gonna take away my man card if I said I'm gonna fucking miss you today?"

  In my chest, my heart did a wild flip-flop and I beamed up at him. "It'll be our little secret," I said, wrapping my arms around the back of his neck, making my breasts crush into his chest. And despite having had him the night before and just over an hour ago, my body wanted him again. "I'm gonna miss you too," I admitted, knowing the truth of it down to a soul level. In such a short time, he had begun to mean so much. Maybe, if I was honest with myself, perhaps it was too much.

  "Well then I think I'm safe," he said, giving me a smile as he leaned forward and claimed my lips.

  I was pretty sure it was supposed to be a short, sweet little kiss. But, well, the second his lips pressed to mine, it became something else entirely. I whimpered against his lips as he held me impossibly tight to his body, as he slanted my head and deepened the kiss, as his tongue traced the seam and invaded.

  He turned suddenly, slamming me back against the wall, taking my arms from around his neck and pinning them to the wall above my head as his lips left mine, leaving them feeling swollen and sensitive, and trailed down my cheek, jaw, and then torturing my neck. He kissed, licked, sucked, until every inch of my body was humming with the need for him, until I felt halfway to an orgasm and his hand hadn't been anywhere near my sex yet.

  His mouth went up, his teeth snagging my earlobe and making me let out a moan.

  Then, perfectly timed it seemed, there was a ding in the hallway that made Ryan release me and go back a step. My hands fell numbly down by my sides as I pressed back against the wall, feeling wobbly and so turned on it was genuinely painful as Ryan took several long, deep breaths, similarly afflicted it seemed.

  "Fuck," he sighed, scrubbing a hand down the scruff on his cheek that was well on its way to becoming a beard if he didn't shave sometime soon. "Told you they'd be early," he added with an apologetic smile, moving over toward me and pressing a kiss to my temple as I forced my legs to solidify again and stood up straight.

  Then there was pounding on the door. Not knocking. Pounding with, it seemed, at least three fists. "Open up!" a female voice called, making Ryan chuckle and move a step to the side where the door was.

  "Ready for this?" he asked.

  "As I'll ever be," I admitted, giving him what I hoped was a reassuring smile.

  Then he slid the locks and they... burst in.

  They were polar opposites to each other in the looks department. One
was blonde with a soft, delicate face, big green eyes, beach-wavy hair, and had on a tight mini skirt with glitter-printed leggings and an oversized black sweater that had a scoop neck and an unusual hem that went up high in the center then dipped down low at the sides so it actually brushed the hem of her skirt by her thighs.

  The other was a tall, leggy, stacked woman with long, straight dark hair, striking blue eyes, and feminine but angular face. As Ryan had predicted, she wore a pair of dark blue skinny jeans, black combat boots, and a tight blue long-sleeve tee.

  They both also had about half a dozen bags between them, in their hands and hanging from their wrists.

  "Well...?" The blonde, Fee, demanded, big-eying Ryan as she waved a hand full of bags out.

  "Well what?" Ryan asked.

  "Where is she?" she added, rolling her eyes.

  "Good morning to you too, Fee, Lea," he said, and while I couldn't see his face from my position behind the door, I could hear the smile in it. "It's nice to see you. You seem well..."

  "Cut the bullshit. We aren't here for you," Fee added with a smirk in her own voice.

  Ryan closed the door and their eyes fell on me as he reached out to take my hand and pull me forward. "Dusty," he said, giving me a squeeze. "This is Fee and Lea, my brothers' women. Guys, this is Dusty. Try not to freak her out too much while I'm gone."

  "Oh, please," Fee said, rolling her eyes at him. "She's going to love us. Now leave so we can get the scoop on you."

  "The scoop on me?" Ryan asked, raising a brow.

  "I have a feeling he's the holds you down while he fuck..."

  "Alright," Ryan cut her off on a rumbling chuckle. "On that note, I'm off. I apologize in advance for leaving you in their viper claws," he added, giving me a kiss and releasing my hand. "Have a good day. If you really need to get in touch with me, I have my cell." He stepped into the open doorway and looked at Fee and Lea and, with a pointed brow raise demanded, "Be nice." With that, he was going.

  "So dramatic," Lea snorted as he left. "Like we're here to make you join our Satanical cult or something," she said, dropping the bags she had on the coffee table. "That is totally up to you," she added and, caught off guard, I let out a somewhat loud laugh.