Sweat (Sweetbriar Lake #1)

by Rebecca Jenshak

  Ryan pulled Elle into a sitting position and sat down in front of her, pulling her onto her lap. “Are you sure you want to do this here? I had a much more romantic setting in mind for our first time?” He searched her eyes.

  “You did?” Her heart fluttered.

  Ryan nodded, running his hand through her hair and pulling her in for a soft kiss on the lips.

  Elle nuzzled into his neck. “I’ve been waiting for you to push me into a corner and have your way with me since the first time I saw you.” Heat crept into her face at the truth of her own admission.

  “The first time? Even after I laughed at you for falling on your ass?”

  “You do remember!” Elle screeched as she gave him a playful punch on his arm.

  “Of course. You looked so cute all angry and disheveled.” Ryan placed another chaste kiss on her lips.

  “If this is what you want, I’m more than ready,” Ryan said as he motioned down toward the bulge in his shorts. “But you deserve the romance — dinners, candlelight, satin sheets, the works.”

  Elle smiled at this deep man. She wanted all those things, but she wanted him here and now. The romance could wait.

  “I think this is perfect.” She ran her fingers down his chest and underneath his shorts. Elle started to move backward off his lap to give herself better access, but Ryan had other plans.

  In one smooth movement, he stood with her in his arms then guided her feet on the ground. He grabbed her hands and placed them above her head as he lifted the tight dress up and over her face. Goose bumps rose in the wake of his fingers trailing down her body to her waist.

  Elle let him take in her body, no longer ashamed of the way she looked in comparison to this gym god. The way he looked at her made her feel beautiful. She reached out and tugged his shorts and boxer-briefs down. He was perfectly sculpted and lean. His penis was long and thick and added to his god-like status. Elle started to lower herself to repay him for the amazing mouth service he had given her.

  “I won’t last five seconds. Did you bring condoms?”

  “One.” Smiling and silently thanking Claire, Elle retrieved the condom from her purse and handed it to him.

  With a nod, he turned her so she was facing the bench. She heard the tear of the condom packet before he placed his hands on her hips.

  “Hold on, baby. I’m not going to last long.”

  Elle grabbed the bench in front of her and shivered in anticipation. She was surprised when he gave her ass a playful slap, but before she could yelp in response, he was entering her from behind, deliciously stretching her. Elle cried out, realizing she was close as well. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d had multiple orgasms.

  Ryan stilled as he entered her completely, and she pushed back against him, and he slipped even deeper inside her. He began a slow and infuriating pace that had Elle gyrating, wanting more. But by placing his hands on her hips, he took control of the speed, building until her whole body felt like it might explode before her release. He moved one hand and slowly circled her clit just once before Elle screamed his name and collapsed onto the bench. He followed and leaned against her lightly.

  Before Elle had time to recover from the earth-shattering orgasms, Ryan gathered their discarded clothes and her purse, picked her up, and climbed the stairs. After carefully dropping her on a chair in his office, he pulled clean clothes from his gym bag and handed over half to her. She dressed quickly and leaned back into the chair, watching sleepily as he packed up all their things. With his bag slung over a shoulder, he picked her up again.

  “You know I am capable of walking,” Elle said groggily as she placed a tired head on his shoulder.

  Ryan laughed quietly. “Hush, woman. I’m being chivalrous.”

  A sense of contentment stole over her, and she drifted off.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  ELLE WOKE UP with the smell of Ryan clinging to her. Opening her eyes and looking around the small room she didn’t recognize, she vaguely remembered him depositing her here after driving back to his place from the gym. She studied every item in the room, memorizing the details of his personal space, before eyeing the clock on the nightstand. 7:05 a.m. Holy shit, I slept through the night!

  With no Ryan in sight, Elle decided to get up and investigate. She found him in the kitchen cutting up strawberries and adding them to plates that already held generous servings of eggs and turkey bacon.

  “Please don’t tell me you’re a morning person,” Elle grumbled as she stumbled to the kitchen bar and sat on a high stool. Her head was too heavy to hold up, so she let if fall forward until it rested on the cool Formica.

  “Don’t worry. I’m only making you breakfast so I feel less guilty about wearing you out last night. Plus, you made me promise to cook breakfast when I put you to bed.” Ryan handed her a plate and scooted a cup of coffee in front of her.

  Elle groaned again at the incoherent things she’d probably said and couldn’t remember.

  “Eat up, sweets. I have a full day of romance planned,” Ryan said as he shoveled a bite of eggs in his mouth and wiggled his eyebrows playfully at her.

  “I don’t have any clothes here that are appropriate for the daylight hours.” Elle’s face grew warm at the reminder of her daring dress from last night.

  “While I would love to see you in the dress again, we will never leave this apartment if you put that back on. Actually, I need to go out and get a few things, so I’ll drop you by your place to change,” Ryan said between bites.

  Excited to see what he had planned for the day, Elle scooped a forkful of eggs into her mouth. “This is delicious,” she said and took another large bite.

  He smiled proudly as he chewed, and they continued eating in a comfortable silence.

  When she’d cleared her plate of everything but a few strawberries, she pushed the plate away from her. “Remind me never to cook you breakfast. I think you’d be sadly disappointed.”

  “Never.” He popped the remaining strawberries from her plate into his mouth.

  Soon after the dishes were in the sink, they took off in Ryan’s Mustang for her condo. Elle settled into the warm leather seat, thinking about all that had happened since she’d met him and wondering what was next. Ryan hadn’t even mentioned dating or anything more serious, but the way he’d planned the day for them without asking first was consistent with something a boyfriend would do. Best not to think about labels and just enjoy him while he is interested.

  “You’re awfully quiet over there. Penny for your thoughts?” His voice brought her back to the moment.

  “Well… I was thinking you looked pretty good driving this car.” Elle gave him a playful grin.

  Ryan winked. “Back at ya, baby. I could get used to driving you around.”

  “Or you could let me chauffeur you around,” Elle said. She had always owned practical cars, but this one seemed like it would be fun to drive.

  “Not likely sweetheart.” Ryan parked the car outside her condo and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek before jumping out and coming around to open her door.

  “I will be back in thirty minutes. Pack a swimsuit.” Ryan gave her one last quick kiss and was off.

  “A swimsuit? It’s sixty degrees out?!” she shrieked to the moving car.

  Elle found herself humming and smiling as she took a quick shower and changed into jeans and a form-fitting purple t-shirt. She packed a toothbrush, bathing suit, and a change of clothes, just in case.

  As she was throwing her hair up into a messy bun, her phone beeped with a new message. She smiled and grabbed it but was disappointed when she saw the text wasn’t from Ryan.

  Brock: I was thinking I’d come down a day early next week. Are you free Friday evening? We could have a friendly drink and catch up before the ball.

  Elle ignored the message. After last night, it didn’t feel right making plans to see him. The knock on her door saved her from pondering the matter too much. She grabbed her bag and jacket and hurried to open
the door. Ryan grinned at her, holding a dozen red roses and two cups of coffee from the café.

  “Did you even look to see who it was?” Ryan asked as he stomped into her condo.

  He has to be joking, right? But a quick look at his expression told her he was serious.

  “Who else would it be this early on a Sunday morning?” Elle wasn’t used to answering to anyone. It had been years since she lived with her parents, and Brock hadn’t been too wrapped up in those types of things.

  “Check who it is before you open the door. Please,” he added with a bit of desperation in his voice.

  “Okay, okay. I promise to check the door before I open it to talk to strangers.” Elle gave him a playful smirk.

  Ryan handed over the flowers. “These are for you.”

  “Thank you. Let me put them in some water, and then we can go. Where are we heading anyway?” Elle asked.

  Ryan grabbed her bag and tossed it over his shoulder. “You shall see soon enough.”

  Minutes later, they were zipping across town toward a remote part of the lake. Ryan turned up a narrow gravel road that was barely visible through the trees. Elle could just make out a small housing development in the distance on the top of the hill. The view as they climbed up the grade was breathtaking. Pine and maple trees lined the road, and parts of the lake were visible with every twist and turn. A few boats were out, but this time of year, it would, no doubt, be mostly quiet.

  Ryan pulled the car in front of a large cabin perched in the middle of the development. The house had a half-circle driveway that led to a three-car garage on the side. The structure itself appeared to be two stories. If all of that wasn’t impressive enough, a wrap-around porch called to Elle to explore the back of the house, which, she was willing to bet, had a panoramic view of the lake.

  “It’s incredible,” Elle said in amazement. “Who lives here?”

  “I do.” He turned off the car.

  “You live here?” she gawked. “What about your apartment?”

  Ryan laughed. He seemed to enjoy confounding her. “Come on, I’ll explain inside.” Ryan grabbed Elle’s duffel and a paper bag from the back seat.

  The scenery outside the cabin brought a sense of peace. Several other large homes surrounded his but were far enough apart that she couldn’t tell if they were inhabited. They were all landscaped and beautifully maintained from the outside.

  Elle walked ahead of Ryan onto the wrap-around and followed it to the back. There, in the middle of the porch was a dining table with chairs. A large outdoor grill sat in the corner next to the sliding doors, which Elle guessed led into the kitchen. There wasn’t much in the way of outdoor decorations, but Elle imagined this space would be a dream to entertain friends and family. As she had guessed, the lake below stretched out, giving her a 180-degree view. It was breathtaking.

  A private dock with several boats was situated at the bottom of the hill, where a man with a little boy sat fishing off the dock. The child tried to cast his rod with so much force he nearly threw himself into the water, and Elle smiled.

  She felt Ryan’s presence before she heard him coming out the back door onto the porch.

  “This is really something,” she spoke softly, afraid to break the serenity of the place.

  “It is, or it will be. It’s a work in progress,” he said as he seemed to survey the view as if it was his first time.

  “Why do you stay in Sweetbriar if you have this place? No offense to the apartment, but this place is to die for,” Elle said.

  “I’m glad you like it. My apartment in town is close to the gym, and this one still needs a lot of work. Chris owns a construction company. This land was owned by his grandparents, and he inherited it. When he started talking about building up here, my buddy, Jake, and I each bought a plot. His cabin isn’t built yet, but it’ll be down that way about a half mile.” Ryan leaned in close and pointed east.

  “We passed Chris’s cabin on the way in. It has the best view of the lake and easiest access to the docks. He rents his out during the busy season.”

  “So, all of you have places up here that none of you actually use?” Elle asked, shocked. If she had a cabin here, she might never drive down the hill.

  Ryan laughed. “It’ll be a good place to raise a family someday, but I have everything I need at the apartment. Besides, I spend so many hours at the club it’s convenient to have something close by.”

  Elle felt a raindrop on her face and looked up at the sky. The clouds had grown dark, and a storm looked like it was coming in from the east.

  “I had planned to take you out on the boat, but Mother Nature seems to have other plans. Let’s go inside, and I’ll show you around,” Ryan said as he grabbed Elle’s hand and led her into the cabin.

  They entered through a living area with a stone fireplace. The room was basically void of furniture, but the space was open and inviting. The large kitchen separated the living and dining rooms with a huge island in the middle of the beautiful wood cabinets and black stainless-steel appliances. Large windows spanned the entire back wall overlooking the lake.

  Elle noticed Ryan standing at the bottom of the staircase watching her take in the house. She felt like she was unveiling a whole other side to this complicated man as she viewed the space where he wanted to create a life.

  She followed him up the stairs to the top floor. A catwalk overlooked the downstairs space before opening to three bedrooms, each with a private bathroom. The empty rooms were all painted white with wood trim.

  “And this is the master,” Ryan said in a whisper.

  Elle walked into a large open area with French doors along the back wall, opening onto a balcony. The rest of the room was sparsely decorated, but it was clear more effort had been put into this room than all the others combined. A king-size four-poster canopy bed was situated in the middle of the room with matching nightstands on either side. A fireplace sat on the left wall and just beyond it a door that Elle presumed led to the bathroom. The only artwork hung above the mantel. What looked like blueprints were matted and displayed in a silver frame. This house obviously meant everything to him.

  “Blueprints for the house?” she asked.

  Ryan nodded.

  Elle walked to the middle of the room as she took in the space and one hand had reached out and touched the side of the bed without her realizing it. She turned to find Ryan still standing in the doorway. His face seemed to be looking for her approval, but his gaze was heated, just like she had seen at the club last night.

  “It’s the most incredible house I’ve ever seen,” Elle said and meant it.

  Ryan rushed to her in two long steps and pulled her against him. He ran both hands through her long hair and kissed her with the same passion she felt.

  The rain had started to come down loudly outside, and that and her own heavy breathing were all she could hear as Ryan stepped back and took off his shirt. He kicked off his shoes next and then removed his jeans. Elle took in his wonderfully fit body as he stood before her in his boxer-briefs.

  She raised her hands over her head in invitation, and Ryan slowly slid the material up over her head. He tossed it on the floor and moved to unfasten her bra as he trailed light kisses along her collarbone and neck. A shiver wracked her body as he removed it before lowering his mouth to her breasts. He kissed and sucked one while he worked on removing her jeans and panties. When Elle was standing naked before him, he stepped back and admired her, his appreciation obvious.

  He reached out to her. “You are the most gorgeous woman I have ever seen,” he said in a husky voice, palming a breast in each hand until her nipples were tight peaks.

  She caught herself as she started to laugh off the compliment, but looking into his hooded brown eyes, she could tell he meant the words, and she responded by capturing his mouth with hers, pushing him back until his legs were against the side of the bed. She pulled his underwear down to release his arousal. She couldn’t wait another minute for him to be insi
de her. Forget foreplay. His words and the sight of his naked flesh were enough to make her body ache with need.

  His hands moved slowly down her back until they were teasing and cupping her ass. She let him explore, let every sensation bring her closer to release. He picked her up and tossed her on the bed, grabbing her legs and sliding her to the side of the bed before her brain could catch up. He tore the wrapper with his teeth and guided the condom down as he pushed Elle’s legs up and over his shoulders.

  “I don’t think I have it in me to be gentle right now. Let me know if it’s too much,” he said as he slammed into her.

  “More. God, more. Please.”

  He moved in and out finding a pace that threatened to unravel them both in record time. She called out his name first, sure that she had never screamed so loud in her entire life. Her voice, her body — he owned all of her.

  Ryan continued the brutal pace, Elle’s body already climbing back, ready to let him bring her over the edge again. His breathing became more ragged, sweat dripping down over his forehead as he found his release and yelled out what might have been her name. She couldn’t focus on anything but the sound of her own scream as she climaxed a second time.

  RYAN RELUCTANTLY PULLED himself away from Elle as she lay next to him in the bed. She had dozed off, and he found himself torn between getting up and preparing some food for her or lying with her and feeling her soft body pressed against his. He started a fire in the fireplace, remembering the look on her face as she had taken in the room. The house wasn’t much to look at yet, but he had been surprised how happy her approval made him. He wanted her to love the house the same way that he did. It was a house where he planned to start and raise a family, and seeing Elle in it made him picture what that life would look like with her.

  In the kitchen, Ryan heated up the takeout he had brought with them. As he emptied the containers onto plates, he heard Elle’s familiar ringtone. Ryan ignored it. He didn’t want her to think he was being nosy if he looked to see who it was. He grabbed the wine and two glasses and put all of it on a large tray to carry upstairs. Just as he was about to pick it up, her phone began ringing again. Ryan hesitated but decided he should check and make sure it wasn’t her family calling from Italy.