“I’ve always loved you,” I said honestly. “I just didn’t have the courage to tell you, but Sydney Chase, to me you are the most perfect, beautiful girl I’ve ever known.”
She rested her head on my shoulder once more. “You’re perfect to me too, Ryder. And I don’t want you to ever doubt how I feel,” she said, looking up at me with those big brown eyes. “I’m going to tell Chris tomorrow that I need to break things off with Dillon. I don’t want to hide with you. I really don’t. I want the people I love to know that we’re together.”
“You’re sure?”
It was seriously one of the best things I’d heard all day.
She nodded. “I’m absolutely sure. It might not happen right away since our PR people have to handle it, but we won’t have to pretend for much longer.”
“Thank you,” I told her. “That means a lot to me.”
I leaned forward and kissed her then, harder than I’d intended, but all that pent up emotion I’d been feeling over the past week kind of came out in that kiss. Before I knew what was happening, she was moving so she was straddling me and kissing me with complete reckless abandon. I rested my hands on either side of her hips, holding her there, never wanting her to move.
“Are we okay?” she asked, pulling back after a few seconds.
I nodded. “Yeah, we are. We’re good. I’m glad we talked.”
She ran her hands back through my hair. “Me too. I want this Ryder, and I want you – in every humanly way possible.”
Her intense gaze about leveled me, the fire burning there completely different than it had been a few minutes earlier.
“Are you sure? We were just fighting?”
She smiled and shook her head. “Only you would try to talk me down from doing all the things I want to do to you,” she said, as her hand slid down my side, slow and seductive, making me shiver. “You’re so noble.”
Damn, I wanted her.
I let my head fall forward against hers. “Syd, I want this. Trust me, I’ve been thinking about it all week, but I don’t want to push you.”
“You’re always so thoughtful. But I’m good.” She leaned forward and kissed me, then she started kissing a line from my lips to my ear, pausing for a few seconds, her breath warm on my skin. “I want you, and I want to finish what we started last weekend.”
The scenery outside flashed past us as she said that, only then reminding me that we weren’t truly alone. I hoped Gerald hadn’t heard our conversation. The partition that separated us from him was up, but I wasn’t sure how sound-proof it was.
Then Sydney pressed down against me and moved back and forth just enough to make me very aware that only a few layers of clothes separated us, and I let the thought float out of my head. The hardness in my jeans let her know how much I wanted exactly what she was asking me for, and she pulled back and smiled.
“I can’t wait to get you alone,” she said, her lips so close to mine. Then she kissed me again, making me almost forget where I was as I let myself get lost in the moment.
Jesus, who the hell knew she was so aggressive? For as well as I thought I knew her, this was a completely new side the I was glad to be exposed to. It was so hot.
The car came to a stop a few minutes later around the back of some glitzy hotel that I’d glanced at when we drove by, but we wouldn’t be going through the front entrance. Syd always took the celebrity entrance which was usually unmarked and industrial looking, just like at the arena.
“We’re here,” she said, smiling at me conspiratorially as she slid off of my lap.
Then she reached for my hand and took it in hers as she climbed out of the car. She dropped it almost immediately when Pablo, one of her security guys, greeted us at the door and held it open as we walked in, but it didn’t bother me so much anymore. I knew how she felt.
Sydney chatted politely with him while we walked to the service elevator. When we got inside, Pablo stood in front of us, and Sydney stood next to me, took my hand and watched the numbers go up as we rose to the top floor. I squeezed her hand when the doors opened, knowing what was about to come next.
We got off the elevator and went through a set of doors before we were in the hallway of the penthouse. Sydney punched a code into the keypad next to the door and opened it, revealing one of the most luxurious rooms I’d ever seen before, but I didn’t take much time to drink in the décor. Nothing compared to the beauty of the girl who was standing in the middle of that room, looking at me with hooded eyes.
I took two steps to close the distance between us and slid my arms around her waist. Looking down at her, I said, “So, you love me. I love you. We’re finally alone, and you don’t have anywhere to be.”
She smiled widely. “You’re right.”
“Are you hungry?”
I knew she was probably starving since she hadn’t eaten hardly anything since lunch and then had danced and sang for two hours, but she just shook her head.
“No?” I questioned, not because I wanted to prolong the wait, but I didn’t want her to not enjoy herself if she was starving. And once I got started, I didn’t plan on taking a break – especially after how turned on I still was from what we’d just done in the car.
She slid her hands up and cupped my face. “I thought I told you. There’s just one thing I want right now,” she said, and she started to kiss me.
As I completely surrendered to what it was like to have her mouth on me, her sweet lips assaulting mine and making me never want to do anything else if it didn’t involve kissing her, she started to walk backward, pulling with me her. We completely bypassed the couch that sat in the middle of her suite and ended up inside the bedroom.
She pulled back from kissing me long enough to yank the button-down shirt I was wearing off of my shoulders, letting it slide down my arms. Then her hands slid to the hem of my white t-shirt and lifted it over my head. I stepped closer to her and wrapped my arms around her, pulling her against me as I reached behind her and slowly lifted her black tank top up. I was teasing her, hoping to drive her crazy, and I knew it was working when she looked up at me with hungry eyes.
I yanked the shirt over her head and tossed it to the floor, as she started to unbutton her jeans and slowly slid them down her legs. She stepped out of them and stood there before me wearing nothing but a strapless lacy bra and black lace panties. She was literally every man’s wet dream come to life, and she was all mine – until she turned and walked away from me.
“Where are you going?” I asked her, and she turned around and smirked at me.
“Follow me, and you’ll find out,” she said, as she reached behind her and unhooked her bra, letting it fall to the carpeted floor.
Holy shit.
I started after her, following her into the adjacent room where she stood in front of a hot tub wearing just those black panties, her hair still piled on top of her head, giving my eyes the chance to roam over her creamy, pale skin, taking in each line and curve of her lean body. The jets in the hot tub were starting to bubble, and the room that was glass on three sides and had views of the enclosed balcony for privacy, was starting to steam up, but the steam was rising and billowing out of a vent in the ceiling. I’d never seen anything like it before, and I’d certainly never stayed in a hotel this nice. I couldn’t have picked a better place for us.
Sydney made no move to turn around, even though she knew I was standing behind her. She could see me in the reflection of the glass. I watched her watching me for a few seconds before I made quick work of kicking off my shoes and socks and undoing my jeans and letting them fall to my feet. I left my boxers on and stepped toward her, moving into place directly behind where she stood, pressing my body flush against her back, my hands snaking around her stomach to hold her against me.
The feel of her skin against mine again was something out of a fantasy. She was so soft and smooth and pliant as she leaned back against my chest.
She let her head fall back against my shoulder and turned it s
o I could kiss her. As our lips met, I let my hands roam north, cupping her full breasts. As I brushed my fingertips across her nipples, she moaned in my mouth, which only succeeded in taking the semi I was sporting to completely erect. It pressed into her backside, and she pressed right back against me, making my breath falter for a few seconds. Then she turned, so she was facing me, her arms wrapping around my neck.
She pulled back and looked at me. “I wanted this to be perfect,” she said, her eyes sparkling.
It hit me then that she’d planned this part of the night out before all the insecurities, frustrations and the eventual ‘I love you’s’ of the day. She’d wanted this, us, all along, and I knew then that I never should have doubted her.
I let my forehead drop against hers. “You’re here. It is perfect,” I whispered.
She smiled, as her hands slid down my chest, making me shiver before they slid into the waistband of my boxers and started to slide them down my legs. My erection sprang up as soon as it was free from the confines of the last bit of clothing I was wearing, and she wrapped one hand around the length, squeezing gently and moving her hand back and forth in a teasingly torturous gesture.
“God, Syd,” I groaned, as I closed my eyes, letting the sensations overtake me as she slid her finger over the tip and swirled the bit of pre-cum that had leaked out. I sucked in a breath.
I’d gotten plenty of hand jobs over the years, but I hadn’t reacted like this in a long time. Just the fact that it was Sydney, and her hands were on me was enough to practically finish me off on the spot. Of course I was not going to let that happen. I hadn’t waited seven years to be with her only to be a two-pump chump. That was not happening.
So I started kissing her in an effort to distract her from her ministrations, my hands gripping tightly on her hips before sliding down over her backside. I cupped them there for a few seconds as she continued to stroke me more evenly and efficiently, pushing me closer to an edge I didn’t want to fall over just yet.
“Don’t,” I said, taking her hand in mine and pulling it away.
She looked up at me like she knew exactly why I’d told her to stop. I locked my gaze with hers and shook my head a few times before I stepped around her and into the bubbling water, sinking down until almost my entire chest was covered. The heat and the steam and the water thankfully calmed me enough to pull me back from the point of no return.
Sydney turned to look at me, and I let my gaze wash over her bare chest. It was the first time I’d ever seen her without her clothes on, and my imagination hadn’t done her justice. She was far more beautiful with soft curves and milky white skin and two perfect pink nipples that I was dying to get my mouth on. The tattoo of a series of music notes on her rib cage and the words ‘Love With Reckless Abandon’ scrolling across her hip were a stark contrast to her fair skin and only made her more beautiful.
“Care to join me?” I asked, and she smiled.
“I thought you’d never ask.”
Before she stepped into the water, she slid those barely there panties down her legs as slowly and seductively as she could, making my dick twitch under the surface of the water. I stroked it a few times as I watched her watching me, wondering if she could see what I was doing and if it turned her on even more. She’d seemed excited to know I’d gotten off to pictures of her, so what would happen if I did it when the real life version of her was standing in front of me. I actually didn’t want to find out right then, but maybe later.
“You’re such a tease,” she said, as she stepped into the water and ducked down so it brushed over her shoulders.
She turned to face me and leaned forward. Her hands landed on my knees, and she slid them up my thighs as she moved forward and straddled me, sitting back on my knees. I took advantage of her proximity and brought my mouth down to one of her nipples. She cried out softly and let her head fall back.
“Oh, my God, Ryder,” she said, as I nipped and licked and sucked, trying my hardest to make her insane with want. She’d done it to me earlier, and I wanted to return the favor.
Then I slid my hand up her thigh and slipped a finger between her legs, stroking her evenly, mimicking the motions of my tongue on her nipple. She pushed against my hand, starting to grind against it, so with my other hand, I cupped the back of her head and tilted it down so I could kiss her. She was soon writhing against me and groaning into my mouth, and I was as hard as a rock. I was also pretty sure I was done teasing her. With my finger still working inside, her I rubbed my thumb over her most sensitive spot and pushed her right over the edge.
She whimpered a few times before she cried out against my mouth, and I continued to kiss her furiously, doing my best to make her orgasm last as long as I could. When she started to come down, I slowed my kisses and finally moved my hand. Then I kissed my way along her jawline to the sweet skin of her neck.
“You’re just as beautiful when you come as I always imagined you’d be. I want to make you do it again. I want you,” I said, my lips next to her ear.
“I’ve wanted you for months,” she said as her head fell forward, her lips sucking and kissing my neck.
I groaned. “Bed,” I said, as she took me in her hand again and stoked me a few times, but I wasn’t going to let her pull off what I’d done. I wasn’t finishing until I was inside her.
Thankfully she pulled away and slid off of me completely. Without fanfare, she stepped out of the hot tub, leaving me there to gawk at her as she grabbed a towel from the basket nearby, wrapping herself in it as she succeeded in cutting off the view of her naked, dripping wet body that I was more than enjoying.
I let my head fall back against the tile around the hot tub, closed my eyes and groaned silently. This girl would evidently be the death of me, but it would be a sweet death if I had anything to say about it.
No longer wanting to put off the inevitable, I hoisted myself out of the water and toweled off as quickly as possible, before striding into the bedroom in what I hoped was a sexy way. I stopped short when I saw Sydney lying naked in the middle of the bed, her soft pale skin shimmering in the light from candles on both nightstands. Her dark hair fanned out over the pillows she was propped up against, and her eyes were on me. Then she bit her lip, and I had to forcibly hold myself back from running and pouncing on top of her.
This was not one of those moments. Sure, I hoped that in time we’d have those instances where I could be aggressive and playful and not hold back, but now, as we were about to embark on something I’d thought about for years and that would inevitably change our relationship for good, I wanted to take it slow, make it last, show her how much she meant to me.
I’d never made love to anyone before, but I was going to do it with her. And I didn’t want to know if anyone had ever made love to her, because tonight was about us. It was about moving forward together. We’d be leaving behind a decade long friendship for something so much greater. I wanted to be the guy she’d always dreamed about. I wanted to erase from her memory all those other jerks who hadn’t known how to treat her like she deserved to be treated. I wanted her to know how I felt about her through more than just words. And more than anything, I wanted her to see that no matter how much our lives tried to pull us apart, we’d always know that with each other was where we belonged.
She loved me. This girl who was so beautiful I almost couldn’t breathe when I looked at her, the one who was watching me from across the room with a small smile playing on her lips, loved me. And I loved her. I always had.
Taking a deep breath, but trying to hide it since I didn’t want her to know I was nervous in any way, shape, or form, I started to stride across the room to her. She watched me the whole way, and when I reached the bed, she sat up and held her hand out to me. I took it and crawled onto the bed, my eyes never leaving hers.
There wasn’t any hesitation, and neither of us second-guessed what we were doing or feigned innocence. She pulled and I went willingly, sliding my body over hers, covering her, my weight b
alanced on my forearms on either side of her head. I gazed down at her, and she ran her fingers through my hair.
“You’re so beautiful, Syd,” I whispered to her, and she smiled at me.
Then she tugged my head down ever so gently so our lips met, the heat and passion we’d both been feeling moments before in the hot tub still there, but our pace was slower, smoother, as if we both wanted to take our time and not rush into anything. We wanted to enjoy this moment and make it last.
I kissed her for long minutes, our mouths moving in tandem, our tongues tangling together, my body pressing hers into the mattress, connecting us at as many points as possible. When I finally pulled away from her mouth, I kissed just to the left of those sweet lips before trailing my lips down to her chin, along her jawline and down her neck, kissing and sucking tenderly and eliciting soft moans from her that made me shiver from the want they created. Her hands that had splayed against my back raked gently up and down, her fingernails caressing my skin, lighting it on fire as she spread her legs and let me sink closer to her.
As I drug my lips down her collarbone, working through my quest to touch every inch of her skin with my mouth, her hands flattened against my back, holding me against her and preventing me from moving further down her body. I paused and looked up at her in question, wondering why she was stopping me. Her dark eyes were piercing as I gazed into them, her breath was shallow as it came out of her partially opened mouth in short, soft bursts. The need I saw when I looked at her surely matched my own, so raw and exposed.
One of her hands moved from my back to reach for something on the nightstand, and when she brought it back, I saw it was a condom.
I looked at her in question. “We’ll get there,” I assured her.
She shook her head. “Now.”
I swallowed as my heart started to beat faster in my chest. “Now? But I was just getting started.”
She shook her head again. “I need this, Ryder,” she said, and the way she said my name had my blood racing through my veins. “I need you. Please.”
Only With You Page 18