Ryder

by Ali Parker

  Sophie was still fighting a bout of shyness but it didn’t stop her from grabbing a condom from Cayden’s wallet and walking back over toward him.

  “It’s your turn to strip.” Cayden growled before she could climb on the bed and with a blush flaming across her cheeks, she paused. Slowly, she grabbed the waistband of her panties, pushing them down over her hips to fall to the floor with the rest of their hastily discarded clothes. His sharp inhale echoed loudly in the room, spurring her forward once more.

  Sophie didn’t stop this time until she was crawling on the bed, ripping open the foil packet as she straddled him. She stared at the condom for a moment, realizing that she didn’t really know what the hell she was doing but it didn’t stop her from reaching down to try and slide the smooth latex over the tip of Cayden’s thick cock.

  “You’re killing me, Sophie,” Cayden hissed painfully and Sophie looked up to realize his face was red and beaded with sweat and his fingers were clenched into tight fists in the sheets. “Jesus, I’m going to come before I even get inside you.”

  He took the condom from her fumbling hands and slid it on and as soon as he was ready she was there. She was dripping wet and wanted him so badly it hurt. Her vision went red as she felt the tip of him at her entrance but she needed more. With one, smooth hitch of her hips he was deep, deep inside her, right where she needed him.

  They both moaned in pleasure at the contact and she loved the way he squeezed his eyes shut tight as she slid down on top of him. It was like magic, the way ecstasy travelled from his body to hers. As she rode him, that sensation spiraled higher and higher and so did her emotions. Everything that had happened since they’d landed in D.C. seemed to explode inside her, and she knew she wouldn’t want anyone else there with her except Cayden.

  He was the rock that she could cling to in the storm that threatened to pull her under. He had saved her, and despite what he said, he truly was her knight in shining armor. Tenderness and desire and adrenaline and confusion all tangled within her, laced with a pleasure so intense it was nearly agony as she met him thrust for thrust.

  Cayden sank deep inside her one last time and it was all it took to have her flying apart in his arms. She shattered, wholly and completely as her orgasm hit her hard. Every muscle clenched tight, squeezing around his cock and a moment later Cayden was following, her name harsh and guttural on his lips.

  Sophie rode out the never-ending waves of pleasure for a long moment before she collapsed in a boneless, sweaty heap on the bed next to him. Her body was exhausted, but her mind was unable to rest. Over and over it replayed the riots, the attack, waking up in the hospital. Finding out that it was Cayden who’d rescued her.

  Sophie didn’t know how long she lay there as Cayden slept deep and peaceful next to her. Her mind refused to shut off even as her body still felt the remnants of pleasure that echoed through her. It was strange for her to think about. After all the years of Cayden chasing after her, and every woman who moved, she was lying there in the bed next to him. And even more surprising, she felt happy. No, it was more than that. She felt free. For the first time since even before she’d started dating Peter, she felt entirely, wonderfully free.

  She didn’t know what was going to happen when they got back to New York. She didn’t really want to think about it. Not yet. Because she knew that it was stupid to get attached to him. Cayden had a bad habit of making women fall for his charms, and making fools of themselves in the process.

  Better to just pretend nothing had happened between them. They would just go back to normal. Everything would be the same as it always was. She was still trying to convince herself of that when she felt Cayden wrap a protective arm around her, pulling her close against him in his sleep.

  Chapter 11

  Sophie

  Sophie clutched her head in her hands as the airplane hit another rough bit of turbulence. The same storm that had delayed her parents’ flight had moved East and it felt like they were flying right through the heart of it. The flight from D.C. back to New York had been rough the whole way, but it wasn’t just because of the jostling that shook the plane every few minutes.

  She snuck a sideways glance at Cayden. He was seated across the aisle from her this time, well within talking distance but he was slouched down in the seat with his sunglasses pulled low over eyes Sophie assumed were shut. It was hard to tell behind the jet-black lenses.

  Doubt and confusion twined together to settle hard and uncomfortable in the pit of her stomach. A part of her knew she needed space away from Cayden. Especially after their last two nights together. But even though logically she knew she’d be better off putting some distance between them, all the rest of her wanted was to be asleep next to him in the hotel bed with his arm curled around her.

  It was ridiculous. And unlike her. And stupid, Sophie added silently while she continued to shoot him surreptitious glances. Don’t forget about stupid. She knew Cayden. She knew that the nights they spent together didn’t mean anything to him. And it shouldn’t mean anything to me either. I know better than that.

  But no matter how many times she’d told herself that over the past few hours, she still couldn’t quite make herself believe it. And that scared the hell out of her. The last thing she needed in her life was to fall for another guy who didn’t care about her. Been there, done that, not interested.

  After everything that had happened with Peter, it had taken her over a year to get her life back together and even now it still hurt her whenever she thought about it. She knew now that he hadn’t loved her, not really. Neither does Cayden, an inner voice whispered from deep inside her and Sophie nearly snorted. Yeah, no shit. But I don’t love him either.

  It was just the intense physical connection between them that had butterflies racing around her middle and her breath catching whenever she caught sight of him. It was just the sex, Sophie tried to convince herself. That was all. Just the really, really good sex.

  But then this morning he’d been like a different person altogether. Distant, cold, he’d barely said more than a handful of words to her, preferring instead to brood to himself and stare moodily at nothing. Not that she knew what to say to him anyway. This whole thing had her tied up in knots and Sophie had no idea where to even begin getting untangled.

  She glanced over at him again, pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose before forcing herself to turn back to the magazine open on the tray in front of her. She hadn’t been able to read a single word the entire flight. Partially because of the pounding ache in her head thanks to the riots but she couldn’t seem to keep her thoughts focused on anything. Well, anything except Cayden. He had invaded her mind over and over throughout the morning.

  It didn’t seem to matter though. No matter how many times she tried to figure out her own emotions she just got even more confused. She knew it was mistake to dwell on it, on him. Sophie had known from the beginning that it would only be casual between them. She had no doubt he was already thinking about his next conquest. Then why did that thought sting so badly?

  Sophie was saved from having to answer that question when the airplane hit another patch of turbulence. She gasped as the pain in her head went off like a jackhammer right behind her eyes and she reached one hand up to rub at her temple but a soft touch stopped her.

  Sophie’s startled gaze jumped over to Cayden’s. She could just make out his intense look behind the dark sunglasses as he nodded towards her head.

  “Your stitches.” He said softly, his voice gruff and then he let go of her arm as quickly as he’d reached out. Sophie could still feel his touch, though, sending a wave of chills shivering down her spine.

  It was the first words she’d heard him say all morning and something inside her eased at the sound. Tension that she hadn’t even realized was there until it was gone. But it was back nearly as quickly as Cayden turned away once more, going back to his silent brooding as the plane began to descend.

  “I’m almost home,” Sophie mut
tered to herself. I’m almost home, and then I can focus on getting back to work and put this whole weekend behind me. The riots, the trip to the hospital, and especially Cayden Ray.

  In a way, it was a good thing that Cayden had been quiet. Sophie didn’t want to bring up the topic any more than he did. They had a few nights of fun together and that was it, right? She didn’t want anything else from him and she sure as hell knew better to expect anything else.

  Sophie nodded to herself as she tried to ignore the agony stabbing through her head. They had a little fun, and they would both move on. We work together, Sophie thought, forcing herself to be logical. There’s no way anything would ever work between us. We go back to being co-workers and arch enemies and forget that there was ever anything else.

  As the plane finally landed, Sophie forced herself to do just that. Just be professional, she told herself as she slowly got to her feet. She had her carry-on bag clutched tight in one fist as she waited for her turn to disembark and Sophie kept her gaze trained forward as she did. She wouldn’t look over at him. No matter what, she would be professional.

  Sophie repeated that over and over to herself as they walked toward the baggage claim area, using it like a mantra to hold back the conflicting emotions that threatened to overwhelm her. I’m a professional. We’re just two co-workers coming home from a business trip. Nothing more. Professional. Professional-.

  Sophie’s litany was halted mid-stream as she spotted a familiar pixie-like face beaming at her through the crowd of travelers waiting to get their luggage.

  “Blair?” Sophie asked as she drew near to her friend. “What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be at the paper?” Her voice was laced with confusion but Blair just shrugged nonchalantly before answering.

  “I got the day off,” Blair answered with a grin that had gotten her and Sophie both into plenty of trouble over the years. “I’m supposed to stay with you until your parents get here.”

  “They aren’t going to get in until later tonight, Blair.” Sophie tried to argue but her friend just shrugged again.

  “Sorry, Soph. Harry’s orders. I’m supposed to stick to your side like glue.”

  “I don’t need a babysitter,” Sophie muttered irritably under her breath.

  “I know you don’t, sweetie,” Blair said as she threw an arm around her shoulder, “I’m just here to help. Which one’s your suitcase, Soph? I’ll grab it.”

  Sophie’s reluctance quickly caved under Blair’s inimitable drive and her own headache which seemed to be actually trying to split her skull apart now. She nodded to one bag that was rolling around the turn style.

  “It’s that one. The light blue one.”

  “Don’t worry. I got it.” Blair shot her a quick-fire grin before leaping into the fray, returning a few moments later with her suitcase in tow and for a moment she felt a surge of gratitude that her friend was there.

  Sophie had just opened her mouth to tell Blair just how grateful she was when a large shadow fell over her. She knew by the electric current suddenly charging in the air who it was before she turned around.

  “Cayden, how’s it going?” Blair said, giving Sophie a questioning look before turning back to him, “Thank you for saving our dear Sophie. She was lucky you were there when everything turned crazy at the protest.”

  Sophie glanced over at Cayden in time to see him give a casual shrug, looking anywhere but at her.

  “It was nothing,” He finally said when it became clear that Blair was waiting for an answer. “I got to go.” As soon as the words were out of his mouth he was turning on his heel and walking away, leaving both of them staring at his back in confusion. Well, Blair was probably confused. Sophie had a pretty damned good idea why he’d been acting like that all morning but she wasn’t about to tell her friend.

  “What the hell was that about?” Blair asked aloud after a moment and Sophie forced herself to give a casual shrug. Her head was pounding and she was exhausted. The last thing she wanted to do was try and explain what had happened between them in D.C.

  “My head is killing me, Blair. Can we just go to my apartment?” Sophie hated the fragile tone in her voice but it worked. Her friend immediately hailed them a cab and a few moments later they were leaving the airport, and Cayden Ray, behind.

  Chapter 12

  Cayden

  “Hi, Mr. Ray! I didn’t think you’d be in the office today. We all heard how you saved Sophie Stone’s life in the riots in Washington D.C. That was really brave of you.” The young intern sighed as she fluttered her long eyelashes at him and Cayden barely stopped himself from groaning out loud. He’d hoped to sneak into the paper, talk to Harry, and leave before having to face a round of twenty questions.

  “I didn’t really save her life,” Cayden shrugged uncomfortably, mumbling a reply that he hoped would be passable as he tried to hide even further into his leather jacket.

  “What are you talking about? Of course, you did. We were all watching in the news room when the protests erupted and Harry told us all about how you charged in after Ms. Stone.” She grinned up at him cat-like as she took a step closer. Too close. “My hero.”

  “Uh, right, well. Speaking of Harry, I got to go,” Cayden didn’t even wait to hear what else the girl was going to say before heading quickly in the opposite direction. The whole walk there he sent up a silent prayer that he wouldn’t run into anyone else trying to hero-worship him. Not unless that someone was Sophie herself.

  The thought had Cayden gritting his teeth. I don’t care what Sophie thinks of me, Cayden tried to convince himself, we had our fun and now it’s over. Back to real life. Hell, we’re not even friends.

  Cayden didn’t stop to wonder why that last admission had his chest tightening painfully but he was rubbing at the spot over his heart unconsciously as he knocked on the door to the World News’ editor in chief.

  “Don’t stand out there all day!” Harry’s gruff voice reached him through the thin pane of glass that had his name painted in chipping once gold letters. “Get your ass in here!”

  Cayden fought a grin as he opened the door and walked into the office. At least there was one thing that would never change. Harry Brewer would always be a curmudgeon.

  “Ray! I didn’t expect you in today. I gave you the rest of the day off.” Harry squinted at him suspiciously from the other side of his massive, messy desk.

  “I know, boss, but I wanted to get this to you as soon as I could,” Cayden fought down a wave of guilt as he held out a neat pile of papers. “It’s my article. From the protests in D.C.”

  Harry’s wild gray eyebrows rose high on his forehead but he reached out and took the paper from Cayden, giving him another considering look as he quickly skimmed over the draft. Cayden waited impatiently but after a few moments Harry looked up again, a new light shining in his eyes.

  “This is good, Cayden. Really good.”

  “Thanks, boss.” Cayden was still fighting a wave of guilt but Harry Brewer’s praise made at least part of it seem worth it. He knew that Sophie would be furious with him. She’d told him that Harry had scratched the assignment and with everything that had happened, he knew she didn’t have anything to hand in. And he also knew she’d be furious for lying to her. He’d told her he didn’t have anything to give to Harry about the riots. That guilt settled even deeper inside him, cold and greasy, but he pushed it away as Harry spoke up again.

  “Tell me what happened in D.C. It looked pretty rough out there.” Harry nodded for him to start talking.

  “It was, especially towards the end. Tensions are high. People do stupid things when they’re put in a situation like that. There was nothing else I could have done–.”

  “What are you talking about, Ray? If I understand correctly you may have saved Stone’s life.”

  Cayden nearly groaned out loud at Harry’s words. Not him too. The doe-eyed intern was bad enough but now even his boss was looking over at him like a proud mother hen.

  “Look, I w
as just doing my job.”

  “It was a hell of a lot more than that and you know it. You two fight like cats and dogs when you’re within twenty feet of each other, but I need you to know that you did me, and the World News, proud.”

  Cayden shuffled his feet, uncomfortable with the praise.

  “Anything else happen in D.C. that I need to know about?” Harry asked after a moment.

  “What?” Cayden’s mind immediately conjured up memories of the nights he and Sophie had spent together but there was no way in hell that was something Harry Brewer needed to know about. “No. No, nothing else.”

  “Good.” Harry muttered as he nodded, his attention already focused on the draft of the article Cayden had just handed him. “You’ve got the rest of the day off. Get the hell out of here before I put you back to work.”

  “Yes, sir.” Cayden said as he turned on his heel to leave. He was nearly through the doorway when Harry’s voice stopped him.

  “And Ray?”

  “Yeah, boss?”

  “What you did this past weekend? How you handled a chaotic situation and kept your head? Well, let’s just say that’s the kind of behavior we look for in a senior writer here at the World News.”

  Cayden stared after him for a long moment, surprised and pleased at Harry’s less than subtle hint about the promotion but as he left his boss’s office that guilt was back. It was just business, damn it. Nothing to feel guilty over. Nothing at all.

  Cayden was still trying to convince himself of that as he turned to leave the office. The last thing he wanted was to be stopped by anyone else trying to interrogate him about what happened over the weekend. He made it past the bull pen without running into a single person and was almost free and clear when a familiar face walked out of the printing room.

  “Cayden? Hey, man, I thought that was you.” Brad was one of his closest friends and they had worked together at the newspaper for years but Cayden really didn’t relish the thought of rehashing the past weekend. He also knew Brad wouldn’t give him any other option. The man was relentless, especially when it came to gossip. He could sniff out a story from a mile away. It was part of what made him a good reporter.