“That’s something you’ll never have to worry about with me,” I replied, making sure he understood from my expression that I was as far removed from his brother’s ex-fiancée, Britney, as they came.
“Me too.” He stared straight into my eyes and made my heart swell that little bit more for him. “We should really eat some of this food Connor packed for us.” He didn’t make any effort to move off me, just stared at my lips like he had other plans for them on his mind.
“I don’t think I’m hungry.” I bit my lip and I noticed a fire ignite in his eyes as I did. “Not for a picnic, anyway.”
He gave a low, sexy chuckle and then bent his head down to nibble and kiss my ear and then moved down to my neck. That was a weakness of mine.
I groaned and tilted my head to the side, and Ryan moved further over me, grinding his hips into me as he did. I think kissing my neck and hearing my moans were a weakness for him too, judging from the bulge I could feel in his jeans.
I didn’t have that much experience with guys, and I always thought I’d feel awkward and embarrassed about doing stuff, but with Ryan it felt natural. I wanted to experience everything with him. I wasn’t so naive to think he’d been saving himself for me, but I’d never seen him with another girl. And the stories I heard were always about Zak and Brandon. Ryan had always been more mysterious, like Finn.
Ryan went from nuzzling my neck to kissing along my jaw and then back to my mouth. His hands had started to move up my body and he was squeezing my hips, then they were moving round to my ass, through my dress. I’d never hated a piece of clothing as much as I hated this one. I wanted to feel his hands on me. I wanted to feel him.
I pushed him up off me gently and whispered, “I don’t think we should be doing this here.”
>
He hung his head in shame and said, “I know. I’m sorry. I couldn’t help myself.” I didn’t like seeing the guilt that swam in his eyes.
“No. I meant we need to go somewhere else.”
A sly smile crept onto those plump lips of his and the twinkle in his eyes came back. “I think I know just the place.”
He climbed off me and held his hand out to help me stand up. I took it and then stood, brushing down the skirt of my dress and trying to hide the blush that was staining my cheeks at seeing another older couple a few feet away, who probably witnessed everything we’d been doing.
“You’re cute when you blush,” he whispered into my ear and then brushed past me to pick up the blanket and put it into the back pack. “I’m gonna enjoy finding other ways to make your cheeks go red.”
That comment had me blushing even more.
We walked back to the van hand-in-hand. I didn’t even notice the stunning surroundings, with its wild flowers and rugged beauty. But I did notice we were gripping each other’s hands tightly and were so focused on getting out of here that we were both panting as we walked. My heart was threatening to crowbar its way out of my chest and drop onto the dusty path at Ryan’s feet. And as for my body, every nerve-ending was sparking to life in anticipation.
Ryan Hardy was fast becoming an addiction for me.
An addiction I didn’t want to come back from.
I’d never seen this side of him before in all the time I’d known him, well… known of him. He’d always been the aloof, guarded, quiet one. Not as quiet as Finn, but he didn’t speak unless he really had to. I wondered if he’d been like this with anyone else. I hoped not. I liked to think that this softer, sexy side was all mine.
“You’re frowning. What’s up?” he said, pulling me from my thoughts. We’d reached his van and he opened the door for me, but when I got in, he stayed where he was and crouched down in front of me. “I don’t like those kinds of frowns. Talk to me. Do you want me to take you home?”
“No,” I shot back. Home was the last place I wanted to go. “I just… I was thinking…”
“Oh, God. This is gonna be bad, isn’t it?” He hung his head then looked back up at me and I reached forward to brush his hair out of his eyes. It made him smile and I felt a little less anxious about what I was gonna say next.
“I was thinking about you… Us… And other girls.”
He choked, and his eyes went wide. “Okay. Wasn’t expecting that. I’m not Zak. I don’t… What?” He looked at me like I’d spoken a foreign language. The weird, hopeless expression on his face made me give a nervous laugh.
“I think I worded that wrong.”
“Yeah. And I think I need to sit down to have this conversation.”
He lifted himself up and wandered round to the driver’s side. I closed my door and turned to him as he blew out a few deep breaths.
“So, you’re either asking me about ex-girlfriends or I totally read you wrong and you’ve got some fetishes that I never saw coming.”
“You’re different… I mean, with me. You’ve always been this closed off jerk-”
“Gee, thanks,” he cut in.