Revenge With Benefits (Sweet Tea And Scandal 3)

Ryan sent his fingertips diving beneath the hem of her sweater dress, eager for the silky warmth of her skin and the tantalizing heat of her arousal. She groaned and sucked his lower lip into her mouth, setting her teeth against the tender flesh as he slid his finger through the wetness between her thighs.

“Oh, Ryan.” She gasped when he freed her mouth so he could trail his tongue down her neck and nip at the sensitive cord in her throat.

“I need to taste you,” he growled, stripping her thong down her thighs.

Together they sank to the floor. She lay back and Ryan pushed her dress up. Setting his hands on her knees, he pushed them apart, opening her to him.

The noises she made as he drew his tongue along the most sensitive part of her fanned his lust to white-hot brilliance. He ignored the tight ache below his belt and focused on driving her pleasure higher. By now he knew both a fast and slow way to make her crazy, but she’d learned a thing or two about him, as well.

“I want to come with you inside me,” she panted, tugging on his hair as her climax drew close. “Please, Ryan.”

He had no reason to deny her request and swiftly stripped out of his clothes. She did the same, yanking the Aztec-patterned dress over her head and shimmying out of the tank she wore beneath it. He took a second to admire her lithe, toned body as she set her hand to the zipper of her favorite boots.

With a slow smile, Ryan shook his head. “Leave them on.”

This command gifted him with her first smile of the night. She held out her arms and he moved between her thighs. Her gaze locked on his as he slid inside her.

“I love you,” she murmured, so quietly that he thought he’d misheard.

His heart gave his ribs a painful kick. An instant later she squeezed her eyes shut and began rocking her hips in the way she knew he adored. Ryan began to move in response and the raw, frenzied lovemaking that followed left him reeling. They climaxed together, Ryan making sure Zoe came hard before surrendering to his own pleasure.

In the aftermath, he lay beside her on the carpet. Completely wrung out, Ryan rolled his head in her direction. She lay with her forearm flung over her eyes, lips parted as her chest rose and fell, lungs laboring. Her skin wore a sheen of sweat, inviting his touch, but she spoke before he could summon the strength to move.

“I need to tell you something,” she announced, her tone grim.

“I’m listening.”

“Something bad is going to happen to your sister.”

His lethargy vanished as a jolt of adrenaline flooded his muscles. Ryan sat up and grabbed her wrist, pulling her arm away from her face so he could see her expression.

“What sort of something?” He heard the suspicion chilling his voice and wasn’t surprised when she shivered.

She sat up and pulled free, rubbing her wrist before she tucked her knees against her chest and wrapped her arms around her legs. Her self-protective pose added to his irritation. She had no reason to be afraid of him.

Sorrow filled her eyes. “Jefferson is having an affair with Patty.”

For a second he couldn’t process her words. Of all the things Ryan was prepared for her to say, hearing that his brother-in-law was cheating wasn’t even on the list.

“Susannah’s deputy campaign manager?” Ryan shook his head, unable to wrap his mind around Zoe’s story. “I don’t believe you.”

Jefferson would never cheat on Susannah. He adored her. He loved their life and would never do something like that to their children.

“It’s true,” she insisted. “And there’s proof.”

“What sort of proof?” he asked, his skepticism raging.

“There’s a video.”

Damn it all to hell.

“Of what exactly?” he challenged, hoping like hell that she didn’t have the goods. That it was all an ill-conceived lie to stir up trouble. Yet what could she possibly hope to achieve by spinning such a tale?

“It’s a video of the two of them going into a hotel room.”

In this age of technology, things like that could be doctored. And it sounded exactly like something Lyle Abernathy would be behind. Ryan ground his teeth together.

“Have you seen it?” He couldn’t just accept her word. Unless he saw it with his own eyes, he’d never accept that Jeff could betray Susannah.