Sheltered

“Johnny is a good man. Please put him out of his misery and talk to him tomorrow,” Ryker says, stroking my back. “Your silent treatment is going to kill us all.”

“Okay,” I mumble into his neck.

He pulls me into him even more so every part of me is now lying on top of him and we are completely wrapped in each other. I know after tonight I won’t be able to sleep without him, but right now I don’t care.

Chapter 16

Blair

Water surrounds me, and I try to fight it. Hold on. He’ll come, I think to myself over and over again. My mind searches for who he is, and a face flashes before my eyes. Ryker. He’ll come. He’ll always come. I know it deep down without a doubt.

“Cricket, baby. Wake up.”

My eyes fly open at the sound of Ryker’s voice, and I’m suddenly staring into his bright green eyes. He leans over me with a pained look on his handsome face. The lamp on the side table fills the room with soft light, and relief floods me when I realize I’m safe in bed. He’s here, watching over me, and nothing can hurt me anymore. It feels so good to have that security, I don’t know whether to cry or laugh.

“I’m so sorry, Cricket.” Anguish is clear on his face. “I hate that you’re having nightmares over this. I know how much you hate storms.”

I reach up, stroking his face. Something inside of me needs to comfort him, too. He always makes me forget everything else when he’s this close to me.

“It was just a dream,” I tell him. “I’ve had worse,” I admit. He’ll likely learn that if we carry on sharing a bed, and at this point that looks to be the case.

He closes his eyes as he leans into my palm. “The point of taking you was to make sure you never had nightmares again. It may have been the selfish thing to do, but I want to be the one to take all your clouds away.”

I have to fight back tears at his sweet words. No one has ever really cared that much about me. Not like he does. I was holding on to so much anger at the idea of being taken and no one knowing that I’d even disappeared, I forgot to see what was right in front of me—this man I know nothing about but am starting to feel like could be my world if I let him. He’s trying to make sure he’s my world. My mind bounces to all the small things he’s done for me, and then I wonder if maybe he’s making me the center of his world.

“Kiss me.” The words tumble past my lips before I realize I’m saying them. All I know is I want to take away the pain from both of us, and I know when his mouth is on me, all I ever feel is pleasure.

I stop trying to understand everything and my attempts to categorize and analyze everything. I can just be here in this moment and not worry about all the tomorrows. I’ve spent my life planning ahead and chasing other people’s dreams, and look where it got me. Right here, right now, I know I want Ryker.

He doesn’t need further encouragement. But I catch a smile pulling at his lips before his mouth falls onto mine. I slide my hand into his hair, holding onto him tighter, and I let myself get lost in him. Nothing else matters right now, but his kiss is not enough. It’s amazing, and I never want him to stop, but I also want to be closer, to feel more connected to him.

Because the truth is, no one else knows me like he does. While it should scare me how he knows all these things, I just don’t care. I only know I want to feel more of this connection.

Our kiss deepens as his mouth makes love to mine. He growls, and the sound reverberates through me and makes my nipples hard. I feel wet between my thighs, and I begin to wiggle.

“More,” I tell him, pulling my mouth from his. My hands roam his body, and I wish he didn't have a shirt on. I let out a little gasp when a dart of pain shoots up my side. I try to ignore it, not wanting to stop, but Ryker doesn’t miss a thing.

“Cricket, you have to stop,” he says, but he sounds like he doesn’t want me to. He grabs my hands softly and pins them over my head as he rains kisses all over my face. “Your body is sore from last night. I’m not letting you hurt yourself.”

Frustrated, I want to say something smartass back, but when I met his eyes, I give him a small nod. He’s right, and I know he’s only doing this to protect me.

“I’ll take care of you.” He sits up, and my eyes roam over his big body.

They travel down to his obscene hard-on. I have to squeeze my thighs together to try to get the lust coursing through my body under control. I’ve never in my life felt this worked up around a man before. I have this raw need inside me and it’s pushing down on me. Consuming me.

His callused fingers explore my body as he massages the muscles that I hadn’t even noticed were sore. I watch him work over me with tender care, and little moans slip past my lips. Each time one leaves my mouth, Ryker freezes in his actions for a moment. His control is being tested, but I can only focus on the need between my legs.

I lick my lips as I watch him work up my thighs. I part them for him, and he doesn’t ask for permission. I know he won’t. All I have to do is tell him to stop, and I know he will. I also think deep down he knows I’m not going to. Just like he knows everything about me. I’m starting to think he might know me better than I know myself.

Maybe I should test it, to see if he really would stop, but once again I’m lost in the idea of him taking what he wants. Something about it has me parting my thighs even more for him. The shirt he put on me rides up my legs, giving him a full view of my naked lower half.

My cheeks heat when I feel how wet I am, and his breath hisses out. The sound makes me feel sexy and desired. I’ve never thought of myself that way before. That I could create such a reaction from a man like Ryker is empowering, which is crazy because I’m technically his captive. Though in this moment I’m not sure I could call myself that. I don’t want to be anywhere else but in his bed, so I guess that makes me willing.

The anticipation of what he’s about to do to me slides over every nerve ending in my body. He’s has his mouth on me down there, and I know what he’s capable of. My body is already begging for what it had once before, shamelessly pleading with him for another round.

Ryker’s breathing is as heavy as my own. He licks his lips, and I swear he wants this more than I do, which is insane. But in this moment, he could grant me my freedom and I’d say no.

“Ryker.” I moan his name, my hips rising and trying to get closer to his mouth. His tongue. His eyes snap up to mine.

“I’ve waited for you to moan my name for so long. It’s still hard to believe it’s real. That you’re here and underneath me. You’re spreading your legs and asking me to eat your sweetness.”

“Ryker.” I can only moan again, since all my thoughts are centered around him.

His words melt more of the ice that I’ve tried to form around my heart, and all of it is because of his tender care. It’s the same ice I tried to rebuild when I ran from him, but it didn’t work. Every moment I’m next to him, more of it melts away. Right now it’s about to shatter.

“I know.” He leans down, and I gasp as he takes a long lick of me. “I always know what you need,” he says against my clit before taking another long lick. My fingers dig into the pillow my head is lying on. I want the orgasm so bad, but I don't want it to be over too soon.

I don’t think I can fight it, I’m already so close to the edge.

“Now give me what I need.” His eyes lock with mine. He sucks on my clit, and I feel the tip of his tongue flick across it back and forth. I know what he’s after. He wants my pleasure, and I don’t think I’m capable of denying him.

My body begins to arch off the bed, but he grips my hips and holds me in place. He keeps me from moving and I know he’s just making sure I don’t hurt myself again. He shows more care for me than I ever have for myself. More care than anyone ever has. Another of those thoughts float through my mind and I’m starting to think my brain isn’t fighting my heart and body any longer.

Pleasure rises inside me, making me call out his name over and over again. It slides through me, and I do as he commands, wondering if he has more control over my body than I do. I follow every one of his body’s orders without question.

I’m starting to think he really does own me. More than I ever thought possible.

Chapter 17

Ryker

I wake up with a smile on my face as I feel the weight of Blair on top of me. At some point in the night she climbed up there, and I felt her rest her head on my chest. All the anxiety and the worry settled as she found comfort in me.

God, how I’ve waited for this. Waited for the moment when she would come to me. Last night, I felt a shift in her. The over-thinking she’s so good at had been shut down, and I saw in her eyes that she was with me. I’m not sure what today will bring when she turns back inside that head of hers, but I suspect I might be able to pull her out a little easier each time.

I lie there, the early morning sun peeking in, just feeling her heartbeat pressed against mine. I ignore the dull ache between my legs and allow this moment to just be as it is. For so long, I was ready to rush into making her want me, but I realized once I had her here that she was a lot like Diamond. She needed time to trust me, and I had to prove to her that I was safe, that I would never hurt her. But once we reached that moment, it all fell into place.

I don’t know how long I lie here, just running my fingers through her ink-black hair, but the sun rises higher and higher until the streams of light are warming her back. I feel her stir on top of me, and when she leans up, her hair falls in front of her face.

She laughs as I use both my hands to push it aside and reveal my beauty underneath.