Ryder’s rhythm falters as my inner walls clench his cock. Voice hoarse, he shouts my name as he quickly follows me over the edge, body shuddering as he empties himself inside me.
For several long moments, we stay like that, tangled together, breathing hard, our sweat-slicked bodies pressed tightly together. Ryder’s weight on me feels like an anchor, keeping me from completely floating away.
“Holy shit,” I croak when I’m finally able to form words again.
He chuckles against my neck, the vibration sending pleasant aftershocks down my spine. “That’s one way to put it.”
Gently, he pulls out and rolls onto his back, tucking me against his chest. His heartbeat thunders in my ear, gradually slowing as we both catch our breath.
“Are you okay?” he asks, voice tender as he brushes my damp hair away from my forehead.
I nod, still too overwhelmed to speak. My body is boneless, utterly spent in the best possible way.
“Look at me,” he murmurs, tilting my chin up.
When our eyes lock, something shifts in the atmosphere. Gaze soft, his earlier intensity has been replaced with something that makes my chest ache.
“That was...” I trail off, searching for the right words.
“Better than fiction?” he suggests, a small smirk playing on his lips.
“I was going to say incredible, but yes,” I laugh, “definitely better than fiction.”
His arms tighten around me as he presses a kiss to my temple. “Good. Because I’ve been wanting to do that since the moment I first saw you.”
We lie in comfortable silence, his fingers tracing lazy patterns on my back. I feel myself drifting, content and sated, when he speaks again.
“There’s a party this weekend,” he says quietly. “For Skin & Ink’s ten-year anniversary.”
I lift my head to look at him. “Oh, yeah?”
“I want you to come with me.” He’s keeping his expression carefully neutral, but I can see the vulnerability lurking behind his eyes. “Meet the people I work with. My friends.”
The meaning of what he’s asking isn’t lost on me. He’s asking me to be a part of his new world in a very public way.
“Are you sure?” I ask, suddenly shy despite the fact that we’re both gloriously naked.
“I wouldn’t ask if I wasn’t.” His thumb traces my bottom lip. “Say yes.”
How can I refuse when he’s looking at me like that? Besides, I’m curious about the people in his life, the ones who somehow know him even though he’s only existed in this reality for a short period of time. This journey we are on is more about him than it ever was about me. I realize that now.
“Okay,” I agree softly. “I’d love to.”
His answering smile is as brilliant as the sun before he captures my mouth in a kiss that quickly deepens, tongue lazily grazing mine as he slides a hand down to cup my breast and tweak a nipple.
“Again?” I gasp when we finally break apart.
“Got a problem with that?” he growls, rolling me beneath him and sliding back inside.
“God, no,” I moan as he proceeds to fuck me into the mattress.
TWENTY-FOUR
noia
I wakeup in a tangle of sheets to sunlight peaking through the cracks in the curtains, painting golden stripes across my rumpled bed.
Reaching over, I find nothing but a cool empty space where Ryder’s warm body should be.
