Ryder's Storm, page 7
Scarlet held her breath. It appeared that the intruder was already on the second floor. But if she was quick and quiet, she could make it to the stairs without him noticing her. And once arrived at the bottom of the stairs, she could run out onto the street and flag down a car before he could catch up with her. If he caught her in the house, she would try to hit him over the head with the hairdryer or throttle him with the electric cord if need be.
Scarlet collected all her courage and slipped out of her room. The second-floor hallway was dark. She stalked along the wall in the direction of the stairs. She spotted a faint light coming from downstairs as if the intruder had switched on the light in the downstairs foyer. Or had Ryder left it on when he’d left earlier in the evening?
At the other end of the hallway, where the master bedroom and two more bedrooms were located, she heard the sound of a door, but she couldn’t tell whether it was being opened or closed. She knew it then: the intruder was looking for her, checking all the rooms until he found hers. Her window of escaping was narrowing. But she only needed to bridge a distance of a few more feet until she would reach the top of the stairs.
As quickly as she could, Scarlet made two steps forward then three more to her right, bringing her to the top of the stairs, when the electric cord from the hairdryer unfurled and hit the banister. The sound reverberated in the empty hallway, and her heart stopped. Before she could set a foot on the first step, somebody rushed toward her, grabbed her from behind and jerked her back with such force, that all air rushed from her lungs. The assailant’s grip was like an iron vice around her midsection. She gasped for air to scream, but didn’t even get that far.
“What the—?” He loosened the grip around her waist somewhat. “Scarlet?”
Stunned at recognizing Ryder’s voice, she kicked her foot back to hit him in the shin. Her arms were imprisoned by him, preventing her from using the hairdryer.
“Ouch!” he let out before he set her back down on her feet and turned her to face him. “What are you kicking me for?”
“What the fuck are you doing up here?” she yelled.
A moment later, the lights came on. Ryder had flipped the switch.
She glared at him. “You scared the living daylights out of me.” She lifted her hand with the hairdryer, which was still shaking from the fright he’d caused her.
“You thought I was a burglar?” He shook his head. “Nobody gets in here without either me or Benjamin knowing about it.”
“Well, Benjamin is gone. And you left earlier. How the fuck was I to know that you would come back?”
“I texted you! But no, you ignored me like a spoilt little brat! When I said that you can pretend that I’m not even here, I didn’t mean that to include that you can ignore messages pertaining to your safety!”
“My phone was in the damn kitchen, charging!” she yelled back. “And don’t take that tone with me.”
“What tone?”
“That self-righteous I’m-the-boss-and-you-listen-to-me-tone! You’re not even supposed to be on this floor! Only the bedrooms are up here. And there’s no way I’m letting you come into mine. So you might as well get your ass downstairs.” She clenched her jaw, furious.
“You think I was trying to sneak into your bedroom?” Ryder huffed. “Trust me, I don’t need to force myself on a woman who doesn’t want my attention.” He pointed his hand toward the other end of the corridor. “I was heading for the guest room.”
“To do what?”
“To sleep.”
Her mouth gaped open. For a long second, she was speechless. But then she found her voice again. “You can’t sleep here. I can’t allow that. My father would never condone it.”
“I’ve already cleared it with him.”
She hadn’t expected that. But there was no way she would admit it. “He would never!”
“Yeah, and why wouldn’t he?” Ryder moved closer, bringing them almost nose to nose. “Is it because he knows that his precious daughter can’t keep her hands off strangers?” He looked down at her for a moment. “And do you have to run around the house half naked?”
Only now she realized that the belt of her robe had loosened and the garment had fallen open in the front, revealing that she wasn’t wearing anything underneath. At the same time she noticed that Ryder’s breathing had changed, and that her own heart was racing.
“Christ, Scarlet, please, cover up, or…”
Before he could turn away, she dropped the hairdryer to the floor and grabbed Ryder by his shirt, pulling him even closer. “Or what?”
“Or this,” he rasped.
His hungry lips were on hers an instant later, and she welcomed his kiss like a person lost in the desert welcomed a glass of water.
12
Ryder was losing his mind. One minute they’d argued like cats and dogs, the next Scarlet had pulled him to her in an unmistakable way, and he’d been unable to keep his animal lust leashed. He should have turned the other way the moment he’d noticed that she wore nothing underneath her gaping robe. But he hadn’t listened to his rational side. No, once again, the satyr and vampire in him had taken over. Scarlet had provoked him, and he’d swallowed the bait hook, line, and sinker.
The moment Scarlet parted her lips to invite him to explore her, Ryder realized that all resistance was futile. All rational thought went out the window, and he was reduced to his animal urges. He’d always believed himself to be more in control than some of his fellow vampires, but clearly, he was only fooling himself. He was no different from Benjamin, or Grayson, or his own brother. He just hid his desires better. Even from himself.
He intensified the kiss. Scarlet’s hands were on his chest, touching him through his shirt, while Ryder slid his hand underneath her robe and touched her naked skin. The previous night, she hadn’t been naked, but now he reveled in the softness and warmth of her skin. With his hands, he explored her, mapped every curve and every valley, while he pressed her against the wall behind her, imprisoning her with his lips on hers. She moaned into his mouth and pressed her breasts into his hands, demanding a firmer touch. He complied with her unspoken request and kneaded the supple flesh until her nipples turned into stiff peaks.
Her breathing was ragged, their kiss only interrupted by their moans and muttered exclamations of words professing the pleasure they were giving each other. Scarlet’s hands were on his naked chest now. He had no idea how and when she’d managed to strip him of his shirt, too engrossed in exploring her body, finding out what he’d missed the night before. He slid one hand down to her pussy, through the thatch of hair at the apex of her thighs.
She greeted him with a loud moan, her sex warm and wet. He stroked his finger along her cleft, and felt her gasp at the touch, her fingernails digging into his shoulders now, holding on to him as if holding on to a life raft. He could feel her heart race, her blood rushing through her veins, her arousal spiking, her blood calling to him. The vampire in him was tempted, the taste of her blood within easy reach. But Ryder pushed him back. Instead, he thrust his finger into her, rubbed his thumb over her clit, and made her ride his hand. She didn’t protest and moved her hips, undulating her pelvis to create more friction on every descent and every withdrawal.
He’d never thought himself to be a selfless lover, but he couldn’t get enough of watching her as he pleasured her. She was without inhibitions, had no self-control, no restraints. All she demanded was pleasure, and he was happy to oblige her for as long as he could. Feeling her chest press against his now, her breasts molded to his muscles, he knew she was close to her climax.
“Ryder, please…” she begged.
He strummed her clit faster and with more pressure, his middle finger plunging deep and hard. She was so wet he felt her juices dripping on his hand and his pants.
“Please, fuck me. Your cock, I need your cock.”
Scarlet suddenly put her hands on the waistband of his pants and opened the button. Her hands were on his zipper, before he could take a breath. Another second, and his two cocks would burst from their prison. He grabbed one of her hands to try to stop her, but she continued working his zipper. He had no choice, but to pull his finger from the tight sheath and use both his hands to stop her from undressing him.
“No!” he said harshly and imprisoned her hands.
She stared at him, confused. “I need you to fuck me.”
“But I am fucking you.” He took both her hands into one and brought his right hand back to her pussy.
She protested. “I want your cock, Ryder, now!”
“I can’t, please, Scarlet, I can’t.”
“Don’t you want me?”
He wanted her more than anything, but he wasn’t ready to show her his two cocks. She would look at him and think him a freak. No, she had to get to know him and like him first before he could spring this on her. Before he could reveal his secrets.
“I do, I want you. But I can’t.”
Her facial expression suddenly changed to one of anger. “Why are you doing this to me? Do you enjoy torturing me? Do you?”
Ryder saw the unshed tears that now rimmed her eyes, and felt his heart clench with pain.
“No, I have no intention of torturing you. I would never hurt you,” he professed.
Scarlet pushed him away from her so unexpectedly that he lost his balance for a second. As he caught himself, she pulled her bathrobe around her and tightened the belt.
With a clenched jaw she glared at him. “I don’t know what kind of sick game you’re playing, but I’m done playing it. Go and find somebody who’s as cruel as you. I wish I’d never met you!”
She spun around and rushed back to her bedroom. When she jerked the door open, Ryder heard a stifled sob rip from her throat, before she slammed the door so hard that the entire house seemed to shake.
Ryder let out a shaky breath and ran a trembling hand through his hair. Fuck! This couldn’t have gone any worse if he’d tried. He should have never even kissed her tonight, but stuck to his plan to win her over with small gestures of kindness. Instead, he’d behaved like a caveman, destroying everything in his wake. Maybe he didn’t deserve a mate when he clearly had no idea how to treat the woman he wanted to spend the rest of his immortal life with.
That thought shook him to his core. He wanted Scarlet. He didn’t know how and when it had happened, but he remembered what his father had told him when Gabriel had first laid eyes on his mate.
“I looked at her, and knew that there would never be another woman for me, whether she would have me or not,” Gabriel had said, a moist sheen covering his eyes. “I had a snowball’s chance in hell. I saw myself as a monster, but your mother saw past all that. Because we were meant for each other.”
If his father had succeeded so could Ryder. He couldn’t allow himself to give up so quickly. He had to win Scarlet’s love, no matter how hopeless the situation looked right now.
13
Ryder hadn’t slept well. In fact, he’d been up half the night trying to formulate a plan of how to win Scarlet over after the disastrous event from earlier. But that wasn’t the only reason he hadn’t been able to sleep. Both his cocks had been rock-hard for hours after he’d nearly fucked Scarlet in the hallway. When he realized that they wouldn’t return to their relaxed state on their own, he’d given in to his needs, and masturbated to visions of Scarlet playing in his mind. He’d climaxed with both his cocks simultaneously, and the experience had blown his mind, and further cemented his determination to make Scarlet his.
Before dawn, he called Wesley, Scanguards’ resident witch.
Wesley picked up after several rings, sounding sleepy. “This had better be important.”
Through the line, Ryder heard a soft female voice ask, “Who is it, babe?” Ryder recognized Virginia’s voice.
“Ryder,” Wesley said.
“Hey, Wes, sorry to disturb you so early, but I’m in a bind. I messed up. I need to smooth things over with a girl.”
Wes chuckled. “You’ve gotta be kidding me. Mr. Cool-as-a-cucumber screwed up? What happened? Did you bite a girl without her permission?”
“Of course not!” Ryder ground out. He wasn’t a cad. “But she’s mad at me, and I want her to like me again.”
“The answer is no,” Wes said firmly.
“You don’t even know what I want your help with,” Ryder said, stunned at Wesley’s instant refusal.
“I’m not making you a love potion. It’s unethical. Bye, Ryder.”
“Don’t hang up!” Ryder said quickly. “I’m not asking for a love potion.”
“What do you want then?”
“Your recipe for your famous coconut pancakes.”
“Why didn’t you say so immediately?”
“You didn’t let me get a word in edgewise.”
“Fair enough. So you’re trying to win her back the old-fashioned way? Good, ‘cause a love potion isn’t permanent. I take it you really like her then?” Wes fished.
Ryder ignored his questions. If he told Wes anything, all of Scanguards would know it minutes later. “So you’ll send it to me?”
“Texting it to you in a moment.”
“Thanks.”
“And Ryder?”
“Yes?”
“Good luck!”
“Thanks, bro.”
A few seconds later, the text message with Wesley’s recipe arrived, and Ryder got to work on preparing what he needed.
By the time Scarlet came down the stairs, dressed in jeans and a dark sweater that reached down to the middle of her thighs, obscuring her delectable figure, the whole house smelled of coffee and pancakes. She looked a little pale this morning, her hair tied back in a ponytail again, her facial expression distant and reserved. She barely looked at him.
“Morning,” he said, deciding that saying good morning would only invite a snide remark. He wasn’t going to give Scarlet a reason to start an argument. “I don’t know whether you like pancakes, but I made plenty.”
“Hmm.”
Well, at least she wasn’t completely silent. A hmm hardly qualified as a word, though apparently in Scrabble it counted.
Ryder turned back to the oven and pulled out the casserole where he’d kept the pancakes warm. He placed the dish on the table he’d set for one person only. He wasn’t planning on joining her for breakfast, not because he wasn’t hungry, but because he knew she didn’t want his company.
“I’ll be in the living room,” he said, and left the kitchen.
He heard Scarlet pull the chair out from under the table to sit down. At least, she wasn’t rejecting his peace offering outright. It was a start.
In the living room, Ryder settled in an armchair and stared out the window. He’d have to learn to be patient. Rome wasn’t won in a day either. Neither would Scarlet.
His cell phone rang. He looked at the number and picked it up. “Hey, Damian, what’s up?”
Damian chuckled. “Heard you were at the Mezzanine two nights ago. Quite something that happened there…”
Ryder sat up, rigid like a lamppost. Had somebody seen him and Scarlet together and told Damian? Fuck, this wasn’t good.
“Just as well that we got those new cameras. It’s all on tape. I’m not gonna let that happen again.”
Fuck! Ryder’s heart pounded. Damian had recorded him and Scarlet during sex? Christ! What else could go wrong? This was a disaster. Once in his life he did something crazy, and everybody would find out about it? Why was this happening?
“Uhm…” He searched for words but had none.
“I’ve decided to post the recording online.”
Ryder jumped up. “Damian, please don’t do that. I’m in enough hot water already.”
“Huh?”
“Please, she doesn’t deserve that. It was my fault. Don’t release the sex tape. She’ll never forgive me if you do. I’ll do anything to make this go away,” Ryder pleaded.
“Sex tape?” Damian shot back. There was a short pause, then he said, “OH MY GOD! You had sex in my club!”
Raucous laughter nearly pierced Ryder’s eardrum.
“You dog!” It wasn’t an admonishment, rather a compliment. Figured! Damian was just as over-sexed as his twin. And the nightclub he ran with Patrick, Samson’s youngest son, provided the perfect outlet for him.
“Fuck,” Ryder let out, realizing his mistake. “We’re not talking about a sex tape…”
“We are now!” Damian said, chuckling. “Cause a guy getting his dick stuck in a beer keg isn’t half as interesting as you having sex in my club. I’ve gotta tell Patrick!”
“You can’t tell anybody, do you hear me?”
“Oh, come on. Finally you do something reckless, and the rest of us can’t even hear about it? So where did you fuck her? In the restrooms?”
“I’m not gonna answer that question.”
“Not in the restrooms then. You’re right, that’s kinda gross. Maybe in one of the corners with the comfy seating areas? I told Patrick that we should have gone with leather. Easier to wipe off, you know. I’ve gotta talk to him about that.”
“Please…” Ryder let out a breath and ran a hand through his hair. “I can’t talk about it.”
“Don’t be so sensitive. We’ve all had one-nighters in the oddest places. Some chicks are just so horny and drunk they can barely wait for you to pull your dick out. No harm in that.”
“It wasn’t like that!” Ryder growled. “Don’t talk about her like that. She wasn’t drunk.” He was pretty sure about that. Scarlet had known exactly what she was doing. And so had he.
Damian let out a gasp. “Are you saying you’re in a relationship? You’re dating? Since when?”
Ryder hesitated.
“Come on, bro. If this is serious, then of course I won’t blab to anybody about it. You should know that. I’ve watched plenty of vampires turn all protective and possessive when they find the one to know not to joke about something like that. So, is that it? Is she the one?”
Ryder knew exactly what Damian meant by his question. “Yes.”
“Good for you. So when can we all meet her?”
