Release (12 page)

“Yup.  I
have my first day tomorrow, so I could use the time tonight to get all of my
thoughts and stuff together.”

“I know it’s
going to be awesome, Ry.  I’m excited for you... and, thank you.  I
love you more than I can possibly say,” she said emotionally.  “It looks
like I need a little time to think.”

“I know. 
Now you know what
I’ve
been going through the last couple of days. 
Self reflection’s a bitch,” she said dryly.

Ayanna
smirked.  They got up and paid the bill, then headed out the door.

When they were
nearing the apartment complex, they saw, of all people, Jonathan standing
outside in a pair of jeans and a t-shirt.  He was helping a blonde woman
out of a cab.  She was pretty, petite, with dirty blonde hair, and stylish
glasses.  As she got out of the cab, Ayanna slowed her steps.  The
woman had two large suitcases with her, and they watched as Jonathan gave her a
kiss and a hug. 

Ayanna cleared
her throat, and continued walking with renewed purpose.   Jonathan
had the woman’s suitcases in his hands, while she paid the cab driver. 
Just as Ryann and Ayanna reached them, he looked up surprised, and glancing at
Ayanna, tightened his jaw...and his grip...on the suitcases.  He looked at
Ryann with a wary smile, and said, “Hey.”

Ayanna stepped
in and put out her hand to the blonde woman.  “Hi, I’m Ayanna.”

The woman looked
a little surprised, then smiled a genuine smile and shook her hand. “Hi, I’m
Emily.”

Ayanna looked at
Jonathan.  “I didn’t realize you were seeing anyone.”

Jonathan quickly
averted his eyes and asked Ryann, “How were drinks?”

“Good,” Ryann
said with an overly bright smile, trying to gauge how the next couple of
moments would go down.

Ayanna stopped
the cab before it drove away by knocking on the window.

She turned to
Ryann and said, “Thanks for tonight, girlfriend.”  She pulled her into a
tight hug, and whispered, “Love you.”  Then she turned to Emily and said,
“Nice to meet you,” got in the cab, and was gone.

Jonathan watched the cab drive
away, an unreadable expression on his face, then turned to Ryann.  “You
heading in?  We’ll walk in with you.”

They reached the
elevator, and Emily looked up at Jonathan with an uncomfortable and confused
look, but wasn’t speaking.  He finally cleared his throat, and said, “Ry,
this is my cousin, Emily White.  Em, this is Ryann Thornton.” 

They got on the
elevator, and Jonathan turned to Ryann and said, “Emily’s staying with me for a
little bit.  She’s moving into the City because she’ll be starting her new
job at Mitchell, Horton and Rose this week, but her apartment’s not ready
yet.  She came in from Boston tonight.  Ryann teaches with me at the
Academy,” he said, turning to Emily.

“Oh! 
That’s great.”  She smiled at Ryann and put out her hand.  “It’s nice
to meet you.”

“Nice to meet
you too,” Ryann said with a smile, while glaring at Jonathan.  “Well,” she
continued, “welcome.”  The elevator dinged.  “This is my stop. 
Good luck with the new job.”  Then she gave Jonathan a pointed look, and
said, “Later.”

He smirked, and
looked like he had just been chastised, even though Ryann hadn’t said
much.  “Talk to you later.”

As soon as Ryann
was off the elevator and in her apartment, she grabbed her phone and texted
Ayanna.

RT: 
Emily
is his cousin.

Ryann threw her
purse on the sofa, and heard the ping almost immediately.

AS: 
He
is SO dead.

Ryann
smiled.  Atta girl.  Go get ’em, Yan.

She looked up
when a knock sounded at her door.  She frowned wondering if Jonathan had
come to say something about what had just happened, but that wouldn’t have made
sense since he was still on the elevator with Emily.

Her stomach
began to flutter, and her palms began to sweat.  There was only one other
person who it could be.  She walked over and looked out the peephole.

And sure enough,
there he was.

…..

Ryann took a
moment to steady herself then opened the door. 

God, would there
ever be a time when he didn’t take her breath away?  He stood there in one
of his gorgeous tailored suits, fitting his every muscle.  His crisp white
button down shirt was undone at the neck, and his hair looked like he had spent
the last several hours combing his fingers through it. 

He looked at her
intensely, with a hungry expression on his face, while his eyes traveled the
length of her appreciatively.  When his gaze reached her eyes again, he
simply said, “Ryann.”

She could feel
the blood rush to her face.  “I was going to call you,” she said
breathily.

“I know. 
But I couldn’t wait until tomorrow.”

“No.  I
mean I was going to call you tonight.”  She blushed even more.

He looked at
her.  “Let’s have this conversation inside,” he said, his voice husky.

“Ok,” she
murmured, and stepped away, letting him in, and closing the door behind
him.  Once she threw the lock, she turned to face him.

“What were you
going to call me about?”

“I talked to
Ayanna.”  Ryann’s breathing began to increase.  He looked good enough
to eat, and now that she had made her decision, she wanted to take a bite out
of him.

He waited for
her to say more.   She did.

“I’ve changed my
mind.”

He walked toward
her and didn’t stop until she had to tilt her head back to meet his eyes. 
“About what, exactly?”

“About having
dinner with you.”  She licked her lips, and she could see his eyes darken
even more.

“When we spoke
this morning, you said you needed to think about it.  Does that mean
you’ve changed your mind and don’t need to think about it anymore?”

“Yes,” she said
shakily.

“And what did
you decide?” he said as he cupped her face and began stroking her bottom lip.

“That...I’ll
have dinner with you tomorrow night,” she whispered against his thumb, still
stroking her.

His stance
shifted, and he wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her in slowly to meet
his body fully.

“And what made
you change your mind?”  He stroked her hair with his hand at the nape of
her neck.

Ryann was trying
to get her arousal under control.  It seemed he wanted to talk after all,
but that wasn’t going to be easy with her bottom lip tingling from his thumb,
and her body pressed up against his, feeling every hard muscle, as well as the
evidence of his own excitement to see her.

“Ayanna helped
me to see, that sometimes you just need to...put your fear aside...and go for
it.”  She met his gaze directly.  He cupped her face, tilting her
chin back to meet his own penetrating gaze again.

“Remind me to
thank Ayanna.  She’s saved me precious time.”  He shifted so his lips
hovered over hers.  “I came here prepared to convince you, and I wasn’t
going to leave until I did,” he murmured.  “Now I can spend it doing much
more pleasurable things.”

Ryann
smiled.  She put her finger up and rested it on his lips stopping
him.  “I need you to answer two questions first.  One, just out of
curiosity, how did you know I was home, and two,” she paused, and asked shyly,
“how were you planning on convincing me?”

Still holding
her tight and keeping his hand in her hair, he nuzzled his nose with hers and
said, “I knew you were home, because I was waiting outside.”

Her smile got
bigger.  “Should I be worried that you’re some stalker guy, Mr.
McCallister?”

“Probably,” he
nipped at her bottom lip.  “It’s your own damn fault.  You’re the one
who’s turning me into a crazy fool.”

She chuckled
softly, and felt a warmth seep through her.  “And the answer to the second
question?” she whispered.

“Mmm.  That
answer may take a while,” as he took her lower lip between his teeth, then
sucked.  He released it with a soft pop.  “First,” he whispered, “I
was going to remind you of all of my wonderful qualities.”  He kissed her
cheek, then began nibbling at her neck.

“Then, if
necessary, I was going to get on my knees and beg.  And let’s be
clear.  I don’t ever beg,” he whispered.

He was
continuing to stroke the hair at the nape of her neck, while the hand around
her waist found its way down to her ass, and squeezed.  She was beginning
to lose focus.

“And how were
you going to beg?” she whispered back.  She moved her head to the side so
his lips could continue their sensual journey.

“Mmm. 
Well, it would’ve looked something like this.”  Releasing her hair, but
keeping his hand on her ass, he got onto his knees in front of her, his lips
now at the same height of her belly button.  His other hand grabbed her
other ass cheek, and he began to knead.  He looked up at her, and if a
look could’ve incinerated her, she would’ve been a pile of ash. 

He put his face
into her stomach, and inhaled. “I would’ve used my best arguments.  Like
you can’t deny the electricity that hums between us when we’re together.”

He grabbed the
end of the belt from her wraparound dress with his teeth, and began pulling it,
untying it.  At that point, her breathing was becoming erratic, and she
placed her hands on his shoulders to steady herself from swaying.

Once the tie was
undone, her dress hung open allowing him to see her for the first time. 
There she stood in her matching lace and silk lingerie set.  She knew that
the blush pink color of the bra and thong were almost the same color as her
skin, and imagined she looked nude before him.

It had been so
long for her.  What was he thinking?

His eyes were
hungrily gobbling her up.  “God, Ryann,” he breathed.  “You are so
fucking gorgeous.”  He tilted his head back to watch her, then leaned
forward and kissed just above her belly button.  Then he slowly kissed and
licked, nibbled and bit at one side of her stomach, all the way over to the
other.

His hands left
her butt cheeks and skimmed down the backs of her thighs, until they met the
hem of her dress, then he put his hands underneath, skimming back up to her
cheeks, his fingers stroking her, skin on skin.

He buried his
nose into her womanhood, resting his lips on the lower lips to her sex,
separated only by a slip of silk.  He nuzzled her with his nose, and
breathed in.  She let out a whimper, and tried not to squirm in embarrassment.

“Jeremy,” she
breathed.

She couldn’t
imagine being any hotter than she already was.  He ran his lips over and
over on the fabric of her panties.  She knew they were soaked.  

He began to run
his lips over the top of her panties, using his teeth to pull it away from her,
gently snapping the elastic against her skin.  The slight sting caused a
sudden gush of more wetness in her thong. 

“Ryann,” he
said, his voice husky with desire.   She could feel his hot breath on
her skin, and she didn’t know how much more she would be able to take before
exploding.

He reached his
hands up to the waistband of the thong and toyed with it.  Was he going to
undress her?  She wanted this to be perfect, and the thought popped into
her head that she hadn’t gotten a wax yet.  So much for the theory that if
she wasn’t waxed, she would be able to keep her senses about her.  There
was no way she would say no at this point.  She wanted him almost to the
point of pain.  At least she was well groomed, she thought.

He began to
massage her buttocks, continuing to kiss her stomach, then her womanhood
through her panties, the tops of her thighs.

“Baby, you smell
so
good.  I need to taste you.”

He hooked his
fingers into her waistband, and drew the thong down her legs, then helped her
step out of them.  She now stood with her dress open, her bra and heels
still on, but naked from the waist down.  She felt as if she was only a
touch away from coming, and felt the insane need to cover herself.

He looked up at
her with unbridled desire in his eyes.

He took her
panties in his hand and lifted them to his nose, inhaling deeply, watching her
the whole time.  “You’re not getting these back, by the way,” putting them
in his pants’ pocket.  “I’ll buy you more,” he said with a hint of a
smile.

Her heavy
breathing had begun to make her light headed.  Still kneeling before her,
he continued looking at her, his eyes glittering with lust, then he shifted his
gaze to her glistening sex. 

“God,
baby.  You’re so wet for me,” he whispered.  “You don’t know what
that does to me.”  He continued to look at her, while reverently taking
one finger and stroking along her labia.  “Silky.  I love how soft
your skin is,” he whispered.  Then he inched her back so she was pressed
against her door. 

Once there, he
lifted her left leg and draped it over his shoulder, wrapping his arm around
it,  holding it in place, and opening her wide to his gaze.  Then he
looked up at her briefly, then back down, his eyes gleaming with hunger,
licking his lips.

“I never got to
tell you about my dream,” he whispered, then he leaned forward and blew lightly
on her well groomed pubic hair.  The stream of air nearly did her
in.  She wasn’t sure if she was going to be able to stay upright if he
went through with what she thought he had planned.  She reached out to his
shoulder to steady herself, but he grabbed her by the wrist, and nuzzled his
mouth into her palm.

He continued to
look at her between her thighs, completely open to his gaze.  “You were in
a pair of your ‘fuck me’ shoes, and completely naked, bent over my bed waiting
for me to take you.  I plan on making that a reality very soon.” 

Then he buried
his face between her legs. 

She gasped, and
began to squirm.  God, she had never been this turned on in her
life.  She could hear herself whimpering, and she had one hand hanging on
to the doorknob for dear life, while the other was still captured by his hand
around her wrist.