This Year's Black (12 page)

My fault. Again.

How many people did he have to hurt before he accepted that his father had been right? He was a dumb jock who reacted first and thought second. Sure, he’d moved up the corporate ladder, but he couldn’t ever shake the idea that the whole thing was a fluke. After college, he’d devoted five years to MMA training. Maybe he should have continued. At least then the people he hurt would have signed up for it. God knew he had. His opponents
’
fists had been punishing, but never as bad as he deserved. His mission whenever he
’
d entered the ring had never been to win. It had been to have his opponent knock the memories from his head.

If only it had worked.

He brushed his fingers over the green bruises slashing across Ryder’s cheek, guilt burning through him. “You were hurt.”

“Yeah, that happens. I’ll be fine in a few days. I’m tougher than I look. She lifted the antiseptic cloth to the cut at the corner of his mouth. “This is gonna hurt like a mother.”

She screwed up her face, twisting her lips and flaring her nostrils like her skin was made of Silly Putty. The goofy action broke the tension and he laughed, clearing away the darkness fogging his thoughts.

How she managed to shake the ground beneath him, he couldn’t understand. But she did. And it scared him more than the biggest, baddest fighter he’d ever stared down.

“I’m tougher than I look, too,” he assured her.

She sat back and cocked her head, giving him a playful up and down appraisal. “I don’t know how that’s possible, you look like a total badass.”

“Don’t all carnival kissing booth champions?” He waggled his eyebrows, making her giggle.

The cloth stung when she pressed it to his skin, but only for a moment. Seeing the way she sucked on her bottom lip as she contemplated treating his other bruises distracted him from the pain. Ryder was beautiful and sexy, but that wasn’t why she’d haunted him since their first night together.

That night should have been a few hours of anonymous sex, a simple release between two consenting adults. But he couldn’t deny what he’d known on an instinctual level the moment he’d rolled over that morning and found her side of the bed empty.

They fit.

That explained the follow-up calls he’d made and why her rebuff had made him react like a wounded bear, snarling and swiping at her every chance he got. The epiphany crashed against his thick skull so hard he couldn’t deny it any longer. She challenged him, pushed every one of his buttons, and egged him on with her accept-no-bullshit attitude.

When he was with her, he didn’t want to be a better man.

He already was.

Her gaze caught his and in a heartbeat, the teasing look in them faded, overpowered by the hunger that must have been reflected in his own.

The cloth slipped from her grasp, a white flash in his periphery vision.

Neither of them moved. It was as if the earth stopped circling the sun and the moon let loose its hold on the tides. In one breath, anything could happen. Whether she leaned in or he moved toward her, he couldn’t tell. All he knew was that in the next second his lips were on hers. She tasted of honey lip balm, mangoes, and endless possibilities.

God, she took his breath away.

Chapter Twelve

“
Fashion is all about eventually becoming naked.”

— Rene Konig

Amazed and in awe, Devin held his breath as his fingertips grazed Ryder
’
s silky smooth skin, soft as hummingbird’s wings. His touch slipped down her throat as she arched her head back, drawing him deeper into the kiss, surrendering and demanding at the same time as only she did. Soft and hard. Giving and taking. Everywhere and nowhere. Intoxicated on the conflicting combinations that made up Ryder, he tugged the band holding her hair in place until her long waves fell down her back. He weaved his fingers through the lush, dark- chocolate strands, letting the glossy river pour through his hands.

She pulled back, bracing a palm gently against his shoulder, concern and desire warring in her dark eyes. “Your ribs.”

“Are fine.” In truth, his ribs hurt like a bitch, but he’d dealt with more pain for a whole lot less pleasure than being with Ryder. Touching her was worth a hell of a lot more severe injuries than a few bruised ribs. Hooking his fingers into her belt loops, he tugged her down until her knees were on either side of his hips.

“But you’re—”

Devin cut off her unneeded concern by sliding his hands up her thighs, the pads of his thumbs following the seam of her pants, stopping just short of the juncture of her thighs. So fucking close to the promised land, yet so far away. Desperate to feel her, he stroked the center seam where it nestled against her heated center.

“Devin—” She sucked in a sharp breath and scraped her teeth against her cherry-stained bottom lip.

“A few aches are nothing compared to how badly I want to be inside you right now.” He trailed his lips down her throat, nipping her sensitive flesh as he slid his hands around to her ass. Squeezing the round flesh through her pants, he slid her forward until she rocked against his hard cock. Her heat seeped through the material separating them and he had to fight the caveman impulse to rip her clothes off and sink himself into her depths in one long stroke.

She hesitated, considering him with a heavy-lidded gaze as his heart hammered against his bruised ribs. Then she dropped her fingers to the tiny onyx-colored buttons on her shirt.

This time it was his breath that caught as she revealed inch after inch of olive-toned skin.

With each button she slipped open, Devin’s cock hardened, until he worried he would come in his pants just from seeing a few inches of soft skin. Anticipation vibrated up from his balls, hot, demanding, and unwilling to be denied. In the past, he’d always enjoyed a good strip tease, but if Ryder didn’t get naked soon, he wasn’t sure he’d make it without exploding.

Her eyes alight with seduction, she feathered her fingertips down the length of her open shirt, the edges of which had snagged on the hard tips of her dusky rose-colored nipples. Sucking on her bottom lip, she slid her thumb over the flimsy black fabric and circled the hard peaks while swaying against his rock hard dick. The damp heat of her pussy permeated through the layers between them, taunting him with its closeness. It was the best lap dance he’d ever gotten, and it was going to kill him if she didn’t end it soon.

“It’s not nice to tease,” he said, grinding out the words. “Take off the shirt.”

“Always so bossy.” She opened it another inch so he could see the edges of her round areolas and held it there for a moment before shrugging it off. The flimsy garment slid down her back and over his hands that were still gripping her perfect ass. Cupping her lush tits in her hands, she pinched her nipples and pulled them taut. “Is this what you wanted?”

“Fuck, yes.” He slid his hands upward, spanning her bare back and pulling her close as he flipped them around so she lay naked from the waist up, on the red sleeping bag. Dark purple and green bruises marred the olive skin of her side, where one of the thugs had kicked her. Another darkened the skin near her collarbone.

Rage rushed through him like a runaway train as he reached up to gently touch it. “I’m going to rip their balls off, roast them over a bonfire, and make the assholes eat them like s’mores,” he growled.

She licked her full lips and popped open the top button of her pants. “Not right now I hope.”

Lust battled with righteous fury, but as she lowered her zipper, revealing a swath ebony silk dotted with emerald-green hearts, he lost the ability to think about anything but her. “God, you’re beautiful.”

He slipped his palms from her back to curve them around her waist as she lay beneath him, open and vulnerable. He scooted down and dragged his tongue across the stretch of flat skin above her low waistband. He hooked his fingers under the elastic of her panties and tugged the center lower, delivering a kiss to the soft skin above her tight, dark curls.

She shivered underneath him. “Now who’s teasing?”

“Turnabout is fair play.” He murmured against her heated skin before sitting back and letting her panties snap back in place. “Now let
’
s get these pants off.”

“What about you?” Her gaze lowered to the bulge threatening his zipper and she licked her lips as she wriggled out of her pants.

He rolled back onto his heels and rose until he stood crouched over in the tent, and shucked off his slacks and cotton boxers. She sat up, her mouth even with the swollen head of his cock. Keeping her gaze fixed on his face, she wrapped her hands around his girth. His cock jumped at her touch. She grinned and stuck out the tip of her pink tongue, licking her way up the sensitive underside before swiping it across the head, wet with precum.

The temptation to tangle his fingers in her hair and slide his full length into her hot mouth nearly overwhelmed him. But if he did that there was no way he’d last long enough to bury himself inside her, let alone plunge in and out until she squeezed his dick with the power of her orgasm. Only then would he let himself go. He stepped back from her.

“Where are you going? I’m not done yet.” She leaned forward and engulfed his length, a hand cupping his balls with one finger extended to stroke the sensitive spot behind his balls.

Pleasure streaked up from the base of his spine and his thighs shook. He surged inside her mouth, her tongue caressing his cock as he moved forward. She hummed against him and he almost nutted on the next breath.

He clamped his jaw together nearly hard enough to crack a tooth and stepped back again. “Enough.”

“You don’t like?” The wicked upward turn of her delicious lips told him she knew full well just how much he did.

“I like it too much.” He pushed her down onto the sleeping bag. “But now it’s your turn.”

…

The slick nylon sleeping bag crinkled under Ryder’s back as Devin knelt next to her and slid her panties down her legs. Holding her ankles in his left hand so her feet pointed straight up at the stars peeking through the tent’s mesh window, he skimmed his lips down her legs. Setting an achingly slow pace, he licked, kissed, and nipped from her ankles to the back of her knee, setting fire to her skin.

He stroked the back of his fingers down the back of her thighs until his thumb rubbed against the center of her silk panties. “These have got to go.”

Ready to rip them in half herself so he would finally touch her aching core, she hooked her fingers into the waist band and, keeping her legs sky-bound, whipped them off. The cool island breeze tickled her damp curls as she spread her legs wide and rested her calves on Devin’s broad shoulders.

He growled his approval and traced two fingers around her wet folds. “So ready for me.”

Ryder’s nails dug into her palms, piercing the fog of desire surrounding her. “Please.”

His fingers circled her opening, making her shiver. “Not yet. I want to taste you.” He dropped his head between her thighs.

His hot mouth stopped millimeters from her clit, close enough that she could feel his breath on aching flesh. “Please.” She didn’t care if she was begging. She needed it. She needed what only he could give her.

“How could I say no to that?” He stroked her clit with his firm tongue before sucking the sensitive nub between his lips. Fire sizzled through her. His teasing fingers circled her wet opening as he continued his mouth’s soft assault.

Back arched, her entire body pleaded for more and she rubbed herself against his talented tongue. Answering her call, he increased the pressure. Needing to hold onto something solid so she wouldn’t slide off the face of the earth from the intensity of sensation, she twisted the sleeping bag in her hands.

He lifted his face from her center, his mouth wet with the evidence of her desire, and slowed the fingers stroking her opening until it seemed her pussy would implode with want.

Need reverberated through every cell. “Don’t stop.”

“Don’t worry, honey, I’m not stopping anytime soon.” He plunged two fingers into her, crossing and uncrossing them as he rubbed her inner walls. His knuckles brushed against her G-spot’s tangle of nerves and pleasure ricocheted around her body from the stretch of her arms to the yearning ache in her core.

The combination of pressure and his unhurried pace stole her ability to form words or to think, or to do anything but feel. She twisted her hips against his hand as the vibrations built in her thighs. The tremors in her legs deepened as the tightness in her pussy increased. Everything built higher and tighter, her entire body heaving with need.

Just when she thought she couldn’t take anymore, he leaned down and lapped his tongue across her clit, sending her over into the abyss. A strangled moan escaped as her climax poured over her like molten lava. Aftershocks of pleasure reverberated through her as she tried to bring the world back into focus.

Devin raised himself so he lay with his cheek resting on her stomach. His thumbs pressed against her hips and he kissed her belly. “What do you want?”

“You inside me.” Need weakened her voice just as it strengthened her determination to have him here and now.

“Why?” He growled the question against the curve of her hip, his fingers anchoring her in place.

Afraid she was going to implode under the pressure of his lips and her lust, she pulled out of his grasp and retreated to the been-there-done-that cynicism that had served her so faithfully. “Because you’re a damn good lay. I’m not looking for anything more than a little friendly release.”

“Is that the only reason?” He quirked an eyebrow and rolled back up his heels, his hard cock heavy between his legs.

Yes. No. Maybe.
“You want another one? I’m breaking enough rules already.” They were starting to pile up chin high. Was it just a week ago she
’
d been so set on having a full year of freedom from men and their issues?

He closed the inches between them, a reckless determination darkening his eyes. “I don’t think this is the first time you’ve broken a few rules.”

“True.” She trailed her fingers up the dragon tattoo on his arm, relishing the twitch of his muscles reacting to her touch and the quickening pace of the vein in his neck. “But you
’
re the one who
’
s making me break them.”

“That doesn’t change the question.” He lowered his head and sucked one of her nipples into his mouth. His tongue swirled once and then twice around the hard tip before he released it. “Why?”

Why
did
she want him inside her so badly? “Because I want to feel something good.”

“I hate to break it to you, sugar.” He sank a finger between her slick folds and she gasped in his ear. “But I’m pretty fucking far from good.”

“Not from where I’m looking.” The truth of the statement sank in a moment before his mouth claimed hers. And that
’
s when she knew she was in big trouble.

…

Soft, wet, and hot, Ryder melted against Devin, making him harder than he thought possible. She gripped his fingers as he slid them in and out of her, he circled her entrance as she squirmed in his arms. She’d come only moments before and was ready again. His thumb found her clit, rubbing her and pushing against the side of it.

“How about this? Is this good?”

She mumbled something that sounded like, “Yes!” followed by, “Don’t fucking stop!”

He rubbed his stubbled cheek against her tits because he knew she liked that and licked the valley between them as the cool night breeze rushed over them. Taking her nipple into his hungry mouth, he teased her with his teeth. Scraping. Tugging. Making her call out his name in a tone that was both plea and promise. It was almost too much.

Almost.

“Got a condom?” he rasped. Refilling his wallet stash hadn
’
t been at the top of his mind since they’d landed.

“Fuck.” Ryder rested her head back against the sleeping bag. The frustrated look on her face would have been comical if he hadn’t been dealing with the same emotion right then.

“Take me in your hand,” he ordered.

Her firm grip encircled him and glided up and down his cock. The world went dark but he managed to continue stroking her and teasing her supple flesh. A flash of gold around her wrist pierced the blackness. Their blessing bracelet. He jiggled his arm so his matching gold rope rolled down to the base of his thumb, then angled his wrist so the bracelet pressed against her sensitive clit.

A soft moan escaped her. “Devin.” She bit her bottom lip, sucking it into her hot mouth. “I’m so close.”

“Don’t worry, sugar, I’m not going anywhere.” He added a second finger inside her, rubbing and tapping her G-spot in an unhurried rhythm.

“More. Harder.”

Eager to watch her come apart, he followed direction, ignoring the electric sensations tightening his balls. Moaning in appreciation, she rocked against his hand, riding him. He took a nipple in his mouth, pulling at it while increasing the rhythm against her clit. She cried his name as her walls tightened around his fingers. Her body arched and shook.

At length, her eyes flicked open and a lazy grin curled her mouth. She continued to stroke him, increasing the pressure and pace with each pass. “Come for me, Devin.”

The buzzing in his balls reached a fevered pitch and they pulled close to the base of his cock. His hand covered hers and he tried to aim away from her, but she kept his dick pointed straight at her tits. “Ryder, I’m going to—”