Total pages in book: 89
Estimated words: 88463 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 442(@200wpm)___ 354(@250wpm)___ 295(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88463 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 442(@200wpm)___ 354(@250wpm)___ 295(@300wpm)
God, I need him to make me come.
“Ry.” Is that my voice? So raspy and full of need.
But suddenly, he pulls his lips away and rests his forehead against mine as his body stills, breathing hard, his eyes closed.
“Ry?”
Finally, he licks his lips and pulls away, leaving me feeling cold without his touch.
“Go to bed, Wills.”
I frown as I cross my arms over my chest, feeling rejected and ridiculous. I want to question him, ask him what in the hell is going on in his head, but before I can, he opens his eyes and pins me in his tortured gaze.
“I need you to go to bed, Willow.” He licks his lips slowly, as if he can still taste me there. “Please.”
It’s the please that does it. I hop down and walk away from him. When I get to the doorway, I look back and find him with his head hanging down, his hands on his hips.
He looks . . . forlorn.
And I want to comfort him.
But he rejected me.
Now I know where I stand with him. He doesn’t want me, or won’t let himself want me, and I need to get over this stupid lust-crazed crush I have on him because he’s too important to me for me to screw it all up.
I’m an adult. I’ll be okay.
But there are tears in my eyes as I march up the stairs, and when I walk into my bedroom, they fall. What is it about me, and this ranch, that makes people I care about want to . . . leave? Mom dumped me here at every opportunity and left without a backward glance, even in the early days, when I’d beg her to stay.
And now, it’s Ryker turning his back on me.
I would have let him fuck me down there.
And how pathetic is that?
But now, here I am, back in the same old bedroom that was always my safe haven, and I crawl under the covers, keeping my tears silent so I can listen for Ryker’s footsteps outside my door. If he goes back to bed, I don’t hear him.
And I don’t fall asleep for the rest of the night.
Chapter Ten
Ryker
I didn’t fucking sleep. How could I, when I’ve finally had a taste of the sexiest woman on earth, had her pressed against me, her hot little pussy grinding against my cock, and then I turned her away?
The look on her face was . . . devastation.
“I’m a grade A prick,” I mutter as I set my mug under the coffee maker. I’m not confused. I want her.
Christ, I need her.
And based on how she responded to me last night, she wants me right back, and that is the best fucking feeling in the world.
But Gideon’s right. I should stay away from her. If I ruin our friendship, the three of us will never be the same, and I can’t be responsible for that.
And yet the thought of never touching her again, never tasting that sweet mouth, makes me want to punch holes through the walls.
I hear footsteps behind me, and when I turn, I see Willow shuffling in, her eyes half closed, hair a mess from her pillow, and she’s scratching her head as she yawns widely.
I can’t help but smile. She’s fucking adorable.
But when she sees me, she stops short and scowls.
“I’ll come back later.” She turns to leave, and I panic.
“No! Don’t go.”
She stops walking but doesn’t turn around.
“I’ll make you some coffee, Trouble.”
After a moment, she spins on her heel and pins me in a glare.
“You’re pissing me off, Ryker James.”
To be honest, I’m pissing myself off too.
“You’re sending me so many mixed signals. One minute, you’re touching me, holding my hand, kissing my forehead. The next, you go back to being my buddy. Then, last night, you kiss the hell out of me on that island, make me feel things, and then, you reject me and send me off to bed.” She lets out a frustrated growl. “And now, you want me here? Why, so you can torture me?”
“I don’t want to torture you.”
“Well, you are.” She crosses her arms over her chest, pushing her tits together and up, and that little tank top does not hide anything. “My eyes are up here, Captain.”
I swallow hard. “Look, I’m sorry that I’m being an asshat, but I do want you. Christ, woman, you make me lose my mind. I didn’t expect to move home and suddenly have these feelings for you.”
“What feelings?” It’s a challenge. She tilts her head to the side with sass and taps her foot, and I want to bend her over, spank her ass, and fuck her hard, just to teach her a lesson.
“I thought my hard cock pushed up against your hot pussy made those feelings pretty obvious last night.”
Her cheeks darken, but she doesn’t look away from me.