Chapter 24: Chapter Twenty-Four

Hands tucked in his pockets, Ryder meandered back toward their room. The rain had stopped sometime after he’d fallen asleep, and now the sun was starting to peek out from behind the clouds. Hopefully, the roads would be cleared by now, too. If not, at least they had another night booked here.

“Hey, what if we—” He glanced around. Where the hell was Madison. He turned to find her standing several feet behind him. “Madison? Are you okay?” he asked, concerned.

She shook her head as if snapping herself out of a trance. “Yeah.” She caught up to him. “Why did you do that back there?”

“Do what?”

“Buy that man a meal?”

“Because he was obviously hungry, and no one should ever have to go without a hot meal,” he said.

“You didn’t even bother to tell him it was you, though.” She crossed her arms and tilted her head, studying him.

“Why would I? It doesn’t matter to him who paid for his food. He’s probably just grateful he gets to eat.” Ryder shrugged. “And I didn’t do it to make me feel good. I was simply feeding a hungry man.”

“I can’t do this.” She shook her head, and tears glistened in her eyes. Then, she spun on her heel and practically ran toward their room.

What the hell? “Madison!” He chased after her.

She managed to get the door open and rush inside before he could reach her. He barged into the room and slammed the door. She stood in the middle of the room, back to him.

“Seriously, Madison, what the hell is going on here? All I did was buy a guy breakfast, and you’re freaking out on me. I can’t keep up with your mood swings.” His frustration reached its boiling point, and he was seconds away from exploding.

“Don’t you get it?” she said, her tone furious as she spun around to face him. Her eyes were red, and her cheeks were damp with tears. “Guys like you don’t exist. Everything about you is so…perfect.”

“Excuse me?”

“My God, Ryder.” She threw her hands in the air. “Look at you. You’re a walking, talking fantasy. A real life wet dream. You’re smart and funny and kind and generous, and you’re all those things without any care for who knows it. You just did something so nice, and you don’t care that no one but me and that waitress acknowledged it.”

“Uh…okay,” he said slowly. “So, you’re not mad at me? Because you sound like you are, but the things you’re saying are nice.” He’d never been so confused in his life.

She shook her head and let out a huff that was part exasperation part disbelief. Then she hugged herself.

“Okay, I have no idea what to do or say right now.” He took a cautious step toward her. “Can you help me out here? I mean, should I be yelling compliments back at you or…?”

She laughed. “You’re nothing like I expected,” she said. “And you’re definitely nothing like the people I’ve spent the past three years avoiding.”

“That’s a good thing, right?” He gave her a cheeky grin, which earned him another laugh.

“Yes.” She sighed, and her shoulders slumped. “But it’s bad, too. For me, anyway.”

“You are the most confusing woman I have ever met,” he mumbled. “Why is it so bad for you?” He wasn’t sure he really wanted to hear her answer, but at the same time, he needed to know.

“Because I can’t hate you.” She shrugged as if her answer made logical sense.

He stared at her. Confusion gave way to anger. “We’re back to this again?” He dragged his hand through his hair and turned away from her, pacing toward the door. “I’m so sorry it’s not easy for you to hate me, Madison, but I’m not going to change who I am just to make you feel better.”

“That’s the problem, Ryder.” She marched up to him and got in his face. “I don’t want you to change who you are, and quite frankly, that scares me shitless. Because what if everything I’ve seen this past week is nothing but a lie? A carefully crafted façade to get girls to fall in love with you.”

His lips thinned into a scowl, and he curled his hands into fists. “So now I’m a liar?”

“Don’t put words in my mouth,” she warned, an icy edge to her tone.

“Then tell me what you want from me, Madison, because I have no fucking idea,” he said.

“I want you to shut the hell up so I can think,” she shouted.

He snapped his mouth shut, jaw clenched painfully tight. Eyes narrowed, he watched her. And waited. Her eyes vacillated between brown and green as she paced the small space in front of him. She smoothed her hands over her hair. Blew out a breath. And he remained silent, waiting.

“I can’t keep doing this,” she muttered.

His stomach sank at the unspoken meaning behind her words. Oh no. She was not going to push him away again. Not this time. “Doing what, exactly?” he asked.

She didn’t say anything, just continued to pace.

What the hell was up with her today? She wasn’t making any sense, and she was clearly very agitated. But why? He still didn’t know if it was something he did to set her off. One thing was for certain, though—no matter how hard she pushed him away, he couldn’t to turn his back on her. Because he’d quickly grown to love how stubborn she was, how she’d stand up for what she wanted no matter what. She was a fighter, a survivor, and she made no apologies. Take it or leave it. Damn if he didn’t want to take it, to take her. The need coursed through his veins at an alarming rate.

Suddenly, she stopped and faced him. “You win,” she said with a short laugh. “I’m done. I can’t keep fighting you. Fighting…this.”

His heart slammed violently against his ribs as his brain scrambled to keep up with what she just said.

Before he could fully process her words, she flung herself at him, wrapping her arms around his neck and pressing her mouth to his. Rockets and fireworks exploded inside him, frying all rational thought. He held her tightly and moved one hand up to palm the back of her head. Her hair, still damp from her shower, was a stark contrast to the heat radiating from the rest of her body.

Parting her lips with his tongue, he dipped inside to take a taste of the forbidden nectar. He’d wanted to kiss her since the moment he’d laid eyes on her, and now that she finally gave him the okay, he wasn’t about to let her go. Her lips were warm and inviting, melding perfectly against his. Her eager breath and soft mewls of pleasure spurred him on.

Madison threaded her fingers through his hair, each stroke of her fingertips against his scalp was like tiny shocks to his system. She deepened the kiss. His cock twitched, and he groaned. Every flick of her tongue fueled his need, stoked the fire raging in his balls. He was a ticking time bomb, and if he didn’t get her naked and himself buried inside of her soon, he was going to fucking combust.

Ryder grabbed the back of her thighs and lifted her. She eagerly wrapped her legs around his waist, and he moved forward until her back hit the wall. He pushed his hips into her, causing her to gasp.

He tore his lips from her sweet mouth and kissed along her jaw, which was a tantalizing mix of salty tears and remnants of her fruity body wash. She tilted her head, giving him the one thing he’d been dying for—permission.

“Fuck, Madison,” he said, gasping for breath. “Are you sure about this?” God help him if she said no. He’d need to spend the rest of the day jacking off in a cold shower.

She unhooked her legs from around his waist and slid down his body until her feet hit the floor. Unease tightened like a vice around his stomach. Without a word, she grabbed a handful of his shirt, and then yanked his mouth back to hers.

His eyes rolled into the back of his head, and he drowned himself in her kiss. She moaned, and her body melted into his. Oh yeah, he was going to enjoy the ever loving hell out of her. After the massive case of blue balls he’d been sporting the past couple days, he needed her. His physical health depended on it.

“Why are you still dressed?” Her voice was breathless. Sexy as hell.

He grabbed the back collar of his shirt and pulled it off, his chest heaving with the effort—and from his inability to take a deep enough breath in that moment. “Your turn.”

Laughing, she toed off her shoes and reached for the button on her jeans. Her gaze never left his as she slowly unzipped her pants. His heart beat out of his chest, and he licked his lips. Visions of this morning when she’d been in his arms, her ass firmly planted against his crotch flashed through his mind, and his cock thickened painfully. This time, there would be no stopping, though. No teasing. This time, there would be pleasure. A lot of it.

She peeled open the front of her jeans and then wiggled out of them. He groaned and let out a whistle of appreciation. She had the sexiest body he’d ever seen. Smooth, flawless skin with curves in all the right places. Hips meant to be grabbed. An ass to be worshipped. He flexed his fingers with the need to touch her. But damn, her striptease was a sight to behold.

Madison kicked her pants off to the side and turned so her back was to him. A glance over her shoulder, a seductive glint in her eye, a shake of her hips, and then she bent over and grabbed her ankles, exposing her barely-covered ass—which she then shook at him for effect. She’s trying to kill me.

“Fuck.” He swallowed hard and reached down to grab his crotch, giving his sac a firm squeeze so he wouldn’t come in his jeans. “You’re so damn sexy.”

Slowly, purposefully, she dragged her hands up her long, slender legs, eliciting another groan from him. He’d cut off his arms if it meant he could follow that path with his mouth. His lips twitched at the idea of tasting her lush body. Turning back to face him, she hooked her thumbs into the waistband of her panties, teasing like she was going to take them off. But then she let them snap back into place.

Okay, enough was enough. He stepped toward her, intent on taking all this teasing to the next level. His palms itched, ached, with the desire to touch her.

“Uh-uh.” She put her hands on his chest and shook her head. “I’m running this show, playboy.”

He raised a brow and smirked. Who was he to argue with that? He’d only been with one other woman who’d taken charge like this, and that had been the best sex of his life. Although he had a feeling Madison was going to be a million times better.

Coursing her fingers down his bare chest, she reached his jeans and deftly undid his zipper. Her touch was firm, confident, like she’d spent years doing just that. Goose bumps broke out on his skin. In the next moment, his jeans and boxers were around his ankles, and she was on her knees.

“Whoa.” She glanced up at him under her lashes.

He grinned with satisfaction. “Told you I was worth the trouble.”

“We’ll see about that.”

His laughter was abruptly cut off when Madison curled her fingers around his shaft. Her tongue peeked out, swirled around the tip of his cock before her mouth closed around him. His eyes rolled, and his head fell back to his shoulders. Thighs tensed, stomach hallowed, he couldn’t so much as draw in a breath. He was paralyzed by her touch, completely and totally at her mercy. Holy fuck, her mouth felt good wrapped around his cock. Hot. Warm. She sucked him hard and deep, her head bobbing in rhythm with how her hand stroked him.

Gathering her hair, he held it away from her face and watched. “Fuck, yeah, just like that.” Grasping either side of her head, he fucked her mouth, moaning each time he’d hit the back of her throat. “God, yes.”

She matched him moan for moan, and that’s when he realized she had her hand down her panties, rubbing her clit. He could hear how wet she was, and that made him even harder. The scent of their arousal hung in the air, reminding him they’d only just begun. They had the whole day and all night ahead of them, and he was going to take full advantage of every precious moment. Pressure built in his balls, spread up his shaft, and gathered in his spine. He knees shook—actually fucking shook!

Madison released his dick from her mouth with a noisy pop, and he blew out a breath. As much as he wanted her to keep going, a second longer and he would’ve come. She got to her feet and ran her fingers across his lips—the same fingers she’d used to touch herself. With a snarl-like groan, he took her fingers into his mouth, sucking the taste of her from them.

“Mmm. I’m going to taste you, Madison. All of you.”

She silenced him with a lust induced kiss. He slipped his hand down the front of her panties and was greeted with shaved lips, slick with her arousal. Was there anything hotter than that? Easing her lips apart, he rubbed her clit. She gasped against his mouth and parted her legs. Yup, that sound, that movement was a million times hotter.

“So wet,” he said, easing a finger inside of her.

She reached down, and he mentally prepared himself for her to stop him, but she didn’t. Instead, she pulled down her panties until they were nothing more than a puddle of cloth at their feet. “I need you, Ryder. Now.”

“I’ve been dying to hear you say that.” He managed to get one shoe off before she was nudging him backward toward the chair in the corner, which was awkward as fuck with his pants down around his ankles. It was a small wonder he didn’t fall flat on his ass.

She gave him a firm shove, and he landed in the chair. “Interesting choice,” he said. “Sure you don’t want to go to the bed?”

“The bed is too intimate.” She tossed her hair over her shoulder.

He tilted his head. “What?” He laughed. “You’ll put my dick in your mouth, but having sex in a bed is too intimate?”

“Do you want to debate where we have sex, or do you want to actually have sex?”

He didn’t need to be asked twice. He kicked off his other shoe and got one leg out of his pants, and then she was straddling him. Her wet folds rested along his shaft like a heated blanket, igniting him hotter than an inferno. She shifted just right, and then he was inside of her. Her mouth parted on a moan, and he grabbed her hips, holding her in place.

“Shit,” he grunted. “So goddamn hot. And wet.” He swore his head was going to explode with how incredible she felt.

Her hands went to his shoulders, and her fingernails dug into his flesh, but he didn’t care. He finally had her, and that’s all that mattered to him at the moment. She moved, slow at first, letting her body adjust to him, but she hadn’t taken all of him yet. He didn’t want to rush her, or hurt her, but damn! The urge to thrust up, to ram himself into her, to feel his balls pressed against her tight, little ass was overwhelming.

“Feels so good…” Madison’s voice was breathy and needy. She eased down a little lower, taking more of his cock inside of her.

Lifting the hem of her shirt, he removed it, tossing it to the floor like the nuisance it was. Then he reached behind her and unhooked her bra, disposing of that just as quickly. He sucked in a sharp breath at the sight of her perky breasts and hard nipples. “God damn.” He looked up at her, unable to wrap his mind around how perfect she was, how she was so much more than he could’ve imagine.

He dragged his hands up the length of her body and took her face into his hands, bringing her mouth down to his, because if he didn’t focus on something else, he was going to lose his ability to let her set the pace. He’d give anything to get her into one of those beds, to have her naked and spread out in front of him, to be able to worship her body the way he’d dreamed of for too long. But he wasn’t going to push it. He’d finally gotten what he wanted—her—and he wasn’t going to do or say anything that would ruin this moment.

She trailed her hands from his shoulders down to his chest, letting them rest on his pecs, and then she moaned into his mouth as she finished taking all of his cock. Pure heat shot through him, his nerve endings snapping and burning him alive. His stomach clenched, and he made a noise that sounded too much like a snarl. Madison tore her mouth from his and lowered her lips to his neck, nipping and sucking, driving him bat shit fucking crazy. And all he could do was let her. He rested his head on the back of the chair and his hands on her thighs.

“I’ve wanted this,” she muttered in between kisses. She rotated her hips and rocked on his lap, stroking his cock with her inner walls.

His bare, unprotected cock.

Shit. Everything had happened so fast he hadn’t had time to put on a condom. He was terrified if he stopped now, that would be it, there would be no finishing what they’d started. And he was fast approaching the point of no return. Her body was like a tailor-made glove, fitting him perfectly, squeezing him in all the right places. But no matter how incredible all this was, he couldn’t be stupid and careless.

She had to know he wasn’t wearing protection. She was the one who’d climbed onto his lap and slid down onto his cock. Still, he needed to remind her of what they were about to do. He moved his hands around to her ass, gripping her firm cheeks and holding her in place. “Madison…”

“I’ve wanted you, Ryder. From the second I met you, I’ve wanted you.”

The words rushed out of her mouth, but they were loud and clear to him, ringing in his ears. A part of him always knew she’d wanted him like he’d wanted her, but hearing her say it was pure vindication. “I’ve been here the whole time,” he said, his words clouded by his ragged breaths. “Waiting for you.”

Straightening, he took her nipple into his mouth, flicking his tongue over her hardened peak. She moaned loudly and bore down on him, letting her head fall back to her shoulders.

He moved to her other breast, tracing circles around her nipple before sucking it into his mouth. “Mmm.”

“Yes,” she hissed.

She was barely moving, and that was killing him more than when she wouldn’t let him near her. Clutching her hips, he moved her back and forth, encouraging her. She took his lead and rotated her pelvis, driving herself down on him. Sweat beaded on his brow, and he blew lightly across her nipples, making them even harder. His cock swelled, and he gritted his teeth, refusing to come yet.

Her movements became faster and harder, almost frantic. Each time she’d impale herself down on him, it was like a kick to his lungs, forcing all the breath from his body, leaving him weak and fighting for air. “Fuck, yeah, ride my cock, Madison.”

“Kiss me,” she panted, slanting her lips over his.

All rational thought left his mind the second her tongue dipped into his mouth. And then she tightened around him, painfully gripping his cock. That’s when he knew: he was a goner. There was no stopping now, and he wasn’t going to take any chance that she would try, either. He wrapped his arms around her, holding her tightly as he thrust up repeatedly. A numbing tingle formed at the base of his spine and slowly spread to his arms and legs.

“Oh, God! Ryder!” She cried out and then moaned, throwing her body back as she succumbed to her orgasm. Her entire body writhed in his arms, which only made him hold her tighter as she came on his cock, searing him with her release. Branding him.

He swelled inside of her, losing his battle to hold off his own orgasm. And then he crashed over the edge, coming harder than ever, deep inside of her. A long, guttural groan erupted from his throat seconds before she collapsed against his chest, burying her face into his neck.

It took him several moments to catch his breath. Physically, he was completely drained, but that wouldn’t stop him from going round two if that’s what she wanted. He pressed his lips to her forehead and stroked his fingers down her back, loving the way she trembled against him. Tucking his fingers under her chin, he tilted her head so he could see her face.

“What the actual fuck, Madison? I still have no idea what’s happening here.”

One second they were arguing—at least, he thought they were, he still wasn’t sure what was happening—and the next second she was kissing him. Not that he was complaining, but his head spun.

She laughed, the sound so genuine and carefree it wrapped itself around his heart and squeezed. “You’ve officially been ridden out of the friend zone.”