Leave before you cry and he wakes up and freaks out, my mind sneered.
I sighed as I looked at him once more before turning and tip toeing over to his bedroom door. I opened the door and without looking back, I stepped out into the hall and closed the door behind me. I exhaled a deep breath and walked over to the stairs and began to walk down them. I stopped when a door on the floor above opened and closed. I looked up and froze when one of Ryder’s brothers leaned over the banister and smiled when he saw me. I remembered his name and cleared my throat.
“Hey, Alec.”
He winked. “Morning, beautiful.”
I felt my cheeks flush. “I have to leave and go to school, will you tell Ryder goodbye for me? Tell him I had so much fun.”
Alec’s laughter was low and rumbling. “You got it.”
I wiggled my fingers at him, gave him a smile then continued my descent of the stairs. I blew out a breath when I reached the bottom of the stairs and moved towards the front door but gasped when I heard movement upstairs.
“Shit,” I heard Ryder’s voice shout. “Shit, shit, shit!”
Oh, fuck. I thought. He was coming downstairs.
I told myself to run, but I couldn’t, I was frozen to the spot as Ryder ran down the stairs, only coming to a stop when he saw me. He was wearing boxer shorts now, and I sort of wished he were fully naked again.
“There you are,” he breathed, his shoulders sagging with what looked like relief. “Where are you going, sweetness?”
I swallowed. “I didn’t think I’d be good at sayin’ goodbye so I figured it’d be best if I left quietly.”
I didn’t know what to do so I turned and made a motion to move towards the door, but arms came around my waist, a hard body moulded into my back and hot breath tickled my neck, bringing me to a halt.
“Why would you say goodbye to me?” Ryder murmured as he causally trailed his tongue over my skin, causing me to shudder.
“Because, um, it was a one-night stand and—oh.”
I lifted my hands and covered his, squeezing as he began to suck on my neck, directly on my sweet spot. My eyes fluttered shut and a moan escaped me.
“Sounds like you don’t want to say goodbye to me at all,” Ryder murmured, his amusement obvious in his tone.
I licked my lower lip. “I have to go to school.”
Ryder hummed. “At the university in town, right?”
I nodded, barely containing another moan. “That’s right.”
“Can you not call in sick?” he asked, sucking on my neck once more.
I gasped. “I’ve never called in sick.”
His hold tightened on me. “There’s a first time for everything.”
I swallowed. “I don’t know...”
“Come on, beautiful,” Ryder murmured. “Spend some more time with me, please?”
He was killing me.
“Why?” I asked a little breathlessly.
“I’m not ready to let you leave,” he replied, surprising the hell out of me.
I turned in his arms and looked up at him. “It’s because I’m a sex goddess, isn’t it?”
Ryder smiled and it made me smile too.
“You’ve figured me out,” he mused. “I want to keep you here to avail of your wickedly naughty pussy, and your talented mouth.”
I playfully slapped his arm. “Ryder!”
He rubbed my cheeks when they stained with heat.
“It amazes me how shy you are during normal conversation,” he smirked, “but in bed you’re a naughty siren.”
I covered my face with my hands.
“Shut up!”
Ryder laughed and pulled me against his chest, hugging me tightly.
“Stay with me,” he said and kissed the crown of my head. “I want to bring you out for a few hours. Just me and you.”
I pulled back and looked up at him.
“Are... are you askin’ me out on a date?” I asked, my heart slamming into my chest.
Ryder smiled and brushed my hair out of my face and tucked it behind my ear.
“Yeah,” he murmured. “I have a gut feeling that I want to get to know you better, and I always listen to my gut.”
My legs began to tremble.
“I thought this was just a one-night stand,” I whispered.
“I thought it was, too,” Ryder said, his eyes scanning my face, “but it’s more than that. I don’t know what it is, but one night with you isn’t enough.”
My stomach fluttered with butterflies.
“Yes,” I whispered. “I’d love to go out on a date with you.”
“Good.” Ryder teasingly grinned. “I wasn’t taking no for an answer anyway.”
“Is that so?” I laughed, merrily. “Do you think you can get what you want from me so easily?”
“I do,” he replied, smugly. “And if all else fails, I’ve other methods at my disposal to persuade you into doing things my way.”
“Yeah?” I asked, my breathing picking up in pace. “What other methods would that be?”
Ryder pressed his front against mine and lowered his head, brushing his lips tenderly against me. I gasped when he bent down and his hands suddenly gripped my behind. I wrapped my arms around his neck and my legs around his waist when he lifted me into the air. He turned and walked over to the stairs.
“I can show you a lot better than I can tell you,” he said, grinning.
My laughter and his tangled together as he climbed the stairs, and soon after, so did our bodies in the most delicious of ways. I lay in Ryder’s bed long after we had sex for the third time and when I caught myself watching him sleep I knew I was royally screwed because I could see myself falling in love with him very easily if I wasn’t careful.
Guard your heart, my mind whispered as my eyes drifted shut. Don’t give him the power to break you.
I didn’t realise it then, but Ryder had the power to break me from the moment he locked his eyes on mine in Darkness, and there wasn’t a damn thing that I could do about it.
Present day…
I yelped with fright when a pink folder was dropped on the desk of the nurses station. I was reliving a moment from my past, and was completely blindsided by the sudden movement and noise.
“Sorry,” Ash’s voice quickly apologised. “I thought you heard me.”
I placed my hand over my chest, feeling my heart rapidly pound against my chest.
“I’m fine,” I breathed. “I was in a world of me own.”
I looked up and caught Ash frowning at me, so I waved his concerns off.
“I’m okay, just daydreamin’.”
He was hesitant for a moment and then nodded.
“It’s quiet on the ward, you can daydream if you want to.”
I snorted. “I wish I had that luxury. I want to keep a close eye on the patient in room one.”
“I just checked on her,” Ash said. “She got her epidural and is sleeping. Her husband is too. Everything is progressing well with her, a few more hours at most then she’ll deliver and be moved downstairs.”
My shoulders sagged with relief.
“Thank God,” I breathed. “I couldn’t take any more of her screamin’. I try me hardest to be considerate and never open me mouth about how the women deal with their pain, but damn, she hasn’t shut her mouth since she was brought on the ward.”
Ash snickered. “I could hear her, too. Sally said she was going to jam the gas and air down her throat if she didn’t give it a rest soon.”