Running his big hand down her back, he said, “You didn’t need to do that to get me to notice you, Lil. You were firmly stuck in my head from the first moment I ever saw you, even though you were too damn young for a guy my age.”
“Well, I’m a big girl now. So you don’t have to feel like a pervert anymore,” she teased, cuddling a little closer to his mouthwatering bod as she hitched her leg over his hip.
She could hear the smile in his voice as he said, “Considering some of the things I’d like to do to you, I think the pervert thing is probably still valid.” His tone was wry.
“Oh yeah? What kind of things?”
“Things that would be too much for your sore little pussy right now,” he rumbled, sliding his hand between her legs and cupping her puffy folds. He slipped his fingertips around her vulva, which was already hot and slick. “God, I love how wet you get for me. But damn, you’re really swollen, Lil. I went at you pretty hard tonight.”
She moaned low in her throat. “I’m okay.”
“Well, let’s make it better than okay.”
Even though she knew how incredible his mouth was, she was actually sore enough that she didn’t think she would be able to fully appreciate his efforts when he pushed her to her back and started kissing his way down the front of her body. But she’d underestimated him and her need for him. Her craving for the way he could make her feel. Her body melted into a pool of hot liquid as he held her open with his thumbs and took his time, licking her slowly, thoroughly, hungrily. The hard, husky sounds he made in the back of his throat, along with the feel of his hands as he gripped the insides of her thighs, keeping her pressed open, made it clear that he was really enjoying himself. Even when she started to come, he kept at her, licking and sucking on the tender opening of her body, eating her out in every sense of the word until she was boneless and replete, too steeped in satisfaction to even open her eyes.
“What now?” she asked when he placed a lingering kiss to her still softly pulsing clit, then moved back up beside her.
“What do you mean?” There was a definite edge in his voice, as if he was worried about where she was going with the question.
She trailed her fingertips down the hard ridges on his sexy-as-sin stomach. “Don’t I get a turn?”
“You can have your turn later,” he said, clearly relieved she’d been talking about giving him head, and not what was happening between them. He grabbed her hand and flattened it against his chest, over the heavy beat of his heart. Then he pulled her close and pressed a gentle kiss to the top of her head. “Right now, just get some sleep. I’ll be here until I have to go and take over the watch for Mike. I won’t leave you again. I promise.”
With those beautiful words drifting through her head, Lily closed her eyes and drifted away.
SEVEN
THE NEXT DAY PROVED TO BE HELL FOR RYDER. SHEER FUCKING hell. He’d wanted to wake Lily up slow and easy, with his dick already buried deep inside her, where he knew she would be soft and wet . . . soaking him, hugging him. Had wanted to squeeze himself in, forcing that mouthwatering cunt to give way for him, and then ride her with gentle nudges, like a lapping sea, until she’d finally opened her eyes and stared up at him. There would have been a small, sexy smile on her pink lips. And it would have been his signal to fuck her harder, until they were pounding away like a storm. Hot and raw, with sweat flying and her short nails digging into his back, urging him on. It was a hell of a fantasy. But he hadn’t been able to play it out, since he’d had to leave her to take over for Mike in the early hours of the morning.
Like a bad sitcom, his luck hadn’t improved as the day progressed. Once everyone was up and moving around, he’d kept trying to snag a moment alone with her but shit just kept getting in his way. First there were the calls from Ben, giving him frustrating updates on the search for Radovich that was so far going nowhere. When he’d finally gotten off the phone with the sheriff and tracked Lily down in the living room, where she was reading, Mike had walked into the room announcing that lunch was ready. Getting desperate, Ryder had cornered her in the kitchen when they’d finished eating and managed to steal a hungry, mouthwatering kiss from her. She’d tasted delicious, and the innocent blush on her cheeks when he’d finally pulled away to suck in some much-needed oxygen had only cranked up his need to fuck her. But before they’d even made it out of the kitchen, there was another interruption when Reese showed up at the front door with her friend Brit. The women had come over to keep Lily company for the afternoon, and while Ryder appreciated the friendly gesture, he’d still wanted to wring their damn necks for getting in his way.
Listening to the women chattering away in the living room, he’d hunkered down with Mike in the control room and focused his mind on the Radovich problem. He knew Mike had to be aware of what had happened between him and Lily during the night, considering how loudly she’d been screaming. But Mike had been smart enough not to say anything about it, which was a relief. She might be gutsy as hell in some ways, but Ryder wasn’t sure how much teasing she could take about the two of them fucking each other’s brains out. Especially when it was just a temporary thing.
A scowl wove its way between his brows as that last thought twisted through his mind, same as it’d been doing all damn day. He hated the cramp in his gut that came every time he thought about the fact that what they had wasn’t permanent. He had no doubt that the end would . . . suck. For both of them. But it wasn’t going to keep him from getting as much of her as he could until the Rado situation was over and she could haul her little ass back to Virginia.
Where I’ll never get to see her. Or talk to her. Or hear her laugh.
Muttering a guttural curse under his breath, he pushed away from the desk in the control room, breathing a sigh of relief when he heard Reese and Brit saying their good-byes. The women had even stayed to help clean up after dinner, and Ryder had tried to work out his frustration in the fitness room, then grabbed a shower while everyone had coffee. But now they were finally leaving, Mike was taking the first watch again, and Ryder couldn’t wait to get Lily alone.
With a comfortable pair of jeans hanging low on his hips, he waited in the hallway for Lily to head to her room, anticipation making his heart pound like a bitch when she turned the corner. She gave him a shy, sweet smile the second she saw him, and his damn dick nearly burst through the denim.
“Jesus. I didn’t think they were ever gonna leave.” He grabbed her by the waist, jerking her against him, and buried his face in the curve of her throat. “I can still taste you in my mouth, Lil. I can’t get it out of my head. It’s kept me hard the entire fucking day.”
Her arms wrapped around his neck, and he could hear the smile in her voice as she crooned, “Aw. Poor baby. That can’t have been comfortable.”
“You’re telling me,” he muttered, herding her into her room and locking the door behind them. It took him only a handful of seconds to get rid of her tank top and lacy bra, and then he lifted her against the front of his body, his face buried between her perfect tits as he carried her to the bed. “I need help, Lily. I need you to help me.”
Her touch was gentle as she sifted her fingers through the damp locks of his hair. “Not that I’m complaining, but what exactly has gotten into you?”
“What’s gotten into me?” He was already leaning over her and pulling down the zipper on her jeans, his shaking hands making the task anything but easy. “How about the fact that I’m dying to get my tongue back into you? It’s damn near the only thing I can think about, which is seriously fucked, seeing as how I’m meant to be thinking about how to keep you alive.”