In Bed with Mr. Wrong

Chapter Fourteen

Bri leaned into the kiss, half-shocked when he reached up to cup her chin. Though his lips tasted of the s’more they’d just eaten, that faded as he opened for her, his tongue swiping along hers. She practically threw her hanger away in favor of crawling into his lap.

“I need you, Ryan.” She kissed along his jaw, loving the way his whiskers rasped against her skin. “Please.”

He groaned and settled her knees on either side of his hips, his hands running up her thighs to squeeze her butt. “How is a man supposed to be rational with you sitting on top of him, smelling so damn good, and whispering ‘please’ in his ear?”

Was that a trick question? She ran her hands down his chest and up again. “He’s not?”

He leaned back and met her gaze. “We do this, we’re ending up in a bed tonight, Bri. No backing out, and no fighting. But first, I’m going to fuck you good and proper on this rug.”

Didn’t he know she couldn’t say no to him, even if she wanted to? And she most definitely did not want to. She wanted to wrap herself up in Ryan until she wasn’t sure where he ended and she began. Today, he’d made her feel free and strong and like her past didn’t have to be a deep, dark secret.

She wanted him with a desperation that made no sense. It didn’t matter. She’d take him up on whatever terms he set tonight, and Bri could admit to herself that the thought of ending up in a bed with him made her heart rate pick up. “That sounds wonderful.”

He grinned, as if he didn’t quite believe she’d agreed. “It does, doesn’t it?”

She peppered kisses over his lips and neck and collarbone. “Take me however you want me.”

“Yes, ma’am.” He used his grip on her hips to rock her more firmly against him.

She slid along his length, and the friction had her biting her lip to keep back a moan. Emboldened by the desire spiraling through her with each movement, she reached for the bottom of her shirt, pulled it over her head, and tossed it behind her. His eyes dropped to her breasts, enclosed in a serviceable blue bra. Someday, she’d have a sexual encounter with him and not be wearing the unsexiest underclothing imaginable. It didn’t seem to matter to Ryan, though, because he ran his hands up her sides to cup her breasts with a rapturous look on his face. “I could spend hours on your breasts alone.”

“Not tonight.” She reached behind her to undo her bra and tossed it in the same direction as the shirt.

“You’re right. Not tonight.” He ducked down and took a nipple in his mouth. The drag of his teeth over sensitive flesh sent a bolt straight to the spot between her legs and she gasped.

“More.” She clung to him as he used his tongue to flick her, alternating between quick strokes and slow licks. Just when Bri started to feel light-headed and whimpers escaped her mouth, he rolled them so he was on top. The soft rug felt luxurious against her bare skin, and she could suddenly see why this particular scene had been used again and again for seduction in fiction.

With Ryan backlit by the fire and rising over her, she could barely think. He didn’t give her a chance to, drawing off her sweats in a quick movement. “Flip over.”

She obeyed, rolling onto her stomach and then rising onto her hands and knees at his urging. The position felt strangely vulnerable, but then he was touching her, chasing away any worry she might have had. He stroked her between her legs, teasing her until she had to bite back a cry of frustration.

The sound of him ripping open a condom seemed unnaturally loud in her ears. “I know, honey, I know.”

How could he? She hadn’t said a single thing. And yet there he was, guiding her knees farther part and moving until he pressed against her entrance. He braced his hands on her hips and pushed into her, so slowly that this time she really did cry out.

Instantly, he froze. “Are you okay?”

Okay? How was she supposed to be okay? The ache in her center had only increased with every touch, and now her entire body was begging to be taken by him. All the while, he was busy torturing her with soft touches. No, she wasn’t okay. “I need—”

He tightened his grip and slammed into her, the force of the motion driving her forward until her face rested against the rug. Ryan withdrew and shoved into her again, even harder this time. “This is what you need.”

“Yes.” Bri tried to move, to take in more of him, but his grip was punishing, holding her in place, her hips up and legs spread wide, while he fucked her just like she’d begged for. Because that was the only word that described the rough animalistic way he moved in her, so intense it bordered on pain.

When he changed his angle, words erupted from her mouth, strung together as if she were speaking in tongues. “Please, Ryan, oh God, I need…I need… Please. Something. Anything. Everything.” She dug her fingers into the fur of the rug, as if that would help center her in the midst of the storm building inside her. It was too much. He had to stop, or she was going to lose everything.

As if he could sense her thoughts—and how in God’s name did he keep doing that?—he pushed down on the small of her back and did something with his hips that brought a scream to her lips. Her orgasm sucked her into the abyss, rolling over her in a giant black wave that took every ounce of energy from her body. She went limp, though she couldn’t quite make herself let go of the rug. Maybe if she held on tightly enough, the room would stop spinning. He pressed her into the rug and shuddered above her, following her over the edge.

After a long moment, Bri finally opened her eyes and frowned at the smoke curling through the room. “Did you leave corn bread in the oven again?”

His creative curse gave her the motivation to roll onto her back. The sight of fire crawling out of the fireplace did a whole lot more. She scrambled to her knees. “The cabin’s burning down!”

To his credit, Ryan didn’t hesitate. He grabbed the massive blanket from the couch and threw it on top of the fire, using his hands to pat it out and smother it. When he lifted the blanket, she saw the cause—her shirt. “Oh my God, I threw my clothes into the fire.” She’d been so concerned with getting skin to skin with him that she hadn’t stopped to consider where she was tossing those discarded clothes. “Spending so much time with you is turning me into a firebug.”

“I’m glad I have that effect on you.”

She met his gaze and promptly burst out laughing. “Oh, I bet. The sight of you makes me want to strip naked and burn down buildings.”

“I’m choosing to take it as a compliment.” He raised one massive shoulder. “That wasn’t exactly the explosive ending I’d anticipated.”

She sat there, her heart still beating too fast and body tingling from the orgasm, and he sounded so put out. It made her laugh again, which was such a novel concept. They’d come together in anger and in passion, but there’d never been laughter. Until now. Bri patted his arm. “You get an A-plus, okay?”

“I can do better.”

“No one can do better than A-plus. That’s kind of the point.”

He climbed to his feet and offered a hand. “Now that we’ve saved the cabin from burning down, let’s go take a shower.”

…

They took a long, lazy shower and managed to make it out before the hot water turned cold, and then Ryan dragged her to the kitchen for a snack. Bri wrapped the blanket more firmly around her shoulders and watched him make…something. “I still can’t quite believe you cook.”

“I’m a man of many skills.” He waggled his eyebrows, making her laugh.

She accepted a mug, sniffed it, and smiled. “Hot chocolate?”

“Another staple of my childhood. My secret recipe.”

She took a cautious sip, letting the flavors play over her tongue. “Cinnamon and…”

“A dash of chili powder.”

“I’ve never heard of such a thing.” Another drink, deeper this time. “It’s really, really good.”

“Since we’re revisiting childhood memories, anything you missed out on that you’d like to check off the list?”

The fact that he was offering in the first place, let alone having already made the effort to do just that with the s’mores earlier, made her warm in a way that had nothing to do with the cozy temperature of the cabin. Her childhood was what it was. There was no point in dwelling on it. But Ryan filtered things through a different light, and the gifts he’d given her were priceless. No one, not even Avery and Drew, had ever done anything like that for her. Yes, they knew her past, and, yes, they were completely sympathetic, but their focus was on the here and now. They’d never tried to go back and fill in some of the missing pieces.

To be fair, she’d never considered it either.

She sipped her hot chocolate. “I’ve never had a snowball fight.”

His jaw dropped and he staggered. “What? No snowball fights? My brother and Avery have dropped the ball. We’re fixing that. Right now.”

“Now?” She made a show of looking down her blanket. “But I’m naked.”

“Come on.” He took her mug out of her hands and hauled her off the stool. “Get dressed. We’re doing this. Then we can drink hot chocolate and thaw out by the fire.”

Before she had a chance to protest—not that she really tried—he had her in the bedroom and piled clothing in her hands. Bri laughed as she got dressed, buoyed by his enthusiasm. “This is ridiculous.”

“Most parts of being a kid are.” He pulled his shirt over his head. “The trick to being an adult is maintaining that childlike wonder while still managing to do soul-killing things like paying bills.”

“That’s good to know.” She tied her boots and then he took her hand and practically dragged her through the cabin and out the door. The cold slapped her, nearly making her change her mind about this being a good idea, but Ryan raised his face to the sky and laughed.

“I always forget how much I miss this place when I’m gone.”

The reminder that he was leaving in such a short time was almost enough to make her rethink the wisdom of indulging in any of this, but then he grabbed her hand again and led her out past the shed to the edge of the woods. The snow crunched under their boots, the only sound except for the whispering of the wind through the trees. When was the last time she’d done something silly like this? Bri couldn’t remember. She wasn’t sure she ever had.

“This is how you make a snowball.” Ryan crouched down, demonstrating the packing of the snow.

It wasn’t rocket science, so she hurriedly followed suit. Then, when he stood up and turned toward her, she hit him in the face with it.

“That’s cheating!” His expression made her laugh, even as she scrambled backward. He wiped snow from his eyes and shook his head like a dog. “You’re a natural. You would have been an asset in the Great Snowball Fight of ’98. Drew and I staked out the post office with the biggest pile of snowballs you’d ever seen on our sled.” He grinned. “The plan would have gone off without a hitch if Old Joe hadn’t been walking by. You know he’s a retired Marine sniper?”

“He may have mentioned it once or twice.” She packed another snowball. “You’re lucky Mayor Burns wasn’t there.” The older man used to play minor league baseball, and he still had an arm on him.

Ryan sighed. “No, we weren’t. He came out of the post office right in time to catch a face full of snow. It was all over after that.”

“Do you know the junior high boys still camp out on Main Street on snow days and try to ambush people?” She winked. “I think Old Joe watches for them, because he always seems to show up in the nick of time to save the innocent bystanders.”

A strange look came over his face. “No, I didn’t know that.”

Before she could ask what he was thinking about, his snowball hit her in the shoulder, but by that point she already had another in hand and sent it flying. Things got chaotic from there, her laughing so hard she could barely breathe, let alone focus on dodging his attacks and launching her own. As she peeked out from behind the tree she’d taken cover behind, Ryan swooped in and grabbed her around the waist, taking them both to the ground. They rolled several times before she came up on top, still giggling like a fool. “This is fun.”

“Yeah, it really is.” He smiled up at her as he adjusted her hat. “I never thought I’d say this, but I’m glad Drew and Avery got this insane plan in their heads.”

She still couldn’t quite wrap her mind around how much had changed in such a short time. Two days ago, she would have died rather than frolic around in the snow like a crazy kid with Ryan. And yet here she was, having the time of her life. With him. “I am, too.”

Then she grabbed a handful of snow and shoved it down his shirt. He cursed and grabbed for her, but she was already up and running to the back door of the cabin. Bri turned around just long enough to stick her tongue out at him, and then she was inside. As soon as the heat from the fireplace hit her, she realized just how wet her clothes were and shivered.

“Well, don’t just stand there shaking like a leaf. Get naked.”

“Get naked.” Bri stared as he stripped off his shirt. The man’s shoulders should be illegal. She gave herself a mental shake—or shiver, as it were. “And they say romance is dead.”

“Liars, all of them. Your man just gave you an orgasm and a snowball fight. If that’s not romance, I don’t know what is.”

Your man. She pulled off her shirt in an effort not to let him see how much his words affected her. Ryan might be a lot of things—many of them great—but he wasn’t hers. He couldn’t be.

Except she no longer quite believed that.

By the time she finished taking off her wet things, he was there with a blanket to wrap around her shoulders. “Now, sit. I’ll get some more hot chocolate whipped up.”

There he went, taking care of her again. She sank onto the rug they’d had sex on not too long ago and watched him move purposefully about the kitchen. All this time, she’d been operating under the assumption that something between her and Ryan couldn’t work. But what if it could?