Page 91 of Redemption

His thumbs pressed behind her ears and rubbed methodically before he agreed by taking her hand.

There might be a special place in hell for lying to Ryder. He’d given up his time, maybe the opportunity for work. She’d barely asked him about the scratches he had when he arrived, letting him fret over her more than she’d checked on him because she’d been so focused on what was becoming her obsession with vengeance.

###

Ryder had both hands on Victoria’s hips as she walked up the stairs, and he worried about where her mind was. Maybe she’d seen news about Ivan Mikhailov. Was she keeping tabs on him? Ryder had noticed that Ivan had kept a low profile in the press, and unless Victoria was searching hard and having the news translated, she wouldn’t come up with much. Maybe keeping this information from her wasn’t best.

At the top of the stairs, he wrapped his arms around her and rested his chin on her shoulder. “You want to share what you were really up to?”

Her stance went rigid, and her middle-of-the-night-tired muscles froze. “Not really.”

“If you can’t sleep, and it’s on your mind, wake me up next time.”

She turned her head, worry clouding her eyes and missing the connotation behind his point. “Why?”

“I can think of things to do instead of sitting in front of your computer.” He let his hands run down her arms until one hand interlocked with hers.

“Oh,” she whispered, melting against his back.

“Oh.” He kissed her neck then led her back to bed.

Still, they both had untruths weighing them down heavier than the blankets they pulled over them. If she ever found out he had information about Ivan, she would never forgive him.

Victoria rolled over and curled under his arm. He tucked her close, breathing in the now familiar scent of her shampoo. It was distinctively different from how she’d smelled in his arms at Winters’s place. Everything about her place in Iowa was hers, and learning the bits and pieces about her made Victoria all the more… Victoria. He even liked that she had a gun holster under her desk andher trigger control.

She twisted to rest her chin on his collarbone. “Are you laughing?”

“I’m not laughing,” he said with his silent laugh coming stronger. “Maybe a little.”

“Why?”

“Of all the places and all the jobs, my life flashes before my eyes in Iowa.”

She laughed too then kissed him. “Sorry.”

“Teasing,” he said against her lips. “But I really am glad you’re good on the trigger, love. I wasn’t kidding about that.”

Her laughter stopped. “If something happened to you…”

“Aw, come on. I was playing.” He pressed his forehead to hers. “Tell me you know that.”

“I know that.”

“Say it like you mean it,” he tried playfully.

“I know that,” Victoria repeated.

“Tell me that you like this, love. You and me.”

She straddled him. “I like this,you and me.”

Ryder groaned as she slipped on top. “I do too.”

He pulled her shirt over her head and bared her breasts. The erect tips had hardened, and his hands drifted over the small mounds. Her shivers made his cock harden, and Victoria leaned into his hands, lifting herself up and sliding her bottoms away.

“What if Ihadto go through the hell and the hurt to get to you?” she whispered.

“No.” A pang of hurt sliced his heart, and Ryder wrapped her to his chest. “No, no, don’t think like that.” Would she cry or scream? He didn’t know how to smother those nightmare thoughts.

---