Page 51 of Dirty Salvation

Rather than let Rider see her eyes as they filled with tears and emotions, she turned away. His curse pulled her attention long enough for her to watch him using his hands braced to the bar and vault cleanly over it in one swift move landing deftly on his feet directly in front of her.

He didn't stop there, his large body crowded her until she had no choice but to back up and up ... her spine pressed against the ridge of the bar.

"Rider, stop. Back up. I have things I need to be doing." Weak excuse.

Goosebumps rose on her bare arms, acutely aware of his eyes raking down her body, the stare made her nipples pebble with want. No part of him was touching Zara, still, she felt him right there, as if his mouth was caressing her. He cranked his head down, really staring at her, impatience lighting up his eyes, his jaw tight like he was gauging every word before he spoke it.

"Did you hear anythin’ I said in the last hour while I poured my guts out, Zara? You keep me locked out of you, I can't penetrate that fuckin' wall no matter what I do. You don't talk, you barely answer if I ask you somethin'. You've ghosted around for days. I've met sociopaths with better conversational skills." A growl came out of him.

And with the scorching memory of him leaping the bar as easily as a gymnast, the sexy growl was just the cherry on her Rider sundae.

Every part of Zara ached for him.

Steely determination made her lift her head.

"Well thank you for that, mister sensitivity, I'm one rung down from a sociopath, don't tell your VP, he likes his title." Her go to setting of defensive back-talk and sarcasm was obviously switched on.

"I heard everything you said. You're overwhelming, Rider. You don't get just how much. you're all ... and then ... just.Ugh, and now you're telling me all this out of the blue expecting me to agree with no thought given whatsoever. You're just too much and I don't know what you want me to say. It’s kind of absurd really. We don't even know each other."

Rider shifted forward suddenly, crowding her with his bulk and height and his glorious beard just right there in front of her face distracting as hell, only this time pressing his belly against her body, his hips came next, the distinct hardness digging through his jeans, into her belly.

Oh. Sweet. God.

In tandem, her lungs began to hyperventilate.

"This is what I mean. Back the hell up. I can't breathe. You're overwhelming me!"

"No, I'm not, baby." A voice smooth and silky. So assured of what he was saying he was smirking with it. "You're turned the fuck on by me. You think I don't know when my girl is wanting her man to fuck her."

I’m not your girl.Her tongue was too thick in her mouth to speak it. Hands circled his trim waist with plans to push him back, only he was a solid mass, unmoveable.

Rider leaned more into her space, his head coming down another fraction, his cheek brushed hers, soft bristled hair on her cheek, oh... she knew it would feel nice.

Lips gently skimming.

If she angled up towards him, it was only to tell him to back off.Probably.He smelled good so it messed with her thinking for a second. And then another.

She felt his hands, one at her hip, the other slid around the back of her neck, tipping her head back so they were eye-to-eye.

“You’re---you’re not my man." the place between her legs pulsed. Her man. Oh, Jesus. "This is crazy. We don't know each other, Rider. Too much time has--"

His rugged masculinity hit her hard all at once. The sheer mass of him towering down over her. Or maybe that was the way he rubbed his hardness into her belly scrambling her brain.

"You want me to be your man? Get to know me? Let me in, baby. Just a little way in. You don't haveta hide from me." The double meaning wasn't lost on Zara. Her mouth turned sand-dry. She slipped her tongue tip out to lick her lips wetting them.

His eyes darted down to her mouth and he groaned. “Killin’ me…” Long fingers came up to tangle in her hair, caressing her scalp.Temptingher. “Fuckin’ say it, Zara. I see it in your eyes.”

It might have been the soda’s effect, but Zara felt drunk.

Drunk on affection from the most gorgeous man she’d ever seen.

“This is happenin’, baby. Don’t argue with me…”

And like that Rider had shut down any more conversation.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

“I’d burn the goddamn world down if I thought it would make her less broken.” – Rider

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