Page 74 of A Lot Like Love
“Yeah,” she managed, suddenly finding it hard to look into his eyes when she usually loved gazing back at him.
“You don’t have to go,” he said.
Chloe’s smile was sad. “Yes, Ryder, I do. I can’t stay now.”
“Because you’re scared of Parker?”
No, because I’m scared of you. That’s what she should have said because it was the truth, but she didn’t.
“We had a deal. You didn’t want this to be anything serious and neither did I,” she said. “What happened to you wanting me just as your mistress?”
Ryder stroked her face, his touch so soft that it was impossible not to lean into it. “You’ve done something to me, Chloe. Screwed up my brain or something. And you wereneverjust my mistress.”
“How? Why?” she murmured, knowing as she asked that she should have stayed silent.
He shook his head and leaned in to kiss her. Chloe had every intention of turning her face away so they couldn’t connect, and instead she was reaching out for him, cupping Ryder’s skull to lock him in place. Her lips moved in time with his, drinking in the taste of him, committing to memory what it was like to have Ryder’s arms around her, to be on his bed.
She didn’t need him, or any man, but it wasn’t about needing right now. It was about wanting something she already had and not wanting to let it go, no matter what she told herself. So much for putting her Band-Aid theory into practice.
“We can’t do this,” she whispered, trying to convince herself and failing.
“I want you, you want me,” Ryder replied, gently pushing her back onto the bed, her head falling down into the feather-filled pillows. “Nothing’s changed.”
“Everything’s changed,” she managed. “After I won back the ranch…”
“Stop talking,” he commanded, catching her wrists and pinning them above her head.
Chloe wanted to argue with him, but even more she wanted to feel his lips on every stretch of her bare skin, to have him inside of her. She could think of plenty of reasons why she should have said no, yet here she was lying beneath Ryder, her moans of pleasure impossible to swallow.
Chloe wriggled to let Ryder push up her dress, gasped as his mouth closed over her stomach, his kisses erotic as he plucked at her skin with his wet mouth.
“You can’t bribe me with sex,” she muttered, back arching as she shoved her dress down lower and his tongue darted inside her bra.
Ryder’s head popped up and his grin was wicked. “No, but it’s a damn good way to say thank you.”
His mouth closed over the top of her breast and she relaxed back into the bed. He was right—this was the perfect way for him to say thank you. In the morning she could go and never come back, figure out how to tell him,and herself, that what they had was over. Tonight she could just enjoy being a woman in bed with a man, one who knew exactly how to touch her to send her over the edge again and again.
“If you make this good,” Chloe gasped, locking her legs around Ryder when he dropped his body over hers, “I’ll stay the night.”
“Sweetheart, I’m gonna make this so good you’ll never want to leave my bed.”
“Cocky bastard,” she grumbled.
She didn’t need a man and she never had, but Ryder?Damn. For the first time in her life she could have settled down, could have finally let someone in close enough to give a shit about her, and yet here she was spending one last night in Ryder’s arms. She had to protect herself, and the last thing she needed was to fool herself into thinking this was more than just a fling. One with lots of sex and plenty of hanging out together. Because even if she did let herself fall for him, stayed in this fantasy bubble, one day it would end. It always did, she knew that.
“Stop thinking,” Ryder demanded, pulling back to look her in the eye. “There’s nothing to think about, not while I’m at the helm.”
And that’s what scared her, letting Ryder take control even a little bit. It wasn’t something she was used to doing and it made her feel helpless. She let him slip her dress off completely, yanking her panties, too. Then he stripped fast, discarding his boots, jeans, and T-shirt in record time, then covering her body with his.
Ryder locked eyes with her, gazing at her with a tenderness she’d never experienced before. It was like he was reaching out to her, telling her he felt the same way she did, although she doubted he’d have any idea of the emotions running through her mind right now.
She wrapped her arms around Ryder, her legs around his waist as he entered her. There was nothing rough this time, none of their usual desperation. This time he was gentle with her, treating her like it was her first time, his strokes long, his gaze never wavering from her as he moved back and forth.
“You are so beautiful,” he murmured. “So damn beautiful you take my breath away.”
Ryder kissed her, lips soft as he started to rock harder and faster into her. She ran her hands over his shoulders, down the strong planes of his back, looked up into his dark eyes. If this was their last night together, she wanted to commit every part of him to memory so she didn’t forget a thing.
