Page 47 of Ryder
I grimaced, because ultimately I knew that bitch was just fine. Probably worming her way into Reacher’s pants, if his recent behaviour was anything to go by. But I also knew that telling her she was alive was a risk. She might try to rescue her, or send the police. At the very least, she’d see us as weak.Me.
“I spoke to her briefly.” I figured that was enough. That’d leave it open to her imagination.
“She was a good person. She has a mother, you know. She’s in a care facility, and she only helped me to pay for her care.” Jesus Christ. I wondered if Reacher even knew that, or if I should even tell him.
“She really should have found a better way to earn that money, Tori. Assisting a serial rapist isn’t something decent people do.”
She shifted again, and I heard her take a sudden breath. Was she touching herself again? But then, wasn’t I?
My phone buzzed on the bedside cabinet, my own phone, I leaned over to look at the screen before it timed out. Ice.He knew.
“Is it rape, though? They hit on her. They wanted sex, and they got sex, with no consequences. I was good to them. To you.”
She really believed that shit? I wondered idly if Ice was actually somehow listening to our call. He’d better not be.
“Is that how you see it?” I asked her, sliding my hand over my cock, sucking in a breath as my own touch felt like it could be hers.
She sighed again, a long low exhale, and I pictured her sliding her fingers into her pussy. I mean, I couldn’t really picture her, because I didn’t fucking know what she looked like, but in my mind’s eye, there was flowing red hair, and plum coloured nails, and a shaved pussy, and Jesus…
I was jerking my cock in swift moves now, just at the thought of her.
“I want to know what you look like,” I hissed, trying to slow down, and draw out the process, because once we’d finished, I knew I’d be pissed and frustrated again.
“If you knew that, you’d be able to find me. A picture of me would be a dangerous risk to take.”
“If you don’t trust me to see you, then you don’t get to fuck around with me.” I ended the call, and dropped my head back on the pillows again, my breaths gasping out of me, as my handdropped to my thigh, and I cursed myself for getting pissy, when I should have just used her to blow my load.
When the phone rang again a moment later, I grabbed it and stared at the screen for a moment.Incoming video call. What. The. Fuck.
Seventeen
It was a mistake,and we both knew it. I’d pulled a lace mask over my eyes. You know, the kind they use for those fancy masquerade balls that rich people go to. I liked how it made me look, plus it hid most of the scar too. That was my risk. My identifying feature.
I’d slipped the red wig on too, so I was as disguised as I could be, but the phone was still ringing. Was he ignoring me? Had he turned it off?
Suddenly the screen changed as the ringing stopped, and he was looking right at me. His face dropped slightly. Was it disappointment? Damn it. The illusion was more romantic than my reality. I closed my eyes, my head dropping. Now he’d stop letting me contact him.
“That’s cheating,” he said finally, and I lifted my head to look at him. He was shaking his head.
“A fucking disguise? That’s not fair. I want to seeyou.”
I felt a grin widening on my face. It was disappointment, but not because he didn’t like my face. Because he couldn’t see all of it. I shrugged, unable to fight the smile now it was there.
“It’s not funny. I’m going out on a limb here. You fucked with my head, and left me in a right fucking mess, and now you’re gonna act like some kind of fucking masked bitch?”
I tried to frown, but the mask made it feel tight on my face.
“I told you. If you know what I look like, then you’ll be able to find me. I can’t take that risk.”
“I’m the one taking all the fucking risks here. Do you have any idea what my brothers all think of me? Bad enough that I was the guy who couldn’t fight off a fucking woman. Now I’m the guy who keeps crawling after her, because she’s the only one my fucking body wants.” He groaned, rubbing a hand over his face.
“I’m what?”
“Forget it. Show me that pussy of yours. I want to see you finger fucking yourself.”
I couldn’t focus on his words, because my mind was still replaying the part about being the only one his body wants.
“Dammit, Tori. Show me your fucking pussy.Now.“ He was frustratingly dominant, and I knew I’d been right to keep him under my power that night, because without it, he’d have owned me, taken me,forcedme.
