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“After you,” he said, holding out his arm like a gentleman and letting me lead the way.
Of course, the impulse to sprint down the hallway like an Olympic runner was, admittedly, hard to resist. But it was as if he knew what I was thinking, because after about three of my brisk steps, he got closer into me and while maintaining a steady walk, he leaned in and told me,
“I am very fast, Little Bird… and…”
“You wouldn’t get far.”
4
BEHIND THE MASK
“Iam very fast, Little Bird… and…You wouldn’t get far.”
The moment he said this I tried not to visibly gulp, wondering if this would soon become a habit while being around Ryker.
So, deciding not to let him see how breathless that comment just made me or how affected I was, I replied in a cocky tone,
“Perhaps. I think you need the workout.” At this he scoffed a laugh before informing me,
“Trust me, sweetheart, with you around, my preference of workout wouldn’t be running.” I tried not to grin at that.
“Funny, I never took you for a spin class, kinda guy.” At this he laughed again, only this time it wasn’t mocking or smug, it was just one full of easy humor and a rolling, deep timber I knew I would never tire of hearing.
We walked through the fancy office space and when he held the door to the ladies room open for me, I couldn’t help but gently slap a hand to his chest and say,
“I think I got it from here.” However, he must have thought otherwise because he jerked his head for me to go ahead before following me inside.
“Seriously, Ryker, we are on the top floor, I know I’m good at escaping, but I am not that good,” I said with huff, one he ignored as he continued to check the cubicles.
Unsurprisingly, they were all empty because, other than Faron, the guy who had walked me into this trap, I hadn’t seen anyone else up here. Making me now wonder if he had sent all his staff home for the day before implementing his second kidnapping attempt? Or was this his third? I didn’t suppose the hospital counted as one because he hadn’t even had the chance to act before I had disappeared.
“It’s all clear,” he told me, making me give him a wry look.
“Thank you, deputy Ryker… Wow, you really are taking this protection gig seriously,” I commented in a teasing tone, one that gave him cause him to raise a brow at me.
“If you expected anything less, then I would say I need to work on your low opinion of me… with my cuffs in hand,” he added, and holy hell, I really didn’t need that visual right now. Especially not after our role play conversation. However, I couldn’t seem to help myself when I replied with,
“Coming from the guy who calls me his prisoner… Forget about deputy, I should have said Prison Warden Ryker.” At this he grinned and although it was a sexy one, it was also labeled in the ‘not in a good way that meant happy things for me’ category. Although when he snagged my hip and yanked me into him, I was rethinking the category pretty quickly. Especially when he dealt with our obvious height difference by tipping my head back so I could maintain eye contract with him.
My heart once again played that knowing beat within my chest as my treacherous mind wondered if he would kiss me again and, of course, secretly hoping that he would.
“A title I am hoping to change very soon… my pretty little prisoner,” he whispered down at me as his lips lowered to hover over mine. It was a teasing action that automatically made me close my eyes and tip forward slightly to meet him halfway.
However, with his hold still on my chin, he gave my head a playful little shake and told me on that same self-assured whisper,
“Time to pee, Little Bird.”
Of course, this was enough to break the spell, making my eyes snap open and narrow at him. Something that, of course, made him laugh. I then stepped away without trying to let him know how much he affected me, having no idea if I had achieved it or not. Because I was pretty sure that ship hadn’t just sailed, it was currently lying on the bottom of the ocean floor and was as far away from sailing back to the dock as you could get.
I waited for him to leave, something he did when I glared at the door, forcing him to take the hint. Then once he had taken his annoyingly handsome, smirking face from the room, I finally sighed out all my tension and practically deflated onto the toilet seat, one I had no intention of using. Because I had only said this as a test to see what he would do. Of course, had I really expected him to give me the opportunity to run again… no, not really. But what I had wanted was to see if he would get one of his lackeys to take me or if he would, in fact, do it himself. Well, now I had my answer because, clearly, he wasn't leaving anything to chance. Nor was he letting me out of his sight other than to use the facilities.
But as I sat on the toilet seat, I couldn't help but wonder what my future held for me. I was his prisoner, yes, but considering the way I felt about him, I was now asking myself if that was actually a bad thing? Because he was right, other than slipping drugs into my drink in hopes of making me sleep, he hadn't actually hurt me. He saved me and every time we met, he always spoke about keeping me safe and protecting me. And, clearly, bad men were after me. So, the question remained, was I better off with the devil I knew and clearly had an attraction to, or the devils I didn't know who had already tried to hurt me?
Was it really time to stop running?
Just the knowledge that I hadn't been the one to kill the man that had attacked me in my apartment, did manage to lift the burden that had admittedly weighed heavy against my soul. Of course, if it ever happened again and I had to defend myself in such a way, I knew I would.
But at the very least, I knew now that the police would not be after me for murder. Ryker had admitted to killing the man and he had done so without guilt or remorse. He showed nothing but confidence in his reasoning, which I had to confess, worried me. Along with worrying about the type of life he was involved in. But more than that, it was the type of life he would involve me in should I continue to give in to attraction. Of course, deep down, I knew it was more than just desirability keeping me on his hook. Especially considering I had been obsessively dreaming of him since that very first kiss. Dreams that apparently, were not all fantasies bred from my subconscious.
