Before I finished coming down from the high he’d created, he settled my ass on the bed and rolled me over. I didn’t know what he intended as he separated my thighs before running his hands down my back.
His touch remained tender, but I sensed his growing urgency as he bent to kiss the small of my back. He ran his tongue along my spine and up between my shoulder blades.
The head of his cock rubbed against me, and when he slipped a little way inside, my hands fisted on the bed. I wanted more, but he was determined to tease and torment me.
While I loved it and the tension he caused to coil within me again, I cravedhim. We’d spent too much time apart, and I’d spent every day aching for him.
His body was solid and heavy against mine, a familiar sensation I savored as he encompassed me. It was impossible to feel anything but safe and protected with him while his lips skimmed my neck and his muscles flexed against me.
Then he was sliding into me, filling me, becoming a part of me, as wefinallyjoined again. I stifled a sob when joy burst through me.
Everything about him was amazing and right. He was the missing piece I’d cut out of myself, and he wasback.
His fingers found mine and slid into them. Unlike the frenzy of the last time we were together, he took me slowly, and I relished the sensation of him sliding in and out of me.
“You’re amazing.”
His harsh words, whispered in my ear, caused me to shiver as one of his hands left mine to travel down my belly to my clit. I was so ready for him that I came again after a few small strokes.
My body was still trembling when he pulled out, rolled me over, and entered me again. This time, when he clasped my hands, he pulled them over my head and remained unmoving while staring at me.
Unexpected tears pricked my eyes as something shimmered in his gaze. I couldn’t quite put my finger on what was there, but it was far from the cold detachment he’d often stared at me with since learning the truth about me.
There was warmth here, a true,genuinewarmth that caused my chest to constrict as he leaned over to kiss me. I encircled my legs around his waist, and when he released my hands, I wrapped them around his back and held on as I came again. This time, he followed me.
CHAPTERNINETY-THREE
Ellery
The sun was streamingthrough the windows when I woke again. This time, it wasn’t to the warmth of Ryker’s arms around me but to the loss of him once more.
Despite the sun and warmth of the day, I was acutely aware of how cold the bed was. Rolling over, I stared at his empty spot before resting my hand on the small indent in his pillow. He hadn’t left that long ago, but hehadleft.
I will not cry. I will not cry.
I’d known this was coming, but I still couldn’t stop the anguish clawing at my throat and strangling my chest as I climbed from the bed. I refused to shed any tears; I’d put myself in this position and wouldn’t weep over my stupidity.
I gathered my pants and boots but left everything else behind before leaving through the portal I opened into my bedroom. I didn’t look back as I closed it behind me.
Feeling defeated, I surveyed my room with all its warm, familiar things and plants going wild and felt nothing but bleak. I’d known this was how sex with him would end, but things had seemed different between us this time.
His touch was tender again, his kiss softer, and his words kinder. That look in his eyes…. The memory of it swam through my mind. It had been so tender andloving,but it was only an illusion, a brief lapse of his memory, and when we parted, his hatred returned.
It will never go away.
That was a sad fact I’d told myself repeatedly, but for the first time, it truly sank in. The hope I hadn’t realized I’d been holding onto shriveled and died.
It was over. It was really and truly over between us.
It didn’t matter how much I loved him; I couldn’t keep doing this. I’d said it before, but this time, I meant it.
We would keep our relationship strictly professional from now on. That was the only way I would survive it.
We had to continue working together. We had to do what we could to save Tempest from the tyrants running it, even if I’d prefer to never see Ryker again. It would be a lot easier to move on from him if I didn’t have to see him every day, but that wasn’t possible right now.
After we defeated our oppressors or died, we could go our separate, lonely ways or into coffins. My future looked so bright.
I tossed my ruined pants into the trash can and shoved my boots into the closet. I placed them in the center of the other pairs of my well-worn work shoes, and made sure they blended in, before going to shower. I’d have to remember to take my pants outside to burn them.
