CHAPTER Twenty-One
Taiya
“Xander looks like he would be kinky in bed,” Sephie says out of nowhere, causing Summer to choke on her drink.
“Why would you say that?” I ask, trying to hold in my laughter.
Sephie looks over at Xander and sighs, “I don’t know just look at him. Tattoos, muscles, long hair… that intense look on his face.” I look at Xander, who is sitting with Dash and Tag, and laugh. He does look like he might be intense in bed. He’s currently talking with the guys, his hazel eyes sharp and intelligent.
“What do you think he’s into?” I ask, actually curious now.
Sephie purses her lips in thought. “I don’t know. Bondage? That would be hot.”
I look at Xander once more, with raised eyebrows, speculating.
“Maybe he likes to have sex with a goat mask on, or something,” Sephie jokes.
I burst out laughing, causing all the men to look over at me. Ryan walks over, like I knew he would, to see what’s going on.
“What’s so funny?” he asks, touching my cheek with his fingers.
“Nothing,” we all say at the same time, except for Sephie who says, “Just wondering what Xander’s like in bed.” The woman has no filter whatsoever.
“That’s my brother!” Summer whisper-yells. “Do you want to talk about how Reid is in bed?”
Sephie makes a face. “Let’s make a deal to never mention this again.”
“Done,” Summer says, immediately.
Ryan leans down. “You better not be wondering anything.”
I lift my chin up. “He’s pretty good looking.
Ryan practically growls. “No looking.”
“No looking? Can I touch then?” I taunt, flashing him an innocent look.
“You’re too much,” he says, grabbing my chin with his thumb and index finger and giving me a deep kiss, one completely inappropriate for public view. When he pulls back, I’m panting.
“Get a room!” Reid calls out, smirking.
“You’re ruining girls’ night!” Sephie huffs, gulping down her drink. Sephie, Summer and I decided to have a night out, just us girls. Isis couldn’t make it, because she had to study for her exams. An hour into our evening Ryan, Reid, Xander, Dash and Tag show up, sitting at their own table, and proclaiming their own night out. We all know they just wanted to keep an eye on us. Ryan gives me another quick kiss and then re-joins his table. An hour later and the pretence is over, because we’re all sitting together drinking, laughing and enjoying our time together. When I see Xander sit down next to Sephie, causally putting his arm around her, I quickly look to the twins, who are both staring at Xander’s arm with narrowed eyes. Well, that’s a disaster waiting to happen.
Summer and I head to the bathroom together, because apparently, even slightly tipsy girls can’t go alone. I fiddle with my hair, pushing it away from my face, trying to control the wispy curls.
“I’ve never seen Ryan like this, you know,” Summer says, retouching her clear lip gloss.
I give up on my hair and turn to face her. “What? With one woman for more than a night?”
She puts her gloss in her small clutch bag and studies me. “He was trying to get over you. Not that it worked, but he sure as hell tried.”
“You can say that again,” I mumble. “I know he loves me. He’s really shown me how much. It’s just hard to swallow the other women, you know? I know I wasn’t here, blah blah, but it doesn’t change how I feel.”
Summer bobs her head. “Trust me, I know the feeling. Just tell yourself that you have him now and forever. All they have is a memory.”
I smile dreamily. “I like that.”
We walk out of the bathroom arm in arm, the smile on my face dropping as I see a woman standing next to Ryan. She puts her hand on him, saying something to him. He shakes his head at her, smiling slightly. Reid says something to him and he turns his head to look at me.
“F*ck,” I see him mouth, and then it hits me why. Our deal. Looks like Ryan’s not getting off tonight. I smile evilly, walking over to him and sitting down in his lap. The woman wanders away, and Ryan holds me in his arms.
“You were joking about continuing that deal, right?” he whispers into my ear. Goosebumps appear on my arms, and a shiver runs down my spine.
“Nope, not even a little bit,” I say, straightening my spine.
“We’ll see,” he says with confidence. I know he thinks he can seduce me, but I’m not giving in this time. “You’ll want me inside of you tonight.”
My answer is a non-committal noise. Ryan starts rubbing his hands up my thigh, not indecently, but enough to get my motors running. He’s already trying to sway my mind, sneaky bastard. Sephie’s laugh causes me to look up at her, watching her facial expressions as she talks with Xander. Interesting, very interesting. Dash has stayed mostly quiet all night, nursing his drink. I don’t know what’s going on with him, but I hope he’s okay.
“You smell so f*cking good,” Ryan rasps, kissing the tattoo behind my ear. It’s the initial R in the middle of an infinity sign, and a symbol of my commitment to him. “And you are the most beautiful woman in this room.”
I grin. “Laying it on a little thick, aren’t you?”
“Yeah, well, you’re not letting me go home tonight…”
My forehead creases. “What are you talking about?”
“Inside you, that’s where I’m meant to be. My favourite place, and you’re trying to bar me.”
I blink. Then I start laughing so hard my whole body shakes. I slap at his knee. “How did you even get laid at all with those lines?”
When his eyes shutter, I see that I’ve actually hurt him. Shit. I kiss up his jaw then whisper into his ear, “I love you so much.” I press my breasts against him, men like that, right? I cup his face and kiss him softly on his lips. I love his lips. They are f*cking talented, soft and full.
“Great, now I have to watch both my brothers making out,” Sephie grumbles. She looks to Xander. “Want to leave?”
That gets Ryan’s attention because he turns from me to scowl at his sister. Reid stands up, and motions Xander to join him outside. Well, shit. Ryan shifts to move and I try to distract him with a wet, hard kiss. It works for a few moments but he pulls away, giving me a look that says, ‘I know exactly what you’re trying to do.’ He stands with me in his arms, and then gently deposits me onto the chair, then goes out to follow Reid and Xander. Summer moves closer to me, eyes wide, while Sephie looks bored, and a little pissed off.
“He’ll be fine,” Dash says. “Xander’s safe because Ryan and Reid won’t touch him because of Summer. They won’t want her upset.”
“They can still warn him away,” Summer adds.
“They can try,” Sephie says, putting her drink down on the table. “Xander’s pretty badass, come on.”
Summer and I share a look. Xander is badass, and anyone would be stupid to mess with him, but Reid and Ryan are both trained fighters. I wonder if anyone mentioned that to their sister. About fifteen minutes pass before they all return. I check them all over for any signs of a fight, but there is nothing. Good. Xander looks slightly angry, whilst Reid and Ryan wear identical scowls. Men!
“Shall we call it a night?” I ask Summer. “I think it’s time for bed.”
“Sounds good,” she says, standing up and grabbing her bag. “Dash do you want a ride home?”
“Yep,” Dash replies, downing his drink and standing. Reid and Ryan didn’t drink, so they could both drive. My gaze clashes with Ryan, green on blue, and I know that I have my own battle on my hands.
Tonight—my mission is to resist my husband.
*****
My hands fist on the sheets and my head tilts back in pleasure. Ryan kept his part of the deal and then some, that’s for damn sure.
“I think I’m the luckiest woman alive,” I blurt out, sighing contently. “That was amazing.”
“Now are you going to make me the luckiest man alive?” comes a raspy voice. Ryan leans up, wiping his mouth with his hands, leaning over me. He’s still fully dressed, while I’m completely bare, yet I don’t feel any vulnerability at all. If anything, I feel beautiful and powerful, because he makes me feel that way.
“You know the rules…”
“You can’t be serious,” he growls. He leans down and sucks one of my nipples into his mouth, and I know then that I’m going to have to give in. For my sake, not his. He pulls back and undresses himself, quicker than I’ve ever seen him do so. He lies on top of me, and looks up at me, a question in his eyes.
“Fine,” I snap, reaching down to position him.
Ryan chuckles, making me scowl into the dim light.
“I win,” he says, slamming home.
Bastard.
*****
“What happened with Xander last night?” I ask as we’re having breakfast. I tried to make bacon and eggs. I say try because the bacon came out great but the eggs are a little runny, and not that tasty. Ryan eats them anyway, not once complaining. He’s probably just happy to get fed.
“Nothing. We just had a little chat,” he says, emphasising the word chat.
I roll my eyes. “She’s a grown-ass woman.”
He lifts his head to look at me. “Yes, she is, and she can make her own decisions. We haven’t been there for her, her whole life. We can’t exactly walk in and take over. As much as we want to,” he mutters the last part.
I look down to hide my smile. “Aren’t you mature?” I tease.
He takes a bite of toast and chews then swallows. “Hey, I can control myself.”
I raise an eyebrow in disagreement.
“Maybe not when it comes to you,” he amends, standing up and taking his plate to the sink. “Thank you for breakfast. It was good,” he lies.
“Was it?” I ask dryly, forking my eggs.
He walks past me and kisses me on the head. “It was, because you made it.”
“What’s your plans for the day?”
“Going to the gym, and then I have a business meeting. After, I’ll be at the bar.”
“Business meeting?” I ask.
“Yeah, looking at my options,” he says vaguely, banding an arm around my waist and giving me a kiss. “I’ll see you in the evening.”
“Bye,” I reply, leaning in for another kiss, this one deeper. He grabs his gym bag and walks out. I tidy up his apartment—I don’t know why I keep my place when I practically live here anyway. Am I keeping it as a security net? A back-up plan? I frown, wondering if some part of me is questioning whether this will work out. Am I just waiting for something to go wrong? I don’t want to be like that, but I suppose I need to be realistic. At some point, I’m going to need to take that leap and move in with him. I know he is waiting for me to decide when I’m ready. He’s even spoken of buying a house for us, for when we want to start a family. While I want children, I’m not exactly ready for one just yet. I know that Ryan will be an amazing father when the time comes, because I’ve seen him with River. He’s amazing—attentive and patient.
I lock up and head to my apartment, unlocking the door and walking in. Isis is nowhere to be found; she must be at work or uni. I call up my mum and chat with her for a while, and then I clean up my apartment. I’m about to relax and watch some TV when Summer calls asking if I want to hang out with her. Sure beats sitting around here, so I agree.
“Where are we going?” I ask as we get into her car.
“Xander’s house,” she says, reversing the car. “I thought we could hang out there. Is that cool?”
“Yeah, who’s there?” I ask, staring out the window.
“Just Xander. My dad might drop in at some point.”
“No classes today?” I ask.
“No, I’m on break now. So happy because exams were stressing me out,” she says, puffing out a breath.
“I can imagine.”
“So Ryan said you want to own your own dance studio one day?”
I turn to look at her. “Yes, that’s my dream.” I’ve wanted to own my own studio since as long as I can remember. I’ve been saving most of my money, hoping that one day I can make my dream a reality.
Summer gives me a sly smile. “I haven’t seen you dance yet. Clubbing doesn’t count.”
I laugh softly. “You can drop by any time and see me in action.”
“I might take you up on that,” she replies. “I love this song,” she says, turning the volume up. It’s some ‘Gangsta’ song that Reid told me drives him insane, because she plays it on repeat. Over and over again. I think it’s cute. We pull into Xander’s place and spend the day watching movies and eating junk food.
I learn two things.
Xander is as sweet as he is sexy. And he definitely wants Sephie.
This ought to be interesting.