Chapter 8
Millie
Since he seems relaxed in the tub, I get out as elegantly as I can and wrap a towel around my body.
With his eyes on me, it’s difficult to maintain any level of modesty, but somehow, I manage to slip my panties and bra on before I lose the warmth the bath gave me. “Just put your boots and coat on,” Ryder says.
I frown at him, hanging over the bath, eyes locked on my body as I try to dress. “Why?”
He hefts himself out of the bath, water cascading down his body, and steam rising from his wet skin.
He looks so incredibly sexy, it’s difficult to concentrate on what he’s saying. “Because the water is evaporating, and you’ll freeze before you get all the layers on. You can dress inside by the fire.”
I blink rapidly and force myself to look up rather than look at his cock hanging like a weapon between his legs.
Thankfully he grabs a towel and covers up before I lose focus completely. “Okay,” I mumble.
I disregard my other clothes and just settle for sliding my boots and jacket on instead.
With my clothing tucked under my arm, he gestures for me to go inside. “Go get dressed. I need to drain the water.”
Given he’s only wearing his coat and boots, he seems far too cavalier about his own safety, but I’m starting to shiver so I leave my boots unlaced and hurry back to the cabin.
Warmth encases me as I step inside and close the door behind me. When I catch the scent of something cooking, I realize that while I was soaking, he’s been busy in the kitchen again.
With a smile, I take off my coat and boots, leave them by the door, and hurry to dress before he returns.
As I glance out the window, again I’m struck with how dark it’s gotten. To confirm my thoughts by the time I’m wearing my jeans, two thermals, and my thick socks, the snow has started to fall, crowding out the last of the daylight.
Ryder stumbles in, cheeks red from the cold as he slips out of his coat. “I have no idea what’s cooking. Cindy gave me a bunch of frozen shit, so blame her if it’s a vegan monstrosity.”
I snort a laugh as he pulls his jeans back on. “She did say something about a care package?”
He gives me a distracted nod and scratches his chin. “Think there was some wine, you want some to go with your lunch?”
I wrinkle my nose as I consider how late it’s gotten and why. “I think we were otherwise engaged during lunch.”
His lips twitch then a genuine smile appears and the effect of two dimples sucks all the air from my lungs. “Did you just smile?”
He shrugs lazily, and the smile vanishes. “You’re seeing things,” he says.
I take several steps closer so I’m standing right in front of him. I run my fingers through his beard and lean into him so I can get a closer look. “Are those dimples?”
He tried to shake his head, but my palm on his cheek makes it harder. “Nope.”
I lean in closer and slide my hand down to his waist. “Yes, they were.”
He slides his hands onto mine. “I’m hungry,” he says.
I look at the old oven in the kitchen and frown. “What will it take to see those dimples again?”
He frowns hard, but it’s lacking its usual malice, so I try to make the ugliest face I can in the hopes I’ll see him crack.
His nostrils flare, and his eye twitches but he doesn’t smile again, making me even more determined to get him to.
But when my stomach rumbles, I relent and admit I’m hungry too. “I will get you,” I threaten.
He just shrugs again and turns on his heel, leaving me staring at his back. “Unlikely,” he says.
***
Ryder
I’m so aware of her across from me, I don’t even notice I’m eating some sort of creamy Asian vegetable curry.
Whatever it is, Millie seems to enjoy it and finishes her bowl before I do. I can feel her eyes on me, but I ignore her and pretend I’m concentrating on my food.
“Ready to rumble?” she says.
I frown up at her. “I’m not finished and I need to call Cindy,” I say.
Her eyebrow arches and she folds her arms across her chest. “Fine. I’ll wait.”
I’d rather not have her hanging around while I call my sister, and I’m not about to go back outside and freeze just so I can talk in private.
“Why don’t you go look for a movie? Cindy included some in the package she dropped over.”
She frowns. “In the loft?”
I nod and push my bowl away. “Yeah. But I reserve the right to veto anything you pick. And I’m not watching any stupid Hallmark Christmas movies.”
She pushes back from the table. “Oh yes, bah humbug and all that,” she mutters.
I ignore her and wait until she’s climbing the ladder before I get up and grab my phone.
Cindy picks up before I even hear the end of the first ring. “Ryder?”
“Yeah.”
She releases a long breath. “Is everything going okay?”
I glance at the loft and at the sight of Millie’s ass before she disappears into the loft space. “It’s fine.”
“My definition of fine is very different to yours. She sounded a little strained when I talked to her before.”
I lean my hip on the counter and keep my eyes on the loft. “Yeah, well she called from the outhouse.”
Cindy is not amused. “It’s not funny, Ryder. This is my livelihood at stake, not to mention Millie’s mental wellbeing.”
I frown. “What do you mean?”
“I mean she’s here because she just got dumped, she’s away from her family and now she’s stuck with someone who has lost the ability to connect emotionally with people. She needs support, Ryder. Not animosity.”
I shake my head. “Maybe she’s tougher than you give her credit for?”
Cindy’s voice comes out tense, and I know this is causing her undue stress at a time of year she’s already feeling it.
“Relax. She’s fine. We ate that curry thing, she had a bath, and she’s picking a movie to watch tonight.”
Cindy’s disbelief comes through the line. “You did all that?”
“Yeah.”
“Um. I mean, that’s great, but…”
When her voice trails off, I finish for her. “Surprising?”
She laughs lightly. “Very. But good. Really good. I’m still hoping we can get her out here before Monday, but with the weather, it’s looking unlikely.”
That should worry me, but I’m more worried that it doesn’t. Not a good sign and evidence I need to be cautious.
Sex is one thing. Intimacy is a luxury I can’t afford.
“Just make sure she has everything she needs and hopefully I can get her out here again and do this for real,” Cindy says.
A nerve beside my eye starts to twitch. If Millie comes back, I could have a serious problem if she thinks this can happen again.
More worrying, I’m already trying to figure out if it could theoretically happen again.
I’m no longer listening to Cindy’s instructions but having a fantasy where Millie comes to visit and we spend the weekend naked.
“I’ll do my best.”
“Why do you sound weird?”
My gaze slides to the loft and my thoughts slide back to what we did up there.
“I don’t. It’s probably the connection.”
“Please don’t mess this up for me. I need her to come back, and how you treat her will determine that,” she says.
I wince inwardly. “Yeah. I got it.”
I end the call, a twinge of guilt in my gut letting me know I messed this up the second I saw her naked.
***
Millie
Saturday 5.23pm
I stare wide-eyed at the box I unwittingly disturbed and have to snap myself out of it before Ryder finds me.
I have no idea how much ammunition he has up here, I lost count, but it’s the guns, an assortment of handguns, rifles, and shotguns, that makes me wonder if he’s planning to start a war.
I manage to close the lid on both boxes, wincing as I hear Ryder below me. I step back and manage to find the collection of DVDs he was referring to.
I’m so distracted, I barely look at them, knowing Ryder will probably dismiss whatever I choose anyway, ignore the collection of porn he has, and squint at the rest of the supplies he has up here.
Since he’s still on the phone, I mentally count the other boxes of food, water, and assorted survival items he’s stowed up here.
By my count, and given he’s alone, I think he has enough supplies to last several months.
Not unheard of in a place this isolated, but the level of weaponry is more than a little disturbing.
If no one comes here, why on earth would he need that many guns?
A couple of rifles for hunting makes sense. This amount speaks of paranoia beyond reason.
I’m still pondering whether he’s crazy and whether I should be concerned when I climb back down.
I find him waiting at the bottom of the stairs, leaning against the wall, with a look in his eyes that both arouses and scares me.
“Not sure this is a good idea,” he says.
I frown at him as I shove the DVD into his chest. “Why?”
He doesn’t even bother to look at the DVD cover, just tosses it on the sofa. “Cindy gave me explicit instructions on how to treat you.”
“What did she say?”
He shrugs. “She wants me to give you what you need.”
I raise my hands. “Then there’s no problem. I’d like a lesson. And you can give me one.”
His eyebrow cocks and his voice comes out throaty. “If you want to learn a few things, you’ll need to lose some of your clothes.”
All thoughts of the guns stored above us vanish as I try to decide if he’s joking. “Is that standard practice?”
“Actually, it is. We train in shorts. That’s it.”
I slide my hands to my hips. “I can’t tell whether you’re being serious or not.”
He takes a step towards me and grabs the waist of my jeans so he can yank me into him. “I’m deadly serious. Lose the jeans and the shirt.”
At the intensity in his eyes my stomach backflips. “Are you using this as an opportunity to get me naked again? We just took a bath together.”
His eyebrow cocks “You say that like I’d get tired of seeing you naked.”
Something painful stabs at my chest. “Adam did.”
His face tightens. “You’re a beautiful woman. No man who isn’t a prime dickhead gets tired of seeing a beautiful naked woman.”
Whatever I could say in reply to that is lost when he adds an addition. “They do get tired of a woman who talks all the time though.”
Heat travels across my cheeks. “I see the arrogant ass I saw on screen wasn’t just an act. You can’t even give me a compliment without it being backhanded,” I spit.
He narrows his eyes and in one move he grabs my wrists and slams me up against the wall.
I’m powerless to stop him when he pushes my arms above my head as his voice comes out rough. “That was just a persona.”
My skin has started to rise and it’s not because it’s cold. “And who are you, really then?”
He kisses me so hard and so roughly, I start to tremble in anticipation. Arms still pinned above me, I can’t move until he releases me. “We’re not having this conversation. Not now. Not ever.”
I open my mouth to ask if that’s why he came here but he changes the subject. “You ever thrown a punch?” he says.
Still carrying the effects of his kiss, and the news he’s more self-aware than I realized, I just stare at him. “Of course not.”
He reaches for my hand and tugs me closer. “You said your dad taught you about cars. He teach you how to protect yourself?”
My heart now beating wildly in my chest, I shake my head to which he frowns like he’s disappointed.
There’s a level of passion in his voice I know must be deep-rooted in his childhood. “Yeah. Well, no disrespect to your dad, but he dropped the ball on that one. Every girl needs to learn how to kick the shit out of a guy.”
I smirk at him. “Kicking the shit out of someone? Is that a technical term?”
He smirks back. “No, it’s reality. You come up against a guy, you’re already on the back foot. What you need to learn is how to hurt someone without hurting yourself.”
“And how do I do that?”
He looks me over then grabs my wrist. “First lesson. Someone grabs your wrist. You take a step back, relax your arm then rotate your wrist towards the guy thumbs.”
Since he’s grabbed my wrist on numerous occasions now, I’m more than willing to test out whether it works.
It takes a few attempts, and my wrist is aching, but I finally manage to get loose.
“Good. Now do it again and grab the back of the neck and try to knee me.”
I’m not sure I can do that, but he lets me have a few practices of trying to grab his neck and knee him before he frowns. “You need to get someone else to teach you.”
I slide my hands to my hips and take a breath. “You are teaching me.”
Before I can protest, he spins me around and in a heartbeat, he has me locked in his arms so I can’t move. “Teaching you is impossible when I’m thinking about fucking you.”
I try to shake my head and to tell him to concentrate, but my lips seem to have other ideas.
I lean forward and kiss him with enough tongue to convince him to let me go.
When he does loosen his grip it’s only to grab me around the waist so he can lift me up.
I twist my legs around his waist and kiss him as he walks me back to the bed. His kisses grow increasingly frantic as our bodies tangle together.
He runs his hand under my shirt, and I moan as he presses kisses to my stomach and undoes the top button of my jeans.
I raise my hips and let him pull them down, so I’m lying in my panties.
He tosses them over his shoulder and presses a kiss to the lace covering my bush.
I squirm and manage to take my shirt off, while he works his way up my body.
When he reaches my mouth, he slips his tongue inside and slides his hand around the back of my neck.
In one move, he rolls me on top of him and manages to undo my bra. I shift so I can take it off and press my nipples against his chest.
His hands continue to explore my body driving me wild with anticipation and making me so wet, all I can think about is his tongue on my pussy and his cock in my mouth.
I climb off him, gasping for air, and tugging at his jeans until he gets the idea to remove them.
He grunts and whips them off and my mouth starts to water as he yanks his shirt off. “I want you to sit on my face,” he says.
My nipples stiffen and I happily wriggle out of my panties. He grabs my hips and positions me, so my pussy is directly over his mouth.
He grabs my ass and starts to lick me so intently I have to brace myself against the wall.
Sure my legs are going to give out before I come, I turn around and position myself so I can slide my lips over his cock and he can lick me.
He groans as I take his cock in my mouth and start to glide my tongue over his tip.
With his tongue working my clit, and the taste of his jizz in my mouth, I’m climaxing in seconds.
When I’m done, he slides out from under me, and grabs my hips, and moves me back so he can enter me from behind.
He slips inside and starts to thumb my asshole as he thrusts. I’m moaning so loud, and sure I’m going to come again when he pulls out and pushes me on my back.
As his mouth finds my clit again, I grab a handful of his hair and spread my legs wider as he works his tongue until I’m panting and muttering obscenities at his prowess.
He keeps licking, only stopping to let me recover before giving me another earth-shaking orgasm.
When I don’t think I can come anymore he slips his cock inside me and ruts me until we’re hot, sweaty and I’m exploding underneath him.
He starts to shudder, and I keep my eyes on his face as he lets me see his orgasm overtake his body.
When he’s stilled and is lying next to me, I run my finger down his chest.
“I hope you aren’t going to do that to all the women you teach?”
His lip twitches. “I’m good at fighting. Not teaching.”
I can’t resist the jab. “You’re good at fucking. Don’t forget that.”
A shallow smile appears so I risk another question. “Do you miss fighting?”
The smile dissolves, but he shrugs. “Sometimes. It was a rush. I miss the training, and some of my teammates.”
It’s the most information he’s given me, so I probe a little deeper. “Do you miss anyone in particular?” I ask.
His shoulders stiffen and any chance I had at getting him to open up is gone when I can see him slide behind a wall of silence.
“Never mind. I shouldn’t have asked,” I mutter.
With a sigh, I turn on my side and accept that if Ryder is wearing a mask to protect himself from getting hurt, I won’t be the one to remove it.
