Mistake Me Not

Chapter Eleven-1

Chapter Eleven

After watching Sorcha sleep for an age, Lacie began to tire too. Just as she pondered lying down with her friend, there was a light knock at the door then it opened.

“Trouble?” she asked.

Ryder stepped inside and put Sorcha’s bag at the foot of the bed. “No,” he said. “Sorry.”

“I thought you’d forgotten about me.”

“Not a chance,” he said, taking her hands and drawing her to her feet. “You can stay here if you want. Remember, there’s no pressure.”

“I’m getting the feeling you want to talk me out of this.”

With a smile, he twisted a strand of her hair around his forefinger. “Do you remember what I said earlier about remembering everything about our first time?” She nodded. “Usually, these things are done with so much desperation to get into bed that the whole thing’s over before you have time to think about it. It’s not like that with you. I want to remember this.”

“Aren’t I the lucky little undesirable one,” she said.

“Hey now, that’s not what I said,” he said, gathering her close and pushing himself against her. “If I walk around like this for much longer I’m going to do myself permanent damage, and who knows one day we might want kids.”

To take them away from Sorcha’s room, Ryder linked his fingers between hers. At the mention of kids Lacie reeled, they’d only known each other a few days. Her attraction to him had already forgiven his deception. Usually, any lie would put her off a man, but she made all the excuses required. He didn’t lie. She assumed. None of it occurred with malice. No actual harm had been caused other than her feeling silly. She had no reason to think badly of him; he’d gained nothing from the mistake.

Their room wasn’t next door to Sorcha’s, but it was close. As she waited for Ryder to unlock the room, Lacie tried to picture herself as a mother. Conjuring Ryder into the father role was easy. He’d be physical, lots of running around and sports, rolling around in mud and trips to the seaside to swim and hike. The trouble she had was imagining if she was capable of the complementary role.

When he opened the door, he placed a hand on the small of her back to guide her inside. Lacie came up short when she absorbed the features of the room. Lit candles covered every surface. In the center of the stripped double bed was a single rose next to an ice bucket, which held champagne for the two flutes on the nightstand.

“Ryder,” she breathed. To close and lock the door, he crowded in closer behind her. “How did you do this?”

“I wasn’t pacing outside talking myself into it,” he said, hooking a finger around her hair to drape it down her back, giving himself access to kiss the side of her neck. “I wanted you to know that this was special.”

“Oh, Ryder,” she said, spinning into his arms to grab him close.

In his embrace, the warmth she’d felt for him became an inferno. Lacie had never felt overwhelming desire in her life. She’d told him that. Whatever brewed inside her was unfamiliar, but it had nothing to do with s*x.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

She nodded against him then made herself break her hold so she could find his eyes. “No one’s ever… This is… I honestly don’t know what to say.”

“There’s no pressure,” he said. “This is just as special to me if all we do is make out.”

She grinned. “Is that the minimum requirement?”

“Yeah,” he said.

He guided her to sit on the bed then popped the champagne cork and filled their flutes. While he did, Lacie picked up the rose to smell it.

“I can’t believe you did all this.”

“I’m desperate to get you into bed,” he said, giving her a glass then seating himself beside her.

“You are not,” she said, hitting him with the rose.

To keep it from being forgotten or crushed, she reached past him to put the flower next to the bed.

“We’re in a shabby motel,” he said. “I didn’t want it to be seedy. I didn’t want you to think that… I wanted to let you know that the location isn’t the best I can do. I’ll do better for you. Circumstances just—”

“Ryder,” she said, placing a hand on his thigh. “I don’t care where we are. I care who we are and that we’re together. Our first kiss happened here. It’s somewhat poetic that we would be back here for… this.”

“If you like returning to the scene of the crime, our anniversaries will be damn cheap.”

“Ryder,” she said, clasping his hand.

“You keep saying my name like that and I’ll do something crazy.”

“Like what?”

Removing their glasses and the ice bucket from the equation, he set them next to her rose. Holding both of her hands in one of his, he gave himself the freedom to stroke her face.

“Like make you promise to stay with me forever,” he said. “I don’t know what this is, Lace, you were right about that, neither of us do. But… something about this is right, it’s permanent. I didn’t realize my life was missing anything until I found you and then… I’m wondering what took so long for me to find you.”

Pushing forward her mouth touched his. With that slight contact, his eyes flamed, his devotion became a hunger. Usually to see a man so caught up in desire would leave her with a nagging pain, a frustration, an impatience to get it over with. This time was different. When his eyes lit, hers reflected the same fire. She wanted every second of her time with this man to count and to never end.

Despite her reservations about being a novice, she didn’t hesitate to kiss him again, to pour into him the things she couldn’t say. The things that wouldn’t articulate themselves because they were ethereal, intangible, yet vibrant within her. She was ready to explode, ready to merge herself with him and never be parted again.

Lacie kicked off her shoes without breaking their kiss and pushed him onto his back. Though she sensed reluctance, she flattened her palms to his chest. Pressing all her weight onto him, she slid her leg over his lap to straddle her bulge buddy.

For days, she’d felt his insistence, yet she’d never been this close. This free to do what she wanted, to get this close and not worry about having to hold back. Her hips moved of their own accord, squirming against him, getting that rod tight against her aching nub.

While fumbling under his tee-shirt, her mouth remained on his. She hadn’t even noticed that his hands were absent until he took hold of her hips and lifted her clear off him. For the first time, she felt the shame of inexperience. It hadn’t occurred to her to worry about skill or finesse, but she’d never done this before. She’d never taken the lead and never allowed herself to explore her own pleasure.

“I’m sorry,” she said.

From his rigid position sprawled underneath her on the mattress, Lacie worried she’d hurt him. His head stayed tipped back and his eyes remained closed, but he held her hips a clear ten inches above his.

“You’re killing me,” he ground out between his clenched teeth.

“I’m sorry,” she said again. “I should have let you… I’m not very good at this, and I did tell you—”

Her body crashed down on his when he released her. In the same moment, he flipped her onto her back and tucked her body beneath his.

“You almost had me coming in my pants like some rookie teenager.”

“I don’t understand,” she frowned, tilting her head. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know I—I mean I don’t know how to—”

“Dusty, you’re better at this than you think. If you ever figure that out, I’ll be in serious trouble.”

“I just wanted to kiss you,” she said.

“You’re like det-cord,” he said, wearing half a smile. “Curled in the corner all quiet and innocent ready to blow up anything that sparks in your direction.”

“Do you want me to go to Sorcha’s room?” she asked.

With such an abrupt halt to proceedings, she had to wonder if something was wrong. Although he smiled, there was something tortured in the way he looked at her. However, that ridge was still between them, still there, still eager for a resolution.

“No,” he said. “You just have to give me a second to calm down.”

“Okay,” she said, looking past him to the dancing light reflected on the ceiling.

The candles were beautiful. Such a special touch. This seduction was one she’d never forget.

“Your body,” he grumbled, skimming his hand from her hair to her hip.

“What about it?”

“I love how you move, how your emotions, your feelings, your desires plug straight into your tight little muscles and make you… move.”

“Can I get up?” she asked.

“No,” he said, frowning instantly. “You’re not going anywhere. I’m bigger and stronger. You’re staying put.”

His response was one of a petulant child being deprived of his favorite toy, but she had to smile. “I’ll be right back.” Holding his face, she drew his lips down to hers for a brief kiss. “Please.”

“I’m not usually so clumsy with this, I promise you,” he said. “You’re just so… I want you so much.”

“Okay,” she said, accepting his claim. The next time she pushed his shoulders, he relented and rolled away. “What is it you Americans say?” Skirting the bed to head for the bathroom, she glanced back at him. “We need a little timeout.”

“You’re putting me in a timeout?” he asked, leaping up from the bed. “Get back here.”

With a laugh and a wave, she slunk into the bathroom before he could catch up to her. There was no doubt in her mind that she wanted to do this, and she wanted to do it tonight. The clawing impatience inside her had nothing to do with nerves, and everything to do with the heat gathered between her thighs, the unquenched thirst for fulfillment she’d been denied.

Checking her appearance in the mirror, she ran her hands into her hair. Having already fumbled this, she didn’t want to make any more mistakes that might delay their union. Somehow, this felt important, this night, this experience, this man.

Something told her that tonight was imperative. Though her inexperience could be masking her arousal as something more significant than it was. Still, her body wanted it. Her mind played the possibilities over and over. She wanted each and every one of them right now. She took off her top and tossed it into the corner. Then reaching for the button on her jeans she decided to go all the way. Tormenting barriers had existed between them keeping them apart. She’d broken any mental and emotional barriers down to welcome him. Now she’d get rid of the physical ones too.

Every relationship she’d ever had left her feeling like more of a prude. In the past, she would never have considered stripping n***d and laying herself bare for anyone. But Ryder made it easy. Everything was comfortable with him. She would push her own boundaries to experience everything with him.

Running her hands through her hair again, she flipped it over, gave it a shake and tossed it back. He might laugh at her, but she doubted it. If he wore the expression she anticipated, she would combust under his scrutiny.

She unlocked the door and opened it slowly.

“Baby, I’m sorry that—”

When he saw her, he stopped. His words stopped. His body stopped and his mouth remained open. The only part of him that moved were his eyes, he visually nibbled then gobbled what she put on display.

“You were saying something?” she asked but he clearly didn’t hear her. “Ryder.”

At the sound of his name, he groaned then he literally vaulted the bed to get to her. When he swept her into his arms, her laughter became a squeal. He took her from her feet, and spun her toward the bed, his mouth devouring hers.

“I want more,” he growled when he tossed her down onto the bed.

Her womb contracted at that blank, primal film that settled over him. This was a man with one thing on his mind, and he would get it, he would do whatever it took. He yanked his tee-shirt over his head and was out of his jeans a flash later.