Claiming Felicity (Ace Security #4)(47)

“Sorry, guys,” she told his friends without looking away from him. She put her hand in his. “I’m going to take Ryder home and tuck him into bed.”

His friends hooted and hollered with laughter, and even Ryder had to smile.

He glanced at his friends as he stood, hauling Felicity up next to him, then bending and tucking his shoulder into her belly. He threw her over his shoulder and chuckled as she gasped in surprise, then burst out laughing.

“You know how to get ahold of us,” Gray told him. “Let us know how we can help.”

“Will do,” Ryder reassured him. Then he turned and headed for the exit.

He was still smiling as Felicity called out a goodbye to Dave as he strode without pausing toward the front door of the bar.

“Come back anytime,” Dave called out.

Ryder didn’t stop until he was at his 370Z. He flexed his shoulder and brought Felicity down until she was standing in front of him with her back to the passenger-side door. She had a huge smile on her face, which was flushed from hanging upside down over him. As much as he wanted to throw her in the car and hustle her up to her apartment, he needed to make sure she wasn’t upset over anything that she’d just heard first.

“You okay?”

The smile stayed on her face as she said, “Yeah, Ryder. I’m good.”

“Even knowing what me and my friends do?”

Her smile slowly died, and a look of seriousness spread across her face. He’d never seen her look so serious before. “Ryder, I already knew the kind of man you were before I stepped foot in that pool hall. But in case I didn’t, your friends and that Rex guy made it more than clear—you’re a hero. I don’t know how many people you’ve saved, but I know every one of them would throw themselves at your feet in thanks if they could.”

“I’m no hero, love. I’ve killed a lot of people.”

She waved her hand in the air as if his words were a pesky fly. “Assholes who deserved to die.”

“It truly doesn’t bother you?”

She shook her head. “No. If it comes to it, I want you to shoot Joseph between the eyes and make sure he’s dead. I don’t trust that if arrested, he’ll stay in jail. Not with his connections, and apparently his father’s as well. I can’t tell you how many times I wish I had a gun so I could kill him myself.”

Ryder’s eyebrows shot up at her words. “That’s not you, love. You don’t like to kill the mice that make their way into the gym every now and then. I’ve seen the humane traps you’ve set out for them.”

“The mice never did anything to me. They’re just doing what they’re destined to do. But Joseph is a horrible human being. He deserves to die. Seriously, Ryder. All I want is to live my life in peace, and I don’t think he’ll ever let me do it as long as he’s alive. Promise me if you get the chance, you’ll kill him. But only if you won’t get in trouble for it. I’d hate for you to end up in jail for getting rid of that asshole. I don’t think conjugal visits would be as satisfying as what we’re hopefully going to be doing tonight.”

Ryder choked back a laugh. Figured his Felicity could go from talking about him killing someone to them making love in the space of a breath. “If at any time you need to change the outcome of the night, all you have to do is say so,” he felt compelled to say, even though if she did, he’d end up with the worst case of blue balls a man had ever felt.

Felicity stood up on her tiptoes and pulled his head down to hers. She brushed her lips over his once, lightly, and her warm breath feathered over his lips. “Nothing could make me not want you buried deep inside me tonight.”

He was kissing her deeply as the last word was leaving her lips. His tongue swept in and out of her mouth, mimicking what he would be doing with his cock as soon as he got her on her back on her bed.

It was her hand on his rock-hard dick that brought him back to where they were and what they were doing. He reached down and grabbed her wrist, pulling it off his crotch and holding it firmly at the small of her back.

She wiggled against him, rubbing her erect nipples against his T-shirt. “Ryder,” she complained. “I want you.”

“And you’ll get me. But it won’t be in the parking lot of The Pit. Behave,” he told her sternly, knowing the tenderness in his gaze belied his words.

She leaned up and kissed his chin. Then the crease of his jaw. “Take me home,” she said quietly between kisses. “Make love to me.”

Without a word, Ryder reached for the handle of the car door. He pressed her into the seat and jogged around the back of the vehicle to his side. He sat and looked over at the woman who would soon be his in every sense of the word.

Felicity was sitting with her seat belt on, with one leg hitched up on the seat. If she’d been wearing a skirt, he could push up the hem and stroke her . . . He cut off his thoughts.

They had about an hour drive, and he needed to be able to think about more than sinking into her hot, wet body as he did it. Ryder started the engine and smiled over at Felicity. “Talk to me.”

“About what?” she asked, running her fingers up and down the seam of her jeans suggestively.

“About anything other than how many times you’re going to come for me tonight,” he said tightly.

She laughed then. A deep chuckle that held no fear. No worry. It was a sound he wanted to hear for the rest of his life. As she began to talk about baby Nate and Ace and how glad Grace was that they were sleeping through the night, Ryder smiled.