Sheltered(32)

I look up into his bright green eyes, and I empty my mind of worry. He leans down, and when I feel his warm full lips on mine, I wrap my arms around his neck and pull him closer. I don’t think, I just feel.

His mouth is strong, and I open up for him as he takes over. He owns my kiss and somehow marks my soul with his lips. I press myself against him, wanting more, not thinking about anything else but living in this moment.

But before I know what’s happening, he jerks back from me and steps away. A let out a small gasp of surprise. I’m shocked by my own behavior, but even more so when he turns around, facing away from me.

His breathing is heavy and I can tell he’s trying to get himself under control. I raise my hand to my lips, still feeling the pulse of him there. I shouldn’t want more of him, but this time I can’t find the will to care.

He turns to look back at me. “I’ve wanted you to kiss me back like that for so long.” He runs a hand through his hair, like he can hardly stay in his skin. “I need to take care of you right now, but it’s hard when you look at me like that. It makes me want to take you down to the bathroom floor and get on top of you.”

He takes another deep breath before he starts taking his own clothes off. For a long moment I wonder if that is what he’s going to do, and I swear I feel the pulse that was just on my lips between my legs. Will I let him? My body responds in the affirmative.

When he’s completely naked and comes back in front of me, he picks me up and carries me into the shower. He holds me under the warm water, and I feel all my muscles relax at once. Being this close to him and in his strong arms, it’s like my body knows it’s safe.

He places me on my feet as I slowly drag down every hard inch of his body. His eyes locked with mine, he grabs a cloth and soaps it up. He begins to run it all over my skin, his soft touch hesitant in places. I think he might still be worried about me being injured, but what if this is his way of testing his control? Every so often I feel the shake in his hand, and I wonder how much longer he can restrain himself.

My eyes travel over his body as he kneels down in front of me. I memorize each hard muscle and the way they flex as he touches me. His body looks like it’s been carved from stone. I’ve never seen a man naked before, unless you count on TV or the internet. But my body still knows when a man like him is before me. His broad chest moves with ease as he soaps up one leg and then the other. My gaze follows the trail of hair on his body that goes down the middle of his hard abs and leads deeper and deeper. When I see the hard, heavy length pointing straight up, my pussy throbs. It’s as thick as my wrist and dark with need. The head of it looks swollen and is begging for attention. His hand slips between my legs, and I gasp out. For a second his head snaps up, thinking he’s hurt me, but he must see the look on my face, and understand why.

My entire body blushes.

He stands up in front of me, and the hardest part of him nestles against my belly, rubbing against my soapy skin. I can’t help myself and I scoot in a little closer.

“Cricket.” Ryker grows even bigger against me, and his voice sounds like he’s in pain. “Let me take care of you.”

His hands run through my hair and I close my eyes as he washes it. He touches me like I’m the most precious thing in the whole world. I can’t remember my own mama washing me as a little girl. I always took care of myself. This kind of attention is foreign to me, and I never realized how much I truly craved it until now.

I move in closer to him, letting my hard nipples press against his chest. I want to remove the space between us and mold my body to his.

“You could have died,” I whisper as I move my body up and down against his. My nipples rub against his, and his length pulses between us. I look up at him through my lashes and see him watching me.

“I’d die a thousand deaths to save you. You’re mine, Blair, and I’m always going to keep you safe. Nothing will take you from me.” He says it with so much certainty. His words should scare me, but after what happened, they only settle a place inside me.

He goes back to washing me as I move against him, the hot water washing away all the dirt and chill. But it feels as if he’s washing away more than that. He’s washing away some of my fears, insecurities, and maybe even inhibitions. Some I knew I had, but some are unexpected. Ryker is showing me a part of myself that I never knew existed.

All too soon there’s a knock on the door. I hear someone say the doctor is here, and Ryker shouts back over the sound of the shower that we’ll be right out.

“I really don’t think I need to see a doctor,” I mumble as Ryker helps me out of the shower and dries me off with a big fluffy towel.

Once I’m all clean, he pulls out a clean shirt and slips it on over my head. It swallows me up, falling to my knees, but it smells like him, so I don’t mind. After that, he helps me into bed and pulls the covers up over my body. He mutters something about the doctor not seeing me in a silk nightie, but I’m still sexy. I smile, loving that no matter what I look like, he still thinks I’m beautiful.

“Humor me,” he adds as he walks into the closet and comes back out a moment later with sleep pants and a T-shirt on. He walks over towards me with a brush in his hand, and I reach out to take it from him. He shakes his head and smiles softly. “Let me.”

He sits down behind me as he slowly brushes out my hair, and I close my eyes as I lean against him. The feeling of him playing with my hair is so soothing, as is the warmth of his body. That, combined with my adrenaline crash, and my eyes are too heavy to keep open.