Ryan Reign (New York Ruthless #4)(54)

“No. I understand why he didn’t tell anyone, but I can see why Liam and Mikey are so pissed at him.”

“I’m glad he still has you in his corner,” she sighs as she snuggles against me again.

“If you ever put yourself in danger like that again, you won’t have to worry about Shane punishing you, because I’ll do it myself,” I warn her and she shivers in my arms and it’s not from fear. Fuck me, this woman terrifies me. Ever since that night in New York when I spanked her ass with Shane’s belt I have been thinking about exploring that side of myself with her. It’s not something I’ve wanted to do before because we have something much deeper than that. What’s been stopping me most is the fact that she is capable of handling so much pain that I’m truly worried that I’d go too far and hurt her. I’m not sure I can wait much longer, though, because she has a dark side too and I know that going there with her would be fucking incredible.



The two of us must have fallen asleep because it’s getting dark when we wake. Jessie rubs her eyes and looks at me. “You think the twins are back yet?”

“I doubt it.”

“You think Shane’s okay?” She bites her bottom lip and I have to stop myself from biting it too.

“Why don’t you go and check on him and I’ll wait up for the twins?” I plant a kiss on her forehead and then climb out of bed.

“You sure you don’t want me to wait up with you?”

“No. Go get some sleep, and try and make sure Shane gets some too, okay?”

“I will.” She gives me one of her beautiful smiles and I wonder how this woman just went through what she did and still radiates so much goodness.





Chapter 39





Shane





I lie in bed staring at the ceiling and listening to my heartbeat pounding in my ears. I feel like every single person in this house is pissed at me. I took all of my anger out on Jessie and as much as I’m entitled to feel angry after what she did, I could have handled it a little better.

I’m worried about Liam and Mikey. I should have told them as soon as I found out but I wasn’t lying when I said I didn’t know how to. I didn’t even know if it was the truth until Paul confirmed it himself. How the fuck was I supposed to blow their world apart on the ramblings of a dying man?

The door to my room creaks open, allowing a sliver of light from the hallway to illuminate the darkness. I see her silhouette slipping into the darkness and suck in a deep breath. If she’s here to tell me what an asshole I am, I think my heart might just give out. I can’t take any more anger directed at me right now. For over thirty years I have taken so much of it. My father’s rage. Our mother’s secrets. The guilt of not being able to protect them all. And I would do it all again for each and every one of them. Tomorrow I will stand in front of them and beg my brothers’ forgiveness if I have to, but right now I am tired of it all.

“Are you awake?” she whispers as she tiptoes toward the bed.

“As if I could sleep,” I reply with a sigh that vibrates through my bones.

When she reaches the bed, she lifts the duvet and slips beneath it, pressing her warm body against me. Her soft skin feels so good against mine and I wrap my arms around her, pulling her close and burying my face in her hair.

She responds in kind, wrapping her legs and arms around me like a koala and squeezing me tight. “I love you,” she whispers and that is my complete fucking undoing.

I don’t know what to do with the emotion that wells up in my chest and threatens to spill out of me, so I do what I know best, going to the place with her that I feel most comfortable. The place where I’m in complete control.

I roll over, flipping her onto her back and pinning her wrists above her head with one hand while I tug at her panties with the other. The fabric pulls taut against her skin as I stretch it, digging into her soft flesh. She lifts her ass off the bed, allowing me to pull them off more easily and as soon as they are down to her knees she wriggles them off herself. I settle between her thighs and my cock hardens as it presses against her pussy.

“I need you,” I growl.

“I’m right here,” she whispers before I lean down and crash my lips against hers, kissing her so hard she gasps into my mouth making my cock throb. She spreads her legs wider and I roll my hips against her and her sweet juices slick my cock. I shift position until I’m nudging at her opening and she groans softly into my mouth.

This is the first time we have been together like this since he took her and I’m suddenly overcome with a primal urge to reclaim her for my own, and it scares the hell out of me. I pull back from her and she blinks up at me.

“Shane, please don’t,” she whispers as tears form in her eyes.

Fuck! Am I hurting her? “We don’t have to…”

“No,” she interrupts me. “I want you to stop thinking about what he did.”

I suck in a breath. How do I not think about that? And how do I tell her that it makes me want to fuck her so hard, I am the only man she’ll feel inside her until the end of time? “I don’t want to hurt you.”

“You won’t, so stop treating me like I’m fragile. Like I’m damaged.” A sob catches in her throat and it slices a welt across my heart that she would think for even one second that I see her like that.