Lie to Me (21 page)

If only she could believe that.

Bracing her hands each side of the basin, she looked again at her reflection.  Commonsense kicked in and she sighed.  “Dee, you moron.  By the time he drops Jason off home he’ll be over his anger.  He spoke in the heat of the moment, he didn’t mean it.  He’ll just come back, or probably just go straight home.  Don’t be a dick.  It’s no big deal.”

Pushing away, she walked with a heavier heart into the kitchen, opening the door of the ‘fridge to study the food inside.  Her appetite was gone, no doubt about it.  Cooking something didn’t appeal to her, she just couldn’t be bothered.

Grabbing an apple, she bit into it and shut the ‘fridge door, moving by habit to the lounge to pull the curtain aside a little and peer out at the street.  Several cars drove past, the street lights shone on the footpaths, and the pub looked to be full.  Laughter sounded when she opened the windows, her lips twisting wistfully.  At least someone was happy.

She was still standing there when the sound of the back door opening and shutting came from below.  Alarmed, the memory of Jason’s bloodied face shot to her mind.

“Dee?”

Ryder?  A flash of delight followed by confusion slid through her as she hurried to the top of the stairs to see him standing at the bottom looking up at her.  “What the - how did you get in?  The door was locked.”

Silently, he held up his keys.

“You don’t have my key.”

“I swung by Del’s house.”

“She gave you my spare key?”

He started slowly up the stairs, each tread deliberate.

“That bitch.”  Not to mention traitor.  She’d rip her cousin a new one in the morning.

Continuing up the stairs, Ryder slid the keys into his pocket.

Noticing how silent he was, Dee stiffened.  Shit, surely he wasn’t still angry?  Oh boy, one look at his glittering eyes assured her that he definitely wasn’t amused.

Lowering the apple, she took a step back, her heart kicking up a notch.  “Whatever you’re thinking, stop.”

His gaze never wavered as he continued ascending, booted feet placed firmly on each step, strong thigh muscles pushing him upwards.  “What am I thinking, babe?”

Don’t retreat.  Never retreat.  Besides, it’s just Ryder, no big deal, remember?
  Standing her ground, she arched an eyebrow at him.  “I don’t care.  Turn yourself around and get out.”

“Not happening.”  He stepped onto the landing and kept walking.

Cripes, he was going to give her a heart attack.  One look at him, one whiff of his unique scent, one naughty thought of his promise, and she had enough adrenaline running through her body to bottle and stock a big city hospital emergency room.

Big deal or not, it was either stand her ground and have Ryder come smack bang against her, or retreat.  Refusing to retreat, she sucked in a deep breath as he advanced, three long strides and his chest pressed against her breasts.

Oh boy.  Oh
boy
.

One touch, one hot sizzle, one spark that ricocheted from his chest to her breasts and her nipples were pebbling.

That had her back-pedalling fast, her back hitting the wall.

Ryder just stood and looked at her from beneath half lowered eyelashes.  She’d have thought he was being lazily contemplative if it wasn’t for the gleam in his eyes.  That gleam was all predator.

That gleam was aimed right at her.

Her knees shook a little, that wicked, taut little string inside her twanging away like a guitar string.

Ryder had never looked like this at her.

Ryder had never acted like this towards her.

Ryder always acted quickly, was never silent, never quiet.  He was either laughing, joking, teasing, mouthing right back at her, or trading insults with her, but never had he ever been so silent, so…dangerous.

Then he started walking towards her, every boot tread firm, steady, his arms swinging loosely by his sides.

Walking, or stalking?  She wasn’t sure.  And shit, what did he mean to do?

All Dee could do was watch him with slightly parted lips, her breath coming fast, her nipples shamelessly pressing against her shirt, her heart thumping erratically.

Ryder kept walking deliberately, walked right up to her until there was less than five inches between them, then he lifted his arms to place his hands against the wall either side of her head.  Leaning forward, he looked down at her, studying her face from beneath those thick eyelashes.

Man had always had sinfully thick eyelashes, they went so well with his sinfully handsome face and sinfully horny nature.

Nervously, Dee moistened her bottom lip before biting it as she watched him, her nerves strung taut, heart jitter-bugging in her chest.

The silence stretched between them as she tried to guess his intent.  The situation was one she’d never before been in with him.

Now she could see the anger still simmering in his eyes, only more controlled.  And something else she didn’t recognise.

His lashes lowered as his gaze dropped, lingering on her lips, sweeping over her chin and down to her shoulders, further down to where her nipples boldly pushed against her shirt, then slowly he retraced the pathway, leaving a burning on her skin in his wake.

Slowly his gaze moved, sliding upward until those thick lashes lifted and his eyes burned into hers.

Oh God, did his eyes burn.  Hot, angry, gleaming, and something else that had her blood turning sluggish.  Carnality.

Jesus, what was he
thinking
?

Just when she thought she couldn’t take the silence any longer, he spoke softly.  “Did you enjoy looking at Jason’s half naked body?”

Whoa. 
Dee blinked
.  What?

Chapter 7

She looked up at him, those startlingly pale blue eyes wide, the thick lashes surrounding it making the blue even more defined.  Those apple cheeks held a sweet flush, those soft, plump, rosy lips moist.  Her ample breasts rose and fell with more agitation than he bet she realised she revealed.

Oh yeah, Dee Miller was uncertain.  Dee was never uncertain.  Dee knew exactly what she did and said at all times, being uncertain was alien to her.  Off balance, she watched him with varying degrees of cautiousness and alarm, and no doubting it, a touch of anticipation.

That made two of them, only Ryder’s anticipation had been building since he’d walked into the back of the newsagent to see Dee with her arm in Jason’s hand.  It had snowballed from there, by hell.  Oh Lord, had it just.

“You are in so much trouble, babe,” he said softly.

The wariness in her eyes just did it for him, how sick was that?  In fact, how sick was it that he’d been looking forward to this confrontation since he’d walked out the door with Dawson?

“I’ve done nothing wrong.”  There was a definite small tremble in her voice even as she refused to break eye contact.

Oh yeah, there was his Dee, brazening it out regardless.  He just loved that about her, the woman never gave in.  It made their clashes all the more tantalizing.  “Is that so?”

“Yeah.”

“How about I list all the things you did tonight?”

“How about you turn your arse around and get it out my door?”

God, she was a witch.  He smiled slightly, his smile quirking a little more at her swallow.  “Speaking of arses…”  Oh yeah, that had her eyes widening, alarm skittering across her pretty face. 
Heh heh. 

“You wouldn’t - you wouldn’t dare.”

He arched one eyebrow.  “Wouldn’t I?”

“I was here when you came back.”

“You had no intention of opening that door to me, babe.  Don’t even try to deny it.”

That small chin lifted defiantly.  “You had a key.”

“Let’s get back to your transgressions.”

“Let’s get back to your arse out my door.”

“How about my hand on your arse?”

“How about my foot up yours?”

There was no doubting her backbone, something that had always secretly delighted him, but now wasn’t the time for her to get the upper hand.  The fury of earlier had died down to a simmer, but it was there nevertheless and he meant to address some very serious issues with her.

Slight smile vanishing, he leaned down closer, just an inch, but it was enough to have her pressing back against the wall.  The woman might have backbone but she didn’t know how to handle this situation.

Luckily, he did - his way.

“Right,” he said quietly, “let’s start at the top.  You brought a known troublemaker into your home while you were alone.  That pisses me off, babe, pisses me off big time.”

“I make my own decisi-”

“You tend to his bloody wounds with no gloves, no protection.  That man has screwed just about every lowlife sheila everywhere he’s been and he did a lot of it drunk, so God knows if he ever used protection.  He could have any blood or saliva borne disease and you put yourself at risk by not taking standard precautions.”

“I knew what I-”

“That pissed me off big time.”

She tried to fold her arms but they were too close, so she dropped them back to her sides.  “Look, you can’t-”

“I told you to stay put on the other side of the table while I went out to get the First Aid kit.  I came back in and you were tending to him.”  Moving his head a little lower, he saw his own grim reflection in her wide eyes.  “Pissed me off
big
time.”

Her breath was coming faster, her hands lifting to press flat against his abdomen in an unconscious gesture of holding him back.  God, her touch felt good, so very good, but he pushed that to the back of his mind.  First things first, her defiance in the face of her own safety.

“Ryder, I-”

“I’m not finished.”

“How can there possibly be more?”

The woman could argue in the face of a cyclone.  One had to admire that if it wasn’t so bloody frustrating right now.  “Because it’s you, Dee.”

“I think you’re making things up now.”

“Am I making up the fact that you were ogling Jason’s half naked body?”

Her cheeks flushed.  “I wasn’t.”

“Oh, you bloody were, babe.  You were looking at his torso like you wanted to lick him like an icy pole.”

“What?”  Indignant, she shoved upright, only to come into contact with his own body, which had the satisfying result of making him a little horny from the feel of her breasts against his chest, and so satisfyingly dominant when she quickly thumped back against the wall.

“Yeah.”  He practically growled the word out, low and deep, loving the way her pupils dilated like prey.  “You were looking at him, and babe, that pissed me off
very
big time.”

Her hands fluttered away from his abdomen to wipe down her skirt, a dead giveaway of her nerves.  And guilt?  Oh yeah, he’d sprung her good.

“After all this, you had every intention of driving him home.  Alone.”

“Let me guess,” she almost quavered, while trying to appear nonchalant.  “That pissed you off big time?”

“You have no idea.”  He bent his elbows more, not missing the way her eyes darted towards his arms, the swell of his biceps and triceps as they bunched and flexed under his weight.  “And when I told you I was taking him home, you dared to even try to come with us.”

“Hey!”  Her gaze shot back to his face.  “You were going to be in the car as well, so we weren’t going to be alone!”

“You honestly think I’d allow you to go out to the Dawson farm?  To the place where his woman-abusive bastard of a father and equally troublesome brother live?  You honestly think I’d let you?”

“Let me?”  Anger flared in her eyes for the first time.  “You don’t
let
me, Ryder.  You have no say in what I do!”

“That changes from now.”

“What?”  Disbelieving, she stared at him. 

“You heard.”

For several second she simply gaped, then the expected flash of fury glittered through her eyes.  Snapping upright, she placed her palms on his chest and shoved.  “You bloody, egotistical-”

Ryder didn’t hear the rest of what she said, his attention focussed on how close her body was to his, the tips of those bountiful breasts brushing his shirt front, those hard little nipples pressing against him.

Oh man, her fury was a sight to behold.  As she railed at him, no doubt calling him everything under the sun, her round cheeks flushed, her eyes sparkled, and those lush lips formed shapes that had him going hard.

Oh yeah, he was turned on by Dee, no doubt about it.  His shaft was hard, stiff, aching.  His blood flowed hot and thick through his veins.  His body reacted to hers, his senses to hers, and while she told him off his libido spiked higher than it had ever done in his life.

The woman was a hot ball of fire that beckoned to him, called to him, pulled at him like a mythical Siren to a sailor at sea.

He’d felt the jealousy, the possessiveness, claw through him as soon as he’d seen Jason with his hand on her, and it had only grown stronger, more insistent with every transgression she made, every toss of her head, every look she gave him of defiance.

How?  No clue.  Why now?  No bloody idea.  What was he going to do about it?  Follow his instincts.

Grabbing her shoulders, he jerked her to him, dropping his head to cover her lips, swallowing her words, her very breath as he cut off her tirade.

God, her lips were like silk, her mouth so hot, satin with her honey.  He couldn’t get enough of her, of her mouth, of everything that was Dee.  Her generously curved body fit against his harder, muscular one as though they were two pieces of a puzzle, fitting perfectly.  Her temper matched his, her stubbornness almost a mirror image, and while it should have made them enemies, it instead drew them together to be good friends all their lives.

Now he wanted her as more than a friend, wanted more than a kiss on the forehead, a teasing ruffle of her hair, a pinch of those cute cheeks.

He wanted her.  Wanted her body, her silk, her heat.  Wanted to sink into her, fill her, take what she gave, give her what he could, be so close to her that nothing could come between them.

Wanted to be her lover.

Was going to be her lover.

Right now.

She was kissing him back, almost desperately, hands clutching him, pulling him close, her mouth opening to him, letting him in hungrily.  She tasted of apple, sweet and fresh, and her own unique essence that made his craving even more urgent.

Ryder’s whole world narrowed down to the woman in his arms, her generous curves, her sweet taste, her hunger that was rising so harshly to match his.

Without relinquishing her mouth he stepped sideways, pulling her into the open doorway of her bedroom, crowding her back towards the bed.  While he kissed and guided her, his hands pulled her shirt upwards, whipping it over her head, barely noticing how she raised her arms obligingly.

He sure as hell noticed her fingers yanking at the buttons on his shirt, pulling them free before she shoved his shirt down over his shoulders.  With several quick moves, he almost ripped the shirt the remainder of the way down, tossing it carelessly aside.

God, he was so damn hungry for her.  He couldn’t remember ever being this hungry, this desperate, this damned aching for a woman, his shaft so hard already, practically screaming for release.

When she reached for the zipper on his waistband, he brushed her fingers aside, not trusting that she wouldn’t accidentally catch his rock hard shaft in it, and unzipped quickly, snapping the button off in his haste as he wrenched the waistband open.

He almost died when Dee’s fingers raked up his abdomen, her palms flattening on his pecs before her fingers caught the small hoop in his nipple.  She tugged lightly, sending spirals of heat through him as her fingers kneaded around the hoop, pressed into his nipple and the small ring of brown skin around it.  He’d never realised how sensitive his areolas were, no woman had ever lingered there, ever touched in the same way, ever kneaded.

Or maybe no one had ever touched them as did
Dee.

Or maybe it was because he’d always been the one doing the kneading on the woman.  He had a few choices.

Ryder kissed her hard, fast, dragging the breath from her forcibly, expertly unsnapping the clasps on her bra, drawing the delicate straps down her arms.  The bra cups didn’t fall away, prevented by her breasts pressed against him

When he made to step back to allow the bra to slip free, Dee grabbed his arms, a soft gasp tearing from her.  “No.”

“Not going anywhere, babe,” he whispered against her lips, sliding one hand around her nape to hold her mouth to his as he eased his body back enough to allow the bra to slip free.

He slid his lips from hers, trailed them across her cheek and down below her ear, pressing his mouth against the sensitive skin in a hot, open kiss, tongue flicking out to lick lightly as he moved lower, seeking and finding the pulse that beat so erratically in the side of her neck.

When she tipped her head sideways to allow him access, her breathy moan music to his ears, he sucked gently, nipped, laved, feeling her tremble.

Nuzzling her neck, he smoothed his hands down her sides, finding the elastic waist of her skirt, pushing it down over her voluptuous hips to fall to the floor around her feet.  Resting his hands on her hips, he flexed gently, testing the soft give of her flesh, the warmth of her skin beneath the silk of her panties.  Somehow he’d always thought of Dee as a cotton-undies girl.  Silk, never.  Cotton, yes.  He was delightedly surprised.

He was even more delighted when he traced the delectable curves upwards, skimming the outside of her breasts before caressing inwards to play lightly over the hard little nipples that grazed his upper abdomen.

Dee moaned, arched into him, and he was more than happy to close his palms over her breasts, finding the bountiful mounds too big to fit, sliding his hands beneath to cup them, loving the way they overfilled his palms.

Jesus, Dee had beautiful breasts, the natural tear drop shape and heaviness making him hunger to taste them, to see them.

At just the thought his shaft shifted, seeking freedom from the confines of his clothes.  Even with the zipper of his pants open his jocks confined it, and it leaked almost angrily.

The throbbing grew more urgent, more demanding, and Ryder toed off his boots, kicking them away as he shoved his pants down to follow, releasing his shaft from the material, feeling it surge up between them.  With a groan of pure lust he pressed himself against Dee, squeezing his rod between them in torturous pleasure.

Christ, he almost came straight away.  When she moved, he thrust his hips against her.

Lifting his head, he looked down at her, seeing the glitter of desire in her eyes, the dilation of her pupils, the thin rim of pale blue irises.  Her lips were swollen from his kisses, redder than usual, and his satisfaction was insurmountable knowing he’d done it.