One More Day (17 page)

"Thing is..."  He turned to look at the windows.  "If you can't, then I won't."

"Why?" she asked, confused.

He shrugged, lifting her head as he did so.  "Not really something I want to do alone, ok?"

"I'll change your mind," she warned.

"No, sweetie, you won't."

"You pick me up off the floor, time my medication, make sure I eat - not to mention pay me for work I'm not doing - and give me as much time off as I fucking want, and you think there's anything fair about this?"

He took a long, deep breath, but couldn't stop the little laugh from escaping.  "I never said fair.  I was thinking more about fun.  The way I see it, this is like an old fashioned courtship.  I get to woo the girl without seducing her first."

"God," Mack breathed, tucking her face into his amazing chest.  "I think you seduced me the first time I saw you smile reading that damned book."

"Yeah?"

She nodded.  "I used to watch you.  In the summer you'd wear a long sleeve, and I tried to think of why.  I had no idea you were trying to hide nothing more than some very sexy tattoos.  I mean, you look like an angel, Ryan.  That's why I did that painting."

"What does it mean?"  He traced the line of her face, looking down at her.

"She's a fallen angel, chained for her crimes, tortured by the light of what could have been.  She can't escape it, she can only suffer, and no matter how hard she tries, she can never truly reach safety, but he comes and shelters her, offering hope and redemption.  He's the salvation of her life."

"Damn," he said softly.  "Can you do it again?"

"Probably.  It's always a bit different, though."

"Then make it perfect," he said softly.  "It's going to be your first full piece."

"What?"

"What you learn to tattoo.  You'll get to help with many, but the first one you design from start to finish?  Yeah.  It's going on my arm, where everyone can see it."

Chapter 17

The next couple of days were more of the same.  By the end of the week Colby and Ryan had her medication schedule down to an art form.  If one was busy, the other made sure she was reminded.  They fed her anything she would eat, often going to great lengths to find something her stomach would tolerate, and every evening she fell asleep in Ryan's perfect arms.  Then the weekend came.

She woke up to a glass of kool-aid and her medication, a bleary eyed angel sitting beside her in nothing more than his boxers.  He managed to set the glass on the table, then just crawled back into bed, pulling her body close, and they were both asleep again.  The next time she woke, she was alone, the sound of something trickling at the edge of her mind.  Mack crawled from the depths of sleep and realized it was the shower. 

Ryan had left the door open just enough to hear her.  It also gave her a perfect view of the fogged shower door through the mirror.  For three days, he'd tormented her body, bringing her to the peak of desire, only to convince her to fall asleep in his arms, but his caresses remained too chaste, and Mack wanted more.

With a devious smile, she crawled out of bed, pulled her nightie from her body, and let it drop to the floor.  She pushed open the door, grabbed another towel from the open cabinet, and lay it across the bar.  He never even knew she was awake until she opened the shower door and stepped inside.

His back was to her, the lines of his tattoos trailing across his shoulder, and the tail of that dragon caressed his well formed ass.  When he heard the door, he wiped the water from his face, and looked over his shoulder.

"Willing to share?" she asked.

He smiled, his eyes caressing her body.  "Oh yeah."

Ryan turned, his hands reaching for her waist.  Slowly, he guided her under the flow of water.  She tilted her head back, closing her eyes, and felt his hands sliding down her ribs, pausing as his thumbs crossed her pelvis.  He nearly groaned, sliding his hands back up until they met the curve of her breasts.  With a smile, Mack stepped closer.  She felt his dick, hard and thick, brush her hip.

"Mack," he breathed. 

Raising damp lids, she trailed her hands up his strong, muscular thighs, watching his eyes close as she moved closer, higher, teasing him with her soft touch.  The short, stiff hair tickled only the tips of her fingers, and she slowed, seeking the line that pointed back down to the dragon.  Finding it, her hands followed, and he moaned, pressing closer.

"God, don't tease me," he begged.

"I'm not," she promised.  Kissing him before he could reply, she guided him back against the wall.

When he tried to pull her close, preventing her hands from going lower, she kissed him harder.  Grabbing his wrists, she slid them up her wet, slick body, then pressed her hips against him and shifted, feeling his flesh slide against hers, watching as his head tilted back, exposing his throat.  She kissed the soft stubble and moved his hands higher still.  He didn't resist. 

As his palms slid across her hard nipples, his dick throbbed, pushing into her.  She groaned, wanting so much more.  He teased her breasts, sending shivers of excitement through her body.  Mack gasped, arching into his touch, her hands seeking what she wanted most.  Her fingers closed on his hard shaft and stroked, her other hand reaching still lower, caressing his balls.

"God," he whispered, thrusting into her hand.  "Baby."

"Please, Ryan," she begged.  "Let me finish you."

He sucked in a breath at her words, but shook his head.  "Not yet," he groaned.  "God I want it, but not yet."

She stroked him again, and he grabbed at the tile wall.  "I want this," she said, kissing him passionately.

"I want you."  But he was reaching for her wrists.  "Badly."  His hands closed on her arms and, with a shuddering breath, he pulled them against his chest.  "Let me have this, Mack.  Just this one thing is all I'll ask of you.  Just let me wait for you?"

"Ryan..."

He turned, moving her against the wall, and kissed her, tracing a line to her jaw.  "Tease me, stroke me, taunt me, but let me wait for you, sweetie.  Let me wonder, and fantasize, and dream about you.  God - let me worship you, Mack."

His voice was soft, but rough with emotion.  She'd never known a man to refuse what she was offering, but she'd never known a man like Ryan Sterling before, either.  His words made her knees weak, and her heart beat faster.  She was standing in the arms of an angel, and he wanted nothing more than to make her happy. 

"Ryan?" she asked, looking up.  Emotion flooded her eyes.  "What do you get from all of this.  I can see what you're giving, but what do you get back from me?"

He smiled, a bit sadly, and his gaze flicked to her lips before returning to her eyes.  "You."  He glanced away, again, but pulled his eyes back.  "Mack, you see what you get, but you don't see what you give back.  Every time I do the smallest thing, you make me feel like I've just saved the damned puppy from the rain.  When you smile, it lights up my world.  You make me feel worth something." 

Her eyes widened but, before she could speak, he kissed her again.  Every time he touched her face, her neck, her back, Mack felt more than just his need to slack his desire.  She felt how much he wanted her, not just a woman, but her.

"There's a lot more I want from you than to get off," he swore, stepping back.  With a hint of that boyish smile, he pulled her back under the flow of water.  Amazingly, it was still warm.

"I will never understand you," she said softly.

"You will," he promised.  "Thing is, sweetie, I don't know what kind of guys you dated before, but they were assholes."

"Hey!"

He shook his head.  "I mean it.  You say you're fat," his hands trailed down her sides, "but I don't see it.  You think you aren't good enough for anything, but you're the best artist I've seen, and that's only the tip of the iceberg."  He kissed the end of her nose.  "And getting me off will never be payment, Mack.  Never."

"I've never known anyone like you."

Ryan chuckled.  "I hope that's a good thing."

"It is," she told him.  "Now pass me the soap before the hot water is gone."

He grinned, handing it over.  "Won't happen.  Endless hot water for those long delicious showers with my girl."  Then he turned her so her back faced him.

"Is it fading yet?" Mack asked, knowing he was looking at the ink.

"No, and that's a very nice ass.  You working today?"

"I'd like to."  She looked over her shoulder.

He nodded.  "K.  Then no damned yoga pants.  I need to concentrate."

"Tight jeans," she teased.  "Got it."

He groaned and slapped her ass lightly.  "You're a fucking tease."

She stepped under the water, and washed the lather away.  "Baby, only because you make me."

"Yeah," he said softly.  "But you're only allowed to tease me."

Mack laughed.  "I'm sleeping with the hottest man in the fucking state.  Why would I even notice anyone else?"

"Mm.  I love that," he said.  "God, Mack, you make me feel like a good man."

"You are," she said, turning off the water.  "Now hand me my towel."

With a devilish grin, he stepped out of the shower, and wiped the excess water from his body, then grabbed her towel and backed up.  When she made a complaining noise, he only smiled more - and took another step back.  She laughed, rubbed the water from her hair, then walked out of the shower dripping, right past him, throwing herself back on the bed.

"Oh damn," Ryan breathed.  "That's fucking hot."

"Now I'm cold."

"And I need to feed you."  He tossed the towel at her.

Mack's eyes slid to his waist and she smiled.  "Right."

"Oh!" he laughed.  "Damn.  Oh damn.  Baby, if I come any closer to you, we will both be late to work."

"Take off your towel, Ryan."

"Uh uh."  With a grin, he took a step away from the bed, grabbing a pair of jeans.

She laughed.  "I'll stay right here, but I want to see the entire dragon."

He closed his eyes, the corner of his lip showing his amusement, and pressed at the towel.  "Yeah, and my fucking raging hard-on."

Mack just bit the end of her finger, raising one eyebrow slightly.  "That too."

With an amused shrug, he tossed the towel on the floor and leaned back against the dresser.  The dragon's head lay just two inches above his knee, it's neck twining across his broad thigh, it's claws digging in for purchase.  One wing was tight to the body, the other flared a bit, as if the beast was struggling for balance.  It was the tail that she loved the most.  That long, sinuous tail dipped, drawing the eye, then curled, enhancing every curve of his strong flat hips and his hard, swollen dick .

"So, is that your favorite now?" he asked softly.

Mack just shook her head.  "No.  I still like the armor best.  It's too fitting."

Ryan smiled and pulled on his jeans.  There was something so comfortable about the way he never tried to hide anything from her.  He simply existed, sharing the same space, his every action making her happy.  He'd just pulled the jeans over his ass when a voice called up from the stairs.

"You people decent up there?" Colby yelled.

Ryan flashed a smile at her, grabbed a clean shirt, and reached over, slowly pulling the doors closed, one after the other, shutting himself on the other side.  "Close enough," he called back.

Colby made it to the top of the stairs about the time Ryan finished zipping his pants.  He glanced at the closed bedroom doors, then back to Ryan's bare chest, and chuckled.

"I didn't know those really closed," he teased.  "Mack up?"

"She's getting dressed."  Ryan made his way into the kitchen.  "Whatcha need?"

"Damn she musta fucked your brains out," Colby teased, tossing across a clear bag filled with something.  "Your order, boss."

"Thanks, man."  Ryan looked at the small bag of marijuana.  "You can get more?"

He nodded.  "Katie's brother sells it.  I can get as much as you need."

Ryan stuck it in the cabinet beside Mack's other meds.  "She's never smoked it before.  Wants me to get high with her."

"Might do you some good," Colby teased.  "Serious as shit, though, don't try to ink when you're high."

"Oh no," Ryan agreed.  "That was the worst tattoo I've ever done.  Thank god it was just a fucking tribal."

Slowly, one of the doors slid open and Mack stepped out.  She wore a form fitting pair of jeans and a tight black halter top with long sleeves that bared the shoulders and dipped low, showing her cleavage.  When she got closer, he realized that the back showed most of the art he'd painted. 

"Damn," Colby said softly.  "Mack, you look amazing."

"I feel good today."

"Breakfast?" Ryan asked, passing across her meds out of habit.

Colby winked.  "I'll make more pancakes."

She bit her lip.  "Blueberry pancakes?"

Digging in his pocket, Colby set a pair of keys on the counter, and Ryan grabbed them, heading down the stairs.  "We can do that," Colby said.  The words were no more than out of his mouth before she heard the sound of a bike pulling out of the parking lot.

"I still have to get a ride on that damned thing," she muttered.

Colby grinned and made his way into the kitchen.  "After you eat.  I can open the shop.  Just bat those eyelashes at him, and he'll do anything you ask."

"You know..."  Mack pulled herself into a chair at the bar.  "I don't understand him half the time."

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"Never mind."

Colby laughed and started grabbing things from the cabinet.  "He's smitten, Mack, what's not to get?  I think you are too, though."

"I am," she said.  "Thing is..."  She stopped again.

"Ok, ask or don't, but quit that."

"He's not fucking me."

He just shrugged.  "So?"

"So why the hell is he doing all of this?"

"I dunno, why are you?"  He didn't even look up from what he was doing, but she knew he was watching her reaction.

"I'm the one with cancer who can't take care of myself," she reminded him.

"Yep.  So the only reason you're into him is because you have cancer?"

"No!  He's amazing.  Everything about him is fucking perfect."

Colby nodded.  "I've heard that somewhere before.  Right!  It was from Ryan - about you."

"But he could have half the girls in town if he wanted."

"And you could have half the guys, what's the point?"

"Me?" she asked, laughing.

"Make you a deal, Mack," he said.  "Watch the guys who come in today.  Pay fucking attention to them, instead of assuming you know what they're thinking, and then tell me how many you could take home."

"But still - "

He just held up a hand.  "Ryan's never been like that.  Look, he hasn't had a whole lot of people in his life who care about him for him, ok?  Everyone wants something.  A free tattoo, money, what ever.  He's done pretty good for himself, but none of us are rich.  But everyone thinks that they can use him and then just dump him when he's too much work."