Ricochet (Renegades #3)(41)
Author: Skye Jordan

He leaned away, and rubbed a hand down his face, his jaw tight. On one hand, he understood what she was trying to do, on the other…

He gathered his patience and met her gaze purposefully. “Loyalty is important, Rachel, but so is living your life. And I know people say it all the time, but life really is short. I’ve seen it first hand…way too many times. One second you’re here. Poof. Then you’re gone. And all those things you wished you’d done…you never get the chance.”

Distress dragged at her expression as she pressed her lips together and looked away. Ryker remembered the concern in her gaze the night before when Marx had made a point of mentioning the inherent danger in his job and softened his voice.

“What I’m trying to say is…” He scraped a hand through his hair and muttered, “what the fuck am I trying to say?” His troubled gaze found hers again. “I love Troy. I’d die for him. But what I won’t do for him is change the way I live my life just to make him happy. I won’t trade his happiness for mine. That’s his responsibility. And I would never expect him—or anyone else—to do that for me either.

“Marx…” he paused, forcing himself to take the high road here, “…he’s a grown man. He may not like dealing with rejection or competition, but he will, because he’s a professional, and if he doesn’t it will reflect badly on him. I can promise you, he doesn’t want that.”

“You’re probably right,” she agreed. “and I’m sure I’m nothing but a blip on his radar—yours too, for that matter—but we’re in too much of a time crunch to take the risk. Because the reality is, he could kill or stall this last stunt with a few words to the right people, and I wouldn’t have enough time to straighten it out in a way that would save this company.”

With a heavy sigh of frustration, he pulled the laptop from her thighs, and set it on the floor.

“What are you—“ she started.

Twisting toward her, he gripped her waist and pulled her over his lap. She parted her legs easily, straddling him like it was the most natural thing to do…because it was. And she knew it, no matter how often she denied it.

He held her hips tight and met her gaze. “I’ll give you room to get your head on straight,” he said, “but I’m not giving up, because if you were an ordinary blip on my radar, I’d have let go of the idea yesterday morning. And because we do want the same thing.”

He cupped her neck with one hand and pulled her in for a kiss. A surprised little murmur sounded in the back of her throat.

She pushed against his arm, pulling back, but didn’t put any effort behind it, so Ryker held her, his fingers swallowed by the soft strands of her hair. He slid his lips over hers, suckling, releasing, suckling again. Another sound floated from her throat, this one softer, sexier. He chanced releasing her from the kiss to try another part of her mouth. So full. So kissable. So lickable. So…fuckable.

When she didn’t jump to her feet, Ryker sank in, tilting his head and exploring.

She murmured a breathless, “Nathan…”

His insides warmed. Every pain in his body disappeared. Every shadow vanished. She chased all his demons away, and for a moment, he found relief. He slid his tongue over her full bottom lip, growing more desperate by the moment. Unable to stop. Needing more. Warning flags waved in his head. This was going to be a problem. She was going to be his new drug—and he was already addicted.

Rachel’s fingers tightened on his arm, her nails stinging his skin. Her mouth softened, opened wider. Her tongue licked in, found his and stroked, adding gasoline to his fire. His groin swelled with heat, his cock rubbing against his pants. He groaned into her mouth, changed the angle of the kiss and released her head to grip her hips, pulling her fully against his erection.

She broke the kiss on a gasp, but he didn’t give her time to think, to fight. “Nath—“

“Just for a minute,” he murmured, sliding his hands up her sides, around her back, savoring the feel of her little frame. Filling his head with her scent. Memorizing this moment, wishing he could use it later, when things got bad again. “I just need…a minute.”

He drove his hands into her hair and pulled her head down again. The second their mouths fused, she melted. Her body bowed toward his on a sigh, her legs sliding wider until her softness pressed against his cock. Her arms wrapped around his neck, her belly and breasts molding to his torso. And, damn, they had rhythm. Their lips, their tongues, the way their bodies rocked without thought, giving and seeking pleasure without words. He felt the ribs along her back, the indentions of her spine, the flare of her hips. Gripped her ass, pulled her in, and she rode him like a champion cowgirl.

The crunch of gravel sounded in the distance, and regret swamped his belly.

He tasted her for the last time and broke the kiss on a groan of frustration, then lifted her off his lap, and set her on the floor with a nudge. “Go,” he muttered, “before I fuck this up for both of us.”

Leaning down, he picked up her computer and scanned Charlie’s resume. She stepped back and pressed her fingertips to the surface of her desk to steady herself. And the only think that kept him from reaching for her again was the footsteps on the trailer stairs.

Thank God her desk was only ten feet from the sofa, if it had been any farther, she might not have made it without swerving. Rachel covered her need to still the spin in her head by running her hand through her hair, then balanced herself with her hand on the corner of her desk just as the trailer door opened.

“How’s it going?”

Jax’s voice relieved her in some ways and unnerved her in others. She’d been so lost in Nathan’s kiss, in the feel of his erection between her legs, she would have missed the sound of her boss coming up the stairs until it was too late.

She didn’t turn toward Jax cause if she swiveled her head toward the door, she’d definitely end up on the floor.

“Good,” Nathan said, his voice completely normal. “I just started with the resumes. Rachel thinks Charlie is my foreman.”

“Charlie’s great,” Jax said. “We were lucky to get him for this job.”

While Jax and Nathan discussed the details of Charlie’s experience, Rachel returned to her desk and stared at her computer as if she were actually looking at the program on her screen. She couldn’t play this game, it was beyond her. The same way the idea of casually fucking a stranger was obviously beyond her.