Ricochet (Renegades #3)(45)
Author: Skye Jordan

She finally glanced over her shoulder, and her gaze paused on his dog tags where they hug against his chest before her eyes lifted to his. “You told him, didn’t you?”

“No.” He planted his hands on his hips. “I didn’t. And I wouldn’t, because he’s acting like a possessive lunatic. But I think I know why.”

She shifted a quarter turn and met his gaze. “Why?”

“Has he ever mentioned a woman named Giselle?”

Her gaze went distant as she thought. “No. Who is she?”

“Love of his life. And when I say that, I don’t mean they fell in love, I mean they were like threads in the fabric of each other’s lives. Best friends, lovers. They’d known each other since she was ten and he was twelve. Became lovers young, maybe sixteen and eighteen, I don’t remember exactly.” He looked up from the ground and found her riveted. “Giselle had an amazing singing voice. Absolute heaven to listen to. And a few years ago, she got that big break in Nashville.”

“Not Giselle Diamond,” she said, part statement, part question.

“Diamond is her stage name, but yeah.”

“Oh.” She breathed the word, her face twisted with sympathy. “She left him for the dream.”

“It’s…a little more complicated than that, and I still don’t think I even know the whole truth about what happened to break them up, but, basically, yes. She went for it, and there wasn’t room for Troy in that life.”

“Ouch.” Rachel grimaced. “But, what does that have to do with me?”

“Sometimes you remind me of her. Mannerisms, figures of speech, just…” he gestured absently, “little flashes here and there. Especially when you two were bickering in the office. He and Giselle grew up together, so in some ways they interacted like siblings—the sniping, the rivalry.

“I think he sees that in you too, subconsciously if not consciously. And he was extremely protective of Giselle. She was a beautiful girl, and she had this raw sweetness about her that made her vulnerable. We toughened her up, so as she got older, she developed a steel core beneath the sugar—a lot like you.” Ryker shook his head and rubbed his fingers down the sides of his mouth. “But a girl like that in our situation… It was good she had us watching out for her.

“Anyway, I think he has sort of unconsciously transferred that protection instinct to you for that reason. And when it comes to me, I know he loves me. I know he brought me here to help me. But he’s not going to let me hurt you. At least not if he can help it.”

Rachel waited expectantly. When he didn’t go on, she asked, “What…situation?”

“The foster home Troy and I were in could be pretty rough. The woman running it didn’t care what we did as long as we didn’t get dropped home in a patrol car, which left Giselle vulnerable to the other kids in the house. Troy and I were best friends by the time Giselle came int, and we couldn’t stand the thought of some of the other kids abusing her. We took her under our wing, became the three musketeers. At least until we got kicked out at eighteen. Giselle was only sixteen, but she left with Troy.”

“And you went into the army,” she said, looking dazed.

He nodded.

“I had no idea…” Her voice trailed off.

“About Giselle?”

“No. I mean, I didn’t know about Giselle either, but I meant about foster care.”

Tension coiled along Ryker’s shoulders. His mind filled with, Oh. Shit. “I…I… He always talks about how close you all are. He’s never been secretive about it. Shit.” He lowered his head and scraped a hand through his hair, sick he’d shared that information.

“I won’t say anything,” Rachel said. “And maybe the guys already know. I haven’t been with them that long.” Her hands coiled and wrapped around each other in a helpless, embarrassed gesture. “I’m sorry.”

“For what?”

“For…I don’t know. Everything you went through as a kid. That you had to talk about it to explain…” She shrugged, looking helpless.

“Relax, sweetheart. I’m the one who brought it up.”

She licked her lips and nodded. Then turned to face the plans again. “Thanks for telling me.” She swung her feet underneath her, rose to her knees, and planted her hands on the paper to inspect the drawings.

Ryker’s full attention shifted to the way she looked on all fours, and he released a heavy breath of pent-up desire.

“So where do you want to start?” she asked.

He drew his bottom lip between his teeth. When he didn’t answer, she glanced over her shoulder, and recognition of where his mind had gone heated her eyes.

He had resisted making any advance toward her after that kiss in the trailer. No touching, no innuendos, nothing. And it was becoming clear this was a ridiculous effort—for both of them.

He stepped closer and dropped to one knee behind her. She immediately straightened, but her back met his chest, and he eased her into position again. With his chest against her shoulder, his erection against her hip, his hand flat next to hers, he slid the fingers of his other hand into her hair from the base of her neck to her crown. She closed her eyes and sighed.

“I’d start,” he whispered at her temple, “by getting you naked. Maybe almost naked, because you’d look so pretty in something skimpy and lacy, maybe red satin and black lace.”

Her fingers curled into fists, her nails scraping the plans.

He ran the tip of his nose down her temple, tilted his chin, and pressed his lips just below her ear. She shivered, the same way she had that night. Tightening his fingers in her hair, he pulled her head back. “Then, I’d create a little bite, because the pleasure always feels better when there’s a little pain for contrast.”

He slowly released her hair and massaged her scalp, pressing his lips to her jaw, her neck, listening for another sigh. When it came, he let his hand slide from her hair and straight down her spine, adding pressure at the center of her back. “I’d arch you, lifting your ass…” She moved fluidly, as if she were perfectly programmed, her hip rubbing against his cock as her ass rose. He moved his hand over the small of her back, the round of her cheek, and whispered to her, “So your pussy was positioned perfectly for my thrusts.”

He lowered his hand between her legs, and her hips lifted into his touch. Lust, need, excitement, they all rushed his blood at the same moment, and he growled, closing his hand and clutching her pussy through her shorts.