Echo(29)

He pushed inside of me and I bit down so hard I tasted blood, but I didn’t make a sound. The leather bit into the sensitive skin around my throat as he pushed deeper and deeper.

“Is this what you want, baby girl?” he challenged. “You want me to hurt you?”

“I’m not your baby girl,” I rasped.

“You’re my anything I fucking want you to be,” he grunted, sliding all the way to the hilt.

My breath was ragged, and the only thing holding me up now were his hands and the leather. He was depriving me of air, but I refused to be the first to give. I refused to show him weakness.

His palm came down so hard on my ass it made me squeal in shock.

“Tell me you’re mine,” he rasped, rolling his cock around inside of me.

“Never.”

“Goddammit, Brighton.” He slapped my other ass cheek.

Spots filled my vision, and if I didn’t relent soon, I was going to pass out. But I didn’t care. I wanted to win at least one round with him.

“You created this monster,” I croaked.

My eyes fluttered shut, and Ryland tossed away the belt. I dragged in a breath as he carried me to the dining room table and laid me across it.

His body covered mine, and he entered me in one deep thrust as his lips found my neck. I moaned when he licked and bit at me, and it only made his thrusts more savage.

When I opened my eyes, the raw power of his body moving above me was a beautiful thing. He was so strong. So fucking strong. But even now, he wouldn’t really hurt me. Not even when I pushed him.

“Harder,” I encouraged.

He gripped my hips in his hands and thrust harder. So hard I thought I might drown beneath the weight of his thrusts. Right now, he was no longer a man. He was an animal.

“Tell me that you’re mine,” he grunted.

He was getting close. I could hear it in his voice. See it in the strain of his biceps. But he wouldn’t let himself go. Not until I gave him what he wanted. And that was where my weakness lay. Because I always wanted to give him what he wanted.

“I’m yours,” I whispered. “Only yours, Ryland.”

The words had barely left my lips when he pulled out and pumped his glistening cock in his fist. A guttural roar escaped him as he spilled his release across my belly and breasts, marking me in a completely different way.

Then he was back inside of me, petting my hair as he continued to pump slowly. It was obvious he didn’t want to leave the warmth of my body.

His eyes burned into mine, the fire gone out of them, and the coldness too. All that was left was regret and something else I didn’t recognize in him. Vulnerability.

He picked me up and carried me down the hall to a master bathroom, where he set me on the sink while he turned on the shower. He removed whatever scraps of clothing we still had on between us, brushing his fingers over my collarbone and neck. I didn’t have to see them to know they were red.

Once the water heated and the room was steamy, he picked me up and moved us inside. He found a place for us on the stone ledge built into the shower, setting me in his lap. I didn’t fight him. Instead, I leaned my head against. Even now, after everything that had happened between us, my heart still echoed his.

There was a vast silence between us for a long time, but I was too tired to question it. I welcomed the silence, the chaos of a situation not yet rectified. My eyelids were beginning to droop when he finally broke it.

“You’ve never laughed like that with me.”

I blinked up at him, feeling the familiar pull of gravity towards the depths of those blue eyes, no matter how much I tried to fight it.

“With Matt,” he supplied. “The way you were laughing with him tonight. You’ve never done that with me.”

His voice was hoarse and unable to conceal the emotions he was so good at keeping in check. There were tears in my own eyes as I spoke.

“How could I, Ryland? You’ve never given me a chance. Everything’s been about the game to you. About the agreement. You’re blackmailing me into a relationship, and you seriously have to question why you’ve never seen me relax around you? My brother’s life is at stake here…”

“I know,” he cut me off. “But how do I know you’ll keep your word if I give you what you want. How can I be certain?”

He looked so much like a small boy as he asked the question, it finally dawned on me what he really needed from me. My assurance I wasn’t going to leave. But there was doubt in his eyes. He doubted I’d be able to convince him.

I didn’t even have to try. I flayed myself wide open and spoke from my heart, allowing my real emotions to shine through.

“Because,” I said shakily… “For better or worse, I’m in love with you, Ryland.”

His hands tightened around my body as his eyes skimmed over every inch of my face, no doubt looking for tells.

“I didn’t mean for it to happen,” I went on. “I fought it, as much as I could. I shouldn’t love you. But I do. And so that’s how you know for certain I’ll keep my word. Because I couldn’t walk away from you for good right now even if I wanted to.”

He tilted my chin up and kissed me. It was soft but passionate, and it said all I’d needed to know. He believed me. He accepted my words, and he trusted me. At least for right now.





Chapter Twenty-One

I woke with a groan, stretching out the sore and overworked muscles of my body from the night before. Ryland was beside me, stroking his hand over my hip while his eyes drank in my naked form. He looked oddly at peace, considering the war that had been waged between us the night before.

He didn’t speak. He simply rolled me onto my back and positioned his body over mine, pushing inside of me in a way that was new and unexpected. Gentle. Unhurried.

The sun filtered in through the window, highlighting the beautiful lines of his body as he moved above me. I couldn’t take my eyes off of him, and now that I’d revealed the truth, I didn’t feel the need to. I kissed his neck, inhaling the faint notes of Amber and Cinnamon he now wore all the time. I wondered if it was because he knew how much I loved it.

He brought me to orgasm twice before taking his own. When he collapsed beside me and threaded his fingers through mine, I didn’t want it to be over. Because if it was over that meant we’d have to talk. To discuss the one thing that was big enough to tear us apart. The issue of my family. Of Brayden.

As though sensing my withdrawal, he kissed me softly and moved from the bed, retrieving some clean clothes from the dresser across the room. He walked towards the bathroom and glanced over his shoulder, pausing as he struggled to find the right words.

 “I left something there for you.” He nodded to the bedside table.

The door closed behind him, and I picked up the tablet beside me. When I saw my brother’s name typed into the search box, and the results that followed, my breath stuttered in my chest.

I almost didn’t want to believe it was real. It was easier to think this was some sort of cruel trick than the truth. But as I clicked on article after article, they all said the same thing.

Shocking new evidence in the Valentine Murder case. The State’s Attorney of Cook County released a statement at seven am this morning. The details are being kept under wraps, but he confirmed there is new evidence being considered.

The news outlets were rife with speculation about what this could mean, and there was only one man with the power to move things this fast.

Tears clogged my eyes when I understood why Ryland had left me so abruptly. It was a test. He wanted to see if I’d meant what I said. If now that the evidence was turned over, I would fulfill my end of the bargain.

I dropped the tablet on the bed and padded into the bathroom. When I opened the shower door, he gave me a wary look before I bounded into his arms.

“Ryland, what you’ve just done…”

“This doesn’t change anything, Brighton,” he cut me off. “You belong to me now. Regardless of what happens with Brayden.”

I chose to ignore the biting tone of his voice as I nuzzled against his chest.

 “I know,” I whispered. “I’m yours, Ryland.”





***



I smoothed the silky black material through my fingers as I stared at my reflection in the mirror.

“Does it look… okay?”

“It looks like I want to tear it off of you right now,” he murmured into my hair as he smoothed his hand up my side.

“Yeah right. I know how much this dress cost,” I retorted.

It was the real reason I was uncomfortable. I’d never worn anything this expensive in my life. But if I was being honest, it was the sexiest dress I’d ever seen. Elegant and simple, with the added bonus of making my legs look long for the first time in my life. The material clung to my body in a way that with just the right touch, it would slide off of me like butter. There was sex appeal in that, and I could certainly see it reflected in Ryland’s eyes as his hands roamed over me.

 “Do you think I give a fuck about that?” he asked. “You belong to me now, baby girl. And I take care of what’s mine.”

I flashed him a nervous smile as my knees wobbled beneath me. When he said those words, it sounded like this was a permanent arrangement in his mind. And yet, he couldn’t admit he had feelings for me. As happy as I was about Brayden, I kept feeling like I was missing something. A larger part of the puzzle. Ryland still hadn’t revealed his reasons for doing what he’d done, and when I thought about it, it all seemed too easy. Like I’d played right into his hands somehow. I didn’t like to think that way, but what choice did I have?