Unchain My Heart(9)

I felt Ryder stiffen behind me. Had I hurt his feelings? As much as I loved a man taking care of me, I also needed to be able to stand on my own two feet. I wasn’t going to be a doormat for any man or play the damsel-in-distress role to boost his ego. But Ryder already knew that about me, and he still wanted to be around.

“Princess, you are going to pay for that,” Ryder whispered in my ear. It sent tingles down my spine. Punishment by Ryder was nothing less than erotic as hell. The way he spanked my ass turned me on so much I was often willing to be a little naughty just to get the full treatment from him. I giggled softly, liquid pooling between my legs as I pushed my ass backward into his groin. “You don’t play fair,” he grumbled as I felt him harden against me.

“It's my birthday, remember?”

“How can I forget? You’ve got me in a sticky situation, all right.”

I swallowed hard and nodded. Ryder was holding it together for my sake, and it made me love him even more. He could have gone all wild when faced with Harrison’s hostility, yet he was purposely focusing on me and not my brother.

Harrison was another matter all together. If it weren’t for Eva’s presence, Harrison would not have backed down. I didn’t understand how she did it—after all; they’d only met tonight for the first time.

“Shall we get some drinks while we wait for the others?” I asked, my voice a little too bright.

“Sure babe.” With his hand possessively at the small of my back, Ryder steered me toward an empty table in the corner. Taking charge, he raised his hand and called a waitress over.

Harrison growled, a deep frown between his brows. He was the one usually in charge of being the host whenever we went out. He didn’t like the way Ryder was pissing on his territory one bit. I laughed nervously, pretending not to notice their standoff. Maybe if I ignored it, it would go away? Wishful thinking.

These goddamn alpha males.

The only reason they weren’t at one another’s throats right now was because it was my birthday, and because women were around. If not for that, I was pretty sure things would have been a lot uglier.

Was there a solution to this situation? Would we ever just be able to be one big happy family? Not if my brother had any say in it. I rubbed the dull pain in my heart with my fist.





Chapter Seven — Eva


In spite of the festive occasion and upbeat music pumping from the oversized speakers, the atmosphere hung thick between the four of us. Harrison was like a loaded gun, coiled and ready to explode at any minute. I didn’t know my brother very well; we’d had a few meals together in the last few weeks, but I was an excellent judge of character. Usually. I grimaced as I remembered my latest mistake with my ex—but at least I’d caught on and that’s why he was my ex now and not my fiancé.

In spite of him looking mean and dangerous, Ryder had a heart of gold. It was a cover for all the hurt he’d been through as a child. Over the weeks he’d told me snippets from his life, and most of the time my mouth had hung open. Life truly was stranger than fiction sometimes—if I'd read about it in a novel or seen his life portrayed in a movie, I would’ve thought it was all made up and farfetched. But Ryder’s pain rolled off him as he unpacked his story, reluctant and hesitant at first.

Learning how he basically grew up without a father and then later without a mother made me feel really bad for being so hard on my own dad. Bill Ryder had given me everything my little heart desired, while his son was going through hell. While my parents had protected me from bullies at school, Ryder had suffered in the worst possible way. Actually, I was surprised that he wasn’t more fucked up than he was.

The years at university in the psych department had schooled me in the art of listening. So besides a few strategic questions every now and then, I mostly let him talk, slowly drawing the story out of him. In a way I think it was therapeutic for him to be able to finally share all of it with someone.

That’s why I couldn’t understand Harrison’s behavior. For a cop, he was somewhat unstable in my opinion, a freaking time-bomb, if I had to assess him. If this was indeed his first real meeting with Ryder, what the hell was his freaking problem?

Jade seemed sweet. It was clear that she respected and adored her brother. It was also clear that she was smitten with Ryder, and he with her. They could hardly keep their hands off one another, and their gazes rested longingly on the other as if they’d much rather have been alone.

“Hey, sorry I’m late.” The girl who was kissing Jade on the cheek looked similar to her in facial features, but that’s where it ended. She was toned as if she worked out a lot, displaying muscled Michele Obama arms that I so envied and worked hard for in the gym. She wore a short leather skirt with heavy Doc Martens boots, the complete opposite of Jade, who was soft and feminine.