Evergreen Page 10

  “This is … well ... it’s just perfect! What are we watching?” She was practically jumping around.

  “I figured we could watch the new Hobbit movie. Just came out last week. Unless you don’t want that. I could have them switch something else in.”

  She just smiled and picked a seat. “Nope, that’s perfect. I’ve been wanting to see that.”

  Rex came back with some popcorn and drinks. I took the snacks from him and nodded. He gave me a nod back. He understood how much his help meant to me.

  “Here you go.” I handed her the popcorn and sat down next to her.

  “Thank you. Thank you for all of this, for everything.” She leaned in and kissed me on the cheek.

  This was all so worth it. We sat comfortably together and watched the movie. Occasionally we would make out like little teenagers and then go back to watching the flick. After the movie was over and the credits passed, Rex came and got her.

  “I’ll see you in a bit,” I told her. I was just going to meet her at my apartment.

  Fifteen minutes later I walked into my apartment, which smelled damn good.

  “Oh hell, I know what that is.” I walked into the kitchen and saw Andi with the goods.

  “We stopped off to get some food. Rex said it was your favorite place.” She looked a little nervous.

  I won’t even lie and say that seeing her in my kitchen didn’t do things to me. It did. Her dogs were so content on my couch they didn’t even get up to come say hello. I shook my head.

  “You can’t go wrong with T.J.’s.” T.J.’s was a little sports bar I frequented to watch some games and eat burgers, wings, or whatever the hell tickled my fancy at the time.

  I walked up to her and set her up on the counter with my legs in between hers. She wrapped her arms around me, keeping me close.

  “Thank you,” I told her. I was thankful for a lot when it came to her.

  She gave me a face prompting me to go on. But I didn’t. I kissed her instead. She was always ready for me to take whatever I wanted from her. I pulled back and kissed her nose. She giggled; I liked that sound. A lot. I wanted to hear more, so I tickled her. She laughed, and I soaked up every sound.

  “I give, I give!” she squealed. I took pity on her and ceased my torturous tickling.

  “Alright, keep your hands to yourself, will ya? I wanna eat,” I told her with a grin. She rolled her eyes at me, and we took the food to the couches.

  We ate and talked about our day. I left out the part about Gavin making a claim on her. I wanted her to forget about him today. Today was all about how great we were together. We weren’t just sex. Sex was great, but I knew there was more. I felt like I needed to prove to her that this was real. The real deal. A little insecurity had sneaked its way up inside me as well. I wanted to be honest with myself and to prove I was the best man for her. I knew she thought about my cock. But I wanted her to think about how nice it was to sit on the couch with me watching TV or doing simple things like that. I hadn’t put this much effort into any relationship since Hannah left me. I wanted to be Andi’s everything. Selfish of me, but fuck it. I wanted this woman.

  “Oh, that was so good.” She sat back with a satisfied look on her face. T.J.’s never disappointed.

  There was one more thing I wanted to do. I knew I was going to shock the hell out of her, but screw it. I wanted to last forever in her memory. She would never forget today no matter what. I pressed a button on my remote to my iPod. I had picked the song earlier so that it would be ready to go. All those years my mom made me do this were about to come in handy.

  “Ryder?” she asked, her tone curious.

  I stood, holding my hand out for her to take. She took it, and then the music started playing. I kept one of her hands in mine, and the other I placed on my shoulder. Then we were moving. She was smiling from ear to ear.

  “Where did you learn this?” she asked. Her voice was a little uneven as I twirled her around the living room.

  “My mom made me take ballroom classes when I was twelve. I was starting to cause trouble, and she thought this would humble me. Once my friends found out they gave me shit, but the chicks liked it, so I continued the classes for a little while.” I shrugged like it was no big deal.

  Ed Sheeran’s “Thinking Out Loud” serenaded us. I knew she would like this one. The lyrics spoke to me—Ed’s words of loving each other till they were old and falling in love every day. I gave her a dip as he sang about holding each other and dancing beneath the stars. She was fluid-like as I brought her back up to me. Her gaze was fixed on mine. Ed’s declaration that maybe they found love where they were rang through the room. She closed her eyes and let me lead. I danced her around all over the floor, twirling in perfect sync.

  Andi’s eyes opened, and I saw them glistening with unshed tears. That wasn’t what I was hoping to accomplish; she’d been smiling before. She leaned up and kissed me. It was soft yet hard. She kept her lips on mine; I felt something in that kiss. I dropped her hand and wrapped my arms around her. I kissed her back, parting her lips and swirling my tongue with hers. Nothing about this was fast, but it was still perfect. I scooped her up in my arms and walked us to the bedroom.

  Once I set her down she backed up on the bed. She slowly lifted her shirt and threw it on the ground. Ever so slowly again she slid the straps of her bra down, then unclasped the back. I stared as she discarded the bra. Her breasts were beautiful, with those sweet peaks I wanted to run my tongue over. I took off my shirt and watched as she pushed her pants down. With them her panties came off too. I was starting to undo my belt when she spoke softly.

  “No.” She crawled toward me. It was so fucking hot I thought I was going to come from the sight. “I want to.”

  Her hands went to work on my belt and then the buttons on my jeans. She gasped when she saw I was going commando today. He fingers stretched out and touched me. My body shook at her touch. She pushed my pants down, and I stepped out of them. She just sat there on her knees in front of me on the bed. Her eyes roamed over me, getting her fill. I reached out and tilted her face up to mine. She saw everything in my look. This was real. This was it for me. She grabbed my hand and tugged me to follow her to the middle of my king-size bed. I followed. There was an unspoken change in us today. I was going to make love to Andi. My Andi. She lay back against the soft pillows while I settled between her legs. Her right leg slid up my hip gently and cradled me even more between her. My lips sought hers out as I slid inside of her. She was soaked, and it was all for me.

  “Mine,” I groaned into her mouth.

  She gripped my shoulders. I slid out and back in softly, just warming up. Our mouths moved against each other as our hips met with every thrust. I grabbed her hands and interlaced my fingers with hers over her head, holding them there as I increased the force plunging into her. Her moans filled the room. I pulled back to watch her. She was so fucking exquisite. My hips rolled into hers, slowly and forcefully. I felt every part of her slick sex surrounding me in her warmth.

  Sweat glistened on our bodies after what felt like hours. Pressure was building low in my balls. Her little whimpers were getting louder.

  “Ryder, please.”

  I increased the force of driving into her, picking up speed. My lips latched on to hers as she came. She screamed into me, and I swallowed her cries. Her sweet pussy clenched me in waves, bringing me to the best orgasm of my life. I collapsed on her when the moans died down. Her hand dislodged from mine to go to my back gently rubbing it up and down. We didn’t say anything for a while, just wanting to stay there forever.

  I lifted up and kissed her. “I’ll be right back.”

  I slowly pulled out and went to clean up myself and put our dishes away. After getting everything all cleaned up, I turned off the lights, got the boys settled in their beds, and went back to Andi. She was walking out of the bathroom and crawled back into bed. My body crashed next to her as my arms snaked around her body to pull her against me.

&nbs
p; “This has been the best day of my life,” she confessed into my chest. I smiled.

  “So far,” I told her. She smiled and kissed me quickly.

  Andi fell asleep in a matter of minutes. I smiled; I’d worn her out. Just as I was about to fall asleep, Andi mumbled in her sleep. She hadn’t talked in her sleep since that first night. She mumbled again, this time clearer. “I love you.” Those words sealed my fate. This girl was my forever.

  CHAPTER 23

  Andi

  I woke up with Ryder’s arms still around me. His eyes were still closed, and his breaths were even. Last night I fell. I fell so hard for him. The movie, the dance, and then he made love to me. I wasn’t naïve. I knew what happened between us wasn’t just sex; I knew I meant something to him. But now I knew I really meant something to him. I needed him to see that I felt the same way he did. I was his. He was mine.

  I stayed there just looking at him for a while. I was mesmerized by his beauty. His lips were perfectly shaped. Both top and bottom lips were even. Perfect for kissing and causing pleasure. His eyelashes were long. I was jealous of that; it seemed like guys always had longer eyelashes. His fanned out over his high cheekbones. I wanted to run my fingers along his cut jawline. He was letting some hair grow there. I knew how coarse it was and how it felt brushing up against my skin.

  I wanted to just lie there and bask in his warmth, but a sweet whining sound from his living room made me quietly get up. I was surprised I didn’t wake him. Even though it was still dark outside I figured he would still be light in sleep. I was wrong—and grateful. I wanted to take my boys out to do their thing, then come back in here and wake him up the proper way. Morning orgasms.

  I got dressed as quietly as I could and saw my sweet boys bouncing by the door. After putting their leashes on I opened the door, and we took the elevator down to the ground floor. I saw a little patch of grass outside when Rex and I pulled in. They were so excited that they peed on everything. Once they were done, we walked back up to Ryder’s apartment.

  I opened the door and took a step inside when a hand covered my mouth and arms grabbed my waist from behind. I let out a scream. But the hands lifted me and pulled me into the stairwell. I stared at Ryder’s door which had closed, I heard my babies barking for me. I wiggled and writhed trying to get loose, but I wasn’t winning.

  “Stop struggling, or I will slit your throat right now,” an angry voice whispered in my hair. I nodded. I would stop fighting right now, but it was far from over. Ryder would find me. I would get out.

  The kidnapper continued to keep a hand over my mouth as he held me close and we walked to the parking garage. A van screeched in front of us as soon as we opened the door. The doors on the van pulled back, and I was thrown in violently. My head banged against the metal bottom. I got a peek at the man who had snatched me. He was wearing a mask, of course. As soon as he was in the van, we took off, closing the door as they drove. Hands hoisted me up to the side of the van. They wrapped zip ties on my wrists around my back tightly. The sharp edges dug into my skin. I yelped at the bite of pain, but otherwise kept how much it hurt in.

  “What do you want?” As soon as the words were out of my mouth, a hand smacked me hard across the cheek. My head rattled, and my jaw throbbed with pain.

  “Shut your mouth,” he spit out at me. I decided it was best to not talk. My face was killing me, and I didn’t want to end up unconscious with these men.

  I didn’t know how long we were in the car. It could have been five minutes or an hour. It felt like forever. We came to a stop, and they all took their merry time getting out of the van with me in tow. We walked up to an old ranch-style house with big oaks surrounding it. It would have been pretty if I wasn’t kidnapped and being taken here. The one man dragged me up the stairs, and the other opened the door for me. He pretty much dragged me by my hands pushing me forward, to the kitchen and sat me down in a chair. I heard him making noise behind me as he zip-tied my already bound hands to the chair. Which made my already hurting wrists throb.

  “There she is,” a voice called from behind me.

  I turned and saw a brown-haired man, probably in his early forties, walking toward the table. His voice held no malice. I just stared at him, looking like a hot mess.

  “So this is the girl Skeller claimed. Who also sleeps at another man’s apartment. I’m honored to meet you, Andi.”

  I was stunned at his words. Claimed? He knew my name? Oh shit, Ryder’s apartment!

  “What?” I stammered.

  “We will have time for questions later. Right now I want to enjoy this moment. I’ve been waiting to break Skeller for a long time. No need to rush,” he mused. His face looked kind, but I had a feeling true evil lay behind those chocolate eyes of his.

  “You are a pretty thing; I can see why he chose you. You have a—hm, what would you call it? Ah yes. An air of innocence around you. You are definitely not normally part of our world.” His voice was almost condescending. Like being a regular person was beneath him. I kept my mouth shut still, not wanting to bait him.

  “Maybe I’ll keep you myself. After all, to have him make a claim on you means you have something very … good going on.”

  Ew, yuck. I almost just threw up in my mouth.

  He got up from where he was sitting and walked over to me. I just gave him a face that said I was unaffected. His fingers touched my shoulders and slid up my neck, then stopped to play with my hair. Bile rose up in my throat. I remained unaffected on the outside even though on the inside I was screaming in disgust.

  “Now, let’s get down to—”

  The crash of a window broke his sentence. Men were shouting around the house. Then smoke started to fill up the rooms.

  “Vance! Get her to the shed!” the creepy man in charge said. But before whoever Vance was could get to me, we heard gunshots.

  “Shit,” the creeper said. He grabbed some scissors and cut me loose from the chair. He grabbed me and pulled me toward the back of the kitchen.

  “Help!” I screamed to the people I was hoping were here to help.

  “Shut up, bitch,” the creeper hissed at me. His fingers dug into my hands as he pulled me along.

  “Let her go,” a menacing voice said behind us.

  The creeper whirled me around in front of him, holding a gun to me.

  “Back the fuck off. I’ll shoot her,” the creeper spat behind me.

  I didn’t move. That happens to a person when they feel a gun against their head. I looked at the man pointing a gun toward the man behind me He was dressed in full tactical gear and had a helmet over his face. I prayed it was Ryder. That he was here for me.

  “Step away or I’ll—”

  BANG!

  A shot rang in my ears. It was so loud. I didn’t know who shot whom. Then the creeper behind me fell. Oh. My. God. It was over. Everything finally hit me. I ran away from the body behind me. I didn’t want to see his face. I didn’t want to. I just didn’t. Arms surrounded me and I collapsed. I sobbed a true ugly cry all over whoever was holding me.

  “It’s okay, sweetness, I’m here.”

  I cried even harder at Ryder’s voice. He came for me.

  CHAPTER 24

  Ryder

  I held Andi until we left the scene of the crime. She was leaned up against me asleep in the truck as we drove home. After her sobs stopped I carried her to the truck and she passed out from exhaustion.

  Words couldn’t express the feelings that were running through me right now. I would never forget waking up to find she wasn’t there. The dogs still had their leashes on, and the door wasn’t closed all the way. I jumped into action calling everyone. Garret called and said he got word that someone moved on Andi. A man named Daryl, a man who was an enemy of the Skellers. Garret told me the guy had a house about thirty minutes east.

  We surrounded the house with a team of six. We took out four of Daryl’s henchmen. Another one we took in for questioning. It was a pity I didn’t get to keep Daryl alive. S
hooting him in the head was an easy out for him. I wanted to beat him within an inch of his life for kidnapping Andi, having one of his men put a hand to her beautiful face, and worse for putting a gun to her head. Every bad asshole thought he could talk with a gun against someone’s head and nothing would happen.

  WRONG.

  As long as you’re good with a gun, you shoot and he doesn’t even have a chance to blink before it’s over. Many men tried to negotiate at that point. But there was no point. They thought they’d won, and you just proved them wrong.

  I felt like shit that Andi had gone through that. And I couldn’t even blame it all on myself. She’d met Skeller without my help. She could have wound up with him and been dragged into this life anyway. But I wouldn’t have been there to help her. Fuck, if I hadn’t of gotten there, who knows what that asshat would have done. I leaned down and kissed her forehead. She stirred but didn’t wake.

  Once we got off the highway, I stopped and got Andi something to eat. She had to be famished. I doubted they kidnapped her and then fed her some breakfast.

  “Thank you,” she said as she grabbed the bag of food from me.

  It was shitty fast food, but sadly I had to take her to the police station so she could file a police report. They would press charges on the man that was still alive. I was going to have a ton a paper work to do, but that could wait till later. After she was done talking to the officer, I was gonna take her home and draw her a hot bath and take care of her.

  Almost as soon as she was done eating, we pulled into the station. She got out before I could walk around and open the door for her. But I didn’t let her get far. I wrapped her close to me and gave her a soft kiss.

  “You feel me, cupcake?” I whispered against her. She nodded.

  “Always,” she shuddered. I gave her one last kiss and led her toward the door.