He thrust up, pushing a little deeper. “I care about you, Bri.”
She lifted herself and shifted back down, her breath gasping out. “I care about you, too, Ryan.”
His heart pounded painfully, making him feel as if he were some fucked-up Grinch and it was growing three sizes. Which didn’t make a damn bit of sense, so he shoved it from his mind, and focused solely on making Bri’s body feel as good as she had his soul.
He let her ride him, let her control how fast and hard things went. Her harsh breathing was a perfect match to his own, but she needed that little bit more. Ryan pressed three fingers to her clit, letting her motions stroke her against him and drive her wild. The feeling of her clenching around him, combined with the wild look in her eyes, nearly sent him over the edge then and there, but he held on through sheer force of will. “You know what else I love about you?”
“Oh my God…I…” She grabbed the headboard above him and rolled her hips desperately.
“I love the way you scream my name when you come.”
Her body went tight, her head falling forward, a breathless shriek on her lips. “Ryan.”
The feeling of her coming around his cock was too much for his control. He grabbed her hips and drove into her, needing to follow her over the edge as acutely as she’d needed to get there. “Bri.”
She collapsed on his chest while he relearned how to breathe. Once their bodies quieted, Bri shifted to the side and slipped her arms around him, tucking her leg between his. She pressed a kiss to his throat. “Thank you. For everything you said. For meaning it.”
She sounded like she still didn’t quite believe him. That was okay. Given enough time, she would.
Chapter Sixteen
“Ryan, wake up.”
He opened his eyes, and winced at the bright sunlight shining through the window. “What time is it?” They hadn’t exactly had a restful night between making love and talking. He’d been looking forward to sleeping in.
But Bri was sitting on the edge of the bed, practically vibrating with energy. “Your SUV is back.”
“What?”
“They must have brought it in the night.”
He sat up and scrubbed a hand over his face. “Cowards.” End result aside, stranding them in a cabin was some bullshit, and he fully intended on letting both his brother and Avery have a piece of his mind about it.
“Maybe they didn’t want to interrupt.”
“More like they didn’t want to deal with us being pissed at them. Why are you dressed?”
“What?” She glanced down at herself as if just noticing that she wore the same clothes she’d shown up with. Bri twisted her skirt between her fingers. “Well, I thought it might be nice to get back to civilization.”
Back to Wellingford. That’s what she meant. He started to reach for her, but stopped when he realized it for the ploy it was. The truth of the matter was he wanted to stay here, in this safe place, and let things keep developing between them. Here was the only place they’d managed to have decent conversations that weren’t biting comments linked to the past he’d never escape as long as he was in Wellingford.
But if that was all the confidence he had in Bri, he had no business pursuing this in the first place. So Ryan forced a smile. “I wouldn’t mind some diner food.”
Her eyebrows rose. “Diner food.”
“Yep.TheDiner food, specifically.” He took her hand. “Think of it as a date.”
“Because our last one ended so well.”
Obviously she shared some of the same fears he did. “That was before I introduced you to the world of s’mores. Everything has changed now.”
She laughed. “A valid point. Okay, yes. Take me on a breakfast date.”
After doing a quick walk-through of the cabin, they headed outside to where his SUV had been parked in nearly the same spot he’d left it three days ago. He could almost believe this had all been a dream.
Until he looked at the smiling woman at his side. The woman who, three days ago, had barely been able to stand in his presence without them sniping at each other. It was amazing how quickly things could change.
She stopped at the passenger door. “Why are you looking at me like that?”