Total pages in book: 28
Estimated words: 26140 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 131(@200wpm)___ 105(@250wpm)___ 87(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 26140 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 131(@200wpm)___ 105(@250wpm)___ 87(@300wpm)
“You never said anything,” I whispered.
“Wasn’t about sayin’ anything.” His eyes stayed locked on mine, dark and unflinching. “It was about makin’ sure that bastard never got another chance at you and makin’ sure you were okay.”
The morning air felt thin, and I couldn’t catch my breath. I should have been horrified. Terrified of everything Ryder was admitting. The years of watching, the quiet interference, the way he had moved through my life without me ever knowing. He stalked me. He was a murderer.
He'd done it to protect me.
Instead, all I felt was the same thick, shameful relief from earlier now tangled with something even harder to name. I didn’t say anything else, but I did turn around and walk back inside. I sensed Ryder behind me and knew he wasn’t going to let me run away again.
But I needed space, needed to figure out what it meant that the man I was in love with had not only killed my father… but had spent fourteen years making sure I survived without ever once letting me know he was there.
14
Ibarely made it three steps into the kitchen before the front door opened behind me.
Ryder walked in like the house already belonged to him, shut the door hard enough to rattle the frame, and stood there watching me with those dark, unblinking eyes.
“Don’t,” I said, voice shaking. “I need—”
“No.”
One word. That was all it took for me to snap my mouth shut and seethe at him.
He crossed the room in three long strides, and I backed up until my hips hit the counter. He didn’t stop until his boots were on either side of my feet, and the heat of his body was all I could feel.
“You’re not runnin’ from this,” he said, voice low and rough. “Not from me and sure as hell not from what I told you.”
My heart was slamming so hard I could feel it in my throat. “You killed him,” I said, the words coming out quieter than I expected. “You actually killed him.”
Ryder didn’t look away. His voice stayed low and even when he said, “I did.”
I swallowed hard. “And the rest of it… the years you watched me. The things you left. All of it.”
“Yeah,” he said. “All of it.”
“You moved through my life like a ghost and never once asked if I wanted any of it.”
Ryder’s mouth twitched. He lifted one hand and braced it on the counter beside my hip, caging me in without quite touching me. The other hand came up and gripped my chin, forcing me to meet his eyes.
“You left without a goodbye,” he said, voice barely restrained. “Know it wasn’t your fault. Know your fucking father pushed you away. But you never called, Lila. Never wrote. Nothin’. I figured that meant you didn’t want to see me. Kept my distance the only way I knew how—close enough to make sure you were still breathin’ but far enough that you never had to look at me and remember everything you were healin’ from.”
I felt his thumb brush the edge of my hip.
“Did what I had to because the alternative was not knowin’ if you were okay. And I couldn’t live with that.”
I swallowed. “I thought about you. More than I should have. But every time I did, you just… reminded me of everything I didn’t have, everything I lost, and all the shit maybe I could have had one day.”
Something dark and raw moved behind his stare.
“You hold my life in your hands right now,” he said quieter. “You want to call the sheriff? Tell him what I did? I’ll drive you there myself, and I’ll tell him every detail. I’ll take whatever they give me.” He lifted his hand and brushed his thumb along the edge of my mouth, rough and careful at the same time. “Because at least I’ll know you’re safe. At least I’ll know he never got his hands on you again. That’s enough for me.”
The words landed like a punch, and the air left my lungs in a giant, violent whoosh. I should have shoved him away. Instead, my hands fisted in the front of his shirt, and I pulled him to me.
Ryder made a low sound in his chest, and then his mouth was on mine. The kiss started off hard, claiming, and with no hesitation. He kissed me like a man who’d already decided he was going to burn for this and didn’t care.
His hands dropped to my thighs and lifted me onto the counter in one smooth motion. I wrapped my legs around his waist on pure instinct and groaned into his mouth.
I grabbed his face with my hands on his cheeks, holding him where I wanted him, pushing my way into his mouth and sucking on his tongue until my pussy tingled with want. I was wild and frantic, and I just needed to push all this chaos away and feel the pleasure only Ryder could give.