Chapter 29
She looked a mess, though still the most beautiful thing my eyes have ever registered.
Her beautiful hair was down, straight around her pale face. Her eyes were red and puffy, and shooting hate my way.
Still, I could work with that.
I could work with hate because everyone knew it was indifference that was a harder defeat. Hate meant she still had feelings for me. Hate meant I was still able to make her feel something for me. I was still important enough to incite some sort of emotion from her, and I could work with that.
Her blue eyes rounded, and her reaction was exactly what I’d been expecting. “Do you honestly believe I give a shit if you’re sorry or not?”
“The contract-”
“Fuck the contract!” she yelled.
My chin went up and so did one brow. “Are you sure about that?” Then the girl went straight for my balls, and I would have been impressed had I thought she was bluffing. However, Rylee hated me enough that I was positive she wasn’t.
“If I have to let Alexander George fuck me up the ass to get out of that contact with you, I will. If I have to let Alexander, Donovan, and Jacob all have at me to ensure I never have to see you again, I will,” she seethed. “You can come after me, and you can come after my family, but don’t think I won’t fight you with everything I have, Stone, because I will. Because I’m prepared to.”
Staring at her, I remembered thinking I needed a Bonnie to my Clyde or a Mallory to my Mickey in order to achieve all the goals I’ve set for myself, but Rylee wasn’t a Bonnie Parker.
Rylee was a Mallory Knox.
The only thing that didn’t have me reacting violently to her declaration was, because for all his faults, Alexander lived and breathed The Order. Alexander would never threaten his place within the organization for interring with a Hera contract. No one would.
I went with directness because, not only did Rylee deserve it, but I didn’t want there to be any confusion between us. No anymore. “I was wrong.”
“I don’t give a shit,” she immediately replied.
“I’m not letting you go, Rylee,” I told her. “I was wrong, and I can own that.”
She let out a choked laugh. “How magnanimous of you,” she scoffed. “You’re a real class act, Lexington.”
“I’m serious, Rylee.”
Her blue eyes held my gaze, and the girl wasn’t scared, that’s for sure. Rylee had the backbone I’d been hoping for. She was the perfect mix of the girl-next-door and a fighter. She was the entire package with her looks and personality.
She was also mine, whether she wanted to be or not.
“So am I, Stone,” she shot back. “I don’t care about your apology. I want nothing to do with you.”
“Well, that’s just too fucking bad, because you’re going to have everything to do me for the rest of your life,” I fired back.
Rylee crossed her arms over her chest, and she looked angrily adorable in that oversized robe, taking a serious stance against me. “Are you done?”
“Done with what?”
“Are you done with what you had to say?” she asked. “Because I’ve got shit to do today, and none of it includes wasting my time with you.”
“I’m not walking out of this room until you forgive me,” I told her. “So, you tell me if I’m done here.”
Her arms dropped, and she slid her hands inside the robe’s pockets. Tilting her head, she said, “Do you really think you deserved to be forgiven for what you did?” She didn’t let me answer. “For all the things you’ve done to me since the first threat to my family to get me to the initiation night until you threw me out of your condo with enough condoms to be dangerous, and you’re standing there, demanding forgiveness? Seriously?”
“The alternative will make us miserable for the rest of our lives, Rylee,” I pointed out. “We’re too young to be miserable for the next fifty years.”
“You say that as if I’m really going to marry you,” she replied. “And I’m not.”
“Even to the detriment of your family?”
“I’ve been thinking about that,” she said, and her voice sent a dark tingle down my spine. “And you know what? I know, without a shadow of a doubt, that my family would rather be poor and homeless than let me marry someone who treated me the way you did. And if you think I’m too embarrassed to tell them what you did to me, you’re wrong.”
“And you would repay that loyalty by ruining their lives because you’re too stubborn and prideful to accept an apology?” I posed because I knew she wouldn’t.
Her back straightened at that, and I knew I had her. It was manipulative as hell, but I never said I was a good guy. I never said I wasn’t ruthless. I never said I wouldn’t do everything it took to win. I never said I wasn’t an asshole.
“You’re a real sonofabitch, you know that?” She said it without any inflection, whatsoever.
“Anything to win,” I replied, my statement the absolute truth.
“Anything to win,” she muttered.
“Anything to win,” I repeated. “Anything. Besides, you already signed the marriage certificate. It was part of the Hera contract package. You’re already mine.”
Rylee didn’t say anything for a long while, and I was surprised-and suspicious-when she finally spoke. “So, just like that? I forgive you and all is forgotten?”
I shook my head. I was still in the wrong here, and I understood that. “No,” I told her. “You forgive me, and I work on earning your trust back. You give me the chance to make it up to you.”
“And what makes you think you can do that?” She cocked her head to the other side. “What makes you think there’s anything you can do to make what you did up to me?”
“Come here, and I’ll show you.” Was it arrogant? Yes. Was it manipulative? Yes. Did I care? No. Sex wasn’t everything, but our chemistry was intense enough that it would make a difference in our relationship.
Rylee shook her head. “No,” she replied. “You come here.”
I had her face in my hands and my lips on hers in three strides. I swallowed her gasp, but she quickly began kissing me back. With the girl pressed up against me, my knees almost gave out with relief that Rylee was willing to forgive me for what I’d done to her. I knew she was doing it primarily for her family’s sake, but I’d take it.
Anything to have her.
And while I was prepared to fight dirty, I didn’t want Rylee hating me for the life of our marriage. I loved my parents individually, but I didn’t want a marriage like theirs. I didn’t want a cold business partner. I wanted a wife. I wanted a wife who respected me and loved me enough to put up with my bullshit. I wanted a wife who loved me enough to give me children and was still with me to enjoy our grandchildren.
I wanted forever with Rylee.
Breaking off the kiss, my lips began to travel down her neck, and Rylee’s head fell back to give me more access. “Fuck, baby, I thought I’d lost you,” I murmured against her soft skin. “I thought you were going to hate me forever.” I felt her hands go to my jeans as she let out a throaty moan.
My lips found hers again, and I let out a deep groan as I felt her small hand wrap around me. Last night, I had cheated us both out of some explosive foreplay, but not today. Today, I was going to taste every inch of her, and I was going to mark her like a possessive bastard, too.
Then lust really threatened to drop me to my knees as Rylee broke off the kiss and sank to her knees. Desperate like a motherfucker, I helped her push my jeans down over my hips, and Rylee wasted no time taking me deep into her hot mouth.
Motherfucker.
People really didn’t realize how different sex was when it was with someone you care about versus a hookup, but it was. Rylee’s lips wrapped around my cock was unlike anything I’ve ever felt before, and I’ve had some spectacular blowjobs in my life. But this? This blew everything I’ve ever experienced before Rylee out of the water.
My hands in her hair, I couldn’t control my hips pushing forward to get deeper down her throat, and all Rylee did was moan and open wider. I couldn’t say how long Rylee sucked me while on her knees, but soon, I was ready to just release everything I felt for this girl. And as much as I wanted to shoot down her throat, I had a lot to make up for, and I was determined to make this all about her.
I stopped her, then pulled her up by her shoulders. “I don’t want to cum in your mouth just yet.” Rylee just nodded, but when I reached for her, she stopped me.
“Hold up,” she said breathlessly, and I stood there as she rushed over to her purse and pulled out on the of strips of condoms that I had given her. Flagging them in her hand, she smiled. “Now we’re ready.”