Chapter Eighteen

 

Ryan moved quickly, gripping her palm once they were outside. Because he could feel the mass of conflicting emotions inside her, he didn’t have to search far for a soft, gentle tone.

“Let’s go home, Rose…please…” He swore softly when she tried to look quickly away, blinking rapidly to dispel the moisture from those wide, luminous eyes. Relief filled him when she nodded and let him lead her toward the exit and the parking lot. “Matt is waiting for us in the parking lot.”

Rose slid across the seat, hugging her pack to her.

“Hi, Matt,” she said quietly, staring out the side window.

“Good evening, Rose.” Matt looked into the mirror and met the blue eyes peering back. “Did you need to go anywhere tonight?”

Ryan let the silence fill the unmoving car for a long minute before speaking, his arm stretched along the seat and hand touching the hair clinging to her ear.

“He’s asking you, Rose, if you had any errands you wanted to run tonight?”

“I…me? No…no, thank you,” she answered, her head bobbing from one to the other, relieved when the can started moving. “And that is one of the issues!” She announced disagreeably.

Ryan almost breathed a sigh of relief. “One of the issues.” He repeated quietly, meeting Matt’s glance and offering an imperceivable shake of his head.

“I do not need to be…to be taken places. I don’t like it,” she declared crossly.

“It’s not forever, Rose,” Ryan wanted her talking, wanted her to understand how very important her safety was to him. “As soon as Harry finds the idiot, he’ll be dealt with, trust me.”

“Dealt with?” She spun on the seat, facing him and glaring suspiciously. “What’s that mean?”

“He’ll be convinced to return to Boston and never contact you again,” Ryan said succinctly, his words clear and concise.

Rose considered his words. Accompanied with the dark blue ice in his eyes, she didn’t doubt he was serious. How would Ryan respond if Tony tried blackmailing him? She wasn’t all that sure what there was to blackmail him about, though, that was a big part of the problem.

“Would he be able to blackmail you?” Rose wasn’t prepared for the laughter, not from both of them.

“Rose, you are an amazing delight,” Ryan took one of her hands and let their fingers weave together when the car stopped at the front of the house. “Let’s have some dinner. I’m starving.”

“Why are the two of you laughing? He’d try and get money from you…I know he would,” she frowned at them, her pack dangling from one hand.

“Because we’re living together? I’ve got your father’s bloody blessing, Rose! Who the hell else matters to us?” Ryan chuckled, striding inside and dropping his bag on the steps to the bedroom. “Thanks, Susan. Have a good night,” he told her, locking the door and setting the alarms before going to the kitchen where she’d been instructed to set their personal meals. A pleasant, cozy nook just big enough for two people.

Rose dropped her bag next to his on the stairs before going into the kitchen and washing her hands. She was caught between watching him do the same as she dried them on a towel, chewing her lip in thought before sinking onto the wide, comfortable bench. The meal smelled delicious, the entire house reeked of the mixture of spices. She lifted a cauliflower spear between her fingers and chewed thoughtfully before lifting her fork and eating quietly.

Ryan made it half way through the spicy sweet and sour mixture over rice before speaking.

“Rose…there is nothing Martin can do to hurt me…unless he hurts you,” he met the eyes that raised from the plate she was studying more than eating from.

“He wants money,” she said after a very long pause.

“How do you know that?”

Rose looked into his eyes. “He’s different than the…the man the other morning. He…he believes he’s in love with Daphne. A strange definition of love, I suppose, but he does. Tony doesn’t care about me. Money and status were important to him. And you buy status with money. I don’t know what he thought was so scandalous that you could be blackmailed, Ryan.” She didn’t have much appetite, but knew she had to eat so she took another couple bites.

“Your father’s coming over tomorrow for dinner,” Ryan told her as she began cleaning up the kitchen. “Susan’s making lasagna and a big salad.”

“They leave on Wednesday morning,” Rose said idly, letting the soap and water slide over the plates as she cleaned them. “You and he seem to get along.”

“He told me you’re very like your mother,” Ryan leaned against the counter, studying her. “No racquetball tomorrow.”

“I have some pictures of them,” her lips tilted at the photos in her mind. “I don’t remember her. Grannie said she loved swimming…and dancing. I used to wonder about her…but it only made me sad.” She stood watching the water drain and dried her hands, her breath catching in her throat when he took one of her hands and carried it to his lips. A gesture he knew would make her look up at him.

“Are we finished fighting for today?” He asked softly, his other hand up to brush over her cheek.

“I was fighting by myself, so I’m not sure it counts as a fight…and I’m not sure it’s finished because I don’t think you understand,” she told him honestly, her head shaking to herself as she left the kitchen and climbed the stairs to the bedroom.

She quickly stripped off the gym clothes, tossed them into the bin and set the shower, stepping inside with a long, contented sigh. Hands felt the gradually heating tiles beneath spread fingers, her head down and water cascading richly over her. Steam filled the large stall until the door was slid open just enough for Ryan to fit inside. She stood up, sweeping the hair from her face as she turned to face him.

Ryan felt a ragged shudder of relief flood through him when she wrapped her arms around his neck, her face tilted as she went to her toes and kissed him, long and thoroughly.

His mouth came down on hers, hot and possessive even as his hands slid over the water and soap slickened skin.

“I don’t know how to explain the need inside me, Rose. To keep you safe. To keep you mine,” Ryan met the slowly opening eyes.

“I don’t want to argue with you,” she whispered, licking a stream of warm water from his throat. “I want you…”

“I always want you.” The need reared so fast, so ripe, it burned. Her body was an amazing treasure to him, the long, clean lines of it. The sleekness of muscle and the surprising delicacy of her skin constantly fascinated and aroused him.

 

Rose saw him set the foil packet on the shelf and smiled at him. No, he didn’t understand how important her independence was to her, but she was important to him. That she understood clearly for the first time since they came together. She lifted the bottle of soap and filled her palm, pushing until he was against the closed door, her hands stroking and caressing from his throat to his knees.

With a very sensuous stop along the way to lick and suckle his cock.

It pleased her when she rose to stand that his head was back and breathing ragged as she allowed her palms to cup him, fingers stroking over the hard surface from top to the tightened base.

Laughing, Rose palmed the foil packet and made sure they were both clear of soap before quickly turning the water off and making a wild dash from the shower, a towel pulled off the shelf and wrapped around her. She heard the soft curse behind her and laughed louder, bare feet gripping on the stones as she raced through the house. She heard him come through the doors at the same time she tossed the towel down and dove head first into the much cooler waters of the large private pool.

 

Ryan was positive he was losing his sanity. One minute his mind was promising his body hot, steamy sex. The next, he was standing alone in a dry shower stall with cold air and empty arms. Her laughter echoed in his brain as he snatched up another towel, holding it in place as he followed the almost naked nymph through the house. His curse was loud and swallowed up by the cold water when it struck his body full force as he dove in after her.

Rose swam underwater to the far corner, surfacing, sweeping back her hair and setting the confiscated foil packet on the side. She hitched her arms onto the tiles and watched his long, lean and sexy body slice through the water toward her. Arms and hands cut through the surface expertly, coming up short of just where she floated, tawny, teasing eyes meeting the bright blue circles filled with a promise of retribution.

Narrowed dark lashes dripped with water, his eyes sweeping the side and falling on the packet she’d laid on the tiles next to her. He felt his body give a lurch of anticipation, almost forgiving him for the last few minutes. He watched the flash of fire in her eyes as he moved closer, her long legs wrapping around his waist and arms settled along his shoulders.

“What took you so long?” Rose whispered over his mouth, her tongue offering a teasing lick of the drops of water on his jaw. She nibbled her way to his ear, biting down just on the edge of pain before she felt one hand glide between them and cup her breast possessively. A low moan broke from her lips when his thumb and finger taunted her nipple to a hard peak.

There were times for teasing and times when it had to be now. Ryan saw the answer, the need deep in her eyes when he lifted his head, guiding her to the shallow end and onto the wide, low stairs. He sat back and held the packet between his fingers, her eyes sparkling as she took care of the detail before straddling him, sinking herself with a maddeningly slow pace that had them both groaning with desire.

Rose was lying face down in the water a while later, listening to Ryan slip back into the water from the bathroom. Bubbles broke the surface when his palm stroked over the cooling, slick body.

“This is almost as bad as smothering in bed, Rose,” he took a firm grip on her waist and lifted her, guiding them both into deeper water. He moved slowly, her feet drifting to stand, her arms around his neck. “Explain to me, Rose. Help me understand what’s between us.”

Rose closed her eyes and laid her cheek against his. “I’m not sure I can yet…I need time…I need to think. You think…one problem at a time…and your brain can solve it, fix it…make it right…”

“And you don’t think sharing that with a partner could halve the problem?”

“I believe…Mr. Flannary,” she opened her eyes and stared into his with a little smile. “Were I to present you with a problem, you would do your very best to solve it…but the problem with that…is you would also slightly skew the results in your favor.”

“I’m not positive, but I believe you just called me a cheat,” Ryan arched an eyebrow, his eyes teeming with humor.

“I had a problem with living in the hotel…” Rose said quietly, watching his expression. “You bought a house.”

“Hmmm…”

“In the interests of peace, it might be best if we talked about your day,” she suggested easily, gliding through the water with a long sigh. She liked listening to him talk, liked the complexities of all he went through in a day and wondered once again, why her. How did she get so lucky?

Ryan met her in the shallow, taking her hand and leading her to where both towels had been dropped. He held hers out to her before tucking his around his waist and sliding the door open. Neither of them minded the smell of chlorine as they dressed in their pajamas and wandered to the office, talking, laughing and involved in different things. It was nice, he mused, comfortable. Tranquil.

 

He was wishing for some of that tranquility in the morning when the radio sounded at six a.m.. Rose had pulled him from the bed, practically dressed him and pushed him out the door for a run.

“I told you I’m not running until this…”

“You are running. We are not changing our life because of some external influence like Tony,” Rose gave him another push. “I am going to shower and get dressed and I’ll be waiting for you. Be careful, Ryan,” she kissed him and went back to their bedroom. She only felt a little bit of guilt when she made the coffee, toasted a bagel and fixed some fruit to take to lunch for herself. She slipped out the side door, opened the gates and headed to work.

 

“And you let her go?” Ryan growled, glaring at his phone when the text came in. “I’m sorry…”

“She isn’t easy to corral, Ryan,” Matt chuckled and shook his head. “She promised me her doors were locked and she’d message you the instant she was inside. Which she has obviously done.”

“I should have known she was up to something,” Ryan just shook his head and finished knotting his tie.

“I’ll have dinner ready for five-thirty, Ryan,” Susan said through her laughter. “I let Rose know through her phone.”

“Thank you, Susan,” Ryan checked his briefcase, finished the bagel and headed for the door.