Always His (Crazed Devotion #1) (19 page)

“I promise I’ll always love you,” he told her. “I promise I will always protect you, and I’ll never allow you to feel as if there isn’t someone in your corner.” He reached for the second ring in the box. “Baby, I’m not just asking you to allow me to love you forever, but I’m asking that you allow me to love Tori as well. I want all the good times and the bad. I want to laugh and cry with you both, I want the gift of your love too. Because I’ve lived five years without you, and I know I never want to go a day without it again.”

My lower lip trembled, and I bit it to keep from falling apart.

“Nicole.” Ryker’s voice vibrated as he asked the question that would change my life and Tori’s forever. “Will you marry me?”

Tears slowly trailed over my cheeks and dripped from my jaw onto our joined hands. I looked over at my little girl as she smiled brightly, staring up at Ryker like he’d hung the stars in the sky just for her.

“Yes,” I whispered as I shifted my gaze back to him. “I’ll marry you.”

Ryker’s eyes shined with unshed tears as he slid the gorgeous diamond ring over my knuckle to the base of my finger. When he looked back up at me, a single tear fell from his eye as he took my face in his hands. “I’m gonna give you the world, baby,” he assured me before he pressed his lips tightly against mine.

The clapping around us faded as I focused only on him, realizing how just four words could truly change a person’s life forever.

I
stood in the entryway of the restaurant staring out into the rain. Ryker had gone to get his truck so I didn’t have to run out in the rain, and my dad left long ago with Tori in tow. He insisted on giving us a night to ourselves. Ryker was definitely pleased even though I knew he would miss her too. But a night alone to celebrate our engagement sounded pretty amazing.

“It’s real good to see him smile again.” I turned around to see Ryker’s friend Luke approaching to my left. “I mean he smiled before, but nothing genuine. He regretted leaving you every day. It was something that, um, that Ben and I heard often.” He paused as he looked out the front door just as Ryker’s truck pulled up to the front of the restaurant. “His love for you gave Ben and me something to look forward to, ya know.” He shrugged as Ryker opened the front door and rushed inside.

“You hitting on my fiancée, Thor?” I rolled my eyes, and Luke chuckled at his comment.

“Nah,” Luke replied. “I was just telling her how big of a pussy you were for the last five years.”

I watched as they tormented one another, and it was actually really great to see a piece of Ryker’s past. He had two great friends in Ben and Luke.

Speaking of Ben, I hadn’t seen him since he walked my best friend to her car over forty minutes ago. I had a strong feeling I would be hearing a not-so-G-rated version of their night from Liz tomorrow. Lord help Ben, because he seriously had no idea of the monster he’d unleashed. She would leave him feeling as if a tour to Iraq was just a warm-up.

“Are you heading back to the hotel?” Ryker asked as he threaded his fingers through mine.

“Yeah, I’m beat, and from the looks of it, I’ll be heading back alone.” Ryker looked to where Luke was pointing, and I too followed his gesture.

Ben and Liz were standing only two feet from the front exit under the awning, tangled in what appeared to be some form of a human pretzel. This was definitely not going to be something that would end in a G-rating.

The guys chuckled, but I felt a little less amused by the scene. My best friend had a habit of being emotionally unavailable when it came to men. I really just hoped they both knew what they were getting themselves into.

“You two have a great night,” Luke said, pushing open the front door as his cab pulled up. Pausing just before he exited, he looked back at us over his shoulder. “And congratulations on the engagement. I told ya to bare your heart, Ryker, and it looks like it worked for ya.”

He didn’t wait for a response before he rushed out into the rain toward the waiting cab.

“He seems like a really good guy,” I whispered.

“What, you crushing on my friend now?” Ryker asked as he tickled my sides.

I giggled and spun around, backing up to try to gain some distance. I didn’t get far before Ryker was pulling me back flush against his body. His lips covered mine in a heated kiss before he stepped back, leaving me slightly breathless.

“You ready to get out of here?” he asked, and I nodded. “I got an idea.”

“Oh yeah?” I responded, hooking my finger in his waistband. “What kind of idea?”

Ryker leaned down and kissed the tip of my nose. “That, my beautiful girl, is something you’ll have to patient for. I’ll promise you’ll love it.”

He backed me out the door, and I looked up and squealed as the rain began to bead on my face. He scooped me up in his arms and rushed off toward his truck.

“Do you remember that night in the rain? The night I told you no one would ever own my heart the way you did?” Ryker asked as he pulled me out of the cab of his truck. “We made love in the back of my truck in the pouring rain.”

“You mean after I got your truck stuck in the mud?” The rain was beginning to pick up once again, and my hair was sticking to my forehead.

“Maybe it wasn’t really stuck,” Ryker said with a smirk. “Maybe it was just my own little way of securing a night with my girl.”

“Are you admitting that you set the whole thing up?” I asked, very interested now if he was teasing.

“I guess you’ll never know. But I was hoping tonight we could relive that moment.” Ryker took my hand and led me to the back of his truck, where he lowered his tailgate. Before he could lift me, I hopped up on my own and quickly slid inside. He watched my movements with interest as I began opening my shirt one button at a time, taunting him.

“What are you waiting for?” I asked. “I thought you wanted a replay.”

“I’m just enjoying the show, gorgeous. Don’t let me stop you.” His heated gaze roamed over me as I continued to do just what he asked.

I had never felt as sexy in my life as I did right then under his intense stare. Ryker made me feel like I was the only woman in the world. Like no matter what happened, he would always cherish me.

Once I removed my shirt, I unhooked my bra and allowed it to fall onto the space beside me. “I’m getting kind of lonely up here by myself. You think you can join me now?”

I watched in awe as he hopped up on the tailgate and moved toward me. In one quick movement, he hooked my waist, pulled me onto his lap, and sat beneath me. “You are flawless,” he whispered before he placed his lips to mine. “You still make my heart race at an unbelievable speed. My head spins with so many different dreams I hope we can reach together.” Another kiss, gentler this time. “I love you so damn much it makes my chest ache.”

“I love you too,” I said as I turned to face him, straddling his waist. “And all those dreams you have will come true. As long as we have you.”

I
couldn’t take my eyes off Nicole. The way she moved against me, swiveling her hips, grinding against me. The way her wet hair lay plastered against her shoulders and across her bare breasts. The small whimpers and cries that escaped her mouth as she rode me in the pouring rain. She was mesmerizing.

I slid my hands along her thighs and brought them to rest on her slim hips, feeling her movements even more as her hips shifted under my palms.

“So fucking beautiful,” I told her as I lifted my gaze to meet hers. “You’re so perfect.”

“We’re perfect,” she said in a panting whisper.

Her hips began to rock faster, and her breathing sped up. I could feel her tightening around my cock as she whispered my name.

I wanted nothing more than to spin us around and place her beneath me, and I took over, driving into her. I felt this animalistic urge to make her feel me for days, but my options were limited. I had nothing to place beneath her to protect her from the hard surface of the truck. My lack of options suddenly left me irritated.

“I’m so close,” she confessed. A rush of excitement ran through me, and I focused on getting her to her release.

I was teetering on the edge of my own release. Nicole rode me harder and faster, leaving me unable to hold back any longer. The moment she pulsated around me, I let go, spilling deep inside her as she continued to move over me, stretching out the pleasure as long as she could.