The Beginning—A Duet: Ryder & Two Worlds Colliding (11 page)

Marcus turned to me, confusion on his face. “Jade? You know him? This...this
mongrel
?”

Ryder stood in front of me, facing Marcus. He looked even bigger than I remembered. Taller. Wider. Angrier. I peered from behind Ryder at Marcus. At first he puffed up his chest like a peacock, but the scary biker’s face must’ve gotten to him. I couldn’t see Ryder’s face, but I could just imagine the expression on it after being called a mongrel.

What I did see, scared even me. Veins were popping on Ryder’s arms and neck, his fists balled by his sides as if he was ready to strike at any moment.

“Jesus, Jade, answer me!” Terror rose in Marcus’s voice as his eyes grew larger. “I don’t want us getting killed tonight.”

“No, motherfucker, I wouldn’t kill you. Just break that pretty jaw of yours. And your perfect fucking nose while I’m at it. Maybe a leg and arm too for good measure.”

“R...Ryder.” I stuttered. “It’s OK. He’s not worth hitting.”

He turned his head for a second to look me up and down, concern in his eyes. “Princess,” he growled, “did the fucker
hurt
you?”

“Physically? No.” I shook my head and dropped my gaze. I folded my arms across my chest and hugged myself.

“What’s going on then? Tell me.” His voice was menacing.

I nodded toward Marcus. “Turns out he’s a scumbag whoremonger. Did I mention he wants to marry me to get to my daddy’s firm?”

Ryder’s eyes lit up. He was finally face to face with my
kinda
boyfriend.

“That so? Be glad you didn’t hurt a fucking hair on her head. Otherwise I’d rip you the fuck up. As for the other shit, you come near her with your prick again, I will kill you. Slowly. Got that?”

Marcus spat at Ryder, suddenly brave now that he realized the biker wasn’t a random stranger. “It’s none of your fucking business, muscle man. I’ll slap a law suit on you so quickly, it’ll make your dumb head spin. I’m not afraid of a stupid fuck like you. All brawn and no brains. Scum of the earth.” The venom in his threat was unmistakable.

“Marcus. Stop! You don’t know anything about him.” Anger seethed through my bloodstream.

“Well, I sure as hell hope you don’t either. And by the way, while you’ve been crying wolf here, should I be worried that this beast has been fucking my girlfriend?”

Ryder took an ominous step toward Marcus. “I told you she ain’t your girl,” he growled.

“The moron can’t even speak proper English. Tsk, tsk, Jade, what happened to your standards. Slumming it now, babe?”

My hands fisted by my sides. If I were a man, I’d deck him.

I moved in front of Ryder. “Don’t you dare speak of another person with such disrespect. You’ve humiliated me, isn’t that enough for one night? And by the way, you can explain to my daddy why I’m no longer at the party or going on dates with you. Or
marrying
you. Better use that brain of yours Ace, cause daddy
ain’t
going to buy your bullshit.”

“Jade, be reasonable. I’m sorry. What happened...it won’t happen again. When I get stressed I need sex, baby. And since you wouldn’t put out, I had to—”

“You’re right on that score. It won’t happen again. Because I’m not interested in you any longer.” I turned toward my rescuer. “Ryder, is your bike close by? Take me home.
Please
.”

“You can’t be fucking serious. Let me at least get you a taxi. You can’t go with him. Your old man will kill me.” The fear on Marcus’s face was genuine. He was scared shitless. And so he should be. My father was formidable when he was crossed. He’d have Marcus’s head on a chopping block. And his dick too, when I told him the whole story. Poor Marcus, I actually felt sorry for him—he’d blown his whole future because he couldn’t keep it in his pants.

“You should’ve thought about dating etiquette before you screwed that girl, Marcus. Too late now, buddy. As of tonight, you’re my
ex-boyfriend
. I’m leaving. With Ryder.”

It was Ryder’s turn to gape at me. “Jade. You sure you wanna do this?”

He looked at me as if I was crazy.

I nodded. “Yep. I’ve never been surer of anything in my damn life.”

S
hit. My bravado of a moment ago left me the instant I saw the Harley. What was I thinking? Maybe I should just wait for that taxi after all.

Ryder had a perplexed look on his face, a deep frown marring the face I was liking more and more every time I saw it.

“
What
?” I challenged, sounding a hell of a lot braver than I actually felt.

He shook his head. “Nothing.”

“Don’t lie to me, Ryder. Not now.”

He shrugged. “Just ain’t never had a woman on the back of my bike.”

“R...really?” I choked out.

I didn’t know how this shit worked and I was losing my nerve. Fast.

He smiled, a beautiful genuine smile that lit up his face for a moment—one I’d never seen before. Ryder was breathtaking when he smiled. My heart did a little three sixty degree flip.

“Guess there’s always a first time. Guess this is an emergency.”

“Hmmm. Ryder?”

“What now, woman?”

“I...I think I’d better take a taxi after all. I’m not dressed for this.”

He looked me up and down, a lascivious grin on his face and lust in his eyes.
I can do that to him, just standing here?
Wow.

“If you think I’m letting you go after all that, you’re mistaken. I don’t play the knight in shining armor to just any woman.”

What does he mean?

He straddled the beast and nodded. “Get on.”

I shook my head.

“Fuck, bitch, don’t test me. I said, get on. Now.” He growled.

My mouth went dry. He called me
bitch
. What the hell had I gotten myself into?

I heard Marcus’s voice. The idiot had followed us. Tenacious prick. “Jade. Get back here. Don’t you fucking dare get on that motorcycle with that dickhead!”

That was it. I pulled my dress right up my thighs till the lacy tops of my stockings were exposed. Ryder’s eyes widened and his jaw tightened. He cocked his head, waiting for me. I grabbed hold of his arm and swung a leg over the seat.

I felt like a tramp. I felt rebellious. But most of all,
I felt free
.

The bike roared to life beneath my ass, the rumble sending shockwaves through my body—from my barely covered pussy, to every cell in my body.

So this is what it’s like to feel alive.

This was what I’d been missing.

Adventure. Freedom. Living.

Really living
. Fuck yeah.

Ryder pulled my arms around his waist and squeezed my hands. It sent a ripple straight to my core. Sweet Jesus, was I going to have an orgasm on his bike? I squeezed my thighs together, which only made me grip Ryder’s hips tighter.

“Princess—” His gravelly voice rumbled from his chest.

Marcus stood in front of us. “Get off the bike, Jade. I’m not telling you again. You look like a whore. I’m not having my future
wife
behave in such an atrocious manner. You’ve made your point. Now get off.”

“You don’t get it do you, Marcus? I’m not marrying you. Ever. You’re a douche-bag. Who knows where else that cock has been since I became your girlfriend?”

Ryder turned his head and glared at Marcus. I squeezed my thighs again, gripping his hips even tighter. Then I leaned my cheek against his back and hugged his torso. Tightly.

“Hold on,” he shouted.

The bike roared as we pulled away from the curb, into the traffic.

I looked back at Marcus. His shirt was still untucked. My
ex-boyfriend
raked his hand through his hair, scowling. As juvenile as my actions may have seemed, I couldn’t resist it—I smiled and flipped him the finger.

I could get used to this.
Being badass
. It rocked!

I let go.

Of everything.

The wind whipped my neatly styled hair around my face. My dress rode up my thighs till my naked ass was sticking to the leather of the seat. So much for thongs. The vibration of the beast made my body tremble with anticipation. Every thought left my mind as I just absorbed the sensation: my cheek to leather, and the warmth of Ryder’s hard body.

It felt so...
right
. Like I belonged.

I wanted to live, be wild, even if just for tonight.

“Where to?” Ryder bellowed above the rumble of the bike and the traffic noise.

“Anywhere. Just take me away from here. Just for
tonight.
Please.”

“Yeah,” he groaned, his voice raw.

F
inally we left the city behind and wound up Mulholland Drive. At this point he could take me anywhere, I’d be happy. A small voice in my head reminded me that I was on the back of a badass biker’s motorcycle. Strangely, I wasn’t afraid.
Should I be?

It was men like Marcus, who pretended to be what they weren’t, that frightened me more—wolves in sheep’s clothing. With Ryder I knew exactly where I stood. In spite of his rugged, and often fierce appearance, he was mostly transparent. If he was angry, I knew it. If he was happy... No, I had no idea what he looked like when he was happy.

Yet, inexplicably, I did trust the man.
Mostly.

Except when he looked at me with lust in his eyes. I’d seen lust—more than once.

No, don’t go there.

The small voice was back:
He’s married, Jade
.

How could I forget that? Even for an instant?

Right at this moment, I was a smart, professional woman with temporary memory loss.

My heart twisted, and I had an uneasy feeling that knotted my stomach and tightened my throat. I shouldn’t be here, away from civilization, dressed like this.

Alone with a man like Ryder
.

And anyway, how come he was there in the street at that exact moment? Coincidence? That was highly unlikely. Was he stalking me? I doubted that. Ryder had no real interest in me.

It must’ve been coincidence.

I loosened my arms around his torso and shuffled my ass backward on the seat. I shouldn’t be leaning this closely into him; it was just...wrong. I gave Marcus hell about screwing other girls and here I was on the back of a married man’s bike, letting him take me wherever he wanted to. I hated two-faced people. Yet, I was no different in this moment. I lifted my cheek off Ryder’s back, even though it took all my strength to do it.

Ryder stiffened. His muscles tensed, as if knew what I was thinking.

I’d give anything to read his mind right now
.

Was he thinking about Mia? His babies?

I squeezed my eyes closed and drew in a long breath and let it out slowly, trying my best to calm my erratic thoughts and my racing heart.

Just then Ryder pulled over and shut the engine down. He kicked out the stand of the bike. What the hell was he doing?

He thinks I’m an easy target
. A slut. Ripe for the picking. Oh God.

If only I could disappear into thin air. I loosened my arms around him and leaned as far back as I could without falling off the seat.

“Ryder?” My shaky voice cut through the clear night air.

“Yeah?”

I jumped off the bike and stood on unsteady legs—I didn’t want to be so close to him any longer.

He lifted a leg over the bike and stood with his arms folded across his chest, his eyes boring into me. I pulled my dress down. It wasn’t helping much—it clung to my body. Thank God it was dark.

“I shouldn’t have asked you to take me for a ride. I’m sorry. I’ll call a cab.” I dug in my purse for my phone.

“What the fuck’s gotten into you now? I’m not letting you out of my sight dressed like that. You won’t make it home alive.”

The eye above his scarred cheek twitched.

Ryder was mad as hell.

I rubbed up and down my arms. I was cold and I couldn’t suppress a shiver. My nipples were hard, my hair a mess. And I was tired to the bone—I just wanted to go home.

“It’s a mistake. All of it. I shouldn’t be here. With you.”

“Something wrong with me? I’m not good enough for your fancy tastes?” He smirked.

“No. It’s nothing like that—”

“Well, what then?” His voice was gruff.

“You know the reason,” I huffed, lifting my chin.

“I don’t have a fucking clue what’s going on in that pretty little head of yours. Tell me.”

Pretty?

“Mia. And the kids.”

His eyebrows knitted together. “Now you’ve just confused the living fuck out of me. What do they have to do with us being here?” he snarled.

I crossed my arms over my chest, trying to hide my hard nipples. “Shit, Ryder. I don’t do married men.”

He threw his head back and laughed. It roared through his chest and filled the silence surrounding us. Yet it was not a humorous laugh. It was filled with...danger.

“That’s not funny. I’m serious. I’m
not
that kind of girl.”

He took a step closer and dragged his knuckles over my cheek. “What kind of girl are you? The kind to drive a man wild with that fuck-me dress?” I felt his warm breath on my cheek. He dragged his thumb over my lips. “Are you the kind of girl who gets a man to crave those lips around his cock—.”

My breath hitched.

“Tell me, Princess,
just what kind of girl
are
you
?”

I gasped. “Fuck you, Ryder.”

He grabbed my face and squeezed my cheeks—hard. His eyes glistened in the dark. “Yeah bitch, right now I want to. The way you’re looking at me...” He gripped a handful of hair against my scalp and yanked my head back, forcing me to look into his eyes.

“I’m going to fuck you right here, on the back of my bike. Taste your skin. I’m going to suck those nipples and slide my cock into your warm, wet pussy. And then I’m going to fuck you—and you’re going to beg me for more. Yeah, that’s what I’m going to do.”

“Don’t you
dare
—.”

“Or what? We’re all alone. In the middle of fucking nowhere.”

Good God. I didn’t stand a chance against this giant of a man. Panic rose in my chest.