The Closer You Get (23 page)

“Christ, Cora!” Rye cried through gritted teeth. She felt him throb against her hand, and then a hot gush against her belly. She looked down to watch what was happening to him. The sound of his groaning and what was happening…what she’d done to him, finally sent her over the edge.

Panting in fear, she tried to stop it. But orgasm overcame her. She lost her grip on Rye, trusting him to catch her. He did. She fell into the oblivion of pleasure for an eternal few seconds.
 

When the tide of pleasure receded, her cheek was pressed to his chest, held there by his hand at the back of her head. His heart was pounding against her ear. The noise of the shower spray seemed louder than before.
 

Rye reached behind her and turned off the shower. He pulled the curtain back, grabbed a towel, and wrapped it around her. He dried himself before tying his towel around his waist. Cora watched, waiting for him to look at her again. When he did, it was with a smile.
 

Something was different. Not about the way he was looking at her, but about the way she saw him. As though she’d peeled back the layers and seen into his soul.
 

Trust. That’s what it was. She’d given him trust, and he hadn’t let her down.
 

He held his hand to her, helping her out of the shower. Then he leaned down to gather up his dirty clothes. “Do you mind if I run these through the wash?”

She opened her mouth but found she still didn’t have the ability to speak. He grinned and kissed her. “Point me in the right direction,” he said.

She pointed toward the kitchen. He left and Cora, not knowing what to do, sat on the toilet lid. There were unfamiliar aches and tremblings. She still throbbed from the first orgasm she’d ever had. Rye returned and knelt in front of her. “You okay?”

The furrow of concern in his brow was endearing. “You are so nice,” she said, barely louder than a whisper.

He grinned. “I appreciate that. Was that…okay? In there? Did I go too far?”

She shook her head. “No. It was good. I’ve never…well, you already know that.”

“You’ve never had an orgasm?” He gaped at her, clearly appalled.

“I told you I’d never had sex.”

“Yeah, but you have to have masturbated, right? I mean…right?”

She shrugged. Having only recently learned that she could, she’d thus far been unsuccessful in her few attempts.
 

“I don’t know what to say,” he murmured.

“I’ve tried a few times. I think I always get to a certain point and then freak out and quit. But…with you, I just decided to trust you.”

He stood and pulled her to her feet. “Do you need me to show you how?”

She laughed at the idea as well as his deep concern. “I’ll figure it out. I mean, you pretty much showed me how, just now. That was the most amazing thing I’ve ever felt in my life.”

“Well, yeah,” Rye said. “God, your first orgasm. You know, tell a guy these things. I would have liked to have known something like that when I was in the moment.”

“Would you have done something differently?”

“I guess not. I just would have liked to have that awareness…that it was your first time. I feel like I missed out on something. Same with your first kiss.”

She wrapped her arms around his waist and hugged him. Before she could object, he’d pulled her towel off. He bent down, pulled her against him, and stood, lifting her off her feet in the process. “This feels so fucking good,” he groaned.

She couldn’t argue. In fact, she’d never felt such a combination of contentment and utter elation all at one time. They might have been made for one another. For just this sort of post-orgasmic bliss.
 

Rye carried her to her room and fell onto the bed with her, pulling a blanket over them both. He tossed his towel aside and shimmied closer to her, fitting their bodies together as tightly as possible. She wound up with her arms around his neck and her cheek pressed to his chest, just about as happy as she could be.
 

R
YE
DROVE
HOME
after his clothes had come out of the dryer. He was sitting tall and proud. He’d just lain naked in bed with a woman and not had sex with her. For his usual routine, the shower part would normally have been foreplay. But it had been enough for Cora. Almost too much, judging from how much she’d trembled afterward. So he’d held her and talked.
 

As he drove home, he thought back to Beth. They’d talked. Really talked. She’d been the first woman he’d been able to do that with. Thinking back, he realized the conversation they had hadn’t gone deep enough. Not deep enough to show him who she really was.
 

With Cora, though, it was all in the open. She was who she was. No secrets. No social masks disguising her true self. Talking with her had simply clarified his understanding of her.
 

Rye was happy.

If he could just let go, just settle in, he would be good and truly happy.
 

He pulled into his parking spot and jogged up to his apartment. It was dark inside, and a quick search of the apartment told him Cash wasn’t there. Rye pulled out his phone and sent Cash a quick text.
 

“You coming home?”

A moment later his phone buzzed. “Three minutes out.”

Rye left the front door unlocked and went to his room. He undressed down to his boxers, crawled between his sheets, and replayed the shower scene in his head. His beautiful boss, Cora, with her hands all over him, so small in his arms, gasping and clawing at him as she came for the first time. Best night ever.

He drifted off, hoping he might dream of her.
 

“Psst. You awake?”

Rye’s eyes popped open at the sound of his brother’s voice. “No,” he answered.

“Great.”

Rye felt the bed sink behind him. He rolled over to find Cash sitting next to him, his back against the headboard. “The fuck do you want?” Rye asked.

“Adam doesn’t like you.”

Rye laughed and scooted up, reclining against his pillows. “Finally figured that out, did you?”

“We were having a perfectly nice evening. Went back to his place. I was gonna spend the night. But then we got to talking, and everything just went south.”

“What did he say about me?”

“Nothing that wasn’t true. It just pissed me off; that’s all. I mean, I wouldn’t say shit like that about his family members.”

Rye sighed. “It doesn’t have to be a big deal. He’s told me to my face he doesn’t like me with Cora. I can deal with it. Just try not to let it ruin your relationship.”

“I have tried; that’s the thing. I’ve tried steering the conversations away from you and Cora and into safer territory. But damn, man, he really hates your guts.”

Rye didn’t know what else to say. The two of them sat in silence for a few minutes.

Finally, Cash asked, “How was your date with Cora?”

“I don’t know how to answer that question without sounding like a cliché from a love song.”

“Wow. That good?”

“Let me put it this way. I need you to decide, soon, whether you think what we’ve got here in Fidelity will last. Because the longer it takes, the harder it’s going to be to leave her.”

“Rye, I’m not a kid anymore. If you find a home here and I don’t—”

“Then we’ll both go. You and me, Cash. Bros before…well, you know.”

“You can’t even call her a ho, that’s how bad you’ve got it. Listen, you go right ahead and fall in love. And if you do, then understand that I truly believe you gotta put your woman first in your life. I will not stand in the way of that. I won’t make you feel bad about it. If I need to move on, I’ll move on. You’ve lost enough, Rye.”

It didn’t matter what Cash said. Of all the things he’d lost, almost losing Cash had been the worst. He appreciated having his brother’s support, but if Cash couldn’t find a home here, then neither could Rye.

The next day, Rye got in his truck to drive to work. But halfway there, he made a hard left down Prudence street and into the law offices of Derrick and Fisk. At barely eight, surely Adam wouldn’t be too busy for a quick chat.
 

The building was small. There was a reception desk, but no receptionist. Only two office doors, both slightly ajar. Rye found Adam’s name on the one to the left. He rapped his knuckles on the glass and went in without waiting for an invitation.

Adam looked up first in surprise, then in pure hate. “What do you want?” he snarled.

Rye perched on the edge of a chair and leaned forward. “I’m sick of this fucking game. What do I have to do to get you to back off?”

“Stop dating Cora. Simple as that.”

Rye laughed. “Is that seriously your only hangup? You don’t like me stepping in on your territory? She’s not even your girlfriend!”

“It’s not a territory thing. It’s a respect thing. Nothing about you says respect. You don’t respect her. Me. This town. Anyone. So fuck you, Rye. I’m not going to stop trying to talk her out of this.”

“Well, you’re going to lose Cash. Is that what you want?”

“Are you threatening me or something?”

“Absolutely not. I’m telling you the reality of this thing. If you wanna hate me, then fine. But you better keep your mouth shut about me to Cash. Because if it comes down to a choice between you and me, he’s gonna pick me.”

“And how the fuck do you know that?”

“I know because I’d do the same. It’s been me and him against the world for more than ten years now, and this thing with you is the closest I’ve ever seen him get to love. As much as I don’t like you personally, I don’t want to see you fuck this thing up with Cash. So if there’s something I can do to fix this, or at least come up with a truce, I wish you’d just tell me. Work with me.”

Adam’s glare never faltered. “You can stop dating Cora.”

Rye shot to his feet and shoved his hand through his hair. He paced twice before turning to Adam. “Don’t screw this up. Please.” He left, hating that he was begging this guy for just a scrap of acceptance. Didn’t Adam see what would happen? If Adam’s relationship with Cash crumbled, then Cash’s relationship with the town would crumble. If that happened, Rye’s relationship with Cora would crumble. The whole thing would crash down around them.
 

This tentative new life they were building in a town that, by all appearances, should never have worked out for them, was too fragile to stand up to this kind of conflict.
 

By the time he got to work, Rye had talked himself down by telling himself he was being overly dramatic. An end to Cash and Adam didn’t have to mean an end to everything in Fidelity. Surely his brother could withstand one breakup without it destroying everything.

He made it into his office and closed the door. But his hand stayed on the door as he realized that just down the hall was a woman he’d held naked in his arms just the night before. He laughed at himself, at how pathetic he was for needing to see her. A little voice in his mind mentally made fun of him the entire walk down the hallway. But he just couldn’t bring himself to care.

He knocked twice and went in.

He wished he hadn’t.
 

She was holding her phone to her ear even as tears streamed down her cheeks. “I know,” she said into the phone. “So you’ve said, but…Adam, please…I know…I know…”

It went on like that. Rye felt numb as he sank into a chair in front of her desk.
 

At last she said, “We’ll talk later. I’ve got work to do. Goodbye.” She put down the phone and pressed her hands to her face.
 

Rye leaned forward. “Cora?”

She grabbed a tissue from her desk and dabbed at her eyes. Then she put on a brave smile. “Rye?”

“I can’t imagine you naked when you’re crying. Did you know that?”

“I didn’t. Is that true of all men? Or is it your own unique quirk?”

“I really don’t know. But if you’re sad or hurt, I want to fix it. I have to fix it so I can get back to picturing you naked.”

She giggled, blushed, and turned her eyes downward. Slowly, her smile faded. “After you left, I didn’t sleep. I kept tossing and turning, wondering if everything had gone as it should. I wondered if there was anything I should be embarrassed about. I wondered if I’d said the right things and kept from saying the wrong things.” She looked up, then, meeting his eyes. “Could you reassure me a little? Just while I’m getting through all the firsts? I promise I’m not this insecure, it’s just…this is all new territory for me.”

Rye fought back a grin. He kept her gaze. “I slept like a baby. I can’t remember having a night I enjoyed more. For me, it was perfect.”

Her shoulders relaxed, and she smiled. “Really?”

“Really. I mean, we hung out with your friends at the fair. Made out like teenagers. Showered together. Gave each other hand jobs. And then lay naked together, talking for the better part of three hours. It was a beautiful evening. The only flaw in it was that you didn’t get to enjoy it as much as I did.”

“I did, though, Rye. I really, truly enjoyed it.”

He let his gaze lower to her lips. “Good. I’m glad.”

“Do you want to kiss me right now?”

“Yes, I do.”

“In my office? During work hours?”

Rye chuckled. He stood and walked around her desk, perching on the edge. He took her hands and pulled her to her feet, bringing her between his legs and pulling her in for a kiss. She melted into him as they connected. He kept it light and sweet, not because he wasn’t willing to do her on her desk in the middle of a work day, but because they had more to talk about.
 

She seemed to know it, too because she pulled away and took a fortifying breath. “So, that was Adam.”

Rye nodded and waited.

“What did you say to piss him off so bad?”

“I told him that if he didn’t ease up, he was going to lose Cash. I asked him what I could do to make it better.”

“And what did he say to that?”

“He said the only thing I could do to make it better was stay away from you.”

Cora slumped. “Well, shit.”