Chased by Love (Love in Bloom: The Ryders): Trish Ryder (10 page)

He didn’t want to hear it, and at the same time, he was mesmerized by her. She totally understood what he was feeling—and that scared the living hell out of him. “Stop! It’s too much. It’s too fucking much.” He stormed off again, rounding his shoulders against the rain.

“Don’t you see?” she said as she caught up to him. “Feeling that pain is the
only
thing that can ever set you free from being wrecked by it the next time something dredges it up, or the time after that, or the time after that. You said you were having trouble writing songs, and who knows. Maybe that’s all tangled up in this, too.” She grabbed his arm and yanked him to a stop.

“Damn it, Boone! What are you afraid of? You already pour your heart and soul into your music. Feel your pain and earn yourself an Oscar. Or don’t. I don’t care about the movie. But all that stuff you’re too afraid to feel is what’s missing—and maybe not
just
in the movie. Was she your first love? Are you afraid hurting makes you weak? Talk to me!”

“What am I afraid of? Feeling like I’m dying inside. She and Honor went through hell because of their fucking parents, and me and my brother Cage and the rest of us
ghetto dwellers
protected them. We snuck them into our homes, trying to protect them from their drunken, drug-addicted parents.” He stalked toward Trish, driven by anger he couldn’t control. “I loved her like a sister, and
none
of us could save her. We were kids trying to save a drug-addicted fifteen-year-old.”

He stood in the pouring rain staring at the woman who had dredged up his demons, and he was unable to stop the rest from coming out. “And then there’s you, giving everything you’ve got to this role. Studying all night, starving yourself. You’re on set for ten, fifteen grueling hours a day, not only kicking ass with your role, but when they’re sick and tired of me messing up, you’re telling them you believe in me every damn day, when
I
don’t even know if I believe in myself. And day after day I’m watching you, wanting you, and trying to hold back because no matter what I know in my head when we’re acting out those vile scenes”—he tapped angrily on the side of his head—“
you
become
her
.”

TRISH’S MIND SPUN as she tried to grasp
all
of what Boone had said. Selfishly, she wanted to address his feelings for her, but Boone was hurting and angry, and he’d laid more important parts of himself out between them.

She reached for his hand as thunder rolled through the sky and the clouds sobbed overhead. “You said this movie was important to you, and now I understand why. But what I don’t understand is why you would willingly put yourself through this if you didn’t want to feel the effects of it.”

He scrubbed a hand down his tension-ridden face. “The movie resonates with me for a million reasons. It’s important that the world knows people struggle with demons bigger than they could ever imagine and how those struggles affect others. But I had no idea it would be this intense, or that your acting would be so real.”

He pulled her closer, and she willingly went to him. He pressed his hands to her cheeks. Rain streamed down their faces, hanging from his lashes like teardrops above his stormy eyes.

“I didn’t realize I’d feel anything for you, or that your acting would affect me this much.” He touched his forehead to hers and closed his eyes.

She expected him to say he was pulling out of the movie and ending whatever this was between them. She waited for an interminable moment, shivering against the frigid rain and wind and trying to contain her mounting panic. She wasn’t ready for him to walk away. The hell with the movie. She’d never,
ever
, felt so drawn to a person, and the more she learned about him, the more connected she felt. She wondered, briefly, if she was caught up in Rick and Delia, but she’d always been good about keeping a clear line between reality and make-believe, and never in all her years of acting had she felt like this. Never in her
life
had she felt like this.

When she could no longer battle her own thoughts, she covered his hands with hers, and he opened his eyes, revealing so much raw emotion, she knew this was real—and she wasn’t alone in what she felt.

“What do you want, Boone?”

“What I want isn’t fair.”

Her heart swelled with his painful honestly. If she felt this tortured, how must he feel? “Maybe you aren’t the one who should make that decision.”

He searched her eyes, and she knew by the firm press of his hands against her skin, and the warring emotions trampling his features like a battlefield, that he was fighting against himself.

A hot ache grew in her throat, and she fisted her hands in his shirt, dragging him closer. “
Feel
, Boone. Let yourself
feel
.”

Passion flared in his eyes, and his response came in the hard press of his fingers curling around the base of her skull, holding her captive to a punishingly intense and beautiful kiss. She went up on her toes, accepting everything he was willing to give, wanting to feel the pain and anger of the past so he wasn’t alone in experiencing them.

“You,” he said between kisses. “I want you.”

“Take me, Boone.”

They groped and kissed, as hot and frantic as the raging storm. His mouth was everywhere at once, on her lips, her jaw, her neck. His greedy hands clutched her ass, groped her breasts, her hips, her face. Their bodies bumped and ground, and there in the field, among the howling wind and treacherous rain, they tore at each other’s clothes, falling to the wet grass in a frantic tangle of lust and nakedness.

She bowed off the ground. “More. I need more.”

Grasping at his shoulders, her hands slid off his rain-soaked skin. He moved down her body, pressing hot kisses to her chilled flesh, and captured her breast in his mouth. She cried out at the scintillating pleasure as he worked his magic. His hand moved between her legs, and holy mother of orgasms, within seconds she was writhing and moaning and the world careened around her as she surrendered to their passion.

He came down over her, his hard length perched against her center, and their eyes locked.

“Condom,” they said in unison.

His head dropped between his shoulders.

“Don’t you have one? In your wallet or something?”

He shook his head. “Contrary to my reputation, I don’t sleep around.”

She closed her eyes and whimpered. “I never thought I’d
ever
say this, but why the hell not?”

He slid his hands beneath her head, cradling it as he smiled down at her.

“Because I always hoped one day I’d meet someone like you, and I didn’t want a string of senseless mistakes hanging around my neck.”

“Boone,” she whispered, feeling him slip into her heart as raindrops slid between their bodies. “That’s the sweetest thing I’ve ever heard.”

“Come on, beautiful.” He rose to his feet in all his naked glory and helped her up.

“Where?” she asked as they gathered their clothes.

“We need to make a run to the store.”

They hurried toward the house hand in hand.

“Um.” Trish tucked herself against his side, wondering if he was going to think less of her for what she said next. “No, we don’t.”

He looked down at her with a quizzical expression as they climbed the porch steps. She nibbled at her lower lip, and he tugged her against him with a hearty laugh.

“You little minx!”

“
Ugh!
” She laughed as he crashed his mouth over hers, and they stumbled into the kitchen. “I don’t sleep around,” she insisted between kisses.

They kissed and stumbled through the living room, tumbling down to the couch and laughing as they made out with reckless abandon.

“Upstairs,” Boone managed, and lifted her into his arms, carrying her toward the stairs. “So you have condoms because…”

She buried her face in his chest. “I could lie and say it has to do with working with the man I’ve had a crush on for too many years to admit without outing myself as a ridiculous girl, or I can tell you the truth.”

“That’s an excellent lie,” he said as he carried her into his bedroom and found the kitten sleeping soundly on his pillow.

“My room,” she whispered.

He leaned in for another kiss and headed down the hall. “Does the truth have to do with some other guy?”

“Actually, no,” she said as he set her down beside her bed. “I haven’t done this in so long, I’m not sure I’ll remember how. The truth is, my father was in search and rescue. My brother Jake followed in his footsteps, and my brother Cash is a fireman.” She went to her closet and pulled out an enormous first-aid kit. “My family has a thing about being prepared. I have about six of these kits at home, although I have to admit, I never thought I’d actually have a need to use anything but a bandage.”

He arched a brow as she dug through the plastic box and tossed two condoms on the bedside table. The window was open, and a cool breeze brought goose bumps to her damp skin.

“They came with the kit. Four of them.”

“Remind me to thank your overprotective brothers.”

**

TRISH LAUGHED AS they tumbled to the bed. “If you value your life, you might not want to mention this to them.”

 “I don’t think you’re supposed to laugh during sex.” Boone nipped at her chin, earning another sweet giggle from the sexy woman who was making his heart turn over in his chest.

Trish reached up and stroked his cheek. “Then maybe you should kiss me instead of teasing me with that mouth I’ve been dreaming of forever.”

“Oh, you like my mouth, do you?” He kissed her deeply, loving the quickening of her breath, the feel of her writhing beneath him. He moved from her lips to her cheek, to the sensitive skin just below her ear.

“Yeah,” she whispered. “I like your mouth a lot.”

He chuckled against her neck, kissing and sucking his way down her damp flesh to the swell of her breast, dragging his tongue over one, then the other. His hands traveled up her ribs, and she gasped as he pushed her breasts together and moved his tongue over her taut, dusky nipples, then blew on them. He rolled one between finger and thumb, lowering his mouth over the other and sucking hard. She arched beneath him, her fingernails digging into his skin.

“Oh God, that feels so good.”

He sucked and licked until she was trembling. Then he lavished her other breast with the same attention. She grasped his head, holding him to her, but Boone didn’t want to just pleasure her. He wanted to drive her out of her ever-loving mind. He took her hands and moved them above her head, curling her fingers around the decorative iron bars on the headboard.

“Hold tight, beautiful.”

She blinked up at him, and he brushed his lips over hers. She reached for him, and he drew her hand back to the bars.

“Hold tight. I promise I won’t disappoint you.” He sealed his vow with another passionate kiss. “Okay?”

She nodded and trapped her lower lip between her teeth. He slicked his tongue over it, and her lips parted.

“If you don’t like anything I do, tell me.” He ran his tongue around her nipple and sucked it into his mouth, holding her gaze. “I can’t wait to be buried deep inside you.” He held her ribs as he kissed her sides, her stomach, and the dip beside each hip, loving the way her breathing hitched and her body arched and writhed as he moved lower. His fingers trailed lightly over her thighs, spreading them gently, revealing her glistening sex.

She closed her eyes, and he knew she was embarrassed, but he loved her eyes and he wanted to see them.

“Watch me,” he coaxed.

Her eyes came open and a flush rose on her skin. He held her gaze as he kissed the sensitive flesh just beside her cleanly waxed sex. The scent of her desire filled his senses. He slicked his tongue up her inner thigh, and her eyes fluttered closed again.

“You’re so beautiful, baby. Open your eyes. Trust me to take care of you.” He brought his mouth to her other thigh, laving his tongue in slow circles as he lifted her knees and spread her legs wider.

She was openly watching him now, breathing harder as he ran his tongue along the crease between her thighs and her sex. Seeing her hands above her head, her hungry eyes on him, so full of lust he could feel it rolling off of her, was almost too much to take.

“I’ve been dying to taste you.” He dragged his tongue between her wet lips, and she moaned. Her eyes closed again. He did it again, and her hips rose off the mattress.

He pressed his hands to her inner thighs, holding her down as he sealed his mouth over her wet heat and took his fill. She rocked against his strength, whimpering and gasping as he loved her with his mouth. When he released her thighs and slid his hands beneath her, she rose to meet his efforts. He angled her hips so he could take more of her, and take he did, with his tongue, his fingers, his teeth. Her legs went rigid, and he lowered her hips to the mattress and trapped her thighs again, holding them apart. She lifted her head from the mattress, and her eyes blazed a path to his, watching as he flicked her most sensitive nerves with his tongue and slid two fingers into her, curling them upward and stroking the spot that sent his name streaming from her lips in desperate cries of pleasure.

When the last quake rumbled through her, she fell to the mattress panting for air. Her hands went to her chest, and Boone’s mouth went to the tender spot behind her knees, seeking Trish’s undiscovered pleasures. She nearly leaped off the bed with the first slick of his tongue.

“Holy cow.” She leaned up on her elbows. “
What
was that?”

He slithered up her body, kissing her belly, which sent her hips off the bed again. Damn, he loved the way she moved. When he reached her mouth, he cupped her jaw possessively and poured all the emotions he’d been holding back into their kiss.

“
That
,” he said, kissing her softly, “was me discovering you.”

“You’re like a treasure hunter. A very talented treasure hunter.”

“And you’re so cute and sexy you’re going to make me crazy.” He guided her trembling hands back up to the iron bars at the head of the bed. “Trust me?”

She nodded, and he kissed her again.

“When you look at me like that, I want to skip the foreplay and get right to the main event.”

“Look at you how?” she asked with wide, innocent eyes. “Because I’m loving this foreplay, and I want to be sure not to look at you that way.”

They both laughed as he brought his tongue to the crook of her elbow. “Every way,” he whispered against her skin.

“Uh-oh. I’m closing my eyes.” She didn’t close them.

He shook his head, then laughed when she rolled her eyes.

As he discovered the spots that made her quiver and beg—the base of her neck, the soft flesh beside her breast, the dip at the base of her spine, and his favorite, the crease where her gorgeous ass joined her thighs—she filled the room with sensual pleas, each one hitting Boone right in the heart.

She lay beneath him, her damp hair spread over the pillow, her body flushed and trembling. Her arms had long ago left the iron spokes, and as he came down over her, his hard length sheathed and eager against her center, she reached for him.

Emotions swamped him. “Trish, this is…”

“I know,” she whispered. “I feel it, too.”

“Every ounce of me craves you, from my heart, to my hands, to…”

She smiled up at him, her cheeks flushing anew. “Is that bad? Because you’ve just gotten to know me
very
intimately, so if you’re going to run, please do it now instead of later.”

“I told you I don’t run.” He kissed her softly, struck by the intensity of their connection. “Being with you is like playing with fire. You push me like no one else ever has. I should run, but I can’t imagine going a single day without seeing you.”

She touched his cheek the way she’d done so many times over the last few hours that he’d come to expect it and revel in it. “Then don’t.”

“My life is crazy, Trish. You might not want to get mixed up with me.”

“I like crazy, and in case you haven’t noticed, I’m already mixed up with you.”

“Baby,” he whispered. “You make me feel like I can get through anything.”

He pressed his lips to hers again, and as their bodies joined together, the pleasure was pure and explosive. They didn’t gaze into each other’s eyes. There was no slow build. This was a
strap yourself in and get ready for the ride of your life
connection, and Boone’s world spun on its axis. Trish moved with him, arching into his hands, lifting and angling her hips to take him deeper and touching him in ways he’d never been touched—with as much care as passion. She sank her teeth into his skin, cried out his name, and took him to heights he never imagined possible. They played, made love, and
fucked
for hours, using the two condoms she’d set aside, then going back to the first-aid kit for another. When she insisted on discovering
his
pleasure points, he thought he’d died and gone to heaven.