The Beginning—A Duet: Ryder & Two Worlds Colliding (10 page)

“Before you judge—” She laughed, a soft melodious sound. “I just got back from New York last week. Went there to see my cousin, Rebecca. She flew in from Europe for a meeting with her boss. But she’s actually from Australia, so we went crazy, shopping up a storm. Hence the T-shirt.”

She must have noticed how I was scrutinizing her. And she was babbling. If there was one thing I did know about women, it was that they babbled when they were nervous.

Actually, I couldn’t tear my fucking eyes away from her. She looked real for the first time, without all that usual shit on her face women liked to hide behind. I’d nearly forgotten just how beautiful she was.

Since that last day I’d seen her, uninvited visions of her face kept flashing in my mind, a million times over—day and night. I just couldn’t shake it.

Mia laughed. “Hey, honey. The kids can be a handful. I really appreciate your help and your time.”

“No problem, I did offer.” She gave Mia a smile, so genuine and radiant, that I felt it all the way to the pit of my stomach. Why was the bitch being so goddamn fucking sweet? I liked her better when she was feisty. That I could handle.

I didn’t know what to do with sweet.

Isabella stuck out her arms and cooed. Jade gave her the teddy bear. It wasn’t a new one. “This is what I found in my room. Mr. Bear said he wanted to come and see you tonight. Is that OK?” The baby girl squealed with delight and grabbed hold of the teddy in her plump hands.

Jade bent down to be eye level with James who was holding on for dear life to Mia’s leg. She patted his head gently. “And look what I borrowed from my big brother. He didn’t even know it was in the basement. Want to come play with it?” James let go of his mother’s leg and hugged Jade.

My mouth went dry. Her heart shaped ass was delectable. Shit. My gaze locked on the dip of her back, the way it curved sensuously and the smooth skin that was revealed as her T-shirt rode up ... My hands trembled, I had an uncontrollable urge to touch her.

Jesus, I wanted to bend her over the table and —

“Hey, big boy.” Mia was pulling at my arm. “Let’s go while the kids are happy.”

“Sure,” I grunted, shaking my head. Even though she wasn’t aware of it, Princess was fucking with my head.
I’d better get out.
Fast.

Mia hooked her arm into mine, smiling knowingly at me. She knew what I was thinking. Fuck women’s intuition.

I glanced back, against my better judgement. Both kids were happy and oblivious to our departure. Even clingy Jamie, afraid of strangers, was into this chick. Well, fuck me running.

She smiled at me from under her lashes, her eyes soft and dewy. For some reason it made me hard. Seeing how good she was with kids brought out my ancient primal urge to drag her to my cave and fuck her senseless, filling her with
my
sperm. My cock twitched and my balls ached.

Fuck, I needed relief. Soon.

L
uckily the trip to the hospital was uneventful. We’d taken Mia’s car, not my Harley. I didn’t want to draw attention to us. We were still in danger from retaliation from our enemy club and I wasn’t taking chances. While Mia was taken care of by the staff, I sat alone, drinking the god-awful brew the hospital cafeteria sold as coffee, and thought of
her
. Princess bitch.
Fuck.

Stunned, I realized it was the first time in my life any woman had that kind of effect on me. I’d sworn after our whore of a mother disappeared and left Max and me to fend for ourselves, I’d never fall into the trap of falling hard for any bitch.

Every woman became a bitch in my eyes because of what Marianne had done. When I was a boy, I’d made up my mind that I wouldn’t give another woman a chance to desert me like Marianne had. To throw me away as if I were a fucking worthless piece of shit. Mia had been the only woman to break through my defenses in all those years. And now Jade was crawling under my skin—not in a good way.

As for other women—I’d fuck them, usually not more than a handful of times, always avoiding it becoming personal. I never built expectations, never put a woman on the back of my bike. Not even Mia. And that was the way my life would remain.

This fucking obsession I had suddenly developed for this piece of blond ass was simply a temporary phase. A glitch. Once I’d fucked her a few times, I’d exorcise her out of my system and move on.

Yeah, that’s what I needed to do. Since Mia had become ill, I hadn’t emptied my balls. I comforted myself with the knowledge that was all it was—an overfull ball-sack that needed emptying. I hadn’t had a pretty blond in a while, neither a woman as curvy as Jade, so of course I just needed a bit of variety. Yeah.
That was it.
Fuck.

Now that I’d worked out why Jade was affecting me the way she was, I felt better on the drive home. I just needed to get to her pussy and satisfy my primal urges, and I’d be back to my normal self. Relief washed over me. I’d always been a logical thinker, and this problem with my hard-on around
her
was nothing other than a temporary problem.

Mia chatted all the way back to the house. Luckily she hadn’t noticed that I'd gone quiet. Her spirit had lifted and she was in the best mood she’d been in a while. I was glad she felt better, but that still didn’t solve my dilemma with Jade.

My cock-sure smile faded when I walked into the living room. Jade and the kids weren’t there. Fuck. I got Mia to hide behind the couch, showing her to be quiet and wait there. Her eyes were the size of saucers and she breathed hard, her hand over her mouth.

Frantic, I dashed through the house, my gun in my hand. My grip tightened around the butt, my finger on the trigger.

Jesus fucking Christ, don’t tell me something happened to Jade and the kids while I was gone
.

If anything went down tonight...if anyone harmed any one of them, I'd kill those motherfuckers in the blink of an eye.

Sweat trickled down my back.

Easy, Ryder.

I pushed open the door of the main bedroom. Nothing. Dread rose in my chest.

Fuck.

Afraid that someone was still in the house, I didn’t call out. But I wanted to holler out to Jade, at the top of my fucking lungs, so she could hear me for certain.

This shit was scaring the fucking life out of me.

Every room was empty. No traces of where they were. No clues.

My head hurt and my heart hammered my chest to shit. There was only one room left—the guest room, at the far end of the passage.

Holding the gun with both hands to control the trembling, I rounded the corner, gun first.

Please God, they had to be there.
Please
.

I hadn’t prayed or asked for anything since that day in the bathroom all those years ago.

But I would give anything now, even my life, to know that they were safe.

I pushed the door open with the gun, holding my breath.

Christ.

Sprawled on the bed, a child tucked into each side of her, Jade was fast asleep, unaware of the turmoil she’d caused. She looked so innocent, her hair spread like a halo around her face.

I wanted to kiss her and then spank her and then fuck her and then kiss her again.

Yeah.

I’m fucked
.

Fuck.

M
y hand flew to my mouth. Stunned into silence for a few seconds while I processed the sight in front of me, I took it all in with a gasp.

On the desk, legs spread wide open, her dress around her waist, was Zelda, the receptionist who’d started at the firm a couple of weeks ago. And pounding in to her was Marcus, protégé extraordinaire, grunting how much he loved fucking her pussy.

I hated office parties, and this one was fast turning into a nightmare. I’d come with Marcus —our third date as a couple in the public eye—to celebrate the new client the firm had snagged this week. We’d been dating for a few weeks now and I was officially his girlfriend. At least, that’s what I was lead to believe.

Both blond heads turned toward me, two sets of eyes wide and confused.

“You’re a...you’re a cock sucking... bastard!!” I screeched.

Sweet Lord, did that just come from
my
mouth?
Must be the influence of one foul mouthed biker.

It felt good to swear. I was on a roll. “What the fuck is going on here, Mr. Marry-me-soon-and-I-will-give-you-the-world, lying asshole?”

Freaking hell. I’d just finished reading a book about a guy who’d used his boss’s daughter to get to the top while he was screwing the entire office’s female co-workers, and laughing at her naivety behind her back. Never in my wildest dreams did I expect fiction to morph into reality.

Anger seethed through my body; I needed retribution for my book heroine and for myself.

“Fuck you, Marcus. You’re lower than shark shit. And that’s low,” I hissed, my hands on my hips.

His brows knitted, panic on his face. He pulled his dick from Zelda and stood there gaping at me. “Jade. I can explain.”

“Save it, lover boy.” My blood pressure was rising to dangerous levels.
The asshole
.

He indicated between him and the blond between his legs. “This...this means nothing, darling. I’m just emptying my balls, till I get the chance to be with you. You’re so full of shit with all that romance crap. A man has needs—”

“Yeah, that much is obvious—
your
needs, balls deep in
her
pussy. But you are a false, pretentious sack of shit, Marcus Masterton. I’m never going to let you empty your balls inside me.
Not
going to happen.”

Marcus winced. “Jade, please. Let’s talk about this.” His dick went flaccid. Considering I’d never seen him naked, bile rose in my stomach. I wanted to gag. This was not how I pictured seeing my future husband’s cock for the first time.

“You want to talk with your pants around your ankles, Mr. Lawyer? With her sprawled wide open on your desk? I don’t think so.”

He pulled his pants up, condom still in place, not bothering to fasten his zipper. He slapped Zelda on her ass, dismissing her. She pulled up the cups of her bra to cover her breasts, her cheeks flushed.

“Marcus,” Zelda whispered, “what’s going on?”

He turned to her impatiently. “Not now, sweetheart. Get out. I need to talk to Jade.”

Zelda got up from the desk and pulled her dress down, avoiding my eyes. She had the good grace to whisper “Sorry” as she slipped past me and left the room.

“Just don’t tell your father. We can work something out.”

“What in the hell did you just say? So this is what it is. You’re more worried about Daddy’s reaction than mine. Nice, Marcus, very fucking nice. Way to go.”

“Jesus, Jade. Don’t overreact. We’re not married yet.”

“Thank fuck for that. There is a God looking out for me after all. So, tell me Marcus, how many girls have you screwed since you started dating me exclusively?”

He stared at me, mouth gaping. Then he closed his eyes and turned his head away.

Hmmm...I thought as much. Everyone in the entire office—except me. Now wasn’t that fucking ironic.

I turned on my heels and slammed the door behind me so that the glass rattled in the frame. For a small girl, I had the power of Thor in me when I was mad.

Fuck Mr. Perfect. He was everything but perfect.

I ran down the stairwell, not wanting to see anyone on my way out. My throat burned and my chest squeezed.
I’m not going to fucking cry. He isn’t worth my tears.

Three flights down, I heard the door open and Marcus call after me. “Jade, wait. Please.”

I didn’t. Instead, I kicked off my shoes and ran faster, skipping stairs so I could get out of the building and as far away from him as fast as possible.

Home
. I just wanted to go home.

I ran onto the sidewalk, stabbing at my phone to call a taxi. Sobs raked through my body. I’d never been this humiliated in my life. I bet everyone in the office knew. Everyone except me and Daddy.

Shoving the phone back into my purse, I walked to the corner where I told the taxi to pick me up, shoes in hand. Ignoring the stares of the people around me, I slipped the shoes back onto my feet and waited to cross the intersection.

Why was the damn taxi taking so long? It was futile to try to flag the passing ones. They were all on a mission between destinations.

Just as I was about to cross the intersection, a hand gripped my arm and pulled me back. I swung around, eyes wide, as I fell back against Marcus’s chest. Asshole with the athletic body had caught up to me.

“Jade. Calm the fuck down.”

Oh, so Mr. Perfect had the F word in his vocabulary after all. Seems the veneer was rather thin.

“Let me go, Marcus.”

“No. Listen to me. Your father will wonder where you are. He will be asking me.”

“Fuck you. That’s all you care about. Appearances. Let me go!”

His grip on my arm tightened, his biceps flexing as he held me in an iron cage.

Self-defense 101. I stepped back onto his foot, stomping down with my heel as hard as I could. Even though I was plastered against his chest, I swung my arm at the same time and smacked him in the balls with my fist. God, those lessons came in handy after all.

Marcus howled in my ear and loosened his grip, cursing under his breath. “You fucking little bitch.”

He lunged forward and reached for me again. I stepped back, trying to get away, my heart nearly climbing out of my chest.

An arm struck out between us. A taut muscled arm, with a tattoo of a cobra.

Could it be?

“You fucking heard her, asshole. Step away from her if you know what’s good for you,” he growled.

What’s Ryder doing here
? Of all the people in the entire world, he’s the one to show up now and witness my embarrassment?

Life sure sucked.

M
arcus’s eyes widened. “Who the fuck are you? Get away from my girlfriend.”

“
Your girl
? I don’t think so, motherfucker. Step away from Jade before I fucking break that pretty boy face of yours.”