Unexpected (18 page)

I blink at him. “About what?”

“I want to continue to explore your lips, but
I also want to explore your body.” His hand drifts over my side,
trailing down to my hip. “Explore these curves and every inch of
skin underneath these clothes.” I suck in a breath when he pulls me
closer to his body. “I know it may sound crude, and I don't mean it
to...but you're absolutely stunning.” His finger brushes along my
ear and I shiver. “I'm holding myself back, restraining myself from
coming on too strong.”

“Well, I promise I won't hold back your
exploration forever.”

The corner of his lip twitches. “That's good
to know.”

“Ryan?”

“Yes?”

“Can I move in with you?”

He chuckles. “You already have,
beautiful.”

“No, I mean for real. Let's be roommates. I
don't want to live anywhere else, or be with anyone else.”

He raises an eyebrow. “I don't know. Moving
in together is a fairly big commitment.”

I shove at him, but keep my hands flat on his
chest. “Stop it! I'm being serious.”

“I know.” He pulls me back in, this time
wrapping me in a hug. “Of course you can move in with me. I would
want nothing more.”

~*~

The next day while Ryan is at work, I ask
Willa if she's able to meet for coffee. She invites me to come over
to her place for lunch instead. When I get there, she opens the
door with a big smile. “Hi!”

“Hey!” I walk in and see a little red-haired
boy sitting in front of the TV. “Is that Linus?”

She nods. “Yep. He's obsessed with monkeys
today.” Sure enough, there are spider monkeys jumping from tree to
tree on the screen seconds later. He squeals in delight and Willa
laughs, shaking her head. “He's seen this episode at least thirty
times so far and he still reacts like that every time. It's so
flipping cute.” She waves me over to the kitchen table and we sit
down. “You look different.”

“I do?” I glance down at what I'm
wearing—it's just a dark purple T-shirt and khaki cargo pants.

“Yeah, you...” Her eyes widen. “Holy hell on
speed!” she whispers quickly. “You and Ryan!”

My hand shoots up to cover my mouth. “Oh my
God, it shows?”

“Nope, I have amazing intuition.” She clasps
her hands together. “Tell me everything.”

I spend the next fifteen minutes filling her
in on what happened over the weekend and yesterday. She sits there
dreamy-eyed the whole time. When I finish, she says, “Oh, Alina.
That man is nothing short of spectacular. Never let him go.”

“I don't want to.”

Chapter Twenty-four

–
Ryan –

Wednesday night, Alina tags along with me for
band practice. She spends part of the time out with us in the
garage and the other part with my mom. Just as she's about to go
inside, she comes over to me and gives me a kiss on the lips.

This, of course, freaks Phil out. His jaw
drops and he walks over. “What the hell is this?” he asks, shoving
at me.

I grab my arm, pretending he hurt me. “Ow,
what was that for?”

Alina touches my arm gently and glares at
Phil. “Yeah, that was mean.”

Phil narrows his eyes. “Why didn't you tell
us about this development?”

I grin, putting my arm around Alina to bring
her closer. “It's more fun this way.”

He makes a face. “You better tell Mom and Dad
before they catch your PDA.”

“They already know.”

“What? Should I get a name tag that says
'Chopped Liver' and slap it right here?” He smacks his hand over
his chest.

“Relax,” I tell him. “I told them when we got
here. You found out only an hour later.”

“I'm still not happy with you.” He points a
finger at me. Then he sighs. “But I am happy
for
you. Is
that better?”

“Thank you.”

~*~

Later that night in bed, we're snuggled under
my covers. Alina's light brown hair tickles my abdomen as she holds
me. She's wearing her usual tank top and pajama bottom combination.
I find her sleepwear to be the sexiest thing. Fuck lingerie; just
give me Alina in a T-shirt and cotton pants and I'll be hard within
seconds. In fact, it's becoming difficult to hold it back right
now.

She breaks the silence by asking, “Do you
remember the other night when we were making out against the
barn?”

I don't know how I could forget. I trace over
her back with my fingertip. “Mm-hmm. What about it?”

“I wish...” She lets loose a long breath.
“Well, part of me wishes we weren't interrupted.”

That would make two of us.
“Why's
that?”

“Because...I was...everything was building up
to something and then it stopped. Just like that day in the
shower.”

I stop moving. “Are you saying what I think
you're saying?”

She nods, burying her head in my neck. “I was
so close,” she whispers into my ear. Her breath—along with the
hardened nipples poking through her tank top—sends a shiver through
my body and straight into my cock.

“How close?” She shakes her head, pulling
back to rest her head on my chest again. I lift her chin with my
hand and ask her once more. “How close?”

When she holds up
her fingers a hair apart, I close my eyes slowly. “Shit, Alina.
Maybe I should make it up to you.”

“Don't worry; I took care of myself in your
shower while you were at work the first time.”

Fuuuck.
There goes the last of my resolve to be good. She gasps as I
flip her over on her back and lie on my side next to her. My hand
travels down the front of her body until I reach the juncture
between her legs. “May I?”

With a quick nod,
Alina gives me permission to give in to the desire that's been
building up all week.

When my hand rubs against her slowly, she
immediately spreads her legs.
I
increase the pressure as I lean in to kiss her jaw. I focus my
attention higher up, pressing down on her clit.

A tiny cry escapes,
then she breathes out, “Ryan, Ryan...can you...” She reaches for my
arm.

“
Yes?”
I
stop what I’m doing.

“
You don't
have to do it this way.” She moves my hand to the top of her pants,
slipping my fingers under the elastic. “Please touch
me.”

So much for taking
my time.

I kiss her
deeply as my hand delves under her panties and into her wet folds.
She whimpers against my mouth as I circle her sensitive nub. I
slide my fingers lower, the slickness of her making it easy to
press two fingers inside her. She clutches me and her back arches
as her moans fill the room. Working my fingers inside her causes me
to become painfully hard. It would be nothing short of a miracle if
I can manage
not to come in my pants.

Her fingernails dig
into my arm, her breath coming out in quick pants. I curve my
fingers slightly to reach the sweet spot, which is met with the
sexiest sounds of pleasure. It takes everything in me to not yank
down her pants, then my own, and bury myself deep inside. I can
feel her on the cusp of her climax so I speed up and kiss her hard.
She comes with a shudder, letting loose with a soft cry as I
continue to pump my fingers. Her trembling body and the sounds
coming from her lips just about do me in.

I pull my fingers
out and bring them to my lips. I lick them clean as she stares up
at me, her chest heaving as she catches her breath from the orgasm
I just gave her. “That was fucking beautiful, Alina.”

“
Try
phenomenal,” she says with a laugh. She cups my cheek and brings me
down for a kiss. “Ryan, you're amazing,” she mutters against my
lips.

I just smile and
keep kissing her. A minute into our kiss, I feel her hand sliding
down and settling over my still painful erection. I groan, reaching
down to pull her hand away. “Alina...”

“
What?” She
blinks up at me. “I want to return the favor.” She pushes my hand
away and palms me over my pants, squeezing briefly before tracing
up and down the length.

I grit my
teeth. “If you keep teasing me like that, I...oh,
fuck
.”

Her hand is inside
my boxers, freeing my cock so she can wrap her hand around me
fully. “You know,” she says softly, one hand working me up and
down. “I don't think it dawned on me until afterward.”

“
What's that,
beautiful?” I gasp.

“
Your penis.
I don't know why Victoria was cheating on you with Drew. Yours is
much bigger.”

A loud laugh
escapes me, followed by a moan as she twists both her hands around
my shaft. “Good God, Alina, you're killing me.”

“
Hopefully in
a good way.”

“
Definitely
in a good way.”

She speeds up, her
lips brushing over mine. “Are you going to let go like I did?”

That's when the
buildup becomes too intense. She's moving those gorgeous hands over
me, drawing out my orgasm in a way I've never felt before. I
release, whispering her name as I come all over her hands and my
stomach. Lying flat on my back, I catch my breath and wonder how I
managed to live my life without her touch. “Do you know how amazing
you are?”

“Maybe
,” she
says, pressing a kiss to my shoulder. She grabs a tissue and cleans
me up. “We'll have to do this again sometime.”

“
More like
several times.” I pull her in closer when she's done, holding on to
her tight because I never want to let go.

Chapter Twenty-five

–
Alina –

On Friday night,
Ryan reminds me that I told him I would officially move in with
him. “And if you're officially living here,” he says, “you should
have more of your stuff unpacked.”

“
But where am
I going to put it?”

“
Anywhere you
want. This is
our
place now, not
just mine.”

I stare at
him for a moment, letting it all sink in.
Our place.
Holy crap. I'm
living
with
my boyfriend. Wait...I
have
a
boyfriend. How is it that these facts are hitting me right at this
exact moment? Shouldn't they have earlier this week? I think they
did, but my brain didn't want to register any of it until now. As
scary as those two truths could be, I'm finding them both to be
completely and unequivocally wonderful.

Ryan narrows his
eyes at me. “What's going on in that pretty little head of yours?”
He touches my chin with his fingers.

“
Nothing.” I
smile, taking his hand in mine. “I'd like to unpack
everything.”

He lifts my hand
and kisses it. “Awesome. You want to get anything you stored at
your parents' house?”

“
We should
probably go get my bed, since I have no place to sleep.” My teasing
is met with him scooping me into his arms, followed by my squeal of
protest. “Put me down!”

“
Nope, not
until you rethink what you just said.”

“
I was only
kidding!”

“
Tell
me.”

“
Ryan, we
don't need to get anything else, because everything I need is right
here, including your bed. Provided you're in it.”

He kisses my
forehead, holding his lips there for longer than usual. “You are
the sweetest thing.”

I spend all day
Saturday going through my things and finding places to put them. I
turn on some music to motivate me, but it doesn't make me work any
faster. I hit a standstill as I determine whether a trinket of mine
should be out on a shelf or if it should stay in storage. Ryan
cleared a couple shelves in his room for me, but I used the space
with most of my books already.

At one point, I
find myself bouncing to the music as I flip through my DVDs.
Imagine my surprise when I hear a throat clear behind me. I spin
and see Ryan leaning against the door. He's smirking. “Please,
don't stop. Actually, may I?” He walks toward me, one hand out. I
place mine in his and he draws me closer, holding me in his
arms.

And then we're
dancing.

I press my cheek to
his chest, wrapping my arm around him tighter. “You're a great
dancer.”

“
I'm really
not. I only know how to slow dance.”

“
That's all I
need.” I breathe out a contented sigh and pull back so I can look
him in the eye. “What do you think?”

“
About
what?”

“
About what
I've done to the place.”

He glances around
the room. His forehead wrinkles and he says, “It's strange.”

I freeze and stop
moving to the music. “What do you mean by that?”

He looks down
and his eyebrows shoot up, probably noticing the panic on my face.
“Alina, oh God, not in a bad way. No...it's...” He turns me so that
my back is to his front, wrapping his arms around me. “When I look
around, it doesn't even look like any changes have been made. Yes,
I can see my things and your things, but all of your things and all
of my things? They fit perfectly together. It's
strange
how they do. Like they belonged on those shelves the
whole time.”

Just like us.

I spent all day
fretting over exact placements, part of me worrying I was doing it
wrong. Now that I'm stepping back to really look at it, I see what
he sees. I see the harmony of our lives coming together. A tingle
builds behind my eyes, threatening tears, but I hold them back by
pressing my lips together. I reach back to cup his face. “You never
cease to amaze me.”