Page 58 of Selfless

“I don’t take no for an answer, Milton,” my mother interrupts him again, and he sighs as if he already knows this. “We have four bedrooms, and each room has its own bath. You will stay here with us, and you will also quit calling me ma’am.”

He gives her a soft smile and nods his head once.

“Come on,” I say, grabbing Ryder’s hand and practically yanking him up the stairs to the second floor. I enter the first door on the right and then close it behind us.

I make my way to the adjoining bathroom, removing my clothes, and he silently follows my lead. I open the glass shower door and turn on the water. He closes the door behind him as he steps in.

I whirl around on him and place my hands on his hard chest. The warm water spraying my back. “Why did you do this?” I can’t help but ask.

He smiles softly and reaches up, placing some of my hair behind my ear. Pieces of it already wet from the sprayer.

“You deserved this,” he says.

I shake my head. “How did you … Why would you …?”

He wraps his arms around my waist and pulls me to him. His eyes search my face, and I can already feel his cock harden against my lower stomach. “I want you to be happy.”

“I am,” I tell him. “I was.”

He shakes his head and lets out a long sigh. “When I was in the elevator and I watched you say I love you.” He licks his lips. “I heard the longing in your voice. I could see the sadness in your eyes. And at the moment, I had thought it was Bradley. But later on when you told me that was your mother, I realized just how much your life has changed for you over the past month. And honestly, I didn’t know what I could do to make it better.”

“You didn’t have to do anything,” I tell him softly as my hands slide up his chest and wrap around his neck.

He guides me to the left until my back hits the cold shower wall and the water comes down on our sides. He removes his hands from my back and places them against the wall on either side of my face as his head leans closer to mine. “I don’t think you understand how much I love you, Ashlyn.” I swallow at his words, and he cups my right cheek. His hand holding my hair back. “I would give you the moon if you wanted it,” he whispers.

“I don’t need the moon,” I say breathlessly as his thumb softly caresses my face.

“Then what do you need?” he asks, his eyes dropping to my lips and then rising back to my eyes. “All you have to do is name it. And it’s yours.” His voice is deeper, rougher.

I stay silent as my eyes search his, trying to process everything that has happened to me in the last month. I stood in this very shower a month ago the night before we flew out to New York, and I would have never guessed I’d be back here with Ryder. My heart pounds harder in my chest.

As if he can hear it, he lets go of my face, and his fingertips very lightly trail down over my chin and along my neck. My lips part, and I start to breathe heavily, and it’s partly due to all the steam filling the shower. His hand stops on my chest, and he smiles. “You know what this reminds me of?”

“No,” I answer softly.

“Being in this shower with you reminds me of my birthday. That afternoon on my balcony in Panama City. You. Me. And nothing but the rain.” My knees start to buckle at that memory. He lowers his head to my neck, and I close my eyes and lean my head back, hitting my head on the wall. His nose trails up my neck, and my head falls to the side. “God, you took my breath away, baby,” he admits as his hand makes its way back up my chest and to my neck. I grip his muscular biceps straining against my fingers. “I knew right then and there you were gonna destroy me.”

“I’m sorry,” I rasp, knowing exactly what he means. I felt the same way so many times.

“Don’t be sorry, baby.” His hand on my neck snakes around to the back and grips my hair. I suck in a breath, and my pussy throbs as his hard cock presses into me. “I’m sorry,” he states and pulls his head away from my ear. His dark green eyes glare down into mine, and I cling to him. “I’m sorry that I’ll never be able to walk from you again.”

I try to shake my head to tell him that’s no reason to be sorry, but his hand in my hair prevents me from moving.

“Tell me I’m yours,” he orders.

“I’m yours,” I say breathlessly. “I love you.”

“Fuck.” He hisses at my words. “I thought I’d never hear you say that.”

“I love you,” I repeat. “I love you …”

He cuts my words off when his lips smash into mine. I open my mouth wide on a moan, and his tongue enters my mouth as he tilts my head more to the side. His free hand grabs my thigh and yanks my foot off the shower floor. I grind against him the best I can as his mouth devours mine in pure need.

The warm water beats down on us; my soaked hair clings to my back, shoulders, and chest. And I can’t help but shiver even though my body is on fire.

I let go of his shoulders, and my hand slides between our bodies and grabs the base of his cock.

He pulls his lips from mine quickly. “We can’t.”

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