Page 104 of Ryker

What will it take to shove him over the edge?

“Yes,” I say, with complete confidence. “I feel safe with you, Sir.”

“Good.” His voice is deeper. “I’ll eat a bullet before I ever hurt a woman. Especially you.” Ryker nuzzles my neck, making my body overheat. “But if you beg nicely, Butterfly, I’ll bring you pleasure that borders criminal acts of violence.”

Ummmm. “I… I don’t think I know what that means.”

“Did you like how I fucked you at your house, Tara?”

“Yes.” The way he was a mindless animal, railing me within an inch of my life? If that’s his version of violence, sign me the hell up. “I loved that.”

Threading his hand through my hair, he tucks some of it behind my ear and whispers, “That was me holding back.”

Cue the flood in my panties. “What will it take, Mr. Hudson?” I press my palms against his chest and push back a little so I can see his face. “What will it take to get you to not hold back on me?”

Ryker stills. I hold my breath. I don’t want him to reject me. I need to feel freedom. Taste victory. For so long I’ve been the good girl. I bend over backwards to please everyone around me, just to make myself worth liking. Worth keeping. But after today, I just want to be myself, instead of what I’m expected to be.

I want to be fucked apart and kissed back together.

“There’s no one here to stop me if I go too far, Tara.”

“I’m here to stop you.” We don’t need a security team. “I’ll call Red if it’s too much.”

He shakes his head a fraction of an inch. Then swallows hard. “Tara, this could get dangerous. I’m not in my right mind when I fuck the way I like.”

“You’ll stop when I say Red.”

“You trust me to do that?”

“I trust you to keep me safe and give me what I want. I wouldn’t have chosen you if I didn’t, Ryker.” He steps back as if I’ve punched him in the gut. “Do you trust yourself?”

His mouth falls open, then closes. He swallows again. “Yes.”

That didn’t sound convincing. Cupping his face, I look him dead in the eye and gather all my courage. “As the Butterfly, I get what I want, right?”

“Depends.” Ryker’s pupils widen. “What is it you want?”

I want you. I want what I keep getting a taste of, and I don’t want you to take it away and hide it from me again. “I want you to let go, Ryker.”

“I can’t.” He steps back and hits the other wall. “I might hurt you.”

“Then hurt me. Hurt me so good I’ll never be able to fuck you out of my system. You like that you’re my only Dom? Then mark me. Ruin me for every other man who touches me after you.”

Rage conquers his terror, and he’s suddenly back on me, pressing me against the wall. “Do not bring up other men touching you.”

“Ruin me.”

“You don’t know what you’re asking me to do.”

“Ruin me.”

“If you have any sense, Miss Reed, you will walk out of my fucking house and out of my life.”

“I’m not going anywhere.”

“Stupid, stupid girl.”

Tears blur my sight, but I don’t budge. How can he be like this? So desperate for me one minute, and done with me the next? I hate it. “You’re the most polarizing fool I’ve ever met, Ryker Hudson.”

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