Page 74 of Ryker

The dynamic between us is morphing. I like it.

“Crawl over to the bed and bend over.” Head down, he does as I command. Part of me feels bad for him. A bigger part is so fucking turned on, I’m swollen between my thighs. “Good boy,” I coo, stepping up behind him.

Biting down on the handle of the flogger, I hold it between my teeth so I can use both hands to run up and down his back. His skin is hot and damp. Red lines are everywhere, chaotic and temporary. Reaching around his waist, I unbutton his fly and yank his pants down. “Step out of them.”

He obeys.

And he’s gone commando.

My heart skips a beat at his perfect, round, firm ass. His thick thighs. The way his waist tapers.

Gripping the flogger again, I land a perfect strike on his ass that makes him grunt. His hands ball into fists. “Again.”

“Say it.” I run my hand over his ass cheeks, soothing the burn. “Fucking say it, Ryker. Say I’m a great man.”

He shakes his head, defiant as ever.

“Think about when Vault grabbed me in the hallway just to drag me away from your fight with Dmitri.” I run my fingers along his abs. His muscles tighten. “Think about what you felt when you saw that man wrap his hands around my throat at my apartment.” He tenses even more. “You want to protect me.” Swing. Thwack! “Say it, Ryker. I want to hear you say it.”

“No.”

Swing. Thwack! This last strike makes his knees buckle.

“Think about how it makes you feel when I suffer.”

“Tara.”

Swing. Thwack!

“I want you to acknowledge what I already see in you.” Swing. Thwack!

“I’m not…” Ryker shakes his head. “I’m not what you think.”

“Yes, you are.” Swing. Thwack! “Say it.”

He spins around before I can land another strike and catches my arm. “I’m not a good man.” He knocks the flogger out of my hand and drives me backwards. “I’m sure as fuck not a great one.” He presses his body flush against mine, driving me further away from the bed.

I’ve got him back in that wild state of mind I love so much. “Then what are you, Ryker?”

“I’m a whore, Tara.” My back slams against the wall, and he brackets his hands on either side of my head. Dipping down, his eyes deadlock with mine and I feel his breath on my mouth when he growls. “I’m nothing more than a fucking whore.”

I shake my head, unable to speak.

“Yes, Miss Reed. I was an escort before I became the owner of this club. I fuck people and take their money. Take their secrets. Take their favors, too.”

“That doesn’t change the fact that you’re still a great man.”

He scoffs. “You’re delusional if you really think that.”

“Then I must be a whore too,” I say quietly, with my heart slamming against my chest. “Because you paid two-point-two million for me.”

“You have it all wrong.” Ryker gets a wicked, angry smile. “I paid that amount to save you from being a whore like me.”

I’m confused. “What?”

“You didn’t do enough research before making our deal, Tara. The Butterfly will owe the highest bidder after her time is up in this suite. For the clientele I cater to, that’s okay, because it’s their husband or sugar daddy that’s paying for the privilege of them getting our special treatment for a month. But you? You’re the outlier. You joined this club solo. You have no one claiming you. No one to protect you from the monsters that fuck within my walls. And the man who nearly won, Blake Rittenhouse? He would eat you alive, little girl.”

My knees nearly give out and he catches me by my waist. “Ryker.”

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