Page 54 of Redemption

She looked at him out of the corner of her eye. “I did. Hard. Thank you.”

He laughed. “You’re welcome.” Ryder leaned over and kissed her forehead. “Getting you off was hot.” He rolled away. “Why don’t you get some breakfast, and I’ll meet you down there.”

“Oh.” She bit her lip. “Don’t you, um, want…”

Again, a hearty laugh fell from his lips. “Yeah. I want.” He readjusted boxer briefs that didn’t leave much to the imagination about what he was talking about. His hand covered an impressive bulge, resting there after he moved the jutting cock. “But, I don’t know. You’re right on that edge. I didn’t know which way you were going to go, smile or tears. This was a moment to erase the past more than me nuttin’ off.” He winked. “I’m going to shower off and meet you, all right?”

“Sure.” She didn’t know what to say, now more confused than ever.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Ryder paced the bedroom after Victoria shut the door.Right move, wrong move?Who knew? What they didn’t need was for her to fall apart, to end up more fragile than she was when she showed up in his room.

Hell.He was harder than when she left. He could probably do push-ups with his dick. His phone rang, and he walked to the nightstand, his hard-on leading the way, and grabbed the cell. Number unknown. Great. Not that many people had this number to begin with. Ryder swiped the screen to answer. “Yeah, hello?”

“How is she?” Maddy’s no-nonsense voice came through the phone still holding an air of sophistication. He liked how she was like street-smart royalty. The woman knew far more than he’d ever want to know about human trafficking, rape, and sex crimes, and she had the capacity to know how to vindicate the crimes. But Maddy also had the ability to love and care for people. He guessed she almost had to in order to handle the horrors she likely had seen.

“How’s she supposed to be?” Ryder flopped backward in the bed, his chub slowly dying.

“She’s however she’s supposed to be. Recovery has no set rules or agenda.” Maddy paused to let that sink in. “But you knew her on day one. That’s your baseline and tells you how far she’s come. We don’t know who she was, so she’ll have to direct how much healing there is to do.”

He grumbled. “Why didn’t you call me from your cell phone?”

“Because you wouldn’t answer,” she replied, knowing the truth. “Now, I’m going to ask you again. How’s she doing?”

“Ask Mia. She’s the shrink.”

“Don’t play me for stupid, Ryder.”

He rubbed his forehead. “Mia and Winters see her as much as I do.”

Maddy laughed in his ear. “And I spent all day with you both yesterday.”

“Same,” Ryder raised his voice slightly. “Along with Mia and Winters, Rocco and Cat.”

“They’re not going to sleep with her,” Maddy snapped back.

He squeezed his eyes shut. “Who said I am?”

“What are we? Children?” She let out a string of French words that he could only assume were curses. “There’s nothing wrong with forming a connection with her.”

“I didn’t say there was.”

“And there’s nothing wrong with having feelings for her.”

The pressure in his head moved to his chest. He rubbed his bare sternum. “Feeling deniers are pussies. I’ve already had this conversation with someone recently. Good to know you and I are on the same page.”

“Ryder—”

“Maddy.” He sat up. “She was raped. What am I supposed to do about that?”

“That doesn’t make heranciennes nouvelles.”

“English, Madeline,” he snapped, pressure getting the best of him.

“She’s not old news. Not used up. One attack—”

“Multiple attacks—”

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