Page 12 of Ryder

“Do I need a safe word?”

He smirked and shook his head, eyes lowering as he claimed my hand and gave it a little tug, drawing me away from the window and toward the couch.“I’m not a Dom, baby.Just tell me to stop.”

“What if I want to tell you to stop but I don’t actually want you to?”Ryder took a seat on the couch, and with another tug on my wrist, I found myself in his lap.

Oh, this was nice.I was squished up against a big, warm body, feeling his muscles flex as he placed me to his liking.

“Then I guess we would need a safe word,” he said.

My heart was pounding unsteadily, and Ryder hadn’t even kissed me yet.

“We’re not doing that tonight.”

My eyes searched his.Tonight.The possibility of more floated between us.“What about on another night?”

“We’re getting ahead of ourselves, baby.”

His gentle admonishment was a douse of cold water.Had I overstepped my place and been presumptuous?I wanted another night.I hadn’t had this night, and already I knew I wanted more.

I wanted to play wicked games of dominance and submission.

I wanted him to hold me down, wanted to beg him to let me go and know that he wouldn’t because he also understood the parameters of the game.

Why did I desire that?Why did I get hot thinking about such a thing?It was wrong, dark, even a little taboo.It wasn’t something a sensible beta should need, but I hadn’t known I needed it until a moment ago.Now I needed it more than my next breath.Still, he’d said not tonight and told me not to get ahead of myself.

He cupped my cheek.“You’re so fucking beautiful.”Then his lips lowered over mine.They were warm and soft, and they rubbed lightly against mine.I opened to his kiss, my fingers fisting his T-shirt.

A groan escaped my tightly sealed lips.The hand he lowered to my throat was so massive, it spread out across my collarbone.His thumb pressed hard enough to catch all my focus, holding me as we kissed, his tongue rimming my parted lips before delving inside.I fidgeted, trying to get closer, but he merely held me where he wanted.The kisses stopped and started again, over and over, each taste drugging me, taking me deeper under his spell.I grew restless, wanting the kiss to deepen, sensing the wildness within him.Yet on the surface, he was calm, while I was a bubbling, roiling sea.

As though sensing my rising desperation, he stopped completely and stared down at me.

“Please,” I said, although I didn’t understand what I was asking for, only that I needed something to assuage this ache.My mind went to sea, scrambling, overwhelmed by the sensations and his heady scent that was far richer now that he was close.

Alphas were different to ordinary men, intense, a little wild, dangerous maybe, undoubtedly addictive.I’d thought I could handle this, but now?He was too different to me, too worldly.I sensed he knew things I’d only read about in books.I wanted him to teach me, to take me down the dark path and enlighten me, to mold me.Only I didn’t think he would.

“Please kiss me.”

“When I’m ready, but first, I need to deal with your punishment.”

My tongue darted out to wet my dry lips, and his eyes tracked the movement.“What sort of punishment?What will you do?”His gaze lowered, tracing over my little skimpy dress, lingering on my breasts before passing over my belly, my hips.His hand followed, pausing to cup my breast, and his eyes lifted to meet mine as he brushed his thumb back and forth, making my nipple stone hard, setting all the tiny, sensitive nerves flaring to life.

“Does that feel good, baby?”

I nodded.

“The fucking words, Emma.”

“It feels so good.”

A deep rumbling sound rose from his chest and turned into a vibration.Was he purring?

I softened in his arms…like I was being drugged.

“Stay with me, Emma.”

My eyes snapped to his, only to find he wasn’t watching my face anymore.Now he was watching his thumb tease my nipple.

I felt it all the way down to my core, like the two parts of me were connected by a thread.Just as I became convinced I would climax from this alone, his hand moved down over my belly and across my hip to cup the cheek of my ass.

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