Page 46 of Save Me

Most days, Ryker was an early riser. It was one of the reasons he’d designed this room to have a wall of windows and glass doors that led out to the yard—he loved all the natural light that came in each morning. But this morning, all he wanted to do was stay in bed and enjoy having Ryleigh pressed up against him and in his arms.

The only problem with that scenario was that he was alone.

Sitting up, he raked a hand through his hair and looked around in confusion. There was no way she’d sneak out without saying goodbye. That didn’t seem like something she’d do.

Only…it did.

Muttering a curse, he kicked the blankets off and stood and scooped his jeans up off the floor and slid them on. He was tired and more than a little annoyed that she would do something like this after the night they’d had.

It had been perfect; everything he had known it could be between them and to think that she could just get up and leave without a damn word just…it burned.

And hurt.

He was storming across the room when he tripped over something.

Ryleigh’s purse.

“Okay, so she didn’t leave,” he murmured, and it was crazy how hard relief hit him. “Ryleigh?” he called out as he walked down the hall toward the kitchen. When he spotted her, his heart kicked hard in his chest. She was wearing one of his t-shirts and putting a couple of mugs of coffee onto a tray.

“Sorry,” she said softly. “I was hoping to be back in bed before you woke up. It’s early and I’m used to being up and just thought I’d make us some coffee. I thought about making breakfast, but I wasn’t sure if you were a breakfast kind of guy. Most days I just have coffee and maybe a banana or something. Plus, I didn’t want to go rummaging through your fridge and pantry. That just seemed like a bit of an invasion of privacy. Although, I already broke that rule when I grabbed your t-shirt from one of your drawers, and, technically, I guess scrambling up a couple of eggs isn’t that big of a crime, right?” She laughed nervously. “I went in the fridge to grab some milk for my coffee, and I saw that you had half-and-half and figured maybe that was your preference, so I put that in yours. I hope it’s okay. If not, we can totally switch. I’m not fussy about that sort of thing. I also don’t understand all those fancy Starbucks drinks, but I know I’m in the minority there, and…”

“Ryleigh?”

“Hmm?”

“You’re rambling,” he said with mild amusement. Walking over, he kissed her soundly before taking her hand and leading her back to the bedroom.

“But…the coffee…”

“We’ll make fresh cups later. Like you said, it’s early, but neither of us need to be anywhere, right?” And that’s when something occurred to him. “Unless…you want to go home?” Facing her, he hoped he didn’t look too disappointed. “If you have something to do or you just would rather go, you can just say so. It’s okay. I guess I should have asked you that at some point last night, but…I don’t know, the last thing on my mind was you leaving and…”

“Ryker?”

“Hmm?”

“Now you’re rambling,” she teased before getting up on her toes and kissing him. “I think we’re both delirious from lack of sleep.”

“Agreed.” Taking her hand again, he led her back to the bed where they both stripped before sliding under the blankets. She instantly moved into his arms and it was hard to say who fell asleep first because he barely remembered his head hitting the pillow.

The next time he opened his eyes, it was after nine and it still felt like he needed another couple of hours of sleep. Beside him, Ryleigh was stretching and the blanket moved just enough to uncover her breasts.

And now I’m wide awake…

Slowly, he rolled over and moved over her and captured one nipple in his mouth and gently sucked. Her slight hiss of breath followed by a moan of pure pleasure told him she was awake too. She let out a sexy little hum as her legs wrapped around him and he knew he could easily get used to waking up this way.

He teased one nipple and then the other before lifting his head and kissing her. “Good morning, baby girl.”

In very un-Ryleigh-like fashion, she blushed. “Good morning.”

“I’d ask if you slept well, but I think we both know the answer to that already,” he said silkily.

“What is sleep?” she said with a sweet grin. “I think all we did was nap.”

“That’s not a bad thing, is it?” Lowering his head, he nuzzled her neck and began kissing his way lower.

“Definitely not a bad thing, but…oh, that’s really sensitive…uh…”

“Do you want me to stop?” he asked thickly, even as he kept moving and kissing a slow path down her body.

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