Ryker (The Powers That Be Book 4) (4 page)

4—Near Fall

That night I was back in my athletic injury class, watching yet another video on taping as we waited for the athletes to get there for us to practice on. I knew Ciara and Madison and several other basketball players from the women’s and men’s teams were coming, but what Coach Nolan had failed to mention was he was also bringing in volunteers from the wrestling team since they were in season too. Yeah. I didn’t find this out until the door opened and several muscular guys walked in.

And when Ryker walked in with them my eyes just about popped out of my head.

What the hell? The wrestlers had had a meet today too but I guessed it was now over.

“Fuck,” I mumbled.

“What?” Taylor, my partner from Monday, asked.

“Tell you later,” I whispered, leaning my head to her and rolling my eyes.

I got brave and took another look at Ryker in all his brooding intensity. And holy shit, he was hot!

His dark caramel-colored hair was still wet from the shower he’d just taken and the gray compression shirt he wore stretched across his sculpted chest clinging to his stomach to where if I wanted, I could probably count every ab muscle he had. All eight of them.

Damn.

His eyes immediately met mine and the smirk he gave me had me frowning. I frowned even harder when he made a beeline right to me.

When he came to my table, I sputtered, “Y-you aren’t who I’m working with,” which made him grin.

“Coach Nolan?” he hollered. “I’m with Francesca. You good with that?”

“I’m good, Ryker. Tell her you’re a groin strain,” Coach N called back as he walked around the room assigning athletes to everyone.

Groin strain? What! Was he serious? Oh, my God.

“This is so not cool,” I hissed, glaring at Ryker who was already getting up on the table with a huge shit-eating grin on his face.

“So, gorgeous, you want me to drop trou or just hike my shorts up?” he asked, and believe it or not, his grin got even bigger.

“I hate you,” I muttered as I bent under the table to grab some KT tape out of the caddie.

He burst out laughing. “Didn’t hate me last Saturday when I made you come so many times you were speakin’ in fuckin’ tongues.”

I stood up slowly and gave him the most hateful look I could. “That was before I knew you were an asshole.” This made him snort. “And a manwhore.”

He threw his head back and barked out a laugh and I’ll be damned if that wasn’t the most attractive thing I’d ever seen. Ugh.

“You didn’t seem to mind my ‘manwhore’ skills the other night, darlin’,” he said still chuckling.

I set the tape on the table and turned to him. “Here’s the deal. I’ll do this but you have to shut up.”

“I’ll try,” he answered, a half smirk now gracing his beautiful face.

“Whatever,” I mumbled as I looked down at the tape knowing I’d have to measure it. When my eyes came up I saw his dancing with amusement because he knew my dilemma. God! “Hang on.”

I opened my book to the page that illustrated taping groins and cringed. Okay. I could do this. Blowing out a breath, I grabbed the tape and moved toward him.

“I need you to bend your knee to create a stretch in the, uh, the groin area.” He pulled his knee up slightly on the leg farther from me hanging the one close to me off the table. I licked my lips as I tried figuring out how to do this without having to touch him. “Okay, I need to measure. Keep quiet.” I lifted my eyes and watched as with sheer glee on his face, he lifted a hand, put it to his mouth as if he had a key in it, turned it and threw the “key” away. Ass.

Moving in between his legs, I held the end of the tape putting it on the inside of his leg a few inches above the back of his knee stretching it up and over his muscular thigh toward his crotch. Gah! I next quickly stepped away letting go of the tape as I grabbed the scissors. This, of course, made me lose my measurement, so gritting my teeth I glanced up at him and held the tape out toward him as if it was all his fault.

“I’ve got to get the right amount or it won’t work,” I accused, inwardly rolling my eyes because of course it wasn’t his fault he was so distracting. It was mine for being so mesmerized by such a jerk.

“You need me to give you something long to measure it by?” 

Just when I thought he couldn’t get any more disconcerting... but now I snickered because this shit had to end. I was tired of being in a constant flustered state when I was near him.

“What?” he asked, narrowing his eyes at me.

“Nothing. Just, thanks for the offer but I need something more than six inches to go by.”

Another barked laugh. “Baby, you know you need to double that if we’re being totally honest here.”

I huffed out a humorless chuckle at that, but the bad thing was he wasn’t totally wrong, having only exaggerated by maybe three inches. Cocky jerk.

“Whatever,” I murmured as I went in to measure once more.

“Whoa there,
cara
,” he said, suddenly grabbing my hand making me look up at him with a frown. “You need to set those scissors down first before getting close to Ryker, Jr.”

I laughed despite the fact that he’d just called me
precious
in Italian which was what my grandpa had always called me, and I knew Ryker probably had no clue what it meant anyway. Setting the scissors down (and quelling any Lorena Bobbitt jokes I may have had), I gave him an
am I good now
look and at his nod, I proceeded to measure the tape again.

“You don’t even know what
cara
means,” I challenged trying to divert my attention away from the fact that I was mere inches from his glorious cock.

Before I could move back, he wrapped an arm around my waist pulling me to him and as he looked deep into my eyes, he answered, “It means
precious
.”

My eyes got big as I stared at him, shocked as hell that he’d known.

“Um, yeah,” was all I could squeak out before I pulled away making him let me go. Lord. Why was I so attracted to this guy? I mean, besides the obvious, of course. But I knew he was a player. Knew he only wanted to sleep with me because, hell, he slept with everyone. And remembering that pissed me off, so after cutting the tape, I tried announcing indifferently, “You’re going to have to pull your shorts leg up,” but I’m sure my voice cracked.

“Sure you don’t want me to just take them off?” he asked, his lip curling up on one side.

I found myself sighing yet again as I looked back at him. He really was beautiful. Too bad he had no depth of character when it came to relationships.

“Just pull it up,” I directed with an annoyed look, feeling as if I were talking to one of the first graders I’d helped coach today.

Sticking the end of the tape to the back of his knee and stretching it up was the most tedious thing ever since I knew where it’d end. But, by golly, I did it and couldn’t help the triumphant look I gave him.

“Good job, Mangenelli,” Coach N said as he walked by. He added over his shoulder, “Now add another piece just like that just above it and you’ll be done.”

“Shit,” I mumbled beneath my breath.

“What was that?” Ryker asked with a snort.

I gave him my evil death glare as I grabbed the KT tape to cut a new piece. Once measured and cut, I stepped between his legs once again to apply it

“I’m thinking I should pay you for the cock massage when you’re finished,” he smarted off.

Now, I’ve always had somewhat of a bad temper—it’s the Italian in me—which at that moment I regretfully demonstrated, and immediately felt horrible afterward.

“What the fuck?” Ryker shouted when I ripped the second piece of tape off his leg after having smoothed it down, pulling off lots of leg hair with it, I was sure.

But now I had to own it. Giving him a sheepish look, I said remorselessly, “Sorry.” I smoothed the tape back down as best I could and was finished, thank God.

His voice dropped to a menacingly low level. “Gonna make you pay for that one,
Mangenelli
.”

My eyes came up to his as I bit my lip actually feeling bad that I’d hurt him. “I said I was sorry.”

He narrowed his eyes at me. “You owe me now. After class, you’re coming home with me to kiss this shit all better.”

I huffed out a laugh. “Right. And after I’m finished I’ll blow you to show how deeply apologetic I am.” I rolled my eyes.

His mouth was slightly open and askew and I watched in fascination as his tongue touched the molars on the bottom left. “I’d love nothing more than to have that smartassed mouth of yours wrapped around my cock again.” He was glaring at me but it was kind of sexy. Can glaring even
be
sexy? And I thought I figured out that the tongue thing he did was him being mad and probably trying to keep from yelling at me, kind of like gritting his teeth, I guessed. But even that was sexy. Argh!

Trying to act annoyed, I retorted, “That’ll be happening never.”

“It will. And after it does, I’m gonna spank your heart-shaped ass for being a bad girl tonight,” he said low.

My mouth dropped open as I ignored the womb dip and subsequent gush of wetness between my legs at his threat. “You’re kidding, right?” I declared with a frown.

He shook his head slowly as his eyes burned into mine. “Thing is, I know you’d like it too.”

My frown got even, well, frownier. “I highly doubt it,” I scoffed.

He leaned in closer, his fingers encircling my wrist as he pulled me toward him. “Wanna know why I know?”

I couldn’t help it. I was under his spell and therefore nodded.

“When I said I’d spank you, your breathing sped up, your eyes dilated and you suddenly looked flushed. Bet if I stuck my hand in your panties right now I’d find you’re dripping wet.” He put his mouth to my ear and whispered, “Am I right, Francesca?”

Holy hell.

“Stop calling me that,” I replied shakily, flustered beyond all measure. No one called me by my full name except Mrs. Bertolini and Grandma and Grandpa Mangenelli, and it was unsettling to hear Ryker call me it because he made it sound so dirty coming off his lips.

He let my wrist go and pulled back, a smirk gracing his gorgeous face as if he’d found out a deep, dark secret.

“All right! Students, put your materials away and I’ll come by to grade you,” Coach Nolan called.

I watched as Ryker smoothed the tape down and saw that there actually was quite a bit of hair stuck to it that was making the end curl up. God. I was a horrible person.

“I’m really sorry I did that,” I whispered genuinely feeling bad for what I’d done.

He looked up at me, eyes narrowed. “Don’t worry. You’ll pay, babe.”

That’s what I was afraid of.

5—Penalty

Sometimes I question my ability at making good decisions.

I say this because I was now sitting across from Ryker at O’Leary’s against my better judgment. Yep, that was me. Sitting right there. Across from Ryker Powers. All-around bad boy and player deluxe. But I wasn’t totally going to take the blame for how it happened.

Right before Coach Nolan had come by to give me my grade, Ryker had basically blackmailed me.

“You want a good grade, go out with me tonight. Otherwise, I’ll show Coach the chunk of hair you ripped off my leg.”

I’d narrowed my eyes at him wondering if he was bluffing but from the look on his face, I knew he wasn’t. I shook my head and bit out, “You’re unreal.”

“You have no idea.” He grinned. “Oh wait. I guess you do.”

Dear God. At that moment I thanked my lucky stars for my Italian ancestry since my blushing didn’t show up too much.

“Why, Ms. Mangenelli, are you blushing?”

Damn it. I guess I was wrong.

“No! I don’t blush!”

God. The looks he could give. And this one had me melting right there in front of him.

“Lemme take a look, Frankie,” Coach Nolan said just then.

I glanced at Ryker who raised his eyebrows at me in question, his hand on the tape daring me to turn him down. Crap! All I could do was nod, agreeing to going out with him.

“She did a great job, Coach. Very professional and she definitely knew what she was doing,” Ryker told him.

I choked out a cough making Coach Nolan look at me, eyebrows raised. He wasn’t fooled as he’d seen the horrible taping job I’d done on Taylor’s ankle Monday night.

“Is that so? Professional and knew what you were doing?” he asked not buying one bit of it. All I could do was nod acting all humble and shit. Ugh. “All right. Looks like a solid
B
,” he muttered, looking back at the tape job, and I know he noticed Ryker’s hand holding the top part down but thankfully he didn’t call me on it. “All right, you’re finished for tonight. See you next Monday,” he said before walking away to look at the next student’s work.

Ryker gently pulled the tape off his leg, then rolling it up tossed it into a nearby trashcan before turning and letting both legs hang off the table. “Come with me to the locker room so I can get dressed.”

I bit my lip thinking I could just tell him no. I mean, I’d already gotten a good grade.

“Not gonna chicken out, are you?” His eyes challenged me to turn him down as he stood.

“No. Of course not.” He knew I was an athlete which meant if I was anything, I was as competitive as they came, so with a deep sigh, I followed him out of the training room.

I’d stood outside the locker room while he’d changed and now here we were at O’Leary’s.

As we waited for the waitress to bring our beers, I’d sat uncomfortably not knowing what to say, but Ryker sat back against the booth, one arm thrown over it lazily as he watched me fidgeting. Of course he wasn’t uneasy. As cool as he was, he’d probably feel right at home in a police line-up. And knowing him, he’d try to come off as the guilty party just to mess with them.

I glanced around the place, nervously biting my lip before finally looking back at him and cleared my throat wanting to break what I thought was an awkward silence between us. “I was here just the other night with my roommate.”

The waitress brought our beers and when he took a drink, I watched, captivated at how his Adam’s apple moved up and down the column of his neck. Then I reminded myself that he disgusted me and looked away.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah,” I answered, turning to gaze around the place some more as I took a drink.

“You’re doing your student teaching.” It was a statement rather than a question.

I turned back to him and nodded. “You’re doing yours too.” Another statement.

He nodded and we sat in more silence as I played with the coaster the waitress had set down when she’d brought our drinks.

Well, this was going swimmingly. I picked up my bottle and took another sip and setting it on the table replied, “As much as this has been an exceedingly stimulating exchange and all, I really do have things to do.”

“I like you, Francesca.”

I sat back against the booth kind of in shock because it wasn’t like we were chatting each other up. “You don’t even know me.”

I watched as one side of his mouth went up. “Yeah, I kinda do. But I’d like to get to know you better.”

Here came the blush again since I knew to what he was referring and since I now knew he could tell when I was blushing, I blushed even more. Ack.

I licked my lips and shook my head looking down at the coaster I’d picked up again. “That was a mistake.”

“You think so?”

My head came up and I gave him a gimlet eye. “Well, yeah.”             

“Why?”

“Why?”

“Yeah, why?”

I took another drink and moving my eyes to him saw his eyebrow go up.

“Do I make you uncomfortable?” he asked.

I huffed out a despondent laugh. “Yes.”

He scrunched his face innocently, which was too cute, as he jerked his head back. “Really?”

I let out another humorless chuckle in response to this while his prying eyes regarded me as I squirmed a bit in the booth, not wanting to explain. But then I thought, why not. It wasn’t like I was going to see him again. So taking a deep breath, I revealed practically all. “For two years I’ve, uh, watched you.” And seeing how he was giving me a
that’s too creepy for words
look I rushed to explain. “I saw you our sophomore year. I played basketball but when I hurt my knee I was done. That gave me time during practice when I was just sitting around watching to watch, um, other things.” I stared at the coaster, flipping it over in my hand a few times.

“And?”

God. I should’ve just kept my big mouth shut. I gazed up at him under my lashes only to see him still watching me intensely. I ignored him hoping he’d let it go and took another drink finishing off my beer setting the bottle on the table, looking anywhere but at him.

“And, Francesca?”

I glanced back at him only to see the waitress placing another beer in front of me. “Oh, thanks,” I said, looking up at her hoping she’d stick around and chat for a bit but she only smiled and nodded before walking away. I next downed half of my beer in several gulps hoping my stalling would make him move on to another topic.

“Hey,” I heard him say quietly and saw him grin when I gave him a thoroughly innocent look as if I didn’t know what we were talking about. “Continue,” he ordered dipping his head toward me.

Okay. The sooner I got this over with the quicker I could go home. “I’m a dreamer.” There. That ought to do it. But the annoyed head tilt he gave me made me continue. “Sharee, my best friend, gets mad because she says I dream too much, that I come up with scenarios that are unrealistic and I guess she’s right.” I shrugged.

“So you dreamed about me?” God. I used to think his smirks were kind of hot but now they just annoyed the piss out of me.

“Yeah, Ryker, I did. That is until I found out what a gigolo you are.”

He snorted out a laugh. “Gigolo?”

I frowned. “Yeah. You know, dog, libertine,
manwhore
.”

“I know what a gigolo is. But, baby, I’m a guy. Guys like sex. Lots of it. If there are women out there willing to give it up, not gonna turn it down.” He shrugged impenitently as he shook his head and pursed his lips in a matter of fact way.

Ugh.

“I guess not since you’ve probably slept with the entire female populace of Seattle.”

“There are a few I haven’t pursued.” He winked and I was done.

I scooted toward the end of my booth. “Well, this has been fun and all, but I need to go home.”

He was up and on his feet faster than I could make it out, blocking me in the booth.

“I need to go,” I snapped, glowering up at him.

Putting his finger into the front waistband of my jeans he pulled me closer, bending his head and whispered, “Stay.” And then he kissed me.

~*~*~*~

I was officially an idiot.

After we’d kissed, Ryker had pulled his wallet out of his back pocket, thrown a couple twenties on the table, grabbed my hand and pulled me out of O’Leary’s to the parking lot. After we made out against his car for a while, he’d talked me into following him to his house which hadn’t taken much convincing.

Shit. Idiot.

Now we were in his bedroom.

In his bed.

Making out hardcore.

Coats on the floor. Shoes thrown wherever.

His hard body on top of mine felt like heaven as he ground his hips into me and God help me but I wanted him badly. So when he sat up, pulling me up with him to remove my shirt, I didn’t resist. I also didn’t make a fuss when he unhooked my bra, slowly slipping the straps down my arms and pulling it off.

“Fucking beautiful,” he murmured before laying me back and taking one of my nipples into his mouth and sucking hard.

“Oh, God,” I moaned then he moved to my other breast, giving it the same attention which made my back bow up off the bed as I dug my fingers into his shoulders.

He sat back on his knees and his hands went to my jeans unbuttoning them and sliding them and my panties down my legs, his eyes practically luminescent as he looked down at my exposed body.

“You’re stunning, Francesca,” he muttered as he took me in.

But he was the stunning one, his hair mussed from my fingers tangling in it, the scruff on his chin making him appear even more dangerous than I knew he already was. And I
so
knew this wasn’t smart. Knew I was only going to get my heart broken. I mean, yeah, he’d said he liked me but I’m sure he “liked” a lot of women. But did that stop me? Hell no.

Nope, stupid me sat up and tugged at the hem of his t-shirt pulling it up and over his head then keeping my eyes on all the ink on his chest and the abs that looked chiseled into his abdomen, my hands slid down to his jeans to unbutton them. Slipping a hand inside, I wrapped it around his hard cock making him groan which made me smirk (for a change) at having made him feel good.

“You like my cock don’t you, baby. Like I said, starving,” he said, his voice deep and gravelly. Before I could argue, he suddenly grabbed the outsides of my thighs pulling my bottom half up off the bed which made me release my hold on him as I my top half fell back onto the bed then his face moved between my legs and his mouth was on me.

“Ryker!” I screamed because his mouth was exactly where I needed it making it impossible for me to control all the moaning I was doing as he sucked and licked, flicked his tongue, taking me so high I swear I was seeing stars.

“That’s it. Come on my face. Soak my chin, baby.”

Oh, my God.

That was all it took and I was there, shouting out my climax as my knees clamped against the sides of his head. Damn.

I was breathing heavily, tremors still zinging through my body, when he let me go and stood at the side of the bed looking intensely down at me. He cupped his chin as if in thought and I didn’t know what he was doing until I watched as he moved his straightened pointer finger up his chin and to his mouth where I watched him suck my juices off of it. Whoa.

“Sweetest I’ve ever tasted,” he remarked, giving me a look that burned right through me before he bent to pull off his jeans and boxer briefs.

And holy hell. His hard sculpted body was truly something to behold.

He got a condom out of the nightstand and put it on, and was now standing in all his gorgeous nudity looking down at me as if trying to figure out what to do with me, the whole while stroking his huge length which sent another spasm through my body. Good lord.

“Spread your legs for me, baby,” he finally said putting a knee to the bed. I did as I was told and watched him move his body over mine, leaning down on his forearm at the side of my head as he ran his other hand up my throat then grasping my chin with his fingers he leaned down to kiss me hard and wet and deep.  “Can’t wait to be inside you again,” he growled as he pulled back and looped his arm behind my knee then drew his hips back and plunged inside me roughly making me cry out.

His strokes were strong, forceful, pounding, and from the moment he started moving I felt everything building again. Fast. Oh my. And before I knew it, I was coming again.

“Yeah. Just like that, Francesca. Love feeling you pulsing around me, gripping me tight. So fuckin’ starved for my cock.”

I was about to protest again (because I may have been starved for his body but he did
not
have to keep bringing it up) when I lost him due to his flipping me over onto my belly, and drawing my hips up with his rough hands, he sank inside deep before I could even catch my breath.

“So fuckin’ wet,” he growled as he slammed inside, his hips now pistoning against my bottom.

I buried my face in the sheets, my hands clenching them as mewls of pleasure escaped from my throat but suddenly I let out a yelp because he’d smacked my butt.