Doing my best not to look at him, I go about brushing my teeth. I hate the taste of vomit in my mouth and I could go without that taste for the rest of my life if it were possible.
Finished, I put the toothbrush back where I’d placed it this morning after opening it when Ryder gave it to me.
“Time to talk some more, baby,” Ryder grunts as he lifts me back into his arms and carries me to the bed.
Oh boy. Here we go.
When he sets me in the middle of the bed, Ryder joins me by climbing up and sitting directly next to my hip bracing himself up using a hand on my other side caging me in.
Nervous, I pull my bottom lip in between my teeth and bite down. It’s a habit I’ve always had, and I can’t help it.
Ryder’s eyes drop to my mouth and I swear it was like they flared with lust for a brief second before his eyes came back to mine.
“Now mon bijou, you and I are going to get several things out in the open and then we’re going to move on from it, got me?” Ryder declares.
“Why do you call me mon bijou?” I ask, frowning. It’s not the first time he’s called me this but it’s the first time I’ve had the chance to ask him about it.
“Because that’s what you are, my jewel. You stand out when everything else is shadowed. Hard around the edges but beautiful through and through.” I barely keep myself from tearing up at this. His answer is one of the most beautiful things anyone has ever said to me.
“Umm,” I start to say but Ryder shakes his head at me telling me with the narrowing of his gaze to stop before I even begin.
“Right now, Brielle you’re going to listen to me.” To this I give Ryder a slight nod. “You said a lot of things in the office. A lot about that pisses me and everyone else off. Not at you, though I’ll tell you now it’s fucked you didn’t get out of there sooner and stay out of there. If you’d been smart and contacted your brother, it could have saved you and our boys a hell of a lot of pain.”
He did not just say that, did he?
I don’t need anyone else making me feel horrible, that’s the way I feel as it is.
“That being said, baby, you were dealt a shit hand and you did what you thought was best for you. In your mind I figure you were trying to protect everyone from getting hurt by taking it on yourself. Well that shit ends now, Brielle. I saw it in you at the hospital and again earlier today. You want to bolt and that shit ain’t fuckin’ happenin’. We’re going to handle this clusterfuck, while we’re doing that, you and I are gonna start this.”
“This?” I whisper, inaudible.
“This,” Ryder mutters, nodding his head in confirmation.
Oh boy.
I’ve got to be dreaming within the nightmare that is my life.
“Live for the rush, mon bijou, nothing sweeter but gotta say the rush of what’s to come between us is going to be the sweetest I’ve ever tasted. You with me?” Swallowing through the lump in my throat, I nod my head and lick my lips. “Good, conversation over for now,” He says in a low husky voice as he leans forward and captures my mouth with his. On a gasp, Ryder plunges his tongue into mine.
Lifting my arms up, I wrap them around his neck trying to pull him even closer to me as flames of desire consume me.
This could be good, or it could be very, very bad.
But right now, I’m going to go with good and pray to all who are looking down upon me that I’m making the right decision.
Chapter Eight
Ryder
“Stoney said Rachel wants to meet Brielle,” Cane grunts as he approaches me in the garage. After the meeting yesterday and the make out session with my woman that left me wanting even more than ever to sink my dick into her, I decided the boys and her needed a quiet night. This meant ordering pizza and wings from the local Italian joint in town and finding some movie the boys would want to watch. They surprised me by picking The Lost Boys.
Fuckin’ good movie but didn’t expect them to pick something from the eighties. When that one went off Marcus asked if we could watch Chucky. Then Micah piped in wanting to watch Corpse Bride. Guess they’re all about horror and Halloween movies.
Fine with me long as it didn’t entail me watching something like Finding Nemo and that stupid fish singing that song that gets stuck in your fuckin’ head for ages.
Whip didn’t take too kindly to this considering he’d wanted to spend time with his sister. But I didn’t give one flyin’ fuck. What was important was making sure Brielle saw where I was coming from when I say we’re doing this.
Her, me and the boys. Their gonna know for the rest of their lives they’re safe and so is their mom. Meaning they’ll sleep peacefully and so will Brielle.
I’ve seen the difference in the cunts of this world who don’t give a shit about their kids and the ones who do. My woman would die for Marcus and Micah. I’m almost certain she nearly did several times and she just hasn’t said. I’m sure of this because I’d seen her back this morning when she woke up her shirt up in the back and she was on her side still sleeping. Her skin was marred in what look like lines crisscrossing this way and that. Some thin others thick.
Reaching a hand up I lifted her shirt more to find the lines were scattered over the
