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CHAPTER NINETY SEVEN
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2024-10-29 19:42:56His touch....
The soft, intimate tease of his fingers against her skin in his usual caress that never fails to give her goosebumps......
It was one of the things she'd missed the most after Ryder had upped and disappeared on her.
That barely there brush of his fingers against her skin had brought the bittersweet memories of the good days rushing back into her head and she'd flinched away from him in response.
When she let her eyes find his, the hurt she'd caused was bare as day in his beautiful orbs, that was before he blinked it away and replaced it with his usual poker face look that totally blocks you out of his head.
He took a step back from her, his hands slipping into the pocket of his fancy pants as if to keep him from reaching for her again.
That was disappointing, for some reason.
"I'll be in the kitchen if you need anything, you should have that bath now, the water is running cold."
She didn't want him to leave
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Ryder hadn't been expecting her to still be in the bathroom when he strode back into the room.He needed a bath himself after the long night they had and his failed attempts in the kitchen to make an edible meal for dinner.Well, nothing has changed with his culinary skills he'd realised, and they'd have to resign to take outs after all.It was the other reason he'd come in here though, to ask what he should order for her since he wasn't sure what her pregnancy did or didn't allow her take.He's not been around a lot of pregnant women, but he knew they had preferences and cravings sometimes and some other foods aren't too healthy for the baby and stuff like that.While he was jealous of the baby's father for creating something so beautiful with someone as wonderful as his Bree, he wasn't inclined to jeopardize that by putting her or the baby at risk with food and all....The bathroom door chose that moment to come open, distracting him from
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Bree stayed in the living room while Ryder showered, her body still burning and needing from that stunt he'd pulled on her back there.She'd come so close to begging him to take her........What had he been thinking touching her like that?Probably hoped to get her right back into his bed like nothing had happened between them and he didn't just up and disappear on her for months, until now.Good thing she wasn't that naive, obtuse thing he'd played like the pied Piper to his bed back then.No, she was a stronger, better and wiser woman, a soon to be mother to their child and........she still wanted him and might have let him have her just then if he hadn't called quits .Fuck.That's not how this is supposed to be but yet.......How is it still possible to want just this one man after everything she's been through thanks to him?Maybe she was just born with this mighty, insatiable appetite for hurt, verbal abuse and hea
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She let him hold her and it was more than he deserved, really.It was a surprise she wasn't hitting him and cursing him out because was the least of all he deserved from her.Her sobs, racking through her small frame tore at his heart, his whole mistakes flashing through his head even as he tried to calm her down."Please baby, I can handle anything else but your tears. Hit me if you want to, but please stop crying.""Fuck you, Ryder." She sobbed in response.She sounded as broken as he felt, maybe even worse and he couldn't blame her for that, he only hoped that he could make it up to her, save her all the pain and make her feel better."I'm so sorry, baby, I'm sorry I hurt you. I'll take it all back right now if I can, I swear. I was scared and hurt and stupid and I know that doesn't even come close to excusing what I did but.....God, I'm sorry Brianna."She didn't answer him this time, didn't utter a word and he couldn't even
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A child with Ryder.......The whole thing sounded so surreal falling from her lips even though this was a conversation she's had in her head over a billion times.And all the times she'd imagined what this day would be like did nothing to prepare her for the real deal."The baby is mine."It wasn't a question, no, he wasn't asking, he was just acknowledging the fact and Bree couldn't find a word to describe how that made her feel.There was no doubt in his eyes, no argument in his voice, just pure marvel at the words she'd just said, like he'd hoped and prayed to hear them.In all the while she's known him, his face has never been more expressive than it was in that moment, it was like he let his guard down enough to let her see just how much her news affected him.And it was a damn beautiful sight.It didn't help that all the emotions bare in his eyes fanned the tiny flame of hope she's been carrying with her all these w
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Bree woke up late, in a super comfy bed that was definitely too big to be hers, strong, sure and safe arms cuddling her against the warm and very naked torso of a man..........all skin and no clothes. It took her a minute to recollect how she'd gotten here and whose, these hands were. Ryder...... She'd thought last night was a dream, but apparently it wasn't and he was really here or maybe she was the one that's really here because this is his house. The events of last night seeped into her mind in sequence, starting from her thrill at being all dolled up and going for her first billionaire studded ball, to meeting the one man on Earth she never thought she'd set her eyes on ever again in this life time. Fast forward to the scene with her enraged boss and the slap she'd taken to her face that still somehow stung a little this morning. It wasn't the best night of her life and real shit had gone down but she had it to thank for this mome
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Bree had a lot of things she wanted to say to him but the assurance that he was ready to wait while she comes to term with where they currently were? That was all she needed to hear, all the reassurance that she needed. It answered most, if not all her questions and it calmed her fears far more than anything has in any recent memory. They'd work through it and make the best of it this time around...... hopefully. She smiled in response to him, nodding her head slightly to let him know she agreed to everything he'd said, fully, and she was trusting him on this without any questions. "You know it's going to be hard for me, hmmm, having you around me and not being able to do anything about the ache you stirr in me?" He teased, leaning up to plant a soft kiss on her fore head and then an even softer one on her lips, stirring the ache he'd mentioned in her too. The way he said the words made her laugh though, why on Earth did he sou
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Her box laid open in the middle of their bed while Bree went around the room, taking anything she thought she'd need and throwing them inside it.She's procrastinated this packing for a while now but it needed to be done and as a matter of fact now that Ryder was still at the office.She didn't want him to come home and find she was the only one delaying the vacation he'd taken the whole month to plan for them.Yeah, a vacation, more like a honeymoon except the kids, Karen and Issy, the new nanny, were coming too.In the couple of years that's passed, a lot has happened, none of which she regretted one bit.Not learning how damaged how husband had been before he waltzed into her life or that his plan had been to use her as pawn in his schemes to get revenge, none of it.That last part had hit harder than the rest, knowing that she could have so easily suffered for the crimes of someone who didn't even give two piece of flying shit about her.She'd taken her time to digest that piece
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"You know you'll never hurt Xander, right?" She asked him quietly, and honestly, she had no idea what that did for him.He didnt know that, he's been afraid of that since he knew he was expecting a soon too and maybe, just maybe, that has affected his relationship with his baby.He wondered if she'd noticed, all the times he'd opt to hold Lexie instead of him, afraid that whatever had made his father get so awfully abusive to him might be nestled somewhere inside him.What if it was a bad trait living inside him too, waiting to grow and make him a monster too?It was the sole reason he hadn't wanted kids, ever, but Bree had come into his life and many things had changed with her presence.She'd made him want things that he had no right wanting, made him be live he deserved some good things in his life and now here they were, with two kids, one of them a boy......just like he'd been."I need you to understand this Ry, you'll never be like your father. You are a good man, one of the best
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Before he got into bed, Ryder had already made up his mind to tell Bree everything that she wanted to know about him and why he turned out the way he did.He didn't want a fight like the last time, that had been an absolute hell, and he didnt want to let his past keep winning.He wanted to get it out there, he needed to.This morning had shown him that, he might never be over those horrid incidents but it would be better to know he tried.And if he had to share it with anyone, then why not her? Why not the woman he was ready to spend the rest of his life with?Even though he hasn't popped the question, he knew that was his truth, he's been ready for that step for a while now and he'd ask her anytime from now."Baby please...."Her voice called his mind back from wandering off.He opened his mouth to, but the words weren't coming, his tongue sat heavy in his mouth, unmoving, while the forbidden images he's fought so hard to keep at bay flooded his head.His hand that held her close sque
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"Then stay."That sentence, made only of two words, in that moment, sounded more powerful than any argument Ryder could think of.He wanted to, fuck, he's dreamed of staying, like she was asking him to and doing the things she was suggesting, but the fears he'd parroted to her were real for him.He didn't want to hurt her, shes been through enough in recent times to add that to her plate and he knew he might with how rough this could easily turn.She had no idea what she did to him, to his control and without it, he could do things that both of them would only regret later....While his head turned and tossed the pros and cons of indulging their flaming desires and fantasies right now, his eyes followed her body's slow descent until she dropped to her knees before him.She looked like an angel to him, in fact to him she was one, just naughtier and more tempting to his already thin control.Her dainty fingers reached up to the waistband of the sweatpants he had on and he just watched as
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"Ryder.......please......"Bree could hardly believe the voice saying these words belonged to her.She sounded so different to her own self and that was probably because it's been a long while since she's had Ryder touch her like this.She was almost beginning to think they'd hit a drought in their sex life before this morning happened.The no sex rule made sense during her recuperation period she could understand, but even before that and then after, he'd still been reluctant to touch her in an suggestive way.It had bothered her enough to make her believe it was because she looked hideous to him now with her scars and all, but the eyes that had taken in every inch of her body just minutes ago had cleared her of worries.He wanted her snd he wasn't hiding that either.She arched her body as his fingers found her other nipple, catching it between his forefinger and his thumb and rubbing it mercilessly till she thought she'd come from the pleasure.Initially, she'd been afraid she might
