It was hard, breaking the news to her about her brother’s passing. She listened to my whole story, and I didn’t spare any details, not even about how Dad seemed eager to rape me after Justin. By the end of the story, I was in tears, worried about her reaction. I mean, he was her brother, and sometimes people stick by their family even though they’re toxic.
She surprised me when she told me she was proud of me. I broke down, relieved she didn’t blame or hate me. In the middle of sobbing, I admitted I’m in love with Ryder, thinking this would be the one thing she would push me away for. Her response reminded me how I need to stop worrying so much about what other people think because these anxious thoughts lie.
The only person I haven’t heard from is Carolyn, and neither has Ryder. We think she tucked tail and left town to find someone else to marry for their money. It must scare my stepmother, knowing she’ll go right back to struggling to make ends meet. I think it’s the perfect outcome for her since she lost touch with where she came from. Sometimes I wonder if she tried driving a wedge between my stepbrother and me since the beginning.
“Aw, let me see the kitty pictures.” Olivia sidles up to me and holds her hand out for my phone.
I offer her an apologetic smile. “I don’t have my phone on me. Ryder has it.”
She raises her eyebrows. “What? Why?”
“Uhh.” I glance down at my outfit. The dress wasn’t made for function, so it lacks pockets. There’s so little fabric, I’m lucky I haven’t slipped a tit or flashed everyone my crotch or ass.
Nova snickers, and Dahlia looks me over with a tiny smile.
Olivia frowns and rests her hand on her hip. “That’s why God gave you big tits, Mad. You slip your phone between them and it’ll go nowhere.”
I scrunch my nose. “That’s not sanitary. I sweat a lot down there.”
Dahlia nods, agreeing with me about being cursed with breast sweat.
“Wipe it off, then.” Olivia shrugs, then gives me a smug look. “I’m sure Ryder wouldn’t mind helping you clean up. The man can’t keep his hands to himself now that you two are out.”
My cheeks burn with a blush. I’m not embarrassed about everyone knowing about my relationship with Ryder, but I still get butterflies in my stomach just thinking about him. “Okay, calm down, girl. I’ll send you the pics later.”
Olivia pouts but changes the subject. I don’t pay attention as I glance around the crowd, looking for a familiar head of dark-brown hair and piercing blue eyes.
Where the hell did he disappear to? He said he wouldn’t be gone for long, but that was thirty minutes ago.
“I’ll be back,” I mumble to the girls.
I crane my neck as I search the dancing crowd for Ryder. The music thumps and vibrates through my body, my heart matching its rhythm.
A man bumps into me, his hand briefly brushing against my arm in apology. I don’t spare him a look as I weave through the swaying and grinding bodies.
How in the hell did Ryder manage to disappear? The cabin is bigger than two standard-size bedrooms, but it’s not large enough to lose somebody in. He couldn’t have gone far.
I ditch my drink on a table beside the couch where a couple is making out, lost to the world around them as they heavily pet each other.
The current song switches to another KAMAARA single, and my body immediately responds as though I’m in my bedroom with Ryder’s head between my spread legs. The song’s deep bassand the singer’s gravelly voice thump through my chest and straight to my core.
Fingers trail through my hair at the back of my head, drawing me out of the spell the music put me under. I spin with Ryder’s name on the tip of my tongue. My shoulders slump in disappointment when I don’t find him standing there. No one is close enough to have done it.
Maybe this place really is haunted.
Shaking away the thought, I turn and wander into the hallway leading to the bedrooms. I open the nearest door and stiffen at the sight of a man with his pants pooled around his thighs. He jackhammers into a woman on the bed with her dressed flipped over her head. I shut the door and walk to the next, already reaching for the knob.
The tiny hairs on the back of my neck stand in awareness as a tall shadow creeps behind me. I start to turn my head to look at who’s approaching, but the person covers my mouth and forces me to look forward again. I stiffen as he jerks me across the hallway into the shadowed bathroom. Candles provide the only source of light. Amber and cypress fill my lungs, and the familiar touch eases the tension from my body.
Ryder shoves me against the sink, facing the mirror as he looms behind me. He pins my waist with his hips while still covering my mouth with his hand. I meet his reflected gaze and arch my back to push against him, just to get a rise out of him. The candlelight reflects in his icy eyes, transforming his features to look more monster than man.
He groans and grinds against my ass, then leans forward until his painted lips are beside my ear. “Feel like screaming for me, sis?”
I grab the edge of the counter to balance myself and nod, my whimperedyesmuffled in his palm.
“If I touch your pussy right now, will I find you wet?” Ryder drags his pierced tongue along the corner of my jaw, then moves up to my ear before he catches the soft lobe between his teeth.
Liquid heat pools low in my belly. I rub my thighs together to stop the ache in my core as he flashes me a knowing smile.
