It Started with a Bang by Piper James

Chapter Twenty-Three

Annabelle

The flight back to Texas was…confusing, so far. Ryder and I didn’t speak much for the first half of the flight, and I had no idea what he was thinking. I didn’t know if he regretted the hours we spent in bed, or if he was just exhausted from the acrobatics we performed in that bed.

I knew I didn’t regret it. Not at all. Being with Ryder was unlike anything I’d ever experienced before. He was as generous as he was demanding. And he had the most skilled tongue I’d ever experienced.

I crossed my legs to stifle the tingling feeling between them. Just thinking about his mouth had my underwear soaked, and I didn’t even know if there’d be a repeat performance in our future.

Ryder’s grip tightened on my fingers, squeezing for a few seconds before loosening his hold. While we hadn’t talked much, the man had been holding my hand since we left the hotel this morning. I didn’t want to read too much into it—it very well could’ve been for show, since we were technically newlyweds and the paparazzi could be hiding anywhere. We had to sell this.

I made the decision to wait until we got back home to try to discuss…everything with Ryder. I didn’t want to get into it in public, and if things didn’t go well—meaning, last night was a one-off and he had no interest in doing it again—I’d rather sulk in the privacy of my own home.

Because there would be sulking if I never again got the chance to experience the mind-blowing orgasms he gave me yesterday. And this morning.

I squeezed my thighs tighter, thinking about waking up this morning to Ryder kissing his way from my foot to my knee. When it was obvious I was awake, he’d looked at me with an arched brow, waiting for consent. I’d spread my legs brazenly in answer, and his radiant smile had lit up the room before he dove in to feast on me until I screamed my release.

“You okay?” Ryder whispered, jerking me from the memory.

“What?” I chirped, then cleared my throat. “I mean, yeah. I’m good.”

He leaned in, bringing his mouth so close to my ear, his breath made me shiver. “What were you thinking about?”

My face exploded with the fire of a bright blush, and Ryder chuckled as he pulled away to lean back in his seat. His thumb slipped between our clasped hands to gently rub my palm, and my heart began to pound a staccato rhythm. I tried to keep my breaths slow and even, but there was a small hitch with each stroke.

After a minute or two, he sighed and wrapped his thumb back around mine. If his plan had been to get me soaked and throbbing for him, well, mission accomplished. I was so keyed up, I was almost ready to say “Fuck it,” and shove his hand under the skirt I was wearing.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Ryder asked, turning his face toward me. “You seem tense.”

“Just regretting not booking the jet,” I said sourly.

“What do you mean?” he asked, tilting his head.

A flight attendant stopped by at that moment and asked if we needed anything. Making a split-second decision, I asked him for a blanket. Ryder gave me a strange look, but I just shrugged and looked out the window until the flight attendant came back with what I’d requested.

Releasing Ryder’s hand, I spread the blanket over my lap. I glanced across the aisle, confirming the old man there was still asleep. Then I pulled Ryder’s hand under the blanket. His eyes widened as I guided it between my legs, rubbing his fingertips over the wet material of my underwear. I leaned toward him, bringing my lips to his ear.

“This is what’s wrong,” I whispered. “I can’t stop thinking about all the times you made me come. With your fingers. Your mouth. Your cock.”

I’d never been much of a dirty talker, but Ryder seemed to bring out the inner brazen hussy I never knew was hiding inside me. His eyes widened and his nostrils flared as one fingertip slipped under the edge of my underwear to brush over my bare skin.

I hissed under my breath as he touched my clit, then he slid the finger down to push inside me. My eyes rolled back as he pumped it in and out twice, his own breathing growing harsh. I was concentrating so hard on remaining still and acting normal, I nearly shrieked when a loud ding echoed through the cabin followed by the captain’s voice saying we’d be landing soon.

Ryder’s hand froze, then he slowly pulled his finger out and straightened my underwear. Pulling his arm from beneath the blanket, he looked to his right and up the aisle to make sure no one was watching before turning back to me. Then he looked straight into my eyes as he popped his finger into his mouth and sucked it clean.

My insides clenched, my need skyrocketing. He smiled softly before kissing me on the cheek and whispering, “To be continued.”

Ryder spent the last fifteen minutes of the flight doing a million tiny little things that guaranteed I’d stay keyed up. Lifting my hand to press a kiss to my palm while covertly poking his tongue out to lick the skin there. Letting his gaze roam over me in slow, steady strokes while biting his lip with low, animalistic growls. Leaning over to whisper in my ear all the things he wanted to do to me as soon as we were alone.

It was pure hell. Torture. And I couldn’t wait to get him alone so I could pay him back, in kind.

After he made good on all these silent and spoken promises.

As the wheels touched down, I wondered who this woman was I’d become. I’d never in my life been so brazen as to instigate any kind of sexual activity in a public place. I’d never had something so simple as a light touch to my palm melt my insides. Never had a man’s gaze made me want to climb him like a tree.

But Ryder seemed to have some voodoo magic hold over me, bending me to his whims with a single crook of those damn sexy as fuck eyebrows. Yes, his eyebrows turned me on.

Who in the hell was I?

I’d had sex before, of course. A few relationships that never went anywhere—either because they couldn’t handle my father, or they were in it only to get closer to him and his billions—and a few anonymous one night stands.

But I’d never experienced anyone like Ryder. I was already fantasizing about spending the entirety of our one-year marriage in bed…and that was dangerous. I could not afford to catch feelings for him, which would inevitably happen if he continued to give me several orgasms a day for three hundred and sixty-four more days.

No. I needed to keep my head on straight and my heart on lockdown. This marriage was a ruse, and our physical relationship was nothing more than a fling. I could control it. I could keep a clear head and just enjoy this for however long it lasted.

And when it was over, I’d be perfectly fine going back to being roommates for the remainder of the year. Maybe Ryder and I could even be friends after the year was over.

Because despite our rocky start, I actually liked him. As a friend, that is.

Yeah, friends with benefits. FWB.

That’s what we were, and I could totally handle that. Totally.