The Lost Sister (Sister Series, #8) Read online

  “Bubbles on? Jets?”

  “Yes. Bubbles.”

  He clicked the button and the tub was soon full of bubbles from the jets. She leaned back and let her body float around. He leaned back too, closing his eyes and enjoying the moment. Being in there with another adult instead of a talkative five-year-old was a thrill in itself. He and Wyatt went in there often together but with Wyatt, it was an entirely different experience.

  Her eyes were closed and her lips slightly parted when her head rested on the edge of the tub. She looked so kissable to Ryder but it had been so long. Could he even remember how to make the first move? Would it be welcomed by Tara? He thought so… but she wasn’t exactly an open book… He had much to learn still.

  He slid closer and the bubbles made her shirt billow, along with the oversized shorts. He should not have dared, but he did anyway. Sliding his hands around her waist, he touched her soft skin. Her head jerked up and her eyes fluttered open at his boldness. They stared at each other for a long, poignant moment. Neither of them were smiling or blinking or even twitching. Letting out a deep breath, her hands grabbed the hem of the t-shirt. She rose just enough from the water that her shoulders and breasts broke the surface. She lifted the wet garment up and off her before throwing it onto the patio. Her breasts were puckered and pointed upwards, while her nipples pebbled into hard, pink pearls. Her skin was glowing from the heat.

  Ryder’s breath came in short gasps as his entire body reacted to her. He felt the rush of blood that surged with desire and lust. He leaned forward and his mouth touched the skin on her collarbone. Her hands wrapped around his neck and she held onto him, pulling him closer. His mouth kissed hers, moving downwards until he reached the hardened nub, which he slipped inside his mouth. She tilted her head back and lifted her breast up to him as her fingers massaged his head and hair. She moaned and a soft little breath of air escaped through her lips. He kept sucking on her, using his tongue to play with and twirl her nipple. His hand cupped the opposite breast, holding the weight of it in his hands while her body seemed to collapse as if it were almost boneless. He lifted his head and moved his lips from one breast to the other, cupping both breasts with his hands and burying his face in the cleavage. Tara was cupping his face when his mouth finally found the other nipple and his fingers played with the opposite. Fully hard now, he tugged and twisted and licked and kissed her. Her head fell back and she moaned while surrendering to his ministrations.

  His mouth kissed a line from her breast up to her collarbone and neck before their lips finally met. Their mouths blended together like melting ice cream. She moaned and sighed as he leaned further over her, standing on his feet to provide more leverage. She shifted until she was fully in his arms and their mouths opened to each other. Her tongue came into his mouth, starting slowly and almost timidly, but she quickly seemed to gather more confidence. She lifted up higher on her toes to meet him. Her fingers clung onto his shoulders, and she held herself up against the sway of the water. She pulled him closer to her and fell back onto her flattened feet. He leaned over her and their tongues massaged and played while his entire body burned hotter than the temperature of the water. Her wet hands looked so small as they moved over his chest. Running over his pecs and abs and then going back up to his shoulders, she seemed to be memorizing how he felt before her arms settled. She looped them around his neck and leaned against him and they simply stood in the middle of the hot tub, kissing for several long minutes… even longer. It seemed to stretch on and on. The steam rose up around their bare torsos, which were exposed to the cold air, but the hot steam kept them comfortable. She felt so good in his arms, so small and slick and soft and good. Just good.

  When her mouth released his, she tucked her head beneath his chin, right where his neck and shoulder met. She seemed to vacillate from sexy aggressor to suddenly acting like a needy child, huddling up into his chest. He wrapped his arms around her and felt her small back. She shivered and clutched him harder. He was surprised by the sudden switch, but he simply kissed the damp hair that he found below his mouth.

  “It’s been awhile for me.” Her voice was muffled against his chest and he could feel her lips moving against his bare skin. Her lips kissed his skin. She did it again. He closed his eyes at the delicate, barely-there sensation.

  “Me too. But you don’t have to do anything,” he reminded her. She kept kissing his chest however, from his shoulder to his neck and downwards towards his pecs. Her tongue swirled over his nipple as her hands almost innocently rested at his waist.

  Her face lifted suddenly and her gaze was on him. “I haven’t wanted to in a really long time.”

  “And you want to? Now? With me?”

  Her head nodded. He touched her cheek. “You don’t have to. I… I felt compelled to touch you just then. But we can also just sit here and enjoy the rest of the evening. Or have a nice conversation. Or—”

  Her head shook. “You make me feel safe.”

  His entire expression reflected his bewilderment. “Safe? Is there a reason you were not safe before?” His stomach flipped as he pictured someone deliberately hurting her.

  “Not like you’re thinking. I haven’t belonged anywhere in a really long time. For years, I could have died and no one would have been the wiser. You make me feel… different. Like I’m cared for.”

  Harsh. What a harsh damn description of herself and life. Was it all true? Hard to imagine. How could she be so lost in the world that no one would notice if she left it? He drew in a breath. “I feel a lot of things for you.”

  She rose up and her lips touched his again. Then her smile shone with full wattage. “Or it could be the whole fish-cop thing.”

  Her hands squeezed his cheeks, teasing him, and he smiled, shaking his head as he dropped his hands to her armpits and started tickling her. “Cop. Law enforcement. Game warden. You kinda degrade my influence with the fish-cop label.”

  She put her arms down and a huge grin spread over her face, something he was sure she rarely, if ever, did. Her torso bent forward as she jerked all around spastically while gasping with laughter at his tickling. Obviously, she was quite ticklish.

  She finally grabbed his wrists and her hands dropped down to the back of his butt. He ceased. “Stop! And I’ll do whatever you want.”

  “Now we’re talking,” he said, raising his eyebrows several times as if he were salaciously about to devour her. She laughed and her hands gripped him. His smile vanished and his eyes seemed to roll back into his head. She pulled him against her, grinding on him through the wet cloth of his shorts.

  He returned the favor, tucking his hands against her small ass and lifting her onto his erection. Her legs wrapped around his waist as their lips entangled again, and it went on and on. He set her down on the fat lip of the tub near the controls and slipped her shorts off. His gaze scoured over her, naked before him. Her stomach quivered under his scrutiny. He kissed her mouth and trailed more kisses onto her cheek, temple, ear, and hair. His hand dropped down to her waist and he cupped her butt cheek in it. She bucked up towards him with a sigh of appreciation. He touched her, his fingers sliding into her wet folds while pushing his palm against her clit. She arched her back and called out his name. She moaned and rocked against him with sounds of joy.

  She finally pulled him up to her mouth and started kissing him. Her hands frantically worked his shorts down and out of the way. She touched him, tugging on him. He was so close to coming, he had to push her back and hold her still.

  “Let’s go inside,” he whispered while kissing the side of her face.

  She nodded and ducked down in the water, warming her body after being out too long in the cold night air. He did the same, grabbing the errant clothes and closing the hot tub lid after shutting the controls off. He took her hand and led her inside. Going up to his unlit room, they left a trail of wet footprints and shallow puddles of water. She shuddered as he twirled her around and pulled her against him. They started kissing and fell on
to his bed together, wet-skinned and urgently responsive. He kissed her and his mouth once again toured the rest of her body. She arched and relaxed, anxious to luxuriate under his skillful attention.

  But… something was missing. He couldn’t quite identify what it was. His own body was burning up, on fire and ready to explode. He slipped on a condom as she opened her legs before shoving himself inside her, and very hard. She instantly responded, her back arching. He pushed in again, only deeper. She wasn’t as wet as she had been and he feared he might hurt her. He stopped and kissed her forehead. “Are you okay?”

  Her smile was genuine. “I’m fine. Don’t stop.”

  He kissed her again and moved his hips once, twice before he started sliding into her. He entered her all the way, increasing the pace until he soon lost track of her pleasure and totally became preoccupied with his own. He worried he could go blind from all the feelings building up inside him as he pounded into her body. When he finally finished with a hard thrust, he was holding her hips still and his body nearly convulsed when he began coming inside her.

  Stunned at the intensity and force of his orgasm, he let her go. He got up to dispose of the condom and came back and pulled the covers down. She got inside the sheets, still as damp as he was. He wrapped her up in his arms and kissed her on the forehead.

  She snuggled against his chest. He sighed, realizing that she never came. Nowhere near an orgasm. He suspected the sounds he heard in the hot tub might not have been as genuine as he first believed. And her snuggling against him? That was definitely very real. Something wasn’t, though. Her desire to have sex with him.

  Chapter Eight

  SHE HADN’T BEEN ABLE to do it… again. She thought maybe this time she could because it was such a different circumstance than she usually had for sex. The fact remained: she was frigid. She had never experienced an orgasm. Not once. Not from self-exploration when she was a young teen and first entering her sexuality, until now. She felt… nothing. All those things she anticipated she should feel from all the articles she read never happened to her. No. Nope. And not once had she come in all of her sexual experience on the streets. Perhaps that was owing to the circumstances in which she engaged in sex. Yet most people had no problem climaxing in physical release. Not her. Never. Not once.

  She thought perhaps… here, this time, she might. With Ryder. He did make her feel safe. He held her and kissed her, being so soft and gentle as well as powerful and strong. He went way beyond physically appealing to her. She loved seeing his curly chestnut hair fall all around his forehead and how it felt between her fingers and the way he smiled at her, lifting only one side of his mouth. And how he let her keep all of her secrets, but was so open with his own. He answered whatever she asked. He was kind to her. He was funny. And he was a cop.

  Somehow, his image bearing a badge was so different than anything she’d witnessed or experienced before. She felt like she could trust him more easily because of it. She respected him too, something she didn’t feel for everyone. From her parents to her grandfather to her siblings to the people she met on the streets, she had no trust in anyone. She usually spoke to other people with respect, but she didn’t necessarily trust or feel respect towards them. Except Jerome. And now, Ryder.

  She watched how he treated his former sister-in-law as well as his son. His decision to take Tara out and show her what he liked to do, simply because she’d never experienced anything like it before, was refreshing to Tara.

  No, what she hadn’t experienced was meeting a man like him before.

  And now? Eventually, he would find out that she was frigid, an ice queen… although it wasn’t his fault.

  It was all her fault. Maybe, if she were terribly lucky, he wouldn’t notice.

  She curled into his chest. The covers dried her off and kept her body warm. It should have worked. It felt so nice in the hot tub with the hot water steaming her skin and raising her blood temperature while making her feel more sensitized. She thought for sure… she really believed it would work. The kissing was so… luscious, and wonderful… a real turn-on. Then why did it all stop? She resented her body’s total lack of response. She blamed it on the way sex had always been so haphazard for her, living out on the streets with random partners in tents or behind buildings. This? This was so different. And her body’s reaction? Exactly the same.

  She sighed. She did not enjoy remembering her not-so-distant past, but she detested how her body refused to allow her to enjoy what almost all other women enjoyed.

  She curled up against him.

  His hand moved and began rubbing her lower back. She moaned under his tender fingers.

  “Relax. You’re all tensed up.”

  “Maybe… maybe I should go home?”

  His eyelids flipped open and he lifted his head until he met her gaze. Emphatically he said, “No. Of course not.”

  “But what about Wyatt?”

  “Tonight, he’s sleeping over at his grandparents’ house.” He squeezed her tighter. His lips touched her eyelids, and the end of her nose and then her mouth. “Really, Tara. Just relax. Go to sleep.”

  His breathing eventually became regular and quiet. He was sound asleep. Good. Perhaps that meant there was nothing to stress over. She lay there half the night restlessly, until she finally went to sleep. When she woke up, the bed was empty. She glanced at the clock and saw it was already past nine. She groaned into the pillow and punched it. Was Ryder still here? After lying awake and regretting her performance and the ice-queen routine, she could not go to sleep until well past four. She slipped out of bed and glanced around. Her clothes were still downstairs. She opened a dresser drawer and took out a shirt. She slipped it on along with a pair of socks she found in the top drawer. Her feet were cold as she padded down towards the kitchen, where she heard noises. At least he hadn’t left for work yet. Though that might have been nice if only so she didn’t have to face him. However, she really wanted to face him… she was rather confused.

  She came around the corner of the kitchen and stood up against the counter when she saw Ryder making breakfast. He had eggs scrambling, bacon sizzling, and wonderful aromas that filled the room. She sniffed a deep breath and he turned when he heard her. He had on dark gray sweats that rode low on his hips beneath his lean abdomen. His smooth, muscular back and arms were exposed because he was shirtless, and Tara stared, fighting the urge to lick him. The desire was definitely there. The visual stimulus wasn’t the problem… she was fine until it came down to her satisfaction. That was when she froze up and the ice filled in and numbed her core.

  His smile was cocky and tilted to one side. He came right up to her and slipped his arm around her as he kissed her cheek. “Morning.”

  She leaned into his embrace as she mumbled, “Morning. I can’t believe I slept so late.”

  “I tried to sleep in too, but Wyatt never lets me snooze past seven, not even on Sundays, so it’s become almost impossible for me to sleep in anymore. Coffee?”

  She nodded. He got it for her while nodding at the small breakfast bar beyond the central island. “Sit. Anything special in your coffee?”

  “Just a little milk.”

  He added it for her and handed her the mug. She smiled her thanks and wrapped her hands around it, blowing off the steam to alleviate her growing case of nerves. Sitting in the stark daylight of Ryder’s house now that they’d… what? Changed it all? Into what?

  “Kinda nice to see you serving me for once.”

  He chuckled as he went back to the food. “You know I cook all the time, right? Have to when you got a kid. This isn’t all that special.”

  “How do you cook bacon shirtless? Don’t you worry about it splattering on you?”

  “Nah. Just stand back a little.”

  “I’d burn myself. No way would I ever try it shirtless.”

  He turned towards her. “You should show me.”

  She tilted her head, eyeing him up, and caught his sexy little grin. She shook her head
no. He flipped the burners off and scooped the hot food onto plates before putting them down next to her. He winced when he looked down at the two breakfasts. “Wyatt and I aren’t so good at our presentation. We just kind of go for it.”

  She smiled up at him. “No. It’s perfectly wonderful. No one makes breakfast for me.”

  His shoulder gently touched hers as he whispered, “Come by anytime, I can always cook for you.”

  She flushed, growing all warm and tingly at his open-ended invitation. They ate in compatible silence for several moments. The food was hot and good and Tara eagerly devoured it. Ryder wiped his mouth and turned halfway towards her. She glanced over, realizing his obvious desire to say something. He lifted a hand and touched her face, running his hand through her hair. With his other hand, he took hers. She studied him strangely, wondering what his tender touching and penetrating looks were all about. She wasn’t used to receiving any of it.

  “Soo.... last night.” He dragged out his words and she shrugged at him, questioning.

  “So?”

  “So you didn’t have an orgasm. I think we should talk about that.”

  “Oh, my God!” she exclaimed. Her entire face flushed as she dropped her head and raised her hands to cover her eyes. She could not believe he just said that. Right there. And at the breakfast table.

  He gently tugged on her wrist, trying to lower her hands. “It’s nothing to be embarrassed about. I only brought it up because… well, it’s not what I want for you in… this… thing between us.”