Rekindle The Flames (The Men of CLE-FD Book 4) (9 page)

“Shhh, no talking.  You promised to let me do all the
work.”

He laughed. “I did promise to let you have total control.”

“Mmm.” She squirmed down the front his body, bringing her
mouth in contact with his erection straining beneath his clothing. “You are so
beautiful, Ryan.”

His erection jerked as though she’d physically stroked
him. Lifting his hips so she could rid him of the jeans, she resumed her
position.

Smiling, she grasped his member, dragging a sharp
inhalation from him as her fingers closed loosely around him. She bent and laid
her tongue on the base of his manhood, licking it all the way to the tip in one
broad stroke.

“Ahhh!” He panted and pulled his wrists against the cuffs
preventing him from touching her.

Megan closed her mouth over his balls and began circling
figure eights with her tongue.

“Baby!” His hands fisted behind him as she sucked and
licked him like a lollipop. “I think you’d better get on me.”

She looked up at him.  Her eyes slanted to reveal the
devilishness that came from hiding behind the innocence.  “Tell me you want
me.”

“Fuck, baby, I want you more than you know.”

She stood up pulling the nightshirt over her head
revealing her naked body. “Beg, Ryan.  I want to hear you beg,” she commanded
running her hands over her body.

Ryan felt he would explode.  His wrists twisted and skin
got caught in the grooves of the snug-fitting cuffs. “Megan, let me out of
these damn cuffs.  Please! Please, let me touch you!”

“No,” she said sternly.  “This is what you do to me and I
take it. It’s your turn to feel the torture. You have to be punished; you’ve
been a bad boy, Ryan.”  Straddling him again, she guided the blunt tip of his
penis into her slickness. Lowering herself slowly, he felt her stretch to
accommodate him.

“God, that’s good,” she said. Balancing herself with her
hands on his chest, she rose up again, taking a little more of him on the
downswing. She sank the rest of the way, taking his shaft to the base, impaling
herself. She cried out with pleasure as she bounced up and down, and Ryan
bucked beneath her, rolling his hips and surging up into her.

The kissing resumed as she attacked his mouth, biting on
his lips.  Her mouth latched onto his neck, sucking on his Adam’s apple as his
head dropped back giving her access.

Megan grinded her hips, letting the sensual smack of her
butt hit the top of his thick thighs. Her breasts bounced against his chest; he
tried to capture a nipple with his mouth; she refused him.  To punish him, she
turned her body around so her back was to him.  Ryan bent his head forward to
kiss the back of her neck and shoulders.  He was dying to touch her.  He felt
her body trembling on his lap.  She was close to her peak as she switched
around to face him not breaking their connection.

“Baby, I’m ready for you.” She flattened her palms on his
chest. “Come with me.”

His head dropped back as she proceeded to rock her and him
to an orgasm. When she finally stopped convulsing around him, he realized he
had released and was stunned he hadn’t gone flaccid.
Damn, I’m still hard
he muttered still buried deep inside her.

Megan rested on his chest. “Why didn’t you come with me as
I ordered?”

“I did.  You do this to me, baby. I think you can come
again, too if you let me take over.” He yanked his arms and the cuffs broke
apart easily. He adjusted in the chair so she sat cradled in his lap, their
bodies still joined. The position brought them chest to chest, face to face.
“You are so beautiful,” he breathed.

She closed her eyes and whispered softly against his lips.
“You kept your promise and let me have control.”

He kissed her eyelids. “You had me powerless and under
your control the whole time.”

“I love you, Ryan.  I’d be devastated if you’d made love
to Lolita tonight.”

He brushed her hair away from her face. “With any other
woman it would be sex. I don’t want to have sex with another woman. I get my
satisfaction by making love to you—my wife.”

Megan looked deeply into his eyes. “You really do love
me.”

“I always will, no matter what happens to us.”

He slid his hands under her buttocks and lifted her from
the chair and bent her over the kitchen table.  Megan spread her arms across
the table holding onto the edge to brace for his entry.  The legs of the wooden
table scratched against the floor with each powerful thrust of Ryan’s hips. He heard
her cries as he moved in and out of her with force, but couldn’t slow himself.
The inadequate release he had before left him hungry for a toe-curling orgasm. 
He held onto her shoulder with one hand and gripped her waist with the other as
her walls pulsed and throbbed around him.

Megan moaned as she raised her torso from the table to
brace against him, accepting his thrusts. “Ryan, yes!” she yelled as she
released another orgasm.

He grunted as an overload of pleasure ripped through him
and emptied into her.

Ryan rested across her body to catch his breath.  The old
table strained to hold their weight and began to crackle. They got up before
the table broke in half.  He removed the broken cuffs hanging from his wrists
and tossed them in the wastebasket.

Megan turned around to look at him.  A fine glistening of
sweat covered her face and chest. “You know this table is going in the trash,
right?”

He chuckled. “Yeah, I’ll throw it out in the morning
before I leave for work.  “Come on, let’s go to bed.”

She raised her brow. “You mean sleep together in the same
bed?”

He knew the grin on his face was naughty. In fact, he
couldn’t go another round if his life depended on it.  He and his body were
physically drained and in dire need of sleep. “I can’t promise we’ll sleep, but
yes, in the same bed.  I have some making up to do.  I wasn’t there to hold you
three years ago when you needed me.  I want to hold you tonight and every night
I am home from hereon in.  I have to make that mistake up to you.”  He saw her
eyes glass over with tears. “Don’t cry, Megan. Tonight marks a new beginning
for use. Marriage counseling or not we’re resuming our marriage, right now.”

Chapter Eleven

Megan arrived at work exhausted.  There wasn’t enough
coffee in the world to get her through the next 12 hours.  She yawned and shook
the cobwebs from her head. Besides being tired, her body was sore.  There
wasn’t a place on her that didn’t hurt. She was aware Ryan was a physical man
and didn’t mean to manhandle her but, sometimes he was rough.

It didn’t help she’d shed 30 pounds over the last year. 
Her new svelte 110-pound frame was no match for him once he got in motion. 
Megan wasn’t complaining that sometimes their lovemaking caused her a little
pain. The pain would always dissipate into a pleasurable experience that was
absolutely incredible.

Last night was no exception except for the bruise on her
lower back. Ryan noticed the bruise and inquired about it.  He thought he had
hurt her during their kitchen escapade.  When she told him what happened at the
library, he became livid and wanted to go after Emin right then and there.  She
was able to talk him out of it and they finally went to bed.

Megan looked at her watch.  She had an hour to kill before
her shift started. “Coffee, here I come.”

Purchasing coffee and toast in the cafeteria, Megan saw
Pam and Gabrielle seated at a table and went to join them.  “Good morning
ladies,” she said easing her sore body in the plastic chair.

“Good morning,” they both replied.

Pam looked at her with a slanted eye. “I don’t want to
sound rude, but you look a little under the weather this morning.  Are you
feeling okay?”

Megan sipped her coffee hoping the warm liquid would perk
her up. “I feel fine.  I didn’t get much sleep last night.”

Pam’s shoulders hunched as she clicked her tongue. “I’m
sorry to hear that, Megan.  Are you and Ryan still fighting?”

Megan’s lips turned up at the corners. “Actually, the
opposite.  We were up all night doing…you know.”

Gabrielle yelped. “Oh, my goodness! I knew it! Since I
didn’t hear from you on your days off I took that as a good sign. Something
told me that letting Ryan move back home would put that whole divorce thing on
ice.  You two love each other.”

Megan sucked a breath in. “Well, it wasn’t all peaches and
cream.  We did start off arguing and I left but came back.  Gabrielle, I told
him about the miscarriage.  He took it hard and I thought he was going to blame
me but he took the blame.”

“What miscarriage?” Pam asked surprised.

“It’s a long story, Pam.  I’ll fill you in later,”
Gabrielle said to her. “But, go ahead, Megan, finish telling what happened.”

“A lot of stuff happened that led up to me telling him the
truth and I should have told him when it happened.  But, what matters is he
forgave me for keeping it a secret and we’re officially calling off the
divorce.”

“Whoa! What about his job?” Pam asked concerned.

“I’ll deal with it. Honestly, now that I look back at my
behavior regarding his job, it stems from the miscarriage and my mother butting
in my marriage.  Girls, I love my husband and when we made love again, it
proved to me that we aren’t ready to let each other go.  We have a connection
that goes deeper than the people trying to tear us apart.”

Gabrielle smiled. “That’s what I’ve been trying to get through
to you.  You have to shut off those outside forces.  Once you block that
negative energy, your mind is free to see what is wrong and what is right, and
where to take it from there.”

“You were right, Gabrielle.  I should have listened to you
and not my mother.” Megan frowned. “She is so against Ryan, she would have
never encouraged me to work it out with him.  She wants Emin as her son-in-law
and will not stop until she gets it.”

“She doesn’t have a choice since you’ve called off the
divorce.”

“That doesn’t matter.  She is out for blood—mine to be
specific. She is determined to keep the turmoil going until either Ryan is fed
up and disappears or I drop dead.”

Pam’s pager went off.  “Darn it! I have to go.  Promise
you’ll save some juicy stuff for me to hear?  We’ll get together for lunch and
talk, please?”

Gabrielle gave Pam a dismissive wave of her hand. “Go to
work.  I’ll write you a synopsis of everything we talk about.”

Megan giggled as she waved goodbye to Pam.  She wished she
had friends her age but was afraid they wouldn’t be able to relate to her
current situation. Gabrielle and Pam were older but understood her perfectly.
However, Megan had more in common with Gabrielle and took her advice more
seriously when she learned Gabrielle was in her 20s and in the medical field
when she married a firefighter six years older than herself.

Gabrielle clapped her hands together. “We should
celebrate.  How about we go to Ja’Nell’s for dinner tomorrow night?  I’ll call
Regan and ask her and Orlando to join us.  It’ll be fun.”

Megan perked up “That does sound like fun, but what about
Pam?  Shouldn’t we invite her?”

Gabrielle shook her head. “She never accepts invites when
the husbands come along. She claims she is dating, but I have yet to learn this
man’s name or meet him.”

“Huh, that’s almost typical, Gabrielle.  She wants to know
what is going on in our lives while she keeps her private.  I think we should
do some snooping,” Megan teased.

“I’ll get on that.  I’ll call and make the reservation for
Thursday night at 7:00 o’clock.  You don’t think Ryan will object, do you?”

“No.  He’s been so accommodating to me lately that I feel
guilty.  I don’t want him to think he has disappointed me in any way.  It was
my choice to keep the miscarriage from him.”

“It’s only natural he takes some of the guilt, Megan.  At
the time, it happened there was a lot going on that centered on him.  Let him
pamper you if it makes him feel better.”

Megan lowered her head. “It doesn’t make me feel better. 
My mother is ruining my life, Gabrielle.  She is going to mess up the only
thing I have that matters to me.  I admired my mom so much growing up.  There
was nothing she couldn’t do.  If I had a problem, she solved it.  If any of my
friends needed a shoulder to cry on, she offered hers.  How could I not see
this side of her years ago?”

“Because we don’t see our mothers as evil people unless
they are truly bad from the beginning.  Megan, I’m going to repeat something
Jon said and I hope you don’t take it the wrong way.”

She shrugged her shoulders. “Why would I take it wrong?”

“OK, he says you are impressionable.  He means it with
love in his heart and not with malice.”

Megan glanced down at her watch and only had a few minutes
left. “He’s right.  When it came to my parents, I wanted to please them.  I
guess I still do. Not my mother anymore.”

“You will be able to forgive her as time passes.  Make her
earn your forgiveness though.”

Shaking her head, Megan muttered. “She’d write me off
before accepting defeat at the hands of Ryan.  Man, sons have it so much easier
than daughters.  When they get married, they become absorbed by the wife’s
family leaving behind the meddling mother.  We get to stay in their grasps and
suffer until they drop dead.  With my luck, my mom will live to be 200-years old.”

Gabrielle laughed. “Girl, it is not that bad.  You control
this situation.  Your mother can only control what you allow her to control. 
Close that door and relieve her of her duties for good.”

“Easier said than done but I totally understand what
you’re saying.”  She stood up from the table gather her trash. “Well, I have to
get to work. Unfortunately, the coffee has not kicked in yet.”

“Count your blessings you have a man that can make you
sore.  So many women complain about their men not getting the job done,”
Gabrielle winked.  “We are happy women.  You might be a little happier than I
am right now and I’m jealous.”

“Want me to have Ryan have a talk with Jon?” Megan offered
in a teasing tone.

Gabrielle got up from the table to leave also. “Oh, heck
no; I have a teenager and a toddler to care for. I need my rest at night.  I’ll
see you at lunch if I can get away.”

Megan entered the ER department at Metro Health Hospital. 
There was never a dull day in this department.  Gunshot wounds, stabbings,
attempted suicides, gang fight victims, and people who suffered a serious
medical crisis, kept the ER staff jumping around the clock.

She greeted the nurses sitting at the main desk before
putting her purse away.  In the room, the nurses used when on a break was a
vase full of long-stem red roses sitting on a table.  “Wow, how lovely,” Megan
said stashing her purse in a drawer.

Patrice rushed in the room. “Did you see the flowers?” She
asked excitedly.

“Yes, I saw them. Beautiful roses always brighten a room. 
Did your husband surprise you with them?”

“They aren’t mine.  Megan, the flowers came for you.”

She curled her brows. “Me?”

“Yes you and we didn’t peek at the card. You are a lucky
woman to have a man that still believes in romance.”

When Patrice left the room, Megan moved closer to the
flowers. She saw the card and removed it.  Her heart warmed thinking how sweet
of Ryan to surprise her this way.  Her fingers trembled as she slid the card
from the small envelope.  A burning churned in the pit of her stomach and her
breathing sped up, as she read the card.  Shoving it in the pocket of her
scrubs she composed her breathing and left the room to start her day.

The end of a long day was on the horizon. After being
puked on by a sick, elderly woman, urinated on while taking a baby’s
temperature, Megan had had enough of dealing with the public.  Her cell phone
rang as she took a break.  “Hello?” She answered dryly.

“Hey, baby, you sound tired.”

“Tired would be wonderful.  I’m exhausted to the point I
can’t think straight.  Anyway, how is your day going?”

“Pretty typical day.  Nothing major happened so we mark
that as a good day for us.”

“I’ve been so busy today, I didn’t have a chance to worry
about you,” she joked pulling on the drawstring of the green hospital scrubs
she changed into.  “I think this is how it will be now that I have other stuff
to concentrate on. I’m glad you called.  Gabrielle wants to do dinner Thursday
night at Ja’Nell’s with Orlando and Regan.  I said we would.  I hope that was
okay?”

“A night out with friends sounds like fun.  What’s the
occasion?”

“I let Gabrielle know we aren’t getting a divorce. And,
since I promised never to keep anything from you, I got roses today and they
were from Emin.”  Megan heard dead silence fall on the other end of the phone. 
Knowing Ryan’s temper, she imagined his face had puffed twice its size. “Baby,
I wasn’t here when the flowers were delivered so I didn’t see Emin.”

“Hmm, okay, thanks for telling me, babe. Look, when you
get home tonight, make sure all the doors are locked.  When you go to bed,
leave a light on in the house.  Never mind, I’m going to call Eddie and have
him stop by the house tonight.  If Emin’s lurking around, Eddie will scare his
ass away.”

She knew not to argue with him, besides she was too tired
to put up a fight. It wouldn’t hurt to have Eddie canvas the house since she
was alone and slightly nervous.  Emin had the money to pay someone to do dirt
for him and if he and Iona were conspiring together, she wouldn’t put anything
past either of them. 

“Okay, that’s fine.  It’s time for me to go back on the
floor and finish these last two hours.  Ryan, be careful and I love you,” she
said before closing out the call.

“I love you too, babe. See you soon.”

The last hours dragged for Megan.  To help pass the time,
she cleaned and restocked examining rooms and help file patient charts. 
Finally at 7:30 she clocked out and headed home.  Pulling into the garage she
got out of the car and met Eddie walking up the driveway. He had been waiting
for her as Ryan promised.

She greeted him with a hug. “Hi, Eddie.”

He returned the hug, closing Megan tightly in his arms.
“Hey, beautiful.  How ya’ doing?”

“I am doing great.”  Megan stood back and admired Ryan’s
older brother. He stood just a few inches taller than Ryan and they had the
same dark hair color, only Eddie’s eyes were cobalt blue instead of brown. Ryan
wasn’t sure what Eddie did for a living.  He claimed to be a meter reader for
the water department.  However, the man drove a nice car and dressed impeccably
to be a low-level worker for the water department. Once when she started to
question Eddie about his life, Ryan pulled her aside and told her to stop.  It
was best if neither of them knew what Eddie’s lifestyle was like.

“You want to come inside for coffee or a bite to eat?” She
asked feeling obligated to offer Eddie something for his time.  She knew he
would refuse.  He was always on the run, like his time was valuable. They could
never get him to stay longer than a few minutes when he dropped by.

“Thanks, Megs, but maybe another time.  I promise, one
day, I’ll spend the whole day with you and Ryan.  We need to catch up on
things.”

“I’m going to hold you to that.  I want us to be a close
family, Eddie.”

“We are close.  Whenever you need me and Ryan isn’t around,
just give me a buzz.  I’ll drop everything I’m doing for you.”  He checked his
watch.  “I gotta meeting to get to.  Don’t worry, I got everything under
control here. I have eyes covering you tonight, so sleep tight,” he said
kissing her on the cheek.

Megan raised both brows and waved as Eddie trotted across
the street and zoomed off in a very expensive looking sports car.  She didn’t
know how to take what he said.  Had he installed security cameras or was there
someone actually sitting and watching her house?  She had a feeling Eddie was
into something dark and dangerous but didn’t ask. Following Ryan’s advice, she
left it alone. If he were into something shady, she wouldn’t mind having him
scare the daylights out of Emin, or her mother if it would get them to leave
her alone.  She looked around the yard to see if anything had been disturbed. 
It was the same.  The night was quiet except for the crickets chirping in the
bushes.  She proceeded to walk to the door.