“Well, I wish I had listened. If Ryder hadn’t taken me away from the auction, then I would have spent the night with Luther and he is a monster. I owe Ryder everything. He saved me.”
Vicky’s lips are pursed as she listens to her daughter’s story. “So I can kind of see how you are justifying not calling what Ryder did kidnapping, but if Luther didn’t touch you, why are you saying you’re no longer a virgin?”
Justine’s cheeks redden, and she shakes her head. “Mom, really. Do we have to do this?”
“What?” Vicky asks, raising her hands in question. “You brought it up.”
Both Vicky and Justine glance my way and I know there is no keeping this from Justine’s parents.
There is no time to try to get out of it, though, because Jim is already pouncing on me, stepping closer, but I don’t back up. I have nothing to back down for.
“You slept with my daughter?” he asks plainly, his eyes narrowing.
I clear my throat, and Justine tells her dad to calm down.
I’m not tiptoeing around here, and truth is, I think it’s kinda great her parents are so concerned. They care about their daughter, just like I do, and they want to make sure she is okay.
“I did, sir.”
“And was it just about sex?” he asks.
I run my hand over my jaw, wondering how much I ought to say.
“Dad, do you have to do this?” Justine pulls at her dad’s arm. “Ryder has been nothing but a gentleman. And Ryder,” she says, looking at me as if wanting to save me from a disaster, “you do not have to answer him.”
“But what if I want to answer him?” I ask, giving her a half smile.
She twists her lips, trying to hide her own grin. Maybe she’s picturing the way she went down on my hard cock, sucking me until I came in her mouth. Until she swallowed my come like a fucking champ. Or maybe she’s remembering the way my milky release coated her perfect tits. Maybe she’s imagining her legs spread wide, her back arched, and my beard tickling her cunt just like she deserves. Lapping up all her cream like it was the frosting on a goddamn cake.
It doesn’t matter. I have fucking boundaries. Her dad’s asking if what we shared was something real, something that was going to last. And while I don’t know everything about her family, at least she has a mom and a dad that are worried about their little girl.
“You want to know if I have any intentions with your daughter?” I ask, cocking my eyebrow.
Jim nods and Justine bites her lip. I can’t tell what Vicky is thinking but she’s looking me up and down, and I’m guessing she’s deciding whether or not to trust me.
“I intend on loving her for the rest of my life if that’s what you’re asking.”
Justine’s eyes go wide, she covers her mouth out of shock.
“Don’t look so surprised,” I tell her, stepping closer, and taking her hand in mine. “You know I love you. I fell for you in a way most folks would call reckless, would call crazy. But I don’t care about most folks. Right now, baby, I only have eyes for you. And I intend on keeping it that way forever.”
Tears spring to her eyes, and she gasps as if my words are the last thing she expected. For a second, I wonder if I got it all wrong. If the way our bodies connected had nothing to do with our hearts.
But then she’s wrapping her arms around me, kissing me on the mouth, her lips parting as I lift her up, her legs wrapping around me. She’s just a tiny thing in my arms and I could hold her like this forever. Thing is, she’s only half dressed and her parents are watching.
I set her down, my hands holding her ass cheeks a second too long.
“I mean it, Justine. I love you. Now and forever.” I get down on one knee, and I take my mother’s ring from my pocket. “I need to make you my wife.”Chapter 24JustinePeople may say there’s no such thing as love at first sight.
But those people have never met Ryder. And certainly never seen me with him. And the truth is, a few days ago, I wouldn’t have believed it either.
But now I look down at this man, a man twice my size, his heart so fucking big, I realize just how little I knew before the auction. Certainly nothing about love.
And now I know.
Now I know that the way I feel about Ryder, it’s more than infatuation or lust. And maybe that’s unbelievable to anyone who hasn’t experienced it, but it’s not my job to prove to anyone else that you can fall in love over the course of the day.