Endless

Threats and Doubts | Ryan

I held Ali close, listening to her sleep. Her arm spanned my chest and her thigh rested across my hips. Long locks of hair spread out in all directions as her head rested lightly on my shoulder. The feel of her body near mine filled me with serenity. I tucked some fly-away tendrils behind her ear, exposing her face. I reached over and gently traced the shape of her lips with my thumb. They were swollen from our kisses. Ripened for more.

My cell phone rang, shattering my peace. Ali's brows furrowed, but she didn't wake, so I shifted until I could pull it out from my discarded jeans' pocket. She mumbled sleepily and snuggled closer to me.

I didn't recognize the number, but answered anyway, in case it was Nick or Vince. "Ryan."

"Blake," my father corrected. A habit he'd had for centuries. "Don't hang up," he commanded.

I winced, really wanting to disobey, but I had an ancient habit of following my father's orders. I didn't have to be nice about it, though. "What?" I snapped.

"Seems you keep strange company. I felt the little skirmish going on at your apartment."

I went cold. The words themselves and his tone sounded nonthreatening, but him speaking of it at all made me shudder inside. Ali opened her eyes and watched me, brows drawn together in puzzlement. I put my arm around her, fighting to stay calm for her sake.

"Who I keep company with has nothing to do with any of you," I said. Ali cupped my jaw, her frown deepening.

To my immense surprise, my father sighed. "You're right."

Really? Iron bands seemed to clasp around my chest. I tensed, trying to escape the feeling, but it didn't help. "What do you want?"

"Just to talk to you. Alick said you're not coming back."

My grip on the phone tightened. The hard plastic bit into my palm. "Is this your way of threatening me? Because I promise you, if any of your Firm members come near Aleria again, I'll take them out myself. I will demolish you and everything you've built."

I didn't wait for his reply. I hissed out a breath and smashed the phone, making sure the SIM card shattered with it. Ali didn't say anything. Instead she pulled closer, rubbing my chest gently, unknowingly easing my discomfort. I closed my eyes and focused on taking some deep breaths.

"Feels like everything's trying to break me," I whispered. Where did that come from?

"Even me?" she asked.

"Especially you. If something happened to you...I don't know."

Her finger pressed to my mouth, silencing my concerns. I sighed and pressed a kiss to her hand.

She smiled softly. "We'll figure something out." Her kiss was sweet, intoxicating.

I drew her closer, wanting a deeper taste. She came willingly, easily sliding onto my hips, pressing her chest to mine as she explored my mouth. A low groan escaped from somewhere deep inside me.

Ali pulled back and looked at me with heavily lidded eyes. Then she took me into her, slowly, as if claiming possession of me. God, if she knew how much she had already. I gripped her hips and drove deeper. Her back arched and she gasped, firing my blood up even more. We moved together, melding our bodies, rushing each other to completion. When we finished we collapsed onto the bed together, wholly wrapped up with each other.

Right then, no one else existed. It was just me and her, gently rocking, breathing heavily to recover from our passion. I held her in my arms, fighting the intrusion of the outside world.

But no matter what I did, my conscience couldn't be stilled. What was I doing? She trusted me to keep her safe, but I was endangering her with every second I stayed close. I couldn't let go, though. Couldn't fight the thought that the best place for her was wherever I was.

Was it really, though? And then, there were the secrets I kept. What would happen if she found out the wrong thing at the wrong time?

Would I be able to convince her to trust me past a certain point?

What would I do if I failed?

Ooh! Ryan's really worried about his secrets coming out. Do you think it'll impact his relationship with Aleria? Or are they destined to be together? Let me know in the comments. 

And while you're sticking around, don't forget to vote! ^_^