“Maybe.”
“What are you two whispering about? Why is Ryker on your bed?” Tali asked, arms crossed, one hip popped out. She tapped her long red nails against her opposite arm. “I’m waiting.”
“He was helping me with my legs. Apparently there’s a type of massage that helps move fluid around. Lymphatic massage.” I looked at Rafe, glared. “At least he didn’t drug me.”
Rafe ducked his head, scooted away from the doorway.
“That’s not going to save you, Rafe. We’re going to have words, you and me,” I yelled after him. I looked at the other Amatucci siblings. “How’s Mama?”
Tali shook her head. “Nope. Still on you and Ryker.”
I rolled my eyes. “He was helping me after I had a nightmare.” I shrugged. I didn’t know what else they wanted me to say. Had it gotten a little more heated than I’d planned? Yes. But we’d kept our hands to ourselves. No harm, no foul.
“None of you were here to help. It fell to me.” Ryker gathered up the bowl, pulled the towel out from under my body. “I couldn’t just let her suffer.”
I smiled at him. Turned to the Amatuccis. “See. Just helping out a friend.”
Dom snorted. “Helped himself into your bed.”
“Farther than you’ve gotten and you’ve known her how many years?” Ryker said.
I sucked in a breath. Felt part of my heart crack. I wasn’t some kind of trophy in a competition. “You just dropped into the negatives, Ryker. You asshole. Get out.” I pointed towards the door.
His lips thinned down into a tight, mulish line. He turned fully to look at me, his back to the Amatuccis. “Make sure you drink a lot of water tomorrow.” He looked like he was going to say something else, but he snapped his mouth closed and spun on his heel. Strode from the room. If he’d been a steam engine locomotive, I think I would have heard that whistle blowing from a mile away.
He slammed the bowl into Dom’s belly as he passed. “Take care of that for me, will you?”
I could feel myself vibrating with the urge to run after him and give him a piece of my mind. But not while the Amatuccis were here. What had happened in this bed was between him and me alone. As much as I wanted to put my adopted siblings at ease, Ryker and I were both adults and we’d honored the boundaries we set up before anything happened.
Tali walked into the bedroom fully, her brows pulled up and together as she searched my face. “You’re okay? Really?”
I heaved a sigh. “Yeah, Tali. All he did was massage my legs.”
“And all the sexy moaning?” Turo asked. “I can go beat the shit out of him. No fuss, no muss.” He dusted his hands off.
“According to Ryker, there’re a lot of nerve endings in your thighs. Since I’ve been celibate, mine haven’t been touched in a while. Combine that with the relief of having some of this stupid swelling being pushed out, it felt like heaven.” I wasn’t going to mention the fact that I’d been this close to begging Ryker to touch me. And not just on my legs.
I hadn’t been that turned on in my entire life. And while baking had been up there on my list of wants, it had taken a distant second place to appeasing that arousal. I’d need to be even more on my guard with Ryker in the future. If he could make my body sing like that with just a platonic massage, what could he do when he set his mind to actually seducing me?
I shuddered delicately as all kinds of ideas ran through my mind. I was definitely going to have to be more careful. I wasn’t willing to be a convenient orifice for Ryker’s pleasure. I’d buy him a pocket pussy before I submitted myself to that kind of use.
“You consented to everything? From start to finish?” Mas asked in his hoarse whisper. His eyes were dark, his mouth edged down at the corners.
I nodded. “Yes. He even told me what would be happening when he got to my thighs because he had to reposition them. Everything was above board. I just wasn’t ready for the sensation overload.”
Tali snorted. “I could have told you that.” She sat on the edge of the bed. “The nightmare?”
I shrugged. “Pretty normal. He had one of the younger ones. I was pleading with him.” I didn’t want to bring it back to mind fully, so I left it at