Page 66 of Deserving Ryleigh
You’re pathetic. Nothing. Less than worthless.
All you’re good at is taking.
You’re the most selfish person I’ve ever met in my life.
I hate you. I’ve always hated you.
Tiny shook his head. Harold Lodge didn’t know his daughter. At all. Ryleigh wasn’t selfish. She was the most generous person he’d ever known. She didn’t care about money. Not in the least. The donations she handed out like they were candy were lavish and the charities well thought out. She did her research to make sure they were legit, and all the good that money did couldn’t be denied.
Yes, the money had been stolen in the first place, but she was doing all she could to atone for the things her dad made her do. In Tiny’s eyes, she’d more than done so.
And for a father to come out and tell his daughter that he hated her…Tiny couldn’t even understand that. Not for a second. His heart hurt for Ryleigh. Those words had to have stung, and yet she’d held her head up high and did what she had to do to help put the man behind bars for a very long time.
A noise interrupted his thoughts, and Tiny turned his head. His breath caught in his throat at the sight of Ryleigh standing in the bathroom doorway.
Her hair was damp, curling slightly around her temples. Her skin was dewy and there was a flush to her cheeks. She hadn’t put on the pajama set she’d been wearing to bed, which he’d set on the vanity before starting her bath. Instead, she wore nothing but a blue towel. It was wrapped around her body, barely reaching her upper thighs. Her shoulders were exposed…and it was all Tiny could do not to throw the blanket off, stalk over to her, and bury his nose in the crook of her neck and shoulder.
His cock hardened in his pants and he licked his lips.
Ryleigh looked nervous and unsure, hands worrying the towel where it was tucked securely around her chest.
He opened his mouth to say something reassuring—when she shocked the shit out of him by letting the towel fall to the floor.
Tiny could only blink at the vision in front of him. If he’d been aroused by the sight of her in a towel, seeing her completely nude made him want to drop to his knees in worship.
“Ryleigh?” he managed to croak. He couldn’t move. If he did, he’d lunge at her. Scare the crap out of her. He held himself stock still with the iron control he’d learned as a Navy SEAL.
“I don’t want to wait. Today sucked. I was really scared. My dad could’ve done anything. He’s paranoid and greedy and nothing will keep him from getting his hands on me. He could’ve hurt me today…and it would’ve kept me from finding out what sex is all about.”
She was babbling, and Tiny wanted to kiss the lip that she was now biting in consternation. But he needed to make one thing clear before he did anything else.
“I want you,” he said. “You’re beautiful. So damn beautiful. It’s taking all my control to stay in this bed right now and not throw you over my shoulder and take you on the floor right where you’re standing. But I don’t want to have sex,justto have sex. If all you want is someone to take your virginity, to experience sex finally, you can find that anywhere. Hell, I’m sure you know better than I do thatall it’ll take is an online ad and you’ll have men lined up to do the honor.
“I want more than that. I want you to be standing there naked—looking so damn sexy I can’t even stand it—specifically because you wantme. Because you can’t bear to go one more night without being as close as you can get…tome. Because you crave the emotional connection we have with one another, and you want it to go bone deep. If you don’t want that, if you don’t want a long-term relationship with me…as much as it’ll hurt me to see, you should pick up that towel and head back to the room you were sleeping in before.”
Tiny held his breath. He was practically panting, taking short, choppy breaths as he waited for her decision. Honestly, her being a virgin scared the shit out of him. He wasn’t one of those men who dreamed about being a woman’s first. There was a lot of responsibility that went along with that. He could hurt her,reallyhurt her, and that was the last thing he ever wanted to do. He’d done enough of that.
“If I have to sleep in your arms one more night andnothave you inside of me, I think I’ll die.”
Tiny was moving before he could think. Hediddrop to his knees in front of Ryleigh, looking up at her in awe. His hands gripped her waist, immediately noticing that her skin was so damn soft. And warm. And she smelled like him. His cock got even harder. He needed inside this woman. Right this damn second.
But no…he had to go slow. Make sure her first time was good. Better than good—earth-shattering. Tiny closed his eyes and rested his forehead on her belly. Her hands came up and tangled in his hair. His dick twitched in his pants.
He was so fucked. If he was turned on simply by the feel of her fingers, he was doomed.
“Tiny?” she whispered.
He hated the uncertainty in her voice. He opened his eyes and met her gaze. At least, hemeantto meet her gaze; her perfect tits distracted him. Her nipples were hard, probably from the cool air, and the fleshy globes were a gorgeous handful. Moving his hands up her sides slowly, he licked his lips as he stared at her chest. He gently palmed her breasts, and was rewarded by Ryleigh’s small gasp as she arched into his touch.
She was incredibly responsive. And suddenly, Tiny was ravenous. He’d wanted this from the first time he’d seen this woman. Wanted her in his bed, under him. He hadn’t admitted it back then, but that didn’t make it any less true. Part of the reason her lies hurt so bad, and why he’d treated her like absolute shit, was because he’d been so drawn to her from the moment she’d stepped onto the property. And her deception had felt like a personal attack.
But it hadn’t actually had anything to do with him. She’d simply been doing what she had to do in order to keep her father from finding her.
“Be sure,” he said in a deep voice that didn’t sound like him in the least. “Because if you give yourself to me, I’m keeping you. As long as you’ll have me, I’m yours.”
She nodded.
“Say it,” Tiny ordered, not sure where this dominant side was coming from.
