Page 167 of The Path to Loving Him
“They won’t accept help unless they actually want it,” I say, knowing damn well the pattern from my dad.
“I found that out quickly when he came into the kitchen with an empty bottle of whiskey in his hand, wobbling from side to side.” She takes a second. I can see the pain in her eyes, so I smooth my hand over her back, letting her know that I’m here for her. “He asked me where his whiskey was, and I told him that he drank it all. He called me a liar and said I was hiding it from him. He threw the empty bottle and nailed me in the head, sending me down to the floor, with the bottle crashing around me.”
“The fuck?” I say, sitting up now. “Where?” I search her head, and as she pulls her hair back in the moonlit room, I can see the faint mark of a scar. “Jesus Christ.” I scoop her up into my arms, cradling her in my lap, so much anger vibrating through me that I’m losing control of all rational thought. “I’m so sorry, Gabby. Fuck . . . I’m sorry.”
“Don’t apologize for him,” she says, pulling back to look me in the eyes, but I lean in and kiss her scar, so many emotions rolling through me, making me so goddamn sick because the thought of her, lying there on her kitchen floor, bleeding from her head . . . “Ryland.” She pats my chest. “I need you to calm down. I can feel you growing really tense. Your heart is beating a mile a minute.”
“Sorry,” I say as I hold her tight. “The thought of you getting hurt . . . it doesn’t sit well with me.” I let out a shaky breath. “What happened after that?”
“I blacked out and suffered a concussion. Bennett was the one who found me?—”
“Found you? You mean that fucker just left you there to bleed?”
“Yes. He was scared—not that I’m making an excuse for him because what he did was wrong—but he didn’t know what to do, so he sent a text to Bennett that I needed help. Bennett rushed over from his friend’s house, and that’s where he found me. Luckily, Nathan was gone, or else I think Bennett would have lost his mind, which could have affected his entire baseball career. I was stitched up in a few places because of the glass, and that next day, Bennett and his friends helped us move out.”
“Where did you go?”
“I lived in my car for about a week or so. Bennett stayed with a friend, and then I was able to find a very cheap place for a bit.”
“Jesus Christ.” I pull on my hair, unable to comprehend how unfair her life has been, but look at her now. Look how far she’s come. It’s, it’s fucking special. She’s special. She’s unlike anyone I’ve ever met, and to see her thriving, to see her and Bennett thriving, it’s beautiful. And to think I almost shut an important door to her career in her face. It makes me livid.Ialmost contributed to more pain in her life out of self-preservation.I am so weak.“You are so goddamn strong, Gabby. Look what you’vebeen able to accomplish, what you’ve done with your life. You should be proud.”
“I am,” she says softly, her fingers dragging over my collarbone. “I should say the same thing about you.” I start to shake my head, but she stops me. “You’ve fought adversity. You’ve fought out of the depths of your childhood and the demons that come with it.”
“I haven’t. Those demons still control me.”
“Do they?” she asks. “Because it seems like you’re opening your heart to me right now. It seems like you’re giving us a chance, something you swore you wouldn’t do. Instead of being the same abusive man your father was, you’re the type of man who fights against such behavior.”
“Because it’s fucking wrong,” I say, my voice strong. “No one should ever be tied at the hands of abuse, ever.” I cup her cheek. “And I’m so fucking sorry you had to experience it.”
“I’m sorry you had to as well.” She presses her forehead against mine as her hand slips behind my neck. Her nose rubs against mine, her lips barely graze my mouth, and right as my grip on her grows tighter, she kisses me.
It’s not a frantic kiss, nor is it a deep kiss like earlier. This is gentle, soothing . . . loving.
I slowly lower her to the mattress and move on top of her. She spreads her legs for me, creating room for my large body, then she lightly strokes my length, making me grow in her palm.
I run the tip of my finger over her slit, and then along her clit. She moans into my mouth as she grows wet around my finger. It’s so fucking addicting, seeing how easily I can turn this woman on. By a touch, a kiss, she’s so goddamn ready for me.
Hell, I’m ready for her too as she brings me to her entrance and encourages me to push in. Keeping my mouth on hers, letting our tongues dance together, I slowly enter her, one inch at a time, the feel of her tightening around me electrifying.
I push, loving her reaction to the way I fill her until I bottom out, unable to go any farther.
That’s when I lift away from her mouth to look her in the eyes. Arms on either side of her shoulders, I glance down at our connection and watch as I pulse into her, fascinated with the way her stomach contracts with each thrust and the sweet sounds of her moans every time I hit her to the hilt.
“I love how you feel inside me,” she says, pulling my attention back to her beautiful face.
“You’re perfect.” I kiss her and sweat breaks out over my back from the feel of being inside her. It’s so damn good. So damn addicting. “You’re strong.” I pulse into her a touch harder. “You’re beautiful.” She wraps one leg around my waist, adjusting the angle and causing her chest to rise when I pulse inside her again. “You’re everything . . . fucking . . . everything.”
I press down on her lower stomach, right above our connection, and her eyes fly open, the weight of my palm adding to the sensations rocking through her.
“Fuck, don’t . . . don’t stop that.”
I keep my hand where it is and I pick up my pace, creating such intense friction that my orgasm starts to build at the base of my spine. A few more strokes will do it.
“I want to come inside you.”
Her teeth pull on her bottom lip before she says, “Fill me with your cum, Ryland.”
“Jesus Christ.” I grip the sheets beneath my hand for better leverage and start pistoning in and out of her, keeping her steady with my hand and owning this moment, showing her I’m in charge, but I’ll take care of her. I’ll protect her. Iwillbe the man she needs.
