SWNOVELS Ryan Rule: Chapter 7
Walking along the hallway towards the gym, I can’t stop my thighs from trembling with each step. Shane told me this is where I’d find Conor and the thought of seeing him working out makes that warm, wet heat build in my core. As if he isn’t hot enough in regular clothes. He left me a quivering hot mess after our encounter in the kitchen earlier this morning when he had been openly flirting with me.
I’d been so freaking horny that I’d gone straight back to my room and had to relieve myself before I spontaneously combusted. Imagining it was his fingers on me rather than my own had seemed like a good idea at the time, but now, I’m not so sure. Certainly, it’s not going to help me feel any less flustered around him. If it’s not bad enough that he is possibly the hottest looking man I have ever come across in my life, with his chiseled jaw, dark beard and his deep brown eyes, he is also funny and charming too. The perfect Jessie trifecta!
I push open the door to the gym and step inside. The room is silent except for the sound of his heavy breathing. He is wearing just his shorts and sneakers while he does pull-ups about twelve feet away from me. He’s wearing his ear buds and obviously hasn’t heard me come in.
I stand there and watch him. His muscular back and shoulders flexing each time he moves and his powerful forearms bulging with the effort. A sudden image of him holding himself over me flashes before my eyes. I wonder how good those muscles would feel beneath my fingertips. He has ink all over his back and shoulders and I tilt my head to try to make out some of the images as he moves. I can see some Celtic symbols, an angel and a phoenix.
I’m almost in a trance watching him when he drops to his feet and pulls out his ear buds.
Clearing my throat, I let him know I’m in the room and hope that he doesn’t realize I’ve been ogling him for the past five minutes. He spins around and grins at me. “You got something for me?” he nods towards my laptop in my hands.
“Yeah,” I say, trying to sound really cool and calm while my heart races like a Bugatti and my pussy begins to throb with need. “That footage is here when you want to see it. Shane said you were heading straight out after your workout, and you said you wanted it today. So?” I shrug awkwardly.
He nods before picking up a nearby towel and wiping the sweat from his face before proceeding to rub the towel over his shoulders, chest, and abs. I know I should look away, but I can’t. Never before have I felt so jealous of a square of Egyptian cotton as I do right now.
“Great. Let’s see it then,” he beckons me towards him and I walk over, opening the laptop and pressing a button to bring the footage onto the screen. I pass it to him, but he continues drying himself off. So instead, I stand there awkwardly holding it for him as he leans close to me and watches the action unfold, and I am forced to smell his fresh sweat mixed with his expensive cologne. And damn, if it doesn’t make me feel like jumping his bones right now.
The footage was easy to find, and it means nothing to me. It’s just a bunch of guys having a fight, but it obviously means something to Conor. His eyes narrow and his jaw clenches while he watches. “Fuckers. I knew it!”
“Is everything okay?”
“Yeah. Just some people back in the city who aren’t supposed to be, that’s all. Nothing me and the twins can’t take care of later.”
“Oh. I see,” I say as I shift my weight from one foot to the other. He smells so freaking good! How can someone smell so damn good when they’ve just worked out? Dear God, my ovaries are about to explode.
“You did good, Jessie,” he says with a smile before he leans down to pick up a bottle of water from the floor.
The pride swells in my chest. I am good at what I do, and maybe now that he knows it too, I might get my hands dirty around here. I wasn’t lying earlier this morning when I told him I was bored. Looking for the man who killed my family has brought me to a complete dead end. The only files that might have held some information were destroyed by the Ryan brothers when they torched Nikolai Semenov’s house after we left. Not that I held out much hope of finding anything. The man who killed my parents and my brothers, seems to have disappeared.
Although, I know he hasn’t. He didn’t just disappear that day. But I haven’t seen him for almost eight years and there is no trace of him anywhere. I know he is alive, though. Even if I wish I didn’t.
“You okay?” Conor asks, snapping me from my thoughts. “You look like you’re in another world?”
“What? Sorry!” I shake my head. “I was thinking about something, that’s all. Is there anything else I can do for you?”
“I’m sure Shane will find you plenty to keep you busy once I tell him how easily you got this.”
“Good. Thanks,” I say absent-mindedly.
He reaches out and cups my chin with his hand and I almost jump back with a jolt at the feeling of his warm skin on mine. I can’t remember the last time anyone touched me with such concern or tenderness. It makes the tears prick at my eyes.
“You sure you’re okay? Did you see something on here that bothers you?” he nods towards my laptop.
I snap it closed and shake my head. “No. Nothing. And I’m fine. Seriously.”
He drops his hand, but he continues to stare at me. “Okay,” he finally says. “I need to grab a shower before I head to work.”
“Of course,” I nod a little too quickly, as though to convince him I am not currently picturing him naked in said shower and imagining the water running over all the hard contours of his body.
“Thanks again, Jessie,” he says softly before he throws his towel over his shoulder and walks out of the gym.