*A/N: Holy crap, we've reached chapter 20!!*
He was standing on the sidewalk, looking at the ground. I know he heard me come out, but he didn’t look up. I walked over to him and stopped in front of him. “Want to go for a walk?” I asked.
He nodded and we set out down the sidewalk. He was silent for a few minutes, but when we turned into a park, he stopped and faced me. I stopped as well and he finally looked up at me. He had dark circles around his eyes and his whole face was drawn and pale. “Sammy, I’m so sorry,” he said hoarsely.
I crossed my arms over my chest to prevent myself from reaching out to him. “What are you sorry for?” I asked.
“For acting like a jealous idiot and for overreacting. I should have listened to you, but I couldn’t control my wolf. I was fighting with him while we were standing in the hall and I reacted badly.”
Hell, that was more then I was expecting, but I wasn’t ready to let him off the hook completely. “And you apologized to Mark?”
He looked down again as his cheeks turned a little red. “Yes, I did. And I felt like the worlds biggest idiot after he told me that he was gay.”
“Good,” I said, but I finally relented. “I accept your apology, Ryan. But don’t do something like that again, okay? And I want Fluffy to apologize to me as well the next time I see him.”
His lips twitched a tiny bit at that and he looked up at me again. “Can I touch you now?” he asked quietly.
In response, I stepped forward and his arms came around me immediately. He pulled me against his hard chest and held me tightly to him. I wound my arms around his neck and clung to him, inhaling his scent. It felt as if a part of me had been missing, and now I was complete again, as corny as that was.
Ryan buried his face in my hair and his hands started running up and down my back. “I can’t handle being away from you like that angel. I hated knowing that you were mad at me, and I couldn’t even talk to you on the phone.”
I pulled back a little and framed his face in my hands. “Maybe next time Fluffy will think twice about pissing me off then.”
He grunted. “I doubt it. He’s ornery when it comes to you. Although I’m hoping he’ll listen to me a little better now. He doesn’t really understand how the human mind works, especially a woman’s.”
I chuckled. “Well, no man understands how a woman’s mind works, so he shouldn’t feel too bad.”
Ryan smiled a little. “That’s true,” he said. Then he lowered his head and brushed his lips against mine. “I missed you,” he whispered.
I slid my hands around to the back of his head and pulled him back down. “I missed you too,” I murmured against his lips. He deepened the kiss quickly as his hands slid down to my ass. He lifted me up and I wrapped my legs around his waist, needing the close contact as much as he did.
“Well, well, isn’t this sweet,” a voice cut in.
Ryan’s whole body stiffened and he placed me on the ground swiftly. He maneuvered me around until I was behind him, keeping one hand on my waist while the other one curled into a fist.
I peeked around Ryan and spotted three guys standing in front of us. They were all average height and build, but they looked a little older then us, probably in their early twenties. The guy in the middle was obviously the leader, because he was the one who took a step forward. “Just hand over the girl and no one will get hurt,” he said snidely.
I couldn’t help but roll my eyes. How cliché was that line? Ryan obviously didn’t find it the least bit amusing though. The hand on my waist gently pushed me until I was completely behind him again. Then he turned his full attention to the three people in front of him. “Fuck off,” he said in a low and deadly voice.
The two guys who hadn’t stepped forward visibly flinched at the venom in Ryan’s tone, and the leader also had a moment of hesitation. But apparently he had a death wish, because he then smirked. “Nah, I’d rather fuck her,” he said.
I felt Ryan coil and get ready to spring, so I quickly placed my hand on his arm. “Hey, let’s just go,” I said. “We can go to my place for the night.”
My words had an immediate effect on him. Some of the tension drained out of his body and he turned his head to look at me over his shoulder. “Maybe you’re right,” he said.
I smiled and slid my hand down his arm until my fingers were curled around his fist. “Haven’t you learned that I’m always right?” I said teasingly.
A tiny smile played at his lips. “Yes dear,” he said in a mocking tone.
Apparently the leader of the three guys didn’t like being ignored, because he broke in again. “The only way either of you are leaving is if she comes with us,” he said menacingly.
I closed my eyes and blew out a breath. “Bugger it,” I muttered. I opened my eyes and looked at Ryan again. “Don’t kill him,” I said, before removing my hand from him and taking a step back.
A wicked gleam entered Ryan’s eyes. “No promises,” he replied. He removed his hand from my waist and from what I could tell, he crossed his arms over his chest. He slid his feet apart a little, settling into a stance that seemed casual, but I knew better. “I’m going to warn you once,” Ryan told the guys. “Back off and stay the hell away from me and my girlfriend.”
I think the two guys that were still a few steps further back would have been more then willing to listen to him, but the leader obviously had a chip on his shoulder. “Who’s going to make us? There’s three of us and one of you.”
“Matt, maybe we should just get out of here,” one of the other guys said. Smart boy.
Matt, however, was not a smart boy. “Shut up Nick,” he snapped. “You and Oliver listen to me, not the other way around.”
I couldn’t really see what happened next. I think Matt must have lunged at Ryan, because Ryan swung his arm back and his fist shot forward. There was a loud thwack, followed by a thud and then silence. I peered around Ryan again and saw Matt sprawled on the ground, out cold.
I walked around Ryan and nudged the body with my foot. “Think he’s still alive?” I asked casually.
Ryan stepped up beside me and looked down as well. “I think so,” he said. He crouched down and felt for a pulse. He stood up with a nod. “Yup, he’s still alive.” He looked over at Nick and Oliver. “Either of you want to try?”
They both shook their heads and I grinned. “See, you two are smart. Him,” I nudged Matt with my foot again, “not so much.” I looked up at Ryan. “Can we go home now?”
He shrugged. “I guess.” He looked at the other two again. “Make sure he knows that if he ever comes near my girl again, I won’t be so nice.” With that said, he took my hand and gently started tugging me away.
As we walked to his car, I looked at him out of the corner of my eye. “That was kind of anticlimactic, you know.”
He gave me a startled look. “What do you mean?”
“Well, all you did was throw one punch and he was down for the count. I guess I was expecting more, that’s all.”
He stopped and turned to face me. “Seriously? That’s all you have to say about what just happened?”
I scrunched my nose up. “Yeah.”
“Weren’t you scared at all?”
I looked at him incredulously. “Why would I have been scared?”
“Uh, because three guys were trying to take you and do god knows what to you.”
I shrugged. “You were there,” I said simply.
“Meaning?”
I sighed. “If you hadn’t been there, I would have been terrified. But since you were with me, I knew nothing would happen to me. You wouldn’t allow it.”
His face softened. “Oh.” He brushed my hair behind my ear. “You’re right, I wouldn’t let anything happen to you.”
I shivered and it was only partly because of the cold. But apparently Ryan thought that I was freezing, because he tugged his hoodie off and pulled it over my head. I stuck my arms through the sleeves and grabbed his hand again. We walked the rest of the way to the car and he drove us to Sarah’s so I could grab my stuff.
When we got there, Sarah already had it all packed for me. Apparently Mark had called her and told her what had happened, so she’d taken care of packing it. I hugged her before I left. “Thanks for letting me stay,” I said. “I’ll see you tomorrow. Don’t forget that we’ll be leaving shortly after school to head over to Brittany’s for the weekend.”
Sarah clapped her hands in excitement. “I’m so excited about this weekend!” She looked past my shoulder and frowned a little. “I don’t think Ryan is going to be too happy about you leaving for the weekend after you just made up.”
“I know. I’m not entirely happy about it either, but I’m looking forward to hanging out with Brittany. Ryan and I will be fine.”
“You’re lucky to have him, you know. Bad temper aside, you can tell he really loves you.”
I smiled. “I know. I’m gonna get going, so I’ll see you tomorrow.” I walked back to Ryan’s car and tossed the bag in the backseat before climbing back into the passenger seat. Ryan placed his hand on mine as he drove us to my place.
When we got there, we went straight up to my room after saying a quick hello to Charlie. I started unpacking my bag, but stopped when Ryan came up behind me and slipped his arms around my waist. I leaned back against him as he placed a kiss on the side of my neck.
I tilted my head to the side to offer him better access and he gladly took advantage. He trailed his lips from my collarbone to my ear and back again. Heat coursed through my body as I turned in his arms so we were pressed together. I could feel the bulge in his jeans as he backed me up to the bed. He laid me down gently and covered my body with his. He hovered above me, just looking and stroking my cheek. “I love you,” he murmured.
I smiled softly. “I love you too,” I said.
He brought his lips down to mine and his tongue darted out to lick at my lips. I parted them and his tongue slipped in to massage mine gently. His hands roamed down my sides and then went up under my shirt. I sat up a little so he could pull my shirt and his hoodie off of me, and then I returned the favor by peeling his t-shirt of off him. I ran my hands over his quivering abdominal muscles until I reached the waistband of his jeans. I hesitated for only a moment before moving my hands to the button and fumbling with it.
Ryan’s hand immediately came down to still mine. “Angel, don’t do that,” he warned.
“Why not?” I asked in a voice I barely recognized.
“Because if you do that, I won’t be able to stop.”
“Good, because I don’t want you too,” I said.
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WARNING: NEXT CHAPTER WILL HAVE SEXUAL CONTENT!!!! DO NOT READ IT IF YOU GET OFFENDED BY THAT STUFF
There you go my lovelies. The part in the park might see a little cliche, but it was needed for later on in the story. That's all I'm gonna tell you about that :-).
As I just stated, the next chapter has sexual content, so if you don't want to read it, just skip to the part in Ryan's POV.
Soooooo -does happy dance- we've reached chapter 20!!!! I can't believe how well this story is doing, it makes me incredibly happy! You guys all seriously rock.
Dedication goes out to jenniferluvzyou because of her contagious enthusiasm. I read her comments and then edited the chapter quickly and updated.
Chapter question: What's everyone's favourite part of this story so far?
Vote and comment to show me the love :-)