Make Me (The Club #17) by Cathleen Ross, The Club Book Series Page A

seemed to him to be a long time to be alone.
    Cari's whole body shuddered. She shifted and ground herself into his knee, panting and gasping. Her back arched as she frenetically rubbed herself against his hard knee bone, crying out as she came.
    Ryan shifted, his jeans unbearably tight. He rose and placed her on the bed, not taking his gaze off her as she lay there gasping. He pulled his tee-shirt over his head, unzipped his jeans and yanked them down, struggling out of his boots until the whole lot was a scrambled pile on the floor. The thought of burying himself inside her consumed him.
    Cari spread her legs wide. "Hurry, Ryan."
    "Condom." He could barely get the word out. He yanked his wallet out of his jean's pocked, extracted a condom, bit the packet open and rolled it on.
    "I need you."
    Ryan flew over to the bed, lay between her legs, looking staring into her wide blue eyes and slid himself home. Lust be damned. He was falling for this woman in a scarily short space of time. He rotated his hips, again and again, thrusting into her until his movements became jerky.
    Cari wrapped her arms and legs around him, her fingernails digging into his back. He was aware of her clenching and grinding herself into him and she threw her head back crying out as another orgasm took her. Ryan shot into her as she milked every ounce of him. Finally spent, he rolled onto his side and held her close.
    Cari reached over, grabbed a few tissues and handed them to him.
    "Thanks." He took them and cleaned himself up, throwing the tissue-wrapped condom into the waste paper basket in the corner.
    When he turned back around, Cari had pulled the comforter down and snuggled close to him.
    "Cari?"
    "Hmm?" she said, her voice sleepy.
    "I don't believe in love at first sight."
    "You're keeping me awake to tell me that?"
    "No." He wrapped his arm around her and kissed the back of her neck. "I think we really suit."
    "You make me happy, Ryan. I'm glad you made me talk out my reservations tonight. I was so mad with you, I could have easily closed that door on you."
    His hand trailed down her front as he spooned her. "You're good for me too. I was completely obsessed with what happened to my ex, but I can see I need to take a step back. So long as you understand, it's the guilt that's driving me. I fell out of love with Kerry."
    Cari turned to face him. "Survivor guilt is hard to live with." She took in a deep breath. "Rob died in front of me. I've relived it everyday for two years, thinking and rethinking about what I could have done differently." She stroked Ryan's face. "I totally understand what you've been going through."
    Ryan leaned forward and kissed her. "Maybe we can help each other move on."
     
    A knock on the door and flashing lights slammed Cari out of her sleep. "What's going on?" She reached over and turned on the bedside table light.
    Ryan did the same. "I don't know. There's someone in the frontyard."
    Cari quickly slid her dressing gown on while Ryan slid on his jeans. She went to the lounge room and peered through the front windows. "It's Annabel and a policeman."
    She unlocked the front door and let her twin and the policeman in. "What's happened?"
    Ryan followed her in to the lounge, tugging his tee-shirt over his torso. "What's going on?"
    "I'm bringing Miss Todd home. She's had quite an ordeal," the policeman said.
    "I know you, don't I?" Ryan asked the policeman.
    "Sergeant Jones." The policeman shook Ryan's hand. He narrowed his eyes observing Ryan. "I don't recall."
    "You were introduced to me when I was at the station a couple of weeks ago asking about my ex girlfriend, Kerry Mahler's murder investigation," Ryan said.
    "Ah yes. I remember now," Sergeant Jones said. "We think we've had a breakthrough on that case." He looked at Annabel. "And others."
    "Con turned out to be a psycho." Annabel wrapped her long arms around her twin.
    "What happened?" Cari cried, seeing a wealth of bruises on her sister's neck. "How badly are you