Malia’s POV
I wondered if I had said too much once the words were out of my mouth.
His eyes hardened and slowly turned red. I sucked in a deep breath in fear.
He leaned towards me and I shrank back until my back touched the passenger door.
“Ryder,” I whimpered. I had forgotten for a moment that he was an Alpha and they could snap when pushed.
I watched as he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. I knew he was fighting to regain control.
When he opened them, they had returned to their original colour and I slowly released a breath I hadn’t realized I was holding.
“We’re home,” he said and that was when I noticed we were no longer moving.
He opened the door and stepped out of the car.
I took his hand as I got out of the car. He seemed calm. Too calm.
We had already taken a few steps when I remembered the desserts that the manager of the restaurant had given to us.
“I forgot something. I have to get back to the car,” I said.
He arched an eyebrow but said nothing.
I hurried back to the car as fast as I could in my stilettos and took the food pack.
I returned to Ryder’s side and I saw a ghost of a smile play on his lips when he looked at the food pack in my hand.
We got to our hallway and he opened my room door for me.
I got in and turned to face him.
“I’m sorry for those things I said to you earlier. I didn’t mean any of it.”
He cocked an eyebrow.
“Alright, I meant a tiny part of what I said,” I admitted.
His face was expressionless for a moment then split into a wide grin.
“I didn’t know you could look so terrified. Hell, I didn’t know you could apologize.”
Normally I would have said something sarcastic but I decided to play nice.
I merely shrugged and gave him a small smile.
He frowned. “I don’t think I like this part of you but it’ll do especially when I get you in my bed.”
“Dream on dreamer,” I murmured, retreating further into my room.
He stepped forward and closed the door behind him.
“You seem to doubt that I can have you and you’d be a willing participant. Didn’t the episode we had in the car teach you a thing or two or have you just decided to live in denial?”
I turned my back to him and walked towards my closet. To my mild annoyance, I heard his footsteps behind me. I rolled my eyes and turned to face him.
“Aren’t you supposed to be in bed by now?” I asked. His gaze travelled along the length of me and I wrapped my arms around my torso as if to protect me from the heat of his gaze.
He noticed this and smirked.
“Could you please leave? I need to get out of this dress and prepare for bed. I’m tired.”
“I don’t see how I’m stopping you from doing any of those things. And please don’t flatter yourself by thinking that your body is so extraordinary that it should be kept from sight.
Don’t worry, I’ll throw a dollar at anything I’ve never seen before.”
My hands clenched into fists beside me and I really wanted to plant one on his smug face. I took a deep breath, turned away from him and resumed walking towards my closet.
He got in seconds after I did and looked at me expectantly.
Fine. If he wanted a show I was going to give him just that. The unreasonable part of me was thrilled at the thought of him watching while I took off my clothes. I mentally rolled my eyes. When did I become this wanton?
I stood facing the mirror and tried to reach for the zip at the back of my dress. For some reason, I was finding it difficult to get it down. I saw Ryder smirk and walked closer to me.
He swept my hair over one side of my shoulder and I sucked in a deep breath as his fingers grazed my neck, leaving a trail of pleasant tingles.
He went on to work on my zipper and then slipped the tiny straps slowly off my shoulder. The dress gave a whisper as it fell in a puddle around my ankles.
I heard his sharp intake of breath as I stood before him in just my lacy lingerie.
He ran his fingers down the sides of my torso and then his hands went on to cup my butt.
I gasped. “I thought you were trying to help me undress,” I whispered, hoping that his hands would go to my already wet mound between my thighs.
“I got distracted. You can’t blame me,” he said and I could hear the desire in his hoarse voice.
“You drive me to distraction, Malia. I just can’t wait to be inside of you.”
I stiffened at his words, suddenly remembering what Ronan had told me about Ryder seeing me as a new shiny toy that he was bound to get tired of.
My reaction was not lost on him. “Is something wrong?” He asked. His hands were on the centre of my bra band.
I moved forward, putting some distance between us. I didn’t feel like speaking to his reflection, so I turned away from the mirror to face him directly.
I exhaled sharply and tried to ignore the intense desire smouldering in his eyes.
“I’m not going to be one of your toys Ryder.”
His eyes narrowed slightly in puzzlement. “I don’t think I understand what you mean by that,” he said.
“After I allow you in my bed, you’re going to discard me like one of your used toys. I don’t think I’d want that no matter how much I want you.”
He scoffed. I thought I saw a flash of hurt in his eyes, but it was gone before I could register it.
“Do you think that lowly of me?” He asked.
I kept quiet and he gave me a wry smile.
“Thanks for having dinner with me tonight, Malia. Goodnight.”
He walked out of my closet without a second glance at me and I wondered why I felt so bad.
I had done the right thing, hadn’t I?
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I could still feel the tingles on the parts of the body where his hands had touched.
I sighed in frustration before taking off my underwear and going into the bathroom for a cold shower.
I donned my pyjamas and walked out of my closet to find Penelope sitting comfortably on my bed and eating my dessert.
She looked up at me and gave me an unapologetic grin. “This tastes amazing,” she said.
She seemed in really high spirits.
“Penelope, that’s mine. I don’t share desserts.”
I could have as well been talking to the wind because she took another spoonful and went on to ask if I had bothered to ask about the recipe so she could make it there at the palace.
I reached out to grab my dessert from her hands but she dodged, quickly got up and ran to the other side of the bed.
“I really don’t want to do this, Penelope. We’re not kids. Hand it over this instant,” I ordered as I moved closer to her.
She took several steps away from me and stopped to take yet another spoonful and stick out her tongue at me.
That was it. I snapped and lunged at her but missed. We ended up running around the room until we were exhausted.
“Just hand it over,” I said.
“Just let it go,” she returned.
“I’m going to tell Ronan about this,” I threatened. To my surprise, it worked.
She walked over to me and gave me the rest of the dessert.
I arched an eyebrow as I took it. “I should have said that a long time ago. I had no idea that you were scared of Ronan.”
“It’s not that I’m scared of him,” she began, “I just don’t want him to see me as this immature servant girl. He smiled at me today, you know. He even tried to crack a joke.”
My eyes widened in surprise as I dug the spoon into the dessert. “How and when did that happen?” I asked, settling on the bed and patting the space beside me for her to sit.
She sat and smiled as she told me how she had taken lunch to him in his chambers without him having to ask. He had been grateful and had even tried to be friendly and funny.
I guess it was normal that I felt a little bit jealous. He was my friend after all and had claimed to be in love with me.
I smiled at Penelope. “Well, that’s a start. You two could become friends and it might lead to something more.”
She started to smile but then shook her head as if to bring herself back to reality. “I don’t know Malia. I’m afraid of hoping for something more.”