Page 9 of Ryder’s Storm

Scarlet rushed outside into the dark. As if in a trance, she made her way back to the bar where she’d stashed her clothes. She was lucky. Nobody had taken them. After she dressed and left the place, she called an Uber and headed home.

In the back of the car, she closed her eyes. But she couldn’t push the events of the last hour out of her mind. There was no denying it: she’d enjoyed sex with Ryder. Hell, she’d enjoyed every single second of it, and every single thing he’d done. Even when he’d penetrated her in a place where nobody had before. The sensation of his finger inside her had aroused her more than anything else. Christ, she was depraved. How could she, an educated woman, like such a debauched act? Not just liked, no, loved.

Scarlet felt the shame of it now. She was glad that she hadn’t given Ryder her real name, just in case he went back to the club on another night and asked about her. Not that she thought he would. To him she was probably just a quick fuck, a slut with whom he could do things no decent girl would allow.

By the time the Uber dropped her off outside her home in Pacific Heights, she’d made a promise to herself: next time she felt the urge to go on a sexual bender, she would lock herself in her room and toss the key out of the window.

Scarlet unlocked the front door and entered the house, letting the door close behind her. She headed straight for the stairs, in need of a shower to wash the shame from her body. But she didn’t reach the stairs.

“Well, look what the cat dragged in.”

Scarlet spun to the left and saw a dark shadow. Grayson. Figured that he was here waiting for her. He flipped on the light switch. She would have preferred to stay in the dark. Did she show signs that she’d been thoroughly fucked less than an hour ago? Was it written on her face how wild she’d gotten, and what liberties she’d allowed her sexual partner?

“What do you want?” she asked.

“You tricked me. You never ordered takeout. You made me go in there so you could ditch me while I was busy arguing with the hostess about them not preparing your order.” Grayson looked as if smoke would come out of his ears at any moment.

“Well, at least you had fun.” Because for certain he enjoyed arguing.

“Where the fuck were you?”

“None of your business. You work for me, not the other way around.”

“Correction: I work for your father.” He stared at her, his jaw clenched. “And when I tell him where you were, I’m sure he won’t be pleased.”

Scarlet took a step toward him and braced her hands at her hips, not at all intimidated by him. “First: you have no idea where I was, or you would have gone there to fetch me. But you didn’t. Ergo you had no clue where I was. And I’m not gonna tell you. And second: go ahead, and tell my father. And while you’re at it, explain to him how you, the supposedly best bodyguard Scanguards has, managed to lose sight of me, a quiet, introvert twenty-four-year-old PhD candidate half your size. I’m sure he’d like to hear your excuse.”

“You… you…”

With satisfaction she saw that for the first time since Grayson had become her bodyguard he was speechless. Unfortunately it didn’t last long.

Grayson had a comeback after all. “Then I think I’ll speak to my father. I’m sure he’ll terminate his contract with your dad. And you won’t be able to hire anybody else in this city.”

“Well, go ahead. I’m not the one who wants a bodyguard! And while you’re chatting with your father, you might as well tell him that the moment I turn twenty-five, I’ll be able to access my trust fund, and then nobody can tell me any longer how to live my life. So tell him, in three months, I’ll be firing you anyway!”

“That day can’t come soon enough,” Grayson replied. “But I’m afraid I’m not gonna waste my energy on you any longer. You’re a spoiled, rotten little bitch!”

“It takes one to know one,” she shot back.

His face flushed, and the chords in his neck seemed to bulge. He reached for his cell phone and punched in a number.

“Calling daddy ‘cause somebody was unfair to you?” she asked. “Booohooo!”

He glared at her, and a red glint shone from his eyes as if he was about to pop a blood vessel. But he didn’t reply. Instead, he turned his back to her.

“Benjamin, you’re up. I need you to relieve me at the King’s. Yep, make it quick. I’ll wait outside for you.”

Without a look back, he opened the front door and walked outside. The door fell shut behind him.

“Good riddance!” she murmured to herself and walked upstairs.

In her room, she undressed and looked at herself in the mirror. She felt different, though she looked the same. For the first time since puberty, she felt—for lack of a better word—complete. Her body still hummed with pleasure. Not even the shame about her actions could wash that feeling away.

All her life, ever since her mother had died, she’d felt like she didn’t belong anywhere. That she was different from her peers. She had no idea where that feeling came from, only that tonight, Ryder had made her feel understood, if only for a short time. It gave her hope that maybe one day in the future, she would find the happiness she was yearning for and be as normal as everybody else.

6

Grayson parked his Audi in his assigned spot in the parking garage below Scanguards HQ in the Mission and killed the engine. He was fuming. He was done looking after Scarlet King. She was a manipulative spoiled little rich girl.