Razing Ryker (Dissonance Book 1) Read online

  Jessa snorted. “Hell no. Kid was a shit.” She nodded to the box, her brown curls bouncing and shining. “Have you never gotten a delivery before?”

  “No.”

  “That’s weird.”

  “It feels weirder getting one.”

  “Who is it from?”

  Greer turned it over in her hands, checking the labels. Aside from her name, it was gibberish to her. She nearly dropped it when it started ringing. “What the hell?”

  “It’s a phone,” Jessa said, scowling. “Maybe you shouldn’t open that.”

  “Why not?”

  “That’s how they activate bombs. With cell phones.”

  “Who? Terrorists?”

  “No, Girl Scouts. Yes, terrorists!”

  The ringing stopped and both girls looked at the box with deep seated doubt. “It didn’t blow up,” Greer muttered.

  Another noise sounded from inside. A weirdly familiar ding that she couldn’t quite place.

  “Sounds like an iPhone,” Jessa said dismissively, turning abruptly and heading for the living room.

  “So we’re not worried anymore?” Greer called after her.

  “If you have an iPhone all you have to worry about is becoming a hipster! I’ll watch for the signs. No lens-less glasses or scrunchies!”

  “Thanks a lot,” she muttered, tearing into the tape holding the box closed. When she shed away all of the packaging she found a slim white, shining iPhone inside. And it had a message.

  From Jace Ryker.

  This is your work phone. You need it.

  “Whoa.”

  She had used Cameron’s phone before so she knew how to work the thing, but it felt surreal that this was hers. Well, hers for the next month.

  This is too much, she texted Jace.

  His response was immediate and she realized it was probably him that had called and nearly kicked off World War Three in her apartment. You have to have one. At least while you’re working for me. You need it for the music alone.

  You can’t give me a phone.

  We’re rhyming again.

  Greer grinned. We just can’t help but make music together.

  The second she sent it, she realized how that sounded and hurriedly typed, I can’t keep it. You can’t give me this phone.

  I didn’t. Ryker Corp. did.

  There’s no such thing as Ryker Corp., is there?

  There will be if you give me a hard time about the phone. It’s a business tool from your boss. Just say ‘Thank you, Mr. Ryker’ and we’ll all move on from it.

  I thought I was supposed to call you Jace.

  When you sass me about work, you get Mr. Ryker. When we risk our lives in subpar eateries or sing duets in dark theaters, then you can call me Jace.

  Uh huh. And you get to just call me whatever you want?

  The phone started ringing in her hand, surprising her. The name and photo that splashed across the screen made her smile.

  “Hello, Mr. Ryker,” she answered seriously.

  “I can call you whenever I want now, too,” he told her in answer to her question.

  “Convenient.”

  “Look, don’t sweat the phone. It’s no big deal. I have like fifty of these things laying around that were given to me for no reason. I got one in a goodie bag at Elton John’s last month.”

  “You know Elton John?”

  “You don’t?” he teased.

  “Oh, of course I do. I was just hanging out with him last weekend at his villa in the south of France.”

  Jace chuckled quietly and there was something about it…

  “He actually has a villa in the south of France, doesn’t he?” she asked warily.

  “I don’t know, but I do.”

  “Son of a bitch,” she grumbled.

  “It’s more of an estate than a villa.”

  “Not better.”

  Her anger made him chuckle again. “Anyway, keep the phone. Do you want a different color? I have pink.”

  “Why did someone give you a pink phone?”

  “Because I’m a trendsetter, apparently. Put something in my hands and the world wants to buy it.”

  “That’s a lot of pressure.”

  “You get used to it. Especially when there’s a line of underwear in Japan with your face on it.”

  “There is not.”

  “Google it.”

  “I don’t have a computer.”

  He groaned theatrically, making her smile. “You’re killin’ me. Look it up on your phone.”

  “I will tonight.”

  “Don’t let it be the last thing you look at. I can’t be held accountable for your dreamstate after you see them. In fact, let me send you the link because if you just go Googling ‘Jace Ryker underwear’ you’re going to hit a really seedy part of the internet.”

  “I’m sure I can handle it,” she chuckled.

  “For my sake, don’t.”

  “Alright, for you.”

  “Thanks.”

  A silence fell between them, one that wasn’t particularly awkward. It was actually kind of nice knowing he was there, just a breath away, and when she wasn’t looking at his movie star face and Adonis body wrapped in wealth and a world she’d never know, she could relax with him. He was funny! He was easy to talk to and he seemed to genuinely like talking to her too. He seemed lighter than he ever had before. More accessible and she wondered if it came with getting to know him. If he was guarded with people because he had to be and you had to earn his trust. She could understand that and from what she was seeing – or hearing – of him now, she wanted to earn that. She wanted to earn him.

  “Jace?” she asked quietly.

  “Yeah,” he answered, his voice so deep it made her eyes close and her heart flutter in her chest.

  “I was just checking. I didn’t know if you’d hung up.”

  “No. Do you need to go?”

  “No. You?”

  “Yeah, but no.”

  She laughed softly. “What does that mean?”

  “It means I have to go but I’m not going to.”

  “Oh.”

  Oh my God.

  “I’m glad I gave you the phone, Greer.”

  She grinned. “You didn’t. Ryker Corp. did, remember?”

  “I’m glad,” he repeated.

  “Me too.”

  The phone beeped and she frowned as she pulled it away from her ear to look at the screen. It said she had a new text, but she ignored it. She didn’t want to lose this connection with Jace.

  “Did you get it?” he asked.

  “Get what?”

  “The picture I sent you.”

  “Oh, the message. Of course of it’s from you, you’re the only one with the number,” she muttered, feeling stupid. “Hold on.”

  She called up the message and downloaded the photo attached, reading his words as it opened.

  This is me hiding.

  The picture loaded, making her burst out laughing. He was in a bathroom – a fucking nice one that looked bigger than her apartment and was covered in about a hundred percent more marble – and he was sitting in the bathtub, half of his face covered with the cream colored shower curtain.

  “Who are you hiding from?” she asked, still laughing.

  He chuckled, the sound carrying across the city in a melody that hit her ears and made her skin tingle with excitement.

  “Everyone,” he answered vaguely before admitting, “Sarah. She wants me to make decisions about shit I already decided.”

  “Then what’s her problem?”

  “I didn’t make the decision she wanted.”

  “Tell her to get over it.”

  “If only it were that easy. Here, I’ll go find her and you can tell her.”

  “No!” she cried. “I’m not talking to that woman. She freaks me out.”

  “That’s her plan. It’s an intimidation tactic and I’m over it.” He cleared his throat, his tone lightening. “Your turn.”

  “
For what?”

  “I sent you a picture of what I’m doing – hiding. Show me what you’re doing. I want to see you.”

  Her heart leapt into her throat as she smiled, fumbling with the phone. “Okay, hold on.” She ran to the bathroom and pulled the shower curtain closed, putting her phone inside and snapping a picture of herself with her eyes crossed and her face half covered by the fogged plastic. It ended up being a bit of a cleavage shot and she thought about retaking it, but some wild part of her forged ahead typing him a quick message and hitting SEND before she could stop herself.

  “There, it’s on the way,” she told him.

  She heard muffled sounds as he pulled his phone from his ear and laughed when he saw her picture and read her words.

  This is me seeking. I’m terrible at it.

  His laugh was better than his chuckle. It was better than anything. It was full and thick like cream, dark and sultry like chocolate. It made her hungry for more.

  “Can Ryker Corp. get away with hooking you up with an optometrist in the next month?” he asked, coming back on the line.

  “Up to you. It’s your fictional company.”

  “I’ll talk to HR,” he said, still laughing.

  “You have a great laugh,” she told him, feeling emboldened by their banter and the miles and miles of space between them. “You should do it more often.”

  “I have been lately,” he admitted softly.

  “How lately?” she pushed.

  “Since I met you.”

  She took a deep breath, her body calming at his words. They soothed her, settled her. It was real. It wasn’t in her head. She wasn’t some star struck idiot spinning fantasies. There was something here. Something between them that they both felt.

  “I like you, Jace,” she whispered.

  “I like you too, Greer,” he whispered back. “More than I’ve liked anyone or anything in a really long time.”

  She smiled into the mirror, watching her skin go pink at his words. At her own thoughts. “Hey,” she said softly. “You wanna do something crazy with me?”

  He paused, debating. “Depends on what it is.”

  “It’s not getting married in Vegas tonight.”

  “Oh, thank God,” he breathed out in a relieved rush.

  “Come up before, has it?”

  “No comment.”

  “Uh huh.”

  “What kind of crazy are we talking about? ‘Cause I could be into some crazy right now.”

  “Need to shake things up a bit, do you?”

  “You have no idea.”

  Greer bit her lip and reached over to close the bathroom door, locking it. “Do you wanna take a bath with me?” she asked huskily.

  She could hear him breathing on the other end of the line, thick and slow.

  “Is this a trick question?”

  She chuckled, kicking her shoes off. “No tricks. You’re locked in a bathroom, I’m locked in a bathroom… No pictures,” she assured him, imagining that had to be a huge concern for him, especially after the concert fiasco with his ex. “Just talking.”

  “Naked, wet talking?” he clarified.

  “Yep. Could you be into that?”

  “Greer,” he said emphatically. “I am so fucking into that.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  “How hot is your bath?” she asked, the sound of swirling water echoing through the phone.

  He shifted, laying out and getting more comfortable in the jetted tub that he left silent and still. The better to hear her with… “It’s hot. My skin is turning red. You?”

  “Kind of cold, actually.”

  Images of her full breasts floating on the surface of the water, her chilled nipples tight and peaked, made his dick come to life.

  “Too bad you’re not here,” he told her.

  “Sarah would love that.”

  “God, don’t mention her. You’ll kill the relaxing mood we’ve got going.”

  “I’m not that relaxed.”

  “Yeah,” he answered thickly. “Me either.”

  “Jace?”

  “Yeah?”

  She hesitated and he nearly groaned with impatience. “I have my hand on my stomach.”

  “Do you?”

  “I do. And I have a choice to make.”

  “What kind of choice?”

  “I need to decide if I should go north or south, but I’m terrible with directions.”

  “Well, with those fucked up eyes I can see why.”

  She laughed, breaking the intensity of the moment and he found himself smiling, his own hand making its way to his thigh.

  “North,” he told her confidently. “You should go north.”

  “Really?”

  “For now. The mountains are beautiful this time of year.”

  He could hear her smile in her voice. “North it is then.”

  He listened to her breathing, closing his eyes as her breath hitched in her throat and the trickle of water dripping from slippery limbs drifted into his ears. “How’s the view?”

  “Stunning,” she whispered. “How about from where you are?”

  He looked down his body and frowned at his lack of breasts. “Flat. Boring.”

  “You should head south.”

  “You should go with me.”

  “I’m already on my way.”

  He ran his hand up his thigh to trip his fingertips over his dick. It jumped in response, eager for affection. He listened to Greer breathe in deeply, then let out a shuddering breath.

  “Where are you?” he asked.

  “The valley.”

  Goddammit.

  “Are you with me?” she breathed.

  “Yes.” He stroked his dick up and down, savoring her hiccupped breaths and her faint, low moans.

  “You’re inside me, Jace,” she told him, taking the lead and making his balls seize with excitement. “Your fingers are on me, but you’re inside me. Deep and slow.”

  “You’re so hot,” he murmured, gripping his dick hard, “and so fucking tight.”

  “I’m wet.”

  “Yes.”

  “And you’re so hard. Your dick is hard and deep and so, so thick. It hurts.”

  “But you love it.”

  “I want it. I want it to hurt,” she whimpered. “Make it hurt, Jace.”

  “Fuck,” he groaned, picking up the pace of his hand sliding up and down his erection. The sound of water thrashing over his arm as he plunged in and out of her in his mind mingled with her whimpers and cries, and he could feel it. He could imagine what it would be like to be with her and it was incredible. It was better than anything he’d ever felt. “You feel amazing. You’re beautiful. Perfect. Your body is so fucking perfect the way it hugs me.”

  “Make me come, Jace,” she pleaded. “Make me come on you.”

  “I will, babe. I will. I’m licking your tits and I’m tweaking your clit and I’m inside you, Greer. I’m rock hard inside your soft pussy. Can you feel me?”

  “I feel you. I feel you everywhere,” she cried. She was getting close.

  “I’m in there and it hurts. I’m hitting so hard it hurts us both but you’re begging for it and thrashing on me.”

  “I’m riding you. I’m riding you fast and deep. Oh God, I don’t want to stop but I have to come. I have to.”

  “I’m bare. Nothing there but you and me, your wet, hot body so slick and ready.” His hand jerked violently on his dick, pulling and plunging and fucking so hard he splashed water onto the floor but still he pictured her riding him like mad. “I’m going to lose it inside you and I won’t even be sorry. I’ll want you again the second I come. I’ll never get enough of you.”

  “I’m burning. I’m burning alive,” she squeaked, her breath ragged and her tone desperate.

  “Do it, babe,” he urged her on, feeling it bearing down on him as well. “Do it. I’m with you. Yeah, shit, I’m with you!”

  He bit down on his grunts and groans as he shot his load into the tub, his body
going rigid and limp all at once and leaving him dizzy. He silenced himself as much as he could so he could drink in her cries. Her throaty moans, her mewls. They were music to his ears.

  “Greer?” he asked, his voice low and rough. Used.

  “Yeah?” she answered breathlessly.

  “I’m really glad I gave you that phone.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  Greer smiled all the next day. All through rehearsals she smiled and giggled at the slightest provocation. She felt giddy and strange and every time she touched the phone he’d given her, she looked for a message from Jace.

  He didn’t let her down.

  He wasn’t able to make it to rehearsals for the rest of the week but he sent her messages throughout the day. The best were the ones with pictures. Various photos of him hiding in the strangest places. Behind a fern in a waiting room, through a fish tank in his hotel lobby, behind a menu at a fancy restaurant. Always only portions of his face with wide scared eyes that made her smile. She’d send back pics of herself peering around doors or looking up into the camera posed in a cupboard. She looked but she never found him.

  But he always found her.

  He called her each night and they talked until the phone started to die and it chirped at her angrily. Last time he laughed and scolded her that she needed to charge it. She rolled her eyes, searching for the damn cord.

  The next day another package arrived. It had seven chargers in it. One for every day of the week.

  You’re hilarious, she texted him along with a picture of the opened package.

  You’re hopeless. I bet your phone is dying right now, isn’t it?

  She glanced down at the screen. At the flashing red bar in the corner.

  “Shit,” she muttered.

  Nope. Full strength!

  Liar, he accused.

  Prove it.

  I wish I could. I’ve never wished I was there with you more than right now.

  Seriously? This is when you want to be live and in person? Not last night around two am when we went on that meandering road trip…

  Ah, the Grand Tetons. They’re a national treasure.

  I’m pretty partial to Chimney Rock myself.

  God, topography has never been so hot.

  Will you be at rehearsals tomorrow?

  Nothing could keep me away. I haven’t seen your eyes in days and it’s killing me.