SHE SLIDED THE keys into her purse when she had closed the door shut. Her two weeks' permission to work at home had ended yesterday and she didn't want to extend it any further. The first few days after the breakup were the worst. She was a mess. She didn't shower or change. She barely put any effort into eating. If it weren't for Julie, she still would have been stuck in that phase. Laavanya was not ready to face the world but she had to now. Ryker was kind enough to extend her deadlines but she couldn't ask for more.

It had been two days since she had sent Julie to drop him the cupcakes because she was too much of a coward to face him herself. What she didn't expect was for her to come home with the truth about Rain who apparently had called Ryker out as 'daddy' when she was at the door.

She refused to tell her how he told her everything but only said that Rain was the sweetest niece she could ever have.

She wasn't wrong.

Laavanya got into the elevator when her phone buzzed with Ryker's name. She took a deep breath and cautiously picked up his call.

"Hello?"

"Laavanya, your two weeks are up."

"I know I am on my way to work." The elevator door opened and she stepped out. She began walking towards the subway to catch the train.

"No. Come to my apartment. I'll see you in some time." He hung up before she could ask him why. She frowned but caught a cab to his place anyway. She fidgeted with the strand of her hair on the whole of the drive.

Was Rain okay?

She rang the doorbell and heard footsteps approaching towards the door. Ryker opened the door and gave her a small smile. He was wearing a tight black t-shirt and pants that had some faded stains. His hair still seemed damp from the shower.

"Don't we have to be at work in twenty minutes?" She asked when he ushered her inside. Her eyes fell on the centre of the living room. The couches were shifted towards the empty side and their original location was replaced with two canvas boards on opposite sides—each having a seat and a set of painting supplies. "What is this?"

"We are taking a day off today. We are going to paint instead." He walked towards one of the canvas boards and opened the bottle of red paint. "What do you say? Are you in?"

"Ryker, I am okay," she said. "We don't have to do this."

"I am not doing this for you," he explained as he walked towards her. He took her purse from his hand and placed it aside. "I am doing this for both of us. Back at Bayfort, we both admitted that we don't know each other at all. I figured that we could ask each other simple questions while we paint."

"Is this what you do with all your employees after they break up?" She had a smile playing on her face but her joke fell on an unsmiling face. He went into the bedroom and came back with some clothes in his hand.

"I am not doing this as your boss. I am doing this as...someone more." She took the clothes from his hands but their gazes were locked, fingers brushing against each other. Neither of them wanted to let go. The silence between them grew–heavy and intense. Then something flared in Ryker's blue eyes when he said, "I have to be honest about my motivations, Laavanya." He let go of the clothes and sat on the chair in front of his canvas board. "Seven years ago, I wasn't ready for you. And right now, you aren't for me. But if you and I have a chance of being more than what we are, I want to take it. As long as you want to too. If not, don't paint with me. If there's no hope for us, you don't have to do this."

She licked her lips and stunned into silence. Two weeks ago, she just wanted to crawl into someone's arms and cry. She wanted to feel safe again and it wasn't until he said those words did she realise that...it wouldn't be unfortunate if those arms were Ryker's.

She smiled at him and tied her hair into a loose bun. "Let me go get changed."

***

When Laavanya walked out his bedroom wearing his loose clothes, Ryker had noticed a glow on her face. She still had the look of a person who hadn't slept or eaten well in days but she was smiling.

And that made him smile.

"Do you really like strawberry flavour or was I wrong?" She asked. Her eyes were focused on her artwork but Ryker couldn't help but watch her paint, completely ignoring his own. So far, their questions were harmless–on the surface level and frankly, he enjoyed that. It had been a while since anyone had asked him about favourite colour or the artists he listened to. Both of them had been through some intense emotions in the last few days and this leisure activity relieved the stress in his muscles. He wasn't thinking about what could go wrong, the meetings to attend or the scars he kept hidden.

His entire focus was in the now.

And in the hope of them.

"No, I do love strawberries. My parents and I used to have strawberry plantations so it's nostalgic to me." He smiled as he made a stroke of yellow on his canvas board. "Have you always wanted to be a graphic designer?"

"Um...yes and no," she said. "I love the freedom designing gives me. Broadening my mind through creativity. But I was so bad at drawing and painting. I didn't really try it until...well, Julie told me one of her cousins is getting a degree off of it."

His lips twitched upwards, he leaned to his side to look at her again.

"Are you any better now? At painting?"

"Take a look at it yourself," she said, smiling. Ryker dropped his brush on the pallet and got up from his seat. He walked towards her, watching her paint strokes on her canvas and stood behind her. He folded his arms and examined the piece in front of him. His pupils dilated when he saw that she had painted a beach and into the ocean there was a girl wearing a pink dress. Laavanya's paint brush hovered over the canvas, making uneven practice strokes in the air. "I am trying to paint Rain but I am struggling with her hair."

"Here, let me see..." He stepped forward and took the paint brush from her hand. He dipped it into the paint and leaned towards the canvas board to paint little curls from Rain's hair. "How does this look?"

He dropped his gaze towards her and realised that he had been towering over her. She was twisting her head to look up at him. Her tongue slid out of her mouth and she slowly licked her lips. "Wow...um, this must be why you were able to, um." Her voice was coming as a whisper if he hadn't been so close to her, she might even have been inaudible. He could feel her breath falling on his neck."...do my eyeliner." She finished her sentence but her gaze locked with his lips. An electricity bolted down his spine and he was using fibre of his strength to not get in closer and touch her. They had been this close before–when he was doing her eyeliner and god, he had flashbacks of that moment constantly in his dreams, except it ended up much unholier than he intended for it to be.

A muscle in his jaw twitched. "Y-yeah." He was about to move away when she swiftly snaked her arm around his neck and pulled him in. She breathed on his lips. He closed his eyes and waited for her to make a decision. He wondered if she could hear his rapid breathing. He dropped the paint brush from his hand and cupped her face. And slowly she leaned in.

The moment their lips met, the worlds seemed to collide. Every atom in Ryker's body relaxed at the intensity of their touch. The kiss was in no way sweet. It was hungry and urgent. Like they had been waiting years for this to happen.

He had.

God, he had waited so long.

He broke the kiss and looked into her eyes. "But Laav—"

"Shut up and kiss me," she mumbled and kissed him again. Ryker pressed his lips against the edge of her lips and left tiny kisses until he reached her collarbone. He pulled the skin between his teeth and he wasn't gentle. He wanted this for so long. He wanted to touch every part of her, make her feel every goddamn butterfly there is and if Laavanya wanted to do it right now, he wasn't going to object.

He would build a castle brick by brick even if all she wanted to do was tear it down.

Laavanya's back arched against his chest as she took his hand and made him undo all the buttons. He helped her out of the shirt and pulled out his own. She was moaning at every single touch of his and each sound that she made, it only rushed blood to his cock. In a single flick on his finger, he had unclasped her bra. She slowly pulled it down and Ryker's hand grabbed one of her boobs.

"Ryker..." she moaned as his finger began to trail down her stomach to the hem of the pants. He continued to kiss her neck as her head fell on his shoulder. Her hips moved forward as his index finger sunk deeper and he could feel the slick moisture between the folds of her skin.

"Spread your legs for me, baby," he muttered and pushed his fingers deeper inside.

He wanted to show her every star in his galaxy. Rough and gentle. Hard and fast. Slow and quick. He gave her everything he could.

And still, he was willing to give her more.

***

Every fibre in Laavanya's body was on fire.

Every touch, every kiss that Ryker left made her beg for more.

He carried her into his bedroom, most of their clothes were scattered on the floor. He wasn't gentle with her in any way. He had touched her like it was everything he ever wanted. He kissed her like it was their last time but she couldn't picture it being the last time. She tried to stop herself from kissing him, knowing that if she did, she wouldn't stop. And she failed when his fingers found her jaw. She hated not being in control but everytime he was close to her—her knees weakened. She lost a sense of herself. And she liked it.

He softly placed her on his bed and climbed on top of her. His blue eyes had darkened and she could see a certain yearning in his movements as he leaned to kiss her forehead. He wasn't saying anything but they exchanged so many words in a single glance.

"Are you sure about this?" He asked, his voice was so hoarse. She held her breath.

"Yes," she said. "I am on birth control."

Ryker kissed her again, but longer this time. He sat up with his knees on either side of her and he slowly pulled the pants down. He bent down to kiss her stomach and Laavanya moaned his name, arching her back and burying her head into his mattress. Carefully, he pulled down her panties and placed a kiss on the inside of her thigh.

"Ryker..."

He looked at her from between her thighs as he licked her folds. She gasped loudly and closed her eyes shut. She hadn't felt a fire so glorifying that she wanted more of it. All the words had escaped from her and all she could feel was Ryker's touch—and a lingering sense of euphoria greater than what she had expected.

"Open your eyes, Laav," he growled. "Watch me eat you."

"Don't boss me here," she cried out. He quickly rose up and grabbed both of her hands and pinned them to the headboard. Her eyes were closed but she could feel his breath on her face.

"I am your boss here too," he groaned and took her lips between his teeth. "Do you understand that?" She whimpered but nodded. He left another kiss between her neck. "Good girl," he muttered as he loosened the grip on her wrists. Her eyes flung open and a smile twisted on her face.

"Here's the thing to know about me..." her voice was low. She didn't know what she was saying. It felt like she was possessed by someone but god, she enjoyed that. "I don't want to be a good girl." She pushed him and switched positions with him. As soon as she was on top of him, Ryker's eyes glowed with lust. She dropped down to kiss the scar that etched between the valley of his chest. He moaned when her lips touched his skin and she knew he loved it. She looked up and smiled. She scooted below and positioned him between her thighs. "If you wanted a good girl in bed, you should've chosen someone else." She descended to fill herself up with his length. A groan left his lips.

Despite that, he locked his gaze in hers as he groaned, "Whatever it is, I choose you."

oof that was...