Free Against The Wall by Rhyannon Byrd

the very un-ignorable taste of her cunt in his mouth, coating his tongue like sweet, addictive syrup.
    Damn it, why hadn’t he kept his stupid shit together and nailed her while he had the chance? If screwing her was half as good as eating her, it was something he definitely didn’t want to miss, no matter how uneasy she made him.
    Shit, he grumbled to himself, realizing Hannah was talking into his ear and he hadn’t even been listening. “Damn it, Ryan, are you—I mean, you are at Shea’s place, right? My Shea—as in my best friend?”
    “Hmm. Seems that way,” he replied silkily, suddenly angry with Hannah for telling Shea about Red’s. Not that he wasn’t happy with the consequences now, considering he was still reeling from her flavor, but Shea could’ve been seriously hurt because of their scheming—and to top it off, he didn’t care for the tone of Hannah’s voice. “Shea’s in the shower and I’m just waiting for her to get out. You got a problem with any of that, Hannah?”
    His oldest friend laughed her husky, throaty laugh on the other end of the line. “Uh, no need to sound so surly, Ry. I’ve been trying to get you two together for months now. I just, ah, hope you know what you’re doing. I mean—Shea’s not the kind of woman you play around with.” And despite her sweet tone, there was a wealth of warning in her words, reminding him of that mean streak she’d had before her ex-husband got his hands on her.
    He was almost happy to see its return—just not at this particular moment in time. Refusing to let her put him on the defensive, he clipped, “You mean she’s not like the usual women I pick up at Red Mackey’s place?”
    Ryan could almost hear her grimace over the connection. “Oh God, she really went there tonight, didn’t she? What happened? Is she okay? Damn it, I told her to wait until I got back.”
    Instead of answering her string of questions, Ryan asked one of his own while pacing the length of the bedroom. “What the hell were you thinking, sending her to a place like that?”
    “It’s not like I had planned for her to go by herself. I was going to make her take me along as backup.”
    “Yeah, well, you weren’t there, and neither was I,” he muttered angrily, the terror he’d felt when he’d heard Shea’s muffled screams twisting him into knots all over again. “But the bastard who broke into her apartment tonight sure as hell was.”
    “Oh shit,” she gasped, voice hollow with fear. “Tell me she’s okay, Ry. I knew something was wrong. I knew it! That’s why I’m calling so late. I went to bed early tonight, but I woke up with the worst feeling a moment ago and had to call.”
    “Derek and I took care of the asshole before he was able to do much more than scare the hell out of her.” And damn it, his hands were suddenly shaking just thinking of the few strikes Spalding had gotten in.
    Ryan wanted to go down to the station and knock him on his drunken ass all over again. Shit, what he really wanted was to beat the guy to a bloody pulp for laying his filthy hands on his woman, and it had him burning with anger that he wasn’t going to be able to do just that. He should’ve kicked the crap outta the bastard when he’d had the chance.
    Hannah’s voice brought him back to the conversation. “And so you’re spending the night with her? You’re going to stay there with her?” They both knew that what she was really saying was you’re going to sleep with her.
    “You know, as much as I love you, Hannah, I don’t think that’s any of your business.”
    There was silence for a moment, and then she said, “Shea’s my best friend, Ry. She’s also not half as jaded as you and so yes, that makes it my business. I don’t want her getting hurt if you’re not willing to offer her more than a quick fuck. She deserves more than that and you know it.”
    “Just be glad I’m happy with your scheming tonight,” Ryan drawled, looking to sway the focus