After dinner, Hope helped them clear the table.
"You don't have to do that," Seylah said as she put the leftovers into containers.
"It's been a while since I was a part of a family, so it makes me feel normal."
Seylah smiled at her, but said nothing else, just put the containers into two lunch pails, one with her name and one with Ryan's name.
As she turned from putting the plates in the sink, Hope found herself bumping into Ryan.
"Sorry about that." Ryan grinned and trailed his fingers down Hope's arm.
Hope caught her lower lip between her teeth and looked at him from under her lashes. The heat that had been simmering since she left him flared through her veins and damn, but she just wanted him to pin her against the nearest wall and take her!
"Okay, you two, get out of here," Seylah said with a teasing smile when she caught the looks between them. "Landon and I can finish this."
"Are you sure?" Hope asked, without looking away from Ryan's face.
"Go on." Seylah waved them away.
Taking Hope's hand in his, Ryan led the way down to Hope's bedroom.
"Where are they going?" Landon asked his mother.
"Leave them alone, Landon," Seylah laughed.
As they descended the stairs, they traded soft kisses. Hope almost tripped, she was so focused on his plush lips against hers, but he caught her before she fell.
"You kiss so well, you distracted me," Hope giggled. "Which normally would be a good thing."
"But not on the stairs."
Hope linked her fingers through his and led him the rest of the way down to her bedroom.
"Am I too presumptuous to think that you want this to go the way I want it to?" Ryan asked once the door was closed behind them.
"No." Hope took a step towards him, so that her breasts pressed against his chest. At the contact, her nipples hardened, in anticipation of his touch.
Ryan cupped her cheek and kissed her softly, his tongue brushing against her lips. That first touch drew a whimper from Hope and she dug her fingers into his hair, clinging to him. Lifting her into his arms, he carried her over to the bed and laid her down.
With a grin, he pulled his shirt off and pressed kisses against her skin as he crawled up her body, tugging on her tank top over her head as he moved. As he threw her top over his shoulder, Hope undid her bra and tossed it off to the side, moaning as his chest brushed against her nipples.
"Hope," Ryan whispered, cradling her jaw.
Keeping her eyes on his, Hope undid her pants and he pulled them off her, leaving her only in her panties. Thankfully, she'd thought to put on a decent pair instead of one of her oldest ones, so she had nothing to be embarrassed about.
"Damn, sweetheart, you're so beautiful."
"I want you Ryan." She slid her leg up his side, pulling him closer to her.
With a groan, Ryan kissed her, his tongue sliding into her mouth as he unbuckled his belt, revealing that he truly did have a thing against wearing anything under his pants, because once again, he had gone commando. When he'd kicked the last of his clothing over the side of the bed, he kissed her again, tugging her panties down her legs, leaving her as naked as he was.
"I want you now, Ryan. Please." Hope arched beneath him, attempting to get him closer to where she needed him. "Please. No foreplay, just your cock inside me. Now."
With a groan, Ryan thrust into her, drawing a whimper from Hope's lips.
"Oh, goddamn, Hope! You feel so incredible!" Ryan kissed her, then ducked his head to capture one of her nipples between his lips. He sucked so gently on it that to her pregnancy sensitive breasts, it felt delicious.
"Ryan. Damn, you make me feel so good. Love the way you feel inside me."
Ryan started thrusting then, slow and gentle. He rested his forehead against hers, kissing her softly and as much as she wanted to feel his touch against her skin, her body ached, desperate for him to stake his claim on her, to prove that their connection was as strong as she'd hoped it was.
"Harder, Ryan. Please. Harder!" Hope dug her heels into his back,
"I don't want to hurt you or the baby." Ryan's voice was so strangled that Hope knew that he was as desperate for her as she was for him and this was what they both needed.
"We both can handle it and I need it. Please," Hope begged
Burying his face into her neck, he groaned as rocked into her as hard as he could, every move forcing a cry from Hope's lips.
"Goddamn, sweetheart."
Hope sucked on his shoulder, nipped at his neck and with her teeth while she ran her hands over his back, enjoying the feel of his muscles bunching beneath her fingers.
Bracing himself on his elbow, he kissed her lips as he reached his other hand between her legs to stroke her clit. Hope threw her head back, screaming his name as she moved against him. Her nails raked across his back and he groaned.
Fire raced through her veins and she found her release with a sharp gasp. When she climaxed, it triggered his and he exhaled her name as he spilled inside her.
As he rolled onto his side, he sighed, "Next time, I'm gonna take it slow, because it's what you deserve."
"Hard and fast isn't always a bad thing. Sometimes, it's exactly what's needed, like today." Hope kissed his chest.
"I heard that pregnancy can make a woman horny, but not until the second trimester."
"When I'm not dealing with morning sickness, I want you to screw me as many times a day as you can." Hope trailed her fingers down his torso.
God, she needed to tell him about her past, her life, and the truth about the baby's parentage, but she didn't want to ruin things. Moments like this were so rare in her life that she just wanted to savor it, to allow her soul to rest until she had to get up and fight again."
"What are you thinking?" Ryan brushed her hair gently out of her face.
"I wish I could find the words," Hope whispered. "But I don't know what I can say to explain without sounding insane."
"When you're ready to talk, I'll listen and I'll believe you, I promise." Ryan tucked her head under his chin.
"You say that now, but I don't know if you'll still say that when I tell you my story."
"You're not the only one with an insane story, Hope. I only told you part of my life and when you tell me your story, I'll tell you mine. Then, we'll see who's lived the most out there life."
"I win." What could be more insane than being the tribrid daughter of Niklaus Mikaelson and being erased from memory by being thrown into a tar pit, only to be turned into an assassin for an unforgiving, supernatural hating organization?
"You say that now. But you may be eating that boast when I tell you my story." Ryan laughed and kissed the top of her head. "For now though, just enjoy the moment."
Hope draped her leg over his hips and sighed, content. Just lying here with him, skin to skin, it allowed the stress
"Being with you, it's like pieces of me are coming together and I can breathe, for the first time in years." Hope traced abstract patterns across his chest as she spoke.
"You're not the only one who feels that way. Don't get me wrong, I love my mom and Landon. They're my family and Seylah was the first one to accept me and she wasn't afraid of me even though I was a mess of a person when we met. But you reach into a place I've never let anyone else be."
"She sounds like an amazing woman."
"She was the first good person I ever met. She made me want to start to see myself as a person, instead of as an extension of my father, the failure who can only prove I'm worth living by doing what he wants. She accepted me as her son, even though she didn't need to and I'm grateful to her for that."
"Your father sounds like a sperm donor instead of a father."
Ryan chuckled once, but it sounded forced, so Hope propped herself up on her elbow to look down at his face. When he caught her eyes, the storm that had been gathering across his face dissipated and he smiled up at her as he caught one of her curls between his fingers and traced her lower lip with it.
"You are the most beautiful woman I've ever seen," Ryan whispered, awed.
"I'm not."
How could a monster like she was be beautiful? She'd taken human life to become a werewolf and then she'd killed so many supernatural people during her time with Triad, many of them innocent of any crime.
"You are, Hope. You're stunning, and you took a liking to me." He shook his head as if unable to believe what he was saying.
Not wanting to bring the moment down again with the thoughts floating through her mind, she caught his lower lip between her teeth and tugged on it lightly.
"You're not so bad looking yourself." Hope pressed his lips to hers softly and he cupped her cheek as she deepened the kiss. Lifting her head, she said, "I don't have a lot of references to draw from due to certain events in my life, but you are definitely the nicest looking guy I've ever come across."
Ryan flipped them and braced himself on one hand above her, making Hope giggle.
"It's not just your face that draws me in though. You're gentle, kind, and even though I know you're a strong woman, I want to protect you, to be the person you can lean on."
"You're gonna make me fall in love with you," Hope whispered, tears stinging her eyes.
"You're not the only one who feels that way." Ryan's dark eyes were so vulnerable that Hope's heart twisted and she struggled against the urge to cry.
"It scares me though. I don't know how to let people in. I'm so used to seeming like I'm untouchable, invulnerable, that I don't know how to actually not be that way."
"Don't be afraid of me, because I don't want to hurt you."
"I'm not afraid of you, because you're the best person I've met in so long. I'm afraid of myself, of what you might think of me when you get to know me better."
Ryan cupped her neck, tracing his thumb along her jaw, his voice little more than a whisper as he said, "I'm not asking that you trust me with your heart, not until you're ready. But I want to earn that, and for you to love me too, and for you to trust me with your story and for you to accept mine. Then for you, me, and this baby to make a family together."
Hope sat back on her heels and stared at her hands for a long moment. She needed to tell him. This conversation was turning into something that let her know she needed to be honest with him, to let him know what he was getting into, before he fell in love with her.
"I'm not human," Hope whispered.
"What?" Ryan sat up on his elbows, his brows furrowing.
"My father, Niklaus Mikaelson, the Original Hybrid, and my mother, Hayley Marshall-Kenner, Hybrid Queen of the Crescent werewolves, they have no idea I exist. Because when I was seven years old, I was thrown into a tar pit that erased me from the collective consciousness."
