“Are you finally speaking to me now that your dad tried ripping my head off?” I question. Ryker ignores my question, picking my arm up and looking at the cut. He rips off his hoodie and tears the fabric before wrapping it around my arm, while everywhere he touches my skin with his fingers sends a jolt through me. How I never saw the connection we have before and figured it out just shows how stressed this place makes me. I should have figured it out. But I can figure out what is pissing Ryker off now.
“You’re mad because I slept with Sebastian.”
Ryker stops for a second and looks up, tucking the bandage in place, letting my arm go instantly. “If you didn’t want me as your mate, you could have found a better way to tell me.”
I frown. “Who said I didn’t want you as my mate?”
“You chose another…,” he draws off. “You ignore me mostly, you never seek me out to just be with me like I do you. Everything about you seems uncomfortable when I’m near.”
He stares me down, waiting for an answer before shaking his head. As he steps away, I grab his arm to stop him. “I feel uncomfortable around you because the second we met, I felt confused. I felt like part of me wanted to hunt you down and stab you to find out what you knew, but the scary part was that I couldn’t stop thinking about you. Then you were around all of the time, and I liked it. I’ve spent every year of my life since I was eight not trusting anyone and expecting everyone to use me in some kind of way, but you didn’t. You just wanted to be there for me, to protect me, and it shocked me. Since you saved me in hell, I’ve been addicted to how you make me feel. I have never felt that way, and then when you told me we are mates…well, I don’t know how to not mess this up. I’m worried I am going to.”
“You could never mess things up with me.” He turns back and steps into my space. “I am not going to walk away, Daesyn, and yes, you can trust me. You always can.” He pauses. “Fuck, even if you wanted to just be friends and torture me for the rest of my life, I would take it just to be near you. I would take anything I can get.”
“You get all of me, Ryker…but the others. I can’t—”
He stops me with a kiss. Only a gentle, sweet kiss that melts everything inside me before he pulls back.
“I’m not asking for that. I don’t care about them being in your life.” He kisses me one more time, making me smile. “In case you haven’t noticed, you’re a handful, Daesyn Heartlocke. The more hands the merrier, in some sense.”
“So I can date all the guys in the Reaper Realm?” I tease.
He grins and shakes his head. “Don’t push it.”
“Thank you for talking to me,” I admit, wrapping my hands around his neck. “And saving my ass from your father.”
“Sorry about him. He is an alpha dumbass, and I will deal with it,” he promises me. “Now that he knows you can’t be killed, you don’t have to worry about him attacking you.”
“You’re the only hellhound I want in my apartment, Ryker,” I reply, pressing a kiss to his cheek.
I don’t move, pausing with my face inches from his, and he slowly turns to meet my gaze. Our lips are a breath apart as we look at each other and my heart pounds in my chest. I know why it’s dangerous to fall in love now. It consumes you.
He consumes me.
“Kiss me,” I all but beg. “I want you, Ryker. I want us.”
“Good, because I’m always going to want you too,” he admits before kissing me, devouring my lips, the connection between us buzzing across my skin. He picks me up and lies me down on the sofa, never breaking the kiss as he helps me rip off my clothes. He tears off his shirt, and my eyes widen.
Holy chest muscles.
Every inch of him is ripped and sexy. I place my hand over the tattoo on his chest, and he stares down at me, watching as I brush the tips of my fingers over the markings.
“Someday, you will have my mark on your chest,” he leans down and brushes his fingers over my chest, right above my heart. “A wolf in flames will appear here when we mate.”
“I’ve always liked markings,” I admit, biting on my lip. “I like the idea of a mark showing I am yours.”
His eyes seem to burst with flames for a second, before his lips scorch my own while his hands explore my body. His fingers brush my nipples and make their way down to my centre, causing a surge of desire. Then he pushes his trousers down, revealing his large and thick cock. I’m not innocent enough to ignore that he is big…and that is going to hurt.
But I’ve never been one to back down from a challenge. And this challenge, I’m going to enjoy the hell out of.
I slide my hand down his chest and then stroke my hand slowly down his length, making him give a sexy grunt. His eyes never leave mine as he grabs the sofa cushion, the muscles in his arms popping. This is a moment I’m never going to forget.
Ryker covers my hand on his cock and takes it off before leaning down over me. I’m buzzing with need as he hitches my leg around his hip and cups my ass with his one hand, arching my core to his cock. The tip presses against my entrance at the same time Ryker presses his thumb on my clit, his eyes still focused on me. Pleasure courses through my body as he inches his cock inside of my wet core, rubbing my clit the entire time, making me so close to coming with every second that passes. When he is fully seated inside of me, he speeds up his circles on my clit, and I cry out, coming hard around his large cock. He groans and thrusts out of me and then back in, leaning down and cupping the back of my neck, deeply kissing me. The pleasure is mind-blowing with every thrust, leaving me breathless and never wanting this to end. Ryker’s eyes are glowing with fire, a rumbling-like growl building in his chest as he starts thrusting harder, and I feel myself crashing into another orgasm.
I cry out his name as my body shakes with pleasure, the feeling indescribable as Ryker comes inside me, and I wonder why I ever pushed this man away, why I ever tried to fight my feelings for him. “I love you.”
His eyes light up, even more than before, and he kisses me before telling me, “You know I’ll always love you.”
Hours later, we both finish once again and curl up on the sofa under a blanket, my stomach rumbling.
Sword jumps onto the counter, making me jump and pull the blanket over us more. He drops the two small net bags he has over his shoulder full of food. “Why is it every time I leave for food, this place is destroyed?”
Ryker and I laugh as Sword mutters some swear words under his breath and picks up a broken cabinet door before we get dressed and help him fix it. I might be able to deal with this complicated relationship stuff after all.
Chapter 17
There isn’t enough coffee in the world to make this demi-god smile.
Finn takes up all the space on the sofa, his eyes flickering between the cup of coffee in his hands to me ever since I gave him the thing. I sip my own coffee quietly until the silence becomes a little too much.
“There are no rules against you being friends with a mortal, are there?” I ask, grasping for straws. “We could be friends.”
Finn lets out a low laugh. “With how addicted I am to your mere presence in my life, I don’t see our friendship lasting long.”