Chapter 21

Ruby remained on the bed and continued to read her book. Just laying on the bed seemed to get to Ryker, but she wanted to tease him even more. Ruby got up and put the pillows against the headboard. She then sat down so she could be seated upwards, had her legs bent a little, and had them lay open wide. Her lingerie clearly got to Ryker, judging by his reactions, but she knew she could push him further.

The more you fight this, the harder it will be, Ryker.

Not being used to Ryker’s shower habits, she had no idea if he usually took long or short ones, so Ruby got lost in the pages of her romance novel. Five chapters later, the water turned off. Considering Ruby was a slow reader, she deduced that he had been in there for at least thirty minutes. The door of the bathroom opened, the smell of fresh, clean soap wafted towards her room, and Ryker’s footsteps stopped just outside the bathroom door between the bathroom and Ruby’s bedroom.

“Are you clothed yet?” Ruby could hear a rumble coming from deep in his chest.

Is his wolf trying to tell him to stop fighting this?

Maybe.

“Come look for yourself. I’m not gonna bite you.”

Ryker was in her door frame a second later. He stopped just inside the frame, and Ruby looked up with only her eyes. His navy-blue eyes seemed darker, and his erratic breathing returned. Ruby heard a soft growl, and she had to fight herself not to laugh.

“This is not you clothed.”

Ruby looked back down at her book. “I don’t remember you actually asking me to put on clothes.”

“I just asked you if you were clothed!”

“Yes, but not if I WILL put some clothes on.”

“Will you put some clothes on?”

“I have clothes on.”

Ryker growled. Ruby wanted to feel threatened by it, but it did not feel threatening to her. That sound reverberated deep within her soul, awakening the lust she felt for him during the Full Moon. Ruby felt her hips rock on the bed at the thought of that night, and she had to close her eyes and take a deep breath to center herself.

Not the time for that memory.

“Those are not actual clothes. Can you please put on a shirt and pants?”

Ruby closed her book and sighed. “Fine.”

Rolling off the bed in a slow manner, she did her best to arch her body in all of the right ways which brought another growl out of Ryker. As she walked toward him to get to the closet, Ryker changed his tone just enough to come off as flirting.

“You are playing with fire, Red.”

Ruby stopped walking when she was in front of him, looked directly in his eyes, and decided to play just a little more. “I can handle the heat, Alpha. Can you?”

Ryker’s eyes grew dangerously dark. He took a few deep breaths, and then they returned to his navy-blue. The right corner of his mouth curled into a smirk, and Ruby immediately thought; how the hell can this man get any sexier?

“You’ll find out soon enough.” Ryker took one step, and he was in her personal space. He leaned down just enough that his breath danced along the side of her face. “The Full Moon was only a taste of the heat that I can make you feel.”

Ruby shivered. Before she could retort back, he was out of her room.

Damn it! I was supposed to win that one.

The day is not over.

Hmm. You’re right. Round two, here I come.

Ruby dug through her drawer to find her elastic black boy short panties and the black push up bra that was similar to a sports bra. She had no idea what the style was called, but it looked comfortable and looked like it would work with the boy shorts. Ruby checked herself out in the mirror and noticed how they accentuated her ass and chest. She smiled at her success and then put on her red robe again. This time, she did not tie it around her waist, so it remained open as she walked.

Not gonna hide my good work.

Her final touch was a spritz of vanilla perfume she had found and thought smelled delicious. She had no idea if Ryker liked sweet smells but didn’t care. It made her feel another layer of confidence, and that was what mattered.

Ruby strutted her way into the living room and plopped down onto the couch. She found the remote on the table in front of the couch and turned on the TV. As she skimmed through channels, she heard Ryker moving around in his room. No show or movie was capturing her attention, but she continued to channel surf.

Footsteps behind her caught her attention. Then there was a loud sniffing of the air. Ruby fought the urge to look behind her to see what Ryker was doing. His footsteps grew louder as he made his way over to her and then stood in front of her. Ruby rolled her eyes as he blocked the TV to make it seem like this was all unintentional. Ryker’s eyes were dark once again, and he was staring at the contents underneath her robe.

“That. Is not. What I meant,” Ryker said through his teeth.

“I’m not in lingerie. I am in a bra and panties. I even threw on a robe.”

“I said a shirt and pants.”

“Didn’t feel like wearing that.”

Ryker’s nostrils flared, and then another round of sniffing came. His eyes then narrowed at her. “It’s you!”

Ruby cocked her head sideways in confusion. “Yes, this is me.”

“No! I have been walking around the entire damn apartment trying to figure out what the hell smelled so good! It’s you!”

Ruby’s eyes widened for a moment before she burst into laughter. She laughed until her sides hurt, and she fell sideways onto the couch. “I don’t know how to respond to that.”

Ruby stood on her feet and tried to walk towards the kitchen. Ryker followed her to demand answers.

“Where the hell do you think you are going?”

“To get something to drink. Or am I somehow not allowed to do that.”

Ryker growled. Ruby sniggered at the sound to hide the fact that it sent another wave of need through her body.

“I thought you could handle the heat, Alpha.” She tossed the words at him as she bent over to grab a bottle of water from the bottom rack of the fridge.

The room fell silent. The only noise that was heard was the refrigerator door closing and the cap of the water snapping. Ruby turned around and Ryker was millimeters from being pressed against her. Ruby gulped as his amber and berry scent surrounded her.

“You smell like strawberries and vanilla.” He took in a big breath and slowly let it out. “It’s intoxicating.” His voice was low, and it reminded her of his growl.

Ruby squirmed and took a long swig of water to hide it. “Still doesn’t seem like you are handling the heat all that well. Need another cold shower?”

Ryker pushed her robe aside and cupped the side of her hip. In one swift movement, she was pressed against the refrigerator. A combination of tingles and fire set ablaze where his skin touched hers. Her eyes trailed up until they met his, and goosebumps covered her body. The intensity of what he made her feel was indescribable. The moments with Tyson were minuscule in comparison.

How can I feel this intense, but still not feel the mate bond?

Ryker’s other hand came up beside her face and pressed against the refrigerator behind her. He lowered himself to where their noses were nearly touching, and the hand on her hip moved. His fingers were now trailing slowly downward to the top of her thigh. She could feel her panties becoming wet with the anticipation of him going even lower.

“That depends…” he paused for dramatic effect, “are you joining me?”

Ruby smiled at him, “think you can handle that?”

She could feel his hand between her legs, but only one finger pressed against her, and he moved it along the outside of her panties. The heat of his touch made her want to beg him to do more.

“Are you sure that you can?”

Ryker wore loosely fitted shorts with a thin fabric. Ruby decided to tease him in the same way he was doing to her. As soon as her hand was against the outside of his crotch, she could feel how hard he was for her. Ryker moaned, and his forehead touched hers.

“You really do like playing with fire, Red.”

Ruby nudged his nose with hers to get him to look at her. “Or you could succumb to what you feel.”

“It’s too dangerous,” he whispered.

Ruby softly kissed his lips, “I don’t care. I’m not going anywhere.”

Ryker moved so fast that it would have been missed in a blink. One second they were nose to nose against the refrigerator, and the next, he had cupped Ruby’s ass with both hands, lifted her up, and walked her over to the table where he quickly set her down and helped himself. His fingers were laced into her hair as he pressed his lips against hers. Ruby quickly wrapped her legs around his waist and lost herself into him as he deepened the kiss. A brush of his tongue on hers caused them both to moan, and she pressed against him for more support. She placed her hands onto his chiseled chest and slowly moved them to be around his neck. A rumble deep in his chest made her hands shake like it was an earthquake against her skin.

He broke the kiss, too early in her opinion, and Ruby groaned. His lips were still so close to hers that she could feel his smile. “I guess I like playing with fire after all.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Because you are just as untamed and dangerous as I am.”

“You make it sound like you don’t enjoy it,” she said with a teasing smirk.

That granted her another kiss as he moved his hands along her side and settled onto her hips. He pulled her forward so her sex was against his hardness. He rolled his hips to rub against her, causing Ruby to let out a moan into his mouth.

“I’ve enjoyed every second that I have been in your presence.” A kiss on the corner of her mouth. “The way you challenge me.” A trail of kisses along her jaw. “The way you don’t take anyone’s shit.” He opened his mouth and kissed her neck, flicking his tongue against her skin. “Watching you become strong and independent.” Ryker looked back into her eyes, but they were closed as she savored the way his lips felt against her skin. He kissed her nose to get her attention. “I have especially enjoyed watching you prance around this house to tease the shit out of me. Sexiest damn thing anyone has ever done to get my attention. But you didn’t need to do that.”

Ruby cocked an eyebrow at him, “I didn’t?” She leaned over to look at their current situation and raised both eyebrows, “I’d say I got the response I wanted, so not sure what you mean by that.”

“You could have just walked around the house, and it would have had the same effect, especially since you’ve been mouthing off to me this entire time. That is sexy as fuck to me.”

“Me mouthing off to you is sexy?”

“Mhmm.” Ryker completed the same trail of kisses on the other side of her neck that he had done just moments before.

“Okay then. Fucking mark me then.”

Ryker stopped kissing her neck and smirked at her. “Not going to stop until I do?”

“Afraid to do it?” Ruby allowed her jaw to drop and raised her eyebrows. “Or don’t you know how?”

Ryker chuckled at her. “That is quite the challenge, Little Wolf.”

“Prove me wrong.” It was her turn to smirk.

Ryker laced his fingers in her hair and pulled slightly to tip her head sideways. He gently kissed the middle of her neck first, slowly licked it to send a shiver down her spine, then she felt his canines lengthen against her skin. Ruby’s heart beat against her rib cage from the anticipation of his next move. This could all be another way of teasing her, yet she could feel something inside of her, a sense that he was dying to do this as much as she wanted this to happen.

Ryker sunk his canines into her skin, and Ruby cried out in shock. An explosion of emotions erupted inside of her, and she felt the bond between her and Ryker finally snap into place. Wave after wave of Ryker’s love, admiration, and protectiveness consumed her and made her body waver. Ryker pulled his canines out as quickly as he could and looked at Ruby with fear as he grabbed her shoulders to steady her.

“Did I hurt you?”

Ruby’s eyes were filled with tears, and one fell down her cheek. To feel Ryker wrapped around her through the bond was overwhelming, but in a way she never thought possible. She was denied this feeling with her first mate, and Tyson didn’t even make her feel wanted like Ryker did in this moment. Tyson wanted her–for nothing more than sex just to say he’d had her. Ryker wanted her in every way, not just sexually. It was different and beautiful. Ruby shook her head and smiled at him.

“Not at all.” She placed a hand on his face, feeling the stubble on his cheek scratching her skin. “Just the opposite. The bond is finally there. I can feel it. I can feel you in my soul.”

Ryker’s smile had a whole new glow to it, and his eyes were filled with a light that was not there before. “Now it’s your turn.”

Ryker pulled over a chair and sat down on it. He pulled Ruby into his lap and craned his neck to give her access. Ruby took his face into her hands and pressed her lips against hers. Then she mimicked his movements, hoping to send him into the same state that he did her, and then stopped in the middle of his neck. She felt her canines immediately lengthen, eager to sink them into his skin. Ruby knew it had to be done in a quick motion, so she did. When they sunk into his neck, Ryker let out a moan. As she extracted them, Ryker looked up at her and smiled.

Ryker’s canines were still there.

“My, my. What big teeth you have!”

Ryker licked his lips. Ruby found herself watching the movement of his tongue as he did.

“All the better to eat you with, my dear.”