Chapter Five

What in the hell just happened? One moment, Ryker was tearing through the door, desperate to reach Nate. He’d managed to get his head and shoulders through, jagged shards of glass in the window frame biting into his skin like razor-sharp teeth.

The next, his dad and Killian were yanking him backward, shouting for him to get out. But their grasp had slipped when something beyond Ryker’s control dragged him forward—sucked him through the window and back into the motel like his body had turned to liquid.

The sensation was unlike anything he’d ever experienced, leaving his skin tingling as if charged with static. Now, he lay sprawled on the floor, staring up at the spot-stained ceiling of the lobby. His breaths were short and shallow, his mind struggling to make sense of the chaos.

As soon as the nausea subsided, Ryker rolled to his feet and glanced at the door. The glass and wood were completely intact, as if the door had never been disturbed. Past the window was a sea of nothingness, everything as black as a starless sky.

From the minute he’d stepped into the motel, Ryker had felt something was off. Now he knew why. Sort of. Nate had mentioned being stuck in limbo, but Ryker wasn’t sure what that meant, not entirely.

He headed toward the hallway, determined to find his mate and kill the son of a bitch who’d dragged Nate away.

As he walked, Ryker slowly glanced around, the motel seeming even more ominous than before. Creepier, more desolate, darker even. The hairs along his skin prickled like tiny beacons of warning.

Ryker stilled then sprinted forward when he spotted Nate curled up on the carpet. In that position, he appeared smaller, delicate, and vulnerable.

“Nate?”

Ryker rolled him over, terrified Diobno had hurt him. “Talk to me, sweetheart.”

His mate’s eyes were puffy and bloodshot, his cheeks stained with heavy tears. His breath shuddered as he stared blankly at Ryker.

“Nate?”

He had never seen anyone so detached. It was like the guy had mentally checked out, escaping to some happy place in his mind.

Bending at the knees, Ryker carefully lifted him up and cradled Nate’s small frame in his arms before heading to his room. Once inside, he used his shoulder to close the door then lay Nate down. The bed springs creaked when Ryker curled in behind him, pulling his mate close.

“You can’t hide inside your head, baby. I need you to tell me what’s going on and how we can get out of here.”

Ryker tightened his arms around him, replaying everything in his mind as he lay there.

The snowstorm was Nate’s way of luring people in, but it wasn’t to play some twisted game. It was to try and find someone to help him.

At least, that was what Ryker assumed. Until Nate came to, all he could do was piece together fragments of the situation, hoping to make sense of the bigger picture.

His mate started to shiver uncontrollably, his quiet, pained sounds breaking the silence like the whimper of a frightened animal.

“I have you, sweetheart. Come back to me, Nate. You’re safe.”

He ran his hand along Nate’s arm and hip in soothing strokes, desperate to reach him. He wasn’t sure how to break through the fog, but he hoped his touch would anchor his mate, grounding him in the present.

All Ryker knew was that Nate needed to feel he wasn’t alone.

His mate began to sob, clutching Ryker’s arm as if letting go would send him spiraling into the darkness again.

“Is it r-really you?”

“It’s me.”

Ryker pressed a lingering kiss to his temple. “It’s really me, honey bear.”

“No!”

His mate cried harder. “You weren’t supposed to get trapped here too. I’m- I’m so sorry.”

“Tell me everything.”

Ryker lay there and listened, his anger and horror rising the longer Nate talked.

“I don’t even remember the damn joke anymore,”

Nate said despondently.

“Where is he now?”

Ryker was stunned his mate’s own uncle had imprisoned him for a century in some crappy motel because his ego couldn’t take a hit.

But Ryker would be lying if he said he wasn’t worried. He’d heard Diobno tell Nate he might not ever make the motel reappear again. At least not for the next eighty or ninety years.

That was a long time to go without eating, and as a bear shifter, he had a huge appetite.

“My uncle never sticks around after I’ve failed to get free.”

He stiffened. “Does he know you’re here? Did he see you after the motel disappeared? He’s a demon, Ryker. He can make his corporeal form fade, which makes him invisible.” Nate lowered his voice to a whisper. “He could be in the room right now, and we wouldn’t know it.”

“I don’t give a shit if he’s here. What I want to know is how are we going to eat?”

Ryker scowled as he looked around, daring Diobno to show himself.

“Oh god!”

Nate shot up, staring slack-jawed at him. “I don’t need nourishment, but you’ll starve to death!”

“Hearing it out loud makes it sound so much worse.”

Ryker rolled to his back, tossing an arm over his eyes. “I hope that huge meal I had for lunch yesterday holds me over for the next century.”

He grunted when his mate slapped his gut. “That’s not funny!”

No, it wasn’t. Ryker was going to waste away to nothing if he couldn’t find a way out of this nightmare.

Starving to death was not on the top of his list of ways he could possibly die. If he had to go out, he would prefer to be in a bloody battle or saving someone he cared deeply about.

How was he even supposed to summon a demon while in limbo? More importantly, how did he summon one at all? Although he knew demons existed, his knowledge about them wasn’t extensive.

“Can you get him to show his ugly face?”

The guy hadn’t been ugly. Ryker had gotten a good, hard look at Diobno when he’d been trying to get through the door.

As much as he hated to admit it, the demon had been downright handsome. Ryker mentally gagged, feeling queasy just from thinking that.

“I don’t know.”

Nate glanced away. “As cruel and petty as Diobno is, I’ve begged countless times for him to return just so I had someone to talk to, but he never does. He only shows up when he wants to torture me with false hope.”

That was beyond fucked up. Ryker couldn’t imagine how desperate Nate had to be to beg his own prison warden to spend time with him. His mate had spent a century alone, isolated from the world.

“By the way, there’s no hot water.”

Ryker’s brows rose. “Oh, we definitely have to find a way out of here.”

Nate snorted. “Trust me, once the boredom sets in and insanity tries to unravel your mind like a ball of yarn, you’ll be checking every square inch of this place for a way out.”

“ Not quite the amenities I look for, not unless I want something like the Overlook Hotel.”

No lie, Ryker was lightweight panicking, feeling like a countdown clock was ticking above his head.

“The Overlook Hotel?”

Nate’s face scrunched so adorably Ryker wanted to kiss him.

“ The Shining ,”

he replied like it should’ve been obvious until he remembered—like a dimwit who’d forgotten the guy’s circumstances that quickly—Nate wouldn’t have seen the movie or read the book because he’d been stuck in this motel since the 1920s. “Never mind.”

Nate lay back down and sighed. “I wasn’t exactly innocent before I was trapped here.”

Despite being a demon, Ryker couldn’t imagine Nate being evil. Then again, he’d known him less than a day. Still, Nate had an innocence about him, a vulnerability Ryker wanted to protect and nurture.

“What made your halo crooked?”

he asked with a smirk. “You hold up banks or sell kids rotten apples?”

“I said I wasn’t innocent, not that I was a monster,”

Nate huffed. “I counted money for Diobno’s crime organization.” He said it so flatly that Ryker suspected his mate thought it had bought him a one-way ticket to hell.

“The 1920s… hmm.”

Ryker tapped his finger against his chin. “If I remember correctly, my family and I were running a preternatural speakeasy.”

There was a sparkle in Nate’s deep blue eyes when he turned to look at Ryker. “No offense, but you guys look like you would’ve done a lot of illegal stuff back then. Ya’ll got the bad-boys vibe down pat.”

“Is that good or bad?”

Ryker grinned, rolling to his side and propping his head on his fist. “You into bad boys, honey bear?”

“I’m a demon,”

he pointed out with a roll of his eyes.

“Are you saying you are a bad boy?”

He was trying to be smooth, taking their conversation in a more enjoyable direction, but Nate burst out laughing, causing Ryker’s ego to take a hit.

Thank god Killian hadn’t been there to see it. Before his brother had mated, the two used to compete to see who had the smoothest pickup lines to close a deal on a hot little number they both wanted to bed.

Their intended sex partner knew up front the two were trying to outdo each other and was all for it. If a guy wasn’t, they apologized and the competition ended.

It was all about having fun, but Ryker and Killian always remained respectful of the men they were trying to bed. Since they’d passed the juvenile milestone, their father had taught them to be considerate and not to cross a potential bed partner’s boundaries.

Quinton would kick their asses if his sons disrespected those who didn’t deserve it.

“Sorry.”

Nate curled his lips in, clearly fighting to contain his laughter.

Ryker arched a brow. “Is your mirth your way of saying I suck at flirting?”

“Teddy bear, I haven’t been flirted with in a century. You could use the lamest pick-up line and I would eat it up and beg for more.”

Ryker wasn’t sure if that was the saddest thing he’d ever heard or if Nate was screwing with him. “ You’ve probably had countless travelers in the past hundred years. You’re telling me no one has flirted with a guy drool-worthy enough to turn heads?”

That was hard to fathom. Nate was stunning as hell, and Ryker could see plenty of men, and probably women, vying for a chance to sleep with him.

The thought made his bear snarl.

“It’s not like my uncle allowed the motel to reappear every year,”

Nate retorted. “Out of all the people who have been here, only a handful were gay, I think, and they were too busy freaking out and calling me crazy to flirt.”

“Then why’d you laugh?”

Ryker didn’t like the idea of anyone hitting on his mate, but that was just messed up. He couldn’t wrap his head around going a century without sex, and flirting was a part of the foreplay.

The poor guy had probably forgotten what his cock was used for besides relieving his bladder. Ryker’s nuts hurt just thinking about his dick being on lockdown for a hundred years.

Taking matters into your own hand only got a guy so far before he was ready to kill, steal, beg, and lie just to get laid, and that wasn’t a hyperbole.

Jesus.

“I honestly don’t know why I laughed.”

A pretty red blush swept over Nate’s delicate cheekbones, causing Ryker to softly growl.

“Has it been so long you’re simply nervous?”

He glided his hand over his mate’s hip. His cock had thickened and now everything else was kicked to the back burner—escape, food, a hot shower. All Ryker could think about was sinking into Nate’s tight heat and claiming him.

His mate stared at him as if he were daft. “It’s been so long I might as well be declared a born-again virgin.”

Ryker chuckled then groaned. “I could help you break your world-record dry spell, honey bear. Take those training wheels off your cock.”

Jeez. Ryker really was glad Killian couldn’t hear him right now. This place was messing with his game and making him sound lame as hell.

But Nate didn’t seem to mind. In fact, if the need in his eyes was anything to go by, he was eating up Ryker’s horrible attempt at seduction.

Or so he thought.

“I stand corrected.”

Nate gazed disbelievingly—and a bit horrified—at him. “Training wheels on my cock?”

“It’s this place.”

Ryker waved his hand to encompass the motel, his voice filled with frustration.

“Uh-huh,”

Nate said slowly. “And you’re a regular Casanova outside this place?”

“Apparently not.”

Ryker dropped to his back, annoyed with himself. He’d never had a problem with smoothness before, damn it, but he was crashing and burning with Nate.

The one person he wanted to impress the most.

“We all have problems with flirting at some point in our lives.”

Nate patted Ryker’s chest sympathetically.

With a growl, he grabbed his mate’s hand and pulled the guy onto his chest. Nate sucked in a quick breath, staring wide-eyed at him, but the guy was hard as hell. His cock pressed heavily into Ryker’s stomach.

“Say what you want, but your erection tells me some part of you secretly likes what I’m saying.”

Ryker massaged Nate’s ass through his pants, grinding the guy’s cock against him.

Nate’s breathing grew heavy, his eyelids fluttering closed. “A small part, yes.”

Ryker’s breathing matched his mate’s, sharing the same air, the sound of their deep pants echoing through the room.

Cupping the back of Nate’s neck, Ryker drew him closer, their lips barely touching. His mate’s lips were parted, his cheeks flushed, his eyes squeezed so tightly shut they could’ve produced diamonds.

“Is the thought of kissing me that awful?”

Ryker teased, tracing the soft skin of his mate’s nape. He felt baby-fine hairs, and when Ryker brushed his fingers over them, Nate shivered and moaned.

Found one of his hot zones.

Ryker was determined to find them all. He would map out his mate’s entire body until he discovered every patch of skin that caused Nate to tremble and ecstasy to engulf his features.

“I… Can you repeat the question?”

Instead, Ryker continued to trail his fingers over the soft hairs, captivated at the sheer pleasure crossing Nate’s features, like he’d just uncovered a secret meant only for them. Needing more, Ryker slipped his hands under his mate’s shirt, marveling at the smooth, warm expanse of skin.

“Ticklish!”

“You should’ve never told me that.”

He ghosted his fingers up and down Nate’s back, grinning as the guy squirmed, peals of laughter causing his blue eyes to shine brightly.

Goddamn he’s beautiful. Ryker’s gut clenched and his mind whirled because he could see himself loving this man who smelled like peppermints, the sound of his laugh tap-dancing on Ryker’s heart.

“Wait, I...!”

But Ryker didn’t wait. Rolling smoothly, he placed his mate on his back, his large frame pressing gently into the smaller body beside him. The need to taste soft skin clenched something deep in his gut, a yearning impossible to deny. Skimming his lips over a slender neck, he grinned against the warm flesh when a subtle shift pressed against his stomach, seeking friction.

The little vixen was trying to secretly pleasure himself. How naughty.

“If you wanted to get off so badly, all you had to do was say so.”

The words came out in a low growl as Ryker tugged at the shirt in his way, prompting a slight lift of Nate’s arms that let the fabric slide free. A tremor rippled through the lean body beneath him, hardened nipples standing at attention while wide eyes locked on his, equal parts curiosity and anticipation.

It had clearly been a long time, too long, if the hesitation was anything to go by.

But thinking wouldn’t be necessary.

Ryker intended to make sure of that.

Leaving a trail of kisses, his mouth wandered lower, tasting every inch of smooth, trembling skin. The shivers beneath Ryker hadn’t eased, and wouldn’t, until that lithe body found release for the first time in a century. Not by a lone hand this time, but by the scorching heat of a skilled, eager mouth.

Deep, guttural moans echoed in the room, blending together until it was impossible to tell whose they were. Those moans would become louder, rougher, once the rest of Nate’s clothes were gone. Ryker’s game might be off, but in this—pleasure, passion—he knew how to draw out every last drop. Multiple times, if the night demanded it.

There was something undeniably intoxicating about being with your mate for the first time, someone fate had chosen to fit you in every possible way. It wasn’t about perfection, Ryker knew that. It was about discovery. Peeling back every layer, exploring every need, and showing Nate exactly what it meant to be claimed.

Nate bucked when Ryker reached the waistband of his pants. He kissed his way across his mate’s stomach, licking and teasing while slowly lowering the fabric.

A smile curled the side of Ryker’s mouth. “Commando?”

“When you have to wash your clothes by hand in cold water, you sacrifice pieces you don’t necessarily need.”

Nate wiggled his ass again, like he was trying to tell Ryker to shut up and get down to business.

Never again would Nate have to sacrifice a damn thing.

If Ryker could find a way out of there…

Nate whimpered, and when Ryker looked up at him, his mate was biting his lips, his eyes squeezed shut. They were going to have to work on Nate relaxing in the bedroom.

But the lesson would have to wait for another time. Ryker was ready to make the demon his, to solder their souls together for eternity. And after ten decades of no sex, Ryker was about to release a floodgate of pleasure inside Nate, pleasure that his mate had been denied for too long.

Wasting no time, he rid Nate of his clothes, the man’s hard cock straining and ready for whatever Ryker had in mind.

I can think of so many ways to make you scream my name.

The first lick up the side of Nate’s cock had them both groaning, Ryker’s own shaft begging to be freed. That would happen soon enough, but right now, his sole focus was on making Nate come as many times as possible.