Page 13 of His to Defend

They shouldn’t have, but his words stung.

Nothing serious.

That was what he’d said. She shouldn’t be surprised. She knew what she was getting into. Just a little fun. He didn’t owe her anything.

Still, as Nina made her way back to the Den—alone—she couldn’t help but feel rejected.

And wasn’t that why she didn’t ever put herself out there? Less feelings involved if you just kept to yourself. Not that she had any feelings for Ryker.

Unless you counted feelings of desire, which clearly she did. But still, despite herself, Nina couldn’t help but feel more than a little ridiculous.

Maybe he wasn’t the type of fun she was looking for after all.

The last thing Ryker wanted to do was sit around talking to Luke about some sort of stupid human tradition that revolved around the celebration of something as ludicrous as putting a ring on a finger to declare the fact that that person was your mate. How did a little piece of metal represent a bond? Humans were so stupid. Nothing represented a mate bond like being marked. Permanently. That’s what mating was all about. Not some sort of ludicrous ceremony with a white dress and flowers. And as far as Ryker was concerned, an even more ridiculous tradition was taking the groom-to-be out to celebrate a last night before they were mated—or married—or whatever. After all, if you had to go get drunk to accept your new reality, maybe you should reconsider what you were about to do.

Either way, Ryker found himself sitting on a stool, listening to Luke’s plans to take Axel out fishing and drinking beer before ending up at the Station pub in town for some drinks. The whole thing actually sounded like a good day out with the guys, and less like a drunken debauchery of trying to forget the reality of marriage.

Still, all Ryker really wanted to do was follow Nina back to the Den, take her upstairs and fuck her properly. The sweet taste of her was still on his tongue, and his cock got hard just thinking of the way she’d reacted so readily to his ministrations.

Damn.

She was everything he’d ever wanted in a lover and he still hadn’t sunk himself into her heat. But the way she’d come on his face, writhing with passion, completely unselfconscious… She’d let go. Completely and fully. It had been glorious. But it hadn’t been enough. He needed more.

A lot more.

He needed to be inside her, feel her come undone around him. With him.

“Hey. Earth to Ryker.”

He shook his head and the vision Ryker had of Nina lying beneath him cleared to reveal his cousin Luke waving a hand in front of his face.

“Are you still with me?”

He didn’t bother lying. “Not even a little.” He pushed up from the counter and stood. “Are we done here?”

“Any input for the stag party?”

Ryker shook his head. “I don’t care. Tell me where to be, and I’ll be there. But right now I have places to be.”

“Or people to do?”

Ryker spun around and glared at his cousin. “Off side, Luke.” He couldn’t have explained where the defensiveness had come from, but it hit him hard and fast. If Luke thought he could say anything even remotely disrespectful about Nina, he wasn’t sure he’d be able to control his bear.

The thought of that was unsettling and exciting, although he couldn’t distinguish which was which. He’d never felt either thing before when it came to a woman.

“Easy, tiger.” Luke laughed at him but he shook his head and backed off. “If I didn’t know better, I’d think that maybe—”

“Don’t say another word.”

His cousin’s expression was smug, and once again, Ryker had the urge to punch him in the face.

“Why? What did you think I was going to say?”

He couldn’t answer that question. Because there was no answer. “I’m not talking about this.”

Luke followed him to the door, clearly uninterested in Ryker’s desire not to talk about anything. “Maybe you and Nina are—”

Ryker spun and got right into Luke’s face. “What. Did. I. Say?”