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In the next second, I’m in his arms, and I swear everything seems right in the world.
Okay, maybe not right, but the guillotine blade dangling over all our heads doesn’t look so close anymore.
He’s here. He’s alive. He’s safe.
And maybe, just maybe, he’ll stay that way.
Maybe we’ll all stay that way.
A girl can only hope.
11
ELLIE
Being in Ryker’s arms again is like snuggling beneath a mound of blankets with a mug of hot chocolate after spending months in a snowstorm. There’s safety and security in his arms, as well as a sense of peace that soothes the dissonance in my head.
He’s here.
He’s safe.
He’s alive.
“I missed you, baby.” His raspy voice has the butterflies in my chest turning into hyperactive puppies.
Frodo, held between our two bodies, gives a yip and then begins to lick at my cheeks.
“I missed you too, baby boy,” I say in a high-pitched voice to the dog, pulling him out of Ryker’s arms to give him all the snuggles.
“What am I? Chopped liver?” Ryker’s eyes crinkle with amusement, visible even with the hood of his sweatshirt pulled up to shadow his face.
“Don’t be jealous just because you don’t have an adorable little face, four legs, and a tail,” I quip.
“I have an adorable little face,” Ryker growls. Somehow, he makes that one sentence sound dangerous—like he’s begging me to disagree and see what happens next. “And I have a tail…” He very pointedly looks down at his cock, and I snort before I can stop myself.
Ryker making jokes?
What is the world coming to?
“You know my uncle is only a few feet away, right?” I whisper with a wide grin. I can’t stop grinning. My lips seem to have become frozen in an upward spiral. Because Ryker’s here. In front of me. Alive. Joking.
“He’s not paying attention to us.”
“I doubt it. You should see the looks he was throwing Landon on the way here, as if he thought I was some precious virgin princess about to be deflowered.” It was weird, if I’m being completely honest. I don’t know Raymond, and he certainly doesn’t know me. There’s no reason for him to be glaring at my boyfriend like a territorial, overprotective dad.
Ryker’s grin turns…mischievous? What the fuck? When has Ryker ever looked mischievous in his life?
“I’ll show you deflowered…”
“Stop making jokes and being flirty. You’re freaking me out.”
“I’ll show you freaked out…”
“Stop it! I’m officially freaked out.” But we’re both smiling at each other. Giddy, I realize.
We’re both freaking giddy.
It’s so rare to see Ryker smile that I can’t help but stare intently at his pink lips, watching for any microscopic movement. Zane hands out smiles like they’re pieces of candy on Halloween, and even Dom and Beckett wear them easily and readily. But Ryker? It’s very, very rare that I ever see his lips twitch upward for longer than a few seconds at a time. Even then, he usually masks his expression, as if he’s terrified someone will notice that he’s—gasp—happy and come out of the woodwork to ruin it.
