by T. S. Joyce
“You got your ass kicked by a human,” he said through his most irritating smile.
“Jerk,” Jenny muttered, then stepped aside and let him pass. “I get my skull bashed in and you come here to give me grief. Unbelievable.”
“I actually came to check up on you.”
Her eyes narrowed. His cunning sister rarely missed a thing. “You came here because you’re going stir crazy waiting for Hannah to come home.”
He collapsed onto the biggest couch, still too short by far, and dangled his legs over the edge. Crossing his hands over his stomach, he watched the whirling fan. “I nearly lost you and Hannah today.” His voice was gruffer than he’d intended. “That can’t happen again.” He turned his head and leveled her with his gaze.
With a sigh, Jenny tenderly lowered herself onto the love seat and took up a comfortable looking position that mirrored his own. “It was partly my fault. Murphy left us a note in the bottom of her box of belongings and she panicked. I should’ve been helping her lock up the house, but I thought there was no way anyone would make it all the way to your house without being caught. She just seemed so scared and I wanted to calm her down.”
“You can’t take Murphy’s blame.”
“I heard she was alive. That you got there in time.”
He nodded. The smiles and polite answers were necessary with his people. With Jenny, it was different. If he didn’t want to talk, he didn’t have to.
“If you really want to know her,” Jenny said, adjusting the icepack a few inches higher, “then you should ask her about the box from her old life. Hannah is a tough one to read sometimes, but I learned more than I did in weeks just by watching her and listening to her when she went through her old things. She has this entire history we haven’t been privy to. One she hides because I think it hurts her to think about it. It should’ve been you going through it with her last night.”
Would Hannah be mad if she knew he’d seen her bear picture in his office and then went through her belongings scattered on his bedroom floor. He agreed with Jenny. It had been eye-opening, but perhaps he should’ve waited for Hannah to be there with him. Her things were just lying there, begging him to look at them though. He’d been desperate to be close to her and that was the only way he could think of.
“Did I ever thank you?” He clasped his hands behind his head as confusion flitted across Jenny’s face.
“For what?”
“For pushing Hannah into the ring and pitting her against Merit. For knowing more about what I needed than I did at the time. Take your pick.”
“Benson Elden Riker, I think that’s the very first time you’ve thanked me for anything.”
Uncomfortable with the amount of emotion charging the room, he stood and sauntered to the door. “I’m glad you didn’t die,” he said in a brusque tone, then shut the door behind him.
****
Hannah was exhausted down to her marrow. She’d stilled in the front seat of Blaine’s cruiser, afraid if she moved at all, it would expend every last morsel of energy she possessed. Her eyes had dragged closed on two different occasions, but she couldn’t just fall asleep bouncing against the cold window. The shocks in this car sucked balls.
For hours, she’d answered questions and filled out paperwork and overthought every answer until her brain felt like one of those red slushies she always bought at the movie theater. When she’d struggled to put together a coherent sentence, Blaine had stepped in and saved her from his deputy’s relentless questions. He’d already started putting together a file on Murphy and after several phone calls, he’d assured her Murphy’s department would be conducting an internal investigation on him and his known associates at the precinct. Apparently, no one had known he and Stone were half siblings. And Blaine was going to pick up Murphy’s letter to her tonight and bring it back to the station as evidence. They would compare his handwriting and try to prove he was hunting her on Stone’s behalf, out of a personal vendetta that had nothing to do with his position on the force.
At least she wouldn’t have to testify. Another benefit of her tormentor falling down the side of a cliff. And most importantly, Riker wasn’t going behind bars again. A call to Murphy’s precinct said they didn’t even have paperwork on Dane or his accomplices, much less the mystery proof Murphy had promised.
When Riker had saved her in New York, she’d had this nagging feeling this wasn’t over—that she wasn’t finished fighting for her life. But with Murphy gone, something loosened inside of her. For the first time in a long time, she felt a huge weight lift. Stone was still alive and vengeful, but all of the major players had been cut out of the game. Stone was just a leader without a clan now.
She finally felt it, that safety she’d been yearning for.
“Are you cold?” Blaine asked, turning down the air. “You’re shivering.”
Oh. She hadn’t noticed. Maybe she was in shock, or perhaps she was just so tired, her muscles were spasming. She didn’t feel cold. “I’m fine.”
“When Jenny says she’s fine, that’s usually a good sign she isn’t fine at all. Usually about then she starts throwing the good plates against the wall.”
Hannah laughed. She couldn’t help herself. The vision of Jenny and all of her fury leaching out from her tiny frame would be a show she’d pay to see. “I’m just ready to see him.” She hadn’t meant for her voice to sound so desperate, but the thought of Riker farther than an arm’s length away from her chilled her skin.
“What is going on,” Blaine drawled, leaning over the steering wheel as they rolled into the clearing in front of Riker’s house.
A crowd had gathered and they faced the car like they’d been waiting. No one seemed to be talking, only watching them.
“I don’t know,” she breathed.
The car rocked once as it came to a stop and Hannah opened her door. She closed it behind her quietly, afraid to break the spell. Riker stood atop the stairs, hands held behind his back and his chin tilted proudly. He didn’t move, but his eyes swam with some emotion she couldn’t fathom. She approached slowly, and as she reached the bystanders, a woman pulled her into an embrace, then passed her to the man beside her. By the fourth shifter, she hugged them back and tears of agony and joy streaked down her face. Pain for what she’d been through, and undiluted happiness for such a homecoming.
“Welcome back,” an elderly woman said, hugging her up tight.
Well-wishes murmured through the crowd and some of Riker’s people, her people, had moisture rimming their eyes to match her own. She was muddy and cut up and they didn’t care. They were concerned that she was home, and that was all.
The lump in her throat grew until it was impossible to swallow and a sob escaped her as Cameron held her tight. “Thank you for coming for me,” she whispered.
He passed her to Brody. “I wouldn’t be here if you two hadn’t helped Riker today.”
Brody squeezed her shoulders and offered his hand, then escorted her up the stairs to Riker, who was staring down at his people like he couldn’t be more proud of them.
“I know the mating ceremony is usually a small gathering,” he called out. “It’s meant to be a celebration for the closest friends and family but Hannah and I would like you all to be there.” He placed his hands firmly on her shoulders, and drew her back against his chest, uniting them as a single front. “You are our friends. You are our family. We’ll hold it near the fields on the summer solstice at eight o’clock in the evening. Please invite anyone who isn’t here today. It will be a ceremony to celebrate my mate, but it will also serve to unite us and commend how far our clan has come.”
“In other words,” Hannah called, “it’ll be a party and everyone is invited.”
Laughter filled the clearing and Riker chuckled deep, vibrating strokes against her ear, right before he nibbled on it and nearly buckled her knees. “Let’s go get you cleaned up.”
Well, that sounded like not that much fun.
“So I can get yo
u filthy again,” he rumbled.
There, that was more like it.
“You need me?” Daria called from the onlookers.
Riker’s hand pressed against Hannah’s lower back, steering her toward the front door. “Not this time. I’ll take care of her.”
Daria gave her a knowing smile and winked, and Hannah’s cheeks heated with a burning blush. She lifted her chin to see if Riker was embarrassed too, but his hooded eyes gave away no emotion as he opened the door. In fact, he seemed to be doing a fantastic job of avoiding her gaze altogether.
The door clicked closed, and the lock followed and she frowned at his shaking hand. She opened her mouth to ask what was wrong, but his lips crashed onto hers with the force of an avalanche. His hands were everywhere, tugging and pulling until her clothes sat in a trail against the tile floor. Her skin was cold where his hands weren’t, but burned like fire where his fingertips touched her. She yanked on his shirt until it joined hers on the ground beside them. His hair was mussed from the movement, but somehow Riker still managed to have that just out of bed look that drove her crazy.
A helpless noise wrenched from her throat as she fumbled with the zipper of his jeans, and he backed her into the wall and intertwined his fingers with hers, then pulled her hands above her head. “I thought I lost you,” he said against her lips.
Sorrow filled her just thinking about it. Just the idea that she and Riker wouldn’t be walking the same plane of existence made her close her eyes against the pain.
“You’re alive because you’re clever.” He kissed her, sucking gently on her bottom lip. “My sensible…” Kiss. “Selfless...” Kiss. “Brave mate.” He rocked his hips against hers, the bulge of his erection hard as stone through the fabric.
Releasing her hands, he splayed his fingers against the wall on either side of her face and she tugged his jeans down the rest of the way. His boxers followed and she marveled at how strong and masculine he was outside the confines of his clothing. Running her palms down his chest, then down the prominence of his abdominal muscles, she clawed her hands and scratched lightly across his hips. His breath caught and he leaned forward to taste her again. With his palm, he cupped her sex and drove two fingers into her.
“No,” she pleaded. “Here.” She dragged a long stroke against his cock and pulled the head into her, then pressed against him until his jaw muscle twitched and his eyes rolled closed. Driving into her slowly, he didn’t open his eyes until she’d taken all of him.
Desperate, she hooked her knee up and tilted her pelvis until his soft skin touched the moisture he’d conjured. His abs flexed with each slow thrust and he kissed her hard, lunging his tongue into her mouth in a delicious reflection of the penetration that had her yearning for more of him. A soft rumble filled his chest and he pulled her other knee up as she held onto his neck. Her breasts bobbed softly against the hard planes of his chest as he walked them into the bedroom.
He navigated the bulk of the disaster area she’d left on the floor last night, then lowered them to the bed. She normally liked him rough around the edges and barely in control, but tonight she understood his need to take it slow. She’d needed this to convince herself they were both really okay too.
“Spread your legs for me, love,” he murmured against her ear.
He only called her that in their bedroom and the endearment pressed a shiver up her back. It settled in her shoulders, shaking her, and Riker’s answering smile was slow and wicked.
“Want to taste you,” he said.
And thank you very much for explaining, Benson Riker, you sexy man. She would’ve been terribly disappointed when he slid his cock out of her otherwise.
Sitting her up, he pulled her to the edge of the bed in a firm grip. She locked her elbows and leaned back onto the plush mattress. As much as she wanted to tilt her head back and lose herself in the feel of her mate’s clever tongue inside her, she couldn’t seem to take her eyes off Riker as he kissed and sucked, and nibbled his way down her torso. The angle he presented gave her a glorious advantage. From here, the planes of his rippling shoulders and upper back were visible as he gripped her thighs. With every inch he lowered with his slow affections, her knees pressed open wider in anticipation. He hadn’t shaved today and the short, gold whiskers on his jaw tickled as he bit into the inside of her leg. At the sensation, she bucked forward, and a pleading sound wrung from her.
His hands laced around her back and drew her nearer until she was barely balanced on the edge of their bed. Their bed. No longer Riker’s, because he’d made it clear this was her home too. He plunged his tongue into her then and she gasped his name, clutching the sheets in her clenched hands. His head bobbed with the pace he set and as the strain of release consumed her, she gripped the back of his head and arched into him.
She splintered under his careful affection, breaking apart until she had to close her eyes against the pleasure wracking her body. Wave after wave of pulsing ecstasy washed through her and before the aftershocks were even through, Riker stood and slid into her with a desperate noise. Thrusting, he pushed her farther onto the bed and gripped her hair. “God, you’re so beautiful.” His voice shook as if he was scarcely hanging onto control.
Barely done with her first release, she burned as the second built to a fury inside of her. Riker crashed against her again and again and she clawed at his back, frantic to be closer. This was the Riker she liked. Soft Riker was nice sometimes, but dominant, sexy, primal Riker was her favorite bed fellow. His teeth grazed the tender flesh of her throat as he slammed into her and yelled out, and she followed him straight into oblivion.
She clutched onto him for a long time after that, stroking the back of his neck and rubbing her face against his jaw in a leisurely pattern. He seemed to need the comfort of her arms as much as she needed to feel safe in his.
It’s over. The words brushed her mind as she hovered in the state between asleep and awake. Stone couldn’t hurt her anymore. She and Riker had fought for each other, and their devotion had won against the evil that had tainted her past. His love for her was so bright, it had burned away everything and left only the good.
Safety wasn’t just this feeling she could only attain in the warmth of his arms anymore.
She was safe.
Chapter Twelve
“You coming to the celebration tonight?” Riker asked Dillon as the old man offered his hand to shake. The meetings had run long today, but he was still trying to play catch up after being away.
“I’ll be there,” he said, his wrinkles deepening with his genuine smile.
“I have something for you to listen to,” Brody said, lingering as Dillon made his way out of the office door.
The council member pressed a button on his phone and handed it to Riker. What he heard when he pulled it to his ear froze the breath in his lungs. It was Hannah, and she sounded terrified.
Brody’s dark hair fell forward into his face as he removed his glasses and cleaned them with the edge of his shirt. “She called when she was out in the woods. Must’ve been right before Murphy found her because the call was made while the phone was sitting in the back of Blaine’s patrol car with the rest of my clothes. We were tracking her at the time. I checked it yesterday when Blaine returned it to me and found the voicemail. Thought you’d want to hear it.” Brody returned the phone to his back pocket, then turned for the door and said over his shoulder, “You’ve found a good match, Riker. She was thinking about you at the end.”
Fear had laced her words but she’d instructed Brody to tell him she’d tried to get back to him and that she loved him. Dragging air back into his lungs, he fought as his animal threatened to explode from him. He’d go straight to Hannah desperate if he didn’t give himself time to settle. She was safe and alive and his. The voicemail brought equal parts anguish and pride to him. She’d tried to sound strong and give him closure for when she was gone.
And suddenly he knew the oracle had been right. If anything ever happened to his
Hannah, it would destroy him. She’d fracture him until there was nothing left but grief and shards of useless bone. How terrifying for someone to have such influence over his life—to hold his fate so completely in her hand. She was strong though, a fighter, and when she tired, he’d just have to protect her for always. If he trusted anyone with such complete power over him, it was Hannah.
The door swung open and Merit sauntered in. Nothing could foul his mood quite like this woman. Her dark hair was curled in soft waves around her face and her lips were glossed in a bold crimson. She wore a white sundress and strappy heels that added inches to her height. She’d be a pretty woman if it weren’t for the remnants of jagged ice in her eyes that never seemed to soften.
“I need to speak with you.”
“Of course you do. What do you want, Merit?”
“I want you to reconsider mating to that whore.”
Riker clenched his fists against the urge to lift her by her dainty dress straps and toss her from the building. “Don’t call her that,” he drawled through gritted teeth. “My mind is made up. My bear has chosen. Your attempt at manipulation proved you weren’t worthy.”
“I’m here to beg you to think about this.” Her full lip trembled and she lifted her chin. “We had plans. It was never supposed to be a competition for your affection and she came and ruined…” Her voice hitched and her eyes brimmed with tears. Voice dipping to a whisper, she said, “She ruined our future.” She took a step toward him. “You are the best of us, Riker. Big, strong, smart, the great leader this clan has been waiting for. And you’re tethering yourself to a human who can’t continue your lineage. She’ll never be able to bear you cubs, Riker.” She invaded his space, ran a hand up his chest. “I can.”
He’d thought about all of this already, so Merit was wasting her time. Did he want children with Hannah? Ones who looked like her and had her strong spirit? Did he want to watch Hannah’s neck arch as she cradled their firstborn child in her arms? Did he burn with the fact that he’d never be able to give her more of a family than what they had between the two of them? Hell yes. But he was different now and mating to a shifter for the sole purpose of breeding wasn’t enough anymore. Not after Hannah had come into his life. They’d just have to weather the heartache of a quiet home together.