by Elena Aitken
As she stripped out of her jeans and sweater, Nina couldn’t help but notice that her body was sore in all the right places from a day of lovemaking. Each sore muscle reminded her of Ryker’s touches. His kisses. And his—
Focus.
She shook her head clear from thoughts of Ryker, which was much easier said than done, and unzipped the bag that contained her surprise. She lifted the dress carefully from the wrapping and gasped. It was stunning.
A rich plum color, the fabric was soft and flowy. It was a halter style, with a deep vee neck that would show off her ample cleavage beautifully. Even by only looking at the dress, Nina knew it was going to fit perfectly.
As soon as she stepped into the dress, reached around and zipped it up, her suspicions were confirmed. It was perfect.
“Well,” Harper called from the other side of the door. “How does it fit?”
“Show us,” Chloe yelled.
With one more spin in the mirror, Nina opened the door and was greeted by shrieks and squeals.
“Oh my God, Nina. It’s amazing,” Kira said. “You look stunning.”
Nina looked to Harper, who had tears in her eyes, and laughed. “Stop it. You’re the bride, for goodness’ sake. You’re not supposed to be crying over my dress.”
“I can’t help it.” She wiped her tears. “It’s absolutely perfect.”
“It really is,” Nina agreed. “Thank you so much.”
“Don’t thank me.” Harper jerked her head. “Bree did it all.”
Nina spun around. “You made this?”
Bree, who was usually pretty silent in the group, nodded and blushed at the attention.
“But how?” Nina shook her head. “I mean, it fits like it was custom made but you never took my measurements.”
She shrugged. “I kind of have an eye for that type of thing.”
“I’d say.”
“Spin around,” Natalia called. “Let’s see it twirl.”
Nina laughed and spun, letting her hair fly off her shoulders, the skirt lifting with the motion.
“Oh my God!”
“What is—”
“What the hell?”
Nina froze as the other women reacted with horror at her spin. She turned. “What?” she asked. “What’s wrong?”
The other women exchanged glances but still didn’t say anything.
“What?” She was starting to get worried. No one was laughing. The atmosphere in the room had shifted. A trail of fear trickled down Nina’s spine. “What!”
Harper took one more look at her friends and then stepped forward. “Um…Nina. Is your back sore?”
Nina felt a blush cross her face and dip down between her breasts. She shrugged in an effort to be nonchalant. “I’m kind of sore all over. Ryker and I, well, we kind of—”
“You kind of what?” Natalia stepped forward, her pretty face twisted into a look of concern and…anger? “What did you do?”
“We had sex.” Nina stared at the woman. Did she want her to spell it out for her? “We had lots of—”
“Okay.” Chloe stepped forward and gave Natalia a stern stare. “I’m sure it’s nothing.”
“What’s nothing?” Beyond worried, Nina was starting to get concerned. “What the hell is going on?”
Chloe took a breath and put a smile on her face. “Nina, did you know you have a bit of a bruise on the back of your shoulder?”
Nina tried to turn her head, but she already knew what they were talking about. She blushed and shrugged a bit. “Well…yes.”
“You knew?” Kira stared at her.
“Well, how could I not?” Nina looked between the women, who all looked as if they’d seen some sort of ghost. She was a grown woman, but all at once she felt like a teenager confessing to her sexual exploits. “It’s not a big deal,” she said with a wave of her hand. “Ryker and I got…well, we got a little carried away the other night.”
“Shit!” Natalia swore and turned away.
Nina shook her head. “It’s not a big deal.” She turned to Harper. “Unless you don’t want me to wear the dress. Is it really noticeable?”
It was a stupid question. Obviously it showed in the dress or the girls wouldn’t have freaked out when she turned around. “Maybe we can put makeup on it tomorrow.” Unexpected tears welled in her eyes, which was crazy. It was just a love bite. And yes, it was ridiculous that a grown woman had a hickie, but still…
“Don’t be ridiculous.” Harper stepped up again and gave her a hug. “It’s fine. And you aren’t going to ruin my day with a little bruise. We’ll put a bit of makeup on it and if you wear your hair down, no one will even know it’s there. We all just overreacted. It’s not a big deal. Is it, girls?” She turned away and a moment later, all the other ladies muttered and nodded, their smiles returning.
“It’ll all be fine,” Chloe assured her.
“If you’re sure. I mean, it’s not like anyone is even going to be looking at me tomorrow.” Nina laughed. “All eyes will be on you.”
“Si.” Ella stepped up. Her smile was bright, but Nina couldn’t help but notice a trace of concern in her eyes, too. “Don’t worry, mi amiga. It’s fine. In the morning, I’ll put a bit of makeup on it, and no one will even know it’s there.”
“Oh yes they will.” Natalia crossed her arms over her chest and shook her head in disgust.
“Natalia!” Kira scolded her.
“Well, they will and you know it. Ryker should be—”
“Warned to be more careful when gowns are involved,” Kira finished while giving her a hard stare.
“Whatever.” Natalia shook her head and turned away. “But you all know as well as I do that this is not okay.”
Nina, confused again, looked to Bree, who was the only one who hadn’t said anything. But Bree only shrugged.
“Honestly, Nina.” Harper put her arm around her. “You look amazing and it’s nothing a little makeup won’t cover up. It’s fine. Everything is fine.”
She led her back to the bedroom to change out of her dress so they could finish taking care of the last-minute details. When they returned to the main room of the cabin, the other women were once again laughing and raising their glasses in toasts.
But Nina couldn’t shake the feeling that despite what Harper had said, everything was decidedly not fine. The last thing she wanted to do the night before her wedding was trouble her with something so stupid. But Nina made a mental note to ask her best friend about the women’s reactions later. Just as soon as the festivities were over and everything got back to normal.
Chapter Fourteen
Nina had never seen a more beautiful bride. And she didn’t just think that because Harper was her best friend. She truly was radiant.
“You look absolutely…” Tears flooded Nina’s eyes and she choked on her words. “I don’t even know what to say. I can see the happiness in your eyes. You’re glowing.”
“Thank you.” Harper smiled but a moment later, it fell. Just a little, but Nina noticed.
“What’s wrong? You aren’t having any second thoughts, are you?”
“Never! I know exactly what I want. And even without the wedding, Axel and I…we’re meant to be. He’s my soul mate. I don’t need the wedding to know that.”
“Of course.” Nina nodded and grabbed a tissue, worried that Harper might start crying and smear her makeup. In the last few days, she’d seen clearly that Axel and Harper were perfect for each other. They had a connection that couldn’t even be explained. Everyone at the ridge did.
Was it the same with Ryker?
She was pretty sure it was. The thought made her smile.
“So, what’s going on?” She forced her thoughts away from the man who’d once again spent the night making love to her—this time with a warning to keep his bruises to himself—before slipping away to leave her to her wedding duties.
“It’s my mom.” Harper’s bottom lips wavered a little. “She was supposed to be here, but there was a proble
m with her flight and I don’t think she’s going to make it.”
Of course.
Harper had been raised by a single mom, and although they weren’t as close as they once were, of course Shelly would be there.
“It’s bad enough that Axel’s mom isn’t here,” Harper continued. “But we couldn’t do anything about that. No one knows where she is.” She bit back a sob. “But my mom…she had a big trip to Europe planned and she was going to cancel the whole thing, but I told her to go. She didn’t want to. She wanted to come to the ridge and help and meet Lily.” A tear slipped from Harper’s eye and Nina was right there with the tissue. “She hasn’t even met her granddaughter yet because I told her to go on her trip. I should have insisted she come earlier. It’s my fault and I really want her here. I do.”
“It’s not your fault.” Nina squeezed her hand. “You were just being a good daughter, insisting that your mother live her life. Of course she wants to be here. What’s the status of her flight?”
“It was delayed and by the time she lands in Billings and gets a car…it’ll be too late.”
“It will not. I’ll make sure of it.” An idea formulated in Nina’s mind. If her best friend needed her mother to get to the wedding, she was going to make it happen. “Just wait here. I’ll take care of it.”
She hated to leave Harper in that state, but she handed her a glass of water and another tissue with orders to pull herself together. With the skirt of her dress in her hand, Nina ran down the path toward the Den, where guests were already starting to arrive. She ignored everyone and moved straight through the crowd until she found the person she was looking for.
She was amazing. And the more Ryker got to know about Nina, the more remarkable he thought she was. He stood, along with all the other wedding guests who’d gathered, to one side as the helicopter touched down in the field next to the main lodge.
Axel, already dressed in his suit, rushed to the door to greet the new arrival. The guest who never would have made it if it hadn’t been for Nina and a last-minute call.
A woman who looked like an older version of Harper with her blonde hair twisted up on the back of her head, stepped from the helicopter. Axel quickly rushed her and her suitcase past the crowd, who cheered, and straight up the path to the cabin, where Nina was waiting on the porch. She took the woman’s hand while Axel made himself scarce.
A moment later, Harper’s mom disappeared inside the cabin and Nina, her job done, made her way down the path, back to the Den to give mother and daughter a few moments together.
Ryker ran to meet her and help her with her heels down the steps. “That was an amazing thing you did for Harper,” he said after kissing her as chastely as he could. Which was a huge exercise in restraint given what he really wanted to do to her.
“It was nothing.” She shrugged. “Harper needed her mom, and I knew how to get her.”
“It was pretty incredible.” Ryker guided her through the grass to the side of the adventure center where they could have a little privacy, but stay close enough that Nina wouldn’t miss the start of the ceremony. “And tell me how you had access to a helicopter?”
She tipped her head back in a laugh. “A holdover from my magazine days. The first time Harper and I came to the ridge, I was writing a travel piece on this brand-new eco-lodge in the mountains of Montana. We flew into Billings from LA and then had a helicopter bring us right up here. I remembered the helicopter pilot. He may have had a little crush on me. And I may have had to promise him a dance at the wedding.”
“A dance?” Ryker’s bear roared, but he kept himself under control. “Is that right?”
She winked. “I do have that effect on some men, you know.”
“Oh, I know.” He gripped her hips and held her to him while he kissed her thoroughly. “As long as it’s only one dance.”
“Are you jealous?”
“Not at all,” he said confidently. “You’re mine.”
Her face twisted in confusion and he instantly regretted his choice of words. He still had to ease her into the idea of mating. And how he’d done it without her permission. A gigantic violation of the grizzly code. Never mind that it was a shitty thing to do. She deserved to know the truth. And he’d tell her, too. Soon. After the wedding. He couldn’t risk causing any more drama for Harper and Axel. Especially considering he’d initially only come to the ridge to stop the wedding that was about to take place.
It was incredible how fast things could change. Now, he not only didn’t see a problem with Axel marrying a half breed, he understood it. The connection between mates was stronger than any other bond. There was no fighting it. He’d tried.
If a man could resist the pull of his mate, he was a stronger man than Ryker because there’d been no way he could have stopped himself from being with Nina. Ever.
“I just meant that you’re my date.” It was lame, but it was the only explanation he could come up with and it seemed to be enough.
Nina smiled and tossed her hair back over her shoulder.
“You look gorgeous.” He meant it. She was always stunning, but the dress she wore accented all of her curves and her cleavage was downright criminal. Ryker had to work hard to keep from dropping a kiss between her full breasts. Because it wouldn’t stop at just a kiss and he knew it. Instead, he forced himself to focus on something else. “Your hair is very sexy.” And it was. She’d curled it in soft waves that fell over her bare back. “I’m glad you wore it down.” He twisted his hands through her locks. “Gorgeous.”
“Well, I had planned on wearing it up.” She wiggled her eyebrows at him. “But the girls freaked out over the bruise you left the other night.” She half turned, exposing the back of her neck and the bite mark he’d left there.
There’d been an attempt to cover it, but he could still see the outline of his mark. It was red and bruised, and even through the makeup that had been applied, Ryker could see how strong the bite had been.
Guilt mixed with need crashed through him. How could he at once need her and feel terrible for what he’d done? It didn’t make sense.
“They were probably just worried about the dress,” he lied. Ryker knew damn well why all of the women had freaked out. They knew the truth. He’d mated her. His stomach roiled with the knowledge of what he’d done, but he swallowed it down. He didn’t need to worry her. Not now. “Well, I think you look amazing.” He pulled her to him and kissed her deeply.
Would she hate him when he told her the truth? Would this be over?
Never.
He could never let that happen. His bear needed her too badly. He needed her with a ferocity that almost scared him.
“Nina!”
She pulled back and turned to the sound of Luke’s voice calling her. “Show time.” Nina placed one more kiss on the tip of his nose before laughing. “I’ll see you after, okay?”
“You can absolutely count on it.”
Chapter Fifteen
Everything about the ceremony was perfect. Folding chairs had been set up in a grassy field set back from the main lodge. The clearing was surrounded by thick pines that opened up at one end to where the creek flowed past, with the majestic mountain ranges in the distance. There couldn’t be a more spectacular backdrop for Harper and Axel to exchange their vows.
Not that anyone was looking at their surroundings. All eyes were on Harper and Axel, who stood under an arbor made from pine boughs and couldn’t take their eyes off each other. They oozed love and commitment and they hadn’t even said their vows yet.
In the front row, Harper’s mother, Shelly, held her baby granddaughter, and she may have been the only one who wasn’t fixated on the bride and groom, because she looked to be completely in love with her new grandchild.
The justice of the peace stood facing the crowd and spoke about love and the journey Axel and Harper had taken to find each other but Nina was only half listening. She scanned the crowd and found Ryker sitting about halfway back with Natalia and a man she
’d never seen before. She’d expected to make eye contact with Ryker, but he wasn’t looking at her. He wasn’t watching the wedding at all. Instead, he was focused on the man next to him. They appeared to be having an intense conversation under their breath.
While she watched, Natalia reached across and smacked both the men with her clutch. Properly chastised, at least for the moment, they turned to face the front. Ryker’s eyes locked on hers then and at once she felt better. She gave him a smile, but a moment later, the smile on his own face fell, his expression hardening.
For the first time, Nina could see the features of the man sitting next to Ryker. The man who’d just once again said something to him. They looked strikingly familiar. Even from a distance, Nina could see that the stranger had the same familiar dark-green eyes, the same strong jawline. His hair was lighter, but otherwise, they looked very similar.
Brothers.
But why then, if Ryker’s brother had shown up, did he look so pissed off? Next to them, Natalia looked as though she might murder both of them and she once again smacked them with her clutch before turning to face forward.
“Who has the rings?”
Nina vaguely registered her cue and she refocused on the ceremony happening in front of her. She stepped forward and handed over Axel’s ring while across from her, Luke did the same. Axel had both Luke and Kade as his groomsmen, because there was no way he could choose only one.
“At this time, the bride and groom would like to exchange vows that they’ve prepared for the other. Axel, would you like to go first?”
The groom nodded and took Harper’s hands in his. “Harper, from the moment you walked into my life, love walked in. I never knew I was capable of feeling the things that you bring out in me. Every day when I wake up, I know I’m the luckiest man alive because you are at my side. Your strength and softness complement me, and together we have everything. I’ve always known that you were mine and I was yours, and today I vow in front of our family, our friends, and most importantly, our daughter, to never let that bond falter. I vow to protect you, love you, and be your partner for the rest of my life.”