Page 15 of Riding with the Shifter

I nod, blinking back the tears that suddenly burn my eyes. “I know. But part of me feels… dirty. Tainted. Like I’ll never be free of him.”

Ryder pulls back, just far enough to cup my face in his big, calloused hands. “Listen to me, Zara Sinclair. You are not dirty, or tainted, or any other bullshit that abusive scumbag tried to make you believe. You’re strong, brave, and so fucking beautiful it makes my heart hurt.”

I let out a watery laugh, leaning into his touch like a flower to the sun.

His thumbs brush the tears from my cheeks. “You’re a survivor, Zara. A fighter. A goddamn queen. And I am so fucking lucky to be yours.”

My heart swells, so full of love and gratitude it feels like it might burst. “I’m the lucky one,” I whisper, pressing my lips to his in a lingering kiss. “Thank you, Ryder. For being here, for protecting me. For loving me.”

He grins against my mouth. “Always, baby. In this life and the next. You’re stuck with me now.”

I laugh, giddy with relief, love, and the sheer, wild joy of being here, in this moment, with this man. My man. My beautiful, savage wolf.

“I think I can live with that,” I murmur, rising up on my toes to nip playfully at his jaw.

Ryder growls, low and rumbling in his chest. Then, quick as a blink, he lifts me up and throws me over his shoulder, making me yelp and giggle as the world tilts sideways.

“Live with that?” he scoffs, smacking me on the ass as he starts striding toward his bike.

I shiver, heat, hunger and giddy anticipation coursing through my veins.

Ryder’s echoing chuckle is dark and wicked, full of filthy intent.

And he sets me on the back of his bike, his body strong and solid against mine as we roar off into the night…

Eleven

Chapter 11

RYDER

I pace the length of my bedroom, my wolf snarling and snapping under my skin. It’s been weeks of passionate kisses, heated touches and lingering looks heavy with promise. But we still haven’t sealed the deal, haven’t made that final, irrevocable connection.

And it’s driving me fucking insane.

I know I need to be patient, to give her time to adjust to this new reality. She’s human. I can’t just pounce on her like some wild beast, no matter how much my wolf instincts scream at me to do just that.

But Christ, it’s getting harder every day. Every time I catch her scent, all vanilla, moonlight and fucking mine. Every time she smiles at me, soft and full of feminine mystery. Every time she brushes against me, all lush curves and velvet skin, it’s like a brand against my flesh.

I want her. I need her. I fucking ache for her, with a hunger that goes beyond the physical. It’s a craving from deep inside my soul, a yearning in the marrow of my bones.

She’s my mate, my missing piece, the other half of my wild, untamed heart. And I’m tired of waiting for the world to align, for the perfect moment to make her fully mine.

I want to claim her, mark her, fill her with my seed and my scent until there’s no doubt in anyone’s mind she belongs to me. I want to bury myself in her sweet, slick heat and never come out again.

I want… I want…

A growl rumbles up from my chest, low, feral, and full of frustration. My claws prick at my fingertips, my fangs aching in my gums as my wolf rises to the surface, called by the dark tide of my desire.

‘Mate’, he snarls in my head. ‘Want mate. Need mate. Now!’

“I know,” I grit out, clenching my fists against the urge to shift, to hunt, to howl my longing to the moon. “I know, brother. But we can’t just take her. She has to be ready, has to want it as much as we do.”

My wolf whines, pawing at my insides like an anxious pup. ‘But she does want. Can smell it on her, hot, heavy and hungry. She wants our knot, our mark, our pups in her belly.’

I groan, my cock throbbing at the image his words conjure. Zara, naked and flushed under me, her thighs parted in welcome as I thrust into her tight, perfect cunt. Zara, crying out my name as I fill her with my seed, my scent, my claiming mark on her throat and my pups growing in her womb.

Fuck. I’m going to lose my mind if I don’t have her soon. I’m going to go feral, nothing but a mindless beast ruled by instinct and hunger.

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