Page 11 of Riding with the Shifter

I watch, my mouth going dry and my pulse pounding, as he sheds his jacket, his boots, his shirt. Oh sweet merciful heavens, those abs. That chest. The ink swirling over miles of hard, tanned skin.

But I don’t have long to ogle, because the next second… he’s gone… First, there’s the sounds of cracking bones and I stare, wide-eyed as fur ripples over his skin when he drops on all fours.

I gasp, stumbling back as a massive black wolf rises from the pile of Ryder’s clothes, its fur shimmering in the moonlight and its eyes…

Oh God, its eyes. They’re the exact same brilliant, piercing blue as Ryder’s, staring at me with an intelligence and awareness that no animal could possess.

“Ryder,” I breathe, my knees giving out as I sink to the ground. “Oh my God. It’s… it’s you. You’re a… a…”

The wolf pads closer, his movements fluid and graceful. He whines softly, nudging his great shaggy head under my limp hand, like he’s asking me to touch him. To accept him, even in this scary, impossible form.

“I don’t… I can’t…” I stammer, my fingers curling into his thick, silky fur almost of their own volition. He’s huge, warm, solid, and real, so very real, under my shaking hands. “Ryder, how? How is this possible? How are you possible?”

He can’t answer me, not like this. But he looks up at me with those impossibly blue eyes, his expression so human, so full of longing and gentle understanding… that a sob tears from my throat.

This is Ryder. My Ryder, my biker boy, my impossible man. He’s still in there, gazing at me with the same heat and tenderness he always has. Even wearing the skin of a beast, the soul shining out of those eyes… is all him.

He’s still the man I’ve been falling for against all odds. The man who makes me feel wild, reckless, and alive, with every touch, each look and teasing word.

The man I might just be falling in love with. Werewolf and all.

“Okay,” I whisper, leaning my forehead against Ryder’s furry one as the shock starts to settle. “Okay, so… werewolves are real.” I swallow hard. “And you’re one of them.”

Ryder whines, low and affirming, his tail thumping once against the ground. I laugh, the sound bordering on hysterical as I wrap my arms around his thick neck and bury my face in his ruff.

“This is insane,” I mumble into his soft pelt, inhaling the wild, musky scent of him. “I’m insane. Or dreaming. Or high off exhaust fumes and diner grease.”

But I’m not. I know I’m not, with the same bone-deep certainty that tells me the sun will rise in the east and set to the west. This is real, this is happening… and somehow, impossibly, it feels… right.

It feels like coming home to a truth I never knew I was missing.

Like finding the missing piece of my soul, in the most unexpected and incredible of places.

“I believe you,” I say softly, pulling back to meet Ryder’s shining gaze. “I don’t understand it but I believe you, Ryder Beckett. I believe in you. In this.”

I wave a hand between us, encompassing the man, the wolf, and the crackling energy that binds us. Ryder makes a noise deep in his chest, a rumble of satisfaction, and then…

He’s shifting back, his form blurring and realigning in a way that defies science and logic, until he’s kneeling in front of me, human, naked, and grinning like the cocky bastard he is.

“You have no idea,” he rasps out, his hands coming up to frame my face with an almost desperate tenderness, “how much I’ve prayed to hear you say that. For you to accept me, all of me, man and wolf. I’ve been falling for you since the second I caught your scent, Zara.”

I laugh, breathless, giddy, and drunk on the impossibility of it all. “Well, that’s a relief. Because I’ve been falling right back, against all my better judgment and sense of self-preservation.”

Ryder’s grin softens, his thumbs stroking over my cheekbones as he leans in, his forehead pressing to mine. “No more falling, baby. I’ll be here to catch you, now and always. My mate, my queen, my whole fucking world.”

“I know you will,” I whisper shakily, my smile so wide it hurts. And then I’m closing the last inch between us, our lips meeting in a kiss that feels like a beginning, a vow.

A promise of forever, of magic, mayhem and a love that defies all odds.

A love that will change everything, for both of us. In the most wild, wicked, and wonderful ways.

And as we lose ourselves in each other, Ryder’s body pressing me into the soft grass and his heart beating in time with my own…

I can’t fucking wait to see where this crazy, impossible ride takes us next.

Nine

Chapter 9

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