Page 8 of Custodian

She wasn’t in his mind and the Order link was muted almost to silence. There was an awareness that she wasn’t alone, that she was connected to her paladins, but that was all. No words and no emotions were filtering through. Her shields, which had been non-existent when she had arrived, were now as strong as steel. She could dictate her thoughts and feelings through the Order with the precision of an expert marksmen. And yet, despite that iron-clad control, she couldn’t stop the rush of knowledge that continually battered her. It wasn’t taxing or painful and she often didn’t even realise when information wasn’t her own. It was just a kind ofknowing. She didn’t know how else to describe it.

She knew it bothered the others. She wasn’t oblivious to the concerned looks she received every time she responded to a thought that hadn’t been spoken out loud yet. Or the lines of worry that would wrinkle foreheads when she inadvertently predicted something yet to happen. That last one was causing more than a wrinkle on her own forehead because foreseeing when the phone was going to ring or when the heavens were about to open up was nothing compared to the other things she was seeing.

“Max?”

“Hmm?” she jolted, looking down and seeing the familiar handsome features, even more appealing for their roughness. Ryker had neglected to shave the past couple of days and he had the makings of a decent beard shadowing his strong jawline. She wasn’t really a beard person – more of a scruff person – but even she had to admit, the softness of the longer hairs against the sensitive skin of her inner thighs was a nice contrast to the usual rasping.

The thought made her smile and she reached out a hand, stroking her fingers through the blackness, her heart kicking up immediately when his mouth captured her fingers and began to nibble. She squeezed her thighs, feeling his chest expand with his breath. He was wearing a plain white tee and something about the way the bland colour contrasted sharply with his tanned skin and the writhing black lines on his left forearm, really worked for her. It also didn’t hurt that it made the metal piercing through his nipples stand out more. She licked her lips and felt Ryker’s body answer in the sudden hardening beneath her butt. His pupils dilated, eyes narrowing, as she reached out a hand to play …

“Yo, Ryker!”

Ryker’s colourful response to Axel’s untimely interruption practically turned the air blue and Max had to muffle her giggles against her man’s chest.

“What?!” Ryker barked, anchoring her hips so she couldn’t go anywhere – not that she wanted to anyway.

“Oh, nothing. Just wanted to cock-block you,” was Axel’s laughing reply, before he wisely turned and ran in the opposite direction.

Cursing and bucking underneath her, Ryker flung dire threats after the blond-haired jokester as Max did her best to hold Ryker down through her own peals of laughter.

“He’ll meet someone one day and when he does, I swear, I am going to have my revenge against that blue-eyed bastard! His balls won’t know what hit them!” Ryker vowed.

Max sobered at that. “I hope so,” she murmured, thinking of the knowledge which had flooded her brain just that morning concerning her dear friend. “I do hope so.”

Shaking her head to remove the funk she was dangerously close to, she instead focused on the wet-dream beneath her. Feeling a little devilish, she sent her thoughts into the ground beneath Ryker. Small, brown roots promptly pierced the dirt and slowly began winding around his thick wrists. Dark eyebrows raised in question as he tugged experimentally against his bonds. Max smirked when the roots proved to be quite strong. She leaned down, placing a sucking kiss on his Adam’s apple. His whole body jerked as if it had been struck by lightning.

“Max …” came his strangled groan.

“Hmm?” she inquired, tracing a path over his cheek which had once held a vicious scar.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Ryker asked.

Max sat up once again, “What does it look like I’m doing?”

He tugged ineffectually against his bonds once more, “It looks like you’re trying to tie me up in order to have your wicked way with me.”

She grinned at him, “And they say you’re not smart …”

Ryker immediately scowled, “Who says that?!”

Max couldn’t stop her giggle; he was so easy to rile. She was just leaning down to capture one of those gorgeous metal bars between her teeth when he bucked, almost dislodging her. “Hey!” she pouted down at him.

“Not that I don’t appreciate the sentiment, but don’t you think we’re a little too exposed out here?” Ryker waggled his eyebrows at her.

Max looked around her, taking in the truly picturesque scenery of the sparkling ocean, native bushland, and perfect garden. A glance to her right had her laughing out loud; three human faces and one doggy one were pressed to the kitchen windows. Diana, Cali, and Axel grinned at her with their thumbs up, clearly unrepentant for spying. Zombie simply licked the glass. Max wasn’t an exhibitionist by any stretch of the imagination and she knew her man definitely was not. He was not into sharing. Feeling her mischievous side rise, she couldn’t help making fun of him;

“What’s wrong, baby? Not into outdoor sex? You know, Cali and Dex do it on the beach all the time,” she informed him.

Ryker grunted, “I know. Don’t remind me. And I have no problem with outdoor sex. We’ve done it outside before,” he pointed out. “I just don’t see the need to show my arse off to the world. And I certainly don’t see the need to show yours.”

Max laughed, “Ah, so you’re just a prude then.”

“What?!” Ryker yanked on his bonds, growling in frustration when they held strong. “I am not a prude!”

“Uh huh,” Max taunted. “I bet Darius wouldn’t have a problem with public sex. That man is seriously kinky.”The tales Diana told,Max thought, shivering a little.

Ryker huffed, “Will you please stop reminding me of all the sexual deviants living in our house? It’s very disturbing – especially about Darius.”

Max laughed again even as she felt warmth spread through her hearing him call the house, ‘our house’. Sometimes it still felt like a dream to her; the house, the family, the friends. And especially the man happily bound at her mercy underneath her. Suddenly feeling impatient, Max sent a silent thank you to the large eucalyptus tree next to her, and was gratified to see it pull back its roots, freeing Ryker’s wrists. Not that the man moved. No, he just continued to lay there, looking all sexy and smug and fuckable.

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