Page 50 of The Scout

I buried myself deep, my hands gripping her hips as I started moving, harder, rougher, watching her shudder beneath me as I fucked her just the way I needed to.

She loved it.

She moaned, whimpered, begged, her fingers twisting in the sheets as she pushed back against me, meeting every punishing thrust.

I could feel another orgasm tearing through her, the way her body started shaking, the way she gasped my name like she couldn’t help it.

“Ryker—fuck?—”

I slammed into her one last time, my body locking as I came, my cock pulsing deep inside her as a guttural growl tore from my throat.

For a long second, the world was nothing but her. Her scent. Her body. Her warmth.

And then?—

I collapsed beside her.

I shouldn’t have. I should have gotten up, left the bed, let the heat burn off before it settled into something worse. But I didn’t.

I dragged her against my chest, my arms still locked around her.

And then—something I had never done.

I fell asleep next to her.

17

ISABEL

The first thing I noticed when I woke was the warmth. Not just the lingering heat of sleep, but something solid, unyielding, wrapped around me.

Ryker.

His arm was draped heavily across my waist, his fingers curled slightly against the thin fabric of the t-shirt I had borrowed.Hist-shirt this time. My back was flush against his chest, the slow, steady rise and fall of his breathing pressing into me, reminding me exactly where I was. Exactly what had happened.

I should have felt guilt, confusion, something resembling regret—but I didn’t.

What I felt was safe. And that was the most dangerous thing of all. Because I wasn’t safe.

Not with Will missing. Not with the way I had let Ryker take me, the way I had fallen so easily into his hands, like my body had always known it belonged there.

The morning light slipped through the curtains, stretching over the twisted sheets, the abandoned clothes,the proof of what had transpired between us. I stayed still for a moment, trying to memorize the feeling, knowing deep down that as soon as Ryker woke up, everything would change.

I was right. The second his breathing shifted, the second his body tensed behind me, I felt it. The walls snapping back into place.

His arm—once warm and heavy—disappeared as he pulled away. The heat was replaced with cool emptiness, and before I could even turn over, I heard the soft rustle of him standing.

I rolled onto my back, my stomach tightening as I watched him cross the room.

His broad shoulders flexed, his bare back taut with tension, every muscle drawn tight as he yanked on a pair of black sweatpants. He didn’t turn. Didn’t speak. Just stood there for a second, one hand braced against the edge of the dresser, his head hanging forward like he was warring with himself.

Something in my chest pinched.

"You’re going to pretend this didn’t happen, aren’t you?" My voice was hoarse from sleep, from him, but there was no mistaking the edge of irritation beneath it.

Ryker exhaled slowly. "It shouldn’t have happened."

A bitter laugh escaped me as I sat up, dragging the sheet with me. "Wow. That’s original."

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