Page 57 of Collar Me Crazy
"Are you nervous?" she asked as they reached his porch.
"Terrified," he admitted, opening the door for her. "Not of being with you, but of getting it wrong when it matters most."
Inside, the cabin felt like home in ways her apartment in Asheville never had. Ryker's scent clung to every surface, and her own belongings had begun to blend with his in small, domestic ways that spoke of a future they'd been afraid to acknowledge.
"The other women shared their experiences today," Sonya said, settling onto the couch while he built up the fire. "Their claiming stories."
"And?"
"Cora said the moment Callum marked her, she felt like she'd been incomplete her whole life without knowing it." Sonya watched the flames catch, painting Ryker's profile in gold. "Katniss described it as coming home to a place she didn't know existed."
"What about the physical aspects?" His voice was carefully neutral, but she could see the tension in his shoulders.
"Intense. Overwhelming. Like every nerve ending becomes hypersensitive to your mate's touch." She moved to kneel behind him, her hands settling on his shoulders. "But also perfect, because it's with the person you're meant to be with."
His muscles relaxed under her touch, some of the day's stress melting away. "The guys gave me advice too. About placement, timing, making sure I don't hurt you."
"You won't hurt me." She pressed a kiss to the back of his neck, tasting salt and warmth. "I trust you completely."
"Even knowing what the marking involves? The bite, the claim, the permanence of it?" He turned to face her, his expression vulnerable. "Once I mark you, Sonya, there's no undoing it. You'll be mine, and I'll be yours, until death."
"I know." She framed his face with her hands, thumbs tracing the sharp lines of his cheekbones. "That's what I want. Not just for tomorrow, not just to save Hollow Oak."
Something shifted in his expression, the last walls between them crumbling. "I love you," he said quietly. "I should have said it before, but I was afraid?—"
"I love you too." She kissed him softly, pouring three weeks of growing affection into the connection. "I've loved you since that first vision, even when I didn't understand what I was seeing."
His arms came around her, pulling her closer as the kiss deepened. But this time, there was no urgency, no desperate need to claim before circumstances tore them apart. This was about connection, about choosing each other with full knowledge of what that choice meant.
"Show me," she whispered against his lips. "Show me what tomorrow will feel like."
He lifted her easily, carrying her to the bedroom where moonlight streamed through windows overlooking his domain. But instead of immediately reaching for her clothes, he simply held her, his face buried in her hair.
"I've never been this scared of losing someone," he admitted.
"Then don't lose me." Her fingers found the hem of his shirt, pulling it over his head to reveal the body she'd come to know so well. "Trust that we're strong enough together to face whatever comes."
"What if the claiming goes wrong? What if my wolf can't control the bite, or the energy overwhelms the defensive grid, or?—"
She silenced him with another kiss, this one deeper, more demanding. "Stop thinking like a guardian and start feeling like my mate."
Her sweater joined his shirt on the floor, followed by jeans and undergarments until they stood skin to skin in themoonlight. But instead of the desperate hunger of their first time, this felt reverent, like a ritual in itself.
"You're so beautiful," he murmured, his hands skimming over her curves with worshipful attention. "Inside and out."
"So are you." She traced the scars on his shoulder, the ones he'd gotten protecting his first pack. "Every part of you, even the broken pieces."
He laid her across the quilts, his body covering hers with a weight that felt protective rather than heavy. The flicker of firelight danced across his auburn hair, turning it into living flame, his emerald eyes searching hers like he needed reassurance that she was really here.
“Show me,” she whispered again, her voice trembling with want.
Ryker kissed her slow and deep, his tongue brushing hers as though tasting a promise. His hands moved reverently, sliding over her ribs, down her waist, curving around her hips like he was committing every inch to memory. She shivered beneath his touch, arching into him, needing more.
“God, Sonya…” His voice rasped against her lips, heavy with hunger and reverence. “You’re driving me insane.”
“Then let go.” She lifted her hips into his, her pussy already slick and aching, begging for him. “I want all of you.”
He groaned low in his chest, the sound vibrating through her as he shifted between her thighs. His cock, hard and hot, pressed against her belly, leaving no question of how badly he wanted her. She reached down between them, fingers circling his thick length, marveling at the heat and weight of him in her hand.
