Page 68 of Always Her Mate

His clothes seem to explode around him, the tattered remains raining down around us.

“There,” he bites out once he shifts back again, the impatient showoff. “I’m naked. You’re not.”

I look down at the bra and panties set I’ve still got on. “Looks like you’re right. I should probably do something about that.”

Luna, I’m a fucking tease. When Ryker lunges toward me, I dance away, holding my hand out to ward him off.

“Uh. Uh. Uh. I’ve got it.”

“No. Let me do it,” he says, his words coming out more like a snarl.

I cock my head to the side, my hair cascading over my shoulder. I even purse my lips a little as I ask in a drawn-out drawl, “Are you sure?”

“Gemma…”

Yup. That’s enough. I pushed him just far enough to get the reaction I wanted.

Hiya, Duke. Long time, no see.

If that bulging vein is any indication, I’ve definitely got his blood pumping.

Good.

“Well.” I hold my hands up, presenting my body to him. “If you insist.”

Honestly, this is almost as feral as I saw him when he was suffering from the moon fever. And maybe I’m doing it on purpose, but I want him here. With me. At this moment. I don’t want Ryker, for one second, to think about anything other than what’s going to happen between us next.

So, yeah. If I have to sacrifice some lingerie to the cause? I’ll do it.

To my surprise, though, Ryker doesn’t rip them off of me like I expected him to. Instead, with a level of focus of concentration that has me shivering under his watchful gaze, he reaches around me, unsnapping the bra. He carefully removes the strap from one arm, then the next. Letting it fall to the floor, joining the remains of his clothes, he runs a callused palm over my hip.

“Up,” he rumbles, tapping my thigh.

I’m never obedient. It’s not how I’m made. But if only for tonight, I’ll do exactly what he orders me to without any complaint.

I place my arms on his shoulders, balancing on one foot as he tugs my panties down one side of my body. With another tap, he orders me to repeat with the other side. I do. Then, when I’m completely naked like he is—save for the golden fang he had made for me—Ryker tips me into his arms again, laying me out on the bed like some kind of offering to him.

He shudders out a sigh, but leaves me on the bed by myself.

I get as cozy as I can against the pillows, trying not to notice how he hasn’t blinked once since he set me down.

Finally, I can’t take it anymore.

“Ryker? Aren’t you going to join me?”

“I will. I just… let me look at you, sweetheart.”

Um. Okay.

He’s done this once before. During those first days he was courting me in Muncie, I caught him staring more than once. It made me uncomfortable so of course I snapped at him, and all he said was to let him look before he gave me the first of many compliments.

I had a hard time believing he meant them, even when I could tell he was being sincere. Now? I still struggle, but if there’s one thing I know for sure, it’s that this male really only stares because he likes what he sees.

He steps closer, thighs bumping against the edge of the bed.

“Oh, Luna. I don’t think I can ever thank you enough for letting me be worthy of this female.” His voice is husky, dropping a few octaves as his gaze travels the length of my naked body. “I’ll spend the rest of my life trying, just like I’ll do whatever I have to to prove to you that you made the right choice when you chose me.”

“You already have,” I whisper, beckoning him even closer. I want to touch him again, but something tells me not to leave the place where he put me. “All you have to do now is love me.”

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