“It has nothing to do with the fact that he is the Alpha,” Hannah said in a haughty voice, “and more to do with me being tired and how hard it is to sweep when your wrist is in a cast. I sit when I want to, and not when I am told to or it issuggested. I am resting now because I am tired, and my head is starting to ache more than it has been all day.”
Bastian growled in frustration, an emotion Ryker shared. “Goddamn it, Hannah, I knew I should have made you stay seated more. What in the hell was I thinking? You were in a goddamn car accident yesterday.”
Hannah sighed as she sat back on the couch. “Yes, I was. But it didn’t kill me. And to be fair, you have done more than your fair share of making me sit still. I haven’t done near as much as you have today.”
“And nor should you,” Ryker added. “Had I been here with you, you would never have moved from the couch, even if I’d had to tie you onto the damn thing.”
Hannah’s eyes narrowed, and she glared at him. “You could have tried, but you would have ended up bleeding. A lot. What the hell is it that you guys do that allows you to spend your day here annoying me? Why weren’t you both in some office somewhere?”
Bastian moved to sit beside their mate. “We’re commodity traders. We do it in our own time and from home, and we are very good at it. Now, do you need some of those painkillers Lucas prescribed for you?”
Hannah sighed. “Not yet. I can’t have any for another hour. I’m fine, it’s just your overbearing, pardon the pun, but not really, Alpha brother rubs me up the wrong way.”
Ryker laughed as he leaned on the broom. “Sweetness, if you want me to show you just how right I can rub you, all you have to do is say so.”
Hannah rolled her eyes at him, but Ryker saw the flash of amusement that lingered there. “Christ, thatwas cheesy. What in the hell did you do, look on the internet for the best ways to turn a common cliché into a sexual innuendo?”
Bastian chuckled and leaned back on the couch, throwing his arm up across the back, effectively tucking their mate against him. “You know what is funny as hell about this whole thing, sweetness? Ryker very rarely smiles, and only a few of us have actually heard him laugh. He is more serious than anyone on the face of the earth, and yet you’ve had him smiling and laughing all in the space of a few minutes.” Bastian leaned forward and peered at him intently.
Ryker adopted his usual scowl. “What the hell are you staring at?”
“Did those smiles strain anything in your face? I mean, those muscles must have never been used.”
Ryker pretended to be about to say something, and then glanced at the floor like he’d spotted something. Bending down, he said, “Bastian, did you drop this?” When he stood, he was holding his middle finger up, responding to his brother the way siblings had been communicating with each other since the dawn of time.
Bastian, the bastard, simply grinned, but their mate giggled again. “You two are crazy. Honestly, it’s like watching two adolescents sniping at each other.” Hannah sighed and took a quick look at her watch. “Now, it’s late, and I’m tired, so I think it’s best if you go.” Hannah held up her hand and talked over their objections. “Bastian cleaned the bedroom and changed all the linen to my own. I’ll be fine here by myself.”
She stood up from the couch, moved toward the door, and opened it to the night. With a helpless look at each other, he and Bastian followed her.
“We’ll be back in the morning, sweetness,” Bastian said as he leaned in to press a swift kiss to her temple before stepping out. “Don’t even think about starting downstairs until we get here.”
“I’m not stupid, Bastian,” Hannah said dryly. “The two of you are much stronger with all those were-bear muscles. I will be more than happy to let you both do the heavy lifting and follow my instructions.” She looked up at him and grinned. “You think you can take instructions from little ol’ me, Alpha bear?”
It was her smile and the way her eyes shone with humor that made him do it. Or at least that’s what he’d say if she asked. He reached out, sweeping her into his arms, making sure to be gentle around her bruises, and then he lowered his head for a kiss. He took her mouth as it opened on a gasp, and swept in, claiming her mouth with his own. The taste of her reminded him of sweet peaches, and he groaned as the flavor exploded within him. He licked into her mouth and swallowed her moan. As soon as she yielded and melted into him, he pulled back.
“Sweetness,” Ryker said in a deep voice. “I think you’ll find that I am open to all types of instructions when it comes to you. I don’t think there is anything you could ask me for that I would not give you.” Ryker pressed one last soft kiss to her shocked mouth, released her, and stepped out onto the landing. “Lock up when we leave, love.”
Walking down the stairs, Ryker fought against the urge to turn back and go to his mate. From the way she had submitted and melted against him, he knew that she was just as affected by their kiss as he had been.
“Lucky bastard,” Bastian growled from where he leaned against the door of his truck. “Does she taste the way I imagine she does?”
“Better,” Ryker groaned.
“Ha! You’re gonna suffer for that,” Bastian said smugly. “You deserve the blue balls and the first shift.”
Ryker and Bastian had been texting all day, keeping each other abreast of their actions, and had agreed that they would take it in shifts to watch over their mate. They would take no chances with her safety. They spoke for a few minutes, and then Bastian headed back to their house for a couple of hours’ sleep, and Ryker moved his truck across the street and settled in. He licked his bottom lip, and the faint hint of peaches he caught there had his already aching cock thickening.
To take his mind off his suffering, he turned his thoughts to what happened yesterday. Ash was up to something, and whatever the hell he was up to, Hannah was part of his plan. Ryker looked up as the light in Hannah’s bedroom was extinguished.
Every instinct within him screamed that she wasn’t an active participant in whatever the bastard had planned, but a pawn he was using to get his hands on Blackwater Falls. Ryker vowed on every deity he knew that Hannah would be kept safe from it all, and Ash would bleed for daring to involve her in the first place. He was really looking forward to making the last part of that vow a reality.
A lot.
