I clenched my jaw. I was better than this hesitant, brittle being.
I had to be.
With a dull roar in my ears that screamed at me to run, I jerked the door open. As soon as our gazes met, the world felt balanced once more.
“I heard you pacing,” he said, voice raspier than this morning. He gripped the top of the doorframe, looking like a cynical god descended from the heavens. This man truly had a special skill of making every surface he came into contact with seem grateful he’d deigned to rest against it. “What’s gotten that beautiful mind of yours worked up–”
“I’m sorry,” I regurgitated the words stuck in my throat since the morning when I’d fled his bed, which now felt like a lifetime ago.
They clung in the air, widening his eyes and parting his lips.
But now that they floated between us and hadn’t pushed him away, they didn’t seem all that frightening anymore.
Ryker frowned, tensing. “For what? Don’t tell me Dax has already set fire to something.”
My mouth fell open, the rest of my apology frozen. “Why is arson your first guess?”
“Experience. You climbed onto the fortress when you first got here, he flew. He gets extra points for almost dying, though you also could have plummeted to your death from thefrozen roof.” He raised a mighty brow. “Then you set a fire behind the sweets shop, so I’m expecting a blaze any moment now.”
“That’s me, a trailblazer.” I tucked my hair behind my ear, cheeks reddening.
“Sadly, I doubt he will try to make a grand escape.” He sighed. “I think he likes it here.”
“Your fault for not throwing him in the dungeon first chance you got.”
“Damn me and my manners.” He sighed again, laughter dancing in his eyes. “So no fire?”
“No, but if you really insist, I’m sure I can persuade him to at least incinerate one of the empty wolf kennels. Would that make you happy?”
“What would make me happy–” He lowered his arm slowly and pressed a finger right between my brows. Warmth instantly jolted through me at the contact, sending shivers down my spine. “–is knowing what caused this particular frown.”
My face softened as his fingers stroked the creases away. “I made a mistake that morning. After you and I–you know…”
After he’d fucked me so good, the only thought swimming in my mind was his name.
Ryker turned serious, the lines of his face sharpening. His hand retreated back to grip the doorframe. Then he stood there.
Silent.
Expectant.
Letting me spill whatever I needed to.
“I don’t know what happened.” I licked my lips. “No, I do. I got scared. Really scared.”
“Did I scare you?” he asked carefully. Tentative.Concerned.
“No!” My hand reached out for his on instinct. To reassure him or myself, I didn’t know, but his warmth gave me the impulse I needed to push the next words out. “I–I liked our night together. I really did.”
A corner of his mouth ticked up, but he still seemed on edge. Waiting for a disaster to happen. “Then what was the problem?”
“I–” I cleared my throat, too many feelings lodged inside of it. “I liked it too much.”
“Then…I apologize for being too good in bed,” he deadpanned, but I saw the proud glint in his eyes. “Heinous of me, truly.”
The bubble of laughter that escaped my lips quieted the galloping in my chest. “It’s not that.”
“Then what?” he asked, and I heard the craving and curiosity drumming through him.
