Trouble. That was my first thought. We were gonna get it, that was for sure. We weren’t supposed to be at the creek in the first place, and now, with one of the pack hurt? He groaned then, eyelids fluttering, and that forced everything else out of my mind.
“You have to run back,” I shouted at the boys clustered around me. “You have to get the alphas.”
“We can’t,” Fen countermanded. “We can get him back, clean him up, and say it happened out riding.”
“No.”
I never directly contradicted Fen unless I absolutely had to, but I had to right now. I prised Ryan’s fingers open, letting the croaking frog go free before sitting down on the rocks and lifting his head into my lap.
“He’s hurt, and it could be bad,” I said, stroking his forehead. “Moving him could make him worse. Blame me for it if you want to. I can take the punishment, but we’re not moving Ryan, not until one of your dads comes here.”
Colt settled down beside me then, wrapping an arm around my shoulders, and Blake, he turned on his heel and ran back to town, bringing Malcolm, one of the alphas, back some time later. But Fen and Haze, they crouched down around Ryan, staring at me like they’d never really seen me before this.
“Are you OK?” I asked Ryan, ignoring them. “Does it hurt real bad?”
“Kinda,” Ryan answered, his nonchalance ruined by a wince. “You let the frog go.”
“I don’t care about any frog, not when you’re hurt.” I felt a flush of something then as I said the words, something it’d take me years to understand. “You’re way more important than a specimen.”
He’d smiled then, as much as he could, the blood flowing from his chin slowing, and I’d grabbed his hand and squeezed it. He squeezed back, right as Malcolm came storming down the creek bed.
“Are you still the boy that’d catch frogs for me?” I asked Ryan, and he smiled at that, taking my hand away from his scar and kissing my knuckles.
“Always, Red. You know that.”
And I did, he had always been there for me, and no matter what happened before, we had that surety between us. Which was perhaps why I leaned forward, pressing a kiss to his scar at first, while Ryan held himself completely still. Warm, prickly, stubbled male skin met my lips, then his head tilted, bringing his mouth to mine.
“Whatever you need, I’ll half kill myself to get it for you, I promise.”
Other women needed hearts and flowers, but for me, that was a big enough avowal to satisfy me. My hands went around Ryan’s neck, his locking around my waist as his scent filled my nose, making me pleasantly dizzy with it until I pressed my lips to his.
I liked the insistent press of his lips, the way his arms tightened around me. I liked that sharp intake of breath, as if I’d somehow surprised him. I liked the way his lips parted, beckoning mine in, the way his tongue slid forward, carefully, experimentally at first, and when I let out a little whimper, surging to claim my mouth. I liked the feel of his hair under my fingers, the broad expanse of his body as I raked my nails across it, the heat of his skin as I shoved up his shirt.
“I need you,” I announced as I pulled apart from him. “That’s what I need—both of you.”
“Stop bogarting the babe,” Haze said, wrenching me away from his brother and holding me close as I was treated to the sight of Ryan pulling his shirt up and over his head, revealing all that bronzed muscle. “Mm…” Haze said, nuzzling into my neck. “Her scent shifted as soon as you did that. I don’t think you have to worry about wooing our girl.”
“After, during,” I said as Ryan prowled closer. “We can do that—work on discovering who we are in the gaps between tending. Can’t we?”
“I’m gonna have to insist on it,” Ryan replied, tugging me back to him. He pushed my shirt off my shoulders as my hands went to his jeans, unbuttoning and dragging down his fly.
“Oh…”
I stopped and stared as it became apparent I wasn’t the only one who didn’t like to wear undies on the weekend.
“That better be the hushed sound of awe in your voice,” Ryan said as I continued to stare at his hard cock.
“More like the sound of doubt and trepidation as I consider letting that beast anywhere near me,” I replied. “That’s fucking huge.”
“Yeah, baby,” Haze said, then kissed my neck. “You know exactly what a guy wants to hear.”
“It’ll fit,” Ryan said smugly, then pulled back to remove his pants too. “Now, let’s get you naked so we can show you how.”
Chapter 32
“What, like now? Are we sure about that, because I’m really not,” I babbled, backing away from the two of them. “Like, maybe we need to try and use something to dilate things?”
“Oh, there’ll be a lot of that,” Haze replied, the two of them tracking after me. “Alphas don’t just slam their big cocks in, not until you’ve shown you can take us. This is part of that process.”