Alpha Owned(12)

Eyes wide, her mother inhaled sharply. “I am sure he’d run the risk if he loves his mate. Not all our females are fertile. He’d run the risk of not fathering any cubs anyway. So why not be with the woman he loves?”

Did he love her? Her mind was too worked up over what she’d swore was the best dream of her life. It was now her worst nightmare. Fear and anger twisted knots in her heart. She refused to open doors to any kind of hope only to have them slammed in her face like when she’d been fifteen. She needed to see him. Without being drunk on four bottles of wine and half asleep.

“Give him a chance,” she said.

Oh, she’d give him something all right. A punch in the gut or a kick in the balls was something. Stomping across the clearing, she pounded on his front door. Only a jerk would take advantage of a woman that was drunk. And in her own bed too!

Slam

“Ryker!”

Slam. Slam. Slam.

“Open up you miserable son of a bitch!”

Slam. Slam. Slam.

Nothing. She growled at the injustice of it all.

Slam. Slam. Slam.

Her anger diminished somewhat at the realization she wouldn’t get a chance to yell at him at that point.

Restlessness settled in her. Her brain ordered her to move. It helped her think through big issues and being marked by the Alpha was definitely top of the food chain issue. She headed for a trail that led to the creek. As a kid everyone went swimming in there. But with the fall in full swing, the water was colder and most kids stopped their splashing in there, but she happened to like the cooler water. Her mind curled around a single thought: Marked by Ryker.

Ryker. He was the one she’d wanted since fifteen and the one man she couldn’t have. She knew that. Yet her heart fluttered faster. Don’t do it. She had to stop the small hope now, before she planned fairy tale ending and shit hit the fan. The big bad sexy growly Alpha was not for her.

Nearing the creek, she heard splashing. Her gaze swept over the water, but she saw nothing. The closer she got, the more she worried someone was in trouble. Once she stood by the end, she waited. A nervous breath later and a figure broke the surface. Their eyes met in an instant angry battle of wills.

“I was looking for you!”

Without thinking, she jumped into the waist deep water, making her way toward him. Ryker arched his brows in that annoying way that said she was being dramatic.

“Don’t give me that look. You took advantage of me.” She growled, hating the way the stupid water slowed her down.

He dove under.

“Ryker!” She yelled. “Get up here. I’m talking to y-”

A pair of hands wrapped around her waist and tugged her down, further into the deep water. Instinctively, she grabbed on to his hair.

He rose again once the water hit shoulders. Their bodies stood flushed together, so tight you’d think they were born that way.

“I didn’t take advantage of you.” His voice, that deep churned gravel turned her hormones into a mess of longing.

“You did. I thought it was a dream.” Christ. The things she’d said. The stuff she’d admitted to. Why did he do that to her?

“I didn’t know you thought it was a dream. I thought you were finally being honest with both of us. We belong together.” He answered as if reading her mind.

“You’re an Alpha Shifter. I’m a human. Different species.” She started to get annoyed again. He refused to apologize or even admit the error of his ways.

He caressed his hands under her wet shirt, sliding those strong fingers on her lower back. Biting back the moan in her throat, she stared deep into his ocean blue eyes.

“It doesn’t matter. You were meant for me.” His possessive tone and the lust sparking in his eyes left her breathless.

Her heartbeat doubled and she struggled to stay angry. “Ever heard of asking a woman on a date?”

“Would you? You’ve been running from me for years. You refuse to see me and you think I’d chance a date?” He argued back, holding her so close she could feel every single one of his muscles shifting down to the rock-hard erection poking her belly.

“I have not been running.”

“You do know I can tell you’re lying, right?”

Crap. “Whatever. I just refuse to be a notch on your tree post.” She needed to fight his intense you-belong-to-me look and his firm but soft lips. Lips she remembered sucking her breast and licking her pussy so well she saw stars.

“Oh, Cici,” he growled, exasperation showing clearly in his frown, “you are so much more than just a notch on my bed post. You’re the only one for me.”

Cici gulped. Focus. She needed to focus on what was important. He’d been wrong. “I was drunk out of my mind and you came into my house uninvited.”