Chapter 5

My heart thumps heavily against my ribs as his words hang in the freezing night air. I was waiting for you.

I shift uncomfortably under the weight of his gaze, pulling my eyes away to stare into the crackling orange embers of the bonfire. The heat on my cheeks has very little to do with the fire and everything to do with the predatory male standing entirely too close to me.

“Silas never got past first base,” I mutter, the confession slipping out before I can talk myself out of it.

Ryder’s brow twitches, his dark eyes snapping to mine with a sudden, intense sharpness. “What did you say?”

“I said we only ever kissed,” I repeat, lifting my chin, refusing to shrink back. “That’s as far as it ever went. I wasn’t saving myself for some hypocritical purity standard, and I sure as hell wasn’t saving it for him. But every time he tried to push for more, every instinct inside me recoiled. My body just... locked up. It wouldn’t let me go further.”

I take a deep breath, the cold air burning my lungs as the realization settles over me like a heavy weight. “I guess deep down, my wolf knew. I wasn’t going to give that up to anyone who wasn’t my mate.”

A deep, dark rumble vibrates out of Ryder’s chest—a low, satisfied purr that makes my breath catch in my throat. The satisfaction rolling off him in heavy waves is practically suffocating.

“Don’t get that cocky smirk on your face, Ryder,” I snap, pointing a finger directly at his chest, trying to shield myself behind a wall of pure attitude. “I am a virgin, not a goddamn prude. I know what I like, I know how my own body works, and I’m sure as fuck not some fragile glass doll who needs to be handled with kid gloves. So if you think you’re getting a timid, submissive little mate out of this deal, you are out of your fucking mind.”

Ryder doesn’t recoil. Instead, he steps right up to my pointing finger, letting my fingertip press against the solid, iron-hard muscle of his chest. His hand swoops up, wrapping warm, heavy fingers around my wrist, not to pull me away, but to pin my hand against his wildly hammering heart.

“Little wolf,” he whispers, leaning down until his lips brush the sensitive shell of my ear, his dark voice laced with a lethal, intoxicating promise. “I don’t want timid. I don’t want submissive. I want you—feisty, bloody, sailors-mouth and all. And the fact that you saved yourself for me, even without knowing it? That makes you mine in ways you can’t even begin to fathom.”

His words vibrate through my palm, straight down to my bones, igniting a spark that turns into a full-blown inferno in my chest. The contrast between his absolute dominance and the steady, thumping rhythm of his heart beneath my fingers is overwhelming.

I try to swallow, but my throat is completely dry. “You talk a big game, Black.”

“I don’t play games, Haven,” he murmurs, his dark eyes darkening to a shade that is almost black, consumed by the shadow of his wolf.

His fingers loosen around my wrist, sliding slowly up my arm, over the curve of my shoulder, until his large, calloused hand cups the back of my neck. His thumb traces the sensitive skin right behind my jawline, sending a sharp, electric shiver tearing down my spine. The air between us vanishes completely. The cold night, the crackling bonfire, the distant drunk screams from the frat house—all of it fades into background noise.

My breath hitches. “Ryder...”

“Tell me to stop,” he rasps, leaning down until his lips are a fraction of an inch from mine, his hot, pine-and-frost breath washing over my face. “Tell me you don’t want this, and I swear I’ll back off. But say it right now, little wolf, because if you don’t...”

I don’t say a word. I can’t. My newly awakened wolf is screaming at me to close the gap, to claim what’s mine as much as he’s claiming me.

Instead of answering, I grab the heavy lapels of his leather jacket and yank him down the final fraction of an inch.

The moment our lips meet, an explosion of pure, intoxicating energy erupts behind my eyes. It isn’t a gentle, testing kiss. It is possessive, deep, and fiercely demanding. A low, ragged growl tears from deep within Ryder’s chest as he pulls me flush against his hard body, his free arm wrapping around my waist like an iron band, lifting me slightly off my feet.

Every kiss I’ve ever had before this moment—every dry, awkward fumble with Silas—is instantly wiped from my memory, rendered completely meaningless. Ryder tastes like dark mint, heat, and absolute danger. His tongue slides past my parted lips, claiming my mouth with a desperate, wild hunger that matches the fire burning through my veins.

I tilt my head back, opening for him, my hands tangling into the soft, thick dark hair at the nape of his neck. The mate bond roars to life, a blinding wave of warmth that stitches us together at the soul. My hips press involuntarily against his, and a soft, helpless whimper slips from my throat into his mouth.

That sound drives him completely unhinged. Ryder deepens the kiss, nipping possessively at my bottom lip before soothing the tiny sting with his tongue, moulding my body to his until there isn’t a single breath of air between us.

When he finally pulls back, his forehead rests against mine, both of us panting, our shared breath swirling like smoke in the crisp night air. His dark eyes burn down at me, wild, dark, and utterly consumed.

"Fuck,” he breathes, his thumb softly tracing my swollen, stinging lips. “You’re going to be the death of me, Haven Green.”