Free Bailey Bradford - Southwestern Shifters 08 - Revenge by Bailey Bradford Page B

Ryder’s nipple, and pushed that thigh up tight against Ryder’s nuts.
Ryder tipped his head back and moaned, humping Maarten desperately, squeezing the flesh in his hands to drag Maarten closer.
“Come,” he was ordered, and Ryder, who’d had trouble following orders up until meeting Marcus, mewled and pumped his release into his jeans.
“Oh, yes,” Maarten hissed, grinding against him. “Mm, so much better, so intense.” Then he thrust rapidly a few times and peeled himself off Ryder. “And mine, you are mine.”
Ryder shook his head, more to clear it than in denial, but Maarten snarled and kissed him again, this time more teeth than tongue.
“You are mine and I am yours. Quit trying to deny it. We are mates.”
‘Mates’—the word shot through Ryder, piercing his heart and soul, making room for Maarten in both. His mind, however, was having issues with it. Why was he hearing a voice he suspected was Maarten’s in his head?
“Because we are mates. It is part of our bond. How is it that you do not know this?”
Ryder was on the verge of freaking out, or coming again, one of the two. His erection hadn’t faded and he was still hornier than hell, but confusion was tangling up with that. He twisted his head aside, ending the kiss, or trying to. Maarten continued to nibble down his jaw line.
“You were just fucking someone else,” Ryder got out, anger burning his gut. “Casey—”
Maarten caught his chin, similar to the way Sissy had, and forced him to look at Maarten. The man truly was handsome, with pale blond hair and deep green eyes. He had a thinner top lip, but the bottom one was lush and deep pink from their kisses. His face could have been on the cover of the finest magazines, yet here he was, staring at Ryder like he was a treasure.
“Casey was simply there.” Maarten shook his head. “That sounds wrong, but had I known you would be here, that I’d find my mate, I would never have touched Casey. I didn’t particularly want him. He was easy, and I was stupid.”
Ryder didn’t like it, at all, no matter what the excuse was. He’d followed Maarten’s scent, mixed with that of another man’s, and it had driven him close to insane.
“Ryder, please,” Maarten begged. “Listen to me. Here.” He touched Ryder’s chest. “Listen to your wolf. He knows me. He is calling to my wolf, drawing us together because we are mates.”
“I don’t understand it,” Ryder said, unable to keep being angry. He wanted nothing more than to curl up in Maarten’s arms. “What’s happening?”
Maarten stepped back and Ryder struggled not to reach for him. “What do you mean, what’s happening? I told you, we are mates. You feel it just as I do.”
Ryder swallowed and felt like a fool. He didn’t know enough about any of this stuff. “I haven’t been around shifters for very long,” he admitted. “I don’t understand why we’re mates. I don’t even know if I like you.”
Maarten laughed softly and those green eyes shone warmly at Ryder. “You will like me well enough, and love me soon, too. Just as I will you.”
Ryder opened his mouth to protest that, but Maarten held up one finger. “Please, one moment.”
“Okay.”
“It is truth, all of it,” Maarten continued. “You felt our mental link, heard my thoughts, were comforted by me when I touched you, spoke to you. I don’t know why you haven’t been around shifters, why you don’t understand about mates. We are two halves, soon to be made whole. Soon we will not be able to bear to be apart. No one will know you as I do, and you will be a part of my soul. It is our way, when and if we find our mate. I can’t tell you how or why Fate decides two people are to be mates, I can only tell you that it happens, and it is to be treasured, as is one’s mate.”
Maarten stroked his cheek, and gave him a look so tender, it made Ryder’s chest ache. “And you, my handsome Ryder, will be treasured. You will never doubt your worth