Page 14 of His to Defend

Not one to ever back down from a challenge, Luke puffed up his chest and with a smug grin, challenged him. “All you said was that you didn’t want to talk about it. But you didn’t say that I—”

“Enough,” Ryker growled.

“What’s going on between you two?” Luke said. He still hadn’t backed down.

Ryker did not want to fight him but he would, cousin or not, if it came to that. “Absolutely nothing.” He crossed his arms over his chest and in doing so, gave Luke a shove so he was forced to take a step back.

“That’s bullshit and you know it.” Luke stepped up again, resuming their face-off.

“I just met her.” The growl in his voice should have been enough to warn his cousin off.

A Jackson through and through, Luke pressed, “You know as well as I do that time doesn’t matter for anything when it comes to ma—”

“Shut up.”

Ryker’s body vibrated with barely contained rage. If Luke thought he could try to fill his head with any of that mating bullshit, especially when he was talking about a human woman, he had another think coming.

“Or what?”

He came seconds from throwing the punch that would shut Luke up once and for all, but he was smart enough to know that it wouldn’t have the desired effect. There was only one remedy for the pent-up energy he had: a run in the woods where he could let his bear out to roar and stretch, and burn off the tension that was ripping through his body.

Or…

A vision of Nina, her big, full tits encased in black lace, heaving beneath him popped into his head.

Maybe there was another way to relieve his frustration.

CHAPTER SEVEN

“I’m so glad you’re here, Nina. It means so much.” Harper pulled her into what must have been the fifth hug that day. It was Harper’s final dress fitting so that morning they’d gone with Ella, Chloe, and Kira down into town to a little store called Bree’s Knees, where the owner of the store, Bree Brooks, was currently preparing Harper’s dress for any last-minute adjustments.

“I know.” Nina smiled and gave her friend another hug. “I’m super happy to be here, too. You aren’t starting to get nervous, are you?” She’d noticed Harper becoming more and more emotional as the days went on, and although Nina had only been at the ridge for a few days, it was a noticeable difference. Particularly in the last twenty-four hours. After Nina’s bike ride, she’d spent the rest of the day helping Harper with some of the little details about the wedding. Seating charts, favors, and that type of thing. She’d also spent a great deal of time glancing at the door to the Den, hoping every time it opened that it would be Ryker on the other side coming to finish what they’d started in the woods. But the rest of the afternoon passed, and then the evening, and Ryker never reappeared. She’d caught Luke glancing in her direction and even once wiggling his eyebrows, but other than that, there had been no mention of anything happening between them.

Then again, maybe Luke didn’t know.

Nina almost laughed aloud at herself. Of course Luke knew what had happened. He wasn’t stupid.

But if he’d told Chloe, or any of the others, Nina couldn’t tell. No one had said anything to her.

“It’s not that I’m nervous.” Harper shook her head. “I’m just so…well, I can’t really believe that I’m here, you know? I mean, it was barely a year ago that I came to the ridge for the first time. And do you remember what I was like back then?”

Nina nodded. She remembered very well the hell that Harper’s ex-husband had put her through. She’d never approved of her best friend’s marriage, especially when Harper had confided that she was only a cover for her ex, who—she’d discovered after their marriage—was gay but too scared to come out publicly. Nina had encouraged her friend to leave him and to start over, years earlier, but Harper and her ex had been good friends. No, they didn’t have a romantic relationship, but they had a solid friendship and a business together, and Harper never saw the need to disrupt all of that just so she could find someone new.

Secretly, Nina had been thrilled when Harper’s ex had finally gone public with his lover. Despite the fact that it had caused chaos for Harper and her life because he hadn’t been very classy about the split, and had eventually tried to ruin her publicly, Nina knew it was going to be the fresh start that Harper had always deserved. And she’d gotten it too.

With Axel.

“I know it wasn’t the best situation,” Nina said. “But I’m so glad you had to go through that, sweetie, because you wouldn’t be here with Axel and sweet Lily if you hadn’t.”

It was the right thing to say, but also the wrong thing because Harper once again burst into tears.

“Hey.” Nina jumped out of her chair and handed her friend a tissue. “I didn’t mean to make you cry.”

“I know.” Harper dabbed at her eyes. “And you didn’t. Well, you did… But it’s not like that. I’m just happy.”

Nina had to take her word for it because a moment later, Chloe, Ella, and Bree appeared from the curtained-off back room. “Are you ready?” Bree extended Harper her hand. “Because your dress is and I can’t wait to see you in it. It’s gorgeous.”

Harper stood and tugged at her T-shirt. “I hope so because after Lily was born, I just can’t seem to drop this extra weight.”