Page 5 of His to Defend

“You have to be careful out here, Nina. There are animals and—”

“Ryker.”

Both women turned to see Axel slapping another man on the back. He led him closer and Nina’s pulse spiked at the familiar head of dark hair, and sharp green eyes that had sparked in the moonlight. Now with the light coming from the buildings, she could see the scruff of a beard on his jaw. She let her eyes travel the length of him, and almost missed it when Axel said, “Ladies, this is my cousin. Ryker. Meet Harper. My mate.” His gaze flicked to Nina. “I mean, my fiancée.”

Nina only vaguely noticed the use of the strange word again. She was too fixated on Ryker. Would she have let herself kiss him if they hadn’t been interrupted? Hell yes. She would have let herself do a whole lot more than kiss. That was evident by the dampness between her legs.

“And this is Harper’s best friend, Nina,” Axel said as he turned the introduction her way. “She just arrived for the wedding festivities herself.” Axel leaned in and kissed her on the cheek. “It’s good to see you again, Nina.”

Her smile for her best friend’s soon-to-be husband was genuine. “It’s so good to be here, Axel.” Nina forced her eyes away from Ryker and her gaze caught Harper’s. Nina immediately had to look away from her, too, because no doubt her best friend would be able to tell right away that something was going on. “Now, what were you saying about wild animals out in the woods? Is that really something I should be concerned about?”

Nina couldn’t help it; her eyes pulled back to Ryker as if the question was directed to him specifically.

“This is the forest,” Axel answered. “There are all sorts of animals out there. Wolves, cougars—”

“Bears.” Ryker looked directly into her eyes as he said it and a thrill went through her.

For a moment, she forgot about the others. “Maybe you can protect me?”

Somewhere beside her, Harper groaned. “Let’s go inside.” She grabbed Nina’s arm and yanked her toward the Den, leaving the men behind.

As soon as they were inside, Harper spun on her. “What the hell was that all about?”

Nina shrugged. “He’s pretty hot, don’t you think?”

“He is. But that’s not what I meant, Nina. We’ve been friends for a long time and I’ve never seen you…well, seen you do that.”

She couldn’t help but laugh at her best friend’s incredulity because it was true. Nina had never been the type to be so forward with a man. Not that way. True, she’d always been headstrong and had gone after exactly what she wanted—she usually got it, too—but she had never behaved quite like that with a man. To be fair, she’d never met a man quite like Ryker before. And she certainly had never met a man who’d inspired such strong feelings within seconds of meeting him.

“I don’t know what to tell you,” Nina said after a minute. “I was outside and I was just thinking about how I needed a little…well…a little fun and there he was and…well, what could it hurt?”

Harper laughed and shook her head. “Far be it from me to say anything about it. After all, I remember saying something very similar to you about Axel and now look at me.”

The comparison had Nina almost choking on her words. The last thing she wanted was to end up the way Harper had, about to be married with a child. Not that there was anything wrong with that, but it wasn’t for her. Not at all. She was looking for a little no-strings sexy time before she had to go face her real life again. That was it.

“I think I could use another drink.” She changed the subject and made a beeline into the great room where everyone else was gathered. Since she’d been gone, Kade and Luke, the younger two Jackson brothers, had joined them and Nina made her rounds greeting them while she sipped on another glass of wine. It didn’t take long for her to get wrapped up in the family dynamics. There was an excitement in the air for Harper and Axel’s big day, which was still just over a week away. It looked as though Nina and Ryker were the first guests to arrive, but judging by what the Jackson siblings were saying, only one of those two guests was actually supportive of the wedding.

“I’m actually really surprised he came,” Kira confessed as soon as Nina sat next to her on the couch. Kira was Kade’s twin, and pregnant with twins of her own. She hadn’t been at the ridge on Nina’s first visit, having only recently moved back with her partner Nash, but Nina had taken to her immediately.

“Why would you be surprised? He’s your cousin, right? Don’t you have more family coming to the wedding?”

“Maybe.” Kira shrugged, but she didn’t look too sure. “But probably not. Our family doesn’t really believe in weddings.”

“That’s crazy.” Nina sipped at her wine and surreptitiously scanned the room for the subject of their discussion. She hadn’t seen him since Harper dragged her inside. “Why wouldn’t your family believe in weddings? And why would you be having one if you didn’t believe?”

Kira laughed. “It’s important to Harper. And what’s important to Harper has become important to us. Want to know a secret, though?”

“Of course.”

“I secretly kind of like the idea, too.”

“You should do it.” Nina didn’t bother mentioning the fact that Kira was almost six months pregnant with twins and her partner was obviously devoted to her. Nash was constantly making sure Kira was comfortable and had whatever she needed. The fact that they weren’t even considering marriage was crazy to Nina. And that said a lot, because she herself had never given the idea of tying the knot much thought.

“We’ll see.” Nina followed her new friend’s gaze across the huge timber-framed room to the giant stone fireplace, where Nash was currently stoking the fire. Being the beginning of September, the days were mostly still warm, but up in the mountains the evenings could get chilly.

I wasn’t chilly outside with Ryker.

“So what’s the deal with Ryker then?” Nina asked before she could stop herself. “If your family doesn’t support the idea of weddings, why is he here?”