“Look at me, Lola,” Ryker commands.

I’m standing awkwardly by the door—now fully dressed, my head down, and trying to process what just happened. It’s everything I’ve been dreaming about—maybe more, but now that it’s over I’m unsure about what comes next, how I’m supposed to act. I don’t know what Ryker expects of me. No, I know what he expects…all of it. All of me. Which leaves me standing here like a dummy, using all the courage I have just to raise my head and look Ryker in the eye.

The minute I do I see the ownership in his gaze. I see the satisfaction on his face. I also see signs of my arousal on his mustache and beard. I feel my face heat and I know I’m blushing. The harsh lines on Ryker’s face soften and he comes closer, hooks his hand around my neck, and pulls me into his body. He’s tall and made up of lean muscle, but he encircles me and I feel tiny and feminine next to him. I feel protected and safe. That’s it exactly. It’s a strange sensation, but I have to acknowledge it. Ryker makes me feel safe.

“You’re mine.” He repeats his earlier words and I can’t stop the small smile that spreads on my face, because he sounds kind of like a caveman.

“I know,” I acknowledge.

“Are you ashamed?” he asks, his voice all growly. His other hand comes up and he holds my head between them, as if he is preventing me from looking away. There’s an emotion on his face I can’t name, but it makes me feel like my answer has more weight than I can understand.

“No. Of course not,” I murmur. Nothing could make me ashamed of what we just did. I feel like I’ve wanted it my whole life. There’s still a part of me wondering if it’s really happened. Maybe I’ve dreamed it for so long, this is just another fantasy and I’ll wake up and none of it will have ever happened.

“Then why are you suddenly so shy, when minutes ago you were riding my face and begging for more?” His question makes me squirm a little from embarrassment, but more because I can feel a fresh wave of excitement roll through me, making me even wetter. My body instantly craves the relief I know only Ryker can give me. He’s a forbidden fruit and now that I’ve had one taste, I just want more.

“Slim,” I start, but then stop, unsure of how to explain it.

“Does he have a claim on you, Lola? Has he laid a hand on you?” Ryker growls, his hold growing stronger, losing its tenderness and becoming almost bruising with its force.

“No! I’ve never thought of any man like that except for you, Ryker. It’s just he… They all know what we did in here. It’s…embarrassing.”

“Nothing we do together will ever embarrass me. It should never embarrass you. You belong to me, Lola. You give your body to me when, how and where I say. Do you understand?” he asks, and his frank words should bother me, but they don’t. They make my body flush with heat.

“Yes, Ryker,” I answer, unable to say anything else. I’m hypnotized by the dark promises held in his gaze. My answer seems to please him because his hold gentles and he moves his thumb across my cheek.

“Good girl,” he says and then, as if he’s giving me praise, he kisses my forehead in the sweetest kiss I can ever remember feeling. “We’ll come back to just how I want you, Lola, when it’s time,” he adds and looks positively sinful when he delivers that promise. It’s a look that makes my knees weak. “Tell me exactly what you mean when you say you’ve never thought of giving yourself to anyone but me. Is that true?”

I swallow, nerves assaulting me, but I push through them. Now is not the time to get weak, not when I might be on the verge of having everything I’ve ever wanted.

“It is. I’ve always wanted my first to be you,” I tell him, calling on courage that I didn’t know I possessed.

“Your first? What exactly are you saying, Lola?” he questions, but he knows what I’m saying. The truth is there on his face and I read it plain as day. He wants me to tell him, though, and since I’ve come this far, I might as well jump in head first.

“I want… I’ve always wanted you to be the man who takes my virginity, Ryker,” I tell him and, though my face heats, I keep my gaze directly on him.

“I’m too old for you,” he discounts, but I can tell he likes what I’ve said.

“Then you will know how to make it good for me,” I tell him and then, because I can’t stop myself, I bring my hand up to hold it against his. “You can make it good for both of us, teach me how to please you.”

“You know what kind of man I am, Lola. You’ve heard the talk in town. I have needs a girl like you might not like,” he growls, his body vibrating and I think it might be with desire.

Ryker Stone wants me.

“And I already told you, Ryker. If you took time to show me, nothing you would do to me would scare me.”

“How do you know?” he asks, studying me closely and suddenly I know my entire future rests on how I answer this simple question.

“Because it’s you and I’m yours. Ryker, I’ve always been yours. I’ve just been waiting for you to claim me,” I tell him, my breath lodged in my chest as I wait to see how he answers my bold statement.