Chapter 101 A Sweaty Forest Floor
Ryker didn't last long before he collapsed against her, grunting and totally spent.
Lyra couldn't get enough of him, she grabbed his back, holding on tight as he laid on her, bearing most of his own weight.
“I'm sorry I finished so fast," he hissed, “you got into my head, Lyra."
She was too spent to say a word and all she could do was purr blissfully and snuggle closer to the warmth of his body.
They lay there for a long moment, the forest breathing around them, leaves whispering overhead and the earth cool beneath their bodies.
Lyra was slick with sweat, chest rising and falling fast, words completely beyond her reach.
She shifted weakly and ended up sprawled on top of Ryker, her full weight resting against him like she no longer had the strength to hold herself up.
He didn’t complain.
If anything, he looked far too pleased.
She lifted her head just enough to see his face and there it was, that infuriating, lazy smirk tugging at his mouth.
“Could you wipe that smirk away?” she muttered, her voice hoarse.
“Save what's left of your energy, Lyra. You need it."
But she groaned in embarrassment and smacked his chest. “You're insufferable."
“I'm not the one who can't even say their name after cumming a dozen times."
“Ryker!"
He laughed, low and satisfied. “Nope. I like it. Especially when you leave me so exhausted I can barely speak properly.”
She flushed and dropped her forehead against his chest, laughing despite herself. The sound was muffled, warm and completely intimate.
“You’re impossible,” she said.
“And you have to admit that you love it.”
She felt his hand slide up, fingers brushing her jaw before he tilted her face up and kissed her.
It wasn’t hurried or hungry this time. It was just a slow, lingering kiss, full of heat and comfort and something that felt so close to peace.
“Do you want more?” he murmured against her lips.
She pulled back just enough to look at him like he’d lost his mind. “Ryker, I’m tired. And sore. I’ll need at least a year before I recover from that.”
He laughed again, louder this time. “A year? You wouldn’t last a week.”
She snorted. “Watch me.”
“Liar.”
She smiled sleepily, eyelids growing heavy. “Let me rest for a bit,” she said.
But when she laid on him, he had his hands wandering all over her back again.
“Stop that," she scolded him like a child. “Just hold me.”
His expression softened immediately. “Sleep,” he said, pulling her closer. “I’ve got you.”
She didn’t argue, she couldn’t. The moment she settled fully against him, her eyes slid shut, exhaustion claiming her completely.
He wrapped his arms around her, one hand cradling the back of her head, the other resting protectively along her spine.
Above them, the moon peeked through the trees.
Ryker lay there, staring up at it, feeling something he hadn’t felt in years.
Peace.
There was no shouting and no war cries echoing through his skull. It was just the feel of Lyra’s steady breathing, warm and real in his arms.
He swallowed and closed his eyes briefly, offering a silent prayer to the Moon goddess, gratitude spilling through him so strongly it almost hurt.
For bringing her back. For giving him another chance to be with her and love her properly.
Minutes passed. Maybe longer.
Lyra didn’t snore. She slept deeply, quietly, her body relaxed in a way that told him she trusted him completely.
Eventually, without even realizing it, sleep pulled him under too and he succumbed to the exhaustion of riding the forest for hours.
When Ryker woke, the first thing he noticed was the cold.
The second was the weight missing from his chest.
He blinked, still half-dazed, and turned his head with a faint smile.
“We’re in the forest, Lyra,” he said lazily. “I’m supposed to be your bed or the ants will ravage that smooth body of yours.”
But no matter how much he called out, there was nothing but silence.
The smile faded as he turned fully and froze.
The ground beside him was empty.
“Lyra?” His voice rose instantly.
But he heard nothing.
He sat up, heart beginning to pound. “Lyra, don’t wander off,” he called. “We don’t have any light out here and there might be bears in the woods.”
Still nothing. At once, a cold knot formed in his stomach.
He stood quickly, scanning the trees. “Lyra!” he shouted this time.
Panic hit him fast and hard.
He grabbed his trousers, yanking them on as he rushed through the clearing, searching frantically, calling her name again and again.
He found no tracks, no sound and no scent.
Nothing.
“Fuck,” he hissed.
He sprinted back toward the camp, adrenaline flooding his veins. Then shoved into the tent, and rummaged through his bag, grabbing his flashlight and shotgun with shaking hands.
That was when Dax stepped inside.
“Hey,” Dax said. “I came to give Lyra dinner.”
Ryker barely looked at him. “She’s already eaten.”
Dax frowned. “I want to talk to her. I said something stupid earlier. I want to make it right.”
“She’s fine,” Ryker snapped. “Go get some sleep, Dax. Tomorrow’s going to be long.”
Dax didn’t move. His eyes narrowed slightly. “Why are you dismissing me?”
Ryker didn’t answer.
Dax’s nostrils flared as he took a slow breath, then another. “Where’s Lyra?”
“Go to sleep, little brother."
“Where's Lyra, what did you do to her?"
Ryker stiffened. “What I do with my wife is none of your business.”
He brushed past him.
Dax followed immediately. “Where did you take her? Why can’t I pick up her scent?”
“Stay off, boy!" He grunted in anger.
But Dax wasn't stepping back, he followed even closer and then grabbed him. “Where is Lyra?"
The sound was so irritating that Ryker spun around, eyes wild. “I’m looking for her, damn it! I woke up in the forest and she was gone!”
Dax froze.