Chapter 29 Too close
Sage's POV
It took me about a week after Jaxon told me about the possible arranged marriage to realize that I was done hiding.
I was done pretending I didn't want Ryder. Done letting Jaxon control my life with vague threats about strategic marriages. Done sitting around waiting for someone to kill me while I played by everyone else's rules.
If they wanted to threaten me, if they wanted to arrange my future like I was property to be traded, then I was going to live for right now. For this moment. For the only thing that felt real in a world built on lies.
I showed up at Ryder's apartment at nine o'clock at night with a bottle of wine and no explanation.
He opened the door in jeans and a t-shirt, his hair damp. I guessed he just got out of the shower. The surprise on his face shifted quickly to concern.
"Sage? What's wrong?"
"Nothing's wrong." I walked past him into the apartment. "I just wanted to see you."
"Does Jaxon know you're here?"
"I don't care if he knows." I set the wine on his kitchen counter. "I'm tired of asking permission to live my life."
Ryder closed the door and studied me carefully. "What happened?"
"Nothing happened. I just decided I'm done being scared." I turned to face him. "Can we just be normal for one night? No investigations, no threats, no club business. Just you and me."
The expression on his face quickly changed. The concern faded and left behind a heat that made my stomach flip.
"Yeah," he said quietly. "We can do that."
We cooked dinner together. Nothing fancy, just pasta and sauce from a jar, but it felt more intimate than any expensive restaurant. Ryder moved around his small kitchen with easy confidence while I chopped vegetables and tried not to think about anything except the way his muscles moved under his shirt.
We ate on his couch with plates balanced on our knees and a movie neither of us was really watching playing on the TV. The conversation flowed easily, jumping from childhood memories to stupid jokes to comfortable silences that didn't need to be filled.
"Tell me something," I said after a while. "Something nobody else knows about you."
"Like what?"
"I don't know. A secret. A dream. Something that's just yours."
He was quiet for a moment, staring at his half-empty plate. "I used to want to be a mechanic. Not for the club, just a regular mechanic who fixed cars and went home at five. Someone who had a normal life with normal problems."
"Why didn't you?"
"Because Vincent needed an enforcer and I owed him everything. And because normal was never really an option for someone like me." He looked at me. "What about you? What's something nobody knows?"
"I'm terrified all the time," I admitted. "I pretend I'm brave but inside I'm still that scared eighteen year old who ran away because she couldn't handle the violence and the uncertainty."
"You're not that girl anymore."
"How do you know?"
"Because that girl would never have come here tonight. She would have done what Jaxon wanted and asked permission before making any choices." His hand found mine on the couch between us. "You're braver than you think."
The touch sent electricity up my arm. I kept my plate on the coffee table without breaking eye contact.
"Ryder."
"Yeah?"
"Kiss me."
He didn't hesitate. His mouth was on mine before I could take another breath, hot and demanding and perfect. I melted into him, my hands fisting in his shirt to pull him closer.
The kiss deepened and became desperate. Six years of wanting, weeks of sneaking around, all of it poured into the way his hands tangled in my hair and my body pressed against his.
We barely made it to his bedroom.
Clothes hit the floor in a trail from the couch to his bed. His hands were everywhere, rough and gentle at the same time, learning every curve and hollow of my body. I explored him just as thoroughly, tracing scars and tattoos with my fingers and lips.
When he finally settled between my thighs, his eyes locked on mine.
"You sure about this?" His voice was rough with need but the question was genuine.
"I've never been more sure of anything."
He claimed me then, slow and deep, watching my face as pleasure built between us. It was different than the first time we'd been together. It was less desperate and more intimate, like we were sealing a promise neither of us had spoken out loud.
I moaned his name so loud as wave after wave of orgasms hit me.
Afterward, wrapped in his sheets with his arms around me, I felt more myself than I had in years. Like all the pieces that had been scattered finally came back together.
"I don't care what Jaxon wants," I whispered against his chest. "I don't care about strategic alliances or protecting the club or any of it. I choose you."
Ryder pulled me closer and pressed his lips to my forehead. "You sure about that? Because choosing me means choosing this world. All of it."
"I know. And I'm still choosing you."
For a moment everything felt possible. Like we could figure out who killed my dad and who was threatening us and how to deal with Jaxon's expectations. Like love might actually be enough.
Then Ryder's phone rang.
We both froze. The screen lit up on his nightstand showing Jaxon's name and it was two in the morning. Nothing good ever came from calls at two in the morning.
Ryder grabbed the phone. "Yeah?"
I couldn't hear what Jaxon was saying but I could hear the tone. It was tight and angry and dangerous.
"I'm at your apartment," Jaxon's voice came through loud enough for me to catch. "I know you're not here. And I know Sage isn't at home. You've got ten minutes to tell me where the fuck my sister is, or I'm coming to find you both."
The line went dead.
We stared at each other, still tangled in his sheets, my heart hammering against my ribs.
Then headlights swept across Ryder's bedroom window.