Chapter 3
CHAPTER THREE
RYKER
The gorgeous red-haired woman gasps in surprise and spins to face me. She lets out a breath as she places her hand on her chest.
“Holy smokes, you scared me.”
I have never seen a woman like her before.
She has beautiful red hair with hints of orange throughout it.
It flows in waves down her back. Her eyes are bright green with tiny flecks of gold in them.
She wears strange black pants and a matching black top.
I try not to stare at her legs, because her pants are skin tight, showing off her delectable shape, but I’ve never seen anything like them before. I’ve never seen anything like her.
I try to act casual as I stroll up to her to soothe Harriet, the white speckled skyreacher the woman was petting. In all honesty, my actions are just a way to get closer to her. I saw her sneak into the cave and I’m curious why she’s here.
“I’m sorry, that wasn’t my intention. I would never want to cause you distress. I just saw you admiring Harriet here and couldn’t help myself.”
“Yes, well…” she trails off as she glances up at Harriet. “She is gorgeous.”
“I wasn’t talking about the bird.”
Her wide eyes turn to me in surprise as a beautiful shade of pink fills her cheeks, making me smile at her.
“Oh.”
“So what brings you in here, are you not participating in the hunt?” Why else would a gorgeous woman be on this mountaintop?
“Are you?” She asks in return.
“No.” I shake my head, moving to stroke Harriet’s beak. “I’m not allowed to.”
“Why?” she asks, tilting her head.
“I don’t have—”
“Hey! You in here?” I’m cut off by John yelling from the cave entrance. What does he want now? He couldn’t have worse timing.
I glance at the gorgeous woman as I tell her, “Sorry, I’ll be right back.” She smiles at me and turns to stroke Harriet.
I jog over to the entrance, eager to get John out of here so I can speak to her uninterrupted. “John, what can I do for you?”
“Ah, there you are. Can you have Echo ready for seven am for me? I want to leave as soon as I get up.”
“Of course, John. She’ll be ready for you.”
“Good, good. Thanks.” He turns and leaves, probably going back to wait for the participants of the hunt to return.
Speaking of which, I still don’t know why the redhead is here. As I head back into the cave, I don’t see her where I left her, and a sense of panic fills me. Where did she go? I don’t even know her name. Will I ever see her again?
Movement catches my eye and I look up to see her leg hanging over the side of Harriet.
“Hey! What are you doing? Be careful up there, you could fall!” I call to her, my arms outstretched to catch her in case she falls.
She glances over the edge, and upon seeing me, breaks out in a smile. The sight warms my heart. When has a woman ever smiled at me like that?
“I’m going for a ride, I’ll bring her back… eventually.”
Is she crazy? “What? No, you can’t ride her.
She doesn’t even have a saddle on! You’ll fall.
Now, get back down here and I will help you with whatever you need, okay?
” I reach both arms up, hoping she’ll drop down into them, but she just shakes her head and looks over Harriet’s head to the opening.
The one that has a sheer drop, hundreds of feet down to the forest floor.
“Don’t worry, I’ve been hang gliding, this will be easy in comparison. I’ll bring her back, I’m not stealing her or anything, promise. There’s just someone I have to find.”
“Please, Red, just come down, you’re scaring me.” She somehow manages to get Harriet to move towards the edge of the cave, even without reigns.
“Can’t do that, Blue!” Was she referring to my eye color? She noticed them?
As Harriet takes another step, I realize this crazy woman might actually take off on her own, and without any riding equipment. I hesitate for a split second before leaping onto Harriet’s side and climbing up to her back.
“Please, can we just talk about this for a minute? This is incredibly dangerous.”
“Nah, It’ll be fine, you’ll see!” She nudges Harriet forward again as I throw my leg over, straddling Harriet like she is a few feet behind her.
Before I can do more than grip onto Harriet’s sides, she leaps out into the open.
Immediately, we are soaring hundreds of feet above the ground.
Red starts to slide sideways, so I throw my arm around her waist and pull her back flush with me.
I lean forward and grip onto Harriet’s feathers so my body is braced over Red’s, as Harriet soars through the sky.
Red lifts her head so she can see in front of us.
“This is amazing!” She lets go of Harriet and raises her arms at the sides.
I have her caged in so she can’t go anywhere and she starts giggling in joy.
Her laugh is infectious and I can’t stop myself from smiling at her pure joy. This woman is crazy.
“What’s your name, Red?”
“Penny, yours?” she tilts her face to look up at me, our faces only inches apart.
“Ryker.”
“Hmm, Ryker. I like it. I guess that makes me the captain and you my first officer.” I frown at her, not understanding. But she just smiles and shakes her head, looking back at the view around us.
“Well, first officer Ryker, I must say this is the most exciting first date I’ve ever had.”
Date? As in what you did when you were courting? Was she—Did she—She must be joking. There is no way any woman would be interested in me, let alone the most beautiful one I’ve ever seen. Maybe a date meant something different to her.
“Have you been on many first dates?” I ask, hoping for more information.
“Unfortunately.” My stomach falls. So this was something she did all the time then, it obviously never led anywhere since she was still single.
I mean, I assumed she was, since she was up here alone.
Which begs another question. Why was she up there alone?
Women never wander around without the men in their lives.
Be it their fathers, brothers, or husbands.
“But most of them sucked. The guys were boring, or only interested in getting in my bed. That’s not what I’m looking for.”
I wasn’t surprised men wanted to sleep with her, but she made it seem like that’s all they wanted.
“And what are you looking for, Penny?” I notice how good her body feels under mine. A connection pulses between us, making my heart beat faster than usual.
“I want a man that likes me for me. A man who genuinely cares about me, that wants to have fun with me, but also isn’t afraid to settle down and build a life together.”
“Surely all men want those things?” I ask in confusion. Because wasn’t that the point of the mating hunt? A group of men seeking a wife? To take care of her and love her?
“Not the men I’ve met.”
“Sounds like you’ve been dating the wrong sort of men,” I tell her as I press my nose to her neck and inhale. I can’t help myself, she smells of flowers and pine, it’s intoxicating.
“Ryker?” Her voice is almost a whisper over the loud sound of the wind rushing over us as Harriet soars through the skies. Without reins, we can’t direct her, we’ll just have to wait until she lands before we can get off.
“Yes?”
“Did you just sniff me?”
I consider lying to her, but something tells me I could never be dishonest with this woman. “Yes.”
Her body shakes. Is she laughing? “Why?” she giggles.
“Cause you smell amazing. Makes me wonder what you’ll taste like.
” I hear her gasp and take the opportunity to smell her again.
This time I let my nose trail up and down her neck and I swear I hear her moan my name quietly.
Now I can’t get my own words out of my head.
What would she taste like? I poke my tongue out and gently lick up the side of her neck.
She gasps again, but this time I’m the one who moans her name.
“Penny…”
Harriet suddenly banks hard to the left, making me grip her feathers tighter. “Hold on!” I yell over the sound of the rushing wind. I see Penny’s fingers gripping the feathers tightly, and I just hope we can both hold on long enough to land.
My wish is granted when Harriet descends, slowing until she drops the last couple of feet to the ground. I waste no time wrapping my arm around Penny’s waist and hauling her up against my chest sideways, my other arm under her legs, as I leap off the side and land in… something cold and wet.
Harriet immediately takes off and soars back into the sky. We both watch her go before turning back to where we’ve landed. All around us, as far as I can see, is… snow. Hell, we’re in trouble.