Chapter 7
Chapter
Seven
When Nell opened her apartment door the next morning, the sight of her sent Ryder’s wolf into a frenzy.
Mate. Mate. Mate.
Ryder dropped his suitcase, and he opened his arms. Nell came into them hard enough to rock him back on his heels. Joy overwhelmed his senses. He buried his face in her hair and held her while his wolf howled for more.
Her breath caught beside his neck. “This is so weird.” Nell drew back far enough to see him without leaving his arms.
He wanted to kiss her. “Yeah.”
“What do we do now?”
“I have no idea.”
She laughed, and the familiar sound hit him in the chest. “Let’s get out of here. I’m afraid if we stay in my apartment, we’ll just spiral.”
Nell grabbed her purse, locked her door, and they walked downstairs.
The café near her building had steamed windows and small tables crowded close together.
They ordered coffee and found a table against the wall.
Nell wrapped both hands around her cup. Beneath the table, her knee brushed his and the contact sent a spark of need up his leg.
“What did you plan for today?” he asked.
“The Saturday Market, if that sounds good.”
He agreed and they took Nell’s Subaru downtown and parked near the waterfront.
Ryder slung his camera over one shoulder before they joined the crowd.
Getting out of the apartment was probably a good idea.
All his wolf wanted was to strip her naked and take her in every way imaginable.
All the pornographic thoughts he was having about his best friend made Ryder feel like he was losing his mind.
Rows of white tents filled the space beside the river. Cinnamon sugar and frying onions drifted from the food stalls, and a bluegrass trio played beneath the Burnside Bridge, their quick notes threading through the crowd and the traffic overhead.
At a photography booth, black-and-white images of Portland bridges covered one wall. Ryder stopped before a photograph of rain whitening the river while a cyclist passed beneath the dark steel supports.
At the next tent, a potter had arranged blue and green bowls across wooden shelves. Nell picked up a shallow bowl glazed the color of the river beneath the clouds.
“You like that one?”
She turned the bowl in her hands, testing its weight. “This blue is really pretty.”
“You should get it.”
Nell did. The potter wrapped it in brown paper, and Ryder carried the bag while they walked.
They stopped at a jewelry booth where hammered silver earrings hung from black cards.
Nell passed over the long hooks and lifted a pair of small silver drops with hinged fastenings.
Each one curved slightly, catching light along the hammered surface.
“That would look really pretty with your hair,” Ryder said.
She held one beside her ear and turned toward a small mirror. The silver shone against her skin. “You think?”
“Yeah. Definitely.” His voice broke.
Nell looked at him in the mirror, smiled, and then reached into her purse. Ryder shifted the bag to his other hand and pulled out his credit card.
“I want to buy them for you.”
Nell looked from him to the earrings, then slowly tucked her wallet away.
“All right,” she said. “Thank you.”
The vendor placed the earrings in a small paper box. Ryder put them into the bag with her bowl. He had bought her presents before, but it had never felt like this.
The crowd thickened near the food stalls. A stroller cut between them, and Ryder reached behind him for Nell. Her fingers slid into his, and his wolf surged at the contact. Ryder turned his hand and held on as they passed the stroller.
Nell’s palm was warm, her fingers long and delicate.
They had held hands while dancing and while pulling each other through crowds.
This was entirely different. His wolf wouldn’t stop demanding he claim her.
It was so loud it was making his head hurt.
Ryder could barely contain himself. As much as he loved Nell as a friend, this sudden need to have her was messing with his mind.
They walked past leather bags, bright screen-printed shirts, and stalls crowded with artwork.
His thumb moved over her knuckles. Nell looked up at him and smiled.
He could see her wren behind her eyes, bright and clear, full of the life he’d always seen there.
He couldn’t believe he’d been so blind. All this time, Nell was his mate.
His one and only. The one fate had made just for him.
Now that he knew, it was unimaginable that he’d missed it to begin with.
They bought pierogi and an elephant ear from two of the food stalls and carried everything to a bench near the river. The Willamette moved broad and brown beyond the path, with gulls circling above the water and bicycles passing behind them. The bluegrass trio started another song.
Nell took a bite of pierogi and looked toward the musicians. “I like them.”
“Me too.” Ryder watched the fiddler lean toward the banjo player as they picked up the pace. “They look like they’re having fun.”
Nell smiled. “I was a little worried today would be awkward.”
He laughed. “It’s still strange.”
“Holding your hand doesn’t feel strange.”
Ryder took another bite. “No. It doesn’t.”
For a moment they sat quietly, listening to the music and watching the river.
Ryder had spent the morning wanting his best friend in a way that was way more than friendly.
These feelings were just starting to sink in.
It was embarrassing. And strange. As much as he wanted to tell her about it, he couldn’t let the words come out of his mouth.
Nell deserved time for this all to settle in, and he wasn’t going to burden her with his dirty thoughts.
A gull dropped toward the river, struck the surface, and rose again with water scattering from its wings. Ryder grabbed his camera. He caught the gull just above the water before it climbed out of the frame.
“Did you get it?” Nell asked.
He checked the screen. “Yeah.”
She leaned against him to look. The photograph had caught the bird with its wings spread and droplets suspended beneath it.
“That’s a good one.”
Ryder turned his head. She looked up from the camera.
Nell was so close, her shoulder against his and her face only inches away.
Her breath caught, and the urge to kiss her made his wolf howl inside his mind.
Ryder’s attention locked on her mouth. Nell’s lips parted slightly.
His dick twitched inside his pants, and he forced himself to calm down.
Then someone passed behind them with a laughing toddler on his shoulders, and Nell glanced toward the sound. Ryder smiled and handed her the elephant ear. She tore off a piece and they finished it together, cinnamon sugar collecting on their fingers.