The Ice Alpha’s Mate (Aria and Ryder) novel Chapter 62

Chapter 62

RYDER

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“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Aria asks after a moment of pure silence. She even tries to push me away. “Let me go!”

“Have you finally realized it yet?”

“Realized what?”

“That it would be hell if we went through with this?”

Her silence is a confirmation that she knows exactly what I’m implying, and for several seconds, she struggles to find an answer for me. “I…I don’t understand what you mean. You mentioned…I’m here because you want to reject me!”

“Do I?”

Her

eyes widen in the dark. I know there’s no light in my room and it could be wishful thinking, but I see something close to relief on her face before it disappears in a flash. “What are you talking about?”

“It hurt,” I affirm in a low voice. “I know it did. So, don’t lie to me, Aria. Don’t tell me that you didn’t feel the pain of what we were going to do.”

“But you told me-”

“I lied! Don’t you see that? I lied to you, Aria. It was my last shot

show you that this isn’t what we want. I know what you

felt whenever I was near her because I felt the same thing! So, enough of the pretending. This is the last chance we get. The only one there’ll ever be.”

A scoff escapes her lips. “So you….this was all a lie? You don’t wan to reject me to be with that girl?”

“Exactly.”

Her expression hardens. “You’re a jerk for that.”

“A jerk to whom? You? Her? Because I don’t care about her.”

“You’re going to marry her!”

“Not if you accept what there is between us,” I retort. “Say the words, Aria. Just say them. We’re alone. There’s no one around us to hear. Stop being so damned stubborn and say them!”

She inhales sharply and turns her face to the side. I grab her chin between my fingers and make her look at me. “Say them. Say the words and I’m yours. Yours for fucking-ever. I can’t bear the thought of you with someone else, Aria. I can’t. I’ve tried to imagine it, and I’ve tried to endure it, but I fail every fucking time. All I wanted was for you to realize that you can’t stand the thought of me with someone else. Did it work? Tell me it did.”

She sighs. “It doesn’t matter-”

“Aria,” I practically yell. “Tell if it worked or if it didn’t.”

She’s quiet for so long that I assume she won’t even answer me, and I start to feel discouraged. Maybe I wasted my time and she truly doesn’t feel anything for me. Maybe I want this so badly that-

“Yes.”

I can hardly believe it when the words leave her lips. I close the distance separating us and press my body against hers. She

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Chapter 62

exhales, eyes locked on mine. Fuck, I want to kiss her.

So. Damn. Badly.

“You don’t know how happy that makes me.”

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“You know we can’t be together, Ryder,” she says in an almost pleading voice. Hearing this desperation in her voice breaks me down and encourages me at the same time. She cares; she wouldn’t have been acting this way if she didn’t care.

“That’s an issue for later,” I tell her. “What matters now is whether or not we have feelings for each other. Hell, I’m willing to try if you are.”

“This is madness,” she says in a voice barely above a whisper now “We’re not meant to be together. The pack wouldn’t approve and…”

She trails off, not finishing her sentence.

“That’s enough of putting us both through pain, Aria,” I claim. “We’ve had enough. We’ve been tortured enough. If this weren’t right, then we’d never be fated mates to begin with. Let me handle this. Trust me, for crying out loud. What are you so afraid of?”

Aria didn’t answer me, but I don’t mind. I finally got the answer wanted, after weeks of pure torture of the worst kind.

We’re finally here-exactly where we’re supposed to be.

“Did you think I would ever reject you?” I murmur. “Never. You’re mine, Aria, and I’ll be damned if I lose you.”

My lips brush against hers and she sucks in a breath. A shudder travels down my spine and stirs in my gut. I strain against my underpants and I haven’t even touched her properly yet. My wolf is going wild inside of me. I want to claim her badly. I want to know what it’ll feel like to have her beneath me. To be inside her. Hell, to kiss her.

I need to know what her mouth tastes like. I’ve been fantasizing about it for weeks.

And now, she’s so close that I can taste her breath, and already, this has surpassed any expectation I could’ve had.

I press my lips against hers with no warning at all, half expecting her to push me away, but she surprises me by tilting her head to the side and placing her hand over my chest. This touch as small as it is, drives me mad with lust and desire. My lips are against hers more forcefully now. I can tell this is her first kiss because she’s not really taking things to another step. I part my lips slightly and she does the same. We pull apart for a moment, just to look into each other’s eyes, and then I press my lips to hers again. This happens a few times. I’m fucking dizzy.

A few smooches with her can’t be compared with all the intimate moments I’ve had with other girls.

There’s simply no comparison.

“Aria,” I whisper roughly before kissing her again. Her fingers disappear in my hair as she pulls me closer, and I drag the tip of my tongue along her bottom lip in a silent command and she parts her mouth for me. I immediately deepen the kiss by sliding my tongue along hers. A whimper escapes her at the contact and I feel it deep in my loins.

This kiss has no business being this good.

I wrap an arm around her to hold her upright and keep kissing her, exploring every inch of her sweet mouth with my tongue. Greedily, at that. I want everything she has to give me and so much more. I want to hand her the world on a golden platter.

The urge to mark her is so strong right now. It’s a wonder I can keep my canines from elongating mid-shift.

“You drive me insane, Aria,” I tell her between kisses. “You’re so subborn. I knew you felt the same way. I felt it deep in my bones.”

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Chapter 62

Suddenly, her hands are on my chest as she weakly tries to shove me off her. “Ryder, this isn’t right.”

“I disagree.”

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“But what about everyone else?” she asks almost hysterically. “What about what the whole world thinks? How can we fight against all of them?”

“I don’t give a damn about anyone else,” I say against her lips in all seriousness. “And I don’t want you to, either. I’ll fix this. That’s not what matters. The important thing is that we have each other. Okay?”

Her shoulders sag and her head hits the door. “Ryder-”

She’s interrupted by the sound of knocking on the door. She distances healed quickly from it, her body crashing into mine, and I hold her protectively.

“Ryder? Are you in there?”

It’s my father.

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