The Barrier Between (Collector Series # 2) (39 page)

“Yeah.” I shrugged out a small chuckle, facing Sprig
again. His face was pure bliss between licking his sugarcoated hand
and eating a fry with the other.

Ryker still watched me out of the corner of his eye.
Something flittered across his face but vanished as quickly as it
came. Then his attitude flipped. Straightening his back, he cleared
his throat and turned away from me, heading for the farthest point
in the room.

It wasn’t only me who felt the ice wall come down
between us. Croygen’s eyes darted back and forth between us, a
slight crease between his eyebrows. Embarrassment and anger
devoured me. My stomach told me it was starving, but I didn’t taste
anything as it was shoved in.

“Training didn’t go as well as I wanted today, but we
can’t wait anymore.” Ryker leaned against the wall. “It’s time to
plan and act.”

“About fucking time,” Croygen mumbled between
bites.

“Seriously,” Amara replied. Even I agreed with them.
I was tired of waiting. Good or bad, it was time to act.

Ryker scowled over at Amara and Croygen. “Zoey and I
will go get the stone.”

“What?” Amara stood up from the bed. “No. No way. We
all go together!” she exclaimed, then sat back on her heels, taking
a breath. I understood why Ryker wanted to separate us so we could
pretend we were going after the stone, even though we didn’t need
to go anywhere. After all this time, he didn’t trust them enough to
tell the truth.

“We are still going to do this my way.” Ryker tossed
the empty food container onto the dresser. “It’s safer for us to
meet you two back here.”

“Goddammit, Ryker!” Amara wailed. “When did you turn
into this man? You used to go after what you wanted... nothing and
no one held you back. You acted! You were ruthless... the fierce
Wanderer. People feared you. Now all you do is sit and ponder. Talk
about safety and danger. You’ve been here for months and done
nothing. Where is the fae warrior I knew? Did he disappear along
with your powers? Did she cut off your balls too?”

“Whoa.” I stood up.

“Plus, I have been with you since the beginning of
this, and
she
gets to go?” Amara put her hands on her
hips.

“Zoey has to go; I can’t jump anymore,” Ryker
growled. “I really don’t want
anyone
to go.”

Though our travel was only pretend, the dig still
stung. Between the hurt and anger, I knew if I didn’t get out of
the room, I was going to snap. Fists were going to fly. Mine.

Amara’s continued rants turned to background noise in
my head, all I could hear was my own breath pumping in and out. My
gaze locked on the flame of a candle, and I watched it sputter and
fizzle out, leaving a single candle in the room.

Without a word I grabbed the flashlight off the table
and was out of the room before anyone could react.

Would it be bad if I jumped? Leave this place and
never came back? Find a new home?

That was the problem.

The only place that felt like home was where Ryker
and Sprig were.

My footsteps reverberated as I crossed the dim,
empty hallway. The howling wind tore through the mountains and
wailed through any crack in the windows it could find.

The closet filled with candles, blankets, toilet
paper, and other hospitality supplies was straight across from our
room. I stepped into the walk-in storage room, the flashlight
bouncing off the products on the shelves. For several minutes I
scanned the shelves, searching for the candles, then I heard a slam
of a door. Our door.

A deep huff came from the hallway, and I knew it was
Ryker. Like me, he probably needed to flee Amara before he
exploded.

Footsteps fell, echoing down the corridor.

Turning to the back wall, I focused on searching for
the candles. My irritation still rode across my neck. The door
clicked shut behind me, and I craned my head over my shoulder.

Ryker’s outline filled the space. His white eyes
glittering under the weak light. I exhaled and turned back around.
“What do you want?” No response. “I think I can find candles by
myself.”

Again, he didn’t say anything, but I heard him move
to me, his boots hitting the wood floor. I stiffened as I felt his
body behind mine.

I wanted to ask what he was doing. To tell him he
better leave, but nothing came out of my throat. His hand grasped
my elbow, sending electric shocks through me, and grabbed the
flashlight from my hand, switching it off. The room went pitch
black. The clank of the flashlight being placed on the shelf by my
head rang in my ears.

“What are you doing?” I rasped out.

“Ruthlessly going after what I want,” he whispered
and moved in closer. My back still toward him, I sucked in a jagged
gulp of air. We weren’t touching, but his heat and energy felt like
a thousand tiny fingers pressed against my skin. Without sight, my
other senses fired up. My skin became extremely sensitive, feeling
every molecule of him.

We stood there, tension crackling between us. He
trailed his fingers along the backs of my arms. I squeezed my lids
together. Even a slight touch from him shook my knees. Amara was
right across the hall. Her warning earlier was not an empty threat.
She would come after me.

“Stop. Someone might hear.” My voice was barely above
a whisper.

He responded by stepping flush with me, his body heat
engulfing my back. I could no longer think straight, his alluring
smell filling my nose and thoughts.

“Please.” If he didn’t stop touching me, I was going
to be a puddle on the floor.

Ryker ignored my hollow pleas. The tips of his
fingers skimmed the tops of my shoulders before wrapping around my
hair, brushing the loose strands over to one side of my neck,
causing my heart to thump wildly in my chest. He leaned down, his
lips grazing the back of my neck and kissing the sensitive area
behind my ear. A soft whimper escaped my lips. He moved me to the
wall, pressing me into the wood paneling, trapping me. His hands
went to my thighs, skating up them and under my cotton shorts. His
mouth barely touched as he skimmed over my shoulders and the base
of my neck.

I could no longer fight him or try to be good. There
was a strange feeling of being completely in the dark. Like it was
safe. What happened here wasn’t actually real.

My head went back, leaning into him. His breath
trickled my neck as his hands roamed over my hips and back down my
legs. I could feel him pressed against me. Hard and wanting.

The desire for him spun my head. I craved him.
Inside.

I went to reach for him, but he stopped my hands.
Twining our fingers together, he placed them on the wall in front
of me. Without a word I knew he wanted me to keep them there. His
fingers left mine and moved slowly over my body. My muscles shook
as he traced every inch of my skin, moving beneath my clothes. The
overabundance of yearning for him was hitting the point of no
return, where he only had to touch me, and I would explode.

“Ryker,” I whispered his name.

One hand trailed between my breasts as the other
found its way down my shorts. His fingers nudged at my underwear,
pushing away the fabric. Air rushed through my teeth. Both his arms
came around my waist, pulling my weight back into him. He prodded
my legs to open more as his fingers found their way inside.

I moaned, and he nipped at my ear, hushing me. It was
like a game—how quiet I could stay.

He gripped me harder as my knees almost gave out. His
fingers found the spot and my teeth dove into my bottom lip, trying
to prevent any noise from escaping.

My breath hitched as he moved quicker, building the
friction. He took on my full weight, my muscles no longer able to
hold me. I felt it coming, and I couldn’t stop the low groan
pumping out of my lungs. He vigorously moved inside me, his thumb
working at the sensitive part. As I began to climax, he nipped his
teeth into the curve of my shoulder, inflicting an exhilarating
pain, heightening the peak. Everything shattered. His hand covered
my mouth as a deep wail burst from me.

Holy shit.

Sex had always been my thing, not bothering too much
with the foreplay. I knew guys wanted to get to it, and I let
myself believe I did too.

Ryker changed that. He was mind-blowing. Not solely
at sex, but all the before and after stuff. He had me all twisted
up and turned my entire world around. In every aspect.

His chest went up and down in frantic gulps as if we
had marathon sex. My back curved into his stomach, feeling him
still hard against me. Sweat caused our shirts to cling together. I
steadied my legs underneath me. He took a step back. The absence of
him was instantaneous. I went to turn around, and he clutched my
shoulders, pointing them back to the wall. In the dark I felt his
lips on the base of my neck, between my shoulders, before he spun
and walked out.

The moment he shut the door behind him, I fell
against the wall, trying to regain myself.

What the hell just happened?

That was another thing I wasn’t used to. Someone who
wasn’t about only getting himself off. He could have easily had sex
with me and left. I would have done it willingly, but he
didn’t.

My hands covered my face as I tapped my forehead
against the wall.
Well, that was hot as hell
. In the dark I
could almost pretend it didn’t really happen. A dream. I
straightened my clothes, sucked in a deep breath, pushed back my
shoulders, and went back to the room.

Ryker sat at the table and glanced at me as I
entered. He quickly went back to eating with Sprig, acting like
nothing happened.

Amara sat on the bed, and Croygen leaned against the
far wall by the dresser, a strange gleam in his eyes. I dropped my
gaze from him, feeling for some reason he could see right through
me.

“So where are the candles?” Croygen’s eyebrow quirked
up.

My mouth dipped open. Fuck.

“You didn’t get them?” Amara shook her head. “What
the hell were you doing then?”

Uh...

“Really, Zoey. We send you to get
one
thing,
and you get distracted.” It was slight, but I saw Ryker’s lips
twitch with amusement as he shoved in another fry. Meticulously
licking his fingers.

Hell.
The shit was taunting me.

“I apologize.” My lids narrowed in on him.
Oh,
it’s on.

“Think it will be faster if I go get them.” Ryker
stood, his shoulder brushing past me. My skin immediately reacted
to his nearness. I was thinking of ideas of how I could leave
without it being obvious, when Ryker turned. “Stay here.”

“Where were we going to go? You won’t let us go or do
anything.” Amara raised her arms.

It was meant for me. Damn.

Ryker shut the door. The candle flickered from the
slight breeze.

“You all right,
Bhean
?” Sprig burped, rubbing
his tummy. “You look twitchy.”

“Funny.” Croygen strolled across the room. “I thought
she looked relaxed. Like someone who recently had sex.”

My head jerked to Croygen. He winked.

Amara groaned, leaning back against the bedframe,
oblivious to Croygen’s underlying meaning. “Please don’t talk about
sex right now. It’s been way too long.” Amara’s glare turned on
me.

I excused myself and stomped to the bathroom, needing
to hide from the room for a moment. When I returned Ryker was still
gone, and Croygen was no longer in the room.

“Where did Croygen go?”

Amara glanced up from the magazine she was reading
and shrugged. “He disappears all the time.”

“Where does he go?”

“Why would I know?”

“You never followed him?”

She shook her head. “It’s his business, not
mine.”

“Even if he’s up to something? What if he’s selling
Ryker out? Don’t think I haven’t wondered how those jaguar shifters
found us. Ryker doesn’t trust him.”

“Ryker doesn’t trust anyone.”

He trusts me
, I wanted to blurt out. I was the
only one in the room who knew the true whereabouts of the stone. It
was hard not to shove this fact in Amara’s face, but it was a
secret I could not tell, especially out of petty jealousy.

“Sprig?” I turned to the furball on the table,
surprised he was still vertical. “You want to come with me?”

“Where are you going?” Amara sat up.

“I am going to try and find him. If he’s about to
fuck us over, I want to know.” I pulled a black long-sleeved shirt
over my white tank and slipped into my boots.

“You really think you can find him?” Amara stood up,
tailing me. “He can vanish in front of our faces, and you think you
can track him?”

“I’m going to try.” I could still see fae auras. I’d
gotten lazy, grown so used to seeing them, I barely even noticed
them anymore. I was cross with myself. Just because I was
comfortable with fae, didn’t mean I should let my skills go soft.
Of all the people in here, I was the one who should see Croygen
come and go. He was planning something. I could feel it in my gut,
but my indolence let us be sitting ducks.