Air Ryder

by T. S. Joyce

  Ryder hunched and covered his ears, and outside Aaron yelled, “Sounds like she saw Ryder’s dick!” More laughter echoed as Lexi inhaled for another scream.

  Ryder clapped his hand over her mouth and said, “Woman, stop your screeching! It’s a pet mouse!”

  “Why would anyone have a rodent as a pet?” she asked, her voice still two octaves too high.

  “Because he’s fucking awesome. Look at his nuts! They’re huge, and he eats food right out of my hand.”

  Ryder jacked his eyebrows up when she high-kneed it over the bouncy mattress to cower beside him, as far away from the mouse as possible. He peeled her claws from his shirt and left her—left her!—to defend herself. She picked up a pillow and prepared to whack that little sucker if it came any closer.

  To her horror, Ryder picked up the little black and white mouse easily and ran his finger gently down the little critter’s head. “Lexi, meet Sammy Scrotum, Sammy Scrotes for short. Sammy, this is Sexy Lexi.”

  Ryder approached her with a teasing grin, and she reared back with the pillow. “Don’t you fuckin’ dare.”

  “Come on, pet him. Look how cute he is. Look at his wittle ears and his wittle whiskers.” Ryder scrunched up his nose like a mouse and Lexi bit back a smile. This was not funny.

  “Ryder, I don’t do mice.”

  “Ew, me either. That’s gross.”

  Lexi growled at him and backed toward the headboard when he stepped closer.

  “Pet him once, and I’ll let you suck my pener.”

  Lexi had to force herself not to laugh. Ryder looked determined, so she asked, “Will it bite me?”

  “No! Sammy Scrotum is nice.”

  “That’s a terrible name.”

  “He likes it. It’s a warrior’s name. Pet him. Come oooon. Do it. Peer pressure. Give in. Pet him.”

  Every muscle in her body shaking, she dropped the pillow and stuck her finger out, then squeezed her eyes tightly closed so she could pretend she wasn’t actually doing this.

  Soft fur touched her fingertip, and she yelped and drew back. She cracked an eye open and tried again. Sammy Scrotum didn’t seem to care at all and just went to climbing all over Ryder’s open palm, sniffing his little nose and shaking his little whiskers. He was kind of cute, and one of his black spots was shaped like heart, which she really liked.

  She brushed her fingertips from his head to his back and down his tail, then flinched away with a proud grin. “I did it.”

  “You fuckin’ did it!” Ryder said, his eyes wide and sparking like blue flames.

  As he set the mouse back down on the floor to scurry on its way, Lexi clutched her chest and sighed a gusty exhale. “My heart is going ninety to nothing. It’s like hummingbird wings. Feel it!”

  Void of hesitation, Ryder grabbed her boob. “Yep, super-fast,” he muttered in a tone that said he gave zero fucks about her heartbeat right now and was in it for the teat-fondle.

  “Ryder, I’m coming in, stop boning,” Harper called from the front door.

  “I touched a mouse!” Lexi exclaimed as the dragon-eyed alpha came in with a handful of clothes and a pair of hiking boots on top of the pile.

  “You met Sammy?” she asked with a megawatt smile.

  “Yes, and he was terrifying and cute, but mostly terrifying.”

  She giggled and told Ryder, “Fasten your pants, man.”

  Ryder threw something small, oval, and chocolate-colored at Harper, who ducked out of the way. Lexi was going to pretend it was anything but a mouse turd, because sanitation.

  Ryder disappeared into the bathroom, and the running water of the sink sounded. Harper set out the clothes on the bed and Lexi picked a pair of black skinny jeans and a forest green tank top to go with the hiking boots. The shoes were a size too big but they worked a lot better than the strappy gladiator heels she’d fastened onto her feet when she was dressing in her skanky saloon girl getup.

  Ryder came back in smelling like soap as she was lacing the shoes, and without instruction, he took her costume and hung it up in the closet. “For later,” he declared.

  Harper walked out, calling, “Let’s load up. We’re burnin’ daylight,” over her shoulder.

  Ryder squared up to Lexi, hands tight on her hips as he sipped her lips. “I liked the costume, but you look good enough to eat out in these jeans.”

  “It’s good enough to eat.”

  “Hmm?” he asked innocently.

  “The saying goes, ‘You look good enough to eat.’”

  “You want a piggy-back ride, but on my front?”

  “No!” she said, swatting him. “Behave tonight and don’t embarrass me in front of your friends. I want them to like me.”

  “Hmm.” He frowned. “Can you use the word behave in a sentence?” he asked as though he was at a spelling bee.

  With an eye roll, Lexi strode out of the bedroom and through the living room toward the front door.

  “Can I have the definition?” he asked from behind her, a smile in his voice.

  Outside, the Bloodrunners were loading up in Ryder’s truck. Aaron and Alana sat in the bed as Wyatt, Harper, and Wes climbed into the back seat.

  Ryder pulled the passenger’s side door open for her. Unhelpfully, Ryder squeezed her ass as she scrambled in with the grace of a rhino. She was giggling uncontrollably by the time she settled into the seat. Ryder leaned in and kissed her quick, bit her bottom lip, before he pulled away with a wicked grin. “I like tasting your laughs.”

  Crazy man. As he jogged around the front of the truck, she couldn’t help the giant smile that was stretching her lips.

  “He makes you happy, doesn’t he?” Wes asked in a strange tone.

  Lexi twisted in her seat to look back at him and nodded. “I can’t remember ever being this happy with someone,” she rushed out before Ryder opened his door.

  “Good,” Wes said, giving his attention to the window.

  “Good what?” Ryder asked, buckling in.

  “Nothing,” Wes murmured.

  The smile dipped from Ryder’s lips, and he frowned back at the Novak Raven with an upset expression Lexi didn’t understand. When she rested her hand on his tensed leg, he relaxed and offered her another smile, but it didn’t reach his eyes.

  Perhaps he and his best friend were fighting.

  It was six o’clock and the early evening shadows were just now lengthening in the Smoky Mountains. Ryder rolled down the windows and turned up a country rock song. After a few minutes of driving a back road, he belted out the first line of the chorus and then looked right at her, daring her to sing along.

  She did know the song, but she’d never been comfortable singing in front of other people. Her voice was reserved for the shower and when she was alone in her Jeep. But then Harper started humming along in the back seat, and Wyatt chimed in off-key. Even Wes sang a word here and there, so fuck it. The second round of the chorus, Lexi murmured the lyrics at normal, conversational volume.

  “Yeaaaah!” Ryder said.

  He started singing again, even louder, and after she got control of her laughter, Lexi sang, too. And by the time Ryder pulled to a stop in a meadow on the edge of a cliff, they were all belting out the third song, hacking up the lyrics, but no one seemed to care.

  It was awesome feeling so comfortable with these people. She’d always wondered how similar shifters were to humans, and after hanging out with them twice now, they were the most normal people she’d ever met.

  Everyone started piling out of the truck, but it looked as if they had just stopped at a random bend in the road. “Where are we?”

  “I want to show you something.” Ryder got out and met her at the front of the truck, then took her hand and led her toward the cliff.

  Around her, the Bloodrunners began stripping out of their clothes. Weird. To avoid an eyeful of swinging dicks and bouncing boobs, Lexi aimed her focus on the cliff.

  Lexi wasn’t afraid of heights, but the cliff dropped straight down, and at the bottom,
sharp rocks jutted out of the earth. There was a river some distance off, and the scenery was beautiful, but this was close enough. Lexi backed away from the edge, but when she turned around to ask Ryder what they were doing here, a smattering of pops sounded and a monster grizzly burst from Wyatt, and then a blond one from Aaron. They were so intimidatingly big. They paced around Alana, her Change slower and painful-looking, but when she stood on all fours and roared, she didn’t seem to mind the pain. Her fur was a rich, chocolate brown, almost the same as her human skin tone. And though she was smaller than the other grizzlies, Alana still looked ferocious with all those claws and teeth.

  Wes leapt off the ground and a giant raven burst from his body. As he circled above, Harper’s body rippled and cracked, and then an enormous green and gold dragon exploded from her body. Harper was so big she could curl around the entire Bloodrunner crew.

  Lexi had never seen a dragon shift before, had never been this close to one, and she had to hold in a scream as Harper snaked her enormous head toward her. The bears disappeared down a steep trail on the edge of the cliff, and the Novak Raven dove over the ledge. And carefully, Harper stepped over Lexi and Ryder.

  In a rush, Ryder grabbed Lexi’s hand and lifted it high until her fingertips brushed the golden underbelly scales of the Bloodrunner Dragon.

  Amazed at the cold, smooth texture of the dragon scales, Lexi gasped. Harper spread her wings and dove off the cliff.

  Lexi followed as close as she dared to the cliff ledge so she could watch the dragon in flight. Harper was grace in motion.

  “Do you trust me?” Ryder asked.

  Lexi looked at him over her shoulder. He’d stripped out of his clothes, and she was awed by his rippling muscles as he approached. Damn, her man was powerful.

  “Of course.”

  Ryder bunched his muscles. “Good. Don’t freak out,” he said the moment before the massive white owl ripped out of his skin.

  In an instant, he clamped his long, curved talons around her upper arms, and with the beat of his wings, lifted Lexi off the ground and over the edge of the cliff.

  Terror seized her as she watched the rocks below coming for her. Ryder had tucked his wings to his body and was dive-bombing them toward the earth. She couldn’t scream, couldn’t beg for him to stop, couldn’t even breathe.

  With a resounding floom, he stretched his wings and caught the air, arching them away from the ground at such speed, the air was forced into her lungs.

  “Ryder!” she gasped, struggling. His talons clutched her arms tighter, the points of his sharp claws digging into the tender undersides. She stopped struggling just to ease the pain. When he slowed and became graceful with his flying, she forced herself to catch her breath and then looked up.

  He was staring down at her, his gold eyes round and his pupils so small it made them look even brighter. Even more striking. He was white as snow, but underneath his wings, there were dark specks on his long flight feathers. He was enormous, his wingspan stretching much longer than she’d imagined.

  She couldn’t believe this was happening. She was flying!

  Lexi looked down at the ground far below them. The river snaked through the mountains like a giant serpent, and waves of green painted a gorgeous landscape. Right below, Weston was flying with them, keeping pace.

  She laughed breathlessly and held onto Ryder’s legs just to steady herself. Her heart in her throat, she arched her neck back and yelled, “Whooooo!”

  “Caw!” the Novak Raven called below them.

  Ryder belted a powerful screech, and down near the river, Harper roared along with the bears.

  As long as Lexi lived, she would remember this moment—her first flight with Air Ryder.

  Chapter Ten

  “I didn’t realize how fragile your skin is,” Ryder said, his brows furrowed in concentration as he cleaned the small puncture wounds under her arm.

  “Worth it,” she said breathlessly as she stared up at the sky again. She was just there! Flying!

  “What if it gets infected?” Ryder murmured to Wes. “Maybe I should take her to the hospital.”

  “Stop fussing,” she murmured. “I’m fine. They don’t even hurt.”

  “I’m gonna have to make you some kind of arm guards if we do that again.”

  “I can’t believe that just happened,” she said gleefully. “Ryder, that was the most incredible thing ever! I mean, it was terrifying at first because I didn’t expect it, but then it was exhilarating.”

  Weston lifted her other arm and brushed a light touch under the cuts. “I think they’ll be okay.”

  “She said she’s fine,” Alana said from where she was peeling shrimp on a plastic table on the sandy riverbank. “Stop coddling her, or you’ll chase her off.”

  When Ryder immediately dropped her arm, Lexi snorted. Like she would ever leave him. This man had all of her locked down.

  She scanned the beach and rolling river rapids, still in awe that a view like this existed down in this valley. There was a generator, and the three trees by the grill were wrapped in outdoor lights. Next to where she stood, there was a long picnic table with carvings of three bears, a dragon, a raven, and an owl. And when she looked closer, there was the beginnings of another carving, right next to the owl. It was human in shape with a few wavy lines of long hair. She frowned and opened her mouth to ask if that was her, but Wes pressed his finger over his lips and shook his head. Huh. A selfish part of her really hoped that was her next to Air Ryder.

  Ryder brought her a fruity beer with a swirly straw in it, and then he gestured at the table. There were two simple, shallow wooden bowls full of yellow dandelion flowers. “Those are for you,” he said low, ducking his gaze as though he was embarrassed.

  He looked so fucking cute right now, his red whiskers on his chiseled jaw two days grown, his eyes the color of the sky, that slight smile that seemed to always sit on his sensual lips. His defined chest and shoulders pressed against a blue T-shirt he’d dug out of a giant plastic container of extra outfits someone had stashed down here. He wore a navy baseball cap on backward, and medium wash jeans hugged his powerful legs. Suddenly desperate to feel his body against hers, Lexi leaned forward and hugged his waist as tight as she could with her puny human arms. “Did you do all this?” she whispered.

  “The Bloodrunners helped. I wanted to do something special for you.”

  “It’s so special, and I’m so happy that you give me moments like these, Ryder.”

  “Can I ask you something big?” he murmured.

  Heart pounding, she answered, “Of course. Ask me anything.”

  Ryder pulled something from his back pocket and dropped to one knee.

  Panicked, she asked, “What are you doing?”

  He gave her a mushy smile, then popped open the ring box. And inside was a…

  Tiny clay penis.

  She snorted and reached for it, plucked it from the plush velvet and held it between her finger and her thumb. “Is this a replica of your dick?”

  “I made it at the pottery shop in town, just for you.”

  “It’s actual size,” Aaron called from by the grill.

  “Fuck you, man,” Ryder said. He dragged his gaze back to Lexi and tried to keep a straight face when he told her, “Lexi, you’re the most beautiful, perfect, funny girl I’ve ever met. I like how one of your boobs is slightly bigger than the other, and I like the way you snort when you laugh really hard—”

  “Ryder,” she warned. The crew didn’t need to hear all this about her.

  “I like how when you brush your teeth, you get toothpaste everywhere and look rabid, but still sexy.”

  Okay, he was joking now, and she was going to play along. “There is nothing more satisfying than a good minty froth. I like the way you sniff your armpits before we leave the house to make sure you put on deodorant.”

  His eyes danced. “I gotta smell good for you, baby. I like that one side of your nose goes up higher when you smile.”

&
nbsp; “Well, I like the way you sniff your food before you eat it.”

  “Not your food though, Sexy Lexi. You cook good. And I like the way your hair looks like a lion’s mane after we make the boing-boing.”

  Lexi covered her face and shook her head to cover her giggles. “Okay, this has to stop.”

  “No, don’t stop now,” Wyatt called. “This is awesome. You’re like two weird, malformed peas in a pod. It’s like watching a slow-moving train wreck.”

  “Lexi,” Ryder murmured, trying to twist his lips into a serious line again. “Will you do me the honor of accompanying me to Alana and Aaron’s wedding?”

  Stalling for time so she wouldn’t lose it when she answered, Lexi looked at the others who were in different stages of laughter. Finally, she looked down at Ryder with the most serious face she could and said, “I will.”

  Like a romance movie, he lifted her off her feet and spun her in slow motion until she was dizzy.

  “Are we done with these shenanigans?” she asked him.

  Ryder set her on her feet and steadied her shoulders when she stumbled. “Only if you keep my tiny ceramic penis in your pocket forever as a good luck charm.”

  “Fine.” She studied it. Ryder had taken the time to paint little veins on it and everything. Geez. She shoved it deep in her jeans’ pocket.

  “Do you like it?” he asked, and the hopefulness in his voice was so cute.

  “I love it.”

  Ryder swayed them from side to side, then spun her outward in a fancy dance move, and brought her back against his chest. Nonchalantly, he asked, “Do you like me?”

  “You know I do.”

  “Do you get a weird feeling in your chest around me?”

  She jerked back. “Yeah. You?”

  He grinned and dipped her, kissed her. “Maybe.”

  “Do you like me?” she asked.

  “I gave you my tiny penis,” he said, like it should’ve been obvious.

  “I need compliments and declarations,” she said primly, sliding her hand in his as he lifted her upright again in the sand.

  Ryder looked uncertain for a moment before he buried his face against her neck. And soft as a breath, he whispered, “I love you.”