Page 93 of Ravaged Devotion

“Do you know how worried I was when you missed the signal time, sweetheart?” Ryker asked, finger prodding against him teasingly before one finger finally slipped inside, forcing its way past that tight ring of muscle. He clicked his tongue when Rue clenched on purpose. “Loosen up.”

“No. This isn’t the time or the place for this. There’s a monster and we—”

“We both survived,” Ryker cut him off. “Me out there, you in here. You did so good, baby, keeping yourself safe for me. Don’t you want your reward?”

Rue hated how that tiny bit of praise had his insides melting, bristling when Ryker snorted knowingly.

“There you go,” the Black Hart said, “you eased up for me. Good boy.”

“Stop.”

“Not until I’m inside you. I need more confirmation that you’re really here. With me. Alive.”

“Neither of us will stay that way if you attract the thing out there,” he pointed out, but the Black Hart merely buried his face against the crook of his neck and breathed deep.

“You smell so good. Forget that monster, I could eat you myself.” Ryker paused when he felt Rue tense. “What’s wrong?”

“I…Nothing.” Now wasn’t the time to confront him about the manual. A turned-on Ryker was still in control, but an angry one…And he would be upset, wouldn’t he? If Rue openly accused him of setting this whole thing up?

Of killing his mother?

Losing his own mother had screwed with Ryker’s psyche. It was the major reason Rue had always imagined Ryker hadn’t bothered retaliating or causing a full-blown scene against Eulalie marrying into his family. Even when Rue had returned to planet, Ryker had found many ways to mess with him, but harming or threatening his mom hadn’t been one of them, almost as though it was an unspoken rule between them. Something that was off limits.

Yet now, Rue’s mom was dead, murdered by one of those creatures depicted on the cover of a game manual with Ryker’s name inside.

Coincidence or design?

“Come back,” Ryker whispered against the curve of his ear before he sucked it and then nipped at his lobe. Two fingers pumped into Rue’s hole, preparing him, as his other hand continued to stroke his hard length. “Come back to me, sweetheart. Whatever you’re thinking, whatever you’re afraid of, let it go. I’m here. I won’t let anything hurt you.”

“Anything else,” Rue said before he could help it, holding his breath when he felt the Black Hart still at his back.

After a brief moment, Ryker’s hands began moving again, as though the moment hadn’t occurred. “Still salty over how I’ve been treating you, little brother? Tell me, what can I do to make it up to you?”

“Stop calling me that for starters.”

“Why? You like it.”

“I do not.”

“You do.” Ryker chuckled. “Your pupils dilate and your irises get a little green around the edges every time I say it. You might not have noticed, but I have. I notice everything about you, little brother.”

Did he? Did he secretly like it?

“There.” Ryker removed his hands, but only so he could undo his fly and pull himself free. He angled Rue’s hips, having to carefully maneuver them in the tight space, and then spread his ass cheeks. The blunt tip of his cock bumped against his seam as he sought entrance, then finally found his hole. He notched his cock and paused, perhaps listening to be sure the monster wasn’t right outside the door, or maybe just in a bid to drive Rue wild with anticipation.

Who knew.

Either way, the second he started pushing into him, Rue gasped, head tipping back to expose the length of his throat, with Ryker took as an offering.

The Black Hart’s teeth nibbled on his flesh as he entered, slowly filling him up. He rolled his hips once he’d bottomed out, hushing Rue when he moaned. “Got to be quiet, remember?”

Rue grabbed onto the sides of the shelf and closed his eyes as Ryker started to move, his cock rubbing against his prostate with each inward and outward stroke. It was a struggle to keep his labored breathing down, most of his focus going on that as his mind fought against the intrusion and the way it made him feel.

If this were any other occasion, Rue would have lavished in the overwhelming sensations, basked in them. But this time, if he didn’t try to separate his mind from his body, he feared he’d get loud and draw the monster straight to them.

This was insane.

But it was working.