Page 29 of His to Defend

“I don’t think so.” He worked hard to control the fury in his voice. “You’re dancing with my woman.”

Nina’s eyes popped open and locked on his. “Ryker?”

He held his hand out. “Come with me, Nina.”

She shook her head and Ryker worked hard not to growl. “You made it clear you didn’t want me.” She turned away and wiggled her hips to the beat of the music.

What the hell was she talking about?

“Doesn’t look like your woman to me.” The mangy mutt, still ignoring Ryker’s presence, put his hand on Nina’s ass and pulled her roughly in toward him.

Nina gasped against the man’s advances.

In an instant, Ryker’s bear roared within him. There was no more controlling it. Not when there was a dog manhandling his mate.

“I warned you, mutt.”

“The name is Matt.” For the first time, the man turned around. His eyes widened when he saw Ryker. No doubt the alcohol had numbed his own senses, but once he set eyes on an angry bear shifter, the dog knew exactly what he was dealing with. Yet, he still didn’t back down. “And she’s with me now.”

“Like hell she is.” Ryker grabbed the dog’s shoulder and yanked him back roughly to get him away from Nina.

Matt stumbled but stayed on his feet.

“Ryker! What are you doing?” Nina swayed, visibly intoxicated, but Natalia was right there to catch her. She was taken care of for the moment and there was one thing Ryker needed to do before getting his mate out of there.

He took two steps toward Matt the mutt, swung, and hit him hard in the face. There was a crunching noise as Ryker connected with the man’s nose. He went down hard on the dance floor, but Ryker didn’t care. He stood directly over the man, who was clutching his face and moaning. “If you ever lay another grimy paw on my mate again, you’ll—”

“Okay, okay.” Kade and Luke, each with one arm through Ryker’s, pulled him back before he could finish the threat. “That’s enough, Ryker.”

“Fuck that.” Ryker shook himself free. “I should kill him for the way he was touching my mate.” He turned in time to see a bunch of Matt’s friends picking him up off the floor and rushing him away.

Good. They knew better than to screw with a bear.

“Settle down,” Luke said. “You can’t start anything in—”

“Your mate?” Kade interrupted with a grin.

Ryker looked between his cousins before gritting his teeth. “Shut up,” he muttered. “Both of you.” Without another word, Ryker stalked across the dance floor, where Natalia had her arm around a very drunk Nina. He gave his sister a look of gratitude but didn’t say a word before scooping Nina up in his arms and walking out of the bar, with her body pressed up against his and her head resting on his chest.

Safe in his arms. Just the way she should be.

CHAPTER TWELVE

Her head hurt.

A lot.

Slowly, Nina reached up and pressed a hand to her temple. The action made her groan and she rolled over in an effort to get away from the pain.

“Good morning.”

Nina’s eyes snapped open at Ryker’s voice, and instantly she wished they hadn’t. She squeezed them shut again.

“Here.” She felt Ryker open her hand and drop two pills in her palm. “Take these and go back to sleep. You’ll feel better soon.”

She did as she was told, swallowing the pills with a glass of water he put in her hand.

Nina once more put her head on the pillow as Ryker’s hand gently rubbed her back before he laid down next to her and pulled her close against him. The last thing she remembered as she drifted off to sleep again was feeling the pleasant weight of his arm draped over her as he held her close.