Page 23 of Ranger’s Oath (Lone Star Wolf Rangers #5)

GAGE

T he silence between us hangs heavily even after Rush lays the ledger down.

His words still reverberate. Sadie and Cassidy's family's foundation has been compromised, the very people Sadie trusted are feeding the enemy.

I try to pull away, to focus on intel, but my body refuses to give her distance.

She lingers in the corner of my vision, fire in her eyes, defiance in her stance, and every ounce of me strains toward her.

I’ve spent a career keeping cool under fire, training myself to breathe steady while chaos roared around me.

Combat doesn’t rattle me. The battlefield has never scared me.

But with her, everything tilts off balance.

The thought of losing Sadie, of watching her light be snuffed out because I wasn’t fast enough or strong enough, terrifies me more than any enemy ever could.

Rush briefs us quickly, his voice clipped, efficient.

“The initials tie back to Senator Grayson, Van Holt Security’s CEO, and Marvin Harwood.

Oil magnate. Legacy family. Harwood’s reach includes half the ports on the eastern seaboard.

They have resources, influence, and no shortage of hired muscle. ”

I drag my hand over the map spread across the table, marking points as he speaks.

My chest burns with frustration. Three powerful men with fingers in everything from legislation to private armies to port control.

Taking them down won’t be simple. And the knowledge that Sadie’s name is tangled in their dealings makes my teeth grind.

I glance at Sadie. She’s standing tall, arms crossed, every inch of her radiating defiance.

God help me, I admire that fire. She doesn’t flinch or falter.

She doesn’t beg for safety. She stares danger in the eye and spits in its face, daring it to touch her.

That blaze in her chest is what I love most and fear most, because the same courage that draws me to her could just as easily be the thing that gets her killed.

Rush folds his notes, tucks them under his arm, and excuses himself to secure the prisoner.

The door clicks shut behind him, sealing the room in heavy quiet.

I’m left staring at the one woman who unsettles me more than any firefight ever could, the only enemy I can’t outflank because she slips past every defense I’ve built and makes me want to surrender.

She doesn’t come at me swinging this time.

No raised chin, no barbed retort. She just watches, steady and unflinching, as if daring me to close the gap.

The quiet of it digs deeper than any argument could.

My chest seizes, pressure swelling until it feels like my ribs could splinter.

I can’t hold the distance. I don’t want to.

My boots carry me forward before I register the choice, the need to be near her eclipsing everything else.

Her voice is low, teasing. “You’re pacing like a caged animal.”

“I’m trying not to do something stupid,” I growl.

Her lips curve. “Define stupid.”

I stop close enough to feel her heat. “Putting my mouth on you when the world outside wants us dead.”

Her eyes spark. “Maybe the world can wait its turn.”

That’s all it takes. The fragile restraint I’ve clung to shreds apart.

I catch her wrist, guiding her hand firmly to my chest, pressing her palm over the violent hammer of my heart.

The heat of her touch sears through me, her fingers trembling against my skin.

She doesn’t flinch. Instead she tilts her head, eyes gleaming with challenge, daring me to prove myself with more than words, daring me to claim what’s already burning between us.

“Say it, Sadie,” I rasp.

Her smile is pure provocation. “Take me, Gage.”

I don’t hesitate. My mouth claims hers, rough and ravenous, swallowing her gasp as our lips crash together.

She tastes like fire, salt, and rebellion.

I drive her back into the table, papers and pens scattering like startled birds.

Her fingers fist in my shirt, yanking me closer, nails grazing my skin as if she can’t get enough.

I tear my mouth from hers only to trace the elegant line of her throat, kissing, sucking, tasting the delicate pulse beneath her skin before scraping my teeth lightly along it.

She arches beneath me, a moan spilling free, offering me more of herself with every breath.

Her laugh breaks out between gasps, wicked and breathless. “So much for restraint, Ranger.”

I nip her jaw, voice rough. “You talk too much.”

“And you love it.”

Damn her, I do.

I drop to my knees, shove her leggings off, hook her thighs over my shoulders.

Her scent hits me like a punch, addictive and intoxicating.

I bury my face between her legs, tongue working her open, devouring her with a hunger I can’t hide.

She fists her hands in my hair, rocking against me, desperate and wild.

Every cry from her lips feels like a victory, every moan like a brand searing my skin.

She taunts me through gasps. “Is this what you call strategy?”

I growl against her, licking her deeper. “Best tactic I’ve got for keeping that sassy mouth of yours in line.”

Her laugh fractures into a scream, high and raw, as I drive her over the edge.

She convulses violently, thighs locking around my head, her body shuddering apart as wave after wave rips through her.

I drink her down greedily, savoring every desperate cry, refusing to stop until she’s trembling uncontrollably, slick and undone, whimpering my name like a prayer and a curse all at once.

I rise, mouth slick with her, unzipping, freeing myself with hands that shake from the hunger clawing at me.

Her eyes widen, pupils blown with heat, and she gives me a breathless nod before I can even voice the question.

Consent—eager, unashamed. I drive into her in one long, hard thrust, burying to the hilt.

She cries out, wrapping herself around me, nails raking down my back like fire.

I find a rhythm that’s brutal and relentless, each snap of my hips a claim, each grind deeper an oath carved into her body as much as her soul.

She tries to hold on to her wit, gasping words between cries. “Is that… all you’ve got, Ranger?”

I slam into her harder, lips grazing her ear. “Careful what you wish for.”

Her body arches, shuddering as she tightens around me, each contraction pulling me deeper.

The sound that escapes her is a ragged blend of moan and challenge, raw and intoxicating.

I drive her into the table again and again, every thrust scattering papers to the floor in a storm of chaos.

She gasps out laughter between cries, defiance burning even as pleasure rips through her, taunting me with every breath.

“Thought you wanted quiet. You keep at me and the whole damn ranch is going to know.”

“Then scream louder,” I growl, grinding deeper. “Drown me in it.”

She answers me with abandon, her cries echoing off the walls, wild and unrestrained.

My control unravels with every squeeze of her body clenching around me, dragging me deeper into the storm.

I haul her higher onto the table, pounding harder, slamming into her with all the hunger I’ve bottled up.

She surges to meet me, thrust for thrust, her nails carving lines down my back.

Our bodies crash together in rhythm, daring each other to give in.

Her eyes lock on mine, blazing with defiance, pupils blown with heat, her gaze daring me to take her further, harder, until neither of us can breathe.

“You can’t break me,” she gasps.

“I don’t want to break you,” I snarl, driving harder. “I want all of you.”

Her breath stutters, her nails dig in, her body seizes, trembling violently around me.

Watching her unravel beneath me, mouth open, gasping my name in broken cries, tears through every layer of control I have left.

I fist my hand in her hair, tilting her head back, forcing her to meet my gaze as pleasure ravages her, locking us together in raw, desperate intimacy.

“Mine,” I growl.

“Yes,” she cries, shuddering. “Yours.”

Her surrender detonates inside me, obliterating the last threads of restraint.

I slam deep, hips jerking, climax tearing through me like an explosion I can’t contain.

Instinct claims me whole. My mouth finds the juncture of her neck and shoulder and I sink my teeth in, hard enough to mark her for eternity.

Her scream splits the air, raw pleasure braided with pain, shaking through both of us.

Her body convulses around me, gripping tight, pulling me deeper as she milks every last drop of me.

The bond locks in place, a flood of heat, fire, and brutal certainty crashing through my veins.

My mark sears into her skin, binding us in ways there will never be undone.

The echo of her cry lingers, but beneath it I hear something else—her heartbeat syncing to mine, the steady drum that reminds me of the promise I once made in the dark: I will not let you fight alone.

It isn’t biology that tightens my grip now, it’s choice.

I claimed her because I can’t imagine a world without her, not because fate demanded it.

Afterward, I slump over her, chest heaving, still buried inside her warmth.

Her scent clings to me, rich and intoxicating, her taste still coating my tongue.

Her heartbeat slams against mine, wild and frantic, syncing with the thunder in my chest. Possessive euphoria surges through me, hot and unrelenting, a rush so fierce it nearly drowns me.

But guilt pushes in hard and cold. I’ve marked her, claimed her, tied her fate to mine without offering her the chance to breathe, let alone decide if she wanted it.

She trembles in my arms, fingers brushing the bite. Her voice shakes, but it cuts me to the bone. “Tell me what that means.”