Page 12 of Stripe for the Picking (Paranormal Dating Agency #92)

TEN

RYLAN

T he afternoon sunlight streamed through Defense Nexus's tall glass windows, casting geometric patterns across their workstations.

Rylan found himself stealing glances at Wren every few minutes, mesmerized by the way she moved through the complex data streams with fluid precision.

Her sleeveless white blouse highlighted the elegant curve of her neck, and the tailored navy skirt perfectly hugged her curves as she leaned forward intently, making his pulse quicken.

Focus, Kaedor. She's working diligently.

But his tiger had other ideas entirely. The beast paced restlessly, drawn to her like a gravitational force field.

Every time she shifted, every soft intake of breath when she discovered something significant, every unconscious bite of her lower lip as she concentrated—it all sent heat spiraling through his body.

The mate bond hummed between them, a constant thrum of awareness that grew stronger with each passing hour.

"There," she said suddenly, her fingers dancing over the interface with startling dexterity. "Cross-reference this cyber attack with the Council's emergency session two weeks ago."

Rylan leaned closer, close enough to catch her lavender scent with such overwhelming intensity that he had to clench his fists at his sides to stop himself from pulling her against him.

"The timing matches perfectly," he said, his voice roughened with barely contained desire. "The hacker syndicate attacked us exactly when Arvox would have been told that we updated our classified security protocols."

"And look at this." Wren pulled up another data stream, her excitement palpable. "The attack codes they've been using? They're targeting specific vulnerabilities that were only identified in internal reports. Reports that cross Arvox's desk."

Rylan's jaw clenched tight. The evidence was mounting, creating a damning pattern that painted the Prime Minister as either incredibly incompetent or deliberately treacherous. Given what he'd observed of Arvox's calculating and manipulative nature, incompetence seemed unlikely.

How has she accomplished this much in thirty-six hours?

The thought staggered him. Yesterday morning, Wren had been a stranger from another planet.

Now, she was systematically unraveling what might be the biggest conspiracy Nova Aurora had faced in decades.

Her mind worked on levels that left him breathless—not just the raw intelligence, but the intuitive leaps, the way she connected seemingly unrelated data points with startling accuracy.

Gerri was right. Wren really is my secret weapon.

But even as professional admiration flooded through him, his tiger grew more restless. The beast wanted to claim, to mark, to show this brilliant woman exactly what she meant to him. Every controlled breath felt like a battle against instincts that screamed at him to forget duty and protocol.

Strategic, Kaedor. Her presence here is purely strategic.

He repeated the logic like a mantra, desperate to maintain some semblance of control. Wren's brilliance was exactly what Defense Nexus needed to push back against the syndicate's cyber assaults. Her quick thinking would be crucial for the Protocol Trials. Nothing more than tactical advantage.

The rationalization felt increasingly hollow as she gathered her long hair into a ponytail, the simple gesture sending his pulse into overdrive. Her lips pursed in concentration, and all he could think about was capturing that mouth with his own, tasting her, and claiming her completely.

You're losing it.

The realization hit him like ice water. In two days, this woman had managed to crack through his defenses. Made him want things he'd convinced himself were weaknesses. Made him crave a future that involved more than duty and discipline.

"I think I've got enough preliminary evidence to present a case," Wren said, leaning back in her chair with satisfaction. "We just need to?—"

"You should take the rest of the day off," Rylan interrupted, his voice sharper than intended.

She blinked, clearly taken aback. "What? But we're just getting started on?—"

"You should enjoy some of the sights while you're here." He forced his tone to gentleness, even as his tiger snarled in protest. "You shouldn't be completely consumed by work."

Disappointment flickered across her features, and his chest tightened painfully. "Oh. Okay, if that's what you think is best."

Coward. His tiger's disgust was palpable. Send away our mate because you're afraid of what she makes you feel.

"I arranged for General Kael to give you a tour today," Rylan said, hating himself more with each word. "Show you some of the local hot spots."

As if summoned by his words, General Kael's familiar voice boomed across the workstation area. "There's my tour guide assignment for the afternoon."

Rylan's mentor approached with his characteristic confident stride, his weathered face creased with genuine warmth. At fifty-five, Kael carried himself with the easy authority of someone who'd seen everything twice and lived to joke about it.

"Miss Calder, I'm thrilled to be the one to show you around our little paradise," Kael said, extending his arm gallantly. "Hope you're ready for some sights that'll make Earth look like amateur hour."

Wren gathered her things with efficient movements, but Rylan caught the slight tension in her shoulders. "I'll see you tomorrow then," she said, her tone carefully neutral.

"Yes, tomorrow," he confirmed, watching as she walked away beside his mentor, her heels clicking against the polished floor.

You're an idiot.

The thought echoed in his mind as he stared at the empty workstation beside his. That was his mate walking away, and he was too much of a coward to claim her, too locked in his own rigid control to fully admit what she meant to him.

Rylan logged off his systems with more force than necessary, the holographic displays winking out one by one. The Defense Nexus corridors felt different without Wren's presence—colder, more sterile, like all the life had been drained from the building.

His apartment felt equally hollow when he reached it ten minutes later. He ordered takeout from his usual place, too distracted to cook and too restless to sit still. As he waited for the delivery, he found himself pacing the living room like a caged animal.

This is what two days with her has done to you.

The truth was undeniable. Wren's skills were saving them—the breaches had stopped escalating since her arrival, and she'd dismantled the syndicate's latest attacks with a precision that bordered on artistic. But more than that, she'd awakened something in him he'd spent years suppressing.

Pride in her victories flooded through him. Gratitude for her presence. And underneath it all, a growing terror at how quickly he'd begun to depend on her. Not just professionally, but in ways that went far deeper than tactical advantage.

An hour later, Rylan shoved the empty takeout container across his coffee table, the metallic scrape against glass echoing through his silent apartment. The spiced protein had tasted like cardboard, every bite a reminder that food held no appeal when his entire world had shifted off its axis.

His tiger prowled angrily, claws tearing at his insides with increasing urgency. The beast had been restless all evening, pacing and snarling at Rylan's stubborn resistance to what they both knew was inevitable.

Claim her. Mark her. Make her ours.

"Logic and reason must prevail," Rylan muttered through clenched teeth, his knuckles white as he gripped the armrest of his leather chair.

Even as the words left his mouth, they felt completely hollow. A pathetic excuse for a man too terrified to embrace what fate had handed him on a silver platter.

His tiger's response was immediate—a surge of primal fury that had him doubling over, his muscles coiling with the effort to contain the beast's rage. The animal wanted what it wanted, and what it wanted was Wren. All of her. Forever.

The Council wants you tamed, he reminded himself desperately. They want to see you lose your edge and your independence. They want to strip away everything that makes you formidable.

But the rationalization crumbled under the weight of truth. He wasn't resisting the mate bond to spite the Council. He was resisting it because he was terrified of how completely Wren had infiltrated his carefully constructed life in less than forty-eight hours.

A sharp knock interrupted his internal war. Rylan opened his apartment door to find General Kael's face creased with knowing amusement.

"You look like hell, son."

"Thanks for the confidence boost." Rylan stepped aside, gesturing toward the couch. "How was the tour?"

Kael settled into the cushions with a grunt, his keen eyes studying Rylan's rigid posture. "Your girl had a blast. Loved the floating markets, nearly fell off the observation deck at the crystal falls, and asked approximately fifty questions about tiger shifter culture."

Your girl. The possessive phrase sent heat through Rylan's chest.

"She's not my girl," Rylan said automatically.

"Right." Kael's tone dripped with skepticism. "And I'm a delicate flower who faints at the sight of blood."

Rylan began pacing, his tiger's restlessness making stillness impossible. "Did she say anything about... work?"

"She mentioned the Arvox situation. Smart woman, that one. Picked up on political undercurrents most people miss entirely." Kael leaned back, his expression growing serious. "But mostly she asked about you."

Rylan's steps faltered. "What kind of questions?"

"The kind a woman asks when she's trying to figure out why the man she's clearly falling for keeps pushing her away." Kael's voice carried the weight of decades of experience reading people. "You should've been the one showing her around, Rylan."

"I know that." The admission came out sharp. "I feel guilty enough without you rubbing salt in the wound."

"Good. Guilt means you still have a functioning conscience buried under all that stubborn pride."

Kael stood, moving to the window that overlooked the pink ocean. The moons cast silver and gold ripples across the water, their light creating patterns that seemed to shift and dance.

"You know what I've learned in thirty years of military service?" Kael asked, his voice gentler now. "Strength and great leadership isn't always about control. Sometimes it's about knowing when to trust others. When to share the burden. When to let someone else carry half the weight."

The words hit their target with surgical precision. Rylan felt something crack in his chest, a fissure in the armor he'd spent years perfecting.

"It's obvious she's your fated mate," Kael continued, turning to face him directly. "I've never seen you this torn up about anything. You're walking around like a man at war with himself."

"I'm not?—"

"Don't." Kael's tone brooked no argument. "I've known you since you were a rookie officer with more pride than sense. You're scared out of your mind because that brilliant woman threatens every misconception you've held about what makes you strong and a great leader."

Rylan's tiger rumbled in agreement, the beast recognizing truth when it heard it.

"She might surprise you," Kael said, his voice warming with something that sounded like affection. "Accepting her fully, telling her what she means to you—it might make you better than you've ever imagined."

"I don't know what to do." The admission felt like admitting defeat. "Between the cyber attacks, the conspiracy with Arvox, the Protocol Trials in four days—she has enough pressure without me dumping the mate bond on her."

Kael studied him for a long moment, then shook his head with rueful amusement. "You're overthinking again, son. Maybe stop trying to control every variable and just... let things happen naturally. Especially where she's concerned."

After Kael left, Rylan found himself drawn to the boardwalk where he'd sat with Wren just twenty-four hours ago.

The memory of her warmth against his side, her soft laugh carrying on the ocean breeze, the way she'd kissed his cheek with such sweet boldness—it all crashed over him with devastating clarity.

The stars stretched endlessly above, their light reflecting off the pink waters in patterns that seemed to pulse with the rhythm of his heartbeat.

He could almost smell her lavender scent on the night air and could almost feel the electric awareness that crackled between them whenever they were close.

She's not a distraction, he realized, the truth hitting him like lightning. She's not a weakness.

Wren was extraordinary. Beautiful. Brilliant beyond measure. And she was his.

The mate bond thrummed between them even now, a golden thread that connected them across the short distance. It wouldn't be denied forever, no matter how hard he tried to bury it under logic and duty.

Maybe Kael was right. Maybe Wren wasn't the thing that would derail his success. Maybe she was the key to everything—victory, purpose, and the man he was meant to become.