Page 71 of Outlaw Ridge: Ryker
Ryker and Emma shared a glance, steady and sure, the same instinctual connection that had carried them through every ambush, every shot fired, every close call Ethan had thrown at them.
“She had my six,” Ryker said, his voice calm and even.
Emma didn’t miss a beat. “And he had mine.”
Ethan sagged against the bed, rage bleeding into exhaustion. His mouth worked like he wanted to spit another curse at them, but he couldn’t summon the strength.
Ryker watched the hate flicker in those bloodshot eyes, watched it drain away as Ethan realized there was nothing left tosay that would matter. No wound left he could inflict. No power left to wield.
They had won.
Without waiting for another word, Ryker turned with Emma at his side and walked out of the room, leaving Ethan behind them, broken, beaten, and finally irrelevant.
The soft click of the hospital door closing sounded like a nail in the coffin.
Ryker took a deep breath as they stepped into the hall and walked outside into the cold, clear air, every step forward feeling lighter than the last.
It was over. And now, for the first time in a long damn while, the future actually looked wide open.
It looked even better with Emma standing beside him.
The cold slapped Ryker across the face as they crossed the parking lot, but he barely felt it. Not with her walking beside him. Not with the weight of the past finally off their shoulders.
They reached his truck, and instead of opening the door, Ryker turned to her. He cupped her face in his hands, kissed her deep and slow, pouring everything he felt into that single touch.
When he pulled back, her eyes were shining, her breath misting the air between them.
“I’m head over heels for you, Bonetti,” he said, his voice low and rough. “No halfway about it. All in.”
Emma’s smile started small, but it grew, warming him better than any sun ever could. “I love you too, Caldwell.” She tapped his chest lightly. “Even if you’re stubborn as hell,” she added, teasing.
He chuckled, tugging her closer by the front of her coat. “Guess it’s a good thing you like a challenge.”
“Oh, I do,” she said, mock-serious, lifting up on her toes to brush her mouth over his. “Especially when the reward’s this good.”
Ryker grinned, opened the truck door, and he helped her inside.
As he rounded to the driver’s side, he shook his head and muttered to himself, “That I love you is the best damn confession I ever made.”
And as he slid in beside her, Emma laughed, and Ryker knew they had just officially stolen their own future right out from under Ethan Ross’s ashes.
Together. Exactly where they were meant to be.
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Epilogue
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Three Months Later
Ryker leaned back against the porch railing of Emma’s house,theirhouse now, watching the sun set in streaks of fire over the Texas hills.
Inside, he could hear the faint hum of music she’d put on earlier, something bluesy and low. She was probably barefoot, hair still damp from her shower, pacing the living room while pretending she wasn’t looking for him.
He grinned to himself.
She could track him down faster than any criminal, but sometimes, she let him hide a little longer. Maybe because she knew he liked it when she hunted him.
