Ryker's Guide (Spicy)

Patience

Ryker thoughtfully chewed the highly sweetened mass of chocolate. He thought it was some sort of cheap imitation of orange cream, making a face before washing it down with a mouthful of Carbry's whiskey. They had only been idly chit chatting for the past hour or so, with Ryker leaning against the bar and Carbry standing not far away.

"Ok, now try this one." Carbry held out a tray of chocolates that Ryker could tell just by the smell were a million times better than the ones Daryl had bought Meriwa.

Ryker sighed and picked one up, inspecting it with a frown. "Is this gold dust?"

"It's orange infused with saffron inside a decadent Belgian chocolate." Carbry put the tray down, smirking to him as he watched Ryker assessing it.

"You know...Daryl is just going to feel bad, right?" Ryker looked up at Carbry as he bit into the chocolate, pausing to let the taste slide over his senses. " I mean...fuck, this is amazing... but...your wealth, it makes him incredibly uncomfortable."

"Meriwa deserves the best. All those I care about deserve the best. Nevertheless, I still spend a huge portion of my wealth on helping the vulnerable and unfortunate. I'd be about three times wealthier than I am if I didn't." Carbry shrugged easily.

The man wasn't bragging. He was stating simple facts. Carbry had amassed this wealth over centuries after nearly decimating his fortune upon coming to the new world and wanting to be a better person who built a better world.

Ryker shrugged and took another drink of whiskey. "He buys that brand of chocolate for Meriwa because she loves that cherry one, the only one she ate...and because it was what his dad used to buy his mom every Valentine's, or birthday. To him, that box of chocolates...that brand, that look, these shitty little cheap chocolates, signify the love that drove his dad to pawn his favourite things in order to afford a box of chocolates and a fancy dinner at the 'nice' restaurant in town."

"And my wealth?" Carbry was watching Ryker curiously, head tilting to the side. "He sees me as the elite that doesn't understand, doesn't know how to work or get their hands dirty. He sees me as..."

Ryker shrugged once more and finished off his glass of whiskey. "No. He's intimidated by your wealth because he just doesn't understand it. He still shops at the feed shop and buys no name groceries. As for you and your wealth...I dunno...I don't think it's your wealth that sets you apart from him. It's just, well, whatever it is...he was still as worried about you as I was when Meriwa died."

"You know, you're showing yourself to be rather introspective and thoughtful." Carbry smiled thoughtfully before turning to open the whiskey bottle and stepping closer to pour it.

Alesky was close enough for Ryker to feel the heat off the man. If Ryke shifted just slightly, he could have pressed his body against his, could smell the primal and smokey scent of Carbry over the smell of the whiskey and chocolate that wafted around them.

Ryker let out a slow breath, lifting his eyes to find Carbry watching him, tantalizingly close enough to kiss. "Just for the people that matter."

He had been physically close to Carbry a million times before while both of them were drunk or while wrangling their respective mates, and the older man's expression wasn't new. Ryker just seemed to recognize something else other than Carbry's calm intelligence and eloquent charm in those dark blue eyes.

"I know you do things on your own time, and it's a fool's errand to rush you into making decisions." Carbry's voice was a low rumble that reminded him of the chocolate and whiskey that was still on his tongue.

The fact that Carbry reminded him of whiskey just like Daryl did surprised him, but it seemed right. In fact, if he had to really think about it, so did Meriwa. Ryker didn't have the refined taste in whiskey that Daryl and Carbry did, but he had drunk enough of it and learned enough from his cowboy and his friend to know that whiskeys varied drastically in taste, just like the three of them. When faced with this realization, he cleared his throat and took another gulp of the stuff in his glass.

"If you aren't interested, tell me. And we'll return to the way things were. I won't bother you again about it." Carbry murmured, pulling Ryker's attention back to him.

Ryker shrugged. "I'm not dicking you around."

Carbry smiled gently, offering a shake of his head. "Oh I know that Ryker. But you still haven't spoken to Daryl about it, have you?"

Despite the gentle expression on Carbry's face, the man sounded a little frustrated, and it gave Ryker a delicious thrill of fear when he realized Carbry really wasn't used to having to wait for things. Carbry appeared calm and collected at all times, and there wasn't much he couldn't get through his influence, personality, or wealth.

"No." Ryker put his glass down and ran his fingers back through his hair, giving Carbry a pained look. "Before you lose your shit...I just...It's not that it's not on my mind...I just don't know how to talk to him about it."

Carbry reached up to caress his knuckles over Ryker's cheek, shaking his head. "I'm not going to lose my shit, Ryker. I am finding my patience and self control tested, but it's not fury that rages in me. Why are you afraid to talk to Daryl?"

Because Ryke wanted to lean into Carbry's caress, he turned and looked at his glass, though Carbry didn't shift backwards, leaving Ryker's shoulder and hip brushing against Carbry's chest and leg. "Because we were in a really bad place, and it was partly because I kept putting you over him and we're just getting better...and I...I want to make sure he knows that I love him, that I'm happy with him that he's more than enough for me...before I ask him if he wants...to fuck you. Or to let me fuck you...and Meri...and...yeah..."

"He loves you, Ryker. And he knows you love him, too. Are you worried that, seeing as how Meriwa did bring it up to him, he isn't interested?" Carbry offered, sounding surprisingly vulnerable.

Cause, at the end of the day, they both knew that if Daryl said no, Ryker wouldn't push it. That if Daryl was still silent about all of it because he was trying to pretend that milkshake conversation didn't happen, it didn't matter what the rest of them wanted. This would die in the water. And thinking about that, realizing that he actually wanted Daryl to want this, Ryker realized that he had already decided himself.

"Just because you have an open relationship, because you are sexually attracted to other people, does not mean that you are not fulfilled by your mate or that you love him any less." Carbry offered gently. "I see that guilt moving across your features Ryker, and whatever you're feeling, there's nothing wrong with it."

Ryker looked up at Carbry, his mouth parting as he was about to say something in response when the front door slammed open, admitting the sounds and scents of their mates.

Both the people they loved were laughing loudly as Meriwa was talking. "I still don't know why you didn't get up to go pee! It was like most of the movie!"

Daryl flushed and shook his head, eyes lifting toward Ryker and Carbry as he offered sheepishly. "I didn't want to miss the gory parts."

Which was a lie. Daryl hated horror movies, but he watched them with Meriwa cause she loved them. Ryker observed Daryl curiously, noticing the man's embarrassment.

It was then that Meriwa finally looked over at them and noticed Carbry, which led her to let out a squeal of joy then sprint across the room to leap at her mate. "You're home early! Why didn't you tell me?! I thought you were home tomorrow! Or later tonight!"

Carbry caught her easily, wrapping his arms around her and holding her tight to him as he kissed her hard and deep. It became immediately apparent that the two of them had completely forgotten that anyone else was in the room, not that Ryker blamed them. With a grin in Daryl's direction, Ryker grabbed his phone off the counter and slid it into his pocket as he walked to where his cowboy was waiting for him.

"Night, you two crazy love birds." Ryker said jokingly with a slight exasperated tinge before laughing and pulling Daryl out of the apartment. "Come on. I want some cuddle time before you fall asleep and I have to head back to work."

Daryl grinned and inclined his head. "I was going to work from home tomorrow. So maybe we can spend some time together in the morning? Or whenever you get home from work?"

"I'd love that." Ryker kissed Daryl's temple as they got into the elevator, pulling him close as he whispered into his ear. "You're going to have to drive, and you have me till I sober up."

"You were drinking whiskey, already?" Daryl laughed then kissed him sweetly before pressing Ryker against the wall of the elevator and deeping the kiss, prompting a makeout session that put Carbry and Meriwa's earlier display to shame.