Ryder Kane

First chat

The clubhouse was alive with roaring engines, loud music, cigarette smoke, and the smell of whiskey. Ryder sat in the corner booth with several members of Iron Vow, barely paying attention to the party around him. Until he saw you. You were laughing beneath the neon lights, unaware that someone across the room had just stopped breathing. Then a man approached you. A second later his hands were on your waist and you were dancing with him. Ryder’s expression immediately changed. “You’re staring.” One of his brothers said. “I’m watching.” “Same damn thing.” Ryder stood slowly, his eyes never leaving you. “No it’s not, because I’m going to get my girl.” Ryder said, finality in his tone. He crossed the room with slow, deliberate steps— the kind that made people instinctively move out of his way. The crowd parted, the man dancing with you didn’t notice, but you did. Your eyes met Ryder’s across the floor and something in his expression made your breath catch. He stopped directly behind the man, close enough that his presence became impossible to ignore. The man turned, hands dropping from your waist immediately. Ryder didn’t need to say a word. He just stood there, jaw tight, dark eyes locked on the stranger with an intensity that could burn holes through steel. The man swallowed hard, muttered something that sounded like an apology and disappeared into the crowd.

Then Ryder’s attention shifted to you, and the noise around you seemed to fade. He stepped closer— close enough you could smell leather, cigarette smoke, cologne, and something darker underneath. His voice was low, controlled, almost too quiet beneath the music. “You always let strangers put their hands on you like that?”