A Fox Between the Bear's Sheets (5 page)

he welcomed it all. Now here he was, watching Bram flirt so hard with some human waitress that

she’d be gripping her ankles for him before the night was over with. Ford scanned the bar, seeing if

any females piqued his interest. All he could think about was the sexy little red fox shifter that he’d

met earlier that day. And that was something he had been trying to purge from his mind all day, hence

the fact he worked his balls off today. He didn’t want to be so attracted to someone, least of all an

innocent-eyed little fox who stared up at him with her arousal pouring off of her in waves. There had

never been a woman who had affected him so strongly with just one look, but when he had looked into

her pale blue eyes something in him had shifted. A little part of him had broken through the darkness

that filled every recess of his body.

Those emotions were foreign to him, had been for far too long, and made him increasingly

twitchy and uncomfortable. So he had done what he did best. He turned their charming, yet slightly

embarrassing, encounter into something sexual. He had checked her out blatantly, staring at her tits

and not bothering to hide the fact. Then she had gotten even more embarrassed, and aroused, and it

had taken everything inside of him not to push her up against the wall and take her right there. Thank

fuck she had left when she did, because he had been two seconds away from following through on

those primal desires.

Her image was ingrained in his head, and not just because he had been able to see every inch of

her luscious breasts. It was her deep red hair and icy blue eyes that turned him on like no other had.

Her curvy, all female body was made for a man to get lost in. He had never liked stick-thin females,

which Mina had been, but his love for her had blinded him to a lot of things. As soon as he thought

about his ex his mood went downhill. Over the years since their break-up he had realized how shallow

she had been, and how many times he had looked past a lot of shit she had pulled. He was just as much

to blame for their relationship failing as she was. They might have been high school sweethearts, and

might have been together for years, but it had always been about her. The way she looked, dressed,

even acted around others, was the complete opposite of how he viewed things. He couldn’t care less

what others thought of him, or if he was wearing some high-class shit. He worked hard, kicked back

with his brothers and crew after a long day, and got drunk more days than he cared to admit.

Mina had come from a privileged family, and therefore acted at times like a spoiled brat, but

he had loved her, and as they say, love is blind. But that was ten years ago, long enough for him to

really reflect on what his life had been like back then, and how he had changed. But then he had seen

Talia, and everything inside of him had calmed. The darkness in him actually receded, and a sliver of

light shone through, all because she had looked up at him. Fuck, he was acting like a pussy. He was

too old for this shit, too old to think he could change after being this way for so long. His relationship

with Mina had been artificial, and it was actually a blessing things had turned out the way they did,

although it had taken Ford a long time to come to that conclusion. He had done a lot of thinking,

realized what he wanted out of life, and had finally come to the conclusion he was better off living the

way he had been: sleeping with random females when he felt the need to get off, not forming lasting

bonds with said females, working his ass off, and sticking to himself. Living that way had served him

fine, and he didn’t plan on changing anytime soon.

Despite Bram’s successful flirtations, Ford’s youngest brother looked like shit, what with his

black eye, split lip, and claw marks that were showing right under the collar of his shirt. Despite his

appearance he always got pussy, but Ford suspected the females liked the dangerous and beaten look.

It called to them on some kind of primal female level.

Rubbing a hand over his short hair, Ford was fucking exhausted. He gestured for the bartender

to bring him another shot. He turned back around and scanned the bar, looking for an easy lay that

wouldn’t want something more than his dick when a flash of wine colored hair caught his attention.

Talia walked in behind a male, and had two others following closely behind.

Was she taken? That thought had rage like he had never felt washing through him. Not even

when all that shit went down with Mina did he feel this kind of anger, and because of what? The idea

that Talia had a male? Despite the stench of spilled, sour beer, sweat, and sex, he picked up the

intoxicating aroma of lavender with a hint of citrus. Ford inhaled deeply, closed his eyes, and felt his

dick harden so fucking fast it pressed incessantly against the fly of his jeans. A heady sensation passed

through him, one that had nothing to do with the liquor he had drunk, and all to do with how bad he

fucking wanted between her thighs. He let his eyes travel up and down her body in a quick sweep, but

then lingered on the parts of her that called to his bear. She had a waist that was made for him to wrap

his hands around. The shirt she wore was some kind of sweater set and far too many layers for his

liking, but that didn’t matter because he had the image of her rose colored nipples ingrained in his

brain. Even now all he could see was her coffee stained blouse and bra. He had been able to see her

full breasts, which had his hands itching to touch them. The fact she was a complete stranger, wasn’t

from Sweet Water, but that she was all he could think about, didn’t sit well with him. He didn’t like

this feeling that he had to find out who she was, what she felt like under his hands, tasted like under

his tongue. He knew her name, and saying it over and over again in his head was like an auditory

orgasm.
Talia Landon
.
Talia Landon. Talia Landon.
It was feminine and sexual, and a name he wanted

to say while buried deep inside of her pussy. Maybe all he needed to do was get her out of his system,

fuck her until he could say he had her, and then move on to the next one?

“Ford, man, I think I’m heading out soon.” Bram stepped in front of his line of sight, and he let

out a low growl. Bram cocked a brow, looked over his shoulder at where Talia sat with the three

assholes, and looked back at Ford with an amused expression. He was acting dumb, and growling over

some female was something a male would do only for his
own
female. Talia Landon was definitely not

his female, so he needed to control his shit.

“Somethin’ you like, brother?”

“Fuck off, Bram.” Ford picked up his shot and downed it, never taking his eyes off Bram. His

brother grinned broadly, and they both looked at the brunette who stepped up beside Bram.

“You ready, baby?” Bram slid his hand up and cupped the brunette’s tit. She moaned, leaned in

close, and whispered something in his ear, which in turn had Bram groaning and giving Ford a pained

look. “Dude, she has some wicked plans for tonight.”

The prickling on the back of his neck had Ford straightening in his seat and looking over

Bram’s shoulder. Talia was looking in his direction, and when her gaze landed on his, he swore he

could hear the increase in her pulse. His dick was hard as hell, and all he wanted to do was walk up to

her, take her mouth in a kiss that would leave her weak and just as fucking turned on as he was, and

then he wanted to lick every inch of her until she would never forget how his touch felt.

What in the fuck is wrong with you?
These thoughts were dangerous and unwanted, and he sure

as hell didn’t want to desire her as much as he did. Ford just wanted to ease this ache he had for this

strange and unknown red fox shifter, and he was going to accomplish this tonight. Then he could move

the fuck on with his life and put her behind him.

“Yeah, man, have fun.” He waved Bram off without a backward glance, and kept his gaze on

Talia. The male who had been walking in front of her threw his arm around her shoulder and leaned in

to say something in her ear. He was a big fucker, tall and heavily muscled, and far too close to her.

Ford found himself taking a step closer, but realized what he was doing and stopped. He inhaled

deeply, filtered out the vile scents that surrounded him, and focused Talia’s and the male’s scent. He

snapped his eyes open and felt the tension inside of him start to ease. They shared the same blood, and

the fact that the man was related to her had the wild, edgy bear inside of him calming.

What the fuck was wrong with him? He was pleased that she was trying but failing to keep her

eyes off of him. He could smell her curiosity and arousal, and he knew it was directed at him by the

fact her cheeks turned a pretty shade of pink the longer she stared at him. The blond male sitting

beside her looked fierce as he said something to her. She broke eye contact with Ford and started

arguing with him. After a minute he shook his head and stood, the other two males following suit. The

males left her at the table alone, a big mistake for more than one reason, but lucky for him because he

wasn’t wasting another moment of starting up whatever this was that simmered between them.

Pushing away from the bar he made his way through the gyrating bodies and stopped in front

of her. He felt feral inside, ready to haul her up and claim her in front of everyone. The bear inside of

him clawed to get out, to take supremacy over the situation. Ford fought the fucker back, because no

way in hell was the asshole getting Talia. She was his, and even if he and his bear were of the same

entity, he was the alpha, not the other way around. Her pulse quickened, and the scent of her arousal

and nervousness fueled his own lust. His cock pulsed behind his jeans, begging to be released. Why

his presence put her on edge was a mystery to him, but the fact she desired him as much as he did her,

had him wanting nothing else but to take her to his place right the fuck now.

That thought had him stilling. Take her back to his place? He never took females to his place to

fuck, but he wanted to take Talia to his place, wanted her in his bed, smelling of him with his dick

buried deep inside of her. The feeling of his bear wanting anything to do with a female was odd to

him, because never had his inner animal wanted to come out and show its dominance. His bear always

stayed in the back, letting Ford take the reins and control the situation. On this occasion it seemed his

bear wanted Ford to take the backseat while he dominated this little red fox, and damn was he going to

take her good and hard.

He didn’t want to frighten her, so he schooled his features and took the seat beside her. The

way she shifted in her seat, and the increased potency of her arousal told him Talia was already

primed for him, even if she was nervous as hell. Maybe he should have gone easy with her, not rushed

things or tried to get her under him so quickly? But fuck it, he wanted this, needed this, and for the

first time in his life, wanted a female more than he wanted his next breath, which was insane since he

had thought Mina was the one for him. Was there something else between him and Talia, something

more elemental, and that was why he had such a strong desire to have her? Or maybe he was just

thinking too fucking hard. He couldn’t help it though, not with his arousal and testosterone coursing

through his veins like two damn freight trains coming at each other, just getting ready to crash

together. She squirmed in her seat again, and the smell of her innocent lust slammed into him and

caused his dick to stiffen even further. If he got any harder his damn cock would bust right through his

jeans.

“Talia.” He leaned in an inch and inhaled deeply. He was on autopilot now, unable to stop

himself from making it pretty fucking clear what he wanted. His bear growled deep inside at her

intoxicating aroma. “Those males shouldn’t have left you alone.” He cast a glance at the shifters at the

bar, and even though he knew one of them was related to her, he couldn’t help but wonder if she was

with one of the other two males. That had his claws starting to unsheathe as his animal came to the

forefront. He’d fight for her, draw blood, and do some major fucking damage to claim her as his. “If

you were mine I wouldn’t let you out of my sight. That only gives others the impression they can

come sniffing around what isn’t theirs, and that leads to broken bones and bloody bodies.”

Her eyes widened, and he knew he was going too fast, saying feral things, and he was going to

run her off before anything happened between them. “Excuse me?” She stuttered a little, and he found

himself leaning closer to her, needing to have her heat and scent surrounding him. She looked over her