A Fox Between the Bear's Sheets (6 page)

shoulder, and Ford followed her line of sight. The three males were engaged with other females. “I

don’t have a male.” Her cheeks turned even redder, and the rush of heat that came from her

surrounded him. Ford swore he grew a little drunker from it.

“No male?” He placed his forearms on the table and leaned in so close to her he could have

counted each individual eyelash. Her chest rose and fell, and the outline of her nipples was now visible

through her sweater seat. Letting his eyes travel up from her chest, over her slender, pale neck, and to

her mouth, he watched in rapt awe as she dragged her tongue along first her bottom lip and then her

top. The glossy residue along her plump lips had his shaft jerking in response.

“N-No. I don’t have a male.” Ford couldn’t help but stare at the way the top of her breasts

gently peeked over her sweater. They were large, far more than a handful, and so fucking delectable he

wanted his hands on them, and his mouth sucking on her nipples. The scent of angry males nearing

had Ford stiffening and moving closer to Talia. She looked to the males she had come in with as they

stopped at the table. Her brother stared down at him with a predatory gaze on his face. Nothing was

said as he and the brother stared each other down. Ford had to give him props for taking care of his

sister, but he didn’t know Ford very well, or the fact he wasn’t about to fucking back down.

“Hey, get the hell out of here.”

Ford smirked at the big blond fucker. If he wasn’t so damn horny for his little fox he would

have found this situation humorous, but as it stood he was growing increasingly annoyed. He may be

her brother, but no one fucking talked to him that way. Ford stood and fully faced her brother and the

two shifters behind him. The falcon shifters eyed him curiously. Before Ford could say anything that

would most likely start something unfortunate, Talia stood and addressed her brother.

“Luke, this is Ford. I bumped into him earlier today at a little café.” Ford and Luke stared at

each other for several more seconds. “Anyway, he was just about to buy me a drink.” Ford looked

down at her and smirked. He thought it was endearing that she thought to protect him.

Instead of showing these males that he was an alpha and wasn’t intimidated by a cougar or a

couple of bird shifters, he spoke directly to Talia. “Yeah, a drink sounds good. What do you want,

Talia?”

The way her name flowed coming from his lips sounded really fucking good, but what would

have sounded even better was Talia screaming out his name as he was balls deep inside of her.

“How about I go up there with you and see what they have?” She was still protecting him. Ford

found himself with a full-blown grin now that this little slip of a fox thought she was helping him out.

Well, he’d let her rescue him, and then later he’d show her exactly what a bear was capable of. She

made a move to walk by her brother, but he stopped her and said something low in her ear while

keeping his eyes locked on Ford. He couldn’t blame Luke for his worry, but Ford also knew her

brother could sense he meant his sister no harm. Now, there was no doubt Luke could sense how badly

he wanted Talia, but that wasn’t something he was going to be ashamed of or hide. Before anything

else could be said Talia grabbed his hand and started walking toward the bar, but he let her, because he

wasn’t going to let things escalate, not unless they started shit with him. When she was leaning against

the counter she let go of his hand and faced him.

“Are you freaking insane?” He cocked his brow at her question and didn’t hide the genuine

smile that formed his lips. When was the last time he felt amused?

“Am I?”

She pointed behind her at her brother and his friends. “Three against one. You have to be crazy

if you think you could have taken all of them on, and I could sense that is where it was going.” She

breathed out roughly, and a tendril of wavy red hair puffed out in response. “I swear it was like a He-

Man showdown right in front of me.”

Ford stared at her, blinking a few times and processing her words to make sure he heard her

right over the loud music. She looked so damn worried it was heartwarming. When he realized she

was serious he threw his head back and laughed loud and long, and fuck did it feel good, refreshing.

Another sliver of darkness broke away, and light shone through. Whatever it was about her had

everything he had become being moved, transformed, and shaped into something that used to fill him.

Several people at the bar turned and looked at him curiously.

“Baby, not to seem cocky or anything, but I’m pretty sure I can take on a cougar and a couple

of falcon shifters.” She didn’t respond right away, and despite the fact he could sense her emotions, he

wished he could have been able to know what she was thinking. Her mouth parted, but before she

could say anything he turned and ordered a couple of drinks. What was crazy as fuck was he had

ordered a beer for himself and one of those frilly girly drinks for her, and he never did shit like that.

He waited for Zarry, a weasel shifter and the current bartender for the night, to fill his order. He took

those precious minutes to just stare at her, to enjoy the sight of her luminescent skin with a light,

almost invisible sprinkling of freckles along the bridge of her nose, her lush, light pink lips, and the

all-around natural beauty she exuded. Something clicked into place the longer he stared at her, a

realization that put everything else on the backburner in his mind. What if this attraction he had for

Talia, this connection that was like a rope pulling him closer and closer to her, meant she was his

mate? She bit her lower lip, and the sight of her small white teeth worrying the plump flesh had desire

growing higher inside of him, but also had a touch of fear mixing with his desire. He couldn’t handle

this if that was what was going on, if he had actually found his mate after thirty-five years on this

planet. He wasn’t wired anymore to accept a female for his own again. When he had shit had gone bad,

and he didn’t want to have to relive that. His fear could be holding him back from something

explosive and mind-blowing, but it was also that fear that protected him from a lot of shit.

Fuck.

“Why don’t you seem worried about what could have just happened?” The fact she was still

thinking about a fictitious threat was slightly amusing. Zarry set his order on the counter before him,

and Ford picked up her daiquiri and handed it to her. It had a damn pink umbrella and a slice of

strawberry sticking out of it, and that sight had him grinning.

He didn’t want to talk about the other males, or what she thought was about to happen. All

Ford wanted to talk about was him and her. All he wanted to hear was the melodic sound of her voice

as she told him all about herself. God dammit, he was falling incredibly hard and fast for this girl, and

he hadn’t even known her for a full fucking day. “Will you sit with me and talk?”

She looked hesitant and glanced at her brother.

Ford looked in that direction as well and saw Luke watching them with narrowed eyes. The

protectiveness that came from her brother made him feel a semblance of calm knowing she had

someone fierce enough to watch over her. “I swear all I want to do was talk.” He held up both hands in

surrender. Look at him, practically begging a female for attention, but then again Talia wasn’t just

some female. She was his, at least for tonight. “There is an empty table in the corner. It’s away from

everyone and a bit quieter, I’m sure.”

She looked from him to her brother again, then back to him.

“I swear your brother can still see us, and if I try something I’ll give you a free, unrestricted

shot at my balls.” That had her smiling, and Ford realized he wanted to see her do that over and over

again. It lit up her damn face and warmed his cold, broken heart. He didn’t want to make her feel

uncomfortable, or make her feel like she had to go with him, but fuck he wanted to get her alone, even

if it was in a secluded corner of a crowded bar.

He didn’t think she’d go, not with the way she kept worrying her bottom lip and glancing at her

brother. Hell, he knew indecision as well as the next person, but prayed like hell she’d give him a

chance. It had taken ten fucking years to find someone that made him give a damn about something,

and hell, this moment right now was so fucking important.

“Okay. Let me just let Luke know.” His once battered heart started to beat wildly at her

acceptance. Palms sweaty and anticipation wracking his body, Ford turned to go with her to speak to

her brother, but she held up her hand, stopping him. There hadn’t been anything that could stop him or

his bear when he wanted something, but Talia, his little fox, could stop him in his tracks and

successfully bring him to his knees if she deemed it so. “Just wait here. I don’t want any more

testosterone being thrown around.”

She smiled, and although he sure as hell wanted to argue with her, that he didn’t want to leave

her side, he knew he would have sounded like some overprotective asshole, and they had just met. If

that’s what she wanted then he’d hang back and be a good boy, although all he could think about was

her
being
his
good girl. She moved away from him, and his bear paced inside of him to follow her.

The damn animal didn’t want her walking away from him anymore than his human side did. Bringing

his bottle to his lips and taking a long pull, he watched her talk with her brother, who apparently didn’t

like what she was saying by his instant frown and fast moving mouth. She pointed to the corner table

where they would sit, but Luke shook his head adamantly. Talia placed her hands on her hips, and it

looked like she was giving her brother a tongue lashing, which had Ford grinning. His female was a

feisty little thing.

No, quit thinking like that. Having a female for more than one night is bad news, dangerous to

both of you.
Even if he knew it was a bad idea, he kicked those thoughts in the ass because he wasn’t

about to let the first female to awaken him slip through his fingers. Ford watched them closely, and

after Talia was finished ripping her brother a new asshole it seemed, he finally nodded. His eyes

caught Ford’s, and the cougar shifter narrowed his eyes. Yeah, Ford knew he was watching, and that

was fucking fine, but by the end of the night he was taking his girl home and fucking her so

thoroughly she couldn’t even think of not staying with him. This might be the very worst idea he had

ever had, but it also felt like the best fucking idea.

She came back over to him, and as much as he wanted to place his hand on the small of her

back at the very least, he curled his hand around his beer bottle and led her to an empty table. Oh, he

wanted his hands on her, wanted to feel her lush curves and roundness, but he would work up to that,

make her comfortable with him, and then have his way when she melted from his touches. They sat

down, and it was clear she was still uncomfortable. Usually he didn’t have to fight hard for a female,

but Talia, with her unusual but gorgeous blue eyes, made him feel like an inexperienced teenager. He

actually felt tongue-tied around her, and that would just not do. Shaking off his own nervousness, he

braced both forearms on the table and leaned in. He wanted her, and he needed to be the dominant

alpha he always had been. There was no time for him to be a pussy.

“So, Talia Landon, what brings you to Sweet Water?” Ford was so close to her that Talia

smelled the intoxicating aroma of his cologne and the beer he was drinking. As strange as it was, the

dual scents complemented each other to the point her arousal spiked and she had to clench her thighs

together. What was worse was the fact she knew damn well he could smell how wet she was and what

he did to her body. Her reaction to him was not something she was used to. Never had she met a man,

human or shifter, that had made her feel so … free. All around them there was a plethora of scents,

some viler than others, but there nonetheless. The smell of sex somewhere nearby alerted her that

there were people out that didn’t care about where they fucked. They were so worked up by each other

they just couldn’t wait to be alone and had to relieve that ache. This was one of those times she

actually she wished she was more wanton and took what she wanted, and what she wanted was the bear

shifter right in front of her.

Licking her lips, she could only think about one thing, and that had nothing to do with her

brother’s wedding, or the bitch who would soon be her sister-in-law. Dirty and lewd images of her