Bear Naked and Bite Marks (7 page)

BOOK: Bear Naked and Bite Marks
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After the waitress came and got their
drink orders he leaned back and ran his fingers over the edge of the napkin.
The waitress came back with Melissa’s glass of red wine and his draft beer, and
after they gave her their food orders, the waitress left. He really didn’t need
alcohol, but he also needed something to help calm him down a bit. The image of
clearing the table and taking her on top of it flashed through his head over
and over again.

“You know.” She took a sip of her wine
and set the glass back on the table. “Every shifter in here can feel that
you’re kind of intense right now.” She smiled, but if she really knew what he
was thinking, that he’d love to have her face down on his bed with her ass in
the air and his handprints marring the big, round cheeks of her bottom in
shades of pinks and reds, she might not be smiling like she was. His cock
jerked, and he practically felt his lust shoot out of him like a cannon and
slam into her. She sucked in a gasp, cleared her throat, and glanced around.
“People are watching,” Melissa said softly and licked her lips. He growled at
the sight of her tongue moving along the swell of her bottom lip, licking at it
like he imagined her doing to the head of his cock. Declan gripped the edge of
the table and looked to his left. It was an older couple, beaver shifters, and
when his eyes flashed brown from his bear they looked outraged. He wasn’t going
for shock value, because he honestly couldn’t control himself. He looked back
at Melissa and leaned in so their faces were now only inches apart from each
other.

“I’m sure you’ve realized this before,
but I’m not really a male that gives a shit about what others think.” Knowing
he might be walking a very thin line with her he reached out and captured her
hand in his. Her flesh felt overheated, and he watched as a blush spread up the
area of her chest he could see and continued traveling up her neck. She wasn’t
embarrassed, but aroused, and growing increasingly more so by the second.
Good
. At least he wasn’t the only one
that was this affected.

“Yeah, I got that.” Her voice was
slightly breathy, but she stopped breathing all together when he lifted her
hand to his mouth and ran his lips back and forth over her knuckles. Her flesh
was butter soft and smelled faintly of lemon soap. Declan turned her hand over,
pressed her wrist right to his nose and inhaled deeply. She smelled really
fucking good, and a low growl left him. At least he was in control enough to
keep his voice somewhat lowered so only she heard the sound. He stared at her,
watched as her chest rose and fell with her increased respirations, and wanted
to see the act when there wasn’t a silk blouse covering her generous breasts.

“You also can sense that I’m barely
hanging on here, mate, and that this whole dinner and social situation isn’t
something that I am familiar or comfortable with.” What he didn’t say was that
although he felt out of his element he was willing to do anything for her. But
that kind of commitment wasn’t strange or uncommon in the shifter world, and
felt right on every single level. Keeping her wrist by his mouth and his eyes
trained on her, Declan let his bear slip out just enough to appease the
territorial animal, but when he opened his mouth and ran his elongating canines
along the sensitive and silky smooth flesh he didn’t expect Melissa to grow
hazy from her arousal. She shivered visibly, and Declan did it again and again,
adding just a little bit more pressure with each swipe. She didn’t pull away
and in fact pressed her wrist to his mouth a little harder, but Declan didn’t
know if she was aware of her actions. He gripped the table with his other hand,
curled his nails into the cloth covered wood, and had to force himself not to
crush the wood beneath his hold.

“We should stop or…” She didn’t finish
her sentence, and when he scraped his teeth along her skin, and then ran his
tongue over the sting he knew he’d created, she moaned softly, but before he
was about to say fuck it and throw her over his shoulder, drag her back to his
SUV, and fuck her right there, needing to do that more than he needed anything
else in the whole damn world, she tensed. His bear sensed her arousal switch to
confusion. Declan let go of her hand and turned around to see what she was
looking at over his shoulder. A small, almost waif-like, meerkat shifting male
was striding toward them. He wore a suit, but it was one that reminded him of a
professor and not a hot shot businessman. The tweed material was brown and tan,
and was that a pocket protector? He stopped by the table and stared at Melissa
with this adoring smile on his face. His light brown hair was parted at the
side and slicked back, and he pushed his black rimmed glasses further up his
nose.

“Manny, what are you doing here?” Declan
glanced at Melissa, who looked awfully uncomfortable. The sensation that
someone was staring at him had Declan looking at Manny the meerkat. The other
male watched him, and under the scent of concern, the meerkat was also trying
to mask his jealousy, but doing a shit job at it. But then again Declan was trained
at picking out even the subtlest scents that a normal shifter might not be able
to catch.

“Uh, Declan, this is my friend, Manny
Martin.” There was another moment of silence. This male’s name was actually
Manny Martin? That was almost laughable. “Manny?” For a moment the meerkat
didn’t do anything but watch Declan, and his bear flashed, letting the other
male know that whatever the problem was it would end before it started. “I said
what are you doing here?” Melissa’s voice was stronger and now filled with
annoyance. Manny looked at her and smiled once more.

“I came in for some dinner and saw you
sitting here with your … friend.” The way the meerkat said that, with a light
sneer to it, had Declan lifting a brow. This was a curious turn of events, but
it wouldn’t take much for Declan to start getting pissed by this male’s idea
that his balls were big enough to start shit with him.
“Seems
like you’ve found some company for more than a few hours.”
Melissa
gasped, and her outrage was tangible. Declan’s bear rose up, pissed that this
asshole had just insulted his mate.

“Not her friend, dick.
Her
mate
.”
Declan
emphasized the last word on a growl, but the meerkat had his gaze on Melissa.
Manny knew that they weren’t friends. Being a shifter himself he could scent
the connection Declan and Melissa had, and the mating hormones that had already
started coming forth as soon as they looked into each other’s eyes. The guy was
just being a motherfucker, and that wasn’t going to be good where Declan was
concerned.

“Manny, you need to leave.
Now.”
Melissa’s anger was like fire cracking.

“Mate, huh?” The meerkat ignored her
request, and all that did to Declan was
piss
him off
even more. There was a strange quality in the male’s voice, but just as Declan
was about to stand and let this guy know his company was starting to really
make Melissa uncomfortable, she started talking.

“Yes, Manny, and I’m only going to say
this once. Leave.” She sighed and leaned back in her seat.

The meerkat must have been hard of
hearing because he didn’t move, and instead started talking again. “I thought
you would have called me back, but lucky we ran into each other here, huh?
Almost like fate stepped in.”

“What the fuck, man?” Declan did stand
up then. This was going from uncomfortable to creepy as fuck, and he was about
to end it. “My mate told you to leave, yet you are still here. Go now.” Declan
cracked his knuckles and rolled his head on his neck, feeling itchy as fuck
since he met Melissa, but now just feeling territorial and possessive of his
female. This would be a good opportunity to let his beast out and relieve some
tension.

“Please, Declan.” There was a pleading
note in his mate’s voice, and that had Declan instantly stilling. He swallowed
his anger but did sit down. Did she realize that she had a lot of power over
him? There wasn’t a doubt in Declan’s mind that this little asshole had a
hard-on for Melissa, and although this guy was the least intimidating and
frightening person to ever present himself, there was something beneath the surface
that rankled Declan’s animal. It was possible it was because the mating was
making him even more sensitive and seeing everything as a threat, but there was
something off about this guy, something that had Declan’s training rising up
and noticing things others wouldn’t. Like the way he focused on Melissa a
little too intimately, and the way his fingers twitched right before he
smoothed them over his trousers. Declan also noticed that he kept shuffling on
his feet, as if he wanted to do something, but held himself back. Yeah, this
guy rubbed Declan the wrong way, and he didn’t like the fact he was even by his
female.

Declan didn’t take his eyes off Manny
when he said, “I suggest you leave right now while I have my bear under
control.” If the prick was smart he would just walk away, because the scent of
the attraction this male had to Declan’s mate was an acid sting in his nose. It
took a few seconds, and to
Declan
that was a few
seconds too long, but finally Manny headed out of the restaurant without even
getting anything to eat though he’d claimed that was the reason he was there.

“I’m sorry about that.” There was a
defeated but annoyed lilt in her voice, and he offered her a smile that he
hoped was reassuring when he felt nothing but fierce right now. “That was
Manny. I’ve known him since my freshman year of high school, and since then
he’s been a bit … attached.” She was obviously playing it down, because that
wasn’t just a male after a female. That was an obsessed fucker. She grabbed her
wine and took a long swallow from it. Their food arrived before he could
respond, but he wasn’t hungry, not when he was feeling pissed and cautious and jealous.

“I didn’t like the way he was looking at
you, or the scents he was putting off.” She gave him a sympathetic smile, and
it pissed him off that she knew this but still let it continue. “Unless you’re
not telling me something, like maybe there is a history that runs a bit deeper
between the two of you?” Even after the words came out of him Declan knew he
had fucked up. Her expression hardened, and she finished off her wine before
setting it on the table and leaning back in her seat.

“Declan.” He would have thought hearing
her say his name would have been akin to getting off, and it probably would
have if her tone wasn’t icy. “You and I just met a few days ago, haven’t even
spent twenty-four hours in each other’s presence, and I want you to remember
that just because there is this fate or chemical, or whatever reaction that is going
on between us, what I did in my past before you even came into the picture is
none of your damn business.” He clenched his jaw, because as much as he liked
her strength, it also angered his bear. She was pissed about that Manny
asshole, and he was making it worse, he knew that. She lifted her fork, but
sighed and set it down on the plate. “I don’t mean to be a bitch, well,
sometimes I do, but right now I don’t. Just that situation right there
embarrassed me, and I’m really mad at Manny right now for doing it.” She
offered him a smile. “I am also just feeling as off balanced as you are.” They
stared at each other for a second, but Declan kept his mouth shut, because he
knew if he said anything it would be in the form of alpha asshole-ness. “There
has never been anything between Manny and me, and never will be. And believe
me, after this little incident I will be talking to him.” Declan didn’t know if
he liked her talking to the dick at all, but he still didn’t say anything. “In
all the years I’ve known him he has never talked to me that way or acted like
that. I really don’t know what got into him.” Declan knew, and it was because
the “competition” was right in his face.

“I don’t think the meerkat understands
that, Melissa.” He tried to keep his voice calm, but there was that
unmistakable gruffness to it. He grabbed his beer and downed the rest of it.

“Yeah, I guess that was shoved in my
face right now.” She started eating, and that was good because he had no idea
what in the hell to say. What he really wanted to do was follow the shifter
outside and show him what happened when a male fucked with another male’s mate.
Guaran
-fucking-tee the dick wouldn’t bother her
again.
 

The rest of the meal was done with both
of them bringing up safe things to talk about, but the underlying tension that
had filled the space between them after the meerkat left was still there.
Declan knew it was on him for keeping this up, and as much as he wished he
could just let this roll off his back, that wasn’t how Declan was wired. He
needed to do some research on Manny, see if he was hiding anything, and then
maybe he could relax.
Maybe
.
It seemed this mating thing was going to be a hell of a lot more trouble than
just worrying about his female having a mouth on her.

Chapter Six

 

Melissa sat at her kitchen table and
stared out her window. She had a foot propped up on the empty table, her mug
sitting in front of her with hot tea in it, and her thoughts on Declan, like they
had been since she met him. He had insisted on following her home last night,
but in all honesty she hadn’t minded. Everything had been going great,
scorching hot even, but then Manny had shown up, coincidentally as it was, and
after that there was this wall up between her and Declan that she hadn’t been
able to penetrate. Yeah, her anger had gotten the better of her when he had
started getting this attitude on whether she and Manny had a past together, but
what she had done before he even came into the picture wasn’t his concern. She
certainly didn’t consider herself a slut because she had been with a lot of men
sexually. That was who she was, how she chose to live her life, and she was the
one deciding who she got laid with. Yes, she had experimented in the bedroom,
and realized although she had a dominating personality, between the sheets she
liked to relinquish the power she had such a tight grasp on and just submit.
That was who she was, and she loved it. Of course she had dated, but she wasn’t
ashamed to admit that having sex instead of getting into relationship after
relationship had been what she did more of. At thirty-seven she was comfortable
with her sexuality, and thought more females would have less self-esteem issues
and more confidence if they weren’t tied down to certain values and standards.
Was she going to tell Declan all of that? Maybe if things between them
progressed, but it certainly wasn’t something she wanted to know about him. Melissa
was a strong believer in letting the past stay right there, because all it
ended up doing was causing more problems in the long run. Besides, there wasn’t
a doubt that he had been with his fair share of females, looking like he did
and with the air of confidence that surrounded him.

BOOK: Bear Naked and Bite Marks
2.13Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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