Big Bad Bear (2 page)

Carly’s mind willed her to move, but her body was still shaking from the adrenaline of the past couple minutes. Everything had happened so fast.

“But, my job… My shift doesn’t—”

“There’s no time for that now,” he said, cutting her off.

Carly looked around and saw the motionless bodies of the men around her. If they really were from the Red Devils, then Zeus was right; she wasn’t safe here. But maybe they weren’t. Maybe they were just loan sharks Rob had gotten in too deep with.

Zeus looked impatiently at her, then swooped her up into his arms. “Here, let me help you,” he said, more commanding than asking.

The feeling of being picked up off the ground and held in the humongous man’s arms was surreal. Carly was by no means a slight woman, so she’d never understood what it felt like to be carried. But as Zeus turned and made for the door, opening it with his foot and walking across the small parking lot, she instantly began to feel much better, much safer.

Even if Zeus was a complete stranger and a total mystery to her, there was something about him that felt right. She was safe with him. Somehow she just knew it.

He walked toward what Carly assumed must be his motorcycle, a big, black Harley with shining chrome and a pristine paint job. She had no clue how much bikes like this cost, but she assumed it was probably pretty expensive. Which made no sense from the stories she’d heard about him being half civilized and living in the mountains all alone.

Zeus set Carly down on the rear part of the large leather seat, quite gracefully to her surprise, and then handed her a huge helmet.

“Put this on,” he said.

She didn’t ask questions, just put on the helmet that was clearly for a head much larger than hers and buckled the strap tightly so it wouldn’t come off. Zeus climbed onto the bike, and she felt the shocks lurch under his sheer size as he clicked the stand into its place and started the engine with his foot. The motorcycle roared to life as he took a pair of large sunglasses out of his coat pocket and put them on.

From behind Zeus, she could see just how broad-shouldered he was and just how big his muscles really were. Part of Carly longed to slip her hands under his jacket and see just what he felt like, but the more rational part of her still told her she was crazy for just leaving with him like this when she barely knew him.

As her mind was still racing, Zeus turned back to her, his mirrored sunglasses showing her reflection.

“You’ll want to hold on,” he said. Then he put the engine into gear. They moved forward, and Carly felt her body sway backward, causing her to wrap her arms tightly around Zeus in panic. She’d never been on a motorcycle before, let alone ridden behind someone, so the feeling was entirely new to her.

Zeus drove out of the parking lot and down the main thoroughfare that comprised most of downtown Bearstone Village. He turned the motorcycle onto a small side rode that pointed straight toward the hills and mountains that rose into the towering range where Bearstone Park was located.

But instead of heading toward Bearstone Park, this road went in a different direction. They drove up steep paved roads that winded along hillsides and passed through endless acres of ageless pine trees.

I must be crazy. This guy really does live out in the middle of nowhere,
she thought. They turned off onto side road after side road, as if navigating a maze where only Zeus knew the layout. Carly held on tight as the Harley roared through the silent forests, and she couldn’t help but relish the feel of his tight muscles under the smooth leather of his jacket, despite the stress of the situation and the knowledge that she’d only barely escaped something terrible.

But she trusted Zeus. He’d helped her when no one else had, and for that, she’d give him a chance.

Z
eus had
no clue what he was going to do next. For someone whose entire livelihood and survival in the past had rested on carefully made plans and executing them perfectly, this was certainly not something he could have anticipated.

His mate was here with him, riding on his motorcycle, driving toward his house in the mountains.

At least, that’s what his bear had called her when he’d first laid eyes on her several months ago.

Zeus hated going into town, preferring the solitude of the mountains where his bear could roam free and he could enjoy the quiet of the forest. After so many years of fighting and war, he was happy to have a place of his own where he could spend his days in peace.

But every now and then, the urge to go somewhere where other humans gathered hit him. Which was exactly where he’d found Carly. From the instant he saw her, he knew. His bear called out to him, telling him she was the one for him. And for bear shifters, when you knew, you just knew.

It didn’t hurt that her luscious body had perfect curves, just the way he liked. A gorgeous, round ass. Huge breasts and wide hips. A delicate, heart-shaped face. A sparkling personality, despite her shyness. Nice brown hair the color of bear fur and light-brown eyes the color of whisky that looked amazing with her deep skin tone. And lush red lips he wished he could kiss.

She was everything he’d ever dreamed of. Everything he’d never thought possible after getting out of the military. After all, women wanted someone polite and social, not someone who’d made a living with battle skills and now lived as a recluse and occasionally turned into a bear.

Yet he hadn’t been able to stay away. Her warm smile, the way she looked at him welcomingly when he came in, it all kept calling to him, drawing him down from the mountain to see her again.

But he hadn’t been able to figure out a way to initiate something with her. Whenever he was around her, he got tongue-tied. He could command a battalion of troops, interrogate the most sinister men the world had to offer, and survive for weeks in the most unforgiving climates on nothing but raw discipline and his survival skills. But for some reason, the idea of talking to Carly made his heart race more than being under enemy fire ever had.

Of course, Zeus’s friend and former squad mate Ares found the irony of the situation hilarious to no end. Zeus, however, did not.

He turned onto the last road that lead up to his cabin, and he could feel Carly hold on tightly as the motorcycle leaned and hugged the edge of the road on their way up the mountain. He loved the feel of her body pressed against his, her arms holding on to him as she trusted him to take her to safety.

The incident back at the bar with the gangsters had been fortuitous for Zeus, if unfortunate for everyone else involved. Compared to the various insurgents, trained mercenaries, and cartel gangsters he’d fought over the years, those thugs had been child’s play. But the whole thing still bothered him. The Red Devils’s influence over the town was supposed to be waning, not growing stronger. He and Ares had been keeping an eye on it ever since they’d moved back here after getting out of the military.

He made a mental note to talk about it with Ares tomorrow. Right now, he just wanted to make sure Carly was safe.

They finally reached the two-story cabin where Zeus lived, and he pulled out his phone, pressing the necessary buttons and inputting the proper code to disable the alarm perimeter surrounding his house before he drove up and parked. If anything bigger than a badger came within a hundred feet of his place, Zeus wanted to know.

He drove up to the house, killed the engine, and kicked the stand for the bike, then came off.

Time to see what his mate thought of his home.

C
arly couldn’t believe
her eyes. The place was like something out of a dream. Or an issue of
Mountain Living
magazine, if such a thing existed.

The house was a two-story cabin, though it looked much bigger and more spacious than one would typically describe as being a cabin. It had a wide, covered porch and a tall, vaulted roof that rose high into the center of the clearing where the house was built. All around in every direction, Carly could see pine and aspen forest going on forever, up and down the hillside.

She wasn’t sure just how long they’d been driving. But she guessed it was easily long enough to be far away from Bearstone Village, or any other people at all for that matter.

Carly stood up and came off the bike, feeling wobbly after the new experience of riding on a motorcycle. She took off the helmet and handed it to Zeus, who took it and walked up the steps, motioning for her to follow.

She couldn’t help but notice just how quiet it was up here. If it were any other man, she’d be scared for her life. But Zeus had already proven to her that he wasn’t going to hurt her. And even aside from that, there was something else about him that drew her in. Something that eased her normal cautionary responses and made her feel safe somehow.

When she came inside, she noticed how organized and nice the place looked. A little spartan as far as actual decorations or color, but there was lots of furniture and everything looked modern and new. Cabinets, tables, couches, everything looked as if it had been hand-carved and uniquely made just for this place.

The men Carly had dated in the past had pretty much been slobs, so she was surprised to see that Zeus seemed to take a lot of pride in his surroundings.

“Did you do this?” Carly asked, running her hand over the soft lacquer of a hand-carved hall tree at the entrance to the house.

“Some of it. Most of it is done by a friend of mine who makes furniture. You might meet him in the next day or two,” he said, taking off his huge leather jacket and hanging it on the hall tree.

Carly almost gulped at the sight before her. Under his jacket, Zeus was even bigger than she’d thought. He wore a tight gray T-shirt that did little to hide the rippling muscles underneath the thin fabric. She could make out every perfectly defined muscle across his chest and arms. A body honed through years of practice.

His broad shoulders connected strong, heavily muscled arms. His squared pecs led to defined, bulging abs. Even his forearms were corded with tight muscle, tapering down to beautiful, large male hands. The kind you just wanted on you.

And now that she was standing right next to him, she realized fully just how small she was next to him. The top of her head probably only barely reached the middle of his chest, and in every direction she looked in front of her, he was there, filling her vision.

Zeus looked down at her with those intense blue eyes, and she had no idea what he was thinking at this moment.

Part of her wanted to run. The other part wanted to pull him down for a kiss and maybe more.

For now, though, she had to stay focused. She reminded herself just how poorly her last relationship had gone, and that cooled her quickly heating body temperature enough for her to think a little more clearly about the problems at hand.

Like what was going to happen next, now that she was alone in a mountain cabin with a man she barely knew.

“Here, I’ll show you to your bedroom,” he said, heading up a stairway to their right. She followed, still not sure what to make of the whole situation. They went down a short hallway that ended with a large room, which she assumed was the guest bedroom.

“You can sleep here,” he said. The room was surprisingly comfortable-looking, with a big queen-size bed and a full set of the same type of hand-carved furniture she’d seen in the living room. Much nicer than the dumpy apartment she’d been calling home the past year.

“I… I appreciate what you did for me back in the bar, but I can’t just stay here,” she said. “I mean, I have a job back home, and I have an apartment I’m renting, and… I barely know you.”

He tilted his head to the side, and a lock of dark hair fell over his forehead. His hair was loose and thick and waved around his face and brushed over his collar. He stared at her for a moment, his strong arms crossed over his chest as his eyes narrowed in thought.

“Um, did I say something wrong?” she asked quietly.

Zeus shook his head. “But I can’t let you leave.”

“So I’m just supposed to stay here? Overnight, with you?”

Zeus nodded.

It was crazy. How could he just bring a random stranger into his home?

“Will I be going back home tomorrow?” she asked.

He shook his head and lowered his brows.

“Why not?”

“Not safe,” he said solemnly.

“What about my stuff? I can’t just sleep over with what I’m wearing.” The black button-up and jeans she wore for work were thankfully fairly comfortable, but not
that
comfortable.

“I’ll call a friend. He’ll get your stuff,” he said.

Carly didn’t know what to make of his stiff, almost stern demeanor. But as he avoided her gaze, she almost thought maybe he was nervous. But that’d be ridiculous. How could such a tall, menacing, obviously capable man be intimidated by her? He’d dispatched the men in the bar like they were yesterday’s garbage.

She folded her arms and thought things over. He was probably right that it wasn’t safe to go home. Awkward as the situation was, she was probably safest here.

“How will your friend get inside my place?” Carly asked. She knew the building’s outer door was usually left ajar anyway, and her apartment only had one half-functional lock, but she wasn’t going to admit that.

“Not a problem,” he replied nonchalantly.

Carly wasn’t going to ask what that meant. If the people Zeus associated with were anything like him, they probably had a lot of hidden talents too.

She was definitely grateful for what Zeus had done for her back at the bar. And she was grateful he was so willing to bring her to his own place and watch out for her. Already, he was nothing like any man she’d ever met. But her heart warned her to be careful. She tended to get her hopes up too easily. Tended to fall into things with men who never turned out as good as she thought they were.

“You relax. I’ll make dinner,” Zeus said, turning to leave suddenly. “If you need anything, let me know.”

Part of her groaned in disappointment at the sight of his broad shoulders retreating down the hall. But then she realized how hungry she was. Carly thought back to earlier in the day and remembered she’d skipped lunch because there had been an influx of diners around noon. And after that, she’d just forgotten about it.

Whatever was going to happen, she could wait until after dinner to figure it out. Right now, the cool air and her swiftly relaxing body was leaving her exhausted from the day’s exertion and stress. And the only thing that sounded better than dinner was a quick nap.

She lay down and instantly fell asleep.