Chance Fur Hire (Bears Fur Hire 6) (13 page)

As an answer, she pushed her jeans down her hips.

Chance chuckled darkly and pushed her hair to the side. “Sexy mate, calling to the wolf.” He leaned down right next to her ear. “Don’t run, little bunny.”

Her training had taught her that much. Never give your back to a predator, and if you must, never, under any circumstance, give up ground by fleeing. Predators liked to chase.

His lips plucked at her sensitive earlobe, and she bowed her back against him, silently pleading for more.

Chance grabbed her ass hard, and she gasped at the feeling of pleasure and pain as he pressed his stony erection against her back. She rolled her hips with him, teasing. She had him just as surely as he had her. His hand slid around her belly, and his fingers pressed into her soft skin there as he pulled her back against him. And then his lips were there, on her neck, kissing gently. He sucked hard, and it shocked her into gasping. Hopefully his attention would leave a hickey on her neck so she could remember this moment every time she looked in the mirror. His teeth brushed right over her tripping pulse on the side of her throat.

“Do you trust me?” he asked, rocking his erection against her back again.

“Yes,” she said on a panting breath. She was so wet now, so ready.

Chance smiled against her skin and spread her knees wider with his own. He pulled her hands up to the door and locked her arms against it. His hard, swollen dick was right there, resting against her soaking entrance. She rocked backward, but he moved with her. She allowed a tiny human growl of her own.

Chance bit her earlobe and locked his arm against the door, fingers intertwining with hers, readying himself. “You have to be quiet, mate. Can you fuck quietly?”

“Yes.”

“Lie.”

Okay, so she hadn’t believed she could, but if that was the rule of this game, she would accept the challenge. “I can be quiet,” she said in a harder tone.

“Good mate.” His voice was unrecognizable now. Too low, too snarly, too inhuman. She loved this.

She rocked back again, needy, and this time, he allowed his shaft to slide into her an inch. Helplessly, she let off a long, trembling sigh and closed her eyes. Even this shallow, he felt so good inside of her. “More,” she demanded.

Chance’s grip tightened on her hand against the door, and he growled. His other hand snaking around her stomach, he pulled her hard against him and slammed into her. The girth of him was a shock. Sure, she’d been intimate with him before, but she’d forgotten how big he was. He pulled almost all the way out until just his swollen head was still inside her, then rammed into her again. His growl was constant now as he pulled and pushed, in, out, faster, harder. Tingling pressure built inside of her with every thrust, and when Chance ran his fingers from her stomach to between her legs, scissoring where he was sliding in and out of her and touching her clit, she bowed against him. Holy hell, he felt so good right there.

“Oooh,” she breathed, but in an instant, Chance’s teeth were on the back of her neck, holding her skin there with enough pressure that it was almost painful. Quiet. Right.

Emily clamped her teeth, swallowed the moan in her throat, and was rewarded with the release of his teeth from her neck.

Chance slammed into her again and again, and now the growling in his throat was constant. His powerful body flexed against her with every stroke. She wanted to beg. She wanted to plead with him to fuck her harder because even this wasn’t enough. The word was right there on the tip of her tongue as he pumped into her. He slid into her easily now, filling her over and over.

“Fuck,” he growled out.

“Chance,” she gasped out, blinded by how good the friction of his body felt.

He slid out of her and spun her so fast her stomach dipped to the floor and snapped back into place in an instant. Chance lifted her off the floor and wrapped her legs around him, then slammed her back against the door and slid into her. As his hips blasted against her over and over, she was lost. Gone. Clawing at his shoulders as she held on for dear life. The pressure was building too fast now, too intensely, and she couldn’t stop the moan. His lips crashed onto hers. Rough, sexy werewolf. He swallowed her cry of ecstasy as he thrust into her.

Desperately, Emily pulled his hair back and clamped her teeth onto his neck. She was going to come so hard, and there was no slowing down to wait for Chance like she’d planned to do. It was too bright, too consuming, and now he was bucking too fast. Fucking perfect Chance.

“I love you, I love you,” she panted against his neck, right before her body exploded with pleasure. Pounding orgasm blasted through her, and she squeezed her eyes closed and bit him hard, right where his thick, muscular neck met his collar bone. She bit until she tasted iron, clamped her teeth until she knew it would mark him. Chance snarled, but gripped the back of her head, pulling her toward him, encouraging her.

Chance groaned and tensed so hard his body turned to stone under her touch. His cock swelled inside of her and throbbed, shooting heat into her center with jet after hot jet as he bucked erratically. Her aftershocks got stronger, encouraged by his release, and she let go of his skin and closed her eyes against the intensity of her orgasm. Wetness trickled out of her, streaming down her thighs as his dick pulsed inside her.

Chance drew in a ragged breath and pressed his forehead against hers, his eyes closed, teeth gritted, eyebrows furrowed. And when he slowed his movement against her, and opened his eyes again, they were almost white. Without a word, he carried her carefully over the cluttered room and sat on the bed with her straddled over him. His touch turned gentle as he dragged his fingers over her mouth. He looked at the crimson that painted his fingertips and a slow, predatory smile curved his lips.

She should’ve been horrified at what she’d done. His skin was torn and twin streams of red trickled down his pec, but it was impossible to feel remorse now. “You should know,” she whispered, lifting her chin primly, “I regret nothing.”

Chance blinked slowly and lifted his eerie gaze from his blood-smeared fingers. “Good little monster, made to match me. There is no room for guilt now. I’m yours. And Em?”

Her entire body was shaking now with adrenaline that had dumped in her system. She licked the iron from her lips and squeezed her knees tighter against his ribcage. Resting a hand right over his pounding heart, she asked, “Yes, mate?”

Chance hugged her tight and rubbed his cheek against hers in a moment of animalistic affection, rough against her soft skin. His lips right near her ear, he murmured, “I love you, too.”

Emily stood on the deck overlooking the river. The moon was full and danced in blue, glowing streaks across the water. The air was crisp and clean here, the scent mingling with the sap of pine trees. Huddling deeper into her hoodie, she crossed her arms to ward off the chill as she watched the waves.

This place was paradise.

Dinner had been incredible. Lennard had made elk steaks with green peppercorn sauce, cubed potatoes, and asparagus. She was still a little tipsy from the fine red wine they’d paired with it. She’d been intimidated to see everyone again after such a monumental intimacy she and Chance had shared in his room but if anyone noticed, they were polite enough not to mention it. She was changed completely now, and from the faraway smiles Chance kept on his face through dinner, he was, too.

She’d organized her travel pack, and it sat ready for the morning beside the Rodericks’ packs by the front door of the lodge. She’d tried to go to sleep early, but she’d lain in bed instead, wondering what Chance was doing.

Apparently, a lot of pre-work went into a guided tour. He’d tidied the room while she’d showered, and then he’d disappeared. She’d checked the woodpile, which was now organized and stacked neatly, and even checked the barn, but Chance was nowhere to be found.

The breeze died down, and the branches stopped their constant creaking. A sudden fear filled her veins, but it was unexplainable. It was the kind of terror that froze her into place and pressed against her chest until she couldn’t breathe. The woods surrounding the clearing were suddenly much darker and more sinister than they had been just moments ago.

What was it—this instinct that told her something wasn’t right? Forcing herself, Emily looked to her right into the dark forest. She imagined something there, watching her, just beyond the first batch of trees, hidden in the shadows, stalking her.

Instinctively, she reached for the hunting knife in her belt, but found nothing but air. In an instant, she regretted leaving the lodge so unprepared.

A long, haunting wolf howl lifted on the breeze, and chills blasted across her body. A second joined the first, lifting higher in note before it dropped off, and then the first rejoined.

As the song went on, it was clear there were only two, so she relaxed into a cushioned lounge chair on the deck and listened. It was Chance and Dalton—it had to be. That was why they weren’t anywhere around. Perhaps they had to Change before an excursion so they could stay steady on the trail.

The wind picked up again, and the trees resumed their creaking melody, the soft sound banishing the ghosts she’d imagined before. Relief flooding her, Emily relaxed against the chair and laughed at herself. She was jumpy for some reason. She’d always been so confident in Hell Hunter training, but out here in the wild, things were different. She was different. Her confidence had been shaken the day she realized everything she’d been told was a lie. And as she’d scrambled to get a finite grip on who she really was, she’d floundered with a bone-deep fear that hadn’t been there before. Fear she wasn’t enough and she’d let everyone down. Fear she would lose Chance and herself all at once. Fear she wouldn’t be enough to protect Chance from her uncle.

He was in the wind now, though, and she needed to let it go. He was on his last legs, and she couldn’t live her life like this, always second guessing every move she made. With Chance, everything was easy. It was cut-and-dry-simple. But in the moments she was away from him, the guilt over her lineage settled in and turned her dark on the inside. Chance deserved better.

If she wanted to be the strong mate Chance needed at his side, she had to let go of her past completely. She had to make this moment right here the last time she looked back and showered herself in guilt. Chance bore her mark now, and it was more than an in-the-moment declaration. From here on, she would let go of her old self and strive to find her new self—a good self that she could be proud of. Because this wishy-washy shit wasn’t healthy for her, nor would it be healthy for Chance. He deserved her strongest self.

The wind died down again, and the chills were back, along with that ice that froze her blood and tensed her muscles.

“Do you feel hunted?” Chance asked from behind her.

She startled violently and grasped her chest in an attempt to keep her racing heart in place. “Y-yes,” she stuttered, turning.

He wore only jeans, no shirt, and the moonlight cast a neon blue hue across his pale skin. His eyes were light and he cocked his head as he watched her with a frown. “Why?”

“I guess because you were out in those woods, howling. I felt watched.”

His eyes narrowed. “Watched,” he repeated in a hoarse voice. “I wasn’t watching you. I was tracking horses. Dalton, too.” He cast a glance behind him, but the lodge was dark except for the glow of a single light in the living room window. When he shifted his attention back to her, his eyes reflected oddly in the moonlight. His nostrils flared, and he frowned off into the woods. “Some of our horses got out of the back pasture.”

She stood in a rush. “Did you find them all?”

“Six of them. We’re still missing two more. Something must’ve scared them apart. A bear maybe.” He approached her slowly, his bare feet silent against the wooden deck. He pulled her against his chest and rubbed her back in soothing circles. “Dalton wanted to track them deeper into the woods, but I couldn’t pull myself any farther away from you. Not now.”

“Why?”

With a shake of his head, he admitted, “I don’t know. Dalton said it’s the bond we’re forming. He says my protectiveness over you will overpower every other instinct now. He said it’s the same with him and Kate.”

Emily hugged him tighter and smiled, her cheek swelling against his chest with her happy expression. “This will take getting used to for both of us. I was just thinking about how much work I needed to do to be the best mate I can be for you.”

“You’re already there. I don’t want you to change for me. I’m not asking you to.”

“I still have to earn your trust.”

“You have it, Em,” he said, easing back. He brought her knuckles to his lips and let his kiss linger there. “You’re enough.”

She let off a long sigh, releasing the rest of her tension with her frozen breath. “No one has ever told me that before.”

The frown that had marred his face relaxed in the instant before he kissed her. His lips moved fluidly against hers, savoring her, coveting her. Even if he hadn’t just said the words, his lips silently showed her she was enough.

How had she lived without this feeling? How had she existed in such emptiness before now? Hating shifters had taken up so much headspace for so long, and now Chance was the balm to the burn, healing her from the inside out with every kiss, every touch, ever word of easily given affection. He was steadfast, a rock that wouldn’t be moved, while she was just trying to be strong enough to cling to him, hoping his goodness would rub off on her. And it was. She could feel it, even now. Tendrils of strength prickled her skin where he touched her.

“Please tell me you feel that,” he murmured, eyes tightly closed like he was in pain.

Confused, she backed away by inches and frowned down at where the tingling sensation had raised chills on her chest, just beneath the fabric of her hoodie. “Needles,” she whispered. “What are you doing?”

“Nothing, Em. It’s you. You’re letting me in. You’re allowing the bond.” He swallowed hard and brushed a strand of hair behind her ear. “I thought I would never get to feel this.”

He kissed her again, pulling her against him, and the tingling sensation intensified, burning brightly, and then as fast as it had come, it was gone, faded to nothing but a fuzzy, warm feeling that settled in her chest.

“No more questioning if you’re enough.” Chance hugged her shoulders and rested his chin on top of her hair. “We’re bonded now, you and I. My wolf chose you, and so did I.
You
. Not the idea of you or a future you. Just you, Emily Vega.”

Chance draped his arm over her shoulders and led her back toward the lodge, but twice, the woods drew his attention before they got to the porch.

And even under the safety of his protection, she felt hunted. There was darkness in those woods tonight. That darkness swallowed up their light and kept her mate’s eyes lightened to the color of frost.

Maybe it was a bear or a wild wolf hunting along the edge of the forest, or maybe Dalton was still out there tracking the horses.

Or perhaps it was the ghosts of her Hell Hunter ancestors, angry with her claim on a werewolf. Because tonight she had altered the path of Hell Hunter and shifter history by binding her and Chance together forever. She’d intertwined two paths that were supposed to end in destruction with love instead.

As Chance opened the front door and led her to his room in the lodge—to
their
room—she could no longer conjure guilt at tainting the Vega name.

Hell Hunters were monsters whose mission statement had been murder, and she’d just ended the line. And as she looked up at Chance—a man who she’d come here to hunt, a man who she’d come here to destroy, a man who she’d fallen hopelessly in love with instead—she knew with absolute certainty she’d done the right thing.

Chance was the light, and he would banish the darkness inside of her.