Laid Bear 2: The Kodiak Clan (7 page)

“At approximately 7 p.m., the sound of a large animal in the brush outside the cabin caught my attention. No animal was observed, but my dog behaved in a way that leads me to suspect it was a bear. This is all supposition, but I got the distinct impression that it was observing me. I have taken appropriate precautions for protection.”

Report sent, it was time to clean up the kitchen. The feet of his wooden chair scudded across the rough wood floor of the cabin, causing Fred to raise his head sleepily from his bed. Just as he started to close the laptop for the night, the computer binged. Sitting back down, he opened it again and an email from Veronica popped up. His heart leaped to his throat as he stared at her message:
“Tomorrow, 2 p.m., Caribou Cafe, Main Street. <3.”

“YES!” he shouted, drawing a bark of surprise from Fred. Elation just barely overpowered the sense of wariness that was sending warning bells to his brain.
She’s been dodging you for days now…be careful.
He told that part of his brain to shut the hell up, and started typing. He backspaced and retyped several responses until he came up with one that didn’t sound too eager.

“See you then!”

He almost went with a period, but that seemed too sedate. He had to exude some sense of excitement. After all, she’d put the shorthand for a heart at the end of her message. The least he could do was add an exclamation point.
 

“Ridiculous,” he mumbled, the grin never leaving his face. “Fred, never fall in love. You become this lame needy dork.” The dog just sighed and snuggled his head deeper into his cushy bed.
 

It had been far too long since Jess had felt such euphoria. Not only did she finally email, but she wanted to actually meet! This was it. The beginning of something major, he could feel it deep in his bones.
 

He stayed up late scrubbing every inch of the cabin, trying to work out some of his pent-up energy — and, he wasn’t going to lie, just in case Veronica came back here with him. Catching sight of the time out of the corner of his eye, he knew he needed to get to bed so he could be up early enough to file his daily report and make it to town by 2 p.m. But how on earth was he going to sleep? He was still completely amped.

Sleep took its sweet time to overtake him, but when it did, it eased up on him like a warm blanket. Forget sugar plums, visions of Veronica’s sweet rump sheathed in tight black Lycra danced before his eyes as he drifted off, completely oblivious to a hackled Fred standing in front of the door growling at whatever was prowling outside.

“M
ax, I’m fine, really.” Bethany pushed away the wet washcloth Max was trying to hold to her head. “You just startled me, is all.”

“Are you sure? Do you think I hurt the baby? Should I track down the local healer?” He moved to pick up the room’s phone.

“No!” she called out to him. “Honey, really. Believe me, I’d tell you if I thought I or the baby were hurt. You barely even connected with me. It was the fall to the floor that took my breath away.”

Anxiety creased Max’s handsome features. Smiling gently, she tugged him down next to her on the bed and pulled his head to her ample bosom, just like she would do someday to the child that was growing inside her.
 

“Babe, you thought I was an intruder. You had no idea I was coming here and I surprised you. It was stupid of me not to give you some kind of warning. I know you would never hurt me, Max.”

He wrapped his arms around her and snuggled his head into her, caressing her belly. “If anything ever happened to you, B…”

“Shh, it won’t. I’m not going anywhere, okay?”

She felt him nod against her body and hold her just a little tighter. They lay entwined for several blissful moments before he tipped his head up to her.
 

“Not that I’m not happy to see you, but why did you come? We could have hashed this out over the phone, you know.”

“I dunno, I…” she stammered, trying to find the words. She’d practiced what she was going to say to him when she arrived, but he hadn’t been here and it all flew right out of her head the moment he knocked her to the ground. “Things have been tense with us lately, you know?”

His lips grew thin with regret. He didn’t need to say anything for her to know he felt it, too.

“I thought if I came here, we could get away from the shit going on at home,” she said. “Like a vacation or something.”

Max opened his mouth to protest, but she interrupted him. “I know you’re here to work. I understand that, and I won’t get in your way. But
after
work…”
 

Her hand crept up to his cheek, a thumb tracing the arch of his brow, a finger tickling the ridge of his ear. His eyes twinkled in response, but his hand reached up to still hers.

“Bethany, I never thought I’d love someone like I love you. Which is why I didn’t want you to come here.”

He pulled away to sit on the edge of the bed, his back to her. “Listen, before we go any further, I need to say something. I’m sorry for what I said back home.”

He turned to face her, reaching for her hand. The anxiety lines were back. “I was trying to explain what the Brotherhood assholes think, not what I think. This is a stronghold for them, and they’re not going to be as friendly as the jerks back home who were harassing us. Do you understand what I’m saying?”

The ember of fear that Bethany had felt back home started to glow. “Okay, I’ll be careful. Won’t go out at night, make sure no one is following me, and so on.”

Max shook his head. “No, babe. As in, you don’t leave this room. We can’t take any chances.”

She barked a loud laugh. “If you think I’m going to be a prisoner here, you’re wrong, buster. I have work to do, too, you know.”

His brow furrowed. “What work?”

“Veronica! She’s here in Kodiak. Don’t you remember the business we started together? While you’re working, I can help her figure out how to navigate the joys of a shifter-human relationship.”
 

She tried to launch herself from the bed in a huff, but her huge tummy made that impossible. She had to settle for scooching to the foot of the bed and easing herself upright, slapping away Max’s hand as he tried to help her. How humiliating! She couldn’t even storm off by herself anymore.

“Bethany, c’mon,” he said in a conciliatory tone. “I’m sorry I forgot, but it’s been a pretty crazy 24 hours.”
 

Sighing, Bethany went to the bathroom and got a glass of water. She made the mistake of looking in the mirror. Damn, if she thought she’d been fat before she’d gotten pregnant…
 

Stop it!
she told her inner critic, the one who was always trying to break her spirit. But rather than risk looking at her reflection again, she stepped back out into the room and leaned against the doorjamb.
 

“How about this: You drop me off at Veronica’s on your way to work in the morning. I’ll work with her, see if I can help, then I’ll have her bring me straight back here. Do not pass go, do not collect $200.”

The look on his face said Max wasn’t entirely convinced.

“Max, I’ll either be with you or with her. I mean, how much trouble could I get into?”

It was his turn to laugh, but his was good-natured, not angry. “Plenty,” he said, giving her a wry smile and a wink.

His smile melted her heart, as it always did, bringing one to her own lips. He stood and crossed over to her, taking her face in his hands, gazing into her soul.

“Promise you won’t go out on your own, not even to the lobby. Promise.”

Max’s cinnamon-flecked eyes still never failed to leave her speechless, and this moment was no exception. She struggled to even nod, a choked sigh serving as agreement. He pulled her body to his, burying his face in her hair, her own tucked into his neck, breathing him in. Their baby was pressed between them, between their love.
 

~ * ~ * ~

Max’s reaction to Bethany’s body was always the same: Instant yearning. He knew she was feeling insecure about her growing belly but he found her more attractive than ever. She was carrying his cub, after all, and nothing was more exciting than that kind of commitment and devotion.
 

He’d told her a thousand times, but she didn’t really believe him. So he did everything he could to
show
her, and nothing would show more than the bulge that was pressed against her.

The tension between them had been building over the past few months, and now it was manifesting itself in lust. Crazy, mind-bending lust. His bear wanted to hoist his mate’s deliciously round ass up onto the bathroom counter and fuck her senseless. As tempting as that thought was, Max wasn’t about to handle her roughly right now. He’d allowed his bear a little too much freedom today already.

His lips found hers, his palms cradling her face. He moaned into her mouth when she wound her arms around his neck and melted into him. To him, there was nothing sexier than that.
 

Stooping down — his lips never breaking contact — Max lifted Bethany into his arms and carried her back to the bed. He’d never opened the room’s blackout curtains when he checked in, and now a solitary lamp on a beside table cast a warm glow over his love’s rounded body. When she reached to click it off, his hand stayed hers.
 

“Leave it on,” he growled.

He felt a shudder ripple through her body and the overpowering scent of her desire almost sent him into a frenzy. How was it possible to want someone so much?
 

Afraid that she hadn’t been entirely honest about not being injured, he gingerly removed all of her clothing, inspecting every part of her body with his eyes, his hands, his mouth — partially to tease her but mostly to make sure he hadn’t hurt her. He wouldn’t have been able to continue if there’d been a single mark on her perfectly soft, luscious body. Thank goodness there was nothing but the flush of love.

“Now you,” she whispered, her voice husky. He stood to shuck off his jogging clothes, hoping her sense of smell wouldn’t cause her to run away in disgust.
 

He kicked off his shoes first, flicking them high in the air and making her giggle. Then flexing as hard as he could so his biceps would bulge impressively, he crossed his arms and eased his t-shirt up until it pulled free of his head. Her sharp intake of breath was the reward he’d been looking for. Hooking his thumbs under the waistband of his shorts, he slid them down gradually, exposing his desire one long inch after another.

His eyes never left her face, but hers were roaming all over his body. The pupils dilated at what they saw and he knew she wanted him as badly as he needed her. But he wasn’t going to rush it. Tonight was to show her how much he loved her, not how horny he was.
 

Kneeling at the foot of the bed, he started at her toes and kissed his way up her legs. A shiver of anticipation caused goosebumps to break out on her flesh…her delicious, smooth, kissable flesh. He could spend forever just kissing her legs, exploring every curve.
 

Normally the back of her knees were ticklish but tonight his touch didn’t make her flinch. Just the opposite, in fact — her legs opened slightly, beckoning him. Her aroma was driving him wild, but still he took his time, hands brushing where lips weren’t.

Max draped her legs over his shoulders as he moved forward, drawing another moan from her. He pulled back to simply look at her. When they’d met, Bethany had kept herself neatly trimmed, but as his cub grew inside of her, she found she could no longer take as much care as she once had. She hadn’t said anything to him about it but lately she’d taken to turning off the lights when they made love.
 

What she didn’t understand was that none of that mattered to him. And, as far as he could tell, the only way to get through to her was to revel in her. Even now, in the throes of passion, she squirmed under his gaze, pulling at him.
 

“Come up here, Max,” she breathed, lifting her head off the pillow to cast her embarrassed gaze at him.
 

He glanced up at her from under his lashes and shook his head. “With this smorgasbord just waiting to be eaten? Uh uh, no way, gorgeous.”

The moment his lips touched her mound, Bethany’s head dropped back, accepting what was going to happen, whether she liked it or not. And he intended to make sure she liked it!

Slowly, his lips moved on her, gently drawing soft gasps from her mouth. Every so often, he’d gently flick his tongue on a particularly sensitive spot, testing to see which areas brought the loudest noises. Of course, he knew the spot that would really send her over the edge, but now that she was here, lying prone before him, he was in no hurry.

Lapping and kissing, licking and tugging, Max loved every crevice, every fold of Bethany’s sex. She would tense up when an exploring finger found a new place to delve into, then she would melt around it.
 

Max knew she was fully relaxed when she no longer flinched at his many surprises, but instead moved her hips to increase the pressure he was applying. She was lost in sensation, completely open to him, eager to take whatever he gave her. That’s when he moved in for the kill.

His tongue swirling and flicking, he moved to her center, the core of her pleasure. “Ah!” she cried as he gently suckled at her, his fingers entering her at the same time.
 

He was lost in her. The world ceased to exist. The only thing that mattered was lying in front of him, squirming and grinding into his loving mouth. His own desires were forgotten as he poured everything he had into pleasing Bethany. Happiness — and, he would freely admit, pride — swelled in him when she fisted the bedspread in both hands and cried out his name.

“Max! Oh, God, Max!”

Her hips bucked but he held firm, never letting her shake him off, continuing his attentions as she climaxed on his tongue over and over again. He could do this all night. But as her movements finally subsided, so did his. Gently, he gave her one last kiss before crawling up to lie beside her and hold her spasming body.