Lumberjack Werebear (Saw Bears Book 1) (7 page)

Tagan eased her forward, dipped his head, then drew her nipple into his mouth. She arched against him and cupped the back of his head. His tongue lapped at her, and she imagined what he would feel like with his head between her legs. Brooke’s panties were wet by the time he moved to the next to pay her other breast the same attention.

He rolled his hips in rhythm to his sucking and she bowed against him. She’d only come with a man twice, but Tagan was about to pull an orgasm from her with his jeans on.

“Oh,” she said softly as he nipped her breast gently. Her breath became ragged as tingling pressure built between her thighs. “Oh!” she said louder as the pressure threatened to spill over the edge.

Tagan yanked the button of her jeans. The zipper sounded loud against the quiet night. His hand was warm as he slid it under her panties and cupped her sex. “I wanna feel,” he said in a gruff voice.

Each time she moved her hips, whimpering noises wrenched from her throat. Tagan slid his finger into her and let out a long, shuddering sigh as she bucked against his hand.

“Tagan, Tagan,” she moaned. “I’m going to…” All thought left her as he pressed harder onto her clit and detonated her. The orgasm rocketed through her body, making everything clench up. Her hands in his hair. Her knees around his ribs. Her insides against his finger. He pressed his thumb to her sensitive spot, rubbed it gently, prolonging her release, as if he knew exactly what her body needed.

She kissed him while her aftershocks subsided. Kissed him until they were long gone. Kissed him until her body wanted again. “I’m on birth control,” she said.

“Brooke,” Tagan said, shaking his head. “It’s not a good idea for me to bond to you any more than I already have.”

What a strange way of putting it. Bond to her. Well, she felt bonded to him, so she understood the sentiment. “You also said it wasn’t a good idea to touch you, but I have no regrets,” she said through a grin as she combed her fingers through his short hair. “Besides,” she said, arching her eyebrow at the long, hard, roll of his shaft pressed against the fabric of his jeans. “That looks uncomfortable, and I know what can fix it.”

He searched her face. Uncertainty clouded the clear blue of his eyes, so she stood.

“I used to hate what I looked like without clothes,” she admitted. It was her deepest insecurity, and she was trusting him with it. She was giving him the power to hurt her now, to reject her, and hoping that he wouldn’t. “I’ve only slept with boys when it was completely dark.” Shame heated her cheeks as she kicked her shoes off and pushed her jeans to her ankles, then stepped out of them. “I guess right now it’s still dark, but I feel stronger with you. Better with you.” She pushed her panties down her legs and straightened her spine, completely vulnerable before him.

Tagan raked his hungry eyes slowly over every inch of her body. He didn’t have to say a word, but the enamored way he gazed at her body was enough.

“Shit, woman. You don’t play fair. We’re going to hurt each other on the way out of this.” He lifted his gaze to hers. His eyes were serious and hard. “Are you sure you want this? Want me?”

It sounded like he was asking so much more than just to have sex with her, and her stomach churned with the rightness of what was happening between them. She wasn’t just some one night stand to him.

“I want you.” She ducked her head and scrunched her nose, embarrassed at being so exposed in front of another person.

Tagan stood and shucked his pants. “Come here,” he murmured. “Let me hold you.”

With a conscious effort, Brooke kept her mouth from hanging open at the sight of his gloriously naked body. Adonis didn’t even cut it. The man was a demigod. Muscles bulging, shaft long and thick, and that alluring tattoo dark against his pale skin. His erection stood rigid in between them, and as she stepped closer, she ran her finger down the silken skin there. His hips jerked at her touch, and a helpless-sounding noise came from him as she grabbed him at the base and pulled upward.

She felt like a goddess with him. He was strong and capable. His entire crew looked to him for leadership, and he always answered with levelheaded answers, as if nothing ever got to him. And with her, he’d been tender and caring. He hadn’t run away when he found out what had scared her into the person she was now. He’d done the opposite of what she expected and soothed the fire in her blood.

Tagan was unlike any man she’d ever known.

He turned them slowly as she stroked him, until her back was pressed on the smooth bark of a towering ash tree. He scooped up his jacket and pulled it around her shoulders. “Don’t want that pretty back of yours torn up,” he rumbled in a soft stroke against her ear. Pressing against her, he pulled her hand over his shoulder and around his neck, then did the same with the other. His intense gaze was different now. His eyes looked a strange color in the shadow of the tree. A trick of the night, surely.

His eyes dipped to her breasts, then back up again. “Whatever hang-ups you have with your body, you don’t need them with me. You’re perfect. I wouldn’t change a single thing about you.”

“So you aren’t just dressing me in your jacket to hide me away?”

He laughed and shook his head slowly. “No.” He touched her sex, sliding his fingers back and forth through the moisture he’d conjured there. “I’m saving the skin on your back. But I must admit, I like the sight of you in my clothes, so anytime you want to borrow my jacket, just ask. I’ll think about this, what you’re letting me do to you, anytime you wear it. Fuck, you smell good.”

“I smell?”

“Yeah,
good
. I can tell how aroused you are by your scent. I like that I do that do you.”

The rumbling sound was almost constant in his throat now, barely audible, but there. He nipped her lip, then ducked and grazed his teeth over her neck. A delicious shiver shook her shoulders.

A smile in his voice, Tagan said, “I like when I do that to you, too.” He pressed his finger inside of her, then touched her clit until she sighed a little whimper. “And that, too. You’re a noisy little thing. I like you telling me what you like. What you want.”

“I want you,” she said on a breath, tired of the games.

She was ready to be filled.

Ready to feel him.

Ready to be even closer to the man she was falling hard for.

“Say it again,” he said, smile dipping from his face as he watched her lips.

“I want you.”

His breath became uneven. Behind her knee, he lifted her leg until her hips were angled where he wanted them. “I want you, too,” he whispered, teasing her opening with the head of his cock. One shallow dip, and he pulled back.

God, she was so ready for him. Stretching up, she kissed him, brushing her tongue against his in a tease of her own. The growling sound in his throat grew louder as she pressed her hips forward. His shaft sank halfway inside of her, and she moaned at how good the stretch felt.

He kissed her long and deep, massaging the back of her neck as he rocked his shaft in and out of her.

Desperate for all of him, she begged, “Please, Tagan, more.”

His arms were shaking, his breath ragged, his kiss more demanding, and she could almost see his reserve dissolving. Whatever he was waiting for, she didn’t need it. She didn’t need a gentle man. She needed Tagan, and all the pent up desire she’d seen in his eyes all night.

“More?” he asked, bucking into, filling her completely.

“Harder,” she said. Pressure, pressure, pressure, and how could a man feel this good? How could anything feel so good?

Tagan drew out slowly, then thrust into her again. He dropped her leg, gripped her hips, and drew out again. His pace picked up, and Brooke gripped his back, pulling him closer. It still wasn’t enough, couldn’t ever be enough. His powerful hips bucked as he pushed into her harder and faster.

The pleasure was so potent, it consumed her. She closed her eyes against the intensity. She yelled his name as her orgasm pounded through her. Tagan growled out as his warmth splashed into her, and his thrusting became erratic. He slowed and then stopped, just held her. Rocking back and forth, he kissed her forehead, her cheeks, her lips, her nose.

It was hard to stand on her wobbly legs after what they’d done. Something had changed on a cellular level inside of her. Feelings she thought she was incapable of were bubbling to the surface. Now, she was in much, much deeper with Tagan than she’d ever allow herself to admit out loud.

As minutes dragged on, Tagan grew hard and swelled inside of her again. Without a word, he gently rocked until she came again. This time wasn’t rushed or desperate for release like before. This one he gave her just because he cared. He drew her orgasm from her softly and froze as she pulsed around him. Only then did he pull out of her.

Tagan picked his sweater up from the ground and turned it inside out, then knelt in front of her and brushed it across her sex and down the moisture that had trickled down her thighs.

“What are you doing?” she asked.

“Cleaning you.”

“But you don’t have to—”

“I want to.”

“Okay,” she whispered, feeling cared for and adored.

When he was done, he pulled her panties on, then her jeans, then her bra. Turning her with gentle hands, he hooked the lingerie in back, then pulled her sweater over her head.

When he was dressed, sans his shirt, which he kept clutched in his hands, he led her back down the trail, holding her hand and never taking his eyes from her for long.

He kissed her at her door, chastely, like he was trying to be a gentleman, then said goodnight. But later, when the nightmares came back, and she was frozen and terrified in her bed, Tagan appeared as if he’d known her fear was coming. As if he’d known she would need him.

He slid under the sheets and lay in bed beside her, then pulled her close and stroked her mussed hair until it was smooth.

And she fell asleep again, all safe and warm and his.

Brooke stretched her toes toward Tagan, but found his side of the bed empty and cold. Frowning, she cracked her sleepy eyes open, then sat up. The soft
tink tink
of metal on metal sounded from somewhere outside.

From the soft, gray light peeking in through the crack between the blackout curtains she’d put up, it was early in the morning. He probably had to go to work soon, but still, she was a little disappointed he hadn’t said goodbye. After last night, he was vital to her now.

A louder clang of metal sounded, and she slipped from bed and turned off the humming window unit to hear better. She slid her boots over her pink flannel pajama pants and pulled her coat on to cover her northern half, because she was definitely not putting a bra on this early.

Tagan wasn’t in the bathroom or the living room. Water splashed onto her face and teeth brushed, she pushed the door open to investigate the grating noise.

Tagan looked up from the side of her car where a pile of tools sat haphazardly. His hands were covered in grease, and he was holding a metal bar of some sort. He gave her a megawatt smile and said, “Your brakes won’t squeak anymore. I replaced them. They were due.”

“You changed my brake pads?”

“Yeah.” He stood, looking worried. “Is that okay? I don’t like the thought of you going down those back roads with old brakes.”

“That’s…” Oh God, she was not going to turn into an emotional crybaby first thing in the morning. “That’s the sweetest thing anyone has ever done for me.”

“That’s sad,” he deadpanned, and she laughed. When the tools were back in the bucket that had been overturned, he stood and wiped his hand on a rag that had been hanging out of his back pocket. He approached slowly, but she’d be damned if he’d go back to treating her like just another friend after last night. She jumped off the last porch stair and catapulted herself into his arms.

He chuckled and squeezed her tight. “You’re going to get me in trouble, woman.”

“How? By hugging you?” She clung to him tighter, and he lifted her until her feet came off the ground.

“Connor is gonna maim me.”

“Connor can get over it.”

Tagan winced and set her back on her feet. “Yeah, about that—”

“T, you ready?” Denison asked from the front of his trailer. He was loading a lunchbox into the passenger seat of an old beat-up Bronco. “Hey, Trouble.” He greeted Brooke with a cheeky grin. “I shoulda known you were gonna come in here and stir things up.”

“I like the name Trouble more than princess.”

“What about Trailer Park Princess?” Haydan asked as he jogged down the stairs of his trailer next door.

“Veto,” she called out. “Hey,” she said, turning to Tagan. “Can I come to the job site with you guys today?”

“It’s not safe up there, and you’ll be bored. I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“I’ll sit somewhere out of the way, and I won’t bother you, I swear. I want to see what you guys do all day up in those mountains. Plus, I want to bring my sketch book and draw a new place. I was thinking of switching mediums for today and see if that’ll loosen me up a little. I can’t draw Markus’s face forever.”

“Markus,” Tagan repeated darkly. “That’s your attacker’s name?”

“Yeah.” She frowned. She hadn’t said his name out loud that she could remember, and just now, she’d skated right over it without it shredding her. Huh. “I swear you won’t even know I’m there.”

Tagan sighed and hooked his hands on his hips, then stared at Denison’s Bronco.

“I’ll make us lunch,” she said, bribing him.

Tagan’s dark eyebrows arched, and he cocked his head at her. “You must really want to go.”

She laughed and bit him gently on the shoulder. “Saucy man. Wait for me. I need twenty minutes.”

“Denny,” he called out. “I’m taking my truck up there. I’ll come up right after you.”

“Okay, bossman,” Denison said with a wave. “See you up there, Trouble.” He winked at her, as if he’d heard everything she’d said from way over there. Then he hopped into the driver’s seat while Haydan took shotgun.

Connor got in the back seat, but his hard glare never left Tagan until the door was shut behind him.

“Get to it,” he said, giving her a swat on the rump. “I’m gonna go clean up real quick and put the tools away, then I’ll be over to help.”

Excited, Brooke bounded up the stairs, put the bacon in the skillet for a couple of BLTs, and got dressed in record time while it sizzled away in the kitchen. By the time Tagan came through the front door, she’d figured out what he meant by not cooking bacon in a trailer kitchen. The vent was worthless, blowing the air right back in her face, and didn’t suck the bacon-flavored smoke outside at all. And now the entire trailer smelled like breakfast. Her clothes would probably smell like it until she got a minute to do laundry.

“You were right,” she muttered under her breath.

He boomed out a laugh and promised to cook the bacon in the fire pit next time she had a hankering. When the sandwiches, baggies of chips, a bowl of fruit salad, crackers, and cheese cubes sat in the bottom of a cooler, she shoved her sketch book and a set of charcoals in her satchel and headed for the bedroom to grab a hair band.

“Did you have breakfast already?” she called out, thinking Tagan was still in the kitchen, impatiently waiting on her.

“Yeah, but I’m still hungry.” He was leaning against her bedroom door with a wicked smile on his face.

Heat crept up her neck as she tried to hold his naughty gaze. “Hungry for what?”

His gaze dropped to her thighs and he nodded his chin once. “You know what.”

“Wait, you mean…” She screwed up her face. “You want to do that? To me?”

“Hell, yeah,” he said, stalking her slowly.

She backed up until the backs of her knees hit the bed. Folding onto it, she sighed. “I’ve never—”

“Good.”

She squeaked as he pulled her pants down, panties and all. It was daylight, and she’d never been comfortable enough to be naked in front of a man in full light.

“I like Denison’s name for you. Trouble.” He threw her pants in the corner and ran his hands down her bare thighs. “I knew you were trouble the second I saw you.”

“Why do I get the distinct feeling you like trouble?”

He chuckled low and pulled her legs until she was situated at the edge of the mattress. “You are the sexiest looking trouble I’ve ever found.”

“Yeah?” Her blush became a little cooler on her cheeks. “I think you’re sexy, too. Hey, aren’t you going to be late to work?”

“I’ll make you come fast,” he promised, apparently confident in his abilities. Cocky, sexy man.

“This doesn’t sound fair for you,” she muttered, staring at the ceiling and wishing she was as self-assured in her body as Tagan was with his.

“I’ll take care of us both,” he rumbled, his breath warm against the inside of her knees.

He pushed her legs open farther and Brooke held her breath. Why would anyone willingly—oooooh. Tagan bit the insides of her thighs gently, then kissed her from her knees to her sex, slowly. Now, her legs were spreading without his help. She’d always fantasized about what this would feel like but had never been tempted to ask someone to do this to her. Tagan seemed to be enjoying himself just fine. When she lifted her head, he was unzipping his pants to unsheathe his huge erection.

The first kiss between her legs was scary. The second was awesome. The third had her bones melting and on the fourth, he pressed his tongue into her and had her hips moving instinctively.

The sound came from his throat, the growl she’d come to love, and vibrated against her clit as he moved his tongue against her. Lapping, sucking, licking, and she was already on the verge of tipping over the edge. It was so wet, so warm, so special sharing this with Tagan. Tentatively, she ran her fingers through his hair and rocked her hips against the perfect rhythm he’d set.

Moaning, she spun out of control, helpless to stop the noises tumbling from her throat, which seemed to spur him to thrust his tongue deeper. Breathless and arching against him, her body clenched in pleasure as she came hard. Her body pulsed as Tagan pulled away and pushed her shirt up. He was stroking himself, long and slow, and she watched a single bead of moisture form at the tip of his cock. God, he looked beautiful like this, arms flexed, jaw tight, his gaze on her like she was the sexiest thing he’d ever seen. She wiggled under him more and lifted her shirt higher as his stroking became faster and harder. Propped on one arm, he leaned forward like he was right there—right on the edge.

Brooke ran her hand up his tricep with the tattoo and gripped him there as the first jet shot onto her stomach. With each that followed, she reveled in how he made her feel. Adored, as if she was beautiful in Tagan’s eyes. Warmth trickled down her sides and onto the covers, but she didn’t care.

She freaking
loved
this.

She loved him.

Her eyes went wide at the thought. She loved him? She hadn’t used that word since her college boyfriend. Love.
Love?
Yes. As she watched Tagan’s chest heave and eyes close against the pleasure of his release, she knew it was true. She’d never felt more right than she did right now with him. And it wasn’t because he was amazing at naked parties. It was the in-between moments, too. Holding her when she had nightmares, waking early to change her brake pads, making sure she had everything she could need at the barbecue last night. He was a man she could be happy with. And to make him happy in return, she needed to fix herself. Needed to heal from what her attacker did to her heart, so she could be open to Tagan’s affection. So she wouldn’t hurt him.

From this moment on, she was going to fight for herself, and in doing so, she was going to fight for Tagan.

He deserved a strong woman.