Mate Fur Hire (Bears Fur Hire 3) (6 page)

The door opened, letting in a draft, and Vera squeezed her eyes closed, feigning sleep. Tobias clicked the door closed quietly, and the soft rustling of clothes sounded over the drone of the air conditioner. She could feel Tobias standing at the end of the bed.

“I know you’re awake, Thistle.”

The mattress shifted and sank under his weight, and he pulled the covers back, then slipped into bed beside her before covering them both up.

Still angry, she rolled away from him and glared at the blue light that filtered through the space between the blinds in the hotel window.

“I believe you,” he murmured.

Shocked, Vera twisted around to see if he was serious.

“Vera, what does Clayton look like?”

Baffled by his question, it took her a few moments to answer. “Tall, broad shoulders, probably mid-fifties. Silver hair.”

“Anything else?”

“Yeah. He has three long scars down the side of his face, like something clawed him.”

Tobias let off a tiny, painful sound. “Clayton is my dad.”

“What?” She sat up and leaned back on her locked arms.

Tobias looked ill in the blue light. “He said something when I called him just now. Something he used to tell me and my brothers when we were kids and curious about how our first Change would be or what we should do for our first hibernation. He wouldn’t tell us anything, and he would always say the same thing when we asked—that he wanted us to figure everything out for ourselves. That’s part of what being a bear shifter is, right? Relying completely on instinct.”

“That sounds awful. Instinct doesn’t work like that. You aren’t all animal.”

“He didn’t get that. Still doesn’t, I guess.”

“When was the last time you talked to your dad, you know, as your dad?”

“I’m thirty now, and the last time I talked to him on the phone was the spring after my first hibernation. He’d been wrong. I didn’t know what to do and neither did my brothers, and we were so scared, huddled in this shallow den, not even understanding we had to Change into our bears to hibernate. I attacked Jenner.” Tobias swallowed hard, over and over. In a steadier tone, he continued. “I almost killed my brother, and I couldn’t stop myself. And now I can’t stop having dreams about his face when I was killing him.”

“But you didn’t kill him. He’s okay. I researched your family. Jenner is alive.”

“He’s scarred up, Vera.” Tobias’s voice broke. “It was all I could do to get off him and let him live, and I left Ian to try and put him back together with almost no medical supplies. I was hungry and confused and so mad at everything that was happening. And I hurt him. You didn’t kill Eustice, Vera. He was doomed the day he was born a McCall. I actually went after my brother and tried to kill him.”

“Not you. Your bear did, and you said it yourself—it was confusing, and you had no guidance.”

“I wanted to blame my dad, so I called him when I woke up that next spring and lit into him. Yelling, cussing, telling him I hated him, and I did. I think I still do. He didn’t even defend himself. He was just like, ‘Lesson learned, boy. Grizzlies don’t get along. Do your brothers a favor and move on from them.’ And I did because I thought he must be right. This was the way it was supposed to be for grizzly shifters. No relationships, no mates, just a solitary existence so we don’t hurt other people.”

“Do you still feel like that?”

“I don’t know,” he said on a sigh. “Ian got married to Elyse, and I thought he was so stupid. I went to that wedding because Elyse begged me, but then I saw it. They really love each other, and they’re making it work. And then a couple days ago, I dropped off a woman from Silver Summit Outfitters—a photographer. Dalton Dawson left me a message saying Jenner’s after her as a mate and that I need to intervene. I won’t, though, because I get it. If Jenner wants the woman and he’s ready to claim someone, it’s his choice. Being with a mate wasn’t like I thought. It wasn’t like how dad said. And now tonight…Vera, he’s just as cold and remorseless as he was when I was a kid, and I don’t think I can live my life thinking I have to be empty like him. He's been manipulating me and my brothers this whole time.” Tobias pulled her down onto his chest and brushed her hair away from her face. “I don’t want to be like him.”

“Then don’t. You don’t have to live alone, Tobias. You have me now, and you have your brothers, and Elyse, and the photographer—”

“Lena.”

“Right. Lena,” she said through an accidental smile.

Tobias looked down at her in the dark with a slight frown. “Why does your voice sound like that—all hopeful?”

“Don’t laugh, but now I have a chance at making friends with Elyse
and
Lena. Your family is growing. I mean, our family, kind of. I can’t be around my parents or brother until I get my animal under control, but if Lena and Elyse are tough enough to manage grizzly shifters, maybe they’ll be able to handle me, too.”

“It was really lonely out on Perl, wasn’t it?”

Vera rested her hand on his stomach just to feel it flex with each breath he took. “After Eustice died, it was the loneliest place in the world. Tobias, I’m really sorry about your dad and that you had to find out that bad stuff from me. I didn’t know.”

“He won’t hurt you ever again.” Tobias’s voice was filled with promise. “Vera, you don’t have to worry anymore. I won’t let anything happen to you.” He hooked a finger under her chin and lifted her gaze to his. “Okay?”

She offered him an emotional smile and whispered, “Okay.”

His eyes dipped to her lips, and her breath caught as he leaned in. Her hand was on his chest, right over his heart, and the second his lips touched hers, his heart began pounding hard. Likely, it matched hers, because as his lips moved with hers, her heart raced, too. Closing her eyes, she gave into the moment. Sure, she’d imagined what it would be like to be with Tobias, but that was before she’d met him. She’d been in heat for a few days already and was hungry to be with a man, but this wasn’t about her needs. Here in the dark, with his admissions warm on his lips, being with Tobias was about her wants. He soothed something in her, and with every soft kiss, she melted more completely against him. Men weren’t to be trusted. Jonathan and then Clayton, all of the misfits…men were brutal, stepping on softer beings to get where they wanted—but not Tobias. She didn’t know how she knew, but Tobias was one of the good ones. He was trustworthy.

Gently, he cupped her neck, rubbing the pad of his thumb across her cheek as he pulled her more tightly to him with his other arm. And then she felt it. Just the brush of his tongue on the closed seam of her lips, and she was his. Vera parted for him and let off a satisfied sound as he dipped his tongue against hers.

He eased back with a sexy smack and grinned. “Did you just growl at me?”

“No,” she rushed out, the tips of her ears flushing with heat.

“Yeah, you did, and now I know what you are.”

“Are you disappointed?”

Tobias massaged the back of her neck and chuckled. “Of course not. I can’t wait to see her.”

“Yeah well, that feeling is
not
mutual. She’s a little beast. I dread her.”

Tobias rolled Vera on top of him and gripped the tops of her thighs as she straddled him. “You shouldn’t.”

“Tobias, Clayton put me on that island for a reason.”

“Are you wearing a muumuu?”

“No! It’s a nightgown and the sexiest one I own. I wore it just for you.”

He pulled the billowing fabric in for closer inspection. “Are those cartoon llamas?”

She swatted his hand. “I’m sexy. Don’t judge my nightwear.”

“Mmm,” he rumbled. “Take it off.”

Vera lifted her chin and gave him a challenging look. “You take it off.”

In the dim lighting that filtered through the blinds, Tobias’s pupils contracted to pinpoints in the moment before he leaned up in one smooth motion, pushing the hem of her nightgown upward and over her head. His lips were on hers the instant she was free of the fabric, more urgent than his first kiss.

“I’m not wearing panties,” she whispered against his lips with a wicked grin.

“Vixen.”

Tobias ran his hands up Vera’s back, and she shivered at how damned good his hands felt on her skin. So warm and strong. She wouldn’t admit it out loud, but she liked being petted. He brushed his tongue against hers one last time, then dipped his lips to her breast and drew her nipple in between his teeth. Vera arched her back with a gasp. She slid her hands behind his head and drew him closer, begging with a helpless sound in her throat as she rocked against his erection. His body tensed, and he sucked hard when she rolled her hips again. And on the third time, she lifted slightly and slid over the head of his cock. She took him slowly, inch by inch until she was filled with him.

She loved this. Loved that he had given her control. It showed his trust, and she needed that right now. Needed it after the secrets she’d exposed to him. There was a strange, warm spot in her chest that felt better the closer she was to him. A soft growl rattled his chest as she held him tightly and rocked her hips over and over again.

Tobias gripped her hair at the nape of her neck and kissed her harder. She bit his bottom lip in a feisty tease, and he pushed into her faster. So much pressure, and he felt so good inside of her. Big, but right. With a moan, she arched her head back so he could kiss and nibble his way down her neck. So close.

“Tobias,” she whispered, pleading. She dipped her lips to his neck and let off another soft growl because her animal was here. She was present and engaged, and Vera was losing herself.

Tobias’s hand gripped the back of her head, pulling her tighter against him as she trailed her kisses down the curve between his neck and shoulder. His breath came in pants, and his body contracted in the rhythm she’d set. He was getting close, too, and now her teeth were on him. So tempting. So…

She rolled her eyes closed as the pressure became blinding.

“Do it,” he demanded low.

“Mine,” she murmured just before she bit down. Orgasm exploded through her as she tasted iron.

Tobias grunted, holding her head tight against him, and froze, his body rigid. With a snarl, he pulsed inside of her as he released hot jets that warmed her from the inside out. Ecstasy throbbed through her, and she closed her eyes to the world just to give herself completely to this moment with Tobias. She released him and moved slowly over him, milking every aftershock.

Only when they both relaxed did she clean his wound, licking slowly. She hadn’t meant to hurt him, but it was a necessary and temporary pain. A bite for a bite, as her inner animal required.

Tobias claimed her out on Perl, and now she’d repaid him in kind. Now they were bound. Not by contract, but because they’d both chosen each other.

And no matter what muck came now, they would be in this together.

Tobias rolled back onto the pillows, taking her with him. He pulled the covers over them and cradled her. His heart wasn’t racing anymore as she rested her cheek on his chest. He was steady and calm, just how she felt. Secure in what they’d just done.

“I can’t have daughters,” he said softly, brushing a strand of hair off her forehead. “Only sons.”

“I know. We don’t have to worry about cubs now, though. As soon as I went into heat, I started taking birth control to stop it.”

“You did?”

She swallowed audibly in the dark. “On Perl, there was the risk that one of the misfits wouldn’t take no for an answer.”

He ran a thumb over the uneven scars on her arm. “What was Jonathan’s last name?”

“Greene. Why?”

“No reason.”

She huffed a soft laugh. “I can hear a lie, too.”

“When I was growing up, my mom wasn’t around, and my dad hibernated in the winters.”

With a frown for the turn in conversation, Vera lifted up enough to see his face. Her elbows on his chest, she rested her chin on the heels of her hands. “It won’t be like that when you have sons, Tobias. You won’t have to sleep the winters away anymore. I’ll make sure of it.”

He combed his fingers through her hair and sighed. “In the winters, one of my dad’s friends would take care of us before we started our own hibernations. He was this old, crotchety man. Grumpy, cussed every other word, and was about as affectionate as a rabid mountain goat. He never hugged me or my brothers, but he was the steady part of our lives.”

“What was his name?”

“Gus.” Tobias gave a distracted smile. “He used to call me Boy-Boy.”

She giggled and clamped her teeth onto his muscular chest, then released. “I like that nickname.”

“I still visit him. I don’t think my brothers cared for him much, but I go up to his cabin a few times a year, cut his firewood and give him money for supplies. He’s gnarled as an old tree and still cusses at me half the time, but I know it’s just his way of letting me know he cares. I want to be a Gus for our cubs someday. Not a Clayton.”

Vera’s lip trembled as she smiled and nodded. “Then you will be.”

He brushed his knuckle up her cheekbone. “Vera?”