The Bear Essentials (Siren Publishing: The Stormy Glenn ManLove Collection) (8 page)

“Technically, I didn’t toss you in,” Rob pointed out. “I had a hold of you the entire time.”

True, but… “You didn’t know if I could swim or not. Even if I could swim, I still could have drowned.”

Water dripped down the side of Rob’s face as he tilted his head. “Do you really think I would be so careless with the most important thing in my life, cub?” Rob squeezed Casey’s hand as he brought it to his lips again. “I would never do anything to endanger you. I know you don’t understand yet, Casey, but you are my everything.”

“Oh.” Casey was thankful he had just been dunked in the water when his eyes misted as Rob’s words. He had never been anyone’s everything.

“Lesson number three, cub. Bear shifters are fiercely protective of their mates. Now that I’ve found you, I will do everything within my power to make sure that you are safe. That includes never doing anything that puts you in danger if I can help it.”

Casey frowned. “If you can help it?”

A rueful smile curved Rob’s lips. “I’m not perfect, cub. Despite my best efforts, I’ll make mistakes.”

“Like tossing me in the river without asking me if I can swim?”

“No, because I had a hold of you the entire time and never would have let you drown. My mistake was in scaring you and making you think you might drown.”

That actually…well, it actually kind of made sense.

“Okay, I suppose I can see that.”

“I also wanted you with me.” The smile on Rob’s face grew into a wide grin. “I suppose that is lesson number four, cub. Bears don’t like to be separated from their mates for long periods of time. We prefer them to be where we can watch over them and insure that they are healthy and happy.” Rob’s deep chuckle broke the air. “Hell, if I had my way, you’d never leave my side.”

“I’m okay with that.” Casey slapped a hand over his mouth the second those words were out of his mouth. He really needed to learn to keep his words locked behind his lips. Rob was going to think he was desperate…even if he was.

Rob stared for a moment before his hand fisted in Casey’s hair. “You are so adorable,” the man whispered as he pulled Casey closer and then mashed their lips together.

Casey groaned as Rob’s tongue moved along the seam of his lips. He eagerly opened his mouth, anticipating the zing of arousal he knew was a mere moment away. It was always within grasp when Rob kissed him…or touched him, or even looked in his direction.

He had never experienced anything like it.

“Whatcha got there, Rob?”

Casey stiffened. He felt Rob’s hand release his hair and move down to stroke his naked back. Rob gave one last lick to Casey’s lips before lifting his head. He kept his eyes locked with Casey’s as he replied, “This is Casey Newton, my mate.”

Amid the shouts of congratulations and well-wishing, there was one thing Casey didn’t hear, and that was anyone stating what he felt deep down inside. He wasn’t good enough for Rob and he knew it. But that didn’t mean he wasn’t going to hold onto the bear for all he was worth. If fate was stupid enough to pair them up, he was never letting go.

“He’s pretty damn cute, Rob,” a chestnut-haired man mused. “You sure fate gave him to you? Seems to me you would have been mated to a troll.”

Rob grinned. “I’m sure.”

“You got any brothers, kid?” a man with black hair asked.

“Um, I don’t know,” Casey replied. “My mother died when I was a baby and I never knew my father so…”

Rob growled.

The man that had spoken shot him a quick glance. “Oh man, I’m sorry.”

Casey shrugged. It was what it was. He had gotten used to not having parents years ago. The empty hurt feeling he had in his gut never quite went away, but Casey had grown used to it. And maybe that was the saddest part of all.

“Casey, this is Billy Ray.” Rob pointed to the man with chestnut-colored hair.

Casey nodded to him.

“This other buffoon is Jed.” Rob indicated the man with the blackest hair Casey had ever seen. It was almost ink black. Casey nodded once again.

“And this is Dwayne.”

Casey nodded to the blond.

“He doesn’t say much, does he?” Jed asked.

“Casey has had a bad day,” Rob replied, saving Casey from having to say anything. “We met right after Raymond stole his bike and beat the crap out of him. And then, when I took him home, Harvey scared the crap out of him.”

The blond swallowed hard. A hint of unease covered his face before he schooled his features. “Harvey’s home?”

Rob frowned. “I told you he was coming home on leave.”

“Yeah.” Dwayne glanced away. “You just didn’t say when.”

“Well, he’s going to be here soon so you can talk to him about it then.”

“Here?” Pure panic filled that voice, even Casey could hear it. “You invited Harvey down to the river?”

Rob’s frown grew deeper, more pronounced, his eyebrows pulling low. “Is there some reason Harvey shouldn’t be joining us?”

“No.” Dwayne swallowed again. “No, of course not. It’s just been awhile since I’ve seen him.”

“It’s only been six months, Dwayne,” Rob replied. “He was home at Christmas.”

“Yeah, I remember.” Dwayne looked anywhere but at Rob as he rubbed his hand over the back of his neck. “I was pretty busy then so we really didn’t get a chance to hang out.”

Casey could tell from the man’s tone of voice that there was a story behind his words. He just didn’t know Dwayne well enough to ask what it was. He wasn’t even sure if he would ask even if he knew Dwayne. Casey had very few friends—excluding his gold fish—and he wasn’t sure what was acceptable to ask and what wasn’t. It wasn’t like the popular social elite hung out with him. They tended to beat the crap out of him and steal his bike instead.

“Aren’t you kind of young to be finding your mate?” Jed asked. “We usually don’t find them until we’re at least in our midtwenties or thirties.”

Casey smiled when Rob grinned as though he was the happiest man on the planet. He loved seeing that happy look on Rob’s face and promised himself he would strive to put it there as often as possible.

“I’m just lucky, I guess,” Rob replied. “I’ve been gifted with the perfect mate, and he was under my nose all this time, too.”

“Yeah.” Billy Ray cocked his head to one side. “I thought Casey looked familiar. You’re just a couple of years behind us, aren’t you?”

Casey nodded. “I finished school today.”

Billy Ray chuckled as if Casey had just said the funniest thing. “Us, too.”

“I’ve also been lucky in that I didn’t have to tell Casey about bear shifters,” Rob said. “His foster parents are bears.”

“You are teaching me the bear essentials, though,” Casey reminded Rob. He was starting to feel a little more comfortable around the three men Rob considered his friends. He wasn’t positive that they accepted him, but it was certainly looking that way.

“You live with bears?” Jed asked.

Casey nodded.

“But you’re human.”

Every bit of calm Casey had been feeling drained away with those three little words. He pressed closer to Rob, feeling the coldness of the water starting to seep into his bones. “I am.” There was nothing he could do to fix that.

Jed scratched the side of his head as if trying to put the pieces of as puzzle together with his mind. “Then how did you get placed with bears? Do you have shifters in your family somewhere?”

“My foster parents have always been bears.”

“But you’re human,” the man repeated.

Rob growled when Casey shuddered. Jed instantly held up his hands, his head tilting to one side as if he was submitting to a stronger bear. “I didn’t mean anything by that, Rob. Honest. I just don’t understand it.”

“And I don’t have an answer for you,” Rob replied. His words were calm, but there was still a tenseness in his muscles. “Casey doesn’t either, and I’m not sure why it matters. He knows about us and that means we don’t have to hide who we are from him.”

Jed’s lips spread into a big grin. “That’s right.”

“Damn,” Billy Ray said. “I hope my mate knows about us, too.”

Jed bumped shoulders with him. “Who says you get a mate?”

“Um, hello, fate.”

“Nuh-uh.” Jed shook his head. “Not even fate is that cruel.”

Billy Ray growled and went after Jed. Rob swung Casey out of the way just as both men splashed into the water, sinking below the surface. He carried Casey closer to the shoreline as the two men wrestled in the water, creating enough splashing for ten people.

“I didn’t mean to start a fight, Rob.”

“Oh, cub, you didn’t,” Rob quickly replied. “Jed and Billy Ray are just burning off a little steam. They’re not even hurting each other. Just goofing off like bears do in the water.”

It sure looked like the two men were beating the crap out of each other, but as Casey began to watch closer, he realized neither of them threw any punches. There was a lot of splashing and dunking, and one huge toss through the air. But in general, they looked like they were just having fun.

“Cold, cub?” Rob asked when Casey shivered.

Casey nodded. Despite the warmth offered by the hairy bear holding him, the cold was really starting to get to him. When Rob swung him up and started out of the water, Casey wrapped his arms around the bear’s neck and laid his head on Rob’s chest.

“I like this position,” Casey whispered, knowing Rob could hear him.

“As you will no doubt be in this position a lot during our life together, that is a good thing.”

Casey laughed and tilted his head back to look up at Rob. “You think so, huh?”

“Cub, the only other position you are likely to find yourself in as much as being held in my arms is bent over with my cock up your ass.”

Casey’s sphincter clenched as heat filled his entire body. While he had been mildly attracted to a few men here and there over the years, no one had ever aroused him as much as the man holding him. Just the thought of having Rob’s cock in his ass was enough to make him want to drop to his knees and beg.

“I’d really like to see what that other position might feel like.”

Rob stumbled a step before letting loose with a deep growl and righting himself. Casey ducked his head so the self-assured man wouldn’t see the heat blooming on his cheeks.

“Oh no,” Rob said in a voice laced with arousal. “You do not get to hide after saying something like that to me, Casey.”

Swallowing hard, Casey raised his head and looked at Rob. The lust he could see burning in the man’s eyes stole a gasp from him. Casey clenched his butt cheeks when his body pulsed, almost as if giving a physical voice to the need swamping him.

When one of Rob’s hands fisted in his shoulder-length hair, and the other one lifted him up by his ass, Casey eagerly pressed his lips to his mate’s. Rob didn’t disappoint, sliding his tongue along the seam of Casey’s lips before delving inside to explore and conquer. He left Casey’s mouth burning with fire with every stroke of his tongue.

Casey whimpered as he pushed closer. “Please.”

Begging was so acceptable.

Casey’s whimper ripped away all of Rob’s hard-fought control. With that one lusty little sound, every thought he had conceived of to wait until he could wine and dine Casey disappeared, and all he could think about was sinking his cock deep into his mate’s ass.

He could smell Casey’s need, and almost taste it on the air.

Rob slung Casey up over his shoulder and then reached down and grabbed the blanket off the ground along with his duffel bag. As aroused as he was in that moment, even he had some clarity, and taking Casey without some sort of lubrication would hurt his mate. That just wasn’t allowed.

Ignoring the voices asking where he was going—because even an idiot would be able to figure it out with one look at his face—Rob stalked toward the edge of the trees on the on the far side of the parking lot. He walked with a single-minded purpose…to get Casey out of sight of the others and get him naked.

It took him a long, agonizing ten minutes to find the perfect spot…a little meadow just big enough for Rob to spread the blanket out and lay Casey down on it. He stood back and stared down at his mate, awed beyond words by the miracle in front of him.

“You are so damn beautiful, cub.” Stunning didn’t even begin to describe the picture he saw staring up at him with liquid caramel-colored eyes fueled by heat and need. “I don’t know what I did to deserve you, but I swear I will never abuse the gift the fates have given me.”

Rob kicked his shorts off and stood naked before his mate. His chest puffed out with pride when Casey’s breath caught and his eyes dilated. He knew he was considered a good-looking man. His stood at an impressive six foot five in his bare feet with two hundred and eighty five pounds of muscles covered in golden tanned skin and a fine covering of brown hair.

Rob dropped down to his knees. He grabbed the edges of Casey’s pants and pulled. As every inch of creamy white skin was revealed to his hungry gaze, Rob knew what Casey had felt like when he had gotten naked.

There were just no words.