The Bear Who Loved Me (13 page)

And then he thrust home.

Her breath caught on a delicious cry. He filled her to perfection. There was enough stretch to make her feel his every glorious inch, to make her clutch him as he pulled back. And to make her arch almost off the bed as he slammed into her again.

And then he stopped. He held himself still as he leaned down to kiss her. He pressed her mouth hard, his movements unsteady, his breath short and hot against her lips.

He wanted something from her, but she didn't know what. She opened her eyes and looked into his dark ones. Which is when she realized he was holding back. Even though she'd asked him—begged him—to take her hard, he was still keeping himself from losing control.

“How can you be so calm?” she asked. She was insane with want.

He leaned down and scraped his teeth lightly across her jaw. Tiny bites that made her clutch him above and below.

“So sweet,” he rasped. “I could devour you.”

She wrapped her arms around him as far as they would go. “So do it,” she said. “Please.”

“You don't understand,” he said against her ear. “I don't want to hurt you.”

She pushed him back far enough that she could look him in the eye. “Why do you think I'll break?”

His eyes darkened and his hands clutched her waist. “I'm a grizzly, Becca.”

That made her pause, but geez Louise, he was already inside her. What more could happen? “Do you get bigger?” That kind of boggled her mind.

“What? No! At least I don't think so.”

“What are we talking here? Claws? Fur? Humpback or something?”

He snorted. “No, no, and absolutely not!”

“Then I think we're okay.” She stroked his face. “Isn't it usually the girl who makes it complicated?”

He shook his head. “It's not complicated. I don't want to frighten you.”

“I'm not frightened,” she retorted. “I'm bored.” That wasn't remotely true, but he seemed to need her to demand more. To give him permission to let his animal out. “Bring it, grizzly. Show me what you've got.”

It wasn't enough. He still stared at her, fully embedded and yet completely still. Which pissed her off. She was not some fragile little bird. So she did something new. Something she'd never done before, but which he seemed to need. She grabbed his right nipple between two fingers and twisted.

“Ow!” He reared back with a jerk, but below she felt him grind against her.

Oh yes!

But then—damn it—he stopped again. She saw his nostrils flare, she felt the tension in his body, but he was still holding on too tight.

So she did it again. This time harder.

That did it.

Some restraint broke inside him. He released a roar of fury, and then he bore down on her. Not up top, though his eyes darkened and his face dropped to within inches of her. It was below that he thrust hard enough to raise her off the bed. Then he grabbed hold of her hips and held her right where he wanted her before pulling back and ramming her harder.

Oh yes!

He slammed into her again and again, his breath coming out in harsh growls each time. It took three slams for her to climax. The waves crashed through her while he kept going.

Sometime in there he must have released. While she was bucking in his arms, he roared again, but if there was a pause, she barely noticed. Her whole body was riding waves of ecstasy.

But then she felt him lean over and unceremoniously flip her over. She was completely boneless and her face planted with an oomph in the pillow. She heard another foil packet rip. She was just wondering why he needed another condom when he grabbed her hips and raised her up.

Bam! He slammed into her. And this time he leaned over her, caging her as he took her from behind. Everything was wet and slick, but he ground a thick finger against her clit and set off more sparks. More waves when the first had barely slowed.

Over and over he pumped into her, making guttural sounds that thrilled her. He wanted her. He was consumed by her. And she in turn felt as if her every cell was marked, owned, and wrung to its fullest.

It was animal possession at its most base level, and she reveled it. There was no room for doubt or fear. There was only wave after wave of pleasure.

She lost count of her orgasms. It could have been a dozen. It could have been one long one that he perpetuated forever. After he'd taken her from behind, he rolled her over again and began feasting on her. He licked every inch, keeping her body pulsing. She never managed the dexterity to help him with another condom. He took care of that, too. And when he pushed into her again, it was like she'd been made for this and for him.

It made no sense. She was a strong, independent woman who would never dream of giving everything over to a man. And yet he made her want to. He made it so she loved to.

And when he was finally finished with her, he settled beside her, tugging her into his arms until she was cradled against his chest. It was so perfect, she never wanted to leave.

Crazy.

Bliss.

C
arl woke on alert, leaping out of bed before he even realized why. He was naked, but not for long. He'd either be covered in fur soon or…

“You mother-fucking-whoreson!” It was Nick Merkel bellowing outside, fury and profanity in every breath. Guess his wife had given him the bad news. But just in case, Carl called through the door to his brother.

“Alan! Is everything locked down, legally speaking?”

His brother threw open the door while pulling on his shirt. “Yes. Ruling came down yester…” His voice trailed off as he took in Becca naked in the bed.

Carl whirled on his brother, his mouth lengthening into a snarling growl. His brother's eyes widened as he hastily backed out. “Sorry. I wasn't thinking. I—”

Carl kicked the door shut in his brother's face. Then he reined in his temper as he turned to Becca. “I should have locked the door. I'm so—”

She held up her hand. Thankfully, she was covered by the blankets so only her head and one beautiful shoulder had been exposed to his brother's stare. “It's fine. I'm not ashamed.”

Right. He was the one who'd tried to hide their relationship.

Nick continued to rant, his bellows coming closer as he left the circular street and moved up the walkway to the house. “I'm going to carve out your fucking heart and…” blah blah blah.

Becca's gaze turned to the window. “He sounds really pissed.”

“Yeah. I've been expecting this.” He needed to get out there, but he didn't want to leave her yet. “Don't be afraid. You're not in any danger.”

She pushed back the covers. “Don't worry about me.” Then she winced as Nick launched into another streak of profanity. “Go take care of…um…is that clan business?”

“Yeah.” God she was beautiful in the morning, with her skin flushed and hair mussed. “I know we need to talk, but—”

She stretched up on her toes, kissed him hard and fast, and then pushed him away when he would have pulled her deeper into his arms. “Go!”

He wanted to argue with her, but she was right. He had to deal with—

Alan's voice cut through the tirade along with the sound of a shotgun loading. “That's far enough, Nick. This is private property.”

“You tell that mother-fucker—”

“You know you're in a kids' camp, right? Calm down. Mr. Max will be with you in a moment.”

Carl grabbed a pair of his tearaway pants and yanked them on. He didn't like having to wear stripper pants, but he wanted to be prepared to go grizzly. Shifting while still wearing jeans was a mistake bears made only once.

Beside him, Becca was drawing on her clothes with swift motions. He didn't want her clothed at all, but didn't have time to indulge that particular fantasy. So, with a quick apologetic glance, he quit the bedroom, shutting the door quietly behind him.

A half dozen steps later, he was outside, barefoot, bare chested, and wearing only his stripper pants. He always felt stupid doing this. Like the sight of his manly chest would mean anything to Nick. But it was how most Gladwin Maxes appeared when addressing the clan, though his uncle had skipped the pants altogether.

“Good morning, Nick.” He looked at the sky. Almost noon. Damn, he'd slept like a baby.

“You mother-fucking…”

He rolled his eyes, not even bothering to stop the tirade. Nobody won in a shouting match. Besides, the best thing to do was to appear bored. A true leader appeared calm, almost casual, against a threat so that when he struck it was fast and decisive.

Great strategic thinking, except his grizzly thirsted for blood. Nick was defying his alpha, disturbing Becca where she rested, and being a goddamned pain in the ass. For that, Carl was a half breath away from tearing out the bastard's throat. At least there weren't any kids watching. They were all in school. A half dozen onlookers had gathered, keeping well back on the circular road, but they were all Gladwin family. Which meant he could go all Max without fear of outsiders misunderstanding. Unfortunately, Nick didn't seem to be losing any steam. Well, not until Becca came out with an extra mug of coffee in her hand. She passed it to Carl with a smile.

Jesus, that was perfect. Nothing cut off a temper tantrum like the sight of people not giving a shit. He leaned against the porch railing as he let his gaze linger on her. He knew his expression was warm and intimate. And it shut Nick up mid-profanity.

“Jesus fucking Christ, you're screwing a human?”

Carl didn't bother to answer that except to let his expression shift into an extra-wide grin. Then he pushed himself off the porch, setting his coffee mug down as he went.

“Now that you've finished whining, let me make this official.” He raised his voice, pitching it so all could hear. He knew that Alan would be recording this for an email sent to the whole clan, so he made himself as pompous as he ever got. “Nick Merkel, you have disobeyed a direct order to clean up your toxic waste dump. Therefore, you are now expelled from the Gladwin Bear Clan.”

“The fuck you—”

“Your property has been given to your wife, Pam, to manage as she pleases. If she chooses to harbor you, then that is her choice. If she wishes you tossed out on your mangy ear, then I will assist her because she remains one of us and I have sworn to protect her from harm. As for this location…” He gestured to the main campground. “You are no longer permitted here.”

Then he turned as if his business was done. His bear rebelled in every single cell of his body, but in this his mind ruled. It had to look as if he'd ended the confrontation—at least for the camera—even though they'd just begun this particular dance. Carl knew that no way, no how, was Nick smart enough to accept banishment. A shifter without a clan wasn't necessarily going to die, but he was a target for every magical weirdo with a grudge. And Nick's pride would see it as going from big bear in the clan to crazy loner in the woods.

Carl's back prickled with awareness, knowing exactly what was about to happen. But he had to allow Nick to swing first, especially since it was all being caught on camera.

He heard Becca squeak in alarm, and that was enough to spur him into action. Nobody scared her. And certainly not an uneducated redneck of an asshole like Nick.

Carl spun around, easily sidestepping Nick's swing. Somehow the man had hidden a huge wrench in his dungarees and had just tried to bash in his alpha's skull. Well, that established the legalities. Whatever happened next was self-defense. Meanwhile, all he had to do was taunt the idiot a little more.

“A wrench? Seriously, Nick? You think you can take me man to man?”

Nick straightened, a wild grin on his face. “I just needed you closer.” Then, faster than Carl thought possible, the man started to shift. He must have been practicing, because it took serious focus to morph that quickly. But it didn't matter. Carl had him by the throat and shoved up against the nearest tree trunk before he got more than a snout going. And then he banged the bastard's head backward a few more times just for good measure and to stop the guy from shifting fully to bear. Right now he was just a hairy man with a long nose.

“You're a sorry excuse for a man,” he growled. “But I'm going to let it go because of how you're mentally incompetent. That's why everything's in your wife's name now.”

Then he stepped back, showing the camera that he was stepping away while Nick was still standing and plenty healthy enough to start spewing filth.

“You fucking…” Blah blah blah. It went on for a while with the man swinging wildly and Carl easily sidestepping everything. Everything in Carl wanted to end this now, but he couldn't do it yet. One more piece had to fall into place. Alan had won in court, declaring Nick legally incompetent. Pam must have given the bastard the news, which is what triggered the tirade today. But Nick's kids had to…

There.

Mark pulled up in his truck. A second later, Pam and her two sons got out of the cab, looking wide-eyed and terrified.

Finally, Carl could end this. He'd needed to have the boys here to show them that a man stood up for what was right. And that their father wasn't an all-powerful monster. So he focused back on Nick and dodged one last wild swing.

“We can do this all day, Nick,” Carl taunted. “Or you can calm down and walk away.”

“Fucking whoreson!” Suddenly, Nick swung paws the size of hams, complete with claws a foot long. Nick was shifting, and his dungarees were large enough to accommodate him in his grizzly form. Carl had two seconds to act before he lost his opportunity.

So he swung twice. One blow straight to the diaphragm to stop Nick's breath, and the other under the jaw to snap his head back. It worked. Even as a grizzly and twice Carl's weight, Nick's head whipped back and he staggered. Three more blows and the bear lost his footing and went down. Carl slammed his bare foot down on the furry neck, angling as best he could to choke off the guy's breath without exposing his own body to a swipe from those massive claws.

“You're an idiot, you know that?” he growled. “You think you can disobey me and I'm going to just ignore it? Jesus, power isn't about the size of your claws. Just because you can intimidate a woman and two boys means jack shit. I've beaten you as a
man
, you moron. Do you seriously want to take me on as a
bear
?”

Nick started to growl, but Carl shoved his heel harder against Nick's windpipe.

“I could snap that now, but I was trying to be kind to your family. I don't like killing someone for being stupid.”

Nick stilled, but he wasn't cowed by any means. Now was the time to get the last of it out. For the video. For the clan. But most of all, for the boys and Pam. They needed to hear just what was going to happen.

“You've been declared legally incompetent. Pam has control of everything.” He looked up at her. “What do you want, Pam? You want him with you or gone?”

It took her two tries before she found her breath, but she got the word out clear enough. “Gone.”

Finally
. He'd tried to get Pam to defy Nick for years, but she and her boys had steadfastly stood by the bastard's side. It was the only thing that kept Carl from interfering before. But once Nick started poisoning the land, he'd finally had a reason to end it.

“So be it.” He leaned down and spoke low and quietly. “Leave now or die.” Nick reacted the only way a man like him does: with violence. He swiped with snout and claws, but Carl jumped back and away. Then Nick was up on his feet, rearing to his full grizzly height. He roared loud enough to be heard a county over. A call to his side. The challenge of an alpha to another. Except that no one, not even his boys, who'd both had their first shifts years ago, came to his side.

That left Carl standing alone in his stripper pants against a bear nearly twice his size. There was a moment when Nick seemed to realize he was standing alone. A moment when he seemed to think about the stupidity of his actions. But then it was gone. Whatever ability he'd had to reason things out failed him. So he attacked. And Carl finally got to let his grizzly free. Nick was all in—to the death.

The stripper pants fell away, and Carl shifted.