What a Bear Needs (The Wild Side) (23 page)

Ransom smacked him again.

“
Goddammit!”

“What’d you do?” his brother prodded. “What’d you do to fuck it up?”

“I was
shot,”
Maddox replied. “In the chest! And I died! For like ten minutes while my intended went on an extremely frightening crusade of death and dismemberment!”

“Excuses,” Anoki bellowed. “We want results, bear and we want them now.”

“How about numerous injuries as a result of you
inciting my boar rage?”

Fallon came closer and reached out to grasp the front of his shirt. She jerked him down until they were eye-level. “Get to work on tying down Cree-leesi or I’m going to make that gunshot wound look like a paper cut.”

He pouted. “Why does no one care for me?”

She shook him. “Because we care about Cree more.”

“That’s just hurtful.”

Stopping, Fallon finally smiled. “You took a bullet so she could accept something that has haunted her for the entirety of her life. That pretty much solidifies that you care about her more than yourself. Right or wrong?”

Sighing, he murmured, “Right.”

Through the lovely miracle technology, the pack had been regaled with the tale of Cree’s awakening via video call. Fallon had demanded it be that way so she could see her friend face to face when what happened in Montana was explained with full details. Fallon had been more than a bit gleeful in her pride to say the least; upset that Cree hadn’t called sooner but proud. Days had passed with Maddox healing with the help of Nasnaana’s restorative abilities and soon they were ready to return to the place that they called home despite her grandmother’s invitation to remain. Cree had happily informed the old woman that the next time she returned there would be a lot less death and a lot more reconnecting but
Athabaskan
land just wasn’t where she was meant to be anymore. Cree also left Nasnaana as the standing alpha in her wake until the shaman chose someone else that she thought worthy of the position. Maddox had no doubt that she would do so wisely.

No matter his skin-walker’s attempts to express
violently
her displeasure at him risking his life, he knew she finally had the peace she needed to continue on her journey. This was why if he had the choice, Maddox would do it all over again, with no hesitation and no fear; even if it meant
not
returning to her. Her contentment brought him more happiness than anything he’d ever experienced and before he gave that up, he’d be shot again. Just not below the waist. He had to draw
some
lines. Nasnaana had sent them on with her blessing and a hug so fierce for Cree that Maddox’s eyes had a very sudden and very suspicious reaction to dust molecules nearby. That was the story. That would
always
be the story. Any arguments with that story would be responded to with slaps and roaring. No one wanted that.

“So then make it happen, Marmalade,” Fallon mocked, patting his cheek. “Or there will be pain.”

“This sounds vaguely like the threat of a pimp.”

“Am I getting paid for your sexually servicing my friend?”

“I would hope not,” Maddox answered.

“Then I’m not a pimp. At least not for you.” Her eyes narrowed. “Anoki,” she suddenly barked.

The wolf male jumped. “Yes, ma’am?”

“Go prepare my truck for a ride and do
not
leave fingerprints all over my dashboard this time. I’ve told you how much I hate that.”

“Yes, ma’am.” He went off to do as he was commanded which made the surrounding males incredibly uncomfortable. None of them wanted to be in the line of Fallon’s fire. Of course they’d laugh about it later but at the moment they were going to let it go because she had an extremely strong backhand.

She took a step away and lightly tapped his chest. “Despite what you may think, we care. We may like to abuse you for our own amusement, but we care. Never forget that.”

Maddox swallowed and gave a sharp nod. “I’m going to go find the small, angry one and try to convince her that the pressure points in my chest and groin are linked.”

“I am most assuredly blind now but…okay.”

He started off with a laugh. More than enough time had passed. Today was the day that he made Cree his forever.

***

“Well, hello,” Cree murmured from her resting place. Normally she would’ve felt a bit awkward sitting naked on the forest floor being that it was usually brought on by an involuntary shift. This sometimes meant someone could be standing over her and leering but circumstances had changed; they’d changed
drastically
.

So this was freedom? This was what it meant to have peace of mind? To just be…okay? Heh. She liked it more than she’d ever admit to anyone who could rub it in her face at a later date. Cree could breathe. She could fucking breathe. And although it had come about through means that had left her very,
very
cranky, she knew now that none of it would’ve been possible without the meddling persistence of an insane, pretty, bastard who loved her enough to risk his own life. The minutes that had stretched and snapped with her grief felt like an eternity.

Cree had never considered herself someone who depended on others but fuck if she didn’t depend on Maddox. His idiotic humor and inability to take really anything seriously. His crazy obsessive worry over his birthmark and his capacity to see
her. She closed her eyes. He
saw
her. When no one else did, when no one else had tried, Maddox was there, gazing at her as if he could smooth over every jagged edged fear she held. That didn’t simply make him a good or great man, it made him
extraordinary.

She’d never forget the sound of his first indrawn breath after returning to her. The way his chest rumbled beneath her palm or the sensation of the coolness in his skin sweeping away as he came back. For a moment she hadn’t moved, too afraid that it was simply her desires attempting to drive life back into the dead but then he’d gripped her hand. That rough palm with the long strong fingers that had brought her more pleasure and affection than she’d ever known, had held onto hers and she would
never
have words to express that moment of indiscernible joy. Said joy had been ruined hours later when her genius of a grizzly revealed that he and Nasnaana were well aware he would be taking a walk on the other side. They’d told Cree that she’d needed the emotional push to finally accept what could never be changed. After days of the silent treatment, Maddox—the ass—had managed to motivate her into saying many things; most of them had been improper and immoral.

“I don’t think I ever got the chance to properly thank you all,” Cree said, casting her gaze towards those surrounding her. “For…everything.”

They stared and then one broke away from the others, trotting towards her with pleasure in its eyes. She reached out as it came forward and ran her fingers between its ears. They locked gazes and then Cree placed her forehead against its own. “You especially,” she whispered to the wolf.

A nudge from her left made her lips curl as she scratched beneath the chin of the panther. “I’ve heard you happen to be quite sweet.”

The wet nose to her shoulder made her laugh. One by one they approached, pushing and purring and rubbing up against her until she felt her lips tremble. “I was never truly alone was I?”

“No,” a voice intruded. “You weren’t.”

The attention from her beasts waned as she looked up to watch Maddox’s slow confident stroll towards her.

“I see you found the tea,” she said softly. Cree had left the small, warm mug of peyote with the hopes that he’d take it.

His grin was crooked as he brushed a hand over the lioness who seemed quite happy to see him. “Naughty skin-walker. Finding ways to take advantage of my trusting nature.”

She smirked. “You say trusting, I say gullible.”

“Rude,” Maddox grumbled taking a seat across from her as the tiger moved to allow him space. “You should be grateful I can’t call the authorities and tell them you’re drugging men and leading them out into the woods.”

Cree waved a hand about. “The issue with your argument is that these are transcendental.”

He rolled those wide shoulders. “Semantics.”

She tried not to smile.

Nudging the bottom of her foot with his toes he asked, “How’re you feeling?”

With a sigh, she retorted, “Okay.”

His stare was penetrating. “I love you.”

Her eyes burned. “I know.”

“And I’d die for you.”

Cree bit her lip and met his gaze. “And I’d kill for you.”

“I want children.”

She burst out laughing. “Why are we on this subject?”

“Because we’ve already established that
you
are mine and
I
am your lord and that your soul’s desire is to please me so…”

“So you’re out of your goddamn mind,” she told him. “Completely out of your goddamn mind.”

He sighed. “Why can’t you let me be great?”

“Oh baby,” Cree crooned. “You
are
great. You’re great at humor. You’re great at taking slaps. Great at business. Great in bed…”

Tucking in his lips, he reached forward to hook his fingers under her knee and tug her towards him. “You think so, do you?”

She nodded. “Mm-hmm.”

Maddox’s palms slid along her thighs. “Great enough to try the lotus flower bomb sp—”

“
No,”
Cree cut in.

He was pouting now. “But I was shot.”

“Are we going to spend the next fifty years with you pointing that out?”

“It’s going to be
seventy
years and yes, yes we are because I don’t think anyone understands the severity of my trauma.” Grasping her hips, he pulled her until she was on her back and then hovered above her. “
So
traumatized.”

Cree snorted. “Always about the drama with you, Mr. Hinckles.”

His lips twitched. “It shouldn’t sexually arouse me when you call me that.”

She glanced down. “And yet…” Her hands skirted along his collarbone and then his chest. Here, in this place, his wound was nothing more than a scar. She raked her nails over it and he grunted, pinching one of her nipples. She bit his pec and he firmly grasped her hair, pulling Cree’s head back.

Maddox’s mouth was slow and sweet in its onslaught, leaving her gasping as he spread her thighs with one hand and placed himself firmly between them. The thick swell of his cock ran between the lips of her pussy, pushing, pulling back and pushing again. She was vaguely aware of how her beasts had disappeared in order to give them privacy but couldn’t particularly focus with the way he found her pulse and sucked. She played with the muscles between his shoulders, feeling her core contract with each draw of his mouth.

Cree met his hips in a slow lazy pace that built with every lunge.

“I’m going to fuck you,” Maddox muttered against the shell of her ear. “And you’re going to love it right?”

She nodded against his shoulder, her fingers cinching down on the firm halves of his ass.

“I want to hear the words, Cree,” he commanded, stopping his movements altogether and turning her over onto her belly. He lifted her hips and palmed her buttocks, spreading it. His thumb encircled her opening and she shivered.

“Yes,” she replied, wiggling in an attempt to get closer.

Maddox stilled her then shoved her thighs further apart. “Can’t hear you, baby.”

“Yes!” Cree shouted.

He made a noise of satisfaction. “Good girl. Now stay just. Like. That.” Then he speared her.

***

He’d had very few pleasurable moments in the last few days but the hoarse cry Cree released as he drove into the velvet warmth of her core, more than made up for
all
of it. He grasped her shoulders and slammed her back into him, furiously moving within her as she rolled her hips inviting him deeper into her body. She met each ruthless thrust, grabbing onto his hands as they spread out beside her own in the grass.

Cree turned her head into his bicep. “Maddox…”

Fuck did that feel good. Her voice low and guttural, calling
his
name as she moved back against him with enthusiasm that stroked his ego. His right hand came up to grasp her chest, holding her in place as he tunneled harder.

“Oh…”

He rolled her nipple between his fingertips.

“Fuck.”

Maddox closed his eyes and kissed her shoulder. “Ready baby?”

She interlocked her fingers with his own. “
Please.”

Rearing upwards, he moved them until he was sitting and she was straddling his lap backwards. One hand controlled her movements while the other brushed her hair off her shoulder. Maddox calmed his pants and released his canines the moment he felt the feather light touch of her pussy harshening. The second her breath stilled and she seized over him, he bit down, locking his jaw as she rode the wave of her orgasm, screaming. In the distance, he could hear the resounding roars and howls of her beasts as the connection took hold.

Cree lifted his left arm and snapped down on his upper muscle, not releasing him until the crest of his own climax passed. When it was done, they rolled onto the ground, limbs tangled, and chests heaving.

“Dear diary,” Maddox huffed. “It was a day like any other day. Until my mate finally found herself thoroughly convinced that not only was the lotus flower bomb special a wonderful way to express her undying love to me but she
also
promised—”

“To kill you in your sleep?” Cree filled in gleefully. “Because that’s where this is heading. I can assure you.”

“Rude,” he accused. “So, so rude.”

“And yet your adoration will never be quelled.”

He chuffed. “The arrogance.”

She waved a hand. “All hail the great
Cree-leesi.”

“My God…”

“Breaker of bones, the un-bent, Mother of beasts, she who has taken what is hers through fear and blood—”

“The horror of this moment is great; so great.”

“—for I am all-powerful and you shall worship my wonder.”

Maddox buried his face into her hair and laughed. He laughed because her contentment fueled his own. He laughed because she genuinely amused him. He laughed because there would
never
be a better moment than right here, right now with her eyes dancing and her lips spread wide. He laughed and wondered to himself, who would’ve ever thought that this vicious, ridiculous, sporadically violent yet incredibly beautiful being was
exactly
what he needed?