by Elena Aitken
Fine.
Heat flooded through her, settling in her core. She’d give him exactly what he was waiting for. Taking a different approach than Chloe had, Gabriella moved to the bottom of the steps, where she knew Kade would have the best view. She shifted quickly, seamlessly, and stood for a moment, her back to him. She extended her arms over her head, allowing her naked body to stretch first one way and then the next. She could feel the intensity of his gaze watching her but she purposely didn’t turn around as she moved slowly up the stairs, taking extra care to swing her hips and stick out her round bottom. She had to focus to ignore the pain the snow and ice was causing on the bottom of her feet, but the seduction was way too perfect. A few more seconds in the cold would be fine. It would be worth it.
The cabin door opened as she reached the top. Chloe appeared with a large wool blanket. “What are you doing? You’re going to freeze to death!” Her eyes moved quickly over Gabriella’s shoulder and she grinned. “Oh, I see.” She shook her head. “Still. You’re going to freeze. Here.” She threw the blanket over her naked body and held the door open for her.
But before she followed Chloe inside, Gabriella turned and met Kade’s eyes. Even from the distance, she knew she’d made her point.
He was hers.
Chapter Five
Damn.
All the blood in Kade’s body was currently concentrated in one spot and it was definitely not his brain. His bear roared just under the surface, desperate for a release. But there was only one release that would do.
One woman.
One mate.
Ella.
If she wasn’t frozen to death by now. Silly woman. What was she thinking, shifting in the frigid air and then just standing there, with her naked body on display?
Oh, he knew exactly what she was thinking. And he definitely appreciated it. But it was way too cold for that type of behavior, especially for a bear from South America. Earlier, Ella had been shivering uncontrollably, and that was sitting in a warm truck with a layer of clothes and a warm parka on. She must be completely frozen now.
Without stopping to think it through, Kade double-timed it up the path to his cabin and skillfully lit a fire in the hearth before he grabbed a wool blanket off his couch and headed back out the door to Chloe and Luke’s cabin, where Ella was.
He didn’t bother knocking, but flung open the wooden door, truthfully a little harder than he meant to. When the door slammed against the wall, the women started.
“Kade? What the—”
“What were you thinking?” He ignored Chloe and marched through the room to where Ella sat. Just as he knew she would be, she was shivering. Her skin was pale, her eyes squeezed shut against the cold she was feeling. He could see the bare skin peeking out from under the blanket she was wrapped in. Her clothes were in a pile on the floor.
“I thought she should warm up a bit before she got dressed again,” Chloe said in explanation to his unasked question. “I didn’t realize she would react that way to the cold. I didn’t think—”
“No,” Kade growled. “You didn’t think.” He wrapped the extra blanket he’d brought with him around her and scooped her easily into his arms. “She’s not from here, Chloe. She’s not built for snow and cold.”
“She wanted to,” Chloe said, stopping him before he walked out the door. “I should have prepared her better for the cold, but she wanted to shift, Kade. I don’t think she’s the type of woman who’ll do anything she doesn’t want to do.”
That was true. He may have just met Ella, but he felt as if he’d known her forever. She’d been in his soul, in his heart, his entire life. Her weight shifted in his arms and cuddled closer to him. Kade tightened his grip on her. “I think that’s true,” he said to Chloe and then looked down at Ella. His mate. “No, I know it’s true. But now it’s time for something I want to do.”
Ella shivered, but Kade knew it wasn’t from the cold this time. Without another word, he walked out the door and as quickly as he could on the slippery snow and ice, made his way up to his cabin, where he slammed the door behind him. One hand held her securely against him; he used the other to toss a pile of pillows on the floor in front of the fire and placed Ella in the center of them.
He didn’t have a full kitchen because he spent the majority of his time in the lodge kitchen, but he did have a corner stocked with the basics, including a liquor cabinet. He poured out a dram of whiskey, fetched two more blankets from the closet in his bedroom and stripped his clothes off before he joined Ella in front of the fire.
If she noticed his nakedness, she didn’t say anything. She was so cold, he wouldn’t be surprised if she wasn’t really sure where she was or what she was doing there. He’d fix that in a hurry. Kade shuffled in behind her, spread his legs and pulled her back so she rested against his chest. It was a very intimate position, especially considering they’d only just met, but it didn’t feel out of line. Not in the slightest. And when Ella wiggled herself backward into him, he knew she felt it, too. Everything about having this woman in his arms felt absolutely right.
Except for the fact that her body was freezing cold.
“Drink this.” He handed her the glass and she took it obediently. “It’ll help take the chill out of your bones.”
She took a sip and to his surprise didn’t immediately sputter and cough. Kade twisted around so he could see her face. “A whiskey drinker?”
Ella shrugged a little and took another sip.
Kade shook his head and smiled to himself. Especially now that she was talking again. She must be warming up. But not fast enough. “What were you thinking, standing out there like that?”
Her answer was a smile so sweet and sexy his entire body ached. He slipped his hands up her back and slowly massaged her shoulders, easing some warmth back into the skin before he slid his hands down the length of her, to her waist and then the swell of her ass.
“You could have frozen to death,” he said. “You’re not used to this cold.”
“But I didn’t.”
She wiggled a little, so he kept his hands moving. Up and over her shoulders and down her bare arms. With every touch of his own overheated skin, the ice in hers melted a little more.
“No.” Slowly, Kade brought his fingers up the length of her arms, and instead of traveling back to her shoulders, he trailed them along her chest. Over the mounds of her breasts. “You didn’t.” His cock twitched in response to the feel of her under his fingertips. It was bold. Bolder than he might normally be. Especially with a woman who mattered. Not that he’d ever been with a woman who mattered. But his boldness didn’t feel inappropriate. It was right. She was right. “I’d never let that happen.” And he meant it. It didn’t matter that she’d only just entered his life; he knew with a fierce certainty that he’d never let anything happen to this woman. She was his to protect, to care for, to…claim. The idea was still so foreign he couldn’t wrap his head around it.
There’d be time to come to that later. First…he had a naked woman in his arms and he planned to take full advantage of that.
He squeezed first one breast, and then the other, taking time to roll each nipple between his fingers, massaging gently with just enough pressure to make sure she warmed up. Ella groaned and leaned her head back against his chest, presenting her luscious lips for him to take with his own.
He wanted this woman. No, he needed this woman. But to kiss her? That was different. Wasn’t it? He didn’t normally kiss the women he took to bed. It was a line of intimacy he never crossed. But…with Ella…
It was different. It was all different.
She’d been so cold she couldn’t even think properly. The last thing Gabriella remembered was showcasing herself for Kade outside on the porch. She’d wiggled and flaunted herself without any care for the biting cold. That had been a mistake. Or had it?
Sure, she may have almost frozen to death. But she hadn’t. And now she was sitting between the very firm, very muscular legs of the
sexiest man she’d ever laid eyes on. With every touch of his hands on her bare skin, not only did Gabriella warm up a little bit, she damn near exploded from the heat he stirred in her. She hadn’t been with a lot of men before Carlos, but Kade’s touch was unlike anything she could have even imagined. He was both gentle and commanding, and just so…right. She let herself fall into the feelings he was awakening within her. A low groan started deep within her, and slipped out between her lips as she leaned her head back against his chest.
Her lips throbbed for him. She wanted his mouth on hers. To taste him. To connect.
He looked at her and Gabriella could see the internal battle going on inside him. Over a kiss? Or was it more? Was it her? The others had warned her that Kade had demons that even they didn’t fully understand.
Demons or not, this man was her mate. She felt it with every bone in her body, even more so since she’d let her bear out. She’d never been the type to shy away from what she wanted, especially now that she had this new life in this new land. She’d have everything she wanted, she’d never been so sure. And what she wanted was Kade. If he had demons to battle, she had every intention of going to war with him.
She twisted in his arms until she was face to face and looking in his eyes at the surprise there. He wrapped his arms around her and she pressed her breasts into his chest. Kade opened his mouth, but she didn’t have the patience for anything he had to say to her. She pressed her lips to his in a hot, hard kiss that left no room for thought of any kind.
His hands were on her back, her ass…everywhere. Kade’s touch was hot, frantic, and totally in control all at the same time. There was no doubt he needed her just as much as she needed him.
Maybe more.
“This is crazy.” He worked his way down her neck with searing kisses.
“There’s nothing crazy about this.”
“We just met.” He nestled his face between her breasts. The scruff of his beard sent shocks of pleasure through her body. “I don’t usually…” He trailed off and she knew it was a lie. Of course he’d had one-night stands before. She didn’t care. What was happening between them was definitely not a one-night stand. Far from it.
“I don’t care what you did.” She arched her back to present her chest to him. “All I care about…” Kade cupped her breasts and sucked first one nipple into his mouth, teasing her into a hard peak, and then the other. “Is exactly what you’re doing…” Liquid heat pooled between her legs. She wiggled her hips, pressing herself against his hard heat. “Right…” Kade’s hands locked around her hips to lift her and when he brought her back down and onto his hard shaft, she threw her head back, the word coming out on a moan. “Now.”
He filled her so completely she wasn’t sure she could move. Her eyes squeezed shut as sensations ripped through her.
“Look at me,” he commanded.
She wasn’t sure she could. She shook her head slightly.
“Now.”
A shiver rippled through her at his commanding tone. She liked it. A lot. Slowly, she lifted her head up, opened her eyes and stared directly into his.
“Better,” he said when she finally looked at him. He needed to see her, connect with her. Ella was different than any woman he’d ever met. Everything about her—about them, their connection, their intensity—everything was different.
Slowly, he moved beneath her. Ella’s eyes fluttered.
“Keep them open,” Kade told her. “Look at me. Don’t look away.”
He slid his hands over her; his thumbs stroked circles on her soft belly while he rocked inside her. “Damn, woman. You feel so…”
He let his words trail away instead of finishing his thought. He couldn’t. There was no way Kade trusted himself to say what he wanted to. What he was feeling. If he did, he’d say something he shouldn’t. It was too soon to say what he wanted to. What his heart and mind strained to tell her.
Too soon. That was an understatement. It had been less than twenty-four hours and already there was no doubt in his mind that this woman was his. His mate.
No.
He bit back the urge to tell her that.
He didn’t believe in fated mates.
And he’d just keep telling himself that until he believed it again. Because at that moment, with Ella straddling him, the feel of him inside her so intense he had to focus to keep from losing himself, it was hard to remember why exactly he didn’t believe in mates.
Very hard.
Ella’s eyelids fluttered; a deep moan escaped her lips. His bear reacted hard to the sound of her pleasure. He pulled her closer, and buried his face into the crook of her neck where he could fill his senses with her sweet scent. He nibbled and kissed his way down her neck and paused at the tender skin just below her ear. He could take her. Right now, like this. He’d mark her, claim her for his own. She was his, and in just an instant she’d be his forever. He swallowed back a roar and jerked his head away.
No.
He couldn’t do it.
He wouldn’t do it.
Having her this way, that was one thing. Sex was something he could control. Mating was different. Confusion clouded in her eyes and something else. Hurt.
She’d wanted him to. But it didn’t make sense. He couldn’t mate her. But he didn’t want to see that pain in her eyes either.
His brain battled with the feelings crashing through him. There was only one thing to do. Kade reached up and pulled her mouth down on his. He kissed her hard until she responded with as much need and want as he had flooding through him.
With one arm wrapped around her, he lifted her and shifted around until she was beneath him. Exactly where he needed her.
“Kade…I…you…we…”
With a wicked grin on his lips, Kade rose up on his arms, slowly pulling himself from her wet heat. Ella’s eyes widened, and she was about to protest when he pushed back inside her. Hard.
“Dios mio.” The words were little more than a groan. He gave her a moment to adjust to him again. She bit her bottom lip and opened her mouth to say something, but he was done talking. Once more, he withdrew from her, and with even more force than before, they came together. She moaned, hard, and Kade could see the battle in her eyes. She had something she wanted to say, but the pleasure was slowly erasing it from her consciousness. He did it again. And then again. Until he could see in her eyes that Ella’s only focus was on him and the pleasure he was giving her.
And the feeling was more than mutual. He felt her body tighten and shake beneath him as a scream of pleasure ripped through her. Moments later, his own orgasm tore through him.
Sometime later, as the fire burned low and he held her in his arms, asleep against his chest, Kade stroked her dark hair off her forehead and placed a gentle kiss there before gathering her closer to him. It didn’t matter how many times he told himself it was just sex. It wasn’t and he knew it in his bones. He may not have claimed her, but there was no doubt about it: Ella was his mate and that meant more than just the act of mating. That meant that everything he’d ever believed in was wrong. And everything had just changed forever.
Chapter Six
Without a doubt, being with Kade was the best thing for Gabriella about being at Grizzly Ridge. But in the days and weeks since she’d arrived, she very quickly found there were a lot of other benefits to her new life. A lot. Chloe and Harper proved very quickly to be some of the best friends she’d ever had. No, they definitely were the best friends she’d ever had. Growing up, it wasn’t easy for her to make close friends because of who her father was, and she’d never known the closeness of a female relationship before. She could hardly believe she’d missed out on it for so long.
The other women took her under their wing and showed her all the ins and outs of the Ridge and life in the mountains. Which was another huge benefit of being in Montana. The mountains were amazing. She couldn’t get enough of them and didn’t think she could ever get tired of looking at them. And running along the ridge in her
bear. Embracing her animal once again was definitely something she had fully embraced. Almost every day, she took time to shift and go for a run. Usually with Chloe, but when she traveled for work, she’d go with Luke or Axel, or even once or twice by herself. She couldn’t convince Kade to shift and go with her. His brothers told her he was punishing himself for something that happened with his sister, but he wouldn’t talk to her about it.
In so many ways, he was open to her. They would talk and laugh for hours into the night. And during the day, Kade was more than patient as he explained things in the kitchen, and they compared recipes and blended their cooking styles to create delicious feasts for the guests. More than once, Axel and Luke had each taken her aside and told her how much Kade had changed since she’d come to stay at the ridge. No one thought he would be as open to working with her as he was. Of course, no one expected her to be Kade’s mate either. Least of all Kade.
Not that they’d officially mated. She wanted to. More than anything, she wanted him to claim her, but she wouldn’t ask him. No. He’d have to come to it on his own, and clearly something was stopping him. Chloe and Harper told her that he didn’t believe in mates, but he did. That’s why they were together. That was the only reason they could be together. But he wouldn’t take the next step.
So many times, Gabriella had wanted to ask him about it but she’d chickened out at the last minute. After all, who was she to challenge him when she wasn’t being totally honest with him either? Every day, she’d wake up in Kade’s cabin, where she’d stayed ever since that first night, never spending not even one night in the little storage room bedroom they’d set up for her when she’d arrived, and she’d look at the man she had fallen in love with and convince herself that today would be the day she’d tell him the truth about who she was and where she’d come from.
And every day, she’d change her mind. There never seemed to be a good time. Something was always happening at the ridge. They were fully booked with guests and that meant her days were full of cooking up warm soups and freshly baked breads for them to enjoy when they came in from whatever snowshoeing or skiing trip Luke had taken them on. The evenings were consumed by visiting as a group before they’d cuddle up in front of the fireplace in Kade’s cabin. It was perfect.