Bear Attraction

by Jennifer Ashley

  “There are a lot of groupies here,” Rebecca said, glancing around the bar. They were mostly women, with a handful of men.

  The Feline snorted. “That’s because there are plenty of horny male Shifters to go around. The shitheads soak it up. Love the attention.”

  “Really?” The groupies seemed to be on one side of the room, Shifter men on the other. “I don’t see much interaction.”

  “Oh, there will be later. Most of the time, though, the males simply eye them for hours, then cut one out of the herd and take her away.”

  “True love?” Rebecca asked, grinning. “Or true lust?”

  “What do you think? Males go on and on about wanting to seek the mate bond and start having cubs, but as soon as a they see a woman with painted-on whiskers in a tight-ass skirt, they’re on her like flies on sugar.”

  Rebecca laughed. “Yeah, same in my Shiftertown. They should have some shame. I might have a groupie in tow, but I don’t go looking for a new one every night.”

  “Like I said, you have good taste, girlfriend.” The Feline gave Walker another appreciative look. “He is hot.”

  Rebecca couldn’t argue. Walker was in the center of an interested group of women, all smiles as he talked. She’d never seen the taciturn Walker open up so much. Watching him interacting so casually and easily burned a sharp pain in her chest.

  The male Shifters were taking notice too. Belligerent stares raked over the tight circle of women and Walker, the groupies now paying no attention to the Shifters.

  “Uh-oh,” the Feline said. “You might just have to go rescue him.”

  “Damn it,” Rebecca said in irritation. “Looks like.” She thumped her bottle to the bar and began to move toward the clump of groupies Walker had enthralled.

  Male Shifters had also started forward. Rebecca recognized their stride—arrogant alphas ready to throw out a trespasser, not gently.

  Rebecca sped her steps, cutting across the paths of several Lupines whose eyes were beginning to glow white.

  “Hey, sweetie,” Rebecca said, making her voice sulky as she slid in front of Walker. Her position both blocked the advancing males and put herself between Walker and his new female friends. “What are you doing still sitting here? I came to dance.”

  “Oh, you don’t have to worry about him,” one of the groupies said, her smile wrinkling her painted-on cat’s nose. “He’s cool. He can’t stop talking about you.”

  Walker sent Rebecca a smile that was both heart-melting and promised later sin. She knew he did it for show—what wouldn’t she give for the promise to be real?

  Walker rose to his feet with quick ease and put his hand on her elbow. “Sure, babe. Whatever you want.”

  “Bye, Walter!” one of the groupies said, and the others took up the cry. “Nice meeting you, Walter. Don’t be a stranger.”

  “Walter?” Rebecca asked in his ear as he walked her away.

  “Close enough that I’ll naturally respond to the name, even if I forget I’m using it. Do you really want to dance?”

  Rebecca loved to dance, but a few of the male Shifters had broken off from the main bunch and were following them.

  “No, I think it’s time to leave.”

  “Nope.” Walker’s hand on her elbow was firm. “I got some good intel. If we run away now, it will look like that’s what we came for.”

  “If you hadn’t noticed, three mean-looking Lupines are ready to teach you a lesson about poaching in their fishpond. If you fight them, you’re blown. If I fight them, I’ll kick their asses. Then they’ll complain to their leader, Liam will have to talk to him, and—”

  “Shut up, and come here.”

  Rebecca bit back her instinct to argue and let Walker pull her into a hallway that led to a storage area and rear exit. Walker halted suddenly and slammed himself back against the wall. His grip on Rebecca pulled her hard against him, making it look as though she’d pinned him.

  “Yell at me,” he whispered.

  “What? Oh . . .” Rebecca cleared her throat and spoke in a loud voice. “You came here with me, sweetie.” She gave him a Kodiak bear snarl. “If you want a Shifter, you don’t run after those pathetic excuses for women.”

  “Hey, baby, don’t be mad.” The catch in Walker’s voice was just right. “You know I only want you.”

  Her heart squeezed again. Walker’s eyes were half-closed, his baritone smooth and filled with the right amount of longing. You know I only want you.

  No wonder those groupies had hung on his every word.

  Growls filled the hall as one of the Lupines found them. He was alone—the others had likely turned back to secure their groupie of choice for the night.

  The Lupine’s Collar sparked. He was spoiling for a fight, never mind rules. Rebecca doubted anyone at this bar would call the cops on him—they were isolated here, and Shifters clearly had the upper hand.

  Rebecca started to face the Lupine, to stare him down and figure out how to get out of this, but Walker jerked her back to him.

  Her lips parted in surprise, then Walker’s mouth landed against hers and locked into a hard kiss.

  Chapter Eleven

  The world stopped. Gone was the dingy smell of the back hall, the thumping noise from the bar, the gritty floor beneath Rebecca’s feet.

  She swore she was hanging in space, aware of nothing but the heat of Walker’s body against hers, and his hands, and his mouth.

  Walker’s fingers curled on her jacket, keeping her close, but Rebecca wouldn’t have been able to step away from him if she’d tried. He was her anchor, the only thing that prevented her floating away on a swirl of light and feeling.

  She sank still more against him, caught and held by the hard strength of his body. His lips were smooth, his skilled mouth opening hers. She tasted beer, spice, a bite of heat.

  Walker might have faked being a groupie, but he wasn’t faking this kiss. He commanded with it, exploring and taking, but also giving. His lips moved, his mouth hot and strong. He was warmth; he was bone-melting desire.

  Anything rigid inside Rebecca softened, until she was leaning hopelessly against him, body against body. Their clothes kept them apart, but the fabric couldn’t shut out the vibrant need that thrummed from him to Rebecca and back again. Every desire she’d ever had for Walker poured forth, stealing her reason.

  Her hands found his shoulders, hanging on, the muscle beneath his shirt living strength. Walker slid his grip from her jacket to her hips and pulled her closer with a fierce jerk.

  She felt the hard ridge in his jeans, the betrayal that this embrace wasn’t entirely for show. Walker wanted her without shame, his warmth wrapping her and willing her surrender.

  “I should puke,” someone snarled. A huge hand fell on Walker’s shoulder, jerking him away from Rebecca.

  Walker turned his face away so the Lupine wouldn’t see the flash of fury in his eyes, but Rebecca caught it. She saw that Walker could kill the Lupine right now and stroll away without remorse.

  Walker did nothing. He was a man who could control his rage, containing himself to do the job at hand.

  Rebecca returned the Lupine’s snarl with a growl of impatience. Walker had to act intimidated, but Rebecca couldn’t afford to. “Go screw yourself. I’m busy.”

  The Lupine carefully didn’t touch her, she noticed. He couldn’t be sure she wouldn’t turn bear and smack him down, or that the rest of her clan wouldn’t come down on his ass for doing something stupid. Clans were very protective.

  Humans on the other hand, he obviously had no use for. The Lupine’s grip tightened on Walker’s shoulder, though Walker still carefully didn’t look at him.

  “You’re fair game,” the Lupine said to Rebecca. “A female in your fertile years, blasting mating frenzy everywhere. So why are you here with this dickhead?” He gave Walker a shake.

  Walker had so much cold anger in his eyes that Rebecca was surprised the pipes next to him didn’t freeze. He remained stolid, pretending to be too
afraid to fight back, but if the Lupine had seen his expression, it would have scared him shitless.

  “I didn’t notice anything else I wanted in this bar,” Rebecca said. She’d sized up the Lupine—he was fairly dominant, but not top of his pack. Maybe second or third. Arrogant enough to think he could get away with whatever he felt like.

  Rebecca, on the other hand, was alpha female in her clan—not that there were any other adult female bears in her clan at the Austin Shiftertown. She refused to show any kind of submission to an effing Lupine, no matter how special he thought he was.

  The Lupine must have realized this, so he turned his hostility on Walker. “You like subbing to Shifters, groupie? How about you spend the rest of this conversation on your knees?”

  The look on Walker’s face changed from suppressed anger to determination. He’d reached the end of his rope. Rebecca took a few discreet steps back, giving him room for whatever he planned to do.

  Walker bowed his head and dropped to the floor, the little thump of his knees meeting concrete audible over the music behind them. He threw off the Lupine’s hand at the same time, as though indicating he was happy to bow to Rebecca, but not to another Shifter.

  The Lupine snarled at him and drew back his fist to punch Walker in the face. Rebecca reached to catch the Lupine’s arm, but Walker yelled at her, “Don’t touch him!”

  At the same time, she heard a swift buzz of electricity. Rebecca jumped back as Walker’s Taser fired into the Lupine’s chest. The Lupine’s body vibrated with the sudden shock, his wolf eyes widening. His Collar sparked, white lights in the darkness, and then the Lupine crashed to the floor, dragging a crate of empty bottles with him.

  Walker clamped his hand around Rebecca’s and pulled her out the back door, tucking his Taser into his jacket as he ran.

  Rebecca sprinted with him toward her motorcycle, expecting any minute for Shifters to pour out of the bar, ready to teach the outsiders a lesson. But the door that had swung shut behind them remained that way. Maybe the noise had drowned out the altercation, or maybe the Lupine’s friends didn’t give a rat’s ass if he got trounced.

  Rebecca didn’t linger and find out. She was on her bike, Walker swinging on behind, and she started up and peeled out.

  A few miles down the highway, Walker tapped her arm and pointed to a gas station coming up on the side of the road. Rebecca pulled in and around the building, halting in the quiet back lot. She killed the engine and hopped off after he did.

  She pulled her helmet from her head and dragged in a breath of chilly night air tainted with gasoline fumes. “Shit, Walker. You took a Taser into a Shifter bar?”

  Walker shrugged, scrubbing his hand through his short hair. “Never know when I’m going to need it. Security in that place isn’t exactly tight.”

  “No.” Rebecca dragged in another breath, then she laughed. “Wonder if he’ll remember what happened when he wakes up?”

  “Probably. And he might come looking for us, so we shouldn’t linger in the neighborhood. One of the groupies told me about another place that’s worth checking out.”

  He started to put on his helmet, but Rebecca stilled his hand. She brought out a couple of tissues from her pocket. “You’re smeared.”

  She dabbed where their kiss had sent the paint Mabel had so carefully applied into the creases around his mouth.

  Walker’s light blue eyes softened like mist in moonlight. “Becks,” he said.

  “Yeah?” She kept dabbing.

  “Don’t . . .” He tried to turn his face away, and she stood still, her heart beating swiftly, hurting. Walker looked back into her eyes, his chest lifting with a sharp breath. “Damn it,” he whispered.

  He laced his fingers behind her neck and dragged her against him, the helmet in his hand pressing hard into her back.

  This kiss was as fierce, as earth-shattering as the last. Walker’s hand on the back of her neck was firm, nothing submissive about it. He’d finished with playacting.

  His mouth opened hers, and Rebecca responded with need. Hunger.

  As before, the world swirled away, leaving nothing but him and her, the warmth of his skin, damp with sweat, the scent of the night on him. She had no awareness of breathing or standing, only being held by this beautiful man, his mouth working on hers.

  His hair was prickly under her fingers, the short buzz tickling. He knew how to kiss—tasting every corner of her mouth, fingers practiced at holding her in place. He’d been closer to her in the hallway, but the line of his thighs against hers, the press of the helmet locking her to him, made her shake.

  Walker eased back from the searing kiss, his breath coming fast. Rebecca opened her eyes to find his crystal blue ones staring into hers.

  His voice was a rumble in the night. “I’ve wanted to do that for so long.”

  Rebecca should return with a quip, or ask, Then why haven’t you? But her tongue was heavy in her mouth, and words wouldn’t form. She couldn’t even answer what she truly thought, So have I.

  Walker only looked at her, his granite-hard face softened by shadows. “I want to make love to you.”

  Her brain’s response was, Oh, goody! What came out of her mouth was, “Gunh?”

  One corner of his mouth twitched. “Was that a yes?”

  “I . . . We . . . Um . . .”

  Great. Rebecca who could make any Shifter nervous by walking by him, who could defeat hulking alpha males with her sly suggestiveness, was tongue-tied by the man she’d give anything to be with.

  She cleared her throat. “It’s a little greasy here.”

  Walker’s laugh was warm and velvet, like the darkness around them. “I didn’t mean right now. Later. In a bed. A big one with lots of room. Pillows. Champagne—no wait, I’d rather have beer.”

  “Me too.”

  “It’s a date, then. We get done with this, we find a mattress and a lot of privacy.”

  “Okay.” Rebecca’s knees were trembling so much she was amazed she could stand.

  Walker’s gaze was on hers again, his smile fading, a frown pulling his brows together. The paint had smeared on his nose, whiskers blurred from their kisses. The lines around his eyes were still solid, but a few trickles of black made tears among the white foundation.

  He should look ridiculous, but he didn’t at all as he cupped Rebecca’s face, thumb tracing her cheek.

  Without speaking, Walker leaned to her again, his lips warm in the chill. Rebecca latched her fingers around the lapels of his leather coat, the only thing keeping her upright as her mouth sought his.

  Nothing mattered for that glittering moment, only Walker kissing her in the darkness, his body hard against hers.

  I want to make love to you. How did he know that the blatant statement was the way to seduce her—no teasing, no hints, no waiting for her to understand?

  No, he was exactly what she needed. A man who knew what he wanted and wasn’t afraid to say so.

  Her heart bumped and raced as she pulled him closer. His mouth was a point of heat, and Rebecca clung to him, the only thing solid in her dissolving world . . .

  A growl sounded in the darkness. “Goddess and God, get a room.”

  The voice that boomed at them was Lupine, but she recognized it. Broderick.

  He strode toward them from around the corner of the station, his usual scowl in place. Walker raised his head but didn’t take his arms from around Rebecca. No embarrassment. He simply watched Broderick approach, while Rebecca’s heart pounded, and she resisted the urge to wipe her wet mouth.

  A young woman with short, dark hair walked at Broderick’s side. Joanne. He’d been protective of her since she’d come to Shiftertown searching for her sister. They weren’t having sex—Shifters would have scented it if so, and spread that gossip—but Joanne had become friends with him, if Broderick could have anything as civilized as friends.

  Broderick folded his arms, his hooded sweat jacket stretching over his wide shoulders. “Seriously, Becks? With someone fro
m Shifter Bureau? That’s just wrong.”

  “Not your business, Broderick,” Rebecca said with a warning growl.

  Walker completely ignored Broderick. “Joanne,” he said, easing away from Rebecca. “Good, I’m glad you came. You need to hear this too.”

  The man cared less that an angry, dominant Lupine Shifter stood two feet away from him. His words and stance broadcast that, to him, the most important person in this conversation was Joanne. Joanne responded to him, ignoring the warning glares Rebecca and Broderick were giving each other.

  “You found something out about Nancy?” Joanne had a cute, almost triangular face and large brown eyes, which were now filled with hope.

  “Not exactly,” Walker said. “But I learned a couple things that might point in the right direction. The women I talked to mentioned a place they said was ‘way cooler’ than Shooters, in their words. A place with more exciting Shifter action. Not all of them were comfortable talking about it, and some outright said they were afraid to go. The Shifters in wherever they meant, I deduced from their hints, are wilder and more, as they said, ‘interesting.’”

  Rebecca gave a short laugh. “I bet the a-hole you tased would be seriously unhappy if he knew the groupies found other Shifters more interesting.”

  “Same thing ran through my mind.” Walker shoved his hands into his pockets. “The Shifters we just left were off the leash, so to speak. Their leader hasn’t pounded into them that they shouldn’t stir up trouble with humans, even groupies. But a few of those women found them too tame.”

  “Wait,” Broderick broke in. “You tased a Shifter? Who the hell do you . . .” He trailed off and looked thoughtful. “No, wait. I wish I could have seen that. I swear, only dickbrains go to Shooters.”

  “So I might have been right after all,” Joanne said, ignoring Broderick. “Shifters really could have kidnapped Nancy. I was just scoping out the wrong Shifters.”

  “We don’t know that yet,” Walker said. “We need to be cautious about this. They can’t see us coming—abductors spook easily if they think someone is closing in on them.” He left hanging what happened to the abductee in that case, but they all could guess. “And these Shifters might not know anything about it.”