Rescued by her Bear (Black Ridge Bears Shifter Romance Series Book 2)

by Felicity Heaton

  Damn, it was good to see her cheery again. He hated the thought of her being down, let alone actually seeing it and feeling it in her. He wanted her to always smile, even when he knew that wasn’t possible. Another mate thing? He would move heaven and earth to make her happy.

  “I’ll just take another look.” Yasmin glanced at him again and then lowered her dark gaze to Cameo’s leg as she ran her hands over her shin.

  He was going to owe her for this. He knew it and he didn’t care. Whatever she demanded of him, he would pay it in order to have Cameo on the mend. There was a reason Yasmin had become a doctor and a reason he had wanted her to take a look at Cameo.

  Yasmin had a natural talent for healing others with her touch.

  Lowe watched Cameo as Yasmin worked, knew the moment she had given Cameo’s healing a boost because Cameo suddenly looked even brighter, the fatigue that had been in the depths of her eyes and the dark shadows beneath them disappearing.

  Yasmin leaned over and fumbled around in her bag, pulled out a black brace and held it against Cameo’s leg, measuring it. “It should fit.”

  She opened the straps and set it on the bed, took out a cream support bandage that looked a little like a long fabric tube to Lowe, and eased it on over Cameo’s leg.

  “Does that hurt?” Yasmin glanced at her as she carefully drew the tube of material up over her shin.

  Cameo stared at her leg and shook her head.

  “That’s good.” Yasmin finished with the bandage and set Cameo’s leg into the brace. It covered her leg from foot to knee, resembling a plastic padded boot. The last time Lowe had seen a cast, it had been made of white plaster. This new version was ingenious, would mean Cameo could remove it if she needed to. Yasmin tightened the straps and checked it over, making sure it was snug. “How does that feel?”

  “It feels great.” Cameo’s blue eyes shone, dazzling him and making him want to smile.

  She glanced at him and a hint of colour touched her cheeks, a spark in her gaze that spoke to him on a deep, primal level. She was thinking wicked things. He swallowed and ran a hand over his mouth again, tried to ignore the way that spark ignited his blood and had him itching to make Yasmin and the others leave so he could be alone with Cameo.

  Yasmin rifled through her bag again and held something out to Cameo. “Take them if the pain is too much. Go easy on them though. They’re strong.”

  Cameo took the plastic bottle and stared at it as she nodded.

  “You’ll still need to be careful with the leg. Don’t put too much weight on it and rest it as much as possible.” Yasmin’s voice took on a harder edge, one that had Cameo nodding and looking at her. The raven-haired female stood and grabbed her bag. “I think I’m done here. I’ll come by in a week to check on you. If you need anything, just send Lowe to the Creek.”

  Cameo kept nodding.

  Yasmin looked at him as she turned and walked towards him, and he dipped his head, silently thanking her for helping Cameo.

  He waited for her to head downstairs before he went to Cameo, leaned over her and tunnelled his fingers in her hair. He tipped her head back and captured her lips, kept the kiss tender and slow, an outpouring of his feelings for her.

  When he eased back, she smiled hazily at him.

  “There’s your good morning kiss.” He smoothed his palm across her cheek.

  She sighed. “It was worth waiting for.”

  His thoughts exactly.

  “Lowe. Coffee.” The hard edge to Saint’s deep voice had Lowe tensing and releasing Cameo.

  His alpha wanted to talk and he wanted to talk now.

  “I’ll grab you a cup.” Lowe dropped a kiss on her lips and then pivoted away from her, hurried down the stairs to find Saint alone in his kitchen.

  The big brunet bear jerked his chin towards the deck as he thrust a white mug of black coffee at him. Lowe took it and followed him outside, closing the door behind him. Holly and Yasmin were walking back across the clearing, heading for Saint’s cabin, and Saint stared after his mate, a heated look in his dark eyes.

  “Knox told me a little about your guest and now I’d like to know the rest.” Saint didn’t take his eyes off Holly.

  Lowe sipped his coffee, got his thoughts lined up and told Saint everything, filling him in on all that had happened from the moment he had heard the first gunshot to when Saint had met Cameo.

  Saint grunted. “Humans.”

  He was preaching to the choir. Immortals had their issues with each other, but shifters didn’t tend to start wars within their own species and it was rare for them to hunt another in the way the drug dealers were hunting Cameo.

  Saint scratched his beard and huffed, his gaze still locked on his mate. “If trouble rolls into Black Ridge, we’ll deal with it. Knox managed to get in touch with Maverick and Rune. They left Vancouver straight away and should be here before the day is out.”

  That was a relief.

  He stared at Saint’s profile, grateful for the help he was offering to Cameo, something Lowe was deeply aware he didn’t need to do. Saint would have had every right to make Lowe take Cameo away from the pride in order to protect them. The big bear had a big heart buried beneath his growly, take-no-shit exterior though.

  Lowe had the feeling Holly had stolen it.

  That feeling only grew as Saint absently held his empty coffee mug out to Lowe and took a step towards the edge of the deck as Holly strayed further from him. Lowe barely managed to catch the mug as Saint released it, clearly not aware of what he was doing.

  Too swept up in his mate to notice that Lowe hadn’t taken the damned thing from him.

  “Take care of Cameo.” Saint slid him a look, a sly edge to his smile, and then he dropped off the deck and hurried towards his mate across the compacted snow.

  Lowe looked over his shoulder, up at the loft, hunger to do just that riding him hard. He turned and went back inside, set Saint’s empty mug down on the counter and grabbed a fresh one for Cameo. He filled it to the brim and carried it upstairs with him, stopped at the top of them to drink her in as she looked across at him, her blue eyes still bright. She looked so at home in his bed beneath the pitched wooden ceiling of the cabin, as if she belonged there.

  Gods, he felt as if she did.

  She belonged with him.

  “You’re looking better already.” He held the mug out to her rather than setting it on the wooden nightstand and a shiver tripped through him as she took it, her fingers brushing his.

  “I’m feeling better already.” That heat was in her eyes again, making him burn for her.

  He caught a flicker of worry in them too though.

  He pushed aside thoughts of kissing her and sat beside her instead, watching her as she sipped her coffee and that worry began to build.

  “If those men come here, we can handle it.” He settled his hand on the covers over her knees. “Saint says that Rune and Maverick are on their way back.”

  “And that’s a good thing?” She looked as if she needed to hear that it was.

  He nodded and tried to think of the best way to sum up the duo. “They’re capable. Strong. They used to be cage fighters.”

  She brightened a little again at that and part of him wanted to growl at the fact she was thinking that Rune and Maverick would be better at protecting her. He wanted her to only need him, even when he knew he was being ridiculous and possessive, and that it was better if she had all five of them protecting her.

  “No one is going to hurt you, Cameo. I won’t let them.”

  Her blue gaze strayed to the window behind him, a distant and troubled edge to it. “When he grabbed me, that man said that Karl was coming. He should be here by now. I don’t know whether the other man went back to the road. What if he contacted Karl and gave him this location? He might have seen me here.”

  “Try not to stress about it. We can handle it.” He rubbed her right knee through the blue covers, careful not to disturb her left leg.

  A flicke
r of panic lit her eyes. “You keep saying that, but what if you can’t handle it? What if he brings all of his men? What if they’re all armed to the teeth? Do you even have guns here? I haven’t seen any.”

  Her voice rose with each word, the tension he could sense in her increasing with every question she threw at him, and he wanted to pick her up on the fact she had searched the cabin for a weapon but let it slide, because calming her took priority.

  “Cameo, I’m sure—”

  Her eyes were wild as she snapped, “You don’t know Karl!”

  Lowe frowned at her. “And you do?”

  She fell silent, her gaze dropping to her coffee as she clutched it before her, her knuckles turning white from the fierceness of her grip. He scented fear on her and her heartbeat was off the scale. He palmed her knee, trying to get her to look at him, needing her to answer his question because those primal instincts she triggered in him were starting to go as wild as her eyes had been.

  If she didn’t answer him soon, he was going to head out and hunt the bastard down to get the answer from him instead.

  She sighed, set her mug down on the bedside table, and closed her eyes. “Karl is my ex. He wasn’t a criminal when we were together, but… there was always something about him. Something dark. It didn’t take me long to realise he was a violent man. A driven man.”

  She opened her eyes and lifted her head to stare deep into his.

  “Karl wants his money… money I don’t have… and I fear he’ll do whatever it takes to get it… even hurt those I care about.”

  The way she looked at him as she said that, the way her eyes softened to reveal nerves and a hint of affection, had the hunger to hunt Karl down and kill him falling away.

  He fell into those eyes instead, warmed to his bones by her veiled confession.

  He wasn’t the only one falling in love.

  He reached his hand out and seized her nape.

  Dragged her to him and kissed her.

  Chapter 13

  Cameo’s moan was sweet music to his ears as Lowe kissed her, as his tongue stroked the seam of her lips and she opened for him. Her tongue brushed his, sent a thousand hot prickles rolling down his spine and had him on the verge of growling. He came dangerously close to doing just that as she wrapped her arms around his neck and dragged him down with her as she fell backwards onto the mattress.

  Lowe groaned instead and pressed his hands to the bed, reluctantly broke the kiss and levered himself up so he could see her face. He needed to look into her eyes and see she knew where this was going. He needed to know she wanted it, even when he could sense it in her. His heart drummed against his chest, a powerful beat he swore she was in control of as she smiled up at him, making it skip.

  “You sure about this?” His eyes darted between hers, twin worries arrowing through him.

  He feared this would just be an outpouring of need, the scratching of an itch for her when he knew it would be so much more for him. He feared he might accidentally hurt her too. Yasmin had given her healing a push, helping her along, but he was sure her leg had to hurt still.

  A third worry emerged as she nodded, her blue gaze sultry and hooded as it fell to his lips, beckoning him to kiss her again.

  What if he lost control?

  She was human, fragile, and his bear instincts were already roaring to the fore, demanding he take her, that he stamp his mark on her and claim her. He struggled to hold back those needs, stared at her and tried to tame them with the sight of her.

  “What is it?” She lifted her right hand and gently brushed her fingers across his forehead, her touch black magic as she drifted to his hair and stroked it.

  “I’m afraid I’ll hurt you,” he croaked, meaning it in two ways, or maybe more. He wasn’t just worried about hurting her leg or being too rough with her while he was lost in the throes of passion. He was worried about hurting her emotionally too.

  Some humans didn’t react well to the knowledge that there were shifters in this world.

  And she would find out that he wasn’t like her.

  He couldn’t keep it from her forever. If things got serious between them, he would have to tell her. He could probably go years without having to tell her, but at the same time, he couldn’t. He couldn’t do that to her. He couldn’t live a lie with her, keeping an important part of himself secret, hidden from her. If this thing between them turned out the way he wanted it to, then he would tell her as soon as he was sure of her feelings.

  And if she walked out on him, he would just have to find a way to deal with that.

  “You won’t hurt me, Lowe.” She dropped her hand to his chest, her palm warming him through his T-shirt. Her gaze was sincere as she looked deep into his eyes. “I’m not in pain right now and if I start hurting, then we’ll stop. Okay?”

  He nodded.

  Her faith in him floored him, had the rest of him warming as he gazed at her and realised it was already too late for him.

  He was in love with this courageous, kind and beautiful female.

  He focused on that feeling as he dropped his head and kissed her. She responded by grabbing the hem of his T-shirt and pulling it up his back, her eagerness bringing a smile to his lips. He broke the kiss just long enough for her to tug his T-shirt off over his head, seized her lips again as he wrestled his arms out of it and tossed it aside, not caring where it landed.

  Lowe pulled the bedclothes aside and pressed his forehead to hers, looked down at her chest and wanted to growl at the sight of her in one of his T-shirts. The grey material hugged her breasts, did nothing to conceal the hard peaks of her nipples. He eased back and settled on his knees between her legs, skimmed his hands up over her thighs, shaking a little as nerves got the better of him.

  Cameo moaned and arched, stretched her arms out above her head. He glanced at her, groaned as he caught sight of her with her eyes closed and her breasts jutting up, a look of bliss on her face. He pushed the hem of the T-shirt up, revealing her plain black cotton panties and then the flat plane of her stomach. He leaned forwards, pressed kisses to that expanse of smooth, pale skin as he ventured higher, his gaze fixed on her breasts.

  His cock kicked hard as he revealed them, as their dusky rose peaks called to him.

  Lowe swooped on the left one, savouring Cameo’s gasp and the moan that followed it as he sucked and swirled his tongue around her nipple. She jacked up off the bed, her stomach pressing against his chest and the apex of her thighs rubbing his stomach. He groaned and gripped her backside, keeping her pressed against him as he kissed his way across to her right breast, sucked that nipple too, eliciting another moan from her.

  An urge to tear her panties from her ripped through him and he fought it, pulled back on the reins and focused on being gentle with her—making love with her. He wanted that. He wanted this to be about more than a physical connection to her. He wanted it to be an emotional one too, a strengthening of their growing bond.

  Cameo had other plans, tried to derail his by reaching for his fly, her fingers swiftly tackling the buttons. He groaned and shuddered, lightly bit her nipple as she slipped her hand into his jeans and palmed his rigid length. His head went a little hazy as she stroked him, as her fingers teased him, each brush of them sending heat rolling through him, cranking the temperature of his blood up another degree.

  She groaned in time with him as she wrapped her hand around him.

  Gods.

  If she was trying to get him to make a fool of himself, she was doing a good job of it.

  He caught her hand before she could bring him to climax and eased back, didn’t miss her slight scowl as he stole her fun from her. That frown melted away as he dropped from the end of the bed to stand, as he shoved his jeans down and stepped out of them, kicking them aside. Heat blazed in her eyes as she raked them over him, her pupils devouring the aquamarine of her irises as she drank her fill, leaving no part of him untouched by her searing gaze.

  He groaned and flexed, his length kickin
g as his muscles tensing tore another sultry moan from her, had her gaze growing darker and the scent of her need growing stronger. She licked her lips and dropped her hands to her hips, eased her panties down at an agonisingly slow pace. Teasing him now? He hadn’t been teasing her when he had flexed. It had been an involuntary reaction to the feel of her eyes on him, an instinct that had hijacked him and made him show her just how strong he was.

  Lowe scrubbed a hand over his mouth as she revealed dark curls, as she lifted her knees to skim her panties over them, flashing the peachy globes of her backside.

  She huffed.

  He shook himself out of his hazy reverie and looked at her face, wanting to know what was wrong. Her lips compressed as she wrestled with her underwear and he realised what the problem was. Her cast had got in the way of her sexy reveal.

  She gave up trying to get the left leg of her panties over it and shrugged. Looked at him.

  Beckoned him with a crook of her finger.

  Lowe growled, managed to make it sound like a groan, and mounted the bed. He caught her right leg and pulled her to him, moaned again as he settled between her thighs, as she lifted her right knee and pressed it to his waist, opening to him.

  She threaded her fingers in his hair as she kissed him, breathless moans escaping her as he rubbed between her thighs, gliding along her slick heat. He groaned and kissed her harder, slipped his right arm beneath her and lowered his left one, skimming it down her side.

  “Cameo.” He pulled back and gazed down at her, struck by her beauty all over again, by the instincts she stirred in him, ones that were growing stronger and clearer by the second.

  He needed her.

  The heat in her blue eyes said that she needed him too.

  That she wanted him.

  Lowe slipped his hand between them, gripped his shaft and eased back. He groaned in time with her as he slipped the blunt head through her folds, as he found her core and eased inside, savouring their first joining. Her eyelids drooped, her gaze growing hooded as he filled her, slowly easing into her.