He nodded. “Yeah. I built that log cabin myself. No big deal. I like to camp.”
“But that whole crude, uncivilized, near-feral act of yours…”
He grinned fiercely. “Worked really well to keep Cecily and Hubert away from me.”
She punched him in the arm, really hard. Unfortunately his arm was so rock solid that it just hurt her hand. “You son of a bitch. You could have acted like a perfect gentleman from the minute I first met you!”
He laughed out loud. “Yep. I sure could have. But what fun would that have been?”
That big, stupid, stubborn bear. All of that aggravation he’d put her through – to amuse himself!
She sat there muttering curses under her breath, while he got up and walked over to the fridge and grabbed a couple of beers. They sat there and drank in silence for a couple of minutes, and Wynona fumed and thought of various uses for bear skin rugs. Zane had a lovely pelt. He’d look good in front of a fireplace.
“So why did you finally agree to be mated?” she said, setting her beer down on the coffee table. “You never cared about the family land or the business in the past.”
Zane shrugged. “It was because of the Wileys. I need the money for them, especially since Frederick had his accident. When the Coventry Clan filed to take our land, I had to agree to be mated. Didn’t really care who, because I never saw myself in a relationship.”
He met her gaze. “And then I met you. And I knew right away. I knew it would be you.”
Wynona felt her annoyance melting and her heart started beating faster. “But…but you let yourself be signed up for this whole ‘I’ll teach you how to be civilized so you can court a mate’ thing.”
“And which mate did you think I’ve been courting?”
Her jaw dropped.
“The best way to get to know you better was just to go along with the whole My Fair Lady deal – what?” he laughed at her shocked look. “I’ve been known to watch a movie or two.”
Wynona stared at him. “Well, I…I mean…I’m literally speechless.”
“Nah, you’re still talking.” He grinned at her.
She swallowed hard as a feeling of warmth spread through her. Leander had been right; Zane really had decided to be her mate as soon as he’d met her. “When you went to lunch with Tiffany, I have to admit…I thought I was going to be sick.”
“When I went to lunch with Tiffany, I thought I was going to be sick.” He laughed. “I can’t believe you made me do that. You owe me. Big time.”
“I know, right? But then, I had no choice because—” She stopped herself.
She’d almost told him about the whole deal with her ex-husband.
“Because what?”
Her gaze dropped. “I can’t tell you.”
Would that be it? He was talking about mating, and she was keeping secrets from him.
But he just gave her a long, searching look and said, “Okay.”
“Okay? You’re okay with me not being able to talk about it?”
“I’d rather talk about how much I’ve wanted to do this…” He leaned forward and kissed her.
Her lips parted on a sigh as his mouth, warm and sweet, descended on hers. He responded at once, playing his tongue over hers and anchoring his fingers in her hair, drawing her closer. He kissed her hard and thoroughly, leaving her breathless and with thrilling quicksilver lust pooling in her belly.
When he pulled back, a husky moan of protest escaped her, and she felt the color flood to her cheeks.
“And now, enough talking.”
Then he scooped her up and carried her into the bedroom.
Chapter Thirteen
He laid her on the bed, which was covered in a handmade quilt, beautifully stitched in cheerful shades of sky blue and sunshine yellow. On the nightstand, someone had left a mason jar with a posy of wildflowers.
She felt immediately at home, but she didn’t have much time to admire the folksy décor, because before she knew it, Zane was slipping off her shoes and discarding them by the side of the bed. He placed a ticklish kiss to the arch of her foot, and she giggled, then bit her lip as he slid his hand up the back of her calf, following his fingers with a trail of kisses and nibbles.
When he reached the first button on her skirt, he popped it open…then the next, and the next. When he had her thoroughly exposed, naked from the waist down except for her panties, he sat up and drank in the sight of her, giving a low, predatory growl as he ran his fingers tantalizingly over the fabric stretched taut over her mound.
She shivered under his touch and realized she was digging her fingers into the quilt to either side of her hips.
Then he drew down her panties, parted her thighs and, with a wicked grin, bent his dark head between her legs. And she was lost.
He French-kissed her pussy, exploring her folds with his mouth, drawing her clit between his lips before releasing it, and slipping his rigid tongue into her tight, wet channel.
She whimpered and writhed, pushing up against his mouth, unable to bear the intensity of the sensations but at the same time wanting more. She let her hands drift to the back of his head. His hair was silky under her fingers, his stubble deliciously rough on the tender skin of her inner thighs. A moan escaped her.
Zane gave a little grunt of satisfaction and renewed his assault, lapping her clit and working a finger into her sopping cunt to add another dimension to the erotic torture.
Wynona groaned when he slipped another finger inside her and worked his digits in and out, timing the motion of his hand to the magic his mouth was making in a clever syncopated rhythm. He curled his fingers inside her, hitting her sweet spot, beckoning her orgasm.
Her nipples were tight, tingling points, and with every jolt and shiver they rubbed tantalizingly against the fabric of her bra, tugging on silvery threads of sensation between her breasts and her clit.
She gasped Zane’s name and trembled on the brink, breathing hard, before she shattered and cried out, spasming against his mouth, her thighs locked and trembling to either side of his bent head.
As the quake of her climax trembled away into blissful aftershocks, he soothed her clit with the flat of his tongue, keeping the tremors rolling through her body and over her flesh. But when he moved his hand to her slit again, she said, “No, Zane. Please…” and she tugged at his broad shoulders, urging him up the bed towards her.
He came to her eagerly, and they stripped off their clothes. Wynona sighed happily when she felt the full length of his naked body against hers, then moaned when he nestled more fully between her thighs and she felt the thick length of his erection against her still tingling pussy. He moved against her, the slickness of her excitement enabling him to slide back and forth with a gentle teasing friction.
He kissed her, and she held him close. She could taste herself on his lips and tongue, and the memory of his dark head between her legs as he lapped at her center made her whimper with renewed desire.
Zane took his cock in his hand and positioned himself at her entrance, rubbing the head back and forth, lubricating himself with her juices.
She moaned and wriggled against him, eager to have his stiff length inside her.
He pushed into her with a steady, insistent pressure, entering her smoothly and confidently until he was fully inside her, nudging against her womb. She clenched around him and he groaned in response and began to move, slowly at first but then picking up the pace until he was thrusting into her with rapid, demanding strokes.
She clung to his shoulders, rocking against him, gasping with delight each time he thrust to the hilt. Every movement of his toned body seemed to resonate inside her, tingles building to thrills, and thrills swelling into an unstoppable tumbling ecstasy.
She cried out again and again, lost in the mindless bliss of it all. As she spasmed around his throbbing length, Zane’s groans of efforts crescendoed, ending in a long, effortful growl as he filled her with his seed.
He rolled onto his back, carrying her with him s
o she lay straddling him with her head resting against his heaving chest. He stroked her hair and she listened to his heart.
It was a long time before he slipped from her sated body and tucked her under the handmade quilt.
Chapter Fourteen
It was still dark out, and somewhere, a rooster was crowing. The hinges on the door squealed as the front door swung open, and then the floorboards creaked as someone slowly, stealthily, crept in.
Wynona sat bolt upright, her heart leaping into her throat. Oh God. They’d been found. How? Was it the Shark, or was it Sergio Molfetta, or another one of his goons? Would they hurt the Wileys? Had they already killed the Wileys?
If they’d just sent one person, even if that person was armed with silver bullets, maybe she and Zane would be able to take them on.
Fur rippled all over her body, and her claws curved out. She reached over and shook Zane, who was lying next to her on his side…snoring like a bear. Zane, like most bear shifters, was a heavy sleeper.
She leaned down and whispered in his ear, her voice low and shaking. “Zane, please, wake up! Wake up now!”
The fear in her voice apparently penetrated the fog of sleep. Zane sat up, rubbing his face with his hands and mumbling something incoherent.
“Someone’s in here!” she hissed. Then she sniffed at the air and relaxed – a little. “It’s Mr. Wiley!” she whispered to him. Okay, so odds were pretty good that Mr. Wiley wasn’t there to kill them.
Zane groaned. “Oh God. Sorry. Stay here, I’ll take care of it,” he mumbled.
He quickly pulled on a pair of boxer shorts and headed out to the kitchen.
She slid out of bed and headed to the shower, as her heartbeat slowed down to something like normal. God, she hoped they found Sergio and the Shark soon. Jumping at every noise, constantly looking over her shoulder…this was no way to live.
A few minutes later, Zane walked into the bathroom and joined her in the shower. “I’m sorry about that,” he said. “Uncle Fred remembered that the garbage disposal in the sink needed fixing.”
“And he thought he needed to do it at six a.m.?” Wynona groaned.
“I know. He’s just trying to keep busy. He’ll come back and do it later.”
“Well I’m up now,” she grumbled.
Zane gave her a lazy grin. “Me too,” he said. “Are you going to do anything about it?”
She looked down and blushed hotly. He was sporting a magnificent erection, thick and dark, which jutted proudly from its nest of curls and bobbed jauntily against his belly.
She stepped forward and kissed him, cradling his jaw and enjoying the feel of his morning stubble against her palm. She trailed her fingers down his throat, then smoothed her palms across his collarbone and over the muscles in his shoulders.
The muscles in his flat belly jumped as she ran her fingers over the sensitive flesh, and she glanced up to see that his eyes had fluttered shut, his sooty lashes resting against his cheeks.
When she wrapped her hand around his hot, hard length, he let out a helpless moan and Wynona felt a surge of satisfaction at the effect her touch had on him.
She cupped his balls in her other hand, feeling another thrill of power as they tightened in her palm. Then she began to stroke his length, from root to tip, gliding her fingers over the head to spread the lubrication of his precum.
Zane let his head fall back, exposing the strong column of his throat, and she could see his Adam’s apple bobbing as he swallowed, biting back another groan. She pumped his cock, her grip firm, squeezing a little each time she reached the head and purring contentedly as his breathing became ragged and satiny fluid beaded from the slit in the swollen head of his dick.
The warm water washed over her as she worked his erection, running in rivulets over her full breasts and the soft curve of her belly. Her nipples were aching points and excitement swirled in her stomach and sang between her thighs. She found her own breathing becoming faster and harsher to match Zane’s.
An impassioned growl from Zane made her increase the pace of her strokes, and he shuddered under her touch, but then he put his hand over hers to still it. His cock throbbed in her palm and she knew he was moments away from coming. He’d opened his eyes, and they were glassy with arousal. His huge chest heaved with the effort of holding back.
“I want to be inside you,” he growled, and he pulled her close and kissed her, crushing her against his big body, hot and slippery from the shower water.
Wynona wrapped her arms around his neck and clung on for dear life as he plundered her mouth, commanding and possessing her with his tongue and lips. The sprinkling of dark hair on his pecs abraded her nipples, and shivers of excitement caressed her skin, making her tremble despite the warmth of the water and the heat of his skin.
He curled his arm around her waist and pulled her closer still, and she was drawn up onto her tiptoes. Then he hooked his free hand behind her knee and lifted her off her feet, bracing her between his body and the cold tiles. He held her as if she weighed nothing, never even breaking the kiss.
She locked her legs around his narrow hips, digging her heels into his muscular butt as she felt his cock probing the sopping, slippery folds of her pussy.
He pulled away from the kiss and held her eyes with a focused, heavy-lidded gaze as he pushed slowly but firmly inside her. Her core flooded with wetness and clenched eagerly around his insistent erection. She gave a long whimper of arousal and encouragement.
He held her there for a long moment, supporting her, filling her, bracing her with his body. He drew the lobe of her ear into his mouth and nipped it between his sharp teeth, then kissed the side of her throat, sucking on the flesh to leave the soft pinkish bruise of a love-bite. She gasped with arousal, then made an impatient noise of frustration, wanting his body moving against her and inside her, driving them both towards the mind-blowing release she knew was coming.
When he began to move, she cried out, the release of tension like a warm blush sweeping over her. The heat quickly caught and kindled and started to burn out of control until it was roaring inside her, climbing higher and higher and consuming every thought.
She tried to flex her hips to meet his thrusts, but she was locked in place between Zane’s substantial bulk and the cool, unyielding surface at her back. Each time he pushed into her it was strong and hard and unrelenting, until all she knew or felt was the driving force of Zane inside her.
He groaned and gasped as he thrust, and the sensation burning through her every nerve and vein focused in to a dazzling pinpoint, then exploded. Fireworks flashed behind her closed eyelids and she could barely hear her own shouts over the wild thundering of her heart.
Zane shuddered and pushed into her one final time, and his muscles locked as he released himself inside her. He gave a long, tortured groan as his cocked pulsed, holding himself in her warmth as the last spasms of their mutual orgasm trailed away.
He lowered her feet to the floor and held her as she wobbled, limp with satisfaction, clinging to him for support. He bent his head and kissed her again – a long, lingering touch so sweet that when he pulled away she was sure he must be able to see the stars in her eyes.
“Now you’re wide awake,” he said, lips curling sinfully, “we need to get you clean.”
He reached for a big, soft sponge and lathered it up with creamy soap.
“Hey, who’s civilizing who?” she demanded with mock outrage.
But Zane just started to run the sponge over her breasts in broad, soapy circles, making her skin slippery and drawing her nipples into peaks again.
He kissed her soundly and quickly, then returned to his task. “Hush, you dirty girl.”
Chapter Fifteen
Wynona leaned against the kitchen counter and sipped the coffee that Zane had just brewed for her. Her whole body ached in the most delicious, satisfied way. Two wild, passionate lovemaking sessions in less than twenty-four hours…she could get used to this, she mused.
But
first things first. She needed to find out what was going on with Frederick and his family.
“Tell me what happened with Frederick,” she said. “If they’re your family, then they’re my family too now.”
Zane glanced out the window at the main house, where she could see Frederick standing by the chopping block, raising his axe to chop more firewood.
“Frederick and Christine have always just barely scraped by, financially. He used to be a garage mechanic, and a few years ago, a new owner took over the garage where he worked. A year ago, there was an accident at the shop that cost Frederick his leg. Turned out that the new shop owner hadn’t been keeping up on his insurance, and owed a ton of money – the shop was mortgaged to the hilt and he hadn’t been paying any of his suppliers. The owner skipped town and the shop folded, and there wasn’t a cent to cover Frederick’s injuries. Now the Wileys are drowning in medical bills while he and Christine try to take care of all the kids.”
“Oh, that’s horrible.”
“Yes, it was. The nearest garage is an hour away. Some of the people in town have been deliberately messing up their cars and lawn mowers so that he can fix them, just so that he has some income coming in.”
“That’s why you were telling people how to sabotage their engines.”
“Yep.” Zane heaved a sigh. “The thing is, my uncle is a very proud man, and he won’t take charity. But he and Christine need money. Dean is going to college next year, and Shea will be going in a couple of years. They’ve always been far too generous, giving tons of money to charity and taking in all those kids. Never saved any money, always gave it away. And now they’re refusing to let anyone, including me, give them money in return.” He let out a sigh of frustration.
“They won’t?” Wynona shook her head in disbelief. “What a couple of jerks.”
Zane managed a smile. “Right? But once you and I are married, I’m going to take over more of the operations at my family’s timber mill, and I’m going to give Frederick a job at the mill as well. I’ve discussed it with them, and they’ve agreed that it’s for the best. Christine has a home sewing business, and she’s very talented. There’s not enough people around here to give her a steady income, but in Cedar Park, there would be.”
A Grizzly Kind Of Love (The Mating Game Book 3) Page 9