What a Bear Wants

by Winter, Nikki

  “I see we’re still making innocent bystanders sob.”

  Ransom looked up from his seat by the Olympic-sized outdoor pool towards where his brother relaxed in a lounge chair. “I asked for this spot nicely...the first time.”

  Maddox sighed. “First law enforcement—”

  “All I wanted was some more honey packets.”

  “—now a group of male tigers. Really, big brother? When will the sporadic fits of boar-rage end?”

  As soon as I get near Fallon again. Instead of answering with that, Ransom said, “When people start moving the first time I ask.”

  “We’re on vacation. Were you not the one who told me to relax and enjoy the scenery?”

  Quirking a brow in his sibling’s direction, he waved a hand at Maddox’s face and asked, “How many stitches did you get?”

  The younger grizzly grimaced, the left side of his face pulling tight due to what looked distinctly like claw marks. “Not that many...about twenty-five.”

  “Told you to stay away from her.” Ransom sang, knowing instinctively that his sibling’s tragic maiming was at Cree’s

  “I would. I probably should. And yet...I can’t.”

  “Because you’re a masochist.”

  “No...well...sort of.” Maddox shrugged. “But mainly because Cree is a challenge and I like challenges.” Ransom knew that to be true. While he liked his bedmates simple and sane, his brother seemed to have a distinct draw to the unstable.

  “Clearly the insanity gene skipped me and passed down to you.”

  “Oh like your female is any better!”

  “She’s not my anything.”

  “And yet, here you sit, like a lost cub in need of a tit.”

  “That was such a brilliant analogy.” Ransom retorted dryly.

  “Brilliant and true. If you want her go find her.”

  “She’s avoiding me.” He gritted out.

  Maddox snorted. “I think you’ve lost your cock. The Ransom I know wouldn’t be sitting here moaning about a woman avoiding him. The Ransom I know would be seeking her out before making her come to terms with how much she wants to be fucked within an inch of her life. The Ransom I know—”

  “Sounds a lot like a serial killer with stalker tendencies.” He cut in. “I won’t chase her.”

  “But the best prey is the kind that you’ve had to work for, that you’ve had to run down and make your own.” Grinning, Maddox added, “We both know this isn’t about business anymore. You want that she-wolf.”

  “It doesn’t matter what I want. It’s obvious she doesn’t want me too or you and I wouldn’t be having this conversation.” He did want Fallon; wanted her more than he’d ever wanted another woman. But something about his desire bothered him. He wasn’t used to having such an immediate and strong response simply to a female’s scent. This was entirely too new to him and for a bear who was used to change, welcomed it, Ransom didn’t like this particular bout of lust at all. It left him aching the night before. No matter how far off she was he could still smell her, could still hear the husky tone of her voice, imagine those wide brown eyes staring up at him as he pounded into her over and over again.

  “What’s more satisfying to you, Ransom?” His brother questioned, interrupting his line of thought, “the doe that simply lies there and wait, or the one that you have to put effort into catching? Fallon wants you. Anyone with common sense and a healthy sex drive can see that from a mile off. She just doesn’t know how to deal with it because she’s used to being Queen Wilder, ruler of all we survey.” Maddox stood and began walking away. “Make her want to let go of that control, that tightly reined logic, just once and I think you’ll be surprised at the results.”

  Ransom sat in that chair for just a few minutes longer, tuning out the sounds of pups and cubs running about. When he finally got up, he chose to ignore that the group of male tigers hissed viciously at him as he passed by. Felines could be so goddamn sensitive.

  ***

  “You can’t avoid him forever, Fal.”

  “Yes I can!” Fallon bellowed, walking faster and faster, trying to get the female behind her to leave her alone. She’d been on her way to the lake when Cree tracked her down and started harassing her.

  “You’re being ridiculous!”

  “And you’re sticking your maw where it doesn’t belong.”

  Cree grabbed her forearm and pulled her to a stop. “At some point you’re going to have to face not only him but the fact that your wolf obviously wants something that it’s not getting. Full-human logic doesn’t apply in our world, Fallon. The beast wants what the beast wants.”

  Her eyes narrowed on the other woman. “What my beast wants and what it needs are two different things.” She pulled away from Cree. “It may want a hard bear-involved fuck but what it needs is to stay focused.”

  “On what?” Cree waved her hands around. “What do you have going on that’s so goddamn important that you can’t use your vagina for any amount of time? This place practically runs itself.”

  Fallon’s lips twisted.

  “I’m waiting.”

  “I don’t have to explain myself to you!” She tried walking away but the psychotic little bitch just jumped on her back and wrestled her down.

  “You never have to explain anything to me. You’re completely right about that but I’m telling you, as your friend, you need to have sex; preferably with a male that doesn’t run screaming after you’re done, afraid that you’re going to black widow him.”

  “Oh that’s a nice sentiment!”

  Cree sat back, making herself more comfortable by resting on Fallon’s legs. What the fuck was this shit?! “It may not be what you want to hear but it’s true. When’s the last time you had sex with something that wasn’t manufactured in an assembly line?”

  “That is none of your business.”

  “Wow,” Cree breathed. “That long huh?”

  “Get off me!” Fallon tried slapping at her friend’s face but ended up pinned. “Goddammit Cree!”

  “Aren’t you afraid that if you don’t use it, it’ll fall off? Like an extra finger that the circulation has been cut off from?”

  “What is wrong with you?”

  “A lot of things but we aren’t talking about me right now. We’re talking about your lack of cock and how unhealthy it is. Unless, of course, you’ve decided that you have other preferences.” Cree’s brows rose suggestively.

  Fallon gasped. “No!”

  The she-wolf innocently held up her hands. “This is a no judgment zone. I’d love you either way. Just as long as your chosen girl understood that she didn’t have to be threatened by my role in your life, we’d be fine.”

  “You’re insane.” Fallon stated flatly.

  “I’d simply want your mate to be comfortable. I mean, with us being so close and all I could understand how many could misinterpret the nature of our relationship. Not to mention, we’d make an awfully good couple. You with your brooding sexiness—”

  “Oh for fuck’s sake.”

  “—and me with my gorgeous smile and awesome tits. We’re rather cute together.”

  “This conversation is so over.”

  “See?” Cree said gleefully. “Brooding sexiness.”

  Fallon’s lips finally curved. “I hate you.”

  Her friend simply grinned. “I know, baby, I know.”

  “No wonder you keep threatening my extremely desirable masculinity,” A deep voice said from just over Fallon’s head. “You prefer the bun more than you do the hotdog.”

  As Cree stiffened and a low growl rumbled from her chest, Fallon looked up to see Maddox standing beside her shoulders. “This isn’t what it looks like.”

  He smirked. “I know that line in at least six different languages, sweetheart.”

  She held Cree still. Apparently her friend had an intense dislike for the bear. Days ago she’d been fine with him around and now, well now it looked as if she wanted to rip his face off and use it as a mas
k for Halloween this year. “I’m sure you do but what you’re currently witnessing is—”

  “A lover’s quarrel?”

  “No.” Fallon answered adamantly. “Sometimes we—”

  “Wrestle each other to the ground like playful pups...before it turns into dirty, sexy fun time?”

  Exasperated now, she dropped her head back and closed her eyes, all while keeping Cree from getting up and giving Maddox what would definitely be a few more claw marks on that pretty face. “What do you want, Maddox?”

  “To be invited to the next secret tryst?” He offered.

  Cree barked and Fallon said, “I will let her go.”

  He rolled his eyes. “My brother is pouting because you won’t talk to him.”

  “And this is my problem because...?”

  “You want to fuck each other. Stop fighting it and let nature take its course.”

  “And this conversation is officially over.” Fallon replied.

  “Fallon—”

  She did what she’d already promised and finally let Cree go, climbing to her feet and watching without an ounce of remorse as the crazed female charged Maddox and knocked him to the ground.

  Fallon didn’t even cringe as she walked away and heard him scream out, “My hair! My beautiful hair! Ow you insane she-bitch!”

  Chapter 8

  There was a bear on her porch. Not a teddy bear with a top hat and dead eyes...but an actual bear...sitting there. Fifteen hundred pounds of grizzly ass was calmly resting against the strong wood of her front steps and Fallon didn’t know whether to turn and run away or attempt to find Gladys. She did neither; she just stood there, staring.

  When that started to bore her, she calmly folded her arms across her chest and asked, “Is there something you’re trying to communicate to me by doing this?” Clearly it always had to be the extreme with Ransom and it was obvious that the big bastard noticed she’d been going out of her way to stay away from him over the last few days. Fallon figured she’d be able to keep the routine up since his week at Wilder Lodge was almost up and their supposed meeting wouldn’t be until Friday. She’d been disappearing early in the morning and coming back as late as possible; making sure to stay out of sight and out of mind.

  It was almost three a.m. The rest of the Lodge silent as every predator returned to their respective cabins; any hunting or mating that had taken place wrapped up and put away for another night. Fallon had spent the day taking a drive through the mountainside, trying to resist the pull to come back and seek out the giant-sized mammal currently gazing at her silently; fathomless brown eyes glinting in the lone walkway lights in front of her cabin. It wasn’t hard to figure out how he’d found it. All he’d had to do was follow her scent far enough away from the main area of the Lodge and here he was.

  Goddammit.

  “It’s late and I’m getting crankier by the minute, Ransom, what do you want?” She shoved her hands in her back pockets, more so to keep him from noticing the way they trembled. God, what the fuck was wrong with her? A few minutes in his presence and she turned into some pup who hadn’t reached her first heat yet. The fact that he could have that effect, that he could make her crazy without really trying, disturbed everything inside of Fallon’s A-type personality. Control. She had to get some control.

  Finally Ransom shifted and sat back, leaning on his elbows as his gaze raked over her. She kept her eyes on his face and his face only because if she allowed them to venture any lower, she’d be lost. Control.

  “You’ve been hiding from me.” He accused.

  She bit the inside of her cheek. “I don’t hide from anybody at any time.”

  His head cocked a bit. “And yet, you’ve been scurrying off every day, away from me and everyone else, like a hare that knows it’s being watched by a fox.”

  Her eyes narrowed on him. “And I take it you’re the fox?”

  Ransom’s smile was...feral. It sent a shudder down her spine that had nothing to do with fear or revulsion. The walls of her sex clenched and she barely stopped herself from letting out a startled yip when he suddenly stood and her eyes caught sight of the effortless beauty his body held. There were so many scars along with what looked to be tattooed paw marks that stretched from his left hip all the way up his hard bricked torso and across his chest just to stop at his right pec. Every part of him was tan and strong.

  He wasn’t bulky but he wasn’t slim either. She couldn’t even describe him as having a linebacker’s body. There was muscle stacked on top of muscle but so proportionate that it didn’t look unnaturally formed.

  His shoulders were incredibly wide, as was his chest, leading to a defined stomach, cut pelvis, lean hips and huge thighs that ended in well-developed calves and long feet. The man was...perfection. And the tree trunk that lazily hung between his legs? Well that was just...it was unfair. For a brief moment she asked herself who would be brave enough to attempt placing that in any orifice on their body.

  Me. I’d do it. I’d go where no sane she-predator has gone before. I’d break him and his giving tree.

  Apparently he was more than a little comfortable with his body because he made no attempt to cover it, just came down the stairs and stood before her in all his naked glory.

  So should I just bend over now or...? No! No you will not! Get your eyes off his cock! Now! Right now goddammit!

  Fallon swallowed, looking away from Ransom’s clear lack of modesty towards the sky. “Nothing even adjacent to a fuck is being given by you right now.”

  He snorted. “Do I have something to be ashamed of?”

  She tucked her lips in, refusing to answer that.

  Ransom stepped closer and moved his head over her own until she looked at him. “Why are you hiding from me?”

  “I’m not—”

  “Don’t bullshit me.” He cut in before she could finish. “You’ve been on ninja stealth mode for the last three days.”

  “Which is your business how?”

  His brow quirked just the tiniest bit.

  Fallon threw up her hands. “Maybe I haven’t been around because I don’t like you and I’m counting down the days until you’re off my territory.”

  He nodded. “Maybe...or maybe you like me too much and you’re trying to bypass the attraction the both of us feel when we’re near one another.”

  That hit too close to home. “I don’t even know you.”

  Ransom shrugged. “You know enough.”

  Taking a step backwards as he took one forward and the scent of tea tree hit her squarely in the face, she gritted out, “What is it that you want from me?”

  He stared at her for the longest time. “Do you really want the answer to that question?”

  “Yes.”

  The look he gave her made her incredibly uncomfortable, like my pussy requests permission to borrow your face for a moment uncomfortable. Then he answered, quite simply, “You, Fallon. I want you.” With one hand he reached out and ran his thumb over her bottom lip and that simple touch alone caused her lids to slide close. “From the moment I saw this mouth all I wanted was you.”

  She shook her head, trying to get the haze of lust to fade as her logic began to fog. “You want me?”

  “Yes.”

  “Why?”

  His silence made her open her eyes. “Because it would be fun to fuck the frigid bitch?” She snarled.

  His brows drew downwards as she moved out of reach. “Because you think I’m so desperate for a cock that I’ll bounce on yours then be grateful enough that you looked my way to hand you the one thing that means the world to me?” Fallon’s heart sped up as her anger—the anger that she’d learned to control over the years—came roaring up inside of her; her wolf moving restlessly just beneath the surface of her skin. “Do I look desperate to you, Ransom?” He was the one backing up now. “Do I seem so pathetic that I’d take whatever you throw my way? You think a few gifts and a compliment is going to make me heel like a fucking whelp?”

  When
the grizzly remained silent, Fallon roared, “Well?!”

  He smirked at her. Smirked! Like she wasn’t a few seconds away from ripping out his intestines and playing jump rope with them! “Oh, are you done now?”

  Her fists clenched at her sides and when her claws dug into her palms she realized how much control she’d lost. “Am I done?”

  Ransom gave her an indulgent smile. “Sometimes you have to let a pup chase their tail before they realize how stupid what they’re doing is.”

  “You motherfu—”

  When he caught her by the t-shirt and jerked her towards his body, leaning over her until she bent backwards a bit, Fallon brought up her left hand, intent on giving him a few more paw marks...on his face but he caught it and simply pinned it behind her back.

  “Oh woe is me,” Ransom mocked in a high-pitched voice that sounded absolutely nothing like her! “Allow me to sing you a tune to the wailing sounds of my violin about how cold hearted I am and how no one is attracted to me because I scowl. A sad, sad tune about my clear trust issues and my inability to see that I am fucking desirable. A song about how I can’t see what’s staring me right in the face.”

  She tried to pull away from him then but he just held tighter.

  “Listen to how miserable I am because I won’t open my mouth and say what I really want—which is a nice long, pleasant fuck.”

  “You son of a bitch!” Fallon fought to get out of his grasp.

  “I am Fallon,” He continued. “Hear me roar my obvious discomfort about not being able to control something for once—my desire to have a man who won’t try to make me submit but will show me how goddamn wonderful it can be if I so choose.”

  “Stop it, Ransom.”