Unbearable Cage (The Grizzly Next Door 3)

by Aya Morningstar

  She started to walk toward downtown. She’d get a beer and maybe call up Lisa.

  Or Cage. She really wanted to see Cage. He’d acted like a coward these past years, but he’d saved her when it counted, and she knew from the time they spent together as kids that there was a great guy underneath. Mal was good on the surface, but when she dug down, he was an asshole. If Cage was an asshole on the surface...then what if she dug down?

  She turned the corner and ran right into Andrea, who was smoking a cigarette outside.

  “Hey,” Andrea said.

  Ren’s mouth hung open, and she got out a meek whisper. “Hi.”

  “I appreciated the apology, back in the meeting,” Andrea said. “I...owe you one too.”

  “Don’t worry,” Ren said. “It’s cool.... We’ve all got shit going on. We all do dumb stuff.”

  Andrea took a long drag of her cigarette. “I was being a bitch to you. My marriage was falling apart, and I took it out on you. I should thank you, really. I cried a lot after you threatened to expose me and Chad. But then I started thinking...what if everyone knew? So I told everyone, and I’m leaving my husband.”

  “What about your kids?” Ren asked.

  “Jack never wanted to be a father. Now he’s got his wish.”

  Ren nodded. “Well, good luck at work.”

  “Oh,” Andrea said. “I told them everything. How I stole your sales, all that. I got fired too.”

  CHAPTER 13

  CAGE

  Cage killed the deer this time. The forest was his for now, and once he beat Mal to a pulp, the city would be his again. The forest too. He was panting and huffing, and the deer’s blood was fresh on his claws. It began to rain, and that cooled him down.

  He felt bad about what had happened with Ren. He hated that he forced Mal to hurt her, but he knew deep down that getting Mal out of her life was for the best. Assuming Mal held to his word and ended things with her.

  Hunting the deer was part of his training to defeat Mal. He needed to hone his animal instincts as well as his technique. In the heat of a fight, letting go and ceding control to his bear could give him an edge. All the best fighters knew this trick. It was like shifting without shifting, a jolt of adrenaline and animal fury. Mal would have it too, but Cage knew his bear was stronger as long as he trained it.

  He shifted back to human form, slung the dead deer over his shoulder, and trotted through the rainy forest toward home.

  ***

  On Monday night he went back into the city to see Lisa, but he ran into Ren.

  She was sitting at a table outside a bar with a foamy beer in hand. She was wearing a white blouse and khakis—she must have come straight from work—but she looked somehow radiant even in her office garb.

  When she spotted him, she lit up even more. Was she not angry at Mal? At him?

  She didn’t need to speak; her smile was enough. He had planned to sit down across from her, to not push it, because maybe she was just being friendly.

  As he got closer, he knew it wasn’t just a polite smile. She let go of her beer, and her hand just hung in the air, reaching toward him.

  Without thinking, he took hold of her hand, and soon she was on her feet.

  He pulled her into him, and he wrapped his hands around her warm body. She buried her face into his chest. God, it felt good.

  Ask her to do the sex now, his bear said. Can you do the sex on sidewalk tables?

  “No,” Cage hissed.

  “Hmm?” Ren said into his chest, and then she looked up at him.

  “I was...talking to my bear,” Cage said.

  They let go of each other. He wanted to hold onto her forever, but they still needed to talk. He wanted her—he wanted her badly—but he needed to clear the air first.

  “Your bear?” she asked. “I thought”—her voice dropped to a whisper—“I thought you were a bear...at least sometimes.”

  “Yeah,” Cage said. “Maybe it’s a coping mechanism, but it helps me feel more human when I need to be...to imagine it as something I can talk to. I guess it’s more than that though, because I really do hear it, and it says stuff I’d never think of saying. Really dumb stuff.”

  Ahh! My feelings are so hurt!

  Cage grinned. “Okay, maybe that was too mean of me to say. It’s stuff I would think of, but I can blame the bear on it when it’s too…” He trailed off.

  “Too what?” Ren asked. They’d both sat back down, but her hand was so close to his on the table. Inches away. He wanted to take hold of it, but it still didn’t feel like the right time. Not yet.

  “Uh,” Cage said. “Let’s just say my bear’s got the mind of a thirteen-year-old.”

  “Oh,” Ren said. “Gotcha.”

  Ren took a sip of her beer and then offered him some. He declined but was happy to see she was willing to share the same glass with him. Good sign.

  She wants to share liquids with you. It’s a sign!

  Cage ordered his own drink and sat back down. The silence hung in the air, and he realized what he needed to say.

  “So about Mal...” he started to say, but Ren just laughed.

  “Mal got me fired. He’s a dick. If you have some kind of beef with him, then I guess it just speaks highly of you.”

  “He got you fired,” Cage said, seething. He’d tear him apart. “He got me fired too. That’s why I was trying to get the job at that restaurant.”

  “So he got us both fired?” She smiled. “Sounds like we’ll both have a lot of free time then.”

  “What are you going to do?” Cage asked.

  Their eyes met.

  CHAPTER 14

  REN

  You. I’m going to do you.

  She couldn’t say that. Could she? No! Duh, of course not!

  “Uh,” she stammered, “I guess I’ll find another job.”

  She couldn’t stop looking at him. He was wearing a V-neck T-shirt that barely held his muscles. His wide chest had a bit of chest hair showing, and she could still remember the smell of him from her head being buried in his muscles with his arms wrapped around her body. She wanted to feel that again. And more.

  If Mal had been trying to put a wedge between her and Cage, he’d only succeeded in getting them closer together. She wasn’t going to let Cage go this time. She’d lost that jerk and lost her job, but neither of those things really mattered. Cage mattered.

  “I got those papers from Lisa, by the way,” she said casually. Something had clicked between them, starting with when she first saw him coming down the sidewalk. If she’d told him she had the papers two days ago, it would have meant something like, You owe me the self-defense training, and you’re free to go. Now, it was calling a bluff. It was reminding him of how things were. How things had changed.

  “I’m not going anywhere,” Cage said.

  She felt a surge in her chest and butterflies in her stomach.

  “And I’m going to train you,” he said. “Not because of our deal, but because I want to. Because you want me to.”

  Ren just nodded. It’s what she’d wanted to hear.

  ***

  It was late, but Ren wanted to start her training now. Not later. They went to Ren’s place, mostly because there was more room there. She wondered if she’d have to move to a smaller place soon, considering she had no job.

  “I’m going to change into some workout clothes,” Ren said.

  “When you got mugged,” Cage said, “did he give you a chance to change into workout clothes before he stole your stuff?”

  “No,” Ren said, “but—”

  “No ‘buts!’ You’re wearing work clothes now, and you’re most likely to be wearing those kind of clothes when you need to defend yourself. We’re practicing for the real thing.”

  “Well,” Ren said, “I lost my job, so I probably won’t be wearing these kind of clothes again for a while. Maybe I should train wearing a bathrobe with a bowl of ice cream in my hand?”

  “You’re strong,” Cage said. “
I’m sure you’ll find another job soon enough. You ready?”

  She nodded.

  He was still in his hot-as-fuck V-neck, and she assumed he was going to start trying to grab her. The idea was that she would learn to stop him from grabbing her...but that was going to be difficult. She wanted him to grab her.

  “We’ll start with the most basic break,” Cage said. “What do you think that is?”

  “Grab me,” Ren stammered. “I mean...you grabbing me. Well, uh, not you, but whoever is attacking me.”

  “Grabbing,” Cage said. “Right.”

  Was his face turning a bit red?

  “Where though?” he asked.

  My ass, my waist, my breasts...between my legs?

  “Shoulder?” Ren said, guessing.

  “Right!”

  He stepped forward and grabbed her shoulder. His grip was like a vice.

  “In self-defense,” Cage said, iron fingers still crushing her shoulder, “the goal is to get away. If you can’t get away, then you defuse the situation. If you can’t get away or defuse, only then should you fight. So what would you do here?”

  She wanted to impress him, so instead of just saying what she thought, she did it.

  She swung her leg up and went straight for his balls. The moment her leg moved, she felt a shove, and she began toppling backward.

  In an instant, Cage was right behind her, and she fell into his arms. Jesus, how could he move so fast?

  She rested in his arms, light as air in his powerful embrace.

  He spoke to her in a low voice, as he was so close to her. Everywhere so close, and so warm. “Kicking in the balls is Mal’s thing. How is trying to kick me in the balls running or defusing? And why do you think you can get a kick off when someone has their hand on your shoulder? I could feel your body tensing up ages before you even moved your leg.”

  “I think I was still mad at you,” Ren said. “I think if I had landed that kick to your balls, that maybe I’d have defused this situation...this tension.”

  CHAPTER 15

  CAGE

  She’s talking about tension of being horny! Cage’s bear said.

  She was. Wasn’t she? She was his student now. Could he really compromise the integrity of his self-defense lessons by giving in to his urges?

  Yes! his bear cheered.

  Sometimes a shifter just had to give into his animal urges.

  Ren’s voluptuous body was still tight in his arms, and her face was only six inches from his.

  He leaned closer to her. More tension. Inches closer—no, just inches away—and there was no going back.

  Their lips pressed together, and their tongues found each other. Warmth flooded through Cage’s body, and he felt his hands moving across Ren, desperately taking in every inch of her curves. He’d wanted to feel her for so long, and now that his hands ran across her, he had no patience. He needed to feel her everywhere and all at once. He needed to get her clothes off.

  Get her BEAR naked! Cage’s bear started chuckling, and Cage put him on mute. Nothing killed a boner like a bad pun.

  She was on top of him now. He liked a woman that took initiative, but he wouldn’t let her stay in control.

  He grabbed her, and before she could react, he flipped her onto her back and had his mouth on her neck.

  “God, oh God,” Ren moaned as he ran his tongue across the soft skin of her neck. She’d have to work on her self-defense skills.... She hadn’t even seen that move coming. How hot would it be if she could fight him back when he tried something like that? Yes...more training was needed.

  He squeezed her legs as his mouth explored the mountains of her cleavage. Her arms pulled furiously at her blouse. She struggled to get it off.

  Cage let go of her thigh, and with both hands he reached up and tore her blouse into two shredded scraps. She did say she wouldn’t be needing those clothes anymore. She let out a moan and unhooked her bra.

  He threw the bra away and buried his head into her big breasts. This was just one reason why he loved curvy women; there was just so much to grab hold of and play with.

  He squeezed her as he ran his tongue across her breasts, working closer and closer to her hard nipples but never quite reaching them. How long could he tease her like this before she begged for it?

  She bucked her hips up beneath him, and her nipples grazed his lips. Ren moaned.

  It was still not quite begging, so he circled just outside her areolas and squeezed her as he licked.

  Her hand slid across his T-shirt and began pressing onto the back of his head. Still not begging.

  “Cage...please,” she finally said.

  Without a moment’s hesitation, his tongue ran across her nipple, and her hips bucked harder still. He sucked on her, and she scratched his neck and clawed at him through his shirt, but he didn’t let go of her nipple. She had begged for it, so why stop?

  She tore furiously at his shirt but wasn’t strong enough to tear it off him as he had done to her. He wouldn’t make her beg for everything, and he wanted to feel her hands on his skin, so he popped her nipple out of his mouth and removed his shirt.

  She shoved him, and he let her. She was atop him now, and she buried herself in his chest. His cock hardened instantly, as he hadn’t expected such an aggressive counterattack. Maybe he needed to work on his training, or—

  She bit his nipple, and he grunted. His dick was making his jeans way too tight, and as good as Ren’s tongue felt on his sensitive skin, he needed to get his dick free.

  He tugged at his belt, but Ren put a hand on the buckle and held it tight. He tried to pry her hand off, but each time he went for it, she bit him harder.

  Was she making him beg? Damn, he liked that, but he wouldn’t beg.

  He grabbed hold of her, pulled her down onto him, and then he jumped to his feet. He lifted Ren up with him, and she now clung to his body. He walked her across to the bedroom and then threw her onto the bed. She landed flat on her back, and before she could stop him, he whipped his belt off and threw it aside. It clattered to the ground. He unbuttoned his jeans slowly, and Ren watched him, enraptured. She was topless, and her breasts were slick and red from his attention, but her pants were still on. He’d take care of that soon enough.

  His pants fell, and his dick struggled against his boxers. Ren’s eyes bulged, and he grinned.

  “Should I take these off?”

  She nodded, almost imperceptibly, but that was enough, as his cock was begging to be free.

  He pulled the boxers down, and his dick sprang up. He swore he saw Ren’s eyes following it up and down as it sprung.

  “Take off your pants,” he said. It wasn’t begging. It was a demand.

  She undid the button and pulled them off. Her panties came off with the pants—it seemed she wanted to waste no time. She wanted him inside her.

  She flipped onto her belly and stuck her big beautiful ass up into the air. He could see her wetness, and he wanted badly to feel it wrapped around him.

  He jumped onto the bed and grabbed hold of her by the waist.

  She reached back and cupped his balls. Then she ran her hand up and down his dick. Jesus.... He mustered every ounce of his strength and fought the urge to come right away. He’d wanted her hand on him like this for as long as he could remember, and the pressure building up in his balls was unbearable. But Cage was strong, and he fought back the urge. If he came now, he wouldn’t get to make her come, and he wanted nothing more than to hear her scream and feel her drenching his dick in her cum.

  “Put it in,” Ren said. “I’m so wet...I need it.”

  He felt a brief temptation to tease her, but strong as he was, he couldn’t wait to be inside her.

  He ran his head across her lips, feeling her wetness cover his head. He saw a streak of pre-cum mix with her moisture, and then he pressed himself in.

  They both gasped in unison. How had they not done this sooner? Why had they made excuses and denied themselves this? He pressed farther in, and
Ren shuddered. He let himself stay at that depth, reveling in the feeling. The heat and the tightness were incredible, and he cupped her breasts and squeezed to work off some of the tension.

  Soon his hips began to thrust. He couldn’t stop now.... He’d silenced his bear’s voice, but his bear was nothing more than his innermost instincts and desires, and if his bear had no voice, it would simply act. He had no need to fight it this time, and as he thrust in and out of her, he sank deeper with each movement. Soon he was plunged into her deepest depths, and the moans and cries—at times muffled by her pillow, at times loud and unimpeded—rang across the bedroom like a symphony.