Bear Treble (Highland Brothers 4)

by Meredith Clarke

  But before the music started, she heard his voice in her ears. She looked up. What was he doing here?

  “Good to see you, Billy.” Dylan slapped the producer on the back.

  “Dylan, we never see you in the studio. Nice surprise. I was glad you called. Want to go grab a beer afterward?”

  She was frozen in place behind the microphone. Her boots wouldn’t move if she wanted them to. He was here. Dylan was on the other side of the glass, and he was staring at her.

  “Break,” she stammered into the mic.

  “But we just started,” Billy complained.

  “I said, break,” she repeated. “Out. Get out.”

  The studio emptied out and the only person left was Dylan.

  He held up a piece of sheet music. “I brought you song number six.”

  She held her breath, not sure if she could resume a normal breathing process as long as he was this close. The recording room door opened and he walked in.

  Layla pulled the headphones from her ears.

  “You left without saying goodbye.”

  “You threw me out,” she spit out through gritted teeth. She pushed back a loose curl that had sprung out from the headphones.

  “I didn’t throw you—ok, ok. Let me start over.” He placed the sheet music on the stand in front of her. “Sing this.”

  She shot him a death stare. “You expect me to sing?”

  “Just sing it.” He picked up his guitar, and began to strum.

  She wanted to be mad at him. She was livid. She was embarrassed and hurt. Somewhere deep under her skin she was mortified. This man had her like no other man and yet he managed to let her walk away. She didn’t feel like singing, yet with him so near part of her had forgotten the humiliation and was almost giddy from seeing him. She scowled at that part of herself.

  She picked up the paper and sang the lyrics out loud. Dylan’s eyes bore into hers as she continued.

  Each word dug deeper. Each one pried into her heart. Each one found a way to slip into her soul. She closed her eyes, repeating the chorus as loudly as she could.

  When she opened them, Dylan was standing in front of her.

  “It’s about you,” he whispered.

  Her heart pounded in her chest. She could hear it beating wildly in her ears. “I know.”

  “They all are, Layla. Every song we wrote up there this weekend. Crave, Lost, Living in My Soul. All of them are about you. About us.”

  She let the sheet slip from her fingers and flutter to the floor.

  “But the music wasn’t enough, was it?” She wasn’t going to do this, but the pain was still there.

  He gripped her shoulders. “The music between us is everything.”

  “Then why? Why did you reject me? Why did you push me away?” The tears stung her eyes.

  His brilliant eyes misted, and she felt the anguish in his gaze melt through her. What was tearing at him like this?

  “I didn’t reject you, Layla. I was rejecting me.”

  “I-I don’t understand.”

  His fingers dug into her arms as if he needed to steady himself. “Before you showed up on my porch I couldn’t write. The music had dried up. I would have been lucky to have sent you half a verse by the end of the weekend, much less six complete songs.” He sighed. “But then you stepped on that porch and you flipped my fucking world upside down.”

  She didn’t know her heart could beat so wildly.

  “You unlocked the music, Layla. The songs just poured from me. My songs. Your songs. The music was in my head and in my fingers. Every time I looked at you I heard a song. Every time you walked out of a room I thought of a song that would get you back in it. When I kissed you,” he growled low. “I thought of a hundred songs about that one fucking kiss.”

  She felt the fire in his hands. She saw it in his eyes.

  “But you didn’t just unlock the music. You unlocked something else. The one thing I didn’t want to face. The one thing I never wanted to unleash.”

  “What? What was it?” she asked.

  She thought he would break away and drop the hold he had on her, but it only grew stronger.

  “You unchained my bear, Layla Love. You let him out. And as much as I want to tell you he won’t come out again, I can’t. You belong to him, and to me.” His hands tangled through the back of her hair, and she tilted her chin forward.

  “I thought I could stop it. I thought I could be a stronger man, but I couldn’t resist you.”

  She sighed as he seized her, drawing her lips inches from him.

  “I-I unleashed your bear?” She had no idea what she was saying or what in the hell he was talking about, only that his lips were about to touch hers. It was all she could think about. It was just like Crave.

  “You unleashed him with your voice. With your damn pouty lips. With your gorgeous body.” He brushed his mouth against hers. “With every part of who you are.”

  She threw her hands around his neck and leaned into the kiss as his mouth moved against hers hungry and desperate. She purred against his tongue as he lashed at her. Nothing in this world felt like kissing Dylan Highland.

  She breathed heavily, then wriggled to make some space between them. She looked up at his lust-filled eyes. “I’m still confused.”

  “Will you come back to Highland House with me so I can explain?”

  “And leave the studio?”

  He nodded. “We need to talk. We can’t do it here. There are too many people. Your assistant. Hal. Billy. I need you to myself, Layla.”

  She didn’t know how she could wait through a two-hour car ride to find out what Dylan needed to tell her, but she did know every part of her wanted to hear what he had to say. If it was half as good as that song, it would be worth every cent she wasted on the studio today.

  “Yes.” She smiled. “I’ll go with you.”

  “My car’s out front. Let’s go.”

  “Now? But everyone’s gone. They’re going to wonder…”

  He crushed his lips against hers. “I’ll call Billy from the road.”

  She blinked, feeling the roughness of the kiss seep into her lips. “Ok.”

  23

  Dylan

  He tossed another log on the fire. It felt right to be here instead of the studio. Being a Highland was more than just sharing a last name with his brother and cousins. He shared the traditions of their clan—something he had fought his entire life. Highland House was the right place to tell Layla their destiny was forever interlaced. She was now part of a powerful bear family.

  “Are you going to tell me?” She sat on the couch, her eyebrows arched high. “Start with the bear stuff.”

  “I was hoping I could do it in a song, but I don’t think that’s possible.”

  “Your music is amazing, Dylan, but sometimes real conversation is necessary.”

  “It is. This is one of those times.”

  “Just tell me. You got me back here with the last song you wrote. You know I’m debating whether I can even include it on the album.”

  “Why would you say that?”

  “It’s too personal. I think if I sang it, people would know it was about us.”

  He turned to look at her. “They don’t know about us. No one knows there is an us.”

  “Is there?” she asked. “Is that what this is about? Are you second-guessing the song? Are you second-guessing me again?”

  “No, no.” He sat next to her on the couch, feeling an incredible urge to hold her and not let go until everything was ok. But it wasn’t ok, because of him. The only way he could fix it was tell her the truth.

  “Layla.” He stroked the side of her cheek. “This is impossible. All of it.” He had to fight through the doubt. He had to do the right thing. “Layla, I’m a bear shifter.”

  “You’re a what?”

  “I want to be more man than bear, but sometimes the bear wins out. Like he did with you.” He tilted her chin with his thumb. “I—we—you—” Every time he tri
ed to tell her his words failed him, all he could see were the notes that would explain it to her. The music would speak for him.

  “Clearly something is going on. Just tell me,” she urged.

  “I’m trying to tell you that I’m a bear. And you are my mate.” He searched her eyes for fear or disgust.

  “A mate?” She smiled. “What century are you in?”

  He shook his head. “I know it sounds strange, but we are bonded forever. The piano…” He let the words drift off, hoping she would be able to piece it together.

  “You can’t be a bear. That’s not even possible.”

  “Why not?” he asked.

  “Because.” Her breathing was rapid again.

  “Because you say so? Is that what you were about to say?” He chuckled.

  “Come on, Dylan. You expect me to believe—”

  He didn’t let her finish her sentence. He crushed his mouth against hers and twined his tongue along hers, sucking and kissing her until she began to purr those soft little sounds he loved. She wrapped her legs around his waist as kissed at the edges of her lips. As her hands flattened on his chest, he looked in her eyes and let his bear rumble.

  His chest shook, while he held her hands against his muscles so she could feel every vibration, every deep shudder his bear growled.

  She tried to pull away. “That’s what that is?” she asked.

  He nodded. “You let him out, Layla.”

  “I did?”

  “I had so much more control of him until he laid eyes on you.” He rubbed a thumb over her lips. “But when two people are meant to be together I don’t know that there is much that can stop them. Even someone as stubborn as me who thinks he can get in the way.”

  Her breath hitched as his thumb moved from her lips to her throat. “Is that why you always pushed me away? You were trying to control the other side of you?”

  “Yes. I didn’t want to give in.”

  “But why not? I think the bear in you is fucking sexy.” She bit down on her bottom lip, and he felt a sudden lurch in his chest. He was aching to take her again. “I didn’t know what that sound was, but I loved it the first time I heard it.”

  “You did?”

  She nodded, biting lightly on her lip. “It pulled me to you.”

  “Do you have any idea how complicated our lives have just gotten?” He eyed her. “You have no idea what you’re in for.”

  She locked her ankles against his back. “I have people to take care of things. I can do whatever I want.”

  “Are you ready to stop touring and have our cubs?”

  Her eyes beaded together. “Did you knock me up?”

  He exhaled. “See? It’s not something you want. It’s not something you’re ready for.”

  “Hey, wait. That’s not fair, Dylan.” She turned his jaw with her palm. “I didn’t know any of this. It’s not like we talked about it. I’ve never thought about being a mother.”

  He closed his eyes. “Maybe you’re not pregnant. Maybe we can hold off and you can work out your schedule with your manager. Finish your album. Finish the world tour. Just because I claimed you doesn’t mean I have to do it again. I will respect what you want to do.”

  Her hands left the side of his face, and he felt the coldness from where her touch had been. He knew she would leave. He knew she would find out about the animal in him and find a reason to push him away. His bear would have to listen to his mate. That part Dylan would have no problem controlling. It was the law of bear nature.

  He jerked when he felt her hands on his chest, sliding beneath the hem of his shirt. Her nails tickled over his abs and along his sides.

  “What are you doing?” He breathed. He could feel his cock aching inside his pants. The pressure built with every stroke of her nails.

  Her lips pressed into his. “I want to make music with you, Dylan,” she whispered. “And I want to make cubs.”

  His eyes lifted to hers. “We can talk about it. Think about it.”

  But Layla had always been a woman who made her own decisions. She was strong and powerful. Independent and confident. She pushed him back on the sofa as she slid her arms out from her shirt.

  “I don’t want to think. I want to feel the way I did when you were inside me,” she whispered, unclasping her bra.

  Dylan groaned when he saw the points of her nipples jut towards him.

  “There’s no going back,” he warned. Climbing forward, pinning her under him.

  “I don’t want to go back.” She looked in his eyes and Dylan knew he was lost, just like he wrote in song number six.

  24

  Layla

  There was a bear of a man hovering over her. A gorgeous man with broad shoulders and a smile that made her wet between her thighs. A man that told her he was hers forever.

  She arched her back toward him, offering her body to him. She moaned as he lowered his mouth to her nipple and bit it between his teeth.

  She forgot everything she was supposed to do in Seattle. She forgot about the tour and the album and the press events scheduled for the next five weeks. All she could think about was being in Dylan’s arms as they gave each other every pleasure.

  While he continued to suck, his fingers worked the button on her jeans until it was free and he could slide his hand between her legs.

  “So wet, baby.” He smiled as he pried between her folds. He began to massage and roll the pulsing nub between his fingers until Layla was panting hard against his touch.

  Her head thrashed to the side as Dylan danced over the bud before diving in her entrance. She bucked off the couch, gripping his shoulders.

  “Ohh,” she moaned. “Fuck that feels good.”

  He grinned at her. “You know what else feels good?”

  In one swift motion he jerked the pants from her legs and threw her ankles around his shoulders. He blew over her soft mound, before sliding her panties out of the way.

  “I couldn’t stop thinking about how sweet you tasted.”

  Her head thrashed to the other side. His tongue began to lap in feverish strokes until she was quivering and pulsing. Her thighs clutched against the side of his face, and her hips bucked into his tongue, sending it deeper inside as she came with utter abandonment, feeling his love for her as she was consumed by the orgasm he gave her.

  Dylan smiled between her legs and kissed each of her thighs. “That’s what I couldn’t stop thinking about.” He lowered her hips to the couch and rose to slide the jeans from his muscular legs.

  She whimpered when she saw his pulsing erection. She wanted him so badly.

  “Dylan, please. God, I want you.”

  He lowered himself on top of her, letting her taste her own juices from his lips. “I want you too,” he growled. “Hold on.”

  He sat back on his heels and grabbed a blanket. He stepped off the couch and spread it on the floor in front of the hearth. In two steps he had Layla in his arms and nestled her in front of the fire.

  “You’re so sexy and beautiful.” His hands trailed over her skin where the firelight glowed. “And mine,” he added.

  “Yes.” She reached up with her hand. “All yours.”

  He hooked his fingers under her panties and skirted them over her hips. He pushed her knees wide with his palms as he positioned the tip of his cock against her.

  “Wait,” she whispered. “I want something too,” she teased.

  She began to wiggle along the blanket, until she was underneath him, staring up at his rock-solid body and his shaft was at her chin. She reached out with her tongue and licked the tip. Dylan groaned and his hips dipped lower.

  The more her tongue moved along his shaft, the deeper he pushed in her mouth. His skin was silky and soft and he moved in and out, filling her with drops of salty sweet dew. She sucked against him, loving how he felt, wanting him to come like this, wanting her mouth to give him the kind of pleasure he deserved. But just as his thrusts grew deeper his hand wrapped around his cock and he backed away.<
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  His eyes glistened. “You are dangerous, Layla.”

  She licked her lips, savoring the taste of him. “As dangerous as your bear?” she taunted.

  “You tell me,” he said as he slid her back in front of him. “Because my bear wants to do all kinds of things to you.”

  “Like what?” She wanted to know. She wanted to know how he wanted her. How he wanted to be inside her. She wanted to know if he wanted the same things she did.

  “Like take you like this, until you’re singing for me to stop.” He smiled. “And flip you over on your belly and drive into you deep.” She felt the flutter in her core and a new wetness between her legs. “And he wants to lick and suck you until you’ve lost count of how many times you’ve come.”

  Her nipples hardened with each word. Dylan slid a hand between her legs and his eyes lit when he felt the new heat there. “Which way turns you on the most?”

  “All of it. I want everything single you said.” Her knees fell to the side, exposing every bare inch of skin she had. She wanted him to claim her this time while she knew it.

  “Oh, Layla,” he groaned, hoisting himself up and pointing his cock at her entrance.

  “Fuck me, Dylan,” she pleaded with a soft smile on her lips. “Give me your cubs. Let me hear your true voice.”

  The deep roar reverberated around the room as he sank his shaft deep inside her. Layla screamed as the steel rod pierced her, sending a chorus of ecstasy through her limbs. The music echoed in her ears as he wildly pumped in and out of her. She’d never felt so full and whole.

  He lowered his head to suck on one nipple while he pinched and rolled the other between his fingers.

  “Oh yes,” she cried as the fullness of him spread her wider. She stretched around him knowing her body was meant for him. They fit so perfectly together, giving and taking from the other.

  Dylan sat forward drawing his lips over her stomach, before flipping her face down. She wiggled back aching for him. His large hands settled on her hips, tilting them up before driving into her again, this time with sudden force.

  Layla screamed as the new notes hummed through her. She rocked into the sensations as his hard cock slid in and out, over and over, until she was clawing at the blanket. Her orgasm built like a steady crescendo. The notes fevered by Dylan’s strength and power, driving pure pleasure into her.