by Zoe Chant
Cody crossed his arms, looking at both of them. "Okay, so what happened to her clothes?"
Gannon shrugged.
Cody frowned, some of the good humor leaving his face, and he looked at Daisy with an expression that was speculative and worried. Suddenly she saw it the way he must see it. Here she was, nearly naked at Gannon's cabin, acting scared with no good explanation for how she'd gotten here.
Quickly she spoke up. "He's telling the truth, Mr. ... uh ... Cody. I took shelter in Mr. Gannon's cabin last night. We hadn't really had a chance to talk about it yet."
"Took shelter from what?" Cody asked. "Were you hiking?" He relaxed a little, especially as he glanced back and forth between her and Gannon. Daisy hoped it was clear from her body language that she wasn't scared of Gannon, and didn't feel threatened by him.
"I ... don't know," Daisy admitted. She wished there was some way she could avoid telling people she'd lost her memory; it made her feel terribly vulnerable. But it wasn't as if she could offer any other explanation without lying, and she didn't want to get off on the wrong foot with people who only seemed to want to help her. "I don't remember anything before last night."
Gannon's big, warm hand tightened briefly on hers, and he looked down at her with a surprised expression.
Cody just looked puzzled. "Nothing at all?" he asked. "You have amnesia?"
Daisy nodded. "I remember that my name is Daisy, but other than that, I don't remember anything before I found myself in the woods last night, in my underwear."
Gannon was starting to scowl, a furious, thunderous scowl. "Did someone hurt you?" he demanded, and this time there was definitely a growl lurking under the woods, a quiver of primal anger so strong that she could almost, for an instant, smell the musk of a large predator's fur.
"Hey, calm down, man," Cody said urgently. "You're gonna scare her."
But she wasn't, not even with the full force of Gannon's anger turned on her. She knew it wasn't meant for her.
"Not like you're thinking," she said. "I wasn't bruised or sore or anything." She thought about mentioning the needle marks on her arm—they were hidden at the moment beneath the left sleeve of the borrowed shirt—but decided to wait until she was alone with Gannon. Maybe in her previous life she'd been a junkie, although she didn't feel ill as she might from drug withdrawal. Or maybe she'd had a minor surgical procedure and was still healing up. There were a lot of explanations; it just seemed so far-fetched that someone had been keeping her prisoner with a sedation IV in her arm.
But if not, how had she gotten out to the middle of the woods by herself?
"Do you think you were abducted?" Cody asked, as if echoing her thoughts.
"I don't know. It's possible I was camping and wandered away from my tent." But then she remembered her instinctive fear last night. She'd felt as if someone was chasing her. Maybe I heard a bear in the woods or something, and ran away? That didn't feel right, though.
Gannon didn't look any calmer. Daisy squeezed his hand.
"If you got lost, someone might have reported you missing," Cody said. "My cousin's the county sheriff. I can have him check into it."
Her heart lurched with an odd mix of fear, hope, and anxiety. "Is that Alec?" she asked, remembering Gannon's introductions.
Cody's smile returned. "No, my cousin Axl is the sheriff. He's Alec's brother. Come to think of it, Alec's mate—uh, fiancée Charmian is a midwife, so she has medical training. I can drive you down to her. Someone should really look at you and make sure you're okay."
The idea of leaving the cabin—and Gannon—filled her with a sudden wild fear, all her panic of the previous night rushing back to overwhelm her. She hadn't realized how confident she was that, as long as she stayed here with Gannon, no one could hurt her.
And that wasn't the only problem. Right now, the cabin and Gannon were the only things she knew. It felt like the one familiar place in a huge, terribly alien world.
"I'd rather stay here for now," she said, her voice shaking a little.
"Then you will," Gannon said harshly, and shifted his stance to block Cody from her, as if he thought Cody was going to drag her off by force.
"Whoa, settle down." Cody held his hands up placatingly. "You don't have to go anywhere. Look, how about I have Charmian come up here? I can have her bring up anything you might need. We've got three women living on the ranch right now, and they're all different sizes. Someone is bound to be able to have some clothes that'd fit you."
"If it's not too much trouble," Daisy said, a little shyly. She was all too aware that she'd dropped herself in the middle of their lives without asking. "Guest" was a very charitable way of putting it; really, she was more of a trespasser.
"It's not any trouble," Gannon said. "Stay as long as you want. And if anyone comes after you ..." Once again, a barely human-sounding growl rumbled in his big chest.
"Let's not get ahead of ourselves," Cody suggested. "Look, I'm going to head down and let the girls know. They can bring up some clothes and anything else you need. And ... Gannon, you know I'll have to talk to Alec about this, right? As the alph—I mean, as the ranch boss he gets the final say on what goes on around here."
"He's not gonna make her leave," Gannon declared.
"Nobody said he would, big guy. But we can't keep this from him."
Gannon nodded, somewhat reluctantly, it seemed to Daisy.
"You don't think this Alec is going to want me to leave, do you?" she asked.
"No," Gannon said flatly.
Cody looked a little more doubtful. "He's mellowed a lot since he got together with Charmian, but he's still kind of a cranky guy. He doesn't like anything that's new or different. And yet ..." His gaze took in Daisy and Gannon, who were still holding hands. "I think he'll be happy you've found someone. Let's give him the benefit of the doubt. Daisy, is there anything else you want me to have the girls bring up?"
She could think of so many things she didn't have. Deodorant, a change of underwear, makeup, sleepwear—it seemed that she could have spent hours in a store right now, replacing all her missing things. But she really didn't want to impose. She decided to focus on the most urgent thing; her tangled hair flopping in her eyes was a constant reminder. "A hairbrush?" she suggested.
"Gotcha." Cody gave them a little wave. "The girls will be up this afternoon. And, Daisy, it's really nice to meet you. We're not scary once you get to know us, I promise."
He got back in the truck, and the engine started with a roar. Daisy found herself moving closer to Gannon as the truck backed up and turned around in the yard, and then rattled away, with Cody maneuvering expertly over the ruts.
"He seems nice," she ventured. "What's this Alec like? Do you think he'll let me stay?"
Gannon hesitated. "He helped me," he said at last. "I owe him a lot. I don't think he'd make you leave. But if he does, I won't let you go alone."
She gazed up at him. "Gannon, you just met me. You don't even know me. Why are you doing all of this for me?"
They were so close together that she could feel the warmth of his body. He reached out a cautious hand, and when his fingertips brushed her cheek, she didn't flinch. It felt inevitable—as if her body had been yearning for his touch ever since they met. "Can't you feel it too?"
"I ... I don't know what I'm feeling," she admitted.
What she was feeling was a desperate yearning, as if she needed to get closer to him, to press herself against him. Just standing here, in such close proximity, made her legs tremble and her breasts ache to have his hands on them.
Whatever else I am, I'm definitely not a virgin, she thought suddenly. The quiver between her legs was unmistakable and familiar. She didn't merely want Gannon near her. She wanted him in her.
She realized that she was still gazing at him, transfixed by his nearness. Gannon started to pull his hand back from her face, as if he'd read her lack of reaction as lack of interest.
Daisy lunged forward and pressed her mouth to his.
And then suddenly they found the rhythm of it, and oh. Oh. Her past sexual history might be a blur to her right now, but even though she knew she'd kissed other men, she didn't think she'd ever been kissed like this before. It lit a fire in her belly, made her rise up on her toes. One of his big hands wrapped around the small of her back possessively, as if it belonged there, and as he pulled her in closer, the heat between her legs grew more urgent.
She just wanted her hands all over him. She wanted him all over her. He was treating her gently, like a breakable, precious thing, but Daisy explored his mouth eagerly with her tongue, and ran her hands across the flat planes of his body, sliding them under his fur vest.
He felt so good. He was all hard muscles with a light dusting of dark body hair curling attractively in the cleft between his collarbones. Oh, she wanted to touch him there—she wanted to touch him everywhere.
When she finally broke the kiss, she was lightheaded and giddy. Gannon gazed down at her, pupils wide, with a heat in his eyes that matched the heat she could feel rising in her. "Daisy," he murmured. "You do feel it."
"I do," she gasped. She didn't have to ask what "it" was. The wild attraction between them, sudden and impossible as it seemed, filled her with a growing urgency that could only be satisfied in one way.
The shy not-quite-a-smile tugged at the corners of his mouth, and then he did smile. It was fast and abrupt, gone almost as quickly as it came, but it struck Daisy like lightning—he had a dazzling smile, and it seemed to fill her up with light.
Gannon swept her up in his arms, lifting her off her feet with his hands cupped under her buttocks. Daisy gasped in pleased surprise, her stomach swooping. Lifting her up so he could kiss her without having to bend his neck, Gannon took her mouth with his. Daisy wrapped her arms around his shoulders and her legs around his waist, pressing her wet heat against his hard, muscular stomach, and fell into the kiss with all of her heart and soul.
Gannon turned around, his strong arms holding her up, legs moving as he carried her someplace. Daisy broke the kiss long enough to ask, "Where are we going?"
"Cabin?" he said, and then, almost sheepishly, "There's a bed in there. If, uh—if that's what you want."
"I want it more than anything," she said, and saw a smile flicker in his eyes.
But she didn't want to do it in the cabin. Out here, he was in his element. She could see it. Gannon belonged here, among the mountains and the forests, more than he belonged inside four walls.
"I want—I want to make love in the sunshine," she said, marveling at her own boldness. "I want you to take me in these wildflowers, right here."
Chapter Four
Gannon couldn't believe she was here, in his arms. His mate—his beautiful, brave mate. He had been willing to take it as slowly as she wanted, but he'd thought she was shyer than she turned out to be. When she asked him to make love to her, a massive wave of arousal rushed through him, making him tremble with it. He was almost painfully hard, straining against his pants.
But no force in the universe could compel him to do anything other than make this—his long-awaited first lovemaking to his true fated mate—gentle and nice for her. If she wanted to be loved among the wildflowers, then that was what she would have.
Daisy was already squirming in his arms to take off the borrowed shirt. She dropped it to the ground, leaving her in nothing but the T-shirt and shorts she'd had on when he first found her. Under the fabric of the shirt, her nipples were erect. Gannon could smell her desire.
He laid her down on a soft patch of grass between the bending stems of the flowers that filled the cabin's yard. Anyone driving into the yard would see them, but that added a certain exciting spice to the occasion. It was one of the risks of being outside. He'd lived his whole life with the knowledge that, as a bear, he might be seen by hunters and mistaken for an ordinary bear. The sense of danger made him feel alive. In some ways this was similar. Though it wasn't a life-or-death danger, at worst risking nothing more than embarrassment, the knowledge that someone could come into the yard raised his nerves to a sharp tension, making everything more intense.
The idea didn't seem to bother Daisy at all. She squirmed out of her T-shirt, and Gannon caught his breath at her beauty. Those full, luscious breasts cried out to be touched. He stroked her smooth body and took first one, then the other nipple into his mouth, thrilling to the way her body arched when his tongue brushed across them.
"You've got way too many clothes on," Daisy gasped, opening her eyes.
She was a bossy little thing, when she got on a roll. He liked it. Gannon stripped off his vest and then his pants, and another deep wave of lust went through him when her eyes darkened eagerly at the sight of his massive, erect cock. He'd hoped she wouldn't be afraid. Gannon was a big guy, and all parts of him were correspondingly big. But Daisy looked thrilled.
He pulled down her shorts and the panties underneath. The curls between her legs were as golden as the hair on her head. She reached down a hand to guide him to her wet, open entrance, the motion as automatic as breathing, and he felt a little relief—she knew what to do, so he didn't have to worry about going too fast and hurting her.
But he knew to his soul that this would be the best either of them had ever had. He'd only ever heard about sex with a mate, and now he would get to experience it.
He slid into her wet heat as if he was made for it, and Daisy's head arched back, her lips parting. For her, he could tell, there was only this moment. He thrust again and again, holding himself to her pace, matching himself to her movements. He was able to instinctively feel what she needed, each thrust perfectly timed to drive her higher and higher.
"Gannon," she gasped, "I—I'm going to—"
Why hold back? He wanted to give it to her as many times as possible. Still holding his own rising desire firmly in check, he thrust hard, and Daisy gave a ragged cry.
***
It felt so good. So good. She was lost on the surges of rising pleasure. She couldn't think, and the orgasm rolled through her in a hot wave of ecstasy.
As she began to come down from it, she was dimly aware that Gannon was picking her up. Oh God, she thought dazedly. He was so strong. He hadn't pulled out; instead he let her wrap her arms around his shoulders, letting her be still for a moment as the last vestiges of her orgasm pulsed through her, fluttering her around his hard shaft. Naked and wrapped together, they stood in the meadow in front of the cabin, the sun beating down on her head. Flowering grasses swished around his bare legs whenever he moved.
"You ..." she managed at last. "You haven't—"
"Not yet." He raked her neck lightly with his teeth, and a sharp shiver went through her, felt all the way down to her groin. "Inside now?"
Daisy could only nod. Gannon turned carefully, and carried her step by step back to the cabin. The feeling of having him inside her at this angle was exquisite—not thrusts, but slow surges with each step he took, stroking her gently past the hyper-sensitive period immediately following her orgasm and allowing the heat inside her to build slowly once again.
The cabin seemed very dark after the brilliant sunshine outside. Gannon started toward the bed with those slow, careful strides, but Daisy whispered, "No. Standing."
He shivered and nodded. Carefully he let her down, and Daisy's internal muscles clenched pleasantly as he slid out of her, hot and erect and massive. She was struck all over by the size of him. She'd had that inside her? How did it even fit? But it did, filling her perfectly, just as if he'd been tailor-made to fit her in the most exquisite way possible.
She leaned against the wall, and Gannon closed over her from behind. Daisy spread her legs and he slid into her with a slick, slow glide. The angle was utter perfection. She could feel him all along her, not just inside but outside, his s
weat-slick skin moving against hers with each thrust. And then he reached a hand around to her front and cupped it over her mound of curls. A carefully sweeping finger found her clitoris, brushing it with tiny electric strokes. It was as if he seemed to know exactly what she wanted and how she wanted it—not too hard, not too fast, not too close, but just hard and close and fast enough. A second orgasm was building with shocking rapidity. His mouth touched the back of her neck, and then the edge of his teeth ran across her skin. For an instant she desperately wished he'd bite down. She couldn't even explain why; all she knew was that something inside her had a powerful urge to feel the press of his teeth into her skin, as if only doing so could cement the communion between them into a permanent, unbreakable bond.
Then another light stroke of his teeth undid her, pushing her over the edge. She snapped back in the throes of another orgasm so intense her vision went momentarily white, and Gannon held her through the fluttering waves.
***
The urge to claim her as his mate was a rising force inside Gannon. He closed his mouth over the smooth, unbroken skin of her neck, and felt her jerk with pleasure and need. She was human, so didn't know what she was feeling, but she felt the urgency of it just as he did.
But she didn't understand, and that was what made him break off and scrape her neck gently with his teeth rather than breaking the skin. Daisy probably didn't know what a claiming mark was. He wasn't going to put one on her without asking first.
Her second orgasm almost undid him. He was having to fight to hold himself back now. As she sagged, rubbery-legged and weak, he slid out of her and scooped her up in his arms. She was putty in his hands now, and he carried her to the bed and laid her among the furs.
Just as it had been fitting to take her for the first time in a field of wildflowers, so it felt right to him now that the climax to their lovemaking should come here, where he had seen his mate for the first time.