Grizzly Beginning (Arcadian Bears Book 2)

by Becca Jameson

  She could hear the faint tones of Austin speaking to his brother in the living room. She envied their close relationship. She’d never had any siblings, and although she had always felt bad that Austin’s older brother was a total dick, at least he had two younger sisters and a younger brother. They had all been close when they were young.

  It would seem things had not changed. With the exception of when each sibling went to university, they had always been involved in the family business and come together for functions.

  Everyone except Antoine. From a young age, he’d been defiant and a loner.

  Nuria dried off quickly, set the towel on the vanity, and grabbed Austin’s brush to work the tangles out of her hair. When she finished, she stared at herself for a long time. For fifteen years she’d worn her hair down. For the fifteen years before that she’d pulled it back.

  It was like she was two people. Before and after Antoine.

  She shuddered and then shook the thought from her head as she slipped one of Austin’s T-shirts over her head and then grabbed a hair band and pulled the damp locks away from her face.

  If she was going to stay in Silvertip, stay in Austin’s life, she needed to find herself. Reinvent herself. Maybe grab a piece of who she was with him the first time around.

  Was this truly possible? Could she stay in Silvertip and forge a life with Austin, perhaps even bind herself to him?

  For the first time in years, she had a glimmer of hope.

  Now they just needed to find out who was threatening her and why.

  “I’m gonna crawl under your covers and try to get some sleep. I’m exhausted,” she communicated with Austin. She didn’t feel like putting on enough clothes to be presentable to his brother, and she didn’t want him to feel like he had to join her, either.

  “Okay, baby. I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

  “Take your time. I’ll be out as soon as I hit the pillow.” She doubted that was actually possible with her mind racing under piles of stress, but she climbed into his bed and snuggled deep under the comforter.

  So much had happened in just a few days. She’d sold everything she owned and moved across the country, packed up her parents’ home, dealt with a fire, reconnected with the man she should have spent her life with, and faced an unknown threat that still lurked out there somewhere.

  Was it serious? Would someone actually harm her given the chance? She doubted it. She couldn’t imagine a group of strung-out drug addicts bothering to seek revenge for some imagined harm done to one of their friends fifteen years ago. But no way was Austin going to take any chances.

  She closed her eyes, turned her face into his pillow, and inhaled deeply of his scent. It soothed her at the same time her body came alive, needing him.

  She moaned into the pillow, trying to stifle the lust while working hard to block it from Austin. Irrational arousal flooded her body with every breath she took. How had she gone from worrying about ten things to needing to fuck in two seconds flat?

  The door to the bedroom snicked shut, and she flinched, holding her breath, hoping she’d kept her thoughts to herself.

  Judging by Austin’s breathing and the speed with which he crossed the room and climbed onto the bed, she figured she had failed miserably.

  In a flash, he tugged the comforter off her, flipped her onto her back, and straddled her torso. His gaze searched hers while she tried to catch her breath.

  Her nipples rubbed against his T-shirt, pebbling. Wetness pooled between her legs. Her hair fell out of the band she’d put in it to haphazardly land around her face.

  “Where did Alton go?” Her voice came out on a croak.

  “Outside.”

  “He didn’t have to do that.” She swallowed, still trying to make reasonable conversation. “He could have stayed inside, in the guest room, the living roo—”

  Austin cut her off, his lips landing on hers to steal a kiss. “Shut up,” he communicated. “I sensed the rush of arousal from you, and my dick got instantly hard.” His tongue tangled with hers while he spoke into her head.

  She set her hands on his waist and pulled him closer, needing more contact, more of anything. Working her fingers under his shirt, she set them on his heated skin and smoothed them up his back. Damn he was built.

  When he finally broke the kiss to tug his shirt over his head, she tried to clear her mind. Think. “Alton… He’s outside… He’ll know…”

  “Yeah. He’s a grown man. He isn’t stupid. Plus I kicked him out without hardly a word.”

  She could feel his presence outside. He’d moved away from the house, but he was still in the proximity.

  Austin grabbed the hem of her T-shirt and pulled it over her head. When his gaze landed on her chest, she sucked in a sharp breath. He stared at her reverently as if she were a goddess. He made her feel like she was.

  Time stood still. Nothing existed except his gaze roaming over her chest and her heavy breathing mixed with his. “I need to taste you.”

  One sharp nod of her head was all she gave him. He seemed to have a thing about devouring her entire body. Her mouth. Her chest. Her pussy. And she was powerless to deny him anything since the benefit was totally hers.

  Suddenly, he leaned forward and kissed her lips briefly before leaving a trail of kisses down her neck and between her breasts. When he paused to suck her nipple into his mouth, she set her hands on his head and stroked through his hair. “So good.”

  “Mmm.”

  He flicked his tongue over the other nipple briefly and then nibbled a path down her belly until he reached the apex of her sex. He grabbed both her knees and shocked her by pressing them high and then wide. The exposure was intense. His gaze on her pussy was even more acute.

  Without warning, he opened his lips and suckled her clit and the entire surrounding sensitive skin.

  She cried out, an orgasm rushing toward the surface. “Austin.”

  He ignored her plea, though she had no idea what the plea had been for.

  When he released her clit, it was to thrust his tongue deep inside her. And when he withdrew his tongue, he did something she never expected…

  He set his teeth on her groin and made several mock bites on both sides of her pussy.

  Her entire body shot off like fireworks, a fierce orgasm rocking her so hard she shook against the bed. “Do it. Dammit, Austin. Bite me. Now.” She managed to communicate all that while her pussy drew in on itself, grasping at something that wasn’t there. His cock. And her clit pulsed. Surely if she could look at it, she would find it jerking.

  Austin growled against her, his warm breath heightening the pleasure. His teeth dragged over her skin again and again, teasing, tempting, tantalizing her. But he didn’t break the skin.

  Even when she lifted her hips off the bed in an effort to force him to nick her, she failed.

  Frustration mounted. She wanted—no, needed—to connect with him on a deeper level. The only way she knew to do that was to complete the binding. When it became clear he had no intention of binding them to each other, she shoved his shoulders and climbed out from under him.

  She shook violently from the orgasm that still rushed through her system, the need to have his cock inside her, and the driving force of nature that demanded they bind together.

  She bared her teeth, still pushing his much larger frame in an effort to flip him onto his back as she’d done last night. If he wasn’t going to give her what she wanted, she would take it from him. She would find a way to position him so she could thrust herself onto his cock and then sink her teeth into him at the same time.

  Like a feral animal, she fought with him to get the upper hand. Her teeth seemed sharper than usual, scraping against her lips. Her struggling was a failure.

  Austin sat up next to her, grabbed her shoulders, and gave her a shake to get her attention. “Nuria, stop.”

  She had trouble focusing on his face. Tears clouded her vision, forming as all hope of mating with him fled. “Why?” sh
e screamed.

  “Because you aren’t in the right frame of mind. Your decisions are clouded by lust. Nuria, listen to me.” His voice was strained, ragged, rough, too loud.

  She blinked, licking her lips. When she stopped struggling to get out of his grasp, he blew out a breath. “Baby, I love you. I love you so much it hurts. I’m going to love you for the rest of our lives. But this is too rushed. Ten hours ago we nearly split up. I can’t let you bind yourself to me in the heat of the moment and risk you regretting it later.”

  “It doesn’t work that way. You know it.” Her voice squeaked as she tried to reason with him. “We’ll never regret it. I see that now. I get it. As soon as we’re bound together, we’ll never feel a moment of doubt again. That’s how it is. That’s how Nature set it up.”

  “I know that. Intellectually I know you’re right. And I have the same argument running over and over like a movie reel in my head. But this isn’t how we’re going to make the decision. We’ll make it together in the light of day, calmly. We’ll discuss it and rationalize it and figure out all the implications and make an informed decision.”

  She couldn’t breathe.

  “Nuria,” his voice rose as if he knew he wasn’t quite reaching her. “We are going to bind together. We are. You’re mine. For better or for worse. You’re mine for a lifetime. But we’re going to do it right. After we figure out who’s threatening you and put it to bed.

  “We’ll pick a time when my brother isn’t lurking outside unable to avoid our rambling feelings and thoughts. We don’t need an audience when we bind. We’ll do it alone. Maybe take off up the mountain one day where no one will be privy to our thoughts and feelings. Maybe go on a trip. Something. Anything that isn’t hastily done while my family’s on watch outside and the house is covered with damning graffiti.”

  She nodded. He was right. She knew it in her heart, but her lust took over and got control of her. There was no reason to argue with him further, but she did need one thing from him. “Fine. Deal. I promise not to sink my teeth into you if you take off your damn jeans and fuck me before I lose my mind.”

  A slow smile spread across his face. “I can do that.” He scrambled off the bed and shrugged out of his jeans hastily. “Get on all fours, baby, in the middle of the bed.”

  She lifted a brow. “You want to role play? Now? You need to take some sort of dominant stance with me after all this?”

  He shook his head as he climbed back onto the mattress, his cock bobbing in front of him. “No, baby. I want to take you from behind so you can’t slip up and bite me while I drive you wild with the need to come over and over again.”

  A shudder raced through her body at his words. She hesitated for one second to absorb his meaning, and then she flipped onto her hands and knees and rocked back toward him.

  When he set his hands on her hips and guided his cock to run across her swollen pussy, she moaned. This was a new position, a vulnerable position. It took trust to let him take her like this.

  But she wanted it. She wanted it more than her next breath. “Please,” she begged, rocking backward again to encourage him to enter her.

  “Okay, baby. Okay.” With one hand on her hip, he used the other to guide his cock to her entrance, and then he thrust all the way to the hilt, forcing her to sway forward.

  His hands held her seconds later, gripping her right above the hips. When he pulled out and thrust back into her, he had enough control to keep her from falling forward. Her breasts swayed, heavy, full, tight.

  She moaned. It felt so good. Every time he took her, it felt better than the last time. She could get addicted to sex. She already was.

  This position put him deeper and caused him to drag across her G-spot more precisely. On the other hand, her clit was left out. She needed contact there.

  As if he read her mind, and probably he did, he wrapped his arm around her waist and lifted her off the bed. Crawling forward without dislodging from her tightness, he dragged her toward the headboard. “Put one hand on the wall, Nuria.”

  She was confused for only a second, and then she lifted her left hand to brace herself against the wall. They were close enough that her body was almost upright.

  His lips hit her ear, and he whispered his next words against her lobe. “Use your other hand to stroke your clit, baby.”

  She shivered in his grasp.

  He nibbled her ear. “Do it. Touch yourself. I won’t move again until you do. I want you to come with me. Rub your clit for me, baby.”

  She followed his instructions as if she had no other choice. In her desperation, she truly didn’t.

  “That’s it. God you’re sexy.” He grabbed her hips again and thrust in and out of her while she stroked her clit with exactly the right pressure, using her pointer and ring finger to trap the swollen nub while her middle finger flicked over the tip rapidly.

  Between her masturbating and his cock inside her, she was on top of the world again in moments. And he was right about something else—she indeed would have sunk her teeth into him given the opportunity. Since she was facing the wall and unable to get her mouth anywhere near him, he was safe.

  The thought almost made her smile. Instead she put her energy into reaching another orgasm. And the moment she tipped over the edge, he was right with her, holding her steady while his semen pulsed against her cervix.

  Chapter Seventeen

  The room was bright when Nuria woke the next morning. It was late. She slowly opened her eyes, knowing several things at once. She was warm and had never slept so well in her life. Coffee was brewing and ready somewhere in the house. And Austin wasn’t in the room or the house.

  “Austin?” She reached out to him before moving a single muscle.

  “I’m outside. Talking to my dad. There’s coffee. Help yourself.”

  “Okay.” She smiled into the pillow, inhaling his scent and thinking she never wanted him to wash the sheets if this was how she might wake up every morning in his home.

  “Oh, and I forgot to tell you one more thing,” he added.

  “What’s that?”

  “I love you so much it hurts. And last night was amazing.”

  “That’s two things.” She knew she giggled into his head.

  “True. You’ve scrambled my brain so badly I can’t count to two.”

  “Excellent. My work here is done.” She finally pulled the cover down far enough to blink into the brightness of the room. Why hadn’t they shut the blinds last night?

  She took her time coming fully awake and then trying to conjure the desire to actually get out of bed and walk. The scent of coffee was the final straw. She needed the elixir before anything else.

  When she finally sat up and swung her legs over the side of the bed, she found a neat pile of clean clothes on a chair next to her. There was no way she was going to get in the shower yet, but she also wasn’t going to roam around in Austin’s house naked, so she tugged on the yoga pants, sports bra, and oversized sweatshirt, courtesy of Adriana’s shopping.

  The floor was cold enough that Nuria even put on the sports socks before she left the room.

  Two minutes later, she had her hair pulled back in a ponytail and was sipping her first cup of coffee while she stared out the sliding glass door at the expanse of land behind Austin’s house.

  “I sense you found the coffee,” Austin communicated.

  “Yes. Bless you.”

  “I’ll head that way in a few minutes. My dad’s leaving and I’m going to circle the edge of the property again before I come inside.”

  She giggled. “Kind of overkill don’t you think?”

  “Nope.”

  She rolled her eyes even though he wasn’t there to see her. After a few more moments of enjoying the view, she padded across the kitchen and back into the living room to curl up in the corner of the couch.

  There wasn’t much better in life than a man who would fuck her unconscious, giving her multiple orgasms, and then prepare her coffee in the mo
rning before she awoke.

  She could get used to this life.

  By the time she finished the first mug and set it aside on the end table, she began to wonder what was taking Austin so long. She waited several more minutes, not wanting to be “that girl,” before reaching out to him. “Babe?”

  Nothing. No response. What the hell? She sat up straighter, glancing around the room as if the walls had answers. “Austin?”

  Nothing.

  So unlike him. Under the circumstances, she knew he would never block her connection to him.

  “Allister?” He didn’t respond either, but she knew he wouldn’t. She could no longer sense his proximity. Freaking out a bit, she stood and wandered to the glass door in the kitchen. No one was out there. She couldn’t sense a shifter or a human in any direction.

  Goose bumps rose on her limbs, and she crossed her arms under her chest as if she were cold. In reality she was. Chilled to the bone suddenly.

  She strained to make a connection with Austin again. They weren’t bound, so she was restricted to the general vicinity. Grizzly bears could communicate with any member of their species if they were close enough. But they only had long-distance communication with immediate family members and then later mates.

  Nuria had no family left living, and she wasn’t bound to Austin, which meant he was no longer close enough for her to reach out to. It made no sense after he’d just told her he would be inside in a minute.

  “Austin?” She tried again in vain.

  Suddenly, she was pissed that they hadn’t finished the binding. With that one last step she would have been able to reach him anywhere.

  She turned away from the window and walked like a zombie through the house, picking up speed as she went until she reached the bedroom and located her tennis shoes on the floor. She needed something on her feet no matter what, thinking it would be good to be prepared. For who knew what.