Redeem the Bear

by T. S. Joyce

  His profile was ridged and his face immersed in shadow. The fast rise and fall of his chest spoke of his anger and she sank onto the mattress. Defeated, she murmured, “I don’t want you to do anything you don’t want to.”

  Slowly, Brooks approached and crouched in front of her. His eyes had dimmed and he stared at her for a long time. Then, gently, he held her jaw and kissed her like Daniel had all those years ago. The dam of emotion broke in her as he lapped gently against her mouth and she opened for him, allowing him to run slow strokes with his tongue. If a man loved her, she could imagine this is what it would feel like.

  His hand traveled up her ribs and to the curve of her bra. He reached around and unhooked it with a quiet snick. Vulnerable and completely naked, she lay down in front of him and watched his eyes rake over her skin.

  “You’re beautiful,” he murmured in a reverent, gravelly voice.

  Tracing his collar bone as the muscles rippled beneath it, she whispered, “So are you.” He always had been.

  Reaching between her legs, he leaned down and kissed her as he pressed a finger inside of her. She sighed as she rolled her hips toward him, encouraging his touch. He dropped his forehead against her chin and groaned. “You’re so wet.”

  Her cheeks burned. “Is that bad?”

  With a deep chuckle, he slid out of his pants and guided her hand to his cock, which seemed even bigger and harder now. “No, it’s not bad, Corin. It’s sexy.”

  What was sexy was the way her name rolled off of his sensual lips. She pulled a long stroke of the satiny skin of his shaft, and his hips jerked, then pressed against her again.

  “You want me to use a condom?” he asked.

  She wasn’t in heat, plus…

  “I die at dawn, remember? You don’t have to worry about getting me with cub.”

  “Stop saying that.” Kisses trailed down her neck, leaving a path of fire in their wake. “Tell me if I hurt you,” he whispered, hovering over her entrance.

  His skin brushed hers, and she rocked her hips instinctively and spread her knees wider. “I trust you.”

  Lowering down, he slid into her slowly, stretching her until he was nestled deep inside of her. Pleasure overrode the tingling sensation of pain. Brooks’ arms were shaking, as if he were holding himself in check, and he pulled almost all the way out, only to press into her again.

  Such intimacy was beyond her, and in desperation to cling to this feeling of utter abandon, she kissed his throat and hugged him tighter against her.

  She wanted more of him. She wanted everything.

  He groaned, the sound a mixture of pleasure and discomfort and she marveled at how well she understood him in this moment. The pressure building inside of her was almost excruciating as she strained for release too.

  Over and over, he moved inside of her filling her, and depleting her, only to fill her again. Writhing against him, she whispered his name as her orgasm crashed through her. With a growl, Brooks thrust into her deep and stilled, then bucked a couple more times as he shot his throbbing hot release into her. She clawed his back as her pulsing aftershocks mirrored his.

  Nothing else could touch this feeling. She was flying, spinning, falling and satisfaction pooled deep in her belly. “You tried for me,” she whispered in awe.

  Teeth grazing the flesh of her shoulder, he pulled out of her slowly. “Stay right there.”

  A bag rustled, then the sharp crack of a plastic water bottle being opened filled the darkness. When he returned, he was holding something.

  “Spread your legs for me,” he said, lying beside her.

  “What are you doing?” she asked.

  “Cleaning you.”

  “Oh.” Spreading her legs, she grinned as he ran a wet washcloth in gentle strokes against her sex. “Do men…is that what people do after…you know?”

  “Do men usually clean their women after sex? I don’t know. I haven’t before, but you bled.”

  She smelled it then, the metallic scent of blood. Embarrassed, she turned her face away. “Sorry.”

  He huffed a short laugh and tossed the rag into the corner, then pulled her chin until her gaze met his. “Sorry for bleeding? Hardly something to apologize for. Did it hurt?”

  “A little. It felt much better than it hurt though.”

  “Good. Next time it will hurt less.”

  It was sad that he could still pretend she wasn’t dying in a few hours. “Dawn, remember?”

  “Corin,” he growled. “If you mention dying tomorrow again, you’ll regret it.”

  Oh, she believed him. The scary glint was back in his eyes, and they were lightening by the second.

  “I need to take you back to your people before my second wakes up. He’ll…”

  “Kill me if he finds me here?”

  Sadness slashed across his eyes as he dropped his gaze to her lips. “I should’ve killed you the moment I saw you in my camp. Now I’ve ruined us both.”

  Chapter Eight

  The trip through the Long Claw camp had been terrifying enough when everyone was asleep, but now, as the moon sat lower in the sky, the rustle of shifters in their tents made Corin’s heart want to leap from behind her sternum and flee her body.

  She followed Brooks as he’d demanded, but damn, she was panting in fear.

  “They are just switching out the guards,” he murmured when she caught up. Her legs bounced this way and that like yarn.

  “What’s wrong?” he asked, his frown of disapproval evident in the moonlight.

  She’d been fucked too thoroughly, that’s what. “Uh, just nervous.”

  He wrapped his warm, strong hand around hers and tugged her forward. Now, he might have just been helping to increase their pace by dragging her through the wilderness, or he might have been making sure she didn’t trip and fall into a smelly bog, but right now, she was going to pretend he cared. Because that’s what people who did what they just did in his tent back there did. They cared.

  He doesn’t care about anything or anyone, her subconscious argued.

  Fuck you, subconscious. He just gentle-diddled her, so at least he could be soft with a woman who needed it. It counted.

  He has killed countless innocents at the order of the Long Claw alphas. And now he’s the one giving the order to kill all of your friends.

  She scrunched her face at her subconscious’ arguing skills. She was way out of her league with that one. And what did that say about the fact that she’d just slept with him? She’d picked the alpha of the Long Claws as her very first sexual partner. Hannah had definitely not sent her here to seduce Brooks. Corin was supposed to talk to him, and she’d slept with him instead. And instead of making him promise to end the war like a proper seductress, she’d just moaned his name a lot. She definitely didn’t deserve having any babies named after her for this colossal mission fail.

  Weaving through the tents, she was relieved when they came to the last group of them. Almost safe. And when they passed the quiet shelters, her throat seized a little less. Now she could breathe easier.

  Maybe she could go back to Bear Valley’s camp and pretend none of this ever happened. She could tell Hannah she’d just bumbled through the woods all night, lost, and never found Brooks. Hannah was human and wouldn’t have the instinct for deciphering if she was lying or not.

  Geez, she was supposed to feel like a goddess right now. She’d finally had sex, and with the man she had always thought about when she touched herself. Even if Brooks didn’t remember how good and decent he used to be, how had he known to kiss her like Daniel? And how did his fingers instinctively slip into the strange position they used to hold hands as children? Her pointer and middle intertwined with his ring and pinky. Comfortable and intimate all at once. She’d stumbled upon something she never thought she would be lucky enough to have.

  So why was she swan diving off the cliff of self-loathing into low self-esteem bay?

  You shouldn’t love him. He’s cruel and empty, and you’re sensiti
ve and good and full of joy. You don’t match. Not anymore.

  Cruel and empty? But he’d cleaned her with such care. He had denied Merit, then turned around and gave Corin the exact experience she asked for. He’d asked if he had hurt her, and even now, he was betraying his people to save her. Aloof as he had to be, perhaps, but not empty. Not cruel.

  He turned his head and she admired his profile. Even after what they had done, his hair seemed mussed just right. Hers probably resembled a bird’s nest. His eyes were so dark, they didn’t contrast at all with the night sky, and his mouth was set in a grim line. If he smiled deep enough, a dimple would dent his left cheek. Then she would know he was Daniel for sure. Sadly, she’d never know Brooks well enough to see a smile. He had no laugh lines. He had no frown lines. It was as if he’d been trained to have no emotion at all.

  And they were out of time together.

  Casting a glance somewhere behind her, his eyes narrowed and he pulled her forward and slammed her back against a tree so fast, the wind left her for a moment. “What are you—”

  His mouth pressed against hers with such force, her lip tasted like iron. He ripped her jeans down and stomped on the material, then lifted her out of them and hitched her up. Pulling the backs of her knees until she was wrapped around him, he pulled down his pants. He wasn’t hard, but he lifted his cock until it rested in between her thighs. Her panties were the only barrier between them.

  She hadn’t okayed this and they’d just done this dance a few minutes ago. Surely he wasn’t this needy, so what the hell was he doing?

  A light flashed against her closed eyelids and she winced away from it. Oh.

  Brooks disengaged from her throbbing mouth and turned his head. “Mace, turn that fuckin’ light off. You’re going to blind us.” He cradled her head, pressing her face against his shoulder and shielding her with his body.

  “Brooks? Oh, sorry man. I…” He cleared his throat. “I went to your tent to talk about the strategies we discussed earlier, but you weren’t there.”

  Corin wanted to see Mace’s face so badly. He was a Long Claw, but actually sounded scared of Brooks. Which was amazing, because he was likely looking at his alpha’s bare ass right now. She couldn’t risk him seeing her face and realizing she wasn’t one of his people though, and curiosity wasn’t killing this kitty—not tonight.

  “Give me twenty more minutes with this one. I want my head clear.”

  She buried her face deeper against his shoulder and stifled a laugh. He must be talking about his smaller head.

  “Okay.” The man didn’t move.

  “Mace?” Brooks growled.

  “Yes, sir?”

  “I generally wouldn’t mind a female audience, but having a dude stare at my ass while I blow my load isn’t going to work for me. Leave. Now.” Dominance filled the woods, and raw power so potent it made her stomach hum brushed through her. Geez, Brooks was scary.

  “Yes, sir. I’ll wait back at your tent.”

  The flashlight clicked back on, then bobbed through the woods as Mace walked away. Brooks’ cock had stirred to life sometime during his exchange, and now sat rigid in between her folds.

  His nostrils flared. “You know how I said it would hurt less next time?” he asked, dragging his smoldering, dark gaze back to hers.

  She was nearly panting at the feel of him between her legs again. “Yes.”

  “I lied. You’re still sore and it would hurt if we did this right now.”

  “You could be gentle again.”

  A long growl rumbled from his chest and his lips curled back over his teeth. “Not this time, and not like this. I want to take you hard and fast against this tree, Corin.”

  She swallowed, stalling. If she spoke right away, her voice would come out husky and betray how badly she wanted him when he talked like this. Instead, she leaned forward and kissed him, boldly pressing her tongue past his lips and into his mouth.

  “Corin,” he rasped, easing away.

  “I want you.”

  He cast a glance behind him and she thought he would deny her, but when he faced her again, his eyes were focused and his mouth found hers in that demanding rhythm from earlier.

  He didn’t bother removing her panties, but moved them to the side and slid into her, gentle the first thrust, but punishing after that. He bucked wildly, hips crashing against hers until a rhythmic smacking echoed through the woods. She should feel embarrassed. They weren’t that far away from the tents and she didn’t even belong here, but she trusted him to protect her if they were found out.

  And he felt so damned good inside of her, it was hard to think about the reasons she shouldn’t be in his arms.

  “You said his name earlier,” Brooks gritted out. “When you came, you called me Daniel. Say my real name, Corin.”

  Had she? She couldn’t remember, nor could she think straight right now. Words failed her as pleasure warred with pain. He was going too fast.

  “Say it,” he gritted out. “Say my name and I’ll reward you.”

  “Brooks,” she murmured.

  He pulled out of her and she gasped at the unexpected emptiness she felt inside. That was the worst reward of all time.

  He dropped to his knees and gripped her hips, pressed her back against the tree and pressed his mouth onto her sex.

  “Oooh,” she said in a shaking voice. Never mind. This was the best reward ever.

  His tongue dipped languidly inside of her, over and over and the soreness there melted away. She had already been close, and her knees grew weaker as he kissed on and on. He held her steady in place, as if he’d known her reaction would be to go limp as mud at his capable touch. Cocky genius.

  Was she supposed to watch his head bobbing sensually between her thighs? Was she supposed to close her eyes and enjoy the waves of pleasure he was bringing her? She should have studied up. Arching against him, she gripped a low hanging branch above her and bore more of her weight as the first moan of ecstasy left her lips. He was so damned good at this.

  Tiny patterned whimpers escaped her as the pressure built and she came even harder than the first time, pulsing around his clever tongue. Shaft in hand, he was stroking long and slow, and now a single dewy bead of cum sat at the top, glistening in the moonlight.

  He kissed between her thighs once more and stood on steady, powerful legs.

  “Are you growling at me?” he asked, raking his teeth against her neck.

  Was she? Indeed she was. That was a first. “I wanted to do that.”

  “Do what?”

  “Stroke you.”

  “Submissive bear, so bold to growl at a dominant,” he murmured.

  She couldn’t tell if he was angry or amused and his face gave away nothing. Slowly, he lifted her hands back to the tree branch above her, then slid inside of her. “I was taking care of myself so I’d be close when I took you, Corin. So it wouldn’t hurt as much.” He thrust hard and she gasped.

  His hands found her backside and he pressed her against him with the next thrust. It hurt compared to his tongue, but still felt right. Felt good.

  “Don’t growl at me again, Corin, or I’ll punish you.” Another thrust and another. Then three short bursts and warmth shot into her as he groaned and bucked erratically.

  She came again, encouraged by his own throbbing release. “Brooks,” she whispered as she tipped over the edge.

  “Good girl,” he rasped, and she nearly glowed under his compliment. He didn’t seem the type to give them lightly.

  He clutched her chin and kissed her hard and short as he pulled out of her. “Put your clothes on. Dawn will be here soon.”

  Dawn. The word had become synonymous with death and the bottom dropped out of her stomach. Brooks and his tender affection had been a beautiful distraction from the end, but there was no more avoiding it. No more hours left to ignore the bloody fate that was coming.

  “You won’t stop this war? You won’t save all of these people?” she asked as her last hope lay in t
he coming sunrise.

  “It’s beyond me now,” he said, void of emotion. “If that’s what you came for, your mission was doomed before you even met me.”

  She swallowed back crippling emotion as he plucked his pants from the grass and disappeared around the tree.

  A night with her enemy hadn’t saved her people.

  A night with Brooks had only proved that her Daniel really was dead.

  Chapter Nine

  Brooks didn’t offer his hand this time as he led her toward the meadow separating their camps. The moon hung low and it illuminated the gently waving grass in an eerie glow. Corin balked as Brooks took his first step into the field of whispers.

  “I don’t think we should go through there.” Her instincts were screaming to back away slowly.

  “Why?” he asked in a hard voice.

  “It’s haunted.”

  His face morphed from interested to completely closed off. “Spirits don’t come around creatures like me, Corin. Come.”

  Creatures like him? Dark? Soulless? What did that even mean?

  “Why did you choose this place?” The first tendrils of suspicion touched her heart. “What does it mean to you?”

  A cold smile crooked his lips but failed to reach his eyes. “I fought Bear Valley for my first battle in this meadow. The souls you hear whispering against your neck? They are the unsettled ghosts of my people and yours. We lost that battle, but today will be different. This is the place I choose to end Bear Valley, where my battles began.”

  Horrified, she shook her head in denial that he would plan this. The second she thought she knew him, thought he had a heart somewhere in his dark, echoing chest cavity, his words pulled the hope right from her. Seething that she’d been so stupid, she brushed by him.

  “I can get back to my people just fine from here.”

  She wasn’t going to look back, no matter what. He could watch her go all he wanted. The wind picked up and lifted her hair and she covered her ears as the whispers began again.