by Suzie Ivy
Mandy whipped the towel off the bear’s shoulders. “You look much more handsome, but a good bath would help with the smell,” she teased.
“No, ma’am, I’ve paid my wager.” He wouldn’t look at either Mandy or Honey.
Honey spoke quietly, “Go home and report this to your father.”
“Yes, sir.”
It took all of thirty seconds after Patreous left the cabin for Mandy to explode. “What was that all about? Report what to his father?”
Honey approached until he stood directly over his mate. “There will be consequences for him losing your bet. He knew that when he agreed and now he must pay the real price for losing.”
She shook her head in frustration and then glared at him. “What kind of consequences?”
“His father will probably beat him.” Honey let her know his displeasure by giving a slight rumble to the words.
“You’re joking.” A silly smile curved her lips.
“Bears do not lose. When we do, it could mean our life. Patreous knows the rules.”
Her smile turned into a frown and horror replaced her grin. “You’re not joking, are you?”
Honey’s steely eyes glared into hers. “No.”
“Well, of all the…” The words were mumbled under her breath as she turned to the door.
Honey reached out and grabbed her shoulder in a solid grip. “You’ve done enough. We need to discuss your actions.”
***
He watched as Mandy looked at his hand, and then her eyes ran up his arm past his bulging muscles until she made eye contact. “Take. Your. Hand. Off. My. Shoulder.” She grit out each word.
He tightened his hold.
He wasn’t sure what happened, but her movements flowed seamlessly as she stepped in, dipped her shoulder while grabbing Honey’s pinky finger, twisted it, and then tossed him over her body. His finger dislocated, but that wasn’t why Honey let out a roar of rage. She made her leap as he landed on the hardwood floor. She shifted to wolf and took off through the front door.
He ignored his throbbing finger, shucked his clothing, and shifted to beast form. Tyboll would kill her. The man was barely sane as it was. Honey knew Mandy could run unbelievably fast, so he notified Dmitri of the circumstances. His damn mate would be the death of Honey and he knew it. At least his father, though crazy, kept himself on a tightly controlled leash. Tyboll did not, and if he harmed Mandy, Honey would kill him.
Honey stretched his large muscles and put on a burst of speed. Dmitri’s exasperated voice sounded in his head. “She’s only one small wolf. Do you need training so you can control her?”
“Obviously I do. She’s a stubborn, pigheaded bitch.” Honey was past angry, but it was replaced with fear when he heard Tyboll’s roar through the trees. “Are you there, my liege?”
“Your mate is safe.” Dmitri’s voice flowed into his head.
The words didn’t alleviate Honey’s worry. He might still need to kill Tyboll, and after that he would tan his mate’s hide, tie her to the bed, and keep her there for the next month. If she could lock him in a cage, he could damn well keep her safe from herself.
He burst from the trees and saw Mandy holding Patreous within her arms. Dmitri stood between Tyboll and Mandy, his eyes not leaving the crazy bear’s.
Honey’s breaths came out in huge gulping gasps. “Thank you, my liege. I will handle this.”
Dmitri looked directly at Honey. “I do not want one of you dead. If you haven’t heard, we are being dragged into a war. Do you both understand?” His eyes turned amber as he gazed at both bears.
“Yes, my liege,” Honey answered immediately.
Tyboll stared for a moment then nodded his head. Dmitri’s gaze settled on Mandy. “I expect you to learn our ways, adapt, and find your place.” His golden gaze sparked with power and then he flashed from the clearing.
Honey kept his eyes on Tyboll. “Uncle.”
The large man’s chest puffed up and his eyes squinted tight. “Remove your female from my property and keep her away from my son.”
Mandy inhaled loudly. “But…”
“Mate, silence,” Honey snapped with a growl.
Mandy tightened her hold on Patreous while staring daggers at her mate. “Why you overbearing piece of donkey dung. Your entire clan is crazy.” She pushed Patreous away from her chest, but still held his arms and looked down into his eyes. “You do not need to be beaten because you lost a race. In very little time you will be faster than me.”
She must have noticed the fear on the boy’s face because she released her grip and looked over his shoulder at his father. “And you… how dare you hit him for such a stupid reason.”
Honey didn’t give her a chance to say more. She was upended over his shoulder and screaming her outrage as he carried her away. Tyboll’s treatment of Patreous was a problem for Honey, too, but no one had the right to interfere unless the boy was in serious danger. Honey’s relationship with Tyboll was tentative because neither liked the other. If he didn’t get Mandy away, Dmitri would return and that wouldn’t be good.
She continued to kick and scream every imaginable cussword she could come up with. He was thinking about washing her mouth out with soap when she managed to somehow reach up and grab his hair. A fistful came out at the roots, but he thought twice about slapping her ass in this position because he had no doubt she’d take another bite out of him. He managed not to grunt with the pain to his scalp and keep his strides fast and steady until he reached the cabin. He walked into the bathroom, turned on the shower’s cold water, and then forced her under the spray.
“You son of a bitch. You better plan on sleeping with one eye open tonight. I’ll nail your balls to a two-by-four,” she screamed.
He let her continue, but held her under the spray until her teeth chattered so hard she couldn’t speak. Surprisingly enough, she wasn’t crying. “Have you had enough?” he asked sharply.
Her glare was his only answer, so he turned off the water and pulled her out of the shower. He threw a towel in her direction and grabbed one for himself. The water was damn cold and he was no dryer than she was.
He watched her dry off from the corner of his eye. There was no way he was taking his eyes completely away from her, because he knew she’d take off out the door. The heat from her gaze should have warned him along with the fact she wasn’t speaking, but it didn’t.
He backed out of the bathroom and let her pass, watching her delectable backside as she stormed into their bedroom. He walked in and grabbed some sweats from his drawer, barely catching a flash of skin as she entered the closet. He looked up after sliding the soft cotton over his head.
Mandy walked out of the closet with her tranquilizer gun pointed in his direction. “You have a lot to learn about having a wolf for mate.” She fired.
His last hazy thought was wondering how the stupid gun got past him in the first place. His world went black.
Chapter Seventeen
Mandy paced across the confines of the bedroom and then stopped beside her mate and gave him a solid kick in the thigh for good measure. She had never realized training a bear could be so difficult, but he was stubborn and a complete idiot for thinking he could manhandle her. She left the room and searched the cabin until she found what she needed.
Dragging, pulling, and sliding, she eventually got him onto the bed. Using all the rope she found, she tied him to the four posters, spread eagle. She then made herself some food. After cleaning the kitchen and then the water from the bathroom floor, she filled a large bucket with ice and water, giving it a few minutes to become as cold as possible, and then, without a care for the mattress, she upended the bucket over his head. He shook his huge body and roared louder than she’d ever heard. With all four limbs tied to the bed he couldn’t shift without dislocating his joints. She’d noticed his swollen pinky, but decided it could wait until they had a few things worked out.
He struggled against his bindings, but they held. Mandy had another da
rt loaded if they didn’t. When they arrived at his home, she’d smuggled the gun in her bag of personal items having no idea she’d be using it on her mate again.
“I shouldn’t ask.” Dmitri appeared in the bedroom looking stunned.
“Did he call you?” Mandy looked back and forth between Honey and the vampire with an exasperated sigh.
The “you” in question finally spoke in something besides bear grumble. “Yes, I called him. Dmitri, get me out of this so I can take care of my mate.” The words practically spit from his mouth.
She turned her full attention to the vampire. “This is a discussion between me and Honey. I don’t think it wise for you to interfere.”
Dmitri’s eyebrows arched and a small grin played around the corners of his mouth. “The two of you seem to have these types of… discussions quite often.”
“We do, but they’re private. He’s not in his right mind right now. I think returning home and facing his father has addled his brain.”
The vampire’s chest started shaking.
Honey’s voice lowered to a strained whisper. “My liege, she is crazy, but she is my mate and I need to discipline her for her actions.”
Mandy took her eyes from the vampire and turned to Honey. “That is exactly what I’m doing. You, my great hairy beast, need to improve your manners. I… will not be treated like a second-class citizen or punished like a child. On the other hand, if you insist on brutality, chastisement, or water torture, you are in for a very rude awakening.”
She gave Dmitri her attention. “You are more powerful than I, but I don’t believe you’ll hurt me. I ask to settle this matter alone with my mate.”
“So be it.” Dmitri vanished and Honey’s roar again filled the cabin.
Mandy walked into the other room and grabbed a chair, which she sat down by the bed. “Your finger is swollen and needs to be put back in place. If you think you can stop yelling for a few minutes, I’ll assist you.”
Furious obsidian eyes glared at her.
“I’ll take that as a yes.” She stood and looked at his misshapen little finger. It was swollen and looked quite painful. Working quickly, she grabbed it and pulled away from his body, letting the joint slide back into place. He made a small grunt. Her eyes traveled over him, watching his chest rise and fall rapidly. He really was glorious. She sat on the side of the bed and clasped her hands together so she didn’t run her fingers over his naked flesh. He watched every move with livid intensity. “I think we’re having a problem with communication.” She was proud of herself for keeping her voice calm and even.
It only took a split second for him to respond, “And I think you are certifiably insane.”
She softened her tone, hoping to get through to him. “If I am, it’s because you drive me to do these things.”
His eyelids closed and, without opening them, he whispered, “Release me, Mandy.”
She stared for a moment. “Or what? We’ve been here before. You are by far the most pig-headed person I’ve ever met. Our union should be a partnership where we help each other and care for each other.”
That snapped his eyes open and a deep grumble escaped his chest. “You call shooting your mate with a dart gun care?” He said incredulously.
She crossed her arms. “You keep forcing these consequences upon yourself.”
He sneered with derision. “Do female wolves all wear the pants in your former clan?”
“When necessary,” she huffed. He just didn’t understand, so she tried again. “I do not agree with the ways of the bear clan. Some of it I can learn, but some of it won’t fit with how I was raised. Those things are called compromise.” She emphasized each syllable, “COMP-RO-MISE. I know it’s a long word, but I think it would behoove you to learn it. Truthfully, I’m running out of darts.”
She saw his muscles clench and the tick in his left eye was back. “Thank the goddess,” he harrumphed.
She turned more toward him and tentatively put her hand on his chest. The water she’d poured had dried on his skin, although the mattress beneath was soaked. “How can this part of our life,” Her fingers skimmed across his chest and feathered through the light tuft of hair surrounding his nipples. “be so wonderful… but… when we aren’t in bed… it’s just one fight after another?” She leaned over and kissed the ripples of stomach muscles beneath her fingers, gave him a small nip then licked the small imprint of her teeth.
He sucked in a ragged breath, but didn’t say anything to stop her.
She continued up his abs, flicked her tongue across his nipple, and then moved to the other one. When they became hard, she traveled upward and slowly made her way to his mouth. She hesitated one moment with her lips a hair’s breadth from his before kissing him with lips, tongue, and teeth. One hand trailed lower until she held his erection and felt it jump beneath her fingers. Moving away from his mouth, she rose up on the bed and straddled his hips. His eyes filled with lust, following her every move. She positioned herself and then watched his eyelids lower as she sank inch by inch onto his thick, hard erection. She set a slow pace that fit her mood. He eventually bucked his hips, but she grabbed his pectoral muscles and continued the slow torture no matter how hard and fast he wanted to penetrate her. Sweat dripped from her body and rolled off to combine with the salty moisture coming off his. His groans of desire escaped and soon her screams of release followed.
Her entire body quivered with the aftermath of their pleasure as she rested against his chest. “I love you,” she whispered.
“Then untie me, mate.” He actually purred the request in her ear.
Against her better judgment, she did exactly what he asked. Her trepidation increased when the last strands of rope fell from his wrist to the floor.
Chapter Eighteen
Honey grabbed her hair, but didn’t pull. He wanted to be sure she couldn’t run. Ever so slowly, he brought her face closer to his. When their lips almost touched, he whispered, “Kiss me again.”
She sighed into his mouth and indulged the request. He pulled her close, fingers of one hand around the side of her neck, then rolled so she lay beneath him, and let the kiss continue. When he finally lifted his head, her hooded gaze enchanted him and arousal pulsed between them again. “Wrap your legs around my waist.” He breathed across her skin then waited until she complied. “Hold on,” he managed to say before the force of their combined lust made speaking impossible.
He wasn’t slow or gentle. His hips surged forward as he repeatedly buried himself in his mate—quick, hard, and all consuming. She matched him thrust for thrust until she let go and exploded with a powerful orgasm that also took him over the edge.
He moved away from her hot skin, but placed his hand on her stomach. The bed, wet beneath them, was uncomfortable, but it was impossible to think about how it happened. Somehow, someway he had to tame his she-wolf and find a way to make her understand her place within his life. The bear dynamic was centuries old and would never change. Many possibilities ran through his mind before he settled on his course of action. Without a word, he lifted himself from the bed and went into the other room. He took out his laptop, placed it on the table, and began sorting through emails he’d missed while held captive.
Ten minutes went by before Mandy walked out carrying the wet sheets. He barely looked up. “Place them in the dryer. We can pick up an extra set from my mother tomorrow, but that’s all I have here at the moment.”
She walked through the doorway behind the kitchen, which held a large and almost-empty pantry along with a washer and dryer. He heard her start the dryer while he continued to look through email. When caught up with the communications, he ordered a door from the hardware store. Mandy sat down at the table and watched him work. He turned the computer toward her. “Go ahead and order what you think we need.” He stood up, made his way outside, and sat in one of the chairs on the porch. Mandy eventually walked out and sat in the other.
“You’re not talking to me on purpose. Is this sup
posed to be my new punishment?”
He didn’t look at her. “A punishment… no... I don’t have anything to say that won’t cause you anger, and I’d rather have some peace for a change.”
“So you won’t talk to me?”
He sighed and then looked over. “If you have questions, ask. If you have something you want to talk about then talk. I will answer and I will listen.”
They both went back to sitting in silence.
“I’m sorry for shooting you with another dart.” She sounded sincere.
“Apology accepted. How many more of those things do you have?”
“One. I’ll go get it.” She stood up, but his voice stopped her.
“Don’t worry about it. I’m sure you’ll need it again.”
“Don’t temp me, please.” Slight laughter sounded in her voice.
“Believe me, I’ll try my best not to.” He looked off into the trees of his home.
“Do you love me, Honey?” She asked quietly.
He felt her eyes on him. “Yes. More than you could ever know.”
They sat in silence for a long time.
“What would you like for dinner?” she finally asked.
“I don’t think there are too many options, but I’ll take whatever you can find.”
She walked inside, but he stayed on the porch until she told him dinner was ready. The potato soup was wonderful. He usually ate with his parents twice a week, and used the small diner near the nightclub in Denver the rest of the time.
“You’re a good cook,” he said after his second helping.
“Once you have food in the cupboards, I’ll do better.” She hesitated a moment. “I can’t stay locked up in this cabin or even around here after you return to work. I know having a cub will make a difference and I might change my mind, but don’t leave me, Honey,” she pleaded in a soft voice.
Where all her feisty talk and behavior had little impact, her quiet request did. He looked away then settled his gaze back on her. “We won’t be leaving here for a month or until you’re pregnant. Can we just enjoy this time and get to know each other better?”