by Milly Taiden
After he came, he’d gone to the bathroom to clean up, only to return and find her gone. At that point he was filled with confusion when it came to her. There was one thing that he did know. She wanted him. He shouldn’t be surprised that women found him sexually attractive, but seeing Nita’s response to him was better than anything. She had been the only woman he’d always wished would be interested in him. From the moment he’d laid eyes on her.
He grumbled on his way to the kitchen.
Liam sat there, smiling, using his pocket knife to sharpen a piece of wood into a sharp point. “Good morning, Chief.”
“What’s so good about it?” he snapped. Guilt crept up his neck. “Sorry, I don’t mean to be angry at you. I didn’t get much sleep.”
Liam’s brows rose with interest. “I didn’t think you would, but I don’t think it’s for the same reason I expected.”
To tell Liam about what had happened the previous night was a big no-no in Ky’s book. Nita was the woman he’d wanted for much longer than he cared to admit to even himself. He didn’t talk about his sex life, or the lack thereof with anyone. He was private and he wouldn’t go there.
“No. It’s not what you’re thinking.” Definitely not because he’d been balls deep in the woman he’d wanted for more than half his life. No. It was because he hadn’t been that he got no sleep.
“Look, I left last night because I thought you two might want to spend some time together.” Liam picked up a piece of toast and took a bite. “But you need to tell me about this injury.”
Ky fixed a cup of coffee and spoke. “Someone hit me. Hard enough to knock me out while I was distracted and on the phone.”
Liam frowned. “Didn’t you scent them?”
He shook his head. “That’s the thing. I think they wore hunter’s block. I definitely would have scented someone approaching. As it was, I can’t figure out how I didn’t even hear when they came in.”
Liam’s snort wasn’t surprised. “How could you hear anyone when you leave your doors open so people can come and go as they please?”
True. He didn’t bother shutting or locking doors during the day. Most of his clan had open access to his cabin.
His thoughts drifted back to the previous night. Dammit. Heat spread over his muscles and down to his cock. The image of Nita on her knees not more than twenty feet from his room pleasuring herself still did things to his system no woman ever had.
He wanted her. Bad. More than he was willing to admit to her just yet. She didn’t realize how special she’d been to him back in high school. They’d been young. His shyness and her friendship had kept him from doing anything bold like kissing her.
Most of the time their interactions turned to fun friendly activities. It was those activities that allowed his feelings for her to grow, to blossom into an even deeper set of feelings he’d hidden so well she’d never known. Now there she was, just a few hundred yards away from his house and willing to spend time with him. To see if they could be a perfect match. He already knew they were.
“We need to go hunting then.” Liam broke through his thoughts like a splash of cool water.
He was about to agree when Nita knocked at his door.
“Good morning.” She waved at them.
He watched her, searching for any sign of embarrassment over the previous night, but she continued to smile. In fact, her smile widened as her gaze roamed down his body in a visual caress he loved.
“Good morning,” Liam lifted his knife in mock salute. “You look great today. Doesn’t she look great, Chief?”
He realized he’d been standing there, staring at her without speaking. What a frickin’ idiot. What happened to his ability to speak to women? It disappeared the moment Nita came back into his life.
“You look great,” he said once he remembered how to use his vocal cords.
“Thanks.” She slid a long curl behind her ear and glanced at the cup in his hand. “I would have made coffee in the baby cabin, but I couldn’t find any.”
“Baby cabin?” Liam laughed.
She grinned, nodding. “It’s so cute. It’s like a baby cabin. By the way.” She entered the kitchen and headed for the table Liam sat at. “I appreciate the extra bathroom space and large tub. I worried about getting stuck in a little tub, but you had comfort in mind when you made that. It is probably the biggest part of that cabin.” She met his gaze. “Aside from the bed.”
Well, shit. Going back to check out the size of the bed sounded mighty good to him. He knew they’d both fit in it.
“Come in and have some coffee,” Ky invited. “Do you mind if we do a walk down by the river with Liam this morning?”
She shook her head. “Nope. That sounds fun.”
Guilt burned in his chest. “I know that isn’t part of the date, but we have to go check on a few or our clan members and they’re likely to be down by our meeting house.”
“Yes, it’s fine.”
But something about the way she said the words worried him. It was her dismissive attitude. What changed between the previous night and now?
After breakfast, they hiked through the woods toward the river.
“How far...is this river?” she panted, her cheeks red from the sun and her hair clinging to the sides of her face with perspiration.
“If you’re tired, we can take a break,” he offered, his guilt growing at the sheen of sweat over her mouth and the tired sigh she gave.
“It’s just that I’m not used to walking this much.” She scrunched her nose. “Okay, I’m not used to walking at all, but I am happy to continue if you guys slow it down a little.”
Fuck. What kind of bastard was he that he’d forgotten she was a city girl. He motioned for Liam to keep going ahead of them and handed her the water bottle he had in his pack. He’d packed it just for her, in case she got thirsty.
“Thank you,” she mumbled, before gulping the water down.
“I’m sorry for the long walk. We’re so used to walking and hiking these woods we forget the trails can be long and difficult for someone that’s not from around here.”
She groaned and sat down on a patch of grass. “It’s okay. I’m so out of shape it’s not even funny. I used to work out a long time ago, but I slacked like a good lazy girl the past few years. My last workout session consisted of me telling my trainer I needed a vacation from exercise.”
He laughed at the face of pain she made and sat down next to her. “That must have gone over well.”
She shook her head. “He didn’t think it was funny in the least. He said to call him when I was ready to get sweaty.”
“Have you called him?” he asked, now fully curious.
She raised a brow high. “It takes me almost four hours to get my hair to not look like a dry straw broom. I’m no longer interested in getting sweaty with him.” Her lips curled in a sexy grin. “There’s better ways to mess up my hair and get a workout.”
“There most certainly are.” He could count at least four that they could try and probably not mess up her hair much. He especially liked the one workout where she would get on her knees again.
She glanced around the quiet forest. “This is so beautiful. So tell me about you. How do you like being a bear-shifter chief? I bet that’s got to be exciting.”
He shrugged. He hated talking about himself. He preferred to learn about her and how her life had changed in the past years.
“It has its moments,” he said, watching the sunlight shine off her gorgeous brown skin.
“You know…” She squinted out at the distance, leaning slightly into him. “You remind me a lot of someone.”
His heartbeat tripped in his chest. “Someone you liked, I hope.”
She smiled and turned to face him, the sparkle in her eyes filled with mischief. “Maybe. Okay, he was a great friend. I actually miss him. Your eyes and your name remind me of him. But you’re not like him.”
“How am I different?”
“Ky used to have a har
d time looking me in the eyes. He also stuttered when we spoke.” She sighed. “He was shy. Not that I was much better.”
He shook his head, remembering the beautiful girl she used to be. Now he was faced with a sexy adult that still managed to make him tongue-tied. “I find that hard to believe.”
She winked. “I was shy. Thankfully poor Ky never knew the kind of stuff running around my head or he probably would have killed our friendship.” With another of those heart-melting smiles, she leaned toward him some more. “How did we end up back on me? Tell me about your family. Do they live nearby?”
He nodded and jumped back to his feet, offering her his hand and helping her stand. “They do. Only my mother and sister are around now.” He continued to hold her hand as they made their way closer to the river. “My father passed some years back.”
“I’m so sorry!”
“It’s okay. It was a big fight against some hunters. We had some in our clan giving away private information on our river and winter food stock to a rival clan. They hired hunters and there was a very big war.”
“That’s awful,” she said and patted his arm. “Losing family sucks big time.”
Why did he tell her about his dad? He hated talking about it. His father hadn’t been the best father or even the best husband, but he’d been a damned good leader. He’d held the clan together and devoted himself to ensuring the group prospered. But it was Ky and his financial savvy that had increased their combined portfolios. He’d gotten their land ownership to be twice what it was and had doubled the savings of every clan member.
Still, telling her about his father was big even for him. He’d held his father’s death locked away, never talking about it. The pain from the loss of his father and the difficult relationship they’d had continued to burn bright in his chest. Anger and hurt had raged deep inside him for so long he’d forgotten how to live without them. If only the old bear hadn’t been so insistent on going to face the enemy alone. If only he’d listened to Ky and waited for some enforcers. But no, he’d taken it upon himself to face the hunters and the rival clan. He’d ended up dead.
With every step they took closer to the river, he pulled her closer to his side. Until she was held by him in a one arm hug.
“So why did your sister decide to find you a date?” her voice broke the quiet walk.
He’d known it was coming. How to explain that Jess was tired of hearing about what was wrong with every female that wanted to have a relationship with him? He’d been okay with dinner and sex in most cases, but long-lasting? Not even as a joke. She’d given him grief over his lack of trying to find a woman to bear his cubs and help with the clan.
“She feels it’s time I made a commitment to someone and stuck with her.”
She stopped in her tracks.
He glanced at her, noticing the frown lines and curious stare. “What do you think? I mean, what she feels is great and all, but she’s not the one that’s going to be in a relationship, you are.”
He took a step toward her, stopping right in front of her. She glanced up, not breaking their gaze. “What does Ky want?”
Ky. He wanted Nita. Had wanted her for so long he’d refused to give it too much thought for fear of how it would look that a grown man had been wanting the same woman for almost seventeen years. He’d pretty much erased the word relationship out of his brain because there was no Nita in his life.
“I agree with her.” He lifted a hand and caressed her smooth cheek. “I want someone who wants to be in a relationship. I want to create something long-lasting with a woman who wants more than just sex.”
She visibly gulped. “Sex is good, though.”
He leaned closer, her scent digging deep, waking the raging lust he couldn’t seem to stop for her. Even the bear roared for a taste. “Sex is real good.”
Her pupils dilated as she glanced at his mouth. “Sex with a person you’re attracted to is probably better.”
“True. Someone who can make your blood run hot and give you all sorts of dirty thoughts.”
She inhaled sharply and met his gaze. “How dirty is dirty?”
He moved closer still, until he was but a few millimeters away from her lips. “Oh, dirty. So dirty you’ll never be clean again.”
She gasped. “I think I want to meet that someone.”
“You already have, beautiful.” He pulled her into his arms and meshed their lips in a kiss so hot he couldn’t stop the roar at the back of his throat. The bear wanted in on the action too.
She wrapped her hands around his neck and clung tight to him. He pushed her back against a large tree. Her soft body rubbed over his in mind-blowing caresses. He slid his hands up from her waist, to cup her breasts. Fuck, he’d been dying to touch them. Those tops she wore that played peekaboo and drove him insane for the past hours were killers. Grabbing handfuls of her large tits, he cupped her and squeezed. Jesus-fucking-hell she was hot. Those sexy moaning sounds she made as he slid his thumbs over her hard little nipples turned his cock steel hard.
If that weren’t painful enough, she raked her nails on the back of his neck, digging them deep. The stinging added another dimension to the arousal raging in his blood. Rational thought fled his brain. His sole focus became those moans, those whimpers in their kiss. The way she curled her tongue over his in a way no woman ever had before. He rocked his pelvis into her belly. How he wanted inside her. Fucking her. Feeling her pussy clench around him.
“Chief? You guys okay?” Liam called from down the path.
“Fucking hell!” He huffed. “Yes, we’re fine. We’ll be there in a sec.” He glanced into Nita’s smiling eyes.
“Looks like we need to find a better time for the chemistry quiz portion of our date.”
“There is no quiz. We both know where this is going.” He knew he pushed it laying it out right like that, but fuck it all, he was hard and he wouldn’t be getting any relief anytime soon.
“You’re right.” She slid her hands from around his neck, slowly down his chest, stopping at his abs. “We both know where this is going. The question is, your bed or mine?”
Hell yes!
He grinned. “Who says we’ll make it to the bed?”
FIVE
Nita had to count to ten backward and forward before she did something she’d never done and attacked a man. It didn’t matter that he was taller, bigger and tougher. That scruffy beard, those sexy hazel eyes and that gorgeous smile was going to push her to a new level of desperate. She’d claimed that her cousin Tally was the one who needed to get laid, but clearly she was past due in the sex department. The last time she’d had sex had been so long ago her vagina probably had a vacancy sign with full blown neon lights down there.
She’d slowed down on the dating in search of something...different. A man who would be more than just sex. She hated lies. Somehow most of the relationships she’d been in involved her boyfriend’s keeping things from her and her finding out later on. She was tired of it. She wanted honesty. She wanted everything out in the open. So far Ky had shown her he was the real deal. More than just sex.
So why then, did this man that made her want more than sex also make her think of the naughtiest things? It wasn’t fair. She’d never been so ready to drop her panties and spread ‘em like she was at that moment. Sadly, she didn’t even feel an ounce of shame over it. What she did feel was anger that Liam had interrupted their kiss.
The rest of the walk to the river was quiet with Ky holding her hand the entire way. It was new and different. Men she’d dated in the past hadn’t done things like help her walk so she wouldn’t fall. They hadn’t held her hand just because they wanted to. And they certainly hadn’t waited to push their way into her bed. Those men had been takers. Clearly Ky was a giver. Now if she could only get him to give her all the orgasms that wicked smile of his promised.
The river bend was beautiful. There was a waterfall and some large rocks that allowed for prime viewing of the lower valley. She’d bet watching the
sunset from there would be unforgettable. The lush greenery and giant trees only reminded her of how little she had in way of a view back home. This openness called to her. She’d give up the city so fast if she found a house in the woods. Not that she was a fan of living alone, but maybe in time she’d find the man for her.
Someone like the bear.
She really liked where this was going with him. Her mind told her to take her time with him. But her body, that desperate bitch, told her to get him naked as soon as possible. Jesus. The bear naked. Those heavy muscles she’d felt under that plaid shirt might kill her from pleasure. If she could just lick her way up his jaw she might come without any actual sex. The way he kissed her alone disabled her ability to think.
“This is where we do most of our fishing,” Liam said, pointing to the large river.
Oops. She’d blacked out the conversation while visualizing him and her doing naughty stuff. The big fall that scurried down to the giant river below showed her a clear view of the fish as they traveled down and up the current.
“Wow. I’ve never been fishing, but I am getting the urge to. Look at all those fish!” she exclaimed.
Ky nodded. “We have prime location here. It’s been a big problem with nearby clans that want to fish without permission.”
“So you won’t let anyone else fish here?” She allowed him to help her further down the side of the river, toward the group of cabins below.
“We do if they ask permission. We don’t want to overfish, so we have seasons. The problem is some of the other clans don’t want to fish at the other rivers that are further away. They want to claim this one for themselves. It becomes a big problem when they start trouble with my people.”
“Does that happen often?” She trailed next to him, following behind Liam.
Liam stopped some yards ahead of them. “We have a problem, Chief.”
They reached the spot where Liam stopped. There was a pile of empty beer bottles and trash.
“It has to be the Greenfield Clan,” Ky growled. “Heck. It could even be one of the clans from further away.”