Cella realized she was having trouble catching her breath, her body beginning to shake. It felt really good to have him so close to her, inside her.
But he wasn’t moving. Why wasn’t he moving?
Taking both her wrists in one hand, Crush used the other to push up her shirt and then his teeth to rip her bra in half. Her back arched and he took that for the invite it was, wrapping his mouth around her breast, his tongue teasing the nipple. And, uh, what were his lips doing? Because they were doing something amazing. And ridiculously intense. So intense, she tried to move away, but his grip on her wrists only tightened.
She knew what he was doing, the tricky bastard. With every twist and tug and tease of her breast, her pussy tightened around his cock like a vise. His growling grew harsher, louder, and the vibration of it against her flesh had her nearly out of her mind. She panted, she mewled, she might have hissed a few times. Then she was coming. Coming so very hard that she cried out.
The bear lifted his head to gaze at her with those black eyes.
“You all right?” And she wondered if he realized he was still growling at her.
Unable to answer since she was still panting, Cella nodded.
“Good.” Remaining inside her, Crush slowly stood, releasing her arms so that he could carefully lift her legs and drape them over his forearms. “ ’Cause I’m not really done yet.”
Grinning, Cella lifted her arms over her head again and gripped the edge of the table. “Glad to hear it.”
It was too much. She was too much. The way she watched him with those bright gold eyes. She was challenging him. Wasn’t she always, though? And he no longer minded. He was really getting to like it. To like her. Difficult, crazy woman that she was.
Still careful of her leg, Crush stepped close to the table while pulling her out just a bit. She gripped his table so hard, her knuckles turned white. Her demanding gaze never left his face. He knew what she was telling him, without saying a word: “Fuck me as hard as you want. We both know I can take it.”
So that’s exactly what Crush did.
He fucked her hard, gripping her legs tight, his gaze locked with hers. Until her pussy contracted around him again. Her neck arched, her legs shaking in his arms, her panting turning into harsh cries. She was coming again and so was he. Coming so hard, he couldn’t see straight, could barely stand. He could only feel and wow ... did he feel great!
Crush erupted inside her, his breath leaving him in a long rush, his legs nearly buckling. He slammed his elbows against the table to stop from falling and took a moment to get his breath back.
After several long minutes, Cella sighed into the silence, “Holy shit! You’re the best pretend boyfriend ever.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
A fresh ice pack was placed on her knee and Cella opened her eyes, smiling up at the bear standing over her.
After pulling up his pants, he’d carried her up to his room and laid her down on his bed, covering her with a blanket. Then he was gone and Cella was too tired and sated to really give a shit. She might have dozed, but not for long.
“The swelling’s down,” he told her, adjusting the ice pack.
“It usually doesn’t last too long. Although, last night I thought it would last forever.”
“It must be a nightmare after every game.”
“It is. But what can I do?”
“They can’t fix it?”
“Sure. If I want a full knee replacement.”
“The way we heal, would that really be a problem?”
“No. As long as I never want to play pro hockey again.”
“Right. Rule number twenty-three A.” Geez, he knew all the pro shifter hockey rules by code, including the one that said any replacements or additions to a shifter’s body meant automatic dismissal from the league.
Cella chuckled. “Super fan.”
“Sorry. I didn’t mean to let my geekiness flow.”
“It’s all right. You can’t help yourself.” Awkward silence descended after that, so Cella said, “I’m cold.”
“Oh.” He jumped up. “I’ll get you another blanket.”
“Why would I need a blanket at all when I have a polar bear?”
He frowned, confused. “Huh?”
She gestured to the bed and demanded, “Cuddling.”
“Oh. Oh, right.” He shrugged. “Didn’t want to crowd.”
“Did I bare a fang? Claw at major arteries? Roar and roar and roar until you run screaming from the room?”
“Not that I noticed.”
“Then you’re not crowding. She-predators always let you know when you’re crowding. Didn’t date many of us in your past, huh?”
“I’ve dated a few.”
“A few? After you were eighteen?”
“What does my age have to do with—”
She crossed her arms over her chest. “Why am I still waiting?”
Crush started to get on the bed and Cella growled. “What are you doing?”
“What now?”
“You’re dressed.”
“Just my jeans.”
“I want naked cuddling.”
“Are you always this demanding?”
“Feline,” she reminded him, making sure to sound as haughty as possible. Not really hard.
“What if I don’t feel like being naked?”
“Naked!” she roared. He quickly looked down and she bit the inside of her cheek so she wouldn’t start laughing, too.
“Fine. Naked it is.” He stripped off his boots and jeans and crawled in beside her.
“Happy now?” he asked, wrapping his arms around her waist.
“I’m always happy when I get what I want.” She snuggled in closer, keeping her leg bent so her ice pack stayed put.
“How are you feeling?” Crush asked her, his big hand rubbing up and down her side.
“Much better.” She lifted her face. “How do I look?”
“Beautiful. And you know it.”
“Doesn’t mean I don’t like to hear it. Bruises, cuts gone?”
Big fingers brushed her cheeks. “Not yet, but I doubt Meg will see much of anything by tomorrow.”
“Good. The kid gets so worked up when she sees real damage.”
“The way you play? She must see that all the time.”
“She’s a smart kid. She knows when it’s from hockey or training with Smith or dealing with a family issue, and when it’s from a situation that could have had her sobbing at my graveside.”
“She hates what you do.”
“Yeah. She does. But KZS is here to protect our own. And as long as there’s been a KZS, there’s been a Malone part of it. Usually more than one. Although, it was easier when all I did was take out stuff from a distance.”
“You don’t anymore?”
“No. I mean I still do, but like I told you, they want to move me up the ranks, and in order to do that, I have to have more fieldwork than just eliminations. Honestly, anyone with a good eye and a steady hand can take out a target a thousand yards away at nearly a hundred stories high with adjustments made for heavy winds and inclement weather.”
The bear leaned back a bit, and gazed at her. “Not really.”
Crush knew he was in deep. Deeper than he’d meant to ever be, but what could he do? Bears ran on emotion. If you startled them, they killed. If they felt trapped, they killed. If they were hungry ...
And those bears that were human most of the time were no different. When he’d busted through that roof door, all he saw was Cella on her knees and a gun aimed at her head. After that, there was no negotiating for him. No ordering anyone to put down their weapons. Instead, he’d just roared and started shooting. To protect her and to protect his team.
And instead of coming home and thinking about that, as bears liked to do—think, analyze, debate—he came home and fucked a feline. A feline who continued to refer to him as her “pretend boyfriend.” Like that was normal.
Then again, nothing about this
woman was normal. Not even for a shifter was she normal. Because she was a Malone and that meant she was different from all the other tigers out there in the world.
“What’s wrong? You’re scowling at me like I decked your dog... .” Cella looked around. “Where is your dog?”
“At Mrs. Hanson’s. My next-door neighbor. She babysits Lola when I’m out.”
“You have a babysitter for the dog?”
“She gets lonely.”
“Your. Dog. Just face it already.”
“Let it go.”
“So why are you scowling?”
“Just wondering ... we’ve had sex. Am I still your pretend boyfriend?”
“Why? Are you pretend breaking up with me?”
Crush blew out a breath. “Forget I asked.” He gazed at her. “Tell me something about yourself.”
“Like what?”
“Anything.” Then he added, “Anything that doesn’t involve your family. Just you.”
“Oh. Wow. Okay. Uh ...” He watched her struggle with that simple request. “Um.” Finally, after what felt like a really long time, she said, “I don’t like beetles.”
“The band?”
“No. The insect.”
“You don’t like beetles?”
“Yeah.”
“Okay.”
“I think they’re gross.”
“What about spiders?”
“Don’t mind spiders. They deal with ants and flies.”
“I’m sure beetles serve a purpose.”
“Don’t care.”
“Okay.”
“Now you’re judging?”
“I’m not judging. You don’t like beetles. That’s okay. I don’t like lizards.”
“What’s wrong with lizards?”
“You’re going to judge me about lizards but I can’t judge you about beetles?”
“When you ask me a lot of personal questions ...”
“I asked you one.”
“Why?”
“What do you mean why?”
“Why ask me a personal question? Why do you care?”
Annoyed that she was clearly annoyed, Crush sat up until his back rested against the headboard, and he pulled her onto his lap, replacing the ice pack on her knee, then wrapping his hands around her waist. “I ask you questions because I give a shit. Because despite my best intentions to not get emotionally involved, I like you.”
“Why didn’t you want to get emotionally involved?”
“Because you’re crazy.”
“Oh. You’ve got a point.” She looked off and said, “I really like Australia.”
“Okay.”
“I went once. For vacation, not a job. Hung out with the dingoes.”
“Full dingoes or—”
“Shifter dingoes.” She nodded. “They were fun.”
She pressed both her hands to his chest, fingers stroking. “Maybe we can go out sometime.”
“What do you mean go out?”
“You know ... out.” She unleashed her claws, kneading his chest. “Like a date out.”
Crush closed his eyes, his entire body tightening. Lips pressed against his throat, fangs grazed the tendons.
“Is that a yes?”
“Huh?”
“All that groaning you’re doing, I was wondering if that was a ‘yes, let’s have an eventual date.’ ”
“That depends.”
“On what?”
He gripped her shoulders and rolled until she was flat on her back and he was between her legs. The damn ice pack long forgotten.
“Am I going as your date or your pretend date?”
She brought her hands up, dug her claws into his scalp, scratching him right at the base of his neck—which felt fucking awesome!
“Real date,” she promised. “But still pretend boyfriend.”
Crush grinned. The feline would always be difficult, wouldn’t she?
“I can live with that.”
“Good. Now where’s the rest of those condoms?”
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Cella turned over, burrowing closer to Crushek, the sun coming in through the windows annoying her. But the bear tensed beneath her and when he moved, so did she. Both of them pulled their weapons at the same time, hers from under her pillow, aiming it at the foot of the bed.
Cella blinked at the man standing quietly at the end of the bed. “Mario?”
“Morning, Miss Malone.”
She nodded. “Right.” She pressed her hand to Crush’s forearm so that he’d lower his weapon. “I’ve gotta go. I’m being called in.”
“Are you going to be okay?”
“I’ll be fine.” She kissed him. “I’ll call you later.”
“Okay.”
She tossed off the covers, but heard the bear growl. She motioned Mario away with a jerk of her head.
“Jealous already?” she asked after the driver left, teasing just a little.
But Crush’s answer was deadly serious. “Yes.”
She laughed, kissed him again. “Later.”
“Yeah. Be careful.”
Crush watched from his window as the Town Car pulled away from the front of his house and turned the corner at the end of his street. After that, he went back to bed to get some actual sleep, loving that Cella’s scent was still all over his sheets and him.
But then, an hour later, a new scent filled his room. A scent he didn’t much like that had him reaching for his .45. He had his hand around the holster when Chazz brought his fist down on Crush’s hand.
Crush roared in pain and anger and, naked, charged his brother, tackling him to the floor. He had him pinned when Gray grabbed him from behind. Crush brought his elbow back, ramming Gray in the throat and his fist in Chazz’s mouth again. Then he stood, grabbing both his brothers around their necks and lifting them to their feet. He slammed their heads together, knocking them out, and dropped them.
“Now, now.”
Crush looked up at the six grizzlies coming through his doorway, one of them the big one from that day in the Group offices. “Is that any way for brothers to act?”
Cella walked into the Queens office building that housed the KZS offices. And as soon as she stepped inside, her boss latched on to her arm and dragged her toward the elevators.
“What the fuck happened?” Nina Bugliosi demanded. As usual, the lynx was demurely dressed in a bright green, mini-skirted power suit with a strand of black pearls around her neck and matching earrings.
“They shot at us first.”
“Are you sure? You sure Smith didn’t do something?”
“What, we’re blaming her now for everything?”
“Canines can’t be trusted.”
“You get slapped around by one coyote in grade school and allll canines can’t be trusted?”
“The bitch sucker punched me and that’s not the point.”
“We’re not blaming Smith or the Group for something they didn’t do. It was the bears.”
The lynx looked Cella over before tartly replying, “I thought you were all about the bears.”
“Huh?”
“You and the bears. Heard you were fucking one.”
“Amazing how that’s not your business.”
The elevator doors opened, but before Cella could walk out, her boss shut the doors and hit the “Stop” button.
“What are you doing?” Cella snapped, thinking about how close her nose had come to getting cut off.
“You’re not going to tell me about who you’re fucking?”
“It’s private.”
“Since when, Malone?”
“Since I said so. Besides, aren’t we in the middle of a crisis? Aren’t you supposed to be handling that?”
“I’m your boss, Malone. You have to tell me.”
“Or we could shift right here and four-hundred-pound me can slap around one-hundred-pound you.” Because that was something Cella could get away with. Breaking her boss’s nose while human ... well, that w
ould get her written up.
“Fine,” Nina snapped. “Be that way.”
Nina released Cella from the temporary hostage situation, but they’d only taken two steps away from the elevator when they were both dragged back inside by Nina’s She-lion boss, Gemma Cosworth. Or, as the rest of the “ghetto cats” liked to call her, Her Ladyship the Duchess Cosworth. Because she, like all lions it seemed, thought all other cats were beneath her.
“Well,” the older feline snarled at Cella, “you’ve fucked this up royally, sewer cat.”
Cella raised her hands, palms up. “How is this all my fault?”
“It is until I decide it’s not. And if I find out you snuck up behind even one of those bears ...”
“There was no sneaking. We walked out on the roof. Smith said, ‘Hey, y’all,’ and they opened fire on us.”
“Where are we going?” Nina asked, glancing at her watch. “I have a lunch date this afternoon.” When Cosworth only stared at her, the much-smaller woman quickly added, “Which I, of course, will cancel.”
Crush walked into the Manhattan annex office of BPC and threw his still unconscious brothers to the floor. He knew she’d be here. Knew this was where she’d come during a time of crisis, when the organization was under threat. And she’d leave her little “soldiers” to man the main Brooklyn offices. Or, as Crush liked to call them, her “meat puppets.”
“You wanted to see me?” he asked of the polar sow sitting at the desk.
She looked at the bears on the floor, then up at Crush. “I sent six other—”
“They’re in the Dumpster outside my favorite coffee place.” He shrugged. “You know me and coffee.”
“Yes. I remember.” She gave a little laugh. “Did you kill them?”
“Didn’t have to.”
“Well, you certainly haven’t changed.”
“And I don’t plan to start now.”
“Still,” she gestured to one of the chairs in front of her desk, “sit. Tell me how things have been going. How have you been doing?”
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