I completely forgot about the person I’d been hiding from as I rubbed my head and smacked the ground with my other hand. I didn’t feel blood, but I almost would’ve felt better if I had. At least then, the pain would’ve made sense.
“You broke my closet.”
I snapped my eyes up to the man with the gravelly voice standing over me. Immediately, I forgot about my head. My body reacted with a mixture of fear then arousal. I was ashamed to admit that the second reaction was stronger than the first.
“Your closet almost broke my head.”
He offered me his hand and when I took it, jerked me up and around, pressing my back to his front. He locked his arms around me and held me tight. “Why the fuck are you in my house?”
I tried to break free of him, realizing that maybe I shouldn’t be thinking about how hot he was and, instead, focus on getting away. I only managed to wiggle my hips against him, which earned me a low growl and a slight shake.
“Talk.”
I tried to look back at him, but he just held me tighter. His arms across my ribs were steel bars. I wasn’t making any progress whatsoever. I tried the thing I always used to use against my older brother. I went completely limp, becoming dead weight in his arms. Instead of dropping me, the way my brother had always done, he just continued to hold me. I slipped down a couple of inches, just enough that his arms ended up right under my breasts.
“Let me go!”
He easily picked me up and walked across the room. He tossed me down on the bed and glared at me. “Fine. Now, talk.”
I bolted for the door, but he grabbed me. He tossed me onto the bed again, as easily as someone would a rag doll.
“I’ve got all day.”
I crawled away from him, to the other side of the bed, but he caught my ankle and dragged me back towards him. I kicked out at him, but he caught that leg, too. I had moved past fear. I was pissed that I couldn’t get away from him and even more turned on. There was something about him that was affecting me more than it should. His smell, his hands, his strength.
I rolled over, onto my back, and went still. “Why are you here?”
He let one of my legs go and frowned down at me. “I live here.”
It finally hit me what he was saying. “What?”
He’d grown still, though. He was staring at me with wide eyes and I could’ve sworn his nose flared. The hand that was on my ankle became softer, more of a caress. “Who are you?”
I squeezed my thighs together as desire raced through me. I’d never experienced anything like the immediate lust I was feeling for this man. He was a stranger, but just his touch was making me feel things that didn’t make any sense.
“Bunny.”
“Bunny?” His hand moved up my calf slowly, his large hand easily encompassing my leg.
I nodded. “Yeah.”
“You smell like wild cherries.” His voice went even deeper and his grip tightened. “God, it’s good.”
His hand brushed against the back of my knee and I couldn’t help but moan. It hung out there, in the air between us, in silence for what felt like forever. I wanted to die of embarrassment, but then he dragged me to the side of the bed and wedged his body between my legs.
He wrapped his arm around my thighs and held them steady as he shifted and brushed his rock hard erection against me. In just panties, I had no protection against the onslaught of desirous feeling.
I couldn’t seem to think straight as I arched my back and moved against him. What the hell was I doing? He leaned forward and pressed himself firmly into me as he rocked back and forth. I moaned again, throwing caution to the wind. “What is happening?”
He bucked into me firmly as he met my wide eyed gaze and growled again. “I’m not stopping to ask questions.”
CHAPTER 4: John
I moved my hips, rubbing the hot little strawberry blonde to get her to moan again. I hadn’t planned on pinning her to the mattress. Jesus, I hadn’t planned on anything. When I saw her shit downstairs, I’d been pissed. I hadn’t even stopped to breathe in her sent until I had her against me. My bear was roaring like he’d lost his mind and I wasn’t far behind him.
I wanted to shove her panties to the side and make her mine. I gripped her thighs harder to keep from just doing it. I didn’t know this woman. Even though I could smell her arousal, that didn’t mean that she was ready to actually allow me in her body. My bear raged for me to take her, though.
I closed my eyes and took a second to try to regain some control. Then she moaned and I was lost. I grabbed a handful of the front of her shirt and dragged her up to my mouth. When our lips touched, I felt warmth fill my body and groaned.
She tasted like cherries, too. I slid my tongue into her mouth and gripped her head.
“Too many clothes.”
I tried to pull her shirt off, but she pushed my hands away and pawed at my clothes.
“These. Off.” Her hands ripped the two sides of my button down apart and buttons flew in every direction.
I worked at my belt buckle and then shoved my pants down, all while still trying to kiss her. My boots sailed across the room and knocked something over, but I didn’t care. Only when I was naked in front of her did I stop.
Her dark green eyes trailed down my body and stopped on my dick. Her pupils dilated and she licked her lips. I laughed, feeling proud that I could solicit that type of reaction from her.
She gripped the bottom of her T-shirt and yanked it over her head, leaving her naked from the waist up. Her mostly bare body took my breath away. Pale with a light dusting of freckles over her shoulders and chest, she was a sight.
I grabbed the sides of her panties and pulled them down while staring up at her. She lifted her legs for me, one at a time, and then she was naked. Her hair just brushed the tops of her shoulders and it was already rumpled from my hands. Her lips were red from our kisses.
She scooted up the bed and hooked her finger to call me closer. I was already on my way. I knelt in front of her on the bed and gripped her knees. With a grin, she kept them locked together.
“What’s your name?”
I leaned forward and pressed my lips to her knee. “John. Open up.”
She did and then grabbed the back of my neck and pulled me down for a kiss that left me panting.
I kissed down her throat and chest so I could take one of her nipples into my mouth. Her breasts were large and soft, perfect for my hands. When I kissed across to the other nipple, I was happily surprised by a tiny tattoo of a wildflower between her breasts. I ran my tongue over it and was rewarded with a shiver from her.
She rotated her hips under me and my dick rested right against her. She gasped and dug her hands into my scalp. “John, I want you so bad. What is this? What is going on between us?”
Her wet heat was calling to me. I gripped myself so I could slowly enter her. I didn’t want to hurt her. It was a challenge to maintain control, though. Both me and my bear were dying to be inside of her. “Heaven.”
She laughed, but it was cut short when I slowly pushed into her. Her legs immediately locked behind my back and she dropped one of her wrists to her mouth in an attempt to quiet herself.
I wanted to hear how she felt, though. I pulled out and nudged at her wrist. “I want to hear you.”
Her cheeks reddened, but she obliged. She tilted her hips and I slid in another inch or so. A low moan fell from her lips.
I pushed the rest of my cock into her in one thrust and growled as she screamed my name. My bear purred like a fucking kitten at the sound and I dug my hands into her hips to keep myself from pounding into her. She didn’t give me much of a chance to regain my control, though. She tightened around me and dragged her nails down my back before rotating her hips again.
I cursed and then pulled out before driving back into her. I lowered myself so I could kiss her and nearly died when she sucked my tongue into her mouth. The taste of cherries exploded in my mouth and I moaned.
“More.” Her voice broke
and she tilted her head back, exposing her neck to me.
For the first time in my life, my bear demanded I claim someone. He wanted to sink his teeth into her soft neck and mark her as our own. Realization slammed into me, but it was too late to stop.
I teased myself and her by raking my teeth down her neck. Thrusting into her harder, I did everything I could to make it last longer. She was so tight, though. Her body squeezed me so perfectly. I met her gaze and held it as we both got closer to coming apart.
My control slipped as she started to orgasm and I felt my eyes start to glow as my bear got closer to the surface. I turned my face away, but Bunny caught my face and pulled it back towards hers.
“Bear!” Her eyes widened.
I thrust into her once more and then came with her. My orgasm was stronger than any I could ever remember having and I knew I’d just given a piece of myself to a woman I didn’t even know.
She clung to me and I let my weight rest on her as I calmed down. My heart was still trying to beat its way out of my chest and all I could think about was that she was my mate. A random woman that broke into my house, was my mate. It didn’t make any sense. My bear didn’t need it to make sense, though. He was still demanding that I claim her. He didn’t care that she was a stranger, possibly a thief. He knew that she was our mate and that was enough.
CHAPTER 5: Bunny
As I came down from what felt like a drug induced high, I blinked up the ceiling. The stranger, John, had his head buried in my neck and his lips were moving against my throat in a way that threatened to send me back into that fog of lust. I’d just had sex with a complete stranger. What the hell was wrong with me?
I pushed at his shoulder until he rolled to the side and then I stood up and searched for my clothes. I didn’t know how it’d happened, but I clearly wasn’t where I was supposed to be. Even through the lust-filled fog, I’d eventually been able to process that we were in his home, that I was in his bed, and that he smelled just as delicious as his laundry.
“Do you normally break into people’s homes and have sex with them?”
Spinning around, I glared at him while tugging my panties up. The first thing I spotted was his dick, still hard and slick with our juices. Heat consumed my face and I turned away again. My body instantly reacted to the sight, but I had my wits about me now. “I didn’t break into your home.”
A low growl had me spinning back around to find him standing right behind me. He reached for me and growled again when I moved out of the way. “I can smell your reaction to me. It’s driving me fucking insane.”
Bear. I’d found another bear. “Don’t smell me! I have to go.”
“Why are you in my home?”
I snagged my shirt off the ground and jerked it over my head. “I didn’t mean to be in your home. When I got here, it was still dark. I’m starting a new job and I was told this was the right address.”
I had to walk past him to get my pants and shoes out of his closet. I thought about leaving them to save some pride, but I didn’t know how much pride I’d save if I had to walk down his driveway in just a T-shirt and panties. I moved around him and his naked body carefully, muttering to myself. “Of course, I find a damn bear. What the hell is wrong with me?”
“What’d you just say?”
I hopped into my jeans and slipped my shoes on. “Nothing. I said nothing. At all. I have to go.”
When I tried to walk around him again, he hooked his hand around my arm and pulled me into his chest. “How do you know what I am?”
I fought the attraction to him as best as I could, but it was insane. I’d never in my life felt anything like zapping, zinging pulse of electricity that shot through me in response to him. This man was sucking me in without even trying. Hell, I’d just rolled around in the sheets with him even though I thought he’d been an intruder.
“I’ve known plenty of bears. My ex-husband was one.”
He growled and wrapped his other arm around me. “Who is he?”
I shook my head. “Why do you care? I have to go, John. I have to find the right house.”
“I care because you’re my mate. You were married to someone else, another bear, and I want to know who it was. Is it someone from around here? What’s his name, Bunny?”
My heart felt like it was going to beat out of my chest. “Mate? Did… did you say mate?”
“Yeah, mate. You’re mine.”
My ex had told me all about mates. Actually he’d thrown in my face over and over again, the fact that I wasn’t his. He’d repeatedly told me about how great the connection and sex would be if we were true mates. He’d used it as a weapon against me. To have John standing in front of me using that word, felt like a punch to the stomach.
“No. No, I’m not your mate. I have to go!” I ripped myself away from him and headed towards the stairs. “Do you know where Mandy Scott lives? I was supposed to be at her house this morning. I’m going to get fired.”
John grabbed me again, but this time the look on his face was pure shock. “You know Mandy?”
“I work for her.” He looked like he was going to be sick, so I moved away again. “Why? Do you know her?”
“Fuck.” He ran his hand over his face and then started getting dressed. “Yeah, I know her.”
I didn’t like the look on his face at all. My stomach filled with dread and my palms started getting clammy. “How?”
He tried to put his shirt on, but I’d ripped all of the buttons off. Instead, he just stood there, looking like he’d prefer to shift into a bear and run away than actually have this discussion.
When he didn’t answer, I had flashbacks of my ex being unwilling to talk when I confronted him about his cheating. John had the same shifty look on his face. I groaned and shook my head. “This is the right house, isn’t it? She’s your girlfriend, isn’t she?”
I hurried down the stairs and tried to remember where I put my bag. “It just figures! I needed this job, you cheating ass! God, I hate men who can’t keep their dick in their pants. What is it with you bears? You think you can just treat women like shit? Mandy seems like a real bitch, but even she deserves better than this.”
I kept yelling at him, figuring he was still on the stairs. “Goddamn you, John! You made me the other woman. Shit. I’ll just leave the damn bag. I can’t find it.”
I head for the door, but John was already there, his arms crossed over his massive chest. I motioned for him to move, but he just stared at me. “Come on, I need to go.”
“I need to figure this out, but I’m not letting you just leave. You’re my mate. That means something. You must feel it too?”
I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, it means you get to cheat on your human girlfriend and use the word ‘mate’ to excuse it. I can’t tell you how many times my ex thought he found his mate. Of course, he absolutely had to take each of these so called mates for a test drive.”
A low growl rolled out of his chest and his eyes glowed bright gold. “You were made for me. Your ex sounds like a liar and an asshole. Bears know their mates immediately when they see and smell them. I knew almost instantly that you were meant for me. You smell and taste just like the wild cherries that I’ve loved since I found a tree growing at the back of my family’s property. I’ve never smelled anything sweeter or more enticing than you. I couldn’t possibly be confused by that.”
My chest ached, my heart was stupid enough to enjoy the words he was saying, but my brain had seen and heard it all before. “I’m not meant for you. One, I don’t want to be with another bear shifter. Two, I don’t want to be with someone who cheats on their girlfriend. Three, there is no three.”
“Fine. I’ll call and break it off with her.”
I screamed. Frustration bubbled up in me until I couldn’t handle it. “I need this job! I need to work. I gave up everything I own just to get away from my ex. I’m broke, homeless, and I’ve gained ten pounds since we divorced because all I can afford to eat is ramen. Do you know how much
sodium is in ramen? Do you? I want to be able to afford a freaking salad! So, don’t you dare call her and break anything off!”
CHAPTER 6: John
I stared at my mate, wondering what the hell game life had decided to play with me. She was screaming at me, something about ramen noodles. She was also pretty intent on pissing me off by calling me names and mentioning her ex. I wasn’t the jealous type. I just wasn’t. I knew Mandy cheated on me all the time with pretty little Hollywood types, and I didn’t care. But something about hearing my mate talk about her ex set me off. I wanted his name. I wanted to rip him open with my bare hands.
My bear was clawing uneasily under my skin. He was pissed at me for making our mate angry. He was even more possessive than I was feeling right now.
“So, you want me to stay with Mandy?” It was asinine to even toy with the idea of not ending things with Mandy. All the tension I’d been feeling for the past few days was gone. My mate had miraculously found her way in my life against all odds, and I was ready right now to tell Mandy to stay in LA. I cared about her as a person, but whatever I felt for her was vastly overshadowed by the powerful feelings that flowed through me at the sight of Bunny.
Bunny. My mate’s name was Bunny. Who named their kid that?
“Yes. I need this job!”
“So, now you want to keep the job? I thought you were pissed at me because I’d cost you the job?” I made a big show of scratching my head and scrunching my brows. I knew I shouldn’t bait her, but she looked fucking delicious when she screamed. Her chest heaved and it made her breasts sway and jiggle in a way that had my dick straining at my jeans trying to break free.
She didn’t disappoint with her anger. She poked me in the chest and stomped her foot. “I have to keep this job. I’ll be back on my friend’s couch if I don’t. I can’t quit. I’m going to have to stay here, even after what happened.”
I bit my lip and fought a smile. I was being an asshole, but I couldn’t believe the gift fate had placed in my path. I had a mate. She was here. I was overjoyed, no matter the details that needed to be ironed out. “Good. You’re staying with me, then.”
Rancher Bear Complete Series: PLUS NEW BONUS BOOK: Rancher Bears' Merry Christmas Page 21