A Lamb for the Bear's Appetite

by A Lamb for the Bear's Appetite [Evernight] (mobi)

  “God, I don’t deserve you.” He pulled back and stared into her eyes that seemed so much bluer now that she had tears in them. “You would just up and leave, follow me wherever I went, because we are mates.”

  He shook his head. “No, you’re wrong about that, Olive.” He kissed her on the lips softly. “It isn’t just because we are mates, although there is no denying I can’t stay away from you.” She smiled, and he flashed a grin. “But it is so much more than the fact fate decreed that you’re mine. We may have only known each other for such a short time, but I can see inside of you, know that you and I are kindred souls, and it is because I want to be with you that I would follow you.” He brushed away her falling tears with his thumbs. “Does that make me sound like some kind of weird stalker?” She started chuckling, and he was thankful his teasing had brought that reaction out in her.

  “No. It makes you incredible.” She closed her eyes and breathed out. “But to be honest I don’t know where I’d go, where I would live, and am afraid to be out there alone, even if everything is safe.” Slowly she lifted her eyes to his.

  “Is that the only reason you’d stay?” It seemed like he waited forever for her to answer.

  “No. I want to stay because this is where you are, and I’m tired of trying to stop this from happening. I don’t know what the future holds, but I know I’d like to see where it takes us … together.”

  Liam wrapped his arms around her again, rested his chin on her head, and exhaled the big breath he hadn’t realized he had been holding. She had no idea what those words meant. He had asked her a lot, whether he had actually said the words or not, and she was giving him this gift of time with her. Liam had never considered himself the sappy type of male, but shit, he was finding that he was all kinds of things when he was with Olive. For the next half an hour they didn’t speak, just let the sounds of nature wash away the ugliness of the world, at least for a short time.

  She expressed an interest in going back and checking on Holden, and he was more than willing to help ease her mind. Family had always been important to Liam, but until Alivia came into the picture, and now Olive, he hadn’t realized how much it did mean to him. He knew her brother was a large part of her life, especially after everything that had happened, and Liam was going to have to get used to giving her space. He could admit that he was a selfish bastard when it came to Olive, and that he would have to lose some of the possessive need that he felt when around her. He wasn’t used to wanting to take care of someone. For all his life he had only had to worry about what the next day held for him. Yeah, he had his dad and sister, even Candace whom he cared about, but they had their own life. Liam had always thought he would never need anyone or anything, but how fucking wrong he had been. He needed Olive like he needed to breathe.

  When they walked back into the house it was to see Luke helping Holden walk into the living and sit down on the couch. Liam had to admit that the medication and fluids had done a hell of a lot to make the male look better. In just the few short hours since he had seen him earlier in the day, Holden looked ten times better. He no longer had that ashen, waxy pallor, and Liam also noticed Luke had disconnected the IV fluids. He stood back as Olive moved to her brother and sat beside him. Luke said something softly to them, and then turned and made his way toward Liam. He gestured for them to step out onto the patio, and he followed the cougar.

  Once the door was shut behind them he sensed his father and Maverick approach, but there was also another male with them. The guy was a big fucker, with packed on muscle and a height that had to be several inches over Liam’s own six and a half foot. The scent of the male’s grizzly came at Liam like a fucking kick to the gut. His dark hair was cut close to his head, military style, and his eyes were so damn light in color they looked freaky as hell. The three males descended the stairs that led to the deck. Once they reached the bottom, Trace gestured for them to follow, and they all made their way toward the forest.

  Trace stopped and turned around to face them. Maverick leaned against a tree, his stoic expression not revealing anything, and the grizzly stayed back a few feet. His arms were crossed, and just staring at him had Liam’s polar bear getting all territorial. The grizzly smirked, and Liam let out a low growl.

  “Cut the pissing contest, Liam,” Trace said low and deep. “Declan is here to help and has some information for us.”

  “This is Declan Faylon. He used to be part of the SIL, but got injured when they shipped his unit to Serbia and he got injured.”

  “Okay.” Liam crossed his arms over his chest and looked among the males. The SIL, or Shifter Intelligence League, was as bad ass as the SEALs, but they were their own government. This grizzly might be a bad motherfucker, but he didn’t intimidate Liam, and all he wanted was for them to get the hell on with this so he could make sure Olive was safe.

  “I found out a lot of disturbing shit about Trent Sharpe,” Declan said, his voice deep and harsh, like broken glass. This guy was bad all around. Liam could sense it, could feel the darkness that came from him, but at least he wasn’t working on the wrong side of the team, because no doubt he was deadly at whatever the hell he did now that he wasn’t with the SIL. “Not only was the leopard involved in the distribution of illegal drugs around Kashton and three other states, but it also looks like he was starting to branch out internationally. I dug really fucking deep, and found that the bastard was in deep with some pretty disturbing shit. His name is pretty big where sex trafficking and prostitution are concerned.”

  Liam cursed. He knew the asshole had been bad news, had scented as much when he had been in his presence, but shit. Olive had been right in the middle of that. He felt the urge to shift, but he controlled himself. Liam was not about to let his animal take control.

  “Why would he set up shop in a small town like Kashton if his operation went international?” Maverick moved away from the tree he leaned against, and took a step closer to them.

  “Because Kashton was inconspicuous and small enough that things coming and going from the town wouldn’t be overly noticed, at least not right away. Sharpe also had a lot of officials under his thumb and paid them hefty monthly amounts to make sure there were no snags in his operations. The leopard wasn’t the head of it all, but he was a pretty fucking big contributor, so the explosion knocked out a good portion of their business. Also, it seems like he may have been killed in when that bomb went off.”

  “Which if that’s the case then that is going to cause a massive wedge in the export and imports.” Declan finished Maverick’s sentence.

  “But it isn’t definite that he died in that explosion?” Liam didn’t want that bastard coming near his mate.

  “I know a few guys on the inside that are still looking into it, but because this is a big investigation and on a national level, things are really being thoroughly looked over, and you need some pretty high clearance to get inside,” Declan said, as if he was pissed that this was how shit was going, too. “But, amongst the bodies they did find the corpse of a leopard shifter. Now, that isn’t saying Sharpe didn’t have that breed working for him, and in all actuality he most likely did. If this Lor guy really did catch them off guard like your mate suggests, then there is a good chance Sharpe didn’t have time to escape.” Clearly this grizzly knew everything that had gone down with Olive.

  Even still Liam couldn’t help but wonder about the what-ifs. “And if the leopard did make it out of the fire?”

  Maverick glanced at Declan before swinging his eyes back around to Liam.

  “Trent may have been a big contributor, but like I said, he wasn’t the biggest. There are no doubts that the bosses that run everything from behind the scenes have already derailed any imports that were to pass through Trent’s hands. If the leopard is still alive, I think it would be safe to say that he’s going to be pretty pissed off, and searching for whoever fucked his shit up.” Declan was the one to speak, but Liam could senses that the grizzly was just as pissed about this as the re
st of them.

  It was a waiting game for the conclusive reports to come in on if Trent Sharpe had died right along with his whole Kashton crew. Liam knew one thing for sure, though. No way in hell was he letting his mate of his sight until there was solid evidence that the bastard was dead. They talked about it for a few more minutes, but then Liam hauled ass back to his father’s home. Trace may keep the cabin locked up like a fortress, protecting anyone that was inside, but that didn’t mean Liam still wasn’t protective of what was his. And if the leopard was alive and came for Olive, than he was in for one hell of a fight, because Liam was revved up for a fucking brawl and wouldn’t stop until the shifter lay at his feet, bleeding from every hole in his body.

  Chapter Twelve

  It had already been two days since Olive had arrived with Liam at his father’s home. Things were looking surprisingly well, but she was still on alert. There was still no definitive word that Trent had died in that explosion, but then again this had rocked Kashton. Hell, it had rocked the entire country because of its magnitude.. Holden was no longer on antibiotics. His wounds were nearly healed thanks to his shifter abilities, and he was acting like the brother she used to spend time with. It was nice seeing him smiling and laughing and spending time with Liam’s family.

  Now it was going on ten at night. Holden had passed out from playing all day with Alivia, and Liam sat next to her on the couch with the TV muted. He had been telling her cheesy jokes, and she knew he was trying to keep her mind off of reality. His most recent joke was especially lame, one about a banana that fell in love with an orange.

  “I swear you make these up.” She nudged him in the side with her shoulder and started laughing when he rubbed the spot. Aside from a tank running over this male, she felt like nothing could harm him. He made her feel so secure. Olive wasn’t thinking about leaving Sweet Water, but she did need to think about where she planned on living, or hell, working. She had absolutely no money, and the home that she had been renting for her and Holden before all of this had gone down was no longer hers. There were a lot of things she needed to do, but just thinking about not being by Liam’s side, in the literal and figurative sense, was an uncomfortable sensation.

  “You think too much.” It was Liam’s turn to nudge her with his shoulder. She looked down at the glass of juice she held in her hand and sighed. “You can trust me. You know that, right?” When she lifted her head and looked into his green eyes, she did know she could trust him. Olive hadn’t been able to really trust anyone in a long time, but her instincts told her the male sitting right next to her, the one that had risked his life to make sure she and Holden were okay, and continuously took care of them during this dangerous time, was genuine and caring, even though he was tough on the outside.

  “Yeah, I know I can.” All of the lights were off aside from the small overhead light on the stove. There was a golden hue coming from behind them and a glow from the television that was in front of them. They continued to stare at each other, and the air between them became heated and charged with the pull of being mates. Spending time with Liam, realizing that this big, brooding polar bear shifter had a heart of gold toward the people he cared about, had it impossible for her to stop what she wanted desperately.

  “If you keep looking at me like that…” he said in a gruff, lowered voice, and then dipped his gaze to her mouth. She licked her lips as if his gaze were a physical touch. A harsh groan left him. “I don’t think I’ll be able to stop this time, Olive baby.” Their breathing kicked up, and she was shocked at how quickly an innocent night had turned to something carnal. There had been this magnetism between them since the first moment she saw him and realized they were mates, and as she stared at his ruggedly handsome face, she let herself grow soft and pliant. His black hair, slightly damp from his recent shower, was short, but long enough that it brushed along his forehead in a messy manner. His eyes were downcast as he still stared at her lips, but his whole expression had this almost drugged expression on it. He wasn’t handsome in the classical sense, not with the dark slashes of his eyebrows, his strong, straight nose, square jaw with just the hint of day old stubble covering it, and the way his muscles were barely restrained beneath his clothes.

  He parted his lips, but before she heard what he said, because she just knew he was going to make an excuse to stop since he thought that was what she wanted, she leaned in and slanted her mouth along his. She heard and felt something inside of Liam snap, as if his bear couldn’t take any more, broke through some invisible wall, and was now taking control. He speared his hands in her hair, gently tugged on the strands until the pleasure and pain combined as one, and took possession of the kiss. He was rough, hard, and brutal, but she moaned for more. He broke away only long enough to take her glass from her and set it on the table, and then he had his mouth right back on hers, and his tongue speared past the seam of her lips. Olive wrapped her arms around his neck, tilted her head, and let Liam Dakota take control of her body, which he was doing a pretty incredible job of.

  He broke the kiss and murmured against her mouth, “God, I will never get enough of you, Olive.” He trailed those sensual lips along her jawline, and she didn’t miss how his hands slowly moved toward her chest. But Olive didn’t stop him, wasn’t even about to stop him, not when her body felt like it was on fire, and Liam was the only one that could put it out. “Tell me to stop, baby, because if you don’t I won’t have the willpower to do it in five fucking seconds.”

  She let her head fall back and closed her eyes when he covered one of her breasts with his hands. Her nipple was so hard it poked through the material of her shirt. He groaned against her throat and then went back to licking and nipping at her pulse right below her ear. It had been so long since anyone had touched her like this, and although she had been with a couple of guys during her teenage years, it had been years since she had taken a male to bed. But this wasn’t just any male. This was Liam, her mate, and he was igniting things inside of her that she didn’t even know could be lit.

  “Tell me to stop, Olive.” He sounded almost pained. He gripped her breasts a bit tighter, and a small mewl left her. He didn’t have to tell her that he was worried about being too rough, too animalistic with her, because she could feel it and sense it coming from him. Suddenly he moved away from her, put several inches between them, and stared at her like he was a second away from tackling her to the couch and devouring her whole. A tingle speared right through her pussy at that thought.

  She shook her head and swallowed the lump in her throat. “I’m not going to tell you to stop, because I want this, Liam. I want you.”

  A low, primitive, and harsh growl left him. The tension grew between them, higher and higher until she couldn’t breathe any longer. He was so still, so fierce looking, that the scent of his bear surrounded her. What would it feel like to have his animal take control, claim her in only way mates did?

  “Liam?” His name was so low from her, and was more like a whisper, but he heard her nonetheless. His eyes were half-lidded, his head slightly downcast, but his gaze was totally focused on her.

  “Yeah, baby?” That voice was a low rumble of broken up words that hinted that he wasn’t quite human right now. She had a lot of things that she wanted to say, that were right on the tip of her tongue, but her mouth was too dry to say all of them. But, there were three words that she knew she could force out, ones that she knew would have Liam losing the very last thread of control.

  “Fuck me, Liam.”

  With one more deep rumble he was on her, pressing her to the couch and taking her mouth in a painful kiss. But Olive liked the sting from his teeth pulling at her lips, of his tongue soothing it away, and of him grinding his massive erection into her belly. “I’m wet. God, I’m so wet for you.”

  He broke away only long enough to grit out, “I am going to claim you so hard, fuck you so thoroughly, that all you will be able to think, feel, and smell, is your mate.” He had both of her wrists in one of his hands
and above her head in seconds flat. Then he was right back to dragging his teeth up and down her neck, causing spikes of ecstasy to slam into her. She arched her back, which had her breasts digging into his hard chest. “Spread your legs so I can feel my cock right up against your pussy, baby.”

  Heat bounced between them, and suddenly she was starting to sweat. She did as he asked, had one leg hanging off the edge of the couch, and the other bent and pressed against the side of the cushion. Liam wasted no time in pressing his jean covered erection right between her thighs, and although she also wore denim, there was no denying she felt every fucking inch of him. Olive should have felt embarrassed at the scent of her musk coming from between her thighs and the fact she knew she was wet enough to soak the crotch of her pants, but she was so damn turned on, that everything else took the backseat.

  “I want you so bad, Liam.” He grunted against her throat, pulled away, and stared down at her. “I want this. Please don’t make me beg, because I will, Liam. I want you that badly.”

  He closed his eyes and exhaled loudly. “Say it again, baby.” He opened his eyes only marginally.

  That sadistic asshole wanted to hear her beg for it. Maybe if she was one of those feminists she should have been pissed, but in fact a fresh gush of cream left her that this male wanted her to submit. “Liam, I want you to fuck me.” She hoped that was vulgar enough for him, and given the way he groaned, reached behind him, and pulled his shirt forward and over his head, she knew it was. His hair was deliciously mussed from the act, and when he tossed the shirt aside all she could do was stare at the hard cut of muscle of his chest that was revealed. Large, massive biceps and strong, vein-lined forearms promised unbelievable power. His shoulders were broad and hard and his pecs defined. She continued to let her gaze work its way down, took in those lines of muscle that lined his ribs, the rolling hills of his eight pack, yes, he had a damn eight pack, and right down to that elusive V of muscle that pointed right to his cock. He was so hard and so big that her mouth actually watered, like she was some kind of starving animal and he had all the meat in the world. God, she almost snorted at her thoughts, because it sounded ludicrous.