She threw herself into his kiss with everything she had. She wrapped her arms around his neck and rested her head on her shoulder to let his tongue into her mouth. She tasted his spicy saliva, and his tongue lapped the fresh injections into her mouth. God, that kiss came out of her most passionate dreams. Drunken desire danced down her skin to the moist channel between her legs.
She flexed her hips so her whole body lay against his chest. She hugged his broad torso with her knees. Her crotch twitched for any contact with him she could get. She sucked the delicious kisses off his lips.
He let go of her head, and both hands went around her waist. He cradled her ass in his grip and held her tight against him. She would have closed her eyes, but his gaze kept her riveted to his face. Who was he? What was he, that he could command her to respond like this? She should run from him, but she could only hold him tighter.
He leaned back. His lips separated from hers. He fixed his eyes on her, and the time between kisses came longer and longer. He swooped in to plant a brutal kiss on her lips and fell away. She tried to dart out and grab one of those kisses for herself, but he dodged. He wouldn’t kiss her unless he wanted to.
She hung suspended between longing for him and wishing she could escape. Her ass burned on the quilt where her thighs parted to surrounding him. She craved those kisses, even as they scorched a fiery path to her soul.
He moved away the last little bit and sat back on his heels. He gave her one innocent peck. He wouldn’t come in again. He hummed low a satisfied rumble out of his chest. A ragged pant tore between his lips. He petted her hair and stood up.
Raven gazed up at his chiseled face. The stabbing loneliness no longer seared her heart. She could face this. She could walk out that door and get back to business. He kissed her. He played right into her hands. She made him hard. She could pounce on him anytime she wanted to.
He gazed down at her and ran his fingers through her hair. His nostrils flared when he studied her face. His chest rose and fell with his breath. She could touch him. She could run her hands up inside his jacket and finger his skin under his shirt. She could kiss him and make him hard all over again whenever she chose to catch him. He was all hers.
He took her hand and stood her on her feet, but he didn’t try to kiss her again. The moment passed. She could walk out of that room. She’d done her job. She had him right where she wanted him.
Chapter 7
Azer woke up to a loud knock on his door. “Wakey, wakey. Breakfast time.”
He recognized Raven’s voice and smiled. Hmm, yes. Breakfast.
He couldn’t stop dreaming about that kiss. She made him so rock hard that he didn’t know what to do with himself. He stroked his cock in bed last night thinking about her, but he couldn’t go all the way. Somehow playing with himself didn’t do her justice.
The way her belly shivered against his chest, the way her thighs squeezed his ribs, the way her hair fell in front of her face when she put her head to one side—everything about her called out to his deepest desires. How could he get turned on by a cat?
She was his little pussy cat. She sobbed and panted when he kissed her. She mewed and purred, and her mouth fell open just right when he grabbed her by the neck. God, he wanted to knock her over and nail her to kingdom come! She wanted it, too, if he was any judge.
He had to stay sharp, though. He could yank his cock in bed. Now he was swinging his legs to the floor and pulling on his pants. He had to face another day with his head screwed on straight. He couldn’t let his guard down for an instant.
He got dressed and pulled the door open—and there she was. Raven stood in front of the door with a big goofy grin on her face. “What took you so long? Did you have to do your make-up?”
He couldn’t help smiling back. Whatever happened yesterday, everything was going to be just fine today.
She skipped down the hall ahead of him. “Come on. We’re having French toast.”
He followed her to find Raven’s mother Violet, her older sister Scarlet, Riley and Melody, and a bunch of other people Azer met last night at dinner. They passed the plates and Violet served coffee and orange juice to whoever wanted it.
Raven forked two big slabs of French toast onto Azer’s plate. She carved off a few thick chunks of butter to go on top and slathered the whole pile with pools of syrup. When he stole a glance up at her and raised his eyebrows, she only grinned.
Conversation flew thick and fast. Half a dozen different discussions went on at different parts of the table.
“What do you want it for?” Scarlet asked Riley.
“I want to fix it up so I can use it. No one else is using it.”
“What are you guys talking about?” Raven asked.
“Papa left that Ford Ranger locked in the shed,” Riley told her. “No one’s using it, so I want to tow it back to my place and work on it.”
“That truck belonged to all us kids,” Scarlet pointed out. “You would have to get permission, not only from me and Raven, but also from Angel, Ezra, and Kingston.”
“Your brothers haven’t been around in months,” Violet added. “They went off to work for other clans. Who knows when they’ll get back.”
Riley smacked his lips. “Why can’t I just wheel the truck away? I’m not stealing it. Once I get it going, we can all use it.”
“You better wait until you can ask your brothers,” Violet replied.
“I didn’t give my permission, either,” Raven interjected.
Riley turned on her. “What possible reason could you have to say no? You don’t even use a car.”
She didn’t get a chance to answer when another gust of debate broke out on the other side of the table. Violet’s other two kids with her boyfriend Sawyer started punching each other. They scratched each other’s faces and kicked each other under the table. Violet darted forward, but before she could get there, the boy Chase grabbed his sister Mika’s French toast and hurled it in her face.
Violet dragged the two warring children away from the table amid screams and tears. Azer turned back to his breakfast. He understood these tiny conflicts better than anybody. He saw the same thing every morning on Bruins’ Peak.
He caught sight of Melody out of the corner of her eye. She sat at the end of the table and didn’t say anything to anybody. She hovered close to Riley, even when Violet tried to pass her the juice. “Do you want some more, honey?”
Melody shook her head but said nothing.
Violet put the juice back on the table and forgot all about Melody. Anyone who didn’t make a spectacle of themselves faded into the background in a big family like this one.
Azer stole glances at his sister throughout the meal. She ate slowly. She put a piece of French toast in her mouth and let the fork linger on her lips. She thought about things and listened to conversation on every side before she ventured another bite. None of her old vivacious energy surrounded her now. She cringed on the sidelines. Other, more energetic people like Riley and Raven took center stage.
No one tried to talk to Melody until Scarlet turned her way and chirped, “What are you doing today, sweetheart?”
Melody did her best to rally. “I’m sanding down that old table Riley brought up to the house. It’s rough, and it snags the tablecloth.”
Scarlet nodded. “Oh, yeah.”
The conversation died there. What more could they say? Melody stared down at her food. So that was the problem. Scarlet and Violet did their best to break the ice, but no warmth existed between Melody and Riley’s family. Would there ever be?
Raven pretended Melody didn’t exist. She gave all her attention to Azer. Every time he lapsed into contemplative silence, she brought him out of it with some witty quip. “How about another run over the Moraine, tenderfoot?”
He shrugged. “Anytime you say, clodhopper.”
She burst into loud gales of laughter.
“Don’t you have to work today, Raven?” Riley asked.
“I can take the day off if I want to,
” Raven replied. “The business won’t stop running if I do, unlike you, chump. Besides, we had such a good run yesterday, I can’t wait to do it again. You wouldn’t believe a bumbling bear like him could run as fast as me, but he can.”
No one replied. People turned away to their own talk and left Raven to concentrate on Azer. “What do you have planned for today?”
“No plans. Maybe I’ll take a look around the place. Maybe I’ll go help Melody with her table. I came out here to spend time with her, so I guess I’ll do that.”
“Sounds boring.”
“So does work. What do you do all day? Do you sit in your office and punch numbers into your spreadsheets?”
Her laughter died. “Yeah, that’s pretty much it. I pay the bills and balance the books. It’s pretty exciting, I tell you.”
He nodded. “I know. I started doing the same thing for our ranch. Mattox is teaching me so I can take over if anything happens to him.”
Raven’s eyebrows went up. “You—take over? That would make you…”
He eyed her. “That would make me Alpha. I’m my father’s only son, so if anything happens to Mattox, I’m next in line to take over.”
“Unless someone challenges you, you mean,” Raven countered.
“No one would challenge me. There’s no one around but me and Mattox, and he’s preparing me so I can handle anything that comes up.”
Riley kept his voice low. “Mattox is a strong Alpha. The Mackenzie tribe is lucky to have him.”
Raven smacked Azer on the shoulder. “I’m sure you’ll make a strong Alpha, too. I’m sure you could handle anyone that challenged you.”
Melody spoke up for the first time, “It’s a good thing for you Riskin Dodd isn’t around anymore. He would probably want to challenge you for the position.”
Azer shook his head. “Riskin went home. He challenged his brother Rhys, and now Riskin is Dodd Alpha in place of their father. Mattox made peace with him, and now they’re negotiating their boundary. Mattox wants to lease a big unused section of Dodd territory to run our new superherd, but Riskin plans to expand his own operation. They have to work out what pasture we will use and for how long based on Riskin’s plans.”
Melody listened with wide eyes. “Wow. I never knew Riskin went home. I never heard anything about him after he challenged Mattox.”
“He just came back. Riskin has been hiding in the forest for the last year, but he mated with Briar MacAllister and she supported him to come home. Now he’s Alpha, so every story really does have a happy ending.”
Melody sighed. “I’ll bet Lyric is relieved.”
“So is Mattox. He doesn’t need some rogue bear lurking around, burning for revenge. After Riskin won the challenge against Rhys, Mattox was first on the scene to shake his hand. Mattox is a prince.”
Melody took another mouthful of French toast. “I know he is.”
Raven broke in on their conversation, “Don’t you three know it’s not polite to talk about people and things we know nothing about? Come on, Azer. You come with me and I’ll show you around some more.”
“Let a guy finish his breakfast,” Riley told her.
Azer pushed back his chair. “I’m finished. We can leave whenever you’re ready.”
The breakfast broke up. Azer paused outside the house to watch Riley and Melody drift off toward their cabin. “Maybe I should go with them instead.”
Raven appeared at his side. “Nonsense. You don’t want to be stuck inside their dingy old cabin all day. Come on. We’ve got all this territory to cover. We can go a lot faster than we did yesterday.”
“I thought you had to work.”
“Today my work is babysitting you. Come on.” She headed to opposite direction from Riley and Melody.
Azer gazed after his sister, but she didn’t turn around. She joined hands with Riley and faded between the trees. Whatever problems she faced here were her own. The sun shone through the trees and made the compound glow. He didn’t want to spend a day like today hashing out all the Bruins’ Peak politics. They existed lightyears away from Melody and her new life.
He turned away to follow Raven, but he didn’t see her anywhere. He waited, but she never reappeared. Did she take off without him? Was she streaking down the path over Midnight Moraine and chuckling all the way how she finally left him in the dust?
He would show her. He inhaled a deep breath and caught her scent, that flowery scent mixed with a hint of danger. A mix of jasmine and mango clung to her hair, but underneath that, the panther smell struck a deadly cocktail of fear and excitement through his senses. He would hunt her. He would run her down and devour her. He would pin her to the ground with his jaws around her neck and maul her with his bear power.
He set off running toward that smell. The bear took over his brain. His blood and his nose and his cock led him on an unbroken line to her. She could run over a sheer cliff and he would follow her, no matter what.
He caught sight of her hair flying in the sunshine. Her tight jacket hugged her sides and flared around her hips. Her legs pumped against the ground, and her ass rippled when her heel struck the ground. The white stripes on her sneakers flashed in the sunny patches.
He ran up behind her, but he didn’t try to pass. She streamed over the ground on a zephyr of chill air. He put out his hand and let his fingers trail through her hair. He could forget all about the danger. She was just a girl, and they were running through the woods. He could be doing this back home with a Bruin girl.
She was no Bruin, though. Her scent blew into his brain. He could never mistake that scent for any other. She cast a laughing smile at him over her shoulder. She bolted ahead, but he kept pace with her.
In one blinding flash of shimmering light, she vanished right in front of him. The wind cooled his forehead. He looked around, but he didn’t see her. Her scent lingered right in front of him, stronger than ever.
All at once, a blink of movement made him look up. A flowing black shadow skipped from one tree branch to another, and the shiny black panther flew into the upper canopy.
Azer trotted to a stop and gazed up at her. The panther leapt onto a sturdy branch and paused to look down at him. She shook her head and gave her shoulder a lick.
Azer turned his head away with a chuckle. “Cheater.”
Chapter 8
Raven leaned against the bus station door as Azer approached. “Do you come here often?”
Raven shoved herself off. “Not often. Just checking the schedule.”
“Are you checking to see which bus you can stick me on to send me away?”
Her head whipped around, and her eyes popped open. “I’m not trying to send you away. What made you think that?”
“Just joking around.”
She didn’t laugh. “Don’t joke about that. I don’t want to send you away.”
He fell in at her side. “Are you sure about that?”
“What makes you say that? Didn’t you like the way I kissed you yesterday?”
“Maybe that’s why I thought you might want to get rid of me.”
She blushed bright red. “Maybe I did, but you’re here now, so we might as well make the most of it.” She steered their steps toward town.
“So, here we are. What do you want to show me?”
“There’s not a lot going on in this town. That’s my aunt’s house over there, and that’s my cousin’s loading race.”
Azer nodded. “I know all about loading races.”
“Tell me about your ranch.”
“There’s not a lot to tell. We raise cattle. It’s very dusty.”
“It sounds like this Mattox character you keep talking about is a real business ace. He sounds like my kind of guy.”
“Mattox is a genius. I’ve been learning more from him than I ever learned in my life.”
“I wonder if I could learn a few of his tricks.”
Azer stole a glance at her. “He probably wouldn’t tell you anything that could help the bear-ba
iters.”
She whipped around to face him. “You make our business sound like something dirty and nasty. It’s just a business, the same as your ranch. You herd and brand and slaughter your cows, don’t you? We do the same thing with bears. They’re just animals.”
Azer set his teeth. “That’s what you think. You can’t compare a Bruin with a cow.”
“I know what you think, but Marla Dunlap was the first Bruin we ever had in our ring. Most of our bears are just bears. They’re not people like you and me.”
He narrowed his eyes. “Are you sure about that?”
“Of course, I’m sure. That’s the whole reason we captured her. I think we would know if we captured a shifter before. Anyway, how do you know your cows don’t feel the same thing as a bear? How do you know they don’t suffer the same thing at the slaughterhouse a bear does in the ring? You’re no better than me.”
“I never said I was better than you. I’m a bear. I can’t help but feel for them.”
“You’re not a bear. You’re a man, a very attractive and sensible and caring man, or you wouldn’t be here looking for your sister.” She moved closer to him, and the color mounted to her cheeks.
He held up both hands. “Listen, Raven. You’re really attractive, too. In fact, you’re the sexiest, smartest, most beautiful girl I can imagine. I had a great time kissing you yesterday, but I don’t think we should do it again. We shouldn’t get involved with each other.”
“Who said anything about getting involved? If you’re attracted to me and I’m attracted to you, what could be wrong with having a little fun together while you’re here?”
He shook his head. “That’s the Midnight way, but it’s not the Bruin way. We mate for life. You and me—we’re polar opposites. We’re blood enemies.”
She lowered her voice to a murmur. “We’re not enemies, Azer. We’re just two people who like each other. There’s nothing wrong with that.”
“Are you telling me you don’t sense it? Okay, so we’re attracted to each other. We couldn’t kiss like that if we weren’t, but we’re made to fight each other. We were never made to be together like that.”
Bruins Peak Bears Box Set (Volume II) Page 29