Bruins' Peak Bears Box Set (Volume I)

by Sarah J. Stone

  What if he wasn’t a Bruin? What if she fell this hard for a human man? She shook that doubt out of her head. Bruins mated for life. She would never think about a human man this way.

  He cast a quick glance over his shoulder. “Are you going to eat something, or are you going to leave me to preside over the table like an English lord?”

  Lily burst out laughing and set the cornbread on the table. Then she took the chair opposite him.

  “What were you lurking around in the corner for?”

  Lily blushed. “I was just thinking. Now that I’ve got my case, I want to write a letter to my father. I want to tell him all about Bruins’ Peak. I’m convinced this is the place for my family to settle.”

  Jude put his head on one side. “I was thinking the same thing. I want to show you something tomorrow that you might want to tell your family about.”

  “What is it?”

  “It’s another building site on the mountain. I want to build another Homestead there. I was thinking of selling it later for a profit, but I could sell it to your family instead. Then…well, never mind.”

  “What? What were you about to say.”

  He shrugged. “I was thinking, if your family buys up on the Peak, you…and they…would be right here, right near me.”

  Lily’s cheeks bloomed, and she couldn’t stop smiling. “Oh. I see.”

  They ate in silence for a while. Lily cleared her plate and jumped up. She busied herself with washing up, but she couldn’t look at him anymore. He wanted her to… If he was a Bruin like her, he wouldn’t be interested in anyone except another Bruin. Maybe that’s all they really needed to know. If they were both Bruins, what stopped them from mating for life?

  After she finished putting the supper dishes away, she opened her case. She checked the folio and found everything in order. She got out two sheets of letter paper and sat down in the chair before the fire to write.

  Jude rocked in the rocking chair nearby. He stared into the flames and smoked a pipe. When she finished writing and sealing up the envelope to mail, she sank into her chair with a sigh.

  Jude looked up. “Did you tell him about me?”

  Lily’s head whipped around. “What?”

  “Did you tell him you’re living in a strange man’s house, kissing him and making his supper and scrubbing his floor? What will your father say when he finds out?”

  Lily blushed. The firelight flickered on her cheeks and forehead. “I suppose he’ll say congratulations.”

  Jude rocked forward in his chair. He propped his elbows on the armrests and leaned toward her. “I’m serious, Lily. I want you to stay here. I want you to stay here always.”

  She stole a peek at his face. “You know I want that, too, Mr. Farrell.”

  He jumped out of his chair and knelt in front of her. He wrapped his arms around her hips and hugged her off the chair. His face hovered inches away. “Marry me, Lily. I never loved anyone the way I love you. Marry me, and make your home here. We can sleep together in that bed over there, and your family can build their Homestead on the mountain. It’s the perfect solution to everything.”

  She smiled down at him through her misty eyes. She cradled his face in both hands. “Are you sure? Are you sure you want to do that after…?” She couldn’t form the words.

  What if he made a mistake? What if he didn’t understand what he heard that night in the streets of town? What if he didn’t know she was a Bruin? What if he found out years from now, after they’d been married and happy all that time? That would be a disaster.

  She couldn’t doubt. Gazing down into his precious face, she saw the answer to her own question. She would stay with him. Nothing else made sense. She wouldn’t love him like this if he wasn’t a Bruin. If he was a Bruin, he wouldn’t love her like this. He wouldn’t even think of marrying her and taking her for life.

  He silenced the questions with a kiss. “I love you. I never want you to leave. My life was poor and lonely without you, and now you belong here. I feel like you’ve always been here. You’ve been in my heart all this time. I just had to find you and bring you home. Stay. I can’t live without you. You’re my heart’s love, and I’ll never let you go.”

  She kissed him, and tears wet her lips. “Yes. I will stay here and marry you. I never wanted anything but to be with you. I’ve never been happier than I’ve been these last few days. I never want to leave, but I can’t stand you sleeping in the barn. I want you in here with me.”

  He drank the kisses from her mouth. “We can fix that in no time.”

  His arms tightened around her, and he lifted her out of the chair. He swept one massive arm under her knees and carried her across the room to the bed. He set her on it and stretched out next to her.

  Lily stared up into his brooding eyes. She never realized until now just how massive he was under his fringed leather jacket. His shoulders dwarfed her petite frame, and his muscles cut through her dress into her delicate skin. He leaned over her so she couldn’t see anything but his eyes.

  His lips stayed locked on her mouth. Fate kept them sealed together. She inhaled the air that billowed from his nostrils, and he breathed it back into himself when she sighed into his kiss.

  She understood what he said about them always being together. Their love extended far back into the dawn of time. Their combined destiny led them together as surely as the sun crosses the sky. Nothing could divert them from that preordained path.

  His weight crushed her into the bed, but it didn’t hurt. It felt good and right, like he belonged there. She wanted him there. She wanted him to occupy the same space with her and make her his own. She wanted to occupy the same space with him so their lives overlapped in every way.

  He pressed her lips a little harder, and her mouth sobbed open to receive his tongue. Oh, that divine taste of his mouth! She could never get enough. For the first time, she smelled his scent—Bruin scent. His bearness filled her heart and soul. He was one. She could never doubt again.

  Her fingers combed the brown hair along the back of his neck. She touched the fur keeping him warm. It married with her fur in a blessed animal concoction she couldn’t resist. If she ever doubted him, that doubt vanished in a puff of wind. He was a bear. He was the bear she wanted for life.

  He circled her tiny waist with his big arms, and her breast heaved against her corset. Delicious warmth and desire filled her up, from the bottom of her being up to her eyelids. The part of her unchained by stays and stockings and bodices cried out for him in all his mighty power.

  Her legs moved under her skirts. Oh, she wanted him so much, she couldn’t stand it. She needed him. She needed all of him. Her passion boiled to the surface. If only she could get rid of these restricting clothes, she could join with him as a bear. She could break free into the wild enjoyment of animal pleasure.

  His heart thumped against her whalebone stays. That leather jacket offered too much obstruction keeping them apart. She crawled her hands up his chest to find the ties keeping it closed. One pull, and the jacket fell open.

  His bare chest showed through the floppy neckline of his loose linen shirt underneath. Lily pulled one more string on his jacket, and it fell apart enough to slip her hand inside. She touched his chest and slid her fingers down.

  His nostrils flared, and he sucked his breath through his teeth at her touch. He groaned when she plowed her fingers through his chest hair. She wanted to feel his primal heat. She wanted his skin and his hair and his beard and his muscle.

  He tore his mouth away and dove under her chin. His lips pricked down her neck, and his powerful arms slithered around her hips to grab her thighs. He scooted her up against his seething bulk so she couldn’t touch his chest anymore.

  His weight pinned her to the bed, and he hitched up her skirts underneath her. He lifted her against him, and her legs came free of petticoats and shifts. The air touched her skin above her stockings where her garters held them up. His fingers found the bare curves under all that fabric,
and the air stuck in his throat.

  He fixed his ferocious glare on her face, but still their lips remained forever locked in that eternal embrace. They would never let each other go now. Jude arched back to stare at her, but Lily only murmured into his mouth, “Yes! Yes!”

  She scratched her fingernails down his chest where his stomach cut into his hips. She fought her skirts aside to get hold of his pants. His breath came faster. He wanted this as much as she did. She untied his pants, and darted her hand to the dark nest between his legs.

  He snarled between his teeth, but she already found what she was looking for. The she-bear wanted her mate. Nothing would stop her. She clasped the thick shaft in her cool fingers, and its raging heat and masculine power filled her to overflowing with mounting desire.

  He broke the seal of her mouth with a ragged “No!” He fell on top of her and seized her from behind. He shoved his hips between her legs and hid his eyes in her neck.

  The overriding passion, once released, wouldn’t be contained again. He ground his crotch into her delicate anatomy, but his rough treatment only excited her more than ever. She hugged both arms around his neck and arched her back to meet him. Her whole being screamed out, Yes!

  He tried to hold back, but she knew what she wanted. She wouldn’t be denied. They were mated for life. Nothing remained but to enjoy the fruits of their company.

  She jerked his jacket back to reveal his great shoulders underneath. She burrowed under his shirt and reveled in the magical perfection of his skin. She ventured farther down until she got both hands inside his pants from behind.

  Those two rounded muscles fit in her hands. She guided him closer, deeper. She matched his movements with her hips. Just a little further, and she would rocket into bliss and never come back.

  Her wrists edged his pants down over his hips. His brown hair plunged off his chest, down his stomach to disappear between his legs. Whatever waited for her down there, she wanted it. She wouldn’t delay a moment longer.

  She hooked her thumbs over his pants and slid them down. His muscled backside rose above her, and that wicked tool leapt out to touch her. Yes! God, yes!

  He moaned against her neck, and his teeth sank into her skin. She yelped in surprise, but it was already too late. Their souls cried out for one another, and now nothing separated them. She steered his hips to position his prick in just the right place. Her welcoming sex kissed its head and licked steaming flames around it.

  He sank into her with a ragged sigh. He could be falling asleep, but the moment he got inside, terrible energy took hold of him. His fists smashed her choice flesh, and he plunged to his limit into her magical opening.

  Lily reared back. Their bodies answered back and forth, move for move. She seethed to meet his driving thrusts. He held her against him so tight she couldn’t get away, no matter how hard she struggled.

  He thundered in her ear, and that primal cry, the bear bellowing for his mate, spoke to her deepest, darkest secrets. She sank her teeth into his skin to taste his sweat and blood. Her wild heart welcomed all his ferocious animal passion. He couldn’t get any hotter.

  He pushed himself on his muscular arms and raged into her face. She stared up into the bear’s terrible eyes. She was his mate. They belonged together. They matched each other in sheer, unchained ecstasy.

  She launched herself off the bed to kiss him, but gravity pulled her down. She could only fall back in delicious bliss and accept the gift of his body filling her with pleasure. She screamed to the stars, but the universe only smiled on them. She was where she belonged, complete in the man she loved.

  Chapter 7

  Jude pointed across the valley. “Over there. Can you see it? It’s the perfect building site.”

  Lily squinted at the open place between the trees. “Are you sure it’s not too isolated?”

  “Nowhere is more isolated on this mountain than anywhere else,” he replied. “There’s plenty of flat land for sowing and grazing. There’s a spring nearby, and easy paths leading down to the road. It’s a great spot for another Homestead.”

  She wrapped one arm around his waist. “If you think so, then let’s go for it. We can find out who owns it from the Land Office and make an offer on it.”

  “We don’t have to do that. I already own it.”

  Lily jumped back in surprise. “You do? You didn’t tell me that.”

  “Your father will probably want to transfer ownership, anyway. He probably won’t want to leave it in my name, even if I do marry his daughter.”

  “I don’t see why. He might want to settle the family fortune on us.”

  “I wouldn’t count on that,” he replied. “There’s your brother’s family to think of, and both your sisters will be married soon. Your father will want to be fair to everybody, not just you.”

  “Do you have to be so blasted practical about it?”

  He faced her with a gentle smile. He put his arms around her. “We’ve got a house and a Homestead and more land than we could use in our lifetimes. Let’s be happy with that and not begrudge your family theirs.”

  “I know. I just want you to have what’s rightfully yours.”

  He kissed her. “I already do. I’ve got the greatest treasure a man could steal from your family. I don’t need to chisel every penny from them, too.”

  She lay her head on his chest. “You’re more generous than I would be. Just make sure you get what the land is worth.”

  He laughed. “You don’t have to worry about that. You’re the family’s chief negotiator. You can decide if my price is fair or not.”

  Lily burst into a happy smile, but the smile died when she cocked her head. “Do you hear that?”

  He listened. “Horses, coming fast.”

  Lily looked around. “Where are they?”

  Jude snatched her hand, and they scrambled up the path to the bald lookout on top of Bruins’ Peak. From there, they could see all the territory spread out in all directions.

  The rumbling noise vibrated through Lily’s feet. She looked toward the sound to see a line of horsemen winding their way through the forest. She didn’t recognize any of them, but Jude growled through his teeth, “Luther!”

  Lily spun around. “What? How could he?”

  Jude chopped his hand through the air. “He must have found out I picked up your case.”

  “I knew you shouldn’t have. We should have left it alone. We could have lived without it.”

  “Never mind. Come on. We have to get back to the Homestead.”

  Lily hurried after him. “Are you sure that’s a good idea? He’ll come looking for us there.”

  “He’ll find us, one way or the other, if not there, then somewhere else. I don’t have a weapon to fight them off. We’ll be defenseless.”

  Lily studied the forest rushing by her head. The horses came nearer with every minute. She and Jude could never make it back to the Homestead in time to cut off Luther’s advance. They couldn’t fight the men off with one rifle, either. Even if they had every weapon on God’s green earth, two people couldn’t fire them fast enough to drive off a dozen men. Lily’s heart sank. How could this happen when she and Jude found such happiness together?

  Jude paused where the path turned around a gully. He cocked his ears to listen. Lily didn’t have to listen to know. Those men were already too close. She and Jude had to find somewhere to get away from them.

  Hooves thundered up the gully. A bay flank shimmered through the trees. The men wound their way through the forest. Their horses slowed when they came to the steep inclines. A few more minutes, and they would find Jude and Lily in the forest. What would happen then?

  Jude rounded on Lily. He kept his voice low, but his wild eyes swept the forest. “Run, Lily. Shift and run. You can hide in the woods. They won’t be looking for a bear.”

  She stared up at him. He actually said those words out loud. He knew, and he wanted her to shift. “I can’t do that. I can’t leave you here alone. Come with me.”


  He shook his head. “I’ll keep them busy while you get away. I’ll distract them. You’ll disappear and they’ll never find you.”

  Even before he finished speaking, she knew her answer. “I won’t leave you, Jude. We’re mated now, and I can’t leave you to fight these men alone. You’re coming with me.”

  He smacked his lips and clasped her hand. “Stubborn woman! I should have known you’d stick your toe in the ground at a time like this. All right. We can’t stay here. They’ll be here in no time. Come on. I know a place we can give them the slip.”

  He set off up the hill. He cut straight across the path and climbed up the hill through the trees. Lily kept up with him, but every time she looked over her shoulder, she saw bigger pieces of mounted men and horses appearing between the trunks. “Hurry, Jude. They’re getting closer.”

  Jude didn’t turn around. His breath puffed in his lungs, and his muscles worked against gravity. His legs pumped to lift him toward the Peak, but they couldn’t move faster than horses.

  Lily started to despair when Jude came to another path cutting across the hill. He trotted down it and around a corner. A steep granite cliff rose from the ground to rake the sky. He shoved Lily toward it. “Get inside.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  He gave her one last push, and she stumbled through a gap in the wall. It opened into a narrow passage split out of the rock. “Run for it, Lily. I’ll keep them busy. Follow this passage, and you’ll come out on the other side of the mountain. Horses can’t follow. They won’t know where you are, and they’ll never find you.”

  She clung to his hand. “Don’t leave me, Jude. If we’re going to die, let’s die together. I can accept that.”

  He kissed her hand and stepped away. “I can’t. I can’t put you in danger. At least I’ll know you’re safe. That’s all I care about. Now get moving. With any luck, I’ll be right behind you.”

  A gunshot echoed down the gully, and a bullet shattered the rock next to his head. He pushed her down the passage. “Go! Don’t look back.”