She looked down at the ground. “I can't seem to find the path.”
“I could take you home.”
Her hand shot out. “No!”
His eyes widened. He was too stunned to answer.
“I'm just not ready to go home yet,” she muttered.
“What's going on at home that you want to get away from your family?”
She waved her hand and sighed. “Just the usual nonsense about finding a mate and getting married.”
He broke into a broad smile. “You, too? That's all I ever hear about these days.”
She eyed him closer. “You? I'm sure you don't have any trouble finding admirers.”
He laughed out loud. “That is so sweet of you to say, and you're right. I don't. I just have trouble finding people I admire.”
She snorted. “I'll bet you do.”
“Stop complimenting me,” he exclaimed. “I can't stand praise.”
“I'm not complimenting you,” she returned. “I'm just saying.”
“You're saying I should have a lot of admirers and would have trouble finding people I admire. You must mean I'm admirable.”
She waved her hand up and down. “Well, look at you. You look like an Alpha.”
He threw out his chest. “I am Alpha.”
“You are?”
“I'm the oldest son, and my father is too old to run the tribe, so I'm taking over.”
She regarded him with new eyes. She could believe it. He towered over her with his muscular bulk. He occupied every inch of space in every direction.
“What about you?” he asked.
“What about me?” she shot back. “I'm not Alpha, and I'm not going to be.”
“I don't mean that. I mean what's your shtick?”
She frowned. “Shtick?”
“You're the youngest in your family,” he explained. “What are your plans?”
She shoved her hands into her pockets. “Do I have to have plans?”
“Are you just going to hang around your Homestead, or do you have anything you want to accomplish in life?”
“I hadn't really thought about it.” She glared into the forest in the direction of her Homestead. “To hear my parents talk, there's nothing for me to accomplish in life besides getting married and having a bunch of cubs.”
“Of course, there's something for you to accomplish in life,” he countered.
“You shouldn't get married if you don't want to.”
Her eyes flashed at him. “Who said I don't want to?”
He shrugged. “Nobody.”
She turned the tables on him. “Do you want to get married? You said your parents keep working on you to do it.”
“I want to get married,” he replied.
“So, what's stopping you?” she challenged.
“Finding the right woman.”
She scanned him up and down. “I'm sure you can find a woman. I'm sure you can have any woman you want.”
“I only want one.” He held up his index finger. “The right one.”
Marla softened. “Well, I only want the right one, too, but I haven't found him yet.”
His eyes popped open. “Hey, I've got an idea. How about you and I get married? That would satisfy both our families at once.”
She drew back, tensed to run. “You're feeble. You're too feeble to handle your tribe. Leave the Alpha job to someone who can think.”
“I'm serious,” he exclaimed. “I like you and you like me, so let's do it.”
“What makes you think I like you?” she growled.
“Just the way you keep looking at me like that.” He smiled in spite of her curled-up lip. “Just the way your cheeks turned pink when I said it. You want to marry me, don't you?”
“I want to kick you in the nuts and leave you coughing until you cool down,” she spat. “I'm not marrying you or anybody else.”
“Why not?” he demanded. “You just said you want to get married.”
“I never said I want to get married,” she argued. “I asked who said I didn't want to get married.”
“So, do you or don't you?”
“Sure, but I don't want to marry Alpha Walker Cunningham, so you can put your cock back in your pocket.”
The confident smile melted off his face, and a hard snarl took its place. “You've got a dirty mouth.”
She bared her teeth. “I can get a lot dirtier than that, so stop talking about marrying me.”
He lowered his voice. “Okay. I'll stop. I just thought...”
“Don't think,” she snapped. “Thinking's not your strong suit.”
He clenched his teeth. “You're good at that, aren't you?”
“Good at what?”
His words bit. “Good at driving people away with your mouth.”
“It seems to work.” She grinned a big ugly grin. “I'm doing a pretty good job with you, too, if I judge right.”
His shoulders stiffened. “You won't drive me away that way.”
“How will I then?”
“Just keep telling me you don't want to marry me, but I don't believe you.”
“What can I do to make you believe it?”
He put out his hand and took hers. He rolled her hand in his fingertips. “Kiss me.”
For some reason, she didn't take her hand away. “Kiss my ass.”
“I'd love to. Bend over and pull down your pants and I'll do a lot more than that.”
Marla's cheeks burned. He had a comeback for every snappy crack she made. He tugged her hand and pulled her in closer. His face hung inches away from her. She smelled his bear breath and the dark earthy skin under his shirt. His smell filled her mind with tastes of his body and salty sweat.
His voice hypnotized her. “Kiss me, Marla. Kiss me.”
She couldn't pull away. As his lips grazed her forehead, the blood pulsed behind her eyes. She couldn't breathe. He dominated her being. His lips appeared on her mouth and woke her to heated excitement. Before she could stop herself, he sucked her down into his dark kiss. His lips moved over her mouth, and his tongue touched her teeth. She opened her mouth in astonished surprise, and his tongue slipped in to find hers.
She stared at his enormous face hovering there in front of her. His eyes were half-closed. He wasn't looking at her at all. He was somewhere far away, lost in her kiss. Out of nowhere, his hand materialized against her back, and he pressed her against his rock-hard body. His muscles spoke to soft places on her chest, on her belly, on her legs. He lit every inch of her on fire, all the way up to his warm tender lips filling her mind with their delirious delight.
He noticed her watching him, and his eyes widened to meet her gaze. His kiss subsided, and he explored her soul to discover where she was and what she was thinking. She stared at him in a ferment of confusion, but she didn't respond. She didn't throw her body against his to break herself out of her long torpor. She should, but she didn't. She just stood there and let him kiss her.
He released her mouth and leaned back to get a better look at her face. He drove in to kiss her again before moving back. He delivered one kiss after another, always retreating to gauge her reaction before swooping in again.
He licked her saliva off his lips. “That's why we should get married.”
She pulled out of his arms. “That? That was nothing.”
“Nothing?” he barked. “Is that what I am to you?”
“How could you be something? I don't even know who you are.”
“I told you. I'm Walker Cunningham.”
“Walker Cunningham, Alpha.” She snorted. “I'm so impressed.”
“You liked that, didn't you?” he purred. “It could be like that all the time.”
She shrugged and looked away. “Meh.”
His jaw dropped. Then he closed it with a snap. He set his face in a mask of determination. With one quick move of his hand, he caught her around the back and jerked her against him. He brought his knee up between her legs and hugged her crotch against it. At the same m
oment, he closed his mouth over hers and devoured her lips and tongue with everything he had.
His other hand circled her neck to demand her for himself. He pressed his knee up hard against her. Her whole being screamed against his hands, but her body responded of its own accord. She couldn't stop her box twitching and the hot nectar seeping from her opening to moisten her panties where he rubbed them into her tissues.
He ran his hands down her back to grab her ass in both big paws. He lifted her up to set her down on his thick thigh. Burning desire took hold of her. Against her will, her hips flexed to rock toward him and hit her crotch against his leg.
He let go of her lips to purr into her ear. “You like that, don't you, baby? Does that turn you on?”
Some supernatural force blew out of the depths of her being and exploded through her arms. Her hands flew out and slammed against his broad chest. She shoved him back so hard he stumbled and almost toppled over on his tail bone. “Get off me! Leave me alone!”
Before he finished catching his balance, she spun around and hurried away through the woods toward home. She had to get away from him fast. Marla staggered through the woods. She couldn't see the flagstone path, but forgotten instincts from her childhood guided her. Home drew her in its direction. She didn't have to see where she was going.
Powerful forces and sensations swept through her. Memories and emotions fought one on top of the other for her attention. The bear growled inside her and rolled over in its sleep. It blinked its eyes and lifted its head to look at Marla.
She ran for all she was worth from that bear. She couldn't let it wake up and take over her life. She would be lost if she didn't find a way to put it back to sleep. She had to get out these woods before all the sights and sounds and smells woke the bear and it started marauding over the countryside.
The bear wouldn't go back to sleep, though. It smelled something it wanted. It smelled something delicious and inviting, something good to eat, something to satisfy its long hunger. It smelled Walker, and it wouldn't go back to sleep until it got him back.
What did he do to her? How could he touch her and kiss her like that? How could he tell how much that touch sparked her sleeping passion? Didn't she do a good enough job at concealing how much she wanted it?
She didn't want it at all. Marla didn't want him or any other man. The bear wanted it. The bear wanted him, and no other. He didn't know what it cost her to keep that bear asleep and oblivious all these years. She did a good job up until now, but she couldn't scream and beat the bear with her fists to bury it in sleep. The bear got up and stretched its stiff furry legs. It started looking around for something.
She panted in the effort of fighting her way up the hill. “Leave me alone! Leave me alone!”
The bear would never leave her alone again. She was doomed. She clawed her way all the way up the hill and came out behind the shed, where metal clanged. Aiken was still at work, so she couldn't go hide in there. She had no choice but to go inside the house. She could only hope her behavior earlier in the morning would make everyone avoid her. She could get to her room in a hurry and stay there.
Walker kept intruding on her thoughts. His presence, his smell, his deep brown eyes and hair danced before her eyes. He moved in on her and kissed her a thousand times, even when he was nowhere near her anymore. He could take what he wanted from her, and he knew it.
Gravitational attraction dragged her kicking and screaming toward him. No amount of fighting and swearing could save her. She hated herself for responding to him, but she couldn't stop her body from reacting to his touch. The bear did it for her. The bear welcomed him in all his infuriating dominance.
She caught her breath behind the shed until she regained her equilibrium. She could face her family as long as she didn't have to face Walker again. She could face anything but him. The bear subsided from her thoughts, but it didn't go back to sleep. Age-old hungers nagged her soul, but at least she could think about something else for a little while longer.
She took a step out into the sunshine. The sun warmed the rose garden and sent the perfume of petals wafting on the breeze. Marla took a deep breath. That scent wiped the other scent out of her mind, and she started to relax.
She got all the way up the path, through the gate, and to the foot of the porch steps when Harmony came out of the house. She glared at Marla and pursed her lips, but said nothing. She walked right past Marla and kept walking toward the woods.
Marla's resentment against her sister-in-law softened. She envied Harmony. Harmony could go out into the woods whenever she wanted. Harmony never had to worry about shifting into a bear. She could mate with her beloved husband. She could give in to her soul's deepest desires without worrying something terrible would happen.
Harmony disappeared into the forest shadows. She didn't go anywhere near the shed. Maybe it was Boyd in there instead of Aiken. Maybe Aiken waited for Harmony somewhere in the woods. They would rendezvous and enjoy each other’s bodies in the joy of union. Wouldn’t that be wonderful, to join with your heart’s mate in the forest without fear or revulsion?
At least now the coast was clear for Marla to crawl in her hole. The front door still hung off its hinge. She peeked through the doorway, but didn't see anybody. She shot forward and raced for the stairs. She flew upstairs and into her bedroom before anybody could see her. She eased her door shut with a click and threw herself down on her bed with her face buried in the pillow.
Chapter 4
Walker didn't bother to shift on his way home. He wanted to cling to the insatiable sweetness of Marla all over him. Her scent hovered in his nostrils. Her ass crushed in his hands, and her delicious box ground against his leg. Even now, his cock swelled against his pants thinking about her.
When had he felt this way about a woman? When had any woman fired his blood this way? Never. His mother wouldn't list Marla Dunlap in the same line-up as Natalie Dodd, Melody Mackenzie, Rose Kerr, and Haven Farrell when it came to looks. No one ever mentioned Marla in suggesting who he ought to marry.
Even so, she struck him as perfect. Every curve of her lips and every slope of her hair around her face matched his fevered dreams. The instant he laid his eyes on her, he knew. She was the one. She was the woman he would marry. She couldn't be anything else. Did she feel it, too? Did she know the minute she turned around and saw him he was her mate?
So many questions pestered him about her. What was her problem with shifting? Why did she react the way she did when she obviously responded to him and his touch? She could have walked away from him whenever she wished, but she didn't. She stuck around and let him kiss her. Wow, did she let him kiss her! Whatever else she was or did, she could sure kiss.
Too bad she didn't let him do anything else, but he could wait for that. He could wait 'til doomsday for what he knew lay beyond that kiss. He could wait for the rest of his life for the right time to take the woman of his dreams.
He paused when he came in sight of his Homestead. Dax still fiddled with his car. That boy could waste years tinkering with a car that would never run again. Walker planned out his approach to the house. He had to keep a lid on his excitement. He couldn't tell anyone about Marla until he got her permission.
He had just about the exact opposite of her permission, but he still floated in a happy daydream about the future. He imagined sitting across the fire from her and looking up from his farm journal to see a contented smile on her face. He would take her by the hand and lead her to their bedroom for the night. The house would settle down to sleep, and they would curl up together in a warm nest of peaceful togetherness.
He shook those thoughts out of his head. He still had the rest of his life to get through, and he couldn’t claim her yet. When would he see her again? How long did he have to politely wait before he could make the next move?
He took a firm hold on himself. Was he Alpha of his tribe or not? He could sit on a secret as big as this until the time came. He could play his cards one at a time to m
ake sure he came out the winner. Nothing could stop him once he set his mind to winning, and the prize made him careful and calculating. No profit or project ever obsessed him like this.
He took a deep breath and set his shoulders before he stepped out of the trees and started toward the house. Dax stole a glance at him from under the car hood. Walker didn't pause to speak to him. He crossed the yard toward the gate when Dax shot out from under the hood. He rushed up to Walker and fell in at his side moving toward the house.
“Where have you been? We've been looking everywhere for you.”
Walker kept walking. “What's up? Nothing serious, I hope.”
“Nothing serious!” Dax howled. “The hunters are invading the mountains. Star showed up a few nights ago with some wild story about Aurora going into town with that friend of hers.”
Walker waved the so-called emergency away. “So, what if she did? She asked me and Pop first if she could go.”
Th story came out all in a rush. Dax kept pace with him no matter how Walker tried to leave him behind. “That friend of hers took her to a bar, and she overheard Bain Campbell talking about laying jaw traps for us in Horner's Gully. Star blew in here talking a mile a minute about Aurora getting into a car crash with Austin Farrell, and Aurora was laid up at the Farrells unconscious.”
Walker faced him. “Is she all right?”
Dax waved his arms in wild circles. “All right! Did you hear what I said? She was at the Farrells! You know what that means.”
Walker forced himself to remain calm. “No, I don’t. What does it mean?”
Dax straightened up. “You weren’t here, so I had to act. I went over there and brought her back, and…”
“You went over there? After I told you not to set foot on Farrell territory?” Walker exploded in his brother’s face. “Are you asking for a whooping, boy? How many times do I have to tell you to stay away from them?”
Dax yelled straight back. “Will you shut up and listen for a second? I brought Aurora back here, but now she's run off again. Are you just gonna stand around and let the Farrells get away with this?”
“Get away with what, exactly?”
“With taking Aurora to their house.”
Bruins' Peak Bears Box Set (Volume I) Page 45