Bruins Peak Bears Box Set (Volume III)

by Sarah J. Stone

  Grace jumped up and down and clapped her hands. “Yay! We’re going to play at Grandpa’s house.”

  “Can she come, Riskin?” Briar begged. “Please let her come.”

  “If she wants to go, I won’t try to stop her,” Riskin replied.

  “Great,” Natalie exclaimed. “I’ll just go get my tablet. These situations always involve a lot of sitting around.”

  Natalie raced to her room. She would probably have plenty of time to talk to Max while she sat around waiting for Don MacAllister to finally die. She got back to the kitchen to find Riskin and Briar kissing good-bye.

  “I’ll come around later to check on you,” Riskin told Briar. “If you need anything, call me.”

  “I will.” Briar collected her suitcase and headed for the door.

  Riskin held Natalie back. “Do me a favor, will you?”

  “Sure. Name it.”

  “Give Silas a message for me. Tell him I’m looking for Rhys, but he disappeared and no one has seen him. Tell Silas I’m keeping tabs on Rhys. If Silas has any trouble with Rhys, I want to be the first to know. I want to be the one to handle Rhys, not anybody else. I’m his Alpha, so I’m responsible for him. If anybody is going to discipline Rhys, it should be me.”

  “I’ll tell him.”

  Natalie took Grace by the hand while Briar wheeled her suitcase out of the house. They crossed the yard and got into Briar’s car. Natalie buckled Grace into her car seat, and Briar fired up the engine.

  Briar shot Natalie a grin. “I am so glad you’re coming with me. I was dreading going back to that house, especially with a two-year-old in tow.”

  Natalie didn’t smile. “I don’t blame you. Your parents dying is hard enough. You concentrate on your family. I’ll take care of Grace.”

  “Thanks. Just having you around makes this so much easier.”

  Briar drove around the Peak to MacAllister Homestead and parked in the garage. She heaved her suitcase out of the trunk while Natalie got Grace out of the back. She glanced around. “Do you know something weird? I’ve never been here before.”

  Briar cocked her head. “Never?”

  Natalie shook her head. “The only event I can remember happening here was Shaw and Dana’s wedding, and I didn’t go to that.”

  Briar’s eyes flew open. “Really? Oh, yeah. I remember now. Why didn’t you come?”

  Natalie shrugged. “I don’t know. I had a chip on my shoulder back then. I never really came out of it until you married Riskin. That was the breaking point.”

  Briar squeezed her arm. “I remember how you used to be.”

  Natalie turned away. “Then you know.”

  “You’re not like that anymore, though. Now, you’re the sweetest thing in the world.”

  Natalie swatted her arm, but she couldn’t stop smiling. “Shut up, you. Get in that house and make yourself sad. I’ll take Grace for a walk as soon as I give Silas the message about Rhys.”

  They walked into the house. Grace charged ahead screaming, “Grandpa! Grandpa!”

  She collided with Silas in the front living room and bounced off his thighs. He caught hold of her and set her on her feet. “Hey! What’s this all about?” She ran around him, and he smiled at Briar coming through the door. “Hey, sis.”

  “I decided to stay overnight at home,” she told him. “It got too late to bring Grace back last night.”

  He nodded, but before he could say anything, his gaze fell on Natalie standing in the doorway. Their eyes met, and her hand froze on her tablet.

  She had known Silas MacAllister her whole life. She never thought of him as anything but a scrawny young kid. Now, she barely recognized him in his nice business shirt and his ironed khaki slacks. His eyes swept her down to her feet and back to her eyes.

  She stared at him as if for the first time. What happened to this guy? He grew up behind her back, and now, the bald truth hit her in the face. She couldn’t take her eyes off him. He was her mate for life. Everything that happened after this moment was just formality.

  A flash of color mounted his cheeks, and his eyes smoldered. He measured her tight blouse, her cap of blonde curls bouncing around her moon face, and her jeans shaping over her hips. They could be staring at strangers, but neither could deny the attraction.

  She wanted to get her hands on him, and she saw the same intensity sparkling in his eyes. He mesmerized her beyond comprehension. She wanted to get off alone somewhere with him. She wanted to touch and taste and experience every inch of him.

  She couldn’t do all that now, though. Briar murmured into Silas’s ear, “How’s everything?”

  He kept his eyes on Natalie. “Just the same. The same as last night. You didn’t miss anything by getting a decent night’s sleep.”

  Briar headed for her parents’ bedroom. “I better go see them. Can you handle everything here, Natalie?”

  Natalie took her eyes off Silas for a fraction of a second to wave Briar away. “Go ahead. I’ll handle Grace.”

  Grace ran after her mother. “I want to see Grandpa.”

  “You can see Grandpa,” Briar told her, “but like Natalie said, he’s not feeling well and he sleeps a lot. You can come with me now, just for a minute. Then maybe Natalie will take you for a walk outside.”

  The instant Briar left, Silas’s magnetic presence drew Natalie’s eyes back to his face. She couldn’t remember a time when she wasn’t staring at him, enthralled by his energy. So, this was the new MacAllister Alpha. He certainly had the power to do the job. No one could stand up to this guy.

  His magnetism as Alpha didn’t affect her this way, though. A deeper connection between them drew her into his sphere. He occupied her whole awareness. No other man worked on her mind this way.

  Her fingers tightened on her tablet, and she remembered. How long could she stand here staring at Silas MacAllister before Max sent her a message? How could she tell Max she found somebody else?

  Falling for Silas MacAllister, mating with him and spending the rest of her life with him on Bruins’ Peak—that was the Bruin dream. It solved all her problems with this misguided internet romance.

  The question remained: How could she get out of it? How could she break their date to meet in Ross Cove? Max would be devastated when she broke it off with him. At least he would never find out she was a Bruin who could only mate with another Bruin.

  How long had she been standing there staring at Silas? Did he find it odd that she stared at him the way he stared at her? She should say something to him. She ought to break the ice somehow, but she couldn’t think of what to say.

  She cleared her throat. “How are your parents?”

  That was a stupid thing to say. She just heard him tell Briar they hadn’t changed since last night.

  He nodded. “They’re okay. Neither of them is in pain, so that’s a good thing.”

  Now that he started talking, Natalie relaxed. “My brother Riskin sent you a message.”

  His head snapped up, and his eyes flashed. “What message is that?”

  “He wants me to tell you he’s looking for Rhys. Rhys didn’t come home last night, but Riskin wants you to know he’s on top of the situation. He says if Rhys makes any further trouble for you, Riskin wants to be the first to know. He wants to handle Rhys himself, as his Alpha.”

  Silas nodded one more time. His eyes drilled into Natalie’s soul. “All right. Thank you for delivering the message.”

  Natalie shifted from one foot to the other. “So…how’s everything else going? I haven’t seen you in a while.”

  “Everything’s good. Our dairy operation is good, and my internet businesses are taking off. It seems impossible that you could have been right around the Peak all this time, and I never knew it.”

  Natalie blushed. “Yeah. I know. If I’d known…”

  She couldn’t exactly say she would have been all over him if she’d only know he was her mate next door. What was she doing, carrying on with Max when Bruins like this lived on the sa
me mountain?

  He eased a step toward her. “So…do you want to go out for a walk later? I could show you around the place.”

  Natalie’s cheeks burned, but she couldn’t stop smiling. He felt it, too. They were made for each other. “I’d like to do that, but I’m supposed to be taking care of Grace so Briar can be there for your parents…and you.”

  “We could take Grace with us. I’m sure she’ll want to get outside sometimes.”

  Natalie cast her eyes down to the floor, but they always found a way to migrate back to his face. “No. I think I’d rather go alone with you. I mean…well, Briar won’t be with your parents all the time. She can take care of Grace while we…”

  She broke off. She couldn’t continue. Just thinking about taking a walk alone with him thrilled her beyond belief. It thrilled her a lot more than messaging Max. This wasn’t some apparition on the computer. This was a living, breathing man—a Bruin.

  She could mate with him. She could have children with him. She could take her place as a Bruin on this mountain. This was where she belonged, not in some shadow world of numbers and letters on a screen.

  His lips and eyes and skin hovered before her face. She wanted to kiss him right now. She wanted to trace the crisp coolness of his shirt and feel the lines of muscle underneath. She wanted to put her arms around his waist and appreciate his bulk against her.

  His gaze skidded down to her mouth, and his lips twitched. He was thinking about it, too. His hand came up, but he stopped himself from touching her. He let his arm fall. He tried to look away, but came back to staring at her.

  Natalie looked around the room. She had to do something. She had to break this tension before it got out of control, right there in the living room. Anybody could walk in and see them together, and they weren’t even doing anything.

  She wanted to get away from him, but she wanted more than anything to get near him at the same time. To her relief, he motioned toward the living room. “Do you want to sit down?”

  She jumped at the chance. She lowered her onto one couch, and he took the other. He faced her across the coffee table. She set her tablet on the cushion next to her, but when she glanced down at it, it caught her in its addictive grip.

  She picked it up, and it flickered on in her hands. She swept her finger across the screen to unlock it. When she glanced up, she saw Silas on his phone across the room, so he wasn’t waiting to talk to her. She could give the tablet her full attention.

  What would Silas do if he found out about Max? How could she give Max the slip without breaking his heart or offending Silas? She could just stop responding to his messages. She could pretend her tablet fell in a mud puddle, or that it had to go in for repair and she had no way of getting in touch with him. Anything could happen.

  She shook those thoughts out of her head. She counted on him all these weeks. She owed him at least a simple explanation. She didn’t want to hurt his feelings, but she wouldn’t just dump him in the ditch the first time a better prospect came along.

  She pulled up her message app and typed the text. Are you there?

  83. Chapter 8

  A message popped up on Silas’s phone. Are you there?

  His pulse raced. I’m here.

  I had a good time last night.

  Silas’s thumb punched at the screen. So did I. I always have a good time with you.

  Do you think it would be like that in person?

  I’m sure it would.

  Do you still want to meet on the 30th?

  Silas cringed. Now, came the moment he dreaded. He had to break this off. Natalie Dodd sat across the living room from him, so inviting, so beautiful, so vibrant. How could he think of meeting Penny when a woman like Natalie lived right around the corner?

  He had to get rid of Penny, but he hated even thinking like that. He relied on her for months of contact and support, not to mention sexual playtime. Now, he had to find a way to dump her. He couldn’t risk Natalie discovering that he ever given a human woman the time of day.

  I don’t know if I can make it on the 30th after all. Another contract came up, and the others are getting complicated. I have to back out. I hope you haven’t booked your flight yet.

  He didn’t want to look at his phone to read the reply. When it came, it knocked him for a loop. That’s okay. I’m busy with work, too. I didn’t want to tell you I couldn’t make it, but now you can’t make it, either, so it’s all right.

  Silas’s mind spun. Are you sure? We can reschedule.

  That’s okay. I don’t think I can get away long enough to fly across the country, even if we do meet halfway.

  I want to.

  I want to, too.

  I can’t stop thinking about you with me.

  What are you thinking about?

  Penny could still excite him through the airwaves. I’m thinking about you on your knees in front of me. You’re gazing up into my eyes, and I’m stroking your cheeks and hair as I stand above you.

  His blood pulsed between his legs. He glanced up at Natalie. She bent over her tablet. She didn’t see him getting turned on by some online phantom. She would never want to have anything to do with him if she knew.

  He never imagined a woman more perfect than Natalie. He wanted to mate with her for life. He wanted to create the Bruin dream with her, to move her into his house and marry her, have children with her, control their tribe together, breed a new generation of MacAllisters with her.

  I would love to go down on my knees in front of you and worship you. I would love to see you standing over me.

  Would Natalie ever talk to him the way Penny did? Maybe Penny was really a frustrated housewife somewhere. Maybe she would never do in real life what she talked about doing online. Maybe it was all an act.

  He would never know, because he would never meet her. Something would always come up so he could get out of it. He no longer wanted to have anything to do with her when Natalie Dodd existed in the world.

  He crossed his legs to hide his swollen crotch. He could imagine Natalie on her knees in front of him. Her angelic beauty fired his fevered imagination. He imagined her burning eyes gazing up at him, her fingers grazing up and down his thighs, her ruby lips parting to gasp out a tortured inhalation. Her cheeks flushed, and her nostrils flared to catch her breath.

  He could imagine Natalie doing everything Penny talked about doing. If only he could convince her to actually do them, he would die of happiness. He shouldn’t be talking to Penny at all with Natalie right there across the room.

  He made up his mind once and for all. He would get off his phone and talk to Natalie instead. Penny was a waste of time. Natalie was his future.

  We’ll reschedule, and then you can do it.

  Okay. Talk to you later.

  Silas stared down at the screen. His thumb wavered. What was going on? Why did she sound so glad to get away from him? This was the second time she didn’t argue when he tried to back out of having anything to do with her.

  Had she found someone else? Was she trying to let him down easy? Why did he feel a pang of jealousy about that when he was trying to let her down easy? Nothing made sense anymore.

  Natalie looked up from her tablet just as Silas put his phone back in his pocket. She smiled at him, and he couldn’t stop smiling at her. “So…how about that walk around the place?”

  Natalie jumped up. “Sure. Let’s go.”

  He was never so happy to get out of the house. The sooner he got off alone with her, the better, and the longer they sat in the living room, the more likely Grace would come out and monopolize Natalie’s attention.

  He opened the front door for her and ushered her out into the morning sunshine. Natalie took a deep breath of the forest. “This is such a nice Homestead.”

  Silas shrugged. Now that he had her alone, he couldn’t relax. What should he do? Should he hold her hand? Should he try to kiss her now, or should he wait until they got farther away from the house?

  He strolled down t
he path, past the garage. That way led to the dairy sheds, but he didn’t want to take her there. She wouldn’t want to see that, and he didn’t want to look at business with her around.

  He glanced over and found her looking his way at the same time. He blushed, but when she smiled at him, she attracted him with her stunning beauty. He wanted to gaze at her for the rest of his life.

  He guided her through the trees, but he turned their steps into the forest, away from the milking sheds and pastures. The peaceful forest surrounded them. His mind swam. He had to say something to her. “Thank you for delivering that message from Riskin, the one about Rhys.”

  Natalie turned away. “I don’t want to talk about Rhys, not right now.”

  He rested his hand on her arm. Once he touched her, he couldn’t tear his hand away. Where would it end? He turned her around to face him. “Wait a minute, Natalie. I want to talk about Rhys. I know you two are close. I don’t want…” He broke off.

  She searched his face. “You don’t want what?”

  He shook his head. He couldn’t get the words out. He didn’t want any conflict to come between him and Natalie, but he couldn’t come right out and say that. They’d known each other all of five minutes, and here he was, planning to marry her.

  She waited, but when he didn’t speak, she took the initiative. “I know Rhys caused you big problems in the past, and I know he’s making trouble now. I don’t want anything to come between us.”

  His eyes flew open, and Silas caught his breath. Did she just say that out loud? The words surprised her as much as him. She spoke the dreaded words he dared not voice aloud.

  So, she wanted the same thing. She sensed it, too. They belonged together.

  Natalie looked right and left. She stole glances at his face. “What I mean is, I won’t let Rhys bother you if there’s anything I can do to help it. I’ll do whatever I can to bring Rhys to his senses.”

  A shudder passed down Silas’s body. Was he really standing out here in the forest with Natalie Dodd? Were they really looking into each other’s eyes with this weighty tension hanging between them? Was he really touching her arm?