His mouth slowly peeled away. One last growl, and I collapsed backward, flat on my back and panting for air.
My toes remained curled. He caught one foot, pulled my calf close to his face, and kissed it.
“You came just like I imagined,” Nick said, wiping his mouth and standing up straight again.
“Yeah?”
“You're a firecracker, Lyla. You've been holding back a hell of a lot, haven't you?” He went between my legs and stopped, hovering over me, positioning his gorgeous arms next to my head.
“Maybe.” I held my words. A therapy session with a man who should've been my worst enemy was the last thing on my mind – especially while we were both horny and naked.
“Nothing else to add? I haven't forgotten you broke into my house and tried to steal clan treasure, you know.”
I locked eyes with him, running my fingers across his broad shoulders. He held himself above me, a stiff mountain, hardness culminating in the big peak between his legs, just a couple inches from shoving its way inside me.
“That's too bad. Guess you'll have to shut up and hate fuck me to get over it. Right?”
Watch it what you're saying, the saner side of my brain cautioned.
Too late.
An animal flicker ran through his eyes. Growling, Nick grabbed at my hair with one hand. He kissed my neck, lips giving way to teeth. Soon those kisses turned into full on love bites, harsh and exciting.
His free hand went to the old nightstand next to his bed, yanking the drawer open. He reared back, never letting go of my head, tearing at the condom wrapper with his teeth.
“Put it on. Don't make me fuck you senseless while I hold that pretty mouth shut...”
The temptation to give him more bullshit was off the charts. Still, I held my tongue, transfixed by the magnificent feel of his length as I rolled the condom onto it.
It fit snug. Ready.
He pushed me down, another growl rising in his throat, deeper than the others before it. Nick wasn't giving me any time to spread my legs or get ready.
He pushed into me, sinking to my depths. I lurched, whimpered, wrapping myself tight around him. My insides struggled to accommodate his length and size.
He reared back and thrust deep, hard and sudden. I jerked, mixed pleasure and shock tumbling inside me.
Well, you asked for a hate fucking...
Nick jackhammered between my legs, throwing his whole body into it. Each time he went deep, he nipped at my neck, my shoulder, pulling a little harder on the hair he held tight in one fist.
Nobody had ever taken me like this. I should've known the bears would make love – mate, they called it – sudden and brutal. I should've been able to admit I liked it like that too.
Instead, the resistance gnawed at me, only fading when he chipped away with new strokes. He thrust hard and deep, making any thoughts except how good he felt deep inside me impossible.
I clawed at his back, digging my heels into his ass. Each thrust pulled me a little deeper into the storm, a foaming hot abyss where my inner walls crumbled.
He fucked on, the bed springs grinding beneath us. The neat pubic hair above his cock ground its friction against my clit whenever he went to my depths, stopping just short of my womb.
Most men would've blown keeping this tempo. This was no ordinary man.
I gave it up first, like flipping a switch.
Orgasm ripped through me, hot and fast and bright. He poured more lightning through me, cutting through my screams with his guttural satisfaction.
His balls slapped the edge of my ass. In my crazy, sticky ecstasy, I had a glimpse of him spilling into me without a condom, some crazy, primal urge in full bloom.
“Don't! Don't you fucking stop!” I whined, kicking into his warm buttocks harder, spurring him like a horse.
His thrusts hit harder. Impossible fire raced through me, a tight and dangerous dance of flames, so hard and hot he stretched my whole cunt every time he spiked deep.
My first orgasm hadn't even finished its aftershocks when another one hit. The bed springs screamed along with me, a hellish, high pitched squeal I swore would shatter wine glasses.
“Keep coming. I know you can do a whole lot better than this,” he growled, sucking at my earlobe.
Better? Are you out of your fucking mind?
Then his hips punched forward, harder than before, filling me completely. He jerked his head back and bellowed loud.
I didn't understand until I felt his cock swell. My animal brain expected an inrush of heat, glorious seed, flooding my womb to overflowing.
Muscles instantly tightened and convulsed once again, jerking my whole body around like someone had tied stiff ropes around my limbs.
Together, we came, my velvet rippling and spasming out around his beautiful cock. He unloaded in the condom, still fucking me at the hips. The rest of him became a huge granite plank, pure muscle turned to stone in its rapture.
Sparks showered off us. A few more seconds and we could've started the bed on fire.
The steady contractions waned, allowing me to open my eyes. Up above, he had his face pinched shut. Beautiful in his release.
I watched him open his eyes and look at me. The flames there swirled a little lower. Warm, but tame.
“What's the matter? Cat got your tongue?” He leaned down and kissed me.
“I think it's a bear,” I teased.
I hadn't realized how sickeningly exhausted I was until he collapsed next to me, pulling me close. Hell, how long had it been since a man spent a few hours with me in bed, let alone a full night?
The whole heist seemed a million miles away. Nick's bear hug relaxed, soft and comfortable, and his bed chest rose against my cheek.
I glanced at the jade artifact once, toward the spot where it had rolled and propped itself up against the wall.
Can I really let this go? Not just the artifact...all of it? All this fear and madness I've lived with for ten years since he was killed?
I didn't know. I just wanted to sleep. I snuggled into Nick's chest, savoring the peace.
Whatever the night would bring, I'd be ready. For now, I just needed to enjoy myself, and enjoy him.
“Nick! Niiiick! Are you in there, man?”
I woke with a start, huge fists beating on the door several rooms away. Nick was already up, prowling around the bedroom.
He scraped up his jeans and started to tug them on. When he heard me stirring – those damned bed springs – he pivoted, his sharp eyes glowing.
“Don't move. I'll handle this.”
“What is it?” I pulled the covers close.
“Somebody must've seen your car outside the reservation. They know I'm hanging onto the artifact. Another guy picked me up after I tore it out of your trunk last night.”
“Shit!” I scrambled across the room, gathering my clothes.
Nick quickly finished dressing, giving his hair a quick comb through. The pounding just outside the living room wasn't getting any more forgiving.
He closed the bedroom door gently behind him. I scurried up to it, pressed my ear close, straining to hear as I struggled to freshen up my clothes and get dressed.
“What the hell took you so long, buddy? We were ready to break down the door.”
“I just overslept, Beamer. What the hell's going on?” Lover Bear sounded convincing.
“That girl...or somebody she knows is here. Old man Turnage found her car parked in a crop of trees just inside the reservation's gates. And, hey, why the hell didn't you finish the job last night?”
“What job is that? To kill an innocent girl? I recovered the fucking ball. That's all that really matters here.” Nick let an angry growl slip out.
I marveled at the feral sound, wondering if he was lapsing into some language the other bears would understand.
“We'll see about that,” a third voice said. “You ignored the Elder's orders. You're gonna have some serious shit to discuss with Branson when he wakes up tonight. B
ut first we gotta find this human bitch.”
“Hey, hey, hey! Watch it, Victor.”
Footsteps scraped across the floor, all of them heading down the hall. I panicked, looking at the old window across the room, my lone escape route.
No way I'd ever fit through it. It would've been a tight squeeze for a skinny girl, let alone one who carried a few extra pounds.
I couldn't make out the words anymore. Nick was yelling something, and the other shifters were talking among themselves between growls.
A big hand slapped the door, jarring it in its frame. I paced the room, trying to think. What I wouldn't have given up to suddenly pass through walls!
“What's in here? Nick, get the fuck over here and open this. We demand to see the artifact. Now!”
“Okay.” His voice was hushed, so much terrible reluctance in just one word. “Put the gun down. I'll show you our damned artifact.”
Shit! Gun? So that's why he's giving up without a fight.
The door creaked open. I stood across the bed, holding my hands out, putting on my bravest face.
Didn't do a very good job of it. My cheeks were already flushed, and my throat had that heavy lump that always shows up before I'm about to cry.
“Holy shit!” It's her!” A tall man with wispy hair leaped over the bed, pushing me against the wall. “Hands behind your back, female. Now!”
“Beamer, back off! Let her breathe. If you hurt her, I swear I'll –“
“What?” The shorter man called Victor held the gun up to Nick's face. “Make me blow your idiot brains out and leave the council one hell of a mess to clean up? I knew you were a softie, Nick, but laying with this human girl...fucking despicable. Guess that Alpha spot's gonna be mine.”
He gave my lover the nastiest smile that suddenly stopped in mid-grin.
Victor breathed deep. I blushed when I realized he could smell our sex. Jesus, wasn't this humiliating enough?
Nick growled in frustration. His expression left no doubt – he was seriously contemplating charging the two anyway, shifting into grizzly form, and tearing into them. Gun or no gun.
I hoped he'd keep his cool. Everybody in the room might end up dead if we had me and three ferocious grizzly bears ripping at each other with fur and fangs.
Keep it together. I tried to beam the plea into his eyes with mine. We'll find a way out of this.
“Come on!” Beamer led me around the bed, keeping his tight grip on my hands. “We're gonna take you to somebody who knows what to do with you.”
“You too,” Victor said quietly.
Nick and his captor shuffled slowly behind us. It was nighttime outside. High stars glowed small and bright in the clear autumn sky, making the reservation feel like another planet in its nightmarish isolation.
The men led us down a neat, paved path curving between cabins. We approached a bigger building after about a quarter mile. It looked like an old re-done mansion that might've belonged to a territorial Governor or else a really rich merchant long ago.
I rolled my eyes. Even werebears set their leaders up in places meant to impress and frighten.
When they shoved me inside, my fear instantly doubled. Bones were everywhere, hanging on the walls and piled in neat stacks.
The place smelled musty, more like catacombs than a real house. They had bones from every animal, including more than a few humans. Hollow sockets stared back at me from skulls above a high fireplace.
Thankfully not lit, or the sight would've been twice as disturbing.
“Go on. They're in there waiting,” Beamer said, pushing me toward the double doors. “The Elders will sort all this crap out.”
Victor took a few steps away from Nick without taking his eyes off him. Another low growl rumbled like distant thunder, barely repressed behind the sound of the doors creaking open.
I took a heavy step forward, Nick at my side. It was a small makeshift courtroom with three of the nastiest skinwalkers I'd ever seen sitting in antique chairs behind a table.
“Better hang onto this gun, I guess,” I heard Victor say to Beamer behind us. “Never know what they'll want us to do with them.”
Behind us, someone pushed the doors. The room rattled as they slammed shut.
III: Two Kinds of Judgment (Nick)
“Unbelievable...”
Elder Branson lifted his head, shaking his long hair from side to side. His single good eye burned with fury.
Victor had just finished briefing him on what they'd found. I was glad it was all aimed at me instead of Lyla, though I doubted that would last long.
“This mistake is mine,” he said. “I chose you for this mission, thinking you were Alpha material. I've never been so wrong.”
Alphas recognize the full picture, I thought in a rage. They don't commit desperate women to death who can be talked out of their crimes. Not even human women deserve that.
“Judy, Hector, my fellow Elders...it's been a long time since we've had a treason case. After all the Klamath Bear Clan has been through, I never thought we'd see it again. And I never, ever expected one of our best sons to go gallivanting off with this human, this female who should die!” Branson stood, smacking his lips to keep from foaming.
I gave him my most toxic smile. He had to be pretty worked up to salivate like that in human form. Maybe if he got a little more pissed, he'd have a heart attack and keel over.
“We're here to sentence these two, aren't we? Not rip them in two...” Judy placed her wrinkled hand on Branson's shoulder, her glassy eyes looking more worried than usual behind her thick spectacles.
The lone female Elder had always been a nervous lady. That went double when she had to keep a lid on Branson, the man who really ruled the two puppets next to him with an iron fist.
“You're right,” Branson said. “I expect this to be quick and clean. The girl should die.”
“No!” I roared, lunging forward, right up to the white line no Klamath Bear was ever supposed to cross in this room. “You can't do that.”
Lyla began to shake and cry. She looked small, vulnerable, not at all like the confident woman I'd first met in the bar and hauled into my bed.
I just wanted to go to her and hold her against my chest.
“And why not?” Hector coughed, and then kept coughing. He needed a full minute to settle his ancient lungs before continuing. “This is how we've survived, Tunder. You know how many men gave their lives so we could administer justice on this land as we see fit?”
I knew. Old Hector was one of the few guys left who'd gone in an internment camp during the last big war. Government boys trusted shifters about as much as the Japanese, and we were way too close to the West coast for comfort, especially after a Japanese balloon bomb exploded near Klamath Falls.
Half a bear's lifetime had passed since then. But the old wounds remained, alive with pain.
“The past is the past,” I said, trying my very best to be diplomatic. “Humans haven't bothered us much since the treaty several decades ago. Yeah, Lyla's done wrong. I should know because I'm the one who recovered the fucking artifact!” I nearly spat on the floor.
“Yes, and that's the lone reason why you'll be protected from a similar fate, Nick.” Judy looked quickly from me to Branson, hoping her words satisfied the chief.
Branson glowered. Very slowly, he hauled himself up, shuffling toward me with one angry eye and the pitch black eye patch.
“There's no changing this, Nick. The last thing in the world I want is to sacrifice one of our best and brightest – even if he is a defiant little shit.”
Little? I'm bigger than you and over thirty years old. Watch it, old man.
“Let him do what he's gonna do,” Hector said, just before collapsing into another coughing fit.
“It's our way. The human female will come back if we let her go. We can't just hold her here, away from her own people. That's inviting trouble. If you'll recant, admit you fucked up, we can still find our way through this, son.”
&n
bsp; I'm not your fucking son either. What I wouldn't give to have my father in charge of this clan, instead of you...
At one time, when I was very young, it looked like dad was going to take the Alpha's reigns, an easy path to the Elder Council. Then fate intervened and he was killed in an auto accident.
Branson reached out. I cringed as the Elder's hand found my shoulder. He squeezed – much harder than any reassuring grip ought to be.
It took clenching every muscle in my body to refrain from knocking his domineering hand away and planting a fist in his face.
“Okay,” I said at last. “You're right. I've been too reckless. There's only one way. Just, please, Elder...let's put this all behind us. You've got everything you wanted.”
Branson managed a weak smile. I'd surprised him. He was a cold hearted bastard, but for some reason he really wanted to keep from killing me.
If I cooperated – or pretended to cooperate – he wouldn't need to.
It was hell shutting out Lyla's terrible screams. I wanted to give her a wink, a nudge, anything to show her they'd have to kill me first if they wanted to get to her.
But any little gesture would've given it all away.
I closed my eyes, staring past the Elders, past Branson as he wandered to the edge of the room and slammed the door shut after Victor and Beamer dragged Lyla away.
“We'll do it tonight,” he whispered, as if that was supposed to be consoling. “Quick and clean, young man. I promise.”
“I know you will,” I said.
I bit my tongue so hard I drew blood. Judy and Hector eyed their lead man as he returned to his seat.
“Sleep through the night. Don't let your mind wander. In the morning, we'll have Beamer collect the artifact from you. He'll watch you tonight and make sure you don't have any second thoughts about our little understanding here. Does that sound good to everybody, or what?”
“A very reasonable plan, Elder,” Judy said.
“Agreed,” Hector whispered, all he could force out before he collapsed into coughing again.
“Good!” Branson leaned back in his big leather chair. “Then it's settled. You've done us a big wrong, Nick. You get one chance at redemption. Don't fuck it up.”
Fated Mates: The Alpha Shifter Boxed Set (12 Book Bundle) (Insatiable Reads) Page 50