“I'm glad you acknowledge that. Listen, Lyla, you've set this whole thing into motion by accident. I want your help, beautiful.”
Holy shit! I didn't even know where to begin. Except I wasn't even going to think about declining this plea.
“You've got it. Morally.”
“No, more than that.” He embraced me, harder this time, pulling my softness to his hard body.
He needed me there, tight against him, reminding him of everything we'd suffered. So did I.
“There's got to be other resources. More books, records, bears...something else that old Indian knows. I need you to help me find it. I have a feeling the answer's right in front of us.”
Slowly, he guided me to face the table with him. The destiny stone sat there half unwrapped, its surface glowing like a tranquil green sea.
“Find out everything you can about this sphere. You've got a brain like I don't. I can't sit down and sift through all this shit like you. Come on, beautiful. I need you.”
His words melted my heart. I leaned in, kissed him, tugging hard at the muscles along his back.
“It's a deal.” I smiled. “Just as long as you keep those rough, hot kisses coming.”
Tuts was nowhere to be found the next day. His granddaughter Doe said he was out hunting.
“Did he tell you about the talk with my boyfriend and I yesterday?” I balked a little at the B-word.
Nothing else fits, I thought. Hell, we've been fucking constantly when we're not chained together at the hip. Isn't that what boyfriends do?
“Yes. My grandfather talks a lot. His favorite thing in the world.”
She didn't nod, didn't smile, didn't reveal anything.
“You must know about all this stuff. I mean, the legends, the skinwalkers, all that crazy jazz. Look, I'm trying to finish more research. Tuts gave us a very valuable resource, but I need more.”
“County library,” Doe said. “Ask for Hammond. He's the old chief librarian in charge of the antiquities downstairs. My grandfather donated his private collection a few years ago. Said it would be good for posterity.”
“Thanks,” I said.
If anything positive was going to happen, I had to move fast. Nick took my advice and rested while I went out.
My chance to give him support in more than mere words had arrived. If the library trip was a bust, I didn't know where I'd turn. And if I didn't turn up something useful, then he was all too likely to go back to the Klamath bears and do something stupid, no matter how much I begged him not to.
One musty trip to the library later and a short chat with Hammond brought me into a little room. I had a pile of old books and folders at my side, all of them donated by our old friend at the lodge.
Hours of digging later, I fished a portable towelette from my purse and wiped my hands. Ugh. Dust like that would be sucking moisture out of my hands for weeks to come.
“Come on!” I whispered to myself. “Could really use a little of that bear magic old Tuts was talking about...”
Halfway through another folder of old sketches, I found it. The hard charcoal lines didn't match Tuts' own steady style from the wildlife prints I'd seen.
It was a black and white drawing of a huge grizzly standing on two legs, its claws stretched, roaring at a small crowd gathered around it. A short man next to the screaming bear held a very familiar looking sphere.
The destiny stone had vibrant rays shooting out of it like a second sun.
I flipped it over. The caption was written in a faded, crabbed script, like something engraved on paper with a quill tip pen. I managed to make it out, straining my eyes over each line.
Coronation Day for a King.
When a rightful ruler takes his proud jewels in his rightful form, his people rejoice. The sphere of destiny glows like a blood red moon, proving his claim to legitimacy.
The skinwalker has a natural edge over all men who wear the crown. While men depend on Cardinals and courts of aristocrats to give them their crowns, it seems God himself approves the Bear King, a sign from the heavens even this wary observer cannot ignore.
Archibald Van Moltke. June, 1834.
“Jesus.” My heart began to pound like a steady drum in my chest. “There's no way this can be real.”
Or so I wanted to believe. But how many strange things had I seen since I started delving into bear lore? Hell, how strange was their very existence?
Obviously so eerie and improbable the US government would never admit to it.
I looked around carefully. I vowed I'd never steal a precious artifact again after Nick saved me, but surely I could make an exception for this last little scrap, this crude drawing that might be telling the truth, literal or symbolic.
Okay, there's got to be something here. And I'm not going to let another something slip away.
I carefully folded the old paper and pushed it into my purse.
Just in time. The room's lonely speaker kicked to life above me, announcing the library would be closing in the next fifteen minutes.
Up in the Idaho mountains, we could already see our breath. Winter was imminent at these elevations.
We'd driven several hours north to a park flanked with mountains, and very few touristy lookouts and cabins. Nick insisted on total isolation.
“Are you sure you want to do this up here? It's awfully cold.” I hugged myself, wishing I had a thicker jacket.
I know, a fat girl should tolerate the cold better. Leave me alone.
“This place is perfect. Nobody should see us in this forest.” Nick sounded much more upbeat today.
Probably something about being out in stark, rugged nature. Even I appreciated it, and I didn't have half his bear sharp senses.
“Do you have it, Lyla?” He turned to look at me, stepping back from a rocky outgrowth hovering over a small depression in the ground where dark green saplings were beginning to sprout.
I lifted it out of the small bag at my side, glancing over my shoulder one last time to make sure nobody else was around. The destiny stone felt heavier in my hands than it had before, or maybe I was just dizzy with anxiety.
“Here. You can have my coat if you're cold.” He drew it off his shoulders, adding it to the bundle in my arms. “Won't be needing it for a little while.”
I leaned on a tall fallen tree adjacent to our little spot. Nick undressed, starting with his shirt, carefully hanging each piece of clothing on the low branches nearby.
Watching him strip was damned sexy, even when it wasn't supposed to be.
Soon, pale yellow light filtering through the bright green trees above fell on his gorgeous flesh. I almost forgot to brace myself for what was about to happen next.
“Pass it to me when I stand up and sniff the air. I won't hurt you. I promise. We're in full control when we let the bears rise. Never forget that.”
Yeah. Easy when it's all theory, but not so easy when there's a fifteen hundred pound grizzly bear standing in front of me, staring like I'm lunch.
I'd never seen a shift at close range before while I was sober.
Always a first time for everything.
Nick stretched his arms and legs. I eyed his half-full erection, inwardly chastising myself for the constant stream of dirty, delicious thoughts.
Then he fell to the ground and sexy went on the back burner.
I squirmed uncomfortably, wondering what it felt like to sprout fur, claws, and have your bones splintered in several dozen places.
It always happened fast too. Nick's body cracked and transformed, ballooning into a big, hairy ball with arms and legs.
The grizzly was back. The huge bear stared at me, tilting his head in a way that would've looked friendly and funny if I were watching him through the bars of a cage.
But it was just him and I out here. No barriers, no prison bars. Just faith.
“Nick?” I said, more than a little unease in my voice. “Are you ready?”
The grizzly took a few steps forward. I could hear his h
uge lungs inhaling and exhaling, large dragon puffs of smoke snorting through his leathery nostrils.
It's okay. Don't be afraid.
Without warning, the bear stood. I cringed and stumbled a few steps backward, but he stopped short of landing on top of me, as promised.
Nick raised his head, sniffing at the air, giving a raspy whine that tugged at my heart.
“Okay, big guy. Let's get this over with.”
Passing over the destiny stone was the hardest part. It took all my willpower to reach out to the bear, to carefully place the heavy orb in his big, furry paws.
I wondered if he could even grip with those huge claws.
Nick got along okay, adjusting his bear fingers for a secure grip. He clutched the holy artifact tight to his chest.
We waited. Nothing.
I shook my head, hating myself for believing that stupid mumbo-jumbo in the library. Nick growled, a thousand times more ferocious than he ever did as a man.
Somehow, he kept the same cadence of a very pissed and disappointed man, despite being a heavy bear.
Then there was a hiss from his hands. The green color changed, blinding like a meteor coming in through the earth's atmosphere.
I whimpered in surprise and shielded my eyes. Nick's growl came louder, and his furry paws jerked around it, as if it were burning him.
When the glow lessened, I opened my eyes. His back was turned to me, and he was moving to the small cliff, ambling along slowly on two bear legs never meant to walk upright for long distances.
He stopped just before the edge, slowly stretching his arms, still cradling the stone.
Now, it truly glowed vivid red, like a harvest moon dyed in blood. Nick pitched his head back and began to roar. His guttural sonnet resounded with the nature around us, scattering the birds, vibrating deep into the trees.
I pressed against the fallen trunk and covered my ears. I couldn't decide whether I should laugh or cower.
This really is his destiny! And whatever fate is on its way makes me shake with happiness, fear, and confusion in one stroke.
When I opened my eyes, the bear had turned around. The stone was on the cliff's small incline, rolling down toward me.
I stepped up and caught it just before it landed in a patch of mud. Nick crouched low, flattening himself on the ground, shrinking and turning bald as his bones rearranged into a man's shape.
His hands and feet were slightly muddy when he looked up, breathing heavily. Shifting must've been one hell of a sucker punch to the body. Or was it the stone that drained him?
The glowing stopped. Its warmth was fading, and it only took several seconds for the jade green to reappear, banishing the crimson fire that filled it before.
“It's true,” he said, rising and fetching his clothes. “Everything.”
I let him dress in silence. Contemplation clouded his face, likely the same thoughts and fantasies tearing through my mind.
“Now what?” I asked as soon as he faced me again, buttoning up his shirt.
“Now, I thank you properly for showing me what I really am.” He threw me into his embrace so fast I laughed.
Crushed between us, the destiny stone nestled into my breasts. There wasn't much good humor in his eyes, just raw, hungry, animal need, instincts that hadn't disappeared with the bear.
“Come on. We've got a long drive back before I can throw you down and fuck you senseless. Then I'm going to plan every last detail of my return to Klamath. I'm still hungry for blood. Branson, Judy, and Hector's blood, to be specific.”
No big surprise. But the way he kissed me was.
The sphere pressed uncomfortably between our bodies as he threw himself into me, pouring hot breath past my lips as his tongue found mine. There was no pushing back, no teasing him.
Nick's kiss had nothing but force behind it, stopping just short of biting my bottom lip. His kiss literally stole my breath away, sucking it deep into his body, replacing oxygen with earthy lust.
“Holy...holy shit,” I moaned when he finally let me up for air. “What's gotten into you?”
“Plenty. Now put that thing down and forget the drive back,” he said, snatching the sphere from my hand.
He walked it several steps to my purse, set it carefully on the ground, and then came back to me.
Blood rushed into my ears. Was he really suggesting what I thought he was?
Another embrace, another feral kiss, another intense grip in his rock hard arms held the answer. He pushed me against the tree, never letting up on the kisses, plunging his tongue into my mouth again and again.
He licked me like he wanted to fuck me. My depths turned slick and convulsed, suddenly wishing it were the other way around.
I wanted – no, needed – more than just his tongue flicking in and out my mouth.
I reached up, tearing at his collar. My hands broke a couple buttons as he helped me take his shirt down, and then it was my turn.
Well, so much for getting dressed. Damn if this isn't a hell of a way to change your mind, though.
Our clothes fell in a flurry, stripped away like annoying second skins. Nick held my curves expertly, making me delirious with his kisses, the way his hands clasped my ass and squeezed.
Growling, he walked me back. I squealed as he tightened his grip, making me fall with him onto the cold ground.
It had to be around fifty degrees up here. Not that it mattered, not with the sticky heat racing through my blood.
We rolled, twining arms and legs, and now I was flat on my back, open as the cool earth beneath me.
Nick kissed me again, stamping a steady trail of hot fire past my lips, down my neck. He grabbed my right breast. I rolled my hips and groaned when my nipple disappeared behind his lips.
Tongue and teeth lapped at one breast, and then the other, making expert laps and pinprick clenches that drove me wild. I reached past my legs, gripping his cock in one hand.
Fuck!
He was hard as steel. Longer and thicker than I even remembered, just inches away from forcing it to my depths.
We didn't have a condom. I was past caring.
I couldn't resist, couldn't think about stopping, even as I wrapped my arms and legs around him. I ran my nails up his neck, listening to the happy rumble in his throat. He came closer, closer, closer still when my legs went around his hips, pulling him dangerously close to my aching slit.
“I. Need. You.” Staccato words burst from his mouth and into my ear like billowing steam.
Nick pushed into me with one thrust. I arched my back, slapping the cool earth lightly, instinctively rising to meet the powerful length slipping to my depths.
He fucked hard, fast, devouring me in a rough sprint rather than a slow and sensual marathon. The force of his hips on mine took me by surprise.
I moaned again, all my senses going into overload. Nobody's flesh had ever felt so good inside me, his skin on mine, burrowing deeper with risky intent.
Everything between my thighs burned hotter as our rhythm increased. Even the cool soil and moss beneath us did nothing to cool the rising flames.
“Fuck, you're so tight,” he growled. “Just makes me want to tear you apart, make you a perfect fit for my cock.”
“Do it!” I whimpered.
Nick bared his teeth. He grabbed my ass, moving his hands up my legs, placing them over his shoulder.
I flushed as white hot fire zipped through me. Big girls rarely imagined being fucked like this, with so many curves creased and exposed, but Nick didn't care about any of that.
He loved every inch of me. Most of all, he wanted to go deeper, and now I was fully open for him as he jackhammered into me.
My lips opened in a hot ring of pure pleasure. My clit throbbed each time he slammed down, slapping his balls on my ass. My toes curled across his shoulders, winding up for the explosion.
It came.
Worlds splintered apart in my mind. Every little piece of stress or self-conscious fear left in me unraveled.
I buried my hands in the soil at my sides and scratched, trying to relieve the molten blast inside me.
But there was nothing to do but let the fever run its course.
Growling, Nick slammed deeper, fucking me through my orgasm, timing his thrusts to match my velvet as it convulsed and sucked at his erection.
“I'm...I'm fucking losing it. Oh, little Lyla, I'm going to fill you, mate you, breed you...”
His voice gurgled into another growl, deeper than a normal human could manage. His hips mashed against mine, and he held himself there as his big cock erupted into my climax.
Our bodies rocked, fucked, and spasmed together.
My orgasm started all over again, surrounding my brain in delicious warmth a second time. But there was something else.
Thick liquid heat flowed through me, shooting through my womb. I realized it was his seed jetting into me, foaming like a volcano overflowing.
His sweet, forbidden essence hurled deep, covering my fertile valley, something I shouldn't have allowed it to do.
Bad girl, I thought. Bad, bad, bad...but so fucking good!
My sex spasmed again, milking his cock dry. My body knew what it wanted. It wanted to squeeze every last rich drop from his spasming flesh, sucking it to my depths, bringing light and heat to the wet darkness.
I never knew how long we came together. The pleasure reached a crescendo, tearing at every nerve, rabid music thudding through our veins that came to an abrupt stop when we could take no more.
Nick grunted, gently lowering my legs. He rolled off me.
I reached between my legs and felt for the steaming mess trickling out of me. Absolutely no doubt: he'd planted his seed deep.
Why doesn't that scare me?
Nothing about him frightened me anymore. I'd seen all the shades of himself, and he'd seen mine. All I knew was that I loved him, as insane and improbable as that seemed.
“Rest your eyes, beautiful.” He pulled me close, gently brushing stray leaves out of my hair.
I dozed on his warm protective skin, listening to distant birds serenading us. I secretly wished this private Eden could keep us there forever.
But I knew he was looking past me after he kissed my forehead. Nick's eyes were on the destiny stone.
Fated Mates: The Alpha Shifter Boxed Set (12 Book Bundle) (Insatiable Reads) Page 54