Now Limes knew why. He could die for Jamie and not even consider it a sacrifice.
He looked over at her, messing with her cuticles and giving him a tentative glance.
“I need to go call my partners,” he said. “Update them on what happened. I need the name of your pack so I can get them in touch with the Tribunal.”
She nodded and gave him the names she had, and Limes took them down on his phone.
“I’ll only be a minute,” he said, nervous about leaving her. How different the day had become. One moment they were having fun at the gym, the next they were grappling with just how ruthless the men after her could be.
Not that he intended to let any of them place a hand on her. But he could see why she was shaken. She’d just started feeling secure again, and that jerk had ruined it.
“I’m going to take a shower,” she said, wrapping her arms around herself as she stood.
He wanted to shelter her at the moment, take her against him and block out the world. But he couldn’t.
She gave him a half smile that didn’t reach her eyes. “I’m gonna go get clean.”
“Sure,” he said. “Yell if you need anything.”
“And Limes?” she asked before going.
“Yes?”
“Thanks for saving me.”
“Of course, princess,” he replied in a tone so gentle he didn’t know he had it. “Of course.” The fight had gone out of her and all he wanted was to be soft. To ease her pain.
No one had ever affected him like this.
She gave him a wave and walked off to her room.
He sighed and picked up the phone. He knew she’d be safe in there, with the stuff he’d set up, and he knew she probably needed time alone.
But as he dialed Bronson, he couldn’t help thinking maybe he was the one who should put up a fight right now. To be near her. To help her.
As soon as he was done with this phone call.
14
The heat and steam in her shower were soothing, but not enough to remove all the stress and pain of the day.
She’d nearly been kidnapped, nearly been taken from Limes, and that had been after a particularly grueling self-defense lesson she’d been feeling quite good about.
She lathered her hands over her hair and then pulled body wash into her palms. Limes was probably out making a phone call to his partners, just another reminder he was here as part of a job, no matter what else was happening between them.
She was torn between wanting him there distracting her and wanting him to stay away and not see how upset she was. She’d always kept her feelings to herself. Life had been frustrating, and the more Limes pointed out just how much she put up with, the more she was coming to reject it.
She was an alpha female. It’d been so long since she’d heard those hurtful words. Words that reduced her to an object, a sum of her benefits, rather than a thinking, feeling person.
She sighed and continued to wash, not taking any real pleasure in the sensation, though she would be glad to be clean.
She heard the door to the bathroom open and looked over at the mirror through the shower door. Limes’s large figure was backing into the bathroom, keeping his eyes averted.
“I’m coming in. Is that okay?” he called.
“Yes, it’s fine,” she said. “Nothing you haven’t seen.”
He entered the bathroom. He was blessedly quiet, his green eyes serious and thoughtful, hands folded in front of him as he leaned on the counter and looked over at her.
She flushed and looked away, continuing to wash. Brazenly, in front of him. She liked the way he looked at her. Like she was beautiful, like she was the only woman in the world. She ran her soapy hands over her breasts, letting them glide over the soft curves, and saw him bite his lip, expression darkening slightly.
She beckoned him with a finger, and he pulled his shirt over his head in a second, leaving his magnificent chest bared. Then he stripped out of the rest of his clothing and stepped into the small shower with her, surrounded by glass on all sides.
He had so much lean, male strength. Here, without his rough clothes, she liked him best. She pressed her soapy body up against him, reaching up with her hands to run them over his hair, loving the scratchy feel of its shortness.
He grinned and put a hand around her back to steady her. “You okay?” he asked as she ran soapy hands over his chest.
Her heart pounded, just being reminded about what had happened, but she nodded. “I’m fine.”
He brought her hand to his lips, ignoring the bubbles there as he kissed the back of it. “You don’t seem fine. You seem shaken.”
“I was nearly kidnapped. I mean, they haven’t gone that far before, and it made me remember so many times. So many close calls.”
He closed his eyes, his long lashes resting against his skin as he took a lengthy breath and let it out. When he opened them, she saw the rage echoing in the depths of that bright green. How she loved that color and would miss it when it was gone.
“What can I do to make you forget?” he asked, running his hands over her soapy hips, making her feel womanly, soft, and safe.
“I don’t know,” she said, twining her hands around his neck for support. “I just… need to forget.”
He reached for the body wash and squirted it onto his hands liberally. Then he rubbed his palms together slowly, his hot gaze on her, filling her with anticipation. Then, to her shock, he knelt in front of her.
His hands moved over her feet, caressing up to her ankles. “I’m going to wash away every touch,” he said, pressing a kiss to her thigh as his hands wound up to her knees, washing down to her ankles again in a tingly, sensitive way that made her nearly buckle against him.
How did it feel so good to be touched in such a simple way? She supposed it was the caring she felt in each movement, the way his fingers noted every curve and dip of her body as he thoroughly washed her legs.
“I’ll make you remember only my touch,” he murmured, his lips grazing the side of her leg as he moved up to wash her thighs, his strong, rough hands gentle as they moved. “Forget any other. They were never supposed to have you.”
“And you were?” she asked breathlessly, looking down at him.
“Yes, maybe,” he said, kissing the side of her hip as his hands continued to move, over her backside and hips and the inside of her thighs, carefully avoiding the place that was aching for him. The place where she wanted him most. “You make me feel like nothing else has in my life. You make me open up in ways I never thought I could. You make me care.”
She gasped as his hands moved up her ribcage to cover her breasts. He stood as his hands held the weight of her, his thumbs brushing over her sensitive nipples, sending little sparks through her.
But his hands kept moving, around her back, down over her waist and then up over her shoulder blades, making her warm, making her feel safe and wanted. Every part of her body was slowly forgetting its tension. Every part of her was slowly remembering only how good things felt between them.
And the fact that he had come for her.
She dug her nails into his back as he reached down to cup her ass, remembering his vicious expression as he’d run after them. She’d never had a single doubt that he would be there in time. Not once. Yet her heart had pounded at the thought of leaving him.
He pressed a kiss to her soapy neck and then his hands moved over her shoulders to cup her face as he looked down at her tenderly. He had no words as he gazed at her, but after a moment, he lowered his lips to hers and no words were needed.
Just the soft heat between them, his mouth taking hers, his body coming so close in the steam and heat that they felt like one person. She could feel his hardness up against her, tempting and thick. She reached down with one hand to stroke him, and he groaned, leaving her mouth to gently bite her shoulder. He was so much taller that he had to lean down to do it, and she gasped at the sensation. Slightly rough but sweet.
“Do you w
ant me to take you?” he asked. She nodded, and he let out a growl. “Are you sure?” His soapy hand reached between her legs and gently pressed there, setting off fire inside where she was already aching. “I can finish you here.”
“I’m sure,” she said.
So he put them under the water and let the soap stream off. He closed his eyes, and there was something amazing about watching him just above her, guarding her from the spray and closing his eyes to it, letting it trail gently down over his body and onto hers, a hot, delicious waterfall.
“Limes,” she said.
“I said you could call me Josh, during sex, you know.”
“I like Limes,” she said as they pulled apart, checking they were rinsed.
Limes stepped out of the shower and grabbed a towel, quickly running it over himself as she admired him. He grabbed her robe off a hook and held it out for her. It was terrycloth and very worn, but he didn’t seem to care. He was still eyeing her like she was an exotic princess and he didn’t know how he was so lucky to be with her.
She stepped out into the robe, and as she felt the warmth surround her and looked up at Limes, she realized she didn’t know how she could go back to the life she had before. Working in IT, lonely nights after. Even with no stalkers, it wouldn’t be the same.
Limes swept her feet out from under her and carried her into her bedroom, setting her on the bed and then strolling naked to lock the door. “I mean, if you want to call out Limes, then fine, but you might risk someone thinking you have an odd proclivity for fruit.”
She laughed at that, loving the way it warmed her inside. She couldn’t ever remember laughing as much as she did with him. “You’re silly. But no, it’s just you. How did you get that name anyway?”
“In the military,” Limes said. “First they called me pretty boy. Then they decided Limes fit better.”
“Really? Pretty boy?” she asked, looking at his severe appearance. While he was the handsomest man she’d ever seen, he was far too masculine to ever be pretty.
“Nah,” he said. “It was Limes from the start.”
She giggled as he tackled her back against the bed. “Because you’re sour?”
“Sure,” he said. “Or maybe I’m a good source of vitamin C?”
“Is the C for crazy?” she asked, teasing.
He let out a little growl and pinned a hand on either side of her head. “Only when it comes to you.” He leaned forward and nipped her on the ear, and she jumped, writhing against him. He reached for the belt of her robe and pulled it open, baring her.
“Finally, I get to see all of you in daylight. Finally, I get to take my time.”
“You already took your time in the shower,” she snapped, rubbing her legs together to stem the ache. “I’m not waiting any longer.”
“Fine,” he said. “So impatient.”
“You’ve taught me to fight for what I want,” she said.
He’d gotten up and was pulling a foil packet out of his jeans when she said it, and he stopped, cocking his head at her, an unreadable expression on his face. Almost as if he were touched.
He walked back to her, tearing open the packet with his teeth and sliding the condom over his hard, thick length. Damn, bears were something else. She could hardly believe she’d already had that thing inside her, but the wolf in her was growling to take it again.
“Yes,” she said, as he got on the bed with her, pulling her legs apart as he knelt between them.
He pulled them up over his shoulders and leaned forward, a hand on either side of her head. Then he rethought that and entwined each of his hands with one of hers, bringing them over her head.
“I love the look of you like this,” he said. “Totally at my mercy.”
She flushed, painfully turned on by the thought of it, when it would have scared her to death with anyone else. There was something special between them.
“I’d never let anyone else be here,” he said. “I’ll kill them a thousand times first.” The look in his eyes was so intense she couldn’t help but believe him.
“I know.”
Then he leaned down to kiss her neck, and she felt his tip at her entrance. She squirmed slightly, getting ready to accommodate him, but then he took her mouth with his lips, smothering her with wet heat as he slid into her in one smooth stroke.
A perfect fit. Unbearably full, but she wouldn’t have it any other way. She could feel every part of him. His hard chest pressed to hers, his narrow hips cradled against her, the hard length inside her, filling her to the brim. She squirmed slightly, trying to make it more comfortable, but it was far too intense to be comfortable.
It was something much better than comfortable.
She bit her lip against the pressure already rising inside her. “I’m not going to last long.”
“That’s my line,” he said, nipping her earlobe. He slowly withdrew and then came back inside, and she arched, her eyes flying open at the intensity of the sensation. Like sparks were going off inside her with each millimeter of movement. Every inch of him felt like heaven.
She didn’t want him ever to be out.
His eyes closed in focus, his arms trembling slightly as he slowly pushed back in, filling her to the hilt. “Damn, you feel amazing. Just right.”
“That’s how I feel,” she said. “Except it’s so hot, so huge. I can’t take it.”
He grinned at her and stroked out, then in again. She let out a little scream, and he did it again, clearly loving the effect on her.
“Are you okay?” she asked. “You’re trembling.”
He let out a hoarse laugh. “You take everything out of me, Jamie. You don’t let me hold anything back. It takes all my control not to lose it right now.”
Her eyes widened. She was shocked and pleased that she could have such an effect on this strong, tall, harsh man. Bring out so much of the gentleness inside him that she never would have guessed was there when she first saw him out on her front porch.
But she didn’t have long to think about it before he stroked in again, this time speeding up into a smooth in-and-out rhythm that made her feel like she was flying toward a pleasure so strong she almost feared it, so inevitable she could almost feel it before it happened.
“Limes,” she gasped out as she came close to the edge.
“I’m here,” he said, and then he thrust deep inside, pulled out, and thrust in, hard, and she came, tumbling over the edge with a scream that sounded almost like it came from someone else as light exploded inside her and her body convulsed around him.
She heard him let out a hoarse curse as he jerked inside her, felt him going with little convulsions that only enhanced and goaded on the pleasure she was feeling as well.
She held on to him, savoring every gasp, every tense of his muscles, every wash of incredible pleasure as her orgasm rolled over her. Every second with him.
And then they lay back against the bed, exhausted. He was still inside her, and she kept her legs around him, wanting to keep him there. They looked into each other’s eyes, both stunned by the power of what had happened.
And then he was pulling away, walking to the bathroom to clean himself up, and then coming back to pull her in against him on the bed, spooning her from behind as she listened to the pounding of her own heartbeat.
They spent a long moment like that, each lost in their own thoughts, his hand tenderly stroking her hair as her mind raced over the past few days together and tried not to panic over how wonderful it had been.
He’d never said anything directly about mating her. She didn’t even know how it worked for bears and wolves. Or bears in general. He said things about how she made him feel or how he’d never felt like this or how she was maybe meant for him.
But that was all. There were no promises, exactly.
“What now?” she asked, hating the rasp in her voice, the way she felt vulnerable.
He opened his mouth as if to say something, and she studied the curve of his lip. The sharp dip of
his cupid’s bow, the firm arch of his bottom lip. The contrast of his beautiful lips with his sharp, hard jaw.
She ran a finger along it.
“What do you mean what now?” he asked, his voice genuine and soft.
She wanted to ask him about the future. About his feelings. But she couldn’t, so she copped out. “Like, do you want to have dinner, watch a movie?”
He propped himself up on one arm, and she couldn’t tell if he was disappointed or relieved at the direction of the conversation. He let out a breath and gave her a smile. “All of the above, I guess,” he said. “If you’re willing to cook, that is.” He shrugged. “You’ve seen my skills, or lack thereof.”
She laughed. “Or we could just microwave a couple of those meals you bought?”
His eyes widened, and then he grinned in approval. “Now you’re talking.” He stood up, stretched, and helped her get her robe on. Then he opened her wardrobe, looking through it.
He pulled out another one of her robes and held it against him. “What do you think?
Naked, body sheened from the shower and sex, powerful legs covered with defined muscles, he took her breath away. Even with a fuzzy pink robe in front of him.
“Not your size,” she said, moving to stand but stopping because her legs were shaking. “Damn, you have an effect on a woman.”
The look on his face could only be called proud, and he gave her a wide grin. Maybe the biggest she’d ever seen. One that reached his green eyes and lit up his whole face.
And stole her breath.
But he didn’t seem to notice its effect on her, turning to open the door. “I’m going to go change before I have to ravish you again,” he said.
“What if I want to be ravished?” she asked, ignoring the soreness between her legs.
He sent her a look. “Do you want to be able to walk tomorrow?”
She nodded.
Bear-ly A Hero (Bear Claw Security 2) Page 11