by A. B Lee
His bear was uneasy within him. It was normally a little more subdued around her but now it was on the prowl, clawing inside him. It wanted her as a mate and the beast was getting more forceful.
Reece resisted the urge to go to her. He tipped his head back against the wall and listened to the sound of her breathing and the thump of her heartbeat. It eased him.
He hated Chance for what he’d done. The man had no time for thought or consequence, and it was just damn wrong on so many levels. But he was right on one thing, this was where she belonged, even if he couldn’t allow her to stay.
~^~
By the time that Suzanna woke up in the morning Reece was already gone from inside the cabin. She tentatively looked for him as she walked through the living room and into the bathroom, but in her mind he hadn’t returned. She felt a sense of disappointment that the man who claimed that she was his mate hadn’t bothered to come back for her, but she guessed that some things were more important to him.
When she stepped out onto the front porch she found Marcus sitting in one of the straight back wooden deck chairs. There were two steaming cups of coffee on the small table and she frowned at the sight of this huge man looking so at home on Reece’s porch. She couldn’t help but wish that it had been Reece there himself. Marcus turned that grin on her.
“Good morning. Coffee.” He motioned towards the cups. It hadn’t been a question more a demand that she partake. She held her ground, unsure what it was that he wanted.
“Morning. Not a good one by all accounts.” She offered, not mentioning the cup of steaming caffeine that her body needed to kick start the day.
“Sit a while.” Marcus motioned towards another chair and she frowned harder. “I think we proved yesterday that I don’t bite.” His grin widened and the sun came out in his smile.
“Alex is taking me home.”
“Not yet she’s not. She and Jackson are… otherwise engaged.” His grin changed to teasing and she sighed inside. It irked her a little to know that someone was getting some loving this morning from their man and yet hers was missing in action, or inaction.
Suzanna sat.
Neither of them looked at the other, instead they both stared off into the distance. Neither said a word for the longest time and then when she reached out for the temptation of the coffee in front of her, he spoke.
“He was here all night with you.” Marcus informed her and she was sure that he could hear her heart as it spluttered inside her chest. She turned her head slightly and eyed him out of the corner of her eye.
“He was?” It wasn’t a question exactly, more designed to see if he was trying to bullshit her.
Marcus nodded his head as she frowned harder. A million questions all vied for supremacy within her mind, demanding answers that this man might or might not be able to give her. She forgot about her need for caffeine and her hand dropped to her lap as she considered what he’d told her.
“Prowling around out here until you fell asleep and then he went inside and watched over you until just a while ago.” Marcus reached for her cup and offered it to her. She absently took it.
“Then why did he leave?” Suzanna was at a loss. She might have read up on shifters and yet she didn’t understand Reece one little bit.
“Here’s the thing. Our little clan here isn’t like other clans. We’re generally a bunch of fucked up miscreants…” Her eyes flicked towards him and he gave her a bigger smile. “Excuse my language.” He offered cordially and she snorted on a shrug. “Our bears are a little rowdier than most. I’m guessing he worries about hurting you.”
“Would he?” Alex had said he wouldn’t, but Alex was human. She’d like to hear that reassurance from someone who knew first hand.
“Not intentionally. Maybe not ever. But there’s always that chance that we might lose control of our bear…”
“Even with a mate?” Suzanna felt strange about using that term. She wasn’t a mate, at least she wasn’t yet because her man obviously wanted nothing to do with her…
“Not normally. And having Alex around has seemed to calm our bears somewhat, but you know what they say…” He turned those soulful eyes on her and she was held in his gaze waiting for the other shoe to drop. “Never say never.”
Suzanna didn’t answer right away. She lifted the cup and gulped down a mouthful of coffee, regretting it instantly as the steamy liquid heated her throat. But she didn’t care. She’d gotten to hear the truth from a shifter and now she had something else to add to the list of things to think about.
“But we can also be loving, and caring, and the sex…” Her head snapped around on her neck and her eyes took him in as heat flooded her cheeks. He gave her a drop dead gorgeous smile that she was sure charmed all of the ladies in several towns over. “Well, I’ll let you find that out for yourself, little human.” His grin was teasing now and so were his eyes.
He pushed his large frame up and out of the chair and she had to tip her head back on her neck to look up at him.
“That’s if you’re staying around.” Marcus tossed that out there for her consideration. “If you think Reece is worth the effort.” He added not really expecting an answer as he padded down the stairs and away from the deck.
Suzanna eased back in her seat and considered what he’d told her. Being the mate to a bear shifter certainly had its drama, but then she guessed that most relationships did. Even if she was married to a human male there would be drama. She might not get eaten alive or mauled to death, but still, there were serial killers out there too.
There was one thing that she knew for certain; life was getting weirder by the hour.
~^~
Reece watched from a safe enough distance within the woods that she couldn’t easily see him and yet close enough so that he could reach her quickly if he needed too. She looked beautiful. Her hair was still tousled from sleep and she had that just woken up look that he’d wanted to witness for himself in person beside her, and yet didn’t have the heart to.
When Marcus had sat down on his porch with two cups of coffee he’d felt the jealous anger of a man who wanted to be in someone else’s shoes. He’d listened to the conversation as best he could, but there were a few things he’d missed. He replayed it over and over in his mind as he watched her sitting there sipping her coffee.
His woman was on his porch and he was skulking in the woods like a damn idiot. But he wouldn’t come out until Alex had taken her home. Then he’d collect his things and be gone.
It was all that he could do to protect her from himself.
~^~
“Ready to go, Suzanna?” Alex strolled over to the porch where the woman had been sitting for the past hour and regarded her through her sunglasses.
“No.” Suzanna had been mulling over everything that she knew in her mind for a while and now she was close to pissed off.
“Do tell?” Alex wanted to grin at the woman. There was a spark of fire within her eyes that she understood.
“Not until he man’s up and faces me.” Suzanna crossed her arms over her chest and set her jaw.
If she wasn’t good enough for him then she wanted to hear it from the horse’s mouth. If he was scared of hurting her then he needed to say it. But she wasn’t leaving until he got his candy ass in front of her and said it to her face.
“They sound like fighting words.” Alex pulled her glasses off and eyed the woman. “Are you fighting for him or against him, Suzanna?”
“Not sure yet. I just want him to show himself. From what I’ve heard he’s around here somewhere.” She eyed the treeline in the distance offering her words up like a challenge.
“Well good for you.” Alex motioned to the right with her head. “Jackson says he’s skulking in the treeline over there.”
“Right!” Suzanna pushed up from the chair and set off down the steps with a purpose. If he wouldn’t come to her then she was going to track him down herself. She needed to know where she stood before she went off home with her
tail between her legs, and she was damn well going to find out.
~^~
Reece growled to himself at the interference of his clan. This was his mate, his problem, and he wished they would just butt out. Now he had his woman on the warpath, headed his way, and he didn’t much relish any confrontation with her.
He’d never thought of himself as weak, but just looking at his mate had him pining like a damn teenager for her. That was a weakness that he could ill afford. His bear was eager to burst from him and run on fast paws to meet her halfway, and yet he knew that wouldn’t exactly end well, not if she ran from his beast…
“Damn it.” Reece took a couple of steps backwards as she drew closer and yet he couldn’t manage to turn on his heels and move away. The woman was like a damned black hole and he was in danger of getting too close, being sucked in to the madness that would ensue.
He took another couple of steps back and the foliage rustled around him.
“Don’t you dare run away like a damn coward.” Suzanna called out and every muscle in his body locked up at the sound of that accusation. It wasn’t just her words, although they were pretty damn potent, it was the tone of her voice. His little mouse had roared like a lion and it had shocked him.
His beast growled within him. The bear didn’t much like her tone or her accusation. He had his pride.
“That might not be a good idea…” Alex called from behind her, but Suzanna didn’t want to hear it.
“Are you scared to face me, Reece?” Suzanna called out and heard the deep growl that got louder the closer that she got to the treeline.
Reece tried to fight his bear. He needed to be gone in the other direction. His emotions were doing battle with that of his beast and it was all that he could do to hold in place and keep his beast caged…
“Suzanna!” Alex called after her.
“I thought you were a big bad shifter not a frightened little…” Suzanna never got to finish. The sound of a roar from inside the woods caused her to stop in her tracks as the words died on her tongue.
Reece’s bear burst to life within him. If the human side of him wasn’t going to go to their mate then his beast was. He rushed out of the foliage on fast paws heading straight for her.
“Crap!” Alex heard the rush of feet from around her as four men raced from wherever they had been watching the spectacle and started towards the lone woman and a few hundred pounds of pissed off fur headed for her.
CHAPTER FIVE
“Reece!” Jackson growled out a warning to the bear as he pumped his arms and raced for the female on fast legs. She had been playing with fire and was about to get burned, but not if he had any say in it. He just hoped to hell that he could get between her and Reece’s pissed off bear in time.
~^~
Suzanna had been somewhat shocked at the sight of Reece’s bear coming at her. She’d expected a pissed off shifter to come out of those woods not his beast, and not racing at her like a damn freight train. She bit down on the urge to run, knowing that would be the last straw for the animal…
He won’t hurt me. He won’t hurt me… He won’t… Shit!
Please don’t let him hurt me…
Her conviction was slowly slipping the closer that the beast got towards her.
Suzanna felt the need to panic and yet she kept it bolted down within her.
She refused to believe that Reece would allow his bear to hurt her.
She refused to believe that the beast himself would attack its mate…
That hypothesis all depended on one thing… that she truly was the man’s mate.
“Reece…” She tried to bit down on the sound of breathlessness in her voice. She didn’t want him to know that she was afraid but she assumed that her face spoke that emotion in spades.
His beast slowed on a growl…
“Reece…” She said his name again. It had seemed to work the first time in slowing him. The bear slowed some more and tossed his head back with a warning roar that all four shifters running towards them understood… each man slowed in his advance.
“Reece. Please talk to me. I’m not leaving until you do.” Suzanna needed to make her pitch to both man and beast. The bear slowed to a plodding walk. He scented the air and growled long and hard in her direction.
“You can’t make me leave until you tell me to go away yourself.” Suzanna was betting her life on getting through to the man inside the fur.
“Suzanna, back away slowly.” Jackson called from behind her. She planted her feet in defiance and placed her hands on her hips.
“Tell me to my face that you want me to go, Reece.” She challenged him again and the bear growled long and hard. He wasn’t coming directly at her anymore. Now the bear was criss-crossing in front of her, as if he was trying to put off getting that much closer, giving her a chance to turn and leave.
Suzanna smiled. The jig was up and she had his number. It was like issuing an ultimatum and counting to ten, only when you got to nine you started to use damn fractions to count. Reece was in there alright, and the man was trying to scare her away.
“Go ahead. Eat me. Maul me to death. Then you can bury me in the woods and visit my grave every day.” She tossed up a hand in his direction.
“Be careful what you wish for little human…” Marcus offered from behind her. Suzanna snorted her contempt and took a long step forward.
“You want to kill me, Reece. Here I am. Kill me.” Suzanna took another step and another.
“What’s she doing?” Shaun bit out in disbelief and Marcus shook his head.
“Playing with damn fire.” The big shifter growled on a deep frown.
“Come on then, bear. Do your worst. Do you need me to run away screaming?” Suzanna challenged him again and the bear growled long and hard.
“Poking the damn bear, more like.” Jackson growled. He didn’t like it, not one bit.
“Face me, Reece. Not your bear, you.” Suzanna took another step and the bear growled long and hard in warning. She was close, too close for Reece’s liking, if he lost control of his bear…
“Can’t do it, can you?” She bit out on a small shake of her head with the disappointment that she felt. “Tell me to go!” She shouted at him with anger and the bear reared up onto his back legs with a roar…
“Suzanna!” Jackson moved closer and Reece’s bear turned his attention towards the alpha. There was a pleading look in the animal’s soulful eyes.
‘Don’t fucking move, Jackson. I can’t…’ Reece growled out into the link between the clan. Every shifter held in place.
‘Control it, brother. She’s your mate and it’s within you to control it.’ Jackson backed up his words with a hearty growl.
He was the clan alpha. His word was meant to be followed to the letter. If he could reach that part of the man and his beast that respected that chain of command then he might just hold on.
“Face me, Reece.” Suzanna demanded and the beast roared out again a moment before Reece shifted back into his human form.
Suzanna’s eyes took him in. Every last naked inch of him. She swallowed down at the sight of those muscles and the thick length that hung downwards. The man was certainly everything that she’d heard shifters to be and more. She took a step backwards.
“Now you back away from me?” Reece’s bear was still in his voice as he growled his words at her. She didn’t say a word.
“You got this, Reece?” Jackson demanded and Reece nodded.
“Yeah, man. I think I got it.” He couldn’t be sure, but he couldn’t have the whole clan babysitting his bear forever. The woman had spirit and certainly more of a damn backbone than he’d credited her with.
Now that she was facing the man and not the bear she was kind of at a loss for words. She’d got what she wanted; the man was standing there, but he was damned naked and that had thrown her for a loop. She hadn’t expected her body to react to the sight of his naked one with so much desire…
“Bear got your tongue?”
Reece demanded or that was the way that it sounded when he still had his bear on.
“You’re an arsehole.” Suzanna hadn’t vetted that on the way out. It popped into her head and out of her mouth a heartbeat later, and it was only the sound of four deep chuckles from behind her that made her take note of what she’d said.
“You’re probably right.” Reece sighed inwardly; he kind of wished he hadn’t asked. Now his mate hated him and that was probably for the best, and yet he couldn’t help but feel the loss in his heart as his gut twisted within him.
“A giant arsehole…”
“Yeah.” Reece agreed wholeheartedly; he didn’t see why she had to keep rubbing it in.
“Of epic proportions.” Suzanna added and Reece frowned hard.
“I think I get where you’re going with this.”
“Oh no, you don’t get to get where I’m going until I get there.” Suzanna’s hands were back on her hips but Reece was still trying to decipher her last sentence.
“O-k. Are you getting there any time soon?” He saw her open her mouth to say something but she stopped halfway. She twisted her head on her neck and stared back at him making him feel even more of a dickhead.
“Probably not.” She found her voice and a scowl.
“Got it.” Reece noted it when her eyes flicked downwards at the first real twitch of his cock. He saw her eyes widen as it stretched to its full length on a journey upwards to wave at her.
“I…” Suzanna swallowed down hard. “Do you have to do that?” She dragged her eyes up to his at the first sound of his deep chuckle.
“It kind of just happens when I’m around you…”
“Well, make it stop. I’m trying to think.” Suzanna scowled back. Her eyes were playing ping-pong between his cock and his eyes and she couldn’t help herself. Every time that she dragged her eyes up to his so the damn thing waved at her again and her eyes shot back down to see what it would do next.