by Mandy Monroe
Once they reached the launch point, everyone took a short break to hydrate and prepare for the next leg of adventure. Bain couldn’t help but stare at Maura when she threw her head back to take deep gulps of cold water. His gaze followed a few errant beads of sweat as they trailed down her shapely throat and disappeared under the neckline of her bathing suit top. Those little droplets were suddenly the most interesting thing in the world to him.
A few of these precious drops disappeared in the shadow between her breasts and he felt himself growing hard. He tried not to imagine following those wet rivulets with his tongue. When she propped her knee up and rested her forearm on it, a bead ran down her thigh and into her shorts. He became uncomfortably hard. Turning away to give himself a moment to get control over his body, he tried to focus on any and every other member of their small group.
The journey itself went well. They were able to spot a few wildlife specimens along the trip, few fell in, and no one got hurt. He considered it a success. The other reason he was particularly pleased with this outing was because, bringing up the rear, he was able to let his gaze constantly wander back to Maura without her being the wiser.
She never flagged or faltered. She just kept paddling with the best of them. He was struck again with the level of focus and determination she possessed. He could relate. Few knew better than him how life would attempt to beat you into submission and sometimes the strength of your will was all you had to keep going. He was both proud of her and perplexed at what life had thrown at her to develop such a force of will in her. One certainly didn’t get that kind of strength without adversity.
Bain’s brow knitted in a frown. Thinking of the kind of difficulties Maura might have faced alone to develop such an independent spirit did not sit well with him. It made his bear very angry and he felt a tingle in his canines indicating a shift in species if he wasn’t careful. He hadn’t had trouble with uncontrolled shifting since he hit puberty. Thoughts of Maura did that to him. He was becoming more and more convinced that Maura would be playing a very significant role in his future.
He couldn’t say he was disappointed. If she was indeed his mate, as he suspected she was, he couldn’t have done better if he had created her himself. She was sweet, caring, brave, and strong. Her body was put together perfectly, padded and curved in all the places that made him pant. She was soft and sweet but fiercely determined at the same time. He wanted to sink into her softness and breathe her soft vanilla and honey scent and let it wash over all his senses. Just lose himself in her.
Her eyes met his briefly and he was sure he saw a flash of longing in them before she turned away. Bain vowed then to fan that flame of desire to an inferno big enough to engulf both of them. She called to both the man and the bear in him like no other. He wanted to see that look of longing magnified and glowing from her eyes as her hair tumbled around her in a mass of post coital curls. He planned on seeing a lot of that look in the future. He could easily see them in a future together. In fact, he was becoming increasingly determined to make sure she stuck around long enough to make a future together here.
* * * *
Maura couldn't shake the sensation that she was being watched. She had felt Bain and Gavin looking at her periodically during the trip this morning, because she couldn’t stop sneaking looks at them, as well, but this felt different. When she felt Gavin or Bain’s gaze on her, it made her feel hot and tingly. This felt prickly and invasive. She didn't like it at all. Casting furtive glances around during the duration of the journey failed to reveal anyone looking oddly at her. She only occasionally met intense looks from Gavin and Bain.
Maybe the mountain air really was affecting her brain?
It certainly was affecting her appetite. She made her way to the kitchen for a small snack before lunch. She reached for a bowl of chopped fruit at the same time someone else did and bumped hands. Her startled gaze flew to meet Gavin 's.
Why must she keep running into these two men in the most awkward of ways?
Although they looked like polar opposites, Maura could see some similarities between some of the mannerisms in both Gavin and Bain. They must have been working together for a long, long time. The way they worked together spoke of an almost instinctive anticipation of the other. It was almost like watching twins.
He smiled a devastatingly charming smile that made her flush. He tilted his head slightly and his grin widened.
“Have you enjoyed yourself today?”
His voice was a caress across her breasts and she hoped he wouldn’t notice her nipples hardening when she heard it. The way he said it made her wonder briefly if he meant the canoeing or the many times he caught her looking at him.
“Yes.”
Maura inwardly winced when her voice came out more raspy than she intended. She could almost swear she saw his ears twitch when she spoke. His eyes seemed to be looking into her rather than at her, much the same way Bain looked at her. It was unnerving and deeply exciting at the same time.
Gavin peered at her fixedly for a moment longer before excusing himself and telling her he would see her for yoga in the afternoon. She watched him walk out of the room and didn’t quite know what to think.
What the hell just happened? Did something just happen?
Gavin took deep breaths, willing his canines back into his gums. He was appalled at himself. He had not involuntarily shifted since Antoinette’s death. His mouth still watered as he continued to fight the irrational impulse he felt to mark her. He refused to think too deeply about what that meant and concentrated solely on getting control of his lion.
Gavin took that opportunity to escape to his room and change. He readied himself for the back to back yoga lessons he had that afternoon and welcomed the distraction from where his thoughts had been taking him. Donning something more fitting, he made his way to the river’s edge. He rarely felt like doing yoga inside. He had a hard time getting truly relaxed within the confines of walls. He felt caged.
Classes began and Gavin focused on the stretch and pull of the muscles. The big cat in him was deeply pleased. He led everyone through pose after pose and welcomed the release of muscles tense from the morning canoeing. He became so lost in each class he was caught off guard when, during a break between classes he leaned against a tree and saw Maura walk up with the unconscious seductive sway to her hips. He sputtered and almost choked on his drink of water.
Her steps faltered and her smile fell. Gavin wondered what was going through that clever little head of hers. He could imagine she didn’t know what to make of his abrupt departure earlier and sighed inwardly. It wasn’t like he could explain with-- Hey sorry I left so fast earlier. I was so turned on by touching your hand I dropped fang. That should go over very well.
Gavin decided it was safest at this point to stick to business. They placed the mats and Gavin started the music. He tried to look only at the form of her poses and not the luscious curves and wonderfully padded bottom that peeked out from under her shirt in her tight yoga pants. He could feel his cock lying hard against his belly and moved from her sight while still giving instructions.
The fact that the scent of her arousal was also in the air was almost too much for him to bear. Her aroma, mingled with the earthy smell of forest that surrounded them, acted like an aphrodisiac to his senses. He was nearly drunk on it. He absently reached out and grasped her outer thigh and she gasped. The musky sweetness of her arousal thickened the air and snapped what little reserve he had left.
Her hips shifted slightly and brushed against where he lay hot and hard almost coming out of his pants. She stood up and turned slightly, facing him. She was flushed, aroused, and her lips were parted and in a slight ‘o’ of surprise. Without thought, Gavin cupped her cheeks in his palms and kissed her full lips. When her lips parted in a gasp of surprise, Gavin swept his tongue inside.
Her taste exploded in his mouth and short-circuited his brain. When she gripped his shoulders and began kissing him back, his knees almost b
uckled. She nipped and licked with a fervor that matched his own. She was a fire in his arms and her taste was more intoxicating than any drug. He couldn’t get enough of the taste of her.
He cupped her breast from outside her shirt and her breath shuddered. The nipple pebbled in his palm and he circled it with his finger. She rubbed herself against his length and he feared he would spend in his pants like an untried teenager. When he slid his hand from her hip, up under her shirt to her waist, she gasped and pulled away.
She looked dazed for a moment and then a look of horror washed across her face.
“Oh my GOD! I’m so sorry!”
Maura took a few steps back and Gavin resisted the urge to pull her back into his arms. Her fingertips lifted to her lips.
“I shouldn’t have attacked you like that.”
Gavin’s eyebrows shot up.
“Attack me? Maura, I ….”
“No, NO! Please don’t say anything more. I am going to go. I am so sorry.”
“Maura .…”
“Good-bye Gavin.”
Gavin watched as she disappeared down the trail that led to her cabin. He did drop to his knees then because try as he might, after tasting her, he could no longer deny what Maura was. Bain’s strange obsession with her meant she was probably his mate. Unfortunately there was no probably in his case. His lion had roared mine the moment their tongue collided. She was his mate.
Gavin once again felt the need to retreat to his den, his bedroom. He felt his chest constrict and couldn't catch his breath.
His knowledge of pride life was second hand, never having been in one himself. But from what little he knew about the lion shifters it wasn't uncommon for males to fight over one or more women. Pride of the strongest male and to the winner, the spoils. He didn’t want to fight Bain for anything, not even over the most important person he would ever have to give up.
Gavin felt ill at the thought of hurting Bain in any way. He couldn't imagine losing him because they had fought over her or because one could not endure seeing the other with her.
Can you? Can you watch them together always from afar? Once again looking in on a happy family from the outside?
He would have to.
He had been told that he would never have a family. He would never belong. Over and over they had told him but he had refused to give up his hope that one day he would have someone that he could love and a family to call his own. He had clung to that belief so dearly his whole life it seemed like that hope alone was what sustained him and became the food in his belly when there was none and when his happy thoughts were all he had to keep him warm on long cold nights.
After everything Bain and his mother had done for him, he would have to. They had given him a family for a short while. It was the only taste of family he had ever known. He would be dead by now if it weren't for them. An act like that couldn't be repaid by stealing what he was sure was Bain's mate. Taking Gavin in had taken Bain's mother from him. He couldn't take his mate, as well.
Gavin grabbed a bottle of whiskey that was rarely used, figuring there was no better reason to drink than having to give up the woman you were born to love. Maybe this was his punishment for causing Antoinette's death. He took a long swig of whiskey. Bain's mother had been good to him and she was gone because of him, too. He let the whiskey burn a trail down his throat and tried to drown the voices that haunted him from childhood that told him he would bring nothing but grief.
And he had.
In spades.
* * * *
Bain couldn't find Gavin in the office or the kitchen, two of his favorite indoor hiding places, and decided to try his room before looking for him in some of his more remote getaway spots. The very first thing he noticed when he cracked open the door was the overwhelming aroma of whiskey.
Had he bathed in the stuff?
Gavin was strewn across his bed, sprawled across the covers, with an empty whiskey bottle dangling from his hand. A chair was broken in the middle of the room. Bain eyeballed Gavin's already healing knuckles and wondered what had Gavin in such a fit that he would smash his furniture.
Bain could sometimes be quick to anger and had a somewhat volatile temper. It was the grizzly in him. He would flare like a volcano and roar but recovered more quickly. Gavin had a much more laid back approach to life in general but was fierce once his temper was riled. He would have a much harder time than Bain calming down once angry.
It was the big cat in him.
They held grudges.
One would think the differences in personalities would clash but, in them, it served only to balance one another. Bain heaved Gavin's feet onto the bed and took off his shoes. Pulling up the blanket and softly peeling the empty whiskey bottle out of his fingers, Bain covered him up with the blanket and, thinking back to his heavy drinking days, placed an empty trash can near the bed.
"Maura."
Bain froze as Gavin called out in his drunken stupor.
Was Maura the reason for this rare outburst? If so, why?
A million questions bombarded him at once. If Gavin was upset enough about something to get this stinking drunk over, he would probably tell him. They had only had each other for so long, it was second nature for them to turn to one another when they needed something. It was all they had been able to count on for much of their life. Bain couldn’t imagine it would start changing now.
If not, surely Bain would be able to pick up on some clues, somewhere. Bain was resolved to find out what exactly had gotten under Gavin's skin. No one knew Gavin better than him. He should be able to get to the bottom of this in no time.
Chapter Three
Maura took special precautions to avoid Gavin for the next couple days. She begged off yoga twice and managed to avoid him and Bain those days. She couldn’t imagine he hadn’t told Bain about the chubby one kissing him. It was too embarrassing to face. She still had no idea what had possessed her to do that. Maybe this retreat wasn’t the best idea? Clearly she was experiencing some kind of mental or emotional break.
Maybe her breakup with the last boyfriend had caused some kind of psychotic break and she was really in a straightjacket in some mental hospital slobbering from all the psychotropic drugs? She pinched herself enough to sting but didn’t know if that would even work or if it was only supposed to wake you from dreaming not from out of a drug induced state.
Maura briefly considered banging her head on the wall to see if that would do the trick. A side bonus of head bashing would be a plausible excuse to get out of canoeing with Gavin, Bain, and the group. Shaking her head and steeling herself for what she was sure would end up being an uncomfortable and awkward gathering, she walked to the dry dock.
Gavin seemed just as eager to ignore her as she was to pretend she hadn’t attacked him. Although it was the best and most arousing kiss she had experienced to date, it was still embarrassing. She could almost picture the laugh they must have had at her expense after that. She cringed.
Upon arriving at the dry dock site Maura found that many had already been paired up in canoeing teams. She looked around for a single but didn’t see anyone until she realized the guides were interspersed with the guests and Bain stood alone. Their eyes met and she felt a spark of desire flare quickly and just as quickly tamped it down.
“You’re with me, Maura.”
Maura couldn’t help a tingle that shivered down her spine when he said that. The look in his eyes felt much more intimate than just a canoe trip partnering. Or is that wishful thinking?
Maura reminded herself where thoughts like that led--right to embarrassing displays of sexual aggression, like kissing her trainers. Putting her focus back on the physical task at hand, she hefted her end of the canoe up and followed Bain. She tried to keep from noticing the way his ass moved in his pants, or the way the muscles in his arms flexed and moved but hardly broke a sweat, but she failed miserably.
Bain could feel her eyes on the back of him and it was causing a stirring in his pan
ts. He had never canoed with an erection before but felt like he was about to find out. He was going to be sitting behind her in the boat because he had an inkling it wouldn’t be going away soon. He couldn’t help but put an extra flex in his arms while carrying the canoe. It was a male bear’s natural tendency to want to show off a little strength for his mate.
He could smell her reaction to him, particularly when her body heat and heartbeat were already elevated. Then to scent her arousal and her eyes on him at the same time was enough to make him want to drop the boat and drag her into the woods. His cock stirred in his pants again as if in agreement and Bain shifted the boat’s weight to one hand to adjust himself. When the boat was balanced on one hand, he heard a slight gasp from behind him and a spike in her natural aroma. He flexed a little and shifted himself in his pants once again, thankful he wore a long shirt untucked. So no one would see cock peeking out of the top of his pants.
He had mostly tamed his raging erection when they came upon the river’s edge. Everyone got their safety gear on and checked the fastenings on each others’ equipment. Bain noted the sharp intake of breath Maura gave when he checked the chest strap on her lifejacket. His fingers lingered on the curve of her neck after a relatively unnecessary adjustment to the chin strap on her helmet. He could just feel the spike in her heart rate when the tips of his fingers ghosted over her pulse before patting the top of her helmet.
Maura looked slightly dazed. Her lips were parted and when she licked them Bain fought the urge to grab her and kiss her. He reminded himself and his bear that now was not the best time but Bain was losing his grasp on just why that was. He stretched out his hand to help her into the canoe and when she stepped in, it shifted slightly. She fell towards him and her entire body brushed against him as she slid into the canoe.
His cock jumped when he smelled her body’s response to his erection. He was again fighting the urge to haul her against him and explore her entire body with his tongue. She was just so delectable. Maura quickly broke contact, sitting in her seat at the front of the canoe.