by Jenika Snow
Evernight Publishing
www.evernightpublishing.com
Copyright© 2013 Jenika Snow
ISBN: 978-1-77130-606-5
Cover Artist: Sour Cherry Designs
Editor: Karyn White
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
WARNING: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. No part of this book may be used or reproduced electronically or in print without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in reviews.
This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, and places are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
DEDICATION
To my mom, my number one fan. I'll always hear your voice in my head telling me how proud you were of me, and how you went out of your way to talk about my accomplishments to anyone that would listen. This book, and every other one I write, is for you. I miss you, and will always love you.
A FOX BETWEEN THE BEAR’S SHEETS
Wylde Bears, 2
Jenika Snow
Copyright © 2013
Chapter One
Ten years ago
“Damn, Mina, you are working it so fucking good.” Ford tightened his grip on her hips as she bounced up and down on his cock. Looking up into her face, he could see the disinterest in her expression. It was the same look she had worn for the last several months, and one that had him internally questioning a lot of things, but not actually vocalizing them to her. Pushing those thoughts aside, he focused on her bouncing tits. Her dark hair looked like spilled ink in the moonlight as it spread across her breasts. He was transfixed by the sight of the shaking, huge mounds and her tight, red nipples.
Although he wanted her to open her eyes and look at him she wouldn’t, not even when he groaned out for her to do so. This had been the norm for far longer than he cared to admit, and although he needed to sit down and talk to her about what was going on, he couldn’t bring himself to do it. But dammit he was a bear shifter, fearless and powerful, yet he couldn’t even talk to his girlfriend about what in the fuck was up with her. Moments later he found his release, but when it appeared she was struggling to reach hers, Ford reached between her thighs, found her clit, and started rubbing it back and forth. After a few seconds she cried out and came, but it had been forced, and ruined the whole fucking experience. Collapsing on top of him, her fast, hectic breathing was anything but authentic, and he just about lost his shit right then. Her warm, humid breath brushed along his chest, and all he wanted to do was wrap his arms around her, but he clenched his fists and reined in his needs. Until he knew what was up with her he needed to keep his shit together. After several moments she rolled off of him. He didn’t miss the almost bored sigh she let out. Seconds later she was off the bed and walking to the bathroom without so much as a backward glance in his direction. Ford folded his hands behind his head and stared at the ceiling. The glow from his security lights outside cast a golden hue across the spackled ceiling. A lot of shit went through his mind, but it always came back to Mina. He had asked her to marry him more times than he cared to admit. But her answer was always the same: she just wasn’t ready for that kind of commitment. It didn’t matter that they had been high school sweethearts, or that they had been together for six years, or that he loved her more than he had ever fucking loved anything on this damn planet. She was changing, had been for a long fucking time, and he had turned a blind eye for far too long.
He tried, though, fuck did he try, but nothing he ever did seemed to work. She was so damn distant it made his teeth ache from grinding them so much. “You know how much I love you?” He called out to her, his voice void of emotion because what was the point? Like the last few times he’d told her, and every fucking time after that he was greeted with silence. It was always silence, and that broke his heart just a little bit more. His thoughts drifted to better times, happier ones that didn’t have him questioning everything, and having the gut feeling that Mina wasn’t honest with him. After seeing her in the halls of their high school it had been the clichéd love at first sight. It wasn’t unusual for a shifter to be with a human, but it was more dangerous than if he was with a female of his own species. But all of that didn’t matter because he loved her more than anything else. Lately he had been questioning if she was truly invested in this relationship anymore.
She came out of the bathroom dressed and grabbed her purse off the floor. “I gotta run, Ford.” She said it without even looking at him. Her make-up was freshly applied, and he caught the scent of the perfume she’d just spritzed on. It pissed him off even more. It was the middle of the fucking night, and she was leaving once again. He wasn’t a fucking fool, not when she was all dolled up like she was going to go hop on someone else’s dick.
“Mina, we need to talk.” This conversation had been a long time coming. Without looking at him she adjusted her skirt and made an annoyed sound in the back of her throat. When she glanced up at him he saw a hint of indifference and boredom.
“About what? I kind of need to get out of here, Ford. Can we talk tomorrow?” Her tone was somewhat apathetic, but he wouldn’t be put off, not by her or her fucking attitude. She went back to straightening her outfit. “I mean, I came over after you all but begged me even though I had stuff to do.”
“In the middle of the fucking night, Mina?”
Shit had just hit the fan. His blood was boiling, and everything inside of him urge to shift, to go outside and find something to fucking hit, preferably a big-ass male that could give as well as he could take. He stood, ripped the condom off, and tossed it in the trash. He would have felt more comfortable getting cleaned up before he confronted her, but fuck it. She wanted to act like a bitch, well fine, he could act like the asshole she had been calling him for the last few months. “I want to know what the fuck is going on.”
Her look was quizzical, and he gritted his teeth, hearing them grinding together at her lack of emotion.
“Who is it?” It was the slightest shift of her eyes and the increase of her pulse that told him all he needed to know. “Fucking tell me who the hell he is, Mina.” They held each other’s stare for a prolonged moment. She didn’t answer, and he felt his claws unsheathe as his emotions took control. “Tell me what his fucking name is so we can move past this bullshit.” He wanted to hunt down the bastard, tear his limbs from his body, and feast on his blood. His bear was a hungry fucker, and what better way to quench his animal’s thirst than to kill the asshole that was fucking his girlfriend?
“Ford.” She breathed out heavily, and the pained expression she gave him appeared sympathetic, but he could fucking smell how unsympathetic she really was. A low growl left him, and he took satisfaction when her eyes widened. Oh, he wouldn’t hurt her, would never harm a female, but he wanted to make sure she knew he wasn’t fucking around. “I just don’t think this is the right time for something like this, especially when you’re about to go off the deep end.”
“Tell me, Mina.” His low voice vibrated the walls, but Mina stared at him unfazed. “How long have you been fucking around on me?” He held up his hand. “And don’t lie to me, Mina.”
“Ford.” She walked to the edge of the bed and sat down. It pissed him off even more that she stayed so damn calm. Grabbing his jeans off the floor and shoving his legs through them, he forced himself not to shift. His anger was volcanic right now, because even if she hadn’t come out and said she was screwing around on him, he could smell the truth coming off her in waves. “Will you please relax and let me talk to you like we are actually civilized human beings and not craze
d animals?” Ford didn’t bother correcting her on the fact he wasn’t a fucking human being, not completely anyway. He was an animal, one that was volatile at the moment.
He did agree with her on one thing though, and that was the fact he needed to calm the fuck down, because as it was he was going to tear the room apart. He started pacing, but moments later forced himself to stop and stare at her. “I didn’t mean for any of this to happen.” She broke eye contact and started smoothing her hands down her tweed-fucking-skirt. Clenching and unclenching his fists, he waited for her to continue even though he knew damn well what she was going to say, what she’d already said.
“Spit it the fuck out, Mina. For months you’ve strung me along, but now is your chance to let it all out, get it off your fucking chest and be done with me.” She looked up at him and didn’t bother hiding her surprise. “That is what you ultimately want, right? To be rid of me?” She shook her head, but he kept right on going. “If not, then why do any of this shit? Why string me along?” The words just kept coming out of him, but they felt damn good. She may not have said it yet, but he could smell her betrayal. It was like rotting meat, and it was then he realized she had hidden her deceit so well even his bear hadn’t been able to sense it.
She stared at him for a long time, and it killed him, had his anger rising, and his pain escalating.
“I didn’t mean to hurt you. I really, truly didn’t.” Her tongue poked out, and she wet her bottom lip, and even though the words sounded sincere he could tell there was a lot more she was going to say. “I met Kevin at the office, and we hit it off, fell in love almost instantly. I—”
“What else, Mina? I know there is fucking more than just that.” The pain and tightness in his chest increased as she stared at him with sad eyes, but that sorrow wasn’t over what she was putting him through, but because she was sad it had all come to light this way. “It wasn’t like I was trying to deceive you.” Wasn’t that a load of shit? “Come on, Ford, you and I both know this relationship was over with a long time ago.”
He saw red. “No, Mina, I have never stopped loving you, never stopped wanting you.” He ran his hands through his hair and didn’t stop the growl that left him. “For fuck’s sake, I just proposed for the third fucking time last month.” He stared at her with what he knew were crazy eyes, because that was exactly how he felt: fucking insane. “I loved you.” His voice was becoming a distorted growl, and he knew he was far too close to shifting for comfort. He needed to go, needed to run and cause some destruction to feel whole again, at least for the next few hours.
“Six months.”
He didn’t need to ask what she meant, because he fucking knew. The low rumble that filled the room came from him. Every part of his body shook, and he clenched his hands together into tight fists until he felt his claws slice into his palms. For six fucking months she’d cheated on him, had some other male’s dick up inside of her. All of a sudden he felt filthy, used, and stupid as hell.
“Listen to me. It was just something that happened—”
“You cheated on me, Mina, and for what?” He resumed pacing, but as a thought crossed his mind he snapped his head in her direction. “Was there more before this one?” And the way she looked, coupled with her silence, told him all he needed to know. He ran his hands through his hair again and tugged hard on the strands. Dropping his hands and looking at Mina once again, he felt the last six years of loving her harden in his chest. “Why the fuck are you here screwing me when you are so in love with him, when you’ve deceived me all this time, and I’m assuming many more times before?” She stood and took a step closer, but he knew it wasn’t to comfort him.
“I still love you, Ford, I do. I’m just not in love with you. I don’t know if I ever really was.”
His laugh was humorless. “Oh, I get it. You thought you’d keep both of us, right? A bear on the side, one that would have done everything in his power to make you happy, to protect you, but not the one you really loved? Not fucking likely.” He walked up to her, but making sure not to touch her he reached for her purse and tossed it to her. “Get the fuck out of here, and don’t bother calling me or coming around again.”
Her eyes went wide, and he swore she was going to cry. But then again only someone with actual feelings could have such emotions.
“So it’s just like that?”
He loved her, had given her a part of himself, but yeah, he was no one’s doormat.
“I don’t know what the fuck you want from me, Mina. You want me to stay with you while you fuck me and then leave in the middle of the night to go fuck your other boyfriend?” A growl left him at the thought, and bile rose in his throat. “I’m not into that ménage shit, and no fucking way will I stand by and let the girl I’m seeing go off to be with someone else.” She stayed quiet and that pissed him off even more. “Just go, Mina. You’re right, this is over, and apparently has been for a very long time.”
He was a fucking fool, the biggest fucking idiot that walked the earth. His bear had been blind to what was going on, and the fact he’d let his defenses down so that his inner animal instinct hadn’t even been able to detect her betrayal was a slap in his damn face. His heart broke in two as he watched her hesitate before tightening her hold on her purse and turning to leave. The fact the last six years could have been brushed away so easily was a killer. How had it happened so fast? The sound of her heels clicking on the hardwood floor down the hall, then through the living room, and then finally the front door opening and closing had him sinking to his knees and letting his anguish finally take hold. The sound of her car driving away had the fire in his belly burning so bright it consumed him. To think that she truly had been with someone else, that she loved someone else, had slept with another male, all the while thinking he would sit back and be okay with it all, tainted what they had for all these years. It was clear she had never been invested in their relationship, and that she had never really felt what he felt. He asked himself how he could have been so ignorant to what was going on right in front of him. He needed to get out of the house, run free, and tear some shit up. He had made plans for them, ones that included a family and marriage.
“Fuck!” But now all of that was all down the shitter in the span of less than an hour.
He vowed at that moment he would never let himself get consumed by the thought of love. It was a disgusting and untrustworthy emotion, one that stole everything good and turned it into worthlessness. No, never again would Ford let himself be taken advantage of and put in such a vulnerable position. Love was for people who were weak, and he would never let himself get this way, feel this way, ever again. Well fuck him, fuck her, and fuck everyone else who told him otherwise.
He wanted to hurt something or someone as much as he was hurting, but instead of letting his bear free at that moment to cause some serious destruction he did something he had never done in his twenty-five years of living. He cried.
Chapter Two
Present day
Ford slammed back another shot of bourbon and stared across the bar at the blonde with the huge tits. She was totally eye-fucking him, but then again he was doing the same to her. The female’s shirt, if it could even be called that, was about three sizes too tight, and he knew damn well she wasn’t wearing a bra. Her fucking nipples were hard as hell, and the slight outlines of her areolas were clear as fucking day through the material. She lifted her hand and wrapped her thin fingers around the girly drink in front of her. Her nails were bright as fuck, and probably named something like cotton candy or passion fruit. Hell, her nails matched the shade of her damn lipstick, but all he could think about was the color smeared along his cock while she sucked him off. He slammed his hand on the counter and gestured for another shot. He was drunker than fuck, but that’s how he liked it. Ten long years had passed, and here he was, getting shit-faced once again over his fucking hang-ups. But what made it worse was knowing Mina was back in town. How in the hell did she think she had the right to call h
im up and tell him she was getting married? Ford wanted to tell her to fuck off, that he didn’t give two shits what she did with her life, but he hadn’t been able to get the words out of his mouth. In fact, he hadn’t been able to say anything when she called. He had shut the hell up, listened to her sickly sweet voice that sounded sympathetic and fake as fuck, and everything else had closed off inside of him.
Those first few years when he had broken it off with Mina had been hard, but over time he just started not caring about anything. Ford supposed it helped that he found enough willing females to bury himself in, to help forget why he was so fucked-up, but the end result always had him feeling even worse. He needed that numbing escape to leave reality. He hated to know what a shrink would say of how he was dealing with his issues, that holding on to something for ten fucking years was because he probably had some deeper rooted problems, but fuck it all. It wasn’t even the fact he missed her, but more that he was sick of being alone, and her betrayal had cut him so fucking deep he didn’t know if he could ever trust another woman again. He certainly hadn’t this whole time.
The blonde took one last pull from her straw, pushed her glass away, and made her way toward him. He didn’t have to be a shifter to smell her lust. Hell, she had been throwing off the vibes that she wanted to screw since she first walked in, and it hadn’t all been for him either. He wasn’t picky when it came to who he fucked anymore, at least not when he was drunker than shit like he was now. She stopped before him just as the bartender slid a freshly filled shot glass in front of him. Ford eyed her up and down and felt his cock twitch slightly. That was the problem with letting himself get this blitzed … whiskey dick. He had no worries, though, not when he knew when it was time to get down to it that shit would be ready to go.