Stranger Creatures 2: Bear's Edge

by Christina Lynn Lambert

  “Same. My place?” she asked Grant. “Stray Kitty might need some food and water.”

  “I think Stray Kitty prefers mice and water from the bird bath to that smelly canned crap we got her, but I kind of missed the little fur ball, so yeah, your place it is.”

  They left Hunter and their story full of omissions behind. Grant helped her up into his oversize truck and asked if she was hungry.

  “God, yes! Let’s order one of everything from Divine’s Diner.”

  “We could, but what are you going to eat?”

  He grinned, and she smiled back. She’d worry later about whether her voodoo mind-melting talent had been enough to unravel Hunter until he was no longer a threat. Or whether he was even the one behind the kidnapping. She hoped he’d set it up. Thinking that another person out there wanted to deliver her to some creepy undisclosed location made her shiver. She pushed those thoughts to the back of her mind and shut them in a nice little box where they would have to remain until she wasn’t bone-tired, hungry, and in need of some naked time with Grant.

  There were things to worry over and things she needed to figure out about being a psy, but the most important thing she needed to do at the moment was devour epic portions of Divine’s chili and cornbread and get to know foxy, her shifter sister, a little better.

  Worry lines marred Grant’s forehead as he drove. She laid her hand on his thigh, and he relaxed a little. The man by her side was a complex combination—sweet, shy, sarcastic, funny, genius-level smart, and sometimes dark and sad. He had been alone for a long time but would never walk alone again. Grant had no idea how much she truly loved him. She planned to show him. And also to screw him in every single room of her house. Outside too.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Shayla drove past a huge celebration going on under several pavilions of the beach’s boardwalk. She didn’t really care. Maybe they’d visit later. Grant had tried to convince her to let him drive and basically wait on her hand and foot since she’d been shot in the heart only three days ago, but really, she felt good. Better than good.

  Her phone rang, and she pressed the Answer button on her steering wheel.

  Detective Jackson’s voice filled the car. “Can you talk for a moment, Ms. Patrick?”

  “Sure, but I’m driving, so you’re on speaker. Grant’s with me.”

  “That’s fine. He should hear this too.”

  Dread pulsed through her veins. “What is it?” Grant gripped her knee. She felt his worry too, mixing along with the other emotions that had been riding him throughout their time in the rental car.

  “As you know, Hunter Knowles’s lawyer managed to get him through the mental-health hearing and out on bond pretty quickly, but I received word from another detective that Mr. Knowles had a rough night last night. He attacked a man in a bar in DC. Threatened to kill him. Witnesses said Mr. Knowles kept claiming the guy had plans to bite him and turn him into a werewolf.”

  Detective Jackson snorted in laughter at the word werewolf. Shayla knew why. Grant had kindly informed Shayla that the mad, drooling, disease-infested werewolves depicted in old-school movies were a myth. Shifters could change whenever they wanted, and they very rarely shared their gifts.

  “Anyway, the man restrained Hunter until the cops arrived. A psychiatric hospital admitted Hunter for inpatient treatment. He made a few confessions before being sedated. He also asked for protection from vampires and werewolves and people who controlled minds. So, he’s not going anywhere anytime soon.”

  “And the confessions?”

  “They’re now part of an ongoing investigation, and all I can really tell you is he wasn’t as clever as he thought at hiding evidence. I look forward to seeing you and Mr. Mitchell upon your return home.”

  “Thanks, Detective Jackson.”

  “No problem. Enjoy your vacation. You guys deserve it.”

  God, did they ever. Since Hunter wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon, she could cross him off her worry list for now. And if he did manage to come after her again, she’d take his ass down. Permanently.

  She kept following the GPS instructions, which led the rental car down a few quieter, more suburban-style streets until she and Grant reached the driveway of the beach house. He’d rented an adorable two-story with siding that looked like driftwood. The frame was built high over wooden stilts to keep any floodwaters that rose from destroying the house. She wanted to feel the sand under her feet and sit in the sun.

  The rental agent met them at the door. “Welcome to the Ocean Dream house. I’m Becky, by the way.” Becky extended her hand to Shayla, then to Grant.

  “Nice to meet you, Becky,” Grant greeted her. “We’re happy to be here.” He looked at Shayla, and she could tell he meant so much more than just being happy to be at the beach. Shayla was happy to be alive. Grant looked stricken for a short moment, still freaked about almost losing her. She threaded her fingers through his. Becky must have seen what passed between Shayla and Grant, because her polite business smile softened. She handed Shayla a business card.

  “There’s plenty of activities going on at the boardwalk with the music festival, and check out our new tourism website for some other, less crowded places to go.”

  “Thanks.” Shayla glanced at the card. She was always up for discovering new places, maybe finding a new potential client or two, but at the moment, she needed to get Grant inside and quickly. Becky handed over the keys, wishing them a pleasant stay. Shayla and Grant bade her good-bye and brought their bags up the stairs into the bedroom.

  Grant stood in front of her, looking shy all of a sudden. “You wanna check out the music festival? Maybe go for a swim?”

  “Yes. Later, though.” She rose on her toes and gave him a small kiss on the lips. Through their bond as initiator and initiated, she’d felt anticipation, frustration, and nervousness from Grant during the entire car ride to the beach. The anticipation, she understood. She wanted him inside her as often as possible, but she didn’t know what was bugging him.

  Foxy the brat continued to be no help in puzzling things out, proclaiming something about not being a mind reader, so Shayla kissed Grant again. She tried to make her touch sweet and soothing, but the feeling of his chest against her, his heart beating against her, drove her wild. Grant unbuttoned her shirt and undid her bra. She broke their kiss and pulled his shirt over his head before kissing the hard muscles of his chest. She nipped at a flat dark brown nipple, and he groaned. With a flick of her tongue, she licked the hurt away. She pressed her hands against the scarred flesh of his back.

  “Will you tell me how it happened?” she asked. The only thing he’d ever said about his scars was that they were old.

  Grant sat on the bed. Shay sat next to him.

  “You really want to know?”

  She nodded. “I want to know how you got hurt. I want to know where you go in your head that makes you look so sad and angry. I want to know why you never talk about your past except for a few stories about friends you never mention in the present. I want to know—”

  “You want to know, Shay?” His tone was intense, harsh even, but she didn’t back away.

  “Yes,” she answered softly, taking his hand in hers.

  Grant pulled away and walked toward the bedroom door. He had one hand on the door frame and one hand fisted by his side. He looked so angry and so alone. She remained seated, waiting.

  Finally, he spoke. “I was a kid nobody wanted. I grew up in a shitty neighborhood. I stole food from wherever I could because I could hardly ever find anything in the house except for vodka and beer. The white powder always on the coffee table sure as hell wasn’t sugar. The scars are from being beaten and dragged down an alley over broken glass and who knows what else when I was fifteen after I got caught trying to steal food from a grocery store. Oddly, that day turned out to be one of the best days of my life because I met some friends that day who would become family to me.

  “Things were good for a while, but then everybody
I loved—my friends, my girlfriend—they all died in a fire six years ago. I was hurt, dying, when a bear shifter found me. I asked to die that day so I could join the people who were family to me, and I spent such a long fucking time being pissed that Greg initiated me, until I started to hate life less. And then I met you.”

  And his eyes. When he looked at her, she wanted to hug him, to fuck him, and to tell him how much she loved him, all at once, but she stayed still and listened because that was what he needed most from her at the moment.

  “My past is shitty, and you need to know where I come from. My mom was a hard-core drug addict. She started out okay in life, but she got caught up with drugs and drinking too much, and that’s the road she went down. She did a lot of things to get whatever she needed at the time. Ignoring me was only one of them. I don’t know much about families, and I’ve only had one serious relationship. I have a feeling Maya was more patient with me than most women would have been.”

  “Damn, no wonder you don’t talk about your past.” Thinking of someone hurting Grant or ignoring him made her want to tear people apart. “I’m sorry you had such a rough life. I’m sorry you lost so much.”

  “It gets worse.” He laughed, a bitter, choked sound in the quiet room. “Like I said, my life was good for a while, but when I lost everyone, I kind of gave up. Maybe that makes me weak or just caught up in grief. I don’t know. When my mom had a heart attack, I asked her for information about my father. I still had this hope that I could find him, that even if he wasn’t perfect or all that great, he might like to meet me, and we might get along all right. Instead, I found out he was a client—”

  Shayla raised an eyebrow at the word client, and Grant said, “Yeah, that kind of client. Anyway, he was rough and mean, and the condom broke, and that’s how I came to be. Because a condom broke. And if you ever want kids, it’s sure as fuck not gonna be with me, because my DNA is not getting passed down. Think about it, Shay. Do you really want someone like me? For more than just fun, for longer than a little while?”

  GRANT HAD MANNED up and told Shayla pretty much everything. She said nothing for a moment. Would she think of him as not quite good enough? He felt her fury. Was disappointment underneath the fury?

  “So you think I’ll leave you because I’m a spoiled little rich girl who doesn’t want to slum it with a man who grew up poor? Fuck you!” Her blue eyes were brown now with blue flecks of fiery light. She stalked over to Grant, and he expected her to push him out of the way. He expected her to walk away, down the stairs and out the door. The blue diamond set in a gold band waiting in a box in the top of his luggage would have to wait.

  His confession hadn’t led to outright rejection, but he’d made her mad. He’d screwed it up. He sucked at communication, but he’d thought he was doing right by her, laying it out there, giving her a choice before he asked her for the things he wanted from her—for her to be his wife, to be his mate. She stared at him for a moment, her gaze piercing.

  “You’re my man, and I don’t care where you came from. You are everything I want in a partner.” She grabbed him by the shoulders and pushed him toward the bed.

  “I needed you to know, to decide if you’d still wanted me, baby doll.”

  Shay jerked off his shorts and briefs and threw them to the floor. He toed off his shoes. Shay’s clothes hit the floor, and she straddled him. “Here’s your answer,” she said, grabbing his huge, heavy cock and positioning herself over him. He worked just the broad head inside her, and she bent her head to his ear. “I claim you,” she whispered, but before she could bite down against his neck, he pulled out and caught her upper body. In a flash, he turned them over so he was holding her down underneath him.

  “Be sure, baby doll. Be fucking sure, because I want you, so fucking bad, and if you tell me yes, I’m not stopping until you’re wearing my mark on your neck and my cum is spilling out of your pussy.”

  “Promise?”

  He worked his cock inside her. “I’m yours if you’ll have me.”

  “I love you, Grant. You are mine. You will only ever be mine.”

  The look of absolute certainty in her eyes made his heart stutter.

  The bear’s voice in his mind rang out loud and clear. Those words you both spoke were your vows as shifter mates. Those vows will help bind you together as you claim each other.”

  Knowing that gave Grant a thrill of joy and a little spark of terror. He meant what he said. She seemed to mean what she said, but… Grant didn’t bite first. He still needed her to be sure. He didn’t say it, but she must have understood. She fucking knew. When she sank her teeth into his neck, it wasn’t a little nip. The pain of sharp teeth clamping through muscle and bone turned to fiery ecstasy in an instant. The feeling didn’t dissipate when she let go.

  His body throbbed for release, but each thrust made him more insane for her. “Ride me, Shay, or I’m gonna get out of control.”

  “Whatever you want to give, I can take.

  “I don’t ever want to hurt you.”

  “I’m stronger than you think. And Grant?”

  “Yes, baby.”

  “I won’t ever hurt you either.”

  He felt the truth of her words. Everything he’d ever wanted was bound up in those words, and he fell over the edge of the cliff he’d been hanging on since he met her. When he sank his incisors deep into her neck, he knew he and she belonged together, that she loved him the way he loved her.

  SHAYLA WRAPPED HER legs around Grant’s waist, opening herself up farther for him. The joy overwhelmed her when his teeth tore into her neck. Within seconds, she felt a connection growing between them, one even stronger than the bond they already shared. She cried out when she realized his pleasure was her pleasure. Grant closed his eyes and groaned before covering her mouth with his. Shayla broke the kiss and gave him a sly grin. Time to test her fox shifter strength. She managed to turn them so she was on top, and Grant reached up to cup her breasts. When he tugged her nipples and pinched them hard, she reached behind her to grasp his balls. His breathing hitched as she squeezed and rolled his big balls in her palm.

  Suddenly, his thrusts were deeper, more powerful than before. His cock lengthened inside her, getting thicker. An undeniable heat built within her, making her cry his name and beg him to go deeper. Grant cursed and bit into the place in her neck where he’d already marked her. The pain was pleasure, and her pussy throbbed and constricted around his rigid cock. They both held on to each other as a bond between them grew so tight their hearts nearly split open.

  Shayla reached the top and went free falling. Grant stilled and crushed her to him. Each burst of heat inside her made her shudder, until she came again. Grant’s kiss consumed her, and she let it. She would never again worry that his kiss affected her so greatly. She would never question why she trusted him so completely. They had been through hell and back, and she’d survived because she trusted him. He’d risked his career and shared a huge secret with her because he believed she was worth the risk. Out of breath and spent, they turned to face each other.

  The dark onyx of Grant’s eyes glittered. “I love you, baby, so fucking much.” He rested his head against her chest as he spoke.

  “I love you too,” she whispered, snuggling closer to him. Love was an understatement. Truly there were no words to explain how she felt for him. Like magic, his shaft stiffened, pressing against her clit. The need to have him inside her grew maddening. She gripped his cock in her hand and ended up riding him in reverse-cowgirl-style. They both came fast and hard. The next time was slow and sweet, and they fell back against the mattress, exhausted. For the moment anyway.

  Shayla nudged Grant. “So, if there’s a few things you want to try later, I visited Sweet and Naughty and bought a whole bag of toys.”

  Grant grinned. “I brought something along too. A gift, if you choose to accept.” He grabbed a tiny square from his suitcase. With a shy smile, he sat next to her and opened the velvet blue box.

  A
beautiful light blue diamond with an intricate braided mix of silver and gold rested inside. The man had incredible taste in jewelry. Before she could find the words, he set the box down and caught her face in his gentle hands.

  “Say yes, baby. I want you with me in every way, as my mate, my wife. I want to speak our vows in front of everybody and then take off your white dress in a hotel room. I want it on paper that you’re mine and I’m yours.”

  “Yes. Yes! I want the white dress and the ceremony too. I want everybody to know that I’m yours in every way that matters. I will wear your ring and never take it off, and this mark”—she touched the place at her neck where he’d bitten her to claim her—“will never be hidden. Thanks to foxy I know a mating mark is more visible than a mark left from initiation into a shifter.”

  Grant placed the gorgeous ring on her finger with a shaking hand. Her tears mixed with his when he kissed her, and his body entered hers in one rough thrust. She sighed in relief and delight as he pulled her arms over her head in a tight grip. He knew what she wanted.

  Seven billion people in the world, and somehow she’d been lucky enough to find the one who was meant for her. He was shy. She was outgoing. She came from money and had grown up surrounded by people who loved her. He’d had precious little time with people who loved him, and he’d had to find ways to survive with a mother who hadn’t looked out for him. He could make numbers and math formulas his bitch, and she could cook for an army but couldn’t put together a bookcase that came in a box with nails, screws, and written instructions.

  He was a bear shifter, she a fox. And their differences didn’t matter, because she’d have his back, and he’d have hers, whatever came their way.

  Loose Id Titles by Christina Lynn Lambert

  The STRANGER CREATURES Series

  Wolf’s Challenge

  Bear’s Edge

  Christina Lynn Lambert