Connor (Strauss Bear Shifter Brothers 0f Colorado Book 4)

by Brittany White

  “You’re kidding, right? When would I have told you? When we were fucking? When we were arguing every day at Cole’s? Maybe I should have just mentioned it in my interview? ‘Anything else you’d like to mention Brooke? Oh yes, I’m the alpha of the new wolf pack that just moved into town but don't worry! I only bite if you piss me off, or maybe if you ask me real nice!’ Please, you would have chased me out of your office.”

  I wouldn’t, he wanted to scream, but he knew she was right. He’d hired her right after Eric’s ex had nearly torn the lodge apart from the inside out. If he’d known the hot new shop keeper was the alpha of the small group of wolves at the bottom of the mountain, he wouldn’t have hired her, wouldn’t have let her near his family.

  Now though… Connor looked into her eyes. They were the same dark shade of hazel as the she-wolf he’d fought just a few days ago. He expected to feel angry, but all he felt was that stirring in his chest that said she was his. He didn’t care who or what she was. He wanted her more than ever.

  “I don’t care,” he said fiercely, willing her to believe him. “I don’t care that you’re a wolf, Brooke.”

  “Or that I’m an alpha? It doesn’t tear your little delicate Strauss ego to shreds to want an alpha in your bed?” She hurled the words at him like grenades, but despite the fury of the words, her eyes were wary. Connor smiled. Actually, he loved it. Brooke was demanding, strong willed and beautiful. His knuckles turned white at the bitterness in her voice, furious at the thought of someone telling her she wasn’t good enough for them. He tilted his chin up.

  “Why don’t you come find out just how much I don’t care?” His eyes glinted with challenge. Brooke looked at him for a long moment, almost in disbelief, and then she pounced.

  Connor was ready, catching her as she wrapped her long legs around his waist. Their mouths met in a flurry of teeth and tongue, and Connor pressed her back against a nearby tree. He couldn’t get enough of her, plundering her mouth with his tongue, wanting to taste every inch of her. Brooke nipped playfully at his lips and he groaned, cock pulsing in his jeans.

  “You really don’t care that I’m an alpha?” she murmured, hot breath ghosting over his lips. He looked up at the soft edge to her voice and moved one hand to cup her face, stroking a thumb over the soft skin of her cheek.

  “Honestly” he asked. She nodded almost desperately, pressing kisses into his palm. “I think it’s really hot.” The thought of fighting her for control, to have Brooke commanding him, sent spikes of white hot pleasure sparking up and down his spine. He bucked his hips, pressing his dick against her and leaning forward to bury his head in her neck, biting at the tender skin. Brooke gasped and squirmed against him, slipping out of his arms.

  In the blink of an eye, Connor had his back pressed against the tree and Brooke gazed up at him wickedly before sinking down onto her knees.

  Connor saw white.

  “Fuck,” he groaned, head thunking against the tree trunk behind him.

  “No no no, baby,” Brooke purred. “Look at me.”

  God, this woman will be the death of me.

  Slender fingers toyed with the fly of his jeans, brushing against his dick and Connor’s nails dug into tree bark, trying not to thrust his hips forward.

  “You want me to suck you?”

  “Please,” he gasped out. “God, yes, Brooke, please.”

  “Oh baby, you don’t have to beg,” she teased, stroking him deliberately through the denim. “But I love it when you do.”

  Connor opened his mouth to respond, fully intending to make a joke, but a warm wet heat enveloped the head of his cock and he choked back his words, hands flying to Brooke’s hair for something to ground him.

  “Fuck, oh, fuck, Brooke.” His grip spasmed as she swallowed around the head, pulling back to press open mouth kisses down the shaft. “Your mouth feels so good, so good, baby, fuck.” Brooke hummed, nails trailing up and down his thighs just hard enough to make him think about skin breaking beneath them, leaving marks, and his knees nearly buckled. An honest to god whimper left his mouth before he could stop it. He’d never felt like this before, never felt so helpless - it was fucking amazing.

  A tell-tale pulse in his belly made him pull back, his dick sliding out of her mouth with a wet pop. She looked debauched, red lips glistening with saliva and cheeks flushed. She looked up at him questioningly and he huffed, “I was about to cum.”

  “Yeah, that’s the point,” she snarked, deadpan. Her hands grasped his hips, and she looked ready to swallow him again.

  As tempting as the idea was, he snorted and pulled her up with a growl, tugging her against his chest to talk into her ear, pausing to nip the lobe. “Yes, darling, but I would rather cum inside you.” his voice was unrecognisable, rough and wild. Brooke shivered in his arms and Connor grinned at her smugly. “Would you like that?”

  “I think you know the answer to that,” she smirked and he hummed, pushing her down to lie on the forest floor.

  “You are wearing far, far too many clothes,” he murmured.

  “Rip them off me then, Strauss, come on.” Brooke pressed herself closer. Connor was quick to comply, eagerly pulling off her jeans and shirt like he was unwrapping a present just for him. A familiar possessiveness thrummed through him as more of her gorgeous body was revealed to him. He took a moment to shuck his own clothes and Brooke watched him as he worked, her eyes heavy with lust. She was so beautiful, spread out on the ground waiting for him to take her.

  When she was bare beneath him, Connor sat back on his heels, looking his fill. His eyes dragged over the slopes of her legs, the swell of her breasts rising and falling as her breath came in short gasps and pants. He shucked off his jeans and stroked himself a couple of times as he looked down at this angel. Even streaked with dirt and leaves in her hair, she was the most gorgeous thing he had ever seen. Her fingers crept to the waistband of her panties and he moaned, watching her.

  “If you don’t hurry up,” she drawled, finger slipping beneath the lace and breaking the trance she’d put him under, “then I might just finish without you.”

  His bear ached to take her roughly in the dirt, make her scream his name, but he made himself take his time. He could tease too.

  He snagged one of Brooke’s legs, spreading her open so he could see better. Brooke arched, her fingers finally sinking inside her. It was mesmerising. Connor could smell her arousal, hear the slick noises she made as she thrust two fingers into her pussy, gasping every time. He kept his hand locked around one ankle, keeping her open, and she writhed beneath him desperately.

  “Connor,” she whined, reaching for him and thrusting her fingers faster. He gently evaded her grasp. He wanted so badly to sink into her heat, but this was a game. And he wasn’t going to break first.

  “Finger yourself for me, sweetheart,” he growled, leaning over her to brush their lips together. “I wanna watch you finger yourself and imagine it’s my cock. Since that’s all you seem to be interested in.” Brooke snarled, fingers stilling inside herself.

  “No. I... I want your cock,” she said, her voice trembling but eyes determined. It made his cock throb. Connor reached down and palmed one of her breasts, rolling the nipple between his thumb and a finger.

  “Say please, Brooke.” He was pushing it, he knew, but he wanted to see how far he could take this thing between them. Brooke’s eyes hardened and Connor almost came then and there as she brought her wet finger to her lips, running her pink tongue up the side before she pulled it into her mouth and sucked. He ached to give in, but he held out just a few seconds longer and…

  “Please Connor,” she purred. “I want you…”

  I win.

  With a flick of his wrist he pulled down her underwear and pushed in. They both gasped, clutching at each other and Connor immediately set a bruising pace.

  “Harder,” Brooke gasped, arching her hips up to meet his thrusts. “Please, harder.”

  “Such a good girl, wasn’t that hard, was
it?” He snapped his hips forwards, marked the pale skin of her neck with his teeth. “Feels so good inside you Brooke - so fucking good.”

  She was trembling beneath him and her legs tightened around his hips, drawing him in impossibly closer and flipping them over.

  Connor landed on the ground with a grunt, looking up dazedly as she sank down further onto his cock. His hands came up to grasp her hips, fingers digging in hard enough to leave bruises. In response, she dragged her nails down his chest, drawing blood the way he’d fantasized earlier and sending Connor over the edge with a roar. Brooke kept rocking her hips, drawing out his climax until his body started twitching with over stimulation and all he could do was hold on.

  Brooke gazed down at him, eyes glazed over as she chased her own orgasm. She stared down at him, completely at her mercy, and Connor reared up to kiss her, licking into her mouth desperately and sneaking down a hand to circle her clit.

  “Mine,” she whispered as she came. Connor stroked her cheek, finger rubbing at her as she rode out the waves of pleasure.

  Yours.

  13

  Brooke

  Brooke pulled Connor’s shirt on and flopped back onto his chest. They stayed there for a long while, trying to get their breathing under control. She felt grateful that their shifter metabolisms allowed them to lay there in the winter weather and rest together.

  Brooke’s wolf felt sated and lazy, content to lie in the fading sunlight snuggled up in Connor’s arms, but her mind was already racing. What did they do now? She wanted to tell Connor everything, apologize for how she’d been thinking about him all this time, but she wasn’t sure where to start.

  She let her fingers trail around Connor’s arm, stroking in lazy circles as she tried to dig herself out of her own brain. Now that it was quiet she realized she couldn't hear anything; the fight hadn’t continued without them. She huffed quietly, Vince must have decided to listen to me after all…

  “You okay?” Connor’s voice was soft, like he was worried about breaking the silence, and Brooke tensed before realizing that she didn’t have to lie anymore.

  “Vince.”

  “Vince?”

  “The wolf at the tree,” she sighed, turning over to look at him. Connor hummed.. He was sprawled out without a care, muscles glistening in the sun. He looked beautiful. She was lost in the sight of him for a second, and then he quirked his eyebrow, inviting her to keep talking. She blushed at being caught staring.

  “When I became alpha, he was the only one to oppose me,” Brooke explained, giving into the urge to play with Connor’s hair. The curls were just as soft as she’d hoped they would be. “I’m almost certain the fight today was his doing.”

  Vince had always been a bastard, but she hadn’t thought he’d go this far. Provoking an outright war with one of the country's most powerful sleuths? He was a bigger idiot than Brooke had given him credit for. She sighed before continuing.

  “There’s so few of us now. We’re losing more every time we move. Most of our members that are left are younger than me and members that are being added tend to be younger or cubs. I’m worried.” She’d known most of her pack since they were pups, watched them grow from awkward young kids into slightly less awkward young adults. “Keeping them safe is… it's tough.” Her words were slow and clunky. Feelings never were her strong suit. Connor squeezed her arm, drawing her further into his embrace and Brooke nuzzled into his chest.

  “Is that what you meant when you said I didn’t know what it was like to look after people?” he asked quietly. Guilt stabbed in her chest.

  “You didn’t deserve that,” she whispered. “I was angry and frustrated and you’re so easy to argue with-”

  “Why thank you.”

  “You know what I mean.”

  “I do, sorry.” He didn’t sound sorry. He was grinning, and when he tugged her to sit in his lap she went willingly. “Do continue,” he said solicitously. She pinched his arm, enjoying the way he squirmed.

  “It’s… I’m jealous of you, I guess. I know enough about the Strauss’ to know that you’ve never had to struggle the way I have. You have money and security and that’s all I’ve ever wanted for my pack. They’re my family. I don’t want to let them down.”

  She’d tried. For years she’d done nothing but try to help her pack get by. She’d lost count of the jobs she’d taken on, the dates she’d turned down, but something always meant they had to move on. Looking at his immaculate clothes and roaring business, she doubted Connor had ever experienced such problems.

  “When he was young, I’m talking just this side of being a cub, Nathan fell in with a bad crowd.” Connor’s voice was still soft and he started drawing circles into Brooke’s hips with strong calloused fingers. “Rawley was a bad guy - I’m talking sow trafficking, blackmail, battery- really terrible shit. I remember watching Nathan slip away from me and not having a goddamn clue what to do about it.”

  Brooke had seen Nathan a few times, he always flirted with Elsie whenever she called him about faulty wiring in the shop. He’d always seemed sweet, more like an overgrown puppy than a bear.

  “What happened?” She asked. Connor huffed out a laugh.

  “He realized what an idiot he was doing and left before he could do something stupid. I didn’t let him leave my sight for months. I only made him the handyman to keep him out of trouble, but he ended up being really good at it and enjoying himself to boot.”

  She considered his words, turning them over in her mind like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. She remembered when Lucas had been a teenager - running off to join a gang in LA. She’d nearly tanned his hide when she’d found out. They were fond memories now, but Brooke remembered how stressed she’d been that summer. She looked up at Connor’s serene face and felt like she understood him just a little more. She pressed a kiss to his jaw.

  “Tell me more about them?” she asked. He looked at her, surprised.

  “About my brothers?” he checked. She nodded. She liked this side of him, the exasperated older brother looking out for his younger siblings, it made him seem softer. She trailed more kisses up the side of his face until she reached his temple and then he turned to capture her lips. It was sweet, almost chaste, and Brooke sighed contentedly.

  “I was always pulling Cody out of fights, still am, but he knows how to pick his battles a little better these days. I can’t remember how many times I’d come home from work and find him icing a black eye or bruised knuckles.”

  “What did you do?”

  “Poked his wounds and made fun of him. Obviously.”

  Brooke burst into surprised laughter. “You ass!”

  “Maybe, but can you honestly tell me you’ve never made fun of one of your pups when they were being a moron?”

  “Of course! But only while the fight was going on, not afterwards when they’re licking their wounds.”

  He nodded sagely, like he’d finally confirmed something he’d suspected for a while. “Ah that’s the difference between you and me then.”

  “What, I’m not a dick?”

  “Exactly.”

  “Mm,” Brooke hid a grin, nodding sarcastically in agreement.

  “But you like that I’m a dick.”

  “Who says?”

  “You did, when you rode me into oblivion fifteen minutes ago.” Brooke wanted to kiss the smug smile right off of his face. So she did, grinning into his mouth as he ran his fingers through her hair.

  “I was only doing that to shut you up.” The look on Connor’s face made it clear he knew he’d won. When had his humor become so endearing to her? Probably when you rode him into oblivion fifteen minutes ago, she thought dryly, burying her head in his neck to avoid looking at his stupid perfect face.

  “What about Eric?” she prompted. His hands resumed their gentle circles on her hips and she melted against him.

  “Eric? Eric’s too kind for his own good,” he grumbled. “Everyone he’s ever met that figured it out took advantage of him. His
last ex literally tried to kill him, nearly destroying the whole lodge. Second time in a year...” He pushed her up gently to look into her eyes. “I know they’re different circumstances, and I want to tell you, Brooke, that you’re extraordinary. It’s hard to be responsible for people and, from what I’ve seen of your pack, you’ve done a great job.”

  “You’ve only seen them in a fight,” Brooke pointed out.

  “Exactly, and Eric got a dislocated shoulder for his trouble.”

  They lapsed into silence for a while - a comfortable one - and Brooke relished in it, content to look at the sunlight as it filtered through the trees. They’d need to go soon, they both had responsibilities, people to look after, but for now she was happy.

  It’s nice - talking to someone who understands. Connor Strauss had morphed from an unattainable stranger to someone she could maybe love. It was exciting and terrifying all at once. Hearing him talk about his sleuth, about Nathan and Cody and Eric, had her wondering what it would be like to meet them.

  A wolf joining a sleuth, she thought, wouldn’t that be a sight.

  “We should go,” Connor murmured eventually. Brooke opened one eye, grumbling quietly; she’d been about to fall asleep. The air was colder, the sun setting behind them and she shivered.

  “You’re right,” she sighed. “I’ve got a pack to discipline.”

  “And I’ve got brothers to take care of.”

  They smiled wryly at each other. She didn’t want to leave him, but this was important. If they had any hope of seeing where these feelings went, the tension between their groups had to be put to rest.

  “Would you like to go for a run later?” Connor asked, pulling on his jeans and looking at her with a mixture of hope and trepidation. Cute.

  “I’d love to. I’ll meet you at the lodge’s front entrance?” She zipped up her fly, running her hands through her hair, pulling out leaves and twigs. God, she needed a bath.