Gray Back Broken Bear

by T. S. Joyce

  Because from this day on, she was never going to fly away from her Easton again.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Easton brushed his fingertip down each vertebra in her back, almost as if he were counting them. He’d filled up the tub with steaming water as soon as they got back, but the chills wouldn’t leave her body. Aviana drew her knees tighter to her chest and rested her cheek on one so she could see him better.

  Easton’s bright green eyes followed his finger as he started at the top of her spine and started again. He was leaning on the tub, chin resting on his arm, and an absent smile on his lips.

  She was marrow-deep exhausted, but Easton had made her a bowl of stew, lit candles in the bathroom, and now seemed content to forgo sleep just to stare at her skin. She understood. Aviana had been drinking him in since she’d first seen him again, too.

  “What are you thinking about?” she whispered in a soft voice, afraid to disturb the moment.

  “Do you remember when the rabbits got to my vegetable garden?”

  She answered his smile with one of her own. God, she loved his dimples. They were even more special since he only seemed to flash them for her. “You were eleven.”

  Easton sat up and pushed her gently backward until her hair was immersed in the water, then he lifted her out and poured a dollop of shampoo in his palm. As he worked her hair into a lather, he said, “I wanted to snare all the rabbits and put them into a stew with my vegetables.”

  “But all you caught was a cold from obsessively checking the snares in the middle of the night.”

  “And you brought me an earring.”

  Aviana giggled and leaned her head back on his hand in the water, then allowed him to pour a plastic cup over her hair to rinse out the suds. “Not all of my gifts had to mean something, you know.”

  “But you couldn’t bring me cold medicine?”

  She giggled harder as she sat up.

  “For fuck’s sake, a single pain killer would’ve done wonders for the headache that came along with it. But no. You gave me a shiny earring.”

  “I like shiny things. That is a high compliment that I can part with them for you. I found it on a hiking trail. For some reason I can’t think of now, I thought you would like it. And besides, you’re a bear shifter. I thought you weren’t supposed to get sick.”

  “And I haven’t since. Damn rabbits cursed me.”

  She blinked slowly as he traced her backbone again. “Was it awful after I left?”

  “Crow, crow, why are you still cold?” he asked in that deep timbre she was still getting used to.

  “I’ll get stronger. You didn’t answer my question.”

  With a sigh, Easton pulled his shirt over his head. His abs rippled with the movement. After tossing it into the pile with her discarded clothes, he shucked his jeans, too. Slowly, he slid into the bathtub behind her, then pulled her back against his chest and wrapped his arms around her. There was barely any room in the small tub for a man Easton’s size, but he didn’t seem to mind folding his legs around her.

  “Yes.” He pressed his forehead against the back of her neck. “But it’s done, and I wouldn’t change it now.”

  “You wouldn’t?”

  “If I would’ve kept you all my life, I couldn’t appreciate you like I do now. I wouldn’t know how bad it can hurt without you.”

  Oh. Aviana closed her eyes and melted back against him. Easton was big and strong and warm. Already her chills were lessening with him curled around her. It had been a long and trying day, and her stamina wasn’t great. Not yet. But Easton deserved a strong mate, and she was determined to become better for him.

  “Easton?”

  “Mmm?” he rumbled, dragging a washrag around the edge of her claiming mark.

  “I feel safe with you.”

  Easton snorted and told her, “Your instincts suck.”

  She laughed and said, “I’m serious. I’ve always felt safe around you.”

  “I bit you the first chance I got.”

  “Because you wanted to claim me.”

  “I’m not good, Ana. I’m not.”

  “You are.”

  He dragged the scruff on his chin across the back of her neck, back and forth, back and forth. His silent argument didn’t matter, though. She knew the truth. She saw straight to Easton’s soul, and he was good to the core. He just had to learn how to act around other people instead of reacting on grizzly instincts. She understood his quirks and loved each of them.

  “Tell me a secret no one else knows,” she whispered, trickling water over his knee.

  “I want to go somewhere big and far away. Somewhere like the Grand Canyon.”

  “You do?”

  His lips pressed against the back of her neck. “Mmm hmm. When I was a kid, I thought my bear would never let me out of my territory.”

  “Your parents’ land?”

  “Yep. He claimed it, and then it got really hard to leave. I still live close, and sometimes I wish I could go somewhere away from here. Stupid. I know I’m not ready. Maybe I won’t ever be. Can’t keep control. I went to Dodge City to help Jason out last year, and the job took way longer than it was supposed to because I couldn’t stay human very long. Didn’t tell my crew that part. Sometimes I just want to see something other than these mountains. Now you. Tell me a secret.”

  Aviana leaned her head back against his shoulder and smiled. “I used to watch you sleep.”

  “When?”

  “After you’d built that treehouse. I would sneak out late at night after my parents were asleep, and I’d perch on the window where the moonlight made you look blue, and I’d watch you. You always looked so calm in your sleep. Relaxed. Like a kid again. Like you weren’t fighting for survival. I wanted to Change and sleep beside you so badly, you can’t even imagine. You were warm and felt safe, and I wanted to be under your arm, sleeping with you.”

  Easton huffed a small chuckle, and she reveled in the vibration against her back. His laughs were for her.

  “Easton, about when we slept together before…”

  He pulled her wet hair to her other shoulder and kissed gently right beside her bite. It looked awful now, bruised and torn.

  “Losing your virginity is a really big deal,” she whispered. “Do you want to talk about it?”

  “Losing it isn’t a big deal to animals.”

  When a soft growl rattled his chest, delicious chills rippled up her skin. Easton wouldn’t talk about it or linger on nostalgic thoughts. She knew he wouldn’t. His answer had been a flippant and honest denial that sex for the first time had been life-altering at all. And to her, it made sense. Easton was more animal than man. Her cheeks warmed with happiness as she snuggled back against him.

  She’d been his first, and the burning mark on her shoulder said Easton wanted her to be his only.

  Easton kissed her bite mark softly, then settled her wet hair back into place. “Ana, I won’t ever hurt you when we’re mating again. I won’t hurt you ever.”

  His promise brought an emotional smile to her lips. “Okay.”

  He massaged her breast, dumping instant heat into her middle. His erection had been swollen and hard against her back since he’d slipped into the tub behind her, but now, he rolled his hips slightly. “You like when I touch you here,” he murmured, slipping his hand down to cup her sex, right over her clit.

  Ana rolled her eyes closed and nodded.

  “And here,” he said low as he slipped his finger into her.

  Rocking against his touch, she nodded again.

  His other arm encircled her stomach and pulled her tight against his dick, standing straight against her spine. Rolling his hips, he pressed against her in the same slow rhythm he fingered her. Pressure built with every stroke, and she slipped her hands behind his head as he kissed her neck. The warm water lapped at her ribs when Easton rested his chin on her shoulder as he brought her closer to climax. A soft moan pushed past her lips as her body pulsed in a fast rhythm around h
is finger. She still couldn’t believe how good he was at touching her. She was almost embarrassed by how fast she came with him, but he didn’t seem disappointed.

  “Want to feel,” he murmured in that gravelly, inhuman timbre that said his bear was close.

  Rolling her forward, he settled her on her hands and knees. Easton slid into her slow from behind. She’d never done it like this—like the animals did. But with Easton, it felt right. It felt natural. His powerful body curved over hers as he pushed his thick shaft deep inside of her. He was big and stretched her, but she was ready. Relaxed and wet.

  Slowly, he eased back by inches, then thrust into her again. Holy moly, he was sexy—a growl vibrating against her back, him nibbling kisses on her uninjured shoulder. His powerful arm flexed and locked on one side, while his other gripped around her waist. The next thrust was faster. Out slow, in hard. Ana arched her back and gave him a better angle.

  “Fffuck,” he whispered shakily as he slammed into her again.

  Pressure with each stroke. She could climax just thinking about his powerful body covering her. Her middle was tingling now and everything felt so good. Floaty. Numbing. Lock those arms. Almost there. “Ah!” she cried as he pushed into her again. “Easton! I’m going to…”

  “Come for me,” he said on a growl as his hips pumped into her again.

  Her body shattered. The pleasure was so intense, she had to close her eyes and focus on not falling apart. The snarl in Easton’s throat was constant now as he bucked into her. When her body clenched around him, Easton froze with her name on his lips. Hot, pulsing jets shot into her, filling her, dripping down her thighs as he pulled out. Then he slid back in and emptied himself completely. Her body pulsed on and on, each aftershock as intense as the last as he bucked against her more slowly, drawing each one from her.

  The water was getting cold against her arms and legs, but Easton didn’t seem in a hurry to sever their connection. His lips gone soft, he ran kisses across her shoulder instead. His teeth grazed her skin in a soft bite every couple of kisses as the pulsing sensation faded completely away. He was so warm, so strong, she couldn’t help but feel safe all tucked up under him, even with his teeth brushing her skin. He wouldn’t hurt her.

  And just as her arms felt as though they wouldn’t hold her anymore, Easton slid out of her and stood, dragging her with him. He bent down and folded her into his arms, then stepped out of the tub and carried her to his bed. She smiled languidly at the fresh white sheets he’d put on. No more blood stains from when he’d claimed her, and suddenly it was clear why his bedding looked so clean and soft. He’d obviously spent some money on the thick comforter and crisp linens. They were to banish the memory of all the nights he’d slept on spruce limbs and plucked pillows of grass. The living room might resemble the treehouse he’d made himself all those years ago, but his bedroom…that was his attempt to move on.

  Easton settled her in bed and stood beside her with his head canted. He looked at her body as though she was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen. “I’m going to clean you,” he said in a rumbling voice.

  She nodded, ready for a soft cloth. But when he lowered himself to the bed and dragged a trail of kisses down her ribs to her stomach, it became abundantly clear what kind of cleaning Easton had in mind. Ana held in a giggle. She should’ve known.

  Her mate laved his tongue up her still wet folds, and drew a soft sigh from her lips. He was meticulous and rhythmic, and now he was definitely conjuring another orgasm. Ana bent her legs and gripped his hair. Easton’s eyes glowed green as he looked up at her, and with only a second of hesitation, he gave into her silent pleading and slipped his tongue inside of her.

  Ana moaned helplessly at how good he felt right there. Easton grabbed her hips and dragged her closer, then drove his tongue deeper. Arching her back, she cried out and clenched his hair. His head bobbed between her legs as he drove her closer and closer to climax. “Easton,” she yelped as her body clenched around his tongue in quick, throbbing orgasm. He licked her until she twitched and lay exhausted and spent. Easton kissed the insides of her thighs gently, then climbed up beside her and pulled her against his chest. He pulled the covers over them, then leaned his chin on top of her head. His dick was long and hard against her belly, but he didn’t move to relieve himself in her. Instead, he murmured, “Sleep now, mate.”

  Mate. She smiled and nuzzled closer to him.

  And finally…finally…after all those years of wanting, she got to sleep safe and warm under the arm of the man she loved.

  Chapter Fourteen

  “Don’t smell scared,” Easton said, his eyes blazing as he cast her a quick glance.

  “I can’t help it.” Aviana clutched tight to his hand as Easton led her toward the Grayland Mobile Park. “Your crew is intimidating. All bear shifters are really.”

  “Yet you are mated to Beaston,” he muttered so low, she almost didn’t hear it.

  She frowned at the use of that name. Sure, his animal was in control, but that was because of what he’d been through. That bear inside of him also was to thank for his survival. Easton had lost his family when he was just a kid, then eked out a life in the woods all alone. “You say Beaston like it’s a bad name, but I think it’s fucking awesome,” she said defiantly.

  He cast her a startled glance and skidded to a stop. “Why?”

  “Because you might be a beast, Easton Novak, but you are also a survivor, and I’m so fucking proud of how far you’ve come, I can hardly stand it. So don’t utter that name around me unless you are owning it. Badass, snarly, scary-eyed mountain man who protects the heart of a fearful raven. You are Beaston. My Beaston.”

  A slow smile had spread across his face as she’d ranted, and now his dimples showed. “Okay,” he said low, pulling her into a hug. “I’m Beaston.”

  A sharp whistle trilled across the valley. Creed was letting them know it was time for the crew to head up to the mountains to clear timber, but they would have to wait. She and Easton had an announcement to make before he went to work.

  The Gray Backs were all gathered near the bricked-in fire pit talking when Easton led her out of the tree line.

  “There they are,” Willa called, looking relieved. “Now we can have someone unbiased settle the score,” she said, looking pointedly at Gia. Georgia was rifling through a backpack sitting on a food prep table near them, and she shook her head, though she was still smiling.

  “What is it?” Aviana asked, voice small and pathetic. With a frown, she said louder, “What is it?”

  Easton looked at her proudly.

  “Dude, Beaston’s holding her hand,” Matt said low to Jason.

  Willa kicked her mate’s boot and held out both hands as they approached. In one was a pile of green M&Ms and in the other was a pile of orange. “Which ones are supposed to make you horny, green or orange?”

  Aviana snorted and tried to think back on her school days. “I think it’s green makes you horny.”

  “Here, Griz, eat these,” Willa said, dumping the green pile into Matt’s hand.

  He snorted and popped them all in his mouth. “I can’t even believe you want me hornier than I already am,” he said around the mouthful of candy.

  “So it’s orange to make your boobs big then,” Gia said matter-of-factly. “Told you.”

  Aviana laughed and asked, “Can I have some orange ones then?”

  With a big toothy grin, Willa handed her half the pile of oranges and poured the other half into her maw.

  Easton slapped the candy out of Aviana’s hands with a look of panic in his eyes. “Don’t want bigger boobs on you. Too much.”

  Aviana stood there stunned, looking at the bright colored chocolates scattered across the white gravel road.

  Jason was laughing now, hands around his stomach, bent over, wheezing. “Dude, it’s not real.”

  “Oh,” Easton said with a confused frown as he watched Jason fall over onto the ground, kicking his legs as he laughed. He sw
ung his troubled gaze to Aviana and murmured, “Sorry.”

  She was trying not to laugh, really she was, but Easton was so fucking cute. Sexy as all get-out, eyes wild and bright as he made sure she stayed just as she was. If she’d had any question that her flat chest bothered her mate before, it was dispelled now.

  “Why are you eating M&Ms for breakfast?” she asked.

  “Gia craves them all the time,” Georgia explained. “Willa just mooches them.”

  “I help her eat them,” Willa corrected. “It’s not mooching if I’m doing it out of the goodness of my heart.”

  Creed was quiet beside Matt, shaking his head and looking tired, as if his crew already exhausted him.

  “I have something to say,” Easton announced in a strong, formal voice.

  Jason kicked into a star shape on the ground and looked at Easton, upside down. “That sounds serious.”

  “It is.” Easton lifted his gaze to Creed and cocked his head, exposing his neck. “I have to beg your forgiveness.”

  Creed stood straighter as his black eyes lightened to a gray that matched the early morning sky. “What did you do?”

  Aviana couldn’t even look at him like this. Not when Creed was making the air so heavy. It was hard to draw a breath under his stare, so she angled her chin down and looked at Willa instead.

  “As Second, I forbid you to bleed him,” Willa said, standing to her full height of not even five foot tall and glaring at Creed.

  “What?” Creed asked, looking even angrier. “It doesn’t work like that. You’re second, not alpha. What’s going on?”

  “Show him,” Easton murmured, nudging Aviana’s shoulder.

  Aviana pulled her stretchy pink cotton shirt to the side and exposed the tattered flesh of Easton’s claiming mark.

  Creed’s dark eyebrows jacked up, and he swung a dangerous glare at Easton. “What the fuck did you do?”

  “I’d say either a zombie bit her or Easton claimed her,” Willa said helpfully as she dug around in the crinkly package of M&M’s for more candy.