A few days ago I was binge-eating ice cream and dealing with normal life problems. Today, I was facing creatures of nightmares. All of it was because of Callie. My best friend. The one person I thought I could count on had put me in the worst danger I’d ever faced in my life.
The sun continued to sink on the horizon. The temperature dropped. If I didn’t find some place warmer, I would freeze to death overnight.
“Ashlee.” His voice stopped my heart in my chest.
I turned slowly. “Stay away from me.” I pointed a walking stick I had picked up along the way in Tucker’s direction.
A slow smile spread across his handsome face. “I’m not going to hurt you.”
Why did he have to be so attractive? “You… you’re a bear-man,” I accused.
“Yes, but that doesn’t make me bad. All I’ve done since I’ve met you is protect you.” He held up his hands in surrender as he pointed out the obvious.
“Why?”
“Why?”
“Yes, why have you protected me? I can’t offer you anything. I’m a human, a stranger, a human stranger.”
“And a liability, troublemaker, and all around pain in my ass,” he admitted with a short nod. “You are all of that, but…”
“But?”
“But, there is something about you. You’re right, I don’t normally insert myself into human affairs. I have enough problems with my own pack, but,” he shook his head to hide the confusion on his face, “I don’t know. There is something about you that I am driven to protect. Like right now, I should be finalizing a treaty with a neighboring pack and interrogating Andre, but I am out here chasing after you and your foolish act of running into danger.”
“Foolish? It seems to me I’d be a fool to stay there with all of you, you… monsters.” The moment I said the words I regretted them. Some of them were monsters, but he’d done nothing besides help me. The hurt that crossed his face for a moment only made that feeling deepen. As quickly as it appeared it disappeared.
“Perhaps we’re monsters, but I’ve done everything I can to keep you safe. You’re under my protection and that means the safest place for you now is my home.” He reached a hand out.
I shook my head. “No! Ever since you stepped into my atmosphere I’ve been in danger.”
“Protected.” He took a step forward. “Andre is under lock and key, and I’ll find out the reason why he attacked you, but first I need to get you back to the compound, into some warm clothes, and fed.”
“I’m not a child.” I felt a blush spread across my neck and cheeks.
“You’re acting like one.” He knocked the stick out of my hands and tossed me over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. “I’ll treat you like an adult when you start acting like one.”
The sheer act of my gut hitting his shoulder shocked me and pushed the air out of my lungs. It kept me from screaming, but not from pounding his back and kicking his front.
“Your squirming is quite arousing, Ashlee. I must ask you to stop it before I have to show you how turned on you’re making me.”
I stopped moving. “Are you threatening me?”
“Only if you consider offering to give you hours of pleasure a threat.”
Chapter Nine
Tucker
TUCKER GRINNED THE ENTIRE walk home. Ashlee went straight as a board in his arms, but her body gave off the scent of desire. She wanted him, despite her protests, which meant he was on his way to claiming her. That made his bear happy. His human half, not so much, but then again, his brain had a habit of getting in the way when it came to love and procreation.
He felt a tiny bit guilty for threatening her with lovemaking, but the woman was crawling under his skin, and the way she was rubbing up against him put pictures of what he could do to her soft, supple skin, and delicate body into his imagination, pictures he couldn’t chase away. It took everything he had to push out the thoughts of running his fingers over her body, of kissing her skin and exploring every inch of her, out of his mind. He wanted to make her scream his name in the throes of passion. Wanted was too weak of a word, he was driven to please her. Damn bear. He needed to do something to get her out of his mind. He considered putting her down and letting her walk the rest of the way to his home, but her feet were injured, and he didn’t want to cause her more pain.
It didn’t take long for him to get her to the house. He had Stella work on her wounds, while he went down to the basement to question Andre. Gray had worked him over quite a bit. The vampire was beaten and bloody, which made Tucker smile. Anything to wipe the smug look off the entitled vampire’s face.
“I see you’ve been dealt some harsh injuries. We can take it easy on you if you talk to me.”
Andre spit blood on the cement floor.
“We don’t have a supply of fresh blood for you to drink, so you may not want to waste it.”
“Ah, but I can smell my target all over you. It appears she has returned.” Andre laughed bitterly. “Something tells me I won’t have any issues finding a new supply when I am released.”
“Why did you target, Ashlee?” Tucker ignored his threats.
“Because I was told to.”
“By who?”
“None of your business.” Andre laughed wickedly.
Gray punched Andre across the jaw and slammed his head into the brick wall. “Answer the question.”
“There is no way I am going to answer your questions, animal.” His bloodied lip curled into an evil smile.
Gray walked over to the table in the cell that held his instruments of torture, and picked up a dangerous looking wrench. “Oh, you’ll talk.” He swung the wrench into Andre’s stomach. “The only real question is how much pain I have to inflict until you do.”
“Get what you can from him, Gray. I’m going to check on our guests. Just don’t kill him. I want that honor.” Tucker headed up the stairs and checked in on Brand, who was fixing something in the kitchen to eat.
“It appears you’re making yourself at home.”
“Thank you for the hospitality.” Brand looked up from the steak he was basting on the stove. “Did you find your girl?”
Tucker nodded. “I did, thank you.” He headed over to the coffee pot and poured himself a cup. “Have we made any progress on the boundary dispute?”
“Gray was a little busy getting me and my men set up in rooms, and beating on the vampire downstairs. I figure we’ll pick up talks in the morning.” He flipped the chunk of meat. “Are you hungry? Would you like me to make you something?”
“No, thank you.” Tucker sat down on a stool on the other side of the breakfast bar and took a sip of the bitter drink. “I’m really hoping this treaty gets settled tomorrow.”
Brand sat down next to him. “I think we have a good chance of it. After seeing you fight, I’d rather have you as an ally than an enemy.” He cut his steak and took a bite. “I am curious though, why didn’t you let me kill the vampire?”
“He’s connected. Killing him would put both our packs in danger. I also figured we could get some information from him. He targeted Ashlee and I want to know why.”
“Is she your mate?” Brand took a sip of his beer.
“Maybe. I don’t know. Sometimes, I think she is, and other times I’m not sure.”
Brand chuckled. “You have your hands full with that one. She’s human, right?”
Tucker ran a hand through his light brown hair. “Yes. Worse, she’s new to this world. I’d say ‘hands full’ is an understatement.”
“I’ve seen men lose everything for a mate. Be careful.” Brand pointed his fork towards Tucker.
“I have too, and I don’t plan to have that happen to me.” Tucker took another sip of his coffee.
Stella stood in the doorway of the kitchen and cleared her throat. Both men turned her way. Her long silver hair hung around her narrow face and slender shoulders. The half-moons under her blue eyes revealed how tired she was. “She is cleaned, medicated, and will be a
sleep soon.”
“Thank you, Stella.” Tucker stood up, and rinsed out his cup. “If you’ll both excuse me?” He headed down to his room and knocked on the door.
“Who is it?” Ashlee’s voice came from behind the closed door.
“It’s me, Tucker.” He entered the room.
Ashlee pulled the covers up against her chin. “I thought you had to have an invitation to enter.”
“If this house were owned by a human, and a vampire wanted to enter, he would need permission, but I am a bear shifter and this is my home, so no invitation needed.” He closed the door behind him, and walked the few paces from the door to his bed, the bed that had a half-naked, beautiful woman in it. A woman he wanted to possess. He needed to discover if she was his mate, if for no other reason than to keep her safe until he could make her his own.
His hand caressed her bruised and cut face. She shrugged him off. It looked like she and Mother Nature had gotten into a fight, and yet she still remained strong. He admired that, but his bear needed to know if she would recover quickly. He pulled the blanket off her and inspected the bandages on her hands, feet, and back to the bruises on her face. Then he replaced the blanket and squatted down so he was eye level with her. She had the most intriguing green eyes. He could stare at them for hours.
“Are you going to stare at me all night?” She snapped.
She had spunk. “I would if I could, but I have a busy day tomorrow. Your theatrics kept me from closing this treaty, and our unwanted visitor has been reluctant to tell me why you were his target. I don’t plan to rest until I get some answers from him.”
Confusion crossed her features, leaving a frown behind. “So why are you here?”
“I wanted to make sure you were safe. I know Stella took good care of you, but once you were taken care of I was…worried you might decide to take off again.”
“So I am a prisoner here?”
He shook his head and flashed a mischievous grin. “No, not at all. You can leave, but I’d prefer you stay until we know you are safe.”
“I don’t want any part of this,” she said to his back as he started walking toward the door.
Her words cut deeper than he knew possible. If she was his mate, and this was a normal day, she wanted no part of it. It left him little hope of making this work. If he was smart, he’d give up and walk away, find someone else.
“We’ll get you back to your normal life as quickly as possible.” He left.
***
Ashlee
I watched him leave. His body language told me I’d hurt him, but I had no idea how or what I said that would be so harsh as to hurt a warrior like him. The man was a force to be reckoned with, and his every action was pure alpha male. I pulled the blanket up tight and sank into the comfort of the bed, his bed. I could smell him in the linen, pine and cinnamon. It was intoxicating and reminded me of the year-end holidays.
He’d be quite a catch if he wasn’t such a Neanderthal. I had never been thrown over a man’s shoulder before. My weight alone would cripple most men, but he did it with such ease, complete authority. And then to threaten me with sex if I fought him? What the hell? Worse, what would he do if I did run away before he released me? Would he chase me to my home? The idea made me shiver. Was he right about the vampire? Would the vampire chase me? If what he said was true, he couldn’t get in my home without an invitation, but the monster could get in here. What if he escaped? So many questions which led to doubt and fear. Nothing about this situation made me feel safe. Tomorrow, I would leave. I’d tell him my decision, but I wanted to leave, and there was no way I was going to let him keep me here. I had work to get back to. I had a life to live. None of that meant staying here with a drop-dead gorgeous bear shifter and his pack mates.
Chapter Ten
Tucker
GRAY’S FIST SLAMMED INTO ANDRE’S jaw with a crack. Tucker hid the grimace as he watched his right-hand man beat the vampire to a bloody pulp. He’d heal, the miracle of being a supernatural being, but he also felt the pain. They’d been up most of the night interrogating the blood sucker. Nothing. Very little anyway. “Just tell me the name of who sent you after Ashlee and all this can be over.” Tucker sighed as he sat in the dusty chair.
“Go to hell.” Andre smiled, blood coating his teeth, which gave him a sinister look.
“You first, bastard.” Gray jabbed his elbow into the open wound on Andre’s gut. The vampire grunted in misery.
“I come baring gifts, no pun intended.” Brand walked down the wooden steps with a bag of blood in his hands. Tucker and Gray turned toward him as he approached.
“What’s that?” Tucker asked.
“Leverage.” Brand tossed the blood bag on the table beside Tucker. “Since pain isn’t working, perhaps a little human blood will do the trick.”
“And sic the vampire on the trail of another human? I don’t want to subject someone else to his torture.” Tucker shook his head.
“I’ve been told on good authority that vampires only hunt the blood of human’s they taste from the body. A blood bag does not create the blood bond.” Brand reassured them.
Tucker nodded his thanks, picked up the blood bag, and walked toward the cage. “Well, then, it looks like we have something you want, and you have something I want.”
“The witches’ council contracted the hit. I don’t have a name,” Andre responded, his eyes glued to the red bag of liquid.
“And the reason for the hit?” Tucker wiggled the bag in front of Andre like a carrot in front of a rabbit.
“Don’t ask, don’t tell.” Andre shrugged.
“You’re a disgusting excuse for a vampire.” Tucker tossed the bag to Gray, and left with Brand following behind him.
“What are you going to do with him now?” Brand asked.
“I suppose he needs to be returned to the vampires.”
“And the witches?”
“Find out who and why.” And kill them, his bear chanted in his mind.
“I have a new proposal when you’re ready,” Brand called after Tucker as he headed to his room.
***
Ashlee
My reflection in the mirror looked like a hollow shell of my former self. The lacerations formed bruises under my pale skin and without makeup I had nothing to hide behind. The lack of sleep created dark circles under my eyes and made my skin look thinner. A shell or ghost of my former self. There was no question about it, I needed to escape this hell before it took more of me.
Stella had given me clothes. They weren’t much, a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, but they offered far more coverage than the skimpy black dress. We still hadn’t made much progress in the shoe department, but the former pumps turned into flats would hold up until I got home.
The knock on the door surprised me. I knew it was him. There was authority in everything he did, including knocking. “Come in.”
Tucker entered his room with a commanding presence. I wanted to ignore him, but I couldn’t. There was something that drew me to him, like a fish caught on a hook, scrambling to get away, helpless to fight against my fate. It wasn’t just his good looks. There was more, a connection that surpassed anything I’ve ever felt.
“Are you feeling better?” He asked, drawing me back to the moment.
“Truth, no, but I’m sure you want to hear the lie.” I turned back to my reflection, watching him covertly through the mirror.
He crossed his arms over his chest. “I want you to feel comfortable enough to always tell me the truth.”
“Why do you do that?” I spun around to face him.
“What?” He didn’t play off the innocent look very well at all.
“Act like there is more between us than being strangers.”
“I didn’t know I did that.” Confusion crossed his features and he unfolded his arms.
“Well, you do.” I crossed my arms over my chest. It was my turn to put space between us.
“But seeing how I’ve saved your life a cou
ple times, and you’ve slept in my bed, I think we’re a little more than strangers, don’t you?”
His words were like arrows to my heart. My eyes glanced at the made-up bed, his scent still wrapped in the linens, mingling with mine. The effect created amazing, erotic dreams.
I wasn’t really used to a man being so brutally honest. It was odd. I swallowed hard and pushed the images from my dreams away. I needed to change the subject. “I suppose, but that means I might need to know your last name.”
“Montrose.”
“Hi, Tucker Montrose. I’m Ashlee Thomas.”
“Nice to finally meet you.” He closed the gap between us so fast I blinked and nearly missed it. His calloused hands caressed my cheek. “You didn’t sleep well last night.”
It wasn’t a question, just a simple observation.
“I need to go home. I need to sleep in my own bed, wear my own clothes, and go to my job before I lose it. All of this is a little traumatizing,” I admitted.
“I told you that you’re not a prisoner here, but I don’t know how safe you’re going to be away from my compound. Andre finally talked. Apparently the witches put a hit out on your life.”
“What? Why?”
“I don’t know, but I think it is time to ask your friend Callie what she knows.”
“Do you think she did this? It can’t be her.” I shook my head in denial.
He frowned. “I don’t know, she seemed sincerely concerned when you were injured.”
“She’s my best friend. She’d never hurt me.” Even as I said the words, doubt began to spread through my mind. She’d lied to me our entire lives, keeping a major secret hidden that could get me killed. It was hard to trust someone who would do that.
“She is the one that brought you to the party, the mixer that had your assassin lying in wait. It is a coincidence that is hard to ignore.” He twirled a strand of my blonde hair around his finger.
Bear-I-Licious Cowboy Page 4
