Bears of Burden: STERLING

by Candace Ayers

“I’ll see you soon, little bear.”

  She grinned and brushed her hand over my dick before winking and strutting towards the stands. I watched until she was seated next to Veronica and Allie, making sure the guys who looked at her didn’t touch. Knowing we were so close to marking our mate, my bear was feeling especially possessive and predatory.

  Hutch came over and clapped me on the back. “Was it worth letting her come to you?”

  Fuck, yes. I grinned and finally tore my eyes away from her. “Come on. I’ve got more than one reason to hurry this beast across the finish line now.”

  He laughed and handed me a helmet. “Will we see you after the race?”

  I glanced back up at Ophelia and groaned as she crossed and uncrossed her legs, exposing even more flesh. “Nope. As soon as she gets close to me, we’re out of here. I’m claiming my mate tonight. Stick around and talk to Gerald, will you?”

  “Of course. I’m proud of you, man.”

  I met his eyes and nodded. “Thanks, Hutch.”

  I climbed into my car, eager to get the race over with so I could get my hands back on my mate. She’d come to me and it was all I needed to know that things were going to be okay.

  CHAPTER 25: Ophelia

  My heart threatened to pound right out of my ribcage during the race, and I was flying down the stands as soon as Sterling’s car sailed across the finish line, all the other cars trailing behind. I wanted to see him, but also had to make sure he was safe. My bear would never get used to it.

  Hutch was at a gate beside the track and he grinned at me when I got closer. “Be good to my little brother, Ophelia.”

  I grinned back at him and nodded. “I plan on it.”

  He let me through and I ran across the track as fast as I could in my six-inch heels. Sterling was in the middle, standing next to his car, waiting on me. There were people trying to talk to him, but when he spotted me, he met me halfway and caught me when I jumped into his arms. Wrapping my arms around his neck, I laughed and covered his face with kisses.

  “You did it!”

  He nodded. “Now, you and I have somewhere to be.”

  Thinking of him claiming me, I blushed and nodded. “Do you have stuff to do here first?”

  He carried me to his car and shook his head. “Nothing more important. Hutch will handle anything that needs handling. We’re leaving.”

  I squeaked as he dropped my body through the passenger window. “Sterling… I don’t know about riding in this.”

  “I’ve got to do a victory lap and then I want to get out of here as soon as possible. You’re stuck in it for now, baby.” He crossed to his side and climbed into the car. As soon as he was in, the engine roared to life.

  Catching the checkered flag someone passed to him, he grinned at me. “Hang on.”

  I laughed as he drove back onto the track and then raced around it. Screaming, I couldn’t hide the excitement. “Sterling! This is crazy!”

  He took the exit from the track and instead of pausing at the gathering group of people waving at him, he stepped on the gas and sent us soaring across the parking lot and onto the highway.

  My heartbeat was wildly erratic as we drove away from the track. Knowing what was coming, feeling the speed and the wind whip through the car, understanding how much he wanted me…it was all exhilarating.

  Sterling got off the highway on a little side road and drove up a small forgotten road that was so riddled with potholes it threatened to rip out the bottom of his car. We pulled over behind a tiny house and parked.

  “What is this place?”

  He grinned at me before getting out and coming around to help me out. “I don’t know. Looks abandoned to me.”

  The house did look abandoned. The yard was grown up around it and where we were parked looked like it could almost be a small jungle.

  I laughed as he pulled me from the car. His hands on my sides tickled and I wiggled until he put me down. “What if it isn’t abandoned?”

  His eyes were wicked as he stalked towards me. For every step I took backwards, he took one forwards. “What if it isn’t? What if there’s someone inside who’s going to watch as I take you bent over the hood of my car? What if they watch as I sink my teeth into your shoulder and we both come like crazy?”

  My blood rushed through my body and I was slightly embarrassed by how wet I got from what he was saying. “The hood of your car?”

  His grin was nearly feral as my knees hit the bumper and I was suddenly trapped. “I got the image before the race and I haven’t been able to stop seeing it. I want you, Ophelia. I want you more than you know.”

  “Even if someone is watching?”

  He continued forward until his chest brushed against mine. “Yes. By the time I’m done with you, there’s no doubt that they’ll know that you’re completely mine. Let them watch.”

  Feeling wild and a little kinky, I pushed myself back on the hood, thankful that it didn’t cave in under me, and dragged my hands over my thighs. “You don’t mind them seeing your mate spread out like this? Imagine that I was completely naked and someone stood just on the other side of that window. You’d let them watch as you did wicked things to me?”

  He growled and dragged me back to him. Shoving his hands in my hair, he caught handfuls of it and lifted me so his mouth could ravage mine. Sucking and licking his way into my mouth, he kissed me like a man starving for affection, like he needed it more than he needed air.

  I found the zipper on his suit and dragged it down so I could get to his body. All I wanted to do was touch him and drive him as crazy as he was driving me.

  I shoved it off of his shoulders and dragged his shirt up until I could get my hands on his bare abs. I broke away from his kiss and pushed his shirt up until he got the point and reached behind him to pull it over his head. As soon as his chest was naked, I leaned forward and raked my tongue over one of his flat nipples. Hearing his sharp intake of breath, I gently nipped it with my teeth.

  I slid off the hood and sank to my knees in front of him, my hands going to his pants immediately. “Let John Wayne loose, Sterling. Now.”

  He worked down the suit and then helped me pushed his pants down, too. When just his boxers separated us, he growled and caught my hair again. “Ophelia.”

  I grinned up at him before pushing his boxers down. His hard dick sprang up in front of me and I licked my lips. I’d never enjoyed going down on a guy until Sterling. Something about my mate made it hot as hell and fueled me to try to make it the best blow job he’d ever received.

  “I told you I owed you an apology.” I took him in my hand and stuck my tongue out, gently tapping the head of him on it.

  “Fuck, yes.”

  I licked the underside from top to bottom and then took him into my mouth, sucking firmly. I stroked him with my tongue while I sucked and pumped the inches that I couldn’t get into my mouth. Looking up at him, I moaned as the expression on his face hit me. A mixture of pleasure and pain flooded my core with wet heat when I saw it.

  I pulled out until just the tip was in my mouth and sucked it like a lollipop. Cupping his balls, I squeezed gently before taking him in again, all the way to the back of my throat. I did it a few more times before Sterling’s hands dug into my hair and scalp and pulled me up.

  “Enough.”

  I licked my lips and pouted as he yanked my skirt down. “I wanted to finish you.”

  He grabbed my shirt and yanked it over my head. “I will let you, I promise, some other time. I want to come in you this time.”

  Standing in front of him in a red silky bra and panty set, I cocked a hip out to the side and twirled a strand of my hair. “Want to give them a show?”

  Sterling growled and grabbed my waist. “You’re overdressed for the show, baby.”

  I gasped as he snapped the bra from my body and did the same with my panties. Suddenly naked, I put my hands on my hips and frowned. “Those were new.”

  He tossed them behind him and picked me up.
Putting me down on the warm hood on the car, he wedged his body between my thighs. “Don’t care.”

  I leaned up on my elbows and watched as his eyes drank me in. Feeling sassy, I grinned. “Well?”

  CHAPTER 26: Sterling

  Feeling like a man who’d just won the lottery, I dropped to my knees and stared up at her. Her core glistened and called to me, begging to be tasted. I kissed my way up her legs, paying special attention to the spot behind her knees that made her moan. When I got to her inner thighs, she shook under me. I wanted to tease her more and make her wait, but I was too on edge. I licked up her seam and growled as her taste filled my mouth. Sweet and just for me.

  Ophelia cried out and ran her fingers through my hair, tugging my head to where she wanted it.

  I spread her folds with my fingers and found her clit with my mouth. Suctioning my lips around it, my cock jerked as she screamed my name. I pushed a finger into her hot center and curled it, stroking the band of nerves that set her off.

  Her body bucked under me but I kept my mouth on her. Pushing another finger into her, I pumped them in and out of her while my lips and tongue worked her clit.

  With a wild scream, she came around my fingers, squeezing them tight. I licked my tongue up her, tasting her. It drove me mad. My vision narrowed and I had to be in her.

  I pulled her off the hood and flipped her over so her arms and face were pressed against it. I shifted her thighs and slid into her in one hard stroke.

  Her drawn out groan sent me spiraling. I watched as her hands balled into fists and dragged across the hood as I slammed into her. Her ass swayed as I withdrew and thrust back in. I slapped one cheek and then the other, giving into the animalistic need I felt to possess her completely.

  “Sterling! Yes, yes!”

  My dick was being squeezed harder and harder as her body milked it, but I refused to give in to the urge to come. I grabbed her hair and pulled her hair back, making her back arch.

  Ophelia’s body tightened almost painfully around my dick and she called my name, begging me to make her come.

  With her neck so close to me, I lost it. I let go of her hair and slipped my hand between her thighs to rub her clit. My thumb pressed farther into her and the sensation was wild against my dick in her. I felt her start to come and gave in to my bear’s urge to claim her. Leaning forward, I sank my teeth into her neck, marking her as mine for the rest of our lives.

  Ophelia screamed as she came apart in my arms. Her body squeezed the orgasm out of me. My balls tightened and I thrust into her once more before stilling and spilling my seed into her.

  Pleasure threatened to take my legs out from under me and I had to lean us forward so the car would hold us up. We both panted as we slowly came down.

  I pulled out of her and wrapped my arms around her, holding her to my chest. “Fuck, Ophelia.”

  She let me support her and looked up at me with a lazy smile on her pretty face. “Sterling.”

  I pulled my sated body back onto the hood of the car and pulled her up with me. It wasn’t the most comfortable place, but I’d just claimed my mate. We were together.

  “You’re perfect, baby.” I meant it. She was perfect. There were things that we both had to work on, my shit and her brother, but she was perfect. Made just for me.

  Her eyes filled with tears and she buried her head against my chest. “I almost messed this up. I don’t know what I would’ve done if I’d lost you.”

  I caught her face and tilted her face up to mine. “It’s nothing you have to worry about. You are mine and I’m yours. Forever. There’s no going back.”

  “I don’t want to go back. I want this. I told Kyle that you’re my mate and that I was going to be with you. I have to figure things out with him, but right now I just want to enjoy you.”

  I didn’t let the thought of her brother dampen my mood. No matter what he thought, I had his sister in my arms. “If there was someone in that house, baby, you’re going to get a reputation.”

  She blushed and lightly slapped my chest. “Shut up.”

  I growled and dragged her on top of me. “I want to be in you again. Everywhere. You make me a caveman. I want to fill you and never stop.”

  She shifted and her wetness rubbed against my already hardening dick. “I want you to do…that. Everything. I want everything. You make me so crazy, Sterling. Is it always going to be like this?”

  I nodded. “Yeah, little bear. Even when we’re old and gray, I’m still going to be chasing this perfect ass around.”

  She laughed and sat up, baring her perfect breasts to me. Cupping them in her hands, she rocked herself against my dick. “We should stop and talk later.”

  I nodded around a groan. “Sure.”

  “Really. There are things we should talk about.”

  I grabbed her hips and lifted her so I could thrust into her again. “Later. One thing at a time and this is more important right now. We’re putting on a show, remember. We wouldn’t want that guy in the house over there to get bored. Don’t want him telling people we’re lame in the sack.”

  Her eyes widened and moved to the house, but her walls tightened around me as a fresh wave of wetness coated me. My little mate was kinky.

  “Ride me, Ophelia. Show him how much you want me.”

  As her body rocked against mine, taking us both higher and higher, I took a second to look towards the sky and thank the heavens for giving me the sexy bear-woman on top of me.

  We’d figure out everything else later. For that night, we were going to be as wild as she wanted to be and enjoy being mates. It was too good not to.

  The End.

  Thank you for purchasing this book. I hope you enjoyed it.

  I have included several BONUS STORIES that I hope you’ll enjoy! But first, please enjoy an excerpt from Book 1 of my Kodiak Island Shifters series entitled Billionaire’s Bride. If you like the sample, you can download the full book by using the link provided at the end of the sample.

  ENJOY A FREE SNEAK PEEK

  (This book is a standalone with a Happily Ever After ending. It is the first book in a series you’re going to love about the Sterling Brothers, Grizzly Bear Shifters.)

  KODIAK ISLAND SHIFTERS

  COLTON: BILLIONAIRE BEAR’S BRIDE

  By Candace Ayers

  Chapter one

  “Take a seat Doctor Cooper.” Hannah’s lawyer proffered a chair opposite his paper-strewn desk. He adjusted his spectacles before continuing, “It’s all fairly straight forward—all monetary assets are to be transferred from your uncle’s estate at your earliest convenience.”

  Hannah smiled tightly, not really knowing what to say. It had been an overwhelming week. It began with her uncle’s funeral, a man she hadn’t spoken to in years and only vaguely recollected. It was now ending, on a warm Friday afternoon, in her lawyer’s office, discussing the deposit of a large inheritance into her bank account.

  “I have to say,” the lawyer continued, “it’s a rare pleasure allocating such large funds to someone so risk-adverse. You have a very healthy credit record, Doctor Cooper.”

  “Well. I don’t come from a wealthy background, Mr. Moore. I think that helps.”

  “Indeed.” He nodded, “There is, however, another matter I wanted to discuss with you today.” He cleared his throat before continuing, “Your marriage to a Mr…” He peered down at the document in his hand, “Bradley…”

  “Brad Crawford,” Hannah interrupted him. “Yes. We’re not actually married. I mean, we’re married, technically, but… well, haven’t been together for many years now. We just never got around to a divorce.”

  “I suggest that you do. You understand, of course, that he could cause,” he hesitated, looking for the right word, “issues as your legal husband if you were to receive the inheritance and then opt for a divorce. My suggestion to you would be to obtain signed divorce papers before the transfer proceeds.”

  Hannah nodded, “I don’t think that will be a problem… on
ce I track him down.”

  “You don’t know Mr. Crawford’s location?”

  “No. I haven’t seen him in ten years.” Hannah shrugged, she really hadn’t thought about him for an entire decade. They broke up a month before she left for medical school, and neither of them had been in contact with one another since.

  “Well, I suggest you locate him. My understanding is that these funds will enable you to start your own medical practice?”

  Hannah nodded, “Yes… and pay off my student loans.”

  “Admirable. I hope it proves a fruitful endeavor. I will have the divorce papers drawn up for you by next week. Once you have the co-signature, we can reconvene and transfer the funds.

  “Okay. Well, great.” Hannah rose from her chair, and shook her lawyers hand. “Thank you for your help, Mr. Moore.”

  “It’s a pleasure, Dr. Cooper.”

  Riding the elevator down from Delaney, Smith and Wexler LLP, Hannah felt dizzy. She had hoped that one day she’d have the financial means to open her own practice specializing in family medicine, but never in her wildest dreams did she imagine that day would come so soon. Thank you, Uncle Henry. May you rest in peace.

  All she had to do now was get a divorce. She slipped on her RayBans as she stepped out of the office building and into the bright Chicago sunshine, heading towards a Starbucks across the street. Hannah wasn’t on call, so this was only the second cup of the day. If she was going to start trying to locate Brad Crawford, she reasoned, she’d need all the help she could get.

  As the barista smiled at her mechanically from behind the counter, Hannah contemplated her options. She knew that neither of her parents had heard from Brad in years, and she wasn’t really in touch with anyone from High School. That was one of the drawbacks of medical school; you could forget about maintaining old friendships during the four years of intensive study, as lab partners and classmates became the only faces you ever saw. The four years of residency that followed had been no easier, but at least Hannah had shared an apartment with two other young doctors who understood the need to get shit-faced drunk the first day you lost a patient, that black-out conditions were mandatory during the day if you were on night shifts, and that the fridge needed to be stocked with Diet Coke twenty-four seven.