by Lynn Lorenz
His lips quirked up and he slapped her left breast with one hand, sending a loud cracking noise through the room, and a spike of pain through her nipple.
It stung in a delicious, forbidden way, and the ache in her core compounded. She bit her lip to keep from crying out as he leaned forward and tongued the sting away. She shuddered against him, feeling a flush rise in her body as she pressed her breast into his delightful suckling mouth.
Heat traveled up her body, inch by inch, as she ground against him, rocking her clit into the hard line of his zipper, her arms crushing his head to her breast. Suddenly, he dropped a hand to her thigh, pushing her skirt up her leg until he could reach underneath.
Yes.
His mouth still sucking at her breast, his hand slipped under the edge of her panties, fingertips pressing into her slick heat.
“Do it,” she begged. “Please, Rip.”
He growled against her breast, the vibration on her nipple nearly enough to send her over the edge. She felt two fingers penetrate her, sliding easily into her. She couldn’t remember ever being so wet, but her body sucked at him greedily and his fingers pressed deep. His thumb stole up to push against her clit and she rocked against him ever more fiercely.
“That’s right, darling,” he whispered gruffly against her breast. “Ride my hand, show me you can take what’s yours. I want to see you come. I want to feel you squeezing my hand the way you want to squeeze my cock. I want to see the flush on your chest spill all the way onto your face and I want to hear you moan my fucking name like it’s your favorite word. Ride my hand. Make yourself come.”
His dirty talk pushed her onto the edge and held her there, drawn tight like she could snap. She slowed the motion of her hips, trying to hold back, to make it last just a little longer, but he was having no part of it. He pressed his thumb harder against her clit, rubbing briskly, making the tension swell and expand until it shattered and she shook, crying and biting at her lip. The orgasm swept through her and over her. Dimly, she was aware of his hand still rubbing under her skirt, her body clutching at his fingers.
“Rip…” She gasped for breath even as his name on her lips seemed to steal it from her. “God, fuck, Rip.” The orgasm seemed like it would never end, ebbing slowly, leaving her raw and sensitive, still burning for him.
“Yes.” He smiled at her, possessively, fiercely. “You’re mine, little one. You’re going to burn for me until I claim you. And I will claim you.”
His fingers slipped out of her and he smoothed her skirt. He tugged her dress back over her shoulders. Obediently, she slid her arms into the sleeves. He helped her back to the bed, tucking her into the sheets and cradling her head onto the pillow.
“Now sleep. I’ll wake you in an hour, or whenever the scum wakes up.”
Too exhausted and sated to argue, she did.
* * * *
Rip watched as the man she’d called Stanley struggled awake. Rip might be one hundred years out of time, but he wasn’t dumb. He knew exactly who and what Stanley was. A beta—the kind of man who rode the coattails of others in search of glory. Rip had found a belt in the closet and used it to bind the man’s hands behind his back. Rage filled him at the memory of the man twisting Lacey’s arm behind her back, frightening her. If she hadn’t been watching, Rip would have killed him. But he didn’t want to scare her, and he didn’t want to hurt her. She’s mine.
When the man’s eyes opened, it took a few moments for him to focus on Rip. When he did, he snarled.
“You.” The man’s voice was ragged from screaming earlier.
“You know who I am?”
“You slept. For decades.”
“Why?”
“You don’t know? You think you can just come back here and take the first female who strikes your fancy? I’ve worked for her. For years. Pleading my case. Making myself useful. Cooking her grandmother’s pie.”
“She is mine.”
“She hasn’t chosen you. Her brother gave her to me.”
Rip sucked in a breath. She’d mentioned a brother, but he figured the brother was human too. If the brother was bear, and had promised her to this other? Complications.
“She will choose me.” He was certain. After what they’d shared tonight, he couldn’t doubt it. How sweetly she’d begged before taking her orgasm at his hands—staking her claim as surely as he’d staked his. His cock throbbed at the memory.
“She’s mine, but first, we need to let her decide what to do with you.”
He made his way back to the bedroom, trying not to let anxiety overwhelm him. One hundred years he’d slept. And when he’d awoken, she’d been waiting for him, an air of expectancy hanging around her so heavy he could taste it. She was his. If she hadn’t been waiting for him, what had she been waiting for?
He watched her sleep for a moment, a satisfied smile curling her lips. In the soft pre-dawn light, her hair spilled in a glorious auburn tangle across the pillow. He hated to wake her, to spoil a moment of perfect peace. But he’d promised.
He shook her gently, watching the way her brow creased as she burrowed her face deeper into the pillow. He leaned in close, kissing the sweet-tasting spot behind her ear. He nibbled and licked, finally nipping at that tender lobe. She jerked, then relaxed, her eyes batting open, then drifting closed.
“Rip.” His name sounded like a hosanna on her lips.
“I’m here, love.”
“Love. I like that.” She murmured, the smile spreading on her lips. She stretched, a languid sensuality begging him to roll into her, to finish the claiming.
“Wake, little one. I’m sorry it’s still so early. But Stanley is awake.”
Her eyes popped open then, tears of frustration and exhaustion filling them. “I still don’t know what to do about him.”
“That’s okay, love. We’ll do it together.”
“Who are you?” She seemed suddenly wary as she pushed herself into a sitting position.
“I’m Rip, and I’ve been sleeping for a very long time. I believe I woke up because I needed you.”
“I need you too,” she whispered.
“Lacey, is your brother like me?”
“Like you? No.” She shook her head. “He’s a business man, all suits and ego. He’s nothing like you.”
But maybe he’s what I might have been, born a hundred years later. Rip didn’t like the thought, but an alpha in one century was very different from an alpha in another.
“Is he a bear? A shape-shifter? One who changes like me?”
She shook her head, staring blankly at him. “No. He couldn’t be. Could he? Could he be something else, without my ever knowing it?”
Rip shook his head. “I suppose it’s possible, yes. The shape-shifter trait only affects males. I don’t know why he’d keep it a secret, but I don’t understand much about the world you live in.”
“It’s the same world you live in.” She yawned, stretching.
“Not exactly. When I began my hibernation, it was November 1911. I’ve been asleep for a hundred years.”
She paused mid-stretch, eyes opening wide as she stared, her mouth hanging open.
“One hundred years? How? Why?”
“I think your brother might know the answers to those questions. Can you summon him?”
“Huh. As if. Jordan isn’t exactly at my beck and call.”
“Call anyway.”
She nodded her agreement. “But first, let’s deal with Stanley.”
Back in the kitchen, Stanley stared sullenly at Rip and Lacey.
“Why did you attack me last night?” Lacey’s voice was cold steel.
“For your own good. You don’t belong to him. You’re mine. I won’t let you whore yourself out.”
Lacey recoiled as if she’d been slapped.
“You’re right, I don’t belong to him.” Rip felt his heart sink at her words, until she continued. “I don’t belong to you either. I’m my own woman, not some bargaining chip between men. You’re still fired. I don’t care
what Jordan said, you don’t work for me. You don’t even think about me. You and I are done, Stanley Morris. And I’ll make damn sure my brother understands. Now get the hell out of my building.”
Rip untied the belt he’d used to bind the other man’s wrists and walked him to the door.
“You heard the lady. Go.”
* * * *
As soon as the door closed behind Stanley, Lacey took in a deep breath and faced Rip. Being this close to him stirred up the intense attraction, making her achy and hot all over. What was it he’d said the night before? You’ll burn for me until I claim you.
“Where’s my bag?”
Wordlessly, he pointed to the sofa where she’d woken up the night before. Beside it, her handbag sat on the floor. Fetching her phone, she dialed Jordan’s number with shaking hands.
“Goddamn it Lace, it’s five in the morning.” Jordan’s voice was sleep-rough when he answered.
“Hello to you, too, Jord. Listen, I’ve had a really fucking weird night and I need you to help me sort it out.” Understatement of the year, but whatever. She listened to her brother’s breathing on the other end of the line and wondered if he’d fallen back to sleep. Just when she was about to hang up and call back, he spoke.
“Yeah. Okay. Is this about Stanley?”
“He was involved, yes. But it’s about a lot more than him. By the way, he’s fired. I don’t ever want to see him again.”
“Lace, don’t be hasty, he’s the only…”
“The only what? Guy you trust with Gran’s pie recipes? Or bear shifter in the state of Vermont I’m not related to?” Lacey was furious now. Something snapped, and she clenched the phone tight as she ordered, “For fuck’s sake Jordan. Get the hell out of bed, get dressed, and get your ass up here. I’m closing the diner for the day, but I’ll expect you here by lunchtime. We have a lot to talk about.”
“I’ll be there.”
Lacey tossed the phone back into her handbag and turned to face Rip. She was still angry, but found her desire for him tempering her anger quickly. Anxious to confront him while the iron was still hot, she jabbed her fingertip into his chest. His smokin’ hot bare chest. Would it kill him to put a shirt on?
“You. Let’s talk about what you said. About ‘claiming’ me. What the fuck was that?”
“You have a dirty mouth.”
“Don’t change the subject.”
“Shifters mate, Lacey. They find the one person who completes them, and they bind themselves to her, metaphysically, through sexual contact.”
“So, what, you’re not mated, you’re a virgin?”
He snorted. “Hell, no. But I’ve not had sex with you, and that’s all that matters.”
“So, if you’re right, and my brother is a bear … Jordan and his wife…”
“Mated.”
“Their children?”
“Boys or girls?”
“Girls.”
“Human. Like you. They could have bear-shifter children.”
Lacey took in another deep breath. Hell, she could teach a yoga class on deep breathing the way this morning was going. She still needed to take care of the restaurant.
“I’m going to go downstairs and put a sign on the door, family emergency. Thursday mornings we don’t do much business anyway.”
“Okay. Look, Lacey, if you don’t want to be my mate…” Rip’s voice trailed off and he looked forlorn for a moment. “I understand. I’m a mess. I just woke up after one hundred years. I don’t know how to drive an automobile or work one of those little things you used to call your brother. I turn into a bear at will and I can hibernate all winter. I’m an animal. But before you decide, just keep in mind: I would love you for the rest of my days. I would raise cubs with you. I would do anything for you. I would learn to cook your Gran’s pie and help you run your little restaurant and I would do everything I could to make you happy.”
Wow. Lacey stared at Rip, with his rippling chest muscles and his soft beard and those penetrating brown eyes. She’d always fantasized about a handsome stranger walking into the diner and sweeping her off her feet with a declaration like that. But now he stood before her, offering her every fantasy… “I don’t know what I want. This is a lot to handle. Do I have to decide now?”
“No, you don’t. I’m not going to lie, Lace. It would be easier on me if you and I were mated by the time your brother gets here. But I don’t want to take the choice away from you. Especially not before you’ve talked to Jordan. Besides, you need some sleep. Write the sign and I’ll go hang it on the door downstairs.”
She studied him, looking for any sign she was being played. When had she turned so untrusting? When she’d begged her brother for financial help a few months ago? When she’d turned down Stanley’s marriage proposal? Maybe she’d always harbored this suspicious inner-harpy. The thought made her heart sink. Rip had been asleep for one hundred years. She was the first woman he’d met, and he offered her his fidelity for life. He deserved to know who he was getting.
“I want to trust you, Rip. I want to take you at your word, and I’m finding that’s really hard for me. And I don’t know if you deserve to be stuck with someone like me.”
He crossed the room and tugged her close, settling her hips against his. He was hard again, and she moaned as the knowledge sent liquid heat coiling in her body. He leaned close enough she could smell him, rubbing his cheek against hers. When he pulled back, his eyes were closed. Her own eyelids followed suit, drifting closed as he took her lips in a fierce, possessive kiss. He owned her, in that moment when his hand clenched in her hair, tugging. He devoured her resistance in the slide of his tongue against hers. He made his case with every nudge and nibble of teeth and tongue, with the deep, soul-baring intensity he begged her to return.
“You’re exactly who I need,” he whispered against her lips. “And I’ll spend a lifetime earning your trust if you’ll let me. Though I hope it won’t take so long.” Eyes snapping open, she looked up and met his smile with a timid one of her own.
“Write the sign,” he murmured, slapping her ass lightly. “And go to bed. I’ll wake you when your brother gets here.”
Chapter 4
Jordan Evans didn’t knock at the apartment door when he arrived. Using his key, he let himself in as if he owned the place.
Rip, having heard him and smelled him coming up the stairs, was waiting on the couch, feet propped up on the coffee table. A familiar and wholly unwelcome face followed Lacey’s brother into the apartment. Rip glanced dismissively at Stanley before studying Jordan. Like Lacey, he had auburn hair and blue eyes. Rough stubble covered his chin. His clothes fit well, bringing to mind Lacey’s description of her brother as “all suits and ego.” Clearly, in this day and age, an alpha shifter no longer needed to barter with humans for provisions.
“So you’re awake.” Jordan studied him back as he spoke. “It’s about time.”
“You knew about me.”
“Of course. You went into hibernation and never woke up. You became something of a legend among our kind. Geneticists working on the shifter genome discovered a switch that flips in bear shifters if they don’t mate by a certain time in their lives, approximately thirty years old. The only explanation they gave us was that it promotes genetic diversity and preserves the shifter gene. You were a big part of their research.” Jordan blushed. “They took vial upon vial of blood from you and you never stirred.”
“Wait.” Rip stood. “We’re not having this conversation without your sister present. I’ll be right back.”
Back in the bedroom, he shook Lacey awake.
“Your brother’s here.”
She nodded, sitting. “Wow, those few hours made a huge difference. I feel so much better.” She stood, smiling at Rip. Her smile made his insides do a funny little dance, sparking his own smile.
“I want you to hear what he has to say. But first. Stanley is with him. Do you want me to get rid of him?”
“No, I’ll handle Stanl
ey.”
“He’s a beta. Nothing to worry about.”
“I’m not worried about you, Rip. I’m sure you can take care of yourself. However, I’m totally capable of taking the garbage out.” Lacey tossed him a playful wink, straightened her skirt, and headed for the door.
“Stanley Morris, I told you I was done with you. Get the hell out of my building. If I have to get a restraining order, I will.”
Rip hid his laughter behind his hand as the beta made a quick exit.
“Jordan, you have some explaining to do.” Lacey’s hands settled onto her hips and Rip bit his lip to keep from whistling his applause. “You don’t get to arrange a fucking marriage for me. This isn’t the dark ages. This is the twenty-first century, and this is Vermont, in the US of A and I will decide for myself who I want.” Then, she turned and pointed at Rip. “And I want him.”
“Lace, you don’t know what you’re saying.” Jordan blustered.
“Explain to her what you were telling me.” Rip ordered.
In a halting voice, Jordan repeated how Rip’s genetic code had triggered a sleeper switch, making his hibernation last until a compatible female was nearby to wake him up.
“And that compatible female is you.” Jordan finished, scowling at Rip, who had come to stand beside Lacey, a hand on her shoulder.
“Why did you tell Stanley he could have me?”
“I didn’t, exactly. I told him if he stayed close, eventually you might realize the two of you were compatible. I didn’t realize you weren’t.” Jordan shrugged. “A guy doesn’t like to think of his sister as going into heat. Sorry.”
“Going into heat?” Lacey’s eyebrow shot up. Rip didn’t think he’d seen anything more adorable ever.
Jordan cleared his throat. “We don’t really need to talk about it.” He looked at Rip. “I accept you as my brother-in-law, since Lacey has chosen you. And I accept you as the elder of the Bear Council. I’ll help you get acquainted with our ways now in any way I can. Once you’re mated, you’ll no longer need to hibernate. So, there’s no rush, if you two want to get to know each other first…”
“Jordan.” Lacey stopped him. “Butt out.”
