“Are you done?” Emmerick said in a low voice. “You stupid fool. You can throw your weight around, but you'll never understand why I do what's best for this clan. Never.”
I saw the rage lift a little on Don's muzzle. He closed his maw, replacing raw anger with confusion.
A second later, he turned into a man, a glorious naked man standing triumphant. Rufus and Alex weren't even on their feet yet. They'd hit the wall pretty hard, and they lingered on both sides of the room, literally licking their wounds in bear form.
“Sam will stay with me this winter. And you won't put me in any fucking dungeon. That's my compromise, Elder.”
Sneering, Emmerick stood, pulling his cloak tight. He walked forward, until there was only an inch between them. His knobby pointer finger shot out and he pointed it at Don's face like a mottled spear.
“The council will take this up immediately. I'm calling it into session tomorrow. You may defy me, just like you always do, Flood. But if you try defying all of us, we'll send more than just these two dolts after you.”
“Understood,” Don said grimly. “I won't try to take her outside our borders again until this is sorted out. You have my word. Increase the nightly patrols if you don't believe me.”
Emmerick watched him sourly as he turned and approached. Don grabbed my hand and I began to follow him toward the door, shooting anxious glances over my shoulder to make sure the others weren't behind us.
My knees ached. They'd turned to stone during the whole tense episode, bound in terror like the rest of my body.
We walked into the darkness. Don led me on silently, along a back path that led us toward the dark cabin I recognized.
Every snap of wood almost sent me jumping. Adrenaline rocketed through me, swirling like a toxic elixir, keeping all my senses on high alert.
It felt good to be back in his cabin. At least it was somewhere I recognized. Plus I only had to worry about Don, the one creature I was comfortable with here.
“What the hell was that all about?” I finally said, throwing myself down on the seat at his kitchen table.
“What?” Don cocked his head.
“Uh, the fact that you almost killed your king. The way they let you go so easily. Was I the only one paying attention the last hour or two?” Sarcasm flooded my words, borne from deep frustration.
Without a word, he sat down, and reached for my hand. I looked away, too scared I'd start crying for the thousandth time.
“Emmerick's no king,” Don growled. “He's just a councilman. Leader by virtue of his seniority, and nothing else. He's just a big, fat brute. Don't let his size fool you. I could've taken him to the ground.”
I smiled. His naked chest beaded with sweaty heat. I swore his pores steamed a little more when he got angry.
“Sounds like the clan isn't so different from my world if that's how things are run.”
Frowning, he nodded in agreement. “No. Politics are universal. You keep forgetting that we're descended from the same place.”
I sucked in my bottom lip. I guessed the irritation in his voice was a faint battle echo of what he'd suffered earlier for me, but I didn't want to add to it.
“Sorry. If that's so...then what makes you so different? Are you saying your clan has no interaction with humankind except for these scouting missions?”
“That's right.” Don's reply was serious and sad. “There was a time when we had interactions with the old mining towns in the nearby mountains. Humans returned with our men and women, and even interbred. Supposedly.”
He shook his head. It sounded like he didn't know his people's history much better than I did. My brow creased, wondering why it was like that.
Politics, I thought with contempt. The answer always comes down to politics.
I leaned into the chair and relaxed. Don stared out the frosted window, into the gloomy night, listening to the glass rattle slightly every time a heavy gale blew against its surface.
“Hey,” I whispered softly, pressing my fingers deeper into his. “I appreciate the way you saved me. No one's ever put themselves on the line for me. Not like that.”
“I don't deserve your praise. I was supposed to help you get away. You should've been in your own bed and tucked in by now. I failed you.”
I shook my head vigorously. I couldn't disagree with him more.
“You're too modest, Don. What would've happened if you hadn't been there to intervene when your friends caught us in the darkness? Or when your Elder wanted to toss me into a cold dungeon for winter?”
His lip curled like he needed to growl. He held it in.
“Nothing good. Okay, I'll give you that,” he said smartly. His features softened a little.
I relaxed. That was all I really needed to see right now.
“It's been a long night.” I withdrew my hand from his. “I don't mean to put you out, but do you mind if I turn in?”
He stood, a little more relaxed. He was probably glad to have such a mundane problem in front of him after all we'd been through.
“This way.”
Don led me down the long hallway I'd left only once before, straight to his small bedroom. His big, soft mattress waited for me there.
“You're the guest, and you deserve the best bed in the house.” He waved his hand toward it, a swift, inviting movement that would've been damned near seductive on an easier night.
I couldn't stop my smile. I sat on the bed, realizing I still had his coat on. Slowly, I peeled it off my shoulders and passed it back to him.
“What about you?”
“I've slept on the stone cold ground outside many nights. A blanket and a wooden floor in the other room are nothing. Trust me.”
He turned as I laid on the mattress. My bones protested at first, struggling to remember what it was like to be comfortable and relaxed.
“If there's anything else you need here, just let me know.” He wished me goodnight and switched out the light, bathing me in darkness.
A couple minutes later, all the other lights in the cabin went out. The wind blew and the old timber walls creaked.
I pretended I was at an isolated mountain resort and forgot about the shifters – all of them except Don – my private Adonis.
It worked. Before the clouds had split outside my small window to reveal the faint, distant stars, I was fast asleep.
Bears, bears, bears.
They haunted my dreams. I was crouched in the woods, watching them lumber around, stalking small animals and each other.
When a big grizzly came toward me in the brush, I tried to hide. Even in my dreams, I relied on wishful thinking, foolishly forgetting their senses were far more acute than mine – especially smell.
In one movement, the bear reached through the trees, pulling me out between the growth with a surprisingly human grip.
I screamed and screamed as it lifted me up to its cold, wet nose. Then the wet nose and sharp teeth turned into warm lips. Firm, beautiful, loving lips pressed tight to my bare forehead.
I opened my eyes and saw him.
Don.
He kissed my forehead deep, tightening his embrace. I moaned with delight and pushed into him. Soon, his lips went lower, grazing my neck and circling back up again.
The tongue I'd only sampled once pushed into my mouth, massaging my lips as it went behind my teeth, an omen and a pleasure all in one. His hand ran up my thigh.
Yes! Please do it. Kiss me, caress me, fuck me so hard I forget the past, the present, and everything in between.
My nipples pulsed as I pushed against his rigid chest, small buds in bloom, aching for comfort. Don's movements grew painfully slow. He gazed into my eyes, showing me his knowing fire, teasing me the entire time as he circled closer and closer to the steaming crevice between my legs.
“Do you want this?” He whispered, adding to the anticipation rather than posing a serious question.
He knew. I knew. And our bodies throbbed with angry desire.
I pushed my h
ips into his and felt the hard bulge rising up. He was naked and wonderful. And, best of all, finally all mine in a time and place where we didn't have to fear for our lives.
I've clung too tight to bad memories. Betrayals. Be gone, Ryan and Bets. Don...come forward.
I want you inside me. Now and always.
I pushed my legs apart. My breasts bobbed as my lungs rose and fell, panting and sucking in cold air. It stung deliciously inside me, curling into the fire kindled by his touch.
The explosive heat that came an instant later was greater than anything else. Don finished the circuit across my pale, trembling thigh, diving faster to my wet panties.
His fingers pressed deep and he touched my clit through the fabric. I wilted, my knees gave out, and I fell.
My eyes snapped open. It wasn't pure blackness inside the room anymore.
The sun had crept toward the horizon, spilling its light over the mountains, painting the landscape outside an ocean blue.
I sat up. A curious tremble instantly ran through me.
I pinched my legs together and yawned. Anxious, sticky heat passed up my center, like I'd been slowly filled with warm honey all night. Muscles deep inside me twanged with a long lost itch.
Jesus. That dream...I can't even remember the last time I felt this way.
Not since Ryan. I was actually horny – and not just the kind that's mixed with shock and desperation .
I smiled to myself, embracing the feeling in all its tingling wonder. I threw my legs off the side of the bed and stood.
I wished I'd kept his leather jacket. It was freezing in the house. I wondered if shifters were just used to the cold from being outside so much, or if their physiology heightened their immunity to it.
I wasn't sure what I was doing, or what I needed. I moved slowly through the house, down the hall, through the kitchen.
Don slept in a huge ball on the floor, a heavy brown blanket thrown across him. He hadn't bothered to throw on pajamas. And why should he, when he spent half his time naked anyway?
My feet moved with their own designs, quiet and soft like a cat's. When I reached the small space between him and the wall, I sat, and then laid down.
He murmured and moved his lips slightly when I wrapped my right arm around him. He smelled incredible and felt even better.
I couldn't resist. I leaned down, kissed his shoulder. His flesh tasted like salt, earth, and raw masculinity.
Delicious. Sultry. Addictive.
I wanted more. No, not wanted. Needed.
He didn't need me waking him, but I couldn't keep my hands away. I held my breath, and gingerly let my fingers glide down his hard chest. They began to shake when I reached his flank, sweeping lower to his thigh.
I had to stop, or else I was bound to go somewhere I wasn't ready to visit yet.
Not ready? Are you still telling yourself that?
I flushed red hot. Competing energies shot through me like steam engines on an intertwining track: lust, fatigue, loneliness, and melancholy.
Mostly, just lust.
I opened my lips and exhaled hot air in a hiss. My fingers tightened on his hips, feeling the powerful muscles beneath his skin. Even while fully relaxed, they were hard slabs, shields I wanted thundering against me as he drove between my legs over and over.
My bones rattled beneath my flesh. If I didn't stop, I was going to do something crazy. And I'd already had way too much crazy the last twenty-four hours.
I'm sorry, Don. I have to let you sleep. I just can't deal with this.
I removed my hand and pulled it back to me, still trembling. But on the way, I accidentally brushed the edge of his cock.
Oh! Hard as steel, and so much hotter.
Who knew a man's morning wood could be so magnificent? So tempting?
A new urge howled inside me. I wanted nothing more than to rip the blanket away and grab his swollen shaft in my hand, discovering its mysteries with my fingers, my mouth, my tongue...
I pinched my eyes shut as hard as I could. If I weren't laying next to him, I would've pressed the blanket to my face and screamed into it.
The unbearable, killing tension peaked. Hot enough to scald.
There was only one thing to do. I rolled over, sighed deeply, and stared at the wall.
Outside, it slowly grew lighter. Last night's clouds had gone, replaced with a refreshingly blue sky that would only grow clearer and emptier as the morning drew on.
It was pretty. Lonely too. I cursed Ryan, drooled inwardly over Don, and forced myself to go to sleep.
He'd been right about thing – I needed my rest. But not as badly as I needed a man, and soon! If only everything else didn't keep interfering.
Don pushed open the door. Entering the cabin, he found me at the kitchen table, finishing up the last of the elk meat and coleslaw-like side dish he'd left me for brunch.
“How long did you sleep?” He asked, a pleasant twinkle in his hard eyes.
“You don't wanna know,” I said. “Long enough to feel fully rested, which is pretty amazing. Sorry if I interrupted you this morning. I woke up in the bedroom and it was so damned cold, even with the blanket.”
“No, I should apologize. I forget humans set their fires and run their furnaces around this time of year. It's still early for us to do that.”
“You're cold blooded,” I said, but only half-jokingly. Part of me wondered if it was true.
Nah. He certainly didn't feel cold underneath that blanket. And fuck, the fire in his longest, fullest part...
I bit my lip. I had to push it out of my head, no matter how difficult. If I couldn't, my hands wouldn't obey my brain anymore. They'd go right between his legs for an aching, desperate squeeze.
“Wouldn't surprise me if there are a few reptiles on the Elder Council. You'll find out soon enough. We're due to go over there in a few hours.”
The thick silver fork in my hand clattered onto the empty plate. I stared at Don, pleading. For a few hours, I'd been able to forget I would ever have to face his terrifying kin.
“This is the way it has to be.” He came close to me and laid one of his large, comforting hands on my shoulder. “I'll be with you the entire time. If anyone tries something crazy, I'll take care of it. I'll tear their throats out if I have to. You just worry about running.”
“But...” Angry heat flowed to my eyes.
Damn it, I'd only been with this man for a couple days, and I already wanted him to myself. Ideally alone.
Not wrapped up in all these other insane complications.
“Relax. Freshen up, if you wish. The shower isn't normally as cold as the rest of this cabin. We need to be ready to go in a couple hours, just before sundown. They'll send someone for us.”
I shook my head sullenly. I wasn't going to argue. Hell, if he hadn't agreed to this, Emmerick might've found some other way to rip us to pieces in that building last night.
I showered, dressed, and waited for the inevitable. Don and I sat silently, rocking in the old chairs in his living room.
He sprang up and went to the door when the knock pounded through the wood. I stood, shuffling up behind him.
My lips pursed sourly when I saw who it was. Alex, that sniveling, jealous flunky from last night.
“Come on, Don. Human female too. The Elder Council demands your presence.”
How formal, I thought with a sneer. As if making this look all official is supposed to soften the blow or lessen my fear?
Don threw me his leather coat and I quickly put it on. Whatever.
There was no more time for emotions and delays.
My small hand in his, we stepped out behind Alex, following the breezy path that led back to the large building where others waited to decide our fate.
IV: Judgment (Don)
“We're all very disappointed in your behavior, Mister Flood.” Council Chairwoman Genevieve pushed up her thick glasses. She sniffed haughtily after she spoke.
“That doesn't cover half of it, councilwoman. O
ur friend here was caught by Rufus and Alex helping this human girl get away.” Emmerick flexed his fists in front of him. “Let's cut right to the point: everybody in the Grizzly Bone nation knows our favorite son is guilty as hell. We just don't want to deal out the consequences.”
“And what consequences are those? You really want to try me for treason and execute me?” I lifted my head, trying to hold in the rage.
My bear paced restlessly inside me, as if trapped in a cage. I tapped my tongue on the roof of my mouth. If I didn't keep my cool, and the bear contained, I'd definitely end up with a treason trial.
I snuck a peek to my side at Sam. This beautiful, mysterious human woman was worth fighting for –
though fighting in this case meant bottling instinct and acting civilized.
Bah, civilized. Everyone born here is half-animal, and yet we try to live like men.
“Careful, Mister Flood.” Elder Franklin spoke, a strangely serious edge in his high, whiny voice. “No one here wants another treason case. It's been more than a century since we've suffered that lone misfortune. We're not at the point where we even need to consider going there again.”
“Then what?” Emmerick interrupted, tapping his fingers on the wood in front of him. “We have no idea why this girl was really here. Don's story is sloppy and embarrassing, even if it were true. Why the hell was she so close to our borders in the first place?”
“You know where we live, councilman.” Thomas, the last of them, joined the conversation. “It's what the humans call a National Park. More of them keep coming year after year. It's only inevitable that we'll have future incidents like this.”
“Well said.” Genevieve tilted her gray haired head at the equally gray councilman and smiled.
My rage simmered lower. I wondered if there was something going on between the two Elders, and my stomach churned.
Gross!
“That is, in fact, the question that's brought us all here, besides Don's mistake,” Genevieve continued. “When these things happen – and they will – how are we, as the cousins and neighbors of men, going to handle it?”
Love to Bear: A Werebear Shifter Romance Page 4
