by Aubrey Rose
Make that my pretend wife. My bear snorted unhappily at the thought.
“That's right! You're a married man now. Uh, congratulations?”
I snorted and forced a smile. Turned back toward the water, waiting until she emerged and came up to my side.
“So...what's she like?” Hannah asked.
“Like a tiger. A little spoiled. I'd swear she had the heart of a human if she wasn't from Tiger Bay, though. You know the way their wealth and fancy living goes to their heads.”
Hannah laughed and shook her head. Her gesture tried to say she understood, but she didn't have a fucking clue. Besides, I wasn't in the mood for her flattery today.
“Hmmm...it's too bad she's not a bear, or a real wife. A big Alpha like you could teach her a thing or two about how to behave around a man.” She smiled and licked her lips. Subtle, but not subtle enough. “Seriously, can't you turn her out to her own place or something?”
I furrowed my brow and put distance between Hannah and I. The girl was trying to seduce me again, and I wasn't having any of it.
“It's too early for that. She needs time to settle in. Tigress or not, she's still a guest among the Denali Clan. I'm gonna make damned sure she's treated with hospitality too. Be friendly if you see her, Hannah.”
Her smile melted. She folded her arms over her breasts and pouted like I'd just asked her to scrub the floors or something.
“You're really trying to make good with her? Well, I guess a man's got to do what a man's go to do.” She turned, so slowly I had a perfect view of her ass. Just the way she wanted it. “Don't drive yourself crazy, Alpha. We all know what happened with Joe and Lydia.”
My growl told her I remembered. I watched her shift and dive back into the brush, satisfied that she'd had her daily dose of seduction – and rejection.
Too bad no matter how many times I rebuffed her, she just kept coming.
Joe and Lydia were the last bear and tiger forced to pair up for the treaty. Old Joe retired as Alpha when I was just a kid, and Lydia died a couple years ago.
There used to be plenty of rumors in my father's time about Joe and Lydia getting closer than any bear and tiger ever should. Some folks said the lady had a hybrid cub that didn't survive, and then their relationship went ice cold, with Lydia moving across town to her own cabin.
The shameful rumors weakened Joe's leadership. The Elders pressured him to step down early, and he complied, keeping mostly to himself and turning the Alpha position over to my dad.
Fuck, I wished Hannah hadn't reminded me of that whole sorry situation.
I shifted, summoning my bear to walk deeper into the forest.
Letting the bear vent for both of us felt good. I stopped every few paces, angrily scratching at fallen branches and dirt when the urge got to me. I wanted to turn the whole world upside down in frustration, wondering what the hell I was thinking about being so welcoming to Laura.
I wasn't the smartest bear in Denali, but I knew how to learn from history. At the next stream, slurping up the glacial water, I vowed not to let myself get closer to her.
Don't give a damned how sweet her curves are or how good she smells. I'm not gonna end up like Old Joe, and she sure as hell won't end up like Lydia.
This is an arranged marriage, and nothing more. Time to fucking treat it like one.
For once, I wished Hannah was still around. Maybe I would've taken her out for a drink later and given into her raging lusts. She wasn't mate material, but a quick fuck wouldn't hurt, anything to quiet the relentless wildfire Laura sparked.
One thing was for sure: when I got home, she was gonna meet the other side of me.
I was done introducing her to the welcoming, civilized Alpha. Laura was going to meet Mister Bad Bear, and treat him with respect, even when I made it clear there was absolutely nothing real between us.
“Wake up. Nobody should sleep past noon.” I had to bite my tongue to hold off on calling her beautiful.
I wanted to curse her for looking so beautiful curled up on my sofa. Wanted to curse my own ass even more for gawking like a stupid cub.
Fuck. Giving her the cold shoulder wouldn't be easy.
Laura rolled on the sofa and opened her eyes. Her hair was a mess, and the blanket she'd taken from the back of the chair was tangled over her, but damn it if she didn't look good anyway.
“Hey, what the hell? I thought you were only coming down here to drop off your schedule? So we can keep our distance, of course...”
She sat up fast, holding one hand against her forehead. I guessed it was a hangover or some painful build up from all the stress yesterday.
“All that's different now.” I sat down in the empty chair across from her, clutching the armrests. “Look, I didn't come down here to make you like me. The whole point of this arrangement's to make peace between our clans for another generation. I can't do that if you're spitting in my face in public and in my own home.”
She blinked in surprise. Her cheeks flushed a little pink. Wasn't sure if it was embarrassment or anger.
“I'm not the one who came up with this stupid ritual. If you're asking me to pretend everything's okay in this bears' den, forsaken by the Gods, you're asking me to do the impossible. And I won't!”
Her foot stamped on the ground. I ignored the ripple it sent through her curves, sexy and teasing.
“You wanted fucking boundaries between us? You've got 'em. You were right about last night. I must've lost my brain trying to be your friend.”
Hurt flashed in her eyes. I almost apologized, but then I saw the same sour look she'd given me when our dinner ended last night. This look pushed lightning deeper into my blood.
It made me want to fuck her, fight her, and own her. It was a look that captured everything about the spoiled shits in Tiger Bay, but it was unique to her, uniquely sexy in make me kind of way.
“You act like I haven't done my part. I've gone along with everything. I married you and let you drag me to this damned cabin, didn't I?” A low sound followed her words, more like a hiss than any human sound.
“Yeah, you've got a handle on the formalities. Thing is, this arrangement doesn't stop there.” I paused, flexing my hands. “What do you think happens when we're supposed to show up for the Harvest Moon, or when the clans need to remind the Feds where our territory begins and ends? This marriage isn't worth shit if we're at each other's throats constantly.”
Laura sighed deeply. Her long hair wavered as it rested on her breasts. Fuck me if my eyes weren't drawn to her chest, straight to the faint cleavage sticking up above her robe.
I thought she'd been a knockout in that tight white wedding dress yesterday. But today, in a simple robe that was a little big on her, she made me want to jump out of my chair and tear it away.
My bear smacked his lips, needling me to do it. Had to hold that greedy bastard back.
“You're right. I guess we can be mature adults about all this. Just because you're – what? – ten years older than me doesn't mean you've got a monopoly on reason.”
I almost let out a snort. The girl didn't look a day over twenty.
What the fuck did she know about common sense, anyway?
Didn't know if she was short on it because she was beautiful, young, or just a natural spitfire. She was right about one thing.
Her good looks and exotic scent were driving me insane. No wonder I could barely hold a stern discussion here without babbling like an idiot. I shook my head slightly, fighting the flashes of testosterone in my blood, the bear's growl raging in my head, calling out to claim her.
She looked up when I didn't answer.
Fuck. My eyes were still glued to her breasts, hot enough to burn right through the robe and expose her supple flesh in all its glory.
Her hands went up, and then came down on her thighs hard. She pulled her robe tighter, curling her lips in annoyance.
“There's something else making this so difficult, isn't there?” she said in a low, uncertain tone. “It'
s not just hate and distrust that's screwing things up here.”
Alarms clattered in my skull. I wanted to leap right over the coffee table between us, shake her, and tell her she was wrong.
I didn't want to admit I'd been caught red handed ogling her sweet body. And if I was, then I wanted to show her she was wrong about it screwing things up. Wrong in every wrong, sweaty, unstoppable way.
“Yeah. You're right,” I admitted.
Damn it. There goes the hard line I needed to fucking take here.
My bear grinned at me from within. He knew there was only one thing getting hard here.
“I get it. You're a pervert.” The redness on Laura's face deepened. “You're some kinda sicko who wants me, even though we're a completely different species.”
What the fuck? Did she really just say that?
I stood up, one octave away from a full on roar. Rage came shooting up my throat, hot and painful. Just when I thought I figured out how to tame this little tiger, she got her claws into me again.
Catching an Alpha off his game once in a blue moon was nothing unusual. Catching him twice?
Hell fucking no!
“If that's what you think, then maybe you should look in the mirror, baby.” I stared her down, puffing out my chest.
Her lips parted and she gasped in surprise.
I took a step toward her. My bear snorted restlessly, feeling the same sensation he got when he was about to tear into an enticing morsel.
“That's right, Laura. I've seen the way you've been looking at me since we got to the altar together. You have the nerve to call me a pervert when you're the one who passed out at one sight of these guns?” I folded my hands and flexed my muscles as hard as I could.
“Please!” She rolled her eyes, but the flustered sweat on her brow and beet red sheen to her cheeks told the real story. “I would never–“
“Bullshit, you wouldn't. You want me. Bad. You hate it, and you tell yourself it's sick and twisted.” I rounded the table and snatched at her arm with one hand.
“Keep telling yourself, little tiger. You're acting out because you're secretly hot as hell for this old bear.”
She squealed in surprise as I pulled her close. Didn't stop with my hold on her wrists. They swung around her back, dove low, and cupped the full ass I'd been waiting for what felt like a fucking eternity to get my hands on.
A ferocious growl pushed past my lips when I squeezed her there. She jerked like I'd hit her with an electric current.
“You're crazy. Insane, demented, barbaric bear!” She wrinkled her face in pathetic fake disgust, and I only squeezed her harder.
The robe slipped down her shoulders now that she was standing. Her breasts were almost bare as I smashed them against my chest, separated only by two thin layers of fabric. I could feel how tense her nipples were, how perfectly rough her need matched mine.
My cock jerked hard in my pants. I held her, refilling my lungs slowly.
Big mistake. Breathing only fed the blaze kicking up in every muscle. Once it got going, there was no holding me back, and no more denying the bear's bestial urges either.
“Fuck, you smell as amazing as you look. I'm man enough to tell you every part of me's screaming right now to throw you to the floor and push between your legs with everything I've got. I'm not gonna run away from this desire, baby, no matter who tells me it's fucked up and forbidden.”
Laura swallowed. She shuddered, and her soft flesh got several degrees hotter. She tried to look away from me, but my breath on her neck got her attention, prickling her skin with goosebumps.
“I think we both need to see how right it can be. That's why I'm gonna take one taste. One good, long taste of your sweet lips. If it doesn't give us both some serious fucking gravity to calm down and be civil, then at least it'll scratch the urge.” I brought my face lower, whispering in her ear. “Here's the difference between you and I, beautiful. You can't control it, so you fight me instead. I can't fight it, but I'm sure as hell gonna control it on my terms.”
“Wait, wait, you can't–“
I didn't allow her to finish. I smothered her in the long, hard, unshakeable kiss I promised, feeling the flames roar high when she moaned into my mouth.
My bear went wild. Lightning raged in her supple flesh too, her tiger putting up one hell of a fight – or else urging her into me. I couldn't tell yet, but I wanted to.
Her lips parted wider. Laura's sexy legs pushed closer, dangerously close to the hard-on straining in my pants.
Hold back? Now? No fucking way.
This is my hard line, baby, I thought. Flesh and bone's the only boundary we need.
I shoved my tongue into her mouth, aggressively pushing in and out her lips. Every jerk, every twitch, every wet kiss was a promise and a preview of the way I'd fuck her.
She withered beneath me, pure lust consuming her. I moved my hand down, grabbing to lift away the flimsy silk covering her gorgeous breasts. Fuck, I couldn't wait to feel them everywhere with my hands, my mouth, my –
Force hit me square in the chest like a cannonball. Surprisingly strong, but tigers were pretty damned fierce when they needed to be, even the females.
The shock allowed her to slip away, and she went running for the back door. I spun and only managed to take two steps before she finished fiddling with the lock, popping it open in her fingers.
“Gods! Get back here, Laura! Where do you think you're going?”
She threw her head back and gave me one quick pain stricken look. Her eyes were a kaleidoscope of conflicted emotions; fear and revulsion and delight all storming together. She raced across the patio before I could catch up, threw off her robe, and shifted.
I stood there like an idiot, watching the sleek tiger racing toward the forest.
“Just my fucking luck,” I whispered.
I picked up her fallen garment. Rage and blue balls throbbed with a devilish ache when I smelled her scent. Snarling, I threw it at the ground, and shouted an unintelligible roar into the quiet evening.
The Gods always gave Alphas ridiculous challenges to earn their keep, but this was on a whole new level.
My new wife was gone, without so much as a shake of her furry orange tail. The patchy snow leading into the woods was way too sparse to make her paw prints much use for tracking too.
I turned and went inside for my map. Going after anybody in the dense Alaskan wilderness was never easy.
Worse, it was all I had to go by if I wanted any chance of finding her alone. No way was I gonna enlist the clan and have bears laughing behind my back.
The next few hours, days, or weeks – if the Gods were feeling especially cruel – inhaling her irresistible scent to haul her pretty ass back here promised to be pure hell.
III: Kissing the Wind (Laura)
How screwed up was I?
One minute, I was savoring the fiery, possessive kiss of the brutal bear at my lips. The next, I was tearing myself away from him and running into the cool springtime wind.
I had to escape. I had to put miles between him and I, dousing the wildfire he'd kindled inside me with cool Alaskan wilderness.
My tiger didn't know what the hell to think, and I was right there with her. She emerged on his patio when I dropped my clothes and dashed off through the dwindling snows as quickly as I could.
Last thing I needed was him catching a sight of me naked.
I was never happier to be a tiger shifter. Grizzlies were surprisingly fast for their size, but tigers could outrun them any day. I was deep in the woods before I even looked back to see if he was pursuing me.
Nope. So far, so good.
My abrupt disappearance must've shocked him, giving me a good head start. I needed it too.
James wouldn't stare into the forest forever. Only a matter of time before he summoned his bear, and began tracking me into the wild with his keen vision and smell.
Rage and shame pumped through my veins, forcing me onward. My tiger guided me.
&
nbsp; It was good to let her have control just now, and just because she could handle the rough ground. Primal joy blazed in her to be set free, roaming into the wild, a place Daddy had always hidden from me. Hunting on his well kept private grounds wasn't the same as free range trees and mountains.
Here, anything might happen, a wonder or a horror with every paw print on the ground.
She guided me through tangled brush and slippery rocks any human feet would've fallen on. She snorted out anguish through deadly teeth, and I watched small dragon breath puffs smoking ahead of me.
With her in control, it was easier to clear my head, easier not to think.
By nightfall, I was through the whole forest. Still bear territory, no doubt, and not anywhere I was familiar with. But it must've been at the edge because I stopped catching their scent in the woods well before I came into the clearing.
I was cold, exhausted, almost delirious with the two hour run through the forest. I crept to a nearby mountain stream and drank deep.
My stomach growled angrily. I didn't dare take human form again and expose my naked skin to the biting cold. When night fell across Alaska, it was still winter, no matter what the calendar said.
I remained a tiger, but the fierceness evaporated into exhaustion.
I shuffled to a nearby crop of rocks, where I could settle in for the night and ignore the hunger nipping at my belly.
This was the kind of pain I could ignore. Much easier than thinking about the wedding, my betrayal, my fear. Far, far easier than thinking about him.
I laid down and huddled myself into a warm furry ball, wishing I could brush my thoughts away just as easily as the empty ache in my belly.
Nothing about being involved with James Roark was easy, though.
Not the way he kissed, not the way he teased, and certainly not the way he ripped through boundaries that were never meant to be crossed. And just what had crossing those borders done to me?
I'd kissed a bear. Worse – a thousand times worse! – I'd actually loved it.
I wasn't just running from him. I was scared and sick of myself, horrified at what I was becoming.
The Laura Hisch I thought I knew was supposed to be a cold-hearted Trojan Horse to bring the Denali bears down. I was supposed to make him complacent and scope out the town, reporting back about their strength and discipline when Daddy sent his men to collect me.
