She mimicked his movements by pushing up the front of his shirt. “Bobbie makes me promo Total B.S. all the time. Purple is our color.”
“How’d you guys come up with the name Total B.S.?”
Her gaze locked on his, and she shoved him back toward the bed. He sat on the edge and pulled her into his lap. “You’re going to laugh.”
“Probably.” The pulse at her neck throbbed gently, and he placed a kiss on the spot. “But tell me anyway.”
“It’s your fault, really. A couple of years ago, before all this drama, we were sitting around at Grant’s, I think, at one of the bonfires. I mentioned opening a donut shop someday, and you cut in, saying donuts would never sell in Alaska. I thought it was total bullshit. And now we have Total B.S.”
“I really can be an asshole.”
Her laughter had a trigger effect, and soon he joined in.
“I know why you tease, why you act aloof,” she said.
“I just said why. Asshole.”
“Uh-uh. It’s because it keeps everyone at a distance.” Her voice whispered across his cheek.
A long strand of hair escaped her bun and fell across her forehead. He pushed the strand behind her ear. He liked sharing these fun times with her, but he wasn’t so sure he liked her peering into his soul. Bears roamed. Shifters roamed. Hell, he could name fifty shifters he’d met who loved to roam.
“Hey. I’m okay with not thinking about what comes next,” she said.
“Are you really?”
“Right now, right in this moment, I’m okay just being with you.” Her lips met his in a flurry and stopped any further conversation.
He didn’t want to think. He wanted to have her. They stood and rushed to take off their clothes. First to remove all of his, he grabbed her and tossed her onto the middle of the bed before she could discard her panties.
She hooked a thumb in the edges and pushed them off her hips to her thighs. He caught them with his thumbs at her thighs and brought them the rest of the way down past her feet and tossed them to the floor.
He climbed on the bed and crawled between her open legs with the intention of spending quality time with her breasts. His cock was already hard from when she’d sat in his lap.
She pressed an arm across her chest. “No way. I want it fast, and I want it now. You inside me. Now.”
He tested her wetness with a finger and found her more than ready. Not getting a chance to lick her nipples made him want to argue, but he thought better of it. He’d take it slow next time. And then the time after that.
She grasped at his shoulders and wrapped her legs around his waist. He entered her with a quick thrust and kept thrusting and pushing and grunting against her, each moan escaping from her lips to match his movements.
Her nails dug into his back, and he felt her sex pulse around him, announcing her orgasm. He came right after, his legs shaking, his breaths in pants. He didn’t roll off but instead pulled her into a tight embrace. Never wanting to let her go.
∞∞∞
Samantha woke from her mid-morning, after-sex nap to a pattern of chimes. She rolled over and snatched the cell phone off the night stand. The heavy drapes blocked all sunlight, so she clicked to phone to check the time. Lifting it up to her face, she realized that she and Carter had the same phones with the same generic text alert. Intending to put it back, she couldn’t help but notice Carter didn’t use the hide feature for his texts. The message from Ray started off I need an update…
She tilted her head to listen for Carter’s movements, guessing he’d gone down to grab coffee or a snack. Unable to kill the curiosity the preview caused, she tapped the screen for the full text.
Is operation stick it to her a go?
Operation. Stick. It. To. Her.
No, no, no. The five words hit her harder than any poacher’s bullet ever could. Was it possible? He’d meant to seduce her all along? Stripping down in the woods. Saying he believed her about not having sex with Gregor. He’d known exactly which buttons to push, and this confirmed it. All the “no promises” talk he’d somehow convinced her to repeat back to him. At what point did he plan to ask her to split the land? After the next bedroom romp?
And to think, she’d almost given up making his family pay for the easement access. Hell, she’d almost given up something more precious than an easement. She’d almost given him her heart.
A growl rumbled low in her chest and burned its way up her throat. Those dirty, effing Wrights. She should’ve known he’d never play fair. This was going too far. He’d made her want to fall in love, even in spite of their no-promises agreement.
Once again she’d been caught up in a web of deceit thanks to a Wright.
Carter pushed through the door, juggling two paper cups whose aroma teased with a delicious brew of coffee. A toothpick dangled from between his lips.
She threw the cell phone, hitting him in the chest. It bounced off, barely fazing him, and landed at his feet.
“You bastard,” she said, wrapping herself in the sheet and tucking it between her breasts.
His eyebrows drew together. “What do you mean?”
“This was all about winning.” Anger fueled her to pack her duffle bag and snatch on her clothes. She’d have to leave her soap and shampoo behind, which were weird things to think about when faced with the urge to slap someone. Every second spent in the room with him grated on her ability to reason. She needed to get out. “I can’t believe how stupid I am.”
Carter set the cups down on the bedside table. He scooped up his phone and tapped the screen. He took the toothpick out of his mouth. “You read my messages?”
“Please. Please act like that’s the transgression here.” Her screechy tone vexed her nerves further, and it killed her that she could sound so pathetic.
He held up the phone, but he kept his gaze trained on the floor. “This isn’t what it looks like.”
“You can’t even say that with true conviction. It’s exactly what it looks like.”
“This was before our time out in the woods. We were both pulling pranks, and Ray and I were tossing ideas back and forth. That’s all this is.”
“There is a big difference between me making you strut around naked in the parking lot and you plotting with your brother to convince me to get in bed with you.”
His nostrils flared. “It didn’t take too much convincing.”
Samantha’s pride ached, but Carter’s words rang true. She needed to take responsibility for her actions. All her actions and her hidden expectations. She dropped to the edge of the bed. Men complicated things right before they ruined everything. Except in this case, the sentiment didn’t ring true. She was just as culpable. “You’re right. We’ve been acting like a couple of immature jerks since we arrived. The pranks and then the sneaking around. I’ll let Dr. Holland know this mediation agreement is never going to happen. No matter the outcome, our parents need to figure this out.”
Carter slipped his phone in his back pocket. “Great. We’ll go down and see him together.”
They descended the stairs in quiet and walked past Lisa to Dr. Holland’s office. He sat behind his desk and scribbled notes in a file folder. “House rule number seven, don’t interrupt me while I’m working in my office.”
Samantha didn’t back down from his authoritative tone. “We’re leaving.”
He looked up. “Is that so? Without a resolution?”
“Yes,” she said.
Carter sighed and folded his arms under his chest. “No.”
“What do you mean?” Dr. Holland asked.
Carter didn’t look at her. “The Wrights will pay for the easement. I’ll agree to whatever paperwork the Taylors originally proposed and have my parents sign.”
“I’ll need at least one of you to stick around and sign the mediation agreement later this afternoon after Lisa has a chance to finish typing it up.”
Carter turned to her and gestured to the door. “You can leave. I’ll handle it fr
om here.”
“What’s the catch?” she asked.
“No catch. You got what you came here for.”
“Great. And it’s not like you’re ever around Foxhollow enough for this to be an awkward thing between us. Good luck on whatever rigging or crabbing or rescue adventure you take on next.”
“Goodbye, Samantha.”
“At least I get a goodbye this time.” She offered him a small smile and slung the duffle bag strap over her shoulder. The trouble with shifters, other than occasionally being shot at or the fleas and ticks, was the urge to find a forever mate. That one person to lean on and start a family with. She’d been caught up in those shifter urges, and that explained why she’d allowed herself to be taken in by Carter’s big brown eyes. It was her fault she didn’t see the bigger picture. Dr. Holland was wrong. There weren’t any deeper issues at play here. They’d each had a mission to end the land feud, and they’d each played the game.
She walked out the front double doors of the lodge, and her shoulders sagged. Carter was a nomad, she’d known that as long as she’d known his family. This thing between them never would’ve worked even if the land feud hadn’t been in the way. It didn’t matter if things ended on a sour note or not. No matter what, they were always meant to end. She needed to appreciate the win and forget the fail.
They simply didn’t want the same things. And now she had no idea what she wanted. No, that wasn’t true. She’d wanted him to ask her not to leave.
Chapter Seven
Carter pushed through the doors of his family’s hardware store. His brother Ray greeted him with a grunt from behind the front counter where he built a house from a deck of playing cards. His twin didn’t look at him and started on a fourth level. “Didn’t expect you back in town so soon after failing the family at mediation.”
“Don’t be an ass.” Carter poked one of the cards, and the entire card house tumbled to the counter. “We didn’t need that land anyway. Mom and Dad will forgive me. Eventually. Where are they?”
“Ugh, man. I spent an hour on that.” He gathered the cards and started at level one again. “Down in Fairbanks again, trying that new seafood place. Why? Did you give away more of our land?”
One week had passed since he’d let Samantha walk out the door. He’d thought long and hard about Dr. Holland’s words, and he’d decided the time had come to get to the root of the family feud and put it to rest. “Shut up about the land. I was hoping they’d be here for the announcement.”
“What announcement?”
“Call Grant, and tell him to meet me in front of the donut shop in fifteen minutes.” Carter walked down one of the aisles and grabbed some supplies. “Put this rope and this tape on my tab, okay?”
“What do you need those for?” he asked.
“In fifteen minutes, come over to the donut shop, and you’ll see.”
Carter walked through the back and signaled to his youngest brothers from the door. They hooted and high-fived each other before jumping in Carter’s truck. Coordinating the biggest apology Foxhollow’d ever seen was the easy part. Convincing Samantha to give him another chance was going to take some serious charm. And commitment. The whole “bears don’t do commitment” argument flooded his mind again, but he pushed it aside. He wanted Samantha. She challenged him, and he wanted that challenge to be a part of his life. That meant making a commitment. He’d show her that some people can change.
He’d compromise for her, and he hoped she’d be willing to do the same for him.
Carter strode back through the hardware store and exited to the front sidewalk. He crossed the empty Main Street and stood at the plate glass in front of Total B.S. Donuts. Samantha sat at a table going through some paperwork. She stopped to push her hands through her hair and arched her back slightly.
A small rush of excitement scampered through his body.
The twins pulled his truck in behind him, taking up three parking spots. They honked the horn three times in succession, and Samantha finally noticed him. The expression on her face went from wary to annoyed, back to wary.
Grant joined him at the plate glass. “What’s going on?”
His younger brother, Trevor, yelled from the driver’s window. “Now?”
Carter walked toward the truck window and tossed the rope and tape through. “Get him ready.” He looked to Grant. “Give me five minutes, and then be ready for a show.”
“This should be good.” Grant backed up against the front of Carter’s truck and leaned against the bumper. “As long as I don’t have a mess to clean up afterward.”
Carter entered the café and nodded to Bobbie who’d come out from the kitchen. A couple of other patrons occupied tables, enjoying their sugary confections. He walked up to Samantha and stopped in front of her chair. She didn’t stand or look directly at him. Edginess laced her voice when she spoke. “I didn’t expect to see you here.”
“You are owed an apology.”
“I told you over the phone. I’m good. And I really appreciate you signing the land over to us without any further argument. It means a lot to me and Dad. I hope your family will forgive you at some point.”
“But?”
“But I think we need to end it with that. It was a fantastically weird weekend and one I’ll never forget. I can’t be your passing-through girl, and you can’t be my stay-forever guy.”
“That doesn’t work for me.”
“I don’t know what else to say to you.”
“Just come outside for a few minutes.” He reached his hand down. “Please, Sammie.”
She stared at his hand for what seemed like the longest minute of his life before finally placing her fingers against his palm. He pulled her to her feet, and they continued outside the café to his truck. Ray had joined Grant at the front bumper. He got within a few feet of the truck, and the twins opened the back and pulled out Samantha’s surprise.
Everyone stared in quiet awe as Tony and Trevor shoved a tied-up Gregor to the front sidewalk. The few patrons inside the café pushed out the door with Bobbie following directly behind them.
Gregor stood in his boxers with his hands tied in front of him, his mouth covered in tape and liar written across the front of his chest. His brothers had gone a little overboard with the permanent marker, but if he processed the fact that they had technically kidnapped a man, it seemed the least of all the evils.
Carter interlocked his fingers with Samantha so she couldn’t run back inside the sanctity of her café. “Our family owes you a collective apology, and this asshole owes you the biggest apology of all.”
A low growl rumbled from Gregor’s chest, and every Wright brother took a defensive stance. He’d tried to shift twice on the ride over, and Carter had knocked him out with a well-placed punch both times, sending him back to human form. Shifting with a den of bears on the sidewalk would prove the man swam in a sea of idiocy.
Gregor’d tried to force himself on Samantha and had ruined his only sister’s happiness. He was the true cause of the Wright-Taylor family feud. The deeper issue. This black bear shifter deserved more than a punch or two.
The youngest Wright twins—Tony and Trevor—each grabbed an end of the tape over Gregor’s mouth and yanked, earning a screech from Gregor. The tape probably took off some skin and hair.
“You motherfu—”
“No.” Carter released Samantha and stepped forward, placing himself between Gregor and the other occupants of the sidewalk. “The next words out of your mouth should be an apology and the truth of what happened six months ago. Nothing else.”
Tony and Trevor both angled their smartphones at Gregor’s reddening face.
Tension released in small amounts throughout his body as Samantha relaced her fingers through Carter’s. They waited.
Gregor huffed. “Fine. I didn’t sleep with Samantha. I lied. There. Is everyone happy?”
Carter refrained from giving Gregor a third fist-to-face connection. “You’re going to need to leave
town. Foxhollow doesn’t want you anymore.”
Gregor cut his gaze across the onlookers. “You’re all going to pay for this.”
Bobbie walked up to Gregor and flicked him on the nose. “The Wrights and Taylors don’t put up with bullshit threats. We’ll give you a week to get out of our town.”
Carter nodded to his brothers, and the remaining four Wright siblings taped Gregor’s mouth again and shoved him in the back of the truck.
Samantha pulled Carter to the side of the building and toward the back alley. She stopped at the back door of the café.
“A little excessive don’t you think?” she asked.
“Just following Dr. Holland’s advice and getting to the root of the problem.”
“I’m not sure that’s the only problem between you and me.”
He tucked his arms around her waist. “I think you are sexy and fun, and now all I want is for you to be happy. I knew you weren’t going to make this easy on me. That’s what I really love about you. You’re the challenge I didn’t know I needed.”
Her lips twitched into a smile. “You love me?”
“You know we shifters don’t do years of courtship. When we find the right mate, we know, even though I think you may have known longer than me.”
“But I’m bound to Foxhollow, and you’d rather be anywhere else than here.”
“And that’s something I’ll have to work on. I love to roam. I love the different challenging jobs. And I love you. We’re going to find a compromise.” Carter loosened his grip on her waist. He barely breathed, waiting for her to consider his words.
Samantha leaned into him and placed a hand on the side of his face. “Okay, mate. Let’s compromise.”
He released his pent-up breath and pulled her closer to his chest. “You know that’s not exactly an ‘I love you’.”
She kissed the side of his neck. “Of course it is.”
The End.
Dear Reader:
Bearly Loving: Foxhollow Den #2 (Alaskan Den Men Book 10) Page 5
