by Unknown
She felt her back leave the side of the car, but was so focused on his lips and tongue that it didn’t register they were moving until they were at the front door. He somehow managed to open the door without putting her down. Most men could pick her up, but this kind of strength was not in her realm of experience. She likey.
“I need to be inside you now,” he said as he tried to put her down. She held on for dear life. She needed to be touching him. “I need to put you down to get your jeans off. If I rip them off you will have no clothes tomorrow, although...on second thought.”
She dropped her legs to the ground and found herself being turned around. His hands worked her button and zipper and he pushed them down to her knees before bending her over the arm of his couch.
“I need to take you know. To know you are safe and mine. We can do gentle and slow later.”
“Please,” she begged. Her need was as bad as his. He filled her from behind and she nearly came on the spot. True to his word he took her. He pounded into her from behind over and over again increasing in sped as he went. She held onto the couch, unable to meet his powerful thrusts, but knowing that it was not only what they both wanted, it was what they needed.
“You feel absolutely perfect.” His breath was getting choppy and she could feel him starting to lose his pace and become more frenzied. He reached around and pinched her clit and they both went over the edge together.
It was amazing. It was wonderful. It was...fuck...it was unprotected.
“Shit. Shit. Shit.” She was starting to panic. She had assumed they had used a condom earlier. In her orgasmic haze she hadn’t even remembered him getting naked and fell asleep with him still so intimately connected, so not remembering the condom seemed no big deal. This time, however, she’d heard no tell-tale rip of the condom wrapper.
“What is it, love?” The freaking man was clueless. He pulled out of her and she felt him drip down her thigh. She was right. No condom. She went to turn around to give him a piece of her mind, forgetting her pants were only half way down. Brilliant. She would have landed on her ass if he didn’t scoop her up. He was walking to what she assumed was his bedroom.
“What is it? What is it?” She was starting to shout, which never accomplished anything so she tried to reel it back a notch. “Condom? There was none.”
He stopped and looked at her. He looked honestly confused. “I know. You said that was fine.” He started to walk again and she wanted to scream.
“When the hell did I say, ‘Hey, stranger, I have an idea, let’s have unprotected sex and pass on some awesome STDS or make a baby?’ Huh? When?” She thought about all they had said before they had sex the first time. Shit. He was right. He said he would spill his seed or some such garbage and she agreed. What had she been thinking? Oh yeah, she hadn’t. Lust had completely taken over.
She felt herself hit the bed softly and his hands were on her jeans. “Off.”
She answered his unspoken question. He pulled them the rest of the way off and she saw for the first time that he had carried her down the hallway with his pants around his thighs. Now that takes skill.
He climbed in beside her and she snuggled in close. This was not his fault. True, he could have been clearer, but she could have said something, too. “Sorry. I guess I did.” She looked up at him. “I’m guessing you’re clean.” He nodded. “I know I am, so that part of my rant can be ignored, if you don’t mind.”
“Not at all. I figured you were in freak out mode.” He kissed the side of her head. It was at that moment that the humor of the scene before her hit. Here they were, completely pants-less, lying in bed with their shirts on. It would have been hilarious if she was not about to enter panic-ville.
“So the thing of it is, I’m not on the pill.” She braced for his response. No guy wants a baby from a one night stand.
“I figured as much when you started flipping out.” Why wasn’t he upset?
“That means I could get pregnant.” She had never had to spell it out for a man before and it felt patronizing. She wasn’t sure what she wanted him to say, but being nonchalant was not calming her down any.
“I know how it works.” He sounded almost amused. She would never understand men.
“That means I would have a baby.”
“More likely two or three.” He was too calm and there were no signs he was joking.
“Excuse me?” She went to sit up, but he held her tighter. “Two or three? Is this a joke to you?” She knew it wasn’t, but it was all she could think to say.
“Remember when I said we’d talk when we get home?”
She nodded into his chest.
“Well I guess time for that conversation is now.”
“Agreed.” She had no idea what he was going to say, but she could feel that is was going to be life changing.
“So we had sex.” He simply stated. She looked at him. That had not been shocking news. “More than once obviously, but I’m talking about the first time.”
“When I sucked you off?”
“No, but we will get back to that.”
Where the heck was this going? She knew she should be freaking the fuck out right now. Anyone would be. She’d had her car destroyed and had naked time without a condom or any other form of birth control with someone she met mere hours ago. It wasn’t your run of the mill first date conversation.
“So we had sex and as you indicated, there was no condom and I bit you as we came.” Saying it like that made it sound all the more crazy. Kinky unprotected sex with a virtual stranger. Le sigh.
“I was there. I just don’t know how it ties in with all the other crazy and why you are okay with me possibly having a baby and actually almost saying you wanted triplets, which is a big old no, by the way. No woman can handle three newborns at once. None.” Because she might as well focus three steps ahead.
“I should’ve done all of this first, but you were only here for the night and I have waited so long to find you.” He rolled to his side and looked her in the eyes. There was so much passion in his and she was fairly confident he only saw fear in hers. “The thing is—”
The Challenge…
A bang on the door had him on his feet. The conversation all but forgotten as the pounding got louder and louder. She scrambled up and threw on her jeans and followed Bruno to the door.
“Open the fuck up, Humphrey.” Whoever it was sounded a cross between angry and insane. Never a good combination. Yet, here Bruno was, answering the door with only a shirt on.
“What the fuck are you doing here, Marc? Go home and sober up.” He had the I‘m in charge don’t even think about it voice going on.
“You took what is mine. I want it back.”
“I said go. The. Fuck. Home. And sober up.” The crazy man at the door caught her eye. Yep, one hundred percent certifiable. He looked vaguely familiar, but she couldn’t quite place him.
“I saw her first.” The man was almost feral. She briefly thought to call the police, but wasn’t sure where a phone that worked was and she was not going to distract Bruno while mister wing-nut was at the door. Wait, what did he say?
“That’s not how it works buddy and you know it. Only one is for you and she’s not it. Go home.” He held a calm in his voice, but there was no denying it was a command. Victoria was not sure how she played into all of this. Or was it Sarah they were talking about?
“She would have been mine if you let her decide. I called Cal when her tire blew. I sent her the drink first.” And there it was. That was where she saw him and this was all about her. Lordy, Lordy. What was she to do? If she did the wrong thing people could get hurt.
“Actually,” she decided to go for honesty and hoped that helped. “I was already turning down the drink when Bruno came in and I had no idea you called in the flat. Thanks for that.” She took a deep breath and tried to calm her voice. “We walked to the bar together, he just was stopped along the way by someone who needed to talk to—”
“Bullshi
t. You would’ve been mine. You will be Mine. I saw you first. I stopped you from leaving. MINE!” He glared at her from the doorway. Fuck, the bastard is the one who set her car on fire.
Marc never set foot inside, but she doubted a threshold would stop someone that unhinged. “I call a challenge.”
“Think about this, Marc. You are drunk. I will allow you to take it back.”
“Scared?” He was not backing down.
“Scared? Yes. I’m scared that this whole scene will lose me my mate. I’m scared that your decisions are being made based on alcohol consumption and loneliness. Mostly I’m scared that I’m going to have to kill you.” The crazy man scoffed. “Scared of you, however. Hardly.” His voice lowered and she was pretty sure she heard him say, “Take it back, Marc. Please.”
“I, Marc Montgomery, officially challenge you under the charges of stealing my potential mate,” Marc said as he walked away from the door. Away was good. Right?
“Oh fuck, Marc. I didn’t want to do this.”
She heard defeat in Bruno’s voice.
“Stay here, love. You don’t want to see this.” He didn’t wait for a reply, but instead pulled off his shirt and walked out the front door.
The hell she didn’t. He was walking out there with no clothes on to face a crazy man. A knife block on the counter caught her attention and she grabbed the largest knife there. Open living area for the win. At least now she could help. Maybe.
She walked out the door and the moonlight made it easy for her to find the two men in the front. Both were naked and circling each other.
“Last chance, Marc. No one has to know. There is no shame in changing your mind.”
Victoria waited for Marc to tell him to fuck off or some such nonsense. What she was not at all expecting to see was him turning into a bear. A huge-ass, furry bear.
“Shit,” Bruno said, before turning into a bear himself. She was officially dreaming. Too much shifter-crack reading invaded her brain and entered her dreams. Why, oh why couldn’t it just be a sexy dream?
They were on each other and she just couldn’t look. It was a dream, so what did it matter anyway? But somehow it did. It mattered a lot.
She forced herself to turn and watch. It was painful to see. She remembered Bruno pleading with the man to take it back. She had no question in her mind that this was until death. From the look of how injured the smaller bear was just from her moment of not looking, it would be him who died.
She watched them fight and puzzle pieces began to connect in her brain. The crazy lust she was feeling was a mating call of some kind. That was probably why he tensed up when she mentioned home and why he called this house her home in the truck. Another piece slid into place. The congratulations were because everyone who saw her bite knew she was already his mate. She had yet to see it in a mirror, but they all seemed to notice it right away.
The one thing that didn’t make sense in any of this was why Marc was so interested in her. Interested enough to risk dying. She hadn’t even met him, much less led him to believe he had a shot with her. Looking back on it, he was probably the bear she thought she saw in the woods.
The rational part of her said she should be freaking out about the crazy that was now her life. That she should be worried about Bruno being hurt, but something even stronger than rationality told her he would be fine. Marc had yet to make contact with Bruno, and he was limping. She didn’t know how they communicated in this form, but she guessed that Bruno was trying to give him another way out. Maybe mayor was code for alpha. Yeah, she read too much shifter-crack.
After a few circles with what she guessed was a bear conversation, she heard Bruno roar—or whatever you called that don’t fuck with me sound bears make—and he swiped his paw across the smaller bear’s throat. Marc fell to the ground and she could detect no motion from him.
She waited for him to turn human like they did in the movies and books, but instead she just saw a dead bear lying in the yard. She couldn’t look away. It was so sad to see him just there. Dead. She didn’t even know or like him, yet the sorrow hit her like he was a long lost friend. She began to sob and sob for the crazy man turned bear’s life.
“Victoria, love, I need you to put down the knife.” Knife. Knife. Knife. Oh, the knife in her hands. The last thing she remembered before everything turned black was dropping the knife and feeling pain shoot through her foot.
Best Super Bonus Prizes Ever!
Her foot was throbbing. What the heck was wrong with it? She went to open her eyes, but they just wouldn’t comply. “Shh, love. The doctor gave you a shot when he was doing the stitches. He realized after the fact that he gave you enough pain meds for a bear and far too much for a human. You’ll be fine. It will just take a while to wear off.”
“Stay?”
She wasn’t sure her voice was loud enough for him to hear until she heard him reply, “Always.”
When she came to again, she still felt the pain. Oh, the pain. But her head was less foggy.
“You gave me quite a scare there. Only you could manage to stab yourself.” He said it with jest, but she could hear the worry in his voice. Actually, she could feel it.
“So nutshell: You’re a bear. I’m your mate. Marc went crazy and now is dead. I maimed myself.”
“Yeah, that pretty much sums it up.”
She opened her eyes to see him looking at her with more than concern. She wasn’t quite sure what it was, though. Possibly fear?
“Why was I so sad when he died? I had never met him and he was trying to kill you. So I should have been happy, or at the very least relieved.” Out of all the things that happened, that was the thing that hit her hardest. It was like losing a family member. Although now, she seemed to be better. So bizarre.
“He was part of my sloth and you are my mate. When he died. I felt it.” He looked so burdened and it broke her heart. “Not just the normal sorrow of loss, or even the guilt of taking the life. Of course, that was there too. I physically felt it because I am the alpha. As my mate, you felt some of that too.”
“That was only some?” If that was only some, she couldn’t even begin to fathom what he had been feeling. She didn’t bother to ask where Marc’s body was. She had no doubt that if a doctor had been there then other members of the sloth would have been as well and it was taken care of. She couldn’t process beyond that.
“Yeah.” His hand touched her cheek and she leaned into it. “Enough about that. How are you now?”
“Now? Well my foot doesn’t feel fantastic and I am beyond embarrassed that I stabbed my own foot.” She turned into his hand and gave him a kiss on the palm of his hand before continuing. “I’m pissed that he destroyed my car and forced you to kill him, and am sad that he died. Do you know why he went all crazy? I seriously never even talked to him.” That had been bugging her from the start. Why was he so insistent about having her?
“There’s so much I should have explained before I bit you.” The remorse on his face sent shivers down her spine, and not the good kind. “I knew you were only here overnight and panicked.”
“Your aunt even warned you,” she teased, hoping to bring him around.
“That she did. She sensed you were for me when you first walked in and feared you would leave and badness would ensue.” Badness? Was that why she was being so weird? “Bears need their mates. That is why Marc flipped his lid. His potential mate rejected him.” He paused for a moment before adding, “Are you?”
“Am I what?” The man was talking in riddles once again.
“Are you leaving?” He barely said it loud enough for her to hear. The fear evident.
“Well, I have no car since crazy boy blew it up.”
His eyes never wavered. He needed a real answer.
“I hate my job, but what would I do here?”
“Be my mate? Carry my cubs?” Because life was ever that simple.
“I mean besides being your mate, silly. For a job.”
“You don’t ne
ed one. I’ll take care of you.” Cave man.
“Let’s say I want one.”
“What did you go to school for? There are no big fancy schmancy business firms here, but I’m sure we could figure out something.” He was perking up at her even considering moving.
“Accounting for my undergrad, and an MBA in business.” She doubted anything there would fit.
“Accounting. Perfect.” His smile showed in his eyes. “You can work with me. I suck at the accounting part of running this town and the inn. Martha tries, but she is just as clueless and already works too hard. It will take you months to even begin to make a dent in the mess.”
That sounded okay with her. “Now, this whole mate thing. Is it instead of marriage or do I get a ring?”
“Oh, you most definitely get a ring.” He was practically glowing.
“I have to quit my job and give them at least two weeks’ notice.”
“I’ll come with you. You need someone to help you move anyways.”
“Stinks. I need to sell my condo. It is paid off so I can underprice the market and get it gone.”
“Perfect.”
“How about the cub thing? How does that work?”
“Pretty much the normal way.” He winked at her.
“I’m over thirty so we should probably start right away if we want those three cubs.” She winked back at him.
She was under him in a second flat. “I said three because bears tend to have multiples.”
She leaned up and put her lips very close to his ear. “I’m not a bear. I do one at a time. Thank you very much.” She nipped his ear and he growled. Goodness help her, she loved that sound.
“Then we will just have to work three times as hard.” And hard he was. “You okay to do this? With your foot and all?”
