Cold dread crept over her. He had said this was linked to her sister’s death. She didn’t want to know, but she had to hear what he said, “Go on. What does this have to do with my sister?”
“The drug alters people’s perception. From what we can make out, the drug, if given in the correct quantity, makes a shifter susceptible to being persuaded they have found their mate.”
“Oh shit. It makes sense now, why he walked away. Why my sister was so devastated. It was never true, but she thought it was, believed it was.”
“She was one of the first. I don’t suppose he meant to get her pregnant, but he did intend to dupe her.”
“She was his guinea pig!” Her fists balled at her sides. “He mustn’t ever know about Connor.”
“No. Never,” Beau agreed fiercely. “I trust everyone else who knows the full truth, this secret stays between us.”
Then she did something she had not done for months: she buried her face in Beau’s chest and cried.
Chapter Twelve – Beau
Elise sobbed in his arms, and he held her so close, wanting to protect her from everything out there in the world, even though he knew he couldn’t. He knew he would die trying this time, that he could not let anything happen to her or Connor. His bear roared in agreement, and it was then that they both realized that the only way to keep them safe was to get rid of this Gable, or whatever name he went by now.
Thoughts of revenge would have to wait, though. He needed to get Elise back to the house, needed for them to make sure Connor was happy. Then he would plot his revenge.
“We should go back,” he said when her tears had subsided.
“In a little while. I would like to just sit here for a while. Do you mind?” she asked.
“Not at all,” he said, and he took his jacket off and put it on the ground for her.
“You know, you are a real gentleman, Beau.” She smiled down at him, and he took her hand and pulled her down to sit by his side. “I mean it.”
“I would do anything for you, Elise. You know that,” he said, his voice catching in his throat.
“I know. I also know I would do anything for you.” She rested her head on his shoulder, her hands threaded through his.
“Then stay safe. Don’t let this guy hurt you anymore,” he said.
“I don’t know if I can promise you that.” She sighed. “In the same way I don’t think you could promise me.”
“You have Connor to think about,” he said, his hand stroking her hair, turning her face to look at him. “He is so precious.”
“I know, and anything I do, I do it for him.” She leaned forward and kissed him, her lips warm in his, stirring emotions in him he had known were there, but had seemed forever dormant.
He kissed her back, tenderly at first, and then with a hunger that would never be sated even if he made love to her a thousand times or more. Her tongue met his, stroke for stroke, playing, teasing, her lips parting to allow him entrance, only to chase him away again. His cock hardened and the need for her was too intense to deny. He wanted to make love to her here in this special place.
His hands moved to stroke her breasts through her clothes, testing to see how far she was willing to go. If at any time she told him to stop, that she didn’t want to make love to him here in the open, he would break away from her, he could never force himself on her. Yet he hoped that wouldn’t happen. He hoped she wanted him as much as he wanted her.
She gave him his answer. She began to undo his shirt, the buttons giving her some difficulty, and he knew she was both excited and apprehensive. His hands covered hers, and he helped her undo the buttons, shrugging his shirt off his shoulders and baring his chest to her.
“I have wanted to see this chest of yours since the moment we met,” she said, running her fingers across his hard abs, and lower to tease him along the top of his denim jeans. “And as for what is hidden here, that is something I have thought about touching, and stroking…”
Her words trailed off as her fingers closed around his hard cock, the denim blocking out most of the sensation, but it was enough for him to groan, and decide that they should both be naked. He pulled away and quickly stripped her clothes off her body. Only when she sat next to him with not a stitch of clothing to hide her modesty, did he pause to take in her lush curves.
“Wow,” he said and saw her squirm beneath his gaze. “You are the most beautiful creature I have ever seen.”
She giggled nervously, and he was glad her earlier tears were forgotten. This was a time for them to consummate their relationship, to live in the here and now, not think about the past or the future. As he stroked her skin, the mountain breeze whipped up around them and her nipples hardened. He reached out and tentatively touched first one and then the other, watching the raw emotions as they played over her face.
Leaning forward, his lips replaced his fingers, and he sucked her right nipple hard, and heard the sharp intake of breath she took. He smiled to himself, and then set to work, licking and sucking, his tongue rolling over the taut bud until her arousal grew to the point she was clenching her thighs together to ease the obvious need to be touched there.
He had to oblige, she was right, he was a gentleman and whatever his lady wanted in the bedroom, even if the bedroom was the mountainside, she would get. Stroking her thighs, he gently eased her legs apart, a slight pressure to encourage her to open for him. Then he slipped his hand higher, slow circular motions to help her relax, until at last he reached his prize, and rubbed her clit. She sighed against him, his mouth torturing her nipples, while his fingers stroked her sensitive bundle of nerves, before dipping inside her warm wet sex.
Damn, she was wet. His fingers gliding in and out of her easily, she relaxed, her knees dropping down to allow him better access, and he knew how he would like to access her. Lifting his mouth, he reluctantly left her nipples to the mountain breeze, and slid down her body, coming to rest between her thighs, his breath warm on her skin.
She was just as beautiful from this angle, and extremely inviting. Leaning forward, he kissed her thighs, working his way toward her aching sex. Her hands fisted his hair, and she pulled him closer, wanting him to lick her and suck her here. But Beau wanted her to want him more, so he moved with agonizing slowness until she was lifting her hips off the ground and offering herself to him.
Smiling at her eagerness, he at last flicked his tongue over her clit, and she nearly exploded right then. She cried out, small mewling noises as he took his time to lavish attention on her. Over and over his tongue lapped at her sex, tasting her juices, before his teeth grazed her clit, sending her wild, hips bucking as her head rolled from side to side.
She wanted to come, but he made her wait, prolonging her pleasure until he could sense it was too much. With two fingers, he probed her sex, while his mouth returned to kiss and lick her clit. With a shudder, she crested the wave of her desire, and came, his mouth sucking her until she was utterly spent, lying on the soft mountain grass, her cries filling the air.
He had satisfied her completely, and now he wanted nothing more than to take her hard and rough, and claim her as his own.
Chapter Thirteen – Elise
Wow. Just. Wow. Her brain could not think any clearer than that. It was still too fogged up by the feel of his mouth on her most intimate places. She blushed at the thought of just how it had been. The sensation of warmth spread across her cheeks, and then threaded its way through her body, and ignited her passion for him once more.
Opening her eyes, which she had screwed up tight for some reason, she saw him smiling down at her. The heat in her body kicked up a notch. How could a man want her so much? But when she examined her own feelings, she knew how. Because she was his mate, and it was for that same reason she wanted him. Now.
Threading her hand between their bodies, she wrapped her fingers around his cock, and stroked him, squeezing him, her nails grazing his sensitive skin just enough to make the breath hiss through his teeth, and h
e bit his lip and groaned in a mixture of agony and ecstasy.
“Damn it, Elise, I’m going to come,” he said and closed his eyes as if he could hide what her hand was doing to him.
“Then come,” she said silkily.
“Not yet. I want to come inside you. Do you have any idea how much I’ve wanted that since the first day we met? Having you so close, and yet not knowing if you felt the same, if you wanted me.”
“I’m sorry,” she said hoarsely, her behavior making her blush for a different reason.
“It’s OK.” He kissed her lips, his body moving, hovering over hers. She guided him towards her aching sex. She wanted him, wanted him to be inside her. He wasn’t going to argue.
Flexing his hips forward, she felt the first pressure of his cock entering her, her lower lips parted, and then she was gripping him, her sex tight around his wide girth. Damn, he was big. Damn, it was good. Stretched, her sex yielding for him, as he filled her inch by unrelenting inch. He didn’t pull out, he didn’t rush; he made her lie there and take every bit of him until he was buried to the hilt.
The whole of her body was focused on him, the way his skin felt under her fingertips, the roughness of the sprinkling of hair across his chest, the smoothness of his neck, the fullness of his lips. She stroked him, explored him, while he did the same, his body stilled, his cock deep inside her, not moving, making her inner muscles cramp up in the most incredible way.
He kissed her, first her lips, which she parted to allow him access, his tongue moving in and out, in the way she wished his cock would do in her sex. Slowly, deliberately, he increased her arousal until she wanted to beg him to move, to do something to ease the tension in her, so taut she thought she would snap, and she didn’t want to snap, she wanted to bend, to dance with him in the way men and women did as they made love.
Then a rumble went through him, beginning in his chest, and spreading out until his whole body shook. He was laughing at her. “You have more patience than I thought.”
She slapped his arm. “This is a test?” she asked hotly.
“Yeah, I wanted you to know how it’s felt to wait for you. But I think you’re stronger than me.” He moved then, his hips moving back and he slid out of her just as slowly as he had slid in, and she swore she could feel every contour of his cock against the walls of her sex, which seemed to have spawned a million more nerve endings since he had entered her.
Unconsciously, she gripped his arms, needing something to ground her, the sensations threatening to knock her senseless, leave her lying here like a doll beneath him. But she didn’t want that, she wanted to be his equal in all things, so she moved with him, her back arched, her hips rocking, adjusting to his thrusts, which grew faster, harder, the intensity between them reaching a peak, and then it was too much, and she came, her voice ringing out across the mountainside as he ground out his pleasure, before exploding inside her, filling her with his seed.
As the aftershocks left her body, she wrapped her arms around him and held him tightly, wanting to make sure he didn’t drift away on the mountain breeze. It was hard for her to believe that they were together, that her life had some balance, that she wouldn’t raise Connor alone, because he was here and would support her through everything, just as she would support him.
They were mates.
We are mates, her bear agreed, and a smile formed on Elise’s lips. She felt whole, as if the two parts of herself which had become fragmented since her sister died had come back together.
If only she could walk away with him now. If only they could both leave the past in the past, and look to their new life together in peace. But she knew the specter of Gable and what he had done would hang over them forever unless they found a way to resolve it.
The weight in her heart descended, not quite as heavy, but it was there. The man who had caused so much pain had to be stopped, not only for their sakes, not only for revenge, but to stop it happening to anyone else. To prevent anyone else losing a daughter, or a mother or a sister.
“Are you OK?” he asked, and brushed her hair from her face, kissing away the tears which were flowing down her cheeks.
“Yes.” She nodded, and then took a few moments to control her breathing. “I just wish this was all over.”
“It will be soon,” he said and then kissed her lips. “Come on, we should get back. The sun is going down, and Connor will wonder where you are.”
He pulled away from her, the breeze chilling her skin once his warmth had gone. She stood up and pulled her clothes on, watching as he dressed too. He was perfection, his strong back rippling with muscle, his arms bulging as he flexed, yet even with all that strength they might not be a match for Gable.
When they finally tracked him down, would he have armed guards? A place where he holed up that they couldn’t penetrate?
She shook her head. One way or another, they would find him, and together, they would bring him down. Because they were strong together.
“Ready?” he asked. He was fully dressed and had stood for one last moment looking out across the clearing to the world below them.
She came to stand next to him, her fingers threading through his. “I wish we could stay like this forever.” She rested her head on his shoulder.
“So do I,” he said, kissing the top of her head. “But we can’t. Can we?”
“No.” She shook her head sadly. “No, Beau, we can’t.”
Chapter Fourteen – Beau
Beau had always lived his life doing what he thought was right. It was why he was here now, alone, while Elise was back at Brad’s house oblivious to the fact he had crept out of their bed at two in the morning and driven off in his truck, heading for the address Brad had lifted off police records as the last known whereabouts of Gerald O’Dowd. Also known as Gable O’Donnell.
He was here to take care of business; he was here to take care of the man who had caused both of them so much misery. Was he here to kill the man? Maybe he was.
It wasn’t what he intended, but he was sure Gerald O’Dowd was not the kind of man to cave in to threats. If the only way to shut down this business was to commit murder, then so be it.
His bear was objecting furiously, and he couldn’t blame him; after all, they had abandoned their mate, the woman they had promised to protect.
That’s what I am doing, he ground out in his mind as his bear scraped his claws across the nerve endings, making it hard for him to concentrate.
This was his way of saving Elise. He had seen the look in her eyes, which so mirrored his own. She wanted to deal with O’Dowd, and he was scared she would end up hurt, if not physically then emotionally. What would happen if O’Dowd found out about Connor and decided to take him away from Elise? It would break her heart into a million pieces all over again, and he couldn’t bear the thought of that happening.
So what would be the alternative? She would come here and live with O’Dowd, be the mother to Connor she had promised to be, and mourn her own mate. Or would O’Dowd give her this Niq It, and wipe Beau out of her memories, and put himself in his place as her mate?
No. This way was the only way. Elise would forgive him. She would understand, because she would do exactly the same thing for him. That, too, he had seen in her eyes.
The address turned out to be a warehouse by the docks. Whereas the name Harborside had conjured up images of cool renovated apartments overlooking the sea, the reality was a sprawling complex of warehouses that had once been used for manufacturing, but had fallen out of use. Perfect for hiding your illicit business.
He swung his truck around and rode past the entrance a couple of times. On the second pass he kept going, aiming to park his truck, and then enter on foot. Or on paws. He couldn’t decide which would be best. He kind of didn’t want them to know he was a shifter. But then it might work in his favor.
A plan had been forming in his mind, but he wasn’t sure if he could pull it off. His rusty talents of playing a role, impersonating a character who
was expected to be in a certain place at a certain time, were his best course of action. But could he pull it off?
Parking his truck, he walked back towards the Harborside complex, and skirted the perimeter fence until he found what he was looking for, a hole in the fence. It had been repaired, but was no match for his bear claws. Shifting quickly, his bear tore at the wire, a sense of satisfaction at destroying property sweeping over him.
What? This is where the bad guys hang out, his bear said defensively.
Beau let it go. They had to work together to get this job done.
Squeezing through the small gap was much easier in his human form. He ducked low and kept running until he reached the side of a large building. Flattening himself against it, he consulted the map of the area on his phone. Knowing where he was headed, he straightened up and walked towards it, as if he belonged there.
According to his ID, he did belong there. Before he left his truck he had rifled through the fake IDs he kept in a hidden compartment in the floor. If Brad knew, he would most likely arrest him, or at least confiscate them, but the lawman wasn’t there right now.
John Abraham Rollings, all-round bad guy and drug dealer if anyone asked, or bothered to look him up on the Internet. These days a fake ID didn’t do much unless you had the necessary online presence to go with it. Social media profiles were only the start of it. Beau had learned to be incredibly convincing.
But you’re rusty, his bear said.
Like riding a horse, Beau countered.
His bear huffed in disgust and went back to sulking.
Here we go, he said to his bear, as two men appeared around the corner of a warehouse, and approached him.
“Hey there, fellas.” Beau found in these circumstances it was always best to make the first move; it seemed less likely you were skulking if you went up and introduced yourself with a how-do and a handshake.
“Hi there.” The tone was meant to be friendly, it wasn’t. “What can I do for you?” A flashlight hit him in the eyes, temporarily blinding him before it the beam was aimed at the floor.
Her Bear and a Baby: BBW Bear Shifter Baby Paranormal Romance (Who's the Daddy? Book 2) Page 6
