“I really don’t want to leave this bed, but I have a meeting with Victor and a few of the elders soon.”
“What should I do?”
He kisses me again, then groans when he pulls away. “Enjoy the spa. Get a facial. Manicure. Whatever you want. Just put it on the room.”
“You’re sure?”
He rolls out of bed, giving me a perfect view of his ass. “Yeah. Think of it as a perk of our agreement.”
His comment leaves me cold because it’s a reminder that this isn’t real.
“This place is incredible,” I say as I lean back in the chair. There’s a mud mask on my face, and my feet are soaking in a warm bath of oils while a manicurist rubs cream into my hand.
“I know, right?” Meg, one of the brown bear’s mates from the East coast says, groaning as she gets a message. “And so great that it’s owned by a polar bear family. We can talk freely here about our kind.”
Several of the other candidate’s mates are here, enjoying a day of pampering while their men are talking politics. But I soon realize that the game isn’t just played among the men.
I get more than a few wary looks and a couple snarky comments throughout the day, but it’s Abby Boyes, a grizzly’s wife that makes me the most uneasy. It’s not anything that she says, but rather the way she watches me that has the hairs on the back of my neck standing on end.
“So, you and Bennett,” Abby says, sitting down beside me and snapping her fingers for one of the workers to bring her a glass of lemon water. “How long have you been mated?”
I don’t trust the woman, so I keep my answers short. “Not long.”
“I’ve heard all of the Koleman brothers have mated recently. Strange.”
“Is it?” I ask.
She shrugs. “It just seems odd. Especially Bennett.” She chuckles. “I’ve heard rumors about that man.” She watches me, her right eye twitching. “He wouldn’t even kiss a woman, he was so worried about being tied down, but now he’s mated just in time for the election.”
“Are you implying something?” I ask, not about to shrink back like I know she expects me to do.
“Not at all.” A fake smile pulls at her lips. “He should give my husband a run for the position, which will make it not as boring as we’d thought.”
I narrow my eyes at her.
“Oh.” She laughs again, but it sounds more like a cackle and I feel the tension in the room grow. “I forget that you’re new.” She lowers her voice and the words she speaks next sound more like a warning, “My Christoff will be the next chief.”
“As far as I’ve heard, there hasn’t been an election yet.”
A flash of anger makes her lips curl. “The votes may not have been cast, but the next chief will be a grizzly.”
“Drop it, Abby,” Meg says, leaning over. It’s a welcome interjection. “Stop making implications about the Kolemans. Everyone knows they are a stand-up family and have done a lot of good for making Alaska a safe place for all clans.”
“What do you know, Meg?” Abby sneers. “You live where? Maine? You haven’t been to Bear Valley in years. The Kodiaks are crawling everywhere these days, you’d hate it.”
Listening closely, I lean back as a pedicurist dries off my feet and begins to apply polish to my toes. “Did you grow up in Alaska then?” I ask Meg.
“Yeah, my family are black bears, they still live in the North country.”
“How did you end up in Maine?” I ask.
Meg smiles, ignoring Abby’s eye roll. “We went to bear family camp in Maine every summer growing up. I met my mate George when we were kids. His family ran the camp, and now we’ve taken it over.”
“That’s sweet,” I say. “I didn’t know there were things like that, camps just for bear families.”
She nods. “Oh yeah, we’ve got all kinds of special places around the world. I heard the polar family who runs this resort just opened one in Iceland.”
“Oh, Christoff and I went there last month,” Abby says. “It’s a little over-hyped if you ask me.”
Meg rolls her eyes. “We didn’t.” She relaxes her shoulders as if letting the toxicity of Abby fall away. “Anyways, Piper, Maine is beautiful, you and Bennett should come visit. George and I would love to show you around. Especially if this election goes well for you, you’d have to do a lot more traveling.”
“Isn’t George up for election too?” I ask, trying to get a clear picture of what being chief actually means. What it would mean for Bennett.
Meg shakes her head. “I mean, not seriously. Every clan still had to bring someone forward. We didn’t want to pass up a trip back to Alaska to see friends and family.”
A masseuse tells Abby it’s time for her massage, and she leaves with a smug smile.
“I’d say don’t worry about her,” Meg says. “But you should. Abby and Christoff are used to getting what they want.”
I nod, appreciating her warning. “Thanks for filling me in.”
“Anytime,” Meg says. Then she hesitates, leaning in close. “You know, when my sister was younger, her and Bennett almost had a thing.”
My eyes widen, I knew he was a player, that part doesn’t bother me. I just want to know more about his story. “So what happened?”
She smiles. “He wouldn’t kiss her. My sister was royally offended and ended things before they began.” She scrunches up her nose playfully. “I got to hand it to you, Piper, you’ve managed to do what no woman has done before. Kiss the one and only Bennett Koleman.”
“Can you help me zip this up?” I ask Bennett. We’re getting dressed for dinner and I’ve chosen a form-fitting black dress with red heels. My hair’s in a low bun and a simple gold chain necklace hangs around my neck.
“You look insane in that dress,” Bennett tells me, lowering his mouth to my shoulders, kissing me, and sending a wave of desire over my polished skin. The spa day was incredible, and my skin has never felt so soft. But it feels even better with Bennett’s lips pressed against it.
“You need to stop doing that,” I tell him.
“And why is that?”
“Because it makes me …”
“Horny?”
“I was going to say distracted.” I turn toward Bennett, kissing him on the cheek. “Thanks for zipping me up.”
“I’ll be here to help you unzip it later.”
“Funny,” I say, reaching for my earrings on the bathroom vanity.
“Not making a joke, Piper. Wanna talk distractions? I’ve been thinking about you all day. This morning was—”
“It was me returning a favor,” I say before losing my resolve. I don’t want to let on that I’ve spent my day at the spa with my eyes closed, replaying our night and morning in my mind.
I catch Bennett’s eyes in the bathroom mirror. “You know, you were actually a topic of conversation today,” I tell him.
“Oh yeah?” He reaches for his suit coat, looking like a mountain man turned politician if there ever was such a mash-up. Nicely trimmed beard, storm-weathered eyes, button-down shirt, a suit coat.
I face him, adjusting his tie. “Turns out Addy thinks her husband should be chief.”
“Christoff? Fuck, no way would that ever go through. He’s a rich bastard of a grizzly who cares about power, not the people.”
Bennett’s conviction surprise me, I’ve wondered if this was about the title for him, but his fierce and resolute words tell me this matters to him on a deeper level.
“And you care about the people?” I ask, unable to hold back the question. “I really want to understand why you care so much about all of this, it will help me know how to act tonight, what to say.”
“Of course I care, Piper. That’s why I spent every summer during college volunteering at The Bear Rehabilitation Colony.”
“What’s that?”
“One of our people’s organizations. There are lots of shifters who have been separated from their clans, lost in the wild. Without resources to return to the human
population.”
“You went to college?” I ask, smoothing his shirt, tie knotted perfectly.
“Yep, Princeton, top of my class.”
“Wait, what?”
Bennett laughs, looking at the time on his phone. “We need to head to dinner,” he says, his hand on the small of my back. “Piper, I told you that you didn’t know much about me. I came back to Bear Valley eighteen months ago, after I finished school to help my brothers open the shop.”
He opens the hotel room door, and I twist my lips, wondering what else I don’t know about Bennett. “I’m impressed.”
“We all have our thing right? But I do want to be chief, Piper. I can do this job.”
“I believe that, but there are other people gunning for it.”
He shrugs as if he doesn’t take my words seriously. “I got this, Piper, trust me.”
I nod, wanting to believe him.
Actually, I want more than that.
In this moment, I want him, Bennett Koleman.
And really, what could be the harm? No emotional attachment. Just sex. But when is sex ever just sex.
“Okay,” I say, trying to push away the nerves that are suddenly tightening my chest.
“What?” he says, taking my hand as we enter the elevator.
I shake my head, nervous for the first time. Not expecting this change of emotion. I have rules, reasons for guarding my heart. “You just, you look really nice tonight.”
He gives me a cocky smile. “Oh yeah? Reconsidering my offer to unzip that dress?
I press my lips together, poorly hiding my smile. “Maybe.”
More than maybe. I want his hands on me, his mouth, his body, every inch of him filling me, and I swear the smile he gives me, he knows exactly what I want. What I need.
“Good,” he says, his voice rough with promise. “Because there’s somewhere I want to take you after dinner.”
Chapter 7
Bennett
Dinner goes smoothly, Piper charming everyone with her story about the first day she moved to Alaska, how she and her girlfriends swerved off the road at a bear sighting. How later, the bear who saved them was a Koleman, who went on to marry her dearest friend.
Later, during the after-dinner cocktail party, Victor finds me and gives me a knowing look. “She’s good for you,” he says. “When are you going to get on one knee?”
I run a hand over my jaw, it’s been at the forefront of my mind all day. If I want to see this thing through, I need more than a mate. I need a fiancée.
“Now.”
“Now?” Victor laughs. “That’s my boy. That’s what a chief would do. Know what he wants and take it.”
“Right, well, that’s me.”
“Can I help?” he asks with a bright smile. I’ve never seen the old man looking so excited. And before I can even answer, he is raising his glass. “Excuse me, can I have your attention please!”
The room turns to him - well, to us.
“If Piper Bancroft would please join us,” Victor says.
Piper meets my eyes and leaves her conversation with Meg. “What is this?” she whispers as I wrap an arm around her.
“Just go along with it. Please.”
Her brows furrow as Victor hushes the crowd. “Bennett, the floor is yours,” he says, clearly pleased with himself.
I’m really doing this. It feels both wrong and right on so many levels, but I can’t back down now, all eyes are on me.
“Piper,” I say, her hand in mine. “You know I love you, deeply and forever. The way only those who are mated could.” The words leaving my lips are the fucking truth, we are mated and it changes the way I see things between her and...but Piper has no clue.
Her expression remains guarded, but I see the question in her eyes, what are you doing?
“Because of that, my love and commitment to you,” I continue, dropping down to one knee. “Will you marry me?”
Her eyes widen, and her mouth forms a perfect O as she inhales, and I know Piper well enough it isn’t a look of pleasure - after last night, licking her sweet pussy - I know that look.
This is not that.
This is frustration boiling into something dangerous.
“Piper,” I say, begging her with my eyes, pleading with her to keep up the charade, but knowing I may have just made a huge mistake, I repeat, “Will you marry me?”
She licks her lips, nodding ever so slowly. “Of course, Bennett Koleman.” Her voice is tight when she says, “It’s all I’ve ever wanted.”
I stand, pulling her in my arms, the crowd clapping.
Viktor cheers, “Kiss her!”
And I do.
I kiss her, my lips apologizing. I kiss her, wishing that this engagement was real. I kiss her, wishing everything about our relationship was based on truth.
She pulls away and before she gets a chance to slap me across the face, I lift her into my arms and carry her from the after-dinner cocktail party.
Once we reach the foyer, I set her on the floor. I know she’s angry, throwing an engagement on her wasn’t part of the plan. Her cheeks burn red as I take her by the hand. I need to get her away from all these inquiring minds and hash this out.
“A warning would have been nice, Bennett,” she whisper-yells as I push open the doors of the resort and lead her outside.
“I’m sorry,” I tell her as we walk down a concrete path toward the outdoor soaking tubs. It was my plan all day, to take her here - I just was hoping she wouldn’t be mad when we arrived.
“It wasn’t part of the plan to propose tonight,” I explain. “But I have to have a fiancée if I want to be elected.”
She stops walking. “What’s next? Are you going to tell me you need a wife before you can be chief?”
I grimace, knowing this isn’t going to end well.
“Are you kidding me? Bennett!” She throws her hands up. “This is way too much.”
“I know.” I place my hands on her shoulders, hoping my touch will calm her down. “I’ll figure that part out when the time comes. Right now, just be my fiancée.”
She frowns, looking around. It’s dark out and stars shine brightly in the sky. “Did you hear that?”
I shake my head. “I didn’t hear anything.”
Biting a nail, she groans. “Bennett, doesn’t this all feel overly complicated? It’s the reason I’ll never actually settle down.”
I swallow. Hard. The words aren’t ones I want to hear. “Why’s that?”
“Because men,” she says pointing at my chest. “Always mess things up.” She’s trying to be playful, but there is a deep wound in her eyes. “They take, and they take and—”
I cut her off. “Hey, I know I should have asked before I proposed and made a scene. And I know it complicates things with your friends, with my family. And I’m sorry. Let me make it up to you?”
“How?” I can tell there’s a part of her that doesn’t want to stay mad, the same part that leans into me even though I’m pretty sure she doesn’t realize it.
I smile. “Is that a yes, I’m forgiven?”
“Depends.” She twists her lips, an independent woman through and through. If she forgives me, it’s going to be on her own terms, in her own time.
“On what?”
“On what you have planned for us. You said you had a place you wanted to take me after dinner?”
I pull Piper to me, my mouth on her ear. “You’ll have to break your rules.”
She laughs softly, her body against mine. Willing. Wanting. At least her body knows it’s mine. I just have to find a way to convince her heart and mind.
“If it means more of that,” she says, boldly running her hand over my growing shaft. “I’ll bend the rules...for tonight.”
“Oh, there will be plenty more of that.” And it will be more than just tonight, I want to say.
I take her hand and lead her to the soaking tub. It’s a big beautiful in-ground hot tub, overlooking a lake. The steam from the tub cre
ates a sexy and serene place for us to make love, and I lock the gate we passed through, wanting absolute privacy tonight with my mate.
I want her to feel at home in my arms, I want her to see me as more than a fake fiancée. But after her comments on the path, about men taking and taking, I know now isn’t the time to tell her that she is mine, whether she likes it or not.
“It’s beautiful out here,” she says.
“It is.” I run my hand over her back, finding the zipper of her dress, and I gently tug it down, while I rake my teeth over her neck.
She trembles under my touch. “Wha-what are you doing?”
After removing my jacket, I pull my shirt over my head and start unbuckling my belt. “Come in the water with me.”
She swallows hard when my briefs come off with my pants. “Someone will see us.”
“We’re all alone out here. The place is locked up, and everyone is still inside rubbing shoulders.” I step into the warm water and grin at her.
“Isn’t that where you should be?” She holds her arms over her chest so that her dress doesn’t fall off.
“Maybe. But I’d rather be out here with you. Come in, Piper.”
She chews on her bottom lip and looks around. I know for a fact that no one will bother us out here. I paid one of the guards to make sure no one comes through the gate.
“I don’t know.”
“Piper.” I lock gazes with her. “Take a chance. Enjoy yourself. You’re safe with me.”
With a shaky breath, she lets her dress fall to the ground. It fucking takes my breath away, looking at her here, naked before me.
“You’re so beautiful,” I say as she steps toward the hot tub. I offer her my hand as she steps into the water.
“I can’t believe I’m doing this.” We sink into the water, her body mostly hidden beneath the water, but her full breasts float.
“What? You don’t usually give yourself permission to have fun?”
Piper scoffs. “I know how to enjoy myself. But I never break rules.”
“Some rules were made to be broken, Piper,” I tell her, pulling her to me.
Untamed Fiance (Mountain Men of Bear Valley Book 4) Page 4
