Jade Crew: Outcast Bear (Standalone Paranormal Romance) (Ridgeback Bears Book 5)

by Amelia Jade

  That caught his attention. “Jenny, there is nothing to forgive between us. Between myself and your family, perhaps. But you do not control them, and you aren’t responsible for their actions. They are grown adults.”

  She froze in mid-step, looking up at him. “Well,” she began after a moment, “I guess if I’m not going to let you accept that it was okay, I have to accept this from you, don’t I?”

  Corey nodded. “You do. And I’m sorry to say you’re going to have to seal the agreement with a kiss.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Oh, you’re sorry about that, are you? Yes, I can just see how terrible you feel,” she said with laughing sarcasm. But she tilted her head and closed her eyes as he kissed her, making a pleased noise as he picked her up off the ground, holding her body tight to his.

  “Now that I have been properly kissed,” she said, fixing her hair as he set her down, “point me to our destination.” She looked around the lodge as she said it, nodding her approval. “I like this place.”

  “It’s not much, but it’s home,” he said unemphatically.

  Her eyes narrowed at his tone, but she didn’t say anything.

  “This way,” he told her, guiding her toward the fire that was crackling loudly. Initially he had intended for them to go to his room, but for some reason he felt she wouldn’t appreciate that as much. Regardless of how he felt about the lodge, it was fairly obvious that Jenny would love the bonfire.

  “Oh this is so perfect,” she all but squealed as they walked through the alley that split the offices from the residences, emerging into the courtyard behind the building that housed their overly large fire pit.

  It was surrounded by large inlaid stones, atop of which were numerous chairs that they kept clear of any snow. The fire was blazing high, having been stacked with several large logs that, once lit, would take hours to fully burn out.

  Jenny practically danced over to a chair, throwing herself down into the wooden Adirondack seat and patting the armrest of the chair next to her in invitation for him to join.

  “Corey! You never told us you were courting a young lady,” Cole said from one of the other chairs. He was sitting there with Trestin in his lap, while next to him Joel sat, staring into the flames as they leaped into the air.

  “I’m Jenny,” she said with a wave before he could speak up. Introductions were made all around by the time he seated himself.

  “Nice folks,” she told him, sliding her hand under his and giving it a squeeze as he wrapped his fingers round hers.

  “Yeah, they aren’t too bad,” he agreed. He tried to sound interested, but his curiosity was killing him. He wanted to know what had happened to make her family hate him so badly. It must have shown though, because her gaze turned serious, and when she spoke again her voice was somber to match.

  “It’s stupid, really,” she said. “It could have happened to anyone really.”

  “What could have?” he probed cautiously.

  Jenny sighed, bringing his hand to her face, nuzzling it softly for a second.

  “When I was fifteen, my father was killed by a shifter.”

  Corey felt his anger flare, the red rage eclipsing the orange glow of the fire in his eyes. It was swept aside almost immediately by a feeling of sadness for the loss she had suffered at such a tender age.

  “Jenny,” he whispered. “I’m so sorry. That’s awful. Nobody should have to go through that. Especially not at that age.”

  Her eyes glistened but she shook her head. “I know, and it was horrible. I still miss him every day,” she said, her eyes staring unfocused into the fire. “But it was an accident.”

  Corey shook his head. “No, a shifter should know better, know his limits. He should never have touched your father.”

  “No, you don’t get it,” she said, looking over at him.

  His gaze hardened at the unshed tears in her eyes. They were sparkling with dampness, but she resolutely refused to let them fall down her face.

  “There was nothing shifter-specific about it. He was on the side of the road, fixing a flat tire. The truck came along, and its tire just happened to blow out. He couldn’t control it and it hit my dad, crushing him between the two vehicles.”

  Without thinking Corey reached over and scooped her out of her chair. He flexed his arms and easily lifted her clear in the most blatant display of his shifter strength yet. As he brought her into his lap her arms wrapped around his neck and she cuddled up close to him without complaint. Neither of them spoke for several minutes while he slowly caressed her back, unsure of what to say.

  Jenny stirred eventually though, her tale not finished. “My mother went into a deep depression over it, and the only thing that pulled her out was the development of a deep-seated hatred of shifters. She blames your kind for his death, even though it could just as easily have been another human.”

  “I’m so sorry,” he repeated, kissing her forehead and holding her tight to him.

  “It’s okay,” she said at last, and he noted some strength returning to her voice. “It sucks, and like I said I miss him a lot, but I’ve mostly gotten over the grief. Unfortunately my brother wasn’t old enough at the time to understand why my mother started hating shifters so badly, and he developed the attitude because of her, except worse.”

  “Is there anything I can do?” he asked. The last thing he wanted to do was give up Jenny, but he absolutely would not come between her and her family. She deserved to have them in her life, and she wouldn’t if he was there.

  “I doubt it,” she said wearily. “I’ve tried. I don’t know what to do.”

  He nodded. “In that sense, I can understand. We all find ourselves in situations where we don’t know the answer sometimes.” His mind wandered back to his situation with the Jade Crew, and the offer on the table for a position back in the Diamond Crew.

  Yes, he knew very well how it felt to be unsure in an important situation.

  Chapter Eight

  Jenny

  The two of them stared into the fire, and she sensed that he was lost in his own mind as well. She had picked up that something was bothering him, but she couldn’t identify what, and for now Corey seemed reluctant to speak up about it. She leaned back into him, reaching out to tug his arm a little snugger around her so that his hand just happened to end up grabbing her breast within his large palm. A smile caressed her lips as he realized what he was grabbing and held it just a little tighter.

  As she settled into her new position, she wandered back to the fight with her mother after leaving Corey earlier. She had been all but dragged back to her mother’s house, where the two of them had exchanged words. Her mother and brother had already been inside by the time she arrived.

  “Do you have any idea how rude you just were to someone I care for?” she snapped at her mother the instant the door opened enough to reveal the two of them. “That was a display of social incompetence the likes of which I’ve rarely ever seen. I am embarrassed to be your daughter right now,” she continued, her blood singing with rage as she lashed out at her mother again and again. “I’ve never been more disappointed in members of my family than I am with the two of you right now!” she shouted, her index finger pointing angrily at the two of them.

  Her mother, as it turned out, had had a few choice words of her own.

  “Do not raise your voice with me. I am your mother and you will respect me.”

  “Respect you? How can I do that when you’re busy making an idiotic fool of yourself?” she shot back, but her words were ignored.

  “Secondly, you should be ashamed of yourself. Out gallivanting around with one of those brutes. Why, I bet he was going to try and take advantage of you if we hadn’t intervened. They are nothing but trouble and the whole lot of them should be thrown out of the valley!”

  “There would be no valley if it weren’t for the shifters, Mother. Are you really that blinded by your grief that you can’t even see the simple fact that Origin wouldn’t exist if they weren’t
here mining?”

  Her mother crossed her arms in denial. “There would still be a town. Some people would stay.”

  “Oh please. You’re just a racist old lady who can’t move on with her life. Dad is dead, mother. He is not coming back. You need to accept that already!” Tears were streaming down her face as she yelled, but this fight had been coming for a long time.

  “He wouldn’t be gone if it weren’t for those nasty animals,” her mother said quickly.

  Jenny shook her head in dismay. “How are you so blind? It was an accident. A terrible, tragic accident, but that’s all. He didn’t seek Dad out just to run him down. His tire blew out and he couldn’t control the vehicle in time. I miss him as much as you do Mother, but he’s not coming back.”

  “How do you know he wasn’t after your father?”

  She rolled her eyes. “Why, Mother? Why would he be? Dad was a mechanic, nothing more. Unless you’ve been lying to me?” she challenged.

  Her mother looked away, unwilling to admit defeat but not possessing a counter-argument.

  Jenny slapped her hands down on the table. “Look at me!” she shrieked. “You are acting like a little child. A daughter should not have to tell her mother to grow up. But that’s what I’m being forced to do. You are letting me down as a parent right now. And you’re the only one I have left.”

  Her mother refused to turn around.

  “Don’t speak to her that way,” Johnny said defensively.

  Jenny rounded on her little brother, eyes flaring wide as she prepared a tirade for him.

  “You’re pathetic, Johnny. You’re young enough to have the rationale to see what’s going on with her.” She jabbed a finger at their mother. “But instead, you refuse to think on your own and you buy into her brainwashed bullshit.”

  “They kill humans all the time!” he protested.

  “Are you a fucking moron?” she said in complete shock. “People kill people all the time. Does that mean everyone in the world of every race who’s ever killed someone is a piece of shit too? Because that’s the argument you’re making Johnny,” she said, eyes narrowing dangerously as she challenged him to back up his thought with reason.

  “They took Dad from us,” he said lamely.

  “No, they didn’t,” she repeated. “An accident took Dad from us. It could just as easily have been a human behind the wheel. It was just blind stupid luck that it happened to be a shifter.”

  Johnny glowered at her but didn’t say anything more.

  She looked back and forth at her only two family members. The Hardwick clan had always been a small one, and her mother had been an only child. Her father had had a brother, but nobody knew where he was. So it was just the three of them.

  Feeling dejected and attacked for having a rational viewpoint, Jenny decided to go. She turned and headed for the door.

  “If you go back to him, you will be dishonoring your father’s name,” her mother warned.

  “You’ve already disgraced it with your childlike attitude and closeminded mentality,” she shot back over her shoulder. “At least Father would be happy I’ve found someone who treats me well and makes me feel wanted. That’s more than I can say for my own flesh and blood.”

  She slammed the door behind her.

  Shaking her head, she came back to reality as Corey murmured something in her ear.

  “Sorry, pardon?”

  “I wanted to know if you were getting cold,” he repeated.

  “While sitting with you? You’re like my own personal heated blanket,” she teased.

  Looking over, she realized that the fire was dying down, and the others were getting ready to go inside for the night.

  “So, do I get a tour?” she asked, easing herself off his legs. Her right foot was asleep and she shook it vigorously to get the blood flowing once again.

  Corey chuckled. “There isn’t much to see, but let me show you around,” he said, gesturing back down the short alley they had first come through. “What do you want to see first?” he asked, looking around at the lodge.

  Jenny contemplated her answer, realizing that she was feeling rather emboldened, and also in need of some more attention, but in a different way.

  “Can I see your room?” she asked, giving him her best efforts at seduction. She lowered her voice, trying to make it sound sultry while also tilting her head slightly downward and looking up at him with a bat of her eyes.

  His pupils flared wide with surprise, but they quickly began to dance with delight as his lip curled back in a delightfully wicked smile. “You may,” he replied at last. “But there are certain, ah, rules that must be followed while there,” he told her, putting his arm around her and guiding her down a raised wooden deck, where they began to pass the old motel rooms one by one.

  “There are?” she asked meekly. It wasn’t entirely an act either. She was excited, but also nervous. What kinds of rules did he have in mind? Jenny was rather surprised to find that her desire to find out overruled her nervousness.

  “Just a few,” he intoned seriously. “First, clothes are forbidden once the door is closed.”

  She giggled. “Well, I’m cold, so is there something that will keep me warm instead?”

  Corey grinned wickedly. “Of course, that’s part of rule number two. Which is that shared bodily warmth is not only encouraged, but mandatory.”

  Jenny was beginning to relax now as she realized that they weren’t going to be delving into anything overly experimental. Though there was a sliver of her that became disappointed. She would have to explore that later to find out exactly what it was she was interested in. Corey would be up for that.

  “Are there any other rules?” she asked as he stopped in front of a door, inserting a brass key and smoothly opening it with a flick of his wrist.

  “You must enjoy yourself,” he said, and swept her inside with a laugh.

  “I don’t want to break any of those rules,” she told him, her jacket dropping to the floor as she stepped forward out of her boots. He was still positioned on the entry mat. “But I must admit to growing cold rather fast.” Her shirt and pants swiftly followed as she stripped for him. She hadn’t even looked around the room besides ensuring nobody was there, but now as Corey struggled to join her, ripping off his own clothes, she took a moment to look around.

  The door opened in the middle of the room. There was an open kitchen across the back, occupying half of the wall. In the far left corner was a boxed-off room that she assumed was a bathroom. Along the left wall was the bed, which is where she headed now.

  Corey swept forward and picked her up as he headed for the bed, and as she began to kiss his neck, she saw a couch and entertainment unit in the space to the right of the door. The couch wasn’t overly large, but it looked quite comfortable.

  “Ooh,” she said aloud in surprise as he gently tackled her into the sheets.

  “Come here,” he said and pulled her on top of him as he rolled over.

  His hands ran firmly up her back, keeping her close to him as their skin pressed together. Once again, the heat he gave off reached out and wrapped her in its bubble, banishing the chill she had been feeling.

  “I like looking at you from up here,” she said, sitting back so that she could easily feel his hard cock between her legs, even if it was still hidden behind his boxers.

  Corey’s eyes ran over her body, sending a shiver through her as he bit his lip while devouring the image of her. “Trust me,” he said huskily, “the view is much better from down here. You’re stunning.”

  “You’re just saying that because I’m straddling you, rubbing myself against your cock while wearing nothing but my bra and underwear,” she accused.

  He shrugged. “I’d be lying if I said that had nothing to do with it, but you’re still beautiful,” he said. One of his hands cupped her chin and pulled her gently down toward him.

  “No,” she said, feeling emboldened once again by his comments.

  He frowned. “Am I
not allowed to kiss you anymore?”

  It was her turn to give him a sly look. “Oh no, you can, but not so gently,” she said, before kissing him so passionately it was almost violent.

  Immediately Corey reacted, using his weight to roll her over so now she was the one on her back. His palms wrapped around her wrists and pushed them down into the bed above her head. One of his hands was so large he could hold both of her arms there with ease. He wasn’t gentle, but he didn’t squeeze hard enough to hurt her either.

  The sudden movement made her gasp, and his free hand delved between her legs, immediately brushing against her clit. He wasn’t playing around this time, and his lips roughly made their way down her neck. The reaction from her body as he bit down on her—still not hard, but not as gentle as he had the first time either—was instantaneous. That, combined with the rhythmic stroking of his fingers on top of her underwear served to send her heart racing.

  His hand stopped just long enough to unhook her bra, and as soon as her nipples were free his mouth found them, not even bothering to completely remove her bra. He was taking her the way he wanted, and Jenny was loving it. He was so powerful and in control, but the way he focused it into pleasuring her only served to heighten everything.

  “Corey,” she moaned as his hand pushed below her underwear, encountering her wetness for the first time as he continued his slow circular strokes.

  Desiring more pressure she began to push her hips upward against his fingers. Above her Corey grunted with pleasure as she threw her head back and made a noise that could only mean she was enjoying herself immensely. His finger had slipped inside of her and the sensation was akin to pure ecstasy. It could only have been greater if it were his cock.

  “I want you,” she told him, straining against the hand restraining her, but it was like fighting solid steel.

  Thankfully she didn’t need to give him much more encouragement than that. Using his free hand he yanked his boxers down to his knees and positioned his cock at her opening.