Bear The Flame (Firebear Brides 2)

by Anya Nowlan

  The first blow to Kenner kicked him out of the shift, but he managed to hold onto the gun. Another flash of pain, this time to his stomach, sent Redmond seeing red. Distantly, he heard glass shattering behind him in the living room as he pushed Kenner into the kitchen, cutting him off from Cole and Conrad. Loud shots sounded in the other room and Rose screamed, terrified.

  It made Redmond go harder. He swiped at Kenner, cutting his arm and making the gun fall from his hands.

  “You motherfucker,” the man hissed, losing any sense of decorum he might have been holding onto.

  Redmond growled and bashed Kenner’s head with his heavy paw, making it loll back as Kenner slammed into a wall and collapsed, out cold. Immediately, Redmond spun around and headed back into the living room. One of the windows was smashed in, and Diesel had hit Conrad in the shoulder and side, leaving the man slumped against the wall with a thick glob of blood running down it. Cole was hiding behind Rose, cowering so her body blocked Diesel’s shot.

  “You can’t play that game for very long,” Diesel said, calm and in control.

  “Yeah? Watch me!” Cole grumbled.

  But what he hadn’t considered was the big bear in the room. Not taking a moment to hesitate, Redmond stalked around the chair and stared Cole down, his maw bared in a vicious snarl. Cole was holding his gun with shaking hands, backing away in a half-crawl from Redmond and into the view of Diesel. A clear shot rung through the air, blowing the gun out of Cole’s hands and spraying him with lead.

  For good measure, Redmond swiped at him with his paw, sending the man flying across the room and crumpling to the floor. Diesel was in the house before Redmond was even fully shifted out of bear form.

  “You all right?” he asked, kicking Conrad’s gun away and checking on the other two wounded.

  “Yeah, I’ll live,” Redmond said, gritting his teeth.

  He had three distinct wounds. One in his thigh, one that seemed to have grazed his stomach, and one in his shoulder. Blood was seeping through his clothes but he knew his bear would take care of it. Add in a painkiller and he’d be good to go in a few days. His first priority was Rose, though.

  She was in tears as he kneeled in front of her, undoing the ties that held her hands and feet. When her hands were free, she clasped her hands around his neck gently, nuzzling into his good shoulder.

  “I’m so sorry,” she whispered as Redmond pulled her up on her feet.

  “What for?” he asked gently, brushing her hair back from her face.

  Even when she was crying and borderline hysterical, she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. Having her in his arms filled him with confidence for a better future, one that was firmly rooted in Shifter Grove. Hell, if he could deal with wildfire and shifters gone bad in one day here, he could already claim to be having a much more interesting life than he ever did in Los Angeles. And with the right woman by his side, he had no desire to ever leave.

  “For all of this,” she said breathlessly, shaking her head. “You’re wounded, badly! And these… bastards did it all because of some twisted obsession. I should have never come here, putting you and your family in danger,” Rose said.

  Redmond tipped her chin up, looking into her blue eyes.

  “Don’t you ever say that, beautiful. You came here because fate brought you here. We were meant to be together and this proves it. Through thick and thin, Rose. Don’t let some sick bastards make you doubt yourself. You’ve already made me a better person by being here and I can’t be without you. I won’t.”

  There was conviction in his voice. Adrenaline pumped through his veins, dulling out the pain, but he knew it was as much because of having Rose in his arms as it was anything else. She was his better half, the woman who would make everything right. He didn’t need to know her for months and get to know every tiny thing about her to be sure of that.

  “I love you,” she said, after a long silence that was nearly deafening.

  Grinning, Redmond hugged her close to him. “I love you too, Rose.”

  He wasn’t sure he’d ever say those words and truly mean them, but with Rose, it was the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

  EPILOGUE

  Rose

  Rose took a deep breath, standing on the big wraparound porch of Hamilton House. The sun was shining bright, hot as it had recently been, and she felt at ease. It was a sensation that had been entirely foreign to her a few short weeks ago.

  Smiling to herself she sipped on her coffee, leaning on the railing and watching the sun slowly but steadily creep higher in the sky. It was much too early to be up, but something had made her stir when only the first rays of the sunrise were creeping up over the horizon. When she had turned around in bed and saw that Redmond wasn’t there, she didn’t need to guess what had awoken her.

  As silly as it was, she slept best in his arms. But Redmond had a tendency of going out on morning runs—one of the many things she had quickly learned about him over the course of the time they’d spent together—and that always kicked her out of her slumber. She didn’t mind, though. Waiting for him to return was almost as sweet as taking a quick nap with him after his return.

  Her heart beat faster as she saw his tall, muscular figure emerge from the forest. Shirtless, as she preferred him, skin glistening with perspiration and his golden-blond hair tossed wildly. He was breathing heavily and she was sure he had shifted into human form only before stepping out of the protective cover of the woods. It wasn’t that the shifters needed to hide themselves in Shifter Grove; the feeling Rose got was that their animal side was private for them, most of the time.

  Watching his approach, she couldn’t help but think about what they’d already gone through. She would have felt silly, juvenile almost, saying that she loved someone after only knowing them for a few days, but with Redmond it was different. There was a pull somewhere deep inside of her, like an unbreakable current pulling her to him. When she was by his side, she felt the safest and the best version of herself.

  After Kenner and his cronies were apprehended, life seemed to settle into a whole new kind of rhythm. He was found to be evading arrest on a couple of charges of money laundering in Philadelphia and Topeka, of all places. Diesel had taken great pleasure in shipping him back into the awaiting arms of the law, and Cole and Conrad joined Kenner on his trip to the penitentiary.

  Even the fires seemed to have stopped for the time being, though the one that was threatening Rake’s ranch had been a bitch to take care of. It was lucky that the Hamiltons had been there to guide Shifter Grove through it. The incident only confirmed the need to start a fire station in Shifter Grove. Redmond had accepted the task, and now, completely healed, was throwing himself into it.

  Ragnar, on the other hand, was trying to determine who or what was causing all of the fires. The fact that there had been a lull after a known investigator showed up in town was a clear sign to them of foul play.

  As for Rose, she had made the easy decision to stay in Shifter Grove and see how things played out. She was already in talks with the town council to use the town hall a few times a week for yoga and fitness classes—something that a lot of the locals seemed to be very excited about. Her future in Shifter Grove seemed like a logical, happy decision. It was the only choice that had ever made sense to her, as long as it came with Redmond as a package deal.

  She’d even told him about her salacious past. Redmond, true to form, had found it sexy as hell and made her promise to only ever put on a show for him and him alone. Rose agreed gladly.

  He bounded up the stairs and before she could react, she was in his warm, albeit sweaty embrace. Giggling, she kissed him, desperately holding onto her coffee cup.

  “Ew! You need a shower!” she said, though she pressed herself tighter against him.

  “Is that an invitation?” Redmond asked, nipping at her lower lip playfully.

  “It could be,” she admitted with fake coyness, giving him a look from underneath her long lashes.
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br />   “Good,” he said, scooping her up in his arms and making short work of carrying her into the house.

  On their way up the stairs, Rose waved to Tiana and Royce, who were standing in the kitchen making breakfast and animatedly talking. Tiana grinned and waved back while Royce shook his head with a smirk. The only one who didn’t seem to be taken with their young love was Ragnar, but Rose got the feeling that he would be turned soon enough. He just needed a bride of his own.

  Knowing the Hamiltons, something was definitely in store to fix that oversight!

  Instead of the bathroom, Redmond carried Rose to their bedroom. Redmond plucked the cup out of her hand before sending her toppling into the sheets and jumping right after her.

  “I thought we were taking a shower!” she protested with a laugh.

  “We need to get good and dirty before that, baby,” Redmond teased, flipping her on her back and kissing her savagely.

  Well, she couldn’t argue with that. Not only did she think that Redmond was hot as sin and it was impossible to deny him anything, but he was also her fiancé now. Not unlike his brother, Redmond had moved fast and the proposal to marry had come only a few days after getting rid of Kenner.

  She’d taken no time to answer him with a resounding yes. After all, wasn’t that why she came to Idaho to begin with?

  Life had a way of working out. And Rose had to be thankful that hers had turned out the way it had—with a happy future and a fantastic man by her side. What more could a girl want?

  Don’t miss a teaser for Bear the Blaze, the third book in this series, on the next page! It is out now!

  Bear the Blaze

  Did you miss the first book in this series?

  Bear the Burn

  Looking to read up on the Shifter Grove natives mentioned in this book? Check out the Shifter Grove series on Amazon! Austin’s story can be found in the sixth book of Shifter Grove Brides:

  Sassy Shifter Brides

  Shifter Grove Brides

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  BEAR THE BLAZE EXCERPT

  “Yeah?” she asked, gaining back her confidence. “So what you’re saying is that you’re not here only because you enjoy manual labor in backbreaking heat?”

  Grazing over her lower lip with her teeth, she grinned wickedly. Ragnar chuckled, keeping his hand exactly where it had been before. Searing heat pulsed through Abigail’s body and she could feel wetness building between her legs. It was insufferable being so close to him and not touching him. Abigail knew damn well that it was possible to “just” be friends with men—she worked around countless parades of hot manflesh every day. But with Ragnar, it seemed like a physical impossibility to not have him every which way.

  “Well, I can think of a few other things that I might enjoy even more,” Ragnar said wryly, his eyes trailing over Abigail’s body and leaving her shuddering all over.

  She swallowed dryly, her ears ringing a little.

  Is this actually happening? Am I encouraging this to happen?

  Yes and yes.

  “Like what?” she asked, her voice breaking as she already found herself leaning toward Ragnar, lips slightly parted.

  “Like this, beautiful,” he murmured, his deep voice making her shivers that much more intense.

  His hand slipped behind her neck and he pulled her closer until she was just a fraction of an inch away from him. There seemed to be no space between them at all, but he held her there, their noses almost touching. The second seemed to tick by like an eternity, the universe grinding to a halt around Abigail as she breathlessly waited for the kiss that was now sure to come.

  This book is out now!

  Bear the Blaze

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  WANT MORE?

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  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Anya Nowlan loves sex and writing about it. The sexier and naughtier the better. She mostly writes paranormal and fantasy erotic shorts, focusing on shifters and their lucky mates. Her stories are bite-sized, just what you need to soothe that craving for brave women and growly alphas with a big side-order of smutty sex.

  Anya lives in Boston with her boyfriend and several dogs of varying sizes and levels of mischief. She can't go through a day without chocolate and has an unhealthy addiction to purses, but every girl is allowed her little vices, right?

  If you have enjoyed her shorts or want to just shoot the breeze a little, don't hesitate to contact Anya via e-mail: anya.nowlan@gmail.com

  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/anyanowlan

  Twitter: https://twitter.com/AnyaNowlan

  Homepage: http://www.anyanowlan.com

  You can find all of my books here:

  Amazon Author Page

  www.anyanowlan.com

  Thank you for reading!