The Bear Project

by Doris O'Connor

  "Emmi, I—"

  "Don't, please don't." She threw him a panicked look, and he grasped hold of the steering wheel to stop himself from touching her.

  "We need to discuss this sooner or later, sugar."

  "It's the reason you came back, isn't it?"

  Cole reared back, and his bear growled at the accusatory tone she adopted.

  "You don't want me at all. You just want the baby."

  ****

  Tears marred her vision, and Emmi cursed herself for all kinds of a fool. Why the hell had she just blurted this out like that? She might as well hold up a big sign declaring her feelings for the infuriating male sitting next to her. He gave no outward sign that he'd even heard her, other than the white knuckled grip on the steering wheel, his clenched jaw, and the way he breathed deeply as though to keep himself in check.

  Emmi could hear his bear's low growls rumble from deep within him, and her treacherous hormones lapped that noise up. It had to be the sexiest sound ever, and her body responded in typical Pavlov's dog fashion. Her nipples firmed, her breasts ached, and her clit tingled, as her juices gathered in readiness for this man's possession. It was insane this hold he had over her. She wasn't a goddamn shifter. This mating bond shouldn't have her in this much of a thrall, and dammit she didn't want to be with him, just because of some mystical bond she didn't even fully understand. She wanted him to love her for her, not because genetics dictated it, or he felt honor bound to take care of her because of the baby.

  And besides, if he did feel this supposedly supernatural bond, was he not supposed to be incapable of keeping his hands off of her? Yet he'd been around her for two weeks now, and never even made one move.

  Damn the man.

  "Emmi, you're not thinking straight. Get in the back, change out of those wet clothes, and then I'll take you home. We can discuss this like reasonable people then, and don't worry. I shan't look. I'm barely controlling my bear as it is. Don't push your luck."

  The growled words got more distorted the more he spoke, and when he turned his head to look at her, Emmi stared into the eyes of his bear. By rights she ought to be terrified, because Cole looked murderous and his bear was growling something fierce, but she knew instinctively that Cole's bear would never hurt her. Not physically anyway. Emotionally, now that was a whole other ball game.

  So, instead of freaking out, like any sane person probably would have done, she simply nodded and scrambled into the back. Just like Cole had said a warm woolen blanket was on the back seat, and Emmi made short work of divesting herself out of her wet clothes. True to his word Cole stared resolutely ahead, and it was only his sharp intake of breath, when she took her arousal soaked underwear off, that confirmed how aware he was of her.

  Cheeks flaming and with the blanket wrapped around herself, she scrambled back over the seat and buckled herself in.

  No sooner had the seat belt clicked into place, than Cole put his foot down, and they flew down the twisting country lanes at record speed. Her fragile stomach rebelled, and she held onto the dashboard for dear life.

  "Cole, please, you'll have an accident. Slow down."

  He paid her no heed, and it was only when she bashed him on the arm that he glanced at her.

  "Really, slow down, unless you want me to redecorate the insides of your car." She flung a hand over her mouth for good measure as her stomach heaved and roiled, and he finally slowed down.

  "Sorry."

  That one word sliced through the air, and Emmi settled back in her seat. He really was pissed.

  "Do you know where you're going? I mean, do you need my address?" she asked eventually, more in an effort to break the tension between them, than anything. No doubt Cole would know exactly where she lived. He seemed to know everything else about her, after all, whereas she knew diddly squat.

  She ignored that little niggling voice in her ear telling her that she knew all she needed to know. That there was only ever going to be one man for her, and that was the man who now negotiated the London traffic with effortless ease.

  "I have."

  Again that terse reply and they lapsed into a tense silence. By the time they pulled up outside her modest block of flats, Emmi was ready to scream. Before she could do anything at all, however, Cole was there, next to her, and lifted her out of the car as though she weighed no more than a feather. Emmi wanted the ground to swallow her up when the elderly couple who lived in the flat next to her chose that moment to come out of the front door.

  "Oh, I say, is everything all right? Emmi, dear, what on earth happened?"

  "Emmi is fine. Her car broke down, and she got soaked in the storm, so I really need to get her inside." Cole forestalled anything Emmi could have said, and Mabel's eyes lit up with a speculative gleam, Emmi knew all too well, as the old woman ran her gaze all over Cole's half naked attire. Mabel was matchmaking.

  "I work with Emmi and happened to come across her car in a ditch."

  "I see," Mabel said, and her husband Gordon stepped out the way and held the door open for Cole to step through.

  "That's what I like to see. Some good old fashioned gentlemanly courtesy in this day and age. Mabel, you go and get the spare key, and I'll show this young man the way."

  "I'd be much obliged, Sir."

  Gordon's face lit up, and Mabel sighed. Emmi rolled her eyes and bit her lips to not come up with some sort of snarky comment, but this was insane.

  "Put me down, Cole, I can walk. I'm not some sort of whimpering Regency heroine for fuck’s sake."

  Cole ignored her furious whisper in his ear, like she knew he would, and Emmi fixed a smile on her face for the benefit of her neighbors, who now led the way up the stairs, and opened her flat with the spare key they kept for emergencies.

  "Thank you so much for your assistance."

  Emmi bristled inside as he charmed the socks off both of her neighbors.

  "Oh, no problem, young man. I'll make sure to lock up your nice car, and I'll post the key through the letterbox. I'm sure you'll not want to be disturbed."

  Mabel winked at them, and then the front door shut and she was on her own with Cole.

  "Let's find your bedroom, shall we?"

  Chapter Twelve

  Cole opened the door to the fresh faced pizza delivery guy with a sigh of relief. The delicious aroma of food filled Emmi's little place and took his mind of her enticing scent. Here in her home, her scent was everywhere, and it drove his bear wild. How he had managed to just dump her on the bed and walk away from her he would never know.

  He'd run her a bath, ignoring her protests that she didn't need his help.

  "Sugar, you're going to have a long soak to make sure you warm up properly. I'm going to grab some clothes from my car, and order us some food to eat, and then, we're going to talk. I'm not leaving until we've sorted this one or the other, if it means I have to hold you hostage until you're ready to hear what I have to say."

  She'd swallowed nervously, but she'd given him the tiniest of nod of confirmation and he'd left her to it.

  He should leave now, whilst he still stood a chance of retaining his control, but he could no more leave without hashing out this thing between them than he could stop breathing.

  This conversation was long overdue.

  Cole put the pizzas on the long breakfast counter that divided the kitchen area from the living room and went in search of plates.

  "Top cupboard on the right."

  Emmi's breathy little voice wrapped itself around his senses, and he reached across to get the plates and glasses and put them, too, on the kitchen counter.

  She'd changed into a pair of flannel pajamas, no doubt designed to convey the message that she was off limits, but they had entirely the opposite effect on Cole. Not an ounce of her was on display, bar her bare feet, which she curled around the edges of the high stool, as she sat down at the breakfast bar. She'd painted her toenails a shocking neon pink, and her agitation showed in the way she kept on flexing those pretty li
ttle toes.

  Cole had never found toes particular enticing before, but with Emmi everything about her seemed to turn him on. He dropped onto the other stool opposite her to hide his raging hard-on. The sweat pants and loose tee he'd kept in his gym bag were comfortable, but they did nothing to disguise his boner.

  "I didn't know what you liked, so I got them to use several toppings." He flipped the cardboard boxes open, and Emmi inhaled with a small sigh that made him even harder. His cock could probably pound concrete right now.

  With a self-deprecating smile at his predicament, he gestured for Emmi to go first.

  "Help yourself. You must be hungry."

  He would have missed the fleeting smile that crossed her features, had he blinked, but Emmi helped herself to several slices of pizza. The look of sheer delight on her face made his bear growl, and Cole busied himself by swinging around and rummaging through Emmi's fridge.

  "Orange juice for you?" he asked.

  "Yes, please, and there should be some beer left in the fridge from the last time Maria was here, if you fancy one."

  Cole wasn't sure drinking was entirely the reasonable thing to do right now, but the ice cold bottle of beers looked mighty tasty, so he snagged one as well as the carton of juice.

  He popped the lid off the beer bottle with his hand, and Emmi jumped.

  "I do have a bottle opener, you know."

  "Sorry, old habit." Cole shrugged his shoulders and grinned at her.

  Silence fell between them as they both got busy eating the pizza, until Emmi stretched and yawned.

  "That's it, I can't eat another thing. Thank you, Cole. I hadn't realized how hungry I was until I started eating."

  "I thought as much. You really need to make sure you eat properly, sugar."

  He knew the instant he uttered the words that they had been the wrong thing to say. Emmi tensed and glared at him.

  "I'm a big girl now, you know. I've managed to feed myself for a number of years now. I'm pregnant, not fucking stupid."

  "Yes, about that. When were you going to tell me?"

  He couldn’t quite keep the accusatory note out of his voice, and Emmi flinched and found the bottom of her glass of orange juice incredibly interesting all of a sudden.

  "Okay, let me rephrase that. Had I not turned up, would you have contacted me to tell me?"

  Emmi's cheeks turned crimson, and Cole sensed her inner struggle. Truth won out in the end, like it always did with his Emmi, and she shrugged her shoulders.

  "I don't know." She stole a glance up at him, and he held her gaze until she started fidgeting.

  "Don’t you think I deserved to know?" he finally asked.

  ****

  Emmi wanted the ground to swallow her up. Why couldn’t she have lied, and said she would have tried to contact him at least? The hurt that flashed across his expressive golden orbs before they turned frigid tore a hole in her gut.

  "I-I'm sorry. Yes, you did, but everything happened so fast, and I … well I thought you were—"

  "A no-good drifter and some sort of murdering scum, I seem to recall." He interrupted her, and the air grew thick with tension. "Good enough to fuck, but not good enough to stay and listen to my explanation. Would that about sum it up, do you think, sugar?"

  He smiled at her, but there was no warmth behind that smile at all. It chilled her to the bone, and she shivered. This man, this ruthless and controlled version of Cole, she'd only caught a glimpse of, back in Creek Fells, when he'd told Blade that they all had to die.

  "No, that wouldn't sum it up at all, actually." She crossed her arms and stared him down, determined to get this off her chest. "What the fuck was I supposed to think? You stood there and discussed murdering other human beings—"

  "Were creatures, Emmi. Dangerous rogues, that were running amok around the town and threatening to expose us all."

  "Semantics. They were still human beings, or at least they are when it's not the full moon. Killing them is just barbaric and cruel and—"

  "Sometimes necessary," he said.

  "Will you stop interrupting me and let me say my piece, already?" She glared at him, and this time a genuine smile lit up his harsh features, and Emmi's tummy did merry somersaults as a result. When he smiled like that, she was toast—pure and simple.

  "The point is I didn't know what to think. And yes, I'm sorry, I overreacted. I don't normally react like that, but what happened was so out of my comfort zone, I … well, I wasn't thinking straight, so I ran, and then when I found out I was pregnant, I had no way of contacting you—not easily anyway."

  She glanced up at him to find him quietly watching her, and it gave her the strength to ramble on. "I still don't know what to make of all this. You gave me all that talk about being my mate and always being there for me, but you didn't exactly come after me, now, did you? Anything could have happened to me, after all. No, you just did whatever you did, and left me to fend for myself. So, forgive me if my first thought when I found out that I was pregnant wasn't Oh, I must find Cole and tell him he's going to be a daddy. He'll be so pleased. He'll come right over and buy nappies with me. What's so goddamn funny about that, Cole Jackson?"

  The damn infuriating man was grinning from ear to ear and leant back on his stool. Legs stretched out in front of him he raised his hands for an allover body stretch. The action raised the hem of his tee and gave Emmi an unimpeded, if brief, view of his hair roughened abs and the very obvious erection he was sporting.

  Her pussy clenched in need, and Cole dropped his chair back down and adjusted his cock through his trousers.

  "Ignore that. It's got a mind of its own when you're around. I'm laughing, because that's exactly what I would have done, had you told me. Had you given me even the slightest inclination that you wanted this baby and me, no power on earth would have been able to stop me from coming after you, responsibilities be fucked."

  He nodded at her sharp intake of breath and reached across to wrap his large hands around the iron grip she had on her glass of orange juice. A surge of heat went up Emmi's arms and she tried to pull away, but he wouldn’t let her.

  "I meant every word I said to you back in Creek Fells. You are my mate. My bear knew that from the minute he scented you in that bar. Was I pleased about that? Fuck no."

  Cole tightened his hold on her as though he was expecting her to bolt, but wild horses wouldn't have managed to drag her away right now. There was something raw and real about the way he spoke to her. She had no doubt that he was telling her the truth, so she simply nodded.

  "Go on," she said.

  "I had no intention of settling down, let alone with a human, but seeing you there, I couldn't leave either. You felt it, too, this connection we share. I know you did, so don't even try and deny that, Emmi."

  "I wasn't going to. But that's just lust, and you can’t base a relationship on lust, let alone make it the basis for bringing up a child."

  His bear's annoyed sounding growl shook the breakfast bar, and the vibrations travelled through the soles of her feet until they centered in her clit. She bit back a moan and tried her best not to look at him, but he grasped her chin and gave her no choice but to do just that.

  The heated promise in his eyes took her breath away, and she found herself leaning across to him, before common sense kicked in and she jerked backwards.

  "Don't, Cole. This is just what I mean, damn you. This blasted bond you shifters all seem to go on about it, is all well and good, but I'm not a shifter. I need more than base animal lust and out of this world sex, and dammit stop smirking."

  "So sex with me rocks your world, huh. I can work with that."

  He flashed her his cockiest smile, and Emmi had to bite the inside of her cheek to stop herself from grinning back at him like some lovesick puppy. Which was of course exactly what she was, but there was no way in hell she would ever admit that to him.

  "You damn well know you did, so wipe that self-satisfied smirk off your face. This isn't about sex. This
is about my life and that of our baby."

  He sobered instantly, and his voice took on that sandpapery quality that turned her insides to goo.

  "Don’t you think I know that, Emmi? Fuck it, when I tracked you down and realized you were pregnant I stayed away because of the baby. I wanted you to make a decision regarding your pregnancy without my interference."

  "What decision?" she asked, as a horrible suspicion dawned on her. "Did you think I would get rid of it?"

  He winced as her voice rose to a shrill squeak, but, really, what the fuck?

  "No, I didn't think that. Or rather, I prayed to every God imaginable that you wouldn't. But, sugar, you acted pretty freaked out when you ran out on me. It wasn't entirely unreasonable to assume that the thought of giving birth to one like me, would freak you out even more."

  Emmi yanked her hands out his grasp, and this time he let her with a sigh.

  "I'm sorry," he said.

  "So you should be." She glared at him some more for good measure, but Emmi was honest enough with herself to admit that he had a point. She had freaked out, but not once had it occurred to her to not have the baby.

  "I could never get rid of the baby. It's not his fault."

  "His?" Cole asked with a tender smile, which made Emmi glad she was still sitting down.

  "Well, the doctor says it's too early to tell the sex, but everyone keeps saying he's a boy, so I kinda got used to the idea."

  "Everyone being?"

  "Maria, her brothers, and their mate. Every other goddamn shifter I've met recently. You all seem to think it's perfectly acceptable to simply come up to me and sniff me like some sort of dog, and announce that baby is a boy. I guess I ought to be glad you don't sniff my butt like dogs. I'd never live that one down."

  Cole burst into laughter, and a little bubble of happiness popped in her chest. It was good to see him laugh. He had been too much of a brooding presence in her life for the last two weeks. This felt more like their time in Creek Fells before it had all gone so horribly wrong.

  "I can see how that would be difficult to explain, sugar."

  Cole sobered and stood up. He towered over her, and her mouth went dry. She licked her lips nervously when he rounded the breakfast bar and stared down on her. The intensity of his gaze took her breath away, and her skin heated under his silent regard.