Alpha Bears And Brides (Red Lodge Bears) The Complete Collection

by Vivian Wood

  “You brought me a bunch of romance novels about sexy Scottish dudes,” Wyatt groused. “Those books are filthy, by the way.”

  Lucy’s cheeks turned pink, but she merely grabbed the pill bottle and thrust it at him again.

  “No,” he said, crossing his arm. “No more. I’m fine. In fact, I was fine when I came home from the hospital. You’re just being overcautious.”

  “Excuse me for trying to care for you after you got stabbed protecting me,” Lucy said, clearly exasperated.

  Wyatt softened.

  “Okay. I won’t take any more pills, but I will stay in bed for the rest of the day. Will that satisfy you, doctor?”

  Lucy’s lips twitched, and Wyatt could tell that she was repressing a smile. Things had been better between them since the hospital, easier. More comfortable.

  “Fine,” she agreed. When she turned to leave him again, Wyatt stopped her.

  “Wait! Don’t leave me here with your trashy romance novels!” he said, grabbing her wrist and trying not to wince at the little kick of pain when he used his arm. That bastard had stabbed him deep. Wyatt had interrogated Lucy about it thoroughly, wrenching every little piece of information about her dates with Kurt Hughes, and the man’s resulting obsession with her. The jerk didn’t even know it, but he was a dead man walking.

  “You are so needy,” Lucy sighed.

  Lucy sat down on the edge of the bed, giving him a careful look. Wyatt pulled her hand into his lap, rubbing circles into her pulse point with his thumb. Ever since he’d awoken in the hospital to find Lucy burrowed in his arms, he couldn’t stop making small excuses to touch her, to feel her soft skin, see her shiver under his ministrations. It made him want more, but he knew better than to push Lucy too hard before he was fully recovered.

  “I’m sorry to be a pain in the ass, but I can’t take any more pills. They knock me on my ass, and I need to sharp. Hughes is out there, waiting for you to let your guard down,” Wyatt said.

  “I think the two body guards stationed in my living room can handle it while you’re healing. Plus Luke and Aubrey have been at the house twice a day since you left the hospital,” Lucy said, giving him a long look.

  “Yeah, but nobody will protect you like I will,” Wyatt said, his tone coming out more suggestive and possessive than he’d intended. He couldn’t keep his cool with Lucy, not one bit.

  “Wyatt…” Lucy hesitated, her mouth twisting. “I need you to tell me what you know. Things have gone way out of bounds now, and we’ve both been hurt. Can you please tell me how you knew that Kurt would attack me?”

  Wyatt’s mouth went dry. His first instinct was to pull away, release Lucy’s hand, shut her down. But then he found himself covering her small hand with his own, wanting… trust? Understanding?

  “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you,” he said, meaning every word of it. Who could hear Wyatt’s crazy story and just accept it?

  Lucy flipped her hand, lacing her fingers through his, freezing him in place with the weight of her gaze.

  “You told me you’re not here working for anyone else. You told me your source is personal, your reasons for guarding me are your own. I think… I think that means you care for me, doesn’t it?”

  Wyatt swallowed, dropping his gaze. He nodded, feeling like a coward.

  “I don’t understand how you can care for me, but refuse to know me. Or let me know you. Will you let me in a little?”

  Wyatt gave a soft groan, shaking his head.

  “I can’t, Luce. It’s too…” he began, then searched for the right word.

  “Personal,” Lucy said, her expression souring. She pulled her hand from his, ready to rise. “I guess I don’t mean as much to you as I thought.”

  Wyatt reached for Lucy, grabbing her wrist as she moved away. He tugged her back down onto the bed, almost in his lap, cupping her jaw in his hand. Her eyes widened as she looked up at him, need and hurt flashing across her face, lips parting, hands coming up as if to push him away.

  Before he knew what he was doing, Wyatt leaned down and slanted his mouth over hers, swallowing the small sound of surprise that escaped Lucy’s lips. He cradled her face as he kissed her, tasted her, acutely aware of how delicate she was in his hands. Lucy stiffened at first, then softened, her lips parting for him. Submitting to him.

  Wyatt moved closer, angling her head to deepen the kiss, his tongue threading with hers, moving in possessive strokes. Lucy’s hands clutched at his shoulders, one trailing up to wrap around the back of his neck. She pressed herself against him, breasts crushing into his chest.

  The kiss turned frantic, Lucy gripping Wyatt’s shirt as one of his hands lowered to cup her full, heavy breast. Wyatt nipped at her lower lip, teasing a groan from somewhere deep in Lucy’s chest, the sound driving him wild with hunger.

  Wyatt’s mind went blank for a moment, and he had that floating feeling, the sense of deja vu. He’d seen this moment already, dreamt of it, lived it before.

  He pulled back with a sigh, staring down at Lucy’s passion-flushed face as she licked her full lips, perhaps catching a last taste of Wyatt there.

  “We can’t,” he ground out, hating himself even as he said the words.

  “Why not?” Lucy reached out, running her hand down his torso and into his lap, brushing her fingertips over his pronounced erection. “You want me. I want you. Don’t tease me, Wyatt.”

  “Lucy,” he said, catching her hand and pulling it away, though he wanted nothing more than to let her continue to explore. “You shouldn’t want me. You can’t. If we took this further, it would ruin your life.”

  Lucy’s brows shot up in surprise.

  “What are you talking about?” she asked.

  Wyatt gave a dark laugh, figuring it was time to lay it all out for her, explain exactly the danger of this fierce attraction would bring.

  “It’s already started,” he said, shaking his head.

  “What has? Wyatt, I don’t understand what you’re talking about,” Lucy said, pulling free from his grasp.

  “I’m already making you hurt, and we haven’t even fucked yet.”

  Lucy gave him a long look, but Wyatt just shook his head again.

  “I’ve seen this already. Foreseen, I guess you’d say,” he explained slowly, watching her expression.

  “Foreseen. Like…” Lucy cocked her head. “Like a psychic or something?”

  “I guess you could say that. I dream about things, and they happen. I see the future, like I’m fucking Miss Cleo or something,” Wyatt sighed, dropping her gaze and scrubbing a hand over his face.

  Lucy was quiet for a long beat before responding.

  “Lots of people have dreams. Or nightmares, or whatever,” she said.

  “Not like these.”

  “Wyatt…”

  “How do you think I found you, Luce?” Wyatt asked, looking up at her again. “That night at the hospital, when you were attacked?”

  “I thought…” Lucy paused. “I thought you were just leaving the hospital. A good samaritan.”

  Wyatt laughed.

  “Not a chance. I’d already been following you for weeks. Dreaming about you for months, but I was trying to keep my distance. I didn’t want to start…” he trailed off, waving a hand.

  “Start what? Are you saying that you’ve… seen something, something about me?” Lucy asked, her brow creasing.

  “Yeah. We fall in love, Lucy. We fuck like mad, and we’re so fucking happy. Like, disgustingly happy,” Wyatt said, wincing as he recalled the dreams.

  “And that’s a problem?” Lucy asked, crossing her arms. Her gaze was still suspicious, and Wyatt hated knowing that she couldn’t just take him at his word. Things between them were still too new for that kind of trust, it seemed.

  “We start a life together. And the minute that I think we’re out of danger, it happens.”

  “What happens?” Lucy asked, exasperated.

  “I die. Painfully, I might add.”

  “O
h, Wyatt…” Lucy said, still puzzled. “How can you know that you’re not just dreaming?”

  “Because the dreams, visions, whatever… They led me to help my brothers first, help them save their mates. And then they brought me here, to you. I’ve seen it all play out, and I know that it will happen. I just don’t know exactly when.”

  Lucy seemed to mull over his words.

  “If we don’t get together, does that mean you won’t die?” she asked.

  “Nope. It’s too late for that. If I walk away today, I still die. Not sure how, I think a car accident,” Wyatt said matter-of-factly.

  “You’re not going to die,” she said, reaching out and taking his hand. “I won’t let you.”

  Wyatt looked at her, touched by her genuine distress.

  “You’re going to protect me now?” he asked, a smile playing on his lips despite his angst.

  “I think… Wyatt, I think there’s something important here, between us,” Lucy said, her gray eyes shining with feeling. “We could, I don’t know. We could go away, somewhere safe.”

  “It doesn’t work like that,” he said, turning her hand over and rubbing his fingertips over her soft palm. “Fate is fate. That’s why I have to stay and protect you. To protect you, I have to be close to you. And I can’t resist you, can’t resist the chance to have you, even though I know it will hurt you in the end.”

  “I thought you said you foresaw your own death,” Lucy said softly.

  “Yeah, but I’ve also seen the aftermath, when I’m gone. You don’t… recover well. Our bond gets too deep, too fast, and the loss almost kills you.”

  Wyatt thought of the dozens of visions he’d had, all glimpses of Lucy after his death. Alone, afraid, unable to cope. He blinked, feeling warmth on his face, and realized that a lone tear had tracked down his cheek.

  “Wyatt,” Lucy said, edging closer and slipping her arms around his neck. She laid her head on his shoulder, running her hand up and down his back in long strokes, soothing him. “It’s going to be okay, I promise.”

  Her very closeness, the tenderness she showed him, it just ripped him up more. How could he turn away from her, knowing what they would have? Knowing that he only had a few months left on his earth, at best, how could he deny either of them the chance to find a tiny bit of happiness?

  After a few minutes of her gentle touch, he felt calmer, more centered. Resigned to his fate, yes. But willing to try to have something with Lucy, to share himself with her while he still could.

  “Even if it was today…” Lucy started to mumble, her face burrowed against his neck. “Even if you went away now, I’d already be changed. You know that, don’t you?”

  Wyatt wrapped an arm around her, hugging her tightly, pushing away the pain that constricted his heart at the thought of losing her so soon. Her dark curls tickled his nose, and he took a deep breath, inhaling her sweet scent. God, he was already so gone on her, it was almost embarrassing.

  “I shouldn’t have wasted the time we’ve already had,” he admitted. “I want you, Luce. I want you so badly. I just… I need us to take things slow, for now. Physically.”

  Lucy pulled back and looked at him, her expression somber.

  “I can do slow,” she said, biting her lip.

  Wyatt held his breath for a moment, then sighed.

  “I have another condition. I need us to take precautions.”

  “Like what?” Lucy asked, cocking her head.

  “Contraception,” Wyatt said, his heart heavy.

  “Oh!” Lucy said, surprise plain on her face. “Oh, Wyatt. I’m a doctor. I’m already on the pill.”

  “We need more than that,” he said, already hating the idea but knowing that he couldn’t burden her, leave her with his child. Let her suffer alone, raising their baby as a kind of burden, thinking of Wyatt and pining every time she saw the baby.

  “Okay. If that’s what you want,” Lucy agreed, giving him a curious glance.

  “It’s for the best,” he said, but he didn’t want to clarify any more than that.

  Silence reigned for a moment, and Lucy reached out to brush a lock of hair off Wyatt’s forehead.

  “You look exhausted. Can we just lay together for a while?” she asked, all tenderness.

  Feeling emptied out, Wyatt let Lucy pull him down onto the bed. He lay on his back, and Lucy tucked herself up against him, her knee on his thigh, her arm across his chest. The soft sound of Lucy’s breathing lulled him, her scent comforted him, and eventually Wyatt slept.

  114

  Twelve

  Lucy paused at the top of a steep hill, turning to watch for Wyatt’s approach. He was pretty easy to spot in his bear form, with the beautiful cream coloring of a Kermode, better known as a spirit bear. Lucy’s own brown bear was half the size of Wyatt’s, which was unsurprising since she was a foot shorter than him in her human form.

  Lucy heard a rustle a few moments before Wyatt burst through a dense wall of blackberry bushes. From the dark smudge around his muzzle, Lucy guessed that he’d been lagging behind for snack-related reasons.

  Again, unsurprising — in the last two weeks, they’d been together almost 24/7, and Lucy had felt both awe and amusement as she’d watched Wyatt eat immense amounts of food. He was a huge guy, but also leanly muscular. She honestly didn’t know where he could put six pancakes and a side of bacon, but she’d watched him do it this morning.

  The other thing she’d discovered was just how possessive and anxious Wyatt had become about her safety, going so far as to buy a gun and force her to take shooting lessons. He’d absolutely insisted that she have the gun anytime she wasn’t with him or inside the hospital. Lucy had reluctantly tucked it in her purse and left it there, certain that she’d never have any cause to use it. The thing creeped her out on a deep level.

  Lucy looked around as Wyatt trundled up to her, trying to ascertain just where they were in relation to the little cabin they’d rented for the weekend. They were a little less than an hour south of Olympia, Washington. They’d spent the previous day hanging out and grilling with Lucy’s brother Jared and his mate, who lived in Olympia. It was a fantastic weekend, lots of freedom to roam in bear form way out here, but Lucy knew that they needed to get back to the house and get ready to head to Seattle. She had a shift early the next day, and she wanted to catch up on some sleep before then.

  She nuzzled Wyatt’s neck, then turned and loped toward the cabin. God, she’d needed this, the pine trees and fresh air and quiet. Wyatt had gone insanely protective as soon as they’d started sleeping sleeping together. And by sleeping, she really meant sleeping, to her poor, abused libido’s dismay.

  Wyatt followed her back to the log-cabin style rental home. Her brother and his mate had left earlier to return home, leaving Lucy and Wyatt to have some time alone. Lucy shifted when she hit the front yard, giggling when a very naked Wyatt chased her up the porch steps.

  “Don’t run from me,” Wyatt warned, which only made Lucy grin harder.

  Wyatt caught her from behind, caging her against the dark wood front door before she could get inside. His smooth, hot bare skin scalded hers from her thighs to her shoulders, and he gave a short groan of pleasure as the length of his erection pressed against her bare ass cheeks. Lucy opened her mouth to protest, but Wyatt’s warm lips found the sensitive spot on the nape of her neck.

  When his teeth scraped over her skin, giving her a soft bite, Lucy’s whole body reacted. Her breasts tightened, nipples hardening into points. Heat pooled between her thighs, two weeks of pent-up lust making her slick and ready at the barest touch. Lucy arched against him, pressing her ass harder against his cock, moaning when Wyatt’s big hands came up to cup her breasts.

  “Wyatt…” Lucy breathed. “What are you doing?”

  She wanted him. God, how she wanted him. But here, outside? It was outside her experience, which made her nervous.

  “Don’t worry, baby,” Wyatt whispered against her skin, making her shiver. “Our first time
isn’t going to be on a porch. I’m just exploring my options.”

  “You are killing me, is what you’re doing,” Lucy accused, sucking in a breath as Wyatt’s clever fingers tugged at her nipples. Her body flooded with heat, a direct line of pleasure coursing from her breasts to her core.

  “I can smell you,” Wyatt said, his voice gone to gravel. “You need me, don’t you baby?”

  Lucy gave an impatient huff, and Wyatt nipped her neck again.

  “Behave,” he warned her. “And be still.”

  He grabbed her hands and pressed them high against the rough wood wall. One big hand traced a path down her arm, over her shoulder, fingers teasing her collarbone. Then he trailed his fingertips down her bare spine, coming back up to shape her rounded hip before cupping her ass.

  “God, you are so fucking hot, Luce. So perfect,” Wyatt murmured.

  Lucy turned her head far enough to see him out of the corner of her eye. His blue eyes blazed bright with hunger, his perfect shoulders, arms, and chest rippling as he touched the inside of her thighs from behind, urging her legs apart.

  “Wyatt,” Lucy said, her voice coming out as a needy plea.

  Wyatt’s strong fingers kneaded her ass cheeks, stroked her inner thighs, brushed closer and closer to her aching sex. She’d trimmed everything neatly, and she almost purred when Wyatt toyed with the fine hairs on her lower lips. His teeth found her nape once more as he slid a single fingertip up and down her slit.

  “You’re so wet for me, Luce,” he groaned, sliding a finger into her tight, throbbing core.

  “Yes!” Lucy said, rising on her tiptoes and leaning forward, pressing her face against one arm, giving him better access. He withdrew immediately, making Lucy curse aloud.

  “What did I say about patience?” Wyatt said, humor in his tone. “You’re so hot for me right now, I bet you’d let me do almost anything. Wouldn’t you, baby?”

  Lucy gasped as Wyatt pressed the head of his cock to her slick entrance, then slid it back and up toward her ass.

  “Wyatt!” she cried. “I don’t think—”