by E A Price
“Hey, babe,” he crooned as he pushed his body closer to her, crushing her against the cool tiled wall; she shivered but soon warmed under his hot skin. “All joking aside, I never met a woman I found more attractive.”
“Puh-lease,” she muttered.
He hooked a finger under her chin and lifted her head to look at him. “You think I’m kidding?” he asked in a surprisingly harsh tone.
His eyes were dark, brown pools. Oh, his animal must have been close to the surface. Yikes, that sent electric arousal coursing right through her.
Erin sighed, she didn’t want to tell him how she really felt, but she wasn’t one for lying. Evading the truth, however, was another matter. “I think men would say anything to get what they want,” she admitted.
Gunner let out an impatient grunt. “Fuck, Erin, don’t throw me into the same category as any of the assholes you dated before me. They weren’t even fit to kiss your feet.”
“You don’t even know them.” Although she was secretly pleased, and not above agreeing with that sentiment.
He ran his hands down her sides, teasing her skin with his deceptively soft touch. “I know no one is good enough for my psychic princess.”
“Princess, hmmm?”
“Yep.” He nodded seriously before his mouth twisted into a smirk. “Besides, I don’t have to flatter you to get into your tight little panties; I’m pretty sure I'd just have to wink, and you’d jump right into my arms.”
“Ugh! You are unbelievable!”
He puffed out his chest. “Yeah, I’m pretty sure you screamed that last night. By now I’m guessing everyone else in the building knows.”
Double ugh!
Erin playfully slapped at him, and he pulled her up his body, pinning her against the wall with his hips, his manhood throbbing between them. She wrapped her legs around him, and he laced his fingers with hers, pushing her hands back against the wall.
“I don’t think this shower was built for two,” she said wiggling her hips.
“I’m sure we can manage,” he groaned.
“Not when one of the two is enormous,” she added as his tongue swept up her neck, eliciting a tremor from her sensitive body.
“You flatter me, princess.”
“That’s not exactly what I meant… although it’s true.”
She dug her heels into his taut buttocks, trying to pull him even closer to her. He obliged by grinding himself against her. Damn, her arousal was blossoming at an alarming rate; she might just come from this.
“Didn’t I tire you out last night?” he asked amusedly.
“Not likely,” she breathed, pushing herself against him, rubbing the tight buds of her nipples against his chest.
His manhood swelled even harder against her. A deep growl vibrated through his chest. He let go of one of her hands, and just as quickly caught it with his other. His free hand reached between them, brushing against her clit before he aligned their sexes.
“Well then, I must try harder,” he whispered as he drove inside her.
He took her to the hilt in one, and she let out a strangled moan verging on a gasp. Yes, this is what she needed. To be filled impossibly full by this man, this bear.
Gunner stilled for a few moments, a happy expression on his face. “Oh, Erin, you are amazing.”
He stooped to kiss her quickly before he started his pleasurable assault on her body. He snaked his hips up and down, thrusting and crashing into her body, mercilessly rubbing against her tender nub. It was almost too much for her; the pleasure he effortlessly wrung from her body was almost overwhelming.
Erin twisted and turned, trying to free her hands from his steely grip, but he held her tightly. One hand captured her wrists; the other grasped the soft flesh of her thigh, and his hips trapped her against the wall.
As her orgasm neared, pleasure hurtling through her body, she needed to touch him, to caress him, to show him how she felt, to try and give him back some of the wonderful feelings he incited in her.
Instinct took over, and she smoothed her tongue over his neck, sucking and tasting him. He let out a soft snarl and sped up his movements. Oh, he likes that. Emboldened, she started nipping and biting at his flesh and soon he was calling her name with every plunge inside her body.
Feeling herself near, Erin bit his neck with as much force as she could. Gunner threw back his head and roared as he exploded inside her. She latched onto his neck, feeling the throb of his pulse, as she reached her own climax. Her body rippled around him as ecstasy soared through her.
Gunner freed her hands, and she gratefully wrapped her arms around his body, clinging to him for all she was worth. He did the same, almost crushing her to him.
“Holy hell…” he breathed.
She seconded that.
*
“Jessie texted; she found a club that she thinks fits the description you gave of your vision."
Jeez, does that squirrel never sleep? She was a small ball of efficiency and made Erin feel increasingly lazy. Jessie was probably diligently working while she allowed herself to be ravished by a bear.
Gunner shut off his phone. "Cutter’s on his way there; we should join him.”
Erin pulled on a light blue shirt and almost mewled in pleasure when he stared at her with frank appreciation.
“Hmmm.”
Gunner raised an eyebrow. “Not a fan of the wolf shifter?”
“More like he’s not a fan of me,” she muttered.
The wolf had a major chip on his shoulder about her, and she had no idea why. It wasn’t her fault she was born human and, therefore, was physically weaker than the rest of the team. Just like it wasn’t his fault that he was born a wolf and, therefore, more of a dickhead than the rest of the team. Oh, she liked this emerging inner bitch.
“He’s a grouchy asshole. Give him time, he’ll soon warm up.”
Erin pursed her lips doubtfully. Although she definitely agreed about the asshole part.
Gunner pulled a shirt over his head, and she almost sighed; it was such a shame to cover up all those exquisite pectorals. He’d had the foresight to keep a change of clothes in his car. The prude in her had wanted to be outraged that he just assumed he would get lucky and would be invited for a sleepover. However, the nympho had practically jumped up and down in excitement, and these days, her voice was much louder.
“He’s actually quite a fun guy when he lets loose,” continued the man mountain, running his big hands through his hair.
Ugh, thinking about the snarky wolf shifter – way to douse a good mood.
“Whenever that happens,” she muttered petulantly.
Cutter still looked at her like he wanted to eat her, and not in the good way that Gunner did. Not that she would want that from Cutter. No, she couldn’t imagine being with anyone other than her polar bear.
“I don’t know, he almost wet himself laughing after Avery and Isis got into a cat fight over the last bag of salted nuts at the bar a couple of months ago. They turned into their cats and everything.”
Erin looked away from him quickly, biting her lip and remembering what Isis had told her. Lord, just the mention of the cat tied her up in knots. Would she really be able to hold onto him when Isis was vying for his affection? A puny human with an excess of curves compared to a lithe, beautiful tiger shifter who had just the right amount of curves? There was no contest!
On the plus side, Erin had managed to refrain from doing something completely off-kilter in front of Gunner yet. Yep, she’d managed to avoid waking up screaming bloody murder after a nightmare and completely avoided having to interact with some pissed off ghosts in front of him. It was the ghosts that sent her last boyfriend running for the hills. Nobody wanted their girlfriend having an argument with an imaginary person in the middle of a Stop ‘N’ Go while shopping for toilet paper. It wasn’t Erin’s fault that the woman had been crushed by some falling tins of kidney beans, but because Erin was the only person who could see her, she got the brunt of the w
oman’s anger.
Gunner placed a finger under her chin, and directed her face back to his. “What’s with the big, sad eyes?”
“Nothing,” she replied unenthusiastically.
“Erin,” he growled impatiently. “Don’t lie to me.”
She let out a sigh. How could she say this without sounding needy?
“I know about you and Isis and I’m worried that you’re going to leave me to be with her.”
She buried her face in her hands. Yep, she may have missed subtle and calm by just a smidge.
To make matters worse, Gunner chuckled. No, not just chuckled, she would go so far as to say laughed uproariously.
“You think this is funny?” she griped.
Why did he find her uncontrollable mouth so hilarious? It was humiliating.
“Yeah, babe, you’re too cute.”
Cute?! Her nympho fumed.
“There’s nothing between me and Isis. We slept together a few times, but there’s nothing there.”
“So you admit you slept with her?” she asked quietly.
Gunner hunched his shoulders in a ‘so what’ motion. “Of course, why wouldn’t I?”
Oh, no here it comes, that question her big, fat mouth was desperate to ask. “Was it good?” Ugh, why did she want to know that?
He looked torn between mirth and frustration. “You really want to know whether I enjoyed having sex with another woman?”
“Seeing as you’re so blasé about it, why not?”
In her old Gunner-free world, sex was just something done in the dark, and you never talked about it afterwards. But then, she was loosening up quite a lot. She’d just had sex with her bear lover during the day! And in a shower! She was feeling mighty loose at that moment!
Gunner raised an eyebrow. “It was functional.”
Erin, in spite of her burgeoning jealousy, barked out a laugh at the absurdity of what he just said. “Functional, huh? Wow, I dread to think about what you say about me.”
“It’s not the same,” he growled forcefully. “What happened with Isis really wasn’t the same as us. Isis and I just wanted sex, so we had sex. It wasn’t romantic. It just scratched an itch. It was, like I said, functional.”
“And what is it between us?” She bit her lip and gazed at him uncertainly.
“Oh, Erin.” He pulled her into his arms and buried his face in her hair.
“That’s not an answer,” she squawked, her voice muffled in his shoulder.
“I know; I don’t want to scare you off.”
His hands skimmed down her back until he reached her buttocks and started kneading them. Yeesh, he knew how to manipulate her body. Just a little petting had her sex weeping for joy.
“You wouldn’t,” she murmured, tamping down her excitement. She was trying to be serious, damnit!
“You say that now,” he said with a heavy sigh. “For now, can’t we just say we’re dating?”
Gently, she managed to peel herself away from his possessive arms.
“For now?”
He nodded solemnly.
“And the future?”
“Just know that I want more.”
In surprise, she realized she did too. For once though, she managed to keep a tight rein on her wandering mouth and instead said, “okay, and I thought about what you said yesterday, and I agree, I don’t think we should tell anyone at work.”
“Yet,” he added.
“Yet,” she agreed, thrilled at that one word.
Gunner smiled, and her insides quivered. He gave her a quick peck on the lips and started striding to the door. “We better go. I’m guessing Jessie was the one who blabbed about me and Isis?”
Erin shrugged as they hurried to the car. She wasn’t exactly keen to get her friend in trouble.
Gunner mirrored her shrug. “It’s not a big deal. It was months ago, and it was hardly a secret when it happened. Why would you think I’d dump you for her?”
Her cheeks started to pinken with the effort of keeping up with him as they walked. At least it hid her embarrassment. “She told me she was interested in, umm, hooking up with you again.”
He stopped and paused, one massive hand on the car door handle. “When was this?” he asked quietly.
Erin felt a frisson of fear at the soft tone of his voice and the darkness pooling in his eyes. She wasn’t afraid for herself; she was afraid for a certain stripy shifter. She didn’t like Isis – mostly out of jealously, and she wasn't ashamed to admit it – but she didn’t want her to become a polar bear chew toy.
“It’s not a big deal…”
“When was this, Erin?”
His eyes bore into her, and she considered that under that gaze even the most hardened criminal would be tempted to spill their guts and admit to crimes they’d never even committed.
“Yesterday, we bumped into each other at the coffee shop across the road.”
His jaw tightened, but otherwise he didn’t react. He swung the passenger door open for her. “We better get going.”
*
“Well?”
Erin nodded as she surveyed the neon flamingos and the giant birdcages. “Yep, this is it.”
Before Gunner could stop her, she marched over to the table where she had seen their victim, James Silver sitting. She pulled herself up onto his stool and drummed her fingers on the table. She closed her eyes and breathed deeply.
Gunner hovered around her while Cutter scowled, and the club owner watched her warily. They waited in their respective poses until the club owner couldn’t take it anymore.
“What is she doing?” he hissed.
“Fuck knows,” muttered Cutter.
Gunner snarled at him quietly, but with enough force to shut him up.
Erin shuddered as she flashed back to her vision. The familiar scene of Silver pushing a bill into the waitress’ hotpants unfolded before her eyes. The blonde woman approached him. They spoke to each other; she couldn’t make out the mumbled words, it was like watching them through water.
The blonde laughed, throwing her head back with wild abandon. As if anything in the history of the world was ever that funny.
She stepped closer to him, resting a hand on his shoulder, and he slid an arm around her waist. She whispered something in his ear, and a grin split his face. She slipped away from him and swung her hips as she walked. He almost fell over his feet to chase after her.
She led him through the club, dodging the swaying bodies. They exited the back way, into an alley. The door slammed shut behind them. She turned to look at him and… and… Silver screamed in agony as two men grabbed him and pushed a needle into his neck. The blonde woman hurried away, not looking back, as Silver struggled helplessly. Soon enough, his struggles waned, and he collapsed into their arms. They dragged him over to a waiting car…
Erin shuddered violently and gasped for breath. She calmed as warm hands gripped her shoulders.
“Shhh, Erin, it’s okay. I’m here.”
Gunner curled his arms around her and pulled her back against his body. She slumped in his arms as she panted, and he pressed kisses into her hair.
“Everything okay?” called out Cutter uncertainly.
“Yes,” snapped Gunner, “go back inside and grill the owner.”
“Inside?” asked Erin, bewildered.
“We’re in the alley,” he murmured soothingly.
“Oh.”
Erin blinked as she looked around and sure enough, they were out in the alley, stood in the very spot Silver was abducted from. She hadn’t even realized she’d wandered out there.
“When you started moving, I wasn’t sure what to do. I called out your name but… but it was like you didn’t hear me. It was like you were gone.” His arms tightened around her, and his voice was thick. “It was… I don’t know. It freaked me out.”
She was surprised at his tone, but it hit her – what happened scared him. Her big, fearless bear had been scared when she suddenly zoned out. She felt sympathy for h
im but also a big selfish dollop of joy. It was silly, but his fear for her showed her that he cared. Although it definitely wasn’t something she wanted to put him through again anytime soon, but she knew it would happen again. It had happened before…
Erin rubbed a hand over his arm. “I’m fine. I’m sorry you were worried. It just sometimes happens.”
He let out a deep, almost painful breath. He didn’t move, didn’t say anything, he just continued to hold her. She suspected it was more for his benefit than for hers, but she was more than happy to oblige.
After a few minutes, she related what she had seen.
Gunner grunted. “Was he alive when they took him?”
“Yes, he was definitely breathing.”
“Huh. We better get back inside. I’m guessing Cutter is about ready to wring the toad’s neck.”
“Toad?”
“The club owner.”
“No wonder his eyes are so bulbous. I heard that toads can lick their own eyes. I wonder if he can lick his own eyes.”
Gunner shook with laughter against her. “Let’s go inside and you can ask him.”
Chapter Fourteen
Gunner groaned at the flurry of activity in the SEA office. Various researchers, analysts, and civilian employees were running around as dozens of phones rang shrilly.
He snagged hold of a chipmunk shifter, who gulped at finding himself being manhandled by the gruff seven-foot polar bear.
“Hey, Milton…” rumbled Gunner.
“Marvin,” squeaked the chipmunk shifter. “But you can call me Milton!” he added on seeing Gunner’s ‘don’t fuck with me’ expression.
“What’s happening, Marvin?” Gunner gestured a big paw around at the office. “What is all this?”
Marvin looked around, probably hoping to find someone else to give the bear shifter the news. Gunner wouldn’t so much shoot the messenger as pulverize him.
“The uh, news, about your victim missing his heart, has been leaked. The tip lines have been going crazy.”
“Fuck!” snarled Gunner, very loudly, although few people bothered to turn round. They were used to him. “When did this happen? How did this happen? Who did this?”
