Grayslake: More than Mated: Bears Do It Better (Kindle Worlds Novella)

by Jessie Lane

  Keen motioned for him to come up to the porch, and Borys took one step forward, releasing the breath he hadn’t realized he had been holding, scenting honey rolls ahead of him in the den. He fucking loved Gigi’s honey rolls.

  Taking another step forward, he took a reassuring breath in … and was hit with another scent. Damn, something smelled good, and it wasn’t the scent of Gigi’s honey rolls. It was a different scent, one off to the left. It floated to him on the wind, ensnaring him with a hint of aroma he couldn’t quite place. Whatever it was, he had to have it.

  All reason left him as his bear surged to the front of his mind, demanding to be let out. The beast wanted to find whatever or whoever was making that scent and make it his.

  Ignoring the calls from his bear brethren on the den porch, Borys turned and started stalking toward the edge of the forest across the lawn. With every step he took, a little more reason left him and a bit more desperation took over both him and his bear. The aroma became stronger, sweeter as he found himself now running toward the trees.

  In the back of his mind, he registered the fact that people were calling his name behind him, but nothing was as important as finding that scent. It was something like oatmeal cookies laced with vanilla, but better. It made his mouth water and his cock hard.

  He probably should have been concerned over the fact that he might be getting hard for a cookie, but he couldn’t bring himself to care. He wanted that fucking cookie, and he wanted it now! Borys could analyze the disturbing new trait later and pray that it wouldn’t hinder his grocery shopping trips.

  The edge of the forest was coming up fast, the nearest trees only a few feet away. By now, the mouthwatering smell was strong, and he knew he was close to finding his proverbial cookie.

  His bear roared inside his head that there were others chasing them. He needed to hurry before they could reach his cookie.

  Borys assured his beast no one would have their cookie but them. They were so close … just a little farther.

  Running around the massive trees, he followed that sweet scent, zeroing in on one tree in particular. Just a few more feet, and he could climb up that tree and figure out what was making that smell that was slowly driving him insane.

  Leaping off the ground, Borys sunk his bear claws into the tree and started to climb up. Maneuvering his way around a few branches, panting, not with exhaustion, but the need for that damn cookie. It struck him a bit dumb when he pulled himself up onto the thickest branch and found, not his mouthwatering oatmeal cookie, but a pair of big brown eyes set in the prettiest face he had ever laid eyes on. Did the woman have his cookie?

  With his brain and his bear running on nothing but the most primitive instincts, he growled, “Gimme the cookie.”

  The woman’s brown eyes went wide in surprise as she shakily murmured back to him in a thick accent, “I do not have any cookies.”

  Borys’s bear roared inside his head. What did she mean she didn’t have any cookies? She had to have it, and he wanted it now!

  Determined to find the blessed cookie he could almost taste, he balanced himself on the branch and leaned forward until his nose hovered near her arm. The woman was leaning against the trunk of the tree, so she had nowhere to go to get away from him, which was good for Borys since he was determined to sniff out wherever it was she was hiding his cookie.

  Running his nose down her arm, across her waist, and even down to where the front pockets were on her jeans, he tried to sniff out that cookie. The smell was strong all over, but it did get stronger the lower he put his nose on the woman.

  Truly, what he did next, he should have been utterly ashamed of, but the woman smelled so damn good that Borys decided he would just apologize later.

  He followed his sweet, vanilla and oatmeal cookie smell all the way to where it was strongest at the moment—the juncture of her open thighs. Her legs were spread to hug the branch she was sitting on, so he had unfettered access to run his nose up along the insides of her thighs and over her covered mound, where he found himself moaning at the tantalizing scent.

  Either the beauty before him had a cookie hidden in a very uncomfortable place, or she was his cookie. Since he didn’t think the woman would take too kindly to him sticking his hand down her pants to find out if she had a cookie hidden in her underwear, he decided to do the next best thing—taste her.

  Bringing his mouth up to her gaping one, he ran his tongue along her bottom lip and growled in pleasure at the flavor. The woman started to sputter in outrage, but he shut her up by sealing his lips over her own and kissing her, delving his tongue inside of her wet depths to get as much of that sweet flavor as he could on his own tongue.

  Never in his life had Borys ever wanted a woman like this. He was consumed with her scent, drunk on her flavor, and burning up to taste all of her. His cookie was pretty and oh, so savory on his tongue. There could be only one reason why both his bear and his human half wanted a woman this badly: She was his fated mate.

  Now he just had to stop kissing her and find out what his cookie’s name was.

  Chapter Five

  Misha threw her hands out to push away the crazy bear who was suddenly kissing her, but she couldn’t bring herself to do it. Her hands got distracted by the wall of muscle that was his chest. Plus, once the taste of him burst over her tongue, she found herself wanting more.

  What the hell was wrong with her?

  She was kissing some lunatic, and her bear didn’t want her to stop. If anything, her bear wanted her to get closer to the crazy man, feel more than his chest and taste more than his mouth.

  As she deepened their kiss, some small logical part of her that was pushed to the back of her mind screamed, “What the fuck was in those honey rolls they had fed her? Some sort of aphrodisiac?”

  Misha could feel her sanity slowly start to seep away the more she kissed the man sitting on the tree branch with her. In fact, they were so lost in their kiss, they didn’t hear the branch cracking under their combined weight. No, they were so lost in each other that they didn’t realize something was wrong until they were flying through the air, rushing toward the ground.

  Her crazy man let out a roar of surprise as he grabbed her to his chest, letting his body be the barrier between herself and the other branches as they broke under their fall down. When they landed, it was so hard that the air was knocked out of her chest, but Misha couldn’t really complain because the man had taken the brunt of their fall.

  She was dazed and confused as she gasped to get oxygen back in her system. Her senses were fuzzy from being overwhelmed then scared shitless. Perhaps that was why she didn’t notice the other bears standing around them while they laid on the ground, or that her aunt was also there, being held back by the older bear who wouldn’t stop checking out her ass as Arina hissed and tried to claw her way to Misha. What did get Misha’s attention was a pair of big booted feet that came directly into her line of sight.

  Her crazy man gripped her tighter, and she felt a growl rumble deep in his chest.

  Looking up, Misha saw the clan’s Itan staring down at them with surprise in his gaze. The leader’s lips started moving, but all she could hear was a buzzing in her ears.

  It wasn’t until the leader’s brother started laughing, the crazy man gripped her even tighter to his chest, her aunt went stock still, and the leader spoke again that the buzzing stopped.

  “Woman, can you hear me?” the Itan asked.

  Misha gave him a shaky nod, and then he dropped a verbal bomb on her.

  “I said, it looks like you found Borys. That’s your cousin you were kissing!”

  Ten minutes later, Misha was sitting in the den’s living room, on the lap of her cousin Borys, because the man refused to let her go. Frankly, Misha was starting to think he was a total nutcase. He kept sniffing her neck and calling her “cookie.” The Itan and others had tried their best to get Borys to let her go in the forest, but the large American bear swiped his claws at all of him and refuse
d to let loose his hold.

  After listening to her aunt threaten to claw him off her, the Itan had decided to ask Borys to carry Misha inside. Surprisingly, the man had, sweeping her off her feet and carrying her plump ass into the den, not stopping until he sat himself on the couch, with Misha firmly placed on his lap.

  Now, here she sat, in shock for two reasons. First, she had found the family she had been so desperately looking for. Secondly, she had been kissing said family!

  She was completely horrified to be caught in such a compromising situation. Nevertheless, as angry as her human side was, her bear side was telling her that they should be wiggling on the man’s lap and urging him to kiss her again. What in the world was wrong with her?

  It had to be those damn honey rolls! Misha had thought there was no way something made of pure ingredients, with supposedly no artificial whatsoever, could taste that damn good!

  She ignored all of the chattering around her and turned her head until she spotted the old sow named Gigi. “You … You heifer! What did you put in those rolls? I want to know this instant. Then you’re going to tell me how to undo whatever it is you’ve done to me and my cousin.”

  Gigi was completely taken aback by her outburst.

  Misha watched as Keen stepped over to the old woman and hugged her across the shoulders, giving Misha a glare. “There was nothing in those honey rolls to cause whatever this is going on with you two. You shouldn’t blame poor Gigi. Besides, I didn’t hear you complaining about those honey rolls while you were shoving them down your throat.”

  Misha didn’t get a chance to say anything back because her aunt decided it was her turn to say something. Thankfully, that something was in Russian, so the other bears couldn’t understand, which Misha would end up eternally grateful for by the end of her aunt’s rant.

  “This, child. This is all of your sweet tooth’s fault! If you had not eaten those evil honey rolls, you would not be putting off whatever magic that old cow put in you to make your own flesh and blood hunt you down like a male in rutting heat. I don’t care what you say, we’re going back to our homeland right now!” Arina’s face was flushed completely red by the end of her tirade, and she was panting in anger.

  Misha was mortified that her beloved aunt had seen this happen. She was ready to try and push her way out of Borys’s grip when the old bear who had been holding her aunt back stepped up behind her and gently grabbed her shoulders in his large hands.

  Leaning his head down, he spoke right next to her aunt’s ear. “Sweetheart, I have no idea what you just said, but if you’ll say it to me again when we’re alone, naked, and you purring for me, I’ll make your wildest dreams come true.”

  Misha didn’t know who was more surprised by the bear’s bold statement, her or Arina. What she did know now was that these American bears were plum crazy, and they needed to get the hell out of here!

  What made it that much more frustrating was that her bear absolutely did not want to leave their cousin. What was wrong with her?

  Chapter Six

  They were trying to take Borys’s cookie from him!

  It also didn’t help that his cookie kept trying to wiggle off his lap. Didn’t she realize they were fated mates?

  As soon as he could remember how to do more than drool and growl at his Itan, he was going to explain to Ty that this was his fated mate, and then he would take her to his home. There, he could learn what her name was and ask her if she tasted like a cookie all over.

  The reason Borys was having a hard time communicating to his Itan now was because his bear was trying to take charge of the situation. His beast wanted to come out and claw the eyes out of any other male who was looking at his mate. It probably didn’t help that Borys’s human side sort of thought the idea had merit, too.

  He knew better, though. He couldn’t just let his bear out and claw everyone to death. Not only would that get him banished or killed by the Itan, it might also get his mate in trouble. Therefore, Borys sat there, trying to get his bear to calm the fuck down, which was proving to be just as hard as the cock in his pants. And that was saying something since his cookie kept wiggling around on his lap, trying to get loose, inadvertently teasing him.

  Even though he was in a mental fog from trying to keep his bear at bay, Borys could feel his eyes literally rolling back in his head at the pleasure of that wiggle. Good Lord … he would be the first person in shifter history to be killed by a cookie. Take that, Cookie Monster!

  Knowing he had to get his shit together so he didn’t appear to be some dumbfounded idiot, Borys started to truly concentrate on pulling himself back together. He told his bear to back the fuck off. When that didn’t work, he bribed the bastard, promising him that he could come out and play with their mate later, after he smoothed everything out.

  Just when his bear was starting to grudgingly agree, a feminine voice he knew was not his cookie’s cut through that fog.

  “You have death wish, bear. Get your paws off my cub or I will show you how we tigers make bear skin rugs in Russia with nothing but our claws and vodka.”

  Cookie tensed in his lap, and Borys tightened his grip on her to make sure she stayed where she belonged. With him.

  A round of growls surrounded him as Borys focused his eyes on the woman who had made the threat. When he saw who his opponent was … Well, there was no nice way to put this. He laughed his ass off, which earned him a few comments from the Itan and the others about Borys being totally off his rocker.

  He just couldn’t help himself. The woman who had threatened to slice him up was all of five-foot four-inches. Even though she had some considerable curves, there was no way she could hold her own against him. Borys was six-foot-two and two hundred twenty-five pounds. That itty bitty thing was going to turn him into a bear skin rug?

  He laughed even harder, so much so that his sides hurt, tears were running down his cheeks, and he was running out of breath. And that was probably why he didn’t see the object that flew through the air and hit him directly in the forehead.

  He let out a surprised roar as he released one of his hands from his mate’s waist to rub his poor, abused noggin.

  “What in the hell did you go and do that for, you hormonally crazy puss in boots!”

  The next thing Borys knew, his cookie had him pinned to the back of the couch with a clawed hand at his throat. Her eyes looked a bit on the crazed side, and she was growling with a ferocity that almost scared him. Or maybe turned him on. Regardless, this was no time for semantics.

  “DonotcallmyauntthatagainorIwillgutyoulikeapig.”

  Huh? Cookie had been growling so hard that certainly Borys hadn’t heard what he thought he heard.

  “Can you say that again, sweetheart? I’m afraid I didn’t understand you around all of the growling.”

  The side of her lip curled up in anger as she flashed him a fang, tightening her hold on his neck. Then she leaned closer until they were nose to nose, which was kind of turning him on.

  “I said, do not call my aunt that again, or I will gut you like a pig.”

  Well, damn, guess he had heard her correctly.

  Wrapping his hand around the wrist of the hand she held him by, Borys gave her a nice, polite, “Yes, ma’am.”

  His mother had always taught him not to piss of a sow, and if you somehow managed to, then you give them whatever makes them happy until they were no longer homicidal. From the looks of his cookie, that lesson was going to come in handy.

  She glared at him with those gorgeous brown eyes, and Borys took the time to study them. They had the sweetest hint of green around the pupil, which somehow made the freckles across her nose seem downright cute with her creamy skin. Add in all that strawberry blonde hair, and yeah, he was a goner. Borys had never seen anyone so beautiful in his whole damn life, which was probably how he found himself stupidly blurting out the next comment without any thought.

  “Will you marry me?”

  Cookie startled at the question, and the
whole room went silent for about a minute. Then those bastards he called clan members were laughing at him hysterically. Traitors, the whole lot of them.

  Turning his attention back to his mate who was now straddling his lap, Borys decided to take advantage of her momentary shock and grab her hips with both hands.

  She didn’t tell him to get off, but she did snap, “Have you lost your mind?”

  Shaking his head, he assured her, “Never been more certain of anything in my life.”

  Was that little crinkle she got on the bridge of her nose because she was confused? So fucking cute.

  “Why are you certain you want to marry me?” she asked, exasperated.

  Damn. Had his little cookie not figured it out yet? Well, Borys would happily fill her in on the happy news.

  “Because we’re mates, baby.”

  She opened her mouth to say something, but he decided to lay it all out for her, show her how much he wanted her tied to him, lock, stock, and legally binding papers to match mate marks.

  “Now, I know our kind doesn’t usually get married, but I don’t want you to just settle for a mate mark. Maybe I can’t put a ring on your hand because it would get in the way of shifting, but I can give you that piece of paper that says you’re legally Mrs. Anderson. What do you say?”

  Borys had been expecting overwhelming joy and hugs and kisses of gratitude for him showing the initiative to go that extra mile to make his mate happy.

  What he got instead was a slap to the face.

  Chapter Seven

  “You are craziest man I have ever met!”

  It might not have been the best comeback Misha could have come up with, but it was all she could think of right now. Perhaps looking for her biological family had been a very bad idea. So far, all she could see was that her cousin was nuttier than a peanut factory. The man thought they were mates!