That was as close to an apology as Barrett would ever come. They both knew it. Barrett waited there for a moment and when Logan nodded his acceptance of it, he turned and walked away.
Sam knocked on the door of the cabin. It had been easy enough to locate hers because all he had to do was follow his brother’s scent. As he neared the cabin, another scent invaded his mind. Apples. Sweet and tart, delicious and tempting—the scent of apples overwhelmed him.
He was trying to figure out where the hell it was coming from as he knocked on the cabin door. Zoe, with her blonde hair and ridiculous curves was just his brother’s type, but it was the woman on the couch behind her who caught and held his attention completely. Dark haired, dusky-skinned, and wearing a body hugging dress and mile high heels, she was a stunner.
As he looked her over, she lifted her hand to her hair and brushed it back. Apples. It was her. Fuck.
“Are you here for a reason?” Zoe asked.
“Barrett’s back at the house. He and Logan have decided to kiss and make up. Thought you might want to be there for the group hug,” he explained.
“What do you mean kiss and make up?” she snapped. It was easy to see from the cautious way she eyed him that she had not forgotten their first meeting. Not that he could blame her.
Sam looked pointedly at her friend seated on the couch, “I’m going to say this as discreetly as possible. Barrett was super pissed that our baby brother decided to share the family secret with you.”
She rolled her eyes. “He didn’t have to. You’d already let that particularly furry cat out of the bag!”
“How was I supposed to know the stranger in my house was a lot more friendly than foe?” Sam countered. “Look, you can do what you want, but the two of them are down there and could be fucking up everything royally. Before Logan tosses away his family on a whim, he deserves to know if there’s even a shot with you to warrant that."
“Fine,” she said and stepped out into the porch. He didn’t move. “Are you coming?”
He ought to. If he had a lick of sense in his head, he would. But he couldn’t take his eyes off the dark-haired beauty on the couch eyeing him with just enough disdain to make it challenging. “I’ll stay here and keep your friend company,” he offered. “I’m not much for big emotional scenes.”
“India?” Zoe asked.
The sexy brunette smiled, but it wasn’t a friendly expression. It was tight and even a little mean. “It’s fine. I’ll wait here while you to deal with this hillbilly Jerry Springer mess you’ve landed yourself in the middle of. Be smart, Zoe. Do not fall for a pretty face and a good line.”
Sam didn’t even notice when Zoe stepped off the porch and headed toward the cabin he shared with his brothers. His eyes were glued to her friend, and he didn’t have any plans to take them off her any time soon. India had more walls than a prison, and in that split second, he decided that he’d scale every last one of them.
Zoe brushed past him and Sam stepped into the cabin before she closed the door much more forcefully than necessary. “She’s got a temper.”
“She’s not the only one,” India warned. “Don’t try your good ol’ boy charm with me. It won’t work. I don’t know who you are, but I’m not interested.”
“I’m not your type?” he asked.
“You’re exactly my type,” she answered breezily. “Handsome, sexy, charming…less than a passing acquaintance with the truth and thinks commitment is an STD.”
He laughed, not in the least offended. “If I’m going to carry that much of your baggage, darlin’, I ought to at least get a tip.”
“Then maybe you ought to leave it where it lies and find something a little less challenging,” she suggested, her voice sugar laced venom.
Sam leaned back against the wall, crossed his feet at the ankles, and tucked his thumbs into his pockets. Her gaze moved over him, pausing at his crotch and sizing him up. He grinned and let her. “I’ll drop my pants if you want a better look.”
“So you’re an impressive dick with an impressive dick,” she mused. “Congratulations.”
“Did he cheat on you? Hit you? Take your credit card to the strip club? Or is it all of the above?”
“He told me my ass was too big, hired a trainer for me, and then fucked her in my bed.” The answer was offered blandly, her tone too casual, and her expression schooled to the point of plasticity.
Sam nodded. “I guess you’re pretty well acquainted with dicks, after all.”
10
Zoe left her rented cabin shaking her head at the obvious sexual tension between India and Sam. It was ridiculous. Was that the way she looked at Logan? Like she didn’t have two brain cells rattling together in her head? Probably, she thought more than a little bitterly. In less than twenty-four hours he’d turned her into one of those women. Insta-love was a thing for books, a romantic trope that fueled fantasies and allowed people to believe in magic, at least until they read “The End”. It wasn’t a real-life thing. But apparently it was. If man-bears were a thing, why couldn’t it be?
Trying desperately to find a point of balance between her overly cynical world view and her current predicament, Zoe slowed her steps as she neared the large cabin Logan and his brothers called home. What was she going to do? Move in and be their Goldilocks? Drag him away from the mountains that he loved and plop an honest-to-God shapeshifter down in the middle of her suburban condo complex? She was pretty sure the HOA would have something to say about that.
When she wasn’t with him, all the obstacles seemed bigger and more overwhelming. Standing there outside that cabin, she couldn’t foresee any possible outcome for them that wasn’t negative. Had Logan been able to smooth things over with his brother? If he had, what did that mean for them? The answer made her gut clench. It meant he’d be staying at the lodge. He didn’t need her. Of course, he’d said he wanted her, that it was this mystical thing. And while she was with him, she believed that. But when they were apart, it was harder and harder to accept that it was true. When there was distance between them, her doubts and insecurities crept in and took over.
Reaching the main cabin where the brothers lived, she paused. She’d been naked on nearly every horizontal surface in there and again on quite a few of the vertical ones. Knocking seemed a little bit like closing the barn door after the horse wasn’t just gone but dead and buried.
Zoe compromised. She knocked and called out as she opened the door. “Hello?”
“We’re in here.” Logan’s response came from the bedroom.
Following the sound, Zoe found herself face to face with two impossibly attractive men. Logan, with his blond hair and boyish smile, was classically handsome. But Barrett Arthur looked dark and dangerous in comparison.
“What’s going on?” she asked, striving for a neutral tone.
“My brother decided to stop being an asshole,” Logan said. “He wants me to stay here and help run Bearadise Lodge. But I told him that wasn’t up to just me.”
“Is that what you want?” Zoe asked. “To stay here and run the lodge?”
Logan smiled at her, his eyes lighting up in a way that made her heart flutter and her knees turn to jello. “What I want, Zoe, is to be with you. Whether that’s here or in the city, I don’t care. I’ll do whatever I have to for this to work with us.”
Zoe didn’t know what to say. She couldn’t even think.
“I’ll leave you two alone for a minute,” Barrett offered and walked out.
“I love this place, Zoe,” Logan said. “And I know it sounds crazy to say this since we’ve only known each other for thirty-six hours, but I love you more. If you need to be in the city, I’ll go with you gladly. I can still come up here for a few days at a time if Barrett needs me. We’ll find a way to make this work.”
No. She didn’t want him to be torn. She didn’t want him splitting his time between her and his family. And she didn’t want him giving up the freedom to take his bear form when he felt the need because th
ey were trapped in her suburban neighborhood.
“No. You’re not going to do that. You’re going to stay here,” she said.
“Zoe, baby, don’t shut me out here. I want to be with you—”
“And you will be,” she interrupted. “Because I’m staying here too.”
“Baby, don’t take this the wrong way, but you’re not a mountain girl. You’re about as city as city can get.”
“So I’ll learn,” she said. “And it’s not like we’re hours from civilization. There’s an outlet mall less than twenty-five minutes from here! The truth is, I don’t like my life in the city.” As soon as she uttered it she knew it for absolute truth. “I have a bland, cookie cutter condo. I spend most of my days shut up inside my home office working on a book or online shopping when I should be working on a book! I might, if I start to go crazy from lack of human interaction, I’ll throw on some clothes and go to a coffee shop to write. All of that can happen here.”
He stared at her for a moment, before mirroring her own fear. “I don’t want you to regret this.”
“I can write anywhere, Logan. The only thing I could ever regret is letting you go. And the truth is, there’s nothing about living in the city, or in my case, near the city, that’s so great I can’t live without it. Except for cappuccino. I need a cappuccino machine.”
They stood there, staring at one another blankly for a minute. Maybe he was just as overwhelmed by the craziness of what had just happened as she was, but for a heartbeat, neither of them seemed to know what to do. Then, without warning, he surged toward her, picked her up in his arms and twirled her around.
“I’ll get you a cappuccino machine. Whatever you want, baby, as long as you’re mine.”
Zoe laughed. “I think I was yours before I ever even met you, Logan. I’ve been writing about men like you for a decade and thinking it was all fiction!”
“You mean shifters?”
She touched his face, cupping it in her hands before pressing a kiss to his lips. “No. Yes, but that’s not the part I meant. Strong, loyal, tender, honest—I think being a bear just might be least remarkable thing about you. As insane as it sounds, I love you. And I don’t ever want to be anywhere but where you are.”
Logan kissed her then, deeper and more intently. It was tender and sweet, but still undeniably hot. It was a kiss that was intended to be a starting point for much, much more.
“Your brother—”
“Can go to hell right now,” Logan muttered, the words fanning hotly over her neck.
“Logan, that’s your family! I don’t want to cause problems. Sam is fine, but Barrett is another story.”
Logan sighed. “Baby, I love my brothers, but I don’t live for them. I live for you. Barrett will come around. Sam will help with that. It’ll just take some time.”
“What can I do to make it better?” Zoe asked.
Logan grinned, “If you’ve got any single friends, invite them over! They need to get girls of their own.”
Thinking about India and Sam, Zoe smiled. “I might be able to help with that, at least for one of them.”
Logan carried her to the bed, laying her down and coming down on top of her. “Later. You can think about them later.”
“I guess I ought to be thinking about you right now, huh?” she teased.
His expression was wicked, his gaze hot and devouring. “Baby, if you’re thinking at all, I’m doing it wrong.”
Zoe’s laughter faded as he came down on top of her, his big body covering hers. She could feel the strength in him, the heat, and also the tenderness of his touch, how careful he was not to hurt her when she knew that he could so easily. But that wasn’t something she’d ever have to fear from Logan. Maybe it was because he was so strong that he was so much more cautious. Or maybe it was because, unlike so many men of her acquaintance, he had no doubts about who and what he was and was left with nothing to prove to anyone.
It was hard to think, hard to focus on anything but the feeling of his lips on her skin, the way his teeth nipped and grazed and then his tongue soothed. Good God, the man could kiss. Everywhere his lips touched her, she felt it straight through to her toes. No one had ever made her feel things the way he did. No one else ever would.
“Logan, wait! You said something about a mating bite,” she whispered.
His lips stopped their seductive journey over her flesh as he lifted his head and met her gaze. “You don’t have to. Not until you’re sure.”
“That’s the thing… I won’t ever be sure until I do it. Until you’re mine and I’m yours forever, I’m just going to doubt and question and worry. That’s about me, Logan, not about you,” she admitted. “I have a really shitty track record when it comes to relationships.”
“That’s because you were never meant to be with anybody but me,” he answered firmly. “If we do this, there’s no backing out for either one of us.”
“If we have babies will they be like you?”
“Probably,” he admitted. “If that’s a deal breaker—”
“It’s not a deal breaker. It’s just a question I thought I should ask. I’m trying to be responsible and that’s really hard to do when I’ve got my legs wrapped around you,” Zoe admitted with a rueful grin. “And I don’t mind. That’s not why I’m asking. Not at all.”
He sat up, moving back from her. His expression grew serious. “You’re right. And before I give you my bite, before I tie us together forever, we need to discuss this.”
Zoe sensed his withdrawal, sensed that he was protecting himself in some way. “Whatever it is, I can handle it, Logan. I just need to know.”
He sighed heavily. “If we have kids, and they are, we won’t know ‘til later. Puberty is hell for anyone, but for shifters… well, that whole ‘your body is changing’ spiel takes on a world of meaning. That’s when my mom brought me here. She couldn’t deal with my dad being one and left him. Then when it happened to me, after I shifted back—I was scared to death.”
Zoe’s heart was pounding in her chest, breaking for the little boy he’d been. A part of her didn’t want to know, didn’t want to hear the ugliness of it. But she loved him, and that was a part of him too, just as much as his easy smile. “What did she do, Logan?”
He shrugged as nonchalantly as he could, but she could see the pain in his eyes. “She dropped me off here. Said she didn’t want a monster in her house and I should be with my own kind. Then she left. I never saw her or my fully human half-siblings again. But it’s okay. I’m okay with that. Sam, and even Barrett when he’s not being a pain in the ass, are all the family I can handle. Except for you, Zoe. You’re my family now, if you want to be, and any babies we’re lucky enough to have together.”
It wasn’t flowery or planned out. It wasn’t an Instagram-perfect proposal scene with a big rehearsed speech and a shiny ring. It was simple, heartfelt, sincere, and so beautiful that she couldn’t do anything but cry.
“I hope to hell that’s a yes,” he said, as she sobbed softly.
“Of course it’s a yes! What else would it be?” she demanded.
“It could be that you’ve come to your senses and want to run as far and fast away from me and this craziness that you wandered into as possible. I don’t know, Zoe. I don’t know until you tell me.”
“I love you, and it doesn’t seem to matter that we just met or that every man I’ve ever known in my life has been a lying, cheating scumbag. You make me believe in goodness again. In hope and happiness and all those things that I had come to believe were nothing but fiction. So if I’m running, Logan, it’s just to chase you down. You’re not getting away from me,” she warned, her fierce tone somewhat hindered by the stuffy nose she’d gotten from crying.
Zoe wasn’t exactly sure how it happened. One minute they were sitting on the bed still fully dressed. In the next, both their clothes were gone and his naked chest was pressed against hers.
“Was that some kind of bear magic you haven’t told me about?” she
demanded.
“Just desperation,” he answered. “I need you.”
“Then take me,” she whispered.
He groaned in response even as he stroked her body to a fever pitch. His mouth was everywhere—kissing her neck, sucking and nipping at her lips, then taking the hardened peaks of her nipples into his mouth and tormenting her with his skilled tongue. Her head fell back on a shattered moan as his hand slid between her thighs and he pressed two fingers inside her, stroking deep and finding the spot that made her whole body shiver. Every muscle went taut, drawing in as he stoked the tension. Then he slid further down her body, pressed his lips against the damp folds, and found her clit with the tip of his tongue.
Zoe felt her whole body coming apart. But he didn’t stop. He continued tormenting her, wringing pleasure from her body until she was pleading with him to stop.
“It’s too much,” she whispered. “I can’t. Not again.”
“You have to,” he said, easing himself away from her.
Zoe let out a squeak of surprise as he grasped her hips and flipped her over on the bed. He hauled her backwards so that she was up on her knees, her bottom fitted into the notch of his magnificent cock pressed against her entrance. Just like that, she wanted more. It didn’t matter that she’d lost count of her orgasms. It wasn’t even the release she craved—just him. She wanted to feel him inside her, to feel the heat and the rush when he finally took his own pleasure.
She didn’t even have to utter the request. He moved suddenly, rising up behind her, nudging the head inside her. A broken sob escaped her when he plunged deep, filling her completely. Each stroke as he pumped his hips had her twisting her fingers into the sheets, both for purchase and because it was all she could do to keep the entire world from falling away. As his movements became faster, his hips pumping with a speed and force that left her trembling and sobbing, she felt his thighs tense and quiver.
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