MAJOR (MC Bear Mates Book 5)

by Becca Fanning

  He had no doubt that her current resolve would be battered in the days to come. There had never been a mate bond that had started off smoothly, at least, not in The Nomads’ recent past.

  Still, her current ease settled something inside him, and he felt no shame in admitting, “I just need to hold you, Pip.”

  “Then come and hold me.”

  He sighed. “I’m sweaty. I should shower.”

  He’d been about to shower when she’d called out to him. He’d gone from Juanita’s bed to the hospital, and taken part in several bike rides over the course of the past couple of hours. There was no way in hell he wanted to go to his mate’s bed stinking the way he did.

  “I don’t care,” she told him, further decimating his control, but he stayed strong.

  “No. I need to wash. I’m not coming to you smelling of the road.” Or another woman. But she didn’t need to know that last part.

  Hell, the last thing he needed was for her to find out he’d believed Juanita had been his mate up until a few hours before he’d met up with her again.

  That was a disaster waiting to happen. He wasn’t fool enough to believe it would never come and bite him on the ass again, but he hoped it would happen later on, when he had time to make sure she knew her position in his life was securer than the goddamn Pentagon. Once she knew that, once the bond had been cemented into place, hell, she’d never have to doubt him ever again.

  A pout formed on her lips, and he had to smile at it. Christ, Pip was his mate.

  His fucking mate.

  He shook his head, both at her antics and his thoughts. She was everything he’d never dared hope for in a mate. Curvy, round. Tall and strong. Her eyes were like gems and her hair like silk. She was perfection, and she was his.

  His feelings betrayed him, because he had to whisper, “You’re perfect, my mate.”

  She blinked at him, batting those huge emerald eyes. He thought she’d question his words, thought she’d cast doubt on them. Instead, she smiled. It sent heat spiraling down to his cock, making his erection beat all the harder against the fly caging it in. “Well, aren’t we both lucky then?”

  “Huh?” he asked dumbly, too entranced by her peachy lips to really wonder at her words.

  “We’re both perfect. Who knew such specimens walked the Earth?”

  At her cheeky teasing, he had to grin. Lifting a hand, he scraped it against his jaw then grimaced. “I need to shave.”

  “I like you with stubble,” she complained.

  “You won’t when I’ve got my lips around your clit.” And like that, the temperature in the room soared, and her scent went into overdrive. It pounded at his senses, nearly brought him to his knees again as he railed against his discipline. “Shit, I shouldn’t have said that.” He staggered back and held up a hand. “I will clean up for YOU,” he told her, shuddering a little as the powerful musk of her arousal hit him. “I’m not trying to escape the bond, not trying to get away from you because you’re not the mate I want.” He tried to think of any other reason she could misinterpret his need to get clean, but came up with nothing. Jesus, she was lucky he’d had the wherewithal to come up with that reasoning. “But mostly, I don’t want to consummate our bond smelling of the road.”

  She nibbled her bottom lip. He wanted to groan at the sight then blew out a breath of relief when she nodded. Once.

  Pip wasn’t happy about it, but she’d conceded her understanding. He would have gone regardless, but he didn’t want her to misconstrue his actions.

  He wasn’t God’s gift to women. He didn’t know all their secrets, and he sure as shit didn’t understand how their minds worked, but he knew enough to realize she could get herself entangled in all sorts of batshit crazy notions about his desire to leave her before they finally consummated her bond.

  The truth, she’d have accepted and understood his desire immediately. But no way was he bringing up another woman when he was minutes away from finally tasting his mate…

  Major would most definitely concede he’d been a moron these past few years. But he wasn’t that big a dick.

  Chapter 5

  When the bathroom door closed and she no longer had the sight of Major’s ass to occupy her attention, Pip pursed her lips and tried to focus on anything but the deep, hammering ache that was clawing at her belly.

  This was bad. Really bad.

  The need she felt was almost painful. It almost reminded her of the cramps she’d gotten during her periods back when she’d been on the PCOS meds.

  Her core throbbed with a dullish thud that sent shards of desire soaring through her body like shrapnel. Where it landed, it caused more excitement to flourish and spread.

  She shivered beneath the sheets then closed her eyes to shore her defenses. She could wait. How long would he be anyway? He was a guy. They never took that long in the shower, right?

  Shifting in the bed, she grimaced when a certain smell hit her nose. She’d been so focused on him that she hadn’t realized she was still in her goddamn waitress uniform. A uniform that stank of bacon grease and hot oil.

  Jesus.

  He was right.

  No matter how badly she ached, she had no doubt he felt the same. She’d noticed his erection. His poor cock undoubtedly had the tines of the zipper embossing his shaft now. She needed to wash up too.

  With that in mind, she carefully climbed off the mattress and headed to the other end of the sparse room. None of the men spent that much time, effort, or energy in decorating their small rooms. She’d been in many over the years, and Major’s was as blank and bland as any. His consisted of a bed and a TV on the opposite wall. A mini fridge purred in one corner, and two mismatched bedside tables were what the rest of the furniture consisted of.

  High class accommodation it wasn’t.

  She smiled at the sight though. Major was all man, and now he’d bound himself to a woman who, though accustomed to living in hovels, knew the difference between the place one laid one’s head and the place that was really home.

  As she moved out into the main hallway, she walked down to the quarters where the bunnies had slept. They’d doubled up and had larger rooms as a result, but it was the connecting bath that interested her the most.

  “Pip!”

  The voice had her jolting. She spun on her heel in surprise and found that Jarvis, one of the oldest here, was smiling at her. He grabbed her before she could do so much as smile back and tugged her into a deep embrace. He was huge, bigger than Major, and his arms encompassed her like she was nothing more than a small cuddly toy. “I had no idea you were back!”

  His pleased astonishment had her smiling mischievously at him. “I found my mate.”

  He gawked at her, and she realized that for whatever reason, news hadn’t passed around that she was Major’s mate.

  Unsure whether she ought to be the one to break the news or not, she hastily decided that she didn’t care if her telling Jarvis broke protocol. Though she didn’t doubt Major’s sudden attraction to her, she didn’t trust the about face. It wasn’t her way to try to trap a man through social conventions, but this was Major. Not even Pip was strong enough to back away from temptation where he was concerned.

  Her mischievous smile had a reciprocal one coming he way. “What have you been up to, naughty girl?” he asked, chucking her under the chin to tilt her head. When he kissed her nose, she giggled.

  “Nothing,” she told him. “I swear, I found my mate.”

  His grin turned into a small frown. “Who is it?”

  “Major.”

  That had the small frown disappearing. He grinned in an aw-shucks way that would have had every unmated female in the vicinity dropping their panties and said, “He doesn’t deserve you, but if one of us reprobates was lucky enough to catch you, I’m glad it was a decent guy like him.” He narrowed his eyes. “If he hurts you, you just let me know. I’ll challenge his ass.”

  She snorted at that. “He’ll hurt me, and I’ll hurt him.”
A shrug joined her words. “That’s how relationships work unfortunately. And hell, you know how I always felt about him, Jarvis… This is a dream come true.”

  He shook his head. “I never understood why you mooned over him the way you did.”

  “Neither did I.” She grimaced. “Truth is, I’m finding it hard to believe what the hell is going on, but Major swears I’m his mate.”

  “Didn’t he sense it before?”

  “I was on hormonal meds for a condition I had.” When he started to look squeamish, she chuckled and patted his cheek. “Don’t worry, I won’t go into too many details. But Mars and Major think it messed with my system and stopped his Bear from recognizing me.”

  Jarvis frowned. “But it didn’t stop you from recognizing him, did it?”

  “I don’t know.” The ache in her gut was gnawing away at her like a gathering of piranhas was chomping away at her lower body. “I never felt this badly before.”

  “Badly?”

  “Intensely,” she clarified. “He’s just gone to clean up, and I need to as well. Look at the state of me. I have no idea what happens in a mating ceremony, but I don’t intend to be stinking of fries and Canadian ham when it happens.”

  Jarvis chuckled. “Something tells me you sneaked out, because there’s no way in hell Major would have let you out into the hall without him as an escort, not until you were claimed at any rate.” He scraped a hand along his jaw. “You heading for the old bunny quarters?” When she nodded, he said, “Go and get cleaned up. I’ll wait by his room so he knows not to panic. He’s going to freak when he sees you’re not there.”

  She hadn’t thought of that. “Thanks, Jarvis,” she told him, leaning up on tiptoes to kiss his cheek. “You’re the best.”

  He snorted at that. “Hardly. But I’m not the worst.” He shot her a wink then patted her on the ass. “Go and get washed up. You’re in for a busy night.”

  “Jeez, and I thought you were a gentleman.”

  He laughed, turned on his heel, and as he walked off declared, “What gave you that idea?”

  She grinned at his back then trotted off for her old room.

  It was weird walking into the space that had been home for so many years, and yet, she felt little to no attachment to the place.

  She’d shared with another bunny called Roxie for the first two years, and they hadn’t gotten on all that well. Thankfully, Roxie had left, and she’d shared with club whores who had come and gone over the following three years.

  It was hard to think she’d spent five years in this room, in this clubhouse, doing what she’d done.

  To some women, she knew she was like a prostitute, but it hadn’t felt that way. Not at the time, at any rate. Now? When she looked back, she didn’t feel shame over her time here, but she did feel ill at ease.

  Sex hadn’t been her sole occupation at The Nomads’ MC. She’d acted as a housekeeper too.

  Club whores were like wives, cleaners, and sluts all wrapped into one, except there was no singular main man in their lives, and the benefits were pretty damned great.

  She’d had fantastic healthcare and had never gone a night without having a roof over her head, which had happened once too often in her life. Every day, her belly had been full, her wallet had never been empty, and hell, she’d had some of the hottest sex of her life.

  It wasn’t a job that everyone could do. Wasn’t one everyone would even want to do… But she’d done it, had enjoyed it, and wouldn’t regret it, especially now she had Major.

  And she did have him.

  The belief was slowly starting to solidify. He truly meant it when he said she was his mate. As incredible as it seemed, she was his.

  More importantly, he was hers.

  She felt like pinching herself as she stared at the bed where she’d spent so many years wishing like hell he was hers. She’d pined over him for so long that it was embarrassing, but now, it all made sense.

  She hadn’t been pathetic and desperate for attention for him. She’d been his mate. The bond between them had been active on her side, and it had been driving her nuts.

  Only leaving the MC and going out on her own had helped ease the pain of being so close to him but never close enough.

  Now, that was no longer a problem.

  A breath of relief whooshed out of her as she stripped out of the waitress uniform she had to wear for work, one she hated—hell, she’d waited tables here in far comfier dress—and headed for the shower.

  A quick glance had shown her that no one was staying in these quarters, which made total sense.

  Before she’d left, the MC had tipped out the bunnies, and when the President’s seat had changed hands, the brothers hadn’t filled in those spaces.

  Rumors had abounded in the vicinity about a sudden influx of women heading into the clubhouse. She’d had to stop herself from listening to more gossip though, because it had killed her to think of Major with yet another woman who wasn’t her. Avoiding those rumors had been pretty tough though. Especially when it had soon spread that the MC was at war with a cartel based in Houston.

  She’d had the misfortune to fuck the old Prez a time or two and knew Jefferson wasn’t exactly the kindest of guys. Considering the women had reputedly been all Eastern European and under thirty, she’d managed to put two and two together and figure out that Mars, who was a truly decent guy, had stepped in and put the MC back on track.

  After the water shooting down the head turned from lukewarm to hot, she quickly washed up using some soap an old occupant had left behind. There was just enough to get decently clean.

  She peered down at her legs, grateful the uniform skirt bared them, which meant she had to shave daily, but there was no avoiding the jungle that was going on at the apex of her thighs.

  Well, it felt like a jungle. She was trimmed, but in comparison to before when she’d been here, she’d been fully shaved or had gone for a treatment at a local salon.

  Not getting the Brazilians had been a form of rebellion after she’d left, and now, she really regretted the stupidity of that.

  Grimacing, she finished with her shower, and as there was no fresh towel, she let the water drip off her as she headed out of the small cubicle, stepped onto a cracked tile that wobbled underfoot, and went to the cabinet above the sink. Grateful when she saw a bent bar of toothpaste, she put some on her finger and used it to freshen up her mouth. When that was done, she looked down at herself, regretted the too many bowls of fries she’d been having for lunch at the diner, then shrugged it off.

  She was who she was. She’d made the best of it within the limitations of her environs, and if he couldn’t accept that, she was used to him ignoring her now.

  The thought made her stomach ache with the belief that that could even be a possibility, but she shrugged it off.

  She had to start believing in this. In them. If she kept on doubting it, not only would she drive him crazy with it, she’d turn herself loopy too!

  With that in mind, she strode out of the bathroom and nearly jumped out of her skin when she saw Major lying on her old bed, feet crossed at the ankle, hands cupping the back of his head, arms splayed out in support.

  He wore nothing more than a towel, and his skin still held a betraying slickness that spoke of the recentness of his shower.

  Jesus, he made her blood burn.

  Was he even real?

  Was he actually hers?

  She swallowed at the delicious sight of him, then wished the earth would open up and pull her in because there was no hiding the fact she was totally naked, and all of her flaws were very evident in the bright room. Considering she was at the center of his attention, there was no way he wasn’t going to see the bits she wished she could hide.

  Rather than cowering and covering up, she straightened her shoulders, cocked a brow, and with the vehemence of a knight throwing down a gauntlet, declared, “Like what you see?”

  A low rumble traveled around the room, dispersing on the sound waves
in a way that had the hairs on the back of her neck standing right on edge.

  It was his Bear.

  The beast had responded to her challenge.

  A slow puff of air escaped from between her lips. She’d never felt one of the other Shifters’ beasts come out to play before. Never. Not while they were in human form anyway.

  She caused that reaction in him. If she couldn’t believe the man, she could believe the Bear.

  The notion added to her confidence as she took the few steps that placed distance between them. She stopped at the side of the bed, brow still arched, lips pouting, when he didn’t move. He stayed in that position with all the internal power of a sheikh surveying his entire harem. Either that, or a dormant lion pondering which of his lionesses he was about to mount.

  She liked neither comparison, so rather than wait for him to react, she knelt on the bed, cocked a leg, and straddled his hips.

  Pip’s attention had foolishly been on his face, because it was the first time she realized he had a hard-on.

  And what a goddamn hard-on.

  She felt like purring at the feeling of his cock there, right between her legs, exactly where she needed him.

  A moan escaped her as she arched her hips, rocking back and forth a little. The friction of the towel against her pussy was exquisite, a bite of roughness that had sparks sizzling down her nerve endings. She circled her hips, loving the friction, and placed her hands on his chest.

  “I take it your Bear does like what he sees?”

  Major’s eyes narrowed before they dipped to take in her swaying breasts.

  When he said nothing, she arched her pelvis a little harder, reveling in the pressure, then bit off, “I’m sure I can find someone who appreciates what they see…” She made to move away and hissed in satisfaction as his hands suddenly shifted from his head and shot out to grab hold of her hips.

  The pressure of the tips against her soft flesh hurt, but she didn’t care. It was the best kind of pain. So damn delicious that a cocky smile spread across her lips.

  “Someone doesn’t like the idea of that, do they?”