Her Bear Protector [The Protectors 1] (Siren Publishing Classic)

by Doris O'Connor

  There was only one thing she could say.

  “I’m his.”

  Chapter Eleven

  The festivities drew to an end, and Ronan breathed a sigh of relief. Finally, he could seek out Tina and reassure himself that she really meant what she had said to Mrs. Hastings earlier. She’d sure looked as though she had. Eyes wide and breaths coming in short pants, her cheeks a delightful rosy flush, she’d reiterated her quiet statement when Mrs. Hastings had asked her to repeat it.

  It had taken all of his willpower and the considerable respect he had for Mrs. H’s powers that had stopped him from not simply flinging his mate over his shoulder and stalking off with her. His bear had been on the prowl ever since, desperate to get close to his mate, and to cement the bond between them. Ronan couldn’t shake off the uneasy feeling that Tina had had plenty of time to change her mind, but he had responsibilities at the fete. The humans could not be allowed to get suspicious. So, he’d had to contend himself with heated looks across the crowds. More than once Tina had dropped the change she was about to give a customer when she’d caught him looking at her, and he’d chuckled at her flustered response. The breeze that had kicked up in the afternoon carried her musk across to him, and he had to pull his shirt out of his jeans to hide his boner. No chance of that going down anytime soon.

  Tina was chatting to Mrs. Hastings when he approached and he could tell the minute she caught his scent, because she tensed and stopped speaking. Mrs. Hastings smiled and patted her arm.

  “Do you need some help clearing up, Mrs. H?” Ronan forced himself to ask the question even though all he wanted to do was take Tina somewhere private. Tina turned round slightly and his jaw ached with the need to taste her. The sight of his hickey on her neck, clearly visible now that the makeup had worn off completely satisfied his possessive streak for now. Soon, she would wear his permanent mark. The thought quietened his bear enough to concentrate on what Mrs. Hastings was saying.

  “It’s very kind of you to offer, son, but I reckon both you and Tina will self-combust from sexual frustration if you don’t get together soon, so be off with you.”

  “Mrs. Hastings.” Tina hissed her reply and Mrs. H. laughed.

  “No need to be shy now, dear. Remember what I said about make-up sex? I expect to see you waddle tomorrow, or whenever you come up for air.” Tina groaned and went bright crimson, but Mrs. Hastings wasn’t finished yet.” And you, Ronan, you look after her now. Otherwise I shan’t be best pleased.”

  It was Ronan’s turn to squirm under her intense gaze.

  “Of course, Mrs. H.”

  She nodded, seemingly satisfied with his answer and leaning heavily on her walking stick, walked away slowly. A pang of unease went through Ronan. It had been a long day and Mrs. H. wasn’t getting any younger. He would have to talk to the other shifters about lightening her load somehow. Not that Mrs. H. would ever agree to it, but they would all be lost without their village elder.

  “She seems tired,” Tina said, echoing his thoughts, and a shiver went through her, when he lightly touched her shoulder.

  “I was just thinking the same, babe.” Tina’s eyes widened at the use of her pet name and a whimper escaped her lips when he leant in to lick the rapidly beating pulse point in her neck. “Now, tell your Sir, why you’ve been discussing our sex life with Mrs. H. Such a naughty thing to do. You might have earned yourself a spanking.”

  Another shudder went through Tina’s frame even as she pulled away from him and shook her head.

  “I didn’t discuss us, per se. Mrs. Hastings was telling me about her late husband and, well, she explained a few things to me, and made me see that I was being an idiot.”

  Tina lifted her hand to cup the side of his face and Ronan leaned into her touch and placed his own hand over hers. It felt damn good to be this close to her, and he smiled.

  “Ah, yes, her Henry. You’ll have to get her to tell you their story one day. It’s a truly fascinating one, and how this village was started. Henry Hastings was quite a man, well, wolf.”

  Tina smiled back at him and all the empty pieces in his soul that their argument had ripped wide open healed in an instant.

  “There is no need to apologize, babe. I realize I could have handled that whole thing better, myself. Mrs. H. pulled me over the hot coals for it, I tell you. In my defense, I lose all restraint when you’re around me. I love you so damn much it hurts when we’re apart.”

  “You love me?” Tina asked, eyes wide as saucers, and filling with tears.

  Ronan’s bear growled his annoyance and he pulled her in for a hug and kissed her. Like she always did, Tina melted against him and opened up for him willingly. Hands buried in her hair he put all of his emotions into the kiss and Tina kissed him back with the same barely constrained urgency. He marched her backward until her back hit a tree, and uncaring of who might see them, he ran his hand under her skirt. Tina clung to his shoulders and opened her legs wider, giving him access to her drenched underwear. His bear grunted his approval and Ronan ripped the panties straight off her.

  Tina gasped into his mouth when he cupped her soaking pussy, and slipped one finger deep inside her core. She clenched around his digit and his cock jerked in his jeans.

  He tore his mouth from hers, and after a quick scan of the area to make sure they weren’t giving anyone too much of show, he focused his attention back on Tina.

  “Of course I do, babe. Did you think this was only the mating bond make me this hard for you?” He ground his erection into her belly and Tina went limp.

  “I love you, Tina, and I can’t wait to make you mine. I was going to wait until we got to my place, but fuck it, I can’t wait. I want you, babe.”

  Her expressive eyes widened and even in the twilight surrounding them under the shade of the big willow tree, he could see the blush staining her features.

  “Here, now? What if someone sees us?” She panted her question, clearly as turned on by this as he was and Ronan grinned.

  “The shifters will know better and stay away, which leaves a few clueless humans, most of whom will be in the pub. Trust me, babe?”

  He tightened his hold on her and Tina raised her legs and straddled his waist. The action brought his still-covered cock in direct contact with her cunt, and he groaned, grabbed her ass cheeks and pressed her further against the tree.

  “Always, Sir, and I love you, too.”

  Her whispered response broke the last of his restraint, and his bear roared. It was a warning to everyone else to stay away, and pinning her to the tree with his body weight, he freed his aching shaft and drove into her welcoming heat in one harsh thrust.

  Tina screamed into his shoulder, and Ronan saw stars when she clenched around him, her muscles already quivering with her impending orgasm. He knew he wouldn’t last long, so he pounded into her, every harsh thrust accentuated by a kiss.

  Ronan caught her needy sounds in his mouth, and stifled her scream of completion with his kiss. He pulled out of her, and Tina clung to him, none too steady on her feet with her body still shaking in aftershocks. He swung her around until she faced the tree, and used some of the hanging foliage to tie her hands high above her head. He kicked her legs apart and using her hair for anchorage pulled her head back and let his teeth graze her skin.

  Tina gasped and he increased the pressure he was using, until she ground her hips back against him. Unintelligible sounds were spilling from her lips, and he kissed her again, and then tore a strip of linen off his shirt.

  “Shhh, my sweet, I think my naughty girl needs a gag for this. Open.”

  Her eyes went wide, but she did open for him and he stuffed the material into her mouth. Pulling another strip off his shirt, he formed it into a ball and pressed it into her hand.

  “If it gets too much, drop this, okay?”

  Tina nodded, her eyes already glazing over as she slipped deeper into her submissive state, and if he had any niggling doubts about his sanity doing this here, and now, they flew
out the proverbial window, seeing her eager response. His bear would let him know of any incoming threat. For now he needed to see this through. Slowly he pulled her skirt up until the pale cheeks of her ass were revealed and he dropped to his knees and licked her slit to clit. Tina tensed and then drove her hips against him as much she could, as he wedged his shoulders in between her thighs and lapped up the steady flow of cream dripping from her cunt. When he added his thumb to her clit, Tina screamed again, the sound muffled by the gag in her mouth. Her thighs quivered and shook and her whole body convulsed.

  Ronan withdrew, and not giving her a moment to recover, he brought his hands down on her glorious butt. The flesh jiggled under the force he used, and Tina moaned long and hard around her gag, as her skin pinked under his ministrations. A few swats each side was all Ronan could stand to do, his cock as hard as granite. He needed to finish this now, to claim what was his once and for all.

  Ronan yanked his jeans down past his ass and lifting up one of her legs drove into her from behind. Her walls closed around him and her clenching muscles drew him in closer, until he had to grit his teeth to not shoot his load right away. Every harsh thrust made her wetter, as her juices coated his shaft, and dripped down her legs coating him, too. Her muscles rippled, warning him of how close she was once again, and he pulled out of her and dropped back to his knees. He wanted to finish somewhere else tonight, exactly like he’d promised her. Had that really only been yesterday? He seemed to have known her for a life time and for the first time Ronan truly understood what his parents had always told him. That if you met the one, there was no getting away from your destiny.

  Tina and he were destined to be, and no force in the universe would ever be able to tear apart their bond. She yanked on her willow restraints, and he circled her clit a few more times with his tongue. Another gush of her essence was his reward and he used his fingers to gather it up and smear it around her little puckered hole. Tina pushed back against him, her hips having a seeming mind of her own and he got back to his feet to see her expression. Wide and glassy-eyed, she stared back at him, the ball of linen firmly grasped in her hand.

  “Ready to truly become mine, babe?” he asked, and she blinked and nodded.

  “Thank fuck for that.”

  Ronan pushed first one, then two fingers past her tight ring of muscles, and Tina groaned and pushed back against him.

  “That’s my girl. You’re so fucking ready for this, aren’t you, babe.”

  Removing his fingers from her anus, he grasped his shaft by its thick root, and ran it repeatedly through her wet slit. Tina whimpered around her gag, and he pulled her hips back until she was at the right angle for him, and then lined up his cock with her glistening hole.

  “Relax, babe, let me in…arghh...so fucking good.”

  Her tight muscles gripping his shaft was exquisite agony, and he wrapped his free hand in her air to tilt her head back. With his bear roaring at him to finish this he sunk his teeth into the fleshy part of her shoulder at the same time as he bottomed out in the dark confines of her ass. Tina tensed and screamed and bucked against him as the powerful mating orgasm raced through her. His own build in waves of arousal so fierce his vision dimmed and he drove into her in jerky un-coordinated movements, as his cum shot through his dick and he emptied himself deep inside his mate. Locked together they stayed like this, their harsh breathing the only sound apart from human laughter as several people walked right past their hiding place. Still buried deep inside the clasp of her body, Ronan removed Tina’s gag and kissed her. How long for he could never recall later, as the world narrowed to the two of them lost in their bubble of passion and love.

  He only broke the kiss when his for once sated cock slipped out of her.

  Yanking his jeans back up, he lowered the hem of her dress, and bent down to deposit her ruined underwear in the back pocket of his jeans.

  Tina smiled at him when he untied her out of the willow and he scooped her up into his arms and kissed her again, when her legs wouldn’t support her.

  “You’re mine now, babe,” he growled, and his bear positively strutted inside of him.

  Tina snuggled in closer, and kissed his jaw.

  “I’m yours, Sir, but, please, can we take this inside now?”

  Ronan laughed and leaving the cover of the willow tree walked toward his Harley parked just off the village green.

  “Your place or mine, babe?” he asked

  “Mine, it’s closer, and I so want to do that again, Sir.”

  Ronan laughed and hoisted her on top of his Harley. Handing her his spare helmet he grinned.

  “Well, then, your wish is my demand, of course. Who knew I’d end up with such a bratty sub.”

  Tina blushed a delightful shade of pink, and his heart felt fit to burst out of his chest, and his mouth ran away with him.

  “In fact, let’s make this official, as soon as we can, so stupid ass humans like Bogsun know you’re mine, too.”

  His bear growled his approval, and Tina almost dropped the helmet she was about to put on her head.

  “Official?” she squeaked, and the breathy quality of her voice shot straight to his dick. “What do you mean official?”

  Ronan rolled his eyes at his complete lack of timing and finesse where she was concerned, but he could hardly back out now. So, acting on the impulse that had made him utter those words, and the primitive need to ensure that everyone knew this precious woman was his he dropped down on one knee in front of his bike.

  Tina gasped, and he didn’t miss the way her beautiful eyes filled with tears when he grasped her hand and kissed it.

  “I know, I should be doing this over a candlelit meal, but hey, since when have we done the things we’re supposed to be doing, so I’m just gonna put this out there. Will you—”

  “Yes, god yes, I will.” Tina interrupted him and she jumped off the bike and knelt on the ground next to him. Ronan’s heart gave a mighty thump against his chest bone, when she locked her hands behind his neck and he tasted her tears in the kiss she gave him.

  When they came back up for air, they were both breathing heavily, and Ronan tapped her nose.

  “Is it not customary to wait for the question before you answer, girl?” Try as he might he couldn’t inject the right note of authority into his voice right now, too aware of her rapid pulse, and the force of her emotions that matched his own.

  Tina gave a nervous giggle, as he stood up, and pulled her back on her feet.

  “Like you said, Sir.” He had to grin at the inflection she put on the title. “You’ve got yourself a bratty sub.”

  Ronan laughed and helped her to secure the helmet.

  “And fiancé it seems,” he said and her happy laughter joined his bear’s huff of content amusement.

  Epilogue

  Six months later

  “Come on, babe. You really don’t want to keep Mrs. H. waiting. What’s taking you so long?”

  Ronan knocked on the door again, and Tina slid down to the floor in an inelegant heap. That couldn’t be right, could it? It would explain her recent weight gain and tiredness and the way her boobs hurt even now, but really? She was still on the pill for fuck’s sake. Both Ronan and she had agreed that they would enjoy each other first. They were still planning their wedding, which was set to take place at Christmas, for goodness sakes. She couldn’t be pregnant.

  The hammering on the door got louder and she could hear the worry in Ronan’s voice but try as she might she couldn’t get her voice box to follow the demands of her brain.

  “Babe, answer me. Are you okay in there?”

  More hammering followed and then a muttered curse and the wood splintered and Ronan broke through the door, his face a mask of worry.

  “Tina, what on earth? What’s wrong? You scared the bejesus out of me when you didn’t answer and … Fuck.”

  Tina’s gaze followed his to where she still held the plastic stick in her white-knuckled grasp. The words spelled out for all t
o see in clear blue lettering.

  Pregnant

  Ronan got down on the floor next to her and wordlessly pulled her into a hug. As it always did his warmth and strength surrounded her like her very own security blanket and she inhaled deeply of his familiar scent. Nothing could touch her when she was with her Sir, and she fingered the collar, he’d placed on her a month into their relationship. Tears rose in her eyes and she blinked them away. How would being pregnant affect all of this? She loved their play sessions, needed them, even, and she didn’t want them to end. Submitting to Ronan kept the demons of her past at bay, and she was finally at peace, secure in his love and care.

  Ronan gently pried the pregnancy test out her tight grasp and tipped her head up, so that she had to look at him.

  His expression was guarded, but she knew him well enough to recognize the shadows swirling in his eyes. He was happy and excited and that further soothed her churning stomach.

  “How do you feel about that, babe?” he asked.

  He searched her expression and his hold on her tightened further, as he waited for her answer.

  “Honestly?” she asked, and he nodded.

  “Always, babe, you know that. I’m dying inside here, please tell me how you feel about this, baby.”

  She blinked at his words, and she let that thought sink in.

  A baby. She was carrying his baby.

  A bubble of happiness exploded in her chest, and she couldn’t help the big grin splitting her face in two, and Ronan’s tense stature relaxed slightly.

  “At first shocked. We didn’t plan this yet.” He nodded and kissed her nose, wordlessly encouraging her to continue. “What you said… We’re having a baby. I’m having your baby. Oh. My. God. Sir, we’re having a baby. How is that ever going to work?” she asked and Ronan laughed.

  “We’ll figure it out, babe. As long as I’ve got you,” he paused and placed his large hand over her abdomen. “As long as I’ve got both of you, everything will be okay. Now, up you get, and we best get a move on. Even Mrs. H. can’t be mad at our lateness, once she knows the reason why.”