A Reason to Kill (Reason #2) (24 page)

“Shit, right, let me get some supplies and I’ll be right with you,” Shane answered and then started to move around us. Then he stopped and put out his hand to me.

“Sorry, I’m Shane and you are,” he purred turning up the watts.

“Mia, nice to meet you,” I smiled back.

When Shane kept smiling, shaking my hand, Max mumbled, “Shane, we gotta go,” as his arm came out and pulled me to his side. In all my life, a man had never claimed me so obviously, but there you had it, Max didn’t like the man smiling at me.

Shane looked at Max’s arm and his grin intensified. Then he released my hand, chuckling, “Right, supplies,” as he walked away. I bit my lips to keep from laughing as we turned and followed, but the whispered, “Deal with it,” told me Max knew what I was thinking.

Max and I waited as Shane gathered supplies, but all I could think about was who in the hell was shooting at my bears and why. Shane jumped into his own truck so we took off up the mountain heading to base camp. When we finally reached the clearing, Lucy was waiting with lanterns, and even though it was dark out I saw her eyes grow in surprise when she got a good look at Shane.

See, only a dead woman wouldn’t react to the man.

It was another five-minute walk until we found Frank watching over the cub, with a can of bear repellent in one hand and an air horn in the other.

In the distance, we could hear the mother bear grunting her frustration. So, Max shined a light on the bear and took aim with his rifle as he positioned himself between Booboo and his mother. Shane kneeled down and examined the injured cub as Frank held a flashlight.

Booboo had been out cold thanks to the sedative they’d shot him with, but the effects were wearing off and Shane had to give him another dose. Lucy and I kept handing instruments and gauze as he dug into his shoulder looking for the bullet. All while the mother bear kept grunting. Max kept murmuring to the mother bear, trying to keep her calm. Then moments later, Shane finally pulled out a copper slug.

“Two twenty-three caliber, not big enough to take a bear down unless you get off enough rounds, this little guy was lucky.”

An almost two-year-old bear cub is anything but little. However, compared to its “close to a half a ton” parents, this guy was small at two hundred plus pounds. After Shane had removed the slug, he sutured the wound, gave Booboo a shot of antibiotics, and then stood up backing away.

“He’ll be fine, the best thing we can do now is leave him be so his mother can come to him.”

Hearing that, Max backed up keeping his light and rifle trained on the mother bear. The farther away we moved from Booboo, the closer the mother came. Once she was next to her baby, she nudged his head and licked his face as a collective sigh could be heard from Lucy, Frank, and me.

As we made our way back to base camp, Frank finally voiced what everyone was thinking.

“Who the fuck would come up here and shoot a defenseless bear?”

“I don’t know, but I intend to find out,” Max replied.

“Hunters would have used a larger caliber ammo and I haven’t heard reports of hunters in the area,” Shane informed us.

“I just hope whoever it is doesn’t mistake us for a bear,” Lucy stated.

“Right, stay alert. If you see anyone call Mia and I’ll come up with some of my men,” Max told her then we said our goodbyes and started our descent back to Max’s truck.

On the way down, Max stopped suddenly and put his hand to my shoulder stopping me. When I looked to him, he put a finger to his mouth to keep me quiet. Just off to the east I could hear the sound of someone stomping through the leaves. Shane raised his light and the footsteps quickened, then he mumbled “Bogey at your nine,” and Max snapped, “Stay here,” as he and Shane took off running. I followed their light with my eyes, and watched as they disappeared from my sight.

Then it hit me, I was alone in the woods.

I imagined all sorts of things while standing in the dark. Killers behind trees, bugs crawling up my legs, the ghost of Donald stuck on the ridge for an eternity waiting for people to haunt. The longer I waited for their return, the more my imagination ran away with me. As I scanned the area looking for Donald’s ghost, I heard twigs snap a short distance in front of me. I raised my light, saw nothing, and was about to blame a deer for the noise when I heard the rustle of leaves close by. My breath caught in my throat, and my hand shook like Elvis Presley’s hips as I raised my light. Scanning to the west, I let out a terrifying scream as angry blue eyes stared back at me.

Fourteen

You’re a dick, Duke

A dark forest, eerie quiet and angry blue eyes should have told me to run. Except for one thing, I was pissed off. Chief Duke Stetson, asshole to beat all other assholes stood in front of me, scowling, and it was a good thing for him his nuts weren’t in striking distance.

“Thought I told you to leave town,” he snapped.

“Seriously? You’ve arrested me, groped me, and now scared me half to death and you’re pissed because I didn’t leave town?” He, of course, being a subhuman ignored my tone and took a step forward.

“I may have released you, but that doesn’t mean I think you’re innocent. I don’t know who the fuck you called, but that makes twice you’ve nailed my balls and I want you gone.”

“Come any closer and I’ll make it three,” I hissed.

The bastard shook his head slowly, his jaw clenching as if he was trying to control his temper.
Deal with it asshole off I’m not moving.
Then he took a half step towards me.

Right, I’m not stupid, alone in the woods with a raging dickhead, I took a full step back. As he watched my retreat, his frown turned into a nasty smirk at my discomfort so I raised my light as a weapon.

“What are you doing out here?” I asked.

“I was gonna ask you the same thing, Ms. Roberts. I got a call about someone shooting at a bear cub and look who I find wandering around in the dark.”

“Yes, chief, you found me out. I masquerade as a zoologist by day and kill the animals I protect by night.”

“That smart mouth of yours is gonna land you back in jail if you don’t answer my question.”

“What question would that be, the one about it being nippy out or?”

His nasty smirk turned down right ugly then, and I could have kicked myself for poking the asshole.
But, really, how could I not?
Apparently, he thought I was out of line as well because he reached behind his back and pulled out a set of cuffs. Holding them up where I could see them, he rattled the cuffs, scanned my body with his light, and then said, “Assume the position, Roberts. I’m taking you in under suspicion of shooting a bear cub. Which, by the way, is illegal in the great State of Alaska as I’m sure you well know.”

“If you take a step closer I’ll scream,” I spit out.

“Who’s gonna hear you? The ghost of the man you killed?”

Not only is Max gorgeous, but he has impeccable timing. Right on cue, light lit up the area as Max and Shane came into view hauling a man who looked like the gas station attendant. Max had hold of his arm as Shane carried two rifles. When they got close enough, Max took in Stetson stance and narrowed his eyes as he bit out “What the fuck is going on?”

“I’m here on a report of shots fired at a bear cub and now I find you and Ms. Roberts on the ridge with rifles in tow, so I’ll ask you the same question.”

Max shoved the gas station attendant towards Stetson, Shane tossed him a rifle, and then Max put out his hand to me. As I moved past Stetson, Max finally answered as he took my hand.

“Chuck here needs to confess to stupidity. Do your job and write him a ticket for endangering a bear cub.”

Max turned then, adding nothing further to the conversation, taking me with him as Shane followed.

I turned back and looked at Stetson as we descended. He was watching us leave, the glow from his flashlight clouding his features as he slapped cuffs onto Chuck. Done with that jerk, I turned back to Max and asked, “Did Chuck say why he shot at the bear cub?”

“Yeah, he said people were saying just ‘cause Zimmer was dead, it wouldn’t stop others from coming in his place. Like the idiot he is, he figured that if he killed all the bears no one would have a reason to kill the town with a national forest. The problem is, he’s not the only one with his head up his ass.”

“Wait, are you saying this won’t stop until the bears are all gone?”

Max stopped, looked at Shane then his eyes came back to mine and he nodded once. I felt the blood drain from my face at the thought of my bears being killed.

“Max,” I whispered, horrified that someone would kill these beautiful creatures.

His jaw grew tight as tears formed and spill down my face. And when my traitorous lips trembled, he tagged me around the neck leaning down until we were nose to nose.

“I’ll find a way to protect your bears, Mia. You have my word on that.” His words held conviction so I nodded quickly, wiping the tears from my face.

“Okay, Max.”

Somehow, I knew he’d do exactly that. He was Thor, God of Thunder and he scaled sixty-foot poles and chopped trees in half in thirty seconds, finding a way to save the bears should be a piece of cake.

“Yeah, Gary, I know it’s late, but this can’t wait. I need you to look into somethin’ for me first thing in the morning.”

Bone tired from a day on a saw, hauling ass to find Mia, and then climbing the ridge because of Chuck, Max stripped out of his clothes as he spoke to his attorney. He didn’t know if he could pull this off and he wasn’t about to get Mia’s hopes up before he had a plan in place, but he sure as hell was gonna try. If the town idiots had it in their heads to kill off Mia’s bears, then he sure as hell was gonna do everything in his power to stop them. The how of it seemed simple enough, it was the legalities he needed to look into before he told Mia his plan.

After Max ended his call, he went into the bathroom and turned on the shower. Steam rose as the water turned hot, and he stepped under the cleansing spray. Taking a deep breath, he tried to relax as the hot water pummeled his tired muscles. With his eyes closed, he tilted his head back and let the water rinse away the day.

The smell of sunshine on a winter’s day surrounded him just as a soft hand reached out and stroked his stomach. Max didn’t move, didn’t breathe, when soft lips kissed his chest. His hands came up and cupped the firmest ass he’d ever seen and then held on as a pink tongue flicked his nipple. He hissed when perfect teeth scraped across his chest as a small hand grabbed hold of his erection and began a slow, rhythmic torture. Mia kissed her way to his mouth, licked his bottom lip, and the hold he’d had on his arousal broke loose as he claimed her mouth.

Max pushed her against the shower wall, then pinned her hands above her head as he delved into her sensual mouth. Running his hand down her soft curves, he found the apex of her legs and ripped his mouth from hers.

“Fuckin’ drenched for me,” he hissed as his fingers entered her silken core.

Mia threw her head back and bit her lip as Max watched her face succumb to his rhythm. He wanted that mouth back so he took it as she gasped and rode his hand. She whimpered as her body squirmed on the wall, her wet core tightening around his fingers. Max knew she was close, so he brought his thumb up, rolled her clit, and watched as she panted, shuddered, and finally cried out “Max” while he locked his jaw to keep from climaxing at the fucking sight of her.

Christ, she was the sexiest thing he’d even seen, the most compatible lover he’d ever had, and she was fucking exquisite when she threw her head back and screamed his name, Max thought.

As she panted through the aftershocks, Max lowered to his knees and draped one of her legs over his shoulder. He was determined to taste her sweet honey before he rammed himself so deep he’d never want to leave. Her hands came to his head and she tangled her fingers in his hair, gasping, “Baby, I, oh, God,” as his tongue snaked out and flicked her sensitive bud. He smiled when she jerked tightening her fingers in his hair, and he knew she wanted more when she pulled him back to her core. She was greedy for his mouth, moved against him as she cried out in pleasure. But he was done waiting, he needed to feel the heat of her body wrapped around him so he drew his mouth from her body, and stood as she begged “No, don’t stop.”