BAD BOY ROMANCE: DIESEL: Contemporary Bad Boy Biker MC Romance (Box Set) (New Adult Sports Romance Short Stories Boxset) (77 page)

Chapter 9

              Morgan couldn’t breathe, she couldn’t think. All she could do was feel, and oh boy, was there a lot of Adrien to feel as he pressed her roughly against the cool metal bars of the small cell. She tried to remember why she had been angry but Adrien’s mouth on hers obliterated all capacity for thought. All she could do was moan, pressing her body even closer to his.

              He took instant advantage, pressing his tongue against the seam of her mouth and swallowing her sigh as she melted against him. It felt so right to be there, bracketed by his large, hard body. More right than she had felt since that day she had fled him at the cabin.

              Morgan didn’t realize how much she had really missed him until that moment, until his body was pressed against hers, until she could feel him surrounding her like she had needed for all those past lonely nights. The anger that had been in her system transformed instantly into a passion so intense she felt like every nerve ending was on fire.

              Adrien’s lips moving aggressively over hers just added fuel to the conflagration already burning out of control inside her. She moaned against him, arching her back until her hips were pressed even more firmly against his and she could feel him through the material of his jeans, already rock hard and hot like a brand against her thigh.

              “Morgan, I–.” She didn’t let him finish whatever it was he had been about to say. She needed him, inside her, moving against her, and she needed it now. She did not need to hear him apologize again, or any thing he might say to break the fragile spell that had been cast around them. It was like, for this one moment, everything was perfect. Exactly what she wanted, what she so desperately needed.  Adrien got the hint, his need just as real as hers and a second later his shirt was gone and the straps of the clingy dress she was wearing slid from her shoulders. Her breath hitched at the trembling she could feel in Adrien’s fingers and a flood of feminine power washed through her at the knowledge that she effected him so much.

              It was also good to know that she wasn’t the only one who was spinning out of control. Adrien cursed softly as he ripped one of the straps in his hurry to get the dress off of her but she didn’t care. Morgan ripped it even further as she grabbed the slinky material and drew it over her head. She wasn’t wearing a bra as there was padding sewn in to the dress and she grinned at Adrien’s gasp. She looked up to see him staring at her with pure worship in his gaze and it hit her with the force of a tsunami. She was in love him. Even still. Even after everything. She still loved him, more than she even had before. And she needed him, right now.

              Morgan bit her lip as his hands roamed across her body and she could feel the reverence in his touch, but she couldn’t stand to wait another minute.

              “Adrien. Please. I need you now.” She whispered the words breathily and they seemed to hang in the humid air of the small cell.

              “Oh, baby,” The words seemed pulled from his chest and the next instant she was in his arms, being carried to the cot that sat against the other wall. She didn’t care that that she was still mad at him, or that they were in a jail cell. She just knew that if she didn’t have him inside her soon she was going to go up in flames. It was a desire so intense it was almost frightening, something she had never experienced before and it couldn’t be contained.

              Morgan writhed beneath him on the cot, begging him with her emerald eyes, her flushed body. They had no need for words anymore. As if she could have spoken anyways. His mouth was traveling down the sensitive curve of her neck and across her collarbone, stealing every last coherent thought from her head. All that was left was desire and the wetness growing more insistent between her thighs.

              She cried out as he kept moving even lower, his teeth grazing her nipples, teasing them until they tightened into sharp buds. Every touch had sparks shooting strait to her throbbing center and she couldn’t stay still beneath him. She needed to move. She needed to touch him as well.

              Morgan slid her hands up his defined back, reveling in the feel of his hot skin pressed against hers and then back again, making a small sound of disappointment as she reached the waistband of his jeans, blocking her from further exploration. She tried to tug them down to reveal more but Adrien was already moving further south, out of her reach.

              The feel of his hot breath on her inner thigh was her only warning before his tongue dipped out, lapping at the most sensitive part of her. She moaned out his name, not even aware of the words she was saying, urging him to move faster, to go deeper. Soon, a finger joined his tongue, sweeping her even higher, but not quite high enough. Every time she felt herself getting close to that golden edge he would pull back. Finally, she couldn’t take it anymore and she reached down, grasping at his shoulders.

              “Adrien!” She yelled as frustration and desire threatened to cripple her. Her entire body was tense from wanting her, her toes digging into the thin mattress of the cot but all she could feel was Adrien and the spot inside her she so desperately needed him. Finally, after what felt like hours of pure, mind numbing torture, Adrien slid back up her body, his now completely naked and fitted perfectly to hers. Instinctively, she wrapped her legs around his waist, her arms snaking across his shoulders and he sank into her, inch by hard inch, her nails dug into his back as pleasure swept through her.

              They rocked together in perfect harmony, each finding their perfect bliss in the other, the one they loved, their mate. It occurred to her then, on the crest of that rapturous wave, that just as she was his mate, he was hers. Morgan tightened her arms around him, the emotion of that rushing through her in a storm of tenderness that had her biting back tears.

              “Morgan, I love you.” His roughly spoken words were all she needed to have her body flying over the edge of orgasm as it hit her hard, sensation sweeping from her center, out through her limbs and back again.

              “I love you, too.” The words rushed out as another climax swept over her, hard on the tail of the last. It was almost too good for her to bear and she cried out as the exquisite feeling threatened to overwhelm her completely. Stars shattered behind her eyelids and she could feel Adrien tense above her as he came right along with her. Finally, they drifted back to earth to land in a boneless heap on the cot in the jail cell. Morgan let out a tiny laugh and Adrien smiled down at her, perfect understanding shining from his eyes as they both shared a smile. It was the closest to heaven she had ever been, maybe ever would be.

Chapter 10

              “Alright, you kids, you’re free to go.” Sheriff Mayhew’s voice called him out of his sleep and he groggily blinked open his eyes. He looked up from the cot he was still laying on to the very same sheriff that had locked them up the night before, grinning down at him like a maniac. Adrien put a finger to his lips, gesturing for quiet as Morgan was still asleep beside him. He knew she was a deep sleeper but still, he wasn’t ready to wake her just yet. Wasn’t ready to go back to the way things had been the past terrible week.

              Carefully, he extricated himself from Morgan’s arm and padded over on bare feet until he reached the bars still keeping them enclosed.

“Sheriff, what are you doing here?” He whispered the words as softly as he could, glancing back to make sure Morgan was still sleeping peacefully behind him. The officer took out the key ring, gently unlocking the metal lock that held the gate of the cell shut and nodded in Adrien’s direction.

“You guys are free. I’m releasing you. Figure you’ve had enough time to work out whatever problems you had, and from what Grant said, there was plenty. But it looks like you’ve made some progress, eh?” He grinned again, looking from Adrien to Morgan and back again.

“Wait a minute, Grant put you up to this?” Adrien asked quietly, but he couldn’t quite make himself be upset with his friend. He just shook his head ruefully as the sheriff turned away with a guilty shrug. “Thanks, Mayhew. I owe you one.”

The sheriff just gave him one last grin before walking out of the otherwise empty office, leaving Adrien to shake his head in bewilderment. He didn’t know whether to be upset or not. He took one look back a the still sleeping Morgan, and decided he owed his friend a beer, or maybe several, for the incredible night they’d shared.

“Adrien?” Morgan’s sleepy voice shivered through his body like warm honey melting over him.

“Hey, I’m here, babe.” He slowly walked back over to the cot, drawing her up and into his arms, loving the feel as she leaned bonelessly against him, trusting him. Suddenly, she stiffened in his arms and he knew. He just knew that she was remembering everything that had happened and he wish he could take it all back, even though he knew he couldn’t.

“Morgan, wait,” he said quickly when she tried to back away, but he held her tight in his arms. “Give me a chance. Please? Let me show you the truth. Let me show you who I really am. No lies. I promise.” She stared up at him with her big, gemstone colored eyes and he could barely breathe under the weight of that stare.

“The truth?” She finally asked.

“The whole truth, and nothing but the truth.” Adrien mocked crossing his heart with a finger, drawing a small smile from her and he felt like he had just one a million dollars.

“One chance.” Morgan said, and couldn’t hold back the smile of his own that spread across his face. Arm in arm, they headed out of the police office and out into the sweet late summer sunshine. Adrien felt a glimmer of hope for the first time since that awful day in the cabin.

Neither of them noticed the tall, broad shouldered man staring after them from the shadows of the tree line. If they had, they would have felt a shiver of fear at the look of pure hate glowing in his eyes just before he seemed to shift and disappear into the woods leaving nothing behind but the tracks of a large bear.

              Harris growled deep and low in his throat, the sound eerily like an animal hunting down prey that just got away. Full of rage and desperation.

              “How the hell did this happen!” He grabbed the nearest thing, a silver plated cup that had belonged to the tribe for centuries, and hurled it across the room to hit against the wall with a sharp, metallic clank that rang through the space. Harris turned on Theo, advancing on the larger bear, his anger making him less cautious and more reckless than normal. “Explain it to me, cub!”

              Harris hurled the insult at his right hand man, his vision red at the knowledge that the little whore Morgan had weaseled her way back in with Adrien. Somehow, despite everything he had done to keep them apart, they had found their way back together again. His temper flared at the thought and he slammed his fist down on the surface of the wooden table, leaving behind a splintered ruin where his hand had connected.

              “
Cub
, Harris?” He didn’t even notice the emphasis Theo put on the word as he hissed it out between clenched teeth. His rambling thoughts were already tripping over themselves, trying to devise the next scheme that would keep him on his new throne and firmly in the position of power. He had heard the rumors beginning to be whispered amongst the tribe. That he was growing unstable. That he wasn’t strong enough to lead them, to keep them protected.

              “I am strong enough,” Harris whispered the words to himself, mumbling slightly.

              “What was that?” Theo asked, his face still red with suppressed anger but his voice deceptively mild. He would be patient, he would wait until the time was right, then he would strike. He was good at being patient.

              Harris finally took notice and turned toward his second in command. Suddenly it clicked, the idea powering into his brain like it was fate. Destiny. Meant to be.

              “Theo. It’s perfect.”

              “What is, Harris?” He didn’t even try and keep the disdain out of his voice as he spoke, but Harris didn’t hear. He was too far gone to notice much of anything unless it interfered with his plans. And Morgan had done more than that. Much more.

              “Theo, I need you to take care of our little problem.” Harris could barely keep the glee off of his face, his rage turning to joy frighteningly fast.

              “What problem is that?” Theo asked, his tone bored as he looked around.

              “That whore of Adrien’s. I want you to…deal with her.” Harris’ words had him perking up in interest and he turned to his leader.

              “Deal with her how?” Theo was practically licking his lips at the thoughts that were suddenly tumbling through the black spaces of his mind. Harris grinned then, and Theo grinned right along with him.

              “However you want. Just make sure she doesn’t come back this time.”

Chapter 1

              “Are you sure about this? Are you sure that it’s…safe?” Adrien laughed as he tugged Morgan’s hand, pulling her close to his body. They wandered through the sun dappled forest like children, going wherever intuition or a stray breeze took them.

              “Of course it’s safe.” Adrien slid his hand up from her wrist, across her arm and up over her shoulder until it was cupping her cheek, tilting her head until her emerald gaze collided with his own gold. “I would never hurt you, Morgan. Never. That I swear.”

              “Well, I know you wouldn’t, but what about the
other
you,” He knew what she was talking about by the emphasis on her words. But he just shook his head.

              “There is no other me,” He tried to explain. “It is all part of me, man and bear. It’s just me. No one else.”

              “No
thing
else, you mean,” She grinned cheekily at him and he couldn’t stop the burst of laughter that jumped out of his mouth. He also couldn’t believe what a difference a few days could make. After that night they had spent in the jail cell together, everything was different. Not quite like they had been before the truth had all been tumbling out, but there was a new layer of closeness between them now.

              Adrien leaned down, his mouth drawn to hers like magnets. He was simply unable to resist her but just before his lips landed, Morgan pulled back slightly, just enough for him to stop, staring at her with questions in his eyes.

              She just laughed, shaking her head, “Oh, no!” Morgan took another step back and instantly missed the feel of her sweet body pressed against his. That was one thing that had definitely not changed at all between them. He still craved her like the most addictive drug, and there was nothing he could do to get her out of his system. And nothing he wanted to do, either. It was exactly where she belonged. Twined so firmly around his heart that he would never get her free.

              “Oh no, what?” He asked distractedly, his brain firmly planted far south of where it should be.

              “Oh no, if you start that we’ll forget all about why we came out here to the middle of nowhere in the first place.” She tried to pull away but his hand still held hers, and he had no intention of letting go. Not now, not ever. It would just take a while to convince her of that. He understood. It wasn’t like he had been the most steady of boyfriends before, and he knew she had seen that side of him. But it was different now. Everything was different now that Morgan was in his life.

              “You mean it wasn’t to come out here and kiss you until neither of us could think about anything beside tearing each other’s clothes off and…”

              “I’m serious, Adrien,” Morgan said, still resisting but he could hear the panting breathlessness of her voice and it fired through his blood stream.

              “Okay, okay,” He said, finally giving in to her but a second later his molten golden gaze was focused back on her mouth like a helpless moth drawn to a flame, and damn, did he want to be burned.

              Before she could try and dissuade him again his mouth was on hers, devouring her and she was kissing him back. It was as if his kiss had flipped a switch inside her, inside both of them, and only instinct and desire remained. All thought fled before the pounding need that swept through him and all he could imagine was laying her down on the soft late summer grass, having her wrap her sweet thighs around him, and sinking into the only heaven he would be likely to know, in this life or the next.

              Morgan’s hands were sweeping up from his hips, under his shirt and the feel of her finger’s trailing over his bare skin had him growling deep in his chest. God, he needed her. More than he needed to breath, he needed to taste her.

              “Wait, wait, Adrien,” Morgan pushed weakly at his shoulders and he immediately let up. She stared at him with those big, expressive green eyes of her and he knew he could so easily lose himself in them. It would be so easy. Too easy. He shook his head, trying to clear it and regain at least basic mental capacities.

              “I’m sorry, I just…I just can’t resist you, you’re,” He paused, looking at her and swept a stray lock of hair to tuck it back behind her ear. “You’re irresistible.”

              She snorted a laugh at him and he grinned back at her, the expression dopey, he knew.

              “Your vocabulary is…expansive, Adrien, but I’m serious.”

              “I’m serious too! You really are–.”

              “Irresistible. Right. I get that.” She smiled up at him and he could see a glow in her cheek from the compliment, even though she tried to deny it. “We are here for a reason, Adrien.” Her expression became serious, and he nodded. He had been hoping and dreading for this moment, and now that it was here, he wasn’t sure what to feel.

              She had asked him, hesitantly, a few nights ago if she could see him. Daft as he was it took him several minutes to understand and when he finally had, he’d been ecstatic. But now, all he could feel was nerves. He had never shifted in front of a human, and didn’t know how she would react. What if she ran away again? What if she took one look at him in bear form and thought he truly was a monster?

              The terrible possibilities ran through his mind, one by one like soldiers marching inevitably to war and he took a deep breath, stealing himself for the battle.

              “Are you sure you’re ready for this? We can wait.” He asked softly, his own expression now matching hers. But she resolutely nodded her head.

              “I’m absolutely sure, Adrien,” Her gaze collided with his own, “I need to see it. To see you. To really see you, I mean.”

              They had spent hours and long nights talking about his culture, his life and history, and the history of his family. He didn’t go into too much detail about his father, or his position as tribe leader. Adrien was surprised to find that it was still too hard for him to speak about.

              But telling her about what it meant to be a bear shifter had been like revealing himself to someone for the first time in his life. Never had a human lover known this side of him, and that she was his mate, and accepting him. Well, it had been the best feeling in the world. And uncomfortable as hell, especially when she’d questioned him about the mating process itself.

              “For a bear, when you are mated, it’s for life.” He had told her as they sat cross legged on her bed, facing each other. The only illumination had been the moonlight, but it had been more than enough to see her eyebrows climb her forehead in shock.

              “Wait a minute, for life? Like, for the rest of my life?” She had tried to get the words out, stumbling over them as she tried to understand. He loved her more for that than anything else. He thought of that that searing kiss. Well, almost anything else.

              “Um, not you, exactly. The rules are different when one of the mates are human. There aren’t a lot of cases of it happening, but in those that do, well, let’s just say we are mated for the rest of my life. If,” He had to pause, swallowing hard to get the rest of the words out, “If you wanted, you could leave at any time. Walk away and you would be able to move on with your life just fine. But I…I can never leave you. I will never want to leave you.”

              Adrien stopped again, staring hard at her in the dim light, trying to gauge her reaction.

              “I know it’s a lot to take in. But the mating ceremony creates a bond between us. Deeper than any wedding or marriage or anything else could. It’s a physical bond that…pulls at me. Like that day at the cabin, when Harris came and, well, did what he did,” Adrien looked away for a moment, remembering that awful day and the events that followed, “I knew that you were upset, angry. That something was wrong. That’s why I had to come back.”

              “Wait, but, you’re saying, without the bond you wouldn’t…you wouldn’t be with me?” Morgan asked the question softly and it broke his hear tot hear the uncertainty staining her voice. He was by her side in an instant, his hands cupping her cheeks and forcing her eyes to met his own, because he needed her to know how important this was.

              “No! No, that’s not how the ceremony works. Honestly, I never expected the bond to be this strong between us, but…it only effects the emotions that are already there. It can’t force a connection between us. It can’t force me to love you, I just do.”

              “Wha- What?” She stammered and Adrien leaned close, pressing his forehead to hers as the dark closed around them.

              “I love you, Morgan. And that’s something that has nothing to do with the bond. The mating ceremony just…intensifies the feeling that already exist. But it can’t make knew ones, and it can’t make me feel something that wasn’t already there.”

              “Adrien, quit stalling!” Morgan’s voice dragged him out of his reverie and back to the present. With a shrug he took a few steps back, slowly drawing off his shirt and then moving on to the buttons of his jeans.

              “Hey, I thought you weren’t going to keep trying to distract me.” She said, her heated gaze sweeping over his bared body like a brand.

              “I’m not trying too. I just have to be unclothed for the shift. Well, I don’t have to be but I don’t fancy having to walk all the way back to the jeep totally naked, so…” He continued to undress as she stared, and he was more than aware of her burning gaze.

              “I wouldn’t mind. I totally would not mind,” Her voice was husky and he had to take a deep breath to get his body back under control as his boxers joined the piled of clothes at his feet.

              “You are shameless.” He said with a shake of his head as he turned around and he swore he heard her whistle but when he turned around to look at her she just shrugged innocently. He didn’t miss the humor glowing in her eyes as it gave her away but he just turned back around, trying to clear his mind.

The shift required a calm mind. It was one of the reasons that most bears didn’t shift until well after puberty, although female bears usually got the hang of it much earlier than the males.

Adrien took another deep breath, soaking in the peace of the forest surrounding him. He let nature seep into his bloodstream, inhaling it with every breath he took. Finally, he let his eyelids grow heavy until they slid shut on their own. He focused on relaxing every muscle in his body one by one, calling to the other half of himself, drawing it out little by little until he began to feel the shift come over him.

The sound of Morgan’s gasp was lost to him as it overtook him. The air around him seemed to shift, shimmering as if heat was coming off of his body and Morgan took a step to the side, squinting at him to see. She didn’t want to miss a second. Excitement and nerves and fear all warred within her and she wasn’t even sure which one would be the victor at the end of the battle but at that moment, all of her focus was on Adrien and the magic happening in front of her.

She wasn’t sure exactly when it happened but like a mirror turning, one moment Adrien was standing there, naked and looking more delicious than even against the wild landscape of the surrounding trees, and then, he was gone and in his place stood a giant bear.

“Oh my god,” She whispered as the fear threatened to win out, but she battled it back as the animal took a small, shuffling step towards her. She may have squeaked then, she wasn’t quite sure but as it plopped down, rolling onto its back as it played in the fallen leaves a new emotion filled her. Wonder. “Oh my god!” She said again, this time louder and froze as he turned his massive, fur covered head towards her. It was the most amazing thing she had ever seen, ever experienced, and the sting of tears threatened as the emotion choked her.

Morgan took a hesitant step forward and when he didn’t move, took one more. It took every ounce of strength inside her to make that final step and then she found herself standing in front of the giant animal. She stared down into its eyes and realized then. Not it, but
him
. It was Adrien starring back at her through those eyes and awe filled her as she reached out a hand, slowly running it down the soft fur of his belly.

He rolled happily on the ground and she couldn’t hold back the burst of laughter. His tongue lolled out of his mouth and she could have sworn that he was laughing right along with her.

“Adrien, you are…” She had to pause, searching for the right word, and when she did, she knew it truly was exactly the right one, “You are beautiful.”