Bear His Bond: Wylde Den Two (Alaskan Den Men Book 9) (4 page)

“Sorry. Doctor’s orders. Can you stand?”

It took a couple of tries, but with a little help he managed to get upright by the third attempt.

“Whatever he had in those buckets required gloves and I noticed he didn’t touch the water.”

“Damn.” One fatal disaster avoided and now they had another.

“We have to get back and radio in the rangers.”

She agreed.

For being shot he moved surprisingly fast. With one brief stop to gather her things, they closed in on the cabin within thirty minutes of setting out.

“Wait here.” Pepper helped Everett up the steps of the enclosed wraparound porch encasing his cabin. “I have to get the first-aid kit from the plane and I’ll radio into home base.”

“We’ll both go.” He moved to push past her, but like hell she’d be responsible for putting him through more pain when she could be back in less than ten minutes.

“We made good time. But you can’t make it another twenty feet much less the quarter mile. We can’t afford the time loss if we don’t tell them what you found.” The sun brushed the horizon, and tiny lightning bugs twinkled like fairy lights throughout the forest, giving the menacing dusk a false sense of safety.

He gave a nod and accepted his defeat. But the way his expression darkened he didn’t like it any more than she did. “Pepper.” Her name came out in a low, graveled whisper that begged her attention. She slowly turned to face him. Worry screwed his face up in a frown. He moved closer and reached for her waist. “Use it if you have to.” He tapped her holster.

“Trust me. I will.”

She dashed inside and fumbled in her suitcase for a replacement scarf and wrapped it around her neck as she walked. She never left home without one and today didn’t seem like a good day to leave behind her lucky charm.

When she stepped out of the door again, the heat of his gaze hit her square in between the shoulder blades. Without looking back, she took the few steps two at a time and hit the ground running. There’s no telling what he put in the water or how many animals could die from it. At least they had the who. Now they needed to find out the why and what behind the substance he dumped in the water.

CHAPTER FOUR

Shafts of late afternoon sunlight combed through the fresh spring leaves to fan out across the ground at her feet. Glints of garnet caught her eye, and she slowed.

Blood. So she did hit him. Or at least nicked him, if he made it this far. There didn’t seem to be enough that signaled a grave wound.

If he was here, she didn’t want to be. Unease bubbled in the pit of her stomach. With a little effort she shoved it down with a couple of big deep breaths. Her waders thumped on the wood of the dock so she slowed, careful to make as little noise as possible. Each step made the pier gently rock in the waves. Ripples of anxiety froze her in place. She crouched forward a little and scanned the darkened wooded area at her back before she hightailed it the rest of the way to the plane at the end of the dock.

Metal that once served as a door hung sideways off the hinges with deep gashes where the handle once was. Acid boiled like a tar pit in her stomach and caused a wave of panic to tumble through her limbs. With each step closer the harder it became to stand.

Fluffy cotton tufts tumbled across the once pristine tan leather bench to catch on the dry grass by the bank and scatter across the water. A sea of multicolored wires hung like gnarled vines from holes that weren’t there when they’d left the plane yesterday. She rushed forward.

They were so screwed. This thing would never fly them home. Pepper laid a hand to the metal still warm from the day’s sunshine, and her heart broke for Everett. He treated this plane like parent did a child.

“Let me see.”

Pepper nearly jumped out of her skin. “Everett, damn you. You’re supposed to be back at the cabin.”

Everett clenched his fist at his side. “Like I’ll sit around and let anything happen to you. Not now or ever. Now let me see the damage, Doc,” he gruffly said, pinning her with an unwavering look. “Please,” he added quietly.

She stepped aside, but worked the meanest glare she could muster while being freaked the hell out. When she managed a closed door behind and cut off any possible escape route, she’d go full-scale doctor with him. Right now, having him close eased the bubbling acid in her stomach, and she’d take it. Selfish or not.

“The radio. It’s gone.” He worked hard to keep the worry out of his tone, but she knew him too well not to hear the small fractures in his words. The deep line between his brows returned, only deeper. If he wasn’t careful, it would become a permanent fixture to his looks.

Somewhere between the cabin and here he’d found a big stick to use as a cane. She eased by it, careful not to hit his leg for a better look at what they were dealing with. “Son of a bitch.” Reaching over the torn seats, Pepper retrieved the white metal box left open on the cockpit floor. “He took most of the first-aid supplies too, but I think there’s enough here to help.”

“Fucker. He took the whole damn thing.” Everett held up the casing that housed the radio which tied them to home base. And any hopes of a rescue.

“Who the hell is this guy?” He needed a severe ass kicking. What kind of asshat did this kind of thing to the people that took him in? One more thing went wrong and she might spare the whole Wylde crew the hassle and do the dishing herself.

Everett’s voice broke through her thoughts. “A first-rate douche, that’s who.” Everett banged his fist into the ripped upholstery of the pilot’s seat. Pain weighed on him and made his shoulder droop forward.

Blood soaked through her scarf and trailed down his calf to wet his sock. “You’re not looking too hot, and we’re not going to figure anything out here.” Perspiration wet the tips of his hair from the exertion of the walk and plastered it against his forehead.

Several months ago, feet of snow covered everything in sight. Now thousands of purple wildflower clusters burst from the ground to form a fragrant carpet that swayed in the gentle breeze. Everything around them gave off a peaceful vibe. But after today she’d never look at the woods the same.

Everett, hurt as he was, still towered over her. His power evident in every move he made. She eased under his arm and guided him to lean on her. “I can shimmy together something to care for your wound from the things back at the cabin and what I have here until we can work out plan B.”

“Plan B, huh?” A light sheen of sweat covered him, and she could tell the extra effort to follow her out here was taking a toll.

Glowing yellow eyes peered down at her as if calculating the options and the limits of his body. Captivated, she didn’t move. In all the time they’d shared, he never let her see his wilder side. Despite all the begging and blackmailing, he’d been one hundred percent human all the time. Until today. The angles of his face sharpened in the rapidly dimming daylight, and his muscles bulged beneath the clean T-shirt he’d slipped on.

Everett looked down his chest at her with a ferocious mixture of amber and lava. His gaze landed on her bruised cheek. The ethereal glow in his gaze unlike anything she’d ever seen before. Right now he looked as though he wanted to shift and commit murder, and she knew without a doubt he’d never hurt her.

Wrapping his free arm around her shoulder, he pulled her in close. “This isn’t over, Pepper. He’ll pay. Not only for what he did to you but for nearly killing my brother and his mate in that avalanche last month.” With a supernatural force, the wood of his makeshift cane burst to splinters within his tightened grip. She jumped but not out of fear for herself. No. Out of fear for the man who would receive his wrath.

“You think it was him then too?”

“Brax? Yes. That damn ice bear is up to something bigger than we all thought. I know it was him, and Adam said as much too. You were at Rone’s bar the night when Aurora and Adam showed the evidence of the ice bear provoking the avalanche, don’t you remember? We just have to find out why, and now he’s poisoning the water supply.”

She did remember but for some reason didn’t make the connection since Claw Ridge was three hours away. “What do you think he wants?”

“Land, territory. Both. I just can’t tell if it’s for him, or the new resort he’s working for that bought the land attached to ours north of here, or if his family has something to do with his behavior.”

If that happened the Wylde family faced a problem bigger than an encroaching den making the move on their territory. It could mean their business would suffer. Wylde excursions tailored to the tourists’ every need. If a fancy lodge moved in, the Wyldes would be out.

Dusk settled in and Everett pushed faster as they made their way back to the cabin in silence. She could tell his mind clicked over all the details but had as little luck as she did in finding answers.

Back at the cabin, getting up the stairs again nearly killed them both.

Still wearing her waders, she turned and gave a kick to the door. Inside, she leaned them both on the back of the couch. “Shower now, then food.” She shucked off the waders and clicked on several lamps scattered across the open space of the shared dining and living room. Soft white light poured over the room. Like her, he preferred sparse furniture and open spaces. Small earth-toned rugs dotted the wood flooring. One by the back door and another by the front with one more in front of the floor to ceiling bookcase situated by the fireplace. Stacked river rock made up the entire hearth and invited one to sit a spell by the warmth with a good book or maybe a meal.

Everett merely nodded as she maneuvered him to the bathroom.

With a flick, light drenched the room and revealed a small sink to the left and beige walls that led to smooth wooden floors throughout the entire cabin. Another rug, this one the color of his eyes, warmed the flooring by the tub. To the left towels, stacked in size from smallest to biggest, lined the top of the chest of drawers he’d refurbished last winter.

Now the towels served as a cushion for Everett where he leaned on them for support. He tucked an arm close and moved to pull his shirt off, but she reached out and stopped him with a light.

“Let me.”

With evening in full swing, the Alaska midnight sun barely kissed the horizon where it would stay until sunup. The window above the shower allowed a small amount of sunlight in, enough to hit the dangling crystals of the light fixtures that said a woman at some point called this place home. A fraction of her heart ached at the thought.

The rainbow effect played over his chest and across his face. He dropped his arms and leaned in closer, causing the colorful lights to bounce off his irises. “Please.”

Oh God. A groan tickled the back of her throat. He totally destroyed her with that single word. She looked between the shower and his gaze. On one shoulder the good doctor angel whispered for her to take care of him and put him to bed. The devilish angel on her left shoulder shucked her scrubs and commanded she heed the plea in his eyes for her to do her naughtiest to him.

Her heart filled and swelled with so much love, so much need for this one man, that it pained her not to shout it out from every creature to hear. Every second that ticked by, the bad angel gained ground.

His eyes slid closed as she ran her fingers beneath his shirt and lifted the material over his head to reveal solid muscle and abs that went on way past the button of his jeans. After tossing the shirt aside, she set to work on the offending jeans—slung low from the lack of a belt left somewhere on the bank of the lake.

Her mouth went dry. Every touch, every caress of a finger over his skin, muscle trembled. Drowning in the need to care for him, she leaned in. Softly, she pressed her lips to each inch she exposed and reveled in how his body relaxed under her attention.

“Pepper.” His head fell back against the wall as he chucked her name out.

Ten seconds. She would stay here for ten seconds and if he called her again like that, she wouldn’t—couldn’t— resist what he pulled to the surface. And it would be all his fault.

“Love, look at me.” His hand slid up the back of her head and dug deep into the locks of her hair that had fallen from the bun to hang loosely down her back at some point, forcing a moan from her lips.

She complied.

“You’re killing me, baby. Every second you touch me you bring something to life inside me. Something I’m not sure I wanted before you.” The tangled mesh of tension that served as the underbelly to their relationship slipped away to leave a newly found peace. But could she trust it? Trust that it wasn’t the emotions of the moment speaking? She was so damned confused. One second he pushed her away and the next he pulled her in with words she didn’t quite know how to interpret.

Kneeling by his feet, the crest of his cock teasing her closer, she shoved everything else to the back of her mind. For now, she would care for him and all the matters of the heart could be examined later.

With his pants opened at the waist, she slipped her thumbs inside the zipper and slowly pulled the sides open.

Metal rasped against metal and in less than five seconds she had him stripped of jeans, boots and every stitch of clothing he wore. Bared to her, she could care for him in one of two ways.

Angling away from him, she rose, scraping her nails lightly over the hardened flesh of his cock then higher to his chiseled abs. He gasped and caught her hand, bringing it to his chest.

“I could say the same thing.” Every word he’d spoken, she’d felt. Dammit. Her voice shook, and he picked up on it with how his heartbeat quickened beneath her palm.

Faster than she thought he could move, he had her pinned against him and the ends of her shirt fisted in his fingers.

“No. This is for you. ” She pulled back, but it did nothing to kill the sweet heat radiating between them. “I’m not sure either one of us would survive the shower if I let you undress me.”

“I’m willing to try if you are.”

Yes! With his head angled back and his lids lowered, she had to be crazy or insane to deny the man what he wanted. He made sexy into something she could reach out and touch, lick and eat, and she was hungry.

****
 

Water fell in ribbons over them as Pepper eased them beneath the sluicing hot water. He weighed more than she did by a lot, but to his amazement she didn’t buckle when his legs threatened to give. “Steady. Lean on me more.”

God, did she know how perfect she was? He worked a smile if only for her benefit. Truth be told, the pain ebbed and flowed with his heartbeat. The more she touched him the more he hurt because of what she did to him.