Bear Lake- Book Four (6 page)

“Watch
that other foot, you have two…” She warned him, and for a moment he went to
look down. Then he growled and bit down on a curse.

“Get in
my truck, I’m taking you home.” Marcus informed her.

“Best
thing I’ve heard all night, aside from the fact that you’ll be in it.” She
snapped back.

He
turned her on her heels and guided her towards his pickup. Yanking the door
open and helping her inside with a small push that had her collapsing into the
passenger seat.

She
lifted her index finger and opened her mouth to speak, but he was already
slamming the door behind her. He heard her bite out one curse word after
another and shook his head as he walked around the truck to the driver’s side.

He
climbed in and the truck shook and pitched like it was a boat on the ocean…

“Put
your seatbelt on…” Marcus growled in her general direction. When she didn’t
immediately move; he reached out and keyed the engine to start.

“Please.”
He added and saw movement from her.

The
sound of the click as her seatbelt found its anchor actually disappointed him.
When she hadn’t moved he had the strangest notion to lean in over her, get that
damned belt, and brush his hands against her breasts as he brought it back
across her chest.

He kind
of wished he hadn’t of said please.

A
second later and they were reversing down the lane. One road in and one road
out- at least that was what the map had said when she’d checked out the
directions. Well, they were going the wrong way.

“You
said you were taking me home.” She snapped at him.

“I am.
My home.” He growled back and her heart kicked her ribs before it hammered some
more.

~^~

Marcus
pretty much ignored her the whole time that she was sitting around the fire
pit. The rest of the clan seemed to make a point to include her in their
conversations.

There
were a few growls and warning looks between the males and eyes turned towards
Alex every time that someone seemed to do something they might have thought the
woman would disagree with, but other than that; it could have been any other
community get together in the world.

She
wasn’t disappointed in the least that nobody had turned into a big old bear in
front of her, because she wasn’t entirely sure how she would react to that.
She’d enjoyed the food, the beer, and the company. Except for Marcus; who sat
there eyeing everyone with a death glare all night.

“The
Doc said bed rest for you…” Jackson reached down and gently scooped his mate
into his arms. “And you’ve been out here long enough.”

Janice
had noted the way that the men behaved with their human mates. It was sweet,
manly and masterful like some old time swashbuckling movie on tv, but still
sweet.

She
flicked her eyes towards Marcus and snatched them away again when she caught
him staring at her.

“But…”
Alex started and Jackson’s eyebrows went up on his head.

“It’s
about to snow. I can scent it in the air.” He informed her and that kicked
Janice into action. She pushed up to her full height, which wasn’t tall
compared to the male company that she was keeping.

“I
should be going if I want to beat the snow and get home.” She announced and
Marcus snorted his contempt for her words.

“Good
luck with that. I’m not taking you.” He growled.

“Hold
up, I wanna see this…” Alex whispered against Jackson’s ear.

“Then
I’ll walk.” Janice announced as she tugged down her jacket over her backside
and put one foot in front of the other.

Marcus
was in front of her in a heartbeat. She snapped her head back on her neck to
glare up at him.

“No,
you won’t.” Another low rumble went through his chest and she felt annoyance
rather than like a damned teenager at her prom. He seemed to puff his body out
and she had no idea why. He was damned big enough as it was without changing
his stance.

“You
can’t tell me what to do, I’m a grown ass woman.” That hadn’t come out exactly
how she’d wanted it too, but she was sure he got the gist of it when he leaned
in towards her.

“Yes I
can, and yes I will. You heard Jackson, it’s about to snow, and I’m not letting
you get in a damn car or walk in it.”

Marcus
flexed his muscles and he didn’t know why. Maybe he was expecting her to stomp
on his damn foot again, or maybe he was expecting her to kick him right in the
balls, but in his world it paid to look big and mean, and you wanted to impress
your attacker.

Damn,
but this man made her want to stomp her foot in annoyance and she hadn’t done
that, apart from on his foot earlier, since she was a child. He really was like
a bear with a sore head.

“Shouldn’t
you be hibernating for winter?” She scowled up at him to sniggers from the
others.

“Seriously?”
He growled down at her and she shrugged her shoulders.

“You’re
a bear.” She offered up to him.

“And a
human.”

“Still
a bloody bear though right? I’m sure you go crap in the woods, so why not go
take a long nap, and I’ll see you in the spring.”

“Get in
the damn cabin, woman.” Marcus growled. “Or do we have to do things the hard
way again?”

She was
still a little annoyed at him for the last time. She certainly didn’t want to
be thrown over his shoulder and carried off in front of everyone. That would
just be embarrassing. She huffed.

“I’ll
sleep in the damn truck.”

“No,
you’ll play Goldilocks and sleep in my damn bed.”

“I’m
not sleeping in your bed.”

“Look…”
Marcus took a step forward and she took a long step back. He froze and scented
the air; looking for fear coming from her. He softened his stance…

“Don’t
even act like this isn’t some great burden for you, some great imposition. Just
stay the hell away from me.” She tossed up a dismissive hand in his direction
and he took a long step back from her.

“Suzanna,
can you show the Doctor to my cabin?” Marcus turned on his heels and stalked
away. He didn’t even bother waiting for a reply.

Janice
stared at his broad back as he walked away once more. The man had a habit of
doing that and she found that she didn’t like it, not much, not only little
bit.

She
stomped over to the nearest snow band and grabbed a handful of yesterday’s
snow, forming a hard tight ball and lobbying it at the back of his head. Splat.
Right on target.

He
hesitated in his stride but still didn’t look back. There was a rumble like
thunder, but she still felt better for it.

~^~

“So
this is where he brings all of his women…” Janice half muttered to herself as
she surveyed the inside of his cabin.

Jealousy
raised its ugly little head within her and she frowned hard at the notion. She
had nothing to be jealous of- he wasn’t hers, never would be. He’d kissed her
once, and that seemed to be more than enough for him.

“Marcus?
Noooo.” Suzanna chuckled. “Marcus is territorial. He doesn’t normally let
females in here, except for Alex. She gets a free pass with Marcus. I’ve had a
few cups of coffee with him on the porch, but- this is his man cave.” Suzanna
chuckled.

“Sounds
about right. He is caveman material.” She wanted to dismiss the man and his
attitude towards. Hot then cold wasn’t something that you wanted to cling to in
life. For some damn reason that man had gotten under her skin and she wasn’t
sure that she liked it.

“Want
me to help you change the sheets on the bed?” Suzanna asked.

“No.”
She shook her head. There was no way in hell she was playing Goldilocks and
sleeping in his bed. “I got it, thanks.”

“You
ok?” Suzanna ducked her head into Janice’s eye line and the woman seemed to
snap out of it a little with the help of a shake of her head.

“I’d
say what the hell is wrong with him, but…?”

“Let’s
just say that I think Marcus has met his match in you and it’s unnerved him a
little.” Suzanna could have blurted out what the clan already knew, they were
mates and Marcus was fighting it, but it wasn’t her place to tell.

“Or
maybe he just needed half a bottle of Scotch inside of him to be in a good
mood.” Janice was more talking to herself than to Suzanna.

“If you
need anything, just give a knock next door or yell. Trust me, someone will hear
you.” Suzanna offered and Janice nodded.

“Thanks,
Suzanna.”

With
that Suzanna retreated and left her to her own devices. She wasn’t about to
snoop, well, much.

She
found the bathroom and took care of her needs. On the way in she’d spotted his
bedroom with its open door and larger than hell bed in prime position against
the opposite wall, coming back out she itched just to see where the ogre laid
his big old head.

Flicking
on the overhead lights she took it all in from the doorway. Unwilling to go
inside.

Suzanna
had said that Marcus never brought women to his bed… well, she wouldn’t be
sleeping there either.

She
turned off the lights and walked back into the living room. Flicking off the
lights and curling up into the corner cushions of the couch; she closed her
eyes and tried to count sheep, but all she saw on the back of her lids was
Marcus.

~^~

Temptation
was a bitch with claws that tore him up from the inside. Marcus had promised
himself that he was going to stay on the outside of his cabin all night to
guard the woman inside and keep her safe while she was with them.

It
wasn’t that he expected anything bad to happen to her, he didn’t. It was just
the way of the beast.

He’d
prowled around out back. Saw his bedroom light go on, and his heart kicked him
in the ribs at the thought of her stretching out on his bed, and then when that
light went out- well, that was all that he could think about. His women in his
bed… it got so bad that he even went up to the window to see if he could see in
through the damn closed blind.

He
tortured himself with images of her lying there waiting for him to come to her.
Then he tortured himself with the images of what might happen if he did.

The
need to see her inside his bed won out in the end and he found himself creeping
into his own damn cabin like a thief in the night; imagine his shock when he
quietly closed the front door and turned to see her curled up like a damn cat
in the corner of his couch.

He
sighed inwardly. Disappointment rushed through him, not just that she hadn’t
sought the comfort of his bed, but that she was still fighting against him like
this.

But
then; he hadn’t really told her to take his bed, just made some damn Goldilocks
comment. Maybe she assumed he was going to be sleeping in it himself. Maybe she
was worried he’d climb in beside her again.

He
stole across the room and looked down on her. She looked uncomfortable, and
that gave him a reason to reach out and lift her into his arms.

At the
first movement of her body leaving the cushions; she snapped her eyes open and
jolted awake.

“What…?”
Dazed and confused, and a lot startled; Janice’s hand came up and her knuckles
caught him across the face. Just a backhand that felt like she was swatting a
fly.

“You’re
sleeping in my spot.” Marcus informed her.

He
ignored the slight pain to his nose as he started for the bedroom with her
cradled in his arms.

“There’s
a bed for you…” Janice frowned.

“What
kind of a man would I be to let a female sleep on the damn couch while I took
the bed?” Marcus gave a low growl of annoyance. That she’d even consider him to
be that kind of a guy rattled his last nerve.

“One
that didn’t wake me up while I was sleeping.” Janice grumbled.

Marcus
had meant to just pick her up and transport her to his bed, but the feel of
having her in his arms, her soft body pressed against his hard one, was too
good, and he took his own sweet time in getting to his bedroom.

“I
tried not to.” Marcus didn’t have to lie about that. It would have been easier
on him if she was still asleep, curled against him instead of squirming in his
arms, her hip brushing against his hard length until he wanted to groan out
loud.

“You’re
a strange man, Marcus.” It seemed that her annoyance with him had been doused
by sleep.

“Am I
now?”

“You’re
just full of contradictions.”

They
came to a stop at his bed and her eyes flicked down and back to his. This was…
awkward.

“Look,
Doc, if you’re looking for a man to give you a good time. I’m that man, but
will I be here in the morning? Well that’s a different thing entirely.” Marcus
didn’t lie. Not really. But he did want to scare her off.

She
wasn’t stupid. He wasn’t loves young dream and she was too damn old and jaded
to see the world that way. She could feel the tension within him, feel the hard
press of his cock against her backside, and she knew that he wanted her, but
didn’t unattached bear shifters want anything that wasn’t nailed down?

One
night with Marcus and everything that he had to offer- or sleep alone in his
damn bed big?

“I’ll
pass, thanks.” There was an acidity to her tone that he hadn’t heard before. It
rattled him and his bear. The damn thing was antsy inside of him, eager to claw
its way to the surface to claim her as their mate.

He
reluctantly lowered her down to the mattress. He’d been there before, only the
last time he’d crawled in beside her and kept her wrapped in the protective
embrace of his arms all night. This time he had no choice but to turn and force
his body and his heart to walk away from her.

She’d
said no to him… again.

Mine.

His
bear clawed and demanded that he turn around, go back to her and claim her as
their mate. And damn it all to hell, but all he wanted to do was to taste her,
to sink his cock so deep inside of her body that she knew in her heart that he
was hers and she was his… but pride kept his feet moving back towards the
living room and that damn couch.

~^~

Janice
didn’t know what the time was but it was still pitch black on the other side of
the blind at the window and she hadn’t been able to get back to sleep since
he’d picked her up and put her in his bed.

She
sighed and turned over, away from the window, away from the night that taunted
her.

She’d
done it again- second, third, and more guessed herself as she lay awake. She’d
turned him down when all that she wanted to do was say yes. Yes, such a simple
damn word and yet she’d been too cowardly to say it.

Pride.
She was a throwaway woman to a man like Marcus. Mr Love ‘em and Leave ‘em. Mr
Big head and Big… she didn’t even want to think of that monster that was
hanging between his damn thick muscled legs.

Or
maybe she did, maybe that was the problem. She was hornier than hell when that
man was around. Maybe shifter libido was catching and she’d caught a nice heavy
dose of it.

She
should have been running like her heels were on fire away from a man like
Marcus. So why did everything within her psyche tell her to pitch a tent and
wait him out?

Maybe
she was that starry-eyed schoolgirl. Seeing a halo around Marcus’s head that
wasn’t really there.

What
had he said? ‘If you’re looking for a man to give you a good time, I’m your
man?’ He’s my man…?

No,
I’m that man. Damn, I’m even looking for something that’s never going to be
there…

She
flipped back over and sighed again.
Schoolgirl antics on a grown assed
woman. Next I’ll be drawing hearts and writing our damn initials inside of
them…

“What’s
wrong?”

His
deep voice sounded like a sonic boom within the deafly quiet of the room and
the turmoil of her mind. She shot up onto her elbow and tried to still her
heartbeat from racing like a thoroughbred at the biggest meet of the year as
she starred at the blacked out shape in the doorway- hell, he was the doorway.

“Can’t
sleep…” She swallowed down everything else that she wanted to say. Swallowed
down blaming him for her tortured hours and evasive sleep.

“Nobody
is going to hurt you here…” Marcus had caught the sound of trepidation in her
voice.

“I
know.” She screwed up her face and tossed herself back down to the pillows.
“I’m not bloody scared of you or yours.”

“Good
to know.” There was a small element of amusement within the tension in his
voice and her head snapped back up as she narrowed her eyes on the man that she
could only see as a silhouette- one damn big contoured blob that blocked out
the miniscule light behind him.

“Don’t
laugh at me, Marcus. I get rat shitty when I don’t get my sleep.” She
practically growled those words at him and his bear picked up on that. It
growled back, but in a good way.

“Good
to know that too, and I wasn’t laughing at you, Doc…” He growled gently and saw
her head go back down against his pillow. He knew that her scent was going to
linger a long while inside of that bedding and he’d savour it for as long as he
could before it drove him insane- literally.

“Don’t
call me that.” She turned over in the bed away from him and he growled inwardly
at losing the sight of her lying there. Those eyes fixed on him in the
darkness. She might not have been able to see him clearly, but he could sure as
hell see her.

Temptation.
The woman in his bed called to him more than she could ever have known, ever
have understood. His bear wanted to shake free of the man and go to her, claim
her itself if he wasn’t going to do it.

“Janice…”
He offered and saw her take a deep breath then heard her let go of it.

He
cursed himself for his weakness. Why the hell couldn’t he just go to her and
tell her who she was to him? Give her that choice? Scare the hell out of so she
ran away never to come back, and he could just die a tortured death taking
comfort in the fact that he wasn’t going to fuck up her life?

“The
way you say my name makes it sound like you care. Don’t do that, Marcus, don’t
sound like you give a shit about me when we both know that you’re playing me
for some damn reason…”

Her
words hit him hard. His pride roared. His beast roared. He fisted his hands at
his sides and held firm right where he was.

“I do
care. You’re a good woman, you help people…”

“Oh,
back to the sainted doctor bit again? I’m a woman. That’s it. My job doesn’t
define me no more than your shifter DNA defines you. We’re both just people
with baggage. Your baggage is hanging between your legs.”

Marcus
opened his mouth to speak but what the hell could he say to that. She’d just
condemned him for sleeping around. That was how she saw him- a man whore.

Did she
just want a damn ride on his cock the way the others had?

He
could give her that. One night on his cock. One night in his arms. Fuck her
like she’d never been fucked before, until she saw stars.

Then he
could make love to her like a mate would and let her go in the morning. Stay
the hell away from her until he went insane and his clan ended his suffering…

Now
that he’d found her he’d never want to sink his length into another woman. What
did it matter if she was his last? His everything?

One
damned night to truly know his mate.

Marcus
stalked towards his bed and she’d felt him coming because her body tensed and
she turned towards him. He stood there, practically naked in the half light
from the other room, and he watched her wide eyes take him in. Every contour,
every inch that she could see.

Her
gaze lingered on the hard bulge of his cock under the shorts that he’d changed
into as a reminder that she was off limits. As a sort of barrier between them. Naked
was more comfortable; shorts said keep your hands to yourself.

He saw
her mouth open as she took a long breath. The tip of her pink tongue came out
and brushed over her lips and he growled long and hard at the sight of it. He
wanted to taste her tongue on his again…

“Move
over, you’re on my side…” He growled the words. Gave her the chance to tell him
to go to hell, and he would, he was heading that way anyway.

She
surprised him by moving, making a space for him. He stood there transfixed by
her eyes as they stared up at him. Then he hands reached for the elastic of his
short and he took a long moment to hook them on his thumbs and show her exactly
what he was planning to do…

He
heard her heartbeat skip and thud harder. He saw her eyes drop to where his
hard length poked against the fabric wanting out- he waited for the longest
moment of his damned life for her to make the choice…

She
tossed back the covers and his bear roared, his heart raced, and his cock got
so damn hard that he thought it might actually snap off.

He thrust
the shorts down his legs and his cock sprang free. He heard her draw a breath
as her eyes fixed on it. He kicked his shorts off and climbed into the bed
beside her, slowly, like a predator waiting for its prey to run.

Janice
didn’t second guess this choice. His cock might have been damned imposing, and
even as a doctor she had to wonder how the hell she was going to take that
comfortably inside of her, but others had done it… they might have been walking
bandy legged the next day, but she could live with that.

One
moment he was making himself comfortable, lying back on the bed, and the next
his arm was beneath her body and he was lifting her up and sliding her on top
of him.

She
might have tossed off a few of her clothes as she tried to find some comfort
inside of his bed alone, but she was still wearing way too many clothes for her
liking.

Her
hands found the hard ridges of his chest and her fingers tingled with the
touch. Two large hands cupped her face and he drew her head down, his lips
brushing hers. She felt that touch all the way down to her toes.

The
hard press of his cock against her stomach made her want to rip of her clothes
and feel it, flesh to flesh, and yet he took her mind off it when his lips
pressed hers and his tongue swiped against the seam.

He
tasted her lips and then pressed inside. With a growl that said he was hungry
for more, he devoured her with so much ferocity that her damn head spun.

His
hands left her face and travelled down her body and her mind was caught between
the feel of them and the feel of his tongue duelling with hers.

His
hands hooked her shirt and he yanked it up and over her head; breaking the kiss
just long enough to free her of the fabric barrier to his touch. He could feel
her hard nipples against his chest as she moved against him. He knew what she
needed; his touch over those aching buds, and he didn’t waste time undoing the
clasp, he just ripped it in two…

He
heard her gasp against his mouth and yet she didn’t pull away, didn’t pull up,
until he slid the lace down her shoulders and she moved just enough to allow
him to pull it away.

There
was a low moan that caught deep within her throat as she rubbed her breasts
against his chest. His cock twitched between them at that sweet sound and he
wanted to hear more.

His
hands ran up her sides and sought her breasts, cupping them in his palms,
squeezing gently and testing to see how much she could take as he tightened his
hold. He ran the pads of his thumbs against those aching buds and she moaned
again, squirmed against his length…

He
hooked her under the arms and lifted her body up his, breaking the kiss, and
making her mew until his lips locked around one taunt nipple and he sucked it
against his tongue. Her hands palmed the pillows below his head and she held
her upper body up so that he could have all the damn access that he wanted to
her breasts…

She
closed her eyes and savoured the way the pull and tug on her desperate nipples
sent bolts of pleasure between her legs. She could feel the wet heat between
her thighs and she had no intention of pressing them together to try to mask
that scent.