Big Strong Bear (4 page)

A
s obnoxious as
Hades knew Ares was going to be, it turned out to be worse.

Ares had laughed for a straight minute, his mate asking in the background what was going on, and then taken a deep breath and started laughing again.

Cassie was taking a shower, and Hades thought it was the right time to call, both because she wouldn’t be able to hear him and because it would distract him from the thought of his naked mate just a couple walls away.

Sweat broke out on his forehead at that thought, and he focused on his grating friend rather than the image of her silky curves lathered in soap.

Damn, he wanted to join her.

But he guessed Ares’s advice wasn’t going to be, “Get in that shower and seduce your woman.” Shame.

“Wow, so this is the one you mentioned before? The one that didn’t want you?”

Hades nodded, then realized Ares couldn’t hear that. “Yes.”

“And you brought her here why?”

“Did Zeus say anything?”

“No,” Ares said, going serious. “Why?”

“She’s in trouble with some loan sharks. I wanted to get her away from that environment and also get backup…”

“So you don’t tear them to pieces,” Ares said.

“Yes,” Hades said shortly. He was glad Ares seemed to understand sometimes it was the smaller foes that were harder to deal with when you were as strong and skilled as they were. It was like trying to figure out how to deal with bugs when you were an elephant.

“Well, you’re in the right place. Besides, Zeus and I would love to have you out here. We miss you, bro.”

Hades grumbled something unintelligible at that, and Ares just laughed again, once again making his mate wonder what was going on.

He heard Ares try to cover the receiver and update Katrina and grimaced as he heard her react in shock.

“Hades? That Hades? Trying to win over a woman?” she said in the background.

“Hey, I can hear you,” Hades said. “And I can win over a woman as well as anyone else.”

At that, Ares and Katrina both laughed.

“What?” he asked tersely.

“Nothing,” Ares said. “I think it’s just hard to picture. Badass Hades, one of the best shots in the world and a genius hacker, calling for dating advice. I guess it just tickles my funny bone.”

“I’ll tickle something if you don’t shut up and get serious about this,” Hades grumbled.

Ares laughed. “Wow, Hades, is that an offer? I’ll have to ask Kat. I mean, you never said anything when we served together, but I always got the feeling—”

Hades blanched and hung up, sending the strongest message possible.

When the phone rang, he eyed it angrily. Maybe this was all a big mistake. Ares was a good friend and always the best with women, but Hades didn’t need mockery right now. He’d always been kind of a stern person, but having half his body burned off and getting stared at all the time only made him more prickly.

Luckily, at that moment, Cassie opened the door, peeking out in only a towel. His eyes widened and he quickly looked away, shading his vision. Nothing he hadn’t seen, but he’d promised himself he’d be respectful. He did hope for more between them, but he was her protector first and foremost and always wanted her to feel safe around him.

“Um, I need to get my clothes,” she said.

“Of course,” he said, standing to go and bumping his leg on the corner of the bedframe in his haste to get out.

“Wait,” she said, stifling a giggle. “Maybe you could just hand me my things. I put them out on the bed there.”

His eyes widened as he looked over at the neat pile. Silky pink panties and a matching bra made his throat go dry, but he told himself to soldier up and looked away as he grabbed the things and quickly handed them to her, averting his eyes from her steamy, naked body.

“You want to shower next?” she asked.

“I don’t know,” he said. “Will you be okay out here?”

“One sec,” she said, shutting the door to change. When she came out, looking fresh and comfortable, her damp curls surrounding a face that was ten times more relaxed than when she’d first come to him, his whole body froze in response.

“I’m wary of showering and leaving you out here alone. I want to know you feel safe.”

She blinked up at him. “Of course I feel safe. Honestly, the past day, I’ve felt safer than I have in a long time.”

“Maybe I will take one then, real quick,” he said.

She gave him a mischievous smile. “Maybe I could be in there with you, just so you’re reassured?”

One of his eyebrows jumped up. “Really? But you just took a shower.”

She shook her head. “Not like that. I mean I could read in the bathroom or something, but be in sight.”

Damn, his cock liked that idea. But that seemed like too much, even for his rather considerable self-control. “I’ll be fine without a shower. I’ll take one tonight,” he said. “I want to make sure no one has followed us out here.”

“You always were paranoid,” she said.

“When it comes to you?” he asked. “Absolutely. Though I admit my combat experience has only made it that much worse.”

“I’ll bet,” she said. “So what next, then?”

“Breakfast,” he said, ignoring the phone as it buzzed on the bed. Ares could sit and think about what he’d done. Hades was going to make French toast for his woman, whether she liked it or not.

C
assie didn’t know
what had gotten into her, offering to go in the shower with Hades.

Had she just wanted to see his body? She admitted she was curious what he looked like now, with all those muscles and scars.

Her traitorous body didn’t care that she was still hurt by his rejection. It had woken up horny and ready to go the moment she’d seen him lying next to her, his huge arms splayed around him, his beautiful muscles bared in a low-cut shirt.

All through her shower, she’d been thinking of him, even as she tried not to. She couldn’t help imagining how good it would feel if he came in and caressed her skin, washed her, knelt in front of her, pleased her.

She could remember just how good he’d felt. Everything he’d done had always been exquisite, like her body was sensitive only for him. Each place he touched always seemed lit by fire.

He might have been an asshole since he came back, but it didn’t stop her body’s very real need for him.

He was her mate. Her bear still thought that, despite everything that had happened. And her bear wanted him, sensed his alpha male pheromones and what a great protector and provider and lover he would be.

Dear goodness, she wanted to tie him down to the bed and have her way with him. Make him admit it was all a mistake and he’d only ever thought of her. Make him renounce that other woman who’d dared to come between them.

But he wouldn’t even mention that woman, and she couldn’t stand someone who would hide secrets from her. As if he should really think she wouldn’t have noticed someone was staying with him. Did he think she was stupid?

Still, the longer she was with him, the more she just wanted to forget that woman and get back with him, regardless of what he wanted.

Perhaps he just wanted things to go back to normal. But what was normal? Had he ever really felt she was his mate? If he had, he couldn’t have taken up with another woman while rejecting her.

She cursed to herself as she followed him out to the kitchen. There was nothing for it. Sex would only complicate things, as would seeing his delicious body. She would just have to ignore her hormones and see how things worked out between them emotionally.

Perhaps here in the mountains, they really could have another chance.

He turned on the stove and pulled out pans and things from the fridge, which was fully stocked.

“You said this was a friend’s cabin?”

“Yeah,” he said. “You remember me mentioning Zeus?”

“Yeah, your squad leader?”

He nodded and continued getting things ready. She saw him pull out cinnamon and smiled. No one made French toast like he did. “This is his cabin. He found a mate, a woman, and bought a house closer to town.”

She nodded.

“Also, Ares, another of my friends, lives in town. He grew up here and talked Zeus into moving here after we got out.” He gestured out the window to the beautiful trees surrounding them. “I mean, peace and quiet is extra desirable for an ex-Special Forces, for obvious reasons.”

She nodded. “So why didn’t you come out here?”

He stopped in the middle of cracking an egg and stared over at her. “How can you even ask that? I came back to you, of course, like we always said I would.”

She gaped. Why was he acting like he wasn’t the one who sent her away? And then invited in another woman?

“I mean, I knew there was a good chance you wouldn’t want me, with how I’d changed, but you’re my mate. I had to try.”

She bit back the angry words she wanted to say.
If I’m your mate, how could you?

But she didn’t want to fight with him. Not when they were stuck here together. She didn’t want her last memories of him to be angry, filled with accusations and defenses. Or worse, lies.

He mixed the ingredients and dipped the first piece of bread before frying it. Then he turned to her, looking unbearably handsome, his dark hair shading his face and his thin tee showing huge muscles and a taut physique.

“What exactly is the problem, Cassie? Why don’t you want me anymore?”

She looked down at her empty plate, telling herself to resist.

“Is it the scars?” he asked. “You claim it’s not. Is it that I don’t seem the same? That I’m mean? Just what the fuck did I do to put that look on your face?”

She slammed her hands on the counter and stood up abruptly. “You know exactly what you did, asshole. And it broke my heart!”

She stormed toward the bedroom and slammed the door behind her. A second later, it opened, and Hades walked in, a neutral expression on his face.

“So it was what happened after you came to visit me? When I was first back?” he asked.

She nodded, shocked he would bring it up.

He sighed and leaned against the door. “I can’t change that. I was a fool. A bitter, lost fool.”

She felt bad for him, but not bad enough to forget.

“I wanted you, but I didn’t think it was possible, not with how things were. With my face…”

“What does your face have to do with it?” she snapped. “You should have known it wouldn’t matter to me. You should have known—”

“I wanted to give you everything,” he said, a hard edge to his voice as he stared at her. “I wanted to wait until that was possible. I didn’t want to give you half a man.”

She swallowed. That didn’t explain why he’d given himself to someone else.

“You would never be half a man to me,” she said. “Half of you would still be worth two of anyone else.”

His handsome face went blank with shock, and she turned away.

“I’m sorry, Cassie. That’s all I can say.”

She shook her head. “Me too.”

“But I’m not walking away from this,” he said. “I can feel something between us. I know you still care for me, even if I don’t deserve it. I know it.”

She took a deep breath, steeling herself against the words she knew were true.

“But you might as well start forgiving me, Cassie. Because I’m not that man anymore. Nor am I the man you sent into the army. I’m someone else. Someone damaged and strong. Someone who wants to protect and love you. And if I can’t be the man you once loved, then I’m also not the man you hated for messing things up.”

She exhaled slowly, not knowing what to think. He made sense. It was just… It was complicated.

“Regardless of what’s happened to us, it’s not right for us to be apart. You know that. Your bear knows that, just like mine does. And I’m going to show you. Every day, I’m going to show you that what I did when I came back had nothing to do with how I feel and everything to do with one dark moment in my life.”

She sighed and went to the window, pulling aside the drapes to look out at the beautiful mountain around them. “You’re asking a lot of me,” she said.

“You’re asking a lot of me,” he retorted, folding his arms. “All I’m asking is for you to put away the past and its darkness while you’re here, to give me a chance to win you over again.”

She nodded slowly. It was either that or a long life alone, missing him. She’d never feel this way about another man.

But no other man could hurt her so badly either.

She looked back at him, so handsome, so stubborn. It was clear he wasn’t going to budge. She was seeing more and more of the man she knew back when they’d been younger and full of promise.

She guessed it was worth a shot if they could have anything like they’d had before. And for everything between them, she guessed she could try to forgive him. Try to forget and give him a chance.

“Fine,” she said. “I’ll try to put it behind us. Try to give you a fair chance.”

He nodded slowly, looking pleased.

“But if you hurt me again, I’ll cut you in your sleep.”

His eyebrows shot up. Then he laughed. “Fine, I’d deserve it.”

“One chance,” she said, holding up a finger. “No more. And you better damn well make it up to me. I mean straight up groveling.”

“Okay,” he said. “Whatever you want.”

“I mean on your knees,” she said.

His grinned. “That can be arranged.”

She felt a blush run up into her cheeks, leaving her flustered. “No, not like that. I…”

“Relax, Cass,” he said. “I’m not going to do anything you don’t want.”

“Phew,” she said. “Good.” As much as she wanted to hold him, to touch him, she knew it wasn’t a good idea. She would forgive him, but she wouldn’t be naive. She would go into this clearheaded, and if he touched her, she wouldn’t be able to think.

He gave her an intent look, one that sent heat shooting from her scalp to her toes. “You won’t regret this, Cass.”

“We’ll see,” she said.

He gave her an appraising look. “Trust me. When I set out to do something, I do it. I’m going to make you safe,” he said calmly, even as his gray eyes burned. “And I’m going to make you love me again.”

She held back a sigh. She already loved him.