Dare to Bear (Book 1 Trail Guardians Series) (13 page)

This is how she should always be
.

Unburdened by heartbreak, unleashed from the stress of city life and deadlines, effervescent and thriving in the pure beauty of the moment. Wild and free. He ached to give her all that and more.

“Come here, beautiful,” he said under his breath as he strode toward her.

Like a red-haired foal, she danced through the tall grasses. They met at the center of the field. He couldn’t stop smiling at the happiness in her sunlit face.

Within talking distance, she beamed up at him. “Whatever is in that water, I want more of it.”

“I’m sure you do.”

“It’s incredible. The colors, scents, sounds. It’s magical.”

“You’re magical.”

Red strands curled around her face like a halo. “No, you are.”

Without warning, she took a running leap into his arms. He caught her and let the momentum topple them to the ground where he cushioned their fall.

On top of him, still grinning, she set her hands on his chest. “This is the best I’ve ever felt in my life. I can’t believe this freedom, the beauty of everything. And you.”

His smile fled. He started at her on top of him, straddling his hips, and he couldn’t hold back. He cupped the nape of her neck and brought her down to him.

Their lips met in a fierce, hungry burst of passion.

Natural impulses flooded his veins. He held her to him for a rough, deep kiss. His tongue searched her mouth, hunting for any hint of rejection. All he found was willingness and sleek perfection.

“I want you,” he growled, flipping their positions.

Her hair fanned out over the crushed grass, red on gold. Her eyes were crystal blue and glowing with desire.

He kissed her again with more heat, more possessiveness. He tasted her moan and rocked against her. Curvaceous legs curled around the backs of his thighs, pulling him into a tight embrace. His erection throbbed against her mound.

Damn, he wanted to strip her naked and take her. Here. Now.

But he couldn’t. Not with her drugged by some magic potion from Ollun. Only a selfish asshole would take advantage of her ecstasy-heightened arousal. No matter how badly he wanted to, and would have, if he didn’t own a conscience.

Reluctantly, he lifted away from her and sat back on his heels. “Steph, the sun is setting. We need to make camp before dark.” He stood and held out his hand. “Come with me. It’s just an hour up ahead.”

While she took his hand, he didn’t miss her disappointed frown. “But it’s so perfect here. I don’t want to leave.”

He brushed away flecks of grass and pollen clinging to her. “I know, baby. Once we make camp, we’ll have all night to be together.

“Okay,” she grumbled.

His alter-ego bear grumbled its disapproval, too.

He appreciated that she respected his knowledge of the terrain despite her objections. She was a woman who accepted compromise even if it went against her impulsivity. That boded well for their future. He needed an intelligent, steady, thoughtful partner. His years of chasing tail and falling for air-brained females were over. Steph was his whole package, and then some.

Hand in hand, they returned to the log beside the trail where he’d left their packs and canteens. She reached for her remaining half-full one, but he got to it first and dumped out the tainted water.

“Hey,” she protested.

“Forget it,” he said, emptying its contents. “What’s in this water is a mind-altering substance, not fit for human consumption.”
Or anyone’s consumption
, he thought, recalling the shocking way the liquid had impacted him.

An owl shriek in the distance mirrored her irritation with him. Whatever. His sex life with his mate was his business. He didn’t require assistance—or an audience—from some meddling bird.

Besides, they needed to settle into shelter before sundown, and the spot he had in mind was an hour’s hike from their current location. He continued carrying both packs to lesson her load. He also handed her one his untainted canteens, a gesture that earned a glare from her.

“Sorry, baby. No more joy juice for you. Or we’ll never finish this trail on time.”

“That’s probably true,” she reluctantly admitted. She began to blink rapidly, and he could tell she was coming down from the potion’s high. “The stuff is a little…” She glanced at his crotch. “Distracting.”

He tugged her against his side and gave her a quick hug. “I’ll give you a distraction.” He kissed her forehead and released her. “After nightfall.”

In response, she squeezed his side, the first show of playful affection from her without prompting, and without the high of the elixer. “I’m good with that.”

“Glad to hear. Because I have plans.”

Her pupils widened. “What kind of plans?”

His stared at her through half-lidded eyes. “I don’t tell. I show.”

A little shiver worked through her shoulders. “Mmm. I like demonstrations.”

His heart rate spiked, and his mind drifted to carnal pursuits. Hell, this hike would prove more strenuous than balancing his bear/human sides back when he’d caught her fall. “Soon,” he murmured.

Within the hour, his hand beneath the bandages had healed completely. Though he wanted to remove the gauze strips, he couldn’t draw attention to his supernatural abilities yet.

Right as the sky darkened, and slivers of pink and orange striated the horizon through the trees, he spotted the location he’d had in mind for the night.

Between their survivalist stores along the trail, he and his twin brother, Midas, had constructed several cedar lean-to structures. As teenagers, they’d taken to the forest for days, weeks even, using the lean-tos for shelter from any type of weather. In ice, snow, rain, or blistering heat, the half-open structures had provided base camps for their Trail Guardian training. Each of their twin brothers after them had utilized the coverings for the same purpose. As a Trail Guardian master, Mason knew it wouldn’t be occupied at present.

“Here we are. Home sweet home for tonight,” he said with a tinge of pride.

“Nice. Sure beats sleeping in a stuffy tent, or on the cold ground in a cave.”

He winked. “I’ll keep you warm.”

She inspected the massive twenty-foot tall, river-stone fireplace that had taken longer to create than the lean-to itself. “You may not have to, check out this impressive fireplace.”

He frowned. “What if
I
want to be what keeps you warm all night?”

She sent him a flirtatious glance. “I think we could make our own heat.”

“You
think
? Baby, I know.” He scooped her beside him with one arm and kissed the tip of her nose. “Hang here for a minute, while I sweep out the place and set up for the night.”

“Okay.” She reached for the flashlight clipped to her belt, as she withdrew a map of the region and investigated it.

After divesting several spiders of their homes and sweeping leaves out of the corners, he lit a fire. The wide mouth of the hearth was positioned three feet off the ground, in line with the upraised floor of the lean-to. Then he brought in the packs, resting them along one side, and unrolled their sleeping bags. Instead of setting them up individually, he laid his down first and hers on top.

Perfect. A feather bed, the rich scent of cedar enclosing them, and a soft fire glowing. His cock stirred, knowing what he planned to do to her between those sleeping bags.

“Mason.”

“Yeah?”

“I’m starving.”

Me, too
. Not for food, but for her.

“Sure, Steph.” Seduction could wait. They had all night. He grinned like a horny fool. “Come on in.”

“Ooh, this is great,” she said upon entering. “Kinda romantic.”

“Kinda what I was going for.”

“You succeeded.” She plopped down in the center of the sleeping bags, laid back, and stretched out. “So nice.”

Dude, chill
, he told his bear. It released a feral growl deep in his chest.

She sat up, eyes wide. “What was that?”

“Probably a raccoon.” He had to make up something to cover for the sound he’d made. “Sometimes you’ll hear them growl and snarl over territory at dusk.”

“Oh.” She shifted uneasily. “At least in a cave there’s only one way in and one way out. Here there’s two, each side is half open to the elements and creatures.

He flashed her a grin. “Raccoons don’t stand a chance against me.”
If she only knew
. With one paw he could pitch a raccoon away like a homerun hitter knocks a baseball out of the park. Not that he would, but he could. “I’m just saying, you’re in good hands.”

Resting her fingertips on his forearm, she said, “I feel safer with you than anywhere else.”

His bear basked in the praise of her statement, slightly mollified—for the moment. Thank the Ancients. “Besides, people don’t need protection from the woods. More often, the woods needs protection from people.”

“That’s profound.” She shivered slightly. “I’d prefer a door I can shut, but this is definitely an improvement over last night’s accommodations or the tiny tent in my pack.”

“Isn’t that why you came to the trail? To get closer to nature and find perspective?”

She sighed. “Point taken.”

“Dinner will be ready in five.”

“Great.”

Stephanie watched Mason, and she salivated over him and the way the sterno flames heated up a can of chili that filled the air with the scent of spiced ground beef. He set up a small rack and added a can of corn beside the chili. When the liquid in the cans bubbled, he handed her a fork and they dug in.

No wonder he sported a trim, muscular physique. Protein and vegetables, the dinner of champion weightlifters and weight-losers, so she’d been told by her ex. But no one could separate her eternally from a steaming bowl of pasta or cheesy potatoes. Just wouldn’t happen. Mashed potatoes mixed with a dollop of cream cheese, topped by a pad of butter and smothered in sausage gravy? Bring it on. She’d eat salads for a week to balance that divine splurge.

“You look like you just had a sip of joy juice,” Mason said with amusement in his tone, distracting her from her culinary fantasy.

“No,” she laughed. “Just thinking of the first meal I’m going to make when I get home.”

She watched his smile slide downward.

“What’s is it?”

“I don’t want to think about you going home.”

Intrigued, feeling a flutter in her chest, she asked, “Why?”

He shot her an intense look, his eyes dark, brooding, smoldering. “Because I haven’t had enough time with you. I want more.”

Although flattered, she huffed a brief laugh. “I’d think you’d had enough of me after my klutzy move today, almost breaking both our necks.” She pitched the empty cans and plastic silverware into a disposable bag. “And you managing to save my life, and all.”

“I’ll always protect you. A life with you is what I want.”

The stark emotion in his stare swallowed her into its depths. She lost her breath. Her heart thumped hard against her ribs. “Mason…”

The moment she said his name, she unexpectedly unleashed a passionate aggression in him that she hadn’t see coming. He groaned into her open mouth as he kissed her, gliding his tongue along the length of hers. Nudging her thighs apart to fit his knees. Settling his hips against her.

Oh. My. God.

His erection was a steel rod against her inner thigh.

It feels so good to be wanted.

Tearing off his bandages with his teeth, he pinned her wrists above her head with one hand. He unbuttoned her shorts with the other.

Arching her back, she invited his sexual advance. She’d craved the press of his hard body against her since she drank her canteen of crazy water. Her breath hitched and she lost all coherent thought, as he slid his fingers over the rounded swell of her abdomen, toward her panty line.

She lifted her bottom off the sleeping bag.
Mmm, yes, touch me there
.

Suddenly, Mason sat up between her thighs, his back stiff, muscles rippling. The hair on his arms rose like hackles, alert to a threat.

No, no no
, she thought in soundless frustration.
I finally want to have sex, and now you stop?

He lifted his nose in the air. “Something’s off.”

“You got distracted, that’s what is off.” Then she considered another possibility. “Shoot. I didn’t bring condoms, either. But I am on the pill.”

“Outside,” he stated, turning toward the right open entryway.

“I didn’t hear anything.”
Except my moans, because it feels so good being with you
. She wound her arms around his neck, attempting to bring his focus back on her.

He gently pried her hands away. “I need to check it out.”

Deflated, she drew the top sleeping bag around her half-naked body. This whole outdoors thing sucked for a girl’s love life. She considered what a lame honeymoon destination this would’ve been, especially since her ex had chosen it. She was glad she’d done this trail hike on her own—and with Mason.