Ranger Bear (Rogue Bear Series 1) (7 page)

H
e buckled
his jeans and crept down the stairs. She would need sleep. He left Whitney under the covers.

He saw the boxes in every corner of every room. It might take some time, but he’d help her unpack them. She wasn’t going to have to sell this place. It would be their home. The perfect place to raise their cubs.

He smiled. His bear had been right. This was what he should have done all along. He never should have left her. It took almost dying in the ambush to realize the most important thing in his life was Whitney.

He opened the fridge in search of food. He was starving.

The wind howled outside and the wind pelted the windows. It was too dark to see which direction the storm came from. Kyle had lost track of time. He had taken one look at Whitney on the porch and his bear took over for a while. All the lust and primal need for her broke free until she had been claimed.

The second round was for her. She needed to know he could take her to bed in more than one way. Rough and wild wasn’t always his style. He could love her with slow strokes, pushing her to her limits in a whole new way.

He grabbed some butter and cheese before searching the pantry for bread. He wasn’t a cook, but he could whip up a few grilled cheese sandwiches.

Within minutes the kitchen smelled like grilled cheese and he heard footsteps overhead.

“Hey.” Whitney appeared in the doorway.

“Hungry? It’s not gourmet but I was starving.” He grinned at her.

She crossed the room, throwing her arms around his neck. The sobs were light at first, but as he wrapped his hands around her waist her body began to shake.

“What’s wrong? What is it?” He felt the panic. The fear was spreading through him. He didn’t know what to do.

She sniffed, trying to regain control before she could look at him. He looked down at her. The tears rolling down her cheeks. “I woke up and thought you were gone.”

“Oh, God.” He pulled her to his chest, pressing her against the skin on his chest. “No. I’m not leaving. Never.” He tipped her chin toward him. “You’re mine, baby. You couldn’t get rid of me if you wanted to.”

She smiled. “Never leaving?”

“No.” He kissed her lips gently. “You’re mine. I’m yours. It’s a forever thing now.”

She loosened the grip on his neck. “What do you mean?”

He had learned a lot as a Ranger. He had learned how to read his enemy. How to anticipate danger. How to train. How to prepare his body for combat. But it took losing his best friend and almost dying a second time to learn time was fleeting. Nothing was guaranteed.

He had hidden his true identity from Whitney long enough. They needed to start their future now. She had to know the truth about who he was.

“We need to talk.”

Her eyes widened. He could sense the fear.

“I’m not leaving. That’s not it.” He led her to the kitchen table.

“All right. What is it?” She waited for him to answer.

“Here’s the thing.” He rubbed at the scruff on his jawline. “I have no doubt you want all the same things I do.” He pulled her into his lap. “I want a future with you. I want to live here with you. I want to raise our children here.”

She swallowed hard.

“You want all that don’t you, Whit?”

“Yes. It’s everything I want. It’s all I could think about when you were gone. I thought it would never happen.” Her voice was quiet.

He squeezed her to him. “I knew you did or I wouldn’t have taken you the way I did.”

She looked confused and he knew he had to explain.

“Baby, you’re mine now. Upstairs in your bed, I claimed you and made you mine for life.” He felt her pulse quicken. “You’re my mate. The one woman made for me. The only one I’m supposed to spend my life with.” He inhaled. “I knew it the minute I laid eyes on you. But I had to leave again. And I couldn’t promise you I’d make it back.”

“I was scared you wouldn’t come back.”

She lowered her eyes and he felt the sadness from the memory. It was enough to bring any man to his knees, but separating a bear from his mate was a living hell.

“Hey.” He tilted her gaze to him again. “I didn’t want to leave you. I hated it. But my mission wasn’t over. I made a commitment to those men that I would get them out alive, and I had to do it. I had to do for them what I couldn’t do for Sam.”

His heart pounded. All the pain was still there. The pain of watching Sam die. The pain of leaving Whitney. It never left him.

“Keep going,” she whispered. “I want to understand.”

“You and I couldn’t be together until I finished the mission. I swear I wouldn’t have left you if I hadn’t given my word. But I don’t break a promise. I never break my word.” His throat tightened. “The past month was absolute hell without you. But I’m back for good. I won’t leave. Not you. Not our children.” His hand moved to her stomach.

She gasped. “Children? We didn’t use protection this time.”

“No. I had to give you my magic.” Just talking about it stirred a sensation in his cock. He wanted her again. He didn’t know when it would be enough to leave him satisfied.

“What I’m trying to tell you is I’m a bear shifter, Whit. And you’re my mate. And we’re going to spend the rest of our lives together.”

“Holy shit,” she whispered. Her eyes darted back and forth across his face. Her grip on his shoulders tightened.

“Yeah. Exactly. Holy shit.”

He waited for a question. A comment. A slap. But she stared at him.

He had faced burning buildings. Gunfire. Kidnapping. But nothing scared the shit out of him like the silence he was holding in his arms.

S
he wished
she had been drunk or could pinch herself into an awakened state. Clearly, she was delusional. She had just had the most fucking amazing sex of her life. The man of her dreams had walked out of nowhere, declaring his love for her, but the perfect dream was an illusion. Some kind of psychosis she had conjured in her loneliness.

Maybe if she held her hand over the frying pan she would wake up. She stood from Kyle’s lap and walked toward the stove.

“What are you doing?” He rushed over, drawing her back from the frying pan.

She looked into his eyes. Those deep pools of blue that mesmerized her.

“I have to wake myself up,” she replied.

“You’re awake. I promise.” He gripped her shoulders.

“I can’t be. You just told me you’re a bear.” She blinked.

“I am a bear.” He placed her palms flat against his chest. She felt the smooth planes, warm under her hands. “I’m real. This is all real.”

“How? How is that possible?”

But she almost didn’t need his answers. The pieces began to fall in place. His strength. The way he could survive when no one else could. The power in his hands. The way he made her feel. It wasn’t just amazing sex, it was actual magic coursing through her.

“Oh,” she whispered.

She wanted to take a step back. She needed to take a breath and process it, but her hands were against his chest and she didn’t want to break the connection they had. She could feel the steady beats of his heart.

All she could think about was for the past month how she felt without him. The emptiness almost swallowed her whole. She cried at night, wondering if was alive. She moaned for him in her sleep. She buried his memory, trying to protect herself.

If she took a step back all that pain would come back. Instead she pressed her palms firmly, revealing in the feel of his flesh. He was here. Alive. Hot. And hers.

It didn’t matter who he was. She didn’t care that there was another side to him. The only thing she knew was that she didn’t want to live without Kyle Brake.

Instead she reached for the zipper on his jeans, sliding the tab down. His eyes shot to hers. She raked her teeth over her lip.

“Take me,” she whispered. She pushed herself on the kitchen island, dragging her T-shirt over her head. She threw it on the floor.

Kyle stood between her legs. His head lowering to her breast. He pinched her nipple between his fingers until she groaned, then he pulled it into his mouth, soothing the pain with his warm tongue.

Her head reeled back as she pushed his head tighter to her chest. He had to know she would give him everything. Her body was his. Her breasts were his to suck. Her nipples hardened under his touch and she cried out when he moved to the other side.

He clamped over the hard peak, sucking forcefully. She felt the rush between her legs. He could make her come like this. The tightening in her core was relentless with each flick of his tongue.

Her hands fisted against the back of his head. He drew a long, slow lick over her nipple, before he reached for her panties.

“Right here?” He dragged them over her hips, then pushed her knees wide, so she was on display for him. He growled, his chest vibrating. He licked his lips.

“Yes, right here. Right now,” she whimpered. “I need this to be real. I want to feel how alive we are together.” It felt right to offer herself to him this way. To show him her body was his. It had been. There was no denying it.

Kyle’s jeans fell to the floor and he stepped out of them, kicking them to the side.

She saw his hardness bulging with want. But there wasn’t anything he wanted her to do other than invite him in. Her hands braced against the counter, her knees spread as he nestled the tip of his rigid cock at her entrance.

“You’re so fucking sexy, Whit,” he groaned as he thrust only a centimeter. “My perfect mate.”

“Ohh, I need more than that,” she whimpered.

It was exquisite torture. He hovered there, the head of his cock barely covered by her. She wanted him to drive deep inside.

His palm landed on her breasts. “I pictured you like this. Your perfect tits. Your hips. How hot and wet you were for me. How tight you were,” he groaned. His fingers dug into her flesh as they traveled lower.

“I can’t wait anymore,” she urged.

His hands landed at her knees, firm against her soft skin. He pushed them slightly, sinking his shaft only another inch. Now the thickest part of his cock stretched her.

“Ohh.” Her tongue traveled over her lips, thirsty for him to give her more.

“See how we fit together?” His teeth pressed on his lower lip. She could tell he was holding back. “You were made for me.”

“Ohh,” she screamed. Her head thrashed to the side. She felt so full, the ache tearing at her to suck him inside her.

Her bud was pulsing, her juices hot, ready to coat his entire shaft, but he wouldn’t give it to her.

His hands slid from her knees along her thighs, until his fingers were sliding between her folds, massaging and rubbing. She tried to thrust forward and draw him inside, but Kyle was strong and held his cock exactly where he wanted it, while his fingers tortured her. The need was consuming her. She was going up in flames.

“I’m a bear, Whitney,” he growled, his eyes glowing with lust. The blue lighting with sapphire embers.

She nodded. “I know,” she moaned.

“Say it,” he commanded her. His fingers began to pry against her, rubbing her wetness against his steel rod.

“You’re a bear,” she moaned.

He flicked over her nub and she clenched at him, grasping for him to fill her, bury himself inside her.

“What do you want from me?”

“I want your bear,” she cried.

“What else?” His fingers pried wider and she knew she was dripping wet. The ache was so sweet and desperate. He had taken her so far, but there was somewhere else they could go. A place where their two bodies became one.

“I want your bear to take me.” It was sudden instinct taking hold. She knew it was what he needed to hear. She needed to say the words out loud. It sealed their bodies. Their commitment. She wasn’t going to send him away. She never would. She was his.

His sigh filled the kitchen as he plunged deep in her, pulling her ass to the edge of the counter with his strong hands.

“Oh fuck, Whit,” he roared sliding over her slit before his shaft thrust into her again.

She screamed his name, unable to control the shuddering that immediately gripped her body. He pumped against her, wrapping her legs around his waist. Her hands searched for something to cling to, but they flattened against the counter, arching her breasts toward the ceiling.

He pinched and squeezed her nipples, while she rocked into him, trying to ride the fullness of him. She loved how he touched her, forcing shocks of pleasure straight to her core. Nothing had felt like this. Her body was made for his. She knew it. His bear. The man. The Ranger.

He was possessive and powerful, taking what he wanted. She surrendered to him, knowing he was giving her his body too. He slid in and out of her, the friction heating as their sweat mingled.

Kyle began to pulse and vibrate deep inside her, giving her his magical essence in powerful jolts. “Come, Whit, come.” His mouth crushed hers as their bodies hummed and quivered. She clawed at his back, riding the pleasure as high as it would take her.

“Oh, baby,” he grunted, collapsing on top of her breasts. He nuzzled against her pink flesh, kissing her gently. “I love making you come.”

She sighed. She could feel the warmth washing through her body. His magic was like lava hot and tingly.

“I love it too.” She kissed the top of his head.

His skin was damp against hers. He rose, his hardness sliding from her. She frowned at him.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

“I wish you had told me sooner.” She sat forward on the counter, but Kyle stood between her legs. His hands playing with her hair.

He chuckled. “When was there time?”

She shook her head. “I don’t mean when you got back. I mean before you left.”

He cupped her face, brushing his lips against her mouth. “My bear wanted you to know. But if I didn’t come back it would have ruined your life. I couldn’t do that to you.”

She hooked her heels against his back, drawing him to her center. “I love that you wanted to protect me, but you should have told me, Kyle. I had a right to know.”

“You make it sound simple. It wasn’t an easy decision.” His eyes were dark. And she realized the pain he must have gone through leaving her behind. It was the same pain she felt without him.

“How does this work now? Are you leaving again?”

“No. I’m here.” His hand traced the curves of her neck.

“Here-here? As in, you’re staying for good?”

“Mmmhmm.” He kissed behind her ear.

“And this is where you want to stay?” Her body was tired and her muscles limp with exhaustion, but each kiss he planted lit a fire against her skin.

“The kitchen?” He waggled his eyebrows. Oh God, he couldn’t possibly think she could do that again.

“No.” She shook her head. “I meant longer than that. Oregon? The house?”

His tongue rolled over her collarbone, sliding along her breast. She looked down at him in disbelief when her nipple perked against his hot breath.

“I couldn’t think of a better place for our cubs.” He pulled it into his mouth.

“Cubs?” He had mentioned it before, but she was caught up in the moment. The moment was starting to sink in. She would be pregnant in no time at the rate they were going.

His tongue lashed against her, and she groped at his head pulling him to her. How could he have her on fire again? She was spent. Too many orgasms to count. Yet here she was craving him again. He was unreal.

He pulled away from her and grinned. “Yes, cubs. Our cubs. Our family.”

“Oh.” She looked into his eyes.

“And now that I’ve claimed you, it means I only have one mission,” he growled scooping her in his arms.

He carried her to the stairs. “What’s that?” she squealed, pretending to kick her legs in protest.

His eyes blazed with desire. “I’m taking you upstairs to show you.”