Red's Bear (Erotic Shifter Fairy Tales) (10 page)

“Well, then you should get to it.” Grabbing both ends
of her belt, she pulled it tighter then moved to the bar. “Now, you have
already made my breakfast cold, so if you will excuse me.”

“How about I cook dinner for you tonight?” He moved
closer to her and noticed the pulse in her neck leap at his nearness.
Definitely not unaffected like she wanted him to believe.

It was her turn to laugh. “You’ve got to be kidding me.
After the kiss in the pantry, I’d be crazy to think I’d be safe at a strange
man’s home.”

Lifting his hand, he caressed the side of her face with
a finger, sweeping it down under her plump bottom lip. He felt the quake that rocketed
through his body as the small contact caused a shudder in her body, but
thankfully she didn’t draw away from him or slap him again.

“You will always be safe with me, my hazel-eyed beauty.
I will give my life to protect you.”

There was a small intake of breath as she stared at him
with her innocent gaze.

Moving away, he headed into the living room. Spotting
the list on the end table, he grabbed it then exited the house by the patio
door. His mate needed time. Time to
accept
what was happening between
them. Time to see what was
going
to happen.

He needed to sort out what was going on with her and
her bear. More than he did this morning, he wished he had caught Genma and his
grandmother before they had left. He had so many questions. Things it didn’t
seem that Rena could answer.

But no matter what he discovered, one day soon the
moment would be right for him to claim her.

Mine
, his bear growled as Cord closed
the door.

“Yes, she is.” 

~YH~

Rena put her cold breakfast into the microwave. Right
now her throat was so tight with emotions and her mind was twisted with so many
thoughts and questions that she couldn’t eat. Cord Bjorn had walked into the
cabin and turned her world upside down.

She wasn’t a novice to lust or sex. Over the years
she’d had boyfriends. Hell, just eight months ago she would have been willing
to settle for a guy she liked well enough, had even thought maybe he was the
one. However, he broke it off with her once she started getting sick and could
barely drag herself out of bed. Then she’d seen clearly that he was not the man
for her.

But none of those past men had prepared her for Cord.
An intense male, so devastating in presence and body that she felt restricted
on all sides. She’d never encountered a man so…big. That was the only word that
came to her mind. He wasn’t only a tall man–he had to be close to six eight—but
the width of his shoulders was massive. He had the height of a basketball
player with the girth of a linebacker and just as many rippling muscles.
However, the way his shirt and jeans conformed to the contours of all those
bulging muscles she didn’t see an ounce of fat. Thank goodness her
grandmother’s doors were wider than normal, because Rena was sure he would not
have been able to fit through them without turning sideways. Shockingly, his
large size didn’t cause fear to race through her blood. Actually quite the
opposite. His overwhelming presence made her feel feminine and protected.

I’d love to have him at my back…or
front…or underneath—
She
put a halt to the wayward thoughts tripping around in her head.

Unable to stop herself from thinking of the tall, bulky
frame again caused shivers of heat to run rampant in her body. Her nipples were
still tight and her sex was throbbing, all from a kiss. No matter what she had
said to him, she had no apprehension, but something else. Lust and overpowering
desire to tear his clothing off and have his massive body thrusting deep inside
of her.

Oh, damn…

Seeing something move beyond the window, she stepped to
it and stared out taking in the man. He was busy digging into the earth, almost
wrist deep as he set bulbs and plants into holes he created with his hands.
Those hands had been all over her, caressing her.

Just like the rest of him, they were big—wide strong
hands—that knew how to touch a woman. The white v-neck t-shirt he wore clung to
the landscape of his torso. Those broad shoulders would provide a place for a
woman’s legs to rest as he pounded into her sex.

Your
legs
. She ignored the low
voice inside of her, proof that she was truly losing her mind.

The fact that she was standing at her grandmother’s
kitchen window admiring the landscaper was just more verification.

However, she couldn’t pull her gaze away. When he had
been in the house, she could have sworn she could count the ridges of the
six-pack on his abs. Now, as he squatted in the dirt she could see how the
black jeans he wore hugged his thighs and ass. Only her mind flashed a picture
of him leaning against the wall by the pantry and how the denim had cupped his
cock.

I shouldn’t have looked. But, she could not stop
herself then just like she was unable to resist the view of him now.

More than his body and what her thoughts told her he
could do to her with it, it was his face. A kind face with dark eyes so astounding
that they seemed to see into her heart, mark her soul. The two-day stubble that
covered the lower half of his face and the long wheat-blonde hair that she had
fisted in her hands made his look. A wild man that could not be tamed.

Evident in the kiss he had given her, it had been
unleashed and demanding. 

As if feeling her gaze, he looked up and stared
directly into the window. Gasping, she quickly stepped to the side hoping that
the bright light of the sun outside had hindered him from seeing her inside.

Damn it.

Peeping back out, she saw that he was not only still
looking toward her, but smiling as well. When he winked, she turned and rushed
to her room.

In the room, she stood before the mirror over the
dresser and observed the woman staring back at her. The same woman who had come
to the woods in hopes of restoring her health, instead she had stumbled into
the arms of a man who in one kiss had showed her a passion like she’d never
known.

How could she feel so different inside since the last
twenty-four hours, but still be the same on the outside.

What she really expected to see was evidence of the lie
she had told Cord. She had said she didn’t recall her time in Den County when
she was younger. Had alleged that she didn’t recall him. Everything else may be
fuzz in her head, trapped in storage her mother had created, but when Cord had
kissed her everything about him had been revealed in bold, brassy color.

Both the minty, heady taste of him and the gold tone of
his gaze had bared the memory to her. Even standing there in the room she could
see the two of them sitting on the dock, him teaching her how to fish and then
the kiss. Even at thirteen she had noted the small ripples of desire she felt
being around Cord. Their kiss had been brief but earth shifting, until her
mother had screamed her name as if she’d committed a cardinal sin.

When her mother dragged her away from him, Rena had
glanced back and was captured in his confused golden gaze. She didn’t
understand the meaning or the reason for his eye color change, then or now, but
she knew she needed to keep far away from the intense man.

“You just have to make it through the week, Rena. Then
once your grandmother comes home you can be on the first plane speeding out of
California.”

Chapter
Six

“Well, look who finally remembered where they live.”
Changing from animal to human, Cord called out to the big brown bear coming
down the path toward him.

The other bear shifted and became a man just as big as
Cord. “Kiss my ass.” Theo laughed at Cord’s ribbing. “One sec and I’ll get you
a pair of pants to put on so you can come in for coffee and biscotti.”

“I see how it is, you don’t want to tempt your wife
with a more virile Were-male.” Cord followed his good friend to the Kodiak
family cabin.

“Keep dreaming.” Theo entered his house by the laundry
room then tossed out a pair of jeans to Cord.

After he got the pants on and fastened, Cord took the
steps two at a time.

“Well, hello, Cord.” Riley, Theo’s life mate of a year,
moved from her husband’s arms and crossed the kitchen to Cord.

He gave her a fierce hug and received the same in
return. “It’s good to see you, Riley. How are your parents?”

“Wonderful.” She stepped back and smiled. “They could
not get enough of the boys and their newest granddaughter.”

“I bet.” He took one of two mugs of coffee Theo was
carrying. “Where are the little ones now?” Except for their conversation, Cord
noticed the house was quiet.

“Thankfully, they are sleeping. They were out before we
crossed into Den.” Theo sat at the head of the long wooden table.

Cord claimed a side seat and reached for the jar in the
center of the table, an abundant staple in all Den residents cabin home. Adding
a large dollop of honey into his coffee he then pushed it toward Theo.

“Well, I will leave you bear males to yourselves.”
Riley placed a plate of her homemade mixed-berry biscotti on the table between
them.

“You’re leaving and sticking me with this guy’s
company?” Cord aimed a finger at Theo.

Laughing, Riley walked to her mate and kissed him. Cord
noticed that Theo didn’t want to be out of his wife’s presence, by the thick
arm surrounding her waist.

“I’ll make him promise to be on his best behavior. Or
he won’t get any more treats tonight.” She wiggled out of her husband’s arm
then blew him a kiss and headed out.

“No fair. I don’t even like this guy. Now, how I treat
him is weighed against my life mate privileges.” Theo growled.

Riley just shook her head at both of them and left the
kitchen.

Cord chuckled.

After his wife was completely out of sight, Theo grabbed
a biscotti stick and said, “Thanks for keeping an eye on our place while we
were gone last week.”

“Hey, it’s nothing. You did the same for me when I left
last year.”

“I was glad when you told me you didn’t have plans to
vacate the county this year.” Theo dipped his stick several times into his
coffee before biting into it. “So, have you decided to claim an available
female this year and take your rightful place over the residents?”

As he took a big bite of his dry stick, Cord thought
about his friend’s question, and allowed his mind to drift back to this time
yesterday. So much had changed. Rena had come back into his life.

“Well, you look like the bear who found an empty hive
of honey.”

Unable to hold back the smile that pulled at the
corners of his mouth, Cord looked up at his friend. “Do I?”

“Hell, yeah. What’s up?” Theo lifted his mug and drank.

“I plan to claim my life mate.”

Frowning, Theo lowered his coffee back to the table.
“Well, you’ve always told me that you don’t believe Marcella is your mate, have
you changed your mind?”

Cord took a healthy swig of his coffee. “No. Not at
all.”

“Damn it, don’t keep me in suspense, bear, who is it?
And what the hell happened in the week I’ve been gone?”

“My mate showed up.”

“Showed up? A new family come to Den or something?”
Theo leaned back in the chair and stared at him.

Slowly shaking his head, Cord considered dragging it
out or leaving and making his friend wait until Theo found out himself.
However, Theo was too good of a friend for him to do it. Not to mention Cord
needed someone to talk to about it.

“Do you remember Genma’s granddaughter, Rena?” Cord
took another bite of his stick.

Staring off into the distance, Theo’s features
scrunched as if he were attempting to dig into an old memory.

“Genma’s daughter Lillian had a little girl that would
come up during the summer when we were younger, right?”

“Yes.” Cord confirmed.

“So, what does that have to do with you? The daughter
nor the granddaughter have been seen in Den for maybe fifteen years.”

“Well, Rena is back, now.”

Lifting, both eyebrows, Theo stared at him. “Really?
Why after all this time?”

Cord shrugged. “There’s a lot I don’t know. But, I’m
sure Genma has most of the answers, but she went with my nana on some secret
trip.”

“Well, that’s damn convenient.”

“Hell, yeah, it is. So, Rena is staying at Genma’s and
I’m contracted to do some work out there this week.” Cord ran his hand over his
head, frustrated. “You could have dragged me out to the lake and drowned me and
I would not have been more shocked then when I walked into Genma’s house and
was doused by Rena’s scent.” Remembering the impact of her intoxicating scent
on him and his response to it, Cord’s hands began to shake.  Even now he wanted
her. He balled them into tight fists. There was no way he could allow himself
to go to her tonight. He’d already
assaulted
Rena once today. The next
time he touched her, he knew his bear would not let him stop until he had
marked her.