Stripped Bear (2 page)

Leah let out a sigh as she reached the door at the end of the hallway. Adam was a wonderful man. Her assessment of their relationship wasn’t fair. Especially this close to the wedding. He was successful, even-tempered—he’d never once so much as raised his voice at her—and level-headed. Who needed recklessness and passion? She knew exactly how annoying a man with a temper could be. She’d spent enough time in Cade’s company to know that’s not what she wanted in a man. Once things settled down at the hospital and the stress of the wedding was over, they’d level out. They’d find a rhythm and passion that fit their relationship. Adam would make a great husband.

Leah brought her hand up to the door and knocked. Luanne’s voice called out clear and strong from the other side, “Come in, dear! We’ve been waiting for you.”

We?
Just what in the hell was Luanne Mitchell up to?

Two

Cade looked down at his grandmother, eyes narrowed in accusation. Her own expression was the epitome of innocence, wide-eyed and sweet. She might have looked like a harmless old woman on the outside, but her devilish intent was unmistakable. He had no idea who stood on the other side of that door, but Cade had a feeling that whoever it was, he wasn’t going to be happy about it.

The door cracked open and then swung wide. Cade’s grandmother gave his hand a squeeze and his heart leaped up into his throat as a woman walked into the room. Shadows clung to her form, making her look almost ethereal. Dressed in a pair of skinny jeans that hugged her lush curves, a short jacket that skimmed her waistband, and a deep V-neck t-shirt that showcased the luscious swell of her breasts. Who was she?

“Luanne, I didn’t realize you had company. I can come back later.”

That voice. Low and husky with a seductive edge that caused Cade’s gut to bottom the fuck out. He knew that voice. It haunted his dreams and a fair share of his nightmares. A low rumble gathered in Cade’s chest as she came closer. The last time he’d seen her she’d been a petulant fourteen-year-old girl. Strong willed, demanding, and so sure of what she wanted. He’d been away from home for far too long. Jesus.
Leah
. The woman she’d become stole Cade’s breath and caused his heart to pound against his ribs. Absolutely stunning.

“You’ll do no such thing.” Luanne sat up straighter in the bed and braced her back against the headboard. No longer the ailing geriatric on her last leg, it seemed. “Come in, Leah.” She patted the mattress. “Sit.”

The muted thud of her heels as they struck the carpet was the only sound in the room. With every step that closed the distance between them, Cade became more aware of her: the gentle sway of her hips, the curve of her thighs, the confidence she exuded without even trying. Her scent, heady and sweet—lavender under the heat of the sun—wafted over him, and Cade’s body responded, his cock twitching behind his fly, hardening with every step she took toward him.

“Right here, dear.” His grandmother patted the mattress again. “It’s been ages since I’ve seen you.”

Leah rounded the opposite side of the bed from where Cade stood. She lowered herself down to the mattress and glanced his way. Their eyes locked and Cade’s mouth went dry. Every muscle in his body pulled taut. Her clear blue eyes held his gaze for a long moment before she lowered her lashes and turned her attention to his grandmother. “Luanne, are you all right? What’s this all about?”

She pulled Leah in for a quick hug. “You remember Caden, don’t you?”

“Yes, of course.” She didn’t look at him this time and Cade found himself wishing that he could capture her attention once more. “How are you, Cade?”

“A gentleman takes a lady’s hand when reacquainting himself, Caden.”

His suspicious gaze slid to his grandmother.
Of all the ornery, manipulative, underhanded …
He cut off his train of thought as he cast a stern frown in her direction, his jaw set. He reluctantly reached out his hand and said, “I’m well, Leah. How are you?”

He took her much smaller hand in his and Cade’s world spun out of orbit.

A ripple of energy traveled up the length of his arm. It twined up and over his shoulder, spread outward over his chest and around his neck. Heat pulsed in the seeking vines that dove beneath the surface of his skin, burrowing deeper, past muscle, sinew, and bone into the microscopic cells that constructed him. The flare of heat intensified at his solar plexus, burst outward, and punched into his sternum like a fist. Cade drew in a shuddering breath as his eyes went wide. Undeniable instinct exploded in the animal part of his brain, igniting an urge so intense that his vision blurred.
Holy shit
.

He jerked his hand back as though he’d been burned. With nothing more than a touch, Leah had laid claim to him and she didn’t even know it. How could this have happened? And more importantly, how had his grandmother known it would happen? Cade took a step back and then another until his legs met the wingchair near the corner of the room. He sat his ass down, stunned, and stared at the woman who’d once been the girl he’d left home to escape.

For the better part of twenty minutes, Leah made small talk with his grandmother. Cade stared, dumbstruck, his mind warring with his body, with his very instinct. He vibrated with awareness of her, the sight of her T-shirt gaping away from her ample breasts, the sweet scent that clung to her, the warm tenor of her voice sending Cade into a sensory overload that would have dropped his ass to the floor had he not already been sitting.

“Cade?”

He brought his gaze up to find Leah studying him, those light-blue eyes of hers almost accusing. His own brows came down sharply as he worked his jaw, willing it to unclench. “What?” He hadn’t meant the word to come out so sharply, but he couldn’t do a goddamned thing about it now.

“I asked what you’ve been up to,” Leah remarked with an indignant frown that only served to further heat his blood. “But please, don’t let me interrupt the scowl fest you’ve got going over there.”

Sixteen years and not a goddamned thing had changed. That wasn’t true though, was it? In a matter of seconds,
everything
had changed.

“Caden hasn’t been home in over two years,” Luanne interjected. “His work has taken him all over the world. I suppose I’m lucky that he chose to indulge an old woman and come home for a visit. Aren’t I, dear?”

Cade resisted the urge to throw the woman who’d raised him some serious shade. They’d have it out soon enough, though. “I wouldn’t dare not to come running when you call, Grandmother.”

“Grandmother,” she said with a snort. She leaned in close to Luanne and said in a conspiratorial tone, “He only calls me that when he’s upset with me.”

Leah cast a questioning glance his way and Cade’s gut clenched with lust. They’d barely exchanged a handful of words and all he could think about was getting her naked so he could fuck her senseless.

He’d come home to say goodbye to his poor dying grandma.
Please
. She’d set the perfect trap for him. Now, thanks to her scheming, he’d be leaving this place with a mate.

Mate
.

He would have thought it impossible if not for the physical proof. It was the female who did the claiming where shifter pairings were concerned. Shifter-human mate bonds were common enough because of their very similar physiologies. Leah wouldn’t recognize the claiming in the same way that Cade did, but she’d sense it on a subconscious level. An instinct that would attract her to him with an undeniable intensity. The bond wasn’t an emotional or spiritual thing—at least not at first—it was a physical one. A visceral, one-two punch. Cade was still reeling from the effects. This was punishment. It had to be. After years of killing and forcing of hands on behalf of the Sortiari, Cade was being punished for his actions by being bound to Leah. It was the only explanation.

But gods, did any of that matter when he couldn’t stop thinking about how good it would feel to pound into her heat? Cade wanted to spread her thighs wide, prop one shapely calf over his shoulder as he fucked her. A growl built in his chest and he looked up to find both his grandmother and Leah looking at him. While his grandma smiled like the bear that’d found the honeypot, Leah’s eyes had gone wide. Her lips parted, making her mouth that much more kissable.
Son of a bitch
.

Cade was officially fucked.

*   *   *

Leah found it hard to drag her gaze from Cade. It wandered back to him as though against her will as she talked with Luanne. The mindless small talk faded to the back of her mind as her eyes lit once again on Cade. Life could be so cruel. In the years since she’d seen him, he’d grown more handsome. So much so that she could hardly breathe when she looked at him.

Tall, packed with bulky muscles that stretched his crisp blue dress shirt to its limits. A wide chest that tapered into a narrow waist, solid hips, and strong thighs. She studied his face from the periphery of her vision. Even scowling, Cade was gorgeous. His russet hair brushed his brow and his jaw squared as he clenched it. A tic of the muscle there betrayed his agitation as did the way he pinched the bridge of his nose before his eyes focused on her once again.

God, his eyes. She’d loved Cade’s eyes more than anything. His body might have changed, grown bigger and stronger since she’d seen him last. His hair might have been a little longer. But his eyes would never change. Like dark polished turquoise and fathomless. She’d lost count of how many times she’d lost herself in those eyes when she was a girl. Tonight was no different. When his heated gaze met hers, Leah
melted
. Her body hummed with awareness of him. Her pulse pounded in her ears and low in her abdomen. Heat swamped her until she thought she might perish in the flames of a building desire that she couldn’t tamp down no matter how hard she tried.

What in the hell was wrong with her?

Since the moment he’d taken her hand, Leah’s world had spiraled out of control. An undeniable spark had arced between them when they touched, and from the way that Cade jerked away, she knew he’d felt it too.
This is crazy!
Leah was getting married in a week. But she couldn’t deny that more often than not, Cade made unwelcome appearances in her dreams. Or that she woke from those dreams shaking, glazed with a sheen of sweat, and wanting. God, she wanted him
now
.

“I’m glad you’re feeling better, Luanne, but I really need to get home.” Cade had said all of about ten words to her since she’d walked in the room. And by his persistent scowl and thinned lips, she knew that he’d been as rattled by her presence here as she’d been by his. She still didn’t know why Luanne had insisted she come over tonight, but at this point, Leah didn’t care. She needed to get the hell out of this house. Away from memories that threatened to suck her into their undertow. To get as far away from Caden Mitchell as was humanly possible. At this point, she didn’t trust herself not to do something she’d regret.

“Stay the night, dear,” Luanne suggested. “It’s too late for you to drive all that way tonight.”

All that way?
Leah lived in town, not the next state. She had no idea what Luanne was up to, but she wasn’t falling for it. “Thank you for offering, Luanne, but I really need to get home. I have a showing at the gallery tomorrow night and I need to be at work early tomorrow to get ready.” She pushed herself up from the bed and stood. Luanne’s expression fell, but Leah wasn’t about to indulge her. “I’ll come back and visit with you in a couple of weeks,” she suggested. Luanne was probably lonely in this enormous house all by herself. No doubt she’d lured her here—and Cade as well—because she’d felt abandoned. “I’m glad you’re feeling better.”

She leaned in and gave Luanne a peck on her soft, wrinkled cheek. As she pulled away, her gaze met Cade’s once again and a renewed sense of heat exploded within her, settling in a low thrum between her thighs. His expression smoldered, his eyes narrowed, and his jaw set. The chair creaked beneath his grip as his fingers dug into the armrests and the veins in his forearms stood out against his flesh, disappearing beneath the rolled-up sleeves of his shirt. What would it feel like to touch him? To know that strength firsthand as he gripped her thighs? Her ass? Leah found herself imagining every hard inch of him and her attention wandered between his thighs and the bulge in his slacks that he didn’t even have the decency to hide.

Dear god
. Leah’s breath raced in quick little pants that made her light-headed. She needed to get out of here. Now.

“Goodbye, Luanne. Cade.”

As though the very devil chased her out of there, Leah rushed from the bedroom. Heat rose to her cheeks and her heart hammered against her rib cage as though it wanted out. She flew down the stairs, tripping on her own damned feet in her haste to be gone. She caught the banister for support and took several gulps of air as she tried to slow her pulse as it pushed the blood in a wild rush through her veins. Even now, she felt the weight of Cade’s intense turquoise stare rake over every inch of her body.

When her legs finally felt like they could carry her the rest of the way down the stairs, Leah continued her descent. She rushed through the foyer in a fast walk, looked both ways for Geoffrey who was nowhere in sight, and made a beeline for the front door. Her hand gripped the door knob, and for the briefest moment, something deep inside Leah urged her not to go. A thought scratched at the back of her mind, and it told her that she was exactly where she needed to be.

She was obviously losing her damned mind.

Leah pulled open the door. A strong arm shot out from behind her and a wide palm slapped down on the wooden planks, slamming the door closed. Leah’s body came suddenly awake; awareness of the man who stood behind her tingled over every inch of her skin. Cade’s warm breath brushed the back of her neck and a rush of heat and wetness spread between her thighs.

A shuddering breath escaped from between her parted lips. She refused to turn around. To look into those endless eyes that made everything else melt away. “Please, Cade.” She forced her voice not to quaver. “Let me go.”