Stripped Bear (3 page)

“I can’t do that, Leah.” The warm tenor of his voice rippled over her and the low thrum in her belly migrated lower to her clit. She squeezed her legs together but all it managed to do was intensify the sensation. She bit down hard on her lower lip. It was either that or give in to the moan that worked its way up her throat.

“Cade, I’m engaged.” The words burst from her mouth before she could stop them. It was true, though. Shame flared over her cheeks at the thought of Adam spending his night off at work while she was here, lusting after another man.

Cade answered her with a bark of arrogant laughter that did nothing to slow her racing pulse. “No wonder she was so desperate to get me home. Do you think I give a shit if you’re engaged, Leah?” He leaned over her, his big body boxing her in. Leah swallowed hard and squeezed her eyes shut. Cade buried his face in her hair and murmured, “It doesn’t matter who you belonged to before tonight. You’re mine now.”

His
.

Despite her confusion, a thrill chased through Leah’s system that only intensified her guilt.
His?
What in the hell was he talking about? She hadn’t seen him in sixteen years. A bold proclamation from a guy who’d been gone for almost two decades. As a girl, she’d wanted nothing more than to belong to Cade. It hadn’t mattered to her that she’d been fourteen and he’d been twenty-one. She’d told him as much, bared her heart and confessed her love to him. He’d left, though. Called her an ignorant, spoiled child and walked away. It was too late for those fantasies now. She belonged to him? Not a chance.

Three

Engaged?
Cade swallowed down an amused snort. Not for long.

He stepped closer to Leah, so close that his erection brushed against her ass. She gasped, her entire body jerking from the contact. Leah was human. She didn’t feel their binding the way he did. But somewhere in the back of her mind, she
knew
.

“Maybe you didn’t hear me, Cade.” She could infuse her tone with venom, try to scare him away, but it was too late for that. “I’m
engaged
. To be married.”

“Then you’ll break it off,” he growled. The Sortiari expected him in L.A. Cade didn’t have time for a long and laborious courtship, and really, there wasn’t any need for one. Leah had claimed him, period. Through her simple touch, their mate bond had been established. It was a connection that couldn’t be severed. “Perhaps you didn’t hear
me
. You’re mine, Leah.”

“Yours,” she deadpanned.

Cade brought up his other arm and braced it against the door. He’d effectively caged her in and yet she wasn’t afraid. Far from it. The scent of Leah’s arousal was a sweet perfume that further hardened his cock. “Yes,” he murmured. “
Mine
. Mine to touch. Mine to kiss. Mine to fuck. You might not be able to explain it, but you know it, Leah. You felt it the second your skin met mine.”

Cade had never been known for his diplomacy. Or his patience. In fact, he had none. If he thought it wouldn’t scare her half to death, he would have shifted right in the middle of the damned foyer to let her see once and for all what he truly was. Explaining their situation to her would no doubt take more forethought than a wild shift and a mandate that she accept the claiming. Right now, Cade could barely manage an articulate sentence, let alone a well-thought-out explanation. Though even without him spelling it out for her, Cade knew Leah felt it. She might pretend to be outraged. She might want him to believe that she couldn’t be bothered to give him a passing thought. He knew better. Her body vibrated with his nearness, her want enveloped him in her heady scent. Her breath raced and the sound of her heartbeat was a wild rush in her chest. Cade didn’t have time for gentle civility. He would take what belonged to him and then they’d go to L.A. together.

“You’re out of your damned mind.” Leah’s voice quavered and she cleared her throat. “I haven’t seen or talked to you in sixteen years. You show up out of the blue, demand that I
end my engagement
, and have the nerve to suggest that I’m your property that you can do whatever you want with? Jesus Christ, Cade. Are you even hearing yourself? It’s insane. You sound like an animal.”

A low growl gathered in Cade’s throat. She’d learn the truth of her words soon enough. “I never said I was civilized.” He brushed the length of her chestnut hair off her shoulder. His mouth hovered at her ear, so close that his bottom lip grazed the outer shell. “And yes, that’s exactly what I’m saying. If it makes you feel any better, you can do whatever you want with me as well. You claimed me, after all. I’m yours to fuck, fondle, and suck.” He paused and flicked out at her skin with his tongue. He couldn’t help himself. “If that’s what you want.”

Just talking about it made his cock so hard it ached. If he thought he could get away with it, he’d strip her bare right here in the foyer and fuck her up against the front door. The effects of the claim Leah had made on him had irrevocably changed Cade. It wouldn’t have mattered if it had been sixteen or sixty years since he’d seen her last. All it took was a simple touch to make her his. To ignite his passions and need for her. His want of her would never again slake.

“What I want,” Leah said on a shuddering breath, “is for you to take your hands off the door so I can go home.”

Cade pushed himself away and put space between them. Leah pulled open the door and slid out to the portico. She cast a quick glance over her shoulder, her blue eyes burning with a heat that set Cade’s blood on fire before she raced for her car. He watched as she climbed inside and started the engine. He continued to watch as she pulled out of the driveway with a squeal of tires until the red of the taillights disappeared in the night.

Cade closed the front door and headed back up the stairs. The trek to the second story was purposely slow as he needed a few extra minutes to cool his lust before he ventured back into his grandmother’s room. When he finally went inside, she was seated on a dainty settee, dressed in a pair of conservative slacks and a silk blouse. She stared idly toward the fireplace, a self-satisfied smile curving her thin lips.

“Looking for the perfect spot on the mantle for your Academy Award?”

Luanne’s smile grew as Cade shut the door behind him. He settled into a chair to her left and let out a heavy sigh. “You scared me, you know. If I’d known you were playing matchmaker, I wouldn’t have come.”

“Which is why I gave you a reason to come home,” she replied. “I was right though. I’ve always known that Leah would be your mate.”

“You know she’s engaged?”

She nodded. “The wedding is next Saturday.”

“Jesus Christ, Grandma.” Since when had Cade become the responsible adult in this family? “Do you realize what you’ve done with your scheming?”

“Of course I do,” she said. “I righted a wrong. I don’t know what Leah was thinking agreeing to marry that jackass Adam Davis. Lawrence says that the boy is as bland as a soggy cracker.”

“So Lawrence is in on this?” Cade bet Leah would be thrilled to learn that her father had conspired to ruin her wedding.

“Of course he is. He knows as well as I do with whom Leah belongs.”

Lawrence Ridgeway was mundane. Nothing more than the lawyer he presented himself to be. But he’d been Cade’s grandmother’s confidant for years. He knew all of their family’s secrets, including their unique heritage. The Mitchell family wasn’t his only supernatural client, even. That Lawrence would choose to help push his daughter into this life was nothing short of insane.

“What were the two of you thinking?” Cade raked his fingers through his hair.
What a monumental clusterfuck
. “She doesn’t know what we are or what’s even happened to her. The least the two of you could have done was prepare her for the possibility.”

“We could have,” she admitted. “But you know as well as I do that seeing is believing. Rather than try to explain something to her that she would have no doubt discounted, I convinced Lawrence to let her feelings—her
instinct
—guide her. Your pull will be even stronger for her because she can’t explain it. It will solidify your bond. Now that she’s felt it, you can reveal yourself to her. Ease her into this life. She’ll be more accepting because she knows deep down that you belong together. Leah needs you as much as you need her. Lawrence and I weren’t about to sit around and do nothing about it. You never should have left here,” she chided. “You never should have left her.”

Cade refused to acknowledge her. Gone for years, and now they were both thrown into the whirlwind of a claiming. Cade barely understood it himself and he was expected to make Leah understand it? Jesus. The Sortiari employed him because he was a man of action, not a blowhard who rocked the purple prose. His grandmother wanted Leah to let her feelings and instinct guide her? When he’d let her leave tonight, she’d looked ready to lay her fist into his gut, not cleave to him for the rest of their lives.

Leah had been a girl when he left. Seven years his junior and already a blossoming beauty. They’d been close friends for years and as she got older, Cade’s attraction to her had grown. He’d been too old for her, for what he’d wanted, and when she confessed her feelings for him he’d done what he thought was right. He’d broken her heart and left.

“I’m needed in L.A.” Trenton McAlister was going to have Cade’s ass if he ignored the director’s orders. “I don’t have time to deal with the intricacies of a claiming, let alone the fact that Leah is engaged.”

“The Sortiari are nothing more than a band of arrogant, posturing idiots,” his grandmother spat. “You’d do best to leave foolish deeds to foolish men.”

Luanne Mitchell could probably teach McAlister a thing or two about how to run his organization. Cade sighed. They’d gone round and round about his choice to associate with the guardians of Fate. Once you signed on, you were in for life.

“You and Lawrence might be proud of yourselves for what you’ve proven here tonight. But Leah isn’t a shifter. No matter what you’re sure she feels, she doesn’t understand the claiming like we do. And as if I have to remind you, she’s getting married in a week.”

“Pfft.” She gave a disinterested flick of her wrist. “Since when has
anything
gotten in your way when you wanted something, Caden? Especially something as trivial as a wedding.”

He couldn’t deny that he wanted Leah. That perhaps he’d always wanted her. Was he prepared to do whatever it would take to possess her?

Yes
.

*   *   *

Exhaustion tugged at Leah’s eyes. She hadn’t slept the night before. Not a single second of the entire night. Her brain refused to shut down and whenever she closed her eyes, her mind was too full of Cade, a vision of him standing behind her and his voice when he said,
Mine to touch. Mine to kiss. Mine to fuck
. Cade had said that Leah had claimed him. What in the hell did that even mean? He’d spoken the words with such confidence as though the issue were some matter of fact that needed no explanation. Totally insane.

The memory of his warm breath on the back of her neck caused her sex to pulse and her thighs to quiver with longing. Guilt ate away at her. Desire raged within her. Leah had never been so confused or felt so damned torn. Why did Cade have to show up now after so many years had passed? In her girlish fantasies, there had never been another man for her but Caden Mitchell. Time
had
passed though, and she was a grown woman now. She needed to put those fantasies where they belonged: in her past.

The sound of her heels clicking on the polished concrete floor was the only sound in the vast gallery space. The caterers would be there to set up at any moment and Jensen, the photographer whose art graced the walls, would be showing up soon as well. The only thing missing tonight—as was the case at all of her openings—was Adam. He’d yet to come to a single one. His work always took precedence. His career was always more important. She understood that a doctor’s schedule was erratic. And she’d never condemn him for his ambitions. But once—just once—she would have liked to feel as though he supported her. As though he was proud of what she’d accomplished in her own career.

Leah pushed those maudlin thoughts to the back of her mind as well as any lingering thoughts about Cade. He’d always been a big talker. And last night had been no different. She’d never see the oh-so-arrogant Caden Mitchell again. For some sick reason, he’d tried to rattle her chain last night and it had worked. Somewhere he was undoubtedly laughing at how easy she’d been to play. God, she was pathetic. He didn’t want her now any more than he’d wanted her sixteen years ago.

*   *   *

The night was a success. The food was delicious, the wine flowed. Her gallery was stuffed to capacity with patrons eager to see Jensen’s work. Leah was proud of herself, even if there was no one else there to be proud of her. This was exactly what she’d wanted when she opened the gallery six months ago.

“How much for the entire lot?”

Leah stiffened as Cade’s voice trickled over her senses like warm honey. The shock of his persistence was nothing compared to the flame of desire that ignited low in her belly at the simple sound of his voice.

“Fifty-two thousand for the entire collection,” she answered without turning to face him.

“Do you like them?” he asked.

She cocked her head in question.

“The photographs.”

“I do,” Leah said quietly. “Jensen has a good eye and I love the black and whites.”

“I’ll take them, then. The entire collection.”

Another thing about Cade that hadn’t changed: he never passed up an opportunity to throw his weight around. He had the cash to back up the offer and then some. Odds were good he had fifty-two grand in the cushions of his couch.

“What do you plan to do with the collection?” If she remained aloof, as though he were nothing more than another patron, maybe Leah could convince herself to ignore Cade’s woodsy, masculine scent and the tingle of excitement that stirred her blood as his arm brushed hers when he stepped up beside her.