The Bear King's Captive: Curvy Paranormal Shape Shifter Romance (31 page)

“Oh…” Was that her voice? So sexy and needy.

He grunted.

“Yes…” Now throaty and encouraging.

He kissed his way down to her belly button, bit the small indentation, and then twirled his tongue in circles over it. Her craving him increased into frantic need. Her pussy ached, her nipples pebbled tight, and she wanted to force him to hurry up and give her some relief.

He licked her pussy in a slow, drawn-out caress. Stars exploded behind her lids. She moaned so loud, she was sure the people outside heard her. Wood splintered. She clawed at the desk under her palms, desperate for more. He thrust his tongue into her pussy and growled. The vibration made her entire body shudder. Whimpers slipped past her lips. She moved her sex closer to his face. Another lick. Up to her tight little nubbin and back down to her ass. And repeat. Ah, but he knew just how to touch her, how to make her melt.

Fire lanced her insides with each lick. Arousal gathered hot and tight in her core, until it was all she focused on. The tongue–his tongue –continued to drive her pleasure closer to peak. She panted. Growled. Begged. And then she just whimpered and encouraged him for more. She was so close. And she needed to come or she’d burst into flames. Heat skyrocketed inside her. Perspiration coated her skin.

“Ryder. I need…”

Him. Now.

The feel of his teeth and tongue circling and nibbling her bundled flesh was more than she could take. Electricity exploded inside her and shoved her toward heaven. Molten fire erupted in her core, rushing her body. He growled again. The vibration increased her pleasure. High. Higher. So high she swore and shook with the force of her release. Her body jerked under his lips. He continued to lick her pussy, sucking on her dripping heat, rubbing his face on her wet folds.

Dear lord. What was he, a sex god? It was impossible to catch her breath and think at the same time. She opted for breathing. Ryder stood. His face had turned into a feral mask of desire. Wild hunger had taken over his features. His nostrils were flared, his jaw clenched tight, and the vein on the side of his neck throbbed. Fuck. Looking at him made her pussy quiver—again.

There was something strange going on with his face. He had hair on his sideburns and a five o’clock shadow that hadn’t been there five minutes ago. “Ryder?”

He stepped back, away from her. “I need to calm down.”

“What’s wrong?”

He inhaled. Groaned. “You smell so good and taste fucking delicious. It’s hard for me to control the aggressive side. The wolf.” His gaze clashed with hers. “I want you, but not until you’re sure.”

Was he fucking blind? She was sitting on his desk, naked with her legs spread open showing off her pussy to him. How much more sure did she need to be?

He shook his head. “No. This need you are experiencing is coming from the wolf. She knows she wants mine. But I want you, Raine, to want me, Ryder. Animal desire is fine for a one-night thing, but every time I look at you, the need builds inside me.” He took deep breaths and grabbed his cock over his jean, which was clearly delineated under the denim. “Let’s handle one problem at a time. Later, you and I will talk about this.”

He winced in discomfort. Guilt spread through her, tamping down the overwhelming desire for him. “Talk about what?”

Closing her display of her private parts—because now that it was clear he wasn’t going to be fucking her–embarrassment heated her cheeks.

“This is more than chemistry. You know it. I know it.” His voice was deep. Rough. He panted, clenching and unclenching his hands, staring her down.

She jumped off his desk and rushed to dress. The embarrassment she’d felt increased with each second she remained naked before him. What the hell had possessed her to tell him to…she couldn’t even think the damn words.

Once she had pulled on her jeans and boots, sans the wet panties, she bent to retrieve the T-shirt from the floor. He grabbed her arm and whirled her around. There was no time to complain. Lips clashed over hers. She sighed, complacent. He held her face with his hands. The kiss was quick. Rough. Possessive. An instant reminder of who was in charge. Him. No matter what the beast inside her growled, he was in control of her body. Her pussy throbbed again. She wanted to growl in disgust at her quick ability to give in. She’d never been this easy before. It had to be him. Something about Ryder rendered her nerve endings, along with her thinking ability, useless.

When they parted, she was panting. His eyes glittered. At least she wasn’t the only one having a hard time with her urges.

She tugged the T-shirt over her breasts, knowing her nipples were clearly visible through the soft, cotton material. He glanced down at the puckered tips and licked his lips.

The wild animal inside her pushed her to mark him. She lifted her hands to his head, curled them behind his neck, and hauled him down. Their lips met in a wet tangle of tongues. This time she took over, thrusting her tongue into his mouth and darting around his, teasing. He growled and hugged her tighter into his body. She licked her way to his lips and sucked on his bottom one. He moaned. Then she moved down to his jaw, neck, and shoulder, circling some of his sexy ink with her tongue. She licked and sucked on a soft spot by the bend of his neck. Bit down…hard. He shuddered. Violent shakes that traveled through their hug and to her. She sucked on the bite and licked his neck, loving the taste of him.

“Fuck!” He groaned. Sounded more like a compliment than a curse.

Their gazes locked. Passion and possession bounced between them.

“I want you. God, do I want you.” She exhaled. “But I can wait until I understand what this beast inside me is all about.”

Reality was she knew nothing of being a shifter. Fur pushed under the skin. The animal growled in her mind, insulted.

“It’s not a beast. It’s a beautiful wolf that’s now part of you.” He cupped her jaw and caressed her cheek with his thumb.

“Well, whatever it is. It wants you too.” She could sense the animal wanted something inside him, but she wanted the man.

Laughter rumbled from his chest. He shook his head. “No. She wants my wolf, but I want the woman. The question is: What does Raine want?”

Breaking glass and shouts from the bar kept her from answering.

FOUR

Ryder tugged the door open and walked into Theo arguing with Marlena. “What’s going on?”

There was no need for him to raise his voice, everyone heard him with their sensitive hearing. Theo growled at Marlena.

She turned Ryder’s way and glared at Raine. Instead of holding her tongue, like she knew she should, Lena let her jealousy dictate her actions. “This is what you prefer to take on the full moon?”

“Marlena, watch your words.” Ryder stepped closer to Raine. His soft warning held enough steel to make the largest man think twice before continuing. But Marlena wasn’t thinking clearly.

“You just met this whore, and you chose her over me?” Her tone was venomous. “My family has always been good and loyal to you. They expected a match between us.”

He shook his head, smelling her anger and frustration, and decided to give her a new chance to back down. “I never gave you any indication that would ever happen.”

Marlena’s eyes glowed a deep ice-blue, a clear indicator that her wolf was ready to pounce. Fur rolled under his skin. His own animal wanted to burst through. To teach the woman to respect his would-be mate. She ran toward him. Ryder waited. Was ready to grab her when an unexpected movement from the corner of his eye caught his attention.

Raine.

She moved in a blur in front of him. And then, she growled. A loud threatening growl that stopped all conversation. Sharp claws swiped across Marlena’s face. Raine’s long brown tresses bounced down her back with her move. Her beautiful cinnamon skin glimmered under the bar lights. Even as soft as she looked, her posture was pure aggression.

The entire bar froze in place. Everyone watched as their most aggressive female was beat down by a different woman. A woman, that from the sounds of it hadn’t been a wolf for more than a week.

“First of all, I am
not
a whore.” Steel underlined the words. Raine jerked her hand fast. So fast he would have missed the slap had it not been for the popping noise it made. “Second, he just said he doesn’t want you.” Without breaking a sweat, she shoved Marlena clear across the bar. “Have some dignity.”

There was something about her level of strength that nagged him. This was no ordinary shifter. No male or female he knew had that much power with so little exertion. She almost equaled him in strength. Almost. And he was an alpha descendant. No turned wolves had that much strength.

Marlena’s body flew through the air and slammed on a table, breaking glass and bottles in its wake. She stood, her body shifted fully into her animal. Raine didn’t seem troubled.

She stood in place, waiting for the white wolf to come closer. Marlena growled. Raine’s reflexes were astounding. Hand fisted, she did a quick twirl, long curls flying in a wild halo around her head. At the same time, she jerked her arm sideways, hitting the white wolf in the neck. Marlena went down hard. Another table broke under her. Her whimpers of pain made a few of the females wince.

“Give it up.” Raine’s voice was low, but hard. “You need to understand that you won’t always get what you want.”

Instead of calming Marlena, Raine’s words seemed to have the opposite effect. The white wolf stood, blood oozing from several cuts, and charged.

Raine shook her head. Glanced at him. He saw her animal in her eyes. Aggressive and dominant, the female was not willing to tolerate defiance.

When the white wolf neared, Raine allowed her closer than he would have wanted. Too close. His animal urged him forward, to grab her and shove her behind him. To protect his mate.

Marlena opened her jaw wide, ready to bite. Raine dug her fingers into the thick white coat, lifted the wolf, and once again flung her across the room. This time Marlena hit the entrance and lay there, her furry body twitching and whimpering in pain.

He turned to two of his enforcers. “Get her out of here. Now. Take her to her family. We can’t have her working here anymore.”

Raine stared at the men removing a naked Marlena from the bar. She groaned in pain and whimpered her hate for Raine.

“She’s going to be a problem,” Raine said when he neared her.

He urged her back to his office intent on discussing her mistake in rushing in front of him and putting herself in danger. It would not do. No sooner had he shut the door when someone banged on it. “What is it?”

“News on Quinn.”

He sighed. Hell, he wanted to say fuck it, but he was starting to worry about Quinn.

Raine’s heart pounded hard.

Breathe.

Again.

Each breath helped calm the beast a small degree. She had lost all control when the woman he’d referred to as Marlena had made her way to him. To hurt him. Not in this lifetime. Ryder was now hers. And not only didn’t she share, but she would never allow anyone to hurt him.

His lips quirked in a slow seductive smile that brought her mind right back to the gutter where it had taken up residence since the moment she stepped foot in this bar. He held out a hand. “Let’s go find out about my wayward cousin. Then we can discuss our plan of action for tomorrow.”

She placed her hand over his. The feel of his enfolding hers was…nice. Almost like a warm blanket on a cold winter’s day, comforting. It made no sense because she was a rational woman. She didn’t know him. Okay, she knew he had a great mouth and an amazing tongue, but knew nothing of him as a person. And yet, her instinct told her to accept his help. To accept the man.

From the moment he’d covered her hand with his own, a strange sense of belonging had surrounded her. It wasn’t even a feeling that made her uncomfortable. Quite the opposite, it made her feel calm and reassured that she was doing the right thing. That being there was exactly where she should be.

When they returned to the main section of the bar, a lot of the patrons had left. Only handfuls were still sitting around talking. She could swear they were all waiting to see what was going on with her. Take a number.
She
didn’t know what the hell was going on with her.

Theo sat by the bar with a man and a woman. As they neared, she noticed the woman smelled different than everyone else there.

“Jessa? What are you doing here?” Ryder’s shock made Raine jerk her face toward him. He was scowling at the woman. He ran a hand through his dark hair, leaving the glossy strands messy.

Raine’s gaze returned to the woman. She looked to be around her own age, but had an air of command that made Raine’s skin prickle. Her animal didn’t like it.

The woman shifted in their direction, turning deep emerald eyes to stare at them. She lifted a brow at their linked hands and met Raine’s gaze before glancing back at Ryder. “I heard Quinn is missing.” She flicked a lock of short, burgundy hair behind her ear, showing off perfectly manicured, long nails in the process.

Ryder tensed beside Raine. The wolf inside her didn’t appreciate this woman and her effect on him. “We think he went down to one of the southern packs to visit some friends.” He stepped forward, closing the distance between them and the woman. “Why? What do you know?”

He sounded worried. Raine frowned, hoping to keep a lid on her urge to snarl at the other female. This was so not the time for her wolf to get all pissy.

The woman’s gaze connected with Raine’s. “He called me.”

“
He
called
you
?” Theo choked the words out and slapped the wood surface of the bar, catching a few of the others patrons’ attention.

“Why would he call you? You broke his heart!” Ryder’s snarl was more than Raine’s wolf could handle. She took a step forward, but he tugged her to him and hugged her into his side. She glanced up, but he was busy glaring at the redhead.

The other woman flinched, as if his words bothered her. “Look—” She jammed her hands into the back pockets of her jeans. “—I didn’t come here to discuss why Quinn and I broke up. I only came because I heard he was missing, and when we last spoke, he’d been in the Tenam Forest. He said he needed to run to—” Her voice hitched, and Raine felt bad for the distress she could smell and see the other woman was trying so hard to hide. “—he said he needed to run to forget me.”

“Tenam Forest?” Incredulity laced Theo’s words. He motioned two guys forward. “That’s not near any of the packs he’d frequent.”

“I heard he was missing, and I came to offer what I knew.” The woman’s voice was an angry hiss. She fisted her hands at her sides and glared back and forth between Theo and Ryder.

“When was this?” Ryder’s tension increased. The muscles under Raine’s arm bunched when she had wrapped them around his waist.

“A week ago.”

Raine wanted to argue for them to go look for the missing man. For all any of them knew, he could be in serious trouble.

“If you hear anything else we should know, contact me or my second.” Ryder’s words were a soft growl.

Raine frowned. His second?

Jessa pursed her lips. “I know to contact Theo. You don’t need to tell me. He
is
the sheriff.”

Raine took another peek at Theo. Though she was only five-three, she knew both men were much taller than any of the guys she’d ever met. Theo was tall, almost as big as Ryder, who she’d swear had to be over six feet. But he wasn’t as bulky. Ryder’s body appeared to have come out of
Badass Biker Magazine
, with enough tattoos all over to make any artist smile in glee. Theo didn’t have half his tattoos, and the ones she could see were only in the usual tribal ink. His demeanor was that of a man who dictated. Unlike Ryder’s clear dominance, Theo was more authority.

Theo nodded at the two guys he’d motioned, and they headed out the door in a rush, hopefully to look for Quinn.

“We’ll take care of finding him.” His voice was less hostile when he glanced at the redhead.

The woman nodded. “Could you-could you call me and let me know he’s okay when you find him?” She gulped “Please?”

Ryder nodded.

Raine watched Jessa and a man who’d been hanging by the door walk out of the bar together.

Ryder waited. Tried calming the animal inside. But for the entire time Jessa had been there, all he’d visualized was Raine putting her sexy, curvy body on the line for him. The alpha. It would not do.

Her jumping in front of him when she thought him in danger filled him both with pride and anger. He grabbed her by her arm.

She lifted a perfectly arched dark brow and glanced down at his hand holding her.

“I think we need to talk.” His wolf wanted him to teach her who was in charge.

She calmly strode with him back to his office. When he shut the door, he turned on her, gripping her arms, and thrust her against the door. Bodies flushed. Scents co-mingling.

“You never, ever put yourself in front of me when there’s any sort of danger, do you understand?”

Fire lit the gold depths of her eyes. He felt her animal’s anger.

“I think you’re mistaken. You don’t tell me what to do,” she snarled.

Oh but the sight of her so flushed was a delight. It added to the arousal stroking his cock.

“I am the alpha here, and I protect what’s mine.”

Sparks of lust and something else filled her gaze. Pure defiance. “And who said I was yours?”

The beast took control then. He swooped down and kissed her. Kissed her hard, so hard, he was afraid he’d bruised her lips. Fear and rage over how brave and stupid she’d been all pushed him into a state of desperation.

She shook out his hold, raked her hand up to his chest, and traced his abdominal muscles. Oxygen punched at his lungs, struggling its way in. He gripped her face in his hands, pushing her back between the wall and his own body. She whimpered. The sound of her body’s fevered craving added to his thirst, until all he wanted was to feel the silken hold of her pussy over his cock.

“Don’t deny what we can both feel is happening here. What I see in your eyes.” Ryder’s voice was rough, deep.

What he felt and what he saw was clear in her eyes. Frantic yearning. It was beautiful to see. Better to feel it in her body. The shudders. The nails biting into his shoulders. The tight nipples poking at his chest. Ah, yes. It was so much better to feel it. And soon he’d taste it, taste the sweet nectar of her arousal.

“I belong to no one. I depend on nobody. Besides, this is chemistry. Lust.” She scraped her nails down his chest in another long stinging caress.

“Sweetheart, the way your heart is beating right now coupled with that delicious scent drifting from you, lets me know you’re ready, willing, and able. For anything I want. Anything.”

He swiped his tongue over her neck in one long, slow lick. Her breath hitched. The scent of her desire thickened in the room.

“Sex.” She panted and gripped his shirt. “Only sex. And sex doesn’t control me.”

A second later, the sound of material tearing filled the room. He glanced down to see his T-shirt in pieces. Her gaze locked with his, and fire bounced between them. She licked her lips. Lust turned her eyes the color of dark smoky amber.

He grinned. “You were saying?”

“Fuck. Me. Now.”