The Bear's Reluctant Wolf (8 page)

“You are so uncouth and lewd.” She said
almost as low and seductively as he had, and that wasn’t even her intent. But
dammit his attitude and very presence made her annoyed and yet feeling lust the
likes of which she had never even known was possible. His nostrils flared only
a millisecond after she felt herself become even wetter, and all it had taken for
her lust to spike was the way his eyes lit up and his jaw clenched. He may be
used to others rolling over and presenting their bellies to him, but she wasn’t
about to do that, and he would need to realize that sooner rather than later.

“Yeah, I am, and I’m a hell of a lot
more things than that, little wolf.”

“Don’t call me that.” Candace meant to
sound sterner, but of course she didn’t. The truth of the matter was she kind
of liked the fact he was like this, like how she knew a male was supposed to be
when he found his female. But just because she got all girly because of it
didn’t mean she had to submit to him just because he expected everyone to bow
before him.

“No?” He took on that relaxed position
once again. “And why is that?”

She swallowed, but before she could say
anything the sugar glider shifter came with their food. The atmosphere was
silent yet felt loud. Their food sat in front of them, but neither could take
their eyes off the other. “Because that isn’t my name, and you don’t even know
me well enough to be calling me endearments like that.” She cleared her throat,
licked her lips, and wished she had sounded surer.

“
Baby
,
I’ll call you anything I want.” He had one hand on the table, and she let her
gaze drop to his long fingers, ones that had her picturing him holding her down
as he moved over her. “You and I also know that you don’t want me to stop being
crude and vulgar, because, little wolf,” he had a hell of a lot of heat in his
voice, “it makes you wet and has your nipples nice and hard.” To emphasize his
point he looked down at her chest, and she knew her damn nipples were hard, as
he so clearly pointed out. If that wasn’t enough he closed his eyes and inhaled
deeply, and growled low in his throat. “Admit it. Tell your mate how wet you
are for me, that as much as you’re denying me, you want to have me over you,
thrusting in and out until you’re clawing at my back and screaming my name.”
Candace gripped the edge of the table, her breathing labored. “That’s it, pet.”
He leaned in closer until there was only an inch separating them. Candace
lowered her eyes and looked at his lips. She felt drunk, drugged, oh hell both.
His lips were full, and hers tingled to have him kiss her, to just stop talking
about all these things he was going to do to her, and just take her already. God,
she was being so wishy-washy, but she couldn’t help it, not even if her life
depended on it. “Tell me.”

Oh, that bastard. He was a sadist, clearly
liking to witness her suffering in arousal purgatory until he got exactly what he
wanted, but right now she didn’t give a shit, and would have been one of those
that rolled over and showed him her belly. She wanted him that much, his
cockiness and all. But there was that damn little voice telling her to stay
away, that he would surely screw up the progress she had made in her life, and
the strength she had acquired after the shit with Chad had gone down. Candace
kicked that little voice in the balls.

“You know all of those things to be
true, so why not just stop torturing both of us and man-up already?” Fire
snapped and crackled behind his eyes, along with the pheromones that called to
her and made her putty in his hands. He opened his mouth, but before he could
say anything she had the sensation of someone behind her, and that was solidified
when Trace moved back an inch and stared at whatever was over her shoulder.

“Trace, funny seeing you here.”
 
He stiffened, and a dark mask covered his
face. Candace glanced over her shoulder, and her mouth went dry. The woman right
behind her looked like she had been ridden hard and put away wet. Her blonde
hair was in a high ponytail, and her dark roots were about an inch in growth.
The make-up she wore was so thick Candace could have painted a freaking canvas
with it. The outfit she had on looked more like she was going clubbing than
walking around the quaint little town in the middle of the day. The blonde cut
her eyes to Candace, and they narrowed in disgust.

The female was a human, but boy did she
have a pair of balls to be glaring at a shifter like that, even one that had
never gotten into a fight before.

“And who is your
little
friend?” Candace wasn’t blind to the fact it was a stab at her
size, because compared to this chick she looked like the Marshmallow Man.

“What the fuck are you doing here?”
Trace’s words were a low growl, and Candace felt really,
really
out of place.

“What, I can’t come back to this shitty
little town after five years to see my son?”

Son
?
Shit, this was way too heavy, and Candace was in the thick of it. Yeah, it was
about time for her to be leaving.

“Uh, maybe I should just leave you two
alone.” She went to stand, but the blonde’s voice cut her like a serrated
blade.

“I see you’re fucking them a hell of a
lot younger these days, Trace. I’m surprised you can even get it up seeing as
you’re what, forty-five now?” Candace’s eyes widened when Trace slowly stood to
his full six-foot-three height. His pupils had taken up most of his irises, and
low vibrations were coming from him, one that spoke of the fact he’d be
shifting very soon.

“Sit down, Candace.” His voice was
filled with authority, but it didn’t make her feel like a scolded child.

“I can also see that you’re still a
pompous asshole.” Candace hadn’t sat back down, but she did move off to the
side so she didn’t have to look over her shoulder to see the female. Something
inside of her told her that turning her back on the blonde wasn’t a very smart
move.

Before she knew what he was doing he
took hold of her wrist and hauled her next to him, plastering her to his side.
The blonde narrowed her eyes at Candace, and the touch of jealousy and rage
that came from the human wrapped around her like a toxic blanket.

“You need to call before showing up, Karla,
because I know damn well Liam wants nothing to do with you.” The
sequin encrusted purse
the blonde had hanging from her
shoulder caught the light and momentarily blinded Candace. “So, since we both
know I don’t want you here, and neither does Liam, why don’t you tell me why
the fuck you are
really
here?”
Candace looked up at Trace, saw that he showed nothing on his face in the form
of emotions, but kept his hand wrapped around her waist. It was clear he didn’t
want her to go, but it was equally clear these two had a past, one that
included a kid.

Trace
has a son? That really is the least of your worries.

The blonde huffed out a breath and
rolled her eyes. “
Jacko
and I are just passing
through, and I thought I’d stop and see my son since it has been five years.”
Candace might have felt empathy for the woman seeing as she hadn’t seen her kid
in so long, but this human rubbed her the wrong way, had her wolf rising up in
defense, and just looked like trash that was a whole lot of trouble.

“Liam doesn’t want to see you, Karla. I
think he made that perfectly clear when you left town. Besides, you haven’t
cared about getting in touch with him in the last five years.”

Trace grabbed his wallet from his back
pocket, threw a few bills on the table, and started to walk past his ex with
Candace in tow, but before she made it clear of the human, the blonde grabbed
her arm and whispered in a hurried, soft voice, “You better watch it, bitch.
Trace has a mean temper, and doesn’t really like to stick with one pussy, if
you get my drift.”

Candace yanked her arm out of the
human’s grasp and curled her lip. “Don’t touch me.” Her wolf was now in the
driver’s seat, taking control and sensing the threat from this female. There
was no sincerity or concern coming from Karla where Candace was concerned. In
fact, all Candace scented was hatred and foul deceit. This woman was bad news
all around.

“Touchy little bitch, aren’t you?” Karla
should have been frightened given the fact Candace’s wolf was right there,
barely growling in warning. Never had her animal come to the forefront so
powerfully. Candace had always been the wallflower, the shy and quiet girl, but
all of that changed when she met Trace. In just these three
days,
and only when she was around him, her wolf bristled at his tone, yet melted all
at the same time. The last thing she wanted was trouble or confrontation, but
here was this human, throwing off all kinds of vile and nasty emotions, and
Candace knew she should have gone with her gut and steered clear of the alpha
polar bear. Just being in his presence raised her hackles, and now it seemed he
had quite a back-story, one that was bumpy and filled with this trashy, psycho
human female.

Trace pulled her behind the protection
of his big body, which didn’t make her
feel
comforted,
but pissed her off even more. Yeah, she knew he wanted to protect her, but she
could handle herself. Karla started spouting a bunch of very personal things at
Trace, ones that insulted his manhood and inner animal. He didn’t respond to
any of them, and when everyone cast their glances in their direction, and she
spotted the owner of the deli making his way out to investigate the scene being
done right in front of his business, Candace knew it was time to get the hell
out of there. If he wanted to continue this verbal battle with his ex, that was
fine, but Candace didn’t want any part of it. She turned, about to do just that,
but then Trace had her hand in his and was leading them back to his bike.
Candace didn’t try to get out of his grasp because, well, she did need a ride,
and she also was curious about what in the hell that had been about, even if
she shouldn’t care.

He handed her the helmet without looking
at her or saying anything. The rage that came from him was like a living
entity, and several shifters passing by actually moved farther away from him
and cast wary glances in their direction.

“Trace.”
Candace had just wanted to get away from him and the clear drama that human had
brought, but now, standing so close to him all she could feel was his turbulent
emotions like they were her own. He was pissed, no doubt about it, but what he
tried to hide, and failed since she picked up on it so strongly, was the fact
he was hurting. What had that woman done to him to have a male as potent as
Trace Dakota feeling defeat?

“Candace, just get on the fucking bike.”
There was no malice in his words when he spoke to her, just wariness and a need
to escape. She climbed on the back, put the helmet on that he handed her, and
wrapped her arms around his waist. He started the engine, and she looked over
at Karla, who still stood on the patio, her arms crossed, her eyes narrowed,
and her teeth bared. And all of that was directed right at Candace. Okay, so
clearly she was still upset over whatever happened between her and Trace, even
though it had supposedly been five years ago.

Trace took off, speeding away from
everyone and everything until the city of Sweet Water no longer surrounded
them. Big spruce trees and massive pines lined each side of them, looking more
like brown and green blurs as Trace drove faster. Candace tightened her hold around
him and squeezed her thighs closer to his body as adrenalin pumped through her
veins.

He took a sharp left, and drove up a
steep incline before making another right. The Sweet Water Lake came into view
only minutes later. Pulling to a stop and cutting the engine, he didn’t make a
move to dismount right away. The sound of the wind going through the trees and
of the wildlife scurrying around filled her ears. After just staring ahead for
several minutes he climbed off and turned to help her off the bike, but he
didn’t stay at her side after that. Instead he moved to the edge of the cliff
that overlooked the lake. Candace glanced around. The scenery was breathtaking,
and although she had been to the lake many times over, she had never been to
this particular spot, or seen the lake from this vantage point. Moving a little
closer to the cliff and where he stood, she still kept a few feet between them.
The emotions that came from him were stormy and tremulous, and even though she
didn’t really know much about him, Candace could tell he was not a male who wore
his heart on his sleeve. Opening her mouth to say something, although she
didn’t know what that something was, his deep, painful voice stopped her.

“First I’d like to apologize for Karla’s
behavior. I don’t have to tell you she is unstable and an all-around mega
bitch.” He glanced over at her, but he looked detached, phlegmatic. He faced
forward again and crossed his arms, staring at the picturesque scene before
him.

“You don’t need to explain anything to
me, Trace.” Of course she was curious, but that didn’t mean she wanted to put
him in a position to relive something that was clearly very hard for him.

“You deserve to know, not only because
you had to witness her crazy ass, but because you’re my mate, and I will not
hide anything from you.” The way he said the last part was as if it was set in
stone.