Wild Bear (4 page)

H
armony had never felt
like this before. Just utterly overcome with lust, like it was a cloud surrounding her and all she could breathe, feel, or touch was Maverick.

Her body had been waiting for this since the first time she’d met him, and every kiss since then had only added to it.

And then she’d seen his face without the fuzz, and it wasn’t even just that it was handsome. There was this inexplicable, soul-deep recognition of that face, and a deep voice in her said,
Mine
.

And now she was going to get what she wanted.

Even it was just some hot fling, she’d been waiting long enough for this and it was time to have it.

And who cared what anyone else said about it? He was hot as hell, dominant as fuck, and right now, being held down and taken was just what she wanted.

Maverick growled in approval as he came over her again after shutting the door. His hands on her were possessive as he traced her curves before putting a hand on the collar of her shirt.

She was reaching for the hem to pull it over her head when he tore it straight down the center with a loud ripping sound.

Her eyes went wide, but his went straight to her bra as he ran his tongue over his lips lustfully. She eyed her poor T-shirt as he chucked it to the floor. Oh well, she could buy another one.

Then the bra was yanked from her, popping open at the clasp as he jerked it away from her skin and shoved his lips over her breast as if he were starving for the taste of it.

He suckled hard, making her arch and gasp. But he was straddling her, his weight making it impossible to escape from the pleasure he was giving, so she stayed there, arching and gasping as his tongue roughly gave her breast everything it’d been looking for.

When she was breathless and close to going, he moved to the other breast and did the same, swirling his tongue roughly, sucking just as hard as she liked it. Just on the verge of pain, but not painful. Her body was coming alive beneath him, and she could hardly wait to have him inside her.

He growled as his hand fumbled with the front of her jeans. She bit her lip. These were her favorite.

“Wait, Mav,” she said, hoping to maybe avert the upcoming carnage, but before she could do anything about it, he’d ripped those open as well, tearing them down the sides and taking her panties with them.

What the hell? Did he have claws? She’d never see anyone rip a pair of jeans with their bare hands.

But he’d done it without hurting or bothering her at all. And now it was totally unfair because she was completely naked, trying to cover herself with her hands, and he was still fully clothed. And gorgeous and buff and looking like a super model.

It took a lot to make her feel self-conscious, but being naked this quick with such a hot man could certainly do it.

But he shook his head, lowering his eyebrows, and pinned her hands over her head so he could take a good, long look at her. Keeping her hands up, he lowered his head between her thighs and licked her intimately. She actually felt him smile against her pussy.

“You’re already wet,” he said. “I can take you.”

She gave him an odd look but nodded.

“Not yet,” he said, moving both her hands to one of his so his other hand could trail over her wet, aching breasts, down over her soft stomach where he played for a moment in her belly button, and then over the curve of her hip. Then he cupped her ass and came around to the inside of her thighs, teasing before bringing a rough fingertip over her clit and grazing lightly.

“Oh,” she gasped, arching helplessly against his hand.

“I could have my other hand free, if you promise not to move,” he said, his dark eyes smoldering as he stared down at her.

She shook her head. The sensations he gave were too intense. She’d definitely squirm, and she liked the feel of him pinning her, his ultimate strength keeping her still as he gave her all she could take of him.

So he did, letting her writhe against his hand and cry out as he got more and more feral, his touch possessive and hard as he stroked her toward release.

“That’s it, mate,” he said.

She didn’t know what he meant by mate, but she’d long given up on expecting him to be normal. She didn’t care what he was, as long as he was inside her soon.

She’d never known she could be this wanton, thrusting against his hand to wring every bit of pleasure out of her sex. His mouth was on her breasts, nipping and sucking one and then the other as the wire of tension inside her drew tighter and tighter. It was a delicious tight rope act, and she knew she’d fall any moment. And she looked forward to it.

But then he released her hands and put both palms on her thighs. Before she could sit up or protest, he shoved her legs wide and put his head between them.

“I want you to come in my mouth,” he commanded, licking against her.

So she did, everything inside her letting go at once with an explosive pleasure that shot through her like water released from a dam.

“Maverick!” she screamed as he licked her hard with each convulsion of her orgasm.

She’d never been made love to like this. Probably never would again. He was rough, wild, growling with satisfaction as her thighs clenched around his head in the throes of her orgasm, and he was perfect.

Delicious.

Her head was thrown back, her back arched as hard as she could, as she rode out what seemed like endless pleasure. With him sucking and stroking, it was hard to know where one orgasm ended and another began. All she knew was it felt like it went on and on.

Even if it could have been only seconds.

Finally, it started to abate, and he lifted his head, his eyes bright with animal heat and his lips curved in satisfaction as she fell back against the couch, gasping and limp.

The next thing she knew, he’d picked her up in his arms and wrapped her thighs around his waist.

She was boneless, completely overcome and unable to do anything to help, but it was fine because he was in total control. He pressed her back up against the wall and bit and sucked the nape of her neck as he reached down to undo the button of his jeans. Apparently, he only needed one huge arm to keep her up. For once in her life, she felt like the petite woman, even though she was anything but.

Her pussy was tingling, aching for him. She’d been satisfied in one way, but in another, she was only getting started. When he jerked open his fly and his member sprang free, her eyes widened in shock.

Holy shit, he was—

But all thought was cut off as he held her thighs and shoved inside her, filling her completely, making her feel as if she were exploding with pleasure.

She gasped, unable to catch her breath, as he started to move. His eyes were intense, his mouth firm, as he supported them both and moved against her. Was there no end to his strength?

She leaned into the cool wall behind her as he pulled back and then drove again. His muscular abdomen felt amazing against her legs, which wrapped together at the ankles.

She’d never thought being taken up against a wall could feel luxurious, but it did, because she didn’t have to do anything.

He was doing it all, nipping her shoulders and neck, holding her weight with his hands, dipping to kiss her breasts, and all the time, driving into her again with the tightest, juiciest dick she’d ever felt in her entire life.

She bit her lip and arched against the pressure that was rising again. He was everything she’d imagined and more. She’d thought of him some nights, imagining him taking her in this feral way while she’d touched herself until she was soaking wet.

Now that he was here, doing it, it wasn’t disappointing in the least.

It was even better than she could have ever imagined, and she just wanted to lock her legs around him so he could never get out.

She squirmed against him, moaning as he seemed to go deeper and tighter with every stroke. She was so full with him inside her, and it felt like she would never be empty again. He was here, all around her, his hands supporting her, his mouth pleasing her, his eyes on her.

All for her.

From the moment he’d met her, she’d only had eyes for her. It was flattering in a way she’d never had before. Perhaps that’s what this was.

But given the building feelings inside her, the warmth and pressure that grew even as the tension did, she didn’t think so. There was more to this. Something cosmic, something meant to be. And she wasn’t going to do anything to stop it.

His face was sheened with sweat, their bodies slapping together, and his breaths were coming faster. She didn’t know how much more her body could take.

His hand dipped between them, feeling for her clit, which he rubbed as he did several harder, stronger strokes.

Everything she’d been holding back with her clenched muscles came roaring out, and she threw back her head and screamed in the most powerful orgasm of her life. It felt like she was orgasming all the way to her fingertips.

Then Maverick buried his head against her neck and jerked taut against her. After a slight pause, she felt his seed shooting out and saw him actually throw back his head in an animalistic roar that shook her to the core.

Sweaty, shaking with arousal, completely overwhelmed, she thought she was actually seeing the true Maverick for the first time.

And something about it made her throw her arms around him and want to hang on.

So she did, grunting against him as they rode out their orgasms together. Just as before, the pleasure seemed to go on and on, rippling inside her along with his convulsions, sending pleasurable shocks of sensation to all parts of her body.

When they finally came down from the high, Maverick was still leaned against the wall, and she was leaned back as well, breathing heavily. Panting.

He looked down at her, trying to catch his breath, a satisfied expression on his face. He let out a long sigh. “Good,” he said. “It’s done.”

She blinked, wriggling a bit to change their position, which sent another bone-melting wave of sensation through her, stilling her. She exhaled and looked up at him. “What do you mean? What’s done?”

He looked between them, where they were joined, unprotected. He grinned. “You’re mine.”

M
averick didn’t know
what happened.

One moment Harmony was scratching his back in pleasure, and now she was growling, pushing at him, and yelling at him to get off.

But wanting to be careful (she was his mate after all), he simply carried her into the bedroom and tossed her on the bed so she could have her tantrum in a safe position.

She sat up, furiously angry, her dark curls falling out from behind her hair band, her naked body still glowing from pleasure and amazing sex, and pinned him with a death glare as her bosom heaved.

He folded his arms and stared down at her cockily. He’d done it, claimed his mate. The ranch was safe. She was his. Everyone had doubted his plan, but they’d been wrong.

“What on earth do you mean I’m yours?” she spat, pulling up his covers around her.

He liked the look of her on his bed. He looked down her body to where they’d been joined together. Yep. She was filled with his seed. It was done.

She followed his gaze and then growled in annoyance, pointing to herself. “This means nothing. Why the hell do you keep looking at it? And what the hell were you doing not using a condom?”

He tilted his head. “Why would I do that? You asked me to take you.”

She blinked, looking guilty but like she didn’t want to face it. “Fine. It’s my fault too. But it’s a mistake. That’s all it is.”

He took a step forward, a bad, nervous feeling waving through him for the first time since he’d laid hands on her. “It’s not a mistake. It’s forever.”

Her eyes went even wider, her mouth gaping in anger, and then she was standing, dragging the sheet with her as she went into the living room. She knelt over her clothes and then let out a shriek of anger as she found them in scraps.

Maverick scratched the back of his head. Maybe he could have taken it a little easier with that. But when the mating heat had taken over…

“So,” she said, waving what was left of her shirt around as she gathered up her clothes. “You think you can just take me without protection and that means some kind of permanence?” She shook her head, still irate. “You owe me a new bra!” She threw hers on the ground, irritated.

“I do think it means that,” he said. “Why else would you let me do it?”

She stormed toward him, still holding the sheet around her. She looked tiny and angry, and he was trying not to find it adorable. He frowned down at her in response.

“Because it was fun!” she said, waving her hands like a maniac. “Because I thought you were hot. Because I had to get this,” she gestured between them, “out of my system!”

His frown deepened, and the chasm inside him started to feel bottomless and yawning. His mate was rejecting him. Had
used
him.

“You want me out of your system?” he asked in a tight voice.

She had the awareness to look sufficiently ashamed for having said it. “Yes. Any man who thinks he can use that to pin me down isn’t someone I need around.”

“It’s not about the ranch,” he said. “If that’s what you’re thinking.”

“What?” she asked, raising an eyebrow. “Wait, what about the ranch?

Maverick had a feeling this was when he should shut his mouth. But his lack of inhibition won out, as usual. “We have to find mates in order to keep our land, according to our father’s will.”

She looked like she was almost exploding with anger as she took a step forward, jabbing him in the chest with each word. “So let me get this straight. You tried to take me… for a ranch?”

He shook his head.

She whirled on him, letting out a frustrated noise. “I can’t freaking believe it.” She turned back to him. “Wait, do Bonnie and Ruby know? I have to tell them!”

She rushed for the door, and Maverick growled and ran forward, catching her easily around the waist and dragging her back against him.

“Stop it! I’m going!” she said.

“Not like that you’re not,” he said, hauling her up in his arms and carrying her back to the bedroom. He tossed her back on the bed, and she looked up at him with a furious glare. “No one sees my mate naked.”

She pushed hair out of her face. “For the last time, I’m not your mate,” she said. She sighed. “And as for what we did, I’m on birth control, so don’t worry about it. None of those ‘permanent’ consequences.”

“What do you mean birth control?”

She put a hand to her face and sighed. “Oh, come on. What do you think I mean? Birth control. As in the pills women take to prevent getting pregnant. Come on.”

Maverick just stood there, stunned. He hadn’t thought about that. Did that even apply to shifters? How did that affect mating?

For once, he was totally caught off guard.

And it was clear she was seething, wanting to leave. Somehow, this had all gone very wrong, and keeping her here wasn’t going to fix it.

Even if things had been so hot between them, so amazing, it was clear she was determined to be angry with him.

But what was wrong? Maverick thought females liked it when men said they were theirs. When they wanted them forever. And besides, Maverick hadn’t chosen it. Fate had.

He sighed as he moved to his dresser and pulled out some pants and a shirt and a heavy winter coat. Dressed in this, no one would see her delicious curves on the way back.

Curves that were his, dammit, if only he could make her see that.

He gave her the clothing and then leaned against the dresser, glowering as she changed.

“So what do you want?” he asked. “The man you’ll take forever. What do you want?”

“The opposite of you,” she spat, pulling the shirt over her head, the pants on, and then the coat over the top. “Someone respectful. Gentlemanly. Someone who knows how to use protection.”

“I don’t have any diseases,” he said.

“Good to know,” she deadpanned.

He frowned. He liked that his mate was sassy, but at times like this, it was impossible to talk to her. “I can use condoms,” he said. “If you really want.”

“You just want me for the ranch, though, right?” she asked.

“If that was really my plan, why would I have mentioned it?” he asked, shaking his head. “No, I said it wasn’t because of the ranch. It’s because it’s fate.”

She raised an unamused eyebrow. “You know, that isn’t much better.” When she was dressed, she stood to push past him, but he blocked her path.

“What is it you want, Harmony?” he asked, his eyes going uncharacteristically serious. “Just tell me and I’ll give it to you.”

Her eyes flashed at him as she pushed her curls back and sighed with impatience to get past him. “So many things, Mav,” she said, using the name everyone else did. For some reason, he didn’t like it.

He wanted her to be different.

“So many things that don’t involve you. My music, my life in New York.” She gestured to the cabin. “And I don’t want to live in a tiny cabin with a man who throws a tantrum over a haircut. No matter how good the sex is.”

He moved out of the way slowly, letting her push past. He followed her out onto the dirty path in front of the cabin, watching her with narrowed eyes.

She threw him an irritated glance over her shoulder but otherwise kept storming straight for the lodge.

Maverick let out a deep sigh. She was his mate. That couldn’t be taken back. But he was going to have to rethink his plan for winning her.

And he was maybe going to need some help.

W
yatt Reynolds couldn’t believe
it.

Maverick McAllister, shaved and with a haircut that actually looked decent, standing on his porch and asking for his help.

With winning a chick.

Wyatt looked the other man over. He supposed his old friend had grown to be handsome, in a rugged, dark sort of way. Nothing like Wyatt, who, with cat genes, had beautiful golden coloring and the highest quality genetics.

But he wasn’t bad-looking for a bear shifter.

“Come in,” Wyatt said, stepping aside so Maverick could enter his nicely appointed living room. Wyatt liked the nice things in life as much as he liked riding a stallion through the wild mountains, and he didn’t see why he should have to choose between one or the other.

“Thanks,” Maverick muttered, stomping in and looking around. “Still fruity as ever.”

Wyatt rolled his eyes. “And you came to ask my help why?”

Maverick gestured, frustrated, at the luxurious surroundings, at Wyatt’s fitted, tailored shirt and clean jeans and designer shoes. “Because I think my female prefers things like this.” He looked down at himself. “And I need to do anything I can to win her.”

Wyatt propped his chin on his hand while he circled his friend. Well, the man who had once been a childhood friend and whom he’d recently rekindled a friendship with during certain events.

There was still an awkwardness between them, but that was slowly changing.

“So you want me to dress you?” Wyatt asked. “Or what?”

“I want to know who built this for you,” Maverick said. “I need to build one.”

Wyatt raised one golden eyebrow. “Seriously? You want a house like this?”

“Not this big,” Maverick said. “But this nice, yeah.”

Wyatt slumped in a chair and studied the serious man in front of him. He was more used to talking to Mav with his fists than like this. It was odd to see Mav behaving this way. Almost like he was… vulnerable.

Wyatt didn’t like seeing his friend like that. “Do you really want to be with a woman who doesn’t like you for who you are?”

Mav nodded. “She’s my mate. I’ll be whatever she wants.”

Wyatt sighed. “She’s a human, then?”

Maverick nodded. “Yeah.”

Wyatt tented his hands in his lap. He always felt bad for his shifter friends when they picked human mates. It was always hard to explain the fated mates thing to them, not to mention the fact that they could shift into animals.

As a mountain lion, Wyatt was lucky he wouldn’t have to deal with that. Cats, for the most part, mated cats in order to keep the bloodline clean.

“I think you’re better off trying to win her as you are,” Wyatt said. “I don’t think you should try to change. Obviously, she likes something about you.”

“She seems to. Sometimes. She liked my haircut.” Mav flashed a lewd grin. “A lot.”

Wyatt waved a hand. “Please, I don’t want the details.” He stood. “Should I come meet her? Maybe I could talk to her for you. Get more info as to how to win her over.”

Mav scratched his head. “I don’t know. I don’t really need more males around her.”

Wyatt thought carefully over the situation. The woman Mav meant must be one of the women that had come out a while back, two of which had already mated the McAllister brothers. It wasn’t fair, the knack they had for finding awesome women when that should be nearly impossible out in this part of the country.

Not that he was jealous, because he needed to find a cat anyway. But the human Shane McAllister had mated had been tempting enough that in a fit of heat, Wyatt had been willing to fight for her.

Then again, it didn’t take much to get a cat into a fight.

Wyatt liked fighting. It was something he and Maverick had in common.

“Do you have money to buy a cabin like that?” Wyatt asked. “If you do, I can get in touch with the builder and schedule a time for him to talk with you.”

Maverick nodded. “I got it. I don’t have much use for money, but I got it.”

Wyatt just sighed at that. Maverick was a mystery, to more than just Wyatt himself, and he didn’t think he was going to start figuring him out now. “All right. I’ll give him a call after you go.” He stood to show Mav out.

“Wait,” Mav said. “I need fancy clothes too.”

“Huh?” Wyatt asked. “What the hell do you need those for?”

“I need to look nicer,” Mav said.

Wyatt scratched the back of his head, really unable to believe the direction this conversation was taking. Maverick had a lot of talents and interests. Fancy things and dressing well weren’t on the list.

Wyatt would definitely have to take a ride over to Bear Haven and meet this woman for himself.

“Can I at least know her name?” Wyatt asked.

Mav narrowed his dark eyes at him. “Harmony. But I only tell you that because you know I’ll stomp you into the dirt if you try anything.”

“And you know I can go head to head with you anytime,” Wyatt drawled, enjoying the way it made Maverick go all prickly and defensive. He put up a hand. “Okay, I’ll help you order some stuff.” Wyatt shook his head. “This is some
My Fair Lady
shit or something.”

Maverick looked confused, and Wyatt just laughed. “Come on. Let’s go upstairs.

It was a sign of just how smitten Maverick was that the big bear shifter just obediently lumbered after him without protest.

Damn, things are changing fast out here,
Wyatt thought as he led his friend to his office.