Bear to the Rescue (Bear Claw Security Book 3) Read online

  He was beautiful to behold.

  He reached down and ripped off her panties with one hand, and she felt even more wetness in response to his strength, his need. His finger found her clit and touched in a light circle before coming down in the center, hard.

  She arched with a cry as he swirled again, came down again, his mouth finding hers in a hot melding of lips and tongues. As his tongue dove in and out, she imagined just how he was going to feel inside her. Hot and thick and wet, and she didn’t think she would ever have enough.

  As he stroked and teased her, letting her arch her body helplessly, she felt the hunger building inside her to an insatiable level. She felt half animal, so desperate to mate she could barely stand it.

  “Bronson, I need you,” she said hoarsely and heard a dark laugh in return, his lips brushing hers gently.

  “I know,” he said. “By the time I’m done, you’ll be screaming for me.”

  It was a side of him she hadn’t seen before, but so hot she bit her lip against the inevitable waves of passion moving toward her as his finger got more deft and nimble, swirling her toward a void that was filled with something unknowable until she arrived there.

  She clenched up in tension at how it would feel, nearly willing her body to resist, as after the build-up she’d had, it would be nearly unbearable. Then she felt his finger dip inside her as his tongue thrust against hers again, and she arched and screamed his name.

  Wave after wave moved through her, making her entire body tense and release as her nerves came alive from head to toe. She felt herself jerk as the pleasure moved through her and pushed against his hands, writhing blindly at what was happening.

  She forced her eyes open to see him staring down at her, blue eyes dominant and intense, as if he knew he’d forced her to go and was pleased with it.

  And she was pleased as well, feeling his strength easily capture her no matter how she writhed against his hold. She liked the idea that she could never escape. It gave her more confidence he would never let go.

  And now that she was experiencing all of this pleasure a second time, she was pretty sure she didn’t want him to.

  “You’re so beautiful, Regan,” Bronson said. “So mine. I want to take you.”

  She gasped against him and writhed more. “I can’t… I don’t… What are you doing to me?”

  He released her hands and came between her trembling legs, parting them easily as his mouth found her and kissed her deeply at her center, just as passionately as he’d kissed her mouth.

  It was warm and intimate and moved her closer and closer to another orgasm before she could even think about how to resist him.

  She screamed his name as she came again, convulsing against his mouth as he lapped at her, kissing her all the way through her pleasure as her hands threaded into his hair. She cried his name again and again as his mouth relentlessly stroked, letting her fall back in release only to get the tension started all over again.

  She didn’t know how many times she came like that, with him stroking and kissing and wringing every last bit of pleasure out of her that she could take. Even some she couldn’t.

  Her whole body felt shaken and exhausted, yet there was a hunger in her that wasn’t yet sated.

  She grabbed his head and yanked it forward so he was facing her, and he looked into her eyes with a cocky expression that said he knew exactly what she wanted.

  “Take me,” she said. “I’m begging you. Begging, pleading, screaming, whatever you want. Just take me.”

  “All the way?” he asked against her ear. “Without protection?”

  She blinked. “As a mate?”

  He nodded. “Will you take me as a mate?”

  Her heart pounded. A part of her wanted that. Her body did for sure. Her bear as well. But she also knew as much as Bronson was urging her toward that decision and as much as getting to know him was making it all seem more palatable than it ever had been before, she still wasn’t ready.

  And she didn’t want to make such an important decision while stuck in the throes of orgasm.

  But looking up into his blue eyes, she didn’t want to disappoint him. For the first time, she actually cared about someone else’s feelings and didn’t know what to do about it.

  But as usual, he seemed to know her better than she did herself.

  “You aren’t ready,” he said softly, pressing a kiss to her forehead. “So I won’t.” He grabbed a condom off the nightstand and unbuttoned his pants. Then he gave her a grin and pinned her hands in one of his again. “But I am going to show you just how much I want you.”

  She nodded desperately, ready for him more than she’d ever thought she could be.

  He slid the condom over his thick, wide length as it sprang forward out of his pants. She licked her lips at the thought of it going inside her again. It would feel so perfect, so right. Just for this moment, she wouldn’t question anything about it.

  He paused for a moment at her entrance, teasing her, but then when she let out a little moan, he plunged inside, spearing her to her core.

  She groaned at the pleasurable pain. He was so thick, easing the ache inside her as well as causing another with his tremendous size that forced her body to stretch to accommodate him.

  But then he started to move, holding her hands down as he did, dominant and hot as he moved in and out of her again and again, making her catch her breath with every movement, making her lightheaded with pleasure.

  This was just for them. Regan couldn’t picture it being like this for anyone else.

  As he thrust inside, his eyes closed in focus and then opened to look down at her as if she were precious, and she felt warmth well up inside her. She was starting to have feelings for him, strong ones.

  The thought of it scared her as he continued to move, building pressure inside her that threatened to explode in a way that would break everything she held dear.

  But maybe it would also open a new world for her, one where she could picture being with a man like him forever and not even regret it. But she couldn’t tell if that was just a fantasy brought on by the heat of the moment and the anticipation of how they would go over the edge together in just a few seconds.

  She writhed against his hands as he sped up, stroking deep and hard, moving her whole body, making her feel completely owned, completely pleasured.

  Treasured.

  She cried out as she felt herself go over the edge in a deeper, harder way than before and felt him jerk inside her as his hands released her and he let out a groan.

  He grabbed her against him, holding her close as he jerked inside her, releasing along with her convulsions as her nails dug into his back with long scores.

  He said her name and she said his, and for a long time, they just stayed like that, panting their way through their release and clinging to each other as lifelines. When it was finally ending, she felt like every bit of life had been wrung out of her.

  Even as she felt more alive than ever before.

  She fell back on the bed, and he fell into her arms, lying on top of her with his heavy weight as their breathing slowly returned to normal.

  “Nothing could ever be like that,” he said, pushing up on his trembling arms to look down at her. “Won’t you be mine, Regan?” he asked, stroking damp hair off her face. “You know you already are.”

  She swallowed and buried her head in his shoulder. Not because he was wrong, but because she feared he was right. She’d already fallen for him.

  And she didn’t know what to do about it.

  He seemed to sense her hesitation, because he pulled away from her and got up so he could clean off with a towel. Then he came back and stood in front of the bed, looking down at her with a tender expression, one that shook her to her toes, which were still warm from all the orgasms.

  Looking up at that man just felt right.

  But it didn’t undo ten years of worry. Ten years of promises to herself that felt hard to undo.

  She want
ed this man, but she just wasn’t ready for it. She swallowed as she reached out her arms for him. He walked into this and pulled her against him on the bed, her the small spoon, him the big one.

  “I can wait until you’re ready,” he said quietly. “I already know you’re mine.”

  She closed her eyes against the pounding of her heart and tried to tell herself belonging to someone was okay.

  But even though she felt she was coming to love him, she couldn’t believe it.

  For now, he would have to be sure enough for both of them. And she would have to hope a little more time together would help her sort out what was and wasn’t meant to be.

  She pulled his arms tight around her and let her body relax. The room was quiet, and the sun had set outside, leaving the world around them dark, the room dimly lit by lamps on each side of his bed.

  “I can wait for you, Regan,” he said again. “No matter how long it takes.”

  She bit her lip. “I can’t make any promises. I’ve lived my life just one way as long as I can remember. And sure, this feels right to me. But I’m sure my mom felt right about my dad. And things change.”

  “Some things don’t change,” he retorted. “You’re my mate. I know that.”

  She sighed. “You’re incorrigible.” She started to get up, but he pulled her back. “What is it?”

  “I know you aren’t going to give me promises,” he said, wrapping his big body around her in a way that made her feel safe. “But you are going to cuddle me as a way of making up for it.”

  She wrinkled her nose. “You want to cuddle?”

  He nodded. “Of course. I don’t know if you got this yet, but I’m kind of a romantic guy. I demand cuddling if you’re going to use me for sex and not make an honest man out of me.”

  She laughed. “Well, I’ve never been a cuddler.”

  “Only because you’ve never found the right bear,” he said against her neck, making little warm sensations shoot through her.

  She sighed. “All right, teddy bear,” she said. “Show me how to cuddle and then we’ll go to bed.”

  And that’s what they did.

  Chapter 11

  The next morning, Bronson called in to Bear Claw to say they would be coming in late, as he wanted to take Regan shopping to replace some of the things that were missing after her apartment had been trashed.

  Regan was surprised when he drove her to a high-end mall just outside the city, the kind of place she never shopped on her own.

  “You trying to butter me up?” she asked skeptically as he handed her out of the car. “I could never shop somewhere like this on my salary.”

  “Well, since it’s partly my fault your place was wrecked, you don’t have to feel guilty about it coming out of my salary.”

  “Excuse me,” she said, poking him in the chest, forcing him back a step with a gentle smile on her face. “But it wasn’t your fault my stuff was wrecked. It was your fault I wasn’t there to get wrecked with it.”

  “That reminds me,” he said. “We should really have you taking self-defense lessons.”

  “I know how to fight,” she said.

  He raised a blond eyebrow. “Really?”

  She folded her arms as they walked in the cool morning wind toward the glass doors that formed the entrance. Bronson held the door for her, and she trudged in, wary of how shopkeepers were going to look at her clothing, which was composed of dark skinny jeans, an old tee she loved, and a hooded jacket over the top.

  She liked clothing that matched her image as a techie, and she liked the way they emphasized her curves.

  “Yes, I can fight,” she said. “I took lessons for a couple years after I was emancipated. They had them at the local community center for cheap.”

  He scratched his head. Today, he was wearing a light-blue sweater that did devastating things for his blue eyes and tanned skin and draped gorgeously over his muscled body. “Well, I’m not going to belabor the point when I’m here to protect you anyway. But in the future, we should check out your skills.” He gave her a sidelong glance. “You know, if you’re going to stay at Bear Claw Security.”

  Her heart thumped. “So you want me to stay there permanently? As an employee, I mean?”

  He put a hand in hers and led the way down the the first long row of shops. “I’d like that, yes. As more than an employee, if possible. But if not, it just gives me more time to win you over.”

  She blinked. What did she want? More time at Bear Claw? More time with Bronson? He released her hand and walked a little ahead of her, giving her room to think.

  His ass was perfect, taut and rounded in his khakis, and the bear in her made it hard to think for a while. He was truly what any woman should want. Handsome, hardworking, amazing in bed.

  But as he turned back to her with that dazzling smile, she felt a pang through her chest. Suddenly, all she could think about was how it would feel to see that face pulling farther away. To see that face angry, leaving her. Changing everything.

  Her heart pounded as the air changed around her, reminding her of the night they’d lost their house. Lost everything. It had been cold, and people had stared at them as they’d been evicted. She trembled just remembering it.

  Especially in contrast to the warm glow of her father’s smile. He’d been rich, too. Upper class. Just like Bronson. He’d held her on his lap and bounced her and told her Daddy would always care for her.

  And then the stepdads that came after. Each of them also said they would be there for her.

  Each one had failed.

  Alone, alone, alone. The only time it had stopped bothering her had been when she decided to do it on her own.

  The bear in her told her Bronson was her mate. She knew this… yet…

  Bronson looked back at her curiously, reaching out a hand. He’d been through so much, too. Being sold off by his own family? She couldn’t even imagine that. Having a brother he still couldn’t talk to, who didn’t know what happened and probably blamed him? Also terrible.

  But it didn’t change what she knew, which was people were likely to leave her and disappoint her. Even ones who claimed to love her.

  She walked up to him and hesitantly put her hand in his. He’d brought her here to help her, and she was going to accept it. Have a good day together shopping for some of her lost things. She wouldn’t let the past get in her way.

  “Are you all right?” he asked as they came up to the first clothing store that looked like it had things she would like. There was kind of a punky edge to the clothes, an indie vibe.

  “I’m fine,” she said. But his offer to stay at Bear Claw was swirling in her mind. Along with his request for her to be his mate the night before.

  “I’ll sit here,” he said, taking a seat on a bench in front of some dressing rooms. He looked so handsome and out of place in a store full of black and dark colors. Bronson was like a ray of sunlight, and the saleswomen immediately started fawning over him.

  Regan rolled her eyes, but when she looked over, she noticed his hot gaze ignoring them, focused only on her.

  It made her think of the night before. Made her hands tingle as she worked her way through the racks.

  She held up a few shirts against her and knew they would fit. She didn’t want to bother with dressing rooms while Bronson was waiting, and she’d shopped long enough to know what would and wouldn’t look good on her.

  She grabbed them and headed over to another rack, looking at a cute skull sweatshirt in black with dark-pink accents. She flipped over the price tag, scoffed, and put it back.

  “Aren’t you going to try anything on?” Bronson asked, appearing behind her. “I’d love to see it.”

  His hands worked around her waist, and she flushed, feeling the eyes of the saleswomen look away in disappointment. It was so odd, being claimed in person.

  It also reminded her if she stayed at Bear Claw full time, everyone would soon know about their affair.

  The thought was uncomfortable,
but not as bad as the thought of losing Bronson.

  “I don’t need to try them on,” she said.

  “All right,” he said, putting up his hands. “You make the calls.”

  She grinned at him. “Thanks.” She liked the way he let her do as she liked. Sure, sometimes he could get pushy or possessive or up in her space. But in the ways that mattered, he let her make the calls.

  She grabbed a couple more shirts and a pair of soft black pants that would be great to work in and carried them over to the counter.

  She was surprised when the black hoodie she’d been eyeing found its way on top of the pile, dropped by Bronson’s hand.

  “You forgot this,” he said, handing his card over to the cashier before she could protest.

  She flushed as he paid, giving her a charming smile.

  She could sort of picture this part of their life, too. Shopping and smiling and bantering as they got whatever they needed.

  As mates.

  The word shook her, but not as hard as it had every other time. Perhaps, just maybe, she could get used to it.

  * * *

  After they’d finished shopping for new clothes and the back of Bronson’s car was loaded up with bags (many more than Regan had anticipated), he took them a few blocks over to a local farmers’ market to buy food.

  Regan was still nervous about all the new things she was allowing Bronson to do for her and the job offer that hung in the air, but she was pushing herself to keep moving. She told herself the discomfort was just stretching outside her comfort zone and it was good, healthy.

  Still, the sunlight felt amazing as they stepped out of the car and started walking among the stalls.

  Regan watched with amusement as Bronson inspected various fruits and veggies. She took his arm to follow him as he made his way effortlessly through the early afternoon crowds as they bustled around from tent to tent. The market itself seemed to have anything imaginable that came out of the ground.