A Bride For The Bear (Bear Brides #1) (6 page)

That searing, lingering kiss
set her body on fire. She moaned softly as Cole pulled back and
broke the kiss.

“I had to do that,”
he whispered.

Do that again
, she
almost begged.

His eyes burned with desire
as he brushed his thumb over her lips. Cole held her gaze for a long
while. Finally, he turned back to the stove with a growl.

Her eyes fell on the growing
bulge in the front of his jeans as he turned. His obvious arousal
sent a spike of lust hurtling through her body, and she felt the
throbbing ache between her legs.

Abby swallowed hard. Her
body seemed to awaken to his, and his hunger sparked her own fierce,
tormenting lust. It was as if her body knew his, and ached to answer
his need.

She shook her head with a
frown. How could it be?

Could they really be made for
each other?

Fated mates. She'd heard the
term before. The skeptic in her had dismissed that notion as a
superstition, a fantasy even as the romantic in her secretly hoped
that there might be someone out there who was fated to be hers and
hers alone.

Could it be? Could Cole be
her fated mate?

Abby squeezed her eyes shut,
her heart clenching with hope and yearning. She hadn't had much luck
in her love life, her career, her life in general.

She had stumbled and fallen
often, made mistakes, struggled and carried on. Luck and fate seemed
to enjoy taunting her, testing her at every turn.

Could her luck finally be
changing? Could this be her fate?

Had she found the One, her
fated mate, her elusive, mythical Mr. Right at last?

Abby exhaled a slow,
shuddering breath.

If this was a dream, she
didn't ever want to wake up.

Cole turned down the fire on
the stove and strode back to her. One kiss wasn't enough.

When he touched her sweet,
heart-shaped face, Abby opened her eyes with a start and blinked up
at him. There was a brief flicker of doubt and confusion in her eyes
as she stared at him.

Cole bent down and kissed her
again. She needn't doubt him. He would never ever give her a reason
to doubt him.

She was his mate, and he was
hers. If she would have him, he would love her, protect her, provide
for her and cherish her for the rest of his life.

He growled as her lips parted
and yielded to his.

Her taste was exquisite,
intoxicating, and if he didn't pull back, he was going to get drunk
on her.

There was no doubt. It
really was her. He had glimpsed her in his mind, in his heart, in
his very soul. He had pictured her laughing, smiling, her expression
open and joyful as she pottered around his home.
Their
home.

He touched her face again, as
if to make sure that she really was here, in his home, sitting in his
kitchen, wearing his t-shirt and his scent.

Her pink, plump lips were
parted, moist and swollen from his kisses. Cole pushed back from the
kitchen counter and forced his bear to back down. He recognized her.
So did his bear. His bear had recognized its mate and was rising
with a feral, ferocious hunger. His bear had scented her, tasted
her, and it wanted to claim her right now.

Cole wrestled his angry,
frustrated beast down. He couldn't allow his bear to maul her and
mount her savagely right here on the kitchen floor.

His little mate was human.
He would take his time with her, even if his bear was clawing his
insides to shreds. His animal would want to claim and mark her hard,
and Cole feared that he might hurt her if he lost control of his bear
and his lust. Abby wasn't a shifter, and her body was so soft, so
tiny, and so damn beautiful. He had felt her in his arms, seen her
luscious curves and beautiful, overflowing breasts. Cole tamped down
a growl at the back of his throat. He was already rock hard thinking
about her hot, curvaceous body, a body that was made for sex and
pleasure.

“Cole?” Abby's
voice was small and tentative.

At the sound of her voice,
his growl deepened and his cock jerked and strained against his
zipper.

“Yeah.” His
voice was gruff, low.

There was a long pause before
she said softly, “That smells amazing.”

He turned and fixed his eyes
on her.
You
smell amazing.

She took a deep whiff.
“Heavenly,” she declared. “What did you put in
it?”

Cole glanced at the simmering
pot. “Not telling.” He winked at her. “I told
you, this is my super secret recipe.”

“I'll do anything to
get my hands on your secret recipe,” she answered with a
playful smile.

“Anything?” he
said slowly.

She opened her mouth, then
closed it and blushed furiously when she realized what she had just
offered.

Cole groaned as images of
their entwined, naked bodies flashed before his eyes. This was doing
nothing to help his raging hard on.

He swung his attention back
to the task at hand. Getting dinner ready. He laid out the plates,
drained the pasta and smothered the steaming spaghetti with the
aromatic, mouth-watering sauce. He heard her stomach rumble as he
sat down opposite her and picked up his fork.

“Eat,” he
ordered.

She dug in with gusto,
slurping the spaghetti noodles up noisily. She licked her lips and
sighed. “I'm going to need a second helping.”

Cole jumped up. “There's
lots more in the pot.” He began to ladle more sauce and
noodles onto her plate.

“Oh, oh, that's
enough,” she laughed. “Wow!”

Cole sat back down and
watched her eat. She had a hearty appetite and she savored the food
with obvious delight. He smiled, feeling pleased and proud. It was
frustrating eating with women who pecked at their food like birds,
and kept insisting they were full when they hardly ate a bite. Abby
clearly enjoyed eating and she made her enjoyment known. It was a
real pleasure to cook for her and feed her. Cole wanted to do that
every day. He wanted to provide for her, protect her, pleasure
her...

She looked up at his low
growl.

“Is...something wrong?”

“Nothing is wrong,
Abby.” He reached out and tucked a strand of hair behind her
ear. “Everything is perfect. You—are perfect,” he
said as he traced his finger down the shell of her ear.

She gasped and he scented her
sudden arousal. His lips curved. That was her erogenous zone. He
was so going to nibble and lick his mate's ears until she shuddered
with ecstasy.

Cole picked up her fork and
twirled the noodles skilfully around it. Abby hesitated for an
instant before leaning in to let Cole feed her. He watched her lips
close around the fork and slide the noodles into her mouth. When her
tongue darted out to lick the smudge of sauce at the corner of her
mouth, the agonizing throbbing in his cock ratcheted up a notch.

She finished the whole plate,
and leaned back with a satisfied burp. “Excuse me,” she
giggled.

Cole grinned and polished off
the rest of his dinner in a minute. Abby picked up his plate and
went to the sink. Cole found himself unable to take his eyes off
her. She looked so cute, so relaxed and comfortable in his home,
wearing his huge t-shirt and doing the dishes. The scene looked so
domestic and so warm. It made his heart tighten with longing and
desire. He wanted her so much. She was the woman of his dreams, the
mate of his heart. But—did she want him back?

Cole would never force
himself on a woman. He wouldn't even go near a female if she wasn't
interested. But women were always interested. He was the Alpha of
the Nightfire clan, owner of a successful, lucrative landscaping
company. And he was good in the sack.

That was what they all said.

And that was all they wanted.
Those females just wanted a good lay, a man with deep pockets to
wine and dine them. They were attracted to his money, his name, his
power. But not one of them wanted him for him.

Cole exhaled a long breath.

His mate had landed right in
his lap, but she wasn't from Moonstone Creek. Would she be leaving
soon?

Abby dried her hands on her
jeans and came to stand in front of him. She seemed tense and
nervous, and was worrying her lower lip.

“What is it, Abby?”
Cole pulled her to him.

“I...I have to tell you
something. Everything.”

Cole frowned.

“I didn't come to
Moonstone Creek just to have a look around the town. I'm actually
here to...look for you.”

His eyes widened a fraction,
but he remained silent.

“I saw your profile,”
she rushed on, unable or unwilling to stop. “On that dating
site. I sent you a message, but you didn't reply. And when I
checked again, I saw that you'd taken down your profile. At first, I
thought that yours was a fake profile, a hoax, a prank. But...I
can't explain it.” She gulped and wrung her hands. “It
was just a gut feeling, like...like I knew, in my heart, in every
nerve, in every fiber of my being, that...that you're real. And
you're...” She swallowed hard and whispered, “...mine.
So I hopped on a bus and came out here...to look for you.”

She bit her lip and turned
away, her face red. She refused to meet his eyes, but he saw the
glimmer of doubt and shame in her downcast eyes.

Cole went to her and held her
shoulders.

“Abby,” he said
quietly. She still refused to raise her head.

Cole took her clammy hand in
his and crooked a finger under her chin to tilt her face up. He
wanted her to look at him and see the fierce admiration, respect and
pride in his eyes.

Her words touched him deeply.
She had spoken honestly, without guile or pride. It had taken
courage and character for her to just come up to him and tell him the
truth. She could easily have played along, just play him and use
him. Instead, she had put her heart and pride on the line, risked
his wrath and derision and made herself look like a desperate stalker
by blurting out the truth to him. But she wasn't stalking him. She
had simply listened to her heart, and obeyed the call of the mate
bond. If it had been the other way around and he had seen her
profile first, he would have hunted her down, stalked her, followed
her to the very ends of the earth.

He hadn't disclosed the name
of his clan or company in his profile, so Abby would not have known
where to look for him in Moonstone Creek. She had acted on pure
instinct by coming, and she had put her life in danger for him. Cole
felt his claws inching out at the thought of the Blood Shadow bears
terrorizing her and hurting her. He would make sure she never got
hurt again.

“Abby...” he
began, his voice rough and hoarse. “I'm so glad you came to
Moonstone Creek. Thank you, for coming to look for me. I never
would have found you otherwise.”

He fell into a thoughtful
silence for a moment, then laughed suddenly. “I thought I
found you. Arrogant, aren't I?”

“Huh? What...”
Abby stammered.

Cole hugged her as he broke
into a grin.

“It's the other way
round, darling. You—found me! My brave, clever, beautiful
mate found me!” His deep, booming voice reverberated round the
kitchen.

Abby gasped as he kissed her
proudly and resoundingly on the top of her head.

Wrapping his arms
possessively and happily around her, Cole barked out a hearty,
exhilarated laugh. “And I thought that signing up for that
dating site was a damn mistake. It turned out to be the best thing I
ever did!”

Abby stared at Cole in utter
shock and disbelief. He wasn't angry, and he wasn't laughing at her.
He was laughing with sheer joy. His laugh was real, solid and
masculine, just like him.

Abby found herself melting in
his arms as he pressed her closer. He held her like she really was
the best thing that ever happened to him. She had never felt so
cherished and wanted by anyone. The intense, inexplicable feelings
bubbling up in her made her eyes well with tears.

“Hey.” Cole held
her face and thumbed away her tears. “What's wrong, Abby?”

She shook her head and
sniffed loudly.

“Hmm.” Cole
frowned as a thought struck him. “You said you sent me a
message. I never got your message. When did you send it?”

“The moment I saw your
profile,” she admitted.

“Oh. It must have been
at the bottom of the pile. The newest messages were all piled on top
and my inbox was close to exploding with all those messages. I got
tired of deleting them, so I thought it was easier to just delete
myself instead.” He shrugged.

Abby bit the inside of her
cheek as she fought down a twinge of jealousy. Of course a man like
him would attract lots of female attention. It wasn't surprising his
inbox was inundated with come-hither messages from women. A highly
desirable male like Cole was sure to have women swarming all over him
like bees. He hadn't just caught her eye. He had caught the
attention of almost all the women on that dating site. Abby found
herself hating all those nameless, faceless women, for no good reason
at all.