A Bride For The Bear (Bear Brides #1) (7 page)

“Come.” Cole
tugged her towards the study. “I'll show you the messages.”

“Um...I don't think...”

“I really didn't get
your message,” he said earnestly. “I want to see it.”

“It wasn't really a
message...” she stuttered, but Cole had already pulled her into
his study and powered up his laptop.

He clicked open his inbox and
stuffed her into his large, leather chair. “There. See that?
All those messages, endless!” He threw up his hands. “I
don't want to read their messages. I want to read yours. Where's
your message? Show me. I want to see.”

He leaned forward eagerly as
she scrolled down the long list of messages until she found her name.
“There.” She pointed to the screen. “Message
from Abby.”

Cole clicked on the message
immediately, his brows furrowed in concentration.

A smile spread across his
face. “You said hi.”

Abby blushed, feeling shy and
silly. “I didn't know what else to say...”

“Well, hi back,”
Cole said, smiling. “I would have replied to your message.
It's the only one that's...real.”

Before she could stop him,
Cole went to click on her profile. Abby squirmed in her seat. Her
profile picture was horrible. She had simply snapped a selfie on her
mobile phone and uploaded the photograph without bothering to edit
it. She had been wearing her old, stained t-shirt with not a smudge
of make-up on her face, and her uncombed hair looked like a rat's
nest. She kind of regretted being so frank about her unemployed
status. She had only just lost her job a day ago. It wasn't like
she had been jobless for months. She should have proofread that
paragraph and deleted some parts before uploading it.

Abby cringed. She probably
looked and sounded like a lunatic in her profile. Who would want to
send her a message after looking at her hopelessly disorganized and
brutally honest profile? She wasn't all nice and prettied up in her
profile picture, and she had stated that she had just lost her job
and was at the time of writing, drowning in a tub of butter caramel
ice-cream. Abby dropped her head into her hands. She needed to
install a censor button in her brain.

Blurting out everything on
her mind was so not the way to go. Her ex-boyfriends had often
grimaced and told her through gritted teeth not to just shoot her
mouth off and laugh like a hyena whenever she felt like it. Abby had
tried to tone down her laughter, but how could one not laugh and hoot
and root for the heroine at a romantic comedy?

Abby didn't look up even when
she felt Cole's fingers close gently around her wrists. She didn't
want to see the revulsion or pity in his eyes. It would break her.

“You look beautiful in
that picture,” Cole said. “And now that I know you like
butter caramel ice-cream, I'm going to be buying tubs of that to fill
my freezer. Tell me what else you like, Abby. I want to know
everything about you. I'm going to love everything about you. Every
little thing. Every sweet inch of you,” he added huskily.

“I...I don't have a
job. I look a mess, and...”

“Jobs come, jobs go.
You are not your job,” Cole said firmly. “You can look
for a new job. There are jobs everywhere. Take your time. You
don't have to worry about finances.” He raised a finger to
silence her protest. “And you look fine. In fact, you look
perfect. I love your picture.”

“You don't mean that.”

“I can never, ever lie
to you, Abby,” Cole said solemnly. “You are my mate, and
you will always know my heart, my thoughts, my fears.”

Abby's breath caught at his
tender, heartfelt words. “Your...mate,” she whispered at
last.

“Yes. You're mine.
You're the only one for me, my true perfect match.”

She smiled crookedly. “I
was afraid to believe, to hope, that there could be someone just for
me.”

Cole turned towards the
laptop screen. “Hey, look at this, you're not going to believe
this.” She heard the amusement and excitement in his voice and
glanced at the screen.

She made a small sound of
surprise when she saw that he had just reinstated his profile.
“Abby” appeared in the box at the side of his profile
page. Potential matches were listed in that box, with the best
matched candidate appearing at the top. She was at the top of that
list, with a hundred percent match.

Abby blinked at the screen,
wondering if her eyes were playing tricks on her or if there was
something wrong with the dating site's algorithm. How could it be?
A hundred percent! That was like a perfect match!

“My brother and cousins
were skeptical, but I think they're going to thank me for making them
sign up for this.” Cole winked and crowed, “This is one
hell of a dating site!”

Cole chuckled, looking smug
and genuinely pleased. “It's worked for me. I'll write to
them to thank them and give them a glowing review,” he
declared, and proceeded to type furiously at the keyboard. “But
I'm canceling my account right now. I won't be needing any more
dates or matches from this site.” He logged off his laptop
with a flourish.

Taking a deep breath, Cole
stared at her for a long while before saying quietly, “I've
only dreamed and fantasized about you, Abby. I never thought I'd
actually feel you in my arms...”

He pulled her to him and held
her tightly, letting her feel exactly how much he wanted her. Abby's
blush deepened as she felt his erection pushing against her belly.
His fingers stroked down her back and caressed the generous mounds of
her buttocks.

“Take a walk with me?”
he whispered.

She nodded and followed him
out the side door of his study. She stepped out into a beautifully
landscaped garden. Breathlessly, she gazed at the rows of flowering
bushes and elegant arches around his sprawling garden. There was a
small fountain in the middle of the garden, and tall, manicured trees
stood like sentries in the background. When she looked up, she saw
that they were standing under a canopy of stars, and the lawn
sparkled and shimmered in the silver starlight.

“Wow,” she
breathed. “This is...so beautiful. It's just magical!”

“You like it?”
His voice was deep and husky.

“I love it! Did you do
all this yourself?”

He nodded.

“You have an artistic
eye and skillful hands.”

“Undoubtedly,” he
murmured, circling her waist with his powerful, muscular arms. She
shivered as she wondered what else he could do with those strong,
skillful hands.

Cole bent to nuzzle her neck.
His lips trailed down to her collar bone and he languidly kissed his
way up her jaw, her earlobes, her temple. Abby quivered and felt the
heat in her core unfurl and spread through her body.

Abruptly, Cole spun her
around to face him. She gasped into his mouth as he crushed his lips
over hers in a bruising, hungry kiss. She closed her eyes and clung
to his broad shoulders as she felt herself falling, drowning, melting
in his embrace. Cole teased and tasted her with his tongue, stoking
the flame in her core into a maddening blaze.

Sweeping her into his arms,
he carried her out into the garden and laid her on the soft, velvety
grass. A flowering branch arched overhead and soft, white petals
floated down to her on the breeze.

Abby lifted her arms so Cole
could tug the t-shirt up over her head. She wanted to have them skin
on skin, feel every hard ridge of his powerful body on hers. Cole
tore his shirt off and let her press her trembling hands against his
bare chest.

Breathing hard, he traced her
curves with his rough hands, skimming her nipples with his fingers.
Her nipples pebbled instantly at his touch, and Abby had to clench
her teeth to stop herself from crying out.

His touch was electrifying.
Her nerve endings sizzled and she was panting and shivering with
desire. She pressed her palms against his solid chest and felt the
heat from his body slam into her. Quivering with lust and want, Abby
arched up, wanting him to burn her, brand her, bite her.

Raking her fingers through
his hair, she pulled him down to her. “Cole...” she
breathed.

She wanted him, ached for him
with an unrelenting, tormenting hunger. She had never wanted any man
like this before.

Gasping, she realized that
this wasn't just lust. It was more than that. Her body wanted and
needed him. Only him and no one else.

“Please,” she
rasped. “I...need you, Cole.”

The scent of his mate's
burning need slammed into Cole like a wrecking ball. His entire body
stiffened and jerked at the impact. Lust, hunger, frustration, love
surged through him, his wants and emotions warring within him.

Cole wanted to take her now,
sate her maddening need, make her his. But he didn't want to hurt
her or scare her. He was going out of his goddamn mind with desire
for her. The scent of her arousal tugged at him, filling all his
senses. There was only her. Their surroundings dimmed and receded
around them, leaving only Abby lying in a pool of silver starlight
beneath him.

Grabbing her wrists, Cole
pinned her arms up over her head as he lowered his mouth to her
breasts. The first flick of his tongue sent her bucking and
whimpering. He wrapped his lips around the elongated, erect peak and
sucked hard. Abby thrashed her head from side to side, blind and
mindless with lust.

Cole continued suckling her
as he pulled her jeans and panties down her hips. Abby kicked off
her jeans impatiently and pushed herself up on her elbows to watch
Cole with heavy-lidded eyes. Cole shed his clothes swiftly and knelt
between her trembling thighs.

He stared down at her,
savoring the breathtaking, tantalizing sight of her spread out before
him for his pleasure.

“So beautiful,”
he breathed. “You are so fucking beautiful, Abby.”

Pushing her legs wider apart,
he laved his tongue down her slick, pink folds, tasting her
thoroughly before sliding his tongue into her. Abby writhed as he
fucked her with his tongue and circled her clit with his fingers.
She was losing control fast. With a hoarse cry, she came violently,
shaking and shuddering as he thrust his tongue furiously in and out
of her.

Before her orgasm could
subside fully, Cole grabbed her legs and hooked them over his
shoulders. As the head of his cock nudged into her opening, her
walls rippled and she cried out as another orgasm flickered at the
edge of her consciousness. She was already coming for him even
though he wasn't even fully inside her. Cole gritted his teeth and
stopped himself from pushing deeper into her body. She was so tight,
and he had to give her time to adjust to his size.

Abby moaned and raked her
nails down his arms. “Please, I need you inside me,” she
begged.

Blissfully, agonizingly, he
started to inch into her, stretching her walls as he pierced her with
his huge, thick shaft. Abby cried out at the heady mix of pain and
pleasure and Cole stilled immediately.

“Abby,” he
whispered, the veins pulsing at the side of his neck.

She blinked quickly and
panted, “More.”

Sucking in a ragged breath,
he caressed her heaving breasts and stroked her nipples until they
ached and throbbed. He thumbed her swollen clit, making her juices
squirt out to lubricate her tight, clenching walls.

Slowly, he slid his cock into
her, and Abby arched her back as he entered her. Cole penetrated her
slowly, filling her and joining their bodies together. Abby pushed
herself up to take in the erotic sight of Cole entering her body for
the first time. Her lips parted and Cole saw the ecstasy and wonder
in her eyes.

Cole held Abby's gaze as he
thrust deep into her. He buried himself to the hilt inside her tight
pussy and held himself completely still. Only the sound of their
harsh breathing could be heard as they stared into each other's eyes
for a long moment.

Still looking deep into her
eyes, Cole began to move. His strokes were slow and long at first,
as he made love to her gently and tenderly. Cole leaned forward and
licked and nibbled at her ear as he drove into her. Abby shuddered
and dug her nails into his shoulder. When he took the tip of her ear
between his teeth and nipped hard, she bucked off the ground and
trembled in his arms.

Cole continued kissing his
mate's soft, sensitive ear as he surged into her. Abby gasped as she
came suddenly. She whispered his name over and over as she rode the
wave of pure ecstasy.

From the way she was looking
at him, Cole knew that his brown eyes had lightened, and there was a
tinge of gold circling his pupils. His bear was pulsing, clawing
just under his skin, and there was no denying his bear this time.
There was no holding his lust and his beast back. His bear would
claim its mate tonight.

His claws dug into the grass
at her sides as he took her harder and faster. Abby traced her
fingers down his biceps and Cole knew that she could feel the
pinpricks of goose pimples and fur down his arms.