Bear My Soul (Fire Bears Book 1) (8 page)

Cody pressed his forehead against the warmth of her stomach and rocked her back gently, then ran the side of his face against her ribcage. Tentative fingers touched the fur at the scruff of his neck. Rory sniffled as a drop of wetness patted against his ear.

Cody looked over his shoulder, giving Aaron permission to approach. The scent of Rory’s fear thickened the air. She’d been hurt by her cub before. If Cody hadn’t seen the scars on her arm, he would’ve known it from the acrid smell of her terror now.

Aaron charged a few feet, bluffing, and Cody swatted his behind and let off a low, rumbling warning.

Slowly, Rory knelt down and offered her closed fist for Aaron to sniff. He wove back and forth, nervously shifting his weight from side to side, but at last, he came close enough for Rory to touch his fur.

“My baby bear,” she crooned.

The look of recognition that sparked in Aaron’s eyes had Cody taking a step back to give them space. Aaron latched his mouth onto her arm, but it wasn’t an attack. The humming sound reverberating from the little cub’s chest gave away his intentions. He wouldn’t bite her hard enough to pierce her skin or Turn her. This was a sign of affection for his caregiver. The whites of Rory’s eyes shone all around her mossy green irises, but she didn’t balk or run. His brave human. No, she sat down in the dirt and pulled Aaron into her lap as the cub mouthed her arm and hummed.

When she looked back up at Cody, her eyes were filled with tears. His first instinct was to blight out whatever had made her upset, but the grateful smile on her lips settled him.

“You don’t even know what you’ve done for us,” she said, voice hitching. “Thank you.”

And as he sat back, watching his accidental family cuddling in his front yard, Cody knew he would accept Krueger’s mission. He’d do anything, even at the cost of his own soul, if it meant Rory, Aaron, and the rest of the Breck crew were safe.

The weight of being alpha had been great.

The weight of being a father was greater.

“Did you see me, mommy?” Aaron asked in that tiny voice of his. “I wasn’t even in a cage, and Cody said I did good.”

“Baby, I did, and I’m so proud of you. Was it scary being out in the woods?”

Aaron frowned and shook his head slightly. “I don’t remember. Cody’s bear is giant,” he said, stretching his arms wider than the pillow he was laying on.

He’d scarfed down a grilled cheese sandwich and mixed vegetables but had barely been able to keep his eyes open at the dinner table. Cody said it was normal, and that he needed to get sleep now.

She pulled the burgundy comforter from the foot of Cody’s guest bed up to Aaron’s chin and gave him tiny kisses all over his face. He giggled, then stifled a yawn. The poor kid had dark bags under his eyes like he always did after a Change. He looked like he hadn’t slept in a week, but at least this time, he seemed happier.

“Cody?” he called softly.

His father appeared in the doorframe and smiled. “What do you need, kiddo?”

“Can you sing me that lullaby?”

“Uh.” Cody dropped his gaze and ran his hand over his short hair. If Rory didn’t know better, she could’ve sworn he was blushing. “Sure.”

Rory left them to it, kissing Aaron’s forehead once more before she left the dark room. Sitting on the couch, she could hear the lyrics of the heavy metal song drift through the house, and she smiled despite the stress of the last few hours.

It was nearly half an hour before Cody emerged. He’d been quiet since his shift with Aaron. She thought he’d come sit on the couch with her, but instead he wouldn’t meet her eyes as he strode into the laundry room. Earlier, he’d thrown the clothes from his fire department duffle bag along with Aaron’s jeans into the washer and now seemed busy transferring the damp garments to the dryer.

Standing from the comfortable cushion of the couch, she made her way toward the laundry room. “Did I do something wrong?” she asked as she leaned against the doorway.

“No.”

“But you’re upset.”

“I’m fine.” Cody closed the dryer door and turned it on, then leaned back against it and let off an explosive sigh. “Ma wants to throw a big barbecue tomorrow for you and Aaron.”

“Where?”

“Here.”

“So,” she said, kicking the corner of the doorway with the toe of her wedge heel, “
you’re
throwing a barbecue.”

“Basically.”

“But that’s not what you’re upset about,” she guessed.

Cody shook his head, but didn’t offer an explanation.

“Is it me?”

Another shake of his head, and he looked as tired as Aaron had.

“Is this one of those things like the tours you served? You don’t want to talk about it with me?”

This time he nodded his head once and left his chin on his chest.

“That’s okay,” she murmured, sliding her arms around his waist. She rested her cheek against his thrumming heartbeat. “I stormed your life, and you don’t owe me explanations. I know it’ll take time to trust me.”

He ran his fingers through her hair. “This has nothing to do with trusting you. It’s about protecting you.”

She arched her face back and searched the worry in his eyes. “Do you remember the first time we were together?”

“Do I remember the
only
time we were together? Yes.” His brow winged up in a challenge. “Do you?”

“I was completely sober.”

He laughed and ran both of his hands through her hair now. “You were drunk as a skunk. I wanted to wait until we were both sober, but you weren’t having any of that. Temptress.”

“I wanted what I wanted,” she mused unashamedly.

“Regrets?”

“None. You gave me Aaron that night. You?”

He shook his head slowly and searched her face as if he’d never seen anything like her. “None.”

Spinning her so fast, her stomach dipped, Cody set her up on the dryer. The metal was warm under her legs, heated from working. The vibrations felt surprisingly erotic as he pulled her knees wider and settled in between her thighs.

“Tell me, Rory,” he whispered, pressing his lips against her neck in a nibbling kiss. “Did you ever think of me when you touched yourself?”

Her breath shook as he pulled her to the edge of the dryer and rolled his hips against hers.

“Well?” he murmured as he trailed his mouth up to her sensitive earlobe. “Did you?”

“Yes,” she panted out.

“Good.” Easing back, he pulled her shirt over her head and snapped his fingers against the clasp of her bra. It fell forward and she shrugged out of it.

Cody kicked the door closed and tugged his T-shirt over his head. The words
Veni, Vidi, Vici
were tattooed in cursive across his rippling chest, and more curls of ink stretched from his collar bone down one arm. His abs flexed with each breath as his gaze ravished her body. God, he made her burn.

His skin was smooth and hard under her fingers as she traced the striations in his shoulders. But when he lifted his eyes again, he looked uncertain. Lost even.

She cupped his cheek and kissed him softly to put his fears at ease. He was afraid she’d leave again, but that was beyond her now. She couldn’t go back to Oklahoma and raise Aaron alone—not knowing that Cody was right here waiting for them to come back so he could be a part of their lives.

Jaw working under her palm, Cody thrust his tongue against hers and pulled her close until her breasts pressed against the hard planes of his chest. His skin felt divine next to hers. The kisses between them toed the edge of desperation as Cody unsnapped the button of her jeans.

The rip of her zipper had her arching against him as he nibbled his way down her throat. As he peeled off her pants, he latched onto her nipple, drawn up tight from the pleasure he had built inside of her. His tongue laved against the sensitive skin there, and she pulled his head closer.

“I need…” What did she need? Everything. All of him, but how to ask that of a man who wasn’t comfortable sharing himself yet?

A soft growl resonated from his chest as he pulled her lacy panties to the side. She didn’t even have time to balk in shock before his mouth was on her sex.

Hoooly mayo.
She threw her head back as she ran her fingers through his short hair. The man definitely still remembered where her clit was. He tongued it gently, over and over until she was on the verge of release, then he angled his chin and pressed his tongue deeply inside of her. She was gasping for breath now, watching his head bob between her legs. The growling sound he’d been making earlier was getting louder by the moment, and as the pressure increased to unbearable levels, she whispered, “I’m coming!” a moment before her orgasm seized around his clever tongue. Pulsing aftershocks went on and on as he continued his affection.

“One,” he growled out, lifting her off the dryer and carrying her like she weighed less than air into his bedroom.

Her heart raced with the realization that he had more sexy plans for her. His eyes reflected like an animal’s in the dim light from the bathroom, but she wasn’t afraid. Not after earlier when he’d protected her from her own cub. Cody would never hurt her.

With his foot, he kicked the door closed, then set her gently on his bed. “Let me get a condom,” he whispered against her lips, then kissed her. His weight disappeared.

“Wait! Leah said you don’t get sick. Not like humans.”

“We don’t.”

“I’m on the pill.”

His movements by the nightstand stopped, and he turned slowly.

She sat cross-legged on his bed, mortification heating her cheeks. “I want to feel you.”

His eyes sparked with hunger as he crawled over the covers toward her, his arms flexing as he approached. Her breath caught in her throat when she dragged her gaze down his torso to the long erection he’d unsheathed between his legs. This part she’d forgotten about—how big he was. He wasn’t just long, but thick, too. Intimidatingly so.

“Don’t be scared,” he said on a breath. “I’d never hurt you.”

She smiled as the dim light illuminated one side of his face and cast the other in shadow. She’d just been thinking that moments ago, how he’d never hurt her. “I know.”

Cody nudged her knees apart with his and settled his hips against hers. The head of his cock brushed her wet seam, and she rolled her hips instinctively, chasing him.

“More of that,” she whispered, running her hand down his steely arm.

The corner of his mouth turned up slightly as he pushed into her slowly, filling her, stretching her until she had to remind herself to relax or she wouldn’t be able to take all of him. Damn, he felt good as his hips bumped hers. Her nerve endings were sensitive right now after his thorough attention in the laundry room.

Cody closed his eyes as he pulled out of her, and when he opened them again, they were the gold-green wild color that said his animal was awake and with her. She loved him like this. Open and vulnerable—allowing her to see all of him, even the secret places he hid from everyone else.

He pressed into her again, bucking his powerful hips as he clenched his jaw. He was trying to be gentle with her, and it made her love him more.

Love.

Could it be that the stranger who’d fathered her child could be the one who belonged to her? She’d never dared to hope before, but here in the dim light, with his eyes on hers as he moved within her, she knew it was true. He was hers.

The realization loosened her chest as tingling pressure built with each brush of his pelvis against her clit. Cody was hers and worth fighting for. His breathing turned to panting as a frown took his face, as if he was feeling the same revelation she was. His eyes widened as he pumped into her faster.

“Tell me to stop now, or I won’t be able to,” he rasped out in a growly voice she didn’t recognize.

Confused, she held onto him tighter. “I don’t want you to stop.”

“I can’t… I can’t…” His eyes were growing brighter as he rammed into her, pushing her farther up the bed with each stroke.

Cries of ecstasy escaped her parted lips as he pulled at the backs of her knees and spread her wider. He slammed into her, bucking faster until she clawed at his back and panted out his name.

As her body clenched with the first pulses of her explosive orgasm, jets of warmth shot into her, heating her from the inside out. Cody gripped her hair and emptied himself completely. Pleasure and pain blinded her for an instant, and she gasped and bowed against him.

“Shit,” Cody gritted out, clutching his chest. He pulled out of her, and wetness trickled down her legs. Scrambling backward, he nearly fell off the bed trying to escape her.

“What’s wrong?” she asked, staring at his hand as he clutched his chest. Baffled, she looked down at her own chest, where she seemed to be burning.

“Tell me you feel it, Rory. Please, God.” His eyes held agony as he shook his head.

She’d never seen a man like him scared before now.

“Please tell me you feel it, too,” he pleaded.

“It hurts,” she whispered, rubbing the tender place in between her breasts. “What did we just do?”

Cody’s chest heaved as he searched her face. “I think I just bonded us.”