Bear Necessities (Bad Boy Alphas): A Post-Apocalyptic Bear Shifter Romance (36 page)

“Let’s go for a walk.”

Ivy stirred from the sweetest dream, feeling the heat of Caleb’s breath on her cheek. Her eyelids fluttered open, and for a moment she wasn’t sure what was real and what was dream.

She’d been recovering in her dream, her foot up on the end of the sofa—a position she’d been in a lot the past week—watching Mad Men on television. Which, of course, is how she knew it was a dream, because there was no “Netflix and chill” anymore.

But in her dream, Caleb had been puttering around the kitchen and had brought her strawberry shortcake as a surprise. He had been there, squatting down beside her, putting the dessert on the coffee table, and it had happened in an instant.

The press of his lips against hers sent fire rushing through her veins.

“Are you up to it?” Caleb asked, cocking his head at her. “I can carry you, if you get tired.”

Ivy looked into those bright, blue eyes, wondering if she really was still dreaming. Had Caleb just asked her to go for a walk? Outside? In the great, big, dangerous world?

“Do you mean it?” she breathed, trying to separate dream from reality. He hadn’t kissed her in reality—had he? She could almost still feel the warm press of his lips, the delicious tickle of his beard.

“Yeah.” His fingers moved over her cheek, brushing a slightly-damp piece of hair away from it. “Let’s go, shortcake.”

They went out the back entrance. Caleb had gone that first day with her key to find the second exit and remove the padlock so he could bolt it from the inside and assure they had two ways in and out of the bunker. Now, he made sure to bring the padlocks with him—in one of his many pockets—so he could lock the bunker up when they left.

Ivy spread her arms in the clearing, breathing in the fresh air and turning her face up to the sunshine. Last week’s rain had brought a fresh field of dandelions, Queen Anne’s Lace and wild daisies that grew on long, spindly stalks. Ivy plucked daisies as they walked, making a chain.

“Your ankle’s okay?” Caleb asked as they ventured further into the woods. They were going in the opposite direction of the house, which disappointed Ivy, but she didn’t mention it. She was just glad to be outside at this point.

“Perfect.” She beamed at him as they worked their way down the path. After a while, it did begin to hurt again, but not too badly. Enough that she might have to take some extra-strength Tylenol later, but not the Vicodin, and that pleased her.

“So where are we going?” she asked, smiling when she felt Caleb’s hand at the small of her back as they climbed over a tree that had fallen over the path.

“For a walk,” he said, giving her a little sideways smile.

“Well duh.” The day was warm and, in spite of the insects, she wished she’d worn shorts instead of jeans and a t-shirt. Caleb had pulled on a black t-shirt and wore his combat boots. He obviously didn’t want to tell her where they were going, so she changed the subject. “So you really lived around here when you were a kid?”

“Copper Harbor.” He held branches out of the way so Ivy could pass.

“Small world up here. Your mom and dad and your brother, Jonah?”

“Yep,” he agreed. He’d told her that much, but Ivy wanted more.

“That’s really not far from here,” she mused. “Funny that we never crossed paths.”

“Well, you were in boarding school in Traverse City then, right?” he reminded her, reaching for her hand to steady her as she climbed another log across the path. Last week’s storm must have knocked down a lot of dead wood, she thought.

“Yes.” She nodded. “Then I went to U of M. You were in the military then?”

“Marines.” His hand stayed in hers as they walked. “I think the only time we were up here at the same time was the summer before I joined up.”

“Too bad we didn’t cross paths,” she said, smiling up at him. “Although, I had my first real boyfriend that summer. I might not have noticed you.”

“Did you?” Caleb raised his eyebrows at her, looking like he didn’t believe her for a minute.

“He turned out to be a colossal fuck stain.” She wrinkled her nose, swinging her hand in his.

Caleb chuckled. He hadn’t been offended by Ivy’s colorful vocabulary, yet—she could swear like a sailor, thanks to growing up with her father—but then she found out he’d been a Marine in the time before, and now she knew why. Although she hadn’t heard him swear once, yet, that she could remember. Maybe Marines kept the worst words for the worst situations. Or maybe he just thought it wouldn’t be polite around a girl? That thought made her smile.

“And I was the dumbass who decided to give him my virginity.” She snorted. “Thought I was saving it for someone special. Yeah, it was so special, he disappeared the minute he got what he wanted. Granted, that was after he asked me to marry him…”

“You were going to marry him?” Caleb scowled.

“Right?” Ivy could laugh at it now, rolling her eyes. It didn’t hurt anymore. Well, at least, not like it used to. “I was so naïve. Anyway, he fucked me and left me for some skinny blonde who would look good on his arm at the country club.”

“Rat bastard,” Caleb muttered.

“Beyond,” she agreed, shaking her head. “Vaughn made me give the ring back in front of her. It was… wow, it was bad. Like, really bad. A huge scene. And you know, how everyone up here knows everyone else?”

“Vaughn?” Caleb stiffened beside her and she glanced up at his face, seeing his jaw working under his beard again.

“Yeah, it was a family name.” Ivy cringed at the memories this conversation was bringing back, but she was committed to telling him, now that she’d started. “He came from money. Like, you know, old money? His family summered up here. His father had a boat. A yacht.”

“Vaughn…” Caleb snorted, shaking his head. His eyes appeared darker here, in the shade of the trees, as they made their way through the denser forest.

“Rich people name their kids the weirdest things,” Ivy commented, shaking her head as they reached the tree line. “His new girlfriend’s name was Cricket. Can you imagine? Anyway, Cricket got my ring. And Vaughn said, right there in front of everyone, his parents, this girl—he laughed and said… he couldn’t believe I thought he would marry a cow like me.”

Caleb stopped so suddenly, pulling her back to him, that she might have tripped if his arms hadn’t gone around her. He pulled her to him so hard, she gasped, losing her breath.

“Caleb?” she whispered, seeing a light in his eyes that almost scared her.

“You’re mine, Ivy,” he growled, his hands moving down to possessively cup her ass, bringing her up closer to his mouth. “You were always meant to be mine.”

She didn’t have an answer for this as his mouth claimed hers. She couldn’t remember the last time she was kissed—and couldn’t remember anything at all as soon as his lips crushed hers. Ivy let out a little whimper, her hands moving up the thick, solid, muscled wall of his chest, arms going around his neck, clinging to him. His tongue split the seam of her lips and she opened to him without question, letting him taste her completely.

This wasn’t the sweet, tender kiss of her dream. This was something raw, primal, animal, and it elicited that sort of response in her. Caleb’s hands moved over her body, pulling her hips hard against him, so she couldn’t help but feel the throbbing length of him against her belly. The kiss went on so long she could hardly breathe when they parted.

The knowledge of what had just happened flickered in his eyes, the briefest question, and Ivy answered him by hungrily pulling his mouth back to hers. Caleb gave a little groan when she did that, his hands sliding up under her t-shirt, pushing it high. There was no one there to see them, except the squirrels and the chipmunks, and Ivy wouldn’t have cared if there was.

She moaned into his mouth when his hands cupped the full, heavy weight of her breasts, his thumbs flicking back and forth over her nipples. They hardened instantly at his touch, as if seeking more of it, and she could suddenly feel the hot, steady beat of her pulse at her crotch, growing faster by the moment.

“Caleb,” she murmured, her hands pushing his t-shirt up, feeling the thick ropes of muscle under his abdomen tightening along the way.

He stopped for a moment to pull it off, and she drank in the sight of him, not looking away this time, as he pulled her t-shirt off over her head. Ivy had never been a fan of bras and she wasn’t wearing one now. His gaze moved down to her chest, the heat of it making her flush, her mocha-colored nipples growing even harder at the sudden temperature change.

“You’re beautiful,” he croaked, his expression almost pained as he worked the button on her jeans. “You’re so fucking beautiful, I can’t stand it.”

“No,” she whispered, shaking her head. “No, I’m not.”

“Oh, yes you fucking are.” Caleb went to his knees on the forest floor in front of her, working her jeans down the fullness of her hips, taking her white cotton panties with them. She cried out when he wrapped his arms around her, rubbing his face against her belly, between her legs, his beard soft and rough at the same time.

Her hands moved through his hair—a thick, brown mane, almost as wiry as the hair of his beard—as she toed off her sneakers and stepped out of her jeans and panties and socks all at once, leaving her completely naked in the middle of the woods with this man.

“Mine,” he groaned, putting one of her thighs up over his shoulder, then the other. Ivy would have toppled if there hadn’t been a birch tree at her back, the bark smooth, almost soft, although the tree trunk was unforgiving.

Then Caleb’s mouth was on her, and she forgot about everything else. His tongue found her center, his mouth working on her, devouring her. When she looked down, she saw his eyes fastened on her face, watching her expression as she gazed down at him in wonder. The dark, wiry hair on her pubis blended with his beard, and she couldn’t tell where she began and he ended.

“Oh! Caleb!” she cried, arching and bucking, digging her heels into the muscles of his back. He moaned against her, into her, licking and sucking furiously, sending her flying over the edge. Her whole body shuddered with her climax, her sex throbbing, still aching for more. She wanted him, inside her, deep inside her. She’d never wanted anything more.

“Oh my God,” he groaned, rubbing his juice-wet beard against her belly, leaving fiery kisses all over her skin. “You’re so mine. Do you hear me?
Mine.
”

“Yes,” she whispered, nodding down at him as he eased her legs off his shoulders. There was no point in denying it, not anymore. She’d been fighting against this since the beginning, not sure if she could believe him, trust him.

Caleb stood, kissing her, pinning her to the birch tree as he worked down the zipper on his pants. She felt the heat of him pressed between them as they kissed, and she tasted herself on his tongue. His beard was wet with her and she licked it off, making him moan in response.

“I need to be inside you,” he panted, grabbing her hips in both hands and lifting her again. Ivy was amazed and delighted by his ability to move and maneuver her wherever he wanted.