Bear To The Bone (Bear Claw Security 1) (17 page)
Read Bear To The Bone (Bear Claw Security 1) Online
Authors: Terry Bolryder
Tags: #Paranormal, #Contemporary, #Fiction, #Romance, #Forever Love, #Adult, #Erotic, #Shifter, #Mate, #Suspense, #Violence, #Supernatural, #Protection, #Bachelor, #Single Woman, #Fantasy, #Military, #Action, #Adventure, #Motorcycle Gang, #Series, #Bear Claw, #Second Chance, #Future Leader, #Bar, #Armed Forces, #Private Security Co., #Mission, #Undercover, #Ace Leather, #Small Town
He grinned and tucked her under the sheets and then got out to go to the window. He opened the curtains just a bit so they would wake up with the morning light streaming through. He was already looking forward to their first day together.
“Come back,” she said. “I’m not done with you.”
He walked back and jumped in bed with her, holding her close. “Just thought we’d want to see the new day together.”
“Sure,” she said. “But I’m not ready to sleep yet. I want to know everything about you.”
“Oh yeah?” he asked. “Like what?”
“Tell me about you in the army. About how you met Bronson and Limes. Everything.”
“Everything?” he asked.
“Yup,” she said. “I want you bared to me completely.”
He nuzzled her with a rueful grin. “With you, I always feel bare to the bone,” he said.
“Or is it
bear
to the bone?” she asked playfully, her eyes widening as he let out a pretend growl.
He snuggled her possessively. “Either way as long as you’re mine.”
She entwined her fingers in his. “Always.”
A
few weeks later
, Cage and Carrie sat in the window seat of her house one more time before they had to go back to New York. They’d come back to settle things with selling the house and to visit Willow and make sure all was going well with the evacuation of the Aces.
The whole town had a different feel to it. A little emptier, yes, but with a hopefulness in the air, like everyone would finally have a chance to recover.
Carrie had given the bar over to Willow, and Willow had said she knew people looking for work who could help her run it. Perhaps she had never needed Carrie as much as Carrie needed Willow.
Cage’s arms were wrapped around her waist. It seemed to be his favorite place, and he often loved to play with her love handles in a way that made her blush and try to stop him, only to get sizzling kisses down her neck in answer.
He loved every bit of her; that much was plain. It had been clear from the first moment the next morning after they’d come together and then just continued every day after that.
She was shocked by some of the things he’d told her, things he’d been through while in the service.
She’d met Bronson and Limes and finally made sense of Cage’s intense height. Bear shifters were just big.
“What are you thinking about?” he asked in a low voice as they listened to movers downstairs, taking out the last of her things. “Are you sad we’re leaving?”
“No,” she said. “We’ll be coming back. This particular house never meant anything to me. It was just a place to wait, I guess, until the rest of my life could happen. Not that I saw it that way. It’s just how it happened.”
“I’m going to miss Winter Falls,” he said. “I didn’t think I could say that, but we had a lot of memories here.”
“It’s okay,” she said. “We’ll make new memories in New York.”
“Sure,” he said. “So have you agreed to be our new office manager yet? Bronson and Limes have been on me about it. You do have that business degree…”
“You just like the idea of me staying in your line of sight at all times, don’t you?”
“Yes,” he said flatly. “Yes I do.”
“All right,” she said. “I’ll do it. If only to give all the more dangerous assignments to Bronson and Limes.”
“Fine by me,” he said. “I have a mate to stay home and please.”
“You bears are so overwhelming,” she said.
He growled playfully. “Just the way you like it.”
“True,” she said. She looked wistfully out over the town. “I guess maybe I am a little sad. It’s just been home, you know?”
“Yeah,” he said. “I know.”
A moment later, they heard a knock on the door downstairs, and Willow’s voice called up. “You two up in there? Doing anything kids shouldn’t see?”
Cage laughed and helped Carrie stand. They walked to the stairs and looked down to see Willow folding her arms.
“Cage, you bring my girl down now. You’ve had enough time with her. We’re supposed to be saying good-bye.”
Carrie laughed and walked into Willow’s arms. “You know it’s not good-bye,” she said. “We’ll visit often.”
“Kids always say that,” Willow said. “You’ll get busy.” She eyed Cage.
“No,” Carrie said. “Because Cage already knows he’ll be in the doghouse if he doesn’t bring me back to see my mom often enough.”
Willow’s eyes widened at the words, and then her lips spread into a wide smile. “Darn straight. Bring back my daughter.”
They walked out to see the kids sitting on the grass, eating a picnic. Willow had brought them all over.
“I made sandwiches for you two if you want to join us. You know, before the movers finish up,” Willow said.
Carrie grinned and sat on the blanket next to Janet, and Robert crawled into her lap.
“We’ll miss you, Carrie,” Janet said.
The twins were busy checking out Cage. “You better be nice to her,” Tim said, folding his arms and abandoning his sandwich.
Cage unwrapped his and nodded. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
Thane narrowed his eyes under his reddish brows. “We’ll come get you if you don’t. You aren’t the only one who can join the army.”
“I told them about it,” Willow said. “They wanted to know how you were so strong.”
Cage grinned. “You can do whatever you want. Army is just one option. Two strong boys like you, you could even go into security.”
Carrie glared at him, but he ignored it.
“I even know someone who owns a company like that,” he said, grinning at her.
She snorted. “All right, enough dubious career advice from that sector. What you two should shoot for is college. You too, Janet.”
The twins groaned, and Janet nodded. “They need to get their grades up.”
Mark and Jessie were just interested in their sandwiches.
Carrie put an arm around Janet’s thin shoulders. “I’ll be coming back often to check in. You let me know how things are going.”
Janet nodded. “Okay. I think it’ll be okay, though. You should just go with your hunk and not feel bad about it.”
Cage overheard that and cocked his head, and Carrie laughed. “Stop it. You’ll give him a big ego.”
“Impossible,” Willow said. “That boy already has such a big head it’s impossible to improve it.”
“How can I not?” Cage asked playfully. “I have Carrie.”
Willow threw back her head and laughed as the twins made gagging noises and the other kids looked up in confusion.
Over it all, Carrie’s eyes met Cage’s, and they shared a small grin. She took a bite of her sandwich and enjoyed the wind in her hair.
Then she felt Cage sit down beside her, and everything faded out, the way it always did when they were together.
She rested her head on his shoulder and let out a sigh.
Winter Falls or New York, or anywhere else they went—it would always be the two of them sharing it together. That was all that mattered.
T
hank
you so much for reading Carrie and Cage’s story! I had a blast writing this for you. I really wanted to do a longer, more plot-heavy book for my readers who have been asking for that. If you enjoyed the story, please help me by leaving a review to help others find it!
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L
exie crouched
underneath the heavy wooden desk, hands over her ears, shaking in fear as the world seemed to fall apart around her.
Plaster crashed from the elaborate ceiling as the entire building shook.
This was it. She was about to die.
It had all started with that stupid job she’d taken from the temp agency. Just a few weeks, they had said. Easy pay, they had said.
Yeah, right.
Lexie ducked and flinched at the sound of another loud crack. Either an earthquake was happening or something very large was stomping around. Like one of those giant robots from
Star Wars
.
Inside, it was a complete mess. Men were running everywhere, fighting. She peeked through the slits in the desk and could only see a small cross-section of what was going on. But it was enough to make her think she was going crazy.
There was a giant Siberian tiger bounding through the main parlor, fighting the guards who were running to take him. And then, to her complete shock, she saw men transforming into wolves in the blink of an eye, just kind of melting away and leaving animals in their place.
Her breathing was stilted, her pulse rushing.
No more temp agencies. It wasn’t worth the hassle. If she got out of this, which she doubted, she would do something normal, even if it paid crap.
She couldn’t see the entire room, but she could see the tiger fighting ferociously, trying to get to a side door.
She saw that the wolves and men were starting to overwhelm the tiger, though he was large and powerful; there were just too many. He roared in frustration, and as his head thrashed around, she noted he had striking blue eyes.
She wanted to help him but didn’t know how.
Just then, she heard a tremendous crash from the front door and something sent a handful of men flying back across the marble, several of whom landed in front of her desk with a thud. With her hand over her mouth, she stifled a scream and tried not to faint. Her heart felt like it was exploding in her chest; her eyes couldn’t get any wider.
The room had become even crazier with shouts and screams as something she couldn’t see decimated the men all around, and the tiger finally escaped through the door it sought.
She had no idea why all of it was happening. She felt like she was watching the whole thing through some sort of dream sequence. Men turning into wolves, tigers crashing through doors, and invisible titans sending men flying with a swoosh of wind.
This was a world unlike anything she had ever seen, and all she wanted was to run away from it and forget it had ever existed.
A man went soaring and landed with a thump on top of the desk, startling her and making her curl against the side with her hands over her head. She was lucky her employer seemed to like only the best in life, as with any less sturdy and heavy desk, she might have been doomed.
She still might be.
She closed her eyes tight, covered her ears, and pushed herself as best as she could into the corner. She was curvy and soft but could fit into a fairly small ball if she wanted to, if she hugged her legs to her ample chest.
It’s not happening. It’s not happening. Wake up, Lexie. Wake up.
She waited like that for what felt like forever. Hours maybe, which passed in an agonizing, shock-filled trance. And then she raised her head cautiously. She didn’t hear anything breaking through the muffled quiet of her plugged ears. She slowly forced herself to open her eyes, and then she heard men’s voices, quiet and calm.
Not her employer. No one she recognized.
She slowly uncovered her eyes and adjusted to the blur in front of her. After a few blinks, things were clearer and she was ready to look out.
No, she wasn’t.
Yes, she was.
The voices were coming closer, and she stifled a squeak. Would they be friends or foes? Would they be men who could turn into animals or men here to tell her it was all a dream? And should she come out and reveal herself or stay in the wreckage and pray for a miracle later?
One of them stopped near the desk and turned over a man that had landed next to it.
“Most of these guys will live. Sofia and Kel are safe. That’s all that matters,” a deep voice said.
“Sure,” a lighter voice agreed. “Were any outsiders caught in this? We’ve already got Ralston, but there had to be other employees. A secretary?”
They were talking about her. Were they trying to find her? What did they want with her if they did?
“Maybe,” the deeper voice said. “The human cops are wrapping up outside. We’d better go. Let Carter handle the rest of it.”
“I can still sense someone,” the lighter voice persisted. “Someone is here.”
“Perry,” the deep voice chided impatiently. “There are about a hundred men in this building. Some of them might even be dreaming.”
“No,” the lighter voice, Perry, replied sharply. It was masculine but had a smoothness to it that she found soothing, and Lexie felt her heart rate decreasing as she listened. “It’s a woman.”
She held her breath.
“Then get her,” the deeper voice said. It seemed to always hold an impatient growl that made her slightly nervous.
“I can read thoughts. I’m not a GPS, Tor,” Perry said.
“Whoever you are, come out!” Tor, the deeper-voiced one, yelled. “We don’t have a lot of time for this, so you better stop hiding right fucking now.”
“Tor!” Perry hissed. “It’s a woman.”
“A woman who needs to get the fuck out if she wants to be safe,” he retorted. “Come out or I’m going to scent you.”
Lexie grimaced. What did that mean?
“He’ll do it.” Perry sighed. “He has a really great nose as a red.”
A red what? What the hell is that?
Lexie knew there was no point hiding, but she couldn’t make herself come out. She’d always been a coward with things like that. Always the first to hide when something went wrong. She hated herself for it. She’d rather be the hero, the first to step in to save the day, but that had never been her.
No, she was the first to duck out of sight at the sound of a gunshot, the one to hide under a desk even when rescue was nearby.
She finally peeked through the desk to see the two men. Their backs were to her, but she could make out at least a bit of them. One had dark-brown hair, cut short, extremely wide shoulders and a muscular build. The one next to him had silver hair caught back in a ponytail that grazed his shoulders and a slender, muscular build that would still dwarf her but looked slight compared to the giant beside him.
Either of the men would make easy work of her, though.
But who would bother with her? She was shy, quiet, overweight, not great with fashion, and her hair was perpetually in a messy bun with errant curls escaping on all sides of her face. She was sure men like that wouldn’t take much notice of her.
Especially when they turned around and she caught a look at their faces.
She’d never seen two more beautiful men in her life. To say she was captivated was an understatement. Forget her fear. She wanted to run out to both of them immediately, meet them,
hug them.
What was wrong with her?
She’d never been that involved with men before, and it hadn’t bothered her. So why the extreme reaction now?
The dark-haired one’s super masculine face split into a grin, and she saw him look in her direction.
Dammit.
There was no way to run without being seen. No way to get away from the inevitable.
The man took one step toward her, then another, and Lexie held her breath in anticipation.
He was wearing a leather jacket over a black shirt and blue jeans tucked into boots. Sort of rocker chic.
The man next to him wore a fitted suit, which was smudged with some sort of gray residue and dirt and dust. His face was dramatically handsome, smooth with high cheekbones and striking silver eyes lined with dark lashes. Thin, curved lips and a straight jaw.
His eyes fluttered to where she was watching through the crack in the desk, and she pulled back with a short intake of breath.
But it was too late. The jig was up, and she knew it. They were about to find her.
Footsteps thudded toward her, the boots of the larger man, and she put her hands over her face to block out what was happening. Then the desk was tossed aside like it was nothing, and she was cowering with only air around her, still hiding behind her hands as if that could protect her.
A deep laugh filled the air, and she looked up, face flaming red, to see the dark-haired man staring down at her. He was movie star hot with chiseled good looks and a nose that was all the more handsome for looking slightly broken. He turned to his companion as her whole face burned in embarrassment at being caught like this.
“Well, definitely not a dragon-heart,” the dark-haired man boomed. He crouched in front of her and cocked his head. He was gigantic, at least six feet six when standing, and even crouched, he overwhelmed her. “Who are you?” he asked. “Why are you still hiding even when the threat is clearly gone?”
She removed her hands from her hair and looked at him angrily. “How am I supposed to know who’s a threat and who isn’t? I’ve seen men turning into animals. I’ve seen invisible forces knock people into my desk. Heard gunshots and a crash. So excuse me for hiding under a desk, but it did seem to be the smartest thing to do under the circumstances.”
“Smart, yes,” the silver-haired one said, taking a knee next to them. “But not brave.”
She blew hair out of her face. “And who cares about that?”
The men shared a secretive look and then turned back to her with a sigh. “So you saw the men shifting?”
She nodded. “I saw a giant tiger and a bunch of men shifting into wolves…”
The men’s expressions darkened, and she realized maybe she shouldn’t be telling them this. Maybe she hadn’t been meant to see and they’d have to shut her up. But she’d wanted to make it clear she had damn good reasons for hiding under a desk.
“Listen,” Tor said. “You aren’t supposed to know about this stuff. We’ll have to wipe your memory.”
“We can’t,” Perry hissed. “Tor, she’ll be in danger. Some of Felding’s men escaped, and some of Domingo’s men might know who she is. If we leave her out there with a wiped memory, they’ll come for her.”
Tor cocked his head and stared at her in resignation. “And she’ll be completely helpless.”
She glared up at them. Just because it was true didn’t mean it should be said right out loud in front of her.
“Better that you know,” Tor said.
“Just how would you wipe someone’s memory anyway?” she squeaked out, and Tor pinned her with a look. His eyes were a strong, clear blue, and she felt she could look into them forever.
He looked to his partner and scratched his head. Then he gestured for the man to join him as he stood and walked a few steps away. They turned away from her and put their heads together, seeming to come to a silent agreement between them, though she didn’t hear any talking.
When they returned to crouch in front of her again, she noticed they smelled amazing, spicy and masculine on one hand, clean and fresh and exciting on the other. Two contrasting but complimentary profiles.
Why should she notice scents at a moment like this? She didn’t know. The whole world had turned upside down, so nothing seemed weird anymore. Even two gorgeous guys looking at her like they were about to make some kind of offer.
The silver-haired one spoke first. “I’m Perry and this is my partner Torrance, or Tor. I’m guessing you’ve got that already.”
She nodded.
“We’re shifters, like the men you saw turn into wolves. Only we are the ones at the top, the ones who watch over the others and the humans around us. I can tell you this because if you don’t agree to what I’m about to ask you, then I’ll have no choice but to wipe your memory and release you back into the world, where you’ll be in danger.”
Her mouth hung open and she stared at him in shock. How could he be so calm at a moment like this? His silver eyes were like tranquil mirrors, shadowed by dark lashes.
“But we need a secretary,” Tor said. “And if you’re willing to work with us, closed off from the human world, and learn about shifters, then we can keep you safe while we work out the last dangerous elements of your employer’s case.”
“Like what?” she asked. “Why am I in danger?”
“Were you aware your employer was involved in a lot of illegal activity?” Tor asked.
She put a hand to her head, which was sweating. “I’m only a temp. I’ve only been here two weeks, and I tend to stay out of things that don’t concern me.”
Tor raised a disdainful eyebrow. “I can see that.”
She bristled at that but had no choice but to keep listening.
“Anyway, if you want to work for us, the pay will be good, and we’ll be able to protect you until we’re able to put away the men who might be able to connect you to Felding or Domingo. No doubt they’ll want to tie up loose ends, and even if you haven’t seen anything incriminating, they will likely assume you have.”
She hadn’t thought of that. Dammit, how had this all gone so wrong?
“You have family?” Perry asked gently. “Anyone who would miss you if you stayed with us for a few months?”
She shook her head. “No. No one is waiting for me. I’m on my own.”
Tor’s face split into a grin. “Perfect. With what we’re doing over the next few months, we’ll need a woman’s help.”
“A secretary’s help,” Perry corrected.
“What for?” Lexie asked.
Perry gave her a slight smile that didn’t reach his eyes. He was hard to read, which made her uncomfortable. At the same time, she felt completely safe with him.
There was something calming about his cold, logical bearing. Like he had everything under control all the time.
Whereas his partner exuded an unpredictable, barely controlled masculine strength that was equal parts reassuring and dangerous.
“We can discuss the rest when you get home. After you agree,” Perry said.
She looked between them. “What are you?” She couldn’t help asking. “You said you were shifters, but what are you? Are you dangerous to me?”