Dragon Star (A Shifter Football League Novel) (29 page)

“Yes,” he said, chuckling now. “It’s for you. If you’d like to wear it.”

“I’d love to,” she yelled.

She leapt onto her toes and kissed him. For once, he was taken by surprise, and she smothered him with that kiss. Once she landed on her heels, she already had the necklace off so she could inspect it in her palms.

“Thank you. I haven’t ever received a piece of jewelry from a man before.”

Jax’s jaw dropped. “What?”

“Never.” She rocked with the necklace, so happy to receive it. Jax was proud of himself again.

Then angry, that she’d never been shown any affection.

“You should be adorn in gifts, Mia.”

“Adorn in gifts? Sounds good to me.” She thought about that. “Why does it feel like I’ve already been given a gift? Before this, I’d been so stressed out and worried about my future, but it all seems to be falling in place. I’m not worried. I’m excited.”

“Good, because there’s a lot more business for us to discuss.”

“I’m ready.”

The alpha bear smirked and took her hand, taking her to the next magical place in the Park.

“It’ll have to wait. We’ve got dinner first.”

* * *

T
hey sat
on a soft circle of grass below the waterfall near his cabin. It was dark by the time they arrived, and it was a chilly night, but made warm by their passion and the small heater that Jax had placed close by.

She sat on her knees and ate from the dinner he'd prepared for her — pork cutlets in cranberry wine sauce with a side of mashed potatoes, and for dessert some locally picked berries drizzled in raspberry and chocolate.

Dessert hadn't come out yet, but she was looking forward to that.

"I thought romantic men were extinct."

Jax shook his head as he shoveled more of his home cooked meal into his mouth. "You've just got to know where to find them."

"I didn't think I would find one in Black Bear Park. And he’d be a bearjack. No offense."

"None taken," he said, with a slight smirk, followed by more eating.

"It's a beautiful night too," she commented, looking around her. The stars burned brightly up on the mountain. The waterfall calmed them with the slow and steady trickling of the shallow stream over the rocks.

And then there was below, a spectacular view of the Park, illuminated by the full moon and cloudless night. Jax and Mia also had an ember glow from the portable heater. She had never seen one like it.

"Why do you live all the way up here away from everyone else?" she asked suddenly.

Jax pushed around his mashed potatoes. He didn't really feel like answering that. But Mia could get him talking. She could get him talking about anything.

"I don't usually like to talk about this."

Mia placed her hand on his. He peered up at her comforting face. He decided to go through with it.

"My father, he messed up like yours, and I've been living with it for a long time. He was alpha of the clan as well, and he did a good job, for a while. He wed my mom, had me, but then he left her. He went off with another woman. A woman who wasn't his mate. He slowly went crazy because of it."

"Crazy? My dad's not officially crazy, but he might as well be when he's on the drink."

"Crazy. Worse than bat shit crazy. He became violent. Feral." He said the words with disgust.

Mia put her plate down. Then she leaned forward as if to hug Jax, but he was far too distant. He winced as he remembered those early, painful memories.

"He lived alone up here in the mountains. His home isn't here though. It was destroyed when they found him in the end. The woman who he stayed with, she eventually got tired of his crazy shit, and she took off, leaving him alone, until one day, he came down from the mountains. Not as a man, but as a bear...a feral bear, and he headed right into town."

"And...you think...why are you up here, though? You're not crazy like your dad. From what I heard, you're not like him at all."

But he wasn't listening. He continued, rambling now, "He rolled into town. No one knew what he was doing. He ended up attacking two innocent people. He killed them. Then he ran back to the mountains, and they came after him, shot him, and bulldozed over his property. The rest of the clan were threatened. Protests for days, all because of him. Our clan became tainted, and we were ostracized by the other bear clans for a while. When I was eventually given alpha status, there were a lot of complaints."

"They ended up sticking with you, though."

"Yes, they did." He nodded. "They're loyal. Fiercely loyal. For some reason."

"I find it hard to believe you're this unsure and still alpha of a group of bears," she said with a laugh.

Jax straightened, waved his hand through his thick hair, and then smiled as well. "Sorry, that got away from me. I don't usually talk about this. The only time is with my sister."

"I understand. What I was saying is...it's clear that your clan believes you to be sane. They trust you. They put all their faith into you."

Jax gazed off into the night as if shrouded in it now. "I began to not trust myself after a while." He reached out and took Mia's hand. "Then I met you."

She avoided his heady stare. Was he coming on too strong?

Too strong to Jax right now meant taking her to the ground, tearing her clothes off, and worshiping her with his tongue. He wanted to cover every inch of her.

When, oh when, would he get the chance to do so?

His bear, silenced for so long, began to wrestle uncomfortably with him.

"If you remember, I wasn't too keen on my abilities as well, until I met you,” she reminded him.

He agreed. "Looks like we both needed each other.”

She twisted a strand of hair in front of him. "You've got me so sappy, Jax. I apologize."

"Don't apologize."

She turned toward the rest of the meal. "Can I apologize for interrupting the meal?"

"Yes, you can. You know a bear has to eat...and you should too."

"There'll be no problems there. Trust me," she said, and she picked up her fork.

"I like your body. Your curves. Your hips. And...I can go on, but I think I'd be distracting us from the dinner even more."

"You can go on another time. Definitely. I'd like to hear it," she said, but she also leaned forward on her knees to look closer at dessert.

Jax held up the plate with the berries. She clapped happily upon seeing it, and then she opened her mouth and stuck her tongue out for the chocolate covered strawberry.

"Ooh, feed me."

Ugh, a dullness rocked Jax's gut as he picked up the strawberry and reached with it to her open mouth, his cock hardened, and he was too horny to stop.

Warm chocolate coated her lips. Then she sucked it in, took a bite, her juicy lips producing a moan as she swallowed.

Jax had enough. She'd have to feed herself, or else he'd need to feed her his cock.

"That's delicious," she groaned.

Jax hadn't said anything. He still held the half strawberry like he'd been frozen the moment she bit it.

"More. Feed me more," she groaned next.

"Sure." Jax picked up the next strawberry. He placed it to her lips, but couldn't watch. The moans after still got his balls surging, tightening, needing to release.

"You're killing me," he finally admitted.

Mia beamed. "It was your idea, big bear. Why else would you cover up those strawberries in chocolate unless you intended to feed me?"

"Good point." He shrugged his shoulders. Jax handed the plate over to her right after. "I expected that I would be able to control myself. It's like being a cub again. It's hard to keep my bear and my human in check around you, Mia."

They gobbled up the rest of the plate.

Mia moaned once more. "That was satisfying." She kicked her legs out. Jax did as well. They sat and looked out at the view and remembered all the delicious tastes they'd experienced.

"Do you like your job? Do you like working here?" Mia asked him.

A good question. Jax leaned back and stretched. "It became lonely here before. We don't have many travelers. We tend to keep to ourselves. That should all change now."

"You just might have the opposite complaint soon."

"I don't think so. I'll be busy constructing new designs. To be honest, that's what I like doing the most. Taking the trees down is just something that must be done, but creating something out of it, that's the fun part. That's the part when I can use my brain.”

She bit her lip when he said this. She'd been checking him out the entire time he leaned back and stretched. Did she know that Jax could sense her arousal?

If he listened closely, he could hear her heartbeats, quickening whenever they touched.

"I'm glad we're doing something different as well. This is exciting. A brand new company, a brand new field. We'll be blazing the trail ourselves, and it's nice to have a partner to bounce ideas off of. I get to stay away from my father's bad past as well."

Mia looked around for her purse. She swung it over her shoulder.

Had they really been out that long?

"You don't have to go, do you?" Jax asked.

"It's getting late. I should really go."

He stood as she did. Jax towered over her. He held his hands out to his sides as if to catch her.

"No, you really shouldn't," he said, and the fiery look that she gave him back, and the way her heart beat, told Jax that she was going nowhere.

* * *

M
ia wound
her legs around Jax. The strong, capable bear carried her to his cabin.

Inside, she dropped onto wobbly legs, and then peppered his chin with kisses. She grasped for him to get closer, deeper. He took her hand and led her up to the top floor.

The bedroom was loft-style. All their moaning would echo. Already, her body was sweltering, her lips were quivering, and the tiniest touch had her ready to scream. That hot, muscled lumberjack took her hand and placed her on the bed. His weight dropped onto her, keeping her steady as his mouth claimed her neck.

"You are my mate." He said it with such conviction that Mia wanted to ask what exactly that meant.

Apparently, she would soon find out.

"Mine," he growled. Reverberations rumbled through her to her twisting core. His palms, placed firmly on her sides, steadied her on the mattress as his tongue flashed over her sensitive neck. Licking, sucking, nibbling, his attention dipped down to her collarbone.

His rough, skilled hands swerved over her curvy sides, then massaged her hips, the hot bar of his cock sliding between her thighs like a rubbing post.

It was still caged in by his jeans, and his boxers, but it was hard, and firm enough, where if he would allow her, she could get off by swerving her hips. Except Jax wasn't going to let her yet. This was going to be a controlled, simmering mix of passion, and at the right moment, he would add gasoline to the flames and they would erupt.

"Fuck," she groaned. Already cursing? That wasn't like her at all. Usually, she was a saint in bed, because of boredom.

Not with Jax.

As he got to her collarbone, he squeezed her heavy breasts. She'd always been confident in the size of her breasts—one thing she didn't have to worry about because of her weight—but being in Jax's hand, they hardly filled out those massive palms.

"I am going to claim all of you. You should never leave this bed again."

I'll have to leave,
she wanted to whine, but then her body told her,
no you don't
, no matter how ridiculous that sounded.

She caught his lower lip with her teeth and gave it a squeeze. Jax growled, reverberating down to her gut, like the whole bed was quaking. When she let go, he snatched her underneath her ass and sat her upright.

Mia took the next move by clawing at his shirt. It needed to be off. Off. Now.

"Yes," she moaned, loud and clear, as she wrestled with the fabric.

Those beating, pulsating muscles underneath were intense. Mia couldn't get his shirt off him fast enough.

Jax, tired of waiting, tore it. In scraps, the shirt landed on the side of the bed.

"Come to me," he said, but she didn't move fast enough.