Forbidden Bear (7 page)

“I am not your little girl, Mom.”

“Honey, when you have kids, you’ll understand that you will always be my little girl, the same way that Kurt will always be my little boy. And this she-wolf will protect you with her life.”

“Won’t ever come to that.”

“Might if that Piler lays a hand on you again. I might be an old woman, but my wolf still knows how to bite. The jugular is still in the same place, and speed still triumphs over strong. Don’t forget that.”

“And there was me worrying about you, Mom.”

“I can look after myself, Mia. And my pups.”

They went inside. Kurt looked up and then his face took on a worried expression when he saw Mia. Their mom went straight to him and hugged him. “Hi, Kurt. As you can see I brought a surprise visitor with me.”

“Kurt,” Mia said, uncertain of what his response would be. “I hope you don’t mind me coming today.”

“Not at all, Mia.” He got up and came towards her, looking every inch his usual self, if not better.

“The stay in here has done you good, Kurt.” Mia crossed over to him and kissed his cheek.

“It has, Mia; it’s shown me that the things I valued outside are not so important.”

“I see. Do you have any plans to leave?”

Kurt looked over to their mom. “That depends.”

“On what?”

“Listen I think I might need some coffee. There’s a machine down the hall. Anyone else?” Their mom backed away to the door.

“Thanks, want me to come with you?” Mia asked.

“No, sweetheart, I want you to stay here with your brother and not leave until you have sorted this whole mess out. I want Kurt to come home, he knows that, but he won’t come home until you have forgiven him.” She backed out the door and shut it firmly, reminding Mia of the days when they were children and they argued and she would pretty much do the same thing. Shut the door on them and tell them not to come out until they had made up.

“Or she’ll bang our heads together…” Mia murmured.

“She never changes,” Kurt said smiling at Mia. “But you have, sis.”

“I had to. Someone had to take care of us.” She saw his face drop and for a moment, she thought he was going to retreat into himself. “Sorry. It’s been rough.”

“Tell me about it? Anyway, I’m sorry. For what it’s worth, I don’t know what got into me. I hope Fiona is alright.”

“Haven’t seen her. She went over to Bear Creek and never came back. Things in Wolf Valley are not exactly safe, especially not for those who don’t fit in.”

“Is that why you took over the gang? To fit in?”

“There was trouble after you … left us. I picked up and carried on in the only way I knew how.”

“I know. Listen, Mia, I think the only way we are ever going to get past this is if we let things go. What I did … it’s not me now. I’m asking you to forgive me, and then to forget.”

“I can forgive you, as long as this person you are now is real. Mom has got her hopes up that you have changed, if you have, I am happy, I really am. But if you haven’t, then please don’t hurt her anymore.”

“I have changed. When I was crazy, something happened. I don’t know what. I think it was the nurse who was here, but I was so high on drugs, I couldn’t tell.” He looked at her, deep into her eyes. “I think she was the one. You know,
the one
.”

“Your mate?” Mia felt shocked that he had come so close to his mate and then lost her. “Why didn’t you claim her?”

“Right? How sexy and desirable was I, a drooling crazy man?”

“Then find her.”

“Only when I get myself back together and leave this place. Although the need to find her is like a compulsion.”

“Then do it, Kurt. Pack your bags and leave here with us now.”

“I can’t.”

“Why? Because you’re scared?”

“I’ve been here too long,” he stated.

“And you were a wolf too long, but you got over that.” She came right up to him, placing her hands on his arms. “I know what it’s like to have a mate, Kurt. I also know you will never stop wanting her.”

“Will you help me, Mia? I know I don’t deserve your help, but I don’t think I’m strong enough on my own.”

“Yes. Yes, Kurt, I will.”

“How are you kids doing?” Their mom came back in with two coffees, looked from one to the other and then said, “I knew that would work. We’re all good, then?”

“Yes, Mom. I think we are.” But Mia still felt uneasy. Had Kurt played her: would he betray them again, or could someone really change that much? Mia had to hope it was possible, because she needed to change, too. To be the person she wanted to be, the person who Joel deserved, she had to cast off her old self and step into a new life, a new skin. Cast off her leathers and be a woman.

“Here we go, Joel. Are you going to take these back to Wolf Valley?”

“Not unless I hear from Mia first. I think if I ride in there, I am likely to get run out of town. And she would be steaming mad. I don’t think I would like to cross her really. She could knock me out, I’m sure.”

“Well, look at this beauty. I think I will leave you to your phones and your mate, while I go and make a conquest. No woman can resist the charms,” Ethan said smoothly and sauntered off.

Joel spun around to see where Ethan was headed and nearly fell off his chair. He had to do that thing where you look twice, and then feel like you need to rub your eyes to check what you are seeing is real. Yet he already knew the woman walking into the bar was real.

“Mia?” he said quietly.

Ethan was by her side now and certainly was turning on his charm. “What can I get you to drink? I have a special place by the bar for the prettiest ladies, and you would jump the queue.”

“I’ve come here to meet a man,” she said confidently.

“And you just have. Ethan is the name.”

“You’re not my type.”

“Really? Most women find me very attractive and very good in bed.”

“There is only one man for me. And he is sitting right there.” She pointed at Joel.

“He is already taken,” Ethan tried once more. “So why not lay those lips on mine?”

“Mia.” Joel rose from his seat and went to rescue her from a very disappointed Ethan. “I did not expect you to walk into here.”

“Disappointed?”

He took in her appearance: the sexy red dress, which made her look like a siren as it hugged her hips and emphasised her voluptuous breasts. Indeed, anyone would think she was singing a siren’s song the way the others in the hangout were drooling over her figure.

“That catsuit is one thing, but this is another.”

“Like what you see?”

“Oh yeah. Hell, yeah! So you decided to let our secret out?”

“Oh, Joel, I want to let more than that out,” she purred.

He laughed and she came towards him. As she did, his cock grew hard, oh so very hard, for her. Fidgeting in his seat, he sat up as she came right up to him, pushed his knees apart and pressed her body between his thighs, her stomach pressed against his cock, which was straining to be set free.

“Shall we go upstairs?” His voice seemed to have gone high pitched.

“Unless you want to put on a show.” She leaned against his chest and kissed his neck, sending shockwaves through his body.

He got off his seat and took her hands, dragging her up the stairs to his apartment, peeling the little wrap she wore off her shoulders and depositing it on the floor. “Damn, what that dress does to me.”

“I thought what was under the dress was the thing you wanted.”

He groaned. “It is, honey, It most certainly is.”

Kicking his door open, he took her into the apartment and slammed it shut, before dragging her into his arms, his fingers going to the zipper and undoing it. The dress soon pooled at her feet, and like a boy in a candy store, he licked his lips and wondered which part of his mate he was going to taste first.

The dress made her feel a mixture of ridiculous and sexy as hell. Her mom’s eyes had nearly popped out when she had come down the stairs in it.

“You can’t ride your motorcycle in that!”

“I was actually hoping to borrow your car. Please.” Her mom had not objected; Mia thought she was happy to simply see Mia out of her leathers. The look on Joel’s face told her he was just as pleased to see her out of this dress.

Pity. She liked the way it clung to her thighs and pushed her breasts up, making her feel like a vamp. But with it removed, he had access to every part of her body. Joel started with her neck. Warm, soft kisses over her skin, along her collarbone, and then across her shoulder. His fingers crept along her back, feeling their way to the clasp of her bra and then undoing it. Her breasts spilled out, touching his hard-toned chest.

With her bra joining her dress on the floor, the only thing she wore now were her panties. Those stayed in place, for now.

“I have been thinking about you every second of the day today. And I was sitting at the bar wondering how the hell I was going to arrange to meet you again, when in you walk.” His hands stroked her breasts, his mouth inching closer as he spoke. “There you were. All eyes on you, and I knew that you were there just for me. Do you know how that makes me feel, Mia?”

Her hand closed around his stiff shaft. “Hard,” she breathed.

“Fuck, I’m going to explode in my pants.”

“Then let’s get them off.” She tried to sound sexy, but she giggled, a mixture of nerves and happiness that he could want her so much.

He ignored her laughter, unbuttoning his jeans and letting them fall to the floor, her hands curled around the silky, soft skin that covered his cock, which was painfully hard. A drop of precome was already appearing as she stroked him, moving her hand up and down.

Joel kissed her breasts, his fingers slipping down to dip between her thighs, finding the heat there. Moving her feet a little more apart allowed him to press into her deeper.

“Oh, that’s good,” she said.

“I want you, Mia. Right now in my bed.”

“Lead the way.”

He didn’t exactly lead, more like manoeuvred. He didn’t let her leave his arms, his mouth still tracing lines of desire across her skin. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him as they twirled slowly around, his hand making contact with the door handle, pushing it down and then guiding her through the doorway and towards the bed.

Sitting down, she watched him kneel before her and remove her panties, wordlessly lifting her bottom off the bed to make it easier. Anything to make it quicker: she wanted him now, right now, no delay. If he had torn them from her, she wouldn’t have cared.

Lifting himself up, he eased her back onto the bed, covering her body with his. She felt the head of his cock press against her entrance and then he pushed harder, going deep inside her with one long, hard lunge. He had never filled her so quickly, her tight sex unable to yield to him. The sensation was incredible, his skin gliding against hers.

Grunting, he pulled back, and then lunged into her again, impaling her completely, resting for a moment and then pulling back out. In and out, his hands going to her hips to keep her firmly in place as his rhythm grew increasingly fast, his lunges harder.

She met him stroke for stroke, her hands stroking his chest, while he took her to new heights. When he leaned down and kissed her lips, she knew her lipstick would be smudged and that the tears of joy he brought to her eyes would make her makeup run. But she didn’t care, because he didn’t care; she was his, and he was intent on making their pleasure something neither of them would forget.

“I love you, Mia,” he said, each stroke of his cock taking her towards her orgasm. “Out of all the women who could be my mate, you have to be the most incredible.”

“You don’t have to say that. You are stuck with me anyway.” She gasped as he screwed his hips, grinding into her.

“I mean it.” And then he came, jerking into her hard, his movements verging on frantic as he spurted his seed deep within her.

His lips claimed hers, drowning out her cries as she came. She had to agree—they fitted together perfectly. If only they could get their lives to work as well as their sex life, they would be happy. She still didn’t know how they fit into each other’s everyday life, but he fit inside her perfectly right now.

So perfectly that her sex gripped him tightly and milked him of his seed. He cried out, burying his face in the pillow. And then with one last lunge, he was spent. Mia lay in his arms, listening to his breathing as it calmed back down.

“I meant it,” he said, still breathless. “I do love you. You have the balls of a man, but the body of a woman. I always wondered if my mate would be equal to me. But you are more.”

“You’re just drunk on testosterone,” she said, stroking the back of his neck lightly. But she liked the words he spoke even though she thought they were not true.

“I’m drunk on you, Mia. The scent of you, the taste of you, the feel of you. You are perfect to me.”

“I only hope your friends think so.”

“You want to meet them?”

“Yes. But not right now. Will you hold me first?”

“I would love to.” He pulled her close, cradling her against his chest. And they lay like that for a long while, content that this was the time they would step into their new life. That their secret was in the open and their love no longer forbidden.

***

When they went back down into the bar area of the hangout, Mia felt even more conspicuous in her tight red dress. Especially since everyone else wore leathers in muted colours. Tilting her chin up, she took hold of her nerves and joined Joel as he ordered them drinks.

“Soda, please,” Mia answered when he asked her what she wanted. “I’m driving my mom’s car.”

“Not staying the night?” Joel asked, handing her an ice-cold soda.

“My mom will worry, and she needs the car. So not tonight.” She sipped the cold drink, looking around the bar, which formed part of the bears’ hangout. “Nice place.”

“Well, when we have a billionaire as a leader, you have to keep the place up together.”

“Do you actually do any work? Or does he just pay you to hang out with him?”