Grizzly Love (16 page)

“You can’t.” She whispered the words, but she forgot to hide the longing.

“Why not? And don’t tell me because you’re mated. We both know Frederick isn’t your mate. You might have exchanged vows once upon a time and meant them, but it’s clear to anyone with eyes in their head that whatever bond you thought existed is gone.”

“Even if you’re right, and I’m not mated, you can’t love me.”

“Why not? I know so much about you.”

“Been stalking me, have you?”

He couldn’t help but chuckle. “Not quite, but I have been watching.” As if he could help himself. “Every time I saw you at the medical center, I soaked in as much of you as I could. How you like to tuck your hair behind your ear when you’re thinking. The fact you chew on a pen when you’re puzzling something out. The way your tongue peeks between your lips when you’re threading a needle.”

“It does not.”

“Does too, just the wee tip, and it is freaking adorable.” Not to mention cock hardening because, each time, he couldn’t help but picture that tongue put to better use.

“So you know my habits. How can you call that love?”

“Because I’ve gotten to know you. How you’re selfless when it comes to others, always ready to drop everything, or wake up in the middle of the night, if someone says they need you.”

“And by someone, you mean you.”

“Not just me. Anyone. You care about others. You try to keep idiots like me from engaging in foolish stunts.”

“To no avail.”

“But at least you try. You also have a wicked sense of humor.”

“I would have labeled it sarcasm.”

“Whatever you want to call it, it makes me laugh. You make me smile. You make me feel all kinds of things. Good things. It’s why I fell in love with you and want you in my life.”

“You haven’t fully thought this through. Even if Freddie’s not my mate, you do realize I’m a few years older than you.”

A rumble vibrated his upper body. “Mmm. I know it. Totally sexy.”

“Not so sexy is my fear of your mother.”

“Which again only highlights how smart you are. Everyone’s a little scared of Ma.”

“I highly doubt your mother would like you getting involved with me. I’m sure she’d prefer some cute little malleable creature that would be content to stay at home and bake cookies while caring for cubs.”

Yeah, his ma probably would. It didn’t change how he felt. “Ask me if I care. I love my mother, but when it comes to my future, my mate, the woman I intend to spend my life with, it’s my choice. And I choose you.”

The way her eyes widened, he knew his words had an impact. A positive one.

To forestall any more excuses on her part, he sealed his declaration with a kiss, a kiss that ignited an inferno between them.

It seemed all his reluctant hawk needed was reassurance and touch. And he was more than willing to provide both.

Around her slim upper body, he wrapped his arms, holding a frame that trembled slightly, not in fear, but need, a need for closeness.

He maneuvered her so she sat on his lap, the hardness of his erection pressing against her bottom. How he hated the layer of clothing she wore that separated their flesh. Then again, he’d probably embarrass himself in eagerness if not for the fabric barrier. His desire for her ran deep.

Fingers threaded through her curls, he angled her head to give him deeper access to her mouth, his tongue plundering the wet recess, dueling and sliding.

She was not a passive participant in the embrace. Her hands cupped his cheeks, an intimate acceptance of what they did. They then traveled, tracing the contour of his shoulders, skimming over his flesh, leaving goosebumps of awareness behind.

When his own hands finally did their own form of exploration, she didn’t stop him when he tugged her shirt upwards so he might finally touch her smooth flesh.

He didn’t miss her shudder or gasp as his fingers tickled across her skin, rising up her ribcage until he cupped her small, perky breasts. Utter perfection.

“I want to taste them,” he admitted in a husky voice.

“What are you waiting for?” was her breathy reply.

Permission granted, he wasted no time stripping the offending garment from her, baring her upper body, which in the gloom he could barely perceive, but he didn’t need to see to feel.

And feel he did. One hand in the middle of her back, he arched her so that she presented her peaked tips to him. Each, a glorious mouthful, which he sucked. His teeth nibbled the erect nubs as her hands clasped his head, and she uttered the most arousing sounds.

Gasps. Moans. A few panted yeses.

While his mouth pleasured her sensitive breasts, he used his free hand to tug at her shorts, their elasticized waistband simplifying his task. Her panties soon followed. He cupped her sex, the heat and honey physical evidence of his effect on her.

Unbidden, but obviously in the same lustful grip as him, she straddled his lap, her hot mound pressing against his cock, which lay trapped between their bodies.

Shaking with need, he released the tip of her nipple and hugged her tight to him, skin to skin. He leaned his forehead against hers and groaned, “I want you so much.”

“I do too,” was her soft and startling admission.

Before he could ask if she was sure, she took control of the moment. Lifting her body, her hand slipped between them and grasped his cock. Her thumb stroked over the tip, spreading the pearl of liquid there.

Another groan escaped him then a gasp as she rubbed his swollen head against her moist nether lips.

Wet. Hot. And eager for him.

Her sex invited his shaft with a heat and moistness that almost proved his undoing.

For so long he’d dreamed of this moment. Forever, he’d tried to imagine how it would feel.

The reality proved a million times better.

As she lowered herself onto his cock, her channel pulsing around him, welcoming him and squeezing him, it was all he could do to remain in control.

He held himself still, too afraid to move, too afraid this was all a dream.

But Jess feared nothing. “Don’t hold back,” she whispered against his lips before slamming herself down on his lap, impaling herself with the rest of him in a fell swoop.

Ohmyfuckinggod.

He couldn’t help but dig his fingers into her flesh at her sudden move, desperate to not come instantly, a fight he almost lost. Surrounded by her quivering flesh, all he wanted to do was come and mark her with his seed.

He knew he wouldn’t last long. Not the way she ground against him, driving him deep. Oh fuck. Pulsing around him. Damn, it felt so good.

He managed to retain enough sense to slide his hand down to where their bodies joined. He knew he stroked her right when she cried his name. “Oh, Travis.” Even better, a shudder went through her then another.

Trembling atop him, she rocked her hips while he rubbed at her clitoris, the gentle friction making her tighten, clamp down, shiver, shake.

Come…

He couldn’t have muffled his bellow if he tried. Part relief, part triumph, a lot of glorious emotion.
She’s all mine. My woman. My doc. My Jess. My mate. My life.

As he held her shuddering body in the aftermath, he couldn’t help but murmur in her ear, “I love you.” And while she didn’t whisper it back, she did hug him tight. A new beginning for them both.

On the shore of their little oasis, the threat of death and danger dangling over them, they made love a second time, their movements languorous and exploratory, with her lying on her back as Travis took her with deep strokes. Long, fulfilling thrusts that had her clawing at his back, and desperate.

She came again, for a blissful slice in time able to blot out the events that led them to this place and refusing to feel guilty at snatching a small moment of pleasure. Who knew if they’d ever get another chance? Who knew if they’d even survive the night?

The closeness and intimacy of the moment filled her with a yearning to never have it end.
If only the real world didn’t await us. If only we could stay here, like this, together, forever.

“I can hear you thinking,” he murmured in between soft kisses to her temple.

“And what exactly do you hear?”

“You’re wondering if you did the right thing.”

“Actually, I don’t regret what we did.” Which surprised her. The expected shame and guilt of straying from her vows didn’t strike.

“I’m glad to hear that. I think you deserve some happiness.”

Yeah, she did. “I’m not totally unhappy with my life. I have my friends and my work.”

“Neither of which keep you warm at night or provide a shoulder to lean on.”

“I’m strong.” Strong enough to handle everything life threw at her so far.

“Never said you weren’t. Your strength is one of the things I love about you. But being strong doesn’t mean you can’t occasionally rely on someone else. Someone like me. I’ve got pretty big shoulders you can borrow. And I’ve got lots of fur to keep you toasty.”

“My very own grizzly bear.”

“Yours for as long as you want me, which, I’ll admit, I selfishly hope is a really long time.”

How easily he spoke of a future. She didn’t dare think so far ahead.

As if he read her mind, he said, “I can hear your brain whirring again. You’re worried we might not make it out of this alive.”

“Aren’t you concerned?”

She felt more than saw the smile against her forehead. “Not really. I waited too long to get you in my arms. Too long to have you recognize there’s something special between us. I’m not going to let anything, not even death, steal my happy future with you.”

The pessimist in her warned against placing trust in his belief, she ever was the practical one. “I love your optimism, really I do, yet look at our situation. You can’t stop fate if it decides it’s our time.”

“I disagree. I think we make our own fate. Sometimes we even have to fight it. If I have to, I’ll arm wrestle that wily bastard until he gives us the happy ever after we deserve.”

She couldn’t help but laugh at his vehemence. “You are too much.”

Shifting against her, he growled teasingly. “That’s not what you thought a few minutes ago. I would have said I have just enough to satisfy.”

More than enough. She was glad the dark hid her hot cheeks. “We need to get serious. What are we going to do? My phone is almost dead. No one knows where we are. Our friends are missing and—”

“Yet we will still prevail because we have each other.”

Kisses swallowed any further pessimism on her part. His incredible stamina, and her long drought when it came to intimacy, saw them joining together for a third time, the pleasure just as intense.

Pillowed against Travis, their desires sated for the moment, she knew when he slipped into sleep, his breathing slow, his body slack, but even in repose, he wouldn’t let her leave his side. He kept an arm looped around her, possessive, protective, loving.

Because he loved her.

I choose you.

Long after Travis had said them, the words still rang in her head. More potent even than the words I love you, they wrapped her in a warmth she’d never thought to feel again.

Some might mock her for finding such comfort in that simple phrase. After all, wouldn’t most men choose a woman over their mother? But in Travis’ case, she knew how close his bond was with the woman. To know he’d rather face Betty-Sue’s wrath than give her up? How couldn’t she love a man who’d do anything for her?

This is how a true mate acts. This is the commitment I should expect.
A love she deserved.

It was all too clear now that the depths of her emotions for Travis didn’t come close to comparing the love she thought she bore Frederick. Her relationship with him was but a pale shadow in comparison.

But did true love excuse her action?
I still cheated on my husband.

She refrained from wincing. Mated or not, there was the matter of some vows and papers filed with city hall that said she belonged to another.

Not for long. Annulling that mistake was how divorce lawyers paid for their homes and cars. If they got out of this—make that when they did, according to Travis—she’d contact one, that was if Frederick didn’t suffer a fatal accident beforehand.

If she gutted and buried Freddie in the desert, would she have to wait seven years for him to be declared dead before she could move on with her life with Travis?
At worst, we could live in sin.

As night deepened, she finally allowed herself to drift off, only to awaken rudely as she was dumped to the ground.

“Wha—”

A hand slapped over her mouth. “Shh,” Travis whispered in her ear. She burned to ask him why, what danger had roused him, but then she heard it, the pinging bounce of a pebble then the scrape of something sliding over rock.

Someone or something had invaded their oasis. Friend, foe, or simply a wild animal?
The potent smell of the foliage and the lack of breeze masked the scent of what came.
She held her breath, lest the sound pinpoint her presence. She kept her eyes closed, blind in the deep darkness yet worried about the whites of her eyes giving her away. She also hoped to heighten her auditory senses. To no avail.

She didn’t hear any more untoward sounds. Saw no predator. Smelled no predator. Touched by nothing. All her senses alert, yet none of them able to identify, which made their abrupt discovery all the more shocking.

When the spotlight shone in her face, too many watts of bright illumination, all she could do keep her eyes clamped rather than suffer through a white blindness.

Rescue?

Judging by the mocking, “Well, well, well. What do we have here?” she’d say not.

Their idyllic reprieve had come to an end. And so had they.

Getting caught naked without a weapon in a strange land? Kind of daunting.

Getting caught naked by the husband of the woman you just had sex with? Awkward and kind of deadly.

The bright glare of light might have blinded him to who invaded their hidden valley of paradise, but the sneering tone identified the speaker.

Frederick. Talk about luck, and he wasn’t referring to the bad kind. With the raven in arm’s reach, maybe Travis would get a chance to make Jess into a widow.