What a Bear Wants (5 page)

          Cree seemed to think the grizzly was after way more than her land but Fallon wasn’t so sure about that. She knew enough about Ransom to know that the man had an extensive list of women that he could pick and choose from and none of them even remotely resembled Fallon in any way, shape or form. It wasn’t that she considered herself unattractive but she was realistic. She’d never walk anyone’s runway or be on the cover of a magazine...unless of course it was for fitness or involved hunting. She was capable of being sexy in her own quirky, awkward way but she highly doubted that any male would immediately associate her with lit candles and soft silken sheets. A rough ride on the forest floor with the moon overhead and nothing but the echoes of growls and snarls? Now that was more her speed.  

          Ransom, however, had been on more than one magazine cover and seemed to be the type that liked lit candles and soft three hundred count sheets. Or at least that’s what Fallon saw when she looked at him and...wait...why was she even having this mental debate? Why was she thinking of this complete and total
stranger
—
okay maybe he wasn’t a
complete
stranger after all those goddamn emails but he was still unknown territory!

          Skidding to a halt, Fallon stood and tilted her head back, staring up at the skyline as if it would give her some answer as to why she’d seemingly developed a very miniscule obsession with a bear that had done nothing but harass her over the last few months.

         
“Sometimes all a predator needs is to catch the right scent to know their prey.”

          Cree’s words came back in a creepy, hollow echo in her head, repeating over and over again until she lay on the ground, covering her maw with her paws and closing her eyes, trying to block it out. Ransom was
not
interested in her. He was after her land. And she was
not
in denial goddammit!

Chapter 4

          “Are you
sure
you want to do this?”

          Fallon barely bit back a low growl as she headed for her truck with Cree following. “
Yes.” 
They’d been asking her that same goddamn question all morning. The day or reckoning was finally here, Ransom McKenna was thirty minutes away from landing at Eagle County Regional. And feeling ever so generous, Fallon had made the choice to play chauffeur for her guests.

          She and Ransom would be face to face soon enough. Fallon hadn’t stopped to examine why that thought caused something extremely close to butterflies to tumble around in her belly.

         
“Because one of us can pick them up...or they can get a car or—”

          “Cree,” Fallon interrupted, turning around. “I’m going to collect the McKenna brothers from the airport and
safely
transport them here. You can help me by making sure their cabins are ready.”

          “That’s already been taken care of. We just need to do one more thing.”

          She shot the she-wolf a curious look. “What?”

          That’s when Cade, Makya and Anoki suddenly ambushed her, coming from God-knows-where to pin her to the side of her truck so Cree could frisk her.
Frisk her!

         
“What the fuck?!”

          “We love you, but we have to take precautions.” Anoki said. He looked to Cade. “Did you check the glove compartment, center console, and under the seats?”

          Fallon’s soon to be
ex-
assistant nodded. “Checked and double checked.”

          “Take out all the pens?” Makya questioned.

          “What am I?” Fallon snarled. “A goddamn assassin?”

          Cree continued to pat her down. “No, but you are crafty. I’ve seen you pick a lock with basic, non-lethal household items. That particular event didn’t exactly fill me with implicit trust.” She backed up and nodded at the men. “She’s clean.”

          “On the count of three?” Anoki asked the guys.

          Both nodded.

          “One—”

          Cade and Makya let her go as if she were a crocodile they’d had to transport into a new habitat, leaving Anoki to get the punch in the balls she’d been waiting to deliver.

          He crumpled to the ground. “Betrayers!”

          While they laughed, Fallon got into her truck and barely resisted the urge to run them all over!

***

          “A bit tense, big brother?”

          Ransom looked up from his clenched hands, towards where Maddox sat next to him. “Why would you say that?”

          The other man briefly tucked in his lips before replying, “It may have something to do with the full-human officer softly sobbing over there at the coffee stand.”

“I asked him to move so I could get honey packets. When I ask for someone to move I don’t expect a lot of resistance. Resistance makes me cranky. And when I get cranky—”

          “Those in law enforcement who’ve probably spent years working with hardened criminals, end up in tears?”

          Ransom shrugged.

          Maddox sighed. “You don’t even know
why
you just ruined that man’s day, and possibly his life, do you?”

          “I suppose you’re going to enlighten me, oh wise one.” Ransom mocked, eyes scanning the surrounding activity as people bustled through the airport. Every few seconds his chest clenched a bit, wondering when he’d see her. After a three hour flight and no sleep the night before, he was edgy. This could go really well, or really badly.

“It’s because you,” Maddox poked Ransom in the shoulder, ignoring his low growl, “are not here for business. You’re here for a she-wolf.”

He bit the inside of his cheek. “Not this bullshit again...”

“
Yes
this bullshit again.” Ransom’s sibling turned fully towards him, “You’re in denial.
Deep, deep
denial and it needs to stop because I can tell you right now—”

Maddox wasn’t able to complete that sentence when Ransom’s hand came up, covering his whole face and pushing him backwards as the most alluring scent caught Ransom’s attention. His nostrils flared as that scent got stronger; the smell of wildflowers and summer berries hitting him in the gut.

“Rude!” Maddox bellowed, slapping Ransom’s hand off but he was too far gone into that scent.

Standing, he searched through the hordes of people surrounding him, some human and some not, until his eyes locked on
her.
She strode towards him with a purpose in her steps, eyes straight ahead, shoulders back, head held high. She had the walk of an alpha with a lazy grace that was generally innate to felines. And yet she moved swiftly, a challenge in her gait that just about
dared
someone to interfere with whatever plans she had.

Shoulder length chestnut brown hair was pulled up into a ponytail and stuffed under a cap. Her upper half covered in a simple grey V-neck t-shirt, her lower in dark wash jeans that hugged her hips and her considerably large wolf feet rested comfortably in laced up hiking boots. Her hands were stuffed in her front pockets and her pretty face fixed in a scowl that could scare legions of demons. God she was beautiful.

And when those huge, brown, thickly lashed eyes landed on Ransom, he knew. He knew right then and there that he was a fucking liar. He’d lied to her. He’d lied to his brother. He’d lied to himself. Because business be damned. He didn’t want Wilder Lodge. He didn’t even want a rose bush from Wilder land. Oh no, Ransom McKenna wanted Fallon.
All
of Fallon.

It was the stare she shot him, it had been the same one in her pictures; the one that made his bear perk up and take notice; the one that made him acknowledge the reason why he hadn’t used that goddamn black book in months. He didn’t want some interchangeable female who needed lit candles and three hundred count sheets. He wanted a female who could deal with a simple rough ride on the forest floor with nothing more than the moon overhead and growls and snarls echoing out into the night.

Everything inside of Ransom told him that Fallon was that female. Then everything inside of him decided, in that moment, he
would
be finding out if it were true. And
soon.

She got closer, stopped in front of him and said, “Mr. McKenna?”

That low, husky tone shot straight to his scrotum and he swallowed. Yeah...soon...
really
soon.

***

          Whatever she’d been expecting to see of Ransom...this was not it. Fallon had thought the seemingly luxury pampered bear would show up in a custom made Brooks Brothers suit with a dozen suitcases and a weighed down assistant by his side but...he didn’t. The man was wearing a tank, sweats and running shoes! All three items a size that she didn’t really want to calculate but he was wearing them nonetheless with a duffle bag thrown over one shoulder and a laptop case in his hand. He looked...normal.

          Not like the modelesque pretty boy she’d mentally marked him as. He was still breathtakingly handsome but a pretty boy? No. This wasn’t the man she’d seen on billboard after billboard. His hair was ruffled, he hadn’t shaved and he smelled like tea tree oil shampoo and body-wash. These things were appealing. Entirely
too
appealing. Rather than lick the corner of his luscious mouth or ask him to scratch behind her right ear where her happy spot was, Fallon simply stuck out her hand for him to shake.

          “Fallon Wilder.”

          Those intense green-flecked amber irises bore through her as one huge hand met hers, the roughness of his palm surprising her. “Hi.” He said quite simply and it was by the grace of God himself that she didn’t melt into the linoleum floor beneath their feet. The edgy, scratchiness of his tone washed over her like a strong wave, his calm cultured inflections lost on her in the wake of how that voice grated sandpaper, making the pulse between her thighs jump.

          “Hi.” Fallon softly replied, fascinated by the way those green flecks danced a little when he smiled, his eyes crinkling at the corners. His two top front teeth were a little crooked, turning in towards each other just a bit. His only imperfection. And yet, even that seemed to be perfect...adorable like a cub that hadn’t cut his first fang yet.

          The proportions of his shoulders and arms were unreal. Muscles rippled without any true effort as he shook her hand slowly, his gaze never once leaving her own. For the first time that Fallon could remember, her wolf wanted to roll over and behave...wanted to cry and whimper until it was given the proper attention to satisfy its needs.

          There was something about the way he watched her, about the way his nostrils flared ever so slightly when he inhaled—like he was specifically seeking out her scent—that made her swallow a little bit harder, exhale a little bit harsher.

          “So
you’re
the lovely canine my bastard of a brother has been complaining about for months on end.” A voice suddenly said, completely interrupting what
ever
had just transpired and causing Fallon to spin with a snarl towards its source.

          Said source ducked behind Ransom. “Not the face! Not the face!”

          Ransom’s lip curled a bit. “The little girl ducking behind me is my brother Maddox.”

          The other bear peeked at Fallon through incredibly long lashes from behind his sibling’s shoulder. He was just as tall and just as wide as Ransom and he was incredibly...good looking. That was the best way to describe him. Where were they manufacturing these men? Had they been custom ordered? Since when did grizzlies look like this?

          “He calls me a little girl because I’m pretty.” Maddox said, flashing her a smile that was all sparkling white teeth.

          “I call you a little girl because you’re dickless.” Ransom rejoined, his voice flat, his eyes still not off of Fallon. “He’s here to make sure someone can take my dismembered body back home to our mother if necessary.”

          Her eyes narrowed. “Did you bring a ball gag?”

          He smirked. “Mebbe...”

          She turned her attention to Maddox. “I have a feeling your presence won’t be in vain.”

          “And I have a feeling that if there are more she-wolves who look like you back at Wilder Lodge...I won’t much care about my dear brother losing important parts of himself this week.” Maddox answered, that smile appearing again.

          Fallon almost wanted to smile back. It was like having a larger, lumbering version of Anoki around. “Aren’t you cute?” She leaned towards both bears. “Trust me, sweetheart, my pack females would chew you up and spit you back out in forms that not even the Kama Sutra could emulate.” Standing straight, she pivoted on the balls of her feet and started back towards the exit. “This way gentlemen.”

She snorted just a bit when she heard Maddox whisper to his brother, “Guess I shouldn’t tell her I’m a little into the pain/pleasure dynamics should I?”

***

          “Do you want to keep those eyes?”

          Ransom’s brows drew downwards at his brother’s fiercely whispered question but he never took his gaze off of Fallon as she walked ahead of them, making her way past the surrounding shopping center and into the parking garage. He was too busy staring at the healthy golden glow of her creamy skin. It was like watching gold dusted milk chocolate when she moved. “What?”

          “If you don’t stop staring at her, she’s going to rip your eyes out of the sockets and roll them like dice.”

“You’re so poetic, little brother. You should work for Hallmark.”

“Do you not understand how temperamental she-wolves are? Do you not understand how temperamental
this
she-wolf is?”

“We’ve been with her for five minutes. You don’t know shit about—” Both brothers suddenly pulled up short as Fallon halted , her head tilting back, nose in the air as if she smelled something odd. Then her line of sight suddenly went to the left where a few feet away two male wolves stood...staring.