Bear Lake- Book Three Read online

  “Is that what you’re running away from?” He demanded and she closed up like a clam.

  “Who said I was running away?” She scoffed, but her eyes didn’t lie, even if she did.

  “I’m pretty good at reading people.” Shane assured her and she took to fidgeting in her seat once more.

  “I’m tired. Maybe I should try to get some sleep…” She bit out. But he could tell that she was too tense to even attempt sleep.

  “Sure, it’s not like we’re going anywhere soon.”

  Shane was suddenly glad of it all, the snow, getting stuck in the middle of nowhere with her. It gave him a chance to get her to open up. He wanted to know what she was in a rush to leave behind that she’d accept a life from him when she clearly hadn’t wanted too.

  Her eyes flicked back to him and for a long moment she just frowned at him. Then she pulled her jacket around herself and settled down in the seat. He wanted to tell her to use the bed again, but he didn’t want her all fussing about his motives again. Besides, if she slept right there beside him then he could watch her while she was sleeping.

  He turned so half of his back was pressed against the window and the other half against his seat and settled in. Whether she slept or not, she had her eyes closed and couldn’t see him looking at her.

  “I feel your eyes on me, bear.” Lucy’s words made him snap his eyes closed.

  “You’re mistaken, and it’s Shane, not bear.” He offered.

  Lucy peeked out from under her lashes and saw that his eyes were closed. She could have sworn that he’d been staring at her. She wanted to close her eyes again and at least try to go to sleep, but looking at him was just too tempting.

  There was just something about him that made her feel safe, safer than she’d felt in a long time. His size, the strength of the man probably helped, and yet his very nature, the mood swings, the way these men could rush to rage should have made her more wary- but not with him.

  “Getting a good look?” Shane teased as his eyes snapped open and busted her.

  Her cheeks rushed to colour and she could have jumped from the truck and buried her head inside of a snowbank, but she didn’t think even a frosty face mask would take away the burning heat that she felt.

  She had two choices, lie and deny it, or own it.

  “You mind?” She brazened it out and was rewarded with the sexiest smile that she’d ever seen in her entire life.

  “Not one little bit.” Shane offered back.

  “I guess you’re used to women starring at you.” She felt the first pangs of jealousy rise up within her. Stupid. He wasn’t hers. She had no claim on him, and yet it clawed within her.

  “Kind of.”

  “I’m not bear bait.” She offered quickly. Too quickly.

  “Didn’t think you were.” He dialled back that smile. “Mores the pity.” And there it was again, as bright as the sun, blinding her with his charms.

  “I’m sure it would pass the time.” She sideswiped it into the long grass for fear of him getting the wrong idea. She was already in a hole, she wasn’t about to dig herself deeper with another shifter, even if the man was the promise of forgetting everything that ailed her for a few glorious hours within his arms.

  “I’m guessing that’s not an offer.” Shane chuckled and that sound enticed her to be bolder, but she knocked it over the head with a large sledgehammer.

  “Nope.” Lucy didn’t want him to hear just how breathless she sounded, so she kept it short and sweet.

  “Then go to sleep. You have nothing to fear from me.” Shane promised and she believed him. Although why she took this man at his word was a mystery to her.

  “I know.” Lucy said as she closed her eyes and snuggled down into her jacket.

  Shane’s eyes stayed locked on her. He wished that sleep would come and claim him and the torture of not being able to reach out and touch her would go away, and yet he was grateful for the time that she was giving him to just study her face, consign every inch of it to memory.

  ~ ^ ~

  Lucy ducked and ran for cover. The deafening crash of the table being thrown against the wall and the plates and dishes shattering against the hard tile made her want to cover her ears. Her heart was pounding and her need to get the hell out of there was strong…

  Diego stalked towards her. His hand fisted her hair and he yanked her head back on her neck. Jet black eyes stared down at her, accusing, hating. His top lip curled in anger…

  “You are mine and when I tell you to do something you’ll damn well do it.” He growled out. He raised his other hand and started to bring it down towards her and she cowered away, whimpered…

  Shane push up to his feet and leaned in over her. He could scent the fear that emanated from her and his beast roared within him. He heard the sound of her whimper just as he reached out for her…

  Lucy’s eyes snapped open and her body went rigid at the hazy sight that loomed over her. She jumped backwards in her seat and felt the hard thud of the door panel hit her between the shoulder blades…

  “No!” She blinked to clear the sleep from her eyes…

  “Lucy, its Shane…” He rushed to reassure her. He could see that she still wasn’t fully awake yet. Her eyes hadn’t adjusted to the half light inside of the cab. Her arms came up in front of her to defend herself and his beast roared within at the sight of it.

  “Hey, hey…” Shane reached for her. The moment that his hands touched her upper arms he felt that rush of adrenaline shoot through him. His body recognised his mate, his soul cried out, just as she did…

  “Don’t…” She shook her head as her palms slapped against the hard muscles of his chest and she tried to push him away.

  “It’s Shane… I’m not going to hurt you…” He growled gently, trying to sooth her fears, trying to ease her back to the present, and it worked. Slowly, she came back to him.

  “Shane…” It took her a moment to realise where she was. Diego wasn’t about to strike her, she was inside the truck with her safe bear… That thought echoed through her mind…

  My safe bear. My safe shifter. Shane… My? He’s not mine…

  “It’s ok, Lucy, you were dreaming. Come here, honey…” He lifted her from her seat and she showed no sign of protest as he scooped her against him and sat back in the driver’s seat with her on his lap. He could have groaned out loud at the press of her thigh against his hard length, but now wasn’t the time. His mate needed him.

  “I’ve got you. You’re safe.” Shane breathed out against her ear and felt the hard shiver that wracked her small frame. He couldn’t help but take in her scent, it overwhelmed his senses, made his bear dance…

  ‘Mate.’ His bear assured him what he already knew.

  “I’m fine… I’m…” She protested, but it was only with words. She didn’t seem to want to move out of his arms, and he was more than grateful for that fact because he did not want to let her go.

  “You are with me. I’m never going to let anyone hurt you again, Lucy.” Shane assured her, but she frowned hard at his words.

  “You can’t… that’s not…” She gave a small shake of her head to try to clear the jumble within her mind. “You can’t make a promise like that.”

  “Easy…” He reached up and brushed the pad of his thumb down her cheek. It amazed her just how soothing that felt to her nerves. Her body was coming alive at his touch, but not in a way that she’d expected.

  She closed her eyes and tried to shake it off. Everything was mixed. Jumbled inside of her. One moment she had been dreaming about Diego attacking her and the next she was in someone else’s arms with her adrenaline pumping and her libido in high gear.

  What the hell was happening to her?

  Maybe she was bear bait. Maybe she got some strange twisted sense of worth by throwing herself at these men. Maybe she was just losing her damn mind.

  “I’m fine… I need to…” She squirmed in his lap. The sound of a groan deep in his throat coincided with t
he recognition of the hard press of his thick cock against her backside… She froze in place at the sound of his gentle growl.

  “Please, Lucy, don’t squirm like that…” Shane growled out. He was only a man. The feel of her soft body pressed against his; the need to have her in his arms, the need to protect her, to love her, to make love to her, to be buried deep inside of her and see that look in her eyes as he filled her body up, stretched her around his cock…

  “I just need to…” She shook her head again, trying to get a grip on herself. She wanted him.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  What the hell is wrong with me? I’m horny. Too bloody horny.

  One time. One night. This night…

  His arms feel good. His cock feels good… I just need him inside of me…

  No. No more shifters. No strangers… stranger damn danger…

  What’s wrong with you? A one night stand with a damn shifter isn’t going to make things alright, isn’t going to solve the problem…

  But it might make me forget. Just for now. Just for a while…

  He seems to sooth me. I just need- something. Him.

  Shane wasn’t about to let her push out of his arms until he knew that she was ok. The words that she was offering him didn’t give him any comfort in that regard, but the feel of her body easing down, melting against his did give him a sense of hope.

  “I have you…” Shane’s breath felt like a caress against her neck, and she like it. Liked it a little too much. Her nipples hardened. Her sex clenched and she felt the warm wet heat that seeped down her channel. She felt him tense against her, heard him take a deep breath. “Ah, crap, Lucy…”

  She knew he’d scented her arousal. Her body stiffened as she tried to push off of his lap, but those strong arms that he had wrapped around her wouldn’t let her go.

  “I’m sorry… I…” She felt the brush of the pad of his thumb against her left nipple and almost moaned with just how good it felt. It seemed that her body didn’t give a damn what her mind said, it had a life of its own where he was concerned. Not that her mind was putting up much of a fight.

  “Lucy…” The feel of his lips brushing against her neck excited her more than she’d ever felt in her life before. If she’d been capable of having a rational thought that would have flown out of the window.

  She didn’t fight it a moment longer. She didn’t want to. One night with Shane wasn’t going to make a blind bit of difference to her plans, because she didn’t have any. She was just hanging in the wind by a thread.

  She turned into him. Found his lips and brushed hers against the warm softness of them. Her heart skipped a beat or two and then roared to life.

  “I’m not bear bait…” She breathed against his lips.

  “I know, honey…” He cupped her face and tasted her lips. She was sweet. She was his.

  He needed more; he swept his tongue along the seam of her lips and she opened for him without hesitation. His tongue swept inside, tasted her, and he couldn’t keep that hungry growl from rumbling through his chest.

  His mind was clouded with just how good she tasted, but he had a thought for the way she moved against him, lifting and turning her body to meet his, and his hands palms her hips as he helped her.

  He wanted the feel of her sex pressed against his length, even if there was clothes in the way. His hands stroked down her curvy legs and he hitched her skirt up, making sure that it was just the thin cotton panties that barred his way.

  I just need to forget. Ah, the hell with forget, I just need to put Diego behind me and move on. This is moving on…

  She liked the sound of his growl, gentle but hungry, it seemed to rumble over her skin and heighten the need that she felt to be closer to him. Her hands took a downward turn against his chest, and she could feel the muscles dancing, quivering beneath her fingertips as she moved downwards. His kisses became more heated, more demanding, as his hands climbed up her thighs.

  She wanted him, there was no two ways about that. She didn’t know this man and yet it felt as if she’d known him forever and a day. She didn’t want to question it, she just wanted to get closer.

  Her fingers worked to release him from the confines of his jeans. The moment her fingers touched his hard length, he almost let out a roar that was building inside of him. Scaring the hell out of her wouldn’t have been his objective.

  He had a need to be inside of her. There was only one damn problem; she was his mate, and once he’d had her, once he’d tasted her on his tongue and buried his cock deep, there was no way in hell he would ever let her go. She needed to know…

  “Lucy…” He pulled away from her lips, but those wicked fingers of hers wrapped around his thick length and stroked down. He lids came down and he savoured the feel of her touching him, could imagine himself inside of her, and he was lost.

  His fingers seemed to have a mind of their own. They searched for the wet heat of her sex and his ears pricked up at the sound of the moan that left her lips. It was the sweetest sound that he’d ever heard, and he wanted to hear it, again and again, over and over until she cried out as he released her pent up tension.

  She squirmed on his lap. Moved against his fingers until he was rimming her channel. His thumb found her clit and he heard the gasp that accompanied another sweet moan. He could give her this- then he would tell her who she was to him.

  Two thick fingers impaled her channel, stretching her body around them, but it wasn’t enough for her. She wanted more. She wanted him inside of her, but with his thumb working against her clit like that she didn’t think that there was going to be time…

  Her hand tightened around his length. Her fist stroked him faster, showing him what she wanted, what she needed for herself. There was a fever burning within her veins that she’d never known before. It swept her up in the arms of insanity, irrationality, and her hips started to work as she rode his fingers…

  Shane had never known a woman as responsive to his touch as she was. Every flick, every stroke of his thumb made her work harder against him. He added a third finger and her body opened to him, filling with her juices and preparing her for the thick, long length of his cock…

  Her scent blanketed him. Mixing with the scent of her sex in the air and even his own. He could feel her thumb working against the tip of his cock, spreading the bead of his seed around the bulbous head, and he wanted inside of her.

  He held himself back. Reined in the beast within that wanted to fuck her hard and take her deep… but in his distraction he hadn’t noticed her rear up on her knees. With one hand she yanked his hand away from her sex, with the other she guided him against her tight channel…

  It was temptation beyond compare… He argued the rights and wrongs of taking her like this, but she was already pushing down on him. Her channel greeting and swallowing his cock as she moaned and groaned at the feeling of being stretched so wide around his length.

  Shane cursed with his lack of control.

  ‘Mine.’ His bear wanted to claim her. He wanted to claim her. There was no self control left within him as the last piece snapped away.

  “Fuck me, Shane…” She breathed against his ear and he was lost.

  His large hands found her hips and pushed her down on his cock as he thrust upwards. The sound of a gasp filled his ears. Then she moaned as the tip of his cock hit home and he rolled it inside of her, opening her to him, making her his.

  She pushed upwards, eager only to push right back down on him as he thrust up to meet her. She cursed. He grunted and growled. A heart beat later and she was riding him with abandon, as if her very life depended upon it. Grinding against him, taking her fill, but he wasn’t good with that- he needed more from her…

  Shane wrapped an arm around her and lifted her with him as he took her into the back of the cab. Still riding his cock, she didn’t give a damn where he fucked her into oblivion just as long as he did. He lowered her back to the thin mattress and spread her legs wide, taking her down his length t
o the hilt and curling his body over the top of her, caging her in, as he started to move his hips faster, take her harder, and loving her the way a mate should.

  His fingers started to strip the clothes from her upper body. He needed to taste her skin, suck on her nipples, bite against her flesh to truly make her his. Her clothes tore in his frenzy, but she seemed oblivious.

  The feel of his lips closing around one hard, aching nipple felt good. When he sucked hard, nipping with his blunt teeth, and rolling his tongue over the sensitive bud; she felt it against her clit.

  His cock was rock hard and rubbing over the spot inside of her that was sending her body into a frenzy. She knew that an orgasm was brewing and she clung to his body, her hands under the shirt on his back, as her fingernails dug into the flesh and she dragged them downwards.

  The sound of his growl changed. He was hungrier now. Caught within the confines of need and desire, and when he reached around behind his back and wrapped his large hands against her wrists, she knew what came next. He pinned her hands above her head and became wild against her…

  Her body didn’t stand a chance to deny her the orgasm that he demanded. Every inch of her came alive with the hard throbbing spasms that tore through her, and she cried out as it consumed her body, mind, and soul.

  Shane felt that hard clench and release of her inner muscles around his cock and yanked himself free of her. He couldn’t join her yet. He need more. He needed the taste of her on his tongue, and he climbed down her body and took his fill…

  Lucy came back to the frustrating reality that he was almost frenzied against her sex. His wicked tongue seemed to be everywhere all at once, and she tried to push her heels into the mattress, to find some relief, but he clamped her down with one hand on her hip, and devoured her until she bit down hard on the expectation of the next orgasm.