Beret Bear (Rogue Bear Series 3) (4 page)

H
is hand lingered
next to hers. The creek bubbled around their wrists, soaking their fingers in the warmth from the springs. She wanted to move back from his touch, but she couldn’t. His blue eyes held her in place. If she breathed too deeply she was afraid the moment would snap in half, so she held her breath as Gage’s hand closed in around hers.

His skin was rough and firm. His palm wide and strong as it circled her hand. It felt as if there were flames in the water under their hands. Each time the water bubbled, she felt him tighten his grip on her, threading his fingers until their hands were woven together.

Gage brushed her hair from her face with his free hand as he shifted toward her face. He leaned forward, his lips brushing over hers.

The kiss should have surprised her, but it didn’t. They had been easing toward this moment since they stepped foot in the woods.

He sucked gently on her lower lip before moving his mouth over hers. He pressed the back of her head, urging her toward him. Avery’s fingers wrapped around his neck as his tongue slipped between her teeth.

Little purring sounds started from her throat as his tongue twined against hers. He pulled their hands from the water as he cupped the side of her cheek. The water dripped against her cheek, but Avery was so lost in the kiss she didn’t feel the warmth turn to chill on her skin. She wrapped her other arm around him as he devoured her mouth with hungry kisses.

As his lips moved to her throat she felt her rational side start to claw at her. She wasn’t supposed to kiss another man. No one else should have his hands in her hair. No one else’s mouth should be blazing heat against her neck.

“Wait, wait.” Her eyes flew open and she pushed off of Gage’s solid chest.

“What’s wrong?” He pulled her tighter, his hands clutching at her back.

“I-I can’t.” She wiggled out of his hold. “Paul. I wasn’t thinking.” She turned from him. Her fingers immediately started twisting her engagement ring. She wasn’t sure it wasn’t cutting into her like a razor. Each twist felt like a slice shredding her skin.

Gage stood next to her. “I thought…” He hung his head. “I don’t know what I thought. I’m sorry.”

“Maybe we should skip lunch and just get back to town.” She reached for the bag she had packed with a picnic.

“If that’s what you want. I’ll take you.”

She nodded. “I think that would be best.” She walked away from the springs and entered the trail that would lead to the car.

She wanted to tell him it wasn’t what she wanted. She wanted him to push her up against the next tree and steal as many kisses as he wanted. She wanted to tell him Paul had never kissed her like that. Paul never looked at her like that.

She marched over the trail, trying to erase the kiss with each step. The problem was Gage was behind her and as long as he was that close, she couldn’t think of anything else.

She stopped, spinning on her heels. “Why did you kiss me?” she fumed.

His eyes widened. “I wanted to.”

“You know I’m engaged. You know I have a fiancé.” Her hands planted on her hips.

He nodded. “I do.”

“Who does something like that?” She was angry. Why did he have her emotions twisted into knots? Why did he have her lips aching for more?

“I don’t regret it.” He stepped closer, and she inched backward until she felt a tree press into her back.

“Well, I do.”

“Do you want me to say I didn’t like kissing you?” He leaned forward. She could feel his hot breath rake across her skin. “Do you want me to tell you I won’t touch you again?”

She nodded slowly, but she couldn’t make words come from her mouth. This was her chance to tell him off. Tell him she wasn’t available and he needed to get his bags out of the inn.

“I can’t do that, Avery.” His palm slid to the bark over her shoulder.

“Why not?” she whispered.

His lips were within inches of her mouth. If she tipped her head just right she would feel them move over hers. She didn’t know which was coursing through her, the rush of adrenaline from wanting him so badly, or the fear of what it meant that she did.

“Because I know you aren’t going to marry Paul.” He traced her lower lip with his thumb and her body quivered under his touch.

He stood back, straightening his shoulders, watching her as she tried to remember how to breathe.

She peeled herself off the tree trunk and marched in front of him. She didn’t have anything else to say. She licked her lip where his thumb had been, craving just the slightest taste of him.

She told herself what he said wasn’t true. He didn’t know what he was talking about. He didn’t know Paul. Hell, he didn’t know her. But as they drove toward the Long Pine Inn in silence, Avery couldn’t shake the feeling that even though Gage didn’t say much, every word he spoke was always the truth.

H
e could still taste her
. Her lips were like sweet cinnamon. He hadn’t meant to kiss her, but there was no way to pull his bear in when she was so close. All he could think about was that she was with the wrong man. He didn’t survive three years of hell just to let his mate make the biggest mistake of her life. He seized the moment. He smiled.

He needed to be alone with her again. He could see it. He could feel it. She was responding to him the same way he was responding to her. She was confused only because of Paul. With him in the way, she wouldn’t give in to the natural pull a mate had for her bear.

Gage paced the perimeter of his small room. There had to be way to show her where she belonged. Ultimately, it was her decision. It was always the mate’s decision. But she had to at least know he wanted her.

He shuddered. He didn’t know he could want someone or something so badly. He thought Razastan had altered him, twisted him, wrung the hope from his soul, but Avery had opened it again. He could be more than a soldier.

The kiss was only the beginning.

H
er hands were shaking
. She pulled the phone from her pocket and pressed Paul’s number. She held it while it rang. Her eyes narrowed when she got his voicemail.

“Paul, hey it’s me. Hope you’re having a good day. I haven’t heard from you.” She sighed. It all sounded pathetic and ridiculous. “Ok, just call me.”

She threw the phone on the counter. She wanted to hear his voice. She wanted him to reassure her that he was thinking about her. She pulled out the wedding magazine she had stashed under the desk and began to flip through the pages. She folded the corner of the page on a dress she had debated. This was the one.

She picked up her phone and called the name of the boutique listed under the designer.

“Hi, this is Avery Phillips. I’d like to schedule an appointment.” She waited while the woman on the other end of the call listed the possible dates and times.

“Ok. Tomorrow would be perfect. Yes.” She scribbled down the time. “Thank you. I’ll see you then.”

She hung up the phone. Tomorrow afternoon she would be sipping champagne and trying on wedding dresses. She exhaled. It was exactly what she needed to be doing. Focusing on her wedding and her future husband, not sultry kisses by the hot springs with a practical stranger.

She tugged on the magazine page and folded the picture of the dress into a square and tucked it into her pocket. She would make sure they pulled this one from the rack first.

The kiss had been wrong. She let things go too far. Gage was leaving and until then, she’d keep her distance.

He expected to see Avery behind the front desk when he walked downstairs, but the lobby was quiet. After their hike she hadn’t spoken a word. The entire drive home she had driven in silence.

He wondered if she had wandered to the Lucky Coin for dinner. It was dark, but the sign wasn’t on the desk for the evening. He walked behind the reservation table.

There was a light on in the office behind the desk. He tapped the door open with his foot. On the other side of the room was another door marked
Private
.

“Avery?” he called.

His hand gripped the knob.

“What are you doing?” He heard her voice behind him.

He pivoted. She was standing in the office doorway.

“Looking for you.” He released the doorknob.

“I was doing some inventory on the second floor.” She tossed a clipboard on the desk. “Do you need something? Extra towels?”

“No. I wanted to check on you.”

“Why? I’m fine.”

“I know I’ve been away from women for awhile, but I know what ‘fine’ means. And a woman who doesn’t talk for thirty minutes in the car is not fine.” He watched as she shuffled papers.

“I was tired from the hike.”

He walked toward her. “There’s not more to it?”

“No.” She wouldn’t look up. “I won’t be able to take you to the dam tomorrow.”

“Why not?”

“I have a wedding dress appointment.”

He felt the knife press against his lungs. “You can’t be serious.”

Her eyes shot to his. “I’m getting married. I need a dress.”

He didn’t mean to startle her, but his bear felt sudden desperation. Gage gripped her wrist. “Don’t do that.”

“Hey.” She tried to wriggle from his grasp.

“Are you going to act like what happened between us at the hot springs isn’t a part of you now?”

“It was a mistake.” She glared at him.

“No, it wasn’t.”

“Then what was it?”

“You and I both know exactly what it was.” He pulled his hand from her wrist, feeling the air slip between them. “It was magic.”

He turned and walked out of the office.

“
P
lease pick up
, Paul.” She held the phone in a tight grip. She huffed when she got his voicemail again.

She could feel it slipping away. The control she had. The resistance. The wall that kept her on the side of right.

“Damn it,” she muttered.

She plugged her phone into the charger next to her bed. It was close to midnight. She had spent the majority of the night making a spreadsheet for the wedding. She had three dates picked out for Paul to choose from. She knew if she narrowed down all the choices for him it would make things easier on him.

She walked to the bathroom and picked up her toothbrush. She brushed her teeth and turned off the light.

“Shit,” she whispered. She hadn’t turned on the timer for the coffee pot for the continental breakfast.

She debated whether it was even worth it, but she had seen Gage drinking coffee this morning. He was the inn’s only guest, but she shouldn’t deprive him of coffee because of it. She opened the office door and walked into the lobby.

She had left a lamp on next to the foyer door, but the rest of the lobby was dark. She remembered when she was a little girl how she would sneak out at night to run to the kitchen for extra cookies. Those were the days when sneaking was a necessity. The inn had been full of guests.

Avery pushed through the kitchen door and turned on the light. She grabbed the canister of coffee and filters. Five minutes later she turned off the light and walked out of the kitchen. As soon as she pushed through the door, she bumped into a solid mass of wall.

“Ow,” she screamed.

She looked up. Her body seized with adrenaline. It coursed through her in fiery bolts. Gage stood in front of her. His chest was bare.

“Wh-what are you doing down here?” She couldn’t stop staring. There were lines and ridges along his torso.

“I heard something. I thought someone had broken in.”

She noticed he was holding a knife in his hand.

“You heard something from the fourth floor?” She looked at him for an answer, but his eyes weren’t on hers, they had dipped between her breasts. She took a giant breath, feeling her skin heat under his gaze.

She hadn’t bothered to grab a robe. Mistake one. She swallowed hard, knowing his eyes were raking over her curves. His eyes were now on her bare left hand. She had taken her ring off when she showered, and had forgotten to put it back on. Mistake two.

“You’re ok?” he asked, his voice low and husky.

She nodded. She had to get back to her room. “Do you usually keep that knife on you?” The blade was long and thick.

“I didn’t want to take a chance. It was instinct to grab it. I wanted to make sure you were ok. It was all I could think about.”

She didn’t know what made him tick. Every time she thought she peeled back a layer, it was covered by another one. How could he be so protective, yet feel so dangerous?

“Thanks for taking on the burglar, but everything’s fine. I wanted to get the coffee ready for you in the morning.”

She took a step to move around him, but as soon as she inched closer, his hand slid to her waist.

Her eyes flashed upward. “What are you doing?”

But Gage didn’t answer. His mouth descended on hers and he wrapped his arms around her, dropping the blade to the floor with a thud. His lips tugged and sucked at the corners of her lips. She parted as his tongue slipped inside.

She groaned as his hands coasted over her hips. His tongue thrust deeper and she pulled against his neck, needing him, wanting him.

“Gage,” she whispered.

His hands moved to her legs and he swept her off the floor, bringing her body against his chest.

“Your room or mine?” he asked, his lips barely leaving hers.

“Mine,” she whispered.

He carried her along the corridor and through the lobby. She held onto his neck staring at the lines of his jaw. He nudged open the office door with his knee and then pushed through her bedroom door.

The TV was the only light. He kicked the door behind him, before laying her on the bed. He crawled toward her, pinning her under him.

His lips were urgent as he kissed her throat, moving to her shoulder. She felt the room spinning out of control. Every time he touched her it was as if she was pulled to him more. Each kiss seared into her skin.

Her eyes floated open and she saw the glimmer of her ring next to the bed.

“Wait, wait.” She breathed.

“What’s wrong?” he asked through kisses.

She pulled herself off the mattress. “I’m not a cheater. I’m not doing this.”

“I know you’re not.” He tipped her chin toward him. “You don’t belong to him, Avery.”

She looked in his eyes and knew it was true. “I said I would marry him. I said yes.”

She felt the sudden need to explain all the reasons she wanted to marry Paul, but she couldn’t think of anything other than the wedding. And a wedding wasn’t a reason to spend the rest of her life with a man who didn’t return her calls.

“Do you feel this when you kiss him?” Gage’s lips raked over hers. His tongue dipped in her mouth. The fire rushed through her veins.

She shook her head. “No.”

“Does it feel like this when he touches you?” His hand lifted the hem of her silk shirt, dragging the roughness of his palm over her flesh. He cupped her breast and she sighed. He pinched her nipple between his finger and thumb, rolling it back and forth.

“Ohh,” she moaned. Her head rocked back.

“Does it?” he urged.

“No,” she whispered. She could feel the tight spring in her core winding with each roll of her nipple in his grasp.

He bent toward her ear, his breath hot along her spine. “And when he fucks you, do you scream?” His hand slipped between her legs, shoving her panties to the side so his fingers could run between her wet folds.

“Ohh,” she moaned, her hips bucking as he danced his fingertips against her bud.

“Do you?” he growled.

Her eyes opened and she looked at Gage. “He’s never…we’ve never…”

He sat back on his heels “What?” He pulled his hand from between her legs and rested it on her thigh. She felt an ache where his fingers had stroked her.

“He didn’t take you to bed?”

Avery didn’t know how to interpret the look on his face. “We just haven’t.”

“I thought the man was a fucking idiot before, but now I know he is.”

Avery thought about all the nights she had wanted Paul to make a move. She had worn silk nightgowns like this one. She had lit candles. She had played his favorite music and bought his favorite beer. But it always ended the same way. He was too tired. He said once they got married they could focus on a healthy sex life, but right now he needed the right amount of rest. His constant rejection of her body had eaten away at her self-confidence.

“It wasn’t like that,” she explained. But how could she explain it.

Gage’s hands cupped her face. “God, do you know how much I want you? How much I’ve wanted you since I laid eyes on you?” She thought she heard that same grumbling sound from his chest. “You deserve more, Avery. You should be kissed and loved.” His thumb ran over her lip. “And you should be fucked and worshipped.”

She felt the quivers run over her spine. Oh God. The tightening wound harder in her core.

He kissed behind her ear. “I want you.” He kissed along her throat, his hands moving over her body. He slid the strap off her nightgown, pushing the fabric until her nipple was exposed. “I want to taste and suck every inch of you.” He lowered his head, pulling her in his mouth.

She groaned as his tongue swirled over her nipple. He bit against the flesh and she pressed the back of his head tighter to her chest.

He pulled back, planting a kiss on her lips.

“Because you were meant to be mine.” His hand moved between her legs.

She nodded, her legs opening for him. He was speaking the truth again. She could feel it in her blood, in her soul. Something under her skin was pulling her toward him.

“God, I want you,” he growled. His fingers plunged inside her and she reached for his shoulders, feeling the firm muscles flex under her hands. “But I don’t want anything between us. Or anyone.”

He pulled her panties back in place and slid the strap back on her shoulder. The heat was coursing through her. The tightening in her core was about to spill open, but he had taken his hands off of her.

“What?” She knew she was panting. Everything was hot and wet between her legs. Her nipples were straining against the silk. Her lips were burning from his rough kisses. She wanted to feel the rippled planes of his torso. She wanted to memorize the way his muscles met on his back. She wanted to explore every part of him with her mouth. God, she’d never wanted any of those things like she did right now.

He stood from the bed.

“When I take you, you’ll be mine, Avery. No other ring. No dress waiting for you to wear for another man. No date on the calendar that says you’ll be some other man’s wife. You’ll be mine.”

His giant chest heaved as if he was struggling to get the words out.

She nodded, despite the blazing flames racing through her body. He was right. And she was the only one who could make it happen.

She watched as he closed the door behind him, and she collapsed on the bed.