Cyrus

Title Page

Copyright Page

Cyrus: Black Bear Outlaws | (Mating Fever) | Book 1

Chapter 1 | Claire

Chapter 2 | Cyrus

Chapter 3 | Claire

Chapter 4 | Cyrus

Chapter 5 | Claire

Chapter 6 | Cyrus

Chapter 7 | Claire

Chapter 8 | Cyrus

Chapter 9 | Claire

Chapter 10 | Cyrus

Chapter 11 | Claire

Chapter 12 | Cyrus

Meet the Rest of the Mating Fever Clans:

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H
e’s loved her since they were kids...

Cyrus Doucet used to be the bad boy, the one all the girls wanted...all of them except one, the girl next door.

He’s everything she says she doesn’t want...

Claire Erickson’s always been the good girl...until now. She’s in trouble and the only person she can turn to is her outlaw neighbor, Cyrus Doucet.

***

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B
ook 2: Chase: Black Bear Outlaws

Book 3: Cole: Black Bear Outlaws

I
sat at my kitchen table, leisurely sipping my tea as I enjoyed the morning view. Tattooed, ripped muscles glistened with a thin sheen of sweat in the bright sun. I unconsciously licked my lips, and told myself to turn away. To get up and shower. To head into my office where I wouldn’t be tortured by the heart-achingly gorgeous Cyrus Doucet.

But I didn’t.

I stayed perched on the edge of my seat, tracking each of his movements as he maneuvered his riding lawn mower across his yard. It was early still. Not yet even eight o’clock. In fact, the whine of his mower had woken me, and I’d had half a mind to tell him exactly what he could do with it. But who could stay worked up when presented with a body like that?

Better to just stay inside and enjoy the show rather than be subjected to his easy smile and knowing gaze, the one that said he knew exactly what was on my mind when I looked at him. The bastard.

I’d known Cyrus Doucet since I was five years old. He’d been seven the day he and his family had moved in, and he’d been the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen. I might as well have worn a sign that said
I love Cyrus
from that day forward all the way through high school. Everyone knew. My family, his family, the entire school. And yet, he’d never done anything other than give me that knowing smile, while he’d dated everyone
but
me.

It had been infuriating.

So when I’d been a junior, I’d given up and started dating a clan member who was a couple years older than me. And although I hadn’t realized it at the time, he’d been the brother and right hand man of the town drug dealer. All I’d seen were his dark eyes, luscious wavy hair and a built body. He’d been the gorgeous bad boy from across town no female over sixteen years old could resist. Least of all me.

Needless to say, that hadn’t turned out to be one of my better ideas. And I’d spent the last few weeks of my senior year at clan disciplinary meetings, answering the elders’ questions about Vince’s criminal activities.

That had been the end of my bad boy phase. And for the past six years I’d only dated two men, both human. One was an accountant, and the other an ophthalmologist. Boring, but safe. I sighed at my too normal life, sucked down the rest of my tea and then headed for the shower. I had an appointment in a half hour. It wouldn’t pay to still be in my bathrobe when the doorbell rang.

It was late spring, and my bathroom was already stifling. Without a motorized fan, I had no choice but to open the window. Fifteen minutes later, when I exited the shower completely naked, there was Cyrus Doucet standing at my window. Our eyes met for just a second before he dropped his gaze, taking in all I had to offer.

“Hey!” I grabbed the towel hanging nearby and hastily covered myself. “What the hell are you doing?”

He gave me his slow smile and raised some piece of lawn equipment. “Sorry. Didn’t mean to startle you. I figured as long as I was at it, I might as well make use of the weed eater.” He gestured behind him. “Since the mowing is finished.”

I peered past him and noted that he’d not only done his yard, but mine, too. Damn.  “Thank you, but that wasn’t necessary. I have a neighborhood kid who does my yard.”

“Terrance, right?”

I clutched the towel tighter around me, feeling more uncomfortable by the minute. “Yes.”

“His family went on vacation to the theme parks in Florida. He asked me last week if I could cover your yard while he was gone.” His smile blossomed to a grin and his eyes glittered with mischief. “I suppose he should’ve warned you.”

I bit down on my bottom lip and nodded. Terrance was a good kid, and quite responsible to hire out his job while he was away. Too bad it had been to Cyrus, who was peeping in my bathroom window. “I guess he should have. Now if you’ll excuse me. I’m going to get dressed.”

His gaze shifted as he cast a glance at my barely covered body once more. “I suppose that’s a good idea.” Then he winked and fired up the weed eater.

***

D
ressed in linen pants and a cotton button down shirt, I sat in my kitchen with a brand new wedding planning book, frowning at the wall clock. My appointment was already thirty minutes late. I checked my phone. No new messages. The groom-to-be had called me only the night before. Maybe he hadn’t checked with the bride? I was going on my third year as a wedding planner, and to have the groom call was pretty unusual.

I picked up the phone, ready to confirm the appointment, but was stopped by a loud rap on my front door.

“Finally.” I hurried to the foyer and whipped the door open, smiling. “I was just about ready to give up—”

“Well, hello there, Claire,” the dark-haired man drawled, leaning against the doorframe. Those sparkling green eyes pierced me with his stare. He wore low slung jeans and a tight T-shirt that did nothing to hide his perfect physique.

Jesus. My bad-boy ex-boyfriend was standing on my front porch looking like sex on a stick. This was not what I needed today. “Vince? What are you doing here? I thought you were still up north working off your debt to the clan.”

“I have an appointment.” His smile widened, and without waiting for an invitation, he strode into my house and made himself comfortable on my overstuffed loveseat.

“My appointment is with a couple by the names of Sue and Isaac.” Not Vince Crane, my very first boyfriend, and the last person I’d been expecting to find on my front porch. After the clan members had found him and his brother guilty of dealing, they’d both been sentenced to work for the clan logging company up north, far away from here and their criminal dealings. It was their one shot to get their shit together before they were shipped off for good. The clan elders didn’t put up with any bullshit from the bears around here.

“Okay, so there’s no Sue. But Isaac is my middle name, and we have business to settle.” He patted the loveseat and jerked his head indicating I should sit next to him.

I stood there at the door, staring at him. Was he joking? We hadn’t spoken in over six years, and I owed him nothing. It wasn’t my fault he’d been selling weed and illegal pills to kids. I hadn’t even known about it until six months after we’d started dating. It had been downhill from there. Unfortunately, my younger self had been weak, and it hadn’t been that easy to walk away from him. He was charming when he wanted to be. And a complete bastard when he didn’t get what he wanted.

I’d found that out the hard way when he’d tried to tell the clan elders I’d been a partner in his drug business. I hadn’t. Not ever. But he’d been under the impression we could stay together if I was implicated too. Selfish son of a bitch. Thankfully, the elders hadn’t bought his story and I’d stayed right here in Basin Bayou with my dad until he moved east last year with his new wife.

“That doe-eyed look is only turning me on,” he said, giving me his lazy half-smile that used to make my knees melt.

Thank God my only reaction these days was to roll my eyes. “That kind of talk doesn’t work on me anymore.”

He chuckled. “If you say so. How about you take a seat so we can catch up. It’s been a long time, Claire Bear.”

Ugh. Had he really just gone there? “Don’t call me that. I’m not seventeen anymore.”

“No. You most definitely are not.” He cast a slow gaze down my body. The kind meant to melt a girl’s panties.

I sucked in a short breath, determined to not let him get to me, then sat in the chair across from him. Distance was a must. I might not be interested, but I could still remember what it was like to be touched by him.

That was a definite no.

Never again. Not after he’d tried to throw me under the bus by implicating me in his illegal dealings. “Get on with it. Why are you here?”

His lips turned up into a slow grin. “It’s mating season.”

“So?” I frowned at him. Why was he in my house talking about mating season?

“Part of my probation is to settle down, and the clan elders said I need to take a wife. There’s only one choice for me.”

At least that explained why he wanted to plan a wedding. “Who’s the lucky girl?” I said with more sarcasm than I’d intended.

“You.” He winked and held his hand out as if I were supposed to just take it.

“Have you lost your mind?” I stood up and crossed the room to the front door, ready to toss him out. “I’m not marrying you. Jesus, Vince. I haven’t even seen or heard from you in six years.”

“Whose fault is that? If it hadn’t been for your testimony, I’d have been out in less than one.” He crossed the room, reaching for me, but stopped when footsteps sounded from the back of my house.

I spun, my skin itching with the shift. Someone was intruding in my home.

But then Cyrus Doucet strolled out of my kitchen, slid right up to me, and wrapped one muscled arm around my shoulders. “Hey, babe. What’s going on?” he asked, pulling me tightly against his side as he turned to Vince.

A zing of heat ran up my spine as I stared at my neighbor in utter shock. This had to be a dream. Or a hallucination. There really weren’t two gorgeous men, both wildly inappropriate matches, standing in my living room acting as if they were interested in me. Were there?

“Doucet?” Vince asked, looking him up and down. “What are you doing here?”

“Crane?” Cyrus squinted, ignoring his question. “When did you get back in town?”

“A week ago.” He frowned as he stared at us. “You with Claire now?”

I opened my mouth to say no, but Cyrus cut me off. “Yep. Going on about six months. Isn’t that right, babe?”

Both men turned to stare at me and not knowing what else to do, I leaned into Cyrus and nodded. “Yeah, that’s right. Sorry, Vince, looks like you’ll have to find someone else to be your mate.”

T
here was a reason I hadn’t gone into the office today. Vince Crane. Last night I’d gotten the call from a contract informant with dirt on Crane. Because I was a security professional, I made it my business to know the details on any undesirables in our town. Crane had been shady in his youth and still was as far as I was concerned.

He’d been given his walking papers a week ago. But he wasn’t off scot free. The clan elders decided as part of his rehabilitation he would have to settle down with a respectable mate. Since Claire had been his last girlfriend, it hadn’t been a surprise that he’d set his sights on her.

And knowing the clan elders, they’d be all over the match. Claire was fiercely independent, successful, and didn’t put up with anyone’s bullshit. In other words, she was the perfect mate for a reformed bear ready to settle down.

Only Vince was nowhere near ready. That was clear by the fact he’d spent four of the last six nights at the roadside strip bar getting his party on. Not to mention that he certainly didn’t love her. At least not the way she deserved.

Vince was connected. His mother had recently married one of the clan elders, and that was likely the only reason he’d been let back into town. But his step father, Bethalemuel Beauxbridge, wouldn’t stand for anyone tarnishing his community standing. Beauxbridge owned a successful development company and prided himself on being a voice for the community. Vince would have to straighten up if he wanted to stay in Beauxbridge's good graces and on his payroll.