Sawman Werebear (Saw Bears #4) (11 page)

Drew handed her a Dixie cup of what looked like red wine, and she thanked him, then slurped it down like a shot in hopes of ridding herself of the nervous flutters that had her hands shaking and her stomach quivering. Drew plucked the empty from her hand and refilled it from a box with a spigot at the bottom. She giggled as he handed the cup back to her, overflowing and splashing dark drops into the dirt near her feet.

Denison pulled a trio of beers from an old cooler by the table, handed one to Danielle and another to Brighton. The brothers popped the tops and tinked the bottles together.

“It’s good to have you back, brother,” Denison said.

Brighton nodded and took a long swig before draping an arm over Everly’s shoulders and pulling her against his side.
It’s good to be back.

Denison gripped the back of his head and shook him a few times, then shoved him and rejoined his new wife by the fire. Everly made her way to the table and took up food prep with Haydan as Brighton prepared the grill. She wasn’t comfortable joining in conversation quite yet, but as time ticked by, she settled into the easy connection between the people here. Laughter was constant, ribbing and light-hearted insults were tossed here and there, and the conversation flowed from one topic to the next with the ease of a crew that was happy with the family they’d built. A constant smile stayed on Everly’s lips as she cut zucchinis, squash, onions, tomatoes, and mushrooms, then speared them with metal skewers.

Brighton came up behind her and nipped her earlobe before he took the plate of prepared food from in front of her and lined up the lanced vegetables on the grill. And when she glanced over at him, he was smiling in that absent way that likely matched her own happy expression.

Haydan talked constantly about how when season came again, they’d be up logging in the mountains above them, hitting numbers that a man named Damon Daye had hired them to do. Right now, he was listing all of the questionable decisions he and the other boys had made in the last week out of sheer boredom waiting for the season to start up next month. Mud wrestling, drinking contests, and someone had welded giant horseshoes they had to chuck at a log in the ground. Drew had rebuilt a skate ramp they’d destroyed a while back, and Bruiser broke his arm falling off. Though now, it was already healed again, and from the way he was snickering at Haydan’s telling of it, Bruiser didn’t regret the memory. They’d put an enormous tarp down a hill and sprayed it down with soap suds and water, and at the end, everyone went flying into the water of some nearby pond. That game had lasted a few straight days until Tagan almost got bit by a water moccasin.

Everly cleaned her hands on a paper towel and looked around at the animated faces, talking easily and laughing at something Denison had said.

One thing was for sure and for certain, there was never going to be a dull moment in this crew.

Brighton opened the door to his trailer. He hadn’t been here since the day he’d killed Reynolds, and even then, it was just for a few moments to pack necessities into a backpack before he blasted out of here and sought the safety of the cabin.

He’d expected it to smell rough, but when he opened up the fridge, he huffed air from his cheeks and leaned on the door. Cool, clean air hit his face. Nothing was inside, save condiments with long expiration dates. Denison must’ve come in here and cleaned out the place. His brother was solid like that, always dependable, always giving him what he needed before he knew he needed it.

A flash of Denison slamming Reynolds against the tree and tossing Brighton the ax to end his life flickered across his mind. His brother had been tortured at the hand of that monster too, and he could’ve taken revenge for himself, but he’d known, in that uncanny way of his, that Reynolds needed to die by Brighton’s hand.

Damn, he was so glad Denison had found his mate in Danielle. He’d always liked her, always thought she’d been a steadying force for his brother. Tonight had been big. Tonight, Brighton had gained another sister.

He let the door to the fridge close and looked around at the tidy trailer. He ran his finger across the two-chair kitchen table and inspected it for dirt. Denison, that clean freak, had even dusted. Mom had instilled tidiness in them since they were cubs, but for whatever reason, Denison’s bear required a clean den and a steady schedule, unlike Brighton’s inner grizzly who thrived on chaos. He couldn’t remember much about his life or who he’d been before he was tortured, but Brighton thought maybe his animal had always been a little wild. The cutting had just made him insane as well as feral.

He closed his eyes and searched inward. Oh, his bear was still there, like a hibernating giant waiting for something to wake him and release the titan, but it wasn’t like before. Now, his animal side felt manageable. Everly had done that for him.

A soft knock sounded at the door, and he turned. His mate hesitated in the doorframe, shifting her weight as if she didn’t know her place here. Brighton held out his hands in silent question.
What do you think?

Two tentative steps, and she was inside his den. The real place his heart lived. The cabin was a good place to run to, but this old trailer was home.

“I grew up in a trailer park,” she murmured softly, as if she didn’t want to break the spell of this place.

Yeah?

She nodded and pulled a pink beach towel more tightly around her middle. The boys had nixed a hillbilly hot tub to celebrate Denison’s nuptials on account of it taking too long to heat the water, and the boys were too drunk to be safe about it anyhow. Then Bruiser, jacked up on asparagus and boxed wine, got the idea they should all go skinny-dipping in the creek by moonlight. Most of them had been down to party, but Brooke, God bless that woman, had taken one look at Everly’s terrified face and offered her a bathing suit. His alpha’s mate even went a step further and told Everly she was going to wear a bathing suit, too.

Now, everyone had seen everyone in the nude here. Even utterly human Danielle had joined in on the occasional midnight skinny-dipping party. But Everly was different. She was new to this life and unsure of her place in the Ashe Crew. And if he was honest, her shyness and modesty only made him adore her more.

“This trailer park is way nicer than the one I lived in. Neighbors are pretty cool, too,” she said with a self-conscious little shrug.

She was so fuckin’ cute, it wasn’t even fair. If she even knew how much she melted him, how much she locked his damned knees when she was around, she’d think he was a hopeless sap.

Her gorgeous eyes widened as she asked, “Can I look around?”

Oh. Right. Grand tour, and here he was just staring at her like a weirdo. He showed her around. It wasn’t much. Two bedrooms, two baths, only one of which actually worked because of the rampant plumbing problems up here. He was going to dig up the crushed pipes and replace them next week to keep the snakes out of the toilet bowl. Everly deserved a safe place after all she’d been through.

He couldn’t stop watching her. Everly’s nostrils flared, as if she was committing this place to memory. Or perhaps she smelled him all over his den. The absent smile on her lips was so damned sexy he couldn’t keep from kissing her every time she got close enough.

“The girls have all spent time living in trailer ten-ten across the street,” he whispered as he settled his shoulder blades across the doorframe to his bedroom. “Tagan said it’s yours if you want it.”

Everly dropped her gaze to the toe of his boot, and her shoulders slumped. “That’s very kind.”

“Or,” he said, hooking a finger under her chin and lifting her gaze back to his. “You can stay here with me and make this place your home.”

A hopeful smile brushed her lips. Her pert little nose scrunched up as her grin deepened. “You mean it?”

“Woman, I can’t even stand the thought of you living across the street. That’s how pathetically deep I am in this. I just wanted to give you space if you needed it. Some of the other women in our crew have had a hard time adjusting to this life. I don’t want that for you. I want you to be happy.” Brighton’s voice caught at the pain of whispering. “I want to make you happy.”

“You make me the happiest, silly bear.” She pushed against his chest flirtatiously and leaned against the other side of the doorframe. “You want to see the swimsuit Brooke let me borrow?”

Hell. Yes.

Her lips lifted in a wicked smile as she pulled the towel away from her skin. A crimson red two-piece with tiny black polka-dots, and his dick instantly thumped against the seam of his jeans. Damn, she was beautiful, and the last week had been good to her. She had weight to gain yet, but the sickly thinness was nothing but a dim memory. She didn’t look fragile anymore. Instead, she looked strong. And there was nothing on this earth sexier than a strong woman.

Just as he reached for her, a tremendous banging echoed down the side of the trailer. Bruiser, that twit, needed to learn to knock on a door.

“We’re leaving!” Bruiser called out through the thin walls. “Quit fuckin’ around in there and let’s go.” His voice went muffled. “Get it? Fuckin’ around?”

“Shut up, man,” Drew murmured from farther away, and Everly snickered and shook her head.

At least she found amusement in their antics. That would get her far here.

Brighton leaned forward and kissed her hard, then bit her lip just enough that she moaned. He slipped his hand down the front of her bathing suit bottoms and ran his finger through the slickness of her sex. She was always ready for him, always wet when they flirted, and he couldn’t get over how lucky he’d gotten, falling for a woman like Everly. His brave little mate who wanted intimacy with him despite what Connor had done to her.

“Please,” she begged on a breath.

“You wanna come on my hand?” he whispered against her ear.

A nod, and he checked the front door. Bruiser would probably barge in if he didn’t finish her in about a minute, so he pulled Everly inside his bedroom and pressed her against the wall. He slid his finger into her, then a second on the next stroke, careful to touch her clit. Damn, she was so sensitive there he had to be careful or he’d hurt her if he lost his head and got too rough. When he cupped her on the next stroke, she tossed her head against the wall and moaned. He swallowed the sound of her pleasure so they wouldn’t attract the wrath of the crew. He pushed his tongue past her lips and tasted her. Three more strokes, and she pulsed around his fingers and clutched onto his back, nails curved like talons against him, and sexy, helpless little noises in her throat. He’d never get tired of her response to his touch. Not ever.

God, he was so turned on, he could probably blow his load just rubbing up against her right now.

“Brighton, Everly!” Bruiser yelled through the wall.

“I’m coming!” Everly called out, then opened her mouth wide with her eyebrows arched high and a silent laugh on her lips. “Get it? I’m coming?”

Surprised, Brighton huffed air in shocked snickering.

A beat of silence was followed by a single booming laugh from the other side of the wall.

Drew snorted from so far away it was barely audible. “Her jokes are funnier.”

“Okay,” Bruiser said, his voice fading as he walked away from the trailer, “but it wouldn’t have been as funny if I didn’t set it up, though. Right?”

“Leave them alone,” Brooke called.

Brighton led Everly to the bathroom, then let the tap water warm before he ran a clean washrag under it.

“What are you doing?”

Cleaning you.

He’d done it before, minus the warm water. Hell, he enjoyed it. She always relaxed under his diligent affection afterward and was always so appreciative when he treated her well. He cleaned her carefully, then washed his hands. Not because he wanted to rinse her scent off his fingers and down the drain, but because he knew she’d be self-conscious if she thought the others could smell her on him. She tucked her towel back around her and followed him out.

The others were already headed for the rickety old gate on the other side of the trailer park—the one that led to a worn trail up the mountain. The path they needed forked off that one. Most of the Ashe Crew was three sheets to the wind, shirtless and meandering into the woods barefoot, but Brooke, Skyler, and Danielle waited for them to catch up.

Brighton picked Everly up and jogged toward the receding group, determined to protect her flip-flop clad feet from the six inch weed garden they’d managed to grow in the back of the trailer yards over the summer. When he reached Brooke, he set Everly down and winked at his alpha’s mate, then swatted his woman firmly on her perfect ass and trotted up the trail after the guys.

With one ear on the conversation around him and one on the conversation the girls were carrying on behind, he made himself give Everly space to talk to her new friends. These women had been through the ringer for their mates and had come out strong as steel. It took a special kind of woman to accept a life out here with a crew of growly, foul-mouthed, beer-guzzling, dirty-joking grizzly shifters. Everly would need to learn to depend on them when things got overwhelming or when she thought of questions pertinent to lady bears that he wouldn’t have the answers to. He’d seen the bond between Brooke, Skyler, and Danielle and wished for that for Everly. She’d often talked about wanting friendship like that but had been unable to fit in anywhere in her old life.

From the way they were giggling and cutting up back there, his heart filled with the confidence that she was going to be okay here with him. With his people.

“Geez, brother,” Denison said, hooking an arm around his neck. “You should see the sappy look on your face right now.”

I’m happy.

Denison stopped so fast, Haydan ran into the back of him. Stumbling and slurring an oath, the other shifter walked around, but Denison just stared at Brighton like he hadn’t understood the words he’d mouthed.

I’m happy
, Brighton repeated.

A slow smile spread Denison’s lips, then faded as he nodded. His brother ghosted a look behind him at Everly, then squeezed Brighton’s upper arm and strode up the trail behind Tagan. Over his shoulder, he said, “Good. You deserve to be happy.”