The Cowbear's Christmas Bride (Curvy Bear Ranch 4) (9 page)

When they arrived at the ranch, he had to maneuver her past Madison, Mack, Cody, and Drew while promising to give them an update later. He followed her into her room. After turning on the hot water in the bathtub, he helped her undress.

“Do you want me to sit with you?” he asked.

“No.”

“Okay.” He tried to keep the disappointment out of his voice. “I’ll come back up as soon as the sheriff calls.”

“Wait,” she said. “Can you wait for me in my room? I don’t want to be alone right now.”

“I’ll be right here, honey.”

As she drifted into the bathroom, he dragged a chair to her bedside and sat. As the minutes melted away, he kept glancing at the clock. Other than the occasional splash of water, she’d been silent. He wanted to check on her, but also wanted to give her the space she needed. He couldn’t bear the thought of her sending him away.

She finally emerged from the bathroom wrapped in a fluffy white robe. She looked so little, bundled up in all that cloth. Without a word, she slid into bed. She rolled onto her side to face him and gazed into his eyes.

“Tell me we did everything we could,” she said.

“We did. The sheriff should be calling soon.” He wanted to tell her that everything was going to be okay, but that would have been a lie. He had no idea what was happening back at the cabin. He glared at the phone, willing it to ring.

As if his prayer had been answered, a shrill ring pierced the silence of the room. Carol lunged for the phone.

Chapter 9

“Hello?” Carol said.

“This is Sheriff Tanner.”

“How’s my mom?” Her heart hammered in her chest. She held the phone so Hank could hear.

“She wouldn’t talk, but I arrested Trevor anyway,” Tanner said.

“On what grounds?” Hank asked.

“Drunk and disorderly. On my way up to the cabin, I got a call from dispatch. An owner from one of the bars claimed Trevor was in there breaking glasses against the wall. Owner wanted to press charges. Worked for me,” the sheriff said.

“How long can you hold him?” Hank asked.

“Until he makes bail, so that’ll at least be twenty-four hours. Might take him a few more days than that. I’m not sure how many friends he’s got left. You might want to head up in the morning and try talking some sense into your mother,” Tanner said.

“We will,” Carol responded.

After they’d hung up, she fell back against the bed. At least her mom was safe for tonight. The strain of the day had turned her muscles to lead. Even the hot bath hadn’t been enough to make the aching stop. She turned to find Hank looking at her with concern.

“She’ll be okay until tomorrow,” he said.

“I know. I’m just… I wish I could have done something more. I wish I could have helped her.”

“Some people don’t want to be helped. They don’t know any other way. It sounds like she was beaten on by her father and probably by all the other men in her life in one way or another.”

“Why wouldn’t she just leave?” she asked.

“This is going to sound really bad, but maybe she was so used to it that she thought it was normal. Guys like Trevor are master manipulators. They tear down their women until they’ve got nothing left. Maybe she just doesn’t believe that she deserves better,” he said.

She considered his words. Although she didn’t want it to make sense, it did. Her mom had probably been taught from a young age that men were superior and that she would never be strong enough to live without one. She wished there was a way she could give her mom the courage she needed to walk away.

“Do you want me to stay the night?” Hank asked.

“Will you hold me?” she asked softly. When he hesitated, she frowned. “You don’t have to. If you’d rather sleep in your own bed, I just—”

“Honey, I don’t want to leave you alone, but crawling into bed with you… I’m not a strong man.”

The instant his meaning clicked, she smiled shyly.

“Can you at least try?” she asked.

He nodded and stripped down to his boxers. She slid to the other side of the bed to make room for him. The huge, king-size bed was big enough for both of them to sleep in it without touching, but she wanted to lie next to him.

After he climbed into bed, he rolled onto his side to face her. She swallowed at the raw look of desire in his eyes. It seemed so wrong to want him right now, but she did.

“If you keep looking at me like that,” he said in a husky voice, “I won’t be able to stay on my half of the bed.”

“Hank…”

He brushed the back of his fingertips across her cheek. When he cupped her face, she leaned forward. And when he lowered his lips to hers, she let out a choked cry. He closed the distance between them, drawing her into his arms and against his hard body. She slid her hands across his shoulders, pulling him down to cover her.

“If you want me to stop...” he murmured after finally breaking the sensual kiss.

“No… I need you.”

She wound her arms around his shoulders, delving back into the sultry kiss that made her wet with desire. Half-expecting him to flip her over, she was surprised when he took his time, slowly exploring every inch of her face with gentle kisses.

When his mouth moved to her throat, she moaned. His hand glided across her belly to rest on her upper thigh. She quivered in anticipation. As he stroked the insides of her thighs, she arched against him.

“Faster,” she whispered.

“No,” he murmured. “I want to know every inch of you. I want to find the places that make you tremble and moan. I want to explore the hollow at your throat, the backs of your knees, and the edge of your earlobe until you’re begging me for more.”

She melted against him as his fingers grazed the soft thatch of hair over her pussy. What more could a woman possibly want other than a man to worship her body? With every kiss, with every touch, and with every caress, he made her his. He ruined her for any other man. She knew, deep in her soul, that she’d never find a better lover.

When his teasing kisses left her neck and traveled to the valley between her breasts, she reached for his cock. She wanted to give him the same pleasure he was giving her. Powerless to move more than a few inches, she stroked his hardened flesh with long, gentle motions.

He groaned and captured a nipple between his teeth. With silky flicks of his tongue, he coaxed her to new heights of desperation. She needed him to claim her, to fill her with his cock, and to take her to the place of rapturous bliss only he knew how to find.

The pad of his thumb scraped across her slick heat. Again, it passed over her pussy, circling closer to the tiny nub of flesh that could make her scream in ecstasy. She squeezed his cock, eliciting a gasp from his lips. He growled and slid out of her grip.

For a second, she thought she’d been too rough, but as he knelt between her outstretched thighs, she spotted lust in his eyes and knew she had nothing to worry about.

“I want to taste you,” he whispered.

She squeaked in response, suddenly tense. No one had ever kissed her down there. Would he like the taste of her? Would he be repulsed?

When she tried to push his head away, he clasped her hands in his and pinned them to her sides.

“Relax, honey.”

Her thighs trembled as his hair brushed the insides of her knees. As he blew a hot breath against her tender flesh, she whimpered.

“You smell like the forest after it rains, so fresh and earthy,” he said.

“Thanks.” It sounded so stupid, but she couldn’t think of any other way to respond.

Without warning, his tongue swiped the length of her pussy from top to bottom and back up. She cried out, then instantly regretted it. What if the other guests heard her? What if his brother and his fiancée heard her? What would they think of her jumping into bed with someone she’d just met?

She bit her lip and tried to stay silent, but it was no use. He was doing things with his mouth. Amazing, impossibly precise movements broken up by lavish licks designed to break her apart. She shattered against his mouth, completely caught off guard by the sudden rush of torrid pleasure blasting through her core.

A cry escaped, piercing the relative silence of the night. He continued to lick and nibble and suck on her vibrating flesh until she was on the brink of losing complete control. And just when she thought she couldn’t take another breath, he climbed up between her thighs.

Rather than enter her, he kissed her lips, bringing the briny sweetness of her juices to her mouth. He slid his tongue between her lips, teasing apart her teeth and claiming her mouth completely. She moaned and cried out with abandon, knowing that he’d capture her passionate roars.

When he finally broke the kiss, she reached for his butt and pulled him down. He didn’t need any more encouragement. He sank into the still-throbbing warmth of her pussy and filled her so completely that she never wanted him to leave.

Each stroke brought her closer to him. Each time his back muscles flexed, she melted deeper into him until she couldn’t imagine where she ended and he began.

She clawed at his back, reveling in his feral growls. He thrust harder, faster, deeper. His fingers wrapped around her shoulders and dug in as if he were hanging on for dear life. And maybe he was. Maybe she’d awakened something in him that he’d kept hidden in the same way that she’d concealed her bear.

The slight change in the angle of his hips stoked the fire in her body. She moved with him, falling into a rhythm so primal that she didn’t have to think, she could just feel. And she felt everything.

“Come for me,” he whispered urgently.

She wrapped her legs around his waist and drew him in, taking everything he could give. As she rode waves of ecstasy toward a final, mind-shattering orgasm, she felt him explode. He clung to her until his breath evened out.

***

“Carol… oh, honey…” Hank murmured.

“Shh.” She stroked his sweat-drenched hair.

“I’ve never… I don’t…”

“Just lie here with me,” she whispered.

He couldn’t move a muscle. He didn’t ever want to leave the softness of her body. Even as he slipped free, he wanted to return to her warmth. No woman had ever made him feel like this. He couldn’t stop shaking, even as the adrenaline of making love to her wore off.

After burying his face in her hair, he inhaled her scent.

See, she’s our mate
, his bear hollered.

Yes, fine, bear. You were right.

Told you.

Ugh, his bear could be such a brat sometimes.

She stirred beneath him. He carefully rolled onto his side next to her, never letting more than a breath of air get between them.

“Roll over,” he said.

“Again?” She raised a brow.

“No, not again.” He laughed. “I want to cuddle with you.”

“Most men don’t want to cuddle.”

“Most men are morons,” he said. “Now, roll over so I can hold you.”

After she’d turned her back to him, he scooted up against her. He stroked the curve of her hip.

“You’re so sexy,” he whispered.

“Flatterer.”

“I mean it.” He paused, trying to find a way to ask her what he really wanted to ask her. Would she consider staying? Was his bear getting excited over nothing? Did they have any kind of future together?

He rested his palm on her hip, unable to give voice to any of the questions bouncing around in his head.

“It’s so strange,” she said. “I came here looking for my mother, and she completely rejected me. But you, a complete stranger, took me into your life without hesitation.”

“Maybe I sensed the bear inside you and I was drawn to that,” he said.

“Is that a thing? Can you sense it when other people are bears?”

“No. If it was, I would have realized you were a shifter a lot sooner.” He chose his next words carefully. “Have you heard about fated mates?”

“If it’s a bear thing, then no. I don’t know anything.”

“Shifters believe that there is one special person out there for them, someone they belong with, someone who they want to commit themselves to for the rest of their lives,” he said.

“Like soul mates?”

“Yes.”

“It’s a romantic idea, but what happens if your mate lives on the other side of the country? Or the other side of the world? How will you find each other?”

“That’s where the fate part comes in,” he said.

“I don’t know if I believe in all that. It sounds impossible.”

“What if it wasn’t?” he asked.

“Then it would be magical,” she said wistfully.

His heart thumped in his chest. He wanted to tell her that he thought she was his mate, but what if he was wrong? Or what if she was too distracted by what was happening with her mom to think about love?

Love? Oh crap.

She’s our mate.
His bear danced around his heart like a fool, but the more he tried to make him stop, the more he danced. Damn bear.

She yawned and nestled against him. Within minutes, she fell asleep. So much for laying his heart bare for her. He closed his eyes and tried to sleep, but he couldn’t stop thinking about what everything meant. If they could just get her mother into a safe situation, maybe his mate would be more open to the idea of fate.

He wasn’t going to give up until he’d convinced her that she belonged with him. Although he’d tried to protect his heart, he knew his bear wouldn’t lie to him. And if he was really being honest with himself, he’d acknowledge the one thing that scared him more than anything else in the world—he was falling in love with her.