BEAR-LY NEW YEAR Read online

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  “Clean clothes for…” Nick held in place. He had one hand carrying those clothes and the other locked onto the handle of the bathroom door as his eyes took her in.

  Naked. Naked with her arms stretched out to the sides and the big blue bath towels fisted in each hand as if she’d been drying her back…

  There was a high pitched sound that caught in her throat but never made it from her lips as she stared open mouthed at his intrusion.

  His eyes had been slowly taking her in from her feet up, but at that sound they snapped to her eyes – a look of shock and disbelief registered there as she stared back at him.

  He knew he should have made a hasty retreat but his muscles had locked up along with his brain, and his feet felt like they’d been superglued to the floor.

  His bear rumbled a growl within his chest and he had to agree. He wanted her, damn, did he want her.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

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  Kristy snapped her arms around her body and the towel followed. The alpha was standing there with his damn tongue practically hanging out of the side of his mouth, and she couldn’t find the words to express exactly what she wanted to say… that didn’t stop her mouth kicking into gear before her brain was on board.

  A steady flow of curse words came from her lips. Every word that she could possibly think of, that she’d ever heard in her life was aimed in his direction, and some more than once.

  “And you have the audacity to just stand there – you….” More followed, and with each one he flinched, but he still couldn’t move his damn feet.

  “Well, I’m kind of in shock. It’s not every day of the damn week that a woman flaunts her goodies in-” Nick was on the defensive. His inaction to do anything but stand there had taken its toll on his psyche…

  “Flaunts?” She screeched, cutting him off and that sound bounced off the tiled walls making him wince as the sound echoed in his ears. “You burst in without knocking!”

  “In my defence…” He started on a low deep rumble of a growl that sounded hungry and angry at the same time.

  “Defence? You’re still standing there.” She waved an arm and the towel opened, giving him another good view of her naked body, and she snapped it down again to the sound of another growl… “Out!” She snapped.

  “Going.” He growled. “When I can get my damn feet to work.”

  Kristy stalked the few steps towards him at the door. She dropped the towel, because she needed her hands, slapped her palms against his chest and pushed like she’d never pushed before…

  Nick sort of rolled backwards on his heels. His eyes were locked down at her breasts and he was rumbling a big old growl of delight in her direction – and then the door slammed shut in his face and he shook his head fast, trying to shake away his inaction and the shock of what had just happened…

  He still stood there transfixed, staring at the closed door as if he could just picture her standing there…

  The door was yanked back open, and he had to admit that he was a little disappointed to see the towel had been wrapped firmly around her body. He opened his mouth to speak, but her eyes were on fire.

  Kristy reached out, snatched up the clean clothes that were still in his outstretched hand, and slammed the door closed again on a huff…

  “Butthole.” She muttered on the other side of that door…

  Nick went to speak, but he couldn’t get the words out through the low, deep chuckle that escaped his lips. He had a big old grin on his face like a teenage cub that had seen his first naked female.

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  “Whoops!” Chloe felt the shove in her back as someone scooted by her and she was propelled towards the beta; who caught her within the safe confines on his arms…

  “I’ve got you…” Dolph grinned down at her. His eyes snapped downwards from the vampire that had not so subtly launched her in his direction, to where she stared up at him, all wide eyed and doe like.

  “Grateful.” She giggled. The effects of a large glass of wine finally making her loosen up a little so that her shoulders weren’t tensed around her ears anymore.

  “It’s my job as a mate to always be there to catch you when you fall.” Dolph thought that he might have lathered that one on a little too thick, but her eyes sparkled, and that was all that he cared about.

  “What other jobs do you have as a mate?” Chloe gave him the kind of wicked grin that made his hard length twitch inside of his trousers…

  “Protect you from harm. Provide for you, physically, emotionally, and sexually…” He growled just a little, and only because he couldn’t help himself. The thought of having her in his bed, stretching her body out, and getting to know every inch of her body with his hands, his eyes, his tongue…

  Her eyes were wide now. Her cheeks had coloured a nice rosy red, and she looked like someone had sprinkled pixie dust over her – she shone with life, with interest, and with what looked to him a lot like desire…

  “And I get to what? Pick up your dirty washing from the floor. Cook for you. Spit out babies…?”

  “Cubs…”

  “Those too…” She frowned.

  “We all do our bit around here in whatever way we can. You can try your hand at any damn job that you want…”

  “I have a job. I teach primary.” She frowned at the thought of possibly leaving all that behind for him, for the mountain…

  “Perfect. We’ve got some unruly cubs around here that could do with a good teacher.”

  “They don’t go to school?” Her eyebrows shot up on her head.

  “It’s… complicated.” He offered back. “You’ll see when you meet them.”

  “I get to meet them?” She frowned.

  “How else are you going to teach them?” He offered and she gave a small nod.

  “Wait. I never said I…” She started, but he took the chance and claimed her lips, silencing any protest that she might have offered…

  Chloe didn’t protest the feel of his soft, warm lips against hers. There was a spark of excitement that shot straight to her womb, and the feel of his strong arms wrapped around her, holding her to him in the midst of the bar – in the sea of people milling around them, felt naughty and nice.

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  Kristy had hung out in the bathroom for as long as she could. Any longer and she worried that he might send out a one man search party for her. Himself.

  She’d heard the floorboards outside the door creaking a little off and on, and she didn’t know if he was checking on her not, but she was starting to feel like an idiot.

  It was a case of; if she didn’t go out then, she never would. The longer that she stayed holed up inside of that room the harder that it got to go out and face him.

  When she finally wrenched open the door; there he was. Standing with his back against the wall, his arms folded, and looking at her from under those dark brows – a little contrite…

  “I…” He got the one word out and she rushed to put a stop to whatever it was that he had to say.

  “I don’t want to talk about it.” Kristy rushed out.

  She took a long step out into the room, dwarfed inside of his clothes that were way too big for her – like a child playing dress up with her parents stuff, and he couldn’t help but chuckle at how many times she’s rolled everything over on itself – the cuffs on the bottom of his sweatpants – the cuffs at her wrists, and there was even a bunched ridge at her waist where he guessed she’d done the same there…

  She actually looked adorably cute, and the fact that she was wearing his clothes felt like a small victory in the claim department. Not that he was claiming her…

  “It’s not even remotely funny!” She hissed in disbelief.

  “You look…” He said and her eyes snapped down her body.

  She physically shrunk even more inside of his clothes. Her eyes followed his downwa
rds, and she couldn’t help but crack a smile…

  “Ok, so this is a little bit funny.” She shrugged. The fabric of the sweatshirt looked as if she was a football player… “But you walking in on me…” She tossed up her index finger and wagged it at him…

  “My bad…” He held his hands up to his chest and her eyes narrowed in on those hands, then the hard muscles behind them, layers of them packed his upper body and she kind of wished that he’d put a shirt on, but was kind of giddy from delight that he hadn’t…

  She mumbled something unintelligible, even to his ears, and gave another shrug as she dropped that finger of rebuke…

  “In a good kind of way…” He added with a deep rolling growl that filled the air between them and made her nipples stand to attention at the sound.

  Kristy’s eyes snapped back to his face, and there it was – a damned sexy smile that drew her in, made her feel warm all over, inside and out, and made the corners of her lips perk up, even when she didn’t want to smile back at him…

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

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  “You are incorrigible.” Kristy tried to huff, but it sounded more like a sigh even to her ears, and not a sigh of disappointment.

  “Yep.” He gave an emphatic nod of his head, and that grin only widened. “But, also in a good way.” He wiggled those dark eyebrows at her and she melted inside…

  That wasn’t supposed to happen. A man that wasn’t her intended husband was not supposed to make her melt – or make her damn nipples reach out for him…

  She didn’t do slushy – gooey – or maybe with this man she did.

  That wasn’t how it should be. He shouldn’t have been able to turn her head, not for anything other than an appreciative glance.

  He saw her smile drop. Watched as her eyes fell to the space between them on the floor. She looked – alone – desolate – more than a little worried, and the way that her teeth were worrying her lower lip dragged his attention to that very spot.

  Nick’s beast rose up within him. The idea of biting her lip, nipping it for her was bouncing around inside of the alpha’s mind, and he would love to have helped her out with that, but he looked like he had bigger problems at the moment.

  “What’s wrong?” Nick’s deep tones brought her out of her reverie.

  “Have you ever been swept up in something so completely insane that thought and consequence just flew out of the window?” She asked, and then caught herself doing it…

  Look who I’m asking… Getting more than a grunt out of a metrosexual man was like getting blood from a stone, and I’m expecting Mr Neanderthal to have all the answers…?

  Ha!

  Mr Growly Bear…

  “Of course. Most things seem like a good idea when we’re doing them, but when we look back we realise that maybe we should have stopped and thought harder about it – should have looked at it from all of the angles. That’s what regret is for, but we’re only human – we all make mistakes. What counts is what we do about them before it’s too late.”

  Kristy just stared back at him in something close to shock…

  Whoa! Really? He has a brain to go with that smile and that sinfully hot body…

  And he talks… Like… talks…

  Who’d have thought it?

  Kristy snapped out of it with a small shake of her head. If things looked too good to be true then this guy was at the top of that list…

  “Right.” She nodded thoughtfully, Noting the fact that she sounded like a guy now… oh, how the tables had been turned.

  “You know, as the alpha of the clan, I get to hear and sort out a lot of people’s problems – if you wanna dish it out on a plate – I can listen…?” Nick offered. He thought he knew what her problem was and it was more than likely him…

  So did that make his offer underhanded?

  Did he mean to make her confront her feelings?

  Was he trying to woo her?

  He didn’t have the answers to those questions because he didn’t want to consider that he’d stick the knife into Jackson’s back like that for his own gain…

  He had honour… it was just so damn tempting to woo his mate…

  He’d had her in his arms and he wanted more than anything to keep her there. Was that wrong? Did it make him a bad person?

  It felt as if life was shifting around him, and he wasn’t sure that he liked it.

  “You’re Jackson’s friend.” She blurted out, and then looked like a startled doe. She knew she’d said too much.

  “I think saving your life makes us something too.” Nick gave her honesty – just in a roundabout kind of way.

  “Doesn’t that mean that I owe you a life?” Kristy remembered Jackson telling her that.

  Nick smiled. He couldn’t help it.

  She was right, she owed him a life. That sort of made them some kind of a weird love triangle…

  He didn’t like that idea. It meant sharing, and he didn’t share, especially not her. Not his mate.

  “I won’t hold you to it.” Nick folded his big thick arms across that broad muscled chest and she couldn’t help but take him in with her eyes and her womb…

  He was eye candy of the very best kind, and she felt decidedly hungry.

  “Why not?” Kristy asked, dragging her eyes up his body to his face. There was something of a knowing grin on those lips, in those dark eyes, but it was the hungry growl that made her ears prick up.

  “Because you’re female.” He lied, well, it was a half truth.

  “And what? That makes me less of a person in your eyes?” She tossed a hand up onto her hip and looked like something of a petulant cub.

  Nick bit down on a grin and looked anywhere but at her so as not to laugh. He liked that she was in his clothes, but he’d like it a lot better if she was out of them.

  “That’s funny to you?” She demanded.

  “I’m not sure what you’ve got lodge in that head of yours about shifter folk, but whatever you’ve heard – what you think you know, sweetheart, you need to think again.” Nick informed her, pushing off from the wall with his backside, as he dropped his arms to his sides and stalked into the wide open space of the living room…

  Kristy stood there for a long moment with a frown on her face as she tried to revisit that part of their conversation. He’d laughed – how was she in the wrong there? She stalked in after him and found him over at the open plan kitchen stirring something that smelled wonderful…

  “What just happened?” Kristy asked.

  “You got the wrong end of the stick.” Nick offered without looking up.

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

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  “I did, did I?” Kristy didn’t look too impressed.

  Nick started on a slow walk towards her. She didn’t come with fur, fangs and claws, but she certainly had animal magnetism. At least, it was drawing his animal right in.

  Kristy eyed him up and down, planted her feet, and assumed the position of a woman close to the edge. She’d stand up to him. He didn’t scare her – the only way he’d do that was if he unleashed his beast, either in the fur or his fangs came out to play…

  Then she might just think twice and head for the door – if there was time.

  “Yes, you did.” Nick had a playful look about him now. His eyes were dark, but there was a smirk on his lips that drew her in.

  “Go on then, tell me how I’m wrong.” She tried for a little sneer, but it didn’t come off, she was just too intent on the way her body felt as he came towards her… she could almost see the predator in his stance, and hell fire, but she liked it.

  “You assume I laughed at your attempt to paint me as misogynistic asshole, which, let’s face it – I probably am in a lot of ways…”

  “Do tell.” This time she managed a little sneer, but that man was getting closer and closer, and it was getting hotter and hotter in that room, and she was trying not to lift her hand and fan herself like a menopausal woman with a hot flash.

  “I la
ughed because you – standing there in my clothes – you look so damn funny when you’re trying to be angry at me that, baby, it just doesn’t come off.” Nick grinned, and it was the sexiest damn grin that she’d ever seen in her life.

  It was the third time that she could think of that he’d called her a pet name. Maybe shifters did that to complete strangers, maybe they just talked like that… but it did something to her mind and body that all of Jackson’s sweet words couldn’t. It set it on fire with desire.

  She was already imagining being in those strong muscled arms of his, naked, skin to skin, and hearing those words from his lips. She could easily imagine what came next because she was living it within her mind, and her body was getting so very hot at the thought that she’d even consider running outside and burying herself in a snowbank.

  “I don’t think I like you very much.” She tried for aloof. She even tried to raise her chin and look down on him, which wasn’t at all easy to do when you were a good foot lower in height… but that didn’t come off either.

  “I think you like me just fine.” He stopped in front of her – those dark eyes piercing her very soul – at least that was how it felt when her body was reacting to him like he was the man of her damn dreams or something.

  “You just have an over inflated sense of worth.” She tried to make her feet move, and she managed to get her body to half turn as if she was going to attempt to walk away from him, but his long, thick fingers curled around the naked skin of her wrist and felt so hot to the touch that she was in danger of melting…

  She turned back. Her feet were practically superglued to the floorboards…

  “I think…” His eyes narrowed a little and she found herself mesmerised by him, by those dark eyes trying to see into her very soul. “I think, maybe you’d like to get to know me a whole lot better.”

  His voice was deep and low, and there was that element of a rumble to it that thrilled her mind, body, and soul. Her breath got caught in her throat at the sound of him calling her on how she was feeling – knowing how she was feeling – and heat burned her cheeks as her mind scrambled for answers.