Bear, p.10
Bear, page 10
“Why would I? Brody’s right here.”
Xan sighed. “You’re hopeless, girl. He’s right there because he wants to protect you, and you’re avoiding him because you want his wiener.”
“Oh, my God, I’m not talking about his wiener right now. Someone is hiding in the bushes, probably with a chainsaw knife.”
“There’s no such thing as a chainsaw knife.”
“You obviously don’t watch infomercials,” Roxie mutters. “Should I go to the kitchen and get something stabby?”
“Where are you right now?”
“Hiding in front of the couch on the floor like a scaredy cat.”
“Just stay put.”
Xan chatted about Xander’s improved sleeping habits, his appetite, and her raw nipples, and Roxie knew her friend was doing it to distract her.
“Since the boys are staying over at Brian’s house, you wanna sleep here? I can put Scott’s old SpongeBob SquarePants sheets on his bed for you. I think he has a regular set that’s clean I can switch out, but the stains on them are a little stretchy if you know what I mean.”
Yes, yes, she did, but she couldn’t even chuckle. “No, I’ll be fine.” It was a lie. She would probably spend the night hiding under the covers with the knife she would eventually get the courage to get up and retrieve.
No way would she crash Xan’s on a night her teenager was gone, stealing the much-needed quality time she’d have with her husband. Roxie hoped she hadn’t interrupted any hanky-panky time when she’d called.
The squeaking of the front door opening sounded. “All clear, little momma,” Teddy said.
Roxie sighed, hating the relief she felt at his voice. No, it was the words, not the person who’d said them. She stood and draped the blanket over the back of the couch.
“Brody’s back,” Xan said.
“Yeah, Teddy just talked in. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”
Roxie ended the call and dropped it on the table. “Sorry he bothered you,” she said to Teddy.
Teddy shut the door and locked it…with him still inside. She mentally batted away memories of the last time he’d closed them up alone in her house.
“That’s what I’m here for, babe. You should’ve called me.” He walked toward her. No, stalked was more accurate.
She lifted her proud head. “I did what I would’ve done had you not been here.”
“But now, you have a fiancé.” He smirked.
“My ass, I do.”
When he got closer to her, he dropped a bag that she just now noticed had been strapped over his arm. He watched her, not saying anything, his gaze a silent challenge.
“What’s that?”
“My overnight bag.”
“What’s it doing in here?” But she knew. She knew what he was going to say before the words drifted out of his mouth.
“Because I’m staying inside.”
Roxie shoved him away and paced. “Oh, hell no.”
“We didn’t find anybody outside. Doesn’t mean someone wasn’t out there, babe. I called Roc since he’s watching the street tonight. He didn’t see anything, but Heather was with him.” Teddy frowned, but it almost seemed as if he wanted to smile despite himself. “They’re still making up from their fight.”
Which meant someone could’ve slipped by him while Heather had been playing with his dick.
She ran a hand through her messy curls and tucked the ones in front behind her ear. This was a mess. Teddy couldn’t sleep inside the house, but by the way he stood and how he looked—freaking determined—she knew she wasn’t going to win. It was time to pick her battles with this man.
“Fine. You can sleep on the couch.” She walked down the hall to retrieve a pillow and blanket. When she walked to the couch with her burden, the air locked in her lungs. “What are you doing?”
Teddy looked up from unbuttoning his flannel. “Getting ready for bed.” He kept his gaze on her as he finished. Then he slowly let it drop from his brawny arms.
Lord have mercy. The Henley he had underneath was molded to his muscles. She clearly saw his pecs through the material, and she was jealous of all that cotton rubbing against him.
Oh, now he pulled that off, too, and she almost swallowed her tongue. He reached for the button on his jeans, and she threw the blanket and pillow at him like she didn’t have the sense God gave a goose. “Good night,” she squealed and made a mad dash for her bedroom, slamming the door behind her. Jeez, what was her problem?
That sexy as sin man in the house, that was what.
Her hormones were rioting, and her brain was having a hard time yanking those needy little bitches in line.
She wasn’t ready to face him when her door flew open, knocking into the wall on the other side. He stood there with a heart-stopping smile.
“Um, do you need something?” she asked, digging deep for her inner hostess. She could do this. Her only experience was with burgers and wieners. Gah, Wieners? Don’t look at his junk. Good gravy, why did she do this to herself?
“You left without giving me a goodnight kiss.”
He walked toward her, and she was frozen in the spot by her bed. He slipped his fingers into her hair and tugged her close. She felt his naked thighs against her legs, and her hands landed on his chest. “No kissing.” If she had to pick her battles, so did he.
She would not. Could not kiss this man. She knew herself too well. His mouth on hers was a pathway to heartache.
Teddy’s jaw ticked as the heat in his eyes flared. He clearly wasn’t happy about not getting his way, and with the smoldering look he gave her, she was having a really hard time not smashing her lips against his. He came even closer, brushing those plump lips against her ear.
“You have any other hard limits?”
She shivered at the feel of his breath. “I mean, I’m not into freaky stuff.”
“Like what?” He trailed his lips down her neck and sucked on the tender skin where it met her shoulder.
Roxie moaned. “Um…I don’t know…I mean.” What was she saying? Oh, right what wouldn’t she allow in the bedroom? Right now, she couldn’t think of a damn thing she wouldn’t let this man do to her. When his hand slipped up her shirt and cupped her breast, no way could she concentrate on anything but his touch.
“Can I kiss you here?” he asked as he pinched her nipple.
Her head fell back, and the sound she made hopefully came out as a, “Yes.”
Teddy gripped her tee and pulled it over her head. She gasped when he gripped her hips and tossed her on the bed. She opened her mouth to ask him what he was doing, but it became pretty dang obvious when he landed on top of her and sucked her nipple into his mouth.
“Teddy,” she whispered as she grabbed his gloriously bald head. His beard scratching her delicate skin caused tingles to erupt along her abdomen. He licked a path to her other boob and scraped his teeth along her nipple. She gasped, arching her back, needing more.
“I know what you love,” he murmured and then bit the part of her he’d just toyed with.
A cry of passion ripped through her throat.
Teddy groaned and shoved his hands between them, grabbing the waistband of her pajama shorts and pulling them off, panties and all. Now, she was completely naked, and he was only in his boxer briefs. He rose, grabbed her hips, and flipped her over so fast she had to splay out her arms to keep from rolling like a tumbleweed.
“What’re you doing?” He grabbed her ass and squeezed the mounds. “Jesus.”
“Testing your limits.”
“Huh?” He let go of her, and she wanted to pout at the loss. She arched her back, seeking out his warmth, but then a slap sounded right before fire bloomed on her left butt cheek. “Teddy!”
He’d just spanked her? She reached back to rub her smarting flesh. He grabbed her wrist before she reached it and pinned her down. He swatted her two more times. “This is for not calling me when you needed me.”
“I told you—Ow.”
“I know what you said, little momma, but next time you need something, you’re gonna come to me. You got that?” His palm landed again.
“I’d jerk you bald if you weren’t already.” All the panting she was doing totally weakened her threat.
“Hmm…I think you like this. Does me tanning your hide make you want my cock?”
Everything made her want that. He massaged her burning flesh, and she moaned like a dog in heat.
Teddy groaned and slipped his fingers between her legs. “Damn, babe, you’re so fucking wet. I wanna fuck you so hard, you’ll feel me for a week.”
Those words. Those words he’d told her the night they’d first had sex…the only time they’d had sex…were like a match to her gasoline-fueled libido. She clenched around his fingers, needing him, wanting him like she’d dreamed. Like she remembered.
“Oh, you like that, don’t you? You want me to pound this pussy so good.”
“Fuck, yes.”
She felt him shift and get off the bed. She looked to the side, worried that he was leaving. She needn’t have. He stood there gloriously naked, rolling on a condom.
“On your knees.” The dark order had her instantly obeying as he climbed behind her, this time placing himself between her legs.
The blunt head of his dick rubbed along her slit, and the breaths Teddy took sounded strained. She was having a hard time not begging him to slam it inside. Years. She’d waited years to feel him again, and now that it was moments from happening, she was desperate to feel him inside her.
She moaned and lifted her ass up higher as he pushed into her.
“Fuuuck, so tight. I knew you’d feel just like this.”
He knew because this wasn’t their first time. Somewhere deep inside he knew the truth.
Or he’s known all along.
She shut that thought down. She couldn’t think about that right now. Not when he was filling her up so good.
The moment he bottomed out, he scooped her up, her back against his chest. He kept one arm wrapped around her and squeezed her breast as he thrust up into her. Roxie gasped at how deep he could get at this angle.
“That’s it, milk my cock.” He grabbed her hair and tilted her head. “You like me fucking you, don’t you?”
“Yes,” she said. Hell, she probably chanted it.
His wet, hot breath bathed her ear. “You like it from behind like this?”
She nodded.
“Use your words.”
“Yes.”
“Good girl. Now, tell me why I can’t kiss your mouth? Fuck, you probably taste like strawberries.”
Roxie’s hips stilled their grinding. “Uh…” He could. Fuck, his tongue could move into her mouth if it wanted. Right now, he could kiss the crap out of her, and she’d beg for more.
Teddy peppered soft kisses along her shoulder. “Answer me, sweetness.” He slowly rocked his hips, and her head fell back against his shoulder on a groan.
“Just can’t.” There was no way she could explain it right now. She wasn’t entirely sold on her logic when she didn’t have his dick inside her. “Please, just give it to me.”
“Always,” he breathed. “But if I can’t kiss you, this is the only way you can have it.”
His arm locked around her again, and he fucked her. Words tumbled out of his mouth as he drove her up to the heights of ecstasy and kept her balanced there. Hot, filthy words she wanted to drown in. He’d talked some the last time they’d had sex, but not like this. No, drunk Teddy was seduction.
Sober Teddy was downright naughty.
He licked her, bit her, told her just how good she felt and everything he wanted to do to her.
When sweat coated her body, causing his arm to slide a little on her tummy, he fisted her hair again instead to keep her upright and guided his other hand to her clit.
“These. Fucking. Curls.” He punctuated each word with a thrust. She didn’t know if he was talking about the ones on her head or the ones between her legs since he was currently touching both.
His finger grazed her clit, and she was done for. “Yes, Teddy. Right there. Right there.” His touch wasn’t too hard, almost teasingly light, as he rubbed it quickly. She was torn between chasing his finger and meeting him thrust-for-thrust, but in the end, it didn’t matter. He mastered her completely.
“That’s it. Let me have it, baby,” he breathed in her ear, and the combination of his words, touch, and monster cock finally set her off. She screamed incoherently as he fucked her through the most intense orgasm of her life.
“God, so fucking beautiful. So fucking mine.”
He barely gave her time to recover from the high before he pushed her down onto the bed, gripping her shoulders, and plowed her into the mattress. She screamed into the covers as another orgasm detonated.
“Oh, shit. I don’t wanna stop,” Teddy said, but he lost the intense rhythm of his thrusting. They turned shallow. “Fuck. Fuck. Fuuuck.” He roared as his movements turned jerky and then stilled. He dropped his palms on either side of her shoulders, his breath flying from his lungs and ruffling her hair. “Jesus.” After a few more breaths, he dropped a kiss on the side of her neck left exposed. “Are you okay?”
She nodded, not sure if she trusted her voice.
“You gonna tell me why I can’t kiss you?”
She shook her head, knowing for sure she couldn’t talk right this second. Her throat was closing up.
He sighed and eased back. “Gotta take care of the condom. Be back in a sec’.”
As soon as he disappeared, she rolled over and reached for her tee, ignoring the delicious aches in her long untried body. Jeez, why did she feel like crying? It was just sex.
After she tugged it on, Teddy walked back in, but she had trouble meeting his gaze. In her peripheral view, she watched him pick up his underwear and put them on.
He leaned over and gently stroked her hair as he planted a kiss on her temple, his lips lingering as he spoke. “Sweet dreams, little momma.”
As he walked out of her bedroom, she rolled over, her gaze catching on the window blind.
She should never have been scared of unknown monsters in the shadows. It was the one closest to her that terrified her the most.
Chapter Fourteen
Bear walked into the shop and eyed the work that’d been done so far. The repairs were still ahead of schedule, which was a break they desperately needed. With the work they’d rescheduled, and the clients booked for the spring after Blade’s wedding, Heather had timed it just right for the new recruits to start. So far, everything had gone off like clockwork. It was nice to have something go right in Bear’s life. Sometimes things just really worked out, and other times nothing turned out right.
Like Roxie.
He sure as hell screwed up with her several weeks ago.
After the scare she’d had on Halloween night, his protective side had roared to life. He and Brody hadn’t found any signs of an intruder, but it hadn’t stopped Bear from needing to touch her to ensure she was safe. Like an addict needing a fix, he hadn’t been able to stop at just one caress. Before the night was through, he’d been balls deep in her. He’d never in his life felt anything more right than having her in his arms, hearing her scream his name, feeling her coming apart. Even through her sass, she’d been right there with him, yet she hadn’t let him kiss her.
What was up with that?
It didn’t make any sense. The more she had denied him, the more he’d craved to taste her lips, and that gnawing need hadn’t ended the next morning when she’d kicked him out of her house.
Yep, he was back in the camper, and she was more stand-offish than ever before. She’d tried her damnedest to get him to leave her property altogether, muttering something about being surprised he even remembered what they’d done, but he’d shut that down, flat out refusing to go back home. One of the things that he liked so much about her was her stubbornness—her sassiness—but that didn’t mean she’d always get her way. Especially not when it came to the safety of her and her son.
If she was MIA, her son had practically moved into the camper with him. Chad spent his evenings in the yard, going over drills with Bear. It’d been a long time since he’d run those plays, but he didn’t need to be perfect at them to coach the kid. When they weren’t tossing the pigskin, they were reviewing hours of game footage to select Chad’s best clips for the scout.
Bear had also made some calls to the athletic department and Cliff Jenkins’ office to discuss his fiancée’s son and his collegiate goals. They didn’t have to know she’d refused to marry him. If his connection to the school helped get Chad’s foot in the door, that was all that mattered.
Hunter clapped him on the back. “Gauge said Oz is on his way over.”
Pinching the bridge of his nose, Bear said, “Great.”
“He’s the sheriff now. Nothing wrong with getting on his good side.”
“I just don’t want this to turn into another political nightmare.” Their relationship with the feds hadn’t been the same since they’d secretly investigated Blade. They’d allowed the feds to help them with their investigations some, but the Bang Shift hadn’t taken another federal contract since. It’d take a long time to build back that trust.
“That’s why we gotta get ahead of it.”
Bear whistled and motioned for the others to follow him into the conference room. Once inside, they all gathered around the large table.
“Let’s get some of the other stuff outta the way before the sheriff gets here.”
Gauge chuckled. “Is it bad I picture my brother running around with a plastic badge and a toy six-shooter, pretending to catch bad guys?”
Axle nudged Gauge’s shoulder. “Is it bad that I’ve seen him do that one drunken night?”
A few of the guys snickered, but Bear wasn’t in the mood. “Where are we on the land acquisition?”
Roc tapped the table. “Met with the real estate attorney this morning. Closing is scheduled for next week.”
“Good.” He turned to Gauge, who was typing away on his laptop. “Did you finalize some floorplans for us to decide on?”
