Bear in a Billion: EXPOSED (#1) (12 page)

“You’re hurt.”

“I’m okay.”

He pulled on his shorts.

“No, you’re bleeding.”

Ethan displayed the two spent bullets in his palm. “It’s a scratch. We shifters heal very quickly.”

“Are you sure you’re all right?”

“Yes.”

“Was that you?” Haley asked. “Was that your bear?”

“Yeah,” Ethan said. “Hope I didn’t scare you too badly.”

“What happened to that man?”

“I chased him out of here. Best thing you can do now is file a police report.”

“I didn’t leak the story about you,” Haley said. “I didn’t tell anyone.”

“I know,” Ethan replied. “I’m just sorry I brought all this drama your way. Those guys in the bandanas knew my foundation supported that protest. Now that they’ve found out I’m the shifter, too, they’re having a field day. Turns out they belong to an anarchist group. They disrupt legitimate protests, sometimes for money, sometimes just for the hell of it. They’ve probably had wifi sniffers outside my house all week looking for anything they could use against me. Once the cat was out of the bag, I thought I’d better swing by. Just in case they were on to you, too.”

Haley stared at Ethan sitting there, shirtless in his humble van.

He had saved her life.

Again.

He hadn’t known if she was the one who had revealed his identity. He hadn’t known if she had broken their agreement. All he had known was that she might be in trouble. And then he had taken a bullet. Two bullets. For her. Why couldn’t she forgive him? Why couldn’t she accept that some men might be different? Why was she so stubborn?

“They offered me a million dollars,” Haley said, holding the SD card in the air. “For this.”

“Is that all I’m worth?” Ethan laughed.

Haley handed him her SD card. “You can have it back.”

Ethan gave her a strange look as he finished tying up his shorts. “It’s yours. You worked for it.”

Haley looked into his clear blue eyes. She couldn’t believe things had things gone the way they had. How had something that had seemed so right gone so wrong? She regretted what had happened since she had found out about his bear. She regretted all of it. But she couldn’t take it back. What was done was done.

“No. Take it,” Haley said.

She laid the SD card down on the floor of the van.

And then she walked away.

What are you doing, Haley? Shut up. You know what you’re doing. You can’t trust him. But just look at him back there. So alone. So remorseful.

Haley didn’t look back. She wasn’t going to give in. Even though she felt like she was leaving behind the best thing in her life. Even though a terrible hollow had taken up residence deep in the pit of her stomach, what was done, was done. Too much had happened between her and Ethan. She couldn’t change it now. She walked back to the house where Katie and Laila stood outside the back door. They shook their heads, mouthing a word to her. What were they saying? They pointed behind her. Haley read their lips. Their mouths said. “Go back.”

Go back? Where? To the van? To Ethan? Were they nuts? Even though she wanted to, she couldn’t go back there. She just couldn’t.

“Hey, California.”

Haley’s heart leaped in spite of herself. She turned. Ethan held up a single white tulip.

“I forgot to give you this.”

Haley froze. She wanted to go to him. To run to him. But her legs wouldn’t move. She was stuck in place. Longing for him but unable to show it. Unable to act.

He strode toward her. She felt a tear coming. She couldn’t stop it. It was a tear of joy. How many more of them would have to fall? Just how stubborn was she? And then, in an instant, the log jam inside her heart broke. She was free. She ran to him and he ran to her. They touched. And he swept her off her feet. Haley didn’t know what she was feeling now. Embarrassment? Love? Stubbornness? All she knew was that she’d vowed not to forgive this man and here he was cradling her in his arms. Was it the ‘Hey, California?’ The tulip? Or was it the fact that he had just saved her life. For the second time. Haley didn’t know. But she let him lift her up. She let him brush his lips against hers. She let him take her away.

**********************

Somewhere between Ethan carrying her through the back door and her roommates heading out for a long walk, Haley found herself pinned up against the living room wall. Ethan hadn’t been kidding about shifters healing quickly. His wounds had already closed up. Haley wasn’t doing a lot of thinking now, not with her head at least. What she was doing was panting, aching, positively slick with need.

He wasn’t just some guy.

He was her bear.

And she intended to give him a second chance.

Ethan thrust his tongue into her mouth, firmly, unyielding, and she responded by meeting his tongue with hers. He tasted so good, every bit of him. The feeling as he explored her mouth was electric. It made her tingle everywhere. Especially down there. He moved down from her lips, dropping butterfly kisses down her neck.

“Can you forgive me?” Ethan asked. “Forgive me for not telling you who I am. What I am?”

“I want to.”

“You’re the one for me, Haley. I need you. My bear needs you. And if you give us a second chance, we will never ever let you down again.”

“But how can I trust you, Ethan?”

He looked into her eyes.

“There’s no easy answer. You just have to feel it. Feel my bear.”

Haley caught her breath. “You said bears claim their mates. That they mate for life.”

“We do.”

“You said that there’s no going back once a bear claims his mate.”

“There isn’t.”

“It’s forever?” Haley asked.

“Yes. It’s forever. When a bear marks his mate, there’s no way to break that bond. It’s not possible.”

“Then mark me.”

“Are you sure? I want you to be certain, before you commit to something like that.”

“Are you certain, Ethan?”

He looked at her, unwavering, with absolute commitment.

“Yes. I am.”

Haley’s heart swelled. “Then mark me,” she said. “Make me your mate.”

And Ethan reached for the neck of her blouse, ripping it open. She was left in her black lacy bra, but he ripped it in half, her heaving breasts waiting for him. Ethan immediately pressed into her and took her breast into his mouth. He sucked back the nipple, and Haley felt the tingle between her legs morph into a full blown jolt of electricity. He thrust himself against her, his hardness pressing into her abdomen, but he clearly didn’t want it there, because he reached down with one arm, placed his hand under her ass and lifted her up so that his cock rubbed against her clit.

Oh, my. That feels good.

She found herself grinding into him even as he sucked back her nipple, swirling his tongue around it. Haley laid her head back against the wood wall. She meant everything she had said. She was done being stubborn. He had saved her and now she wanted him to claim her. To make her his. There was no room in her life for petty confusion. Not anymore. She wanted the certainty of being Ethan’s mate. Forever. She felt him reach down with his other hand, sliding his fingers up beneath her skirt. Her thighs were dripping with her essence, and she didn’t care if he felt it. She just wanted him to touch her. She gasped as she felt his fingers slide under the fabric of her panties and inside of her.

Her moist entrance accepted his digits as she pressed into him. But she also reached down. She wanted to touch him, too. She slid her hand down his chest to the waist of his board shorts and found his slick tip waiting for her. She untied the drawstring and ran her hand down his wide shaft. Just the feel of it made her even wetter.

“Are you going to mark me now?”

He lifted his lips from her breast.

“First I need to taste you. To make sure you’re ready.”

“Need to or want to?”

“Let me lick your sweet honey and decide.”

Ethan’s other hand slid down her waist and under her ass, and a moment later, he had lifted her up and onto his shoulders, her back still against the knotty pine wall. He tore her panties off with a single swift movement and slid his hands up inside her inner thighs, splaying her thighs wide on his shoulders. Haley loved the way he lifted her as if she weighed nothing at all. She thrust her mound out to meet his face. She knew she was glistening, wet with her essence. He pushed his tongue inside her, licking all the way down her folds to her ass.

Claim me, she thought. Claim me now.

She felt his tongue licking around her hole and a jolt of pleasure erupted from her core.

Yes
.

He circled around it again. Was Ethan a surfer or a sage? Oh, yeah, he was a billionaire bear. But the things he could do. He moved his tongue upstream, swirling and licking between her folds until he reached his final destination. Her taut clit. She thrust her mound farther into his face, rubbing her entrance all over him. Her berry was engorged and ready. She wanted his tongue. She needed his tongue. And he gave to it her. He licked around her little tower of sensitive flesh once before sucking it back between his lips. Another jolt of pleasure hit Haley, shooting out of her like a lightning bolt. Ethan reached up with his hands, kneading her breasts, working her nipples between his fingers until she felt a sweet sting of pain. She shoved her pussy deeper into his face.

“Ethan,” she moaned.

He tugged her clit way back with his lips before letting it go. Another jolt of pleasure rocked her core. She gasped to get her breath back.

“I need to know something,” Haley said.

“Yeah?” Ethan growled.

“When you mark me, will it hurt?” she asked.

“Not if I do it right,” he said.

“Then do it right.”

“Now?” he asked.

“Yes. Now.”

He tugged her clit back with his lips once more. She felt the tension building inside her. That tension in her core. Pulses of electric pleasure whirled within her, ever growing, ever more powerful. Her clit pulsed between his lips, her pussy throbbing with desire. Ethan reached up with his thumb, and as she felt his sweet lips leave her clit, they brushed against the innermost portion of her upper thigh. Then, he put his thumb on her clit and simultaneously bit down on her thigh.

Haley went over the edge. The pulses of pleasure within her broke free and exploded outward just as his teeth sunk into her soft flesh. It was just a nip, not a bite, but still, she was sure that he had drawn blood. But it didn’t matter. It didn’t matter because she was now his. Her orgasm rocked outward. Wave upon wave traveled out from deep within her to her extremities. She opened her thighs, pushing his head from her pussy.

“Fuck me,” she said. “Fuck me like I’m your mate.”

“You are my mate,” Ethan growled.

He grasped her hips and lifted her off his shoulders, depositing her on the couch. Haley gripped the back of the sofa and splayed her legs, thrusting her ass out. He’d already marked her and now she wanted his perfect cock. She wanted him inside her at just the right angle. She grabbed the back of the couch, fisting the cushions in her hands, thrusting her ass out just a little more. Waiting for him…

“You’re mine, Haley. You’re mine and that means we’ll never be apart again. There is no more me and you. There’s just us.”

She felt his fingers sliding up her warm crease, making sure she was ready. Haley took a breath and…

“Oh, baby,” Ethan growled.

He took her by the hips and propelled himself inside of her. Haley inhaled sharply. Her orgasm had barely subsided and his bare cock was already inching its way up inside of her, her tight channel sucking him up. He went slow at first, giving her a chance to adjust to his size, but when he bottomed out, she knew what she wanted. She thrust herself back toward him.

“Harder, baby.”

He pulled out all the way, leaving her pussy empty behind him, and then thrust in again. She met him halfway with a satisfying slap and he thrust into her again.

“Yes,” Haley moaned. “Get my spot.”

She felt him reach under her, toying with her clit.

Yes. That was good, that was what she needed.

Slap!
She felt a sting as he spanked her on the ass. She thrust her ass out.

“More.”

His palm came down hard on her ass again as he thrust inside her.

“More,” she whimpered.

He thrust inside her again.

“Again.”

Haley felt her inner ball of fire grow and grow, burning hotter and brighter. She was getting close. So close. And she felt Ethan slide his hands up her hips, over her folds and under her breasts. He cupped them tightly, bringing his broad chest down against her back. She felt his stubble on her neck, his breath in her ear.

“You can trust me, I mean that. All you need to do is let go.”

She felt his lips on her neck.

“But you already marked me,” she said.