Hunt (The Grizzly Brothers Chronicles Book 1) (10 page)

I
was crazy
. Completely crazy. Either that or I was on a drug I hadn’t realized I’d taken. Or stuck in a particularly vivid dream. I couldn’t stay away from him. I couldn’t turn around. And I couldn’t think of any other guys—not in that way at least. I’d really gone off the deep end.

The kiss had been even more intense this time, and as the others it hadn’t been one sided. And the touch. The feel of his hand on my breast. It had been pure pleasure. If he’d gotten that reaction out of me from such a small touch I couldn’t imagine what other things would feel like. A chill ran through me as I pictured all the things I wanted him to do.

I should have been watching where we were going. I should have kept an eye on the path he was blazing through the woods. That would have been the smart thing to do. Instead I was picturing his hands roaming over my body and the sensation of sleeping in his arms— without clothes this time. But that couldn’t happen. I might have been in some daze, but that didn’t mean I was going to sleep with the guy. I’d share my camping trip with him, but I wouldn’t be sharing my tent. Or at least I wouldn’t be sharing my sleeping bag. It would be mean to make him sleep outside, at least that’s how I rationalized it to myself.

I shook away thoughts of Ian and focused instead on the gorgeous scenery all around us. Everything was so vivid here. The sky was the bluest I’d ever seen, and we were surrounded by thick foliage on every side. The trees appeared both impossibly tall and impossibly green.

“Are you getting tired?” He asked two hours into our way more intense hike. I’d been taking a slow and gradual climb, but his route went straight up the mountain.

My knees screamed at me, but I wasn’t going to let him know that. “I’m fine.”

“Are you sure?” He stopped. “I don’t mind carrying you.”

“I don’t need to be carried.”

“What about want? I get that you can technically keep going, but would you like to be carried?”

“No,” I answered immediately. “Not a chance.”

“Why not?”

“Because I’m not weak.”

“What does weakness have to do with letting me carry you?” His brow furrowed.

“Everything. Strong people don’t need to be carried.”

“Yes they do.”

“When’s the last time someone carried you?” I figured that question would stump him.

“It’s happened.”

“I doubt that, but I am doing just fine.”

“You’d be really annoyed at me if I picked you up right now, huh?” He grinned.

“Very.”

“Real annoyed, or your hot and sexy annoyed?”

“I don’t have a hot and sexy annoyed.”

“Oh, yes you do.” He grinned even bigger.

“No.” I crossed my arms over my chest.

“You have it right now.”

“No.” I scowled.

“And there you go begging me to kiss you again.”

“I am not!” I stepped away from him. “Where do you come up with this stuff?”

“You want me to kiss you.”

“Nope.” I shook my head.

“Yes.” He stepped closer. And it was as if I were frozen in place. “You want my lips on yours.”

“Dream on.”

“So if I kissed you right now you’d push me away? Stop me?”

“Probably.” I tried to sound confident about my answer.

“Probably?” He laughed. “That doesn’t sound so convincing.”

“It’s meant to be convincing.”

“I want to get something straight. I’m never going to push anything on you. Anything. Well, unless it involves your safety or you running away from me again. If you tell me you don’t want me to kiss you or touch you, I’ll take your words for what they are. But that doesn’t mean I’m not going to ask you what you want enough times that I get the answer that will make us both happy.” He stepped closer again, his lips mere inches away from mine.

“And what answer is that?” My head spun from his closeness.

“Do you want me to kiss you?”

I nodded without knowing what I was doing.

“Is that a yes?” His lips brushed against mine in a tease.

“Yes,” I whispered the word while I fisted my hand to avoid reaching out for him.

“That’s what you really want? You want me to kiss you?” He brushed his lips against mine again.

“Yes.” This time my hands reached out for him on their own accord, pulling him close to me.

“Then why didn’t you just ask me to?” He smiled before pressing his lips against mine.

I opened up to him, taking in his taste as if it were oxygen. He backed me up against a large tree, trapping me between the rough bark of the tree and a different kind of hardness pressed against me.

He broke the kiss. “Do you want me to step away? Give you space?” He ran his lips over my neck.

I closed my eyes, searching for a way out of the daze, but I didn’t want to leave the bliss, and I gave up easily. “No. Stay.”

“Then what do you want?”

“This.” I slipped my finger through his belt loop and pulled him closer.

“What else?”

“This.” I pulled off his t-shirt, determined to let my eyes see the bare chest I’d already had the pleasure of feeling.

He didn’t disappoint. I ran my hand down his chest.

“And then the question is whether we’re playing fair.” His eyes twinkled.

“Playing fair?” I continued to explore his exposed skin. I was positive he didn’t mind.

“Do I get to do the same thing to you?”

“Yes.” I surprised myself with the swiftness of my response. I glanced over my shoulder even though I knew there was no one else around for miles. Even the trail had been empty. A stray thought flitted through my mind of whether that was his reason for choosing the new path, but I found I didn’t care. I felt completely safe with Ian, and I didn’t want to leave.

“Now that’s a great answer to hear.” He pulled off my t-shirt and tossed it to the ground on top of his shirt.

I removed my hand from his chest so I could cover myself. He watched me with such an intensity I felt exposed.

“Mara?” He said my name gently.

“Yes?”

“Is there a reason you’re blocking my view?”

I thought about it. “Not really.”

“Then would you mind giving it back to me?” His words were light, but his eyes were heated.

I did something crazy. Something I’d normally never do. I always let the guy set the pace. To undress me. To make all the decisions when it came to intimacy. But not this time. I reached around and unclasped my bra. I let it hang for a second while Ian met my eyes. They were filled with an excitement and curiosity. I dropped my bra onto the pile of shirts and closed my eyes. I may have been brave enough to shed my bra, but that didn’t mean I was brave enough to watch his response.

He didn’t keep me waiting. He simultaneously took one of my breasts in his mouth while he took the other in his hand.

I kept my eyes clenched shut while I enjoyed the pleasure his mouth and hand were giving me.

He removed his mouth. “Open your eyes.”

I listened and found his face inches from mine. “I didn’t know such beauty existed.”

I wasn’t sure what to say. I just stared back.

“I want to see all of you.” He rubbed my back gently. His arm was separating my bare back from the rough bark of the tree.

“Here?”

“Now.”

I considered saying no and continuing on with the hike, but I didn’t want to. Instead my hands went to my boots. If I was getting naked, I was taking them off. I wasn’t giving him a weird first image of me without my clothes on. Once my boots were off I moved to the button of my jeans. Then I stopped. “Wait. You first.”

“Me first? Are you giving me a test?”

It took me a moment to catch the meaning in his words. “Not a test.”

“I have no problem going first.” He unbuttoned his jeans and stepped out of them revealing himself before I had the chance to chicken out and change my mind.

I made myself look. “You’re not wearing underwear.”

“I’m not.” He grinned.

“I am.”

“I figured as much.” His words were light and casual as if he weren’t standing there buck naked in front of me.

If I didn’t already know he was aroused I knew it now. I also knew he was huge. “I’m not having sex with you right now.”

“Right now?” He smiled. “That implies you plan to have it with me at a later time, so I’m going to take that as a very good thing.”

“I guess it’s my turn.”

“I’d like that, but totally your choice. You’ve been more than fair already.” He rubbed the back of his neck.

“This is silly. We’re not kids playing I’ll show you mine if you show me yours.”

“What’s silly about it?” He took a small step toward me. “We’re getting to know each other.”

“Getting to know each other by stripping in the woods?”

“Is there a better place to be doing it? I happen to prefer the outdoors to a bedroom.”

A thrill spread through me. “Just remember my doing this doesn’t mean sex.”

“I got it.” He smiled.

I slipped out of my jeans and underwear and waited a full ten seconds before I could meet his eyes.

“You’ve made your feelings on sex loud and clear, but does that also apply to touching you?” There was a struggle in his eyes, and I purposely kept my gaze at his eye level. Looking down would get me in a lot of trouble.

“No. No rules there.”

“Good.” He slipped his hand between my legs.

I tensed up.

“Do I make you nervous?” He left his hand where it was.

“Standing naked in the middle of the woods makes me nervous.”

“It’s just us here.” He took my hand in his free one. “Just you and me.”

I relaxed. “Just you and me.”

“Exactly.” He ran his lips over my neck while he slipped a few fingers inside of me.

I moaned and reached out to take him in my hand.

“You’re killing me, Mara.” His voice was husky.

“You stopped calling me babe and the other nicknames.” I surprised myself by managing to get words out.

“Because you asked me to.”

“Thank you.” I started to lose my balance, but he caught me, pulling my body flush against his.

“Thank you.” He grazed his teeth over my neck.

I moaned louder as he continued to run his lips up and down my neck.

“Am I allowed to change my mind?”

He removed his hand. “Yes.”

“I didn’t mean that.” I pushed his hand back to where it was to emphasize my next words. “I mean about not having sex.”

“Normally yes, but not this time.”

“Why not?” I dropped my hand from around him.

He groaned. “Because you seemed really big on that decision.” He kissed my breast lightly before picking up my underwear. “I did promise I’d try to be a gentleman.”

“You promise this isn’t because you don’t want me?” I hadn’t meant to speak my fear out loud, but I did. I’d gained weight since starting law school, and I wondered if it made me less desirable.

“Are you kidding me?’ He gestured down between his own legs. “Can you ask me that question with a straight face?”

“I never said you were pressuring me.”

“But I was using some unfair tools of influence.” He took the underwear from my hands and moved down to his knees. He lifted one of my legs to put my leg through the hole before moving on to the other. He slowly slipped them up my body. Getting dressed by a guy wasn’t supposed to be that sexy.

“Everything about you is an unfair tool of influence.” I allowed him to slip my bra back on.

He moved behind me and clasped it. “I feel the exact same way about you.”

“Is it bad that I don’t want to get you dressed?”

“I am perfectly capable of doing it myself.” He was still behind me, even though that part of the dressing process was done. He put his hands on my hips.

As much as I wanted to push back against him I didn’t. That would have been teasing. “I meant I enjoyed seeing you naked.”

“If you asked me to finish this hike naked I would.”

“Yeah, no.”

“Why not?”

“First it’s not going to be fun for you, and second it won’t be fun for me.” Not fun in the slightest.

“Why won’t it be fun for you?”

“Because it will just remind me of what I want and can’t have.”

“Oh, Mara.” He turned me around in his arms. “You can have exactly what you want, and you’re going to have it soon enough. I promise. And I can also promise it’s something you will be experiencing over and over again.” His words were velvety as they slipped off his tongue.

I kissed him. He responded for a moment, letting my tongue tangle with his before he abruptly stopped. “There’s a stream right near here. I’m going to need it.”

“Why?”

“Because otherwise I’m never getting these jeans on.”

I laughed. “Ok. Got it.”

I
wasn’t my brother
. Jonovan would have had her against a tree four times already. He wouldn’t have been trying to clear his head while dunking in cold water.

I wasn’t Jonovan, and I refused to ever be. Becoming Alpha didn’t mean I had to accept everything that came with it. I could fight off that part of my nature. I had Mara. She would be mine, and she’d let me have so much already. I could wait for the rest. It would be so much better for the waiting. I wanted to have her when she
needed
me. When she was unable to resist the pull. Until then I could hold myself back, but it wasn’t going to be easy.

I nearly undid all the good the cold water did as I started to think about her body. The swell of her breasts and the curve of her hips. We were going to fit perfectly together. I could hardly wait to experience the pleasure she had waiting for me. But I could wait. I was going to savor every moment and make sure she did the same.

“Ian?” She called out my name tentatively.

“Yes?” I turned around. Finally ready to see her again.

She was fully dressed, but now that I had seen her naked body, it was only that gorgeous view I was going to see anymore. “You got a text message. I know I probably shouldn’t have looked, but I heard it vibrate in your pants pocket.” She pointed to where my pants lay on a rock while keeping her eyes well above my waist.

“You did nothing wrong,” I assured her even though I worried about what kind of message she’d seen. Hopefully it wasn’t Tyler making a joke.

I walked out of the water and dried off as best I could before getting dressed. I needed to get my jeans on before I lost it again. I pulled out my phone. It was a text from a number that wasn’t in my phone anymore, but I knew exactly who’d sent it.
Meet me tonight at 8, old friend. You’ll get your answers.

“Don’t worry, we can go home anytime.” Mara waited a few feet away from me.

“No. It’s probably a wrong number.” I was positive it wasn’t, but I wasn’t giving up my chance to spend the night with Mara. She was more herself in the woods. She wasn’t fighting the pull. This could be my best chance to make her mine.

“It’s not a wrong number.”

“Why would anyone want to meet me?” I pulled on my t-shirt.

“I don’t know, but I think you’re hiding something.”

“I’m not.”

“You are. You’re hiding something, and I don’t like it. Let’s turn back.” She nodded in the direction we’d come from.

“Really? Now?” I stepped toward her.

“Nope.” She held up a hand in front of her. “None of that.”

“None of what?”

“Kissing, touching. That makes it impossible to say no, and I need to.”

“You’re not staying out here without me. I’m pulling the safety card.”

“Still?”

“Still. There are a lot of wild animals out here.”

“And your presence would protect me from wild animals?” She narrowed her eyes.

“I know a few tricks on how to handle them.” I couldn’t wait to tell her the truth about my second form, but I couldn’t yet.

“Then I’m fine going home.”

“But you wanted to camp.” She’d made that clear when she ran off in the middle of the night.

“There’s always next time.”

I knew she was right, and the meeting was important. I knew exactly who the text was from and what information she was providing. This was about Jonovan. “It’s happening. We are making this up another night.”

“Sure.” She reached for her backpack.

“Nope. I’ve got it again. And don’t start in. This has nothing to do with you being weak. Blame it on me being a gentleman.”

“Gentlemen don’t strip women naked in the woods.”

“If I recall you are the one who stripped yourself naked.”

“You took off my shirt.”

“I did. But you did the rest.” And it had been both incredible and completely unexpected.

She sighed. “Don’t remind me.”

“Are you okay?” I reached out for her.

“I can’t believe I did that.”

“We did that. I was only teasing.” I’d have to be careful with my teasing.

“Still.” She brushed her hair away from her neck.

“Do you actually regret it?” I hoped my gut was right and she didn’t.

“No.” She shook her head.

“Good.”

“Why is it good?”

“Because I never want you to have regrets with me.”

“I already have plenty.”

My anger flared. “What kind of regrets?”

“Ever meeting you.” She looked down.

“You wish you never met me?” I closed the space between us, pulling her into my arms. “You can’t mean that.”

She glanced back up. “Not for the reason you think.”

“Then what reason?” I demanded.

“Because now I know it’s going to be impossible to say goodbye.” The sadness returned to her eyes, and I was even more determined to discover who’d hurt her. They were going to regret it.

“It’s a good thing you’re not going to say goodbye then.” I brushed my lips against hers, leaving her with the slightest and sweetest kiss I could. It took all my resistance not to make it more. “Ready?”

“I’m ready.” She sighed, and I knew she was as disappointed by the change of plans as I was.