Mountain Men II: Primal Hunger (4 page)

Once they reached the launch point,
everyone took a short break to hydrate and prepare for the next leg
of adventure. Bain couldn’t help but stare at Maura when she threw
her head back to take deep gulps of cold water. His gaze followed a
few errant beads of sweat as they trailed down her shapely throat
and disappeared under the neckline of her bathing suit top. Those
little droplets were suddenly the most interesting thing in the
world to him.

A few of these precious drops
disappeared in the shadow between her breasts and he felt himself
growing hard. He tried not to imagine following those wet rivulets
with his tongue. When she propped her knee up and rested her
forearm on it, a bead ran down her thigh and into her shorts. He
became uncomfortably hard. Turning away to give himself a moment to
get control over his body, he tried to focus on any and every other
member of their small group.

The journey itself went well. They
were able to spot a few wildlife specimens along the trip, few fell
in, and no one got hurt. He considered it a success. The other
reason he was particularly pleased with this outing was because,
bringing up the rear, he was able to let his gaze constantly wander
back to Maura without her being the wiser.

She never flagged or faltered. She
just kept paddling with the best of them. He was struck again with
the level of focus and determination she possessed. He could
relate. Few knew better than him how life would attempt to beat you
into submission and sometimes the strength of your will was all you
had to keep going. He was both proud of her and perplexed at what
life had thrown at her to develop such a force of will in her. One
certainly didn’t get that kind of strength without
adversity.

Bain’s brow knitted in a frown.
Thinking of the kind of difficulties Maura might have faced alone
to develop such an independent spirit did not sit well with him. It
made his bear very angry and he felt a tingle in his canines
indicating a shift in species if he wasn’t careful. He hadn’t had
trouble with uncontrolled shifting since he hit puberty. Thoughts
of Maura did that to him. He was becoming more and more convinced
that Maura would be playing a very significant role in his
future.

He couldn’t say he was
disappointed. If she was indeed his mate, as he suspected she was,
he couldn’t have done better if he had created her himself. She was
sweet, caring, brave, and strong. Her body was put together
perfectly, padded and curved in all the places that made him pant.
She was soft and sweet but fiercely determined at the same time. He
wanted to sink into her softness and breathe her soft vanilla and
honey scent and let it wash over all his senses. Just lose himself
in her.

Her eyes met his briefly and he was
sure he saw a flash of longing in them before she turned away. Bain
vowed then to fan that flame of desire to an inferno big enough to
engulf both of them. She called to both the man and the bear in him
like no other. He wanted to see that look of longing magnified and
glowing from her eyes as her hair tumbled around her in a mass of
post coital curls. He planned on seeing a lot of that look in the
future. He could easily see them in a future together. In fact, he
was becoming increasingly determined to make sure she stuck around
long enough to make a future together here.

* * * *

Maura couldn't shake the sensation
that she was being watched. She had felt Bain and Gavin looking at
her periodically during the trip this morning, because she couldn’t
stop sneaking looks at them, as well, but this felt different. When
she felt Gavin or Bain’s gaze on her, it made her feel hot and
tingly. This felt prickly and invasive. She didn't like it at all.
Casting furtive glances around during the duration of the journey
failed to reveal anyone looking oddly at her. She only occasionally
met intense looks from Gavin and Bain.

Maybe the mountain air
really
was
affecting her brain?

It certainly was affecting her
appetite. She made her way to the kitchen for a small snack before
lunch. She reached for a bowl of chopped fruit at the same time
someone else did and bumped hands. Her startled gaze flew to meet
Gavin 's.

Why must she keep running into
these two men in the most awkward of ways?

Although they looked like polar
opposites, Maura could see some similarities between some of the
mannerisms in both Gavin and Bain. They must have been working
together for a long, long time. The way they worked together spoke
of an almost instinctive anticipation of the other. It was almost
like watching twins.

He smiled a devastatingly charming
smile that made her flush. He tilted his head slightly and his grin
widened.

“
Have you enjoyed yourself
today?”

His voice was a caress across her
breasts and she hoped he wouldn’t notice her nipples hardening when
she heard it. The way he said it made her wonder briefly if he
meant the canoeing or the many times he caught her looking at
him.

“
Yes.”

Maura inwardly winced when her
voice came out more raspy than she intended. She could almost swear
she saw his ears twitch when she spoke. His eyes seemed to be
looking
into
her
rather than
at
her, much the same way Bain looked at her. It was unnerving
and deeply exciting at the same time.

Gavin peered at her fixedly for a
moment longer before excusing himself and telling her he would see
her for yoga in the afternoon. She watched him walk out of the room
and didn’t quite know what to think.

What the hell just
happened?
Did
something just happen?

Gavin took deep breaths, willing
his canines back into his gums. He was appalled at himself. He had
not involuntarily shifted since Antoinette’s death. His mouth still
watered as he continued to fight the irrational impulse he felt to
mark her. He refused to think too deeply about what that meant and
concentrated solely on getting control of his lion.

Gavin took that opportunity to
escape to his room and change. He readied himself for the back to
back yoga lessons he had that afternoon and welcomed the
distraction from where his thoughts had been taking him. Donning
something more fitting, he made his way to the river’s edge. He
rarely felt like doing yoga inside. He had a hard time getting
truly relaxed within the confines of walls. He felt
caged.

Classes began and Gavin focused on
the stretch and pull of the muscles. The big cat in him was deeply
pleased. He led everyone through pose after pose and welcomed the
release of muscles tense from the morning canoeing. He became so
lost in each class he was caught off guard when, during a break
between classes he leaned against a tree and saw Maura walk up with
the unconscious seductive sway to her hips. He sputtered and almost
choked on his drink of water.

Her steps faltered and her smile
fell. Gavin wondered what was going through that clever little head
of hers. He could imagine she didn’t know what to make of his
abrupt departure earlier and sighed inwardly. It wasn’t like he
could explain with--
Hey sorry I left so
fast earlier. I was so turned on by touching your hand I dropped
fang.
That should go over very
well.

Gavin decided it was safest at this
point to stick to business. They placed the mats and Gavin started
the music. He tried to look only at the form of her poses and not
the luscious curves and wonderfully padded bottom that peeked out
from under her shirt in her tight yoga pants. He could feel his
cock lying hard against his belly and moved from her sight while
still giving instructions.

The fact that the scent of her
arousal was also in the air was almost too much for him to bear.
Her aroma, mingled with the earthy smell of forest that surrounded
them, acted like an aphrodisiac to his senses. He was nearly drunk
on it. He absently reached out and grasped her outer thigh and she
gasped. The musky sweetness of her arousal thickened the air and
snapped what little reserve he had left.

Her hips shifted slightly and
brushed against where he lay hot and hard almost coming out of his
pants. She stood up and turned slightly, facing him. She was
flushed, aroused, and her lips were parted and in a slight ‘o’ of
surprise. Without thought, Gavin cupped her cheeks in his palms and
kissed her full lips. When her lips parted in a gasp of surprise,
Gavin swept his tongue inside.

Her taste exploded in his mouth and
short-circuited his brain. When she gripped his shoulders and began
kissing him back, his knees almost buckled. She nipped and licked
with a fervor that matched his own. She was a fire in his arms and
her taste was more intoxicating than any drug. He couldn’t get
enough of the taste of her.

He cupped her breast from outside
her shirt and her breath shuddered. The nipple pebbled in his palm
and he circled it with his finger. She rubbed herself against his
length and he feared he would spend in his pants like an untried
teenager. When he slid his hand from her hip, up under her shirt to
her waist, she gasped and pulled away.

She looked dazed for a moment and
then a look of horror washed across her face.

“
Oh my GOD! I’m so
sorry!”

Maura took a few steps back and
Gavin resisted the urge to pull her back into his arms. Her
fingertips lifted to her lips.

“
I shouldn’t have attacked you like
that.”

Gavin’s eyebrows shot
up.

“
Attack me? Maura, I
….”

“
No, NO! Please don’t say anything
more. I am going to go. I am so sorry.”

“
Maura .…”

“
Good-bye Gavin.”

Gavin watched as she disappeared
down the trail that led to her cabin. He did drop to his knees then
because try as he might, after tasting her, he could no longer deny
what Maura was. Bain’s strange obsession with her meant she was
probably his mate. Unfortunately there was no probably in his case.
His lion had roared
mine
the moment their tongue collided. She was his
mate.

Gavin once again felt the need to
retreat to his den, his bedroom. He felt his chest constrict and
couldn't catch his breath.

His knowledge of pride life was
second hand, never having been in one himself. But from what little
he knew about the lion shifters it wasn't uncommon for males to
fight over one or more women. Pride of the strongest male and to
the winner, the spoils. He didn’t want to fight Bain for anything,
not even over the most important person he would ever have to give
up.

Gavin felt ill at the thought of
hurting Bain in any way. He couldn't imagine losing him because
they had fought over her or because one could not endure seeing the
other with her.

Can you? Can you watch them
together always from afar? Once again looking in on a happy family
from the outside?

He would have to.

He had been told that he would
never have a family. He would never belong. Over and over they had
told him but he had refused to give up his hope that one day he
would have someone that he could love and a family to call his own.
He had clung to that belief so dearly his whole life it seemed like
that hope alone was what sustained him and became the food in his
belly when there was none and when his happy thoughts were all he
had to keep him warm on long cold nights.

After everything Bain and his
mother had done for him, he would have to. They had given him a
family for a short while. It was the only taste of family he had
ever known. He would be dead by now if it weren't for them. An act
like that couldn't be repaid by stealing what he was sure was
Bain's mate. Taking Gavin in had taken Bain's mother from him. He
couldn't take his mate, as well.

Gavin grabbed a bottle of whiskey
that was rarely used, figuring there was no better reason to drink
than having to give up the woman you were born to love. Maybe this
was his punishment for causing Antoinette's death. He took a long
swig of whiskey. Bain's mother had been good to him and she was
gone because of him, too. He let the whiskey burn a trail down his
throat and tried to drown the voices that haunted him from
childhood that told him he would bring nothing but
grief.

And he had.

In spades.

* * * *

Bain couldn't find Gavin in the
office or the kitchen, two of his favorite indoor hiding places,
and decided to try his room before looking for him in some of his
more remote getaway spots. The very first thing he noticed when he
cracked open the door was the overwhelming aroma of
whiskey.

Had he bathed in the
stuff?

Gavin was strewn across his bed,
sprawled across the covers, with an empty whiskey bottle dangling
from his hand. A chair was broken in the middle of the room. Bain
eyeballed Gavin's already healing knuckles and wondered what had
Gavin in such a fit that he would smash his furniture.

Bain could sometimes be quick to
anger and had a somewhat volatile temper. It was the grizzly in
him. He would flare like a volcano and roar but recovered more
quickly. Gavin had a much more laid back approach to life in
general but was fierce once his temper was riled. He would have a
much harder time than Bain calming down once angry.