Polar Bears are Forever: Book One Supernatural Enforcers Agency (23 page)

“Ugh, you’re crushing me!” she gasped, although she wasn’t all that unhappy about it.

He relaxed his grip a little, but there was no way that he was about to put her down.  He nuzzled her neck.  “Sorry, babe.”

She curled her body around his; one eye watched as other agents led Rory away.  She smiled as James Silver gave her a thumbs up and disappeared. 
Poor guy, but at least he would have justice now.

“How did you know to find me?”

Gunner sighed.  “I was already worried when I realized you weren’t with Jessie, and when you weren’t answering your phone,” he told her with a fair amount of disapproval.  “Then when Jessie found out that Melvin Hague went to med school with Rory… and knowing your propensity for being in the wrong place at the wrong time, I just had a really bad feeling.”

“Thanks heavens for your bad feelings!”

He chuckled.  “Oh, I don’t know, you seemed to be handling him just fine.”

“Yeah?”

He pulled back to look at her.  “Yeah, you continue to amaze me.  I love you, you know that, right?”

Erin’s eyes became wet with tears.  “I strongly suspected.  Did you know that I love you?”

“Well, you’re only human.”

She rolled her eyes.  “Idiot.”

“Your idiot.”

“Yes, mine.”

Chapter Twenty-Two

Three weeks later

Erin kicked off her shoes and stretched her arms over her head.  She smiled as Gunner kissed the back of her neck.

“I like your hair up like this,” he whispered into her skin, “easier access.”

She spun and startled him by crashing her mouth against his.  Although he didn’t stay inactive for long; soon enough, his hands were snaking their way around her body and heaving her up his own.

It had been three weeks since ‘the incident that we will not talk about again.’  After it had happened, Erin had been pumped up and just about ready to take on anything.  Gunner, on the other hand, had been almost a nervous wreck.  He claimed that the incident had taken ten years off his life and tensed every time it was mentioned. 
Melodramatic bear.

Rory was being charged with eight counts of kidnapping and murder.  The money he had amassed from the transplants was being given to the families of the victims.  Doctor Philip Ross, aka Doctor Melvin Hague, had been sent back to New York to stand trial for his wife’s murder.  Depending on how that went, after he had served whatever sentence he was given there, he would then be expected to stand trial for numerous counts of accessory to kidnap, murder and organ trafficking.  It was a fair bet that he wouldn’t see the outside of a prison cell for the rest of his life.

The blonde woman who had lured more than a few of their victims to their deaths was actually a call girl.  She had no idea what was going on, and had thought it was just a series of elaborate pranks for a new hidden camera TV show.  She was very disappointed when she realized she wouldn’t actually be on TV.

To the annoyance of the SEA, Tom ‘the hammer’ Murphy was not being charged with anything.  Neither Rory nor Doctor Ross or Hague – whatever, would admit to operating on Murphy – they were far too terrified of the hippo shifter.  So, short of repossessing his heart, they had no evidence to arrest Murphy.  And no judge would allow them to do that, they knew because they’d asked.  Murphy would have to wait for another day.

Erin had virtually moved into Gunner’s apartment, in that whenever she made noises about needing to go home to her place he found some way to distract her. 
And boy was he distracting
.

Instead, they’d settled into a routine that now actually involved the beginnings of a weekly tradition of having a family dinner at Erin’s parents’ house.  It was awkward; her parents were too afraid to say much, they focused more on their disgust about how much food Gunner actually ate.  Her family was used to dainty portions. 
Gunner had once cleared out an all you can eat buffet
.  But, she knew he suffered the meals for her, and it made her love him even more.

They’d just come home from one such dinner.  Although they disapproved of him, her parents were a little less frosty after Gunner terrified the cable repair guy into paying them a visit.  The guy’s first offer was a visit within the next six to eight weeks.  After one conversation with Gunner, he said he’d be round on Sunday. 
See, having your very own polar bear came in very handy
.

“You tired?” he rumbled.

“Nuh-uh.”

“You wanna watch TV?”

“Nuh-uh.”

“What do you wanna do?”

Erin smiled prettily and fluttered her eyelashes. 

“Erin Margaret Jameson, you are insatiable,” he crooned in mock admonishment as he carried her to the bedroom.

“What can I say?  I was seduced by this polar bear, and now I’m a nymphomaniac.”

“Wow, he really does sound like a keeper.”

“I agree.”  She nibbled on his earlobe.

His big body shuddered.  “Erin, there’s something I need to say.”

He placed her on the bed, and she watched him wonderingly as he paced up and down the room.

“Is something wrong?”

Gunner shook his head and knelt on the floor in front of her.  “No, not since I met you.  I love you Erin, more than anything, and I want you to be mine forever.  I want you to mate with me, and I want you to bond with me.  I want us to move in together.  I want you to come up to Alaska to meet my family.  I want to marry you, and I want you to have my cubs.  I want you to be with me, forever.”

He was almost panting by the end.  His speech had become increasingly loud and frenzied, and not at all like the logical arguments he had prepared and had wanted to put forward. 
But, in the heat of the moment, logic had no place in his heart.

Erin blinked at him and gulped a few times.  “Wow, you don’t want much, do you?”

He looked away, shamefaced.  “I’m sorry; I shouldn’t…”

“Yes.”

Gunner looked at her sharply.  “Yes?”

“Yes to all of the above.”

“You’re saying yes,” he said slowly as if he couldn’t believe his ears.

“I want everything you want.  I love you Gunner.”

“You… you mean that?” he breathed incredulously.

“Yes, yes, yes!” she cried in exasperation.  “Do I have to shout it from the rooftops?!”

He rolled his shoulders.  “Couldn’t hurt.”

“Good lord, maybe you should come and make love to me before I change my mind.”

Gunner graced her with a lascivious growl.  “Now there’s an offer I can’t refuse.”

Within moments, just in case there was a chance she might change her mind, Gunner was nude and had managed to wrangle Erin out of her clothes.  Honestly, she suspected he was a magician in training. 
And now for my next trick, I will make all of Erin’s clothes disappear!

She  squirmed, and giggled as he pushed a digit inside her needy core.  He raised it to his lips and licked her honey.

“Oh, babe, you’re already so wet.  Wet for me.”

His eyes flashed dark brown, and she bit her lip, excited at what was coming.  She leaned back on the bed as he kneeled between her legs and ran his fingers over her thighs, enjoying the feel of her skin.

“Do you understand what it means to bond with me?” he asked roughly, as his bear fought for control.

“I do; it means that we’ll be joined, and we’ll be able to sense each other’s emotions.”

She’d been reading up on the subject; she wanted Gunner, and she was prepared to do whatever it took to keep him. 
And the thought of being bound to the rugged shifter was a total turn on
.

“So you understand I will bite you when we make love?  You’ll have a permanent scar.  Are you prepared for that?”  Her heart swelled with love as he gave her such a vulnerable look.

“Yes, I want this as much as you do.”

“Not possible…”

Gunner pulled her hips against him, smoothly impaling her on his hard length.  She moaned in utter satisfaction and grasped at the bed covers as he filled her over and over, touching and caressing every sweet spot she had.  He took her with leisurely, long thrusts, slowly building the kindling fire within her. 

Her body started tingling as she felt the stirrings of her release.  She started bucking her hips back at him and squeezing her inner muscles.  He threw his head back and let out a sensual snarl.  His movements became more urgent, and she felt his claws graze her skin. 

With breathtaking speed, he flipped her onto her stomach and began pounding inside her.  She squeaked and pushed back against him with carnal glee as his flesh slapped against hers.  Without missing a delicious beat, he lifted her body up until she was sitting over him.  He braced one arm against her chest, his hand kneading her breast.  His tongue lapped at the juncture between her shoulder and neck as his other hand sought her clit, strumming that oh-so-sensitive little collections of nerves. 
All the sensations were just too much for her...

She pressed her hands over his and pushed her body against him as fireworks exploded through her.  She screamed his name as his fangs sank into her shoulder, and they both reached their releases together.  The wrench of pain on feeling his bite fled, and she was overwhelmed by pleasure, desire, love and need.  She trembled in awe as his feelings for her poured into her body, and she gladly returned them.

“You’re mine, now, Erin.  All mine,” he crooned into her shoulder.

“I always was,” she breathed. 
From the very first moment.

How long they sat there, entwined so intimately, she couldn’t say.  She dozed, enjoying the gentle pulses of his manhood softening inside her, the feel of his tongue laving her bite mark and relishing in sharing his emotions.

“Do you have a lot of turtlenecks?” he asked, out of the blue.

“Hmmm?” she replied dreamily.

Slowly, he lifted her up and laid her down on the bed.  She whimpered as he slipped from inside her, but moaned when he lay behind her, spooning her and rubbing the soft flesh of her breasts and stomach.

“I’m thinking you’re going to want to cover up this bad boy for a while,” he said referring to the bite.  His voice was half way between joking and anxious.

Erin frowned and reached out into their newly shared bond. 
Whoa, head rush!
  It was very strange to have someone else’s emotions vying for attention, yet it was oddly intimate.  Of course, it also meant they couldn’t hide anything from one another, like his worry over the mark he had given her.

“Nuh-uh, I’m not hiding this.”  She proudly stroked her tender skin, pleased he couldn’t see the slight wince on her face. 
Well, come on!  She’d just been bitten by a freaking polar bear; of course it was going to hurt!

“I want everyone to see it, to prove to them that we’ve bonded.  I’m proud to be your mate.”

Gunner let out an audible sigh of relief, and she knew it had been the right thing to say. 
Aww, he was so cute when he was needy.

“Thank you,” he rasped, his voice full of emotion.  “Now about all those other things I want…”

Epilogue

Six months later

Erin snuggled into Gunner’s chest, completely unperturbed that they were in the middle of the busy bar.

Gunner ran his hands down her back.  “C’mon babe, let’s get out of here and have our own celebration.”

“Gunner,” she chided softly, “we can’t blow off our own bachelor and bachelorette parties.”

“Sure we can, our boneheaded friends can celebrate without us.”

“Charmed, I’m sure,” grumbled Wayne.

Erin tried to stifle her laugh as she looked round at the mixture of amused and annoyed faces surrounding them.  Yeah, Gunner could be really tactless at times, but at that moment she could care less.  It was official; she and Gunner were getting married.  They were having a small ceremony in Los Lobos with their friends, and a few of Erin’s family, and then they were travelling up north to Gunner’s bear clan to have a big celebration.

Over the last six months they had moved in together, visited his bear clan twice –
he and his brother acted like teenagers whenever they were together
- and now they had gotten engaged.  At work, she had applied for a transfer to a different team.  Gunner hadn’t liked it, nor had the rest of the team who blamed losing her on Gunner seducing her.  The Director agreed with that in spite of her trying to tell him otherwise. 
Please, she practically threw herself at Gunner!
  Plus, Gunner had been even more furious when she was transferred to Diaz’s team.  But, they were making it work. 

Although her desk was further away from him, she still had mementoes of him.  Namely the slightly large picture he’d given her for her desk of the two of them kissing – everyone who stopped by her desk noted how big it was - it was kind of embarrassing!  And, he had bought her a small, cuddly polar bear for her desk.  Now, that she did love; little Gunner had pride of place next to Waldo.  Although whenever big Gunner came by for a visit, strangely enough, Waldo somehow managed to find his way inside one of her drawers. 
Strange that
.  Her mate just couldn’t abide any male cats in her life at all.  As for her new boss, Diaz, Gunner was keeping the jaguar on his toes. 
Mainly by constantly reiterating that if he even thought about touching Erin, the bear would beat the hell out of him
.

Erin had surprised herself by becoming close friends with not only Jessie and Avery, but also Isis and a nurse who worked for the SEA called Lucie - who also had an enormous crush on a very embarrassed Cutter.  Yes, for once Erin actually found herself with friends who cared for her!  Even Isis did!  Moving to Los Lobos was the best thing she ever did. 
Of course, most of her time was taken up by her very possessive and very needy bear mate…

She blushed pink as his hand swept over her ass.  “Gunner!”

“Maybe you should get a room,” suggested Avery, unfazed by their groping.

“Sound advice,” agreed Gunner.  “Let’s go get a room, babe.”

“But we have plans…”

Gunner gestured to the assembled group.  “Who cares about these idiots?  They can entertain themselves.”

“Remind me again why we’re friends with this guy?”  Cutter jerked his head at Gunner.

Jessie shrugged.  “Well, I like Erin.”

“And Gunner just seems to be attached to her… one way or the other,” supplied Isis with a mischievous smile.

Gunner let out a low warning growl, and Wayne slapped him on the back.  “Cheer up, it’s gonna be fun.  It’s not every day you get married…”

“Tomorrow will be the only day I ever get married; we’ll be together forever,” corrected Gunner.

This was met with awws by the female members of the group, although Erin suspected Isis’ aww might have been sarcastic.

Cutter clucked his tongue in irritation.  “Who else is coming tonight?”

“We’re meeting the rest of the guys downtown at a club a cousin of mine owns,” said Wayne.  “Pretty much half of the Los Lobos SEA will be there.  I think even Diaz is coming.”

“Fucking cat,” muttered Gunner and Wes gave him a sour look that he completely ignored.

“Well, we’re going uptown,” Avery informed them, “and the other half of the Los Lobos SEA will be at the bachelorette party.  We’re just waiting for Lucie to arrive.  No, wait there she is.”

Cutter paled, and his face took on a hunted look.  “Fuck, I’m going out the back.  Don’t tell her I’m here.”

Wes nodded sagely.  “Got your back, Jack, bitches be crazy.”

Cutter thanked him and took off as Avery slapped Wes around the back of his head.

Lucie, a sweet hedgehog shifter bounded over, her eyes gleaming excitedly.  “Hi guys!  Was that Cutter just leaving?”

Wes nodded.  “Yeah, he ducked out into the alley, said he wasn’t feeling too good.  Maybe you should go check on him.”

“I will.”

Lucie bustled away.

“You’re so cruel,” Jessie scolded.

Wes held up his hands in surrender.  “He’s a grown wolf hiding from a hedgehog shifter for hell’s sake; he needs to man up.”

Jessie pursed her lips.  “No, I meant you’re being cruel to her, encouraging her to chase after him like that when it’s clear he’s not interested.”

Isis agreed wholeheartedly, or with as much heart as she could muster.  “Yeah, given her crush on that mangy wolf, it’s obvious she’s suffering from some kind of severe head injury – cut her some slack!”

Gunner groaned and clutched Erin to him.  “You really want to spend the night with these lunatics when you could spend the night with me?”

“We can all hear you, you know?” muttered Wayne.

“Go and have fun with your friends,” said Erin, soothingly, “and just know that I’ll be waiting for you when you get home.”

“Fine!  You have fun too, just not too much fun.”

Isis tapped her chin thoughtfully. “How many male strippers are too many?  Six?  Ten?  Twenty?”

Erin rolled her eyes.  “Ignore her.  There will be no strippers.  I love you.”

Gunner huffed.  “Yeah, I love you, too - more, in fact, given that I’d be happy to blow these guys off to be with you.”

“Okay, he’s seriously starting to hurt my feelings now,” griped Wayne.

Lucie came back frowning.  “He wasn’t in the alley; I’m sure I could scent he’d been there though.  Do you think he had to go home because he was sick?  Maybe there’s something seriously wrong with him!”

Jessie slipped an arm around Lucie’s shoulders.  “Honey, let’s go enjoy Erin’s bachelorette party, and while we do that we will be more than happy to catalogue the list of things that are seriously wrong with Cutter.”

“I second that,” purred Isis.

Gunner let out a martyred sigh.  “Since I can’t change your mind about tonight, right?”

He looked at Erin hopefully who just shook her head.

His shoulders slumped.  “Then I guess we better get going and get it over with.”

“That’s the spirit!” cried Wayne giving him another hearty slap on the back.

As they stepped out into the cool night air and prepared to part, Gunner ignored the fact that he could see Cutter lurking in the shadows and pulled his mate in for a lingering kiss.

“I love you,” he murmured.

“I love you, too,” she cooed.  “I’m yours and you’re mine forever, polar bear.”

She was right; he was.

*

The stranger watched as the SEA agents poured out of the bar.  He sneered as the brutish polar bear shifter fawned over the human woman.  It was enough to make him sick.  Mixed species matings should be illegal.  The half-breed children those two would make should be drowned at birth.

But he was getting off track.  He wasn’t there for them.  He was there for one reason – the wolf shifter currently skulking in the shadows like the coward he was. 

Yes, the wolf would pay for what he had done, and when he was through, Cutter was going to wish he’d never been born.

To be continued…