Wild Bear (3 page)

Which would be great, because he cared about her.

He’d been planning to go see her tonight. Drop by her bedroom and see if he could seduce her into a moonlight interlude.

But not now. She was drunk, and that wouldn’t be right. Even a bear knew that.

And besides, first he needed to see Ruby about a haircut.

He settled in to watch the girls for as long as they needed, dreading losing all his precious face fur the next day.

H
armony slept
in late the next day. Her friends had walked her back to her room after an amazing night under the stars. It was so fun to just be together and talk about everything after their time apart.

She missed them a lot.

Then they’d gone back to their sexy mates and she’d had to sleep alone, still a bit turned on at the thought of her sexy mountain man.

Well, he wasn’t hers.

In fact, he’d stayed away the rest of the day and hadn’t even tried to sneak in at night, as she’d half expected him to do.

No matter.

She sat up slowly in bed and stretched, still feeling hung-over and jetlagged.

Then her stomach growled. Time to get something to eat. And she knew the kitchen was open to her for anything she needed. But as expected, the thought of going downstairs and potentially running into Maverick sent shivers running through her.

She didn’t understand it. She’d never been afraid of anyone or anything. Even when she’d been attacked in the forest, she’d screamed like a banshee and fought with her claws. And any guy who tried to get fresh in a bar ended up on the sparkly end of a Taser.

So why was she so nervous just at the thought of seeing the incomparably hairy man?

She didn’t know.

She showered, blow-dried her hair into curly, tight ringlets, and pulled her hair back off her face with a hair band. Then she threw on a loose, curve-grazing tee with a fun graphic and a pair of skinny jeans she knew did amazing things for her size-eighteen curves.

Then she slipped into some cute ankle boots and slid on a few bangles and was ready to go.

She took a deep breath and put her hand on the doorknob just as a loud ruckus broke out somewhere in the lodge beneath her. It sounded like it was coming from the main dining room, which made sense, as it was the biggest, most open space in the lodge. She took the stairs two at a time in her haste to see what was happening.

When she got there, the scene unfolding in front of her had her standing still in shock, looking at her friends from multiple doorways away, without any of them aware she was there.

She bit back a grin as she realized the loudest, angriest voice was Maverick.

“Calm down and let me finish!” That was Ruby.

“She’s doing you a favor. Trust me.” That was Bonnie.

“Can we look yet?” That was Shane.

“Yeah, I want to see if it’s actually an improvement.” That sounded like Jesse.

All of them sounded vaguely amused, except Maverick.

“You’re taking too much! You’re going to make me into a woman!” he growled, trying to get up out of the chair as Shane came around and shoved him back down, still keeping his eyes averted.

“You stop struggling. This has been a long time coming, and my mate is doing you a damn favor.”

Maverick grumbled something unintelligible that Harmony couldn’t make out.

But one thing she could make out—Maverick was getting a shave and a haircut. They’d set up a chair in the corner of the dining room farthest from the kitchen, to be safe, and dark hair littered the ground around the chair on which the tall man was perched, looking uncomfortable.

She wished she could see his face at this moment. Maverick was never the one feeling awkward. He was the one who made others feel awkward.

She had a feeling the others in the room with him were enjoying this turn of events.

“There!” Ruby said, swiping the black cape off him and brushing hair off her hands. “Ta-da!”

All Harmony could see was Maverick’s tall, wide shape standing to face everyone as Shane and Jesse and Bonnie all turned to survey Ruby’s work.

Shane and Jesse stopped laughing. Bonnie’s smirk was replaced by open-mouthed shock. Maverick looked from face to face, then shot a hand out toward Ruby.

“Mirror,” he commanded.

Ruby shrugged and handed one over, and when Maverick held it up to his face, Harmony got a glimpse of the man in the mirror.

And nearly fell to her knees.

Good gracious. He was
gorgeous
.

He growled as he stared at the man in the mirror, who was blindingly handsome. Harmony prepared herself for the cocky onslaught of overconfidence that was sure to result from him realizing how good-looking he was under all that fur.

Everyone else in the room was certainly speechless from it.

Then the mirror hit the ground and shattered.

“Mav!” Jesse yelled. “That was my mirror.”

“You turned me into a woman!” Mav snarled, hands clenching tight at his sides. “You weren’t supposed to take all of it!” his hands came up to his cheeks, feeling his skin as if it were a foreign substance. “You’ve stolen my manhood!”

Bonnie folded over laughing, holding her arm around her middle.

“Um, no,” Jesse said. “That would be your dick.”

Mav put a hand over himself. “Hell no.”

“No,” Jesse corrected. “Manhood means your dick.”

“It also means being able to grow a beard!” Mav said. “I can’t go around with this sissy-pants face. I’m not one of you.” Then with a glare at both of his brothers, who still seemed stunned, he whirled on his feet and came face to face with Harmony.

When their gazes locked across the room, it gave Harmony a chance to see more detail.

Stunning. That’s what he was.
Stunning
.

A movie star jaw, wide and squared off as if with a ruler to come to a stubborn, pointed chin, strong and beautiful at the same time. Full lips, with a carved, defined profile and a prominent cupid’s bow. High brow and cheekbones. Rugged and beautiful at the same time. With his hair out of the way, his dark eyes sparkled, framed by beautiful, arched dark brows.

His hair was cut short but was thick and shiny, perfect for putting her hands in.

She would have guessed he looked more like Shane, but his features were just the slightest bit sharper. Striking. Like a runway model. One who modeled for lumberjack magazines or something.

She didn’t even know what to say.

His eyes narrowed as he met hers, and then after a moment of awkward staring, he turned on his heel and was gone, out the front door and storming away toward the woods.

She looked over at her friends, still standing in the dining room in various levels of shock.

Bonnie looked her way and just shrugged.

No one seemed to know what to do except Harmony. She had only one thing she
could
do.

She had to follow that handsome lumberjack back to his cabin and have him for her own.

Her semi-fragile hold on her libido had snapped, and it was Maverick’s handsome face that had done it.

She ran for the door before anyone could stop her, yanked it open, and ran out down the front path, chasing after the wide back of the man that was trying to disappear into the left side of the forest.

M
averick didn’t know
what to do.

He was disgraced.

And he didn’t have time to let it grow back. He needed to win his mate over soon or lose the ranch. It wouldn’t be easy to win Harmony over, and he couldn’t lose the time it would take to grow the beard and his hair again.

He couldn’t believe the face he’d seen in the mirror.

So hairless and pale. So human. And maybe a little part of him did think perhaps he was at least a good-looking human and hoped his mate would like it against all odds.

But then he’d turned and seen her, standing twenty feet away, staring at him like he’d grown two heads.

So he’d left before she could get much of a look at him. He stormed up the steps to his cabin, yanked open the door, and stomped inside, not paying much attention to closing and locking the door behind him.

He went straight to the bathroom and looked in the mirror, which was really overdue for a cleaning.

The face staring back at him was a stranger. Except for the eyes. And the mouth. Maverick was used to those parts of himself. But the rest…

He let out a deep sigh, touching the sharp planes of his freshly shaved face. His facial hair grew quick. He should have at least a good shadow of stubble in a day or two, but would that be enough? His hair was done like one of those city boys, all tousled and short.

It wouldn’t shade his neck at all. He swore and thumped a hand on the sink, wondering what to do now. How did he explain to Harmony he’d only been trying to be sexy for her?

He’d gone to Ruby and asked her to make him sexy to human females. He blinked at the mirror. Was this really what they liked? More likely, she’d taken the chance to play a trick on him to pay him back for all the trouble he caused them.

Well, the joke was on them, because when Harmony rejected him and no one could save the ranch, they would be the ones out on their asses.

It was all their fault. Maverick had plans. Everything had been going fine.

He was still pouting and stomping when he heard someone twisting the handle of his door. It opened with a creak just as he ran into the living room to see who had entered.

When he saw Harmony standing there, looking too beautiful in a curve-hugging tee shirt and tight jeans that sculpted her shape and sweet little boots he wanted to pull off so he could lick her toes, he stopped.

She was beautiful. So sweet and so feminine and so perfect for a bear like him. And now he was utterly inappropriate. He needed to be manly for a woman like her. What would he do?

But to his shock, there was lust shining in her eyes as she stepped forward tentatively.

Now that he wasn’t focused on rage, there was a palpable hunger in the air, a tension as tight as the grass blades he used to string between two thumbs to make whistles out of.

“I… I like your hair,” she said, taking another step forward.

He put a hand up to his hair self-consciously, wondering if she was messing with him. “It’s not manly.”

“Oh, on the contrary,” she said. “It’s very manly.”

He stayed mostly frozen in place as she approached, unable to do anything but stumble slightly against a chair that was inconveniently behind him as she stalked forward like a lion about to pounce on prey.

Her hand reached up to caress his cheek and his expression screwed up in confusion. What was she doing? He made another attempt to back up, but couldn’t, so he just looked down at her, bewildered.

She just let out a husky laugh, her curls trembling as her finger moved over his lips, his chin, tracing each curve and angle as if she were learning by feel.

Maverick had never been more confused in his life, but he kind of liked it.

“Your face is manly,” she said. “You don’t need all that hair covering it to prove it.” Her finger kept moving. “This strong jaw, these lips. It’s all incredibly… manly.”

He frowned. “Sure.” He folded his arms and raised up slightly so she’d stop touching his face. It was getting weird.

Her eyes were glowing up at him, the color of melted chocolate stirred with gold. She pressed her body against his, so small and feminine and rounded compared to him, and the animal inside him that had been hiding, wounded from the haircut, came roaring to life as his hands wound around her waist, sinking his fingers into her soft flesh.

She felt amazing.

Who cared how he looked as long as she liked it?

He dipped his head for a kiss, nipping her bottom lip and sucking it softly through his teeth as she let out a gasp and pushed back. His hand found the back of her head and forced her lips forward, taking her mouth with a ferocious need he’d felt since he first met her.

She put up a token struggle, but Maverick knew what she wanted. Her scent filled the air and her nails dug into his back. She wanted him to take control. He swiped his tongue deep, plundering until she sighed against him, opening her lips wider.

When he pulled back, she was breathing hard and he was supporting most of her weight.

“You want me to take you,” he said, tilting his head to study her. He found the whole thing hot as hell, but he had to make sure.

She nodded, not meeting his eyes.

“Careful,” he said, nipping her lips again before taking her mouth in a harsh, powerful kiss that left her gasping and nearly limp in his arms.

He held her up easily. He was strong.

“Why careful?” she asked, blinking up at him, eyes glazed with arousal, full lips swollen with his kiss.

He grinned, tilting up her chin as he looked over her face. “Because even though I look like this, I’m still a wild animal.” His hands dug into her sides, squeezing her love handles possessively. Damn, he loved every curvy bit of her. He couldn’t wait until he had her naked and panting on his bed.

He grabbed her under the thighs and lifted her easily up around his waist, and then he pressed her up against the nearest wall, loving the feel of her heat against his stomach. He looked down between them and looked up with a smirk. “Things could get a little crazy.”

She growled and leaned back, dragging her nails over his chest and biting her lip before tilting her head back to meet his eyes from under her long, curved lashes. “I’m counting on it.”

She ground her hips against him, and Maverick didn’t need any more information than that.

He spun around with her and dropped her on the couch and then climbed on top of her, caging her on all sides.

Then he licked his way from the tip of one finger up her arm to her neck. When he reached her ear, he bit the lobe, sucking it as he did, and when he let her go, the lust in her eyes burned like embers.

With a satisfied grin, he stood, closed and locked the door, and came back to his mate.