Woodcutter Werebear (Saw Bears Book 2) (6 page)

A blush crept into his cheeks, and she brushed the color there with her fingertips. She knew how it felt to be different all her life. To not fit in. “You are good, Kellen. I like that you say what you mean and how you feel. I like that you let me in.”

His hair was mussed from his fight, so she ran her fingers through until it was smooth and in place again. Kellen dropped his chin to his chest and gripped her wrist so fast, she gasped. He ran a gentle thumb across the tender skin of her arm.

“I like when you touch me,” he rumbled.

“I like it, too.”

She liked it more than she ever thought possible. His reaction to her was empowering. He didn’t bully her or manipulate her into doing what he wanted. He made her feel beautiful and in control. He complimented her and was vocal when she did something he appreciated.

The silky skin around his shaft grew thin and hard as his erection jutted out between his legs. He was impossibly thick, and she had no idea how a man of his size would physically match her smaller body, but that didn’t stop her sex from responding instantly to his arousal.

“What are you thinking?” he whispered, cupping her face.

She smiled as she thought about being as utterly honest as he was.

“Say it,” he goaded.

“My panties are wet.”

The small smile fell from his face and his eyes went serious. “How wet?”

“Soaking.”

She’d never wanted to be with Roger. Never even wanted to kiss him, but with Kellen, it was different. She wanted him, and even better, her body already had tuned to his needs. There was no doubt they’d be compatible in the bedroom if they could get over the mismatched size issue. Kellen was too sweet to hurt her.

Kellen’s gaze fell slowly to the apex between her thighs. She was already on her knees, padded by the bathmat, and she spread them a little wider for him. “You want to feel?”

Kellen’s nostrils flared, and he nodded. “I don’t think I should, though. You’ve been hurt. You need more time.”

She shook her head and let him see the honesty in her eyes. “It would be nice not to think about all of that for a little while.”

A small, knowing grin crooked one corner of his sensual lips. “I can make you forget.”

When she ran her fingertip from the base of his shaft to tip, it twitched under her touch. Kellen leaned his head back, thick cords of muscle in his neck stretching. Damn, he was sexy, allowing her to see how much she affected him like this. She traced a long vein under his tight skin, and he gripped the edge of the bathtub harder. She toyed with him until the head of his cock was red and swollen, ready. A bead of creamy moisture formed from the tiny slit at the tip, and she tasted it.

Kellen’s arms shook, and he released a shuddering breath. “Beautiful, you’re going to kill me.”

“You want me to stop?” she asked innocently, trying to hide her smile.

“No. I want you to do whatever you want to.”

Well, that sounded fun. When she cupped his balls, the muscles in his legs twitched. The mounds of his abs flexed and softened with each ragged breath he drew. She leaned forward and kissed each one, starting with the top of his eight-pack and moving to the bottom two. Slowly, she pushed on his knees, gentle with his injured leg, and nestled closer to him. Stretching up, she nibbled his bottom lip.

With a groan, he cupped the back of her head and plunged his tongue into her mouth. God, he tasted so good. She opened her lips wider for him and lost all track of time. He could’ve kissed her for minutes, or hours perhaps. All she knew was that she was lost and falling and happy for the first time in a long time. Kellen liked her. And not just because she was a breeder or because her last name meant something. He liked her for her, the good and the bad.

His fingers combed through her hair, as if he couldn’t help touching her silken locks, and when he’d had his fill of her lips, he tasted her jawline, then her neck. And when the inferno inside of her grew too hot to bear, she pulled her tank top over her head and unsnapped the front clasp of her black, lacey bra.

Kellen eased back as she shrugged out of her clothes. He devoured every inch of her vulnerable skin with his gaze. “Beautiful,” he whispered, though she couldn’t tell if he was reverently murmuring the nickname he’d gifted her or if he was complimenting what he saw.

Either way, it brought a smile of relief to her face. She hadn’t ever asked a man to appreciate her body like this.

Gently, he cupped her breasts, pushing them inward against each other. She surged forward, pressing her cleavage against his stony shaft. His shaky breath said he liked the feel of her against him like this, so she moved her chest down so that her full breasts stroked the length of him.

His eyes rolled back in his head as she did it again, which gave her an idea. A naughty idea. She was drunk on the way she felt with him and bolder than she’d ever been with a man before. Pulling his hands away from her breasts to free them, she edged closer until he was nestled in her cleavage, then put his palms back in place once her breasts surrounded his impossibly hard cock.

Chest heaving, he pressed her tits around him and rolled his hips. “Fff—” he said, biting back a curse.

Skyler was nearly gleeful. She bit her lip hard to hide a triumphant giggle. Kellen was relinquishing control. He moved his hips against her, totally enraptured. She was doing this, causing that expression of pure ecstasy on his face. She reached around him and pressed her fingertips on his thrusting hips just to feel the power there. In one smooth move, he reached over and took a pump of lotion from the bottle near the shower, then took himself in hand and pressed between her breasts again. This time, it was slick and made a wet sound that just about buckled her. Holy cow, could she come without him touching her?

His hips bucked faster, and his breath came ragged. He was trying to be gentle so she pushed his hands, squeezing her breasts around him more tightly, and he yelled out and bucked faster. The wet sound was constant now, and the taut buds of her sensitive nipples brushed his belly as it flexed against her.

She cupped her sex. She’d soaked her panties, and her leggings were warm with her arousal. Kellen took his eyes from her bobbing chest and his dick forcing its way through her cleavage and frowned at her hand that touched between her thighs. So fast he blurred, he scooped her up and strode into the bedroom, any hint of a limp gone. He should’ve been in great pain, and bleeding like a stuck pig, but when she looked over his shoulder at the fallen towel on the bathroom floor, it wasn’t even soaked through.

“Had to stop,” he murmured against her neck as he lay her down.

“You didn’t want to finish?” She was confused. He’d seemed ready to climax.

“Oh, I want to come, but not before you do.”

Her belly quivered with those muttered words against her ear. He slid down her, removed her boots and socks, then pulled her leggings and panties until they cleared her ankles. She should’ve felt vulnerable, laid out on top of the sheets like this, the setting sun still lighting the room enough for him to see all of her. But the look in Kellen’s eyes stifled any embarrassment she could’ve harbored about her body.

Without a word, Kellen flipped her over until he lay back down on the mattress and she was straddling his face, holding her just above him with his powerful arms.

She started to protest, but he plunged his tongue into her sex and she melted against him. He sucked on her sensitive nub as he retracted his tongue. Her hips bucked forward. Splaying her hands against the mattress above his head, she locked her elbows and rolled her hips the next time his tongue thrust into her. She would’ve been more embarrassed if he didn’t seem to be thoroughly enjoying himself. And when she looked behind her, he was stroking himself in rhythm to the pace he set with his mouth. Three more thrusts and the pressure was too much. She called out and froze above him, pulsing around his lapping tongue.

Holy shit. This was easily the hottest thing she’d ever done. Probably the hottest thing she’d ever do again. Kellen rolled her over and pulled a pillow toward them, then lifted her neck gently. When he was satisfied that she was nice and comfortable, he kissed her slowly from her navel to her collarbone, until the head of his cock pressed an inch inside of her.

With a moan, she spread her knees wider and cradled his hips against hers. He was slow in taking her, as if he knew his size would be too much if he wasn’t careful. She dug her fingers into his back as he pressed inside of her another inch and stretched her. Tiny aftershocks still trilled through her. Kellen’s arms were flexed from trying to keep the bulk of his weight off her, and she scratched her fingernails down his triceps. His hips jerked, and he plunged into her. She gasped and arched against him. He seemed to like when she had her claws out, so she dug them into his back as he bucked into her, faster and harder. She cried out with every stroke as the tingling pressure built inside her. And as she breathed his name, she fell apart, detonating around him as he gritted his teeth and shot into her. Warm jets released into her as his cock flexed and swelled, pulsing to match her own release. She raked her nails down his back, and he pursed his lips and thrust into her again and again until she lay spent and boneless under him.

He kissed her neck and moved slowly inside of her, as if he couldn’t get enough of the feel of her around him. He hugged her tightly and eventually eased out, only to tuck her against him and run a light touch from the top of her shoulder blades to the iliac crests of her lower back. Over and over, he stroked and kissed her, nibbled her collar bone until she felt completely adored.

This was the moment she’d remember for all time. For the rest of her short life, she’d know this was the time that had changed her from the inside out. This moment, right here, in the arms of the man who’d altered everything, was when she chose banishment.

Because a life without love, without this, wasn’t really a life at all.

Kellen crossed his arms and sipped his beer, staring at the steaks on the grill. Today had been a roller coaster, and he wasn’t sure how he felt. Enraptured by Skyler, absolutely, but this wasn’t a simple relationship. Even if she hadn’t been hurt and half-broken when he found her, he was full to the gills with his own inner monsters, none of which he could ever let her see. If she knew what he really was, she’d leave and never come back. And that was a thought that was no longer tolerable. Not after he’d bedded her. Not after his bear had chosen her once and for all. He wasn’t mate material, but that didn’t seem to stop his inner animal from craving a partner.

And damn his instincts, he couldn’t avoid the bond that was forming between them. If he cut her off now and distanced himself, he’d still always pine. It was the way he was built. Loyal to a fault, and when he felt, he
felt
. Fuck, he was in it now, and she deserved so much better.

“You trying to burn the steaks, man?” Denison asked. “Cause you know no bear here likes their meat hard as a hockey puck.”

Rushing, Kellen flipped the meat as the heat below sizzled and hissed. “Sorry. I’m just…”

“In Skylerland?” Denison asked. He tinked his bottle against Kellen’s beer. “Looks like you got it bad.”

Kellen inhaled deeply and shook his head in shame. “What am I going to do?”

“About what? From the way you were rocking that trailer earlier, it’s pretty obvious you chose her.”

“Yeah, and what good does that do either of us? She’s better than this place. Better than me.”

Denison cocked his head and frowned. “Is this because of the time before Meredith found you?”

Kellen clacked his mouth closed and stared at the steaming steaks. No way in hell was he talking about his past. Thinking about it was bad enough.

Denison gripped his shoulder and squeezed. “You ain’t him.”

Kellen snorted and shook his head as his friend sauntered off. What did Denison know? He’d grown up with a loving family. Him and Brighton both. They were made for mates. They’d seen a good example of love. Kellen wouldn’t even know where to begin. He knew one thing, and one thing alone. If he allowed himself to claim a mate, any mate, he’d burn her up until she was a husk of the person she was supposed to be.

He hadn’t brought Skyler here to claim her.

He’d brought her here to heal her.

Anything more would break her the rest of the way, and it wasn’t something he or his bear could live with.

Haydan whistled a catcall, and Kellen turned. Brooke and Skyler were making their way down the porch stairs of 1010 a few trailers up. Skyler was wearing a pair of skin-tight, sexy-as-all-get-out jeans and a black tank top.

“Your mouth is hangin’ open,” Denison called with a smirk on his face.

Kellen clacked his teeth closed and cleared his throat. Skyler had pulled her dark hair back in a ponytail, exposing her long, fair neck, and she’d covered her bruises with some paint shit women wore to enhance whatever they thought needed enhancing. He wasn’t usually a fan of heavy make-up, but Skyler had dolled up her eyes with dark stuff and the green in her irises looked downright exotic. Or erotic. His cock swelled and hammered against his jeans. Her arms were toned, and she walked straighter, chin up, like the day had done wonders for her confidence. And when those gorgeous eyes fell on him—well, she just about buckled his knees.

“Mouth is hanging open again,” Denison observed helpfully.

“Shut up,” Kellen said. “Take the steaks off the grill. I’m gonna…yeah.” He handed Denison the tongs and weaved a path through the strewn plastic lawn chairs and around the fire pit Tagan was tossing logs into.

His alpha was staring at Skyler, too, but his eyes looked troubled. Kellen had already paid for her to be here in blood, though, so like it or not, Tagan had to accept her presence for tonight.

Kellen stopped short in front of Skyler. Brooke squeezed her hand, then made her way toward the fire pit.

“You look,” he said, voice cracking on the last word. He cleared his throat and stood taller. “You look healthy.”

“Healthy?” Skyler asked, then giggled. “Thank you, I think.”

She stood on tiptoes, sliding her hand over his shoulder, and kissed the two day scruff on his face. Her lips were soft and warm against his jaw. Surprised, he placed his hands on her hips to steady her on the way back down.

“You look handsome.”

He frowned down at his black cotton T-shirt and worn, holey jeans over his scuffed work boots. He hadn’t exactly dressed up for Brooke’s welcome home celebration, but if this was what Skyler liked, he’d dress down more often for her.

The sleeves of his shirt were tight, and Skyler ran her hand down his arm, over the curve of his bicep, and settled it in the inner crook of his elbow. Good grief, the woman could bend his animal to her will with a touch.

“I can’t see your bruises anymore,” he observed. Maybe conversation would stifle his urge to lead her back into 1010, bend her over the bed, and take her from behind until she screamed his name in pleasure.

“Yeah, Brooke has some really good foundation she got when her attacker hurt her face. She let me have it. Now I won’t have to hide behind my hair anymore.”

His face stretched in a smile. “I like that. I like seeing your face.” He brushed his finger down her cheek. “Your eyes.”

Skyler leaned against his hand, her soft jaw contrasting against the rough callouses of his palm.

“You hungry?” he asked, the urge to take care of her overwhelming.

“Starving.”

He leaned forward slowly and kissed her forehead. It was a long time before he could convince himself to take his lips from her smooth skin. She was an amazing woman, and she didn’t cringe at his touch. His addiction to her was growing by the second. When he finally pulled away, he said, “Come on. I’ll get you a plate.”

When she was settled in a seat upwind of the fire, he piled her plate high with steak, fire-grilled corn on the cob, and fruit salad. Only when she was settled and her Dixie cup full did he make his own.

The murmur of the crew shootin’ the shit after a long day on the job site calmed Kellen’s frayed nerves. Everything was fine. When he’d told her he wasn’t the mating kind, she hadn’t even batted an eyelash. She still asked for intimacy, she didn’t seem mad, and she wasn’t pushing him for more. He could do this. He could toe the line between too much relationship with Skyler and just enough.

Jed had done it. Shit, Jed was a terrible example. His mate had left him to live in Saratoga, a couple of hours away. She wasn’t built for life mated to a logger. Or for wilderness at all, really. Highfalutin smarmy witch who berated the crew at every turn. He’d been glad when she left. Unfortunately, it ripped up their alpha at the time, made him off-his-rocker-crazy, and threw the entire crew into uncertainty and chaos.

What if Skyler left because he couldn’t offer her more? What if she went back to Roger in desperation for commitment Kellen wasn’t able to give?

“Hey,” Skyler murmured as he sat down with his food and half-empty beer bottle. “What’s wrong? You look panicked.”

Her hand on his forearm soothed him, and he attempted a smile. “Just thinking.” Too damned much. He wasn’t a smart man. Never had been, never would be. It wasn’t his low self-esteem that admitted this. He had good attributes such as loyalty, a strong back, a level head under pressure, a mechanical mind, and skill with big machinery. Thinking too much like this confused him more than he usually was and stressed him the hell out.

“Did I do something wrong?”

“No.” The word came out too loud, too forceful. “No,” he said, softer. “I’m just scared I won’t be what you need. That I won’t make you better.”

The smile faded from her lips. “I don’t need you to fix me, silly bear. You’ve already done enough. You took me away when I wasn’t able to get myself out of the predicament I’d found with Roger. I can take it from here. I just need you to be my friend.”

“Good. Just a friend.” That word pierced him, but it was what he needed, too. His head cleared, and the jumbled mess in his mind slowly faded away. “I can be that.”

Her face fell, and she slid her hand off his arm. “Okay.”

Skyler didn’t speak to him after that. She ate in silence as the other men informed Brooke of all she’d missed while she was away. The snake in Haydan’s toilet, the raccoons that stole a carton of eggs Tagan had left unattended by the grill for too long. The rope swing the boys had tied over the creek, and the makeshift skateboard ramp Bruiser had made. Drew had jumped off a roof onto it and broken the ramp into splinters. The usual shit that often led to minor injuries and more bad ideas. Brooke shook her head and called them “man plans,” but she didn’t try too hard to hide her amusement.

The fireflies lit up the woods that surrounded the trailer park, and Skyler watched them with wide-eyed wonder. Kellen couldn’t take his eyes off her. God, she was beautiful. She was also rubbing the gooseflesh on her arms. It was June and warm enough during the daylight hours, but nights were always cool, especially in the mountains.

Kellen stood and retrieved his jacked from his trailer, then dropped it around her shoulders from behind. Skyler jumped, as if he’d startled her, but smiled her thanks. It didn’t reach her eyes though, and Kellen knew he’d failed to keep his turmoil to himself. She was smart and probably saw right through him. He had to do better than this.

He opened his mouth to ask her if she wanted anything else to drink, but Denison beat him to it.

“You sure have a pretty tone to your voice, Skyler,” Denison said. “You sing?”

Brighton had been plucking away at his old guitar for the better part of half an hour now, and he looked up from the fret he was fingering as Skyler seemed to mull over her answer.

She pulled her shoulders up to her ears, as if she didn’t like the attention on her. “In the shower.”

“Mmm,” Denison said, tapping the toe of his work boot in rhythm to Brighton’s plucking of the strings across the fire. He reclined in his old plastic chair. “I bet you have a folksy, bluesy, country-sounding voice. What kind of music do you like?”

Skyler dipped her gaze to her lap and hid a smile. “Folksy, bluesy, country-sounding music.”

“Name your favorite band,” Denison challenged her.

Tagan stretched his legs out and wrapped his arm around Brooke’s shoulders, then angled his face and glared at Skyler thoughtfully while she contemplated an answer.

“Lately, I like The Drues.”

Denison nodded slowly. “You know Ash and Dust?”

Skyler’s dark eyebrows wrenched up. “Do
you
know Ash and Dust?”

The notes changed as Brighton picked a slower chord, and Skyler huffed a soft laugh. “Of course y’all do.”

“You better not leave me hanging on the harmony,” Denison said, all but daring her to step up. “The girl’s part either.”

“Do I really have to do this? In front of everyone?”

“We can all sing really badly with you if you’d like,” Bruiser offered.

“The hell you will,” Denison said, leaning his elbows on his knees. “She’s got this.” He swung his gaze to Skyler’s over the flames and lowered his chin. “You’ve got this.”

Kellen fidgeted. He didn’t want her uncomfortable, and he sure as hell didn’t want her clamming up from being put on the spot. Really, he wanted to protect her from all the prying eyes that seemed to make her so uncomfortable, tuck her under his arm, and run off into the woods with her.

That wouldn’t help Skyler open up, though. It would hurt her if he coddled her.

Kellen’s heart was pounding, and his blood was roaring in his ears, loud enough that he missed the first few lyrics Denison sang in his rich tenor. Brighton strummed louder as his twin’s voice sang out.

“Said she was better off beside me

But she don’t see what I do

She’s way too good for a rambler like me

So I told her we were through.”

Denison lifted his chin and gave an encouraging smile to Skyler. Then sang the first line of the chorus.

“Broken heart…”

Skyler trailed with the same lyrics in harmony, and Kellen drew up straight at how beautiful her voice was. Like a bell with a shot of perfect vibrato at the end, quiet at first, but building.

Denison’s deep voice came in again.

“Broken time

Nothing left

She took what’s mine.”

“He took what’s mine,” Skyler trailed in complimentary, haunting notes.

“Holy shit,” Drew murmured, grinning at Skyler.

“Shhh,” Denison said, throwing him a quick frown, then pulled his attention back to Skyler, who straightened her spine beside Kellen, and clasped her hands in her lap.

Denison caught the right notes and continued.

“I’m ash and dust

Hopin’ she’s made of the same

Pack my suitcase

Board that train

Damn the weather

Damn the rain

Gonna go and get my baby.”

Denison leaned back with a grin and a shake of his head. “It’s you now, girl. Bring it home.”