Bear No Defeat (6 page)

Alice opened her mouth in time to start doing just that, but then his warm, callused palms brushed gently against her face, his thumbs on her cheeks as he leaned in and kissed her on the lips with all the reverent affection she could imagine. It kicked the air right out of her lungs, and instead of fighting against it as she thought she would, Alice found herself putting her hands on his wrists and getting up on her tiptoes to meet him deeper in that heavenly kiss.

Raw desire flashed through her and she felt it roiling inside her, moving from her lips and along her arms and legs before balling up tightly in her core, making her knees buckle. She was only loosely aware of the moment when Jax took the bottle out of her hand and placed it aside and even then she was pretty sure that the only reason she noticed was because for that instant, his hand was not on her.

“You know,” Jax murmured, running his thumb along her chin now and making her meet his gray gaze. “If you wanted to get with me this bad, I would have said yes even without the arranged marriage.”

Alice’s mouth opened in a shocked smile and she took in a quick breath, ready to curse out the damn cocky man right there and then. But she never did get around to it before he picked her up like she was barely more than a feather, flung her lightly over his shoulder, and trudged straight down one of the corridors of his home, heading gods knew where.

“Jax! Where are you taking me!” she protested through laughter, heaving herself up on his back by laying her hands flat on his lower back.

Wouldn’t you know it, all she could feel was solid muscle underneath her fingers. It really didn’t help to bolster her resolve to be upset with him about anything.

“Shower. Didn’t
we
say we needed it?” he asked casually, opening a door and taking them both into an expansive bathroom that was about as big as her whole apartment.

He didn’t set her down before he’d turned the knob on the large steam shower, starting the water. When she was placed back down, completely unharmed, save for maybe her pride, and completely turned on, he grinned down at her like he had just done the most reasonable thing in the world. Because what girl didn’t like to be swept off her feet and carried off by a burly hockey bear, right?

Okay, so she couldn’t actually complain.

Alice searched for words but none were forthcoming, and when Jax pulled off his jersey and shirt in one smooth move, standing half-naked before her now, she made even fewer words that held any sort of sense to them. He shucked off his pants next and Alice had to lean back against the sink to keep from stumbling over her own feet, her eyes wide and unbelieving at the sheer perfection that was being presented to her.

She knew he was big; any fool could understand that by looking at the polar bear shifter. But he was
big
. Not only was his body sculpted perfection—though she could count plenty of scars on him pulled taut by his muscles—but his cock was also the kind of perfect that made her want to pinch herself.

Thick, cut, hard and obviously
made
for her. She wasn’t aware that she was staring before Jax’s chuckle roused her from her self-imposed daydream. She looked up, startled, catching his amused grin as he stepped into the shower, beckoning her to follow.

“Come on, Alice. In or out?”

In or out.
Could he make it sound any dirtier?

The decision was easy enough. In.

She undressed so fast she almost popped a button on her top, tearing it off of herself. Alice slipped into the big shower stall and closed the door behind her, feeling ten kinds of awkward right up to the point where Jax’s big arms scooped her up. He pulled her to him underneath the warm spray of water, pushing her up against the cool tile wall and trapping her there with one thigh between her legs.

He hovered over her, that insufferable smile on his lips, and Alice’s hands couldn’t stop themselves from gliding up his firm, powerful biceps. The shock of his hot body against her and the cold tiles behind her made a small shiver run through her, but it only got stronger when he slipped one hand between them, sliding it down her belly and between her legs.

This is insane,
she thought.

“This is insane,” Alice echoed out loud, clamping a hand over her mouth a second later as she realized she’d said it out loud.

“Why?” he asked, leaning in so close that his lips were inches from hers, inviting her to kiss them again. “I don’t think there’s anything insane about this. I mean, we
are
supposedly getting married in a few weeks, right? Wouldn’t want to get hitched without knowing whether you’re
compatible
with your future husband…”

Alice snorted in response, a dozen comebacks sparking up and then swiftly dying on her lips as his fingers found their target, flicking over her clit gently before pressing against her wet pussy. The warm water sprinkled over them, though Alice felt like she was under a waterfall when against Jax, his wide shoulders protecting her from the spray. She let out a throaty moan as he pushed his fingers deeper, pressing against her slit.

“Right?” he asked, a bemused glint in his eyes, though the way his cock throbbed against her stomach told her that there was far more self-control involved here than the man would have perhaps like to let on.

“Right,” she agreed breathlessly, crushing her lips against him at the same moment as he pushed two fingers into her and made her twitch forward and into his arms.

Slowly, he worked his fingers in and out of her as she kissed him passionately, her tongue forcing its way between his lips. Their tongues slashed together as his rhythm hastened and she spread her legs wider, giving him more access while her nails scrabbled against his body, exploring all of him.

He was so strong and solid against her touch that the thought of ever being without him again seemed immediately ludicrous to her. It was only later that she would realize how silly
that
thought was about a man she had barely kissed and known no more than a few days.

But she’d come to know that kiss well enough, and Jax right along with it.

Her hands wrapped seamlessly around his neck as he started plunging into her harder and harder, every motion of his fingers coming with a small whimper from her. But the size of his cock against her delicate flesh made her realize the need well enough. He was
preparing
her.

“Fuck, you’re gorgeous,” he growled when he put his hands on her hips and lifted her up so her legs could wrap around his waist.

Alice could only mumble half a reply to that. What could she say, really, that would have made any sense at that point? Only when he moved her so she was right above his thick cock, ready to be impaled, did she find her words again.

“Then fuck me,” she hissed, as much a command as it was a plea. “Now.”

He grinned, rocking her back hard against the wall and thrusting forward, so whatever she might have wanted to say next came out as nothing more than a strangled mewl. Her nails scratched his shoulders now as she fought to catch her breath and keep what modicum of sanity she could. He stretched her wide, slowly filling her up with that rigid, veiny cock of his that it seemed to be almost too good.

When he had finally fit into her completely, working himself in inch by inch, Alice was clinging to him tightly and his arms were wrapped around her body in a protective cocoon, the hot water licking at their skin. She buried her face against his neck, small gasps escaping her lips as he started pulling back and then stroking into her again and again, their bodies twisted and needy for one another.

It wasn’t like anything she had ever experienced with any man, let alone one that she thought she could
actually
come to like, if not love. Jax was rugged, rough, but there was an air of gentleness to him that loomed above it all, like he’d only take her as far as she could, or would, want to go and her feelings and sensations came before his.

He laid small kisses on her neck and shoulder as he plowed into her, his hands now under her ass, squeezing it, making her back arch. Alice fell back slightly, so much that she could look him in the eye as her own blue gaze seemed to glaze over with lust. The heat she’d been cradling in her was burning like an inferno soon enough, pulsing through her with every thrust, her throat getting dry from the moans she let out, even though water kept moistening her lips.

“Don’t you dare stop,” she begged as he slipped one hand up to support her lower back, changing their angle so she was tipped forward a bit.

Jax bent down, a growl in his throat that rumbled through her as he caught one of her nipples in his mouth, his teeth gently capturing the nub, and he sucked and lapped at it. She groaned, her fingers coiling into his hair now as she rocked against him, her leg muscles twitching in protest as she clung to him.

Her entire body seemed to be pulsating with desire now, and the way he shuddered and groaned as she touched him and pulled on his blond hair made her feel certain that it wasn’t only her who was losing her mind in the most delicious way.

When he suddenly set her down, pulling her off his cock, Alice gasped in surprise. Looking up at him, she could see the fire burning in his eyes, clearly ignited by her, and she couldn’t help but smile.
That
was how she wanted to always be looked at. Like she was the sexiest woman alive. Like she could make his blood boil with need just with one look at her.

Alice bit down on her lip as he spun her around and pushed her against the wall again, this time so her palms were flat against the tile, and then spread her legs with his foot. He slapped her ass once as she pushed down toward him, eager for more, and she stifled a whimper. When he entered her again, this time from behind and forgetting all about that gentleness from before, she didn’t even try to stop the scream that came to her lips.

“Fuck, yes!” she wailed as he pounded into her, his hot breath on her neck as he kissed and sucked on her skin, which was sure to leave marks.

She pounded back against him, grinding on him, making him hiss and growl. When he slid one hand to the front of her and found her clit with two fingers, rubbing it in time with his thrusts, she couldn’t hold out any longer.

Alice threw her head back, screaming out loud. He felt
so
good and as her pussy clenched down on him, she could feel his thrusts becoming more erratic, hurried. Her hands curled into fists against the tile and she willed her knees not to buckle, letting him pound into her as she rode her orgasm, not being able to tell anymore if the hot and cold jolts she felt passing through her were from him, the water, the need, or all of those put together.

With a roar, his fingers prying into her thighs and his forehead against her back, he came inside her, thick seed spewing into her. Alice groaned softly as they both shuddered against one another, water cascading over them. Jax’s palms came up next to her hands on the tiles as he pushed himself back, taking his weight off of her and gingerly pulling out.

Immediately, his hands went for her, pulling her against him and twirling her around to face him. Without a word, he pressed a kiss on her lips, warm and safe and loving.

Loving.

That was exactly what it felt like.

She stared up at him in surprise, her hands on his chest now, fingertips tracing the outlines of a tattoo, the Shovelers’ new logo—the only one he had. Alice opened her mouth, wishing she could say something intelligent, something thoughtful. Hell, even something wry or sarcastic, or
anything.

All she could manage was: “Wow.”

“Yeah,” Jax said with a chuckle, laying a kiss on her forehead before turning them both so they could be under the warm jets of water better, steam rising around them. “I think our marriage will do just fine.”

She couldn’t help but laugh at that.

Okay, so maybe it
would
be fine. That could happen, right?
 

CHAPTER EIGHT

Jax

Something was not right.

Well, okay, truth be told
a lot
of things were “not right.” But none of those mattered. All that mattered was Alice.

The first time Jax had caught himself thinking like that, he’d done a double take and shaken it off. It couldn’t be, could it? Could she
actually
be his mate? It seemed ludicrous. Not only was their to-be marriage a sham to appease both of their parents, but they’d only just met. While some shifters were perfectly okay with sniffing up a scent and calling the first gal they found their mate, polar bears were made of a different stock.

What Jax had been always told, and what he had subsequently always believed as well, was that polar bears needed their time. That it was a slow burn, a careful one. Though they felt the pull almost immediately, it would take a while for the bear to settle on the woman completely, to be sure that she was for him. It made for some awkward courtship, especially when the woman in question was also a werebear, but the end result supposedly meant that the couple was bonded that much stronger.