Predator's Kiss (21 page)

Restraining Lia, the woman spoke to the men. “If you come any closer, I’ll shift and rip her throat out before you can blink. You know I can do it.”

“I know you can do it, Donna,” said Ryland, taking a step into the cave. “But I know it’s not like you to do something hurtful like that.”

Donna? Lia’s mind raced. She didn’t know any Donnas, but they seemed to.

Soren followed Ryland’s lead and stepped forward. “Donna, please let her go. It’s not what you think.”

“Oh, it’s exactly what I think,” she countered. “It’s why I’ve had to do this! It’s why I had to shoot her and you. And you still didn’t get it. You still didn’t see me.”

Donna began to cry. Lia felt her body quake in front of her and even had the urge to reach for the other woman’s hand, but resisted just in case it threw her off again.

“Donna, please,” said Soren. “I don’t love Lia. Ryland does.”

“How can you say that, Soren?” she wailed. “I saw you with your arms around her. I saw the footage of you kissing her. The whole world saw it! You’re a liar.”

“That footage was out of context,” Soren replied. “I never lied to you. Not today, and not years ago. You told me then that you understood why we had to split up.”

She laughed bitterly. “Yeah, so you could chase honeys all over the globe and leave me here on this rock by myself.”

“It wasn’t like that,” Soren persisted. “I loved you. I really did. But we were young and we had our lives ahead of us.”

A wet gurgle sounded from Donna’s throat. “You did. You traveled the world and became a success. And because you left me behind, I ended up with nothing! My life is a mess.”

Ryland, his eye still on Lia, tried to calm Donna. “I know your life has been hard, Donna, but you have two beautiful children. And we can get your husband some help with his drinking.”

“He doesn’t want help.”

“Then we’ll get you out of that house.”

“Where will I go, Ryland? Will I live here at the lodge, your live-in cleaning lady?” She let out a laugh that showed just how pathetic she thought the idea was. She pointed at Soren’s chest. “Because he left me all those years ago, my life has been hell. My kids are better off without me.” She darted a glance at Lia, then back at Soren. “And you’re better off without her.”

Lia snatched a breath as Donna shifted once again. She saw her open her bear mouth wide and lunge. Lia threw up her hands in front of her throat.

In that second, out of the corner of her eye, Lia saw Ryland raise what looked to be a rifle. Horrified, and expecting to be blown to smithereens along with bear Donna, Lia squeezed her eyes shut.

There was no rifle blast. Just a quiet
thud
and the sound of a big bear rolling to the ground in front of her. And before she could even open her eyes again, Lia felt Ryland’s arms around her. Holding her up, knowing somehow that she was ready to fall.

She opened her eyes and saw the men huddled around Donna’s sleeping animal form. There was a big tranquilizer dart stuck in her neck and her tongue lolled out of her mouth. She was down for the count.

Lia buried her face in Ryland’s wonderful plaid shirt. God, she loved those shirts! “I thought you were going to kill her.”

He breathed into her hair. “I couldn’t do that. She’s a good person at heart. She needs help. We’ll get it for her.”

Lia looked up and gazed into his dark eyes. “Ryland Snow, you are a wonderful man.”

He caressed her cheek and smiled. “Let’s go home.”

At that, Lia knew for certain that home was wherever Ryland was, and she was overjoyed to be there with him.

* * * *

Once bear Donna was safely loaded onto the back of a large pickup truck, Soren and the other men headed back to the lodge in the vehicle. Ryland and Lia decided to walk back. She’d needed some fresh air after being held in the cart and then the cave, and Ryland couldn’t refuse her, even though he was dying to get her back to his suite.

They walked quietly through the woods, keeping to a path that meandered around the lake. He clutched her small hand in his and kept darting worried glances her way, waiting for any indication she might crumble.

She didn’t. She was so strong in her way and he loved her with a fierceness he’d never thought possible.

Tell her now
, said the bear voice inside him.
Now
.

“I know, I know. I’m getting to it,” Ryland mumbled under his breath.

“Did you say something?” Lia asked, her face not quite serene, but getting there. So goddamn gorgeous, his eyes almost hurt to look at her.

“Lia, come here.” He pulled her toward a log that had been carved to look like a bench by some enterprising person with a good penknife. They sat together and Ryland couldn’t help noticing the beauty of the spot they were in. The pines and maples were old and tall in this part of the forest and seemed to reach toward the sky. Right above them, the tree branches swayed and seemed to meet, making the woods resemble the ruins of a cathedral.

He looked at Lia and she was smiling so sweetly at him, he just about lost his breath. “Baby,” he whispered, taking her hands in his.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” he replied. “Nothing in my life is wrong because you’re in it.”

“Oh, Ry,” she murmured, as a lovely blush spread across her cheeks.

He knelt before her and saw her pretty amber eyes widen. Ryland couldn’t help laughing. “Soren would call me a hick for doing this here, but I can’t wait another minute.” He breathed in and out. “Lia, you are my mate. Woman, you are my soul.” He blinked back the tears in his eyes, just as her own began to water. “I can’t live without you. Will you be my wife?”

Her breath was coming hard and there was a sparkle in her eye that was a clear indication she was about to tackle him where he kneeled. Before either of them got carried away, Ryland put a finger to her lips.

“Hear me out, though, before you answer. Being my mate means I have to mate with you. It means I have to bite you, Lia. I’d have to bite you hard, and mark you. You’d become a bear shifter too.” He ran a nervous hand through his hair. Damn. He was sweating so hard. “I know how you feel about animals…”

With a little whoop, Lia pushed him onto the forest floor and pounced on him, more like a wildcat than a woman. She wound her legs around his lower half and covered him with her body. Taking his breath away, she ground herself against his erection and buried her face in his neck.

If he wasn’t mistaken, the woman was already growling. She was certainly nibbling his neck like an animal.

Ryland pushed her away a little and stared, amazed. “Is that a yes?”

“Yes.” She laughed. “Bite me. Mate with me. Throw me over that log and take me. Do whatever you need to do to me. I’m yours, Ryland. I want to be your wife.”

Their mouths met, open, furious, needy. His tongue slid against hers, and as he reveled in her taste she received him with sighs and moans. Her every gyration made him harder, made him want to turn her over and thrust into her like a raging beast. Even as they kissed, he felt her hands at his waist, fumbling with his belt buckle and unzipping his jeans. She reached into his pants and encircled his cock with a soft, greedy hand.

Ryland needed to take charge. As fun as this was, it was time to make her his. It was time to put his scent and his mark on her, claiming Lia as his own forever. His bite would initiate the transformation to shifter in her, and he would be there to help her along the way.

As he rolled her over, he contemplated where to mark his lover. As she quickly disposed of her pants and underwear, so frantic she didn’t even bother to remove her shirt, he was inspired. As soon as her bottom half was naked, he forced her to the forest floor and smiled at the sight of her pretty pussy. She spread her legs for him, allowing him access. Her lips were moist with the delectable dew he could already taste. Her scent was slamming into his olfactory system, and he breathed her in with a vengeance.

As she writhed below him, Ryland lowered his head and dragged his tongue through her wet lips. She bucked below him and screamed his name. He sucked her lips into his mouth and dragged on them greedily, absorbing as much of her sweetness as he could. Lia was shaking. He’d never seen her come so hard or so fast, and knew the anticipation of his bite was bringing her to orgasm already. As her body began to quake, he sucked on her clit and watched her unravel. And before she came apart completely, Ryland moved his lips to her tender inner thigh. As she clutched his hair, crying out for him, he bit down on her thigh, hard enough to break the skin.

Her upper body stilled in shock at this invasion, but her lower half was still quivering. Before she stopped squirming, he raised himself over her and poised his cock at her entrance. With one smooth glide, he buried himself inside her and began to pump as if his life depended on it.

He could almost hear his bear jumping for joy inside him, so ecstatic at finally being at one with his mate. Ryland adjusted her hips and dived deeper into her welcoming body, never more excited or more at peace. And when he came, Lia came again with him, their bodies a sweaty, heaving mess.

When he finally detached himself from her, he looked at her wound and frowned. He touched it gingerly with a finger. “Does it hurt?”

“Not anymore.”

He grunted, hating that he had to make her bleed. Without another word, Ryland bent and licked her wound, lapping up all the blood. Taking her inside him as he’d done with no one else. They were bound now. No one would ever tear them apart.

He pulled her into his arms and ran a hand over her damp hair. Smiling, he pulled the leaves out of the long, brown strands. “I love you forever, Lia.”

She looked up at him and the happiness in her eyes made his heart leap. “I love you too.”

* * * *

One week later, Lia sat at her laptop in the suite she now shared with Ryland at the Ursa Fishing Lodge. He stood behind her chair, his hands on her shoulders, giving her a squeeze. As he watched her type a few words, he leaned over and nibbled her earlobe.

“You done yet?”

She swatted at him, laughing. “You asked me that five minutes ago.”

“I know,” he drawled in her ear. “You done now?”

She swiveled in her chair to face his grinning mug and hugged him around the waist. “Ryland Snow. Did anyone ever tell you how impatient you are?”

“Yeah. Every day of my life. What’s your point?” He tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear. “Is it my fault I’m eager to have sex with my fiancée?”

Lia’s face split with a joyous smile. She was still getting used to the word fiancée and it never ceased to make her want to giggle with happiness. Since Ryland had proposed—about five whole minutes after rescuing her from the cave—he’d been taking every possible opportunity to use the word. He introduced her to new guests as his fiancée. He called her that in bed. To give her a laugh, he sometimes even used it in place of her name. Yesterday at dinner, he’d said, “Fiancée, would you please pass the salt?” making her want to kiss him and hit him at the same time.

He crouched down so his face was level with hers and kissed her on the nose. He arched an eyebrow at her. “Did I mention the sex is going to be mind-blowing? Because it is.”

Lia fought to stay upright in her chair, even though she was already dying to sink against him and beg him to take her. She stared as he wet his lips and grunted in frustration. With reluctance, she pried his arms off her and swiveled back again to face her laptop. “I’m all yours in about one minute. Promise.”

Ryland walked around the desk so he could see her face. “You mean…?”

She smiled. “Yup. Do you wanna watch?”

“Hell, yes, woman!” He peeked around the monitor so he could see what she was typing.

Lia looked back at the screen and quickly typed a few words. She considered the sentence. One last time, she visualized the way Claudio was holding Adelaide at the end of their story. Her characters were happy. They were in love. All loose ends had been tied up; in fact, the characters had been tied up a few more times as well, and the resolution seemed realistic.

She was ready to let them go out into the world.

She looked up at Ryland, the man who’d encouraged her all week. He’d helped her meet her deadline by reading her work and commenting and applauding. Even as he was dealing with getting assistance for Donna and her family as he’d promised. Even as he’d visited the mainland with Donna’s husband and helped the man check into rehab. Even as he’d said good-bye to Soren when his brother embarked on his next musical adventure. Ryland had been so busy, and still made time for her and her romance novel. And every night he’d taken her to bed, told her how much he loved her, and expressed that love in titillating, heart-stopping ways.

And when Lia had suggested, almost shyly, it might be nice to move in with him at the lodge, Ryland had just about come undone, he’d been so happy. She loved being with him there. Her fear of animals seemed to have disappeared, or at least she didn’t jump at them anymore. Which was a good thing, seeing as she was now part animal. Ryland had suspected her change to shifter might bring about such a reaction and it appeared he was right. She hadn’t shifted yet and was nervous, but Ryland had assured her it sometimes took extreme emotion to bring on the first shift.

She really hoped it wouldn’t happen for the first time at their wedding, or God help her, their wedding night. She wanted to stay human for those events and not maul any of the guests.

Even though she had her qualms, she had never been happier and was looking forward to life with Ryland, her bear man. And she had to admit, she was having fun being a new shifter. She’d always felt like such a weakling, the sort of person who’d struggled with silly things like opening jars. The first time she wrenched the lid off a jar of pickles with her newfound shifter strength, she’d almost sent the briny contents flying across the room. Her senses also seemed more acute. She’d always been amazed by Ryland’s keen sense of smell, and she now seemed to share it. She could pick out scents, even at a far distance. Why, just the other day in the lobby, she’d wrinkled her nose at a woman’s strong perfume, only to realize the only woman in the lobby was a lady standing about sixty feet away. And she loved the way she and Ryland could communicate without speaking. Yes, it meant they had many more naughty conversations and secret smiles, and she loved every minute of it.