Ranger Bear (Rogue Bear Series 1) (4 page)

A
nother week passed
and Whitney decided she couldn’t take it anymore.

Kyle would walk in a room and her body would light up like a Christmas tree. He’d walk out and she’d feel the disappointment wash over her.

There was a moment, sitting on the floor in Sam’s room when she thought he was going to kiss her, but he didn’t. He hadn’t touched her again. It was all she could think about.

She had to put a stop to it. Now.

She sat across from him at the kitchen table.

She watched his expression as he took a bite. She wanted to see that grin. The one that said he loved the way it tasted on his tongue. The one that said he was happy with what she had made for him.

The corners of his mouth turned. “God, this is good.” He heaped more pasta on his fork.

“I’m glad you like it.” She couldn’t put up sheetrock, but she could cook. She smiled at him over her wine glass.

“What do you call it?”

“It’s one of my special dishes,” she teased. She wasn’t about to tell him she had spent the entire afternoon whipping up a cream sauce that would seduce him. She had to use the skills she had.

“So are you going to tell me the big secret you’ve been keeping?” He eyed her.

“S-secret?”

Oh God, he knew she had a massive crush on him. He knew she was finding him in her dreams every night. He knew when she looked at him all she could think about was what his mouth would feel like on hers. He knew she wanted him.

“There is definitely something you’re not telling me.” He paused. “No one can just cook like this.”

She sighed. “Oh, my cooking. Right.” She didn’t know whether to be relieved or annoyed that he had guessed the wrong secret.

“I used to own a restaurant in Seattle.”

“You did? Well I guess that explains a lot. Why haven’t you mentioned it?”

“Because it burned to the ground. I don’t have it anymore.”

His eyes widened. The blue flecks intense. “What happened?”

She shrugged her shoulders. “They ruled it an electrical malfunction in the breaker box. I lost the entire building.” She reached for the wine.

“Wow. I’m sorry, Whitney. I had no idea.”

“It happened right before I got the news about Sam. He didn’t even know about it yet.”

“What did you do?”

“I ended up here.”

“It shouldn’t have happened. You didn’t deserve any of this.” His voice grew louder. He clenched his fork.

“Between the insurance nightmare with the restaurant and this place falling down I think I’ve been hiding out.” God, it felt good to talk about it. She had felt guilty talking about the restaurant, as if that somehow diminished Sam’s death. But Kyle seemed to get it.

“You’ve been doing this all on your own.”

“Until you showed up,” she whispered.

This could be her chance. The moment when she told him that since he appeared on her porch her life had started to come back together. There was warmth. There was happiness. There was a future if he wanted it.

“Did you used to serve this in your restaurant?” he asked, twirling more noodles on his fork.

Maybe it wasn’t the moment.

She shook her head. “No. It wasn’t on the menu.”

“You could charge a hundred dollars a plate for this.” He walked to the kitchen island and added a second serving to his plate.

She blushed, loving how much he was enjoying it.

“Have you thought about staying here and opening a new restaurant nearby?”

“No. I can’t think about work until I get the house taken care of. Besides, you’ve seen the hardware store. It’s not like there’s much here. I don’t think there are enough people to get a business up and going. It’s so remote.”

“True. But I bet people would drive hours just to taste this.”

She giggled. “Well if I do open another restaurant I will make you my marketing manager.”

“You should do it, Whit.”

The way he said her name sent chills along her arm. Her skin prickled. He had never used her nickname before. It sounded casual. It sounded intimate.

“Since I lost the last one I haven’t been able to think about it. The house. Sam.” She could go on with the list of things that had happened since the restaurant fire.

“You’ve had a lot on your plate.”

She nodded. Things had crumbled around her, but suddenly there was something she wanted. It had come out of nowhere. Out of a cloud of grief and confusion. But he was sitting across from her.

Two months ago she never would have believed she would have something to look forward to, but the longer she was around Kyle, the more she wanted him to be a part of her life. She had a purpose. A reason to smile. A reason to cook. A reason to let her heart take another chance. He had been healing her for the past month and he didn’t even know it.

He broke the comfortable silence. “I thought tomorrow I could try to make a plan for the bathroom in the apartment.”

“Really?”

“If you want me to. I think it would be easy to finish it.”

She wanted the bathroom to be finished. It would help with selling the property, but she would by lying if she said she didn’t enjoy Kyle’s daily shower stops downstairs. She was running out of excuses to catch a glimpse of him in his towel every morning.

“Oh sure. I think it would be great to have it finished. That was the plan.” She placed her wine glass next to her plate.

“If you want to look at some pictures and pick out a shower and sink, that would help. I can order anything you want.”

“Oh. Ok.” She watched him eat everything on his plate.

“I don’t know how long it will take to get here, though. They don’t exactly have express service at the hardware store.”

She laughed. “No. Definitely not.”

He stood from the table. “Thanks for dinner.” He took the plates to the counter and started his nightly ritual of loading the dishwasher.

“You’re welcome.” She sat while he rinsed the plates and scrubbed the pans.

“I think it was my favorite dish so far.” He smiled at her, closing the dishwasher with his foot. “I’m going to call it a night.”

Whitney nodded. “Good night, Kyle.”

“Good night.”

And then he was gone. The house felt colder. The kitchen quieter. She finished the last few sips of wine. Damn. Once the bathroom was finished, that would be it. There would be nothing left keeping him here. She had to do something to change that.

H
e ran
his fingers through his hair. His bear was losing it. Four weeks was a lot to ask him. But he was trained in self-control. He was trained in patience. He was trained to wait for his target. His bear had to fucking wait. This was not the time to take a mate.

One month with Whitney had almost made him forget his mission in Razastan wasn’t over. He still had to go back.

The bathroom was the last project. He had tried to find more things to do at the house, but he had tackled everything on the list Whitney had given him.

He paced in the apartment. There was no way he could sleep. He jogged down the steps to the workshop below. He was finished with his project, but it could use another sanding. He wanted it to be perfect.

He flipped on the light over the workbench, reaching for sandpaper.

He peeled back the sheet and started working, smoothing out the grooves and rough spots.

Kyle looked at his phone. It was after midnight. His hair was full of sawdust. It was caked under his nails, and stuck to the stubble on his chin. Whitney would be asleep by now. He walked to the house and slipped into the bathroom. He washed the sawdust down the drain before heading back to the barn.

He looked over his finished project. He smiled and turned to cut off the light when he heard something behind him.

His neck stiffened and his chest tightened.

“Hey.” Her voice was soft and light.

He turned. Whitney was standing in the barn door. Her hair was down on her shoulders. She was wearing a T-shirt barely covering her ass. He swallowed hard.

“You ok?” He was afraid to take his hand off the workbench. It was the one thing keeping him from dragging her up to his bed.

She shook her head. “Not really.” She walked in the barn, closing the door behind her.

“What happened?” He had just been in the house and everything seemed fine.

She leaned against the wall. That’s when his hand let go of the one thing anchoring him in place. He walked toward her, faster than he meant to.

He stopped close enough he could smell the wine on her breath, the shampoo on her hair, the rain on her skin. The T-shirt clung to her chest where the rain had pelted her. He could see the outline of her nipples through the thin fabric.

His breath hitched. “What’s wrong, Whit?”

He couldn’t stop his hand from reaching for her neck. Her skin was warm in his palm.

She raised her eyes to him, holding his gaze in place. Her teeth raked over her lip.

“I heard you in the shower. I walked downstairs but you were gone.”

“Did you need to tell me something?” he asked. Her breasts were bobbing in front of him as her breathing quickened.

“Mmmhmm.”

“What is it? What’s wrong?” His voice was husky and deep.

“You,” she whispered.

“Me?” His fingers began to massage the back of her neck. He couldn’t stop the pull he had toward her.

“I had to finish an entire bottle of wine to walk over here.”

“Why?” His other hand landed on the soft curves of her waist. God, she was so luscious and sweet.

“Because I want to know why you haven’t made a single move.” She leaned closer to him, pressing her breasts against his chest.

Fuck. “Made a move?” He leaned down, inhaling her sweet breath. His lips dying to kiss her. To touch the curves of her mouth.

She nodded, her eyes widening. “You’ve been here a month. What’s wrong? Do you think of me as Sam’s little sister? Is that it?”

“Hell, no. Is that what you think?”

She nodded, her lips full and pouty. “Yes.”

“That’s not it.”

“Then what?” she whispered.

His lungs seized with air. He wanted her. He needed her to help him take his next breath. She was gorgeous and sexy. She was soft and warm. Innocent and kind. All the things his mate should be.

He pressed his forehead to hers, knowing his bear was pushing him to take more than this moment. His bear wanted every part of her.

“I can’t explain it, Whit,” he groaned. “I’m trying to protect you.”

Her hands slipped up to his neck. “Protect me from what?” Her fingers rubbed along his skin.

“From getting hurt.”

“I’m hurting right now. Every day you don’t kiss me hurts.” She breathed. “I came over here to tell you I want you to make a move.”

His bear was beyond restraint. There was nothing Kyle could do to calm him, or convince him to keep things in check. She was offering herself to him, and as far as his bear was concerned, he should take what was his.

Kyle’s mouth landed on hers, hot and rough. He cradled her face in his hands, drawing her close to him. He could taste the wine as his tongue twined against hers. He drew a moan from her throat as he sucked and bit at her lips.

His hands slid to her hips, snaking the T-shirt over her generous ass. She raised her hands in the air, and in a swift tug he yanked it over her arms and threw it near the pile of sawdust.

“God, you’re fucking beautiful.” He stared at her breasts, ripe and round. Pink and soft. Puckering for him. Begging to be sucked.

He gripped one before his teeth landed on the nipple. He tugged and toyed, while his tongue flicked against her skin.

“Ohh,” Whitney cried, fisting her hands at the back of his head.

The nipple perked under the heat of his mouth. He blew across it. He kissed between her breasts, then moved to the other side, sucking hard until he heard the moans from the back of her throat. His teeth raked against her skin as he sank to his knees, kissing and licking against her flesh.

He wanted to cover every inch of her. Taste her. Suck her, and fuck her until she was screaming his name. He couldn’t stop his bear even if he wanted to. Four weeks was too long to wait.

His eyes flashed up to hers. Her gorgeous brown eyes misted with lust and want. It was all he needed to see. And in an instant he peeled the panties from her hips, dropping them to her ankles. She stood before him, flat against the wall. Her head reeled back. Her legs spread wide.

He didn’t ask. He knew exactly what he wanted. What he wanted to taste. His hands moved between her legs, spreading her slick folds wide for him. His tongue slid between her, slow at first.

“Ohh,” she whimpered.

He grinned. God, she tasted sweet. He dipped his tongue against her again, his hands prying her thighs. He began lapping at the bud, relentless with thirst for her. With each moan and rock of her hips he felt his cock grow more solid.

“Whitney,” he breathed between her thighs.

She whimpered. “You do want me.” Her head rolled to the side.

“Let me show you. I want you more than you know.” He eased one of her legs over his shoulder so her hips tilted toward him.

His tongue plunged against her entrance. He worked in and out, wickedly flicking over her throbbing nub before dipping into her sweet spot.

He felt her began to quiver around him. He pressed his palm to her stomach, pinning her to the wall while his tongue continued to lick and tease her.

“Ohh,” she moaned. “It’s so much. I can’t…I can’t…” Her words said one thing, while her hands pressed him deeper between her legs. She rocked rhythmically against his tonge.

“Feel it. Feel what I can do to you.” He sucked hard against her, and the vibrations quickened. His tongue dipped deep, loving the feel of her clenching against him. Her hands flattened against the barn wall, and her hips thrust forward into his face.

He growled low, letting it rumble between her legs while he lapped against the sweet sugar she gave him. If she could come like that with his tongue, he could only imagine what she would do with him buried deep inside her. He growled again, knowing he was going to find out.

Her quivering quieted as she began to open her eyes. He kissed along her stomach, inching his way to standing.

He looked at her beautiful face.

“I want you even more than that,” he whispered.

“More?” she asked. “There’s more?”

Her fingers reached for the hem of his shirt, dragging it over his chest.

His mouth crushed against her. Her lips parted as he kissed her hard. He felt her nipples pebble against his chest as the friction between them heated.

He jerked her leg to his hip, wrapping it around his waist. His cock was hard, straining against his jeans. Her eyes flashed at him. He looked around them. Sawdust. Nails. The barn wall. He might be a bear, but he could do better than this.

“You want this?” He kissed the base of her throat, sliding his hand between her legs. She was so wet and ready.

She nodded. “Yes,” she whispered. “Please.”

He picked her up, throwing her over his shoulder and marched up the stairs. His bear was finally getting what he wanted.