Return To The Bear (6 page)

Riker clapped him on the back and Brody winced. “She’ll be good for you. You’ll see.”

He shook his head but didn’t say a
nything. What was the point? Arguing would risk pissing off his alpha again and he wasn’t up for another row. As it was, he could sleep for a week. He’d stayed up all night worrying about Joanna, then went straight to battle and begged a second helping from Riker by opening his big mouth. Of course Riker would think Joanna would be good for him. He had Hannah and they’d been paired well. But his friend had a short memory if he didn’t remember exactly why he had vowed not to take a mate.

He was about to ruin this woman’s life.

The door to the truck flew open and Hannah looked so scared. “Help.”

With a quick glance at Riker, he bolted for the back door and flung it open. Joanna lay across the back seat, her shirt soaked in blood. He’d been so stupid to cause trouble, to stall when she n
eeded Daria. He had convinced himself she wasn’t hurt as bad as she looked, because the snarling animal inside of him couldn’t handle it. Couldn’t accept it.

“You want me back there?” Hannah asked. Her voice cracked
on the last word and she smelled of fear.

“No.” This was on him, his mess. He’
d be the one to fix it or fail. He slid in under Joanna, cradling her head. “I need a towel, anything.” The soaked shirt she wore was useless now so he ripped it clean through and tossed it to the floor. It made a wet sound as it plopped on the plastic floor mat.

Bear shifters healed much faster than humans, but the gashes on her stomach and the teeth marks on her shoulder were deep enough that they would scar. He didn’t have clothes and
neither did Riker, but Hannah peeled off her shirt without a word and handed it to him. He put pressure on the worst of her open injuries as Riker peeled out of the mud hole he’d parked the truck in.

The cab smelled of animal and iron and Joanna twitched her head to the side.

“Is she going to change?” Hannah asked, facing the back seat. She slid her hand around Joanna’s and held on.

He shook his head and swallowed hard. “I don’t know.”
If she did, it wouldn’t be on purpose and she wouldn’t be in her right mind. She’d shred them all in this tiny space. His heart pounded against his sternum as he lifted her head against the warmth of his stomach. She was so cold, her skin felt clammy. God, he’d been so stupid, bickering with Riker when she needed help—his first failure as her mate.

Her dark lashes were so long, they brushed her cheeks and her full lips were slightly parted. He’d wanted to take her near the pond when she’d let him kiss her. Wanted to rip her clothes
away and thrust into her until she screamed his name, but she deserved better.

Why had he cut her? Hell if he knew. He saw her
spin around to defend Hannah, the blade in her hand. He saw the way Nathan was looking at her, like she was his. His mate, his to kill, and something deep inside of Brody had shattered. And like the sick fuck he was, he’d wanted Nathan to watch him mark Joanna. Wanted him to see his plaything snatched from him. That’s all she was to Nathan. A pretty cane he used to prop his leadership on. If he could prove he could break a strong spirited woman like Joanna, his clan of barbarian shifters would respect him more. The cost of that game would be Joanna though.

He might not be the solution for whatever she was looking for. But he’d at least be a better option than Nathan. And right now, that’s all she could
ask from him. It was all he had to give.

The movement of the truck bounced Joanna’s full breasts
, and he couldn’t drag his gaze away from her perfect pink nipples. He wanted to taste them. His erection pressed against her back and her skin felt good and right against his. This was the moment when he was supposed to cover her modestly with the edge of Hannah’s slowly soaking shirt, but moments ticked by and still, he couldn’t stop staring.

She was slender, but not soft and her skin was the color of ivory. I
t looked even paler smattered in red. A stray strand of dark hair had fallen over her face and he forced himself to look anywhere but her deliciously bobbing breasts. With a light touch, he pushed her hair back so he could see her eyebrows, furrowed in pain or with a bad dream or perhaps both. Her cheek was swollen and red, as if someone had hit her, and pride surged through him that she hadn’t given up. She had worked for her escape. He drew his fingertip down her sloping collar bone then pressed his palm against the rag once again.

When he looked up, Hannah was staring at him like she’d never seen him before. Right. He’d forgotten about her. She still clung to Joanna’s hand. “Don’t worry
, Brody. She’ll be okay.”

Her attempt to console him made him angry and he slid his gaze to the window. She’d just seen more of him than he allowed anyone to see, and not on purpose. She’
d taken it from him when he wasn’t paying attention. A moment that never would’ve happened if Joanna was still awake. Shame boiled in his gut, spreading through him until his skin warmed with it. He couldn’t afford to grow feelings for Joanna, and he definitely couldn’t risk Hannah telling her about some imagined moment they’d shared when she was unconscious.

By the time Riker pulled into the
hotel parking lot, Brody was probably closer to changing than Joanna was. He felt claustrophobic in that truck, surrounded by the smell of her blood. Battle readiness still pumped through his system, warring with his exhaustion and leaving an uncomfortable, restless feeling in his bones. And he was so worried about Joanna he wanted to hurt everything, but he’d never admit that out loud.

The sun had set and the parking lot was empty
, just as it had been earlier. Even the hotel manager had fastened the closed sign to the door and turned off the office lights. It shouldn’t have mattered that Joanna didn’t have a shirt on, because no one was there to see her but bear shifters who were utterly desensitized to nudity, but the rumble still rattled against his throat as he pushed past the others. Cameron, Riker and Hannah followed him into his room as the other shifters of Bear Valley wondered to their own rooms.

A knock on the d
oor sounded before he’d even laid the towels down on the bed and set her across them. Cameron let Daria in and the woman hesitated only a moment at the sight of Joanna’s stomach before she went to work, digging through a giant plastic bin of medical supplies she’d toted in.

Brody pulled a pair of jeans and a stretchy black T-shirt on and paced behind Daria. The woman’s gray hair was pulled back and the light fixture highlighted the white streaks running from her temples. He bit at the edge of his thumbnail as Riker sat Hannah down
on the other bed and pressed an antiseptic wipe onto a trio of gashes near her mouth. She’d fought whoever injured her face. Brave Hannah.

“Brody,” Daria said without turning. “She’ll need to eat when she wakes up. Track down something with meat in it.”

“I don’t want to leave her.”

Daria turned just enough for him to see the sliver of inhuman gray color in her eyes. “I need you to get her some food. I can’t have you growling at my back while I work on her. I’ll be done by the time you get back and you won’t have to leave her again. Please.”

Roughly, Brody scratched the back of his head and tapered the growl he hadn’t realized he was making. He snatched his keys from the bedside table, strode to the door, and threw it open. Gritting his teeth, he turned back. Whatever Hannah and Jo had been through, they’d bonded over it. “I’m sorry for earlier. Will you stay with her in case she wakes up before I get back?”

“Of course,” Hannah
said, like she’d already planned on it.

“Thanks,” he said gruffl
y and shut the door behind him.

Stretching his neck to let the breeze cool his skin, he sighed. Away from Joanna, it was easy to see his mistake. Simple to r
emember just how badly he’d messed up both of their lives. But when he was near her, all he could think about was making her as comfortable as possible. He wanted to make her happy, to touch her.

It scared him so deeply
, he wanted to run away and never look back.

****

Time and time again, Joanna was lulled back to sleep by the soft patter of rainfall outside the window. She didn’t remember where she was, but she wasn’t awake enough to care quite yet either. All she knew was she was warm, and numb, and safe, and it had been so long since she’d felt like this, she gave into sleep as much as her body would allow.

When at last
she felt unable to laze around anymore, she inhaled deeply and stretched. A familiar scent lingered on the air conditioner current breezing against her face. A masculine smell—woods, animal and the sharp tang of man’s skin. Her stomach ached as she pressed her hands flat against the cold headboard and pointed her toes. The ache transformed into a burn, and then to searing pain. Gasping, she sat up and gripped her middle. It was covered in bandages and she searched the dark room for any indication of where she was. It was small, a hotel room or maybe a bed and breakfast. Outside, it was dark but the clouds had parted enough to let moonlight through the open window. Burgundy curtains fluttered on either side. When she turned to squint into the dark, she yelped as she saw Brody sitting on the edge of another bed, his knee drawn up and his eyes glowing like a roadside animal who’d been caught in the high beams.

“Where am I?”

“A hotel room in Hyattville.”

“Where are
Hannah and the others?”

“Hannah hasn’t seen her mate in a couple of days. They needed time alone. The others have rooms in this hotel. I brought you
clothes and food. It’s cold now but Daria said you need to eat.”

The mention of food did bring and instantaneous response from her grumbling stomach. “Did you already eat?”

He shook his head slowly.

She tried to hide the hope in her voice. “Did you get enough for both of us?”

A nod and he moved toward a wobbly table held up with cardboard drink coasters under the wonky leg. He held out a chair and waited, his head canted. Shadows from the street light outside stretched across the chiseled angles of his face, and he seemed happy to remain in the dark and didn’t flip on the light switch behind him. He smelled like bear and his movements were smoother, more predatory.

As gingerly as she could, she stood and sank against the cold plastic seat. He pushed her closer
to the table and took his own seat across from her. He’d bought enough hamburgers to feed a small army of carnivores, along with two plastic containers that held loaded baked potatoes.

“I had to drive two towns over and
all that was open was a diner.”

He
said it like an apology, but a smile was already cracking her face. “Do you know how long it’s been since I’ve had a hamburger?”

His dark eyebrow twitched and he tilted his head, studying her. “No. I don’t know anything about you.”

“Oh.” Having a conversation with a shifter more bear than man was pointless and would likely result in her getting her feelings hurt, so she unwrapped a plastic fork and stabbed at her potato until all the cheese was mixed in. Then she removed the crinkling paper of a burger and sank her teeth into what tasted like a homemade bun. Juicy tomato, crispy lettuce and the man had sprung for cheese on the burgers. She didn’t even care if he was basically a bear in human skin right now. He was an angel in her book. An angry, growly angel.

Minutes later, as she contemplated eating a second burger or not, Brody asked, “How long?”

“Hmm?”

“How long since you’ve had a hamburger?”

“Since the Long Claws took over Blood Den. Two years.”

He took his last bite and chewed slowly. Her eyes dipped to his sensual mouth. How could the man make chewing look so sex
y. Brody’s nostrils flared and a slow smile crooked his lips. He swallowed and lifted his chin once. “Tell me what you need, Joanna. I don’t take hints well.”

“I need…” What did she ne
ed? For Brody to touch her. For him to kiss her stupid again, like he’d done by the pond. She needed for him to want her, but his earlier words echoed through her mind. He didn’t want her as a mate. He’d paid a debt by bonding to her. Nothing more, nothing less.

She sighed and stood,
then cleared the empty wrappers and containers while he watched her with a strange glow in his eyes. “What I need is to wash the mud from my skin.”

He leaned back, draped an
arm over the back of his chair and narrowed his eyes. The smile had gone from his lips, replaced by a grim line, one that seemed at odds with his face. “Do you need help?”

She didn’t miss the somber tone of a man who made an offer he didn’t really want to. “Thank you for dinner,”
she said as she grabbed the brown paper back of clothes from the bedside table.

She padded into the bathroom and shut the door gently behind her and
pressed her back against it. The way he looked at her tonight, so empty, promising her an empty bedding wasn’t what she had thought she was signing up for. She wanted more than Nathan had to offer, and now Brody was so hot and cold, he frightened her. Not because she thought he would hurt her, but because she wanted him to want her.