I could hear the blood rushing through my ears as I pulled the man out of the gravel and into the light. I could only assume he had escaped whoever was shooting at him and had found sanctuary with us.  He was wearing a helmet, so he must have been on a motorcycle somewhere beyond our boundaries and slid into Bear Club's parking lot. He was unconscious and lifeless, but I could see from the pulse in his neck that he was still alive.  He had a bullet wound in his leg, high on the outside of his left leg near his hip and one that went through his left bicep.

He didn’t move as I drug him to the doors of the bar and flung them open and screamed for help. I could see from the leather jacket he wore that he’d definitely done some time scraping his body down the road, the club patches were scarred up and the leather scuffed. I probably shouldn’t have moved him, but I didn’t know if his attackers would be coming for him.

I’d known instantly that he was my mate, the mate that my brothers had been telling me so long was coming. Be patient they’d said, you’ll find him. Well, from the looks of it, he’d found me.

“What’s happened,” Quinn asked, as he rushed up to help my carry the man inside.

“I guess we have another lost soul on our hands. My mate at that.” I looked into Quinn’s eyes and blue eyes met blue eyes. He knew what I meant, and gave a quick nod of his head.

“Let’s get him upstairs then. Travis!” Travis joined Quinn and the two carried the man upstairs to my apartment. I rarely used it, but for now, it would work.

“I’ll get some supplies.” Trudi ran down the stairs, her eyes wide and inquisitive, but she kept her thoughts to herself.

The men helped me get his clothes off, and when Trudi brought in the medical supplies I began the task of inventorying his injuries and caring for them. My brothers and I had a lot of medical experience, if no formal training. Everyone brought their injured and sick loved ones to us for care, so I knew what to do.

I cleaned his wounds, found no bullets in them, and stitched the one on his hip. It was a deep graze, but only a graze. The one on his shoulder was a clean shot too, no bullet in the wound, and I cleaned it as well as I could. I set up an IV line and administered antibiotics and a pain killer that would keep him out for a while. I checked the rest of him and cleaned some road rash on his hands, and a nasty patch on his left knee that would ache like fuck but wasn’t as bad as the gash on the same leg. All in all, he was pretty messed up, but he’d live.

Now I just had to wait to find out who I had to kill for trying to murder my mate.

I looked at his face in the lamplight. Against the black cloth of my pillowcase, his features stood out. A slim, fine nose, sensual lips, beautifully shaped eyes with dark lashes, and a strong jawline made for a rather handsome face, even in his unconscious state. I waited up with him, even though I knew the painkillers would keep him out.

Just in case, I wanted to be there when he woke up.

This was my mate. and though I didn’t know his name, I knew I’d kill for him. I picked up his hand, large and dwarfing mine, and I closed my eyes as I felt warmth spread from where he touched me.

I reached out, for the wallet on my bedside table where I’d set it and flipped it open. His driver’s license said Tavin Mueller.

“Nice to meet you Tavin. I know you’re human and all, but you’re my mate and, well, I’m not letting you go, so get used to it, okay? Don’t die on me or anything. I’ll bring you back to life and kill you.” I laughed at my own joke, though it was terrible, and thought that tequila, and the emotional stress, must be getting to me.

With my feet on the bed on his right side, I held his hand in mine and stared at those eyes, glaring back from the picture in his license. Hard eyes, eyes that could consume me. I fell asleep with his hand in mine.

I dreamt of running, running until I hit a brick wall, and woke up abruptly with a start.

“Well hello, there missy. You alright there?” His playful tone in a soothing, honeyed voice melted all of my nerves and I felt my body press into him automatically, without a word. “Maybe not.”

He pushed me back against the bed and I looked up at him with a lazy smile. I wanted to close my eyes against the light but his breath on my cheek kept my eyes open as I watched his lips come closer.

“Oh, I’ve waited so long to have this.” I whispered the words as I waited for his kiss, my body moving sensually against his.

“Nope, don’t think so honey. I don’t know who you are, where I am, or what the fuck is going on. From the pain I’m guessing I’ve been shot. Mind telling me what’s going on?” He was looking down into my eyes, wanting an answer but I was too busy wondering why he hadn’t kissed me yet.

I looked over at the alarm clock with bleary eyes and saw it was 3 am.

“Seriously? That’s all?” I sat up in the bed and rubbed at my eyes, knowing I should check his wounds.

“I guess that means no answers. Are you one of Annamaria’s bitches or something?” Tavin stared over at me, his eyes hard as stone. I loved how light they were, how Sabina clear the gray was, like water with steel shining beneath them. He was fate’s present to me and I don’t know who this Annamaria bitch was, but she would die if she came near him.

“Who the fuck is Annamaria?” I glared at him as I thought about ways to kill her without even wondering why she was on his shit-list; she was, and that was all that mattered to me. “You’re at Bear Club, a bar where you’re safe from whoever did that shit to you. Annamaria, I have to presume?”

My brow arched in question as I waved at his injuries and got up to check his wounds. He didn’t say anything else, he just watched me with those hard eyes of his.

I was obviously exhausted because I didn’t feel the least bit like explaining anything else to him. If he wanted sex, I might be encouraged to be a little nicer, but right now, I wanted to just check his wounds and get back to sleep.

Wake up, Sabina. Come on, girl, you can do this, I told myself as I pushed him back down against the bed to check his wounds. You don’t have to run him off by being a bitch, just be nice, check his wounds and go back to sleep. Don’t run him off!

I leaned back, rolling my shoulders after I assured myself his wounds were fine, and he had no fever. I could do this. I knew I could because, despite the ultra shitty life I’ve had, I really, really want to take this man to bed with me when his wounds allow for it. He’s my mate, and the urge was strong, but even more than that, he was fucking gorgeous, and his eyes told me he could do things to me I’ve never experienced before.

I had to fight my instincts and not lay down some temptation the human man would be powerless to resist. He was freshly injured, now was not the time for sex, no matter how desperately I wanted to see what was beneath those gray boxers he had on. The brown-haired man with the beautiful granite eyes and charming, fuck-me smile that made my knees weak made it nearly impossible not to, but I got through it.

He was pale, but healthy, and I wondered if he’d recently spent some time in prison. He was obviously a biker, if human, so he was already getting positive marks in my book for that part. There was a hard edge to him, I thought as I looked him over once more, checking for over with my eyes for new swelling or bruises that might need ice.

“Will you at least tell me your name, Miss Bear Club?” His eyes were on me again I saw when I flicked mine up to look at him.

“I’m Sabina. This is my brothers’ place. Well, all three of us own it, but they run it. I just help out with what I can.” Which mainly meant helping behind the bar, when I wasn’t busy holding it up from the other side.

“I’m Tavin, and if you’re my rescuer, then I owe you an apology and a thank you.” I was sitting beside of him and he reached his good hand out for mine.

All I could think about as I held his hand in mine was how beautiful his lips were and how much I wanted to run my fingers down that hard jaw of his. I leaned forward, to check his shoulder wound again, and could feel his breath against my cheek. A turn of my head and a deep breath might be enough to “accidentally” bring our lips together.

“I, uh. Oh, no, that’s not necessary. That’s what we’re here for. To help those in need.” My words stuttered out of my mouth as my thoughts turned to what it would be like to feel those plump lips against mine.

“Of course, it’s necessary. My last memory is the thought that I was on my way to death. Unless you’re an angel of death, I must be alive still.” Tavin looked at me, and I chewed at my lip, wondering who he was really.

Not just his name, but who he was, who Annamaria was, and what had caused his accident. I slid down in the bed and moved around, to look at him. I felt my hand brush against a rather intimate part of him and felt my cheeks go warm. With my past, it took a lot to make me blush now, but that did it. I was glad the light wasn’t any brighter.

“I’m uh, I’m no angel, sweety. Just a girl out for a walk that was there when you needed her.” No need to mention that the girl in question was in her bear shape when that happened, none at all. For now.

“Well, I’m glad you were.” Something about his tone made me look up, into eyes that had gone a whole lot darker. He was as aware of me as I was of him, I could smell it on his skin. My body responded immediately with an increased pulse rate and a pounding heart.

Maybe that pain medicine was doing enough to ease his pain after all. A girl could hope, right?

“You know what’s going to happen if you stay in this room with me, right?” Something about his tone was a dare, and I was never, ever the kind to back down from a dare.

“Yeah. I know. I’m good with that.” I shot him my own daring glance, chin up and left eyebrow arched.

“You sure? I’ve not had a woman in a very long time, sweetie, and I might not be able to stop at one time.” His words were quiet, a warning that things might just get wild. He’d just been shot, though, I didn’t have a lot of hope for wild sex. Something about that look on his face, the way his jaw tensed told me I might be wrong, though.

I felt a bolt of need run down my spine, as I moved towards him. My hands shook with that need as I placed them on his sides to hover over him.

“Are you sure I shouldn’t be the one giving the warning, sweetheart? You don’t know me at all.” I licked his lips hotly, my eyes drilling into his. “You might be getting a whole lot more than you bargained for.”

“I’ll take my chances.” He moved his head then and fused our lips together in one heated kiss.

Our tongues danced together as desire flared in my veins, burning hotter than anything I’ve ever experienced in my life. I’ve experienced sex, pleasure, desire, but nothing like this.

I’ve been with men before, and women too, but that had all changed when Trudi came. Nobody had created the kind of fire that burned between my thighs now, not even Trudi, and I couldn’t stop the weak sound of need that escaped my throat as I pressed my hips to his uninjured side.

“Tavin.” I pulled away from him, needing something, him, but I knew he was injured.

“It’s alright, Sabina. You won’t hurt me.” His lips brushed against mine as his fingers found a bare spot at my side and brushed against my bare skin. It felt so fucking good I shivered. “We just have to be careful of this IV line, or you’ll have to run another one.”

I don’t know why the thought of giving him another IV was sexy, but I had to bite my lip to hold back another moan. I looked at him instead, seeing a man that knew what he wanted and had it in his grasp. I wanted to be his, I wanted him to be mine, and I couldn’t stop myself from taking what he offered.

His fingers dove into my hair, brushing the long behind my shoulder and down my back. He inhaled the scent of me as he pulled me down to him, and I couldn’t help but shiver again. I’ve never been with a human, but he was different. He was my mate, even if he didn’t know it.

He pulled me tightly to his body with his good arm, and his fingers danced over the leather bustier I still wore.

“Why do I want you so much?” He didn’t seem to really want an answer as his fingers teased at the laces tied just at my cleavage.

I could only stare at his fingers, a reply wouldn’t form, not when his skin was so close to mine. Only millimeters away from touching a very intimate part of me.

“This is really hot on you, and I love it, but I think it would be better off.” His lips brushed against mine once more as his fingers removed the laces and then the leather that covered me. His eyes looked into mine as his fingers cupped my left breast, filling his palm to overflowing. He found a light rose nipple hard and ready for his touch.

I hissed in a breath of exquisite delight as his fingers grasped at the tender flesh tightly.

“Sensitive, are we?” He gave a low chuckle of his own delight before he leaned up and pushed me back against the bed so that he could take my nipple into his hot mouth and I felt my skin go tight over my entire body. How could he make that feel so good, so much better than anyone else ever has?

I cried out once more as his lips tugged tightly at the bud. I felt desire roil low in my abdomen as a deep pulling sensation coursed down my body and straight to my clit.

This is what I’d needed for so long! This is what I’d craved. Tavin and only him.

His hand left my nipple and opened my pants. His hand slid down into my panties without hesitation, and he moaned in delight as he found me wet and hot for him.

I pressed down on his hand, losing myself in his caresses as I gave into the drugging sensation of his fingers on me.

Tavin’s talented fingers, his magical talented fingers, moved, and filled the hungry, empty depths of me, while his palm pressed into the throbbing ache that was my clit.

I felt the blood surge in my veins and my body go hot as my hips began to move, finding the rhythm of his hand to follow the pace he set. I started to speak, words I couldn’t control, didn’t even know I was thinking, but said anyway. I’m not usually a submissive kind of girl, and the words that dripped from my lips proved that.

“Fuck, Tavin. That is so fucking good. Just like that, fuck, don’t stop, don’t slow down, no don’t slow down. Please, baby, more.” I didn’t care what any of it meant, I just breathed them out as I sought out that one tight spot, that one jolting, fluttering moment of wonder just before it all blew apart.

“If I’d only known you were waiting for me.” His lips sucked at my nipple between each of his words, but he didn’t lose pace. His fingers moved sensually within me, deep and angled just right, until I was on the verge of that great abyss I sought out. “I’d have had a lot harder wait.”

I didn’t really hear his words, or care what they meant, I just heard his voice as my body greedily consumed the pleasure he was giving me.

He made me want to writhe like a snake, but I was a bear, and what threatened to come out was a roar of demand, a slash of demand, and a bite that might send him over the edge.

“Please, Tavin.” I pleaded the words against his hand, submerging my bear and forcing her to behave. He brought a finger to my lips to taste myself before he quickly put it back where it belonged, between my thighs and deep inside of me.

“What do you want, Sabina? Tell me, baby?” He slowed the pace of his delving fingers. He pulled his face away from mine to look into my eyes. “Tell me.”

“I want you.” I looked back with unguarded need, hoping he wasn’t going to make me wait, hoping my bear would stay where she belonged. I’d die if he made me wait much longer. Or he might if I shifted. It was one of the reasons we didn’t mate with humans often, the high emotional turmoil could make us shift if we weren’t careful.

“What exactly do you want, Sabina?” His fingers drove deep inside of me as he ground his palm into my clit tightly, making me gasp with the bolt of pleasure he gave me. My fingers gripped at his wrist, wanting more, a lot more than just his hands down my pants.

“You, Tavin, all of you.” I was shaking with my need, but he didn’t take pity. Not in the slightest. He had no idea just what he was playing with, but I let him have his way, I wanted him to have it, in fact.

“Oh, that’s not good enough, Sabina. Tell me what you want and how you want it. I was away for a long time. I need to hear those dirty little words coming out of that sweet little mouth of yours.” His words were confusing, but they made my heart pound harder, even though they were little more than a whisper against my neck. His full, sensual lips brushed softly against my skin as I sank into whimpering need.

I was going to die if he didn’t give in to me soon, I thought as my hips moved on his now still fingers. I defiantly fucked myself with his hand, against his hand. Our eyes met, and I saw just how close to losing control he was. Just a shove, a tiny little shove and he’d do exactly what I wanted.

“I need you, Tavin. I need your hard your cock, deep inside of my aching pussy, taking me until I come all over your wet, hard dick. I need you rough and hard, slow and gentle, whatever way you want it, baby. I don’t care how you fuck me, Tavin, I just need you to fuck me.” I was desperate, and I’d lost my own control the moment I saw how close to the edge he was. The words poured from me now in a sob as I moved on his hand, needing so much more than his thick fingers to fill me.

“Oh, you want more than my fingers, huh?” His lips brushed away the sob of frustration I let out. “Is your pussy that greedy for me, Sabina? Is it not full enough?”

How could he not know that all of him would never be enough?

“Just fuck me, Tavin, please. I just want a good hard fuck that will make my mind blank and leave me in peace to sleep. Please, just let me come before I die of waiting, wanting it!” I was almost crying now, I need to come so desperately. He’d created this burgeoning need, this swelling painful desire inside of me that would only go away when he made the world explode for me.

“You want me to fuck you?”

“Fuck, yes! Please!” I felt a tear slip from my eye and looked away from him. I didn’t want him to see just how weak I was for him.

He moved agilely for a man that had stitches in his hip, and I had to guess it was the pain medicine that made that possible.

His boxers were gone before I knew it and he was between my thighs, on his injured knees but not cringing in pain, one hand under my left knee to hold my thighs open for him. He looked down at me, gray eyes met blue, and we could both see the need threatening to burn us alive. He was just as desperate for me as I was for him. I sucked in a breath of shock at just how much need was there and reached out for him.

His hard cock, nestled between the folds of my heated center, was long and hard, and it pulsed as my fingers stroked at his chest before falling away.

“I need you, Tavin.” I said it bluntly, softly, on the verge of tears from frustration. I waited, my breath held as he poised over me. What was holding him back?

Still he hesitated, and I tensed as I felt him pulse against me again. I wanted to feel him inside of me, I wanted to feel him plunge deep and fast into me, but Tavin held my knee, he held me still as I reached for him again.

“Please.” I begged him as I looked up at him once more with pleading eyes.