The next time Kacie woke, she was alone and her head was a lot clearer. For a moment she lay there, looking up at yet another ceiling that wasn’t hers. Then her memory kicked in.

“Oh. Oh, shit.”

Heat flooded her cheeks as she remembered being in Dean’s arms, being kissed… Oh god, that had really happened, hadn’t it? She pressed her hands to her cheeks in an attempt to cool them down, a small squeak of dismay escaping her lips. Shit, shit, shit. She’d thought she was in a dream, but she must just have been rattled from the accident.

She stopped, hands halfway down from her face. Her mind filled with memories of the alley, big men attacking, the flash of claws in the moonlight. Pain in her stomach and blood everywhere. Then…nothing.

“Oh my god…” she breathed, horrified. They’d been attacked behind the library. How the hell could she have forgotten? Horror filled her. Shit, were Kait and Lilly okay? Of the three of them she was the most capable, the other two wouldn’t have stood a chance.

“Dean! Dean!” she bellowed, hurtling herself out of bed and across the room like a small, human-shaped missile.

Reaching the door, she almost yanked it off its hinges and raced through it. The unfamiliar corridor took her aback for a moment. She’d never been in Dean’s house. Hell, before now she’d hardly been on speaking terms with the guy. Ogling, yes. Speaking, no. Apparently though, if her memories were correct, they’d skipped speaking and gone right the way up to near-sex-while-standing terms.

“Dean!” she yelled again, trying each door in the corridor as she passed it. For heaven’s sakes, how many rooms did one guy need? Had he gone out?

She got her answer as the last door opened before she touched the handle, revealing Dean, naked to the waist with rumpled bedhead.

Ohmyfuckinggodhesgorgeous.

She stopped dead, like a rabbit caught in the headlights, her eyes wide and riveted to the wide expanse of chest with its sexy smattering of hair.

“You yelled? Is everything okay?” he asked, his voice all sexy and deep from sleep. Within a few seconds, though, his gaze sharpened and became worried. Instantly, he was by her side, taking her hand in his as his free arm wrapped around her waist like he was worried she’d collapse right there on the landing.

“Uh, yeah. I’m fine,” she answered automatically and then quickly gathered her wits about her.

“We were attacked. By men with…” Oh fucking hell, he was going to think she was crazy. “With knives. Are Kait and Lilly okay? Please tell me someone’s checked on them.”

“Knives, huh?” He had an odd look on his face as he led her into the room, the door swinging shut behind them. She tried to ignore the fact that it was his bedroom, and the big, wide bed was the one he’d just slept in. “Are you sure it was knives?”

No, it was goddamn claws, but she couldn’t tell him that. She nodded. “Uh-huh, definitely knives. One of them…”

She trailed off, her hand smoothing over her stomach. A frown creased her brow as she tried to make all the pieces of her memory fit. “One of them stabbed me. That’s why there was so much blood. But for an abdominal wound…”

Her words trailed off again and she just looked at him. Nothing at all about this situation added up, and she couldn’t blame it on a dream or the after effects of an accident now. Which left either the possibility that she’d fallen down some freakishly big rabbit hole, or she didn’t have all the information she needed. But Dean obviously did…

“Right, handsome. How about you start telling me the truth?” she said, scooting away from him on the bed. Not far, just enough to put a little distance between them so she could collect herself.

She had to be realistic. Dean was a big man, and fast as hell… or he used to be at school. Like the rest of the girls, she’d watched him on the field and boy, the guy could move. She didn’t suppose his service in the army had lessened that speed, probably increased it, what with people shooting at him and all. So, if he wanted to grab her, there wasn’t much she could do about it.

“I don’t know what you mean.” He gave her that little half-smile and confused shake of the head that all but short-circuited her brain. But she was onto him now. Either he was the world’s biggest cute but gullible nice guy, or he was playing her with misdirection and her own feminine responses.

“I’ll lay it out for you then, shall I, hotshot?” she cut in, anger and frustration making her voice rise.

“We were attacked by men with knives. I’ll call them knives, but right now? I’m not convinced they weren’t something else. No,” she snapped, lifting a finger when he opened his mouth to speak. “You don’t get to talk yet. I am. So… we were attacked and I was stabbed in the stomach. Now, since you’re a veteran, I’m assuming you’ve done more than basic level first aid. So you know that the appropriate emergency treatment for abdominal wounds is to take the casualty to a hospital… NOT the dining room of whatever guy finds them, no matter how sexy he is. So, cut me a break and tell me what the hell is actually going on here?”

He considered her for a long moment, and then slowly, a broad grin spread over his face. “So you think I’m sexy?”

---

The look that flashed across Kacie’s beautiful heart-shaped face was a mix between frustration and rage, tempered with a little, more than a little, feminine interest. Whatever it was, Dean found it utterly fascinating and delightful.

“Anyone ever tell you that you’re cute when you’re mad?” he murmured, reaching forward to chuck her under the chin.

Anger flared in her eyes and she shook off his touch. “Only those with a frigging death wish. Now are you going to explain why you didn’t take me to a hospital and…” Her face fell. “Oh god, Lilly’s terrible with blood, she’d have passed out. Kait’s made of stronger stuff so she’d probably be alright. Please, are my friends okay?”

The pleading note and the way she looked at him, like he could make everything in her world okay again, did him. That trust humbled him. Scooting closer to her on the bed, he took her hand in his.

“I promise. Your friends are fine. Lilly didn’t pass out—” He had to smother his smile at the idea of the head enforcer being squeamish about blood. She wasn’t, no alpha could be in a clan structure, but he understood why she’d let her human friends think that. “— And Kait is definitely made of stronger stuff.” Strong enough to accept that her soul mate was a bear-shifter anyway.

Before answering her other questions, he closed his eyes for a second, preparing himself. He had to get this right. Not just almost right, or nearly right, but spot-on, one hundred percent dead right. Bear clans didn’t have many when it came to laws, so the ones they did have were cast in stone. The most sacred of those was that humans did not know about bears.

If they found out, one of two things happened. They either mated a bear… or they were killed. No ifs, buts or maybes about it. Dead.

But he couldn’t kill Kacie. That knowledge welled up from the center of his soul and he knew he just couldn’t do it. He couldn’t even give the order to someone who could. If she rejected him as a mate…

He opened his eyes and looked up, studying the ceiling without seeing it. He’d send her away, say she had mated someone else. It would kill him but, hell, he’d even find her a suitable mate himself. Anything as long as she lived. Anything.

A soft touch on his arm brought him back to the present, and he looked down into her chocolate-colored eyes.

“Still with me?” she asked in a soft voice. “You went somewhere else there for a moment.”

She grounded him. Completed him. Dean sighed. And he had to tear her understanding of the world apart.

“We didn’t take you to a human hospital because they couldn’t have treated you.” In the end he went for bluntness and honesty. “The men who attacked you weren’t men. They weren’t human and those weren’t knives they were carrying.”

She nodded slowly, keeping her gaze on his. He could see the cogs turning behind her eyes and pride filled him. His mate was smart. She’d already started to put it together even though it didn’t make any sense to her.

“They were—“

“Claws,” she cut in. “They were claws. And if they were claws, they could have given me something, couldn’t they? Like rabies?”

He managed a small nod. “Possibly.”

“So what were they? You said they weren’t men.”

“They were ursanthropes.”

“Ursanthropes?” Her brow furrowed at the unfamiliar word. “What, like lycanthropes?”

“The same thing, yes, but lycanthropes are wolves. Ursanthropes are bears. Bear-shifters to be precise.”

“Bears.”

Just one word. That’s all she said, watching him like he’d gone out of his mind. He braced himself, waiting for either hysterics or outright laughter. Neither seemed immediately forthcoming. Instead, she sat next to him on the bed in silence, a thoughtful look on her face.

Dean held his breath, hardly daring to hope. His bear was equally quiet, as though it too, held its breath waiting for her answer.

Finally, she looked up at him, curiously. “I take it you’re one…a bear?”

“Yes, sweetheart. I am.”

Just that little admission felt good down to his soul. He’d told his fated mate what he was. Now all that remained was to show her and then bite her… He hauled his over-active imagination back from its little joyride. She had to actually say yes to being his mate first…

He didn’t stop her as she reached out, touching his chest lightly. He flexed his pec just as she did, making her jump and squeak.

“Dean Sterling!” she gasped, slapping his arm lightly. “Stop making me jump.”

“I won’t do it if you touch me again,” he promised, and he didn’t. He just watched as she reached out to press her fingertips lightly against his skin.

“Your bear is inside you?” She seemed fascinated, but he wasn’t complaining. Being touched by her, the feel of her soft little hands smoothing over his chest was like all his Christmases come at once.

“Yeah…” His voice was a little deeper than usual but not because of his bear. That was a purely human male reaction to her touch and events south of the border. With her hands on him and her scent in the air, he was already at half-mast and praying like hell she didn’t look down at his lap. “You want to meet him?”

Her eyes flicked to his. “It’s a he? Does he have a name?”

Amusement bubbled over, and Dean barked out a short laugh before he could stop himself. “Of course it’s a he. I’m male, which means he is. And no, bears don’t really have names in that way. He’s alpha, he’s Prime… that’s all he needs.”

“You’re an alpha… like an alpha male?”

The way she flicked her small pink tongue over her lower lip to wet it made him bite back a groan, but it was the sudden scent of her interest and arousal in the air that really tested his control. His bear roared at him, demanding to know why they weren’t claiming their mate when she was…Right. Freaking. There.

“Oh, yeah… I’m all alpha, sweetheart.” Oh god, touch me again. Lower, that’s it… down the abs… His inner demon started up the monologue as Kacie’s hands began to wander. Before she slid down too far though, he caught her wrists. “And if you carry on like that, baby, you’re gonna find out exactly how much.”

“Oh, really?” Her eyebrow winged up but she didn’t try and release her wrists from his grasp. Instead she flexed her hand, managing to reach far enough to stroke his skin with her fingertips. “Shouldn’t tease a gal with promises like that.”

Holy. Shit. He’d just told her he was a werebear, and that… and she…

Adjusting his position so she couldn’t touch him, he warned her again. “Kacie, stop it. I’m not playing games now. If you carry on I will pin you to this bed, and I won’t let you up until you’re mine in every sense of the word.”

“Please.”

The soft word and the look in her eyes pole-axed him. It couldn’t be this easy, surely? He searched her eyes, checking for any tell-tale signs of mania or other indicators of hysteria. Her lips curved in a fond smile, and instantly he felt like he was missing something.

“Dean, I’ve known there’s something odd about this town for years. The way half of you disappear around the full moon or rush off en-masse randomly? It’s kind of a dead giveaway. And…” The smile became a full-blown grin. “At least you’re not aliens. That would have been just weird. Bears?” She shrugged. “There have always been bears around here. At least now I know that not all of them are sizing me up for a quick snack.”

He yanked her closer, tumbling her into his lap. “Oh, I plan on eating you alright, sweetheart, but it won’t be a snack…more an all you can eat buffet and I won’t stop until you’re hoarse from screaming my name.”

With that, he slid a hand into her hair, and, confident of his reception, bent his head to claim her lips.

She opened for him immediately, granting him access to the soft, warm secrets of her mouth. He groaned as he pushed in, finding her tongue with his. She was soft, sweet and oh-so-addictive. And she was all his… Finally his.

The groan became a growl as he lifted her, settling her down so she straddled his lap. She wore one of his t-shirts, the fabric sliding up her curvy thighs as she lowered herself. He swallowed her little gasp as she felt his cock for the first time—hard and heavy where it pressed into the groove of her pussy lips. He couldn’t resist a small rock of his hips. The movement, the friction, made them both gasp.

He did it again, feeling damp heat through the thin layers that separated them. Layers he wanted to rip away so he could bury himself balls deep in her tight pussy. She would feel like heaven. He just knew she would.

“Oh… that feels good,” she whispered as she rocked her hips in time with his. The feel of her moving against him almost unmanned him there and then. He’d not been so close to coming in his shorts in years. Not since he was a gangly teenager who’d yet to learn control.

“Real good, and it’s about to feel a whole lot better,” he promised, dropping back to lie on his back on the bed and looking up at her. Color flushed her cheeks, her dark hair a messy cloud around her face, and her lips betrayed the fact she’d been thoroughly kissed. In short, she looked like she’d just rolled out of bed… with him.

And it looked good on her.

He drank in the sight of her there, straddling his lap, and slid his hands up the sides of her thighs. One hand on his stomach for balance, her eyelids fluttered shut, a soft sound of pleasure escaping her lips.

He reached the hem of the t-shirt and slid his hands under, the white fabric bunched on his wrists as he explored her skin beneath. Her breathing hitched, breasts moving under the thin fabric with each inhalation. She wasn’t wearing a bra, her tight nipples tempting him as they poked stiffly against the fabric.

His fingertips found the edges of her panties and he groaned. The strap was the thinnest thing, barely there. Too narrow for anything but…

“A thong. You’re determined to kill me, aren’t you?”

He barely recognized his voice, the deep growl thick with lust and dirty thoughts.

She opened her eyes and shrugged, a look of pure mischief flitting across her face. “Easy access… you just gotta slide them to the side.”

Fuck. Me.

As though her words were a command, he traced the line of her panties down and between her legs. She bit her lip as the broad, blunt edges of his fingers brushed against her satin-covered pussy lips. A tiny rock of her hips urged him on. Hand shaking, he dipped a finger beneath the fabric and swept it through her lower lips. Slick heat welcomed him, her soft moan a treasure he locked away tight in his memory for all time.

“So wet,” he murmured, pushing the scrap of satin out of the way to stroke again. Easily he found her clit, smoothing the slickness of her arousal over and around the tiny bundle. She whimpered, her eyes closed as she rocked against his hand.

He pleasured her, teasing her clit with hard strokes and then soft circles. Never enough for her to latch onto a rhythm, but each move designed to feed the fire inside her body. His own roared and demanded he shove his pajama pants down and fill her with his cock, but he held off. He wanted…no, he needed to do this. He needed her to come apart in his arms, screaming his name as he made her come.

“Oh god, Dean. More… please, more.”

She was so responsive he couldn’t help wanting to give her everything. Moving without warning, he flipped them over until she was on her back in the middle of the bed. Her squeak was a surprised one that rolled into a moan when he pushed her legs farther apart.

“You wanted more. More you get,” he breathed against her inner thigh. Her whole body tensed as he kissed his way up toward her pussy. With gentle fingers he pulled her panties aside and lowered his head. He gave her a long lick from her slit right up to her clit.

Her taste, musky and sweet and perfect, exploded on his tongue and he felt his control slipping. He’d been planning to stop at just making her come but once he’d tasted her… all bets were off now. When he was done eating her out and making her scream, he was going to turn her over, pull her ass up into the air and bury himself balls deep in her tight little pussy.

“Oh… Ohhhh…”

That’s it, sweetheart, just like that. Sliding his hand up her thigh, he teased the entrance to her body with his fingers, easing the tip of one digit just into her channel and then pulling out again. She gasped, rocking against him in a silent plea for more.

Rap-rap-rap.

They both froze at the knock on the door. Dean didn’t move, swirling his tongue over her clit in a way that made her wriggle and whimper. Whoever it was could just fuck off. He had better things to do. Like screw the living daylights out of his little human mate.

“Prime?” It was Bennett’s voice. “Sorry to bother you when you’re… busy, but we have a problem in the office.”

Dean lifted his head. With a bear’s sense of smell, there was no way Bennett didn’t know what they were up to. “Can’t it wait?”

“Sorry, Prime. It’s Anderson.”

He didn’t need to say anymore. Dean sighed. The sheriff was a recurring pain in the ass, turning up in his office at least once a week to rant about something or other.

“Okay, give me a minute. I’ll be right down.”

“As you will, Prime.”

As Bennett’s footsteps faded down the corridor, Dean gave Kacie’s clit one last little lick and then crawled up to brace himself over her. She looked so sexy, her eyes dark with need and her cheeks so flushed that he almost gave in to the temptation to drop his pants and take her right then. But a quick, dirty fuck was not the way he wanted to take his fated for the first time.

“I have to deal with this,” he whispered, by way of apology.

“Bear stuff?” she whispered back, even though they were the only two in the room and there was no need for silence. It was nice. It felt conspiratorial.

“Well,” she said with a sexy drawl at his nod. “You’d better go deal with it and then come back so we can finish what we started.”