Chapter Six
It was as wonderful as she remembered. Trees and bushes seemed to blur as she sprinted down the trail. The birds chirped a joyous song that harmonized with the melody in her heart. She was totally free. Tendrils of golden sunlight shimmered between the leaves overhead, and her body heated with each warm kiss. Squirrels stopped their play long enough to throw a few acorns at her, angered by her appearance. But not afraid. They knew she and her bear belonged here, in the home she had missed for far too long. She would never shut her bear away again. Her poor bear must have been in agony.
She chuffed when the sleek, gray form bounded past her, taking the lead with a joyful howl. Zach’s wolf obviously loved this game of chase as much as her bear. She ached to sprint after him and tackle him to the ground like she had at their first meeting. To roll and nip and play. To truly let go of all her fears and accept the mating call.
Nissa stopped and sat down to lean against a large oak tree, her mind suddenly whirling out of control with what-ifs. Being in bear form was glorious, like all her memories resurfacing. All the times she had bounded through these woods on all fours without a care in the world. But that kind of frivolity led to irresponsibility, to animal behavior. With no human side to remind her of right and wrong, she could very easily embrace the behavior that killed her father and uncle.
She blinked her eyes shut, trying desperately to hold onto her form, but when she opened them her fur was gone. She was once again filling out the human body she wore every day, and her heart ached with the sudden loss.
Zach trotted over and gave her a light nudge on her hip before shifting back, and then sat next to her. “Hey, it’s okay. You did great. Just keep practicing, and she’ll stay longer each time.”
But did Nissa want her bear to stay longer each time? Wasn’t that her biggest fear? She shivered until Zach reached to pull her against his heated chest. She couldn’t tell who was more disappointed. Her or her bear. Nissa couldn’t handle the heavy heart and ache coming from both sides of her, so she did the only thing that felt right.
Grabbing Zach’s face, she kissed him hard and climbed onto his lap. “Make me forget about my bear for a while. Please?”
“Baby, I’ll make you forget your own name if that’s what you really want.”
“Yeah, that sounds good. I haven’t gone through my mating heat in a few years, so I’m safe. No strings, just sex.”
A myriad of emotions crossed his face before he finally nodded; the anger, hurt, and surprise turning into a dark hunger in his eyes. “Yeah, I can do that.”
He eased her to the ground and straddled her waist, pinning her wrists above her head with a firm grip. She arched beneath his large body, loving the feeling of being dominated by him. She tried to move but only succeeded in brushing her core against the trail of dark hair that led down to his large cock. God! Being immobile like this. Trying to escape, but unable to shake free from his strong grip. Okay, maybe it wasn't exactly women's lib, but her body yearned for this kind of mating. Not from just any male. This one. Mate. No, they weren’t going to mate she reminded her bear. They were going to fuck, hard, fast, and amazing, but not mating.
He nipped her shoulder, and she released a slow breath as he nibbled his way down to her right breast. Taking the nipple between his lips, he sucked and licked it. Her nipple tightened into a stiff peak and she felt an answering tug at the apex of her thighs. She wriggled up and down under his hard body. Oh my God!
He scraped his teeth over her aching bud, then laved away the momentary pain with his hot, smooth tongue. Closing his firm lips over the entire areola, he sucked the nipple deep. Oh Lord, it felt amazing, and she wanted more. So much more! He gave her other nipple the same focused attention, then released her firm bud with a loud pop.
“Please, I need you inside me.”
Zach nodded. His eyes had grown so dark, they were almost black. “Need you too.” His voice was rough, and low and scratchy like he was just barely holding his wolf at bay. “I can’t go easy this time. I just need to be in you, okay, baby?”
“Yes, yes, just take me already,” she shouted, grinding her hips up against him.
Zach gripped her hips firmly with one hand, pinning her in place, and rubbed the large head of his cock over her dewy slit. She moaned as he pressed slowly into her. God, he was big, and it had been so long since she had been with a man. And her B.O.B. was definitely not in the same caliber as Zach. Understatement of the year.
“Press your pelvis up a bit,” he ordered, and she complied. “You’re so tight, baby.”
Her low moans became mewls of desperation as he slowly entered her inch by wonderfully agonizing inch. She wanted more, faster, deeper, harder, but he was treating her like a china doll. He finally seated himself fully inside her, and she wasted no time before claiming his body as hers. Following the ravenous urge for release, she tightened around his cock with every ounce of energy she had. Yeah, he was on top, but she needed this more, and he seemed to understand. He met her thrusting hips and gave it back two-fold. Every hard pump left her more breathless. Her pussy grew wetter with each stroke he gave her, and when he brought the pad of his thumb to her swollen clit, she screamed her pleasure. She wiggled out of his grasp and clutched his shoulders.
Zach took her wrists with his other hand and slammed them to the ground above her head. Oh, yeah, she’d have some bruises tomorrow. But the future didn’t matter. The only thing that was real was her and her rapidly building climax, and the alpha male taking her harder than she had ever dreamt. His low growls preceded the harsher thrusts as he became savage with his fucking, and damned if her body didn’t love every minute of it.
“More!” Her voice sounded husky and low as she pressed against him.
He gave her more, his thrusts becoming frantic, as he pummeled her body into submission.
She tensed like a coil about to break and mewled, begging to release the sexual energy she’d waited a lifetime to expend.
Zach’s face contorted, his eyes fully black and his forehead tense with his impending release. He bellowed her name as he thrust deep. His hot seed surged into her as he pumped in and out, claiming his orgasm while demanding she yield to hers as well.
That’s all it took. As he continued to slam into her body, his teeth barely grazed her shoulder, and she lost all control. Her pussy clenched around his thick cock, and her thighs shook so hard she swore she exploded into brilliant hot white. She heard a keening wail erupt from her mouth, screaming his name over and over again. Then “Mate!”
Her body’s release finally subsided, and she drifted back down to earth as Zach eased out of her.
He lowered himself to his forearms, covering her body with his, his rapid heartbeat steady against her chest. “Sorry about that.” He brushed a lock of hair from her face. “I couldn’t last any longer. Next time…”
His words were drowned out as she recalled the final thing she had screamed.
Mate, Nissa’s bear was finally satisfied, practically purring the words in her head as her mind slowly came back out of her post orgasmic bliss. Dammit, she shouldn't have done that. She wrenched herself out of his arms and sprinted over to the tree trunk that held her bundle of clothes, throwing them on quickly.
Hands wrapped around her waist. “Are you okay?”
She wiggled out and held her hand up to stop his advance. “I can’t do this. Not now.”
His concerned gaze met hers. “Can we just talk?”
Mate! Now her bear was yelling at her and threatening to take over. She pushed her back down. “No! Not now. Give me some space. I can't mate with you and become a prisoner to all of this. I can’t. Leave me alone!” She screamed at him and ran down the trail further into the woods. She just needed time to think. Time to calm the hell down. And her bear wasn't happy with her. But she couldn't lose control and become a wild animal. No. She couldn’t.
No sounds followed her. Zach must have respected her request for some alone time, which made her even sadder as she ran through the woods. She tripped over a root and tumbled, landing in a heap in some bushes. That’s what you get for being such a dumbass and not watching where you were going. Okay, that time, she wasn't entirely sure her bear had said that. Her bear seemed to have turned her back, ignoring her again.
She got back up and continued at a slower jog down to the edge of the woods, and looked down at the river below. She sat down on a huge boulder and caught her breath right before the tears came. Why did she always have to make such a mess of things? The most perfect guy had come into town, and he wanted her for her. Bear and all. Even better—her bear accepted him. It was the first time in her adult life that her bear wasn't sniping at her for hanging out with a douchebag, as her bear so eloquently put it.
But every time she thought of being free from Zach, something tore at her heart like a dagger. And it wasn't her bear. It was her. She’d only known him for a few days, but mates were special. Sometimes you just knew who was perfect for you. Whether you listened to your other half or not, you still knew. Zach was her mate. But she’d rejected him, and he was probably long gone. She buried her head in her hands and cried. She’d finally found her mate but had pushed him away. Why? Because he was right. She was afraid.
Nissa didn't want to be mated. Look at her aunt and her mother, mated to men who had fought over stupid things like land and titles. Her mother had lost her life, and her aunt was stuck there cleaning up the mess. Nissa didn't want that for herself. She wanted to be free.
She listened to the quiet breeze and the water babbling below. What was she afraid of? Becoming a weak, kept woman with an arrogant asshole mate who fought for whatever he wanted? No, that’s not what had happened to her aunt. Aunt Ida was the strongest woman she had ever known. She still kicked ass, and everyone in town, whether full human or not, respected her as the most gifted healer in the whole area.
Aunt Ida hadn't been trapped in a prison. She chose to stay in this town because it was her home, and she knew she could bless those in it with her healing abilities and medical knowledge.
And how had Nissa won her first black belt in Tae Kwon Do? She laughed. Her Aunt Ida. The woman was ferocious on the mats. She hadn’t been stuck either. She had agreed to stay with the one person she loved just as much as her sister—her daughter, Sam.
And yeah, there were always going to be a few hard heads out there, like her uncle. But her father had been a good leader, firm, caring, the kind of alpha who stopped work to take his sons fishing. She had said no to the fishing trips. Getting dirty and smelly had never been her thing.
All those amazing people in her life. She’d compared them all to one man. One despicable man who had too much human in him. Her mind suddenly cleared and she smiled.
It wasn't the bear in the man that had made him power hungry. It had been the man in the bear.
Yes, dork. You finally get it.
She laughed and gave her bear an emotional hug. “Do you think he might still accept us?”
If he doesn't, he’s a douchebag, and we can kick his ass.
She smiled, dusted off her jeans and turned to head back. Her bear was right. They both wanted this male, and unless she was mistaken, he wanted her too. But would he want to settle down and have cubs right away? What if he wanted to stay here and start the baby-bear-making factory?
You could try talking to him, ya know. Tell him what you want.
“Yeah, good thought.”
Let’s go get our mate.
She had just started walking back down the trail when she noticed the silence around her. The birds had stopped chirping, and the annoying chattering of the squirrels who’d been arguing overhead had now ceased. It was dangerously quiet.
She tensed and opened up her senses. A dark shudder rippled through her body as she breathed in the scent of another shifter. She didn’t know what it was, but the malevolence rolling off it meant only one thing—predator. A big one.
She should shift. Dammit, even her bear was freezing up on her as she flung her top off. Come on, come on, we’re toast if you don’t get your ass moving, Nissa told her bear, but the damn thing was more scared than a deer caught in the headlights of an oncoming bus. And the giant that stepped out from behind the trees was much worse than a pair of headlights and a blaring horn.
Dark Gaze. “You keep getting in our way.” The scent of danger wafted from him as he slowly shifted into a beast. The biggest lion she had ever seen. The scar running down his muzzle shuddered when he growled at her.
Nissa backed away slowly, never turning her back on the huge lion with its gleaming fangs. No time to strip her jeans off—she didn’t want to get caught with her pants around her ankles. She took a cleansing breath and grounded herself, remembering all the self-defense moves her aunt had taught her. She planted her feet, bent her knees. It was all about lower center of balance and letting her much heavier attacker’s weight work against it. It’s going to be okay, she told her bear who was curled up into a little, furry ball of damsel in distress. I’m not going to let him hurt us.
Her bear whimpered.
That’s what she got for repressing her bear for so long. A vulnerable creature who couldn’t consistently shift; who shut down in the face of true danger. And it was all Nissa’s fault. Thank God, her aunt had taught her how to take care of herself in human form. If she could catch it off guard, she could run like hell.
Nissa inched her heels up to the rock she’d been sitting on earlier. The edge leading to the river a long way below was hard to see because of the trees surrounding them. But she had the element of surprise going for her. And nothing else, since her bear was still MIA.
The large beast with the dark mane leaned back onto its haunches. Nissa held perfectly still, watching in slow motion as its muscles flexed. Its legs straightened, and it sprang from the ground. Right for her head.
At the last millisecond, she shifted her balance and bent her right leg. Sharp claws raked her shoulder as she spun and—using its momentum against it—flung the lion past her and over the edge into the river below. The angry growl stopped when it hit the rocky riverbank.
Holy crap, she did it!
She winced and clutched her shoulder, trying to catch her breath. Okay, breath or no breath, it was time to get the hell out of here.
Her bear’s anxious cry of danger wasn’t quick enough.
A growl preceded the blur of motion and the hard blow that slammed into her chest. Nissa went sailing. She crashed headfirst into the large rock. The last thing she saw was the blurry vision of an even larger lion stalking toward her.
“Zach!” she shrieked. The world went black.