But Bowie around a cub? That sounded like a full-time job in keeping an eye on him. Hell, he was already keeping an eye on the man anyway.

  “It’s just for a while,” Tank assured him.

  “If you bring any trouble to my…” Dane warned him, but he didn’t need to go any further. Tank held up his hands to his chest.

  “I won’t even be here – I need to take care of … things.”

  “Tank…” Mitzi started, but her brother shot her a glare over his shoulder.

  “Rayner’s here,” Tank said, and that was all that needed to be said.

  That statement shocked the hell out of Dane as well. It seemed that his mate had won the respect of the crazy-ass bear shifter. That in itself was pretty impressive.

  “We’ve got a cabin — it’s not much,” Dane offered, thinking of all the ways that they would need to improve that cabin so that it was hospitable for a female and her cub. They’d get to work on it straight away.

  “I don’t need much,” Mitzi said, grateful for the alpha’s offer.

  “She can stay in my cabin,” Bowie said. Dane almost choked on his tongue. “Roland and I are working on the other cabin anyway,” Bowie added, not wanting to be referred to as soft bear again.

  It felt right. He couldn’t see a female and her cub in one of the other cabins; even the best one was still pretty damn bad. It certainly wasn’t that liveable.

  Dane had been blindsided — not just by Tank, his appearance, the woman, and cub, but by his crazy brother’s offer. Hell, how could he argue with that?

  ~

  ~

  ~

  “So, you’re a bear shifter?” Maggie asked as she held the baby in her arms and marveled at just how perfect one little person could be.

  “Just like Rayner,” Mitzi said, and Maggie’s head came up fast, and her eyes were wide in surprise as she turned her attention to her friend.

  “You have a bear?” Maggie asked. It sure did explain a lot about Rayner and her kickass ways.

  “Yep. That’s a long story,” Rayner said and caught the apologetic look that Mitzi tossed her way. She offered a small shrug of her shoulders back to show that in the grand scheme of things it didn’t really matter.

  Rayner couldn’t get past the fact that Bowie had offered up his cabin to Mitzi and Joshua. The man protected his territory like it was sacred ground, and she couldn’t help but wonder what had prompted his decision.

  There was no getting away from the fact that Bowie seemed to have been evolving lately, and that was a damn good thing in her book. But still…

  “And one that can wait till morning,” Dane said as he stalked up to his mate and held out his hand for her to take. “We’ve put your stuff in the cabin, and moved his stuff out.” He informed Mitzi.

  “I appreciate it,” Mitzi said.

  “Tired?” Dane asked his mate.

  “Nope.” Her eyes sparkled with good humor, and the wicked grin on her face made Dane a very happy man.

  “Good.” He chuckled.

  Rayner slapped her hand in his and allowed him to pull her to her feet. Not that she needed his help, but he seemed to like doing the manly things in life.

  “That looks good on you,” Rayner said to Maggie as she motioned to Joshua in her arms.

  Maggie’s cheeks flared with color as she opened her mouth to speak, but nothing would come out. Her eyes flicked toward Roland, and she heard the less than subtle rumble of a growl that went through his chest.

  “Mate?” Mitzi leaned in and whispered to Maggie as she scooped Joshua up and cuddle him to her chest. Maggie didn’t answer.

  “He is — they haven’t — but soon,” Rayner chuckled as she allowed Dane to walk her to their cabin.

  Maggie felt the urge to throw herself on the ground, dig a hole with her bare hands, and toss herself in.

  “Bed! Maggie spat out as she pushed up to her feet, and another hungry growl rolled through Roland’s chest toward her. She swallowed hard. “That’s me — not you,” she looked to the darkened sky and thought for a moment. “At least not in the same place as me.” She bit out, whirling on her heels, and stalking off towards Roland’s cabin before she put another foot in her mouth.

  The sound of Roland’s deep chuckles followed hard on her heels. That sound was just as potent as his growls were, and Maggie knew that she needed to bolster her defenses against, not only those sounds but the man himself.

  Rayner had laid it out for her earlier – the man was sex on a stick, and that thought led Maggie to other things that Rayner had said, sex, sex, dirty sex – that all sounded really good to her, and yet, she stalked faster towards the sanctuary of the cabin before she did something stupid.

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  ~

  Maggie had never really experienced problems in getting to sleep before, but last night she had. It wasn’t just the noises that kept coming and going from outside her bedroom window, but the thought of Roland, her mate, and everything that implied.

  It didn’t help matters that she was sleeping in the man’s bed. She had all of his things around her, and even the smell of him was sending her brain haywire, and in directions that she would never have thought of.

  Rayner was right, the man was sexy, and the fact that he was supposed to be her man was even more unbelievable. She thought she might just be getting used to that idea, but still, she wasn’t yet ready to take the plunge.

  She’d never believed in love at first sight, although, she did like reading about it in books. So, how could she then believe in fated mates?

  She’d seen it with her own eyes — Rayner and Dane — but it was still hard to comprehend it when it was her.

  Finally, she had given up all pretense of getting a decent night’s sleep. A couple of times when she had nodded off, her thoughts, dreams had gone to Roland, and she couldn’t keep that man out of her dreams any more than she could stop thinking about him in her waking moments.

  It didn’t help matters that she was even wearing his clothes. She’d grabbed a pair of his sweatpants out of the drawer, and turned the waistband over, and over, and over again until they sat on her hips and she wasn’t tripping over the bottom of them. The shirt that she wore was more like a dress, and she could have gotten away with just wearing that on its own like a mini-dress, but no.

  She padded into the kitchen and started to pull open the cupboard doors and looking for something that she could cook for breakfast. Boxes and boxes of pop tarts lined the inner shelves. She guessed she knew what Roland liked to eat.

  The sound of a gentle tap on the front door took her attention, and she panicked for just a moment, and she decided whether to hide under the bed or open the door. It could have been Rayner or Mitzi, and so she padded to the door, took her courage in hand, and pulled it open.

  There he was. If it was at all possible, then he looked even sexier in the morning light.

  “I have pop tarts,” Roland said.

  “I saw that. I doubt the shop has any left.” Maggie couldn’t help but grin.

  As opening lines went that one had sucked. He did look a little pained, on edge, and she wasn’t sure why.

  “I heard you up and about and thought you would need breakfast,” Roland said, fidgeting on his feet, and resisting the urge to take a step toward her.

  There was nothing that he wanted more than to feel her in his arms once more. The whole night that he’d been circling the cabin, listening to her tossing and turning, and imagining her lying in his bed — he’d wanted to be in there with her.

  Damn straight he did.

  Now, she was standing there wearing his clothes like they were a claim to her as his mate, and he wanted to strip her naked and bury his cock so deep inside her that they were one.

  “Do you live on a diet of steak and pop tarts? Have you ever heard of salad?” she said teasing him in the hope that he’d offer her one of those smiles, the sexy ones that made her insides mushy.

  “Rabbit food?” He winced at the thought of it.

  “That’s right; you prefer to eat the rabbit.”

  Roland craned his head on his neck and narrowed his eyes as he thought about that one. His lips moved, but he didn’t speak. He did question her with just a look though, and there it was – laughter in her eyes and a slow to boil wicked smile gracing her lips.

  He was mesmerized. A low, hungry growl rolled through him.

  “I can’t say I’m not partial to a rabbit…” he offered back.

  “I can’t say I’m not partial to a little rabbit either.” She shrugged a shoulder. “Of course, I prefer mine in the wild, running about as nature intended.” She teased.

  “Me too,” he said, and there was a big, wide grin on his face a heartbeat later that made her insides turn to mush, her resolve melt, and her attraction to him grow.

  “You want me to make you pop tarts?” she asked with a small girlie chuckle.

  “I’m man enough to make pop tarts for the both of us.”

  ~

  ~

  ~

  “Whatcha doing?” Rayner asked as she jumped out on Bowie and made him jump in place. She never thought she’d be able to sneak up on the man in a month of Sundays.

  Bowie gave a long hard growl of annoyance as he cut a dark glare at her, before remembering her unpredictable bear and snapping it off.

  “Working,” he half told the truth.

  He was getting a start on fixing up the cabin at the back end of the staggered row, but his mind was also on other things. Things he wouldn’t share with Rayner even under pain of death.

  “Want a hand?”

  “From a girl?” he sneered back and tossed her a look like she’d just used his shirt to blow her nose. To Bowie that might have been more acceptable.

  “Wouldn’t want you to break a fingernail doing it all yourself,” she tossed back. She felt a need to kick his backside for that one, but Bowie’s crazy-bear was doing better, and she didn’t want to upset the apple cart.

  Bowie grunted and snatched up a hammer that Rayner reached for.

  “I’m good,” Bowie said.

  “How about you let me swing that hammer, hit you on the thumb with it, and then you’ve got the right to bitch about me being a girl?”

  “Don’t you have a mate to annoy?” Bowie scowled.

  “Where’s the fun in only annoying one man at a time?”

  Rayner wondered what Bowie’s problem was, and then she remembered that there was a stranger in his cabin, and two new females on pack land. For someone territorial like him, that could be a problem.

  He grunted again but didn’t verbally respond to her teasing.

  “Ok, well, if you change your mind, or want breakfast…” Rayner said, turning and starting away from him. She figured it was best not to poke the bear – literally.

  “Not hungry,” he muttered back, shooting a dark glare towards his cabin. Then he pressed his lips together and started to swing the hammer. He needed to clear his mind and hitting things helped with that.

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  ~

  “Admit it, pop tarts are good.” Roland offered her a teasing grin, and the laughter in his eyes made her chuckle.

  “Ok, pop tarts are good…”

  “Ha!”

  “For the occasional breakfast,” she offered back.

  “Like a treat?” He winced at the thought.

  “Fruit is good…”

  “Like rabbit food – for the occasional treat, and maybe after a nice big steak,” he muttered.

  “Porridge is g…”

  “Don’t say good.” He gave a fast shake of his head. “It’s not good.”

  “Tried it with honey?” She offered him a teasing smile.

  “Why waste good honey when it goes great on a nice big juicy ham?” He grinned back.

  “Carnivore…”

  “And then some.”

  Maggie chuckled. She guessed the man was a carnivore, and she was back to thinking of his bear again.

  She was surrounded by bears. Even Rayner and Mitzi, and one day Joshua would be able to shift into a bear.

  “Does that worry you?” Roland asked and snatched her attention back from whatever had momentarily taken her away from him.

  He liked her right there with him in the moment. He couldn’t woo her if her mind was off somewhere else, and he wanted to know what she was thinking about.

  “You not eating good food?”

  “Me being a carnivore.”

  Maggie took a long moment to think about it, and Roland didn’t really notice that he’d been holding his breath until she shook her head. Then he could breathe. It was another thing that he didn’t have to worry about crossed off his mental list.

  “So, tell me what does worry you?” Roland asked, deliberately forcing his body to relax as he pushed out his legs at the side of the kitchen table, and folded his arms so that he wouldn’t be tempted to reach out for her.

  Maggie’s gaze dropped to his forearms. She didn’t realize just how damn sexy those things could be, but even they had ridges of muscle in them. She swallowed as her mind shot off in a hundred different directions, funnily enough, each direction led back to Roland – naked.

  “I don’t want to be a bear,” Maggie said and dragged her gaze up to his eyes. They didn’t seem as bright as they usually did – like they’d darkened, and were getting darker still. “Do I?”

  “Why the hell are you asking me?” He chuckled.

  “You’re a bear – guy,” she said with a shrug.

  “A mate doesn’t just become a shifter…”

  “But, Rayner…?”

  “Bowie had an accident…”

  “He slip?”

  “In a way, sure.”

  “So, being with you doesn’t mean being like you?” Maggie winced.

  “Nope.” He gave a small shake of his head. “Unless you wanted to…”

  “Oh, no. I’m the cowardly lion.”

  “I don’t know what that is,” he admitted.

  “Of course, you’ve never seen the Wizard of Oz,” she snorted.

  “Oh, that… Bowie’s favorite film when we were kids.” He leaned in and lowered his voice.

  “Really?” She frowned.

  “No.” He gave her another one of those sexy, teasing grins, and she frowned harder.

  “Funny.”

  “I thought so.” He chuckled then, and it was deep and rich, and glorious as it vibrated through her body.

  Everything about the man said; jump in the water’s warm. Maggie kind of wanted to dip her toes.

  “Jerk.”

  She pushed up to her feet and sidestepped the table, reaching for his plate with a mind to put them in the sink, but Roland couldn’t resist temptation when it looked good enough to lick from head to toe and was that close to him that her scent beckoned him on.

  He wrapped one large hand around her wrist and yanked her towards him, catching her easily as she squealed in surprise, and bringing her down on his lap.

  Mine… his beast growled.

  Damn straight she is. Roland agreed with his bear.

  “I’m gonna kiss you now,” Roland growled, practically lip to lip already, and her heart hit her ribs as excitement flipped her stomach, and boy was she looking forward to it.

  Roland was as good as his word, and her expectation was exceeded. His lips were soft, warm, and demanding. She palmed his hard chest, and let her fingertips test his muscles as she opened to him without questioning why.

  It was the best decision she’d ever made.

  To say the man was ravenous was an understatement. Now she knew what the hell they were talking about in those books that made her stomach flutter and brought a sigh to her lips.

  Her body was all fired up with need and desire with a lot of lust thrown in to boot. Roland’s hands palmed her backside and lifted her until she was straddling his lap.

  She could feel the hard length of his cock pressed against her sex, and even through their clothes, it felt damn good. Maggie wiggled her hips and rubbed her clit against that hard length. Her channel flooded with wet heat, and a hard growl went through his chest beneath her hands and got caught in his throat.

  CHAPTER TWENTY ONE

  ~

  Best damn decision ever. Maggie echoed in her mind as his hands took advantage of the fact that he didn’t have to hold her up and he started to undress her.

  She was wholeheartedly in favor of that – if anything, she’d started the ball rolling by pushing up his shirt so that she could get to the rock-hard muscles of his chest.

  When she was finally free of her shirt, and his hands chased down the smooth skin of her back, she arched towards him and ground down harder on his cock. The grunt that he offered back let her know that he appreciated that, and when he gripped her hips and moved his own, rubbing his cock against her clit – she snatched her lips from his as her head went back on her neck and she basked in the pleasure that went through her body.

  Roland’s gaze fixed on her exposed neck and shoulder. His mate was glorious, and he couldn’t resist licking up her neck and nipping against her chin with his blunt teeth.

  Her scent was calling to him. He nuzzled against her neck and shoulder and took that sweet, spicy scent at the source, but there was also the scent of her arousal that hung thick in the air and made him almost frenzied with the need for her.

  He couldn’t just take it for granted that she was all in. Even when her fingertips chased down over his chest and caused his muscles to convulse, and she flicked open the button on his jeans – he still needed her to say the words.

  Roland’s hands locked around her wrists and he drew her hands back away from him. If she got a hold of his cock, then he didn’t think that a whole lot of flying monkeys running through the cabin causing anarchy could derail him from taking her there and then.

  “Maggie, you’re too damn tempting…”

  “So, what are you waiting for?” Her voice was as damned sexy as hell; it was full of desire, and he wanted to bury his cock inside of her and ride her wild and free.

 

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