Unleashed By her Bear by Felicity Heaton
Chapter 20
Callie turned away from the door as Jessie exited through it, exhaled and let the tension flow from her tired muscles. It was over. Carrigan was dead according to the petite wolf who had been quick to paint a savage and brutal picture of Rune and the battle that had taken place.
Rune.
The weight she had been trying to shift from the moment she had heard Carrigan was dead and the threat to her was gone returned, pressed heavily upon her heart and had her pacing away from the door, unsure what to do.
Were things between her and Rune over now?
Carrigan was gone, Rune had avenged Grace and himself, and he had the closure he had wanted. Some wretched part of her kept whispering that he would leave now, would be on his way and she would never see him again. She tried not to listen to it, clung to the voice inside her that said Rune wanted her, that he had done this for her too, and that what she felt beat inside his heart too.
She refused to believe anything else.
Rune might have barriers around his heart that were layers upon layers of ice and razor-wire, designed to keep everyone out and protect himself, but he had let her see through that cold façade, had shown her the warm heart that he was shielding, and she believed it was because he felt the same way about her as she felt about him.
He was falling for her too.
Callie sighed, walked into the small kitchen area and washed her face and hands, the cool water soothing against her overheating skin. She idly went through the cupboards although she wasn’t sure what she was looking for. She ended up taking out a mug and finding a packet of herbal tea that was still in date, and filled the kettle.
Stared at it as it boiled.
The door of the cabin opened and she assumed it was Jessie come to bring her the fresh linen and other things she had promised, only it wasn’t a feminine voice that echoed Callie’s thoughts as she stared at the mug and the kettle.
“What are you doing?” Rune’s deep voice rolled over her, snapping her out of her reverie and startling her a little.
Her head whipped towards him and she blinked. “Settling in.”
She guessed.
She wasn’t really sure what she was doing. She had been moving on autopilot, lost in her thoughts, and had somehow ended up standing in the kitchen making tea.
His handsome features darkened, his eyebrows knitting hard above icy eyes as he looked at her, as he rubbed the back of his neck and averted his gaze, dropping it to the kettle. She noticed he had washed up, that the blood that had covered him was gone now, leaving only cuts and bruises behind, and he had swapped his fleece for a clean black T-shirt.
He glanced from the kettle to her and back again as he scratched his nape. “Guess this is it then?”
She swallowed her aching heart, lost her grip on her resolve as the voice she didn’t want to listen to howled so loud that it drowned out the other one.
Callie shrugged.
Hated that he was going to leave.
He frowned at her, something crossing his eyes, and then he turned and walked out of the door.
Damn him.
She hurried after him, her heart in her throat now, the instinct to stop him and demand that he stay with her driving her, overpowering the voice of fear as it howled at her to force him into submission. He was her fated one and she was damned if he was just going to walk out of that door and out of her life.
Rune stopped in the middle of the path in front of the steps to her deck and pivoted to face her. “I have just one thing I need to say before I go.”
Callie stilled and stared at him, pulse drumming faster, fear and hope colliding inside her as his face set in grim lines and he stomped back to her.
He stopped on the step below her, captured her cheeks in his palms and kissed her.
The softest, tenderest kiss she had ever experienced.
Warmth stirred in response to it, a lightness filling her that chased away her fear, that strengthened her hope as it silenced that wretched voice, and she sank into the kiss a little, wanting to believe he was trying to tell her what she really needed to hear, but was like her.
Afraid to do it.
Afraid to be the one to take the first step and confess he felt something for her.
Afraid that those feelings would go unrequited.
Rune dropped his hands to her hips, and for a moment she thought he would gather her to him, but then he hesitated and drew back.
Stared deep into her eyes.
Callie looked him over, the cuts on his face and his arms tearing at her, making her want to guide him indoors to take care of him. She feathered her fingers over his shoulder, ghosted them over a particularly nasty gash on his deltoid that had bled through his T-shirt, her brow furrowing as she thought about what Jessie had said to her.
As she thought about how hard Rune had fought.
For her.
She could see it in his eyes. They weren’t cold. The look in them seared her, set her aflame, revealing how much he wanted her and how afraid he had been.
“You said a lot.” Her voice trembled and she cleared her throat, even though she knew it was too late and he had already sensed the nerves in her. “I’m afraid I didn’t really understand any of it though.”
He scratched his nape again, cast his gaze away from her and then sighed and locked eyes with her again. “I’m not good at this.”
Callie cursed herself, feeling bad and wanting to take back what she had said because she knew how difficult this kind of thing was for him, how hard it was for him to be like others. Like her. Although, she wasn’t great at talking either. Rather than talking to him about her feelings, taking the leap and risking the fall, she had almost let him walk out of her life.
Rune swallowed hard and brushed his thumb against her waist as his eyes searched hers. “Do you think you’ll be happy here?”
She stroked his shoulder, battling the urge to demand he let her tend to his wounds, aware that now wasn’t the time to lay down the law with him like that. Now was the time to lay down the law about him leaving. He had fought for her, and now it was time she fought for him.
“Maybe.” She gave a little shrug. “I won’t know until I try it.”
She didn’t want to try it. She cursed herself again. Why couldn’t she just tell him that she was crazy about him? That she was falling for him and it wasn’t just because he was her fated one?
He cleared his throat. Awkwardly.
“Maybe… you’d be happy… with a different pride?”
Callie mock-frowned. “A different pride?”
She knew he was awkwardly asking her to come back with him to Black Ridge, but she wanted to hear him say it. She needed to hear him say it.
“I was thinking… maybe… my cabin is big enough for two.” He placed his other hand against her waist again and she felt terrible when she noticed they were both trembling.
Callie eased closer to him, wanting to reassure him that he didn’t need to be afraid, and tried to resist teasing him, but her mouth had its own ideas.
She smiled softly. “You only think your cabin is big enough for two?”
“No. I mean, my cabin is big enough for two and I know it’s not fancy like this place, and it needs some work, and we don’t have any wolves, but if you’d like to… I’d like you to…” He grunted and huffed. “I’m no good at this.”
When he released her and turned away, scrubbing the back of his close-cropped hair, she didn’t just feel bad. She felt terrible.
Callie caught his arm, stopping him. “I’m sorry. I just… I’m nervous. A little afraid. Humour in the face of fear and all that.”
He glanced over his shoulder at her. His look softened and he turned back to her, lifted his right hand and brushed his palm across her cheek as his gaze seared her, warming again. Because she had admitted that she sucked in her own special way? Or because she had admitted that she was scared too?
He wasn’t alone.
She wanted to be with him so much, but she was so afraid it wouldn’t happen that she was in danger of ruining it, of actually stopping it from happening by doing everything wrong.
“I like the look of Black Ridge. I like you… It’s just…” She sighed and placed her hand against his chest, over his heart, and stared there. “This thing with Grace.”
Rune pressed a finger to her lips. “I loved Grace, but that was a long time ago, Callie… and what I felt for her… it doesn’t even come close to what I feel for you. I’m far from perfect… I don’t deserve someone like you… but I want you to live with me.”
“Is that all you want?” She searched his eyes again, holding back her smile when his eyebrows pinched, a crease forming between them. “There’s nothing else you want to ask me?”
She leaned towards him and gently stroked her fingers down his nape, relished the way he shuddered and his eyes widened even as they darkened, his pupils dilating to devour the ice-blue of his irises.
“You know?” he husked.
“I know.” She stroked his nape again, holding his gaze. “I figured it out a while back… Confirmed it after the bridge incident.”
His lips parted, the shock that rolled across his handsome face in danger of bringing her smile out. A frown was swift to follow it.
“I knew it wasn’t exertion. I knew I hadn’t passed out because I hadn’t had the strength to keep going,” he growled, and she knew it was all for show.
He wasn’t angry with her for keeping it from him. She couldn’t feel even the barest trace of that emotion in him. In fact, he felt calm. Happy? Glad that she knew they were fated and he didn’t have to broach the subject?
Callie sidled a little closer, draping her arms around his neck as she canted her head to her right and smiled coyly at him. “If you wanted to maybe test that theory that you could keep going, you’re welcome to come inside. My money is on you passing out again… Want to take that bet and prove me wrong?”
He growled again, flashing fangs as heat blazed in his eyes.
They dropped to her lips.
“Am I going to pass out every time?” He looked wary, his words carefully weighed as he gazed at her mouth, and she could feel how badly he wanted to kiss her.
Or maybe she just really wanted to kiss him.
“Not necessarily.” She lured him a little closer, careful to avoid brushing his injuries, some part of her aware now really wasn’t the time to be contemplating being intimate with him while the rest of her howled to take her mate, her male, and make him hers.
“A wolf mate thing?” he husked, his gaze growing hooded, still locked on her lips.
“Uh-huh,” she mumbled, beginning to feel a little lost as she ached with anticipation, her mind filling with fantasies of him kissing her, of him bending her to his will this time. She shivered in response to them, her blood heating, body craving his touch.
“So we mate and no more blacking out?”
Gods, that question made her want to growl, made her want to seize hold of him and stamp her mark on him.
Because it told her that he wanted to mate with her.
“That’s the theory,” she whispered, edging closer to his lips.
“Suppose that’s one way of winning this bet.” He tugged her to him and claimed her mouth and her response came out as a groan as he kissed her. It was fierce, demanding, intoxicating, had her pressing against him as it lit her blood on fire, shamelessly rubbing her body against his despite the fact anyone could see them. Rune growled as he pressed his forehead to hers. “I want to win it fair and square first though.”
She nodded eagerly, gasped as he gripped her hips and lifted her.
She looped her legs around his waist, wanted to tell him to be careful and not hurt himself, but he seized her mouth in another bruising kiss. She was breathless when he drew back this time and shivered as his gaze seared her.
“Might have to make it best out of three… with my injuries and all. Like a handicap.” He kissed her again, his hands shifting to her backside to press her against him.
Callie moaned against his lips, on fire for him, her mind filling with wicked things she wanted to do to him.
“A handicap sounds fair,” she murmured between kisses, tried not to rub against him too much as he carried her towards the cabin, stoking the fire in her blood to an inferno.
That damned little voice at the back of her mind told her not to get caught up in things, that she had more to tell him and it was only fair she told him before they were intimate again.
She grimaced, not wanting to listen to it because she feared it would spoil the moment, but she didn’t want to hide things from Rune, especially something this big. She didn’t want him finding out and being angry with her for not telling him.
“Wait.” She cursed herself as she pressed her hands to his shoulders and stopped him from kissing her.
He tried to kiss her again.
“Wait.” She pushed him back and locked her elbows this time, so he couldn’t tug her to him and make her forget telling him the other half of the reason they both might pass out.
“Why? Is this because of my injuries?” he growled those words, looking as if he was going to lay down the law with her because he thought she doubted he could handle making love to her while he was healing.
She shook her head and tried to think of a delicate way to put it.
Blurted, “We should use protection.”
“Protection?” He frowned and eased back, giving up trying to kiss her. He searched her eyes instead and she squirmed.
“The passing out thing… It happens between fated mates… when a female is… you know.” Could she sound any lamer? She blushed, her cheeks burning with it as he just stared at her. He was going to make her spell it out for him. She couldn’t bring herself to look him in the eye as she said, “I’m receptive to a male. If we don’t use protection, I might get pregnant. I mean, it’s rare for a female wolf to get pregnant, like with any other shifter, but I thought you should know… and just to be safe we should—”
He cut her off with a kiss, claimed her lips in a searing one that curled her toes. She sank into it again, lost herself as heat rolled through her, forgot what they had been talking about for a blissful few seconds before he moved with her and it hit her again.
She pushed against his shoulders, breaking away from his lips, and breathed, “What are you doing?”
“Making love to you,” he growled and she glanced into his eyes, saw in them that he was serious as he added, “Whatever happens, I’m on board with it, Callie. I never thought I’d say this, but… I like the idea of a little cub of my own… with you.”
Gods. She melted at that, at the thought of Rune taking care of their cub, raising it with the same tender care as he had Misty and Brook.
She captured his lips this time, kissed him so hard even she saw stars.
Rune kicked the door closed behind them, sending a shiver rolling down her spine, and settled her on the kitchen counter. He tore at her clothes as she fumbled with his jeans, desperate to get him naked, wild with need of him. He pulled her boots and leggings off and she moaned as he pushed her thighs apart, as he dragged her to the edge of the counter and seated himself inside her in one thrust.
Callie clung to him, fisting his top as he pumped her with long, fierce strokes, as pleasure built inside her, swift to reach a crescendo. She cried into his mouth as her body kicked and pulsed, fought the encroaching wave of darkness as it tried to roll over her. Rune grunted and his grip on her slackened for a moment as he plunged as deep as she could take him and throbbed inside her, holding her on him in the most delicious way.
He shook his head as he pitched towards her, a groggy look on his face as he slurred, “That doesn’t count.”
Callie cupped his nape and pulled him to her, kissed him slowly, bringing him down and building him up again at the same time. The fire he had quenched was swift to ignite again, and she wasn’t sure it would ever be sated, not as long as she lived. She would always be on fire for this male.
For her bear.
He scowled at her when she broke the kiss.
“I think it should probably count. That’s one out of three…” She flexed around him, ripping a grunt from him, and smiled. “But I’m a nice wolf. I’ll give you a sporting chance.”
“Will you now?” he positively growled those words, the heat in his gaze telling her that he liked the sound of that and knew what she was going to propose.
She pulled him to her, skated her hands over his chest and felt his heart drumming against them.
“Best out of five?” Her smile grew wicked at just the thought.
Rune growled and grabbed her. He twisted with her and carried her towards the rug in front of the fireplace. “If it’s going to be five, then you’re going to have to give me a better sporting chance and let me lie down. I’m injured after all. On my deathbed.”
He was being overdramatic, but she didn’t protest when he sat on the fur rug and laid back, holding her on top of him. She wriggled her hips, ripped a gasp from his lips that she loved as she gazed down at him. Just the thought of spending the night making love to him like this had her aching for him again, roused that primal part of her that wanted to dominate him.
They weren’t going to be walking back to Black Ridge tomorrow, that was for sure.
But maybe the day after.
Once this fever had broken.
And they could both walk again.
She stared into his eyes, trying to see in them if he really wanted to mate with her, if he was contemplating crazy things like she was. She had never been one to rush into something, but this thing she had with Rune felt right. He felt right. She wanted to be with him and if he asked it of her, she would consent to being his mate right this moment, without hesitation.
“What are you thinking in there?” he husked, his voice scraping low, drowsy with passion.
“About my new pack.”
He frowned at her.
Callie rotated her hips again, chasing it away. “Hoping this time it’s a permanent move.”
Rune relaxed again as he scowled at her. She knew it was bad of her to tease him by making it sound as if she meant to stay here, as if she was thinking about this pack and not her newest one at Black Ridge, but she was still a little scared.
Still a little afraid to take the leap.
He slid his hands up her thighs, looked close to teasing her for a moment, but then he sighed and his look turned serious. “I’m not one to live in the past, Callie. At least I try not to. I want to live in the now and look to the future, and that future is one I want with you.”
Gods, this male knew how to make a female melt when he wasn’t overthinking it.
She could get used to this sweet-talking side of him, one he only seemed to show to her.
She leaned over him and kissed him, savoured the way he wrapped his arms around her and returned the kiss, every gentle sweep of his lips over hers speaking to her, telling her all the things he couldn’t find the courage to voice. She kissed him softly too, hoping he could hear the things she was too afraid to say, hoping he knew how much she needed him and how full her heart felt.
How she felt as if she had finally found her true home.
In his arms.
She had thought fate was cruel, had only dark times in mind for her, but it had brought her to her fated one, to her bear, and to a future she wanted with all her heart.
One that looked bright and beautiful, filled with love and happiness.
“You want to see if you can win this bet?” she murmured against Rune’s lips, aching for him again.
“I’m raising the stakes.” He stroked his fingers down her spine, sending a tingle along it.
Callie drew back and looked at him, a frown creasing her brow. “What are you playing for now?”
His pale blue eyes held hers, overflowing with warmth, with affection that made her breath hitch. “Your heart.”
She sighed, heated from head to toe by the earnest look in his eyes, by how deeply he wanted that. “I’m afraid I can’t bet that.”
The warmth in his eyes faltered, his fingers tightening against her back, and she sensed the spike in his feelings, saw the dark path his thoughts were taking.
“My heart isn’t mine to give.” She pursed her lips, weathered his low growl as it sent another thrill chasing through her, and told herself she really had to stop teasing him, even though it was fun and revealed how badly he wanted her, how crazy he already was about her.
As crazy as she was about him.
Callie lowered her mouth towards his again, feeling sure now, certain of something and no longer afraid. She would take the leap, Rune would catch her, and together they would seize that future they both wanted.
She breathed against his lips.
“You already won it.”
And claimed his with a kiss.
The End
The Black Ridge Bears series will return in October with Awakened by her Bear. Pre-order your copy from http://www.felicityheaton.com/black-ridge-bears-shifter-romance-series.php
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