Creed’s Claim(7)

“Okay. So the town is a bear town, just us humans didn’t know it?” That still blew her mind. She’d never realized that well over half of Lizard Lick’s populace was an entirely different species.

“Well, no. The town itself isn’t actually in our territory, just close enough that everyone considers it to be. The other clans hereabouts know we keep an eye out so there are usually no problems.”

At the mention of trouble, Lilly’s expression dropped serious and she flicked a glance to the door in the opposite wall, kitty corner with the main entrance to the lodge. It was the door that apparently led to Dean Sterling, the bear head honcho’s, quarters and where they’d taken Kacie when they’d arrived.

“Have you heard anything?” Kait asked quietly.

Lilly shook her head. “No. They’ve been shut up in there since we arrived.”

She reached out to give Kait’s arm a quick squeeze. “But don’t worry. Dean’s called in Morgan, he’s a surgeon over in Wakefield. He’s seriously the best at what he does. She’ll be fine. From what I could see it was surface wounding, no puncture of the gut…just messy.”

Kait’s eyes rounded.

“How can you be so calm about this? All that blood… yet you freak out if you get a little splinter? Not exactly the model of a big, bad bear—”

She trailed off, looking at her friend, then quickly behind her to where Creed propped up the bar. He wasn’t watching her at the moment, but she was sure he was aware of every move she made.

“What’s the matter?” Lilly asked gently. “Struggling to take it all in?”

Kait nodded, still looking around the room. Even though she knew what they were, that they all had monsters…bear-shaped monsters…inside, seemed fantastical.

“How do they like…fit?” she blurted out.

A frown crossed Lilly’s face for a second, then she chuckled. “Our bears? How do they fit inside us?”

Kait nodded, feeling dumb.

“Yeah. Like bears are huge and you’re tiny.” She waved a hand at Lilly’s tall, slender frame. “Or are you a mini bear or something? A pygmy bear maybe…do those exist? Or…you’re a teddy bear, aren’t you?” she teased.

“Teddy bear? Are you serious?” Lilly couldn’t appear to help the grin that crawled over her face. “I’ll have you know I’m over two hundred pounds of pure, unadulterated bitch with a trigger temper certain points of the month. Let’s just say, bear men?” She leaned in to whisper. “They tread veeeeery carefully when their women get Mother Nature’s little gift.”

Kait grinned, the moment one of normalcy even in this crazy situation. The idea of her delicate friend turning into a two-hundred-pound bear was mind-boggling. Movement caught her eye and she cast a glance over to Creed, sitting by the bar. Heat rolled through her as he caught her eye.

After all but kissing the life out of her upstairs and telling her he’d wait for her to be comfortable, they’d come back down here so she could “get used to bear life.” It was easy to see that he’d needed some space, and to be honest, so did she. This was all… yeah, she still hadn’t decided yet that she wasn’t dreaming.

“And Creed?” she asked carefully, not looking at him but knowing he hadn’t taken his eyes off her all evening. “Is he a big bear as well? He’s a big guy.”

She flushed as the last words left her mouth. He was a big guy. She’d felt the evidence of that pressed up close and personal.

Lilly’s expression faltered a little, then she shrugged. “To be honest, I don’t know. I’ve never seen him shift. No one has apart from Dean. Apparently he’s only ever shifted three times in his life.”

Kait blinked, surprised. “Don’t you all need to get like…furry once a month, though? Or is that just in films?”

“No. We do. But he doesn’t. And he always fights human, even when his opponent is in bear form.” Lilly flicked a glance up at the man in question and Kait saw the respect in her eyes. “He’s one of the best damn enforcers I’ve ever had working for me. Strong as… well, strong as a bear even in human form. If he ever fought as a bear? He’d be awesome. I don’t think even Dean could take him on. If he wanted to, he could probably take over the pack…”

“But?” Kait knew her friend, so she knew by the way she spoke there was more to the story. “There’s a but there, I know there is.”

Lilly crossed her eyes for a second, then sighed. “Yeah… Some assholes around here don’t like him. Say he’s not really a bear, or not bear enough to be an enforcer, let alone lead the clan. Not that he’d ever challenge Dean. He’s always had Dean’s back.”

“Is that why someone called him a half-skin earlier?”

Lilly swore, the curse low and with venom. “Yeah, that’d be one of Anderson’s lot. He’s becoming a right pain in the ass recently. If those guys earlier hadn’t been out of towners, I’d have suspected he was behind that. He doesn’t like me either, certainly not since Dean made me Head Enforcer. In his mind, women should be chained to the kitchen sink. Fucker, I’d like to show him some chains, and not in a fun way.”

Kait shivered, remembering the way the sheriff had looked at her earlier. It hadn’t been a nice look. Like she was a piece of meat or a possession… like she wasn’t even a person anymore. Which was odd, since every other time she’d spoken to him—when she’d thought he was human, before she knew about bears and wolves and all that—he’d been the stereotype of the caring small town sheriff.

Quickly she looked around to check that the sheriff wasn’t lurking around. She didn’t know if she could cope with another dose of his charm.

What you see is what you get, unless in Lizard Lick.

Her gaze caught on Creed. He was watching her again, but this time his expression wasn’t guarded or masked as it always had been before. Instead, she saw need and utter longing etched deeply into his eyes. He looked at her like she was the only thing in his world, like she was the only thing he’d ever wanted or needed. And that even though she was right there in front of him, he couldn’t quite believe she was. That she was his.

“Excuse me for a moment?” she murmured, standing to walk across the room toward him. He tracked her every movement, gaze never leaving her as she approached. The heat in his eyes gave her that extra confidence and there was a sway in her hips as she reached him. She stopped less than a foot away, looking up at him.

“Hey.” He lifted his beer to his lips and took a swallow, still watching her. “Girl talk not cutting it?”

She stepped closer, trailing her fingertip down the center of his chest, following the line of the buttons. “It’s nice, but I have other things on my mind. Like this guy I can’t get out of my head. He watches me. I realize that he’s always watched me… and I like it. I just wanted him to know that.”

“Is that so?” He put his empty bottle down on the bar and turned to face her. “How about you show him instead?”



* * *



Kait blew his mind. She was so tiny and delicate, but so full of fire. She’d been dropped in at the deep end and so far, she was swimming perfectly. No hint of hysterics at all. He was proud of her.

But his pride disappeared under the heat of desire as she stepped closer. Everything that had complicated their relationship—his friendship with her brother, the fact they were different species—all that faded away as she walked her fingers down his chest. All that remained, all that mattered, was she was a woman and he was the man who loved her. Wanted her, and by the end of the night, he intended to have her. By all the signals she was giving him, she wanted that as well.

“How’s this for showing?” she murmured, leaning in closer to brush her lips against his jaw. She was so tiny she had to stand on tiptoes to do it and had no chance of reaching his lips unless he tilted his head for her. But he kind of liked her working for it, so he stayed where he was, even though all his instincts railed at him and called him all kinds of an idiot.

“It’s not bad,” he admitted softly, his words ending on a catch as she moved closer, fitting her small, curvy body against his harder one. Instantly, his cock stood to attention, desperate for release from the confines of his jeans. “But perhaps he needs a little more to be sure.”

“Oh, he does, does he?” Her lips curved into a smile against the skin of his jaw. Subtly, she moved, covering the movement of her hand as she slid it between them. And cupped him boldly. He gasped, looking down at her.

“Well…” She looked up through her lashes. “The problem there is that we’re in a public place, and I want to do some very private things to you.”

Fuck… The heat in her eyes was one he’d dreamed of seeing there but never thought he would. Now he did, it was better than he ever could have imagined. Like wildfire, desire coursed through his veins, filling his body with a sexual energy he’d never felt before. Every muscle was galvanized, his cock hard enough to punch holes through freaking wood, but he couldn’t move. Not with her hand cupping him as it was, small fingers stroking up and down his length. He was a slave to her every whim, painfully aware of every little movement she made.