Bear-ly A Hero (Bear Claw Security 2) (6 page)

Oh well, Limes would have to get over it. This was just part of being a woman in a male-dominated industry.

She had grown up as a minority female in a group of men, so she was used to the feeling of being surrounded by wolves. Literally, in the case of her past.

So the humans around her didn’t threaten her now. Well, except for one. She didn’t like Milo. He seemed all too sure of himself. It felt like he might be keeping secrets.

She packed up her things into her purse and slid it over her shoulder, trying not to show the nervousness that rose in her, as she knew she had to meet with Milo. “All right,” she told Limes, who was pulling on his jacket. “I’m going to my meeting. You stay here.”

Limes frowned. “Where are you meeting him?”

“His office,” she said. “No big deal. You know where it is.”

“Can I see your purse?” Limes said.

“Sure,” she handed it over without thinking but then regretted it as Limes rummaged through it with a frown.

“You don’t even have pepper spray on you,” he said in disgust. He pulled a small canister from his pocket and slid it in. “There you go.”

She looked at it, so out of place amongst the other contents. “I won’t need it during the meeting.”

“I’m sure you won’t,” Limes said, folding his arms and stepping back. “In fact, you really shouldn’t discharge it indoors or it could hit your eyes as well. But you should be carrying one in general. We can talk about it later. You should go to your meeting.”

She squared her shoulders. “Right. I should.”

He walked with her along the cubicles to Milo’s office. All the shades were drawn. Of course. She suppressed a shiver.

“I’m right out here,” he said, pulling a chair from a nearby cubicle and parking it just across the walkway. “Just yell if you need me.”

“I will,” she said. But she probably wouldn’t. For one, Milo’s office was pretty soundproof. She knew that because he was often playing loud music in there that she didn’t hear until the door swung open.

None of the usual rules applied to him.

“I’ll be right back,” she said, knocking on the door. When Milo opened it, that usually nauseating grin on his face, she released a deep breath.

She was already ready to be home with Limes, watching a movie. She looked at the clock on the wall as she walked in. Just a few more minutes and then she was free to go home.

She sat in front of the desk as Milo sat behind it, the grin on his face widening as the door shut behind her.

M
ilo might have been smiling
, but his eyes looked pissed. His normally pale skin was slightly flushed, and his eyes kept darting toward the door, where the blinds were drawn so no one could see in.

“Is your ‘friend’ outside?” he asked.

“Yes,” she said, not seeing how it was any of his business.

“So you’ve been putting me off for months, and now you’re taking up with someone like that?” Milo asked.

Suddenly, she kind of wished Limes had come in with her. Not that it was his fault he hadn’t. She’d insisted, and he’d respected that. But she sort of wished he could have been his usual, abrasive, pushy self instead, because Milo was looking even weirder than usual.

She put her hands on the sides of her chair to start to stand. This had been a mistake. She should probably talk to HR. Why had she thought he really might even have a work problem to talk about? He never did.

“Milo, it’s none of your business who I date,” she said. “If that’s all you wanted to talk about, I need to go.”

But he was up out of the chair the next moment, coming over to her. She made a dash for the door, but he blocked it with his body, spreading his hands on either side, plastering himself to the wall. He grinned again, and her stomach dropped.

Suddenly, the tacos weren’t sitting so well.

Ugh. Usually, in their meetings, he had at least a legitimate reason for calling her in and then would slowly slip in creepy little comments or watch her squirm. But he hadn’t done anything like this, though she guessed on a visceral level, she’d always suspected he was capable of it.

She looked at the doorknob, completely hidden by his body, and frowned. “Let me go or I’ll scream.”

“And lose your job?” he asked. “Is that what you want?”

He walked forward, and she was forced to step back to avoid him. He backed her up all the way against the desk, and she swallowed. She was so tired of men and their aggression. She put her hands up and pushed on his chest, hating touching him but needing to move him off.

As much as Limes thought she wouldn’t fight at all, that wasn’t totally the truth. She would fight if she had to. She just didn’t
want
to. She always seemed to come out on bottom when she did.

“Milo, I’m going to HR if you don’t stop this. This is harassment.”

He leaned in, his breath warm, his hands on either side of her on the desk. “You think they’d listen to you over me? My dad controls their jobs as well.”

“What do you want?” she asked.

“You,” he said. “You know that. I don’t get why we can’t have fun sometimes, after work.” He grinned and looked around the office. “We could even do it here,
during
work, and no one would notice. That’s kind of tempting, isn’t it?”

“No,” she said, pushing at him again. He finally stepped back, and she walked around him. But he grabbed her by the hand, stopping her from taking the doorknob.

“Listen,” he said. “I don’t want to force you. But if you’re going to take up with garbage like that guy out there, then I’m giving you an ultimatum. You think about what I’m offering, or I’ll make sure you lose your job.”

“You don’t have any right to do that,” she said. “Don’t you get it? I don’t want you.”

“And you want him?” Milo sneered, talking about Limes.

“Maybe,” she said, knowing she should just say Limes was her bodyguard. “Maybe I need a
real
man, Milo. Not some creep who pressures his employees.”

Milo’s eyes flashed with anger, and he stepped forward, hand raised. She flinched back, raising her hand in defense, just as the door opened behind her.

She looked back to see Limes standing there, outwardly calm but eyes blazing with anger.

He took a step into the office, hands in his pockets. “That’s enough of that,” he said, taking Jamie’s hand in his and pulling her behind him. “We’re going home.”

Milo’s eyes widened at the word home. “You’re living together?”

“He’s my bodyguard,” she said.

“I’m more than that,” Limes said. “I’m your fucking nightmare, and if you touch her again, say anything disgusting to her again, I’ll end you.”

“I can make her lose her job,” Milo said smugly. “Then she couldn’t afford to hire you.”

“Oh, she could afford me,” Limes said darkly, staying between her and Milo. “I would take on assholes like you for
free
.” He stepped forward, cracking his knuckles. “Now here’s how this is going to go,” he said as Milo paled and cringed away, much like the position she’d been in a moment ago.

She was so relieved Limes was there. How he’d known to come in, she didn’t know.

“I had a bug in Jamie’s purse,” Limes said, switching his hands to crack the knuckles on the other. He jerked his head both ways, and his neck let out a series of angry pops. “So I have evidence you were trying to extort sexual favors from one of your employees. And trust me when I say I know exactly how to disseminate that information in the way that would be most damaging to your company.” Limes grinned. “Hard to play Daddy’s boy when Daddy’s company loses its investors, right?”

“Right,” Milo said tightly, looking something close to scared for the first time Jamie had seen.

“So I’m going to send Jamie outside, and you’re going to take the bare minimum of what I think you deserve and you’re not going to say anything about it to anyone.”

Milo was white now and trembling. As satisfying as seeing him laid out by Limes would be, Jamie didn’t want him to do anything violent or illegal.

“Limes,” she said, pulling at his sleeve. “Don’t. Let’s just go. He gets it.”

Limes let out a growl, and she realized how truly angry he was. She needed to get him out of here. If she left him here with Milo, he’d probably try to kill him.

She jerked on his sleeve. “Limes, come on. I need you.” She tried appealing to his pity as a last-ditch effort, knowing she couldn’t possibly make him come with her through physical force.

He turned on her, studying her with those burning, narrowed eyes, and then sucked in a deep breath and turned away from Milo.

Who spit at his back.

Limes’s next move was almost too fast to see. Much faster than Jamie would have guessed someone his size could move. In seconds, Milo was on the ground, groaning, and Limes was shaking his hand, as if he’d touched something disgusting.

Limes had punched Milo straight in the face, and Jamie guessed he wasn’t going to get up anytime soon.

“Keep your filthy hands off her,” Limes snarled at the fallen man, grabbing Jamie by the arm and ushering her outside.

“Wait,” she said, but he shut the door behind them and started striding down the hallway, past all the cubicles and toward the front door. “Limes…” She wanted him to calm down, wanted to talk to him.

She could barely keep track of her purse as they rushed for the exit.

“Limes, wait!” she yelled, finally stopping him in his tracks.

She grabbed his arm and pulled him into the nearby ladies’ room. It was a single room that was larger than usual for families or women nursing, and it had a lock, which she used, even though there shouldn’t be anyone left at the office.

Someone could always come back for something.

“What the hell was that?” she asked, folding her arms. “You bugged my purse? I told you to let me handle it.”

“You didn’t actually think I’d
listen
to that, did you?” Limes asked disbelievingly. “I’m your bodyguard.” He motioned to her purse. “It’s on the pepper spray.”

“What is?” she asked.

“The bug,” he said. “If you want to remove it. Tonight, we’re going to get serious about this security stuff. And we’re going to talk about whether there are any other Milos out there I should ‘talk’ to.” He raised his hands to put air quotes around “talk,” and she almost let out a laugh.

But it was all too much. She was humiliated by what had happened with her boss and humiliated Limes had seen it, and she also didn’t know what to do about the fact that he’d saved her and threatened her boss at the same time, upsetting the careful balance she’d tried to keep here.

“Just what are you angry with me for?” he asked, folding his arms and stepping forward, backing her against the tile wall next to the sink. “I did what I was paid to do.”

She looked up at him defiantly. “Oh, I think you’ve been doing much more than I’m paying you for,” she snapped. “I think seeing me with the other men drives you crazy.” What was she doing? What was she saying? Why did Limes always pull this out of her?

His expression darkened and then softened as he looked over her face. Gosh, he was huge. But he didn’t make her uncomfortable in the way Milo or other men did. He was scary but in an exciting, unknown kind of way.

She liked the way he’d made Milo look like a flea.

Protector. We want him
, the wolf in her said. Her body responded to his nearness.

Now she just needed to provoke him in return. Get him thinking along the same lines.

“I was just doing what you pay me to do,” he said again, as if trying to convince himself.

“Maybe in there, with Milo, but you’ve been crazy all day. Every man who’s even looked at me, even the nice ones, you’ve been glaring at. You tell me I don’t fight enough, but I can tell you’d fight all the time if you could,” she spat.

His green eyes darkened in intensity and a muscle in his jaw twitched. “Damn straight. I’d fight all day if it meant keeping all of them away from you.” He put an arm above her on the tile, so warm and tense and so close she could almost taste him. “Did you mean what you said in the office?”

She blinked up at him, kind of lost in her own arousal, overwhelmed by his male power. “What?”

He leaned in close to whisper in her ear. “That you want me,” he said in a husky voice that sent shivers all the way down to her toes.

She swallowed. What she said next was important, would determine everything that happened from here on out.

Did she want to get involved with her bodyguard, whom she’d only just met?

The wolf in her howled, giving her no choice. Hell yes she did. She needed him, now. He woke the female in her, and she couldn’t slake her need without him. She needed his maleness, all of him.

“I meant it,” she said softly, wrapping her arms around his neck, pulling him close.

He studied her as if trying to decide what to do. Then he lowered his lips to just a hair above hers. His eyes glanced down at her lips and then back up to her eyes, and he let out a pent-up breath.

“I can’t resist you anymore,” he said.

“Then don’t,” she said, bringing their lips together.

He pulled back from her kiss, reached down, and grabbed her hands, pinning them over her head. “This is such a stupid idea.”

She struggled lightly, testing his strength, and then grinned up at him, feeling the animal inside her purring contentedly at what was about to happen.

She couldn’t believe it because she’d never wanted it like this. This badly. Her fear of men, her hatred of them, had always been too strong for that.

But right now, she was open and wanting, and that felt good. She wouldn’t question it. She would just take her pleasure with him.

“I don’t care if it’s stupid,” she said. “Limes, take me.”

“Josh. My name is Josh,” he said against her ear, sending little thrills through her.”

“Take me, Josh.”

He growled, tensed up completely, and then closed his teeth over her earlobe.

She let out a moan. It was
on
.

L
imes reveled
in the feel of Jamie’s soft earlobe in his mouth, playing with it between his lips and biting down on it again, teasing a sigh from her mouth that made him want to cover those luscious lips of hers with a kiss.

It had been so long since he’d heard his real name, and even then, it was so different hearing it from Jamie. Just the want in her voice, the need, drove him wild with desire.

And as much as the logical voice inside tried to reason with him, tried to warn him against doing something foolish like this, he couldn’t. Not when Jamie was so ready and willing, not when she called his name like that.

Still pressing her arms against the wall, he moved from her ear to her neck, teasing her with promises of more and building her arousal. With each kiss, her body squirmed a little, her breathing quickened more.

Her reactions did nothing to calm the fire inside him right now.

But neither had all the men coming by her office. The leers, the grins. Limes wished he could just obliterate all of them from existence, leaving Jamie for himself, safe from the world and all the evil and pain in it that he’d seen too much of.

He bit down lightly on the soft skin at the base of her neck, and Jamie groaned in pleasure, making him harder by the second. Her beautiful, curvy body before him drew him in like a moth to the flame.

Holding her hands together above her head in one of his own easily, he went to undo the buttons on her shirt. But when the first one took too long to unthread, he instead pulled his finger down the center, ripping the buttons free easily and pulling the fabric away from her.

“My blouse,” Jamie responded, sounding more pleasantly surprised than brokenhearted.

“You can dock my pay,” he growled, spurred by the swell of her breasts before him, barely contained by the white bra she wore. 

With his free hand, he squeezed her breast over the fabric, and she gave out a tantalizing moan.

Man, this woman would be his undoing.

But Limes didn’t care. All he could think of was her pleasure and what he could do next to make her scream with delight.

He undid the clasp of her bra behind her, loosening the prison that held her breasts captive, and he slid his hand beneath the fabric so he could feel the soft skin fully, holding it and revealing her nipples.

With fevered hunger, he kissed her breasts everywhere, licking a circle around the center of each until they became pointed tips, begging for his tongue. Then he obliged her body’s response, sucking hard on them until she gasped out in pleasure and he felt her knees buckle from the intensity.

Clearly, he was as overwhelming to her as she was to him. 

With one swift motion, he picked her up and set her on the edge of the sink, hiking up her skirt until he could see the pink fabric of her panties. He looked into her face and could see her already tensed, close to her first release.

Their bodies were so close together he could feel her breasts rubbing against his chest as his hands came down her back and squeezed her ass, pressing her into him as she did. In reward, she moaned, her hands coming around his shoulders and digging into his back as her legs wrapped around him.

Damn, Jamie was so perfect, everywhere, in every way. His erection strained against his jeans, wanting to break free and fill her as she came over and over again.

But his hands were still hungry for her touch. He could wait a second more.

As he held the soft curve of Jamie’s back, supporting her close to him, he lowered his hand between them and beneath her underwear. He could see Jamie’s eyes grow wider and wider, and she bit down slightly on her lower lip until his fingers found her clit.

Then, with one stroke, she came apart in his hands, her legs clenching tightly around his body and her nails digging into his shoulder as she called his name loudly into the small, quiet room around them, echoing her absolute pleasure back to them. 

The sound was sweeter than anything Limes had ever heard. For a second, he wondered if anyone could hear her, but a quick glance at the thick, soundproofed door and a clock on the wall assured him nobody would be left in the building, and even if they were, they wouldn’t hear anything.

And if they did, he’d mash them into a pulp incapable of hearing or seeing anything ever again.

Jamie was his, dammit. 

The bear inside him roared in approval at the possessive thought, and Limes marveled at the effect she had on him, an effect unlike any other woman had ever come near to having.

“Limes… I mean, Josh,” Jamie said, breathless after her orgasm. “I need you to take me.” Her voice was still full of want, the same kind of want he could feel.

“Not yet. I want to touch you more,” he teased as his hand found her entrance, sliding a finger inside to test her, then two.

So warm. So inviting. So delicious.

Hopefully, next time he’d get to taste her. 

But right now, all he could think about was being inside. That and giving her one more orgasm before that.

Using his hand that was still between her legs, he thrust inside with his fingers, and his outstretched thumb teased the tip of her clit. Meanwhile, his mouth moved along her neck from the side, trailing heated kisses while his fingers worked their magic.

As her arousal grew and grew, her scent filled the small space that seemed unable to contain the limits of their arousal. It was soothing and erotic, much like she was, and it smelled like a field of lilies on the outskirts of an endless pine forest that called to the bear in him, drawing him to her. 

She was so wet from being turned on that his fingers slid in and out of her easily, and he could almost taste the feel of the same slickness around his cock as he drove into her. With each stroke, her breath grew shorter and her moans of pleasure got louder, until it sounded like she couldn’t take any more.

With one last flick of his thumb over her clit, Jamie’s body tightened once again as her body wrapped around him, holding him tight just as she came with incredible intensity.

This time she held her mouth against his shoulder, muffling her screams of pleasure as her body arched against him and shuddered with release. Limes held her with both hands as she did, loving just how perfectly her body fit against his and experiencing every part of her as she came.

When she finally relaxed, he moved back from her, her hands still wrapped around his neck, her clothes hanging loosely on her. The bun of her hair was half undone, stray strands having come free and going out in every direction, giving her a cute, sexy appearance. 

Jamie looked down and eyed the bulge in his pants, painfully hard, and smiled. 

“You sure you want this?” he asked, certain he knew the answer from the look in her eyes.

“Of course. You can’t just leave me hanging like this,” she said between long sighs as she recovered her breath, an errant lock of hair hanging seductively over her face.

With a growl Limes picked her up off the edge of the sink and moved back to the wall, pressing her against it as her body brushed his, her legs still wrapped around him.

“Don’t say I didn’t warn you,” he replied, pulling off her panties.

As he did, her hands found and undid the buckle of his jeans, and she pulled his zipper down with excitement and hunger in her eyes as his member sprang free. 

“Wow, is it something about bears, or are you just lucky?”

“I’m just lucky,” he said with a smirk. “Just one thing, though,” he said, reaching into his back pocket as he held her weight in one arm easily, producing a small foil packet.

Limes didn’t know how officially mating someone worked exactly, but the last thing he wanted to do was find out the hard way. 

Jamie didn’t appear deterred, though, and to his surprise, she snatched the packet from his hand.

“Allow me,” she said, tearing it open and pulling out the condom. As he held her propped up against the wall, she slid it down over him, her fingers playing with his hard length, teasing him and driving him crazy. Based on her smile and the way she watched eagerly as Limes fought his body’s response to her touch, she seemed to be enjoying the feeling of control as he let out an involuntary groan from so much arousal and having her so close like this.

“Enough,” he growled, sealing his lips over hers in an intense kiss that felt like fire and filled him with unquenchable heat. Immediately, her hands let go of him and found his shoulders, holding on as he lowered her slowly onto him.

As their bodies came together, Jamie gasped against him, his mouth still closed over hers as he filled her completely. She was so tight yet somehow just the right size as he felt himself overcome by her slick warmth surrounding him.

For a long moment, he held her still, giving her time to adjust to his size. Jamie let out small, tantalizing huffs as her initial shock turned to unfettered arousal, her eyes rolling back and her neck arching backward.

“Whatever you’re doing, don’t stop,” Jamie said with orgasmic satisfaction in her voice.

“I haven’t even started yet, babe,” he replied, unable to keep a smile from quirking at the side of his mouth at the sight of her complete surrender to the pleasure he gave.

With that, he lifted her slightly as he lowered himself below her, then pushed into her with one long, smooth thrust, and Jamie moaned loudly in response, the sound so delicious it could make him lose control. 

After this, bodyguard or not, Jamie was never leaving his sight. Limes didn’t know exactly how, or even why, he felt that way, but somehow he’d make sure she was safe. Safe from her co-workers. Safe from whatever it was out there that was after her. Safe from anything and everything.

Mate
, the bear inside him called, but Limes didn’t have time to think about it as Jamie pushed herself off him slightly and came down over him, making his nerves go berserk with arousal. 

Together they came, over and over, Limes holding her as he thrust into her and she pushed onto him, the ferocious, overwhelming pleasure between them building at a blinding pace. Each time they came apart, they pushed together harder and faster. And with each thrust, she gasped louder and held on tighter as he felt his own body tensing more every second.

He’d been through a lot of things in his lifetime, but something this exquisite, this incredible, was far beyond that. Something about Jamie took ahold of him and shattered all his limits.

Before he could think or notice anything else, though, he felt her tighten around him, her hands gripping his back familiarly, as she had twice before already, as her orgasm overcame her. As her release took over and coursed through the incredible woman he was inside, he felt a shock of sensation jolt through him, and then he came with her.

Together they rode out their release. He held her close as her nails raked along his back, making him wish he was shirtless so he could feel her touch better on his skin. He lost all semblance of thought and cognition as his entire body was consumed with pleasure, originating from where their hips still met. 

Even as the feelings ebbed, Limes could feel satiation and contentment coming off Jamie in waves as she smiled up at him, both exhausted and pleasured. 

That smile was so perfect; he never wanted to do anything that could take it away.

But then he took in their appearance. She was thoroughly disheveled, and he’d just taken her against the bathroom wall. Her eyes were wide and glazed. She was contented now, but what about when the afterglow had dimmed?

Dammit.
Had he just gone and ruined everything?