Bucking Bear (Pounding Hearts #3) (15 page)

“But she only looks like you a little,” he growls, his face closing the distance between us. His mouth lingers just a breath away from my mouth and my lips tingle, waiting for him to kiss them.

“Only a little?”

He nods slowly and then there’s this wicked gleam in his eyes before he says. “You’re much prettier.”

He kisses me and any doubts I may have still had go flying out of my pretty little head.

Bending me back, Max uses his kiss to sink me down onto the bed. Feeling myself succumb to gravity, my hands clutch at his shirt as he lowers his weight down on top of me until I’m spread beneath him.

He’s so big, so massive, he should crush me yet he feels like he was meant to be on top of me. Our bodies were made to fit into each other’s grooves and spaces.

I have this sudden primal urge to tear his shirt open, to feel his skin against my skin. To rake my nails against it.

He growls into my mouth and my sex clenches. I don’t know if it’s him or the sudden spike of neediness but I feel so hot it’s feverish.

I love being beneath him, I love the way his body sinks my body into the mattress. I love the way his teeth bang into my teeth as he kisses me passionately.

Fuck, I love him, all of him.

I must have said it out loud because he growls, “I love you too,” and deepens the kiss.

It takes a bit of maneuvering, a bit of wiggling and me whining as his weight lifts away but his hands grab my shirt and rip it open. Just like before, he grabs the little bit of fabric that connects the cups of my bra together and just pulls, popping it open.

My breasts seem to freeze in mid-air before dropping and jiggling.

Tearing his mouth from mine, his eyes gaze hungrily down at them.

“These breasts,” he growls and his head drops to taste them. Tongue flicking against just the tips. “These fucking breasts kill me. I’ve never seen such fucking beautiful, perfect breasts.”

Hands covering my aching globes, he squeezes and kneads them as his mouth kisses a path down my stomach.

“Max,” I gasp, my back arching off the bed as he stops to dip his tongue into my belly button.

Teeth scraping against my belly, he lingers near my hip, sucking hard on it.

“You’re so fucking sexy, I have to mark you,” he grunts as his mouth moves away. Sure enough he left a small hickey that will probably darken by morning. “You’re mine and I’ll fucking kill anyone who touches you.”

His eyes meet my eyes and I should be terrified by the way he’s talking about killing someone but I’m only turned on more by his possessiveness.

“And this pussy…” he growls, dragging his eyes away.

I suck in a breath just as he slides down and his hot breath hits my tender, throbbing flesh.

“I’ve never tasted a sweeter pussy, Grace. Fuck, you’re like cream on my tongue. I could lick you for days.”

Hands giving my breasts one last parting squeeze, he has to grab me by the thighs and hold me open for him.

“Max, please…” I plead with him. I know I must have somehow upset him with the Britney question but if he starts to lick me to prove a point there’s no way I’m going to be able to keep from screaming.

“I’m sorry, baby, but I have to taste you,” he apologizes and grins.

It’s so obvious he’s not sorry at all. And my butt might be squirming against the bed in anticipation but I swear I’m scowling down at the top of his head.

I slap a hand over my mouth to muffle my moan as his tongue drags slowly through my folds and flicks at my clit.

“Fucking delicious,” he rumbles, the vibrations of his deep voice causing my sex to clench.

He flattens his tongue and laps at my pussy hungrily, hot tongue hitting it over and over, again and again.

I have to bite my hand to hold back the scream building inside of me, the pressure, the pleasure is so intense I want to burst with it.

“Come for me, baby,” Max growls. “Stop holding back.” Using his shoulder to keep me open, he thrusts one thick finger inside of me.

I want to tell him I can’t, but he sucks my clit into his mouth and it’s all over. By some small miracle I come silently, the throes so overwhelming they swallow up the scream I was holding back.

Aggressively he growls, licking and sucking on me, finger pumping furiously in and out of me, frustrated by my silence.

When he’s done licking me from his lips, from his finger, he rises above me, his eyes so dark with challenge they’re practically glowing black.

“Grace…” he frowns and I lower my hand away from my mouth. I bit it so hard I almost broke the skin.

He looks to my hand and then he’s grinning again.

“No, don’t!” I cry out as he grabs up both my hands and pins them above my head.

“You shouldn’t have held back,” he justifies before his head dips again and he’s kissing my neck.

He’s figured out where my weak spot is. There’s this sensitive bit of flesh he tortures with his tongue, teeth and lips. A spot that feels like it has a direct connection to my clit.

It doesn’t take much before I’m melting again, squirming and writhing beneath him. But this time I can’t cover my mouth to muffle all the little sounds I can’t stop myself from making.

I want to lock my knees together to smother the throbbing pulse growing in my core but he’s between them.

“Max,” I whine, if he doesn’t stop I’m going to come just from this.

“Mmm,” he rumbles.

“You’re still dressed.”

His mouth pauses against me as if he’s just realizing it and then he’s grunting in agreement.

Pushing up, he traps both of my wrists in one of his hands. Using his free hand, he grabs the bottom of his shirt and rips it up and over his head. His hand leaves my wrists but it’s only for a second. I try but fail at getting away from him. Grabbing my wrists again, next come his pants, unbuttoned and shoved down his hips, freeing his magnificent dick.

His cock twitches as I gaze longingly down at it. No longer intimidated by its sheer size I ache to feel it filling up all of my dark, empty spaces.

“Fucking hell,” Max curses.

His weight comes back down fully on top of me until I feel trapped beneath him. His bulging arms cage me in. My breasts are smashed beneath his rock hard pecs. My nipples are hardened into such tight little points they’re stabbing into his chest.

His erection digs into my stomach, leaving a sticky trail of precum all the way up, past my belly button.

Hips grinding against hips, he kisses me again. Torturing me. Our tongues clashing as if this is some battle one of us must win.

I rock my hips up, unable to remain passive any longer.

“Grace,” he groans, breaking away first as if he’s in some kind of awful pain.

I have to move, I can’t help it. There’s too much franticness coursing through my blood, too much neediness trapped inside my skin.

My clit is throbbing between my thighs and my sex is clenching down on emptiness.

“Fuck, I forgot a condom,” he groans and pushes up.

“I don’t care,” I cry out as his skin peels away from my skin.

Freezing above me, he stares down at me in disbelief. “You don’t mean that.”

“I do,” I insist and arch up. I’d grab him and pull him back down if he didn’t have my hands trapped.

“You’re just saying that because of the heat of the moment…”

“No,” I deny and shake my head. “I mean it. I want you inside me, Max. I don’t want anything between us.”

He groans such an agonized groan it sends chills down my spine. “But you could get pregnant, baby.”

After everything he’s done for Hope and me, I feel safe with him. I
want
to make a baby with him. I didn’t know it before this moment but there’s a rightness to it.

But I don’t say that, I whine and beg, “Please,” while rocking my hips instead.

“Fuck,” he curses, finally giving in.

Lowering his weight back down on top of me, I bask in the heat of his skin.

There’s a pause, a long hesitation after he settles his body over my body.

His cock slides through my folds, slicking it up with my wetness before he asks, “Are you sure, baby?”

“Yes,” I ensure him. I don’t know how or why but I’ve never felt more sure. I know I won’t regret this.

With a groan, I feel the crown of his erection pushing against my entrance.

“Fuck, you’re so tight and wet,” he hisses and then he’s pushing in.

His huge cock spreads me wide open.

There’s not as much as resistance now, my body eager and ready for him. My walls grip and pull him in. But still it’s an incredibly intense experience. There’s no other feeling like this. He’s hitting every little spot, every little nerve as sinks deeper and deeper.

Joining my body with his.

His head falls forward, his breathing harsh and loud against my ear. He just holds himself there for a moment once he can go no further.

I’m still beneath him, just reveling in it. It’s like the calm before the storm. Any moment now all hell is going to break loose and I’m going to need my breath.

His tongue finds my ear, tasting me as he pulls back a little. My thighs tighten around him and he slams back in.

I make a little squeaking sound of surprise and he pulls back a little just to ram it home again.

The louder the noises I make get, the more he pulls back and the harder he slams his cock in. Before long it becomes too much of a struggle to remain quiet, it requires me to hold on to too much of my control when all I really want to do is let go. When all I want to do is revel in being connected to him.

“Grace,” he growls hotly into my ear. “The things you do to me. Your pussy feels so good wrapped around me.”

I groan, trying to turn my face away but the thrusting of his hips increases. There’s nowhere to go, there’s no escape.

“You’re so hot and wet,” he grunts, his balls slapping against my ass loudly.

“Come for me, baby. Your little pussy makes me weak, I don’t know how much longer I can hold out… Fuck, I’ve never come without a rubber before.”

And that just does it. Knowing that he’s so close to losing control himself causes me to explode.

Vaguely I’m aware of the headboard banging against the wall as I’m gushing and moaning loudly. The earth feels like it’s moving probably because the bed is literally moving beneath us.

Max roars, swelling, and then he’s pumping me full of hot sticky warmth.

He came inside me. He really came inside me.

Just as the last little wave of my release rolls through me, knowing that Max might have just put his baby inside me causes me to explode once more.

We shudder against each other, muscles tensed and locked up in the grip of our throes.

All at once it’s like a cord has been cut and he slumps against me, spent. The walls of my sex settle after one last, trembling spasm.

Relaxing his grip on my wrists, he rolls onto his back, pulling me with him. I snuggle up against his chest, catching my breath.

“See,” he says after a couple of minutes, and his voice is so rough he has to clear his throat. “I told you my walls are thick.”

“Um,” I smirk and point up, above our heads to the giant hole that wasn’t there a few minutes ago. “They were… until they got pummeled by your headboard.”

T
here hasn’t been
a single peep from Hope’s room the entire night. At six a.m—when I walk past the room to go for a run—I see her peacefully sleeping with a stuffed animal tucked under one arm. I was telling Grace the truth last night when I said my walls are pretty thick. Though the one above my head cracking and leaving a hole sucks. Fucking figures the first night I get them both under my roof I put a hole in the wall.

Slipping on my shoes, I head out my back door and start running. I need to get my ass into gear. Two weeks away from the title fight. Marcellus Robinson is my opponent. Dude is as serious about fighting as I am. He’s pretty fucking big too. He likes to throw his opponents around the cage as he stands up, going toe to toe with them.

Marcellus isn’t going to be a one punch and he is out kind of guy. Shit, Wade wasn’t supposed to be one either. It’s crazy that he took one punch to the chin like that.

I have watched the fight multiple times, I had to. There have been a couple of people questioning if the guy took a dive. Wade couldn’t have though, if you watch the replay you can clearly see his eyes roll back up into his head as he drops to the floor.

Fuck. That was crazy shit.

Marcellus though is going to be different, he doesn’t get caught like Wade did. He is a tried and true warrior. He comes from a hardcore training camp and has a record of eighteen and two. Those two losses were tough, bloody battles. Each one came down to decision of the judges, and each time it was a questionable loss. The dude should have been the next in line with Chase the Reaper, but that Ethan guy got past him. So Marcellus has a gigantic chip on his shoulder.

One that he intends to destroy me with.

I push myself hard as I run through the trees, my feet stomping down onto the pavement. I am in great shape for this fight, the last one didn’t do anything to my body.

The laps around the lake help clear my head from sleep and from woolgathering, even if I do hate the hell out of each step I take running. Running does do more than put me in better shape, it allows me to think. Think and plan.

Grace seems happy with how Hope’s room turned out, and Hope is head over heels about her room. So that’s all good. Now I need to focus on what Grace wants in the house. The Brittany poster will be coming down this morning, and the hole in the wall will be fixed as soon as I call someone to come out to do it. I need to also get one of those home decorator people to come out as well for Grace. She needs to get this house to what she wants in a home.

We won’t be moving anytime soon; we are going to be here for a long time. I see Hope growing up here. I have checked around and the school district we live in is a really good one. Soon as she is in high school she will be in a really good position to go to any college she wants.

I’m happy as can be about them moving in with me. Sure it was a bit earlier than I was pushing for but that doesn’t disrupt my plans any. We are all together, making it legal will be the next step. I want her as mine. I want Grace to wear my ring on her finger. She will be mine for good then, no chance of her getting away from me.

I slow my running as I get to the house and I sneak back in as quietly as I can. No need to wake up my girls too early. I head to the bedroom and pass Hope’s on the way by.

Yep, still happily asleep.

I walk back into my bedroom and look down at my beautiful Grace. She is sleeping on her stomach, wearing my t-shirt and a pair of small sleeping shorts. Her luscious legs spread wide, her tight ass is there on display for me. I could bite it or maybe lick it. Her ass cheeks just beg for my hands to grab them tight as I thrust deep into her.

I have never met a woman who can keep up with me and I have sure as hell have never been so damn satisfied as I am with her. She is my perfect match, in every fucking way. Sexually and mentally. She is far more intelligent than she acts sometimes and the humor she has can be as witty as it is absolutely silly. I love this woman, no doubt about that.

Maybe I need to get the ring on that finger sooner than I thought.

I take a quick shower then give Grace a quick kiss on the cheek as I head down to the kitchen.

Time for breakfast. I need to get back into training today. Marcellus is out there somewhere right now training just as hard as I am. He wants the belt in the way I want it. This is going to be a fucking war.

T
he meeting
with the lawyer goes as well as can be expected. We’re ushered into the office and after all the polite pleasantries are exchanged we pass over all the pictures Grace has in the folder.

The lawyer looks uncomfortable as she shuffles through each one.

“This really is an invasion of privacy,” she sighs. “But right now it isn’t something we can go to court with.”

She makes a quoting motion with her hands and says, “
Having you followed,
isn’t really against the law. He is doing it in an ‘
effort’
to ensure the safety of his daughter, or least that is what he will tell the court.”

“But that’s crap, he is obviously doing this in order to scare Grace into doing what he wants.”

Shaking her head, she says, “More than likely yes, but all he would need to do is ask for proof of anything he said to her.”

Grace sits back, stunned. “But I wouldn’t lie.”

“And I haven’t said you would. He sure will though.”

We sit back in our seats. I feel dejected but I know we are still in a better position than Grace was fearing.

“What about his threats of taking us to court over custody rights?”

The lawyer nods and explains, “He can take you to court at any time, and if I’m being completely honest, in cases like this you always want to avoid going to court if possible. It can get very messy. You don’t want a judge sticking their nose in this. It could turn out differently than either of you expect.”

Grace sighs sadly and I reach over, squeezing her hand in comfort.

“So what do you advise we do?” I ask, feeling like all of this is just bullshit.

“Abide by the original custody agreement and begin documenting everything he does. Keep records and proof of any times he violates his end of the agreement. Especially keep records and document any threats he makes, and immediately report them to me. If at any time we feel he is a legitimate threat to either Grace or Hope, we can start a process with law enforcement. That will go a long way if it comes to defending your custody or seeking to modify his.”

There’s this long, cold silence as we let this sink in. Taking in our worried faces, the lawyer sighs and scoots closer to Grace.

“Grace, you are a good mother who has a steady income and a stable home environment. Hope loves you and is happy. That goes a long way with judges. Carson would have to find egregious issues to get anything changed.”

Grace nods and I give her hand another squeeze.

“While we don’t want to take that risk if we don’t have to, I personally feel if he does try to remove your custody he will fail. He is using scare tactics because he thinks you are weak.”

Both of us nod our heads. We wished for more, I know, but right now I think we are both reassured as much as we can be.

I may not have a legal right in what happens to Hope, but I sure as fuck will do everything in my power to ensure that she is safe and happy. She is going to be my daughter soon enough when I marry her mom.

Fuck, Carson.

Going through the courts might not be our best option but that really hasn’t changed anything. Grace has the best defense legal defense money can buy now if it comes to it. And out of the courtroom, she and Hope have
me
.

Carson has been using his money as a way to influence what Grace does out of fear. That has ended. I want to see that fuck try something, anything.

“
J
ab
, jab and then haymaker,” Dale shouts to me as I go through the motions with Alexander. He’s a fast fucking guy. Brett will step in next to help me go through my leg drills, but right now Alexander is moving around the ring to help me speed up my foot work as well as my charging and retreating.

Alexander is a middleweight guy who stepped into one of our trainer/fighter spots last year as he came off a shoulder injury. He was floating around the middleweight class awhile before they started to push his limits with some tough fights. He rose to the challenge and he is getting close as hell to a title shot himself.

I rush Alexander across the cage as I keep swinging. I’m not going full speed or strength but I notice the fucker who’s weighs eighty pounds less than me is not backing up one inch. Guy has balls of steel; he is going to make a great champion when he gets the shot.

We are called to a halt, and I wipe my head off with a towel hanging from the side of the cage. It’s hot as fuck in here and we are sweating like pigs.

“You keep charging like that Bear and Marcellus is going to have to give ground or stand. It’s gonna be a fucking war, brother,” Alex says.

Nodding my head, “I plan on the war part. I don’t think this will be a one punch fight.”

This isn’t my first time having that thought, it’s constantly there, on my mind. Since the last fight I’ve been pushing myself as hard as I can. I have to be ready for anything. Anything and everything. His camp has been as quiet as mine about training, he isn’t talking about what he wants to do to me, and I have kept myself as quiet as usual.

It’s going to be fucked up and absolutely awesome as shit. I haven’t been this pumped for a fight since I was in my first fights.

Excited to get hurt, it’s hard to explain—especially to Grace and Hope.

Grace worries for me but she knows this is what I do, that this is who I am. Hope isn’t so sure about it. When I come up bruised or bleeding she gets very mad at whoever hurt me.

She even told Dale off for it one time.

Guy was so apologetic to the little tyrant, but as soon as she turned her back to him the fucker gave me the evilest grin I have seen. Hope doesn’t like me fighting, but she tells me I better win. So I sure as fucking hell will.

I
look
down at the scale again to make sure I haven’t gained a ghost pound in the last twenty-four hours. I am still weighing in at two hundred and sixty-four. That’s right in the weight class. Good.

Today is weigh-ins, and I can’t be with Grace when she drops off Hope for Carson’s weekend. She has Mandy with her because they plan on going shopping for things around the house, so she is safe. But I do not want Grace around Carson anymore. Fucking bloody hell, I don’t want Hope to be there with that shithead either.

I pull my gym shorts and t-shirt back on. Right now I’m at two-sixty-five with my clothes on, that’s good. Heading out of the bathroom, I walk over to Hope’s room. She is squatting down, playing with her dolls. Sweeping her up, I throw her over my shoulder. She squeals and giggles as I tickle her.

“What’s my little bear want for breakfast?” I ask as I march us down the hall and stairs.

“Pancakes! I want you to make the blueberry ones!” she yells as I tickle her again.

Heading into the kitchen, my beautiful woman is standing at the island in the middle of the kitchen, drinking her coffee.

“Where in the world do you two get this energy?” she moans as she watches us spin around in a small circle.

“It’s natural in us bears, baby.”

“You bears, huh?” she raises an eyebrow as I set Hope down on the counter.

“Yep, Mommy. Me and Bear are bears!” Hope cheers out before letting a little roar out.

She does it just like I do in the cage. Raising her little fists up in the air, she roars like a little angry bear.

“Oh my god. I have to deal with two of you,” Grace groans before sitting down on a stool.

“Yep, baby, you sure do.” I raise my fists up in the air and roar too. Granted I don’t go full blast on it, but Grace still rolls her eyes.

“You two are incorrigible.”

“What’s that mean, Mommy?”

“Right now? Too much alike and too cute for words.”

Pulling the blueberries out of the fridge, I set the tub on the counter next to the stove. Grabbing the bowls, I look down into the pancake mix box as I say, “I’m really not excited about you and Mandy not having me with you.”

“I know, honey… We will be okay,” Grace says. She isn’t talking about what exactly is going on so that Hope doesn’t hear our displeasure with Carson.

I do not like the idea at all.

“Is there any chance you could do it after the weigh-ins?”

“No, I don’t think so. We could ask, but it would be just another thing for him to use against me.”

“Well… I still don’t like it.”