Dare to Bear (Book 1 Trail Guardians Series) (5 page)

Also, she’d slipped in an apology for her rude comments questioning his character, which seemed to loosen him up and kept him talking.

No, she hadn’t believed he harbored evil intentions toward her. But after her recent experiences with men, she’d doubted the sincerity of his flattery. The sweet, kind things Mason had said about her only made Kyle’s betrayal sting worse. The man she’d been about to marry hadn’t told her she was beautiful in ages, and the reminder had hurt more than she’d expected. Whereas Mason had been nothing but helpful and supportive. He didn’t deserve to be judged by the same measurement as her ex, but Kyle’s betrayal had left her raw and defensive, even if there wasn’t a logical reason to take it out on an innocent guy who’d offered companionship on her trek.

What she also found illogical was her outrageous attraction to Mason. The feelings that had sparked the instant she met him had flared into a hot flame of desire. She couldn’t quench the sensations swirling in her abdomen. She could barely resist the urge to touch him, to feel more of this incredible connection, and she appreciated every obstacle along the path that offered an excuse to reach for his hand.

Each time his fingers closed around hers to help her through a tough part of the trail, revealing his firm grip, she wanted to move his hand to more intimate places on her body. Completely unlike her.

In the month since her broken engagement, she’d hardly looked at the opposite sex, much less desired a man. She’d spun a cocoon of emotional protection around herself, determined to keep a safe distance from anyone who had the power to devastate her heart.

Somehow over the course of the day Mason had unwrapped those protective layers. He invited her opinions. He asked her deep and intriguing questions about her, that made her think. And he listened, really listened, to every word she said.

If she wasn’t careful, she might fall for this rugged, brawny, sexy outdoorsman. In her vulnerable state, she knew how easy it would be to let his attentiveness sweep her off her feet. She wanted desperately to fall in love again someday. But not now. Not yet. And certainly not with a man she’d just met. Though he made the idea incredibly appealing.

“What are you thinking about?” he asked, sliding an interested glance her way.

“You.”

A dimple curved his cheek, as if her statement pleased him. “Me?”

She nodded. “I’m so relaxed with you. I can talk to you. You make me smile. A month ago I couldn’t look at a guy without bursting into tears.”
And that is not something he needs to know
, she thought, annoyed with herself for revealing too much personal information. She didn’t want to sound pathetic. “I mean, I don’t know, this is really nice. I’m glad you’re on the trail with me.”

His lips curved. “Me, too.”

She cleared her throat. “So…is your girlfriend okay with you spending three days with a woman you just met?”

Arching an eyebrow, he angled his head to the side. “What makes you think I have a girlfriend?”

“Well, because you’re…” She waved a hand at his tall, virile form. “You’re
you
.”

The rise of his chest on a catch of laughter caused her to fixate on the broad planes of muscle beneath his T-shirt. What would it feel like to press her cheek against that solid surface, feel his powerful arms wrap around her, listen the bold cadence of his heartbeat?

Desire sizzled through her, scorching in its intensity, scattering sparks across every nerve ending.
Whoa
. She felt lightheaded and nearly tripped over her own feet.

“Careful.” His deep voice slid over her like decadent velvet, a smile folded into the words.

When he reached out to steady her, electric currents pulsed through her being. She’d never felt
electricity
with anyone, ever. How did he do that?

Stunned and bewildered, she stared up at him.

He held onto her longer than necessary. Their bodies were so close, if she leaned forward her breasts would touch his forearm.

His eyes became liquid green pools. “If I had a woman in my life, I wouldn’t be lusting after you.” Then he shook his head. “Not true. I would still be lusting after you, I just wouldn’t show it. Or act on it.”

“B-but you would?” She heard herself stutter like a girl with her first mad crush. “Act on it, if you weren’t…?”

“I would. Because I’m not.”

Without warning, Mason lowered his head and pressed his lips to hers. His mouth was hot and sensual, soft yet firm. The seam of his lips opened and closed around hers. Once. Twice. His breathing quickened. A low, throaty sound vibrated from him, making her tremble.

Then large fingers wrapped around her arm and scorched her skin like a brand. She melted under his seductive heat. Dampness seeped onto her panties, startling her. She gasped. And he released her lips from his spellbinding kiss.

Oh. My. God.
She swallowed.
Can you do that again?

“I shouldn’t have done that.” There wasn’t a trace of apology in his voice.

His heavy-lidded eyes transfixed her. She’d never look at the color green the same way again. She’d never look at
him
the same way again. He’d rendered her mute and helpless to deny her rampant need for his touch, his kiss, and anything else he’d like to do to her body.

Again, how did he do that?

Eventually she found her words. “It’s okay, I think.” She licked her lips. “As long as you don’t have a girlfriend.”

“Nope.” Wicked hunger danced in his gaze. “The position is open until filled.”

Filled
. The word conjured explicit images of him on top of her naked, muscles rippling, his huge length thrusting into her heat.

A shiver racked her. She’d never been one to fantasize much about sex. Until now.

Unsteady, she took a cautious step back, her breasts rising and falling with each deep breath. Mason’s gaze dropped to observe the motion.

An unwelcome thought bulldozed through her mind, flattening the high she’d felt after his kiss. Was her lack of sexual experience why Kyle had left? Because she’d never felt uninhibited with him in the bedroom the way she felt now in the middle of the woods with Mason?

Another kiss like the first, and she might strip off her clothes and have wild, crazy animal sex with Mason.

God, what has Mason done to me?

Her brain had an instant response.
He’s new. He’s different. He’s a sexy distraction for your imagination and a boost to your ego
. That’s why she wanted him on a level of desire defying comprehension.

Gathering her invisible cocoon of protection around her again, she forced herself to take another step back. She smoothed her hair and then patted his shoulder in an awkward attempt at platonic friendship. “Well, I’m sure when you find the right girl, she’ll be everything you’ve always wanted.”

As she moved past him, she stuffed down her desire, forcing herself to reclaim a sense of normalcy he’d shaken from her. Then she swore she heard him say under his breath, “She already is.”

*

“There’s a cave up ahead,” Mason told Steph, eying the low angle of the sun and the shadows gathering in the dusky light of the woods. He pointed to the left off the path. “We can camp there for the night.”

How the hell he was going to sleep next to her without making love to her, he had no idea. He wanted to see her naked. Badly. Cup her gorgeously full breasts in his hands. Glide his mouth down her tantalizing curves. Feel her legs wrap around his shoulders as he lowered his face between her thighs and—

“A cave? What for?”

He veered off the path toward his intended destination. “Shelter.”

“What about a tent?” she asked, struggling to keep up with his long strides.

He shrugged and slowed his pace. “I didn’t bring one.”

Stopping completely, she set one hand on her hip and gestured at him. “All that gear you’re carrying, and you forgot a tent?”

“I didn’t forget. I just don’t need one.”

“Where will you sleep?”

Anywhere with you in my arms
. “Like I said, there is a cave nearby.”

“Ew.” She made a face. “Aren’t there creepy crawly things like spiders and bugs in caves?”

“Not this one. C’mon, you’ll be fine. I’ll protect you against big, hairy arachnids.”

“Gross.” She shuddered. “I don’t mind them out in the nature, but I’d rather have a tent between me and them while I’m sleeping. Did you know people swallow an average of seven spiders in their lifetime while asleep?”

“What idiot guessed that?” Mason frowned and refuted the number. “It’s way more than seven.”

She spun in a half circle away from him. “Okay, I’m going back to the trail to sleep in my little spider-less tent.”

“Steph, wait.”

She paused.

“What if I promise the cave is clean? Free of spiders and other crawling things?”

“I’d say I don’t believe you.” She crossed her arms. “You can’t guarantee a mass exodus of critters just because we want to sleep where they’ve made their homes.”

Wondering how to explain, he rubbed the back of his neck. “What if I said this is kind of a special cave?”

She arched an eyebrow. “I’d say you need to spend less time in the woods and have more contact with society.”

He chuckled. “I’d probably tell me that too. But I swear this cave is a gift from nature. At least let me show it to you.”

“All right.” He heard the hesitation in her voice. “But I’ll probably still sleep in my tent. Alone,” she added.

“We’ll see.” His voice was snatched by the evening breeze, dissipating the words before she heard them.

Trail Guardians loved this spot. He and his brothers had discovered it by accident as cubs playing in the woods. He swore there were magical properties in the water that formed a pool at the base of the cave.

Each of the Alterra brothers subscribed to a different theory of its origin. Perhaps eons ago the Ancients had used it as their meeting place, where they breathed forth the Ancestors who’d given birth to his kind. That was Mason’s idea. Back before he’d become so cynical, his twin brother, Midas, had believed white witches had cast spells there. Between the middle set of twins, Garrett and Grayson, they vowed it was created by wood elves who’d used it as a cross-dimensional portal. Whereas the younger set of twins, Stone and Shane, believed it was the work of Native American shamans. But, Brock…

Guilt racked Mason. Brock had been the fully-hardened, total non-believer of their kin. He’d come out of the womb a skeptic—after losing his twin sister, the only girl in the Alterra bloodline, his lone-bear attitude had hardened into a refusal to accept his place in the clan. Now they’d never know what their baby brother thought about anything.

Bitter regret seared Mason’s chest. The six of them never should’ve let Brock forge out onto the forest trail alone after he’d returned from active duty in the military. Although it was customary for one brother in each family clan to learn military tactics from traditional society, youngest brother Brock shouldn’t have volunteered, and as the oldest Mason shouldn’t have let him go. Brock had come back to them with darkness in his heart, damaged, more distant than ever. The night he’d struck out on his own, he’d disappeared. No one had heard from him since, almost four years ago now, and all of them feared the worst.

Shaking off the chill that invaded his bones whenever he thought of Brock, Mason led Steph to the cave. There was little he could do today except focus on the strange, precious gift of Steph the Ancestors had dropped in his lap.

The closer he came to the cave, the more his heart rate accelerated. He’d give anything for the chance to make love to her here. To seal their destiny by the light of the full moon and the soft glow of enchanted crystals.

Renewed desire pounded through his veins. He had no idea how to accomplish the impossible task of keeping his hands to himself. He wondered if the cave’s miraculous properties could change her mind in his favor. At the same time, he wouldn’t hold his breath, since he wanted her to join with him as a result of her own heart-driven decision. Not because of his powers of seduction or a quirk of magic. Although, if she suddenly straddled him in the middle of the night, acting on lust for lust’s sake, he wouldn’t object.

The visual caused him to adjust his pants to ease the discomfort from his erection.

As he guided her to the mouth of the cave, he felt her hands clench his shirt beneath the waist-strap of his pack. He stifled a groan, praying to the Ancestors she’d move her hands to the front of his hips…and down. He swallowed hard. Tonight was going to be hell on his inner bear.

4

With trepidation, Stephanie followed Mason into the strange cave he’d described so fondly. She tried to keep an open mind, unsure what to expect.

Right away she noticed something odd. “Aren’t caves supposed to be cold?“Some are. Not this one.”

Ten paces in, she dropped her hold on Mason’s shirt. She stared in awe.

As impossible as it seemed, there were clusters of purple crystals, resembling amethyst, tucked into crevices in the ceiling of the cave—and they were glowing.
Glowing
. They emitted a gentle lavender light as though they possessed a tiny spark of life within them.