Her Wild Bear (14 page)

“I was told you were dead,” Dale mused thoughtfully. “It seems that may have been a bit premature.”

Matt offered a wry grin. “I have no idea how these rumors start, do you?”

Tawny quickly realized that any moment Dale would leave a clean shot through Matt’s chest. Everything inside her went gushy and a little ill, but she clenched her teeth in determination and reached up to grasp the knife.

Tawny was surprised how easily it sliced through the thin rope where it was stretched taut up to the rafter. Her hands were still tied together, but she lowered them and repositioned the knife.

“Well, we’d best get you caught up then,” Dale said with a smile, turning the gun at Matt.

In an instant, trying not to think about what she was doing, Tawny pushed hard up against Dale and pinned him into the bars with her torso. She shoved the bowie deep into his side, frantically burying it up to the hilt. He tried to lunge back, but she held him secure his blood spurted out and the life inside of him waned.

“You know,” she whispered into his ear, her voice hoarse and shaky, “now that you mention it, I have to confess I
can
be a real bitch sometimes.”

She twisted the blade and Dale gave a choking wheeze. Tawny was both relieved and a bit alarmed at how quickly he fell to the floor in a pool of blood. She stumbled back and stared in horror at him.

“You know you had to, right?” Matt spoke soothingly.

She nodded.

“What happened?” Kyle cried out, pressing up against the bars.

“He’s dead,” Tawny said. “I stabbed him and he died, right here in front of me.”

The room fell silent, Matt and Tawny motionless, staring at Dale.

Matt broke the silence. “Shall we eat?”

“God, yes,” Tawny blurted out. “I’m famished.”

Chapter 22

Upstairs, the three of them raided the kitchen, devouring whatever they could find. Matt pulled a raw roast from the fridge and tore off chunks while Kyle and Tawny built sandwiches and pieced through leftovers.

“Maybe we should get you some clothes, Matt,” Kyle remarked, trying hard not to look directly at Matt as he stood naked in the kitchen.

Tawny winced as she secretly gawked at the large penis arching over Matt’s bulging testicles.

“You don’t have to get dressed though, Tawny” Kyle said with a large grin.

“I’ll need to put on a shirt before we go outside,” Tawny retorted. “We should avoid attracting attention.”

“Kyle’s right — I need something as well,” Matt admitted. “We’ll need to rummage through the bedrooms and grab some clothes. Then you two go to the police station or the rangers, or wherever, and let them know what happened. We’ll need them to call in the state troopers.”

“It’s just a ranger station out here,” Kyle explained. “The sheriff’s office is at least thirty miles out, and they’ve cut the phone lines.”

Matt cursed. “Fine, then you’ll have to find a car. But I need to get to my clan and warn them before The Path gets there.”

“I’m going with you,” Tawny insisted.

“You can’t,” Matt said. “You need to go with Kyle.”

“I’m going with you,” she repeated.

“You don’t understand,” Matt sighed. “You simply can’t.”

“Explain it to me, then.”

“Look, Tawny, when I tell the clan that I betrayed them they are going to kill me, okay? And if you’re with me, they’ll probably kill you as well. But I have to go; I have to give them a fighting chance.”

Tawny looked around the kitchen, her expression sullen. “I’m going with you, Matt. That’s final. If they’re going to kill us, then we die together. I’m not letting you go without me.”

The stunned look on his face rattled her, but Tawny looked back at him with steady resolve.

“Fine,” Matt conceded. “But we need to get going – now. We could use some provisions, though.”

He rummaged through the kitchen cupboards and drawers, glanced through the pantry, and stopped dead still as he stepped down along a dark hallway just beyond the side door.

“What’s that smell?” Matt muttered.

“I don’t smell anything,” Tawny answered. She furrowed her brow and followed after him. “What does it smell like?”

Matt charged down along the dimly lit corridor, yanking open a hefty door partway down. He stood, his jaw slack, staring inside. Tawny ran up alongside of him and peered around the door.

“Holy God,” Tawny mumbled. She gazed around the deep room filled with long strips of smoked meat.

“There’s deer and elk in here,” Matt said as he sniffed at the air. “And a little bit of wild boar, too.”

“You can tell that?” Tawny gasped. “I mean, just from how it smells?”

He nodded. “Can’t you?” He stepped into the room, staring around in amazement at the meat still hanging from the ceiling on hooks. “There’s enough here to feed an army. How can they hunt this much?”

“I overheard them talking about poaching,” Kyle explained. He startled Tawny as he crept up alongside of her. “They’ve been trying to starve you and your clan out of the woods.”

“And it’s been working,” Matt noted. “So this is where all the game has gone. If we manage to survive, we’re coming back for this.”

“Maybe they’re not unjustified in trying to wipe your kind out,” Kyle said. “After what you’ve done, I can understand the need to retaliate.”

Matt clenched his jaw and continued to stare at the curing meats. “There was one rogue bear years ago that killed a few campers. It wasn’t right, but you can’t blame all of us for the actions of a few. We’re not like that — we’re not killers.”

“And the attack last year?” Kyle pressed. “They told me there were three young women and five young men torn apart in their camp by bears. They were slaughtered by your kind.”

Matt eyed him soberly. “I hadn’t heard about that attack,” he admitted. “I didn’t know that had happened.”

Several minutes later, Kyle slid quietly from the house and hurried down the little street. Tawny and Matt found some clothes, dressed, and headed in the other direction. As the town fell out of view, Matt stopped and started unbuttoning his shirt.

“What are you doing?” Tawny gasped.

“We need to get there fast,” Matt explained. “I'll shift into a bear so we can travel quicker; it will make all the difference in the world. You can ride on my back.”

He slid his shirt down and dropped it to the ground.

Tawny took in his bulky, hairy chest, watching the muscles ripple as he moved. She tried hard not to stare, but couldn’t bring herself to look away.

“Because you’re a berserker, right?” She blurted out.

Matt groaned. “Yes, but we prefer to be called ‘shifters,’ if it’s all the same to you.”

“You’re a shifter,” Tawny echoed.

“I’m sorry, I know this is a lot to come to grips with,” Matt huffed as he dropped his pants, letting his penis swing free, “but we need to get there fast. You don’t have any reason to be afraid of me, okay?” He turned briefly to push his clothes into the bushes, and Tawny fought her arousal as she watched his taut buttocks. He turned back and stepped closer to her, reaching a hand out lovingly.

The sound of the stinging slap reverberated among the trees. Matt stumbled back a couple of steps, his eyes wide in shock. Tawny felt the pain in her palm.

“What the hell?” Matt coughed.

“You were the fucking bear!” Tawny snarled. “That whole time you had me terrified that there was a killer bear roaming the woods, and it was
you
!”

Matt’s face fell in remorse. He nodded.

Tawny threw herself at him, beating on his large chest with both fists. He stood stiff and let her.

“We were lovers, remember? You kept this from me the entire time!” she screamed. “How can I ever trust you?!”

She shoved herself back, glaring furiously at him as he stood in sheepish silence. Her jaw clenched, and she felt the rage burrow deeper, the scorching heat inside of her rising.

“Were you just using me?” she growled. “Did I mean anything at all to you? How the hell can I trust you?”

Matt looked up, shooting an angry glare at her. “You can’t!” he snapped. “Damn it, Tawny, when it comes to you I can’t even trust myself! I know I’ve made a mess of things with us. I can admit that.”

“You knew exactly where my camp was the entire time, didn’t you?” Tawny said. “You knew because it was you that attacked it.”

“I could have taken you back to your camp when I first found you,” Matt admitted. “In fact, your camp was closer than my cabin was. And that would have been the last time I ever saw you. I know what I did was wrong, and I know I played with your emotions to get what I wanted. But if I had it to do over again I swear to God I’d do the same damned thing. And I didn’t attack your stupid camp!”

“You tore through the place like a wild animal!” Tawny retorted. “What the hell else were you doing there?”

“I was — ” he stopped, his ferocious anger bubbling up from deep inside, overtaking him. “I was watching you having sex with Kyle!”

Tawny took a step back, realizing what he had witnessed. Her face grew hot.

“Then that ditzy blonde girl saw me and I panicked and stumbled through your little camp. And, for the record, I
am
a wild animal.”

“You were spying on me?” Tawny’s voice was low and mean. “You were invading my privacy?”

“What privacy?” Matt sputtered. “You were out in the open, remember? And from the things you were saying, it seemed like you wanted an audience.”

Tawny covered her face with both hands, holding back a scream of rage. Then she glared at him: his stern, resolved stare, his wide shoulders and bulging arms, his hairy chest and hulking penis all out for her to see.

The primal scream did finally emerge from her chest and she leapt onto him, clutching his hair with both hands. He grabbed at her, his large hands grasping her ribs and forcing her to the grassy soil as he fell on top of her. She lunged up at him with everything she had, bewildered by the dark emotions pulsating through her. She slammed her fists into his shoulders as he hovered over her, then bit down into his bare skin.

Matt shoved her down, tearing her shirt as he pushed himself free of her teeth. She stared down at her damaged clothes, the anger escalating. Weird urges swelled deep in her gut and strange instincts overwhelmed her. She pushed her pelvis hard against him, rubbing herself vigorously as the irresistible urges took over her every movement.

She watched him as he stared at her hips, puzzled but aroused. She reached down and untied the tether on her pants.

“Just fuck me,” she demanded. “Just fuck me hard!”

He yanked her pants off over her feet while she wriggled free of her shirt. She clenched his body between her knees and in her arms, groaning in rabid delight as he shoved himself deep inside her, his enormity releasing waves of unspeakable relief. His hands anxiously roamed over her curves; his mouth bore down on her neck, shoulders and breasts. He thrust into her over and over, her breasts bouncing wildly as he gorged himself on her naked body. She sobbed bitterly, the disturbing thrill of his crazed sex driving her into tingling ecstasy. She felt violated, but she relished every darkly delicious moment.

She listened to him groaning, losing all control as he tasted her skin. He greedily used her to gratify his lust, and it drove her crazy. He began to grow thick hair over his skin and Tawny dug her fingers deep into its softness. She saw the monster in his eyes, the beast that was driven to devour her. His ruthless thrusts and primal need sent rippling delight swimming through every inch of her, and she began to pant as her body filled with pounding climaxes, seemingly absorbing his primitive, beastly power. She squirted hard, the spray titillating her and heightening her orgasms. Her back arched stiffly in pure, unadulterated pleasure and the world spun around them as Tawny drowned in ecstasy.

Matt roared, tossing his head back as he shuddered and came inside of her. He thrust several more times, each time eliciting an involuntary whimper of pleasure from her. Then, moaning, he fell to the ground beside her. She watched him, reaching out to playfully toy with his sensitive, dark glans, running her fingers around the slippery meatus, intrigued as he completed his change into a bear.

“Normally,” he sighed as he lay on his back, looking a bit comical, “I would have simply said that I’m sorry. But this was better.”

Tawny stroked his shoulder, then carefully examined his massive claws.

“I’m not dangerous,” Matt assured her.

“You are,” Tawny disagreed. “Just not with me.”

He watched her, his large black eyes curious.

“We need to go,” he said.

She nodded, sat up and slid her pants back on. She stood weakly and tried to cover herself with the tattered shirt, but it didn’t cover much.

“I just can’t seem to keep my tits covered these days,” she complained.

Matt rolled onto his stomach and she climbed on his back. It felt both strange and exciting as he stood, lifting her high into the air, and bounded quickly through the forest. His large body moved easily among the trees and up the hills, and she had to grip him tightly to keep from falling off. But the feel of his enormous body and firm muscles wedged between her legs sent erotic chills rumbling through her.