Bear with Me (Half-breed Shifter Series) Page 3

  “I want to fuck you. Hard,” he mouthed right back, lifting his eyebrows in direct challenge.

  For a moment, she was tempted. Two weeks of constant sex with Brick sounded pretty damn good right about now. She could almost feel his hands on her breasts, cupping her and squeezing, his hot open mouth on her throat and his cock shoved deep, pumping through her sex and bumping against her g-spot, over and over again, until—

  “Rhea? Are you coming?” he mother called.

  Damn, she only wished she was coming.

  Rhea jumped and scurried after her mom. Once she entered the room, her senses settled a little. But then Brick stepped inside after her, and she wanted him all over again. Bent over and humped from behind, spread eagle on the bed, thrust against the wall, just any and every way possible.

  Stupid, freaking mating heat. Didn’t it know she only wanted to love him like a brother, a big annoying brother who teased her mercilessly and...damn, and looked fucking hot without his shirt on, especially right after he’d changed from his bear form, giving it a good run through the woods.

  His skin always glistened then, from sweat and exertion. Then he’d shake his damp hair like a dog, but it made him look more like a supermodel. He was just so perfectly formed. She wanted to slip her hands over his flesh and claim him as hers. Only hers.

  So, yeah, she’d slipped up and thought about making him more than a friend once or twice over the years. But he was such an amazing friend, she’d been too scared to do anything to harm that friendship. Ergo, brotherly companion she made him remain.

  “Sit over here,” Riley said, patting a padded slab that looked more like an examining table from a doctor’s office.

  Yanking her naughty thoughts about her brother-like friend from the gutter, Rhea followed her mother’s instructions. But as Riley opened a mini fridge nearby and removed a frosty cold needle full of serum, her gaze strayed to Brick, but he was busy gaping around the room.

  “Damn, it looks like a torture chamber in here.” His attention paused on the chains imbedded in the far wall directly above a king-sized bed. “A torture chamber made for porn.”

  Riley chuckled. “We had this room designed years ago for Brynn and Rhea, thinking they’d still be living at home when their mating heat hit, but...we won’t need those since these injections were invented. Still, we asked Rhea to come home to experience it here...just in case.”

  Rhea shuddered from the thought just as her mother swabbed a cool wet swab over her shoulder, where she was going to get stuck. Being stuck by a certain bear’s cock sounded so much more appealing, though.

  Brick swerved around with a scowl. “In case of what?”

  Riley shrugged. “In case the serum doesn’t work for some reason. We know Rhea wouldn’t want to be out there, alone. Anything could happen. That’s why we wanted her to stay here.” She smiled at the him. “Just in case.”

  Jaw tightening, Brick demanded. “What’re the chances it won’t work?”

  With a laugh, Rhea’s mother shook her head. “Practically zero. I think only one female—some rare breed like a llama or something—didn’t react to the injections out of all the hundreds of shifters who’ve opted for them. But you know how paranoid Shaw is; he wants Rhea here anyway, until it’s over.”

  Brick nodded, but his eyes remained worried as they met Rhea’s. Her mother poised the tip of the needle against her skin, and his mouth opened as if he wanted to protest. Worry, fear, and longing entered his gaze. A part of Rhea wanted him to object, to shove her mother aside and just push Rhea against the wall where he fucked her senseless.

  But that was only the mating heat talking. Right?

  Before he said anything though, the needle sank deep. When she winced, so did Brick. He turned away, and she watched the tense set of his shoulder until the syringe was pulled free.

  “All done,” Riley announced, slapping a Band-Aid on the tiny drop of blood that had welled up.

  “Food time now?” Brick guessed, rubbing his hands together and grinning at Riley. “You know how much I love your cooking, Mrs. G.”

  He acted as if he was back to normal, but Rhea knew from the look in his eyes, he was still...off. He sent her a swift glance, his gaze briefly settling on her chest before her jerked it away again.

  She didn’t say anything as she followed Brick and Riley back up the stairs. Her mother called Shaw to the table, and once he entered the room, the four of them sat down to eat.

  “I’m so glad you decided to take out a few weeks of your time for Rhea, Brick.” Riley smiled at him as she passed him a bowl full of mashed potatoes. “With Brynn and Ari also going through their mating heats right now, I’m relieved a friend can be here for her. Plus, it’s been forever since I’ve seen you. I’ve missed having you around.”

  Something warmed in Brick’s eyes, which made another warmth spread through Rhea. She knew how much it had hurt him to lose his own mother. She’d always wondered if he thought of Riley as his second mom.

  Fern, the old widow who’d taken him in when he was thirteen, certainly hadn’t been nurturing. She’d only agreed to house him because she’d needed someone to do all the manual labor and chores around her house for her.

  But Brick being Brick didn’t turn all gooey and tell Riley how much he adored her. Instead, he tipped his chin toward Shaw. “Here that, old man? Your wife totally wants me.”

  Shaw narrowed his eyes. “Test me one more time, boy. I’ve always wanted a bear rug in the front room.”

  “Shaw!” His wife gasped. “You know he’s just teasing.”

  “All the punk ever does is tease. It’s getting old.”

  “Dad.” Rhea rolled her eyes. “He only does it because he knows it bothers you. He’s immature like that.” She sent Brick a hard look, silently telling him to behave. But he merely wiggled his eyebrows at her and then winked.

  She sighed and left him alone, glad the serum was running through her bloodstream and she no longer wanted to jump his bones, because that would’ve been...yeah, she probably wouldn’t have been able to look him in the eye again if she’d ended up fucking her best friend in the basement just now.

  Actually, he’d probably never want to look her in the eye again because he didn’t think of her that way. Then she’d never see him shirtless again, or she’d never be able to not-so-accidently rub her breast against his hard, packed chest whenever he hugged her again, or she couldn’t pretend to hate it when he touched her ass, or—

  “Jesus Christ!” Her father exploded, yanking her from her declining daydreams. “The rest of us would like some mashed potatoes too, asshat. Don’t eat them all.”

  Lifting her attention, Rhea found that three-fourths of the mashed potatoes now sat on Brick’s plate. She spurted out a laugh and covered her mouth. He’d always had a huge appetite. She bet he could dine on a woman...all...night...long.

  “Oh, I’m sorry, Mr. Griffin, sir,” Brick said in his innocent voice he used right before he said or did something to totally piss her father off. “Did you want some of these?” Then he swiped out his tongue and licked the next spoonful he was going to plop onto his plate.

  As Shaw pounded his fist on the table and commanded Brick to grow up already, Rhea squeezed her hands into fists under the table because she couldn’t stop thinking about how long Brick’s tongue had been when it had swooped up all those mashed potatoes. It had looked like the kind of tongue that could lick and lick...and lick.

  Her pussy throbbed, craving Brick’s tongue there, and craving it bad.

  When he noticed a glob of potatoes on his knuckles, he frowned and popped the finger into his mouth. She nearly came out of her seat, imaging that thick, long digit diving into something else dark and wet...while his tongue worked in tandem against her clit.

  She breathed out a breath and shifted in her chair, which must have rustled up her scent because Brick immediately stopped what he was doing and shot his gaze her way. His eyes burned with awareness.

  Oh, sh
it. He knew exactly what she was thinking, what she wanted.

  Distractedly, he passed the potatoes to Shaw as he kept staring at Rhea. She restlessly shifted again, crossing her legs tightly together to ease some of the ache between her thighs, but that seemed to only make him more aware of her arousal.

  His eyes sharpened and dropped to her chest. Then his tongue—God, that long, capable tongue—flickered out and caught a stray piece of potatoes clinging to his bottom lip.

  She wished she was smothered in mashed potatoes so he could lick it all off her.

  As her nipples hardened under his gaze, Rhea squeezed her hands tighter into fists until her nails drew blood in her palms.

  Her mother was saying something and her father was responding, but she didn’t hear a word of their conversation. She couldn’t take her eyes off Brick.

  He lifted his gaze and all of his desire flooded out his dark brown eyes. “I still want to fuck you,” he mouthed to her.

  Oh, God. Oh, God. She wanted that, too.

  Realizing she shouldn’t want it, she should be numb to desire right now because of the serum, she bit her lip. But her panties were so freaking wet, they were probably soaking through her jeans and into the cloth of the chair under her.

  She shot to her feet.

  Her parents stopped talking to gape at her. “Honey?” Riley asked, concern in her eyes. When she started to stand up, Rhea waved her back down.

  “I’m fine,” she managed to say without strain, though she clenched her teeth hard as soon as she spoke them. God, it was so strange to smile at her mother while feeling this horny. “Just...need to use the restroom.” Unable to help herself, she shot Brick a look.

  He sat a little straighter, his gaze seeming to ask, want me to follow you?

  She widened her eyes telling him, no way. Then she spun around and hurried to the basement.

  Rhea had no idea what was going on, but her injection obviously hadn’t worked. The serum was supposed to keep her hormones under control for at least eight to twelve hours. And it hadn’t even been thirty minutes.

  Chapter Three

  Brick wasn’t sure if he should say something. But he knew. He knew without a doubt that Rhea’s injection hadn’t worked. She was fucking aroused, so aroused that her pheromones were making him aroused...while he sat next to her dad. Which was not cool.

  Except she hadn’t said anything to her parents, so she obviously didn’t want them to know. Since she was his best friend and he was more loyal to her than he was to Shaw or Riley, he would keep her secret. But that didn’t stop him from worrying. If the treatment wasn’t working, what did that mean for her and her mating heat?

  His own libido had settled down after she’d raced from the room. It seemed she had to be close enough to him to stir his lust. But he knew the further into her heat she went, the further out that pheromone would spread.

  He tried to remain calm as dinner with her parents continued. But conversation lulled as even Riley and Shaw began to realize something was off. They couldn’t know what, though. Being mated—and human—Shaw wouldn’t have smelled Rhea’s arousal. And being female, neither had Riley. But...damn, it’d been almost ten minutes since she’d left the table. Was she okay?

  “So, heard any cool intel from the Hunter world lately?” he asked Shaw, needing some kind of diversion to distract him from Rhea and his worry.

  Shaw merely grunted out a response. “I don’t get the inner news any longer since they consider me retired these days.”

  Brick nodded, “Yeah, I bet—” he stalled in the middle of his sentence as a stray waft of evergreen greeted his senses.

  Rhea. His bear sighed in delight while his body went rigid, his cock so hard he could’ve fucked an electrical outlet just then. Then a wave of heat shot through him, telling him his woman was coming. Hard and fast.

  Jesus, she was getting herself off.

  He bucked back in his seat, closing his eyes and gritting his teeth.

  “Brick?” Riley asked in concern, reaching for his arm. But his skin was too hot, when she touched him, his hissed and yanked his hand away.

  Then his fucking cock contracted as if he was having a phantom orgasm right along with Rhea, except he didn’t ejaculate. When he moaned, Riley and Shaw stood up in alarm.

  “What the fuck is wrong with you?” Shaw demanded.

  “Rhea,” he panted out the name, lobbing his head back and forth and using all the restraint he had not to streak downstairs to her, where he knew she was pleasuring herself. “I don’t...I don’t think her serum’s working.”

  Riley pressed her hand to her chest and shook her head. “But...you said you couldn’t sense her heat. Your animal was too diluted to feel—”

  “I lied,” he hissed, his brow soaked with sweat. “I fucking feel it. I feel it a lot.”

  “Shit.” Rage in his expression, Shaw stormed from the room. But Brick didn’t like knowing he was going to Rhea. It didn’t matter that he was her father and already mated, therefore he couldn’t be affected by her pheromones, the guy had a dick. And Brick didn’t want anyone’s dick anywhere near to her, especially right now.

  A primal urge he couldn’t deny rose in him, and he leapt after Shaw.

  “Oh, hell,” Riley mumbled, hurrying to follow them both.

  When Shaw realized Brick was right behind him, he shot the bear a hard look over his shoulder. “Brick, you need to go home. Right now.”

  “What the fuck ever. Something’s wrong with her; I’m not leaving until she’s okay.”

  Shaw’s jaw went hard, but he didn’t respond. They all hurried down the stairs, only to hear Rhea moaning in the kinky torture chamber.

  Brick wanted to race forward, but he knew the closer he got to her, the less he’d be able to restrain himself. So, as her father did exactly what he wanted to do himself and hurried into the back room, Brick paced the den.

  “Oh, Jesus,” Shaw gasped. “Riley!”

  Rhea’s mother streaked into the room, and Brick couldn’t help himself. He prowled to the doorway. Inside, Rhea had chained herself to the wall. Her back arched off the bed as she panted, and cried, and thrashed.

  “It’s not working,” she sobbed. “Nothing’s working.”

  Brick bit his lip and blew out a long breath, counting to ten in his head. When that didn’t calm his raging hormones, he started to count to a hundred.

  “I didn’t know it’d come on so fast.” The tears in Rhea’s voice broke his heart. He wanted to go to her and pull her into his arms, hold her and force the pain away. But if he went anywhere near her right then, he’d rip off all her clothes and take her ten ways to Monday.

  God, he could already imagine all the ways he could take her.

  “It’s okay, baby. It’s okay.” Riley crooned while Shaw pulled up his cell phone and made call after call. After a couple hushed conversations, Shaw cursed fluidly and threw his phone against the wall, shattering it.

  “What?” Riley demanded from the bed where she sat with her daughter.

  Brick didn’t dare budge from the doorway where he’d propped his back solidly against the doorframe. But he fisted his hands in fury, knowing the news would be bad.

  “Fucking Hunters,” Shaw announced. “They infiltrated a shifter lab and made a batch of serum non-defective.”

  Brick’s mouth fell open. “Why...why would that do that?”

  “Because they’re fucking heartless,” Shaw swore. “They think they’ll be able to flush out more shifters if they find women in the middle of the street writhing in sexual agony while a bunch of horny males are drawn in to her scent.

  “Christ.” Brick wished he could eradicate the entire Hunter community. Why did some humans hate shifters so much? Why had his own mother—

  He shook his head and glanced at Rhea. She’d been the only person to help him get over his mother’s abandonment. And look at her now. She didn’t deserve this pain, this suffering.

  Her eyes glowed as they met his. “Bric
k,” she rasped. She needed him. But he knew she’d hate herself afterward if he took her now. He couldn’t—wouldn’t—do that to her.

  “You’re going to be okay,” he said. “We won’t let anything happen to you.”

  Shaw cursed again and marched to Brick, grabbing his arm and dragging him out of the room. As he started them for the stairs, he bit out, “I thought I told you to go home, bear.”

  Brick’s laugh was bitter and harsh. “I’m not leaving while she’s like that. She called me here for support, and I will support her any way I have to.”

  When Shaw opened his mouth, Brick added, “You know you need me. There are going to be a fuckload of horny males beating down your door any minute, wanting to get at her. I can help you fight them off.”

  The human still didn’t look relieved by Brick’s offer. He merely muttered, “And who’s going to fight you off, keep you away from her?”

  “I love Rhea.” All trace of his usual immature, squirrelly self gone, Brick stared Shaw straight in the eye. “I don’t care what it takes, I will not touch her while she goes through her heat. I want her to want me for me, not because her body is making her crave a cock. Any cock. You got that?”

  He almost expected Rhea’s dad to laugh in his face and tell him Rhea would never want him that way, but Shaw nodded as if pleased by that answer. Then he sat a hand on Brick’s shoulder. “What if it turns to life or death?”

  Brick frowned, confused. “What do you mean?”

  Shaw paled and glanced away. “Some females...their mating heats have been known to get so painful...if they don’t take a male inside them before it passes, it kills them.”

  Blacking out, Brick’s knees buckled. Shaw grabbed his arm, keeping the bear upright. Brick shook his head and cleared his vision, but he still felt rattled to the core. “If it gets that bad, then I’ll do what’s needs done to keep her alive.” he just hoped to God she could find it in her heart to forgive him afterward.

  Glancing away before he gave a small nod, Shaw spoke in a low voice. “Then I guess we’ll need you to stick around for a while.”