Bear Territory (Bear Lodge Shifters Book 5) Page 4

  “Of course, that's presuming that they don't have leads already and aren't just waiting for reinforcements or something else.” Darrin kept fiddling with his phone, a nervous gesture that had increased greatly since Helga's death. “Whatever is going on, we at least have some time to listen in on them. I wish we could bug the place as well.”

  “Microphones are really tricky. I'd have to sneak inside those big insulated trailers of theirs and plant them, and I kinda think they would notice me then in either form.”

  Esme smirked ironically. “Too bad we don't have a Cat we could ask.”

  Anna watched the goings-on, and like many times before, she was left feeling she had little to contribute. Why am I here? She only had moral support to offer, and maybe a few small suggestions here and there. She had to wonder: how useless was she, when they were in crisis and all she had to bring to the table was “I believe in you” and “it's going to be okay”? Arm rubs, hand pats, the occasional hug. She looked at Jake's back, and just shook her head a little. I'm no help to him at all. Or to my friends. What the hell can I even do to be useful, fetch snacks? Her heart sank.

  Darrin had had an attack of these kind of feelings recently, when they had been hunting the three renegade Bears in Denver. She had helped talk him out of it, pointing out his brilliance, his skills, the fact that even if he was less powerful than many Bears, he still had his own batch of for-real superpowers. But now, she was left wishing she had actual evidence of her own usefulness to use to talk herself out of it. She couldn't drag the group down further by demanding shoring-up in the middle of everything. So she stood quietly while they made plans and compared notes, one hand on her belly, as if it was a touchstone to steady her.

  Chapter 4 -

  A Candle in the Dark

  “Something's really bothering you,” Jake noted quietly as they shuffled back to their room. Both of them were exhausted from the after-dinner meeting with Mark and the others, so much so that even Jake's head drooped. There was nothing more draining than dealing with a potentially hopeless situation for hours, searching for a solution and coming up only with ‘maybes’.

  She looked back at him, not even trying to fake a smile. “I never know what to do in meetings like that. I only show up because you're there. But I have no expertise, no skills, no experience, nothing that helps in situations like this. I'm an amateur hiker and a forestry major. I can barely even shoot straight. I go to those meetings and I feel like I'm pretty much useless.”

  They had reached their door; he unlocked it and led her into the suite, his expression surprised and pensive.

  “I had no idea it was that bad for you. I always feel better when you're around rooting for me, if that helps.”

  She shut the door behind him.

  “It does, but... I just feel like I need to do more. Lots more. Everyone else has something they can do. You and Gray can kick ass in Bear form, he knows the woods around here and you have leadership skills. So does Darrin, who also has computer skills, really good aim and really good tracking skills. Esme's pretty much a super-spy with a sniper rifle and surveillance gear. Julia is learning to be a professional at the same things I only learned for fun, and can out-shoot almost all of us with a hunting rifle. Carly can hack any system and come up with crazy clever technical ideas and solutions on the fly. Me? I... make pancakes.”

  “Hey, now, they're damn good pancakes.”

  He went to hug her, but she stiffened and he blinked down at her.

  “It's no joke. Jake, I'm sorry. I don't mean to whine, but I wish I had something, some talent, some skill, that I could use to help with our problems.”

  “Well, I don't know if this helps any, but... you're a big reason I can push myself to think of throwing down with these guys. You're the one keeping me hopeful and focused, because you believe in me, and you need me. You think that's nothing? Baby.”

  He stroked a hand back through her hair.

  “You don't have to be a badass or a super skilled hacker or something to contribute. You don't have to even contribute with concrete things. Just keep throwing out ideas as you get them, and mentioning issues as you observe them. Some of the things you come up with are really good and insightful. Sometimes they really do help. So... don't sell yourself short, okay? And anyway, I will just straight up admit it: I wouldn't be able to handle things as well in these crises if you weren't by my side. You're the one I want to be strong for most. That's the straight up truth.”

  She looked up at him, a mix of relief and affection washing over her. Jake didn't always know what to say when she was down in the dumps, but when he did... he really did. She slipped her arms around him and hugged him tightly.

  “Thank you,” she murmured into his chest.

  He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her more firmly against him, kissing her hair as he brushed stray strands back behind her ear.

  “No problem. I think I'd go a little nuts if I felt like there was no way I could help.”

  She stood there for a little while, listening to the soft thunder of his heart as his hand slid up and down her back through her sweater. There was too much going on again. The soft push of her belly against his helped keep her focus, and remind her of the things she had to be hopeful for. One day soon, this crisis would be behind them, somehow. Even if it cost them, the future lay ahead of them... and in her belly, slowly growing, almost halfway there.

  Anna slid her hand up Jake's chest through his sweater and looked up at him. He brushed her hair back from her forehead, then leaned down and kissed her lips gently.

  Outside, a light snow had begun to fall, swirling past the windows in the dim light from the observation deck two floors above. The flakes brushed almost soundlessly against the frost-rimmed glass, the tiny taps they made the only thing breaking the silence besides the tiny dewdrop sounds of the lovers' lips moving against each other.

  His kiss was warm and easy, comforting and teasing all at once, leaving behind faint tingles that grew as her body woke to his touch. She stretched up against his sleek, hard body, wrapping her arms around his neck and lifting herself on tiptoe to pursue his kisses. Small noises of delight vibrated her throat as her heart started beating fast.

  She felt greedy, starved, as if her body's cravings were suddenly so enormous that they blotted out everything. Even the conflict brewing in the Lodge, and the danger brewing in Jackson. The more his hands slid over her, the less those things had any room left in her head. She felt her thoughts contract until they could only hold him; the feel of him, the taste of him, the scent of his breath, and the faint whiffs of soap and aftershave mixing on his skin.

  His sweater felt rough and nubby against her fingertips, and she could already feel the hard bulge in his jeans pressing against her rounded belly.

  They had to be careful of her abdomen, which was tender still and growing bigger by the week. But that mostly was a matter of not pressing too hard... not leaning on her too much.

  She missed the comfortable feeling of being crushed into a mattress beneath his heavy body, but those days would come again. Meanwhile, there were other things they could do. The limitation encouraged creativity, and that included giving him a chance to give her a ride for once. They kept trying new positions, new ways of moving together, new things they could do to bring each other ecstasy. Strange that a pregnancy was supposed to end all the fun in bed, but in their case, the challenge had only served as inspiration. This time, she pondered what to do to him, while laying a hand on his chest again and nudging him gently back toward the bed.

  His eyes widened and one eyebrow went up slightly as she took the lead for once. A little grin flickered to life on his lips as he seemed to realize what she was about. She took it as encouragement, and smiled back a bit archly before leaning up to nibble on his lower lip. He chuckled low in his throat, and then the backs of his knees hit the bed and he sat down obligingly.

  “Oof! Hey now, what are you up to?”

  “You'll see
. Just roll with it,” she purred gently, pushing aside shyness and apprehension and leaning down to kiss him again before stepping back a little.

  He watched as she peeled off her sweater, and then teased open the buttons of the blouse beneath, pulling it off one shoulder at a time and taking her bra straps with it. She reached back to unfasten the catch on her bra, freeing her breasts and cupping them briefly to display them for him. He gazed at her, and reached out, but she wagged a finger at him teasingly.

  “Not yet.”

  Instead, still standing there in her wool skirt and hose, she started stripping him. She pulled up his sweater and shirt and slid her lips over the skin beneath. His belly jerked and fluttered under her mouth; then he lifted his arms obligingly so she could peel the bunched cloth in her hands up and off him. Underneath he was heavily muscled, his pectorals and belly lightly downed with dark hair and his skin smooth save for a few very light scars. She covered his chest with kisses, while he gasped and squirmed and stiffened when she slid her mouth over his nipples, or ran her teeth over his belly just above the snap on his jeans fly.

  “Ahh... nnngh... that's good,” he gasped, voice a little breathless with amazement.

  She knelt at his feet briefly to remove his boots and socks, not answering, but gazing into his eyes the whole time. Then she rose up, but just enough to push on his chest gently, mutely urging him to lie back. He obliged, the grin still teasing at his lips off and on, between strained expressions of growing arousal. His skin took on a faint mist of perspiration as she ran her nails over him, and then her tongue, tracing the muscle divisions in his chest and belly, swirling over his navel, and then slowly working downward as she undid his fly and pulled his jeans down.

  He wore no underwear beneath them, his erection springing free and sliding against her cheek as she freed him from the rest of his clothes. He helped, kicking off his jeans even as he started to gasp for air. Now he really knew what she was about, and his manhood throbbed hard with the need for it as she took him in hand.

  His whole body jerked as she engulfed him with her mouth, her lips sliding over his shaft as she took more and more of him in.

  He let out a low shout of pleasure, his hips tightening and lifting slightly as a shudder went through him. A tiny salt droplet dissolved on her tongue from him, and he groaned her name hoarsely. His hands settled gently on her shoulders, struggling not to dig into her flesh with his fingertips, doing so a little every time her lips slid up and down over him and then backing off as he caught himself. He shivered, tensed, and then started squirming reflexively under her; she stroked the base of his manhood firmly as she moved her mouth over him in a slow, hard rhythm.

  He struggled to be quiet, but his tough-guy stoicism was crumbling by the stroke. First he gasped with each down-stroke; then, low moans escaped him; finally, soft cries, which grew louder and louder as she pleasured him more.

  His body went rigid, and he panted rapidly, before finally throwing his head back and crying out.

  “Unh! Uhh... oh... oh baby. Stop... stop,” he gasped for air. “...stop. I don't want to come yet.”

  She let him go, gently, feeling him shudder with a mix of arousal and disappointment as he lay back.

  “Okay.”

  “Want to... touch you. Don't make me just lie here. Please.”

  She smiled up at him in response, and slid up beside him, her lower body fully clothed still. He stared at her, his eyes burning, and then sat up and took one of her breasts in his mouth hungrily. She sucked air and almost pulled away, but he wrapped his arms around her firmly and kept swirling his tongue over her sensitive flesh.

  When she started pushing against him instead, he fastened on and suckled her until her nipple went almost painfully tight. She felt the pleasure telegraph straight to her groin; she whimpered, knees going weak, and finally hooked her legs over his and settled on his lap, so that his erection pressed, throbbing, against her belly.

  He switched breasts when she squirmed too much; she arched her back against him and let out a low, anguished moan. It was almost too good. It made her muscles tighten and her sex ache for him. She clung to him, one arm around his shoulders and the other wrapped up behind him so her fingers twined in the hairs on the back of his head. Meanwhile, his fingers were busy with the catch on her skirt, unfastening it and sliding the skirt and her panties down off her hips. The thigh-high hose he left on, caressing her through and above it as she trembled under his mouth.

  She pushed him away gently, and he pulled his mouth off her nipple and looked up at her. She stood up, knees no longer too weak to hold her, and bent to unbuckle her shoes and kick them off before straightening and staring into his eyes. He gazed up at her, his smile gone hazy and lustful, and then held out his arms.

  She climbed back up onto his thighs, and pushed herself forward a little, going up on her knees as she straddled him. Then, taking his manhood in one hand, she held it steady as she sank slowly down over him. He let out a joyous, rising groan as she slid down and down over his sex, and lifted his hips, bracing his heels on the floor to push himself closer to her. He sucked air through his teeth, shivering violently under her from the sensations flowing through him.

  She held him there for several heartbeats, gazing down at him. Then, bracing her hands on his shoulders, she started to move.

  She rode him slowly as he squirmed under her, a dreamy smile on his lips and his eyes squeezed closed even as his features went taut with pleasure. Now and again he would groan hoarsely, the cords in his neck standing out as he struggled to keep the sound behind his gritted teeth. He retained just enough self-possession to slide a hand between them, and start caressing her just above where he thrust into her. She gasped, her sex tightening around him and her fingers digging into the muscle of his shoulders.

  “Ah, that's good... don't stop....”

  His fingers coaxed movement from her, making her writhe against him as he thrust slowly under her. She was already near her climax, and the slide and press of his hand between her thighs teased her closer and closer as she rode him. Her hips moved faster and faster, uncontrollable, reflexive, her breath coming ragged as her frantic movements pushed little shouts of pleasure from his lungs. Almost... almost...

  Her back arched hard and she sobbed and wailed at the ceiling, hearing her voice echo off of it as pleasure slammed through her, radiating out from her sex like an explosion. Yes... yes... yes.... And then suddenly Jake's own hard, hoarse shout rose up to join her own, and she felt him release inside her. For a moment they held their bodies taut, as the last shudders ran through them. But then, deliciously relaxed, Anna fell forward limply, and laid down on Jake's chest, curling against it in a gesture of exhausted affection.

  “Mmmnnn,” she murmured incoherently.

  “Oh....” he murmured, eyelids at half-mast and his whole massive body limp and helpless under her. “...Damn. I love it when you get creative.”

  She chuckled into his neck, and kissed him, not quite able to speak. The pressure on her belly wouldn't let her lay atop him long - she rolled to his side, and he turned to her and slid an arm over her. Whatever else was true, they had each other. And he was right; even in the worst crisis, it made all the difference.

  Chapter 5 -

  Knowing Your Enemy

  “Okay, kids, here's the deal.” Esme shucked her leather jacket and started strapping the wearable camera across her collarbones. The harness went under her arms and left the small black lozenge of a camera sitting just below the hollow of her throat. “I am going to be wearing this baby in both forms. You will be able to see what I see, hear me, hear what's around me, and to some extent, talk to me. But the speaker on this thing is very quiet, because I'll be damned if I get caught because I was wearing a radio. Cool?” She pushed a button on the side of the camera and a tiny orange light flashed on.

  “Sounds good. Let's make sure I can get you on my laptop.” Darrin had his machine hooked up to the wide-screen TV he had had mount
ed on the wall, so they could all watch.

  He clicked away at his keys for a while, swore once or twice— and then the screen flickered and they were all looking at themselves, watching the screen. The image bounced a little as Esme adjusted the camera.

  “OK, looks like we're good to go.”

  His voice had an echo from the computer speakers.

  “Okay, image and sound check out.” She lifted her black tactical backpack and strapped it on. “In here I have the Stingray with its signal booster, and half a dozen magnetic GPS trackers for their cars. If we're lucky we'll get enough information from all of this to figure out what they're planning. Otherwise we may very well have to come up with something entirely new to gather intelligence on them.”

  “Keeping my fingers crossed,” Jake said supportively. He felt ridiculously relaxed for a guy in such a tense situation, and he knew the little lady he had his arm around was entirely to thank for that. He had to keep his mind off thoughts of exactly why, though, or risk getting turned on while he was trying to focus. But he had slept deeply, and woken six hours later still feeling beautifully warm and light and loose from his chest down to his knees. It was really helping his focus. Times like this, he really did wonder what he would do without Anna in his life. “So what do you need from us?”

  “Don't distract me with cross-chatter or too many questions. Don't shout if you get overexcited, it's more likely to draw attention to me.” She turned and gave Mark a long kiss before stepping back and pulling on her balaclava and goggles. “It's a long, boring flight there and back, so go get some lunch or something.”

  “Kick ass out there, Baby,” Mark gently thumped her shoulder with a fist... and then laid his hand on it, almost as if he wanted to pull her back. But she had to go. They were short on ways of gathering information on the Hunters, and Carly hadn't managed to dig anything up from the Internet or the Hunters' e-mail accounts so far.