Bear Naked and Bite Marks

  Evernight Publishing

  www.evernightpublishing.com

  Copyright© 2014 Jenika Snow

  ISBN: 978-1-77130-746-8

  Cover Artist: Sour Cherry Designs

  Editor: Karyn White

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

  WARNING: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. No part of this book may be used or reproduced electronically or in print without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in reviews.

  This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, and places are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  DEDICATION

  Thank you everyone for your continued support. It means the world to me!

  BEAR NAKED AND BITE MARKS

  Sweet Water, 5

  Jenika Snow

  Copyright © 2014

  Chapter One

  “I think a night in is in order, Melissa.” Candace’s ever-present voice of reason came through the line like that of a nurturing mother.

  “And why in the hell would I want to stay inside on a Saturday night?” Melissa Damien examined her French manicure. I’ll need to get these bitches redone.

  “Maybe because you go out every weekend, and I think you’re getting a little old for the club scene, don’t you?”

  Melissa dropped her hand and scoffed. “Did you seriously just say that to me?”

  Candace chuckled, and although Melissa should feel offended by the old lady reference, she couldn’t help but smile.

  “You know what I mean.”

  Melissa rested her head against the back of her couch and stared at the ceiling. Yeah, she did know what Candace meant, but that didn’t mean she wanted to hear it from a third party.

  “Girl, that is exactly why I need to go out. I’m a thirty-seven year old single wolf shifter, and my two closest friends are already mated with kids, or with another baby on the way in your case. I feel old, and excuse me for wanting to go out and keep the spirit of youth alive inside of me.” She hadn’t meant to sound that snippy at the end, but this was something that she thought about quite a bit. Melissa was good at keeping a front on how she really felt. Her snarky, sassy, and sometimes overbearing bitchy attitude held to steer people away from delving too deep inside of her. Sure, she had been like this her whole life, but now that she was older, and especially since her two best friends had settled down, Melissa used her non-filtering mouth and sassiness to divert people away from her.

  “Even though I say you’re too old you know I’m just giving you a hard time. I mean we’re the same age.” Melissa heard the deep, rumbling voice of Trace, Candace’s polar bear shifting mate, on the other end of the line. Candace spoke softly to him, and Melissa heard the distinct sound of her best friend kissing her mate.

  “Bleh. How about saving the making out for when I’m not on the phone and already feeling depressed with my old-ass age and single status.” Melissa was smiling even though Candace couldn’t see her.

  “Hey.” Candace chuckled. That was the thing with Ary and Candace, Melissa’s two closest friends since high school. The three of them got each other, knew when the other was teasing, and gave as much as they could take. Well, Candace was more of the shy and quiet type, but even that had lessened since she’d gotten with her biker mate.

  “Anyway, you’re feeling okay? That baby ready to kick its way out?” There was a muffled groan that came from Candace, and then the shuffling sound of sheets rustling.

  “Yeah, but I only have a few weeks left. I swear this pregnancy is a lot harder than the first.”

  “I thought I heard the second pregnancies were easier.”

  Candace made a noise in the back of her throat. “I can already tell this baby is going to be just like his dad. All grumpy and a pain in my ass.” Candace and Melissa started chuckling at the same time. “Alivia is so easygoing and relaxed. But this one, he is a handful already.”

  “Maybe that is just how bears are?” Candace groaned, and Melissa knew she was shifting in bed. “You okay?”

  “I’m good, just huge and uncomfortable.” Candace tried to sound light, but Melissa knew that carrying Trace’s little polar bear baby was taking its toll on her. She also knew Candace wouldn’t have changed it for anything, and that she would do it all over again, and probably would try for one more when their little boy was a little older.

  “I’ll let you go, sweetie. I’ll call tomorrow.”

  “Listen, be careful, okay? I know how wild you get when you have some drinks, and I don’t want to get a call in the morning with you telling me you had to chew off your arm because you brought home a coyote ugly.”

  Melissa couldn’t help it, she burst out laughing. “That was only one time, and I had my beer goggles on.” Candace chuckled. “But don’t worry. I’ll be careful, Mom.” They hung up, and Melissa stared at the ceiling again. Really she didn’t need to go out, but sitting alone at home on the weekend sounded even more depressing. She never cared about going out by herself, could take care of herself if it came down to it, but now it just seemed so damn repetitive. She could always go to Dakota Dark’s, the bar and grille owned by Candace’s mate and husband, Trace Dakota. The atmosphere was friendlier, more comfortable, even if half the patrons were leather and cut wearing bikers. She also knew many of the employees, and a little conversation was a hell of a lot better than watching reruns of Roseanne.

  It didn’t take her long to get ready, but she wasn’t going out looking for a piece of ass. Melissa just didn’t want to sit around alone, and as much as she loved Ary and Candace, she also didn’t want to be reminded of how happy they were. Was Melissa jealous of her friends’ happiness? No, but she did wish she had what they did. She may tease Candace that she wanted to keep the youth alive inside of her by going out, but with each passing day she did think about what it would be like to be mated. At her age it almost seemed like it would never happen, and maybe it wouldn’t, and wasn’t that a depressing as hell thought.

  It was only about nine in the evening, but there was no doubt Dakota Dark’s would be busy. A little distraction was just what she wanted and needed. She looked at herself once more in mirror, and moved her hand down her long, loose fitting gypsy style skirt. Her bangle bracelets clanked together from the movement, and her colorful baby doll style tank might have seemed a bit “young” for her, but it was vibrant and out there, just like her personality. Her long wavy dark hair hung to her hips, and she lifted it off her shoulders into a ponytail, but eventually decided on just leaving the heavy mass down. She grabbed her purse and headed out to her car. Once on the road she turned on the radio, left it on some 80s station, and had never felt older than she did right now.

  ****

  Declan poured himself another shot, and brought the glass to his mouth to toss it back. The alcohol burned like a bitch, but this was his third one, and the liquor was starting to numb his throat. He was tired, really fucking tired, but it wasn’t because he had been up for the last forty-eight hours. Declan was just tired in general. At fifty-one he was too old to be doing the kind of work he did. But he was a shifter, and although he felt fucking old, physically he was in perfect shape, like one well-oiled killing machine. A mercenary now, Declan hunted down bastards for clients, pulled strings, called in favors, and even did illegal and heinous shit just to make sure he got the job done. Did he care that he took a life? Not if the world was better off without said life, and those were the only jobs he took. He didn’t kill females and children, or innocent men just because the ones that hired him just wanted to see blood. Th
e men he was paid to hunt down were scum, evil, and were doing more harm than good by being alive. But being with the SIL had taught Declan a lot, mainly not to let his emotions and conscience get the better of him. And he had learned that shit really early on. He had been trained at a young age to be a killer, to be silent and lethal. The skills he had made him one of the deadliest beings in the world, as was any member in the Shifter Intelligence League, or the SIL. In all honesty he would have still been with the Shifter Intelligence League if not for the fact he had taken shrapnel in the thigh two years ago. The rehab had been a bitch, but he couldn’t move as swiftly or stealthily as the other males in the organization, hence his early, and very reluctant, retirement. But what was worse had been the fact he wasn’t doing what he had been born to do: taking out his enemy. The SIL was made up of the most lethal shifters in the world, and their training was on the more unethical side. But they were their own government and entity, and didn’t follow any rules aside from the ones the SIL provided, and even that wasn’t anything but get the job done.

  Declan looked at the bottle of whiskey in front of him, and grabbed it to pour another glass. Normally they didn’t allow patrons to purchase the entire bottle, but he was close with Trace, the owner of the bar, and closer yet with Maverick. He also didn’t normally drink, at least not like this. But for some reason he just felt like getting hammered and forgetting all the ugly shit in the world. After helping the two men, and Trace’s son, Liam, when a psychopath leopard shifter had threatened Liam’s mate, Declan had hung around Sweet Water and become close with the males. Well, as close as he ever allowed himself to get with anyone. They didn’t hang out, and aside from the occasional time they bullshitted with each other, they all kept to themselves. But that was more than Declan had ever done with anyone his entire life.

  After half a year had passed Declan decided to put down roots in the small town. He didn’t need an office to get in touch with his clients, and sure as hell didn’t pass around business cards. People knew of him by reputation alone, and they only called for his help if they had the funds and the connections to reach out to him. It didn’t matter where he was. If someone knew about him, about what he did, and had the right connections, they could get a hold of Declan. But doing this type of mercenary work meant there were times he had to travel, had to hunt down whomever he was going after to finish the job.

  The song that played overhead switched to something harder, and a little angrier. It matched how he felt … how he always felt. He leaned back in his seat and rested one of his arms on the table. Scanning the bar he took note of the females, and which one attracted him the most. What he needed was to fuck some pussy tonight. It had been too long since he had gotten a piece of ass, and his grizzly was starting to become agitated. Whatever darkness resided within Declan had been there for as long as he could remember. Maybe that was why the SIL had recruited him in the first place? He had no family, no one that cared for him or vice versa. He was a loner in every sense of the word. He may have been trained to keep his emotions and the human side buried deep within him, but he had never felt human to begin with. His grizzly was the one that controlled most of his actions, and Declan was more than comfortable with that. He didn’t need any remnants of being human to help him in his endeavors, and in fact preferred his animal anyway. The bastard was just as cold and calculating as his human side, had always been more powerful, too.

  “You want anything to eat?” Declan turned his attention to the waitress that had stopped beside his table. She wasn’t normally what he went for, but she was female and attractive enough, so in the end it really didn’t matter. The cropped shirt she wore showed off her hip bones and her slightly concave belly. Declan liked the females he fucked to be meaty, with curves that he could hold onto. This human was like a damn twig, and he’d have to be careful when he finally shoved his dick inside of her or she might break. But the scent of her arousal was strong, and the way she checked him out told him that she was more than willing to go out into the alley and let him screw her against the dirty brick wall. If Declan was being honest, he could admit that he liked hard, rough, and raw sex. Fucking didn’t need to be all flowers and candy, and sure as shit didn’t need to lead to anything aside from getting off. He made sure the females at least came, because even though he was a heartless asshole, he wasn’t a bastard like that. “Maybe you’d like to meet up after I get off?” She was forward, and that wasn’t a bad thing to him. She cocked a perfectly plucked and too thin blonde eyebrow at him. He let his eyes move up and down her body, stopped right at the edge of her skirt that barely covered her cunt, and then moved his gaze back to her face. Damn, she was too fucking skinny, and her breasts weren’t even a handful. Yeah, not his type at all.

  “Maybe, but how about you get me whatever dark beer you have on draft?” Her disappointment that he hadn’t jumped on that shit right away was evident, but Declan turned his attention back to the dance floor and watched as a few females ground against each other.

  “I get off in twenty minutes.” He looked again at the waitress, who now wore a grin. Her lips were painted bright red, and they made her teeth look overly white. She leaned in, placed the hand that wasn’t holding her little black tray flat on the table, and looked him right in the eye. “Listen, I can tell when a guy wants a little action, and baby, you’re practically screaming it.” Declan looked down at where her top gaped open, saw her tiny little breasts peek over the top of her bra, and thought fuck it. “All I want is a good time, the same as you.” She was a newer employee at Dakota Dark’s, seeing as he had come here frequently since moving to Sweet Water and he had never seen her before. When he didn’t turn her away she stood up, and her grin widened. “Meet me by the back door in twenty and I’ll make sure to make it worth your time.” She turned around, and his gaze zeroed in on her ass, or what was there anyway. Declan went back to drinking his shots and watching the two females pretty much fucking each other on the dance floor. He drank enough that he should have had whiskey dick, but Declan could have been nearly passed out and if pussy was near he’d be ready to go. Maybe that was a curse of having his animal taking control like he did? Nothing could tame the beast, but that had saved his life more times than he could count.

  The music and noise in the bar was deafening, but Declan blocked it out. He was good at that, good at making everything else go away unless it was what he wanted to focus on. That kind of mentality and concentration had saved his life more times than not, and it was his apathetic nature that had him leading his unit through the harshness of Serbia on his last mission. But where it helped him, it had also gotten him injured, had shrapnel and scars littering his thigh, and was the reason he was no longer with the League. No way in hell was he going to do a desk job with them, not when he was meant to be in the thick of everything. So, that was why he had branched out on his own, and he had never looked back.

  The front door was pulled open, and three human bikers came in. They were in leather from head to toe, had their cuts on that designated what club they were affiliated with, and had this badass persona to them. They may be dangerous in the human world, but when it came to the males Declan hunted down, and the ones he had taken out while on duty, they were nothing but a blip on his radar. He was about to down another shot before he got up and headed out back to fuck the stress out with the skinny-ass waitress, but everything in him stilled and his grizzly rose up when the scent of something sweet filled his nose. It wasn’t a smell he had ever come across before, but that wasn’t why his entire body had become strung tight, or why he was starting to partially shift. He gripped the edge of the table, his nails elongating to claws, and his canines punching out. He also had become rock hard in a matter of seconds. His eyes were trained at the entrance of the bar, and a low, dark rumble left him at the sight of the female that walked in. All it took was one look at her face, one smell of her unique and tempting aroma, and Declan and his grizzly were growling out.

  Mine.

&
nbsp; Yes, she was theirs. The moment a shifter found their mate was instantaneous, and although he had the powerful and dangerous urge to charge forward, grip a chunk of her long, wavy hair in his hand and pull her head back, exposing her throat so he could mark her, he stayed back and just watched her. Staying away from her was probably the hardest fucking thing he had ever done, but he could control himself for once in his life, right? She moved into the bar, and the door shut behind her. The fact that she was alone, that she would come to this slightly more hard-core establishment when it was late, had the possessive and protective need rising up in him. It was foolish for a female to do that, especially one not mated. But then she walked over to the bar, completely oblivious that her mate was only a few feet from her, and started an easy and clearly familiar conversation with the bartender. Another low growl left him, but the music was too loud for anyone to hear. She leaned against the bar, and her ass popped out. Holy fuck, now that was a female with curves. Her clothing was slightly on the loose side, but Declan could see plenty, but that also meant so could other males. He snapped his gaze around the bar, but lucky for them no one paid his female any attention. He looked at her again, smelled the scent of her wolf, and his dick throbbed behind his jeans. Declan felt even more unstable, even more volcanic, and to be honest he didn’t fucking like it. This uneasiness inside of him, and the way his bear seemed manic to come out, had him actually using his human strength to keep the animal back. Because if he let the damn thing out there was no telling what it would do, or the destruction it would cause to anyone that tried to keep him from that female.

  Chapter Two