Bruised MC Bear (Beartooth Brotherhood MC Book 3) Read online

  7

  Axe

  Axe forced back a grin as he stood in the middle of Angel’s bedroom. She had informed him she wasn’t ready to visit his clubhouse, but wanted to spend some more time with him, and felt safer doing so at her place. Angel didn’t strike him as a dog person, or a pet person, for that matter, which was why he laughed as she chased three dogs out of her bedroom and into her spare room down the hall.

  He scanned around the room, glancing at childhood photos and family portraits, and one particular picture that had to be Death Adder’s relative. It was clear to him the young woman in the framed photo was a wolf shifter. He wondered if Angel even knew. So far, she had not given him any hints to suggest any knowledge of their kind. She returned to him a minute later, switching off the light before pressing her chest against his back with her hands around his waist. Axe perked up and turned to face her, but ended up staring down at Angel’s voluptuous chest in some kind of leather halter dress.

  Her fingers twisted in a lock of her blonde hair, pulling it back behind her ear, and he couldn’t stop from following the movement. He swallowed down a groan.

  Angel blinked at him. Once. Twice. Her fingers then crawled up to massage one side of her neck. Something in her eyes led him to believe this was yet another side of her that she was about to reveal to him.

  “Down,” she commanded in that tone she had used outside the Hell Valley Saloon.

  “What?”

  “You don’t get to talk now. I’ll take what I want and then you can go home happy, got it?”

  He grunted as his cock kicked to life behind the fly of his jeans. Now he understood that look in her eye. She was a dominant? Before he could ask, Angel put her hands up into his hair and fisted it in a controlled grip, guiding him down to his knees.

  “There. Down,” Angel repeated.

  Pain lanced through his scalp as the realization hit. This curvy little thing had dropped him to his knees. His fall echoed around the room, bouncing off the hardwood floors. Female domination was all kinds of new to him. He had to admit, so far he kind of liked it. There was no hiding the reaction that flickered across his skin while he blindly searched for her face in the shadows.

  “By the way, I should have told you. My place, my rules.”

  He smiled, nodding his agreement.

  He didn’t know what she actually wanted from him, although he was sure she’d clue him in soon. A tingle of need spread down his spine. His knee caps still ached like a son of a bitch. Yet he didn’t move an inch as he waited to see what this particular version of Angel had in store for him.

  Her fingernails delicately played along his scalp and suddenly he questioned whether seducing her had really been his plan at all. Maybe, in his own twisted way, he’d completely missed that she was in charge, and had him on lockdown the whole time. That was a first. Axe swallowed past the lump in his throat and closed his eyes, taking a deep breath of her floral scent. He patiently waited for the next words to come off her seductively bright red lips.

  “Take off your pants.”

  Her order seemed too loud, as if she had shouted when really, she had only whispered. Her hot breath still clung to the curve as he did what he was told. His hands fumbled against his jeans, but a second later, his dick sprang out from his pants into the cool air. Angel was utterly silent. Their choppy breaths seemed to echo in her room. He idly cupped his palm over his shaft, stroking up and down his length for some relief.

  “What are you doing?” Angel’s voice ricocheted like a whip crack. Her hands dug into his hair again. “Did I say you could do a damn thing, Axe?”

  “No,” he grunted.

  He fought the urge to pick her up, throw her into her bed and fuck her brains out. For now, he would give her what she wanted, especially if it meant getting exactly what he needed.

  God, they were a fucking pair.

  “Good.” Angel patted his head. Twice. His cock betrayed him and twitched, eager for more of her body against his.

  “Touch me,” she ordered, dropping her grip on his hair.

  Axe brushed his fingers against the soft skin of her bare thigh. All the air in his lungs left in a whoosh of sound. Her tittering laughter betrayed her nervousness as she moved into his touch. He skimmed the backs of his knuckles along her inner thigh until he sensed the warmth of her heat.

  “More,” she whined. The sound vibrated through his chest.

  He skimmed the last inch or so until his fingers eased across her wetness. Angel floated forward, urging him on. He took a deep inhale of her slick warmth on his fingers as he flicked his thumb on her cleft. Angel didn’t say a word, but she didn’t need to, not with all the other signals she sent out. Her hands traveled over his head, shoulders and chest as if she couldn’t stop herself from touching him. He fucking loved it. Her inner thighs trembled against his arm, and her light, choppy breaths grew sharper. Close. So close. He savored her flavor on his tongue, easing his other hand up her curves, until he made it to one of her nipples.

  Angel’s hips jerked forward in response.

  “More,” she commanded, although this order sounded more like a needy request.

  Damn right, there would be more.

  Axe leaned in and flicked his tongue along her slit. She nearly stumbled, and he jerked his hand from her breasts to her hip to steady her back into place.

  “Easy,” he soothed, loving the way she writhed when he blew a hot breath over her wet center.

  “I need…more,” she moaned, nearly choking on the words.

  Her wish was his command, to the point where he became consumed with the idea of taking her over the edge more powerfully than both previous times. As he teased his tongue along her sweet, soft folds, she jolted through an orgasm that had her knees buckling and her hands on his shoulders with her nails embedded in his flesh. Angel continued to tremble beneath his touch, still muttering her pleas for more.

  Instinct took over Axe’s mind, and taking over was the only option. Staring up into her face, he got to his feet, scooping her up and depositing her in her bed. Maybe relief came over her, or lust, or both, because she grasped his shirt and lifted her head up off the bed, kissing him possessively. So much for Angel being in control. Not that anything could surprise him now, with the insane chemistry between them. The only shocker was that she could have held out for so long. He was instantly aroused again.

  Pulling from her kiss, he nipped a trail down her neck and collarbone, then lower, until his lips hovered over one breast. He released short, hot breaths on her nipple, then took her hardened peak into his mouth. Angel cried out his name. She really shouldn’t have done that. Not when every instinct was pushing him to return to her neck and mark her with his teeth to make her permanently his. Groaning through the urge, Axe let his hands roam down to her ass. He pressed her heat tight against his groin, relishing the way she rolled her hips at the pace that her tongue explored and tasted his mouth. Ready for more contact, he tugged at her zipper, pulling down until the front of her dom dress was completely open. Peeling the leather off her shoulders, he stopped for a brief instant to gaze up at her face.

  “You’re gorgeous,” he groaned, biting back a growl.

  Axe found a condom from his pants, which had been thrown across the room. Returning to bed, he parted her knees and clutched her inner thighs with each hand. Eyes now locked, he positioned himself and rubbed his tip along her warmth. Angel lifted her hands to his chest again and rolled her hips, inching down his length until he was deep inside of her. Gasping, she shut her eyes and ran her hands through his hair, spurring him on with each stroke, hissing out short breaths. Axe could stay here all night staring up at the pleasure on her stunning face as Angel crashed through another peak. Het tight inner walls gripped around his length, massaging his shaft as her body seized. She held him tight, burying her head into his neck.

  Axe didn’t stop. With each thrust, he had to have more. He had to have her in his bed. That image of her blonde mane fa
nned out on his pillow, and her red lips crying out his name nearly drove him insane, and in a few more strokes, he came.

  His head was spinning. There was so much energy firing between them, he needed to either pull away now or own her completely.

  “You okay, doll?” he asked, adjusting his weight to rest a moment at her side.

  Angel groaned and curled closer to him. He ran his fingers through her hair and down her back, not quite ready to leave.

  Angel sat up after a short time. “You should probably get going. I’ve got an early day tomorrow.”

  “All right,” he rumbled out. Kissing the top of her head, he got out of bed and found his pants. “See you around, sweet thing,” he added, quickly retreating down the hall and out the front door to avoid changing his mind.

  8

  Axe

  Axe was back in Vincent’s study the next day. This trip was not about business. For the longest time he just sat there, listening to the sound of his breathing. Vincent relaxed in his office chair with his fingers laced behind his head, patiently waiting.

  “What do you think it all means?” Axe asked the only person on the planet that he would ever consider being completely honest with, already hating himself for sounding so weak.

  Vincent straightened up in his chair. “I’m not sure it means anything at all. It was a dream.”

  “More like a waking nightmare. Do you know it’s been years since I’ve dreamed about them?”

  “Perhaps you should walk through it again.”

  Axe shot his eyes at Vincent. “You want me to talk about it? Are you shitting me?”

  “No, I’m not.”

  “But what’s the point, though? I was there. You were there. We both know what happened, so what good would it do to flap our gums about it all over again?”

  “Trust me, all right? Start right from the beginning. But this time, do not place yourself inside the events when you relate them to me. Just imagine you’re right there in that chair, watching the events play out…like a movie in your mind’s eye.”

  Axe glance over at Vincent. “This sounds all kinds of sick and twisted, so pardon me for being a little skeptical, brother. By the way, do you see why I don’t want to undergo the psych eval? I can’t even bring myself to tell Silas or anyone else, let alone some highfalutin, pompous shrink who’s got no fucking life experience, let alone lived through anything this catastrophic. And what the hell am I supposed to say about the shifter part?”

  “Calm down, son. Just try. Quiet your mind, and then start.”

  “All right, but only because you’re the one suggesting it,” Axe told him.

  Leaning back into his chair, he closed his eyes and allowed the images to return.

  “The dream always starts off earlier in the day. It was a scorcher, hotter than the usual Nevada desert summer mornings. I was thirteen, and Nancy was almost nine. Nancy and I took our bikes to the corner store for candy, which was out of place, because Mom never used to let us eat sweets. That day though, Dad shoved coins in my hands and pushed us out the door. Mom was so relaxed, resting her head on his shoulder. And happy, like euphoric and smiling to the point of giggling. I’m not sure why that’s how the nightmare starts. We got our fill of sugar, and when we got home, Nancy kept asking why Mom’s shirt was inside out. I remember laughing about it and Dad glared at me with a warning side eye to get me to shut up. None of us gave Nancy an answer to her question.”

  “After dinner that night, Mom made me go up to my room to start on some Math homework that was already two weeks late. Dad was hounding me about it for days, and I only gave in after he took away my video game console and threatened to sell it. The threats were usually empty, but that was the night he actually put it on lockdown somewhere in their room. So I was working on some math questions, and not enjoying it one bit. Half the time I was just looking out the window, staring out at the same dark spot outside behind the back of the garage.”

  “I did that for a while, until I was sure I saw something move out there. At first, I figured I was imagining things, but then I noticed it again. A really subtle movement, then another. I went over to the window for a closer look, and then I saw them. I was about to holler at my dad, but he walked into my room just then, and asked whether I was done my homework. I remember turning to look at him, and as the words ‘soldiers’ came out of my mouth, he sensed them too. Dad shouted for me to get away from the window, and rushed me off to get Nancy hidden away as he hurried out and down the stairs to find Mom.”

  “I scrambled over to Nancy’s room and yanked the door closed behind me. I dragged her under her bed from where she’d been coloring at her little table, and put my finger to her lips to keep her quiet. She was so shaken up by how abruptly I’d entered her room, she started bawling. I had to cover her mouth to quiet her down so I could hear what was going on downstairs. There was a loud crack of wood, which was the sound of soldiers breaking down the front door, and then a loud rumbling, which I realized later on were many heavy boots rushing through the house.”

  “We heard a loud blood-curdling scream on the other side of the door, and Nancy clung to me, shaking like a leaf as I pushed her behind me. The rumbling suddenly stopped. The screaming died down. Nancy wouldn’t stop crying, even when I covered her mouth again. Dad must have broken free of them and barricaded Nancy’s bedroom door, because I heard his sharp snort and bear snuffle just outside. There was a lot of gunfire, and something heavy dropped to the wooden floor. After that, the door rocked on its hinges. I told Nancy to stay put under the bed so I could fight off whoever was trying to come into our room. I threw a blanket over her to hide her and found an umbrella in the corner of her closet. It was the only thing I could use to fight off whoever it was that had stormed our house.”

  “I remember shouting, telling the soldiers on the other side to leave us alone, but they crashed through the door anyway, stepping over the Dad’s lifeless bear figure in the hallway outside. The door burst open, and four or five soldiers in what I now know to be Special Ops uniforms stormed in, gun pointed forward as though Nancy and I were any match for them. I was too young to shift to bear form back then, but fuck, I would have if I could. I remember closing my eyes so I wouldn’t have to see them fire their weapons at me. A second went by, then another, and they stood there, doing nothing.”

  “That’s when you showed up, Vincent. You moved so fast, you were like a flash of moving light zipping around them until they were all either dead or close to it. You flipped the bed and scooped up Nancy and took me in your other hand, even though I was fighting you off too. Do you remember what you told me?”

  Vincent nodded. “I do.”

  “You said you were not the enemy. That you would take us somewhere safe, and you needed both of us to keep our eyes closed until we got outside. I did for a while, but with the scent of bear and blood creeping up my nose, I couldn’t keep my eyes shut. Dad on the landing, and Mom was at the bottom of the stairs. They were both so still, lying there in pools of their own blood. I still don’t understand how their bodies didn’t heal like shifters normally do.” Axe took a few long inhales and exhales. “You know everything that happened after that, except the part where for a few seconds, underneath the bed in this last dream, both Nancy and Angel were hiding under the bed. What do you think caused that change after all this time? I can’t believe the dreams are back.”

  “They were your parents, Axe,” Vincent offered. “You suffered an unimaginable trauma back then. It’s not the type of memory that will ever disappear. Take it from me, son. I’ve had over three hundred and fifty years’ worth of life experiences, and there are many I have yet to make peace with.”

  “Hmmm. What about the new part? How is it that I only just met this woman and she was in it?”

  Vincent shrugged. “The mind tends to play such tricks. Do you want my honest opinion?”

  “Of course.”

  “Don’t think anything of it. It was just a dream.”

>   Axe rubbed a tingling hand across his chin, closing his eyes again. Why the fuck was this bothering him so much? He was used to discarding women after chance meetings like what had gone down with Angel, so what was the big deal now? How did she end up in his vilest, most terrifying nightmare? No amount of deep breathing or happy thoughts would shake the tightness growing in his chest. Tiny bright spots flew across the insides of each eyelid and dizziness wrapped around him until he had to force himself not to go back to that dreadful night. Even with the powerful reminder, he couldn’t think straight. The walls were closing in on him. The memories found a way back into the front of his brain.

  Axe shuddered beneath the emotional weight. He rolled his shoulders. Nothing helped to alleviate the tension stirring in his stomach and working up into the muscles of his back, crushing his mind with excruciating memories. Those events were buried so deep that his beast would claw at his insides trying to escape the darkness eating at his mind. There was no escape. He knew that well enough. All he could do was hold on and hope for the best, that he made it through to the other side in one piece. Last night’s dreams had chewed him up and spit him out. He couldn’t fight it on his own.

  It was as though the tragedy was beginning again.

  “I need to get back to work,” Axe muttered, leaping out of his chair. “I’ve spent enough time obsessing over this. Time to get my head out of my ass and cross some actual work-related tasks off this never ending list.”

  “Starting with that security clearance, Vincent declared. “How’s the questionnaire coming along?”

  Axe grunted out a breath. “It’s still in my satchel, in pretty much the same state as it was when I was here last time.”

  “You might want to get it out of the way.” Vincent paused for a moment, contemplating something. “Come to think about it, the form has a question about your parents. It could have triggered the memory.”