Page 19 of Cross To Bear

There was only one fucking woman for me, and until I had Maddie on my lap, my lips on her neck, her hands in my hair, tugging hard as she ate my mouth, no one else would touch me. So I shook Krystel’s hand off when she didn’t get the hint, which only made her laugh.

“So fucking touchy.”

When I flicked a glance her way, that smile had widened, taking on a mocking edge so many men seemed to find irresistible. They wanted to wipe it off her face, right before they grabbed her by the hair and forced her down on their dick. I knew this because I’d seen it several times before. The first time I’d jumped to my feet, thinking she was in trouble, she’d laughed in my face, even with tears in her eyes.

“One day you’re gonna touch me and discover what you’ve been missing,” she replied.

“Not even with his dick,” I rumbled, as Razor turned around to see who I was talking to.

“What about my dick? Ah, Krystel. You know we don’t pay you to troll Hawkie here.”

He ruffled my hair, so I jammed my elbow into his ribs, earning a low oof.

“The two of you?” I hated the way she ran her eyes over us, like we belonged to her, when I knew exactly where we belonged. “You wouldn’t even have to pay me.”

She licked her lips suggestively, one of the reasons we had to keep employing her, apparently. Having a waitress that looked like she was always down to fuck, and sometimes was, even on the floor of the bar, was good for business.

“I could take the both of you at the same time, y’know.”

She ran a finger along her bottom lip, which was supposed to do what, I didn’t know.

“What, one in each hole?” Razor chuckled. “Seen you do that the other week, late on a Saturday night.”

“No, two of you in the same hole.” Her green eyes bore into ours. “You can pick which one.”

And that’s when Razor’s smile faded. For a second I felt a lurch of fear as I saw that wild light flicker to life in his eyes. He did unpredictable things when he was backed into a corner, and what was this situation but that? His jaw shifted as he pushed forward.

“I choose none.” His bear was a giant freaking polar bear and just like the terror of the arctic wastes, he’d emerge from the snow, only alerting you to his presence when he was about to rip your head off. That’s what Razor looked like now as his gaze locked with hers. “Something I’ve told you more than fucking once, so if you’re determined to work out your daddy issues on your back, the Steel Dragons have just arrived.” He nodded to the biker gang that was just now filing in through the door. “Pretty sure Draco”—he was the fifty odd year old president of the club—“will give you a nice tip if you suck his dick under the table as he drinks his beer.”

Her smile faded then, and I shouldn’t take pleasure from any woman’s anger, though I did right now. She jerked her tray away from the bar then marched up the end to grab the drinks her customers had ordered. Roxy was our bar manager, and she loaded up the girl’s tray, then ambled over to see us.

“Any reason why Krystel’s rocking a cat’s bum face?” she asked us.

“Wouldn’t take no for an answer,” I said.

She shook her head slowly. “I keep telling her… Nothing she likes more than a guy that’s completely unavailable. I told her to stick to the emotionally unavailable ones, just like the rest of us.” Her pale green eyes looked me up and down and then narrowed. “You’re looking even more grumpy than usual, Grizzly Bear.” She grabbed a bottle of tequila and then set up a row of shots. “Get one of those into you and tell Aunty Roxy what’s wrong.”

“Nothing.”

I barely ground that out, taking the shot and drinking it. The taste made me wince, but I drank it anyway. That burn that went all the way down, it felt good in a sick way.

“Let’s try that again.” Roxy took the four of us in. “You’re like the seven dwarfs. Cranky.” She pointed to Bjorn, who was brooding over his beer. “Psycho.” Razor just grinned at his new nickname. “Fucking Grumpy.” That was obviously me. “And… Pining?”

“Isn’t that a verb, not an adjective?” Crash asked. “Maddie broke up with Jesse today.”

“So we’re celebrating!” Roxy went to refill the shots. Our silence had her pausing. “Or not. What the fuck happened?”

I didn’t want to talk about it, I’d made that clear, but the others? They told the whole story in fits and starts. Didn’t matter, I thought, because we were still here, drinking with people that weren’t our friends, in a bar we used to bankroll our other businesses, and not where we needed to be. Near Maddie, with Maddie, in Maddie… The cock that Krystel had spoken so frankly about taking, hadn’t even swelled a little when I was talking to her, now lurched in my pants at the thought of that.

And it was a thought only.

Part of the reason why Krystel was so persistent was because some people knew the truth. I’d never touched a woman, and they were never allowed to touch me. I might be six foot four and have tattoos over most of my body, but as soon as I found out I was a bear shifter with a fated mate out there, I refused to go near anyone else. I’d know when I found her, the bear elders had told us. That hadn’t made sense until we walked in the door and saw Maddie. Then every day since I was glad I hadn’t gone anywhere near other women, though… This was a biker bar. Shirts were pulled up, tits were put on display, and sometimes even dicks. The cops didn’t come in here unless they had to, so people fucking wasn’t a big thing, but some of the things made me wonder.

“So do women really want shit like that?” I asked Razor, once Roxy was called away to deal with some other thing.

“Shit like what, brother?” he asked. “I’m gonna need clarification and then make clear that any man who thinks he knows what women want is a fucking idiot.”

I turned to face him, only able to tolerate eye contact for a second before looking away.

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