Mate’s Harvest: Bear Sheriff III Read online

  Marcus wrapped his arms tightly around Angie and lifted her up, carrying her down the hallway. Where she’d been tired minutes before, now she was filled with excitement and happiness that rivaled anything she’d felt for months.

  They were free. Not just from jail but from everything that had been hanging over their heads.

  Marcus obviously thought the same thing. He tossed Angie lightly into bed and then peeled off his shirt, lowering his body over hers. His lips met hers again and they kissed. Angie felt herself completely losing herself in those lips. They were so soft, so sensual, and so at odds with Marcus’s outward appearance. But she knew he was a kind man at heart and would stop at nothing to protect her and their child.

  His lips left hers, moving down to her neck, where he kissed ever so lightly. Angie moaned in pleasure and ran her hands through Marcus’s hair. His lips were moving down towards her chest and she pulled off her shirt, revealing her breasts and large belly. Marcus lips moved all of the way down her body, stopping on her breasts and sucking each nipple and then moving downwards and downwards until he was sliding off her sleep pants and soaked panties, discarding them to the side.

  Angie’s eyes closed in pleasure as his lips moved between her legs, kissing ever so lightly and tasting her. His tongue slid out from between his lips and slid into her. She moaned again.

  But then she grabbed his face and pulled him gently towards her. They kissed again and Angie rolled Marcus over on his back. She moved towards the foot of the bed, her fingers grabbing his pants, and slowly, seductively, she pulled them off of him. He lay there, clad onto in his tight underwear, and she pulled those off as well.

  She took Marcus’s hardness in one hand. It was warm and she could feel it pulsing in her soft grip. A drop of precum was on the tip and she opened her mouth wide and slid it into her mouth, tasting him. Marcus let out a loud moan and grabbed a pillow as Angie slid her mouth down his shaft. She felt his cock hit the back of her throat and she pulled him out, slowly, running one hand up his wet length as she did so.

  Angie moved back down, faster than she had the first time and then faster still, occasionally slowing down just to drive Marcus over the edge. He arched his back, moans filling the bedroom, and Angie knew she was doing everything right.

  Soon, his body went rigid, his breathing rapid and shallow, and she knew he was about to cum. She kept doing exactly as she had been before and then he made a bestial grunt of pleasure, pushed himself deep into Angie’s mouth, and came.

  She felt his cum hit the back of her throat and she swallowed eagerly. Then came another, and another and she kept doing exactly as she had been doing, tasting and smiling and loving the feeling of pleasure that she had brought him.

  Eventually, Marcus breathed a sigh and collapsed onto the bed, breathing hard and flushed. Angie smiled. She climbed up over his midsection, sitting there, her hands on his chest, just watching Marcus. He grabbed her hips and help her as she leaned down, kissing him lightly on the lips. She could feel his length between her legs – hard and warm and wet – and expected it to begin to shrink, but then he lifted her up slowly and angled himself against her.

  Angie let out a moan of pleasure as she felt his cock stretch her wide. She was soaking wet, as was he, and he slipped into her, only impeded by his massive girth. She closed her eyes and grabbed his hands on her hips, slowing working her way down until he was completely buried inside of her.

  Slowly rocking her hips, Angie felt Marcus’s warmth flooding her. She rode him and his hands on her hips guided her until they were both moving perfectly in tandem, complete and utter bliss wrapping itself around both of them. Angie wasn’t sure how long they made love for – it was absolutely perfect.

  But eventually, she felt the familiar blossom of warmth in her midsection and she tried to push it away as best she could. It was relentless, building to a crescendo, faster and higher than she would have wanted, and soon there was nothing she could do but let it wash over her.

  So Angie did. She came, harder than she ever had before, vision almost going black as she tightened around Marcus and lost herself in what he was bringing her. And then he was cumming, too. She could feel his body tighten, feel his penis twitch inside of her, and she felt another load of his cum entering her. She felt it hit all of the right places, could feel its warmth in her, and she rode him harder and faster than before, her own pleasure still wracking her body.

  Finally, it was over for both of them and Angie lifted herself off of Marcus’s body. She collapsed next to him, completely and utterly spent. She glanced at the window and saw that the sun was coming up. They’d made love for literally hours, the pleasure so much that she’d hardly noticed the passage of time.

  She rolled over and kissed Marcus – and they went at it again.

  Chapter 21

  Marcus didn’t have much time. He was running through the house, stumbling. He saw the gun sitting on the kitchen table but ignored it – it was too far away. He pushed the door open and fell through it, feeling the cool air wrapping itself around him. He made his way down the sidewalk, still stumbling, and then reached the Bronco. He pulled himself around it and turned the key in the ignition.

  The old vehicle chugged once. He turned the key over, listening to it, praying that it would start. If it didn’t…

  But on the third try it finally started, the cold engine fighting the cold air, and the vehicle roared to life. Marcus wasted no time. He threw it in reverse, kicking rocks up, and then reversed into the yard and tore off down the driveway, a cloud of dirt thick behind him.

  He took the hairpin turn down his driveway at dangerous speeds, then looked left and right at the end of his driveway – but he never came to a complete stop. He rolled through the end of his driveway, out onto the dirt road, and accelerated to another speed he would consider dangerous.

  Marcus reached Charming in record time, yet he kept driving. He was going 20 over the limit as he passed Nixon – who flashed his lights at Marcus but kept going. Marcus gave him a nervous wave and accelerated even more as he left the main drag behind.

  Look at me. Breaking the law, again. What’s gotten into me?

  He was pushing 70 as he left Charming’s limits, heading towards Haven. The road was deserted – it was the dead of winter and everyone wanted to spend their time indoors – even if temperatures had yet to drop below freezing. Marcus didn’t mind as he accelerated even more. The Bronco shook worryingly yet held.

  Just get me there before it’s too late. It can’t be too late.

  He pulled into Haven and slowed down to a respectable 15 over. He didn’t know anyone in Haven, so he wouldn’t press his luck by speeding too awfully fast. But he still had to and he grimaced as he did so.

  The hospital parking lot was full, as always. He looked for a spot, driving around the parking lot twice before giving up. He considered where to park, then pulled up to the curb – and ensuring that it wasn’t a fire lane – and climbed out. He spared one last glance back at his Bronco, fulling expecting it to be towed away by the time he got back out.

  “You can’t park there, man,” a hospital worker told him, a cigarette dangling from his fingers.

  “Yeah, I know,” Marcus growled and walked past him.

  “Hey, man! Hey!”

  Marcus ignored him and headed inside to the front desk.

  “Angie Stone?” he asked hurriedly. He placed his hands on the desk and noticed that they were shaking. He put them in his pockets and waited impatiently.

  The receptionist gave him Angie’s room number and he hurried off.

  Please let everything be okay… Why couldn’t I have been there for her?

  He stopped in front of the elevators and waited for a few moments. He watched as the numbers above the doors lit up. They weren’t anywhere near the bottom floor, so he turned and opened up the stairwell doors. Angie was on the fifth floor – Marcus took each flight of stairs at three at a time, running as fast as he could, barely moving asid
e as a couple of men made their way down the stairs.

  He burst out onto the fifth floor, running down the hallway, and there it was: Angie’s room.

  He threw the door open and stepped inside.

  “Excuse me, sir!”

  “I’m the father!” he yelled at the nurse next to the door. “I’m the father, I’m here!”

  “Then put on a mask and a gown,” she ordered, pointing. Marcus closed the door behind him and pulled them on, then followed the woman into the room proper. There was a sheet pulled up around the bed and Marcus turned the corner to find Angie sitting there, looking nervous, angry, happy, and a thousand other emotions at once. But she didn’t look scared.

  “Where have you been?” she yelled.

  “I’m sorry!” Marcus pleaded, knowing that he’d almost missed his daughter’s birth.

  “Your shoes aren’t even tied!” she yelled. Marcus looked down and realized that was why he’d been stumbling so much in his haste to get here.

  “I was trying to get the house ready!” Marcus said, casting Angie a nervous glance. “I’m sorry!”

  “It’s fine, you’re her –” she said, and then she winced in pain.

  “What’s wrong, doc?” Marcus asked the woman standing there.

  “She’s about to give birth,” the doctor replied drily, looking at Marcus with a bemused expression on her face. “You sure you’re okay for this? You look a little pale.”

  “Fine,” Marcus assured the woman. “Just a little nervous. I thought I was going to miss this.”

  “You wouldn’t have liked it if you didn’t,” Angie said, shooting him another glare. Marcus walked over to her and grabbed her hand, squeezing tightly. “I’m glad you’re here, Marcus. I wouldn’t want to do this without you.”

  “I know, honey, I know,” he assured her. He rubbed her hand and then bent down to kiss her lightly on the forehead. He took her in. She was very pregnant – but even in her hospital gown, about to give birth, face contorted in pain and sweat, she was beautiful. Angie Stone – once Campbell – was the most beautiful woman Marcus had ever seen.

  They’d married a few weeks ago in a small ceremony. It hadn’t been much but it had been more than either one of them had ever expected.

  What led me to this moment?

  It all seemed so perfect now, but he knew that the road that had led here was anything but. It had been dangerous, full of self-doubt and loathing. He hadn’t been sure if he was going to survive at times, or even if he wanted to.

  He thought of Lindsay. He knew he would always love her – but being with Angie had finally let him let her go. He thought of the job he’d lost because of everything that had happened. He’d lost friends – Joanna Rivers, for one, plus all of the others that he’d never had the chance to meet because of him being an outsider.

  He was no longer some outsider, some oddity, some freak with golden eyes. He’d always been broken, he just hadn’t realized it until he’d met Angie.

  There was no one else in his life that he’d rather spend it with. She made him happy, and he hadn’t truly been happy before meeting her in a long, long time.

  She screamed in pain and squeezed Marcus’s hand. He looked around nervously, lost in his thoughts for a few moments, and then realized what was going on.

  “Marcus, she’s…” Angie said, grimacing.

  “It’s okay, Angie, I’m here,” Marcus said, kneeling down and getting as close to Angie as he could. He would always be here for her. He would always be here for their daughter. He would always be there for his family.

  “Okay,” the doctor was saying – but Marcus hardly heard anything else because Angie was screaming and yelling and Marcus thought she was pushing, and then suddenly there was the cry of a baby in the room and Marcus’s world started to dim.

  There was a crash around him and he found himself on the floor, realizing the crash had been him hitting the side of the hospital room. Angie was looking at him – a mixture of fear and pain on her face – and then there was a nurse at his side.

  “I’m okay, I’m okay,” Marcus said, getting shakily to his feet. “What happened?”

  “You passed out!” Angie yelled.

  “No, I didn’t!” he protested – but his eyes were suddenly on the bundle that the doctor was holding in her arms, little cries and screams issuing from it.

  “You did! After everything we’ve been through, this is what takes you down?” Angie said, rolling her eyes – but there was no judgment in what she was saying, just a smile and Marcus knew that everything was going to be okay.

  He watched with apprehension as the doctor walked around the other side of the bed and said, “It’s a beautiful, healthy, baby girl,” and handed the little bundle to Angie. She took it in her arms and immediately started crying. Marcus knew they were tears of joy.

  Looking down, Marcus saw the first sight of his baby daughter – and then he was crying, something he’d told himself he wouldn’t do, no matter what. He never cried, yet he was there next to Angie, both of them looking down at their little daughter who was perfect in each and every way. She cried for a few moments and then she stopped, looking up into their eyes, and Marcus felt his heart melt as he watched her.

  “She’s beautiful,” Marcus grunted, unable to put the rest of his thoughts into words.

  “She is,” Angie agreed, looking down at her. Marcus pulled himself closer to them both and just watched, a smile on his face – a real smile that warmed his heart.

  The doctors were doing whatever it was they needed to do – leaving Marcus and Angie to dote over their child.

  “Do you want to hold her?” Angie asked. Marcus nodded, half unsure, not wanting to hurt her – but Angie passed their daughter into his arms and he held her softly. She had stopped crying but now her eyes were growing heavy. Marcus beamed down at her.

  He wasn’t sure how long he held her but eventually he passed her back to Angie and then climbed into bed with them. They sat in silence for a little while longer, just watching their daughter sleep, Marcus feeling better than he ever had before.

  “I love her,” he finally said. “And I love you, Angie. More than the world. This is… this is perfect. There’s nowhere else I’d rather be than right here with you and her.”

  “I love you, too, Marcus,” Angie said, looking at him. They kissed lightly, then turned their attention back to their daughter. “But now, we have another pressing problem.”

  “It’s up to you, Angie,” Marcus said. “We decided that you should be the one.”

  “Okay,” Angie said and Marcus could tell that she was thinking hard. “I think we should call her Erica. After my friend.”

  “I think that’s a great idea,” Marcus told her and smiled, looking down at little Erica. “She was the one who brought us together, and now she will bring us together again in a way that can never be broken.”

  They looked down at their daughter until it was time to give her up to be checked out. Marcus and Angie sat there, feeling alone, yet with each other – and they waited together, as patiently as they could.

  Angie fell asleep against Marcus’s shoulder and he lay there, unmoving, ensuring that she would sleep and get the rest that she so rightly deserved. He couldn’t imagine what she had just gone through – but he knew that she would consider it worth it.

  Marcus’s life was different, now. He was no longer Sheriff, for one. He was just Marcus Stone, married to Angie, who had come into his life and completely and utterly changed it for the better. She’d been the brave one between them. She’d stayed with him even in his darkest hours. She’d always been there for him, even when she didn’t need to be.

  Marcus had been nothing without her. He knew that, now. It wasn’t being a Sheriff that had made him who he was. It wasn’t what had happened to him that made him who he was.

  He knew, without a doubt, that being with Angie was what made him who he was. He smiled and holding Angie, finally dozed off.

  Chapter
22

  “No, that one right there,” Marcus was saying, pointing. “Yeah, that one. It’s not too heavy, is it? Thanks.”

  Angie was sitting in a lawn chair, iced tea in one hand while watching her family try to put together a fence.

  “They’re not going to get out, are they, Dad?”

  “No, honey, we’ll get the fence put back up before they even realize what’s going on,” Marcus assured his daughter.

  “You sure you don’t want any help?” Angie asked.

  “No, Mom! Dad and I have it under control!”

  She was just nearing that age where she wanted to be independent. It warmed Angie’s heart – and simultaneously scared her just a little bit. Marcus looked over Erica’s head and grinned at Angie. She took a sip of tea and raised an eyebrow, grinning back.

  The sky was still cloudy from the storm that had rolled in last night, taking out part of the fence over by the barn. The cows hadn’t noticed that the fence had gone down, thankfully, so they wouldn’t have to go through the trouble of rounding them up. Still, the fence needed to be put back up – and Erica was more than ready to help.

  So Angie just sat and watched, content with how things had turned out.

  The last few years had been nothing short of exhilarating and scary – and in a way, it had been the toughest task her and Marcus had faced together. Still, it had been completely and utterly wonderful.

  Angie had never imagined herself the type of woman to be a mother. Even when she was pregnant, she still hadn’t given it much thought – after all, they were fighting for their lives for most of the time she had known Marcus.

  But she knew it was exactly what she had needed to do. Looking at Marcus and their daughter helping him put up the fence, she knew it was exactly what he had needed as well.

  Charming – it had ended up being home after all. Angie had felt like the outsider at times and she knew Marcus had been treated the same way, if not even worse. Now, though, it felt like home. They were generally well liked and treated with respect, something Marcus had always secretly wanted.