Page 20 of Caught Bear Handed (Sawtooth Security #3)

Chapter Fifteen

Kayla

The no condom thing was both annoying and kind of hilarious since all our orders had to go through the Sawtooth Security office. But it didn’t stop us from getting creative.

I could barely keep my hands off the bear. He was so different from any man I’d been with before—human or shifter. He was a caring lover, eager to please, and so patient, which was unexpected for someone his age.

I’d hated sex when I was younger, because it had never been about connection with those guys, but a race to see who could come first. Spoiler alert—it was never me. But Beau was totally content to see how far he could push me over the edge, taking satisfaction in my release.

The cabin smelled like warm bear and sex. My wolf rumbled with an insatiable craving. But there was only so long we could play with each other without losing all control. And those condoms had yet to arrive.

We’d stayed up all night. We’d just finished breakfast and the tension was thick between us. There was no denying that everything was different now.

Beau opened his laptop and sighed as he stared at the screen. This bear wasn’t meant to be stuck in front of a device. He needed to be outside, in the sunshine, free.

“Are you placing an order?” I teased.

“I am. Anything else we need?”

“I’m not sure Barrett would approve if we ordered a list of sex toys.”

Beau tensed, like his bear had come to life. “He’s got no room to judge. Tegan, his mate, was a client. And you’ve met Bellamy’s Clover. Also a client.”

“Seems like Sawtooth Security is batting a thousand.” I laughed. “I want you to surprise me.”

He nodded.

I took a deep breath. “Can I ask you a question?”

He slid the laptop to the side. “Of course. Anything.”

“What was different about last night for you?”

He furrowed his brow.

“I’m assuming you’ve never been with a woman my age before,” I elaborated. “It’s been a long time since I’ve been with a guy your age, and I have to say I loved how attentive you were. Like the entire world melted away and there was nothing but me and you.”

He nodded slowly. “I’m not used to women knowing exactly what they want, and you do. It’s refreshing that you want to talk about it.”

“If we don’t talk about it, we can’t make it better.” It wasn’t easy, but I didn’t want to be guessing what Beau was thinking. That kind of thing only led to misunderstandings and resentment.

“It was pretty damn good, if you ask me.” The words were tipped with a growl.

“It was good. But I want to blow your mind, bear.”

His face lit up. “I also loved how willing you were to make me happy. Like you didn’t have anything to prove.”

“You don’t have anything to prove either, Beau. You were amazing. Even if you used your emergency condom on some random encounter at The Redheaded Stepchild.”

And his cheeks turned pink. “Can I make a confession?”

“Of course. Like I said, I want to know everything about you.”

“Okay, so I have brought ladies to Red Heaven. But I never went all the way with them.”

Oh. I hadn’t expected that. “But you have?—”

“Absolutely,” he cut me off with a rumble. “Don’t get me wrong, it was fun to play back there, and I did. And we will. But something about it felt cheap. It wasn’t what I wanted anymore. I wanted something real.”

“I get that.”

“Have you ever had a long-term partner?” he asked.

I shook my head. “I always blamed my job for making it really hard to meet people. And as my other shifter friends just knew when they met their mate, I never felt that spark. I expected it to knock me over the moment I met him.”

“You mean, it didn’t?” he teased.

“Not exactly, but I knew there was something different about you the moment you walked in this cabin. I hadn’t planned to do anything about it. I considered you my set crush.”

He furrowed his brow. “What’s that?”

“Every season, we pick someone in the production to crush on. It’s harmless, and usually anonymous. Although, there have been some mate pairings that came from it.” I smiled. “But when you came out of the shower in nothing but a towel, my wolf insisted this wasn’t just a crush.”

“Seems like we have a thing for showers.”

“Make that order, bear.” I pointed at the laptop and laughed, but this conversation was avoiding the real issue. “So now what happens? We were so nervous about the party we didn’t think past that.”

“Right now, I’m sending Barrett a message, asking him if he still plans to use you in the undercover operation,” Beau said with more confidence than usual.

“If he hadn’t cut things short over the problems with the signal, you would’ve had a chance to go deeper yesterday.

And since you accomplished what you set out to do without revealing your identity, I don’t think there’s any reason to abandon that plan. ”

My heart thumped in my chest. Going undercover at a party full of friendly shifters was one thing. Putting myself into the belly of the beast was a completely different set of circumstances. I’d agreed to it, because I really needed to talk to Amelia.

The last person I thought would want to keep this plan alive was Beau.

Even though the mission had been successful, Amelia hadn’t provided us with that golden ticket—the information we wouldn’t be able to find anywhere else.

“Do you think there’s a threat locally?” I asked.

He shook his head. “Hard to tell. Everything happened fast yesterday. I’m asking for a debrief, because we need to know what’s happening with the investigation. I know they’ll be looking into the incident Amelia described. What they uncover will determine the next step.”

“Sounds like you know something I don’t.” I felt more in the dark about the case today than I had any other day since I’d arrived in Sawtooth Forest.

“Nothing I haven’t already shared with you. Barrett and Bellamy are getting close to the heart of this operation. They haven’t shared all the details with me, either. But I can assume, if they need you to go undercover, it would be soon.”

My chest felt heavy, the same way I used to feel on the first day of school, or waiting for callbacks of the spring theatrical production. “Any ideas what that would entail?”

“I’m not hiding anything from you, Kayla.” His gaze met mine, and all those warm fuzzy feelings from our sex recap moments ago felt like they had happened in another lifetime.

“I’m not saying you are. I’m just freaking out because I’ve agreed to go undercover to bust these guys who abducted me to do moon only what, and I have no idea what I said yes to.”

“I’ll get answers from Barrett,” Beau said.

“Right now. I’ll make sure he has a plan.

If you don’t like it, you can back out at any time.

Don’t feel like you have to do anything you aren’t comfortable with out of obligation.

Your safety is the most important part of this case. I won’t let you get hurt.”

“Thank you.” It made me feel slightly better that Beau low-key had doubts about this plan too, and at the same time, completely sick to my stomach.

Beau turned his attention back to his screen, and I picked up my tablet and settled on the couch. Gigi looked at me hopefully, with a limper-than-ever Rudolf hanging from her mouth, and her tail wagging. I patted the cushion, and she immediately accepted the invitation to come snuggle with me.

It was such a habit to stare at my screen during my downtime, and with my social account access blocked so no one could trace me back to the cabin, I had to get creative with entertainment.

I told myself I was just keeping up with my friends, checking out all The Wolf’s Moon pages, but looking at those pictures made me feel normal.

Like I was part of something that wasn’t dangerous.

The show’s site had a forum, and that was where the fans gathered.

We always marveled at how they found out details about the production that we didn’t even know yet, and we spent fifty hours a week on set.

This wasn’t the time for surprises, but I couldn’t check in with the producers, so this was the only way I could get up-to-date info about the life I’d left behind.

I chuckled as I ran my hand up Gigi’s back. She’d tucked herself against me, her body warm and comforting against my thigh.

I’d always thought I’d walk back onto set the same Kayla Mitchell who left early that day after her one scene.

But that was impossible. That woman didn’t exist anymore. My time with Beau in Sawtooth Forest had changed me.

Of course, I was still planning to go back to work—no actress in her right mind would ever walk away from a gig that sweet—but I had to consider how to bring these new pieces in my life with me.

Beau’s job was here, and as much as he liked to claim underdog status, he was an integral part of the firm.

Barrett would be crazy if he didn’t have big plans for this bear.

You can always make him your private security guard, my wolf suggested. And she was right, but that seemed selfish. Beau had a robust life here, and the last thing I wanted was for him to get bored with me.

Was I being ridiculous, even thinking we had a future beyond this cabin?

He sighed, like somehow he could read my thoughts, and I looked up to see him focusing intently on the laptop screen and stroking his beard, like he was deep in thought.

It took everything I had to not move the laptop away from him and make him put all that energy into me.

That order better come quick, because there was only so long the two of us could go right to the edge and still manage to hold back.

I turned my attention to my screen, which had opened to the forum discussion page. The top thread was always the most active, and this one made me gasp.

“Everything okay?” Beau asked.

“I hope so.” My finger hovered over the link. “There’s a thread in The Wolf’s Moon fan forum about the party yesterday.”

He raised a brow. “The one we were at?”

I nodded. “It’s no secret Amelia’s Sawtooth Pack. And The Real Werewives were doing an event. So I can see why the superfans would have gone. Wait, it wasn’t a private party, was it? It seemed too big for that.”

“No, it’s open to the public. The Sawtooth Pack welcomes everyone.” But his eyes darkened, and it was pretty clear that the policy had issues. “Anything of interest in there?”

“I haven’t looked yet. I’ll let you know.” I played it off like this was totally cool, no big deal, but my heart thundered in my chest, and my finger moved in slow motion on its way to tap that link.

OMG Moonies, a group of us took a road trip and spent Independence Day in Sawtooth Forest, where the local wolf pack throws an absolute rager of a party in the parking lot of the infamous Redheaded Stepchild.

Yes, you know the one, with Red Heaven in back.

This party had it all—bands, burgers, beer—but your holiday party probably had those too.

But did you have an opportunity to audition for the next season of The Real Werewives or get a chance to hang out with Amelia Barrett at your cookout?

Didn’t think so!

Keep scrolling for pics—and I’ll talk about the audition experience in another post!

I braced myself as I did as the original poster asked.

The party looked totally different in still life.

The first group of pictures were of who I assumed were the four gals who made the trip.

They included a ton of pictures of the food tents, the band, and of course, The Real Werewives area.

I was actually looking forward to reading the update on the audition.

I wanted everyone to find their fated mates.

My heart skipped a beat when Amelia’s image came onto the screen.

It was her sitting with Luna and Lyssie, and I took a moment to thank the moon that I dodged that bullet.

The picture could’ve been taken moments before I approached the ladies.

I didn’t remember seeing anyone taking pictures, but I had been laser focused on my goal.

It wasn’t the only picture of Amelia, of course. She was the star of the show, and everyone would want a flipbook’s worth of images of her. There were tons of comments under each one.

“Oh, shit.” I clapped my hand over my mouth.

Beau looked up from his laptop. “What happened?”

I could barely form words. “I’m in this picture with Amelia.”

His mouth dropped, and he was all animal as he rose from the chair and stalked over to the couch. He settled on the other side of me, and Gigi picked up her head to see what had her dad so upset.

I tapped the picture on the tablet.

“It’s kinda blurry,” he rationalized. “And you’re in disguise.”

“Right, but it’s still me.” I was pretty sure my wolf was about to make an appearance. I willed her to stay inside me as I hit the link to view the comments.

Beau put his hand on my arm, reading over my shoulder. I’m pretty sure neither of us took a breath as I scanned the entire thread twice, making sure my name didn’t emerge from the shadows.

“They didn’t figure it out.” Still, it wasn’t time to let our guard down. “Yet. Nothing gets by these superfans.”

“I need to let Barrett know,” Beau said with a growl as he rose. “And I plan to recommend you don’t get sent undercover.”