Today's snippet is from Cameron and Keaton (Operation True One). Operation True One is a series featuring Kodiak Grizzly bears. Grizzlies aren't warm and cuddly on a good day. To love one would be hard enough, but add in the fact they want to kill you creates a stressful situation. I tried to give Cameron his animal. He's not the most popular with readers, but Keaton loves him and in his own way, Cameron adores Keaton.
A group of concerned men and women surrounded the red-faced teddy bear. Hands pushed aside shaking fuzzy paws and yanked on the stubborn zipper at the bear’s neck, sending the man stumbling back until a gray-faced ghoul caught him.
Cameron Kodiak had seen enough. Making his way through the crowd of dancing Halloween partiers, Cam used his impressive height and wide muscled form to reach the pink teddy bear he had been watching all evening.
Eyes, large enough to drown in, widened as he drew near. One of the would-be helpers leaned over, blocking Cam’s view before he could see what color the man’s eyes were. Cam suppressed the urge to separate that person’s head from his body.
Leaning down, Cam put his mouth next to the stranger’s real ear covered in fake fur.
“Turn around,” he ordered.
Cam glared at the crowd surrounding them and caught the man when he would have tipped over in his haste to do as Cam had asked. Satisfaction at the man’s instant response soothed Cam’s irritation. He had no patience for people manhandling someone who had snared and kept his interest throughout the evening. It didn’t matter that they had no knowledge of that interest or that he hadn’t acted on it. Cam had staked his claim and the others better back off.
A quick jerk tore the zipper free from the snagging plastic hair. Cam opened the costume, revealing a tight T-shirt and painted-on jeans. He didn’t bother to resist skimming his fingertips over the sweet curve of the man’s lower back or the round globes of his ass. Nice.
“Keaton, are you okay? I told you that costume would be too hot to dance in.”
A skinny dark-haired man dressed in a French maid’s costume stood in front of Cam, shifting his weight from one high-heeled, delicate black sandal to the other. Giving the newcomer a deliberate message, Cam put his arm across his new interest’s fur-covered chest and pulled him back into the protection of his body.
“Whoa.” The intruder stepped back and raised his hands, one still holding a fluffy duster. “I see you’ve met someone. Damn, how do you always find big, bad, and gorgeous?” The man shook his head and the little white maid’s hat tilted at an odd angle. “I don’t think you’ll be needing it, but let me know if you need a ride home, Keaton.”
The man in Cam’s arms moved. Cam tightened his hold and the one called Keaton settled down. The instant compliance mollified Cam’s building annoyance at the interruption of getting to know this intriguing peace of sweetness.
The crowd around them dispersed, and the man in the maid’s costume disappeared into the mass of dancing bodies, leaving him alone with the little bear in his arms. Cam suppressed a chuckle. He wondered how this Keaton would handle the knowledge that a real bear held him.
Cam tugged the costume down Keaton’s legs and left the pink fur lying in a puddle on the floor. Amusement at the sight of the Keaton’s slim bare feet curved Cam’s lips into a rare smile. If Cam had his way, he would keep as much of Keaton’s body uncovered as possible.
Cam held out his hand. “Let’s go get a drink.”
The small man turned and placed his hand in Cam’s.
Time stopped.
In the glow from a beer sign hanging near their heads, Cam met a gaze made of ice blue. Never before had he encountered eyes of that color. His bear roared, and his guts cramped into knots.
* * * *
Keaton Johnston watched Cameron Martin Kodiak grind his teeth together and winced. Could it be that the huge man’s insides were feeling as if vice grips were clamping down on them? Would he turn caveman and claim Keaton? Could the legends of the bear people and the stories of his family be true?
The need to give this man his complete submission was something new. Keaton had never felt that way before. Was he the first of his cousins to be successful in their search for true happiness? Prickles of hope and anticipation raced over Keaton’s skin.
Leaving his costume abandoned on the floor, Keaton let the big man lead him toward the bar area.
Cameron lifted his hand and the bartender set two open beers on the bar. Keaton took a quick drink of the one Cameron handed him, trying to calm his nerves. If he didn’t somehow know it would enrage the man before him, Keaton would have taken out his phone and texted his cousins. If Cameron wasn’t his, he may be one of theirs. Yeah, that left a bitter taste in his mouth. Keaton wanted this one.
A large, deeply tanned, muscled arm reached across Keaton and rested on the bar, trapping him in the circle of Cameron’s big body. Keaton suppressed the urge to run his fingertips through the dark hairs covering that arm.
Keaton froze when Cameron leaned forward and lips brushed over his ear. “What’s your name, pretty man?”
“Keaton Johnston,” he answered, unable to not answer, which was weird.
Cameron’s tone turned hard. “Who’s that guy in the maid costume?”
Keaton kept his gaze lowered. “Just a friend.”
A finger under Keaton’s chin forced him to look up.
“I’m Cam Kodiak,” the big man stated. “I own this bar, and I want to be more than your friend.”
“Okay,” Keaton responded and hoped his heart wasn’t about to explode. The guy was so gorgeous, he yearned to press up against him, and stay there forever.
A hand clamped onto Keaton’s ass and another landed on his shoulder. “Hey, Cam, who’s this sweet thing you’ve got there? Do you want to party together? I’m up for it.”
Before Keaton could turn and see who was manhandling him, Cam roared and all hell proceeded to break loose.
Cam grabbed the newcomer by the throat. Keaton couldn’t take his eyes off the bulging and rippling muscles of Cam’s arms as he lifted and threw the guy over the bar where he crashed into a display of hard liquor bottles. Keaton cringed when glass and liquid exploded in all directions. The man didn’t move, but lay there watching Cam. Which was probably a good thing because Cam wasn’t finished in his display of testosterone-filled antics.
An arm slid around Keaton’s waist and lifted him up against Cam’s hard body. Automatically he spread his legs and clamped them around Cam’s torso. Keaton’s breath caught. Cam’s over warm body against Keaton’s groin sent sparkles of heat radiating through his lower belly.
Cam turned in a circle and addressed the now quiet room. “Keaton is mine. No one touches him.”
Keaton shivered at the power radiating off of the big man. Death would come to anyone who chose to ignore Cam’s clear message.
A long, drawn-out silence, where nobody moved, invaded the room. Moments lengthened, until finally the music started and everyone went back to partying. Only then, Keaton found he could breathe again.
Keaton reached up and brushed his fingers through Cam’s soft hair. “I think you’ve made your point. You can let me down now.”
Cam turned his gaze on Keaton. Peeking through his lashes, Keaton observed that light brown, almost gold, had replaced the deep brown shade of Cam’s eyes. If Keaton was correct about his nature, Cam’s bear was near the surface.
“You are where you belong.” Cam’s nostrils flared and Keaton lowered his gaze to Cam’s chest.
What had he’d been thinking when he had ordered Cam to release him? The truth was, he hadn’t been. If Cam was his true one, he was a bear shifter.
According to his great-great grandfather’s notes and the thick scroll he and his cousins had found in an old box in the attic, bear shifters were grumpy and volatile on a good day. The time after meeting and before claiming their true one, bear shifters were to be handled carefully. Bloodshed happened.
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