Bear Bound (California Bears #3) Read online

  Bear Bound

  (California Bears Series)

  By Rachel Real

  © 2015 by Rachel Real. All rights reserved.

  Thank you for checking out my book.

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  WARNING:

  Explicit and graphic love scenes are ahead. If you are uncomfortable with VERY GRAPHIC sex, turn back now. This book is intended for readers 18+

  California Bears Series

  Heat Wave (1)

  Bear Mates (2)

  Bear Bound (3)

  Table of Contents

  Copyright Page

  Disclaimer

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  More Books by Rachel Real

  Chapter One

  Everly Rose loved to wake up every morning to the smell of fresh honey. She tended a small sunflower honey farm in Napa, California. What she missed most was collecting the honey combs out in the field with her father. After he passed away from a long battle with lung cancer six months ago, she’d been wholly overwhelmed with taking care of the honey farm all on her own.

  It didn’t help that her sister, Birdie never ever tried to chip in. She was too busy trying to make it as a model down in L.A., that she didn’t even bother to show up at their dad’s funeral. All of her life, Everly got compared to her slender, willowy and divinely beautiful sister. Especially, because Everly had tangled curly hair and a thicker curvier frame.

  Her eyes peered to the horizon, seeing the sun had only slightly risen—she had a lot of work ahead of her if she wanted to get anything done for the day. Everly shoved on her beekeeper suit one leg at a time and headed out to the field. As she started to collect the honey comb, a loud banging noise blurted in her ears.

  Jesus! What the hell is all of that noise? She thought, pursing her lips.

  She had the right gumption to give whoever was making that racket a piece of her mind!

  Everly stomped across her field all the way until she reached the main road.

  BANG! BANG!

  She squinted her eyes, at a construction crew lifting a giant sign right in front of her.

  “Cade Forrest’s Sunshine Spa and Resort...Coming soon...” she read aloud at a plod.

  “Yes, that’s my name...” a dark voice growled.

  Everly pivoted on her heels and faced the tall, dark and mouth-watering looking stranger.

  He had sinful thick brown hair and these earthy brown eyes. With her tongue utterly tied, and her stomach in knots, Everly couldn’t figure out what to say.

  “My name’s Cade Forrest. I actually came here to introduce myself to the owner of this honey farm,” Cade grunted, giving Everly’s luscious curves the once over with his hungry eyes. Everly noticed the mysterious stranger’s leering gaze, and wouldn’t stand it a second longer.

  “Take a picture why don’t you?” She sneered, digging her fists in her hips. “Yeah, I’m the owner. Why are you making all of this ruckus?”

  Cade thought the angry pout on Everly’s face was the cutest thing he’d ever seen.

  Cade shrugged his broad shoulders and said, “I want to buy it. I’m going to need this land to make more room for my resort’s luxury pools.”

  A venomous anger coursed through Everly’s veins.

  Mow down my dad’s farm so some snobby rich people can go skinny dipping?

  No way!

  “Look, I don’t care who you are...Mr. Forrest. My farm is not for sell. Got it?” Everly spat very firm and then trotted off.

  “I think since you’ve been very nasty to me, at the very least, you owe it to me to tell me your name?” Cade asked, watching Everly storm off.

  Everly tilted her head to the side. “I’m sure wherever you come from people grovel at your feet,” Everly started to say. “But Mr. Forrest, I don’t owe you a damn thing.”

  Cade just relaxed his shoulders, not bothered or the least bit worried. He knew tomorrow he would try again.

  Chapter Two

  Everly woke up even earlier the next morning to make a trip down to City Hall. She owned her farm—fair and square—and needed to have that stated in writing just in case that bastard Forrest wanted to cook up some kinda land dispute. Everly hurried through the doors and noticed a tall, nicely dressed man leaning against the counter.

  Everly widened her eyes. Mr. Forrest!? But how did he???

  He smiled as she approached.

  “Everly,” Cade called in his dark low voice. “Nice to see you this morning.”

  Cade acted perfectly normal as though Everly didn’t absolutely hate his guts.

  “Wanna tell me what you’re doing here?” Everly huffed, trying to not to let this jerk get under her skin.

  “You’re just in time. I finalized some deeds. Turns out, that honey farm you owned, was under some serious debt to the state so I paid it off. Which means—the farm is now in my name,” Cade said turning his fierce red eyes on to her.

  Everly’s family had owned that honey farm for generations. And now it’s gone. In a snap—just like that.

  “No, wait. That can’t be right. My father gave it to me. You can’t just claim it as your own,” Everly cried snatching the finalized paperwork from Cade’s grasp.

  Her bottom lip trembled with rage, but before she could blurt out an insult... Cade offered a suggestion.

  “I might consider reselling you the property under one condition...” Cade growled.

  Everly did her very best to not let her pride get in the way.

  “What sort of condition?” she asked, surveying his burly muscles that bulged as Cade folded his arms. He just looked so solid. Like a human carved from stone. He had a well-built body of the likes she’d never seen on any man.

  “I want to take you out for dinner,” Cade commanded, leaning in close enough that Everly could see the forbidding crimson color of his mysterious eyes.

  Hold on a sec, is this guy asking me...on a date?

  With so few options left, deep down Everly knew that she’d have no other choice than to begrudgingly accept Cade’s offer.

  She gulped down most of her anger. “Pick me up at 8:00,” Everly sighed.

  A smile stretched across Cade’s strong jaw, he definitely had big plans for Everly.

  Chapter Three

  Everly preened in her bathroom mirror. For a second, she paused. Everly, this isn’t really a date. So, you don’t need to fry your hair with the flat iron and please go easy on the blush... It’s been so long since anyone had asked her to do...well—anything. To most people she just kept to herself, and occasionally sold honey at the local farmer’s market.

  Everly preferred the solitude. It meant less people judging her and less people gawking at her. But she couldn’t ever avoid being gabbed about by everyone in her town. Her eyes glanced over to the clock on her cell phone.

  8:10. It blinked.

  Cade was running late. Everly surprised herself. She didn’t expect to feel this disappointed.

  Don’t be foolish! It’s not like you didn’t already know what kind of a man you were dealing with. Does this really come as a surprise?

  R-I-N-G!

  A sudden ring of Everly’s doorbell startled her. She took one last deep breath, trying to quell her anxious nerves. Swinging open her door, Everly fully regarded Cade’s well-groomed appearance, despite his ferocious wild eyes.
Cade wore this casual flax colored button down with dark denim jeans.

  Cade did the same, taking a look at how nicely her saffron yellow sundress hugged her well-proportioned curves.

  “You dress up nicely...” Cade said, approving of Everly’s frock with a slow nod.

  “I guess you don’t look too bad yourself... unfortunately, that’s pretty much where my compliments end,” Everly replied, holding her arms in tight to her body. At her age, thirty-three, she was no prude—exactly. But she didn’t feel one hundred percent in her own skin.

  “So, is this how it’s going to be all night? Are you going to cop an attitude with me the entire time?” Cade asked not really threatened but also trying to see how much more he could turn Everly’s tightly wound screws.

  Everly didn’t even bother to respond. She simply flicked her purse under her arm and ducked into Cade’s black luxury sedan. It occurred to Cade that Everly’s walls were built much higher than he thought.

  *

  Everly hated dinner dates. Usually, she got tongue tied when trying to make pointless blather. Cade noticed her fidgeting relentlessly in her chair.

  “Well, don’t you look comfortable?” he growled sarcastically, watching her with predatory eyes.

  Everly wanted to point the attention away from her.

  “You clearly aren’t hurting for money,” Everly muffled while perusing her menu. “What do you do for a living?”

  Cade reclined back in his chair, placing a napkin in his lap. You could just look at him—his posture, his oozing confidence—and know he came from wealth. “I’m a real estate developer. A ‘land shark’... I buy up a lot of property and build resorts.” He said as he oddly sniffed the wine.

  And suddenly for Everly it clicked. She just realized she sipped wine with the biggest, and most infamous, real estate developer in all of California. Forrest hotels had frequently been slammed in the news for buying up untouched land and mowing it down for another run of the mill luxury resort.

  “Oh, now I see,” Everly aired while squinting her eyes. “You’re the jerk whose been chopping down those trees, making it harder for bears to hide away from humans.”

  When she noticed Cade’s eyes darkening, Everly knew she finally hit on his nerve.

  “I’m not some bleeding heart for wild bloodthirsty bears. The less bears prowling around the better...” Cade grunted, visibly upset. And then, he fell silent.

  “Why are you being so quiet all of a sudden?” Everly asked, staring concerned at Cade’s locking jaw.

  “That’s not what I’m doing...” Cade grunted.

  “That’s exactly what you’re doing,” Everly replied.

  Everly could never like a man who would hurt innocent animals. It disgusted her to her stomach to think he used his money and influence to destroy natural life. For whatever reason, he clearly had a hatred for wild brown bears. She changed the subject.

  “What will it take to get my farm back?”

  Cade finally cooled off. “The real question is... what are you willing to do to get it back?” He grinned with a sexy smile.

  Everly dropped her napkin on the table. I can’t even!! She thought.

  “You’re such a son of a bitch...” she hissed.

  There was no way she was going to spend another second with this cruel heartless man. She rose to her feet, veered around and strutted out of the restaurant door.

  *

  That night, Everly was much too lazy to rinse off the mascara and blush off of her face. She snored deep in the pit of her soft pillow. Abruptly, she flipped around, hearing a loud crash out on her farm. Grabbing her flashlight, Everly took off out of her front door and ran into the field. The buzz of bees hummed in her ears as she frantically swung the flash light to and fro.

  Everly staggered back at the sight of a burly beast rising up on its haunches to its full frightening furry length. A hulking brown bear stood, looking confused with honey dripping from its mouth.

  “Shoo!” Everly cursed, trying to make it scamper off. Instead, the bear fell on its back, clutching its stomach as though it had eaten way too much. Then her eyes widened not believing what she saw. The fur vanished slowly from covering the bear’s body. A musclebound naked man lay down in the soft dirt. Everly stepped up close and then dropped her flashlight when she recognized the man’s face.

  “Cade!?” she blurted.

  Chapter Four

  Everly looked at Cade sleeping nearly naked on her couch. She still tried to wrap her head around exactly what she saw last night. And she was going to do whatever it took to get answers out of the snobby businessman resting on her couch. Everly kicked one of the cushions.

  “Okay, sleep time is over...” Everly screeched.

  Cade roused upright, jerking back and frantically sniffing the air.

  “Wh-where am I?” He grunted. He then turned his firey red eyes on Everly.

  “Wh-who are you?”

  Everly glared at him not sure if he was just playing one of his stupid head games.

  “I’m Everly Rose, you and I went out on a date...” Everly only too late realized her stupid mistake. “I-I mean we went out for dinner.”

  Cade cocked his head to one side. He got up fast from where he sat and rushed naked into the kitchen. With a forceful swing, he opened the fridge door and shoved whatever he could find in his mouth.

  Why is he acting like some wild animal? Everly asked herself. She just couldn’t wait any longer and had asked him up front to explain the whole bear-thing from last night.

  “I want you to explain what happened last night,” Everly asked, watching Cade turn his lean and agile body towards her.

  “I’m a werebear a—shifter by moonlight. Werebears live in clans deep in the forest,” Cade confessed with a piece of lunch meat hanging from his mouth.

  Now, it seemed like Cade hungered for something else as he leaned in close to Everly. Cade then sniffed her hair, gazing upon Everly with craving eyes. Everly felt her heart racing but only ignored it.

  It all sounded so crazy, but Everly saw Cade transform from a man to a bear with her own eyes. She squinted, and noticed a small gash on the back of his head.

  Maybe when Cade tripped last night, he hit his head a little too hard. If he can’t remember who he is, does that mean he can’t remember buying my farm? Everly suspected.

  Then a mischievous little smile stretched across Everly’s cheek. She started cooking up a plan up in her head.

  Why don’t I keep him here, nurse him back to health and then trick him to sign my farm back over to me...?

  Of course, this plan meant she’d have to allow a werebear to stay over for a few weeks—which she hated— but figured it was only a small price to pay. Everly grabbed hold of Cade’s strapping shoulder.

  “Maybe you just need a place to stay and relax... I have plenty of room here on the farm. I don’t mind putting you up as long as you don’t mind pitching in,” Everly suggested, looking up at him with innocent doe eyes.

  Cade agreed, giving a feral nod.

  “Okay, now that that’s settled. The first order of business will be to get you some clothes...” Everly said, unable to help leering at Cade’s perfect naked form. Everly held up a single finger. “Just wait right here,” she told him before pacing up her stairs. She hadn’t stepped foot in her father’s bedroom since he died.

  It still smells like his cologne. She thought. The floorboards creaked under her soft steps. As she grabbed a few shirts and pants from her father’s closet, a part of her felt like a traitor for going through his things.

  “Sorry dad,” Everly whispered half aloud.

  She made her way back downstairs and quickly handed the nicely folded clothes over to Cade.

  “Not yet,” Cade grunted. “I must first gather firewood to keep the house warm.”

  Cade’s voice was so dark and manly. It almost sounded like he was meant to be there to protect her. Everly studied him from her kitchen window as Cade shifted into a hulkin
g bear. Cade then hoisted up lots of firewood in his sharp jaws and placed it in a pile next to Everly’s cabin.

  It’s nice to have a helping hand around the house. Everly thought. She had gotten sick of having to do every last thing by herself. During the whole day, Everly’s daily chores got finished triple fast with Cade stuck at her side. As the sun began to set, Everly spotted Cade out near her garage and tinkering on her father’s old ford pick up. She held a jar of honey for him to eat.

  “Don’t bother,” She warned him. “I’ve been trying to fix that piece of junk for what feels like forever.”

  Cade rose up from underneath the hood, his shirt and face were covered in oil. Just ogling at him made Everly feel urges she hadn’t felt in a long time. Cade had his flannel shirt buttoned down in the front and the sleeves rolled up into cuffs. Underneath all of the grime, she could easily make out his tanned bronzed abs.

  “It works fine,” he growled. “Just needed an oil change.”

  Everly almost didn’t believe him. She’d literally been trying to get that heap of junk running for years without much luck.

  “Wow...” she breathed genuinely shocked. “Thank you. By the way... this is for you.”

  She handed him the jar. Cade just nodded, putting away his tools. He then scooped up a handful of honey and savored it in his mouth. Everly had to admit, she thought it was cute.

  Everly spoke up. “I’m getting a toasty fire started in the house, you’re more than welcome to join me.”

  *

  Cade simply gave a low snarl and followed her inside, carrying an armful of firewood.

  Like nothing, he hurled the heavy logs into the fire. Everly just stood and watched, amazed at his strength.

  “Come, sit with me,” He beckoned Everly with a low growl. His entire body was glistening with sweat after a hard long day’s work. And a glow of fire light reflected in his blood red eyes. Everly cautiously scooted under his bulging bicep and strangely felt a great comfort snuggling up against him. She could hear his heart thundering so fast in his broad chest.

  Am I really warming up to him? She wondered. Cade held her tight, like he possessed her and claimed her as his own. He lowered his hand to Everly’s cheek, and she gazed up at him with half-lidded eyes.