The Bear Essentials (Siren Publishing: The Stormy Glenn ManLove Collection) Page 5

  Casey’s eyes were sober and serious in one blink. “Oh, but—”

  “I promise, cub.” Rob pressed his hand to the side of Casey’s face, which had suddenly gone pale. “Remember what my mom said, Casey. You are safe in this house.”

  Casey nodded, but he didn’t seem convinced.

  “Five minutes, cub. Just three hundred measly seconds.”

  Casey’s lips twitched at the corners. “Three hundred, huh?”

  Rob grinned. “Not a second longer.”

  “I’ll be counting.”

  “You’re the best, cub.” Rob leaned in for another kiss before jumping to his feet and racing up the stairs. He didn’t have a single second to waste.

  * * * *

  Casey felt a little strange sitting in the living room all by himself after Rob went up the stairs, but he really didn’t want to go back into the kitchen. Rob’s dad scared him with his intense stares. It made Casey feel like he had done something wrong.

  He hadn’t.

  After sitting there for what felt like eons, Casey got up and walked over to the wall of pictures. He clasped his hands behind his back, determined not to touch a single thing…until he started noticing the cute little brown-haired boy in several of the photographs. He picked up one that caught his attention. The small boy was standing next to a younger-looking Robert, baseball mitt held tightly in his hands.

  “You were so cute.” He laughed softly as he traced Rob’s younger face through the glass with his finger. He wished he had pictures like that to share with Rob. He just didn’t. Foster parents didn’t tend to take pictures of kids they weren’t keeping.

  Maybe they could get a camera and take some pictures together. Casey laughed again, sucking in his bottom lip as happiness welled up inside of him. Maybe they start making some memories of their own.

  “What are you doing?”

  Casey squeaked as he jumped and jerked around. Fear as black as midnight swamped him when he found himself facing off what could possibly be the biggest man he had ever seen. He was even bigger than Rob, and Rob was huge.

  The dark menacing glare on the man’s chiseled features made Casey take a hesitant step back. This man could end him so easily. The power emanating from him filled the room until it threatened to cut off the air to Casey’s lungs.

  “I asked you a question,” the man snapped out. “What are you doing?”

  “No–nothing.”

  The man’s eyes narrowed. “Who the hell are you?”

  “N–no one.”

  Casey took a hasty step back when the massive man advanced on him. He could see the beatdown coming and he wondered if he would survive it. The guy’s hands were the size of salad plates. He could easily kill Casey with one punch.

  Oh man, this was so going to hurt.

  Chapter Six

  Rob tied the strings on his shorts as he hurried down the stairs. His bear was screaming at him to get back to Casey, that they had been away far too long, even if it had only been a few minutes. Still, there was a lightness to his steps as he skipped down the stairs.

  He had a mate.

  Rob couldn’t wait to introduce Casey to Billy Ray, Jed, and Dwayne. The three men had been his best buds for more years than he could remember. They were as thick as thieves, his mother liked to say. They had started playing together on the playground and gone through the discovery of girls, and then boys. They had watched each other’s backs, borrowed homework, and backed each other when they got in trouble. They were best friends.

  And Rob knew they were going to adore Casey.

  Rob hopped down the last couple of steps, his eagerness to get to Casey making him a little less careful than he knew he should be. His mother would have his head if she saw him coming down the steps that fast.

  “Oh, hey, Harvey.” Rob grinned when he spotted his older brother heading down the hallway toward the back of the house. The man was home on leave from the service. There were only a couple of years between them so they were pretty close. Harvey was another person Rob couldn’t wait to introduce Casey to. “There’s someone I want you to meet. He’s—”

  “Honey-blond hair? Stands about this tall?” Harvey held his hand up chest high. “Sad soulful eyes that make you want to go out and kill something for him?”

  “Yeah.” Rob paused at the bottom of the steps. He glanced toward the living room, a kernel of fear ignited in his gut when he failed to spot his mate. “Casey was—”

  Harvey winced, looking guilty as hell. “I think I scared him.” His face took on an ashen tint as he pointed down the hallway. “He went that way.”

  “Shit!” Rob hopped down the last step and started down the hallway, searching every inch for his mate. “What’d you do to him?”

  “I just asked him who he was and what he was doing.”

  Rob threw a glare over his shoulder. “And?”

  Harvey’s shoulders slumped as he shoved a hand over his close shaven head. “And I may have been a little more aggressive in my asking than I should have been.”

  Rob growled as he clenched his fists so he wouldn’t punch his brother. “So help me, if you weren’t my brother…”

  “He’s human, Rob.” Harvey waved his hand back toward the living room. “He was standing there all alone. I had no idea where you were, where Mom and Dad were. There was just this human I didn’t know standing in my living room.”

  Rob narrowed his eyes. “Do you have a problem with humans?”

  Harvey blinked at him as if he hadn’t even considered that Rob would think that. “No. I have a problem with strangers in my house.”

  “Mom and Dad’s house,” Rob reminded Harvey as he picked up his steps. When he reached the far end of the hallway, he turned the corner into the kitchen. “Mom, did Casey come in here?”

  “No, son.”

  “Damn it.”

  “Language, Rob.”

  “Yes, Mother.”

  “Now.” Maggie dried her hands on her hand towel. “What seems to be the problem?”

  “Harvey scared Casey and he took off and now I can’t find him.” Rob got a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach. “You don’t think he left, do you?”

  Could Casey have been that scared?

  Panic clawed its way up Rob’s throat. If something happened to his mate, he wasn’t sure how he’d survive it. Within seconds of meeting Casey, Rob knew he needed the man in his life. It wasn’t instant love but it was damn close. Casey was everything he had ever wanted in a mate.

  “We have to find him.” Rob swung back around and raced out of the kitchen. He started searching, going from room to room, looking for Casey. He could hear the others calling out for Casey as they searched as well.

  By the time the upstairs and downstairs had been searched and they all met up again at the base of the stairs, the panic Rob felt had turned into an all-out anxiety attack. His heart beat so hard and fast, he wondered why it wasn’t beating right out of his chest. He fought to keep his tears at bay.

  “He can’t have just disappeared,” Rob whispered as despair started to drag him down.

  “Could someone have gotten into the house and taken him?” Harvey asked.

  “We would have smelled an intruder, son,” their father replied.

  “We should have been able to smell—” Rob choked up as an idea struck him. It seemed almost impossible and yet at the same time, it seemed like the perfect answer. “I think I know where Casey is.”

  Rob took off running toward the back of the house. His feet skidded across the tiled floor as he raced into the laundry room. Ignoring the large washer and dryer, Rob raced to the dirty clothes hamper. The thing reeked of stinky socks and dirty linen. It was the perfect place to hide if one wanted to mask their scent.

  God, his mate was smart…and scared.

  “Casey, cub?” Rob called out as he started flinging dirty clothes out of the way, searching the large square hamper for his mate. Rob froze when he felt something hard with his fingers, his
heart pounding so hard his chest hurt. “Cub?”

  Lifting a couple of towels out of the way, Rob found himself staring down into the tearstained face of his mate. “Oh, cub.”

  He reached down and lifted Casey out of the hamper before cradling the smaller man in his arms. “What happened, cub? Why did you run?”

  “Some…some man…” Casey sniffled. “He started yelling and I couldn’t find you and…”

  “That man was my brother Harvey.” Rob sent his brother a glare. Harvey flushed and looked away. They would discuss Harvey’s aggression issues later after Rob had calmed his mate down.

  “Your…your brother?” Casey started shaking so hard, Rob needed to hold on to him tighter just to keep the man from falling out of his arms.

  “Remember rule number two, cub. The scent of your mate is calming and comforting.” Rob smiled when Casey instantly turned and buried his face in Rob’s neck. “Good, cub.”

  Rob kept one arm wrapped around Casey, pressing the man’s face into his neck with the other as he walked past his brother and parents. He walked to the living room and sat down in one of the overly plush chairs his mother loved so much. They could easily fit more than one human. They were just big enough to be comfortable for a bear shifter. They were perfect for one human and one bear shifter.

  Once settled back in the chair, Rob held Casey on his lap. He rubbed his hand up and down Casey’s back in a soothing gesture all the while gritting his teeth to keep from yelling out his anger at how the man’s backbone protruded. His mate was far too skinny.

  “Mom, could you make Casey a cup of honey tea?” It always calmed him when he was stressed.

  “Of course, son.” Maggie smiled. “And maybe some honey cookies? I just made a fresh batch.”

  Rob whimpered as his mouth watered. He loved honey cookies. Warm honey cookies were even better. He stilled when he heard a small sound from Casey. He waited a moment before rubbing his cheek against the top of Casey’s head. “You gonna share those honey cookies with your mate, cub?”

  Rob smiled when he heard the sound again as Casey nodded into his neck. The man was giggling. He was still mesmerized by the sweet sound. Glancing up to find his brother and father staring at Casey with their mouths hanging open, Rob realized he wasn’t the only one stunned by Casey joyful giggle.

  “Are you ready to come out and meet my brother, cub?” Rob asked. “I promise you that he will not hurt you.”

  A small shudder racked Casey’s body as he drew in a breath and then raised his head. Rob grew concerned when Casey leaned into him, his fingers curling into Rob’s shirt. He was holding on for dear life, almost as if he thought if he let go Rob would drop him.

  Rob pressed his lips to Casey’s head and hugged the man even tighter. “I’m not going anywhere, Casey,” he whispered against Casey’s temple so the man would hear him. “You’re stuck with me for life, remember? Bears mate for life.”

  “But I’m not a bear,” Casey insisted.

  “That’s okay, cub,” Rob replied as he started to smile. God, he adored his mate. “I’m a big enough bear for both of us.”

  “Here you go, dear.”

  Rob looked up when his mother spoke. He nudged Casey, encouraging him to take the cup of tea and small saucer of honey cookies she held out to him. When Casey went to stand, Rob pulled him back onto his lap. He had no intention of letting Casey go anytime soon. The fear of not knowing where Casey was still buzzed inside of him.

  He might even consider gluing the man to his side.

  “I didn’t mean to scare you,” Harvey said out of the blue. “I didn’t know who you were and I didn’t see any of my family and…well…” Harvey’s face was a little paler than usual as he started down at his hands, twisting them together in a nervous gesture Rob couldn’t ever remember seeing. “I’m just sorry I scared you.”

  No one said anything. It was almost as if everyone was holding their breath to see what Casey’s reaction would be. Rob knew he was the luckiest bear on the planet when Casey leaned forward and held the plate of honey cookies out to Harvey.

  Surprise raised Harvey’s eyebrows and colored his face. “Thank you,” he said softly as he reached for a cookie.

  Rob smiled at his brother when Casey leaned back into his arms and began nibbling on one of the cookies. “We’re going to head down to the river and hang out with the guys. Would you like to join us?”

  “Me?” Harvey asked. “You don’t think I’ll cramp your style?”

  “You’re not that much older than me, Harvey.” Like three years.

  Harvey sighed. “Sometimes I feel ancient.”

  “Then you really should come.” Rob chuckled. “It might remind you of what it was like to be young again.”

  Harvey rolled his eyes. “I’ll think about it.”

  “You could use the fresh air, son,” Maggie said. “You’ve been stuck inside the house since you got home. Go have fun.”

  “Mom,” Harvey groaned.

  “I’ll make you all a basket to take to the river,” Maggie said as she stood and started for the kitchen. “You really do need some home cooking. You’re nothing but skin and bones, Harvey. Don’t they feed you in the service? I swear I’m going to have to call that general of yours and give him a piece of my mind. Imagine, starving a growing boy like this.”

  Rob chuckled at the pinched panic on his brother’s face. He leaned over and whispered, “If you go to the river with us, you can escape her nagging.”

  Harvey shot him a wide-eyed look. “Done.”

  * * * *

  Rob glanced at Casey as he pulled his truck into a spot in the dirt lot near the edge of the river. He hadn’t said much since they left the house, not even how he felt about Harvey coming along for the gathering. Rob was starting to grow worried.

  “How are you hanging in there, cub?”

  Casey just smiled up at him. It didn’t quite reach his beautiful caramel eyes.

  Rob turned the truck off and pulled the keys out before putting them into his pocket of his jeans and turning to Casey. “What’s wrong, cub?”

  “Nothing.”

  Rob wanted to call bullshit, but he didn’t want to upset Casey.

  Still…

  One yank on his seat lever and a push with his foot and there was plenty of room between him and the steering wheel for his little cub. Rob reached over and picked Casey up, setting the man down on his lap with one of Casey’s legs on each side of him.

  “Now, want to try again?”

  Casey ducked his head. The strong sour scent of fear and uncertainty filled the cab of the truck. Rob couldn’t have that. He used his index finger under Casey’s chin to lift his face up until he could see his eyes.

  “What’s wrong, cub?” he asked in what he hoped was a soothing tone. “I can’t fix it if you don’t tell me.”

  “What…what if they don’t like me?”

  “Oh, cub, is that what has you so worried?” Rob pulled Casey forward, pressing the man’s face into his neck. He smiled when he heard Casey’s soft inhale. The human had the beginnings of strong bear instincts. That boded well for their future together. “My friends will adore you simply because of how happy you make me.”

  Chapter Seven

  Casey stayed close to Rob as the man carried the cooler and a black duffel bag down to a spot close to the river’s edge. Logs had been set up in a semicircle around a fire pit made of rocks. Rob walked over and set his cooler down next to another one that was already there. He dropped the duffel bag down close to one of the logs.

  “Why don’t you spread that blanket out right here?” Rob indicated the area next to the duffel bag.

  Casey stepped forward and shook out the blanket Rob had handed him back at the truck, spreading it on the grass as Rob had indicated. As soon as he was done, Rob plopped down and started sliding his shoes off. When he reached for the hem of his shirt and started to pull it over his head, Casey felt drool pool in his mouth. Had a more perfect specimen of
manhood ever been created?

  “Are you going to join me, cub?”

  Casey tore his eyes away from the delectable body in front of him and glanced toward the gently flowing river. The spot Rob had brought him to along the river was in a place where the water seemed to be flowing almost tranquilly. Farther down, Casey could see the churning white water of rapids.

  Rob’s friends were already in the water, splashing and swimming and diving off the short wooden dock that went out into the river from the edge of the grassy area. One man was swinging on a rope out over the water, hollering loudly as he let go and dropped into the river.

  There seemed to be more people here than Rob had mentioned. “Are those all your friends?” Casey really didn’t like strangers.

  “Most of them are people I know from school, cub. Some I play with on the football team. And others are in fact people I hang with.” Rob’s eyebrows leveled over his eyes. “None of them are a danger to you.”

  That made Casey feel better, and it didn’t. There were a lot of people here. Casey only counted ten heads bobbing in the water, but it felt like thousands. Casey rubbed his hands up and down his arm, feeling a cold chill despite the heat of the day.

  “I think I’ll stay here,” Casey said, looking back at Rob. “The water looks pretty cold.”

  Casey winced when he heard Rob’s sigh. He watched the man rest his arms on the tops of his bent knees. There was a definite frustrated tension in his shoulders. Casey chewed on the edge of his fingernail as he waited for Rob to say something…anything.

  Instead, the man stood and stalked toward him. Casey took a hasty step back. It wasn’t fear he felt when he saw the determination on Rob’s face but more like apprehension. He knew deep down inside the bear wouldn’t hurt him, but Rob also wasn’t going to let him hide away either.

  Casey knew he was right when Rob grabbed the edge of the hoodie he was wearing and pulled it up over his head. The next thing Casey knew, a shoulder was placed in his stomach and he was lifted up into the air. His shoes were pulled from his feet and landed on the grass before Casey could get his bearings.