Taylor tilted his head back to tell Sam he was serious when Sam's lips found his. This time, Taylor didn't stiffen. He didn't tense up in Sam's arms. Instead, he began to melt like butter in the sun, his body molding to the other man's. Everything around Taylor seemed to come alive. The sounds outside were louder, the shadows in the room less haunting and his body...wow. It was like being electrocuted slowly, sensually.

The stubble of Sam's jaw scraped over Taylor's chin and he shuddered.

"My sweet little angel," Sam murmured. "I love the way you taste."

"Thank you, Sir." Taylor froze. He pushed Sam back, pushed them apart so he could catch his breath.

Sam chuckled. "And you are very welcome, sir."

The guy seemed unfazed by Taylor putting distance between them. He'd even joked about the slip. Instead of trying to recapture Taylor's lips, Sam patted him on the hip. "Want something to put in that rotgut stomach of yours?"

Taylor stood in the middle of the room, feeling as if the world he'd known had changed and someone had forgotten to tell him about it. "I don't understand."

"Food. Gut. Simple equation," Sam said.

"No." Taylor shook his head. "I don't understand you."

Taylor could hear Sam moving and then a lamp flickered on by the bed. Taylor grabbed the sheet from the bed and wrapped it around his shoulders, hiding everything.

"What's there to understand, Taylor? I'm a pretty simple guy to figure out."

"Nothing seems to faze you. Nothing seems to bother you. You just roll with the punches and keep going."

Sam shrugged. "You're supposed to. You can't let life beat you down. You called me Sir. I understand that some conditioning is harder to break than others. Why would I get mad about it?"

"It's that easy?" Taylor asked.

"That easy," Sam replied. "Just let go."

"And you'll catch me?"

Sam winked at Taylor. "Like a net under a circus performer. I gotcha covered."

Taylor licked his lips, his heart pounding out a thousand beats a second. He shored up his courage and then let the sheet fall to his feet.

Chapter Seven.

Sam wasn't sure what to say. He wasn't sure what to do. In the soft hush of the bedroom, he could hear Taylor's heart beating wildly. The man stood before him, bare. It wasn't just his nudity but his vulnerability that touched something deep inside Sam.

He closed the distance and bent down, pulling the sheet up into his hand. He brushed a kiss over Taylor's warm cheek. "My lost little angel."

When Sam started to wrap the sheet back around Taylor's shoulders, the man grabbed his wrists, stopping him. Their eyes locked as the room filled with arousal. Sam cupped Taylor's cheek, searching, trying to figure out exactly what Taylor was asking for.

Taylor backed up, his legs hitting the bed as he pulled Sam along with him. "I'm letting go."

"I see." Sam gave Taylor a gentle smile. "But is this what you truly want?"

Taylor grinned. "Just as long as you don't kick me in the head."

"Well, I had considered it for a moment, but unconscious people don't do it for me. I'm too lazy to do all the work."

Taylor glanced at Sam for a moment and then a spark of laughter lit the man's eyes. It was a bright and beautiful thing to see as they both stood there on an awkward precipice trying to decide who would jump off first.

Sam was sure that, for years to come, he would swear that he had been pushed over. That was what it felt like when Taylor leaned up and placed a kiss on his lips. The move was tentative and sweet and had Sam growing hard. The shyness in that single move did it for him.

Sam's heart clenched and his dick throbbed, and he wanted nothing more at that moment than to throw Taylor down and ravish his body.

"I swear not to leave you hanging like that," Taylor said. The palm of his hand pressed against Sam's chest, right over his heart-which was beating wildly. He smiled at Sam. "Head injury or not."

"I could always get us some safety helmets," Sam said, noticing how low his voice had gone. Taylor tempted him. God knew how tantalizing the man was. Taylor had been a disastrous wreck when Sam found him and now Taylor was the one wrecking him.

Sam's bear growled and snapped, trying to force him to claim Taylor. But Sam wasn't going to go that far until they'd talked. The man had already been through enough bullshit in his life. Sam wasn't going to betray his trust.

Besides, Legend had withheld that information from Gabe and it had almost turned disastrous. Sam wanted to avoid any kind of drama.

Taylor's smile seemed to light up the dimly lit room. "I hope we can manage without them. There aren't any horses around so you don't have to worry about being thrown."

Their senses of humor seemed perfectly in sync. Taylor got Sam, and he loved that about the guy. No matter what he threw at the man, Taylor caught it and rolled it right back.

Sam focused on Taylor's smile as he pulled his shirt over his head and tossed it aside. Taylor's eyes drank Sam in as his tongue flicked out and slid across his lower lip. There was still a hesitant quality about the guy, but Taylor seemed willing to try, and that was all Sam could ask for.

"Are you making fun of my riding skills?" Sam moved closer, the palms of his hands sliding over Taylor's tight nipples. They were like two tiny rocks under his hands as he ghosted his fingers up and down Taylor's chest.

"Yyou don't have any riding skills." Taylor's head canted to the side, his eyelids lowering slightly as his luscious lips parted and panted out a long breath.

Sam lowered his head and sucked one taut nipple into his mouth, rolling the bead around between his teeth. When Sam placed his hand on Taylor's back, the guy jerked, his eyes flying open.

Sam shook his head. "I don't care, Taylor. I'm not just going to accept a small part of you. I want it all. The entire package." To show that he was serious, Sam ran his fingers over the raised flesh, sucking at Taylor's neck at the same time. "Don't hide one damn inch of yourself."

Taylor's arched as his fingers dug into Sam's biceps. The man's head fell back as his breathing became shallow. Sam moved Taylor onto the bed, licking and kissing down the man's chest. His tongue traced the dark trail that led from Taylor's navel to his groin.

"Wildflowers," Sam murmured as his tongue traced Taylor's heavily veined shaft. Taylor's cock jerked at his touch. Pressing his hands into Taylor's inner thighs, Sam spread the man wider. He could feel tiny scars on the backs of Taylor's legs. Sam closed his eyes as he inhaled the man's scent, wishing to god that he could have saved Taylor from the horrors the man had lived through.

The heat of Taylor's blush singed Sam's hands. Sam licked and lapped and groaned as he sucked Taylor's wrinkled sac into his mouth.

"Oh god, oh god, oh god," Taylor chanted. His voice was strained as his legs shook. Sam made a low rumble of pleasure in his chest as he reached to his waist and unsnapped his pants. He pushed them off and kicked them aside before moving onto the bed.

They were head to foot, head to foot. He could feel Taylor's warm breath blowing across the head of his erection. "Only if you want to," Sam said before swallowing Taylor to the back of his throat.

The only sound in the room was muffled suckling. He kneaded Taylor's buttocks and the backs of the man's thighs, encouraging Taylor to come closer but also trying his best to relax the man, to let Taylor know that this was okay, natural.

Sam's fingers squeezed Taylor's ass tighter when something wet and warm slid across the head of his cock. He took Taylor deeper into his throat as his mate tentatively explored Sam.

It was killing him. Those light touches and soft licks were going to send Sam into insanity. He rolled to his back, taking Taylor with him. The man was propped above him as Sam pulled him closer, driving the man's cock down his throat.

On his knees, Taylor wrapped his fingers around Sam's shaft and began to suckle the head. Sam pressed his feet into the mattress and spread his legs wider. His body felt as if it had caught fire and the flames were licking across his skin.

Taylor began to work Sam's cock in ways he never thought possible. His legs tightened and shook as Taylor made Sam's body catch fire. Taylor knew exactly what he was doing, and that only drove home the fact that the man had been well trained.

Sam shoved that thought out of his mind. He immersed himself in his own ministrations as Taylor hummed and sent riotous vibrations throughout Sam's body.

His canines threatened to lengthen, as well as his claws. Sam fought against his bear as Taylor stiffened, his legs kicking out. Grabbing the man around his waist, Sam held Taylor down. He worked the man's shaft until Taylor was crying out, his seed spurting down Sam's throat.

Sam swallowed every last drop.

Taylor's orgasm seemed to unleash something wild in the man. He pulled on Sam's balls, stretching them. The sensation sent Sam over the edge. Taylor's softening cock slipped from his lips as he shouted and bucked and came.

He was heavily wrung and gasping for breath when Taylor rolled off of him. Sam snatched the man's arm and pulled Taylor close. He cupped the back of Taylor's head and pressed it to his sweaty chest. Taylor lay there silently as if he had no clue what to do. That broke Sam's heart.

"Angel," Sam said as he licked his lips. "I think you just broke my dick." He started chuckling as his hands smoothed over Taylor's sides. Sam could feel the smile forming on Taylor's face.

"Quite the opposite," Taylor replied. "I think I just fixed it."

Sam hugged Taylor and the tension slipped away. They both lay there and laughed as the moon rose higher in the night sky.

In the early hours of the morning, Sam closed the door as Taylor slept. He went in search of T-Rex. He found the guy in the kitchen, sucking down one of his nasty protein drinks. Sam grimaced. He wasn't sure how T-Rex drank those things on a daily basis.

T-Rex smiled as he lifted his glass of green goop. "Don't hate."

Sam crinkled his nose. "Humans are the strangest creatures. I don't understand how you can stomach that crap." Sam patted his ripped abdomen. "All us bears have to do is go for a long run and..." Sam trailed off when he noticed a peculiar look in T-Rex's eyes. "What?"

T-Rex nodded toward the kitchen door. Sam turned to see Taylor standing there, fully dressed, and so pale the man looked as if he were about to pass out. Taylor spun on his heel and shot out of the doorway.

Sam cursed, going after Taylor. The man had made it out the front door and was flying down the porch steps by the time Sam caught him.

"Let me go!" Taylor swung his arm back and nailed Sam in the nose. Sam released him and Taylor stumbled down the steps, turning as he began to walk backward with his hands up in the air.

"If you come anywhere near me-" Tears gathered in Taylor's eyes. His voice dropped so low it was barely a whisper. "How could you be..." He shook his head. "This isn't real. Of all the people I let in, it had to be another fucking bear."

"Taylor," Sam called, but Taylor was already racing toward his car as if the devil had risen from hell and was hot on the man's heels. Standing on the porch, Sam felt so damn helpless. He wasn't sure if he should go after Taylor or let the man cool off.

Another bear.

Which meant Taylor's ex was a bear shifter. Sam came down the steps and pulled his cell phone free. He had to do some damage control. If Taylor didn't go straight home, Sam would go after him. But from the stricken expression on Taylor's face, the man needed some time.

Sam called Cameron.

He took a seat on the porch steps and ran a hand through his hair. Sam was, at heart, a good-natured man who didn't let too many things rile him. He always tried to keep things light. You only live once. Why live a life weighed down by bitterness and other bullshit baggage? He had never understood people like that. But Taylor's situation was different. A lot different. He wasn't choosing to live with baggage. The shit had been forced on him and now he viewed Sam as one of the bad guys.

He wasn't sure how to fix that. Sam couldn't change who he was.

"'Sup?" Cameron answered the phone.

"I need to talk to you about Taylor." Sam didn't like turning to anyone else with his problems. But Taylor was going to need a friend and hopefully Cameron would help him out.

When Cameron spoke, his tone was wary, guarded. "What about him?"

"He raced out of here," Sam started but wasn't sure if Cameron knew about bear shifters. He was going out on a limb, guessing that whatever hell Taylor had gone through, he'd shared all of the details with his friend. Still, Sam decided to tread lightly. "He found out something about me that tripped a trigger."

"There's only two things that would do that," Cameron said. "Either you're into that kink shit or..." Cameron hesitated, tiptoeing as well. "You're one of them."

"I don't get into that kind of kink," Sam replied. The humid air made trickles of sweat roll down the center of his back as Sam waited for Cameron to say something. "He's gonna need you, Cameron. He looks at me as the villain right now."

"Are you?" Cameron asked. "I saw the damage a bear can do. I cleaned up the mess and put him back together again. But he never fully healed, at least not on the inside. I don't even know you. Why should I help you out?"

The fierce loyalty in Cameron's tone was clear. The man would do anything to protect his friend. "You're right. You don't know me. So I'll handle this on my own. I'm on my way."

"Whoa," Cameron quickly said. "Let me at least calm him down before you show up." Cameron paused. "He's different with you. It's like the old Taylor is trying to peek out. Taylor actually seemed...happy. Don't fucking hurt him or I swear I'll burn you in your own damn bed."

Sam growled and tucked the phone away when Cameron hung up. He started to go after Taylor when he remembered why he'd been looking for T-Rex. He had wanted to talk to the guy about Taylor's phone call from his ex.

He didn't have to go in search of the guy. T-Rex stepped out on the porch. "I don't envy you guys," he said. "That's the second time I've watched a guy wig out when he found out about bear shifters."

"He already knew," Sam said. "He just freaked when he found out I was one."

T-Rex was the oldest member of their unit. He was more mature, took time to absorb things before he made a decision, and was one hell of a leader. The guys looked up to T-Rex, even if they didn't always agree with his decisions. But T-Rex had a good head on his shoulders.

"I take it he doesn't have a fondness for bears?"

"He's fucked up, T. He has so many scars that you can't even count them. And he told me that his nightmare called him, threatened to take him back home and said that Taylor would be lucky if he survived this time." Sam's hands curled into fists as his anger boiled inside him, churning like a toxic mix.

"Can this ex find him?"

"Don't know."

"I'll have Colton screen Taylor's incoming calls. We'll get a background check on the guy threatening him. In the meantime, you shouldn't let Taylor wander around on his own."

Sam glanced up at his friend. "Taylor says he signed a contract. The guy thinks he owns Taylor."

T-Rex grunted. "The last I checked, that was illegal. Won't stand up in any court. Cops will laugh at him. But I'll give Sparrow a heads-up as soon as we have more intel on the guy."

"Call me when you get it. I'm heading over to Taylor's." Sam moved off the steps and walked to his truck. He just didn't know what he was going to say to the man to convince Taylor he wasn't a bad guy.

Chapter Eight.