August: Mating Fever (Bears of Kodiak Book 2) Read online

  Table of Contents

  August

  August

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Selene Charles’ Books

  August

  Copyright March, 2016 Selene Charles

  Cover Art by Croco Frauke

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  This is a work of fiction. All characters, places and events are from the author’s imagination and should not be confused with fact. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, events or places is purely coincidental.

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any material form, whether by printing, photocopying, scanning, or otherwise without the written permission of the publisher, Selene Charles, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in the context of reviews.

  This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This e-book may not be resold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this e-book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. Thank you for respecting the hard work of all people involved with the creation of this e-book.

  Applications should be addressed in the first instance, in writing, to Selene Charles. Unauthorized or restricted use in relation to this publication may result in civil proceedings and/or criminal prosecution.

  The author and illustrator have asserted their respective rights under the Copyright Designs and Patent Acts 1988 (as amended) to be identified as the author of this book and illustrator of the artwork.

  Published in 2016 by Selene Charles, Honolulu, Hawaii, United States of America

  August

  Three Brothers. One mating ritual. Equals one wild, sexy night...

  August Hawthorne was a strictly by the book kind of a shifter. Steadfast, serious, and knowing exactly where his life was headed. Until the day Jackson Rose stumbled into his bar looking for a job.

  The sexy siren soon turns his world upside down and makes him question everything he ever thought he knew, like maybe for the first time breaking his own rules and choosing who to be with rather than let instinct control him any longer.

  He’s got one year to decide, or he risks losing everything he never knew he wanted and cannot live without...

  Chapter 1

  August

  One year ago

  “’Scuse me.” A melodious, feminine voice pricked August’s ears. The sound of it broke him out in a wash of goosebumps that caused his jeans to tighten.

  The surge of desire was so powerful and unexpected that he jerked from his kneeling position beneath the bar top, making to stand, but instead nearly knocking himself unconscious when he slammed into the polished mahogany.

  “GD it.” He snarled, feeling the grizzly in him come out in a rumble through his words.

  Rubbing at the back of his head, he glowered when he stood and shook off the wave of dizziness from the knot starting to grow. Then he immediately lost his words when he took in the sight of her.

  She was tall and leggy with a rack that he would be able to palm and then some, no doubt a perky size D. But it wasn’t just her breasts that made him pause.

  She was everything. Every fantasy he’d never known he wanted, but now suddenly did, stood in front of him. Her long, gleaming chestnut brown hair accentuated eyes so startlingly blue that they almost appeared clear.

  He used to only ever notice blondes, short, skinny, and sort of curvy. The woman that stood before him was the complete opposite in every way.

  Her heart-shaped mouth had a sexy, little mole right above it. Normally, he was an ass man as most grizzlies were, which made it a minor miracle that he was so focused on her face.

  But he felt compelled to study her, to memorize each dip, plane, and groove of the masterpiece that she was. Slashing cheekbones, sculpted brows, and an aquiline nose fit her oval-shaped face perfectly.

  She smiled, and his heart felt like it had suddenly stopped beating in his chest. The angry retort that had just been on his tongue for making him slam his head into the bar was all but forgotten. The only thing that came out of him were sounds that hardly resembled English at all.

  “Huh?” he asked dumbly.

  Her lips twitched as if she was hanging onto a laugh. “Heard you guys were hiring.”

  Clenching his jaw, August still felt out of sorts. He had opened up the Junk Yard ten years prior when he’d realized his brothers had no damned intention of ever leaving this icy slice of hell they called home.

  Not that August minded the solitude of their isolated cabin in the woods. He just didn’t like being isolated as much as they did.

  While Chance was content to turn a wrench when the mood struck him, and Phoenix did whatever the hell it was that Phoenix did, August needed more than just his brothers’ ugly mugs to look at on the endless days of nights that made up an Alaska winter.

  His place was a local dive, but more colorful fare than what humans might find since Breed pretty much populated the entire Kodiak chain.

  The soft blue mood lighting he’d installed some weeks ago played along her flesh, and a soft glow radiated from her pores. Colors of mother-of-pearl—blue, green, and a dazzling silver—danced over her skin.

  At that moment, all the pieces clicked together for him—his instant sexual attraction, why her voice had left him speechless, and why she was the polar opposite of his typical “type” and yet he wanted her with a ferocity that stole his breath.

  “You’re a siren.” He ignored the sheet of paper she was trying to thrust into his chest.

  Her pretty lips turned down into a soft frown, and she glanced around the bar, which wasn’t currently full of people. Only the hardcore boozers lingered around on a Wednesday at one in the afternoon.

  Clutching the paper tightly, she set her hand down on the bar. A weary look he recognized well came over her features. She didn’t realize where she was.

  “You do know this is Breed territory, right? You’re safe here.”

  Her nostrils flared, and he couldn’t help but wonder just where in the hell she’d come from that had made her so skittish.

  Most humans knew that Breed existed. Many were fair-minded and willing to live alongside them in a sort of peaceful cohabitation, but there were some places where Breed weren’t wanted.

  Period.

  And any Breed who dared encroach on those places took their lives into their hands.

  She was looking around the bar again. There were only three regulars inside, all of them Breed—two wolves and one otter. She sniffed as if to scent out their animal.

  “In here, there’s one rule.” He lifted a finger. “No predator. No prey. Play nice, or I’ll toss you out.”

  Those luscious lips of hers twitched. “That’s good.” And again, just the sound of her voice broke him out in a rush of need and fire.

  Holy hell, she was going to have to turn down her charms, or he would have nothing but a pack of horny Breed on his hands. No one would actually be buying booze, which was the whole point of this place.

  Rubbing the back of his neck with his hands, he grunted. “You need a job, I take it?”

  She nodded. “Yes.”

  “Qualifications?”

  She smiled, and it was like taking a fist to the heart. Shit, hiring her was a dumbass idea. He knew he’d be asking for trouble.

  “I’m a DJ,” she said.

  He snorted, laughing as he said, “That might be a little too much for this crotchety group of people I’ve got here.”

  �
��I’ll do anything. I can mix drinks. Hell, I can even be your bar wench. I just need a job.”

  And though he had an aching cockstand that pissed him off, August was actually capable of thinking with more than just the snake in his pants.

  “Why are you so desperate? What are you running from, little mermaid?”

  She bristled, and he chuckled, knowing he’d pegged her right. She was too highbrow to be in this backwoods place, which meant she was running.

  “Look, I don’t want no trouble here,” he said. “We’re a small town, and—”

  Shaking her head, she glanced off to the right. For a brief second, he saw a flicker of sadness wash through her pretty blue eyes. “I won’t bring you any trouble. I swear it,” she whispered softly.

  “Can you turn down your charms?” Immediately, August felt the fine hairs on his arms relax. The tightness at the base of his spine disappeared as though smoothed away from magick.

  “Yes, I can.”

  Licking his front teeth, he decided to ignore every warning in his head that told him he was asking for trouble by taking her on. Now that he could look at her without the inherent magick of her nature screwing with his wiring, he realized she was still fucking gorgeous. That part hadn’t been magick at all.

  “Don’t need a DJ. But if you want to play music on the weekends, something the local color would like—”

  “Such as?” Excitement suffused her features, and once again, he saw the wash of mother-of-pearl ripple across her skin.

  Damn, he was in trouble.

  “Country. Rock. I don’t know. Just no techno shit.”

  “Dub step?” She supplied with a smirk.

  “Whatever.” He slashed his hand through the air. “That stuff. None of it. Then I think we’ll be all right.”

  The siren was beaming, and he damned his thumping pulse to hell. August had always had one hard-and-fast rule—no fraternizing with his employees. And he never had.

  But now he couldn’t shake the image of shoving her up against the wall as he sucked and nibbled on her neck and slid his fingers deep inside her wetness as she mewled and panted in his ear.

  His cock twitched, his stomach tightened, and he grunted as he forced himself to think about anything else but her.

  Rubbing her arms, she stepped away from him. “Shit. I’m sorry. I really am trying to control myself.”

  So she’d done it again.

  Gritting his teeth, he realized what he needed to do—tell her to get lost, that she was too unstable. She was too... fucking perfect. He just knew she was going to screw with his life. Instead, he said, “It’s fine.”

  Her dark brows gathered into a tight V of confusion. Cocking her head to one side, she said softly, “Any other guy was blasted with half the shit I just laid on you, and they’d have tried to take me out back and have their way with me.”

  Sirens could be a deadly bunch. But they were just as hunted as they were feared.

  “I don’t do that shit, and neither will anyone else who works or drinks here. You got me?”

  If August were a betting man, he’d say the flicker of emotion in her eyes was one of relief. Wetting her lips, she nodded. “So I can only work on weekends?”

  “You want more work than that, you can serve drinks.”

  She held up her hands. “Yeah, I don’t care. Whatever. I’ll even wash dishes. I just need a job that pays me a check.”

  He narrowed his eyes, not missing the way she’d worded that last bit. “What were you paid in before?”

  Sucking in a breath, she said softly, “I have a feeling you don’t miss much, do you...”

  He held out his hand to her. “August Hawthorne.”

  Looking down at her with a fair bit of confusion and skepticism, she finally seemed to come to some conclusion before she held out her own to him. “Jackson Rose.”

  “Jack.” He grinned when she wrinkled her nose.

  They shook hands, and the touch of her skin to his was electric. Warmth flowed from her palm into his, filling his head with crazy, crazy thoughts. Thoughts of her moaning. Of him urging her to come faster, harder, to take all of him...

  “Shit,” he snapped, yanking his hand out of hers as though it burned. “Wear gloves next time, siren, or this partnership ain’t gonna last long.” He all but panted.

  She gasped, cradling her hand to her chest and eyeing him just as hard. A look of shock scrolled across her gorgeous features. “I...I will.” Her voice had grown husky, and he couldn’t help but moan.

  The less he saw of her, the better.

  Chapter 2

  Jackson

  “Sex on the beach.” Blue smirked as he said it, his dark eyes twinkling with heat and thinly veiled sexual innuendo.

  She didn’t know much about the trucker-hat-wearing blond, other than the fact that he seemed determined to make her blush whenever he ordered drinks. He appeared like clockwork every Tuesday night at happy hour.

  Just because she was a nice siren and didn’t try to suck the souls out of all the bodies around her, didn’t mean she was naïve. Giving him a sassy snort, she said, “Never gonna happen, Blue.”

  He hadn’t actually been ordering a drink. In the past week alone, his drink orders had varied, but all of them had a running theme: Cock-sucking cowboy. Bend-over Shirley. Sex on my face. Blue balls. Suck, bang, blow. A few other more inventive ones in the bunch required one to wash her mouth out with soap after saying them, so she’d refused to say them. Needless to say, it wasn’t difficult to figure out what he was up to.

  Jack had settled into a rhythm of sorts at the bar. She flirted with anything that moved, turned on the charm when they seemed about to leave, and brought in a truckload of cash.

  She wasn’t exactly sure why she was trying so hard, except that every time August thought she wasn’t looking, he would give her a searing look that stole the breath from her lungs and made her nipples pucker tightly.

  The man was just so intense. And though she’d sworn off anything serious with any man after what had happened in Angoon, her stupid body continued to betray her.

  Blue—which apparently was his real name—snapped his fingers, giving her a questioning look when she failed to respond to him as she usually did.

  Blinking, she shook her head and gave him a tight smile. “Bud, it is. Be right back.”

  He laughed then winked before saying, “The fair dame knows me well.”

  Every so often, Blue would slip into an archaic form of talking that never failed to make her smile. He was an idiot. But he was sort of an adorable one.

  Of course, he had nothing on August’s broody force.

  Rubbing his jaw thoughtfully, Blue flicked a glance to August who was manning the bar as usual, then back to her. It was almost as if he knew exactly what she had just thought.

  She told herself not to look back, but somehow she found herself doing just that. She found her boss looking at her with the type of heat in his eyes that could incinerate her soul if he had really wanted to.

  August was intense. There was no other word for it. He was built like a freaking gladiator with smooth, sleek muscles. He wore a head of shaggy, brown hair, and his eyes were as blue as arctic frost.

  He smelled good too. She’d always been a sucker for a man who smelled good. His scent was pine and something darker, deeper. Something oozed from him like pheromones and called to her on a visceral, panty-melting kind of level.

  Desperate to break the tension in her stomach, which was taut with razor-tipped butterfly wings, she twirled on her heel and raced for the back room. She could totally have gone right to the bar and grabbed the beer, but she needed a second to think without eyes all around her.

  His eyes in particular always watched her, looking at her as though he saw something he liked, something he wanted.

  But was he doing that because of what she was? That was the sticking point for her. Though she tried to tame her magick around him, it was impossible to eradicate it completely. Lust
magick was as much a part of her as being a shifter was to him. It was who she was, how she’d been made by the gods.

  Of all the patrons in the bar, she’d tried her hardest to keep her distance from August, to keep her magick away from him. She only tripped up when he would reach out and touch her. But that wasn’t her fault. Right? It wasn’t as if she was compelling him to do it.

  She frowned. She wasn’t always in control of herself, especially not when she found something she liked. And she definitely liked what she saw when it came to August.

  Jack shivered. Yanking open the cooler door, she immediately inhaled a deep breath of the icy air and leaned her head against a wire rack. Her overheated body barely felt the chill.

  What the frack was wrong with her? Her fingers curled around the cold metal. Had she learned nothing in Angoon?

  “Jack?” Madison’s soft voice caused Jackson to yelp and stand straight. Her fingers fluttered around her tight, black work shirt as she pretended to dust crumbs off herself.

  “Madison... what the hell? You scared me!” She nervously laughed.

  Madison—a five foot ten glamazon with sleek brown curls and the most vivid and intense green eyes Jackson had ever seen—frowned back at her and gave her an okay-I-think-you’ve-lost-your-mind kind of look.

  Jackson immediately straightened her back and shook her head. “I’m a mess.”

  Madison, who was no one’s dummy and far more intelligent than her pretty face might lead one to believe, looked her up and down before coming to some conclusion. “Don’t let him get to you, whatever you do. Keep your distance, Jack.”

  She frowned. “Blue? Please. I can handle a little dirty talk—”

  But Madison shook her head. “Not talking about that fairy—”

  Literally, Blue was a fairy, or sidhe as they preferred to be called. As Blue was fond of saying, fae kicked ass and didn’t grant wishes. Whatever. Fae, sidhe, fairy... it was all the same to her.

  Jack pursed her lips. “I don’t know what—”

  Snorting in disbelief, Madison wet her blood-red-stained lips. For just a second, the vertical slit in her eyes widened like a reptile’s.