Bad Bear Daddy (Bad Boy Bear Shifters Book 2) Read online

  Bad Bear Daddy

  Liv Brywood

  Contents

  Description

  Excerpt

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  About the Author

  Bad Bear Daddy

  Copyright© 2018 Liv Brywood

  All rights reserved

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the author. The only exception is by a reviewer, who may quote short excerpts in a review.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Created with Vellum

  Description

  Description

  Bad boy bear shifter Kade Hunter knows how to nurse a beer… but a baby? No way! He couldn’t possibly have a six-month-old kid. Except, he does. His days of brawling and boozing it up at the local roadhouse are over. He doesn’t know the first thing about taking care of a kid. Terrified of making a mistake, he asks for help from the one woman who has every right to ignore him…

  Ten years ago, deputy Emily Redson walked away from the hot mess that is Kade Hunter. Now a respected member of law enforcement, she can’t be seen with the bar-brawling shifter. She wants to ignore him, but the fear in his eyes makes her pause. He’s tempting in all the wrong ways, and if she can’t keep her hands to herself, her career could go down faster than his next beer. She always was a sucker for someone in need, but is trying to save a bad boy worth the risk?

  This is the second book in the paranormal romance series – Bad Boy Bear Shifters. This is a stand-alone book with no cliffhangers. Love scenes are fully realized and at times include explicit language.

  Excerpt

  As he unbuttoned her jeans, she tried to remember all the reasons why she should stop him. The moment his hands grazed her panties, she couldn’t come up with a single one. Her brain turned to jelly as he peeled her jeans down to her ankles. He didn’t even bother taking them all the way off. Her panties quickly followed, leaving her exposed.

  “You’re so beautiful,” he murmured.

  “Kade…”

  “Hum?”

  His mouth found the inside of her thigh. With the slow precision of an expert lover, he licked a damp trail of tiny circles toward her pussy. She arched and tried to kick off her tennis shoes. She managed to get them off. After sliding her jeans and panties over her socks, she kicked free. He crawled between her legs and slipped his hands under her knees. As he roughly pulled her legs apart, she trembled. He could be so soft and so hard at the same time, a paradox of sensuality.

  When his lips returned to scorch her flesh, she whimpered. His tongue teased the skin around her pussy without touching her core. She wriggled her butt, hoping to get his tongue where she wanted it. He grabbed her hips and held her still.

  “So impatient,” he whispered.

  “Please…” She hated the desperation in her tone, but it was the truth. She wanted him, needed him, and dammit, she was going to have him.

  1

  Kade swung a solid right hook toward Bruno’s nose. It cracked on impact. Blood gushed out to spill across the dirty floor in the center of Five Claw’s Bar. Two of the thug’s friends stepped up for their turn at the end of Kade’s fists as the entire bar erupted into chaos. Beer bottles shattered against the wall. Trays of chicken wings were hurled across the room. Tables and bar stools toppled over to add to the pandemonium.

  Distracted for a split second, Kade missed an incoming punch and took a hard hit to the chin. It pissed him off. Fur sprouted on his hands and arms.

  “No shifting in the bar,” Martin hollered.

  The grizzled old shifter picked up a phone and dialed, probably the cops. Not good.

  Kade glanced toward three possible exits. If he didn’t get the hell out of there before the sheriff’s department showed up, he’d be up shit creek—again. The sheriff had warned him last time, “One more arrest and you won’t see sunlight for a year.”

  It wasn’t Kade’s fault other shifters like to start shit with him. As one of the largest bears in the area, other shifters liked to pick fights with him, hoping they’d actually win and gain a better position in the clan. No one ever beat him, but they sure as hell tried.

  As he ducked another wild swing, he spun past a stumbling drunk and staggered toward the door. He would have been fine if he hadn’t gotten into a shot-pounding pissing contest with Bruno. Kade could drink anyone under the table, but tonight Bruno was on fire. He’d stopped counting after twenty shots. He probably ruined what was left of his liver, but he had to prove a point—he was the biggest, baddest, meanest bear shifter in the clan. It would make the others think twice before they tried to fuck with him.

  Three steps away from freedom, the door swung open and a sheriff’s deputy walked in, gun drawn. Six more deputies followed the first.

  “Hands in the air. Everyone up against the wall,” the first deputy barked.

  A woman deputy?

  In the low light, he couldn’t make out more than a petite, curvy figure. But contrary to her height, she exuded power and control. He knew better than to try to run. He’d been tasered in the ass last time and wasn’t looking to repeat his interpretation of a fish out of water.

  “Up against the wall, Kade.”

  Her voice sounded familiar, but he couldn’t place her. With his hands on the wall, he risked a backward glance. His stomach dropped through the floor.

  “Emily?”

  “Officer Redson,” she snapped.

  “You’re a cop?”

  “I’ve been a deputy for five years.”

  “Why haven’t I run into you?”

  “I was just transferred from Billings.”

  Billings? No wonder he hadn’t seen her around the sheriff’s department. She’d been one hundred and fifty miles away.

  “Deputy Stevens, is everyone on the wall?” she asked.

  “Yep.”

  “Start taking IDs.”

  “Damn,” Kade muttered. He’d run into her from time to time at bear clan parties, but they hadn’t spoken in almost a decade.

  “Who started the fight?” she asked.

  “Kade and Bruno,” Martin said.

  “Arrest them.” She walked along the row of men who stood with their hands against the wall. “The rest of you go home and sleep it off. If I have to come down here again this week, I’m arresting everyone, and the judge can sort it out. Have I made myself clear?”

  “Yes, Ma’am,” several men muttered.

  “Then get out of here.”

  As the others filed out the front door, Emily slapped a handcuff on his right wrist.

  “Now wait a minute,” he said. “I didn’t start it. Bruno did.”

  “But you continued it.”

  “I was defending myself.”

  “Right.” She pulled his other wrist down and locked it behind his back. “At the very least, you need a night in the tank. I’m taking you in.”

  “Shit.”

  “You have the right to remain silent…”

  He’d been Mirandiz
ed so many times he knew the speech by heart.

  Deputy Emily Redson. He still couldn’t believe it. What had possessed her to become a cop? The last time he’d spoken to her, she’d been planning on going to college. He hadn’t seen her around town in years, but knew better than to ask about her. He’d lost that right the day he’d failed her. Eventually, he’d moved on, and he’d assumed she had too.

  He suffered the indignity of being stuffed into the back of her patrol car. Metal mesh separated the front seat from the back. A shotgun hung on a rack on her side of the barrier.

  “You don’t have to take me in,” he said. “I didn’t start it. Bruno came looking for a fight.”

  “And knowing that, you gave it to him.”

  “I wasn’t going to sit there and take his bullshit.”

  “You never could let your ego take a hit.”

  “Come on. Take me home instead. For old time’s sake.”

  She slammed on the brakes hard enough to fling him forward. He crashed into the mesh.

  “What the hell?”

  “Don’t you dare bring up the past,” she snapped. “After what you did, you’re lucky I’m not booking you for attempted murder.”

  “Are you serious? I made a mistake. Are you ever going to forgive me?”

  “We’re not talking about this. Not now.”

  “Then when? When are we going to talk about it? You never wanted to talk, but I did. I messed up. I should have been there for you, but I wasn’t…” He trailed off as their eyes met in the rearview mirror. Unchecked rage radiated from hers.

  Damn, maybe she’d changed a lot more than he’d anticipated. She returned her attention to the road, breaking their connection. She’d certainly turned harder—colder too. What had happened to the sweet, innocent woman he’d fallen in love with? Maybe he should have kept closer tabs on her.

  The jail was adjacent to the sheriff’s department. He’d been inside both, many times, so he barely paid attention as she walked him through a maze of corridors.

  After taking his mug shot, she led him to an older part of the jail and locked him in a cell.

  “Where are all the other prisoners?”

  “In the other wing. I bought you back here because we need a DNA swab.”

  “What? Why?” He wasn’t going to give them one without a fight. He’d watched far too many crime shows about wrongfully convicted people in prison. Trusting the justice system was asking for trouble.

  “You need to give me a sample as part of the booking process.”

  “That’s bullshit. I know my rights. I don’t have to do shit.”

  “I can get a warrant.”

  “Go ahead.” He smirked. “Why would a judge give you a warrant for my DNA because of a bar fight?”

  “Because we need to double check something.” She averted her eyes. What was she hiding?

  “Why?” his voice dropped low and threatening.

  “To confirm paternity.”

  “Paternity?” His throat constricted. “Why would I need to...”

  “According to prison records, your DNA matches that of a six-month-old infant.”

  “What?” Suddenly faint, he staggered toward the single wooden bench in the cell. He sat down hard enough to send a jolt of pain up his spine.

  “We need to confirm it, but if the DNA is correct, you have a baby.”

  “Someone made a mistake.” His brow wrinkled. “I don’t have a baby.”

  “The lab thinks you do.”

  “Is this a joke? Are you trying to play some kind of sick joke on me?” He stomped toward the bars and gripped them hard enough to turn his knuckles white.

  “Do you know Genevieve Slater?”

  “Genevieve…” He cocked his head to one side. “Genevieve…” He tapped his finger on his bottom lip. Her name sounded vaguely familiar. Was she the waitress from the Stomping Bear Roadhouse, or the exotic dancer from Cherry Tassels? Or maybe she was—

  “You can’t remember her?” She asked dryly.

  “Was she a blonde?”

  “Brunette.”

  “I only remember the blondes.” He smirked until she scowled. “Well, something has to be wrong. As far as I know, I don’t have any kids. Tell Genevieve she’s mistaken.”

  “I can’t.”

  “Why not?”

  “Great,” she muttered. “I’m sorry to inform you that Genevieve Slater passed away as the result of injuries sustained in a car accident.”

  “That’s terrible.”

  “I have a picture if it will help jog your memory.” She pulled out her phone and typed for several seconds before turning the phone toward him. “Her mother gave us this photo so the ME could confirm her identity. They ran DNA too to make sure the baby was hers. Apparently, she hadn’t told anyone about her son.”

  “Including me.”

  His heart sank as he studied the photo. Genevieve. The waitress from Stomping Bear Roadhouse. She’d been one hell of a tiger in bed. Their relationship had burned hotter than a solar flare and had died just as quickly. She’d been far too clingy for his taste.

  “I can’t believe she’s gone,” he said.

  “Yeah. She was only twenty-five. Look, it’s been a long night already and a lab tech is on OT waiting for the swab. Open up and let’s get this over with.”

  Still in shock, he opened his mouth and let her swab it.

  “I’ll be back in the morning with the results. I suggest you sleep off the booze. If this is your baby, life’s about to get a lot harder for you.”

  He wrapped his hands around the metal bars as she left the room. A baby? Holy hell. He prayed they’d made a huge mistake. DNA got mixed up all the time on TV. It had to be a mistake. Because if it wasn’t, he had no idea what he was going to do. He couldn’t be a dad. He could hardly take care of himself, let alone a baby. If the baby was really his, he was about to become the worst bear daddy in the history of the clan. Maybe even worse than his own father.

  * * *

  Kade’s head thumped as millions of hung-over neurons fired in protest. At the sound of footsteps, he cracked a single eye open. Emily approached the cell with a manila envelope. He sat too quickly and the whole room spun before settling back into place.

  “The results are in.”

  “And?”

  “DNA confirmed a match.”

  He scrubbed his hand down his face. A match. He had a child.

  He stamped down a sudden wave of nausea.

  “There’s a custody hearing on the books for tomorrow. I could try to get it moved.”

  “Custody.”

  “Yes, unless you want to give the child up for adoption.”

  “No.” His head snapped up. “I’m not giving my child up for adoption.”

  “Good. I was hoping you still had at least a hint of responsibility left in you.”

  “I’m glad you think so highly of me.”

  “You’re sitting in the drunk tank after being arrested for inciting a bar brawl.” She folded her arms across her chest. “Can you blame me?”

  “Bruno started it.”

  “He’s agreed not to press charges. If you also agree, you’re both free to go.”

  “I agree.”

  “Good. I’ll have someone process you out. The hearing is at nine a.m. tomorrow morning at the courthouse. Judge Franklin is hearing the case. You shouldn’t have a problem getting custody since the DNA is conclusive, but please be on time. The judge tends to rule against late people, regardless of what the law says.”

  “I’ve been in his court before.”

  “For the last disturbing the peace charge?”

  “Yeah.” He dropped his gaze to the floor. He couldn’t stand to see the scorn in her eyes.

  “Can I offer you some advice?”

  “Shoot.”

  “If you don’t think you can take care of the baby, don’t show up tomorrow. Let us place him in foster care. Babies are easy to adopt out and we can find him a good home.”
<
br />   “I’m serious, Kade. Don’t make a child suffer your irresponsibility. It’s not fair.”

  “Irresponsibility? I have a job. I have a house. What more do you need?”

  “You’re at Five Claws six nights a week. You’ve been known to sleep in the bed of your truck more often than not. You call in sick when you’re too hung over to go to work at the mill. Tomorrow’s not guaranteed. The judge could place your son in foster care if he doesn’t consider you responsible enough. Frankly, I would be surprised if he hands the baby over without stipulations. So be ready for anything… if you plan on coming.”

  “Have you been asking around about me?” He arched a brow.

  “No. People talk. I listen.”

  “Where’s my son right now?”

  “St. Andrew’s Hospital. He’s in the neonatal unit being treated for injuries sustained in the car accident that killed his mother.”

  “How bad is it?” His heart thudded in his chest.

  “Scratches and bruises mostly, but they wanted to keep him for observation for several days, just in case.”

  “So, nothing major?” He exhaled.

  “No. Thank God.”

  A sheriff’s deputy entered the room with a pile of paperwork. He strolled over to where Emily stood.

  “I’ve got the release docs. After you sign them, he’s ready to go.”

  “Thank you.”

  She took the documents and a pen. As the other deputy left, she handed the paperwork through the bars to Kade. He quickly signed everything and gave it back. She grabbed a keyring from her duty belt and unlocked the cell.

  “You’re free to go. Think about what I said. Being selfish when you’re alone is one thing; being selfish when a helpless baby is counting on you is another. If you decide to take custody, you’d better be committed to raising him.”