Bear King's Curves: A BBW Werebear Shifter Romance (10 page)

This morning, this gorgeous skinwalker was mine. Sure,
I'd vented all over him on the drive last night.

But I was tired, conflicted, half-crazed with fear.

He was a man, and men made tough decisions. He'd saved
me. The fact that I was alone with him in this cozy lodge, not dead
and buried in a pit, proved it.

It was a new day. I had to show him how much I
appreciated what he'd done for me.

Besides, admitting mistakes always feels best with flesh
and senses blazing.

I lathered his front, slowly urging him to turn back to
me. Halfway through his pivot, I pushed one hand lower, wrapping it
carefully around his cock.

His breath hitched. He turned, giving himself fully to
my hands.

In my fingers, I discovered how big he was, swollen to
perfection and throbbing just for me. I felt him in the beat of his
blood, man and beast, starved for a woman's attention.

I stroked him once, all the way to the tip. Soap
trickled off him, moving with my hands, coating his finest heat in a
wet hot stroke just slightly less magnificent than my own.

Nick locked eyes on me and watched as I stroked him
again and again. My hand rolled to his large balls, then back up,
steady flicks rolling to his thick tip.

“
Faster,” he urged, placing his hand on mine
to show me how he liked it.

I flushed. No one had ever given me any guidance like
this.

I held my bottom lip, tense with the new lust driving
through me. Stroking him harder, faster, I formed a tight pocket with
my small fist, covering his length in hard, quick pleasure strokes.

Impulse forced my lips to his hard, slightly hairy
thigh. I kissed him, licking at the water.

He never expected me to move up so soon.

Water poured through my hair, turning it wet and warm, a
silent urge to draw him deep into my mouth. I licked his head, a
quick test, then sank down on his length, as far as my lips would
carry me.

Nick grunted, increasing his grip on my shoulders. I
sensed his whole body harden, and his cock jerked once against my
rolling, teasing tongue.

“
Fuck!” He bared his teeth.

Go ahead, honey. Let it all out. I like to feel it
when I'm doing something very right.

I sucked him harder, loosening my mouth to take him more
easily. Nothing about sucking his fullness was really easy, but the
work was well worth it.

Anything was to see him twitch and growl like that.

His hips rocked forward. My hands sauntered up to his
ass, discovering his cheeks were clenched harder than ever, readying
to expel the explosion building beneath his length.

“
Shit! Gods, Lyla...your tongue...make me fucking
come. Just don't stop, no matter how much I grind and twist.”

I wouldn't dream of it.

He opened his mouth like he wanted to speak again, but
no words came out. My lips ringed his cock, going down deep, down to
the base beginning to stiffen and balloon.

Come shot up a second later, giving me less than a
second to react.

His size grew in my mouth, pumping his hot, thick sap
along my tongue, a mouthful in every savage jerk. Bestial thunder
rumbled from his mouth, dredged up from the current tearing through
him.

Music to my ears. So was the tempo I somehow managed to
keep up, matching his primal rhythm to mine.

I gulped his come, drawing his essence deep inside me,
though I secretly wished it were flowing somewhere else.

You have to fight that urge. The last thing you need
is a baby on the run.

Still, just having him buried deep inside my mouth was
privilege enough.

The great flood became a soft trickle, and then slowed
to nothing. He softened, pulled out. I swallowed the last of his
seed, engraving his spicy, masculine taste on my memory forever.

His strong fingers went beneath my chin. He cradled it,
tilting my face up to look at him.

“
That was perfect, Lyla. And from a woman like
you, I'd expect nothing less than perfection.”

I stood up. We embraced for a long time, stroking and
kissing, taking the world's longest shower.

Just now, the world's dangers might as well have been on
the moon.

We had the whole world to ourselves in this lodge, a
world made for nobody but him and I.

“
Sir? You ready for a chat?” Nick stood next
to me.

“
I told you once, young man. Call me Tuts. And
yes, I am.” The old Indian man smiled behind the counter.

It was late, about an hour after dinnertime. Not that it
mattered much because there was exactly one other couple staying at
the lodge who we'd seen.

Tuts walked into the backroom and spoke in a language I
couldn't understand to the young woman there.

“
You sure about this?” I asked, looking up
at my man.

“
Completely. I have to find out what he knows. He
agreed to talk to us.”

“
Us?”

“
I told him about your interest in local history.
I want you there, Lyla. If anyone deserves to be at my side, it's
you. Bears never forget anyone who shares their sorrows.”

He took my hand. His fingers were warm and tight, but
his pulse was steady and peaceful.

“
It's just...this thing.” I shifted my free
arm, shuffling the heavy round artifact I held there. “How
could he possibly know anything about it? You sure we're showing this
to the right person?”

Nick's face tightened. Neither of us liked it when I
doubted him.

“
I never told him what we had. Hell, neither of us
really know what it is either, except that it must be valuable. I
doubt he'll have much to add, but it won't hurt to try. It's not like
I'm gonna let some old man overpower me and steal that thing again.”

Well, there was no arguing with that. Tuts returned to
the desk a second later, the young woman around my age in tow.

“
My granddaughter will take over. Let's go. Right
down the hall on this floor, second room on the right.”

He walked fast and steady for someone who had to be at
least eighty years old. We followed.

The old man's private room looked like a museum. We sat
around a glass table, flanked on all sides by animal bones, dark
stones, dream catchers, and thick quilts on the walls glowing with
all the vibrant hues of the American West.

“
Let's get down to business.” Nick's voice
was dark and curious. “I want to know who the hell you are, and
how you seem to know what's going on with us.”

Tuts laughed. At last, he showed a small sign of his age
– what few teeth he had were whittled down to tiny stumps.

“
I'd know a bear from a mile away.” Tuts
paused, giving us plenty of time to stare with dumb interest. “You've
come to escape something terrible. I am only trying to help. You too,
young lady.”

His deep, dark brown eyes fell on me. I shifted
uncomfortably across the table, managing a weak nod.

“
I saw the pictures,” Nick said. “You
must be over a hundred years old. Or else you look exactly like the
last guy who ran this place. Which is it?”

“
Right the first time. It was the old Montana Clan
who taught me the secrets to long life.” He reached for a
thermos on the edge of the table and poured himself a dark green tea,
indulging a long sip.

“
Didn't know there was a Montana Clan. We haven't
had any contact for generations.” Nick leaned forward, suddenly
intent on the conversation.

“
Their traders came in my father's time. I got to
know several men quite well. They offered me longevity, old bear
magic that can sustain a man's life, just like a bear's.”

“
Impossible!” I piped up, shaking my head.
“Shifters are genetically different from people. Their genes
cause them to age more slowly. They can't pass that along to a human
being.”

Somehow, my words sounded uncertain. Flat.

“
Whatever you believe, young lady. Your science
has been wrong many times.” Tuts flashed me that empty smile,
clearly amused at my confusion.

“
Doesn't matter. We didn't come here to talk about
cheating death. What can you tell us about this?.” Nick looked
at me and gestured.

I lifted the sphere to the table and slowly unwrapped
it. Even in his dark apartment, flecks of jade green paint showed
brighter than others, almost like it were coated in emerald or some
other earthy material.

Tuts leaned in and stared at it. He reached for the
ball, touching his withered fingers to its cool surface, caressing it
like it was one of his own grandchildren.

“
Well?” Nick flexed his hands on the table,
obviously impatient.

“
A destiny stone. My, my, my!” Tuts inhaled
sharply, holding his breath. “I have not seen one of these in
ages, and only one long ago. Traveling bears from Canada brought
theirs once, on their way south to retrieve a mate for their king.”

“
King?” Nick and I spoke the loaded word in
a whisper simultaneously.

“
Yes. Your people have no leader?” Tuts came
very close to looking surprised.

“
No, Klamath has its leaders, but no king. Never
did. Our Elder Council's been running things as long as I've been
alive.”

Tuts' wrinkles softened. His face relaxed, deep and
contemplative.

“
Wanna tell us what that's got to do with that
thing on the table?” I pointed. Nick's impatience was wearing
off on me.

“
These stones were forged many ages ago, when all
bears were in the same clan. Long before man ever came to this
continent – even my people. Skinwalkers lived here first with
tall glaciers and ferocious mammoths, heaved up by nature, the true
beings the spirits mean to rule this wild land.”

We listened silently. Legend or not, at least his
beliefs were...interesting.

“
Destiny stones were built by master craftsmen and
handed off to each group of settlers. Every tribe had its Alpha, its
king, a supreme bear to guide his people. Clan kings are second only
to the King of Kings who ruled the original tribe. Of course, you
know there has been no King of Kings for many eons...”

Nick shook his head. I eyed the shocked mask on his
face, more than a little amused.

He doesn't know his own history. Then again, what do
I know? This is a total retelling of everything I thought I knew
about the Klamath Bear Clan, or whatever came before them.

Government records and folksy old diaries weren't
exactly forthcoming and thorough about bear history.

“
Guess we know why it's so valuable now,”
Nick said to me.

“
Yes, very valuable indeed, young man.” Tuts
slurped more tea. “In its rightful hands, this stone is a
symbol of a king's authority over his clan. To challenge an Alpha
bloodline with this stone, this proof, is to challenge the gods.”

Ugh. Now I really regret trying to steal and sell
this thing.

I really did. My heart throbbed when I looked at Nick. I
watched him carefully wrap the stone up and drag it across the table
to his lap.

“
You're not going to rat on us, are you? I swear
my clan has no king. We found this, buried outside an old dig site.
Klamath's Elders have been trying to get in touch with their history
lately.”

“
Any skinwalker who calls himself an elder should
already know the past,” Tuts said. “Your people have
grown strange. Out of touch with themselves and their nature. I
suggest you do some research so you can bring it to them.”

“
Just how the hell are we supposed to do that?”
I folded my arms. “I've read everything available about the
Klamath Bear Clan since I was a girl.”

Tuts smiled, but this time stopped short of showing us
his worn teeth. He got up, went to an old bookshelf in the corner,
and came back clutching a gigantic book that looked like an old
Bible.

“
Hold out your hands,” he told me. “You
may have read much, but I doubt you have ever read this.”

The book weighed a ton. I scuttled to get it on the
table.

Its
cover was just as worn as the old yellowed pages sticking out between
the hard shell.
A
Chronicle of the Ursus Arctos Skinwalkers and Their Traditions,
the title read.

I carefully opened the cover and thumbed to the front
page. The same title, an author name I didn't recognize, and then the
date below it.

“
1916,” I said, more than a little
impressed. “This is one old book.”

“
And one of a kind,” Tuts added. “The
Montana bears told me they only had two more copies when they gave it
to me. Must've been almost thirty years ago. None of them have
returned for many years.”

I flipped to the table of contents. Nick looked over my
shoulder, following my finger as I traced it down the page, searching
for Oregon, Northern California, Klamath.