Christmas Catastrophe: BBW Holiday Bear Shifter Romance (Christmas Bear Brothers Book 2) (8 page)

Yes. Sleep, he said forcefully to his bear. He had no intention of mating with Zara gain tonight, not because he didn’t want to. But because she looked as tired as he felt.

A cold blast of air hit him as Logan jumped out. With a quick wave, he then turned away and his cougar took over in one fluid movement. Then they ghosted into the trees and were gone from sight. As the truck warmed up again, Damon drove off, the road winding round as they began the steep climb up the road to Cougar Ridge.

“I would love to see the look on Cindy’s face when she opens the door to him. And Robbie’s when he wakes up in the morning,” Zara said, sleepily. “I would go over, but I think they need their privacy, and I need my sleep.”

“I think this bear would like to hibernate for a few days,” Damon said. He could think of nothing better than to curl up in a nice, dry cave with his mate. She could sleep in the safety of his big bear embrace while the snow fell and the world passed them by.

“Hey, stay awake. You look as if you were about to doze off.” She gave him a nudge.

“I was just thinking of you,” he said. “Don’t worry, I’ve seen what happens when people fall asleep at the wheel. I’m OK.”

“You should have slept while I drove,” she chastised.

“I couldn’t.”

“Don’t you trust my driving?” she asked.

“I trust everything about you, but somehow I convinced myself that if I slept, I would wake up and this … you would all have been a dream and I would wake up on Christmas morning as lonely as I was before.”

“Tomorrow I will remind you just how real I am,” she said as they reached the top of the hill and he made his way to her small house.

“I look forward to that,” he said, pulling up outside and switching off the ignition. “You know, it doesn’t seem that long ago we were getting in to truck to leave. All of a sudden, here we are.”

“Home,” she said and leaned over and kissed his mouth, “Thank you. It might not seem long, time-wise, but what you’ve done for me, for Logan, Cindy, and Robbie is amazing. I will never forget it.”

“You don’t have to thank me. We’re a team now.” He unbuckled his seatbelt. “And this team needs to sleep.”

“Come on. Let’s go to bed.” She got out of the truck, and went to her front door, putting the key in and opening the door. They spilled into the house, her legs almost refusing to work after sitting so long in the truck.

“Here,” he said and swung her into his arms, carrying her up the stairs in the same way he hoped to soon carry her over the threshold as his wife. “This way?”

“Yes. This is my bedroom.” She paused. “Our bedroom.”

“I like the sound of that,” he said and put her down on the bed. Bending down he removed her boots from her feet, and then helped her undress and put on her pyjamas. “There, is there anything I can get you?”

“Only you,” she said, lifting the blankets and inviting him to lie next to her.

“I think I can manage that,” he said, stripping his clothes off and climbing into bed next to his mate. “Marry Christmas,” he said sleepily.

“Don’t you mean Merry Christmas?”

“Maybe. But I do want you to marry me.”

“How can I say no?” she replied, her speech slurred as she fell asleep in his arms.

“Hey, sleepy head, someone wants to speak to you,” Logan said, as Zara held the phone to her ear.

“What time is it?” she asked sleepily.

“A little after eight. Robbie’s been awake for hours. He wants to thank you for sending me to Santa,” Logan emphasised the words.

“Oh, right.” She sat up in bed, and tried to put her mind in gear. She couldn’t afford to mess this up. “Hi, Robbie.”

“Hi, Auntie Zara. Daddy said you went and found him at the airport and then sent him to Santa so he could bring him home for Christmas.”

“Yes. I did. One of the firefighters, Damon, he was there yesterday when you were up the tree, he came up with the idea.”

“That was the best idea. I knew Santa wouldn’t let me down. He is magic, after all.”

“I know. I think the fact that your dad is with you on Christmas morning proves that.”

“He brought me some other presents too.”

“Can I come over later and see them?” Zara asked, wanting to see for herself her brother’s family all together on this special day.

“Yes. Mommy wants to know if you can come for Christmas Lunch. She said there is plenty to eat.”

“Tell her thank you, but we can’t make it until later,” Zara said.

“Zara, please come to lunch,” Cindy’s voice said over the phone. “That’s it, Robbie, you go and play, I’ll talk to Auntie Zara.”

“No. You need this time alone. I don’t want you going crazy trying to feed more people. Relax with Logan.”

“We wanted to say thank you.”

“Just hearing Robbie so happy is enough,” Zara said and then dropped her voice to a whisper. “You know, it’s partly selfish too. I want to spend some time with Damon, you know what it’s like, the holidays will be over before we know it and we’ll both go back to work … I want to spend a little time getting to know him.”

Cindy giggled. “Then I will just say Happy Holidays to you both and leave you to get on with getting
acquainted
with your mate.”

“You make it sound so dirty,” Zara accused.

“Oh, I hope it’s very dirty. And incredibly satisfying.”

“Cindy!”

“What? You know exactly what I mean. Logan said he had never seen you so happy. Now enjoy today in whatever way you want. Why not come over mid-afternoon if you can drag yourselves out of bed?”

“OK. I’ll see you then.” She placed her phone down on the nightstand, and slipped back down into the warmth of the blankets, hoping not to wake Damon.

“Did I hear the word dirty?” he said, his arm going around her waist and pulling her close.

“You might have. But how do you know we weren’t talking dishes,” she teased.

He laughed, low and sexy. “Avoid answering all you want. But I want to give you a Christmas you will never forget.”

“I think you’ve already done that,” she said, kissing his neck.

“Oh, I think I can make it even more memorable.” He slipped down under the covers, his mouth leaving a trail of kisses down over her breasts, then over her stomach and then lower.

“Oh. Oh, that is memorable,” she said as he eased her thighs open and kissed her clit. “Incredibly memorable.”

Then she was lost for words as he licked her clit, his teeth grazing the sensitive bundle of nerves, while his fingers worked inside her sex, stroking her inner walls. Zara lifted her hips off the bed, offering herself to him, wanting more. His fingers probed deeper, touching her in such a way that she felt her orgasm crashing into her with such intensity that she cried out, her fingers fisting his hair, holding him in place while he sucked her clit, and wave after wave of pleasure washed over her.

“Oh, you taste good,” he said, kissing her thighs, his hands stroking her skin while she came back down to earth.

“You know how to use your mouth,” she said. “And your hands.”

“Want to see how I use other parts of my body?” he asked, sliding up the bed to lie by her side.

“Which part of your body would that be?” she asked, her hand slipping between their bodies and stroking his rock-hard cock. “This, by any chance?”

“Oh, yeah.” He gasped as she rolled her palm over the head of his cock, feeling the first of his precome on her skin.

Damon stroked her breasts, his hands igniting a new fire within her body. Dipping his head, he sucked her nipple into his mouth, his tongue warm as it circled the taut bud. Zara opened her thighs and Damon slid between them, their bodies perfectly in time as he entered her, his cock sliding into her sex, slowly, deliberately. He filled her inch by inch, his cock sliding along the length of her inner walls, the friction igniting her arousal until her breathing came quick and fast.

Whimpering, she rose to meet him stroke for stroke, bringing her orgasm closer and closer until she rushed over the edge, taking him with her. Damon jerked hard and fast into her, his seed filling her, while he fisted the sheets, his orgasm making him cry out in ultimate pleasure.

When he collapsed, completely spent, she lay in his arms, dozing as the sun rose high in the sky.

***

“I’m sorry it’s not much of a festive meal,” she said, dishing up macaroni cheese onto his plate. “But I wasn’t expecting to be home for Christmas.”

“This is perfect,” he said, as he ate another forkful of food.

“You don’t have to flatter me. Unfortunately, cooking is not one of my strong points,” she said, sitting down to eat with him. “Oh, that is good.”

“It is. Maybe it helps that we haven’t eaten for hours,” he said, and helped himself to some bread. “I don’t think anything could taste better. Although Christmas at the station is usually very tasty.”

“You don’t miss it, then?” she asked.

“Are you kidding? This is what I’ve dreamed of. OK, maybe not the mac and cheese, but the rest of it. You, being here with my mate. Exactly what I wished for.”

“I usually spend it with my parents. My dad is normally very uptight. He has certain traditions that he has to uphold each year, and my mom suffers in silence.”

“Are they OK about you being absent this year?”

“You know, I didn’t ask. I told him where I was going, he wished me luck, and that was it. I hope he’s happy Logan is home, but who knows.”

“Must be hard, being in charge. I know my brother Declan finds it tough being sheriff. But he is only responsible for maintaining law and order, not making those laws. Must make it tough.”

“I know. But we’ve become so distant. Even though we live in the same town.” She ate her food, but thinking of her father took her appetite away. “I don’t want us to be like that.”

He placed his fork down on his plate. “We won’t be.”

“Even though there is a chance I will take over from my father?”

“Even if you do. But isn’t your brother older than you? Won’t he take over the town? Or you could elect a leader.”

“I don’t think my brother wants the job. He never has.”

“And you do?”

“Yes.”

“Because you feel obliged to? Or because you want to?”

“A little of both. I think seeing Logan going off to find work has made me realise we have to do something to make ourselves more self-sufficient here in Cougar Ridge. More and more men are leaving to go and work elsewhere to support their families. I want to make the town a place where they can live and work, otherwise we will die out. And cougars have lived on this ridge for hundreds of years. I’m not going to let the town die.”

“You know, Zara, I may have only known you for a couple of days, but I believe in you. If you are the new leader of Cougar Ridge, I know you will find a way to make it work.”

“You are biased,” she said, but smiled at his words all the same.

“I am. I admit it, but it doesn’t mean I don’t believe in you.”

“You know, I might just get used to having you around.”

“I hope so, because I don’t intend to leave you. I don’t care what I have to do. You are my home.”

“Right. Let’s eat and then we can do a tour of all the people we should visit on Christmas day.” She ate her food, letting go of the ghosts of the past and those of the future. She intended to live in the present on this one special day.

“Hi there, Robbie. How is my favourite nephew?” Zara asked as they visited her brother’s house.

“I am playing a game with Daddy and Grandad,” Robbie said, launching himself into Zara’s arms.

“Oh. I didn’t know Grandad was here too,” Zara replied and Damon felt her tense.

“Yes. He came over to welcome Daddy home,” Robbie said, grinning.

They followed Robbie into the living room, where Logan and Zara’s father were sitting putting a train set together.

“Hi, Zara, Damon, come in. What can I get you to drink?” Logan asked, getting up.

“Oh, some tea or coffee. We aren’t stopping long, I’m afraid, we are going over to Bear Bluff to say hi to Damon’s brothers.” Zara looked worried, and he moved to place a hand on the small of her back.

“I want to show Zara off to my family,” Damon said, and felt her stiffen. Damn it, he was such a fool, she hadn’t told her father yet about him being her mate. Talk about letting things slip out.

However, the old man was on his feet and coming towards Damon with his hand outstretched. “Welcome to our family, Damon. I would have said something before. But my daughter didn’t tell me.”

“That’s because you are a cranky cougar,” a female voice said.

“Mom,” Zara said, kissing the woman on the cheek. “Merry Christmas.”

“Merry Christmas, sweetheart. So this is your man. Cindy told me all about him. Damon, call me Susan, please. And my husband, the cranky cougar, is called Ron.”

“It’s good to meet you. And don’t worry, I plan to take very good care of Zara,” Damon said, feeling the need to impress.

“I know you will. And she will need your help and support,” Ron said.

“Why?” Zara asked.

“I have been talking to Logan,” Ron said. “And we have come to an agreement that you should begin to take over the running of the town. I’m tired, and I think, if we are going to survive, we are in need of a fresh outlook on the modern world. We have isolated ourselves up on the ridge for too long.”

Logan continued, “Now you have Damon, we thought you would have a deeper understanding of what we’re up against.”

“What he means,” Cindy said, “is we don’t want anyone else to go through what we have this last month. Families need to be together.”

“We want you to come up with a plan of how we are going to bring money into the town. Revitalise our economy,” Ron explained.

“Wow. This is one gift I never expected,” Zara said, sounding overwhelmed.

“You know I’ll be her by your side, whatever you do,” Damon said.

“That’s good to know, Damon,” Susan said. “I hope you will give us a different perspective on the world.”

“Yes. Being an outsider,” Ron said.

He had never been regarded as an outsider before, but he was willing to help Zara in whatever ways he could.