Hansel's Bear (Erotic Shifter Fairy Tale) (16 page)

The female had stood watching Rorke
eat the first few bites of his thick sandwich as she attempted to
get him involved in conversations from how many cradles he had to
make to if he was excited about the festival. Rorke had given her
one- or two-word responses. Not pressing him further, she had given
Rorke a wide smile, then told them both to enjoy their
lunch.

Not ready to eat, Hansel had set his
to the side, planning to have it for dinner later. The females in
town were too kind to them. Making sure they had breakfast early in
the morning when they started and a big lunch to keep them going.
Hansel wasn’t only not used to so much attention, but also to
eating so hearty.

“
You guess?” Hansel eyed
the other male. “Only thing that would have made her actions more
clear would be if she had stripped naked before you.”

That got a rise out of the Were.
Glancing up Rorke’s mouth tilted in a crooked smile that all males
understood.

Chuckling, Hansel shook his head and
finished carving out the last corner on the side of the cabinet.
“Maybe you ought to consider chasing her during that Bear Run thing
you all have coming up.”

Rorke sighed. “Not planning to
participate this year.” He took a large bite out of the second half
of his sandwich.

“
Why not? You’re about my
age. In this county, isn’t this when you all settle down with a
mate and start popping out multiple offspring?”

“
Yes, but as soon as my
brother is back to work and we can hire a permanent worker, I plan
to take off on my wandering time.”

Hansel frowned. “What’s
that?”

“
It’s what you get to do
every day.” Rorke picked up his drink and took a healthy sip from
his straw. He lowered the plastic cup back to the stack of lumber
where he sat. “Travel the country, see what is out there and
experience life beyond our boundaries. Normally it is something
Weres do their twentieth year, but we lost our parents then and it
just was never the right time. But, I can’t see myself settling
down with any female until I get this gnawing out of my gut that
pushes me to go.”

“
I understand.” Only thing
about it was the last few days he’d remained his gut was urging him
to claim a mate and put down roots. He didn’t know if it was the
generosity of the Weres here and how they cared for each other or
something else.

Someone else.

Purposely he ignored bear as he’d kept
away from the one person he desired to see.

Allowing the conversation to end,
Hansel placed the cabinet onto a flat dolly and rolled it out to
the back loading dock. The day was unseasonably warm and he needed
to be outside and feeling it on his skin. Taking off his shirt, he
tossed it to the side and grabbed a handful of sandpaper. Running
his hand along the furniture, he couldn’t help admiring his work.
Knowing that this piece and several others he’d put together would
be placed in a home for years and possibly generations to come did
something to his heart.

It tightened in his chest and made it
a little difficult for him to breathe. He barely recalled what his
bedroom looked like at his home with his parents. He recalled model
airplanes, cars and ships he and his father had assembled together.
But, his furniture escaped him. He fought against the overwhelming
sadness as he realized how much of his parents and his early life
he was forgetting.

His exhale sounded more like a groan,
but he swallowed the sorrowful emotions down and focused on his
work. In a few more days they should have Rorke’s backlog to a
manageable point and Hansel would continue on his way.

Setting the stack of rough paper on
top of the cabinet, he kept one sheet and squatted beside it,
sanding the intricate pattern he’d just finished carving
out.

Hansel inhaled deeply. He took in
every note of the wildflowers and raindrops that let him know Greta
was close by.

“
What are you still doing
in Den?”

The melodic, raspy seduction of her
voice caused his head to spin with more than one image of the last
time he’d seen her. How many times he’d buried his cock inside of
her.

His bear was on full alert.

Rising to his full height, he allowed
his gaze to rest on her as a screen of gold haze settled before his
eyes. She was all business, dressed in a black lace-sleeved dress.
The openings gave him a peek at the tempting brown skin of her arms
that he desired to trail his fingers against again. The dark blue
dress wasn’t tight, but still complimented her full-figure, giving
a hint of her ample breasts and round hips. It ended at the center
of her knees. Her legs were bare but her feet were covered in some
sort of ankle high booty heels. Allowing his gaze to rise back to
her face, he was taken in by her round face framed by the ebony
length of her hair.

Was it possible that she was more
beautiful than she had been just days ago.

“
Are you going to answer
me?” She licked her lips as if she were feeling uncomfortable under
his heated stare.

“
Just here to lend a
hand.” He clutched his hands, keeping himself from reaching for
her. The gritty sandpaper pressed into his palm and gave him
something to hone in on, something other than Greta.

“
Didn’t you think I
deserved to know you were still here?”

“
Do you care? I thought
you got what you wanted that night. Nothing more.”

“
I’m not saying…um, that I
wanted more. Just—” She cut off her own words, seeming to struggle
with what she wanted to say. One hand fidgeted with a sleeve of her
dress as her feet rocked on the narrow heels of her boots as her
eyes roamed over his torso.

Her gaze followed a bead of sweat that
rolled from the dip at the base of his throat down the center of
his chest from his steady work in the sun. When it was caught and
absorbed in the waistband of his jeans he heard her breath
catch.

“
Something you see you
want, Blackberry?”

Her lids shot up and she
pierced him with a hard look. She glanced over his shoulder,
looking toward the inside of the warehouse.
She stepped closer to him and whispered, “Don’t call me
that.”

Shit.
Her scent seemed to have elevated, there was a hint of spicy
weaved through it now. She was just as aroused as he
was.

He moved in closer to her, just enough
to see her pupils constrict with desire but didn’t touch her.
“Sorry, I enjoy the sound of it. Especially since every time I say
it, I remember the color of your nipples and how their hardness
feels against my tongue.”

Greta’s chest began to rise and fall.
“Han-sel…”

The soft, vibrato of his name rolling
over her tongue was his undoing.

Mine.

“
Come with me.” He tossed
down the sandpaper, not giving a damn where it floated to. Taking
hold of Greta’s arm he pulled her along in step with his strides.
Thank goodness her legs were long, because she could keep up
without double-timing it.

“
What are you doing? Where
are you taking me? Why are you dragging me around?”

Even as her questions tumbled from her
mouth one after the other, Hansel continued on his path into the
woods.

She was curious, but he noticed she
never once tried to pull her arm away or stop their
progress.

When the dense forest behind the
warehouse surrounded them he came to a halt and released her arm.
“Why are you here, Greta?”

She stumbled away, catching herself
with one hand against the trunk of one of thousands of amazing
Redwoods that were the home to Den County.

He did have a moment of conscience as
he looked down at those sexy mini boot things she was wearing and
how impractical they were for walking in the woods. It wasn’t
enough guilt to take her back out. He needed privacy with
her.

“
What? I told you. I found
out you’d been hiding out in town so—”

Laughter ripped from his gut. Folding
his arms over his chest, he eyed her. “Working at a warehouse in
town does not constitute hiding out. Try again.”

Balling her fists she stared back at
him. “Look, I just came over here to see why you’re still in my
town. But, frankly I don’t even care what you—”

Moving away from the tree, she started
to brush past him and walk away.

Catching her at the waist, he halted
her progress.

She twisted her body and grabbed his
forearm as if still attempting to flee, but her nails were digging
in, holding on, not pushing him away. “Let me go!”

Her tone was filled with passion and
the vehemence of her command came out as a breathy moan.

“
Blackberry…I want the
truth,” he growled as he pressed his lips to her ear and held her
against his chest.

“
Hansel…I
told—”

Jerking her hard against him, he
flexed his fingers on her hip. “The truth.” He kept his voice
barely above a whisper, knowing with her acute Were hearing she
heard him clearly.

A whimper escaped her lips.
“I—I—I…”

“
I can smell your heat.”
He gripped the fabric of her dress and inched it up her thighs.
“Tell me you came over here because you had to see me.” Higher the
material lifted. “Say you couldn’t get me out of your mind over the
last few days.” He pulled up higher.

“
I shouldn’t.” Her hands
clutched at the sides of the tree before them.

“
You should. Don’t fight
it, Greta. I can’t. I’ve thought about nothing but you. It
practically kills me not to see you out every day…every night.” He
slipped both his hands beneath her dress, making her take a wide
stance to accommodate his touch as he squeezed and stroked her sex
through her soaked lace panties.

She pressed her ass back against his
hard dick, grinding into him as her head tilted back onto his
shoulder. “Oh…Hansel. This is madness.”

A rough chuckle came out, even though
he didn’t find any humor in the situation. But, he agreed with her,
this was madness. He shouldn’t feel this way toward her. As if she
were a part of him somehow. He should have been able to satisfy his
lust and move on like he did with other females.

“
How golden is your sight,
Blackberry?” The mating lust was so dense he could barely see,
flying blind he went but touch, smell and sound.

He slipped a finger under both edges
of her panties and pressed along the sides of her clit.

Bucking against him, her body shook.
She began to arch and grind her sex along his nefarious
touch.

Holding still he let her pleasure
herself with him.

It didn’t take long before she had her
thighs parted wide and was fucking his fingers with vigorous pumps
of her hips.

The multiple moans and short catches
of her breath were sending his desire into overdrive, but he held
onto it. He enjoyed Greta being so free with her passion. It was
impossible for him not to imagine her over the last few nights
fantasizing about him while she lay alone in her bed, touching
herself and reaching climax with his name on her lips.

“
Let go, sweetheart.” He
nipped her ear gently. His gumline was tingling was his bear
attempting to bring out his canines. Hansel struggled against it.
That would be wise, he told himself.

“
Ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ahhhhhhhhhhh!” She cried out as her
orgasm overtook her.

As her body shuddered in ecstasy, he
grabbed the sides of her panties and shoved them down her legs to
the forest floor.

She kicked them away as he rose and
tore at the belt and fastenings of his jeans. Once his cock was
free of the restraining material he took hold of it. Pumped it
once, twice and a third time…priming himself for the wet glove of
Greta’s pussy.

He pushed her dress high above her
waist leaving the mahogany silk of her round, plump ass bared to
him. Bending down he licked each globe then rose and palmed one of
her supple thighs and lifted it up, giving himself room between
them.

“
This is going be one
rough ride, baby.” With no other warning he guided himself to the
mouth of her sex and thrust in strong and deep. Taking hold of her
hip, he didn’t temper the pace of his glide as he’d done during
their first night together. Oh, no, he was showing Greta the raw,
bold and violent need of his passion—his desire for her. He gave it
to her hard, over and over again. The sound of him pumping into her
wet sex and the slapping of flesh echoed through the forest and
mingled with their groans.

His emotion where she was concerned
had become one of ‘no-holds-barred’. In a sense he knew it had
always been that way since the first moment she had shifted inside
that hideous cage. It hadn’t been sexual back then, but his bear
and everything inside of him had leaped to protect her, shield
her.

Make her mine.
He couldn’t blame that thought on his bear, it
was all him.

“
Oh, yes! Hansel, I’m….so
close. I ne-e-ed more of you.”