Jade Crew: Forgotten Bear (A BBW Paranormal Shape Shifter Romance) (Ridgeback Bears Book 3) (9 page)

“That’s why I’m very hesitant to outright declare how I feel,” Russell said after a moment, breaking the silence before it got any more awkward.

“You’re right,” she said. “I do grasp it intellectually, even if I don’t really understand. You owe him, and that is something that I can respect. But if I find out that you’re doing this because they think you’re with another woman, well, the result won’t be pretty,” she warned, her tone serious.

“Not my style,” he said without hesitation, once again meeting her eyes levelly, letting her gaze into his soul as he said it.

“You know, I’m tempted to believe you, despite what may be my better judgment,” she teased.

“Ouch.” Russell placed one hand over his heart as if she had stabbed him.

“Now, on to another topic.”

“Oh, and what is that my dear?”

Her heart jumped. She liked the way he called her that. It seemed so smooth and genuine.

“Emma and Garrett are getting married in a couple of days.”

“That they are,” he said with a nod, as if that was common knowledge.

“Well mister, I arrived late to town. I need a date!”

Russell frowned.

“I know, I know. But everyone knows that you were at the fight, and they know we’ve talked. So I’m not asking you to be my date-date. Just pick me up, hang out with me, sit next to me at dinner to save me since I don’t know anyone else! You know, just those kinds of things,” she said with a smile.

“That sounds like a date,” he rumbled, unsure.

“Ah! But we won’t be holding hands, nor will we kiss. So you see,” she said with a clap of her hands. “Just friends!”

“You’re asking me to take a very big risk,” he said quietly.

“And you’re asking me to do the same. I’m trusting you by agreeing to be your secret girlfriend while you resolve things with your crew. Trust me that I won’t do anything to blow the cover on things.”

“That is a very good point. Thank you for reminding me of your own perspective on this. I will admit I hadn’t thought of it from that angle.”

“What angle? That I’m trusting you not to screw me over?” she said with a smile. “Everyone earns my trust when they first meet me. It’s up to them to keep it. So far you haven’t done anything to break that trust. Just keep it up.”

“I shall do my very best Gwen Revere,” he said, all trace of humor gone from his voice.

“That sounded very serious,” she said appreciatively.

“Well,” he replied, failing to completely conceal a smile, “when dealing with secret girlfriends, one should always be serious, don’t you think?”

“Aha! So, you admit that you want to date me? To court me and woo me?” She said it in a joking manner, but there was every bit the same amount of bated breath as if she had been serious while she awaited his reply.

“I would love to do all that to you, and more,” he said. Russell, she thought, could do all sorts of things to her with just his voice.

“Oh?” she said in a small voice.

Visions of a shirtless Russell, clad only in boxers ran through her head, as his large hands lifted her shirt above her head. She lay back on the bed. The room didn’t look like her hotel, so it must have been at his place. Candles fluttered around the room, their thick, heady incense infusing her very pores. Her skin was on fire from his touch as the tips of his fingers dragged down her stomach, snagging ever so slightly on her underwear as he dragged them off. Gwen swallowed hard as he exposed her completely. She was vulnerable now, but he knew that. Russell leaned forward, cupping her head as he leaned in, their lips inching closer together—

“But first, I think we should have a drink!”

She exhaled deeply as he got up and went to the bar, searching for any leftovers.

Holy hell, things were getting intense!

At this rate, the moment the two of them were alone they were probably going to destroy the clothing they were wearing in an attempt to get it off. She could feel his desire like it was a physical, touchable object. It throbbed and pulsed in time with her own, crying out to be mated together.

Mated. Was she his mate? More importantly, was he hers? Did she even have a mate, since she was human? But why would Russell waste time on her at this point in his life if he didn’t know? If she were honest with herself, he could have bedded her already if he’d tried, so it seemed like he was more interested in her than just for what lay between her legs.

Speaking of which
, she thought, trying to control the flood of heat that threatened to drench her with warm honey before he had even kissed her. Clearly this evening was going to last longer than she had anticipated.

Russell

He couldn’t believe it. She was here, right in front of him.

His mate.

Russell wanted to proclaim it loudly for all to hear. He wanted to tell her that she was his, that he wanted her with every inch of his body and every intangible part of his soul. He wanted to take her for the first time, right there. He wanted to pleasure her. He wanted to touch her. He wanted to start a family.

He wanted.

He wanted.

He wanted.

You have no idea what she wants. Is she in this for the long haul? What are her hopes and dreams?
He had no idea.
Ask her you blundering mountain of a moron!

Valid point.

“Gwen,” he said, as they sat around the bar, enjoying their third or fourth drink. She was showing him some of the things she had bought or was ordering to decorate the place once it started to come back together.

“Yes?” she said, looking up at him sharply, picking up on his change of tone.

“Why did you come to Origin?”

“Because Emma is here. I needed her. She’s my oldest, best friend, and I needed her support.” There was no hesitation in her answer.

“Were you visiting her? As opposed to moving here?” he said, finally asking the question that was on his mind.

“Oh,” she said. Sitting upright, she gave him a small smile. “Honestly Russell, I had no idea at the time. I sold everything I had. I don’t have a home to go back to. But had I intended to make Origin my home when I first came here? I have no idea.”

“And now?” he said, his voice thick with emotion that he wished he could keep a damper on.

“Now, I still don’t know. I have nowhere else to be right now, if that’s what you want to know.”

He could hear the unspoken “I’ll stay if you ask me to stay” in her voice. While she might be willing to say that, he wasn’t willing to ask. Not yet, at least. They had yet to kiss, or explore each other’s bodies. Those were just as important as the comfortable and flirtatious conversation they had been carrying on for the past few hours.

Flirtatious is one way to put “sexually overcharged
,” he thought wryly to himself. There was an unabashed and unhidden desire permeating the air around them at this point. The two of them had been exchanging more and more suggestive comments at various points of the conversation as the night wore on.

Unfortunately, Russell had come to realize it also coincided with each additional drink that Gwen had had. He hated the fact that because alcohol—unless he consumed a
very
large amount in a
very
short period of time—had no effect on him, he often forgot the way it affected humans.

“Well, I’m glad you chose Origin,” he said honestly. “Life sure has been less dull since you came around.”

“Thank you,” she said with a smile, finishing her drink. She looked at the empty glass before setting it down. “I should probably call it a night on the drinking.”

“I agree.” Picking up his beer he drained it and walked both of their glasses over to the sink behind the bar, giving them a good rinse. The dishwasher had been wrecked in the fight when a bear landed on the bar, crushing the beautiful mahogany and the appliance located directly below the animal’s point of impact. Ferro had said not to worry about cleaning up, but he was going to at least give it a rinse.

“I’ll drive you home,” he told her as he came back to the table to see her standing up, zipping her jacket. Ferro had hooked up several space heaters to help keep the place heated, and sheets of plastic hung over the openings, but it was still quite cold in the areas where the heaters were not present.

“Thank you, I was just wondering what to do about that,” she said, clearly embarrassed that she had let herself drink more than she should have.

He smiled, then called into the back. “Ferro, we’re leaving. Thank you again.”

There was a grunt that somehow echoed easily out of the back room and filled the bar.

“How does he do that?” Gwen said, looking around at the noise.

“Do what?”

“Make it so loud. Hell, I doubt you could grunt like that and make it so... so... so big!” she finished for lack of a better word.

“Dragon tricks,” he said, politely ignoring the loud snort that came from the back room at his words.

“Oh. That would make sense I guess.” She followed his outstretched arm as they headed out into the rapidly cooling night. “There’s so much I don’t know about you,” she said. She meant shifters, he thought, though it could easily go both ways.

“Well, you’ve already learned a lot too,” he said. “You’ll pick up on more the longer you’re around us.

“I’m going to be around for longer, am I?”

“Absolutely,” he said with conviction. “I didn’t go through all this effort to acquire a secret girlfriend just to get rid of her,” he teased. She hit him squarely in the arm with a punch, and he rubbed it, grimacing as if he were sore.

“Oh please, don’t patronize me
that
much,” she said, shaking her head at him.

“Yes ma’am,” he said meekly.

“I give up!” she said, throwing her hands up in the air. “
Ah
!”

Russell spun, his inhuman reflexes working overtime as she tripped and fell, headed face-first for the concrete with her hands still high in the air. Thankfully she was close by, not on the far side of the truck. His hand whipped across her body, grabbing onto the first thing he could and pulling her tight to him as he crouched down with her.

The end result, as he stood up slowly, bringing her with him, was that she had ended up with her back pressed into him, his left hand stretched across her chest, grabbing onto one of her breasts.

Ignoring the less than appropriate placement of his hand, she slowly turned to face him, not backing away. Her head tilted up to look at him. Their faces were mere inches apart as she caught her breath from the sudden exhilaration of her fall and unexpected rescue.

“That was fast,” she said in astonished breathlessness.

He didn’t reply, unsure of what to say. Russell wasn’t entirely sure his voice would have worked if he’d wanted it to. She was so close he could smell her sweetness, the subtle whiff of her perfume. It reminded him of something, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on just what it was.

“You saved me from a rather nasty fall.”

Russell nodded gently, his arm tightening ever so slightly around her back, keeping her close. This time he wasn’t going to let her pull away. He was going to find the courage to kiss the beautiful woman.

“Is there anything I can do to say thank you?” she said.

It was obvious she had said that on purpose. Her tongue flicked out, licking her lips, which hung open a minute amount as they anticipated his next move.

“Perhaps,” he managed to say, the deep timbre of his voice steady with control.

“What can I do?” she asked him.

He felt the slight tremor run through her body. It ran down her back, and he felt it through his palm, and then it ran up her arms and through her hands, where she had them resting on his chest.

The same chest that was doing its best not to heave in time with the rapid fire tempo of his heartbeat. He knew there was no way his ribs could stand up to the beating they must be taking. The pain should have been excruciating, but all he felt was a sense of finally, completely, and utterly, being
alive
.

A vocal reply to her question wasn’t necessary. Slowly, painfully slowly, he ran his hand up her back, until he found her neck. Caressing that as gently as possible, he stared into her fascinating eyes, the color of emerald like the greenest of seas, an ocean of tranquility that was currently upset by the tension of the moment.

His fingertips found her jaw, and he tilted her head slightly to the side. There was a mixture of desire and fear in her eyes. He was sure the same was visible within his.

When she didn’t flinch from his touch, he leaned forward and lightly brushed his lips against hers. He barely felt them make contact, but Gwen’s sharp intake of breath as they parted told him everything he needed to know.

Dropping his hand from her face, he grasped her waist with both hands. Muscles flexing, he lifted her up and onto the hood of his truck as the dam broke within him and desire overwhelmed nerves. Lips pressed together in a fierce display of previously pent-up want which had now transformed into a ravenous need. She violently wrapped her hands around his head and pulled him into her tightly, never relinquishing her grip, mashing their lips together as they kissed each other with a fiery passion he had never known before.

Everything he had wanted to say, all that he had wanted to show, every ounce of restraint that he had used to hold his feelings within a cage from the moment he saw her came bursting forth. Their tongues danced back and forth, exploring each other’s mouths, while their hands cursed the extra thickness of winter jackets as they sought the feel of their other half.

“You need to take me home, gorgeous,” Gwen said, pausing as she gasped for breath, overwhelmed by the ferocity of the moment.

“Where?” he asked.

“The hotel.”

“Right,” he mumbled around her lips, remembering that she had told him that already. Reluctantly he tore himself away from her, his fists clenching as she slid off the hood and sauntered around to the passenger side, each movement of her deliciously long body designed to evoke desire and need within him.

“Minx,” he growled at her.

She pulled at the door handle, but it didn’t move.

“Ooops,” he said with a grin, holding up the keys as Gwen pulled her jacket tighter around her.

“Open this door if you want any others to be opened for you.”

Click
.

“Better. Now get in.”

“Yes, great idea,” he said, punching the ignition button on his newer-model truck and taking a deep breath while the engine roared to life. The V8 growled throatily as he punched the gas, gravel spraying behind them as he pulled the wheel sharply through the slight S-bend of a driveway that led down from the road to Ferro’s.

“Is that really fair?” he asked as her hand found his leg, thumb and index finger exerting pressure as she slowly ran it up from his knee toward his thighs, and then back down. Each time she got just a little bit closer to the giant bulge between his legs.

“Well I suppose you’re right,” she murmured, relenting.

But instead of stopping, she grabbed his arm and placed it right at the apex of her legs, spread as wide as the seat would let them.

“Oh,” he said, swallowing hard. Gently he began to drag two fingers back and forth between her legs, putting just enough pressure on it that he knew she could feel it through her jeans, but not enough to do more than just tease her.

Which is exactly what she was doing to him.

“Now who’s not being fair?” she pouted. As if to drive home her point that it was him, her hand didn’t stop as it ran up his leg this time, the palm of her hand rubbing up and over the hard outline of his cock, which was showing even through his jeans.

“I think this still classifies as you being the unfair one,” he gritted out, focusing with all his might on the road as she switched to using a single finger, sliding it from the base of him all the way to the tip of his head.

In revenge he added a slight amount of pressure to his own hand and moved it from side to side slightly faster.

“Ummm,” she said, the sound trailing off into a soft moan that did absolutely nothing to help with his efforts to focus on the road.

Thankfully the Origin City Hotel—not that anybody considered Origin much more than a glorified town—was not far at all. In just a few minutes he pulled up into the parking lot.

“You’re going to have to let go of that now,” he told her as the engine coughed and died.

“Do I have to?” she asked with mock sadness, reaching lower as she undid her seatbelt to gently caress his sac.

“Unless you want me to rip your clothes off and fuck you right here on the hood of my truck where everyone can see and hear you scream my name,” he said, his voice deep and commanding, unleashing the animal inside of him that she had riled up. “Then yes, you need to let go,” he finished with a smile that promised all sorts of things to come.

Gwen stopped biting her lip just long enough to pull her hand back. “That sounds…oh my,” she said, biting her lip once more. “But my room. Now.”

He nodded, hopping out of the truck and only pausing long enough to adjust his cock so that it didn’t show for everyone to see. Not that he really cared, but he had to maintain
some
level of dignity when he was with her.

“Elevator,” she commanded as they entered the lobby, her head jerking to the side.

Another person occupied the elevator with them, so the pair were forced to keep their hands to themselves. Still, he caught Gwen eyeing his crotch and then licking her lips at him suggestively as they stood behind the other person. The hotel had three floors, and the unknown man was going to their same floor it appeared.