Love to Bear: A Werebear Shifter Romance (6 page)

I screamed and screamed as it lifted me up to its cold,
wet nose. Then the wet nose and sharp teeth turned into warm lips.
Firm, beautiful, loving lips pressed tight to my bare forehead.

I opened my eyes and saw him.

Don.

He kissed my forehead deep, tightening his embrace. I
moaned with delight and pushed into him. Soon, his lips went lower,
grazing my neck and circling back up again.

The tongue I'd only sampled once pushed into my mouth,
massaging my lips as it went behind my teeth, an omen and a pleasure
all in one. His hand ran up my thigh.

Yes! Please do it. Kiss me, caress me, fuck me so
hard I forget the past, the present, and everything in between.

My nipples pulsed as I pushed against his rigid chest,
small buds in bloom, aching for comfort. Don's movements grew
painfully slow. He gazed into my eyes, showing me his knowing fire,
teasing me the entire time as he circled closer and closer to the
steaming crevice between my legs.

“
Do you want this?” He whispered, adding to
the anticipation rather than posing a serious question.

He knew. I knew. And our bodies throbbed with angry
desire.

I pushed my hips into his and felt the hard bulge rising
up. He was naked and wonderful. And, best of all, finally all mine in
a time and place where we didn't have to fear for our lives.

I've clung too tight to bad memories. Betrayals. Be
gone, Ryan and Bets. Don...come forward.

I want you inside me. Now and always.

I pushed my legs apart. My breasts bobbed as my lungs
rose and fell, panting and sucking in cold air. It stung deliciously
inside me, curling into the fire kindled by his touch.

The explosive heat that came an instant later was
greater than anything else. Don finished the circuit across my pale,
trembling thigh, diving faster to my wet panties.

His fingers pressed deep and he touched my clit through
the fabric. I wilted, my knees gave out, and I fell.

My eyes snapped open. It wasn't pure blackness inside
the room anymore.

The sun had crept toward the horizon, spilling its light
over the mountains, painting the landscape outside an ocean blue.

I sat up. A curious tremble instantly ran through me.

I pinched my legs together and yawned. Anxious, sticky
heat passed up my center, like I'd been slowly filled with warm honey
all night. Muscles deep inside me twanged with a long lost itch.

Jesus. That dream...I can't even remember the last
time I felt this way.

Not since Ryan. I was actually horny – and not
just the kind that's mixed with shock and desperation .

I smiled to myself, embracing the feeling in all its
tingling wonder. I threw my legs off the side of the bed and stood.

I wished I'd kept his leather jacket. It was freezing in
the house. I wondered if shifters were just used to the cold from
being outside so much, or if their physiology heightened their
immunity to it.

I wasn't sure what I was doing, or what I needed. I
moved slowly through the house, down the hall, through the kitchen.

Don slept in a huge ball on the floor, a heavy brown
blanket thrown across him. He hadn't bothered to throw on pajamas.
And why should he, when he spent half his time naked anyway?

My feet moved with their own designs, quiet and soft
like a cat's. When I reached the small space between him and the
wall, I sat, and then laid down.

He murmured and moved his lips slightly when I wrapped
my right arm around him. He smelled incredible and felt even better.

I couldn't resist. I leaned down, kissed his shoulder.
His flesh tasted like salt, earth, and raw masculinity.

Delicious. Sultry. Addictive.

I wanted more. No, not
wanted.
Needed.

He didn't need me waking him, but I couldn't keep my
hands away. I held my breath, and gingerly let my fingers glide down
his hard chest. They began to shake when I reached his flank,
sweeping lower to his thigh.

I had to stop, or else I was bound to go somewhere I
wasn't ready to visit yet.

Not ready? Are you still telling yourself that?

I flushed red hot. Competing energies shot through me
like steam engines on an intertwining track: lust, fatigue,
loneliness, and melancholy.

Mostly, just lust.

I opened my lips and exhaled hot air in a hiss. My
fingers tightened on his hips, feeling the powerful muscles beneath
his skin. Even while fully relaxed, they were hard slabs, shields I
wanted thundering against me as he drove between my legs over and
over.

My bones rattled
beneath my flesh. If I didn't stop, I was going to do something
crazy. And I'd already had
way
too much crazy the last twenty-four hours.

I'm sorry, Don. I have to let you sleep. I just can't
deal with this.

I removed my hand and pulled it back to me, still
trembling. But on the way, I accidentally brushed the edge of his
cock.

Oh! Hard as steel, and so much hotter.

Who knew a man's morning wood could be so magnificent?
So tempting?

A new urge howled inside me. I wanted nothing more than
to rip the blanket away and grab his swollen shaft in my hand,
discovering its mysteries with my fingers, my mouth, my tongue...

I pinched my eyes shut as hard as I could. If I weren't
laying next to him, I would've pressed the blanket to my face and
screamed into it.

The unbearable, killing tension peaked. Hot enough to
scald.

There was only one thing to do. I rolled over, sighed
deeply, and stared at the wall.

Outside, it slowly grew lighter. Last night's clouds had
gone, replaced with a refreshingly blue sky that would only grow
clearer and emptier as the morning drew on.

It was pretty. Lonely too. I cursed Ryan, drooled
inwardly over Don, and forced myself to go to sleep.

He'd been right about thing – I needed my rest.
But not as badly as I needed a man, and soon! If only everything else
didn't keep interfering.

Don pushed open the door. Entering the cabin, he found
me at the kitchen table, finishing up the last of the elk meat and
coleslaw-like side dish he'd left me for brunch.

“
How long did you sleep?” He asked, a
pleasant twinkle in his hard eyes.

“
You don't wanna know,” I said. “Long
enough to feel fully rested, which is pretty amazing. Sorry if I
interrupted you this morning. I woke up in the bedroom and it was so
damned cold, even with the blanket.”

“
No, I should apologize. I forget humans set their
fires and run their furnaces around this time of year. It's still
early for us to do that.”

“
You're cold blooded,” I said, but only
half-jokingly. Part of me wondered if it was true.

Nah. He certainly didn't feel cold underneath that
blanket. And fuck, the fire in his longest, fullest part...

I bit my lip. I had to push it out of my head, no matter
how difficult. If I couldn't, my hands wouldn't obey my brain
anymore. They'd go right between his legs for an aching, desperate
squeeze.

“
Wouldn't surprise me if there are a few reptiles
on the Elder Council. You'll find out soon enough. We're due to go
over there in a few hours.”

The thick silver fork in my hand clattered onto the
empty plate. I stared at Don, pleading. For a few hours, I'd been
able to forget I would ever have to face his terrifying kin.

“
This is the way it has to be.” He came
close to me and laid one of his large, comforting hands on my
shoulder. “I'll be with you the entire time. If anyone tries
something crazy, I'll take care of it. I'll tear their throats out if
I have to. You just worry about running.”

“
But...” Angry heat flowed to my eyes.

Damn it, I'd only been with this man for a couple days,
and I already wanted him to myself. Ideally alone.

Not wrapped up in all these other insane complications.

“
Relax. Freshen up, if you wish. The shower isn't
normally as cold as the rest of this cabin. We need to be ready to go
in a couple hours, just before sundown. They'll send someone for us.”

I shook my head sullenly. I wasn't going to argue. Hell,
if he hadn't agreed to this, Emmerick might've found some other way
to rip us to pieces in that building last night.

I showered, dressed, and waited for the inevitable. Don
and I sat silently, rocking in the old chairs in his living room.

He sprang up and went to the door when the knock pounded
through the wood. I stood, shuffling up behind him.

My lips pursed sourly when I saw who it was. Alex, that
sniveling, jealous flunky from last night.

“
Come on, Don. Human female too. The Elder Council
demands your presence.”

How formal,
I
thought with a sneer.
As if making this look all official
is supposed to soften the blow or lessen my fear?

Don threw me his leather coat and I quickly put it on.
Whatever.

There was no more time for emotions and delays.

My small hand in his, we stepped out behind Alex,
following the breezy path that led back to the large building where
others waited to decide our fate.

IV: Judgment (Don)

“
We're all very disappointed in your behavior,
Mister Flood.” Council Chairwoman Genevieve pushed up her thick
glasses. She sniffed haughtily after she spoke.

“
That
doesn't cover half of it, councilwoman. Our friend here was caught by
Rufus and Alex
helping
this human girl get away.” Emmerick flexed his fists in front
of him. “Let's cut right to the point: everybody in the Grizzly
Bone nation knows our favorite son is guilty as hell. We just don't
want to deal out the consequences.”

“
And what consequences are those? You really want
to try me for treason and execute me?” I lifted my head, trying
to hold in the rage.

My bear paced restlessly inside me, as if trapped in a
cage. I tapped my tongue on the roof of my mouth. If I didn't keep my
cool, and the bear contained, I'd definitely end up with a treason
trial.

I snuck a peek to my side at Sam. This beautiful,
mysterious human woman was worth fighting for –

though fighting in this case meant bottling instinct
and acting civilized.

Bah, civilized. Everyone born here is half-animal,
and yet we try to live like men.

“
Careful, Mister Flood.” Elder Franklin
spoke, a strangely serious edge in his high, whiny voice. “No
one here wants another treason case. It's been more than a century
since we've suffered that lone misfortune. We're not at the point
where we even need to consider going there again.”

“
Then what?” Emmerick interrupted, tapping
his fingers on the wood in front of him. “We have no idea why
this girl was really here. Don's story is sloppy and embarrassing,
even if it were true. Why the hell was she so close to our borders in
the first place?”

“
You know where we live, councilman.”
Thomas, the last of them, joined the conversation. “It's what
the humans call a National Park. More of them keep coming year after
year. It's only inevitable that we'll have future incidents like
this.”

“
Well said.” Genevieve tilted her gray
haired head at the equally gray councilman and smiled.

My rage simmered lower. I wondered if there was
something going on between the two Elders, and my stomach churned.

Gross!

“
That is, in fact, the question that's brought us
all here, besides Don's mistake,” Genevieve continued. “When
these things happen – and they will – how are we, as the
cousins and neighbors of men, going to handle it?”

“
The same way we always have.” Emmerick
looked at Sam, sinister intent whirling in his eyes. “Cull her.
No witnesses. No exceptions. This policy has worked for over fifty
years and kept us safe. And it's all the more important now that
human inventions have surpassed anything we could ever hope to deal
with...”

“
But that isn't the way we've always handled it,”
I said. “Elder Emmerick is older than anyone here. He should
remember better than anyone how we lived among humans in the past,
and sometimes how we even brought them here to live among us.”

Emmerick stiffened and leaned forward a little more. I
had no doubt he shared my urge to hop the wooden barrier between us
and claw into me.

“
He has a point,” Franklin said. “Fifty
years is enough time to evaluate whether all this has been worth it.
Thank the spirits we've only had to deal with dangerous intruders on
a few rare occasions. But things were very different before...”

“
Yes, and they could afford to be.”
Genevieve faced her fellow Elder. “Our numbers were growing
quite fast then. Everyone knows the opposite is true now. Obviously,
we're not here tonight to get into the population problem, but it's
always in the background.”