ROMANCE: Lion Protector (Paranormal Shifter BBW Military Romance) (Shapeshifter Alpha Male Short Stories Book 2) (10 page)

Chapter 4

Tamera got ready, putting on black heels and a fluffy skirt she could twirl in. She'd always loved princess-type skirts, and tonight was no exception. She wasn't into slinky, form-fitting clothes that showed too much skin. She went for girly, cute, and ruffled. After pinning her hair back with sparkly barrettes that matched her blue skirt, she found a cute top that showed off her cleavage without having to use a push-up bra, but kept most of her arms and shoulders covered.

Doing her makeup light, she applied silver glitter on her eyelids, with black mascara and eyeliner to accentuate. She wasn't big on looking like a painted doll, but she did enjoy looking sparkly. It was one of her secrets. Looking at herself in the mirror, she decided some pink lip gloss was all that was missing.

Realizing he said he wanted to stargaze, she eyed her brown cowgirl boots in the closet and shrugged. They went with everything. Putting them on instead of heels, she smiled. Now she felt like herself.

The doorbell rang and she answered it. He took her in and grinned when he saw what she was wearing.

"Well, this is refreshing," he told her as he offered her his arm. "You look adorable."

"And you look overdressed. Where are you taking me for dinner?" she asked him. He had on a suit, and she suddenly felt like she had underdressed for the occasion.

"I have reservations at my favorite Italian restaurant, but it's not that fancy. I just didn't have time to change after work. I had a business meeting that required dressing up for. I didn't want to be late, so I didn't have time to go home. I'll take off my jacket before we go in," he assured her and then reached out to touch her cheek. "You are full of surprises. I like this. It's cute, honest, and suits you."

"When were you going to tell me who you really were?" Tamera asked him as he opened the car door for her. She slid into his black Mercedes SUV and gave him a look that said she wouldn't let it go until he answered.

He walked around the car and slid into the driver's seat, starting the car before turning to look at her.

"Would you have been more or less likely to go out with me if you knew who I really was from the beginning?" he asked her quietly as he pulled out from in front of her condo and onto the street.

"Probably less, to be honest." Tamera realized that, had she known, she probably wouldn't have said yes. Rich and famous lifestyles had never appealed to her. She just wanted a quiet life with a shifter, one who left her aroused and wanting to be around him all the time, one she yearned to keep company and be in love with. She wasn't sure she could handle the fast-paced life of being in the public eye all the time.

"Exactly. If people know who I am, it's either a major turn off to them or they want me for my money. I wanted to get to know you as myself. As the man who likes to walk and eat an ice cream cone by the water, sit in my backyard and watch shooting stars go by. I didn't come from money, Tamera. My company may have made me rich, but I prefer to live quietly and privately. I sometimes have to pose for publicity shoots for my company, but these days my investors are pretty safe. The company's doing well enough that I don't have to stay involved in the spotlight as much anymore. I'm at a place where I can settle down, have a family." He looked at her and grinned. "And while I don't know what your agenda is, you were looking for a shifter. I'm that, too. I don't know where the two of us will end up, but I took one look at you and wanted you. I don't know if you are my mate, or if I just want to take you to bed and not let you out for a week. But for me, that's enough.  I wanted to find out what you will end up meaning to me. I'm glad you agreed to do this with me."

"Well, it's a free meal and I like stars, so..." Tamera joked lamely, absorbing his words and letting them sink in. She'd let it go for now. She could understand his reasoning, yet the mention of children and mates had her considering running scared. She wasn't sure she was ready for such a serious commitment yet. She needed time to think about it first.

"I'm not in a hurry to make babies, by the way. I'm just not getting any younger and knew if I wanted it, I had to start working that direction," he told her. Reading her expression, he wanted to reassure her he wasn't going to push her into anything before she was ready.

"It's weird to hear a guy talking about having children so openly. Is it like that with all shifters, or are you just special?" Then she reached out to touch his arm, speaking the question she really wanted to ask: "Can I watch you shift sometime?"

"Let's see how the night plays out, and we can talk about the shifting," he said, grinning at her. He was glad she wasn't intimidated by it. When women found out he was a shifter, they either overlooked it due to his money, or were freaked out and lost all interest. "I was a single child, and I hated it. It made me determined to have a big family when I was ready to settle down. I just had to get to a place in my life where I was ready for it all."

"I guess having a billion-dollar company doesn't hurt," Tamera said tartly.

Laughing, Julius nodded at her. "No, having a lot of money doesn't hurt. But it does make it hard to find the right woman. You'd think having money would make it easier, but I think it makes it harder."

"So tell me, why stargazing?" Tamera asked him, changing the subject. He was getting close to the place where he was taking her for dinner. As he pulled up to the valet, he just smiled at her.

"I'll tell you over dinner." Getting out, he helped Tamera out of the car.

They went inside to enjoy their meal, and Tamera was glad that no one noticed the two of them. One of her biggest fears of being with him in public now was someone knowing who he was and bugging them. Men of his caliber didn't just go unnoticed most of the time.

"Do you have people chasing after you to get your attention or take your picture?" she asked him while looking over the menu after they'd been seated.

"Occasionally, but it happens less often than you think. I don't strip naked, do drugs, or any of the other things that often get attention. I just leave that for the rock stars." He grinned at her and winked before ordering a glass of wine and offered her one. She nodded and thanked the waiter when he brought it.

"So, you were going to tell me about the appeal of stargazing." She grinned at him as she sipped her glass of wine.

"Well, honestly, I was hoping to do more Tamera-gazing than stargazing, but I'll settle for stars if you decide not to let me seduce you tonight." The waiter brought the food a few minutes later and he let Tamera digest his intentions.

She was flattered he wanted her; she even appreciated his honesty and bluntness. The fact he had a backup plan to enjoy their evening if she said no to him tonight was refreshing. He was a smart man, and it showed in every decision he made.

"What will you do if I say yes?" She asked him, leaning against the table slightly, lowering her voice to closely watch his reaction.

"I will peel off every inch of your clothing and take you to heaven and then when you crash back down to earth, I'll do it again." He grinned and started eating his pasta like a man who was starved.

Tamera ate her meal in relative silence while she pictured his tongue on her body, his large hands stroking her naked skin under the stars. The mental images she was entertaining made her wonder if the fantasy would compare to the reality.

Finishing up their meal, he asked if she wanted dessert. She shook her head no; she was too stuffed after garlic bread, salad, and pasta. It was a delicious meal and good conversation. When she offered to pay for her half he looked offended.

"Tamera, I asked you out. That means I'm paying for it," he told her and gave her a stern look. "Unless we are just friends, you let me pay for the things that I want to pay for, okay?"

"If you insist," she said raising a brow and shrugging. She was used to taking care of herself. She wasn't entirely sold on letting someone else pay for everything, but she could probably learn to accept gracefully. It wasn't worth arguing over.

"You ready to go watch the stars?" he asked her as he finished tipping the waiter and got up to get the car back from the valet.

"Do you plan on keeping me so distracted we don't see any of the stars, or do we actually get to see some of the meteor shower?" Tamera asked him. She had never stopped to watch one, so part of her actually wanted to see it.

"We can watch it. I have a bottle of wine, a blanket, and some pillows, so we can lie on the grass." He nodded to the valet and slipped him a few dollars for bringing his car back. Tamera got in and fastened her seat belt, waiting for him to get in. She put her hand on his leg after he got in the driver's seat.

The look he gave her sent shivers up her spine. The only thing she really still wanted was to see him shift. She wasn't sure he'd do it tonight, but the thought of him sharing that part of himself with her had her aroused. She wanted him to feel comfortable enough with her to show himself in his most raw form. Wondering how she was going to ask him when she got there, she decided blunt might be the best way to go, but she wanted to wait until they were comfortable.

Chapter 5

Tamera was sitting on the blanket cross legged behind Julius’ house, a large, open-windowed house near the ocean. It had grass for an acre before touching the beach. His nearest neighbor was far enough away that Tamera couldn't see the house besides a murky outline against the night sky. They were alone and had privacy.

She didn't want to comment on the cost of his house, but she had a feeling this was way out of her pay grade. Instead, she just focused on him. He handed her a glass of wine and sat down next to her, recorking the bottle and setting it into the grass. Checking his phone, he nodded at her.

"Should be starting any minute if the reports are correct," he told her and sipped his wine. He was staring at her instead of the sky, and Tamera could feel his eyes on her.

"I want to watch some of the stars, but I want to see you shift more. Will you do that for me, Julius? Will you turn into your other form and let me watch?" Tamera asked him as she slid closer to him, putting her hand on his chest. Her mouth was an inch away from his and, before he answered her, he kissed her.

Julius pressed his lips against hers, dominating, arousing, and hard. He pushed his tongue between her lips and kissed her like his life depended on it. Something about this woman pushed all the right buttons. He would shift for her, but first he was going to kiss her.

His tongue teased hers and his hands grabbed her hips and pulled her harder up against him. He could smell her arousal as he kissed her and she moaned into his mouth. Satisfied with her response to him, he pulled back and looked at her.

Lips swollen from the kisses, she brought her hand up to her mouth and stared at him with heavy lids. Her breaths were coming shallow and her heart was racing. If that's what he did with a kiss, she couldn't wait to see what else he could make her feel.

"Shifting, huh?" He let out a small laugh and stood up on the blanket. Stripping naked before her, he didn't bother to hide his large erection. Backing up, he threw his head back and his arms out. The shift rolled over him. It bordered somewhere between pleasure and pain, and he let out a low grunt. He hit the ground on all fours, completing his shift into a bear.

Standing before her, he looked straight at her. He knew he was an impressive bear. Larger than most bears by a few inches, his brown fur reflected the moonlight. He stood about fifteen feet from her on the grass and looked at her.

Tamera scrambled to her feet to touch him. She was enthralled. He was as impressive in his bear form as he was as a man. She stroked down his back and by his ears. She admired his legs and his strong back. Eventually, she stopped touching him and stood back, allowing him to shift back to his human form.

He was kneeling in the grass after he shifted back. She walked back over to him and ran her hands over his bare back. Touching his skin, she sighed, feeling the heat as her fingers trailed down his body.

Standing up, he faced her, naked. He scooped her up in his arms and kissed her as she wrapped her hands around his neck. He took her back over to the blanket and gently set her down.

She moaned as his hands worked on removing her clothes. His tongue sent shivers up her spine as he teased and tormented her with his lips ravishing her own.  Tamera felt the cold air of the night sky ripple across her skin as she lay against the blanket. The heat of his skin was a contrast to the breeze coming up from the water. She looked up at the sky long enough to see a shooting star. Making a wish on it, she hoped this night turned out to be as promising as it seemed like it would.

"What has you smiling so big?" Julius asked her as he pulled his head back.

"The stars. It started. Let’s watch it for a few minutes and we'll pick up where we left off," she told him, pushing him off her and putting her head on his shoulder. Pointing at a star shooting over head she smiled. "It's beautiful, isn't it?"

"Not as beautiful as you," Julius told her and grinned, but tried to pretend like he was paying proper attention to the sky above them. He sat there for a few minutes, feeling her breathing fall and rise next to him, noting the way her heart was slow and steady. He reached over and traced around one of her breasts. When she didn't stop him, he kept touching her, massaging her breasts with his hands. He was slowly working his way down her stomach to the small smattering of pubic hair covering the parts he wanted to touch the most. Digging his fingers through it, he combed his way down until he found her clit. Stroking it, he turned slightly, cradling her in his arms while they watched the stars.

Tamera let her head fall back as his fingers worked their magic. Fire and ice, the wind cooled her skin and his fingers heated her entire body up until she broke out in a sweat. Her hips were rotating up as he stroked her sensitive button. She was close to cumming. Half-shutting her eyes, a moan ripped through her throat as he pushed her over the edge with his fingers. He kissed her then, capturing her mouth with his own, swallowing her cries of pleasure.

After she'd come down from the explosion of stars behind her eyes, he pulled her on top of him.

"Ride me, so I can watch the stars explode as you pleasure me," he told her and waited for her to sit on him. He was hard and erect and, when she spread her legs over him, he thrust into her in one deep upward motion. Yanking her hips down at the same time he buried himself to the base. Tamera's head dropped back and she moaned loudly. He was using his grip on her hips to pull her up and down on his cock.

"You are so big," she muttered, riding his cock. Placing her hands on his chest she used the leverage to help make her hips go faster. She wanted to watch him cum, but it felt so good that it was hard to keep her eyes open. He was sliding in and out of her, his cock hitting all the right places as his hands gripped her hips almost painfully tight.

Rolling her hips against him, she took him deeper, faster, until she sent him over the edge into his own climax. Feeling him jerk inside of her as he came, it pushed her over the edge of another orgasm. She kept moving, it felt so good. The rolling sensations kept coming as long as she moved.

After a few moments, the feeling settled down and she realized her entire body felt like jelly. She halfway collapsed on top of him. Laughing slightly, she pressed kisses to his chin and cheeks.

He cradled her in his arms and wrapped the edges of the blanket around the two of them, blocking out some of the wind as they finished watching the meteor storm together. When it was over, he took her inside.

"We will need to talk," he told her as he pressed kisses to her mouth. "But tomorrow. Tonight, I have plans for your body that don't involve much talking."

"I can live with that," Tamera said, grinning. Taking his hand, she let him lead her to his massive bedroom. He flipped on the light and grabbed a couple of ties he'd had thrown on his dresser near the light switch.

"You game?" He asked her winking as he held up the ties.

"For me, or for you?" she asked him, raising a brow. The idea of him tied to the bed at her mercy had her knees almost buckling. Getting to touch every inch of him while he lay there. Picturing his wrists tied to the bed had her growing wetter by the second. Oh, the things she'd do to him.

"Either way," he told her, shrugging.

"I like the way you think." Pulling him over to the bed, she put the ties to good use. They ended up taking turns more than once that night. When she woke in the morning she was well sated, and sore from all the activity.