Slade (BBW Bear Shifter Moonshiner Romance) (120 Proof Honey Book 5) (39 page)

“Maybe we just need to talk more about the elephant in the room. Or bear, as it were.” Her cheeks flushed, but he laughed.

“Right. You have questions?”

“You said you don’t choose to be a shifter.”

“It’s hereditary. But it’s not 100%. They say if one member of a couple is a shifter, there’s about an 80% chance the kids would be, too.”

She nodded. Did it skip generations? Like blue eyes and blonde hair could?

“Does that bother you?” he asked.

“Why would it?”

He shrugged and looked at the carpet. Then she realized what he was implying.
 

“Oh,” she said. “I hadn’t really thought about it. I guess if we…” If she did keep seeing him, and ended up sleeping with him, any kids they might have would very likely be bear shifters, too.

“It bothers a lot of women,” he said. “That’s why none of us are married.”

That idea settled over her as there was a knock at the door. “Pizza,” she said.

He stood to get the door and took out his wallet. But when she heard the door open a second later, something didn’t sound right. She got up and peaked around the corner.

“So, we found the shifter after all.”

It was one of the men from Friday night. And from what she could see past him, he had friends with him.
 

The door banged open. Daxton called out, “Blair, run!”

She backed away in shock and locked herself in her bedroom. The instant fear made her tremble. She realized then that she’d left her phone on the living room table after ordering the pizza. She really needed to keep it closer.

A loud crash made her jump. She opened the door a crack. She had a decent view of the living room from here, and she saw the large black bear pick up one of the men in his mouth and toss him to the side of the room. The man landed with a thud and didn’t move.

She counted seven men, all coming at Daxton with fists and knives. A man dove at him, knife extended, and Daxton swiped him to the side with his large paw. Another man tried to stab his leg, and it looked like he only managed to scrape him by the time Dax shoved him down and stepped on him. The man cried out, and she could hear the sound of his bones breaking.

The fight ended much faster than she would have thought possible. Daxton sat in the middle of her living room, her coffee table in pieces in front of him. The seven men lay scattered around the room, most of them unmoving. The ones who did move, did so slowly, and sounds of pain filled the air.

One of the men staggered to his feet. Daxton roared at him, and the man ran out of the house, followed by another man shortly after. Two others, Daxton picked up in his mouth and carried to the door. Of the three that remained, two were moving and trying to stay away from Dax. They each took the arm of their friend, who didn’t seem to be moving at all, and drug him out the front door.

Daxton sat for a long time alone in the living room. Blair opened the door slowly and crept out. She went to the front door and locked it, then secured her deadbolt. She’d have to clean up the smears of blood later.

She came back to where Daxton sat and stared at him. He stayed seated, watching her. One step at a time, she made her way to him. She reached out and stroked his fur, petting him like a dog. He closed his eyes and made a murmuring sound that she thought meant he liked it.

“Can you change back? Or does it take a while?” She stepped back to give him room.

After a few minutes, he curled onto his side and his fur faded into skin. She hadn’t seen him change, and had forgotten about the explosion of clothing from Friday night, but now, as she looked at him naked, she remembered.

But she couldn’t stop looking at him naked. He sat with his knees bent and feet out in front of him, covering himself with his hands.

“Sorry about your coffee table,” he said. “And your floor. And your walls.” He gave her a sheepish look.

“Are you okay? Are you hurt at all?”

“Maybe a scratch or two. Nothing serious.”

“You just took out seven men and barely got a scratch on you?” She was impressed, despite the destruction and her lingering fear. He was practically invincible. And he was there to protect her.

He pulled his mouth into a half smile. “There are some benefits to being a bear.”

“I think our pizza man got scared away,” Blair said, looking toward the door.

“We can order another if you’re hungry.”

She shook her head. She could not take her eyes off the way the muscles bulged out of his chest and arms. Maybe it was the bear in him, but his chest was covered in black curls that begged for her touch. She wanted to eat him and nothing else.

He got to his feet, still covering himself. “Usually, I keep a change of clothing with me. I have some things, but they’re in my car, and I probably shouldn’t walk outside like this.”

She bit her lip and let her gaze fall to the thick muscles of his thighs and calves. Every inch of him was round with hard muscles.
 

“Blair?” he said after a minute.

She realized she’d been staring at him, and he’d been talking to her. “Oh, sorry. What?”

He smirked. “Is my nakedness distracting you?”

Her face flushed, but she smiled. “Maybe.”

He came toward her slowly. “Are you afraid of me?”

“A little. But I’m more turned on than afraid.” She wanted to take back the words the second they slipped past her lips. How could she say something like that?

He stopped in front of her and slid one hand into her hair while the other still covered his groin. He pulled her into a kiss.

Immediately, the heat overtook her. She leaned closer, the fieriness of his body making her hotter still. She pressed her lips against his, slipping her tongue in his mouth in exchange for his. Her breathing grew heavier, and she wished she didn’t have so many clothes on.

He let go of his crotch and put his other hand at her back, pulling her still closer. She could feel his hardness pressing against her, making her wet with desire. He pushed against her and growled in her ear.

“Want to see how much of an animal I really am?” he whispered in her ear.

She moaned in response and he reached down, sliding his hand under her panties. He slipped one finger inside her, and she dug her nails into his back, growling back at him. He kissed along her neck, stopping to tug on her earlobe with his teeth before biting at her neck and shoulders.

He grasped the edge of her shirt and pulled up slowly, letting the soft fabric brush against her skin as he lifted it. She raised her arms overhead and when her shirt was at her elbows, he pulled down, trapping her arms behind her back, tangled in her shirt.

She let out another moan as he popped her breasts free from her bra and sucked at her nipples. She struggled against her restraints, wanting to grab him and caress him as he touched her.

He unzipped her pants slowly. He pulled them down inch by inch. She tried to step out of them sooner, or to push them down, but he stopped her. He rubbed his dick against her panties, her wetness soaking through. She pushed her hips forward, trying to make him press against her harder.

She struggled again to pull her arms free, but he held her wrists tight. “What do you think you’re trying to do?”

“I want to touch you,” she said.

“Do you?”

She nodded.

“Then get on your knees.”

She did as he said and eagerly took all of him into her mouth. She licked and sucked at the tip of his cock, every one of his moans of pleasure making her suck him faster and harder. He pulled back from her and turned her around, getting onto his knees behind her.
 

Her hands were still tangled in her shirt, but they hung behind her, and she could just reach him to stroke him while he ran his hands over her body. He pinched her nipples, then he slipped under her panties and pressed a finger inside her. She was ready to burst in bliss. As if he knew this, he pulled his hand away and kissed her neck, leaving her wet with longing.

He leaned her forward, bending her over. With his teeth, he slid her panties down to her knees, then used his tongue on her. He pushed it in deep until she moaned, then flicked around her lips.

When he pulled back, she cried out in yearning. “Please,” she whimpered.
 

“Say it again.” He rubbed against her, but refused to enter her yet.

“Please,” she begged.

He thrust hard inside her. She almost screamed in ecstasy. He growled loudly and pinched her nipples, slamming hard and fast into her.

The room around her spun. Each time he shoved deeper inside her, a wave of bliss flooded over her, threatening to take her down. He purred in her ear.

“Are you close?” he asked.

“Yes,” she moaned.

“Not yet.”
 

He slid out of her, then rubbed her in circles. She whimpered in response. He teased her, pressing in, then pulling out, pushing in only halfway. He squeezed her breasts and flicked his fingertips over her clit. She reached back for him, but he kept out of her grasp.

When she couldn’t take it anymore, he grabbed her hips and pounded her deep and hard. She cried out as the pleasure ran through every nerve in her body, crashing over her in one long wave. She quivered under him as he thrust in several more times, cried out in a roar, and fell to the ground beside her.

She panted and her ears rang. If she opened her eyes, the room would spin. She kept them closed and curled up beside him, running her fingers through the small curls of hair on his chest. He put an arm around her, dragging his fingertips up and down her arm as he breathed.

They were both so sticky with sweat, him from the fight before, then from their passionate love making.

“Want to join me in the shower?” she asked.

He smiled. “That’d be great.”

She led him upstairs and started the water. She washed him, taking care in the places he had cuts from the fight. He dug his fingers into her hair, rubbing the shampoo in and massaging her scalp. When they’d finished washing, they dried in the bathroom. She put ointment on his cuts and he slathered lotion onto her back.

They slid under the smooth, cool sheets of her bed and fell asleep curled into each other.

Blair rolled over and found her bed empty. She sat up and looked around. Had he left?

She slid out of bed and wrapped her robe around her. She was halfway downstairs when she smelled the coffee and eggs. In the kitchen, he stood naked in front of the stove. She wrapped her arms around him from behind, covering his groin with her hand.

“That’s kinda dangerous, don’t you think? One grease splatter…”

“Then, I guess you’ll have to keep your hand there.”

She chuckled and kissed his shoulder and neck as he flipped the eggs in the pan. Before they sat down to eat, she ran out to his car to get his clothes.

“You don’t have to put them on yet, though,” she said, winking at him.

He let them fall to the floor as they sat to eat. “Guess I owe you a new coffee table.”

She looked over at the two pieces lying on their side. “It looks like a wild animal was set lose in here.” She pulled her lips into a grin.

“I’ll clean up.”

After breakfast, he kept his word. He helped her scrub the blood from the floor, replaced the broken lightbulb in the lamp, and swept the pieces of broken glass from a fallen picture frame. By the time he left, the place looked somewhat livable again.

Months later, Blair popped open a bottle of champagne and poured two glasses.
 

“I have you to thank for this,” she said to Dax.

“Just a little creative marketing.”

She looked again at the sales book, at the huge numbers that proved the store had the best quarter of its history. A true accomplishment for her and her career. The local organic spin had taken off. With Daxton’s help, she’d found suppliers for many products and now, fully half of the products on the shelves were made locally. Of the other half, only a small percentage were not organic or whole foods. She’d cornered a specific audience and they loved her store for it.

They hadn’t seen or heard from any of the men who’d come after Daxton. Though, one time he thought he saw one in a building supply store. He didn’t know for sure because the man had run off quickly.

Blair had hired back the employees she’d laid off and even hired a few new ones, including a security guard. Daxton’s honey and soap sold well. She gave both products large displays and prominent places. The other local honey hadn’t done well at all, and she’d asked the woman who brought it in to come pick up her product. There was only one honey that Mason’s would sell from now on.

Dax winked at her as he poured some of his moonshine into their glasses. She giggled and took a sip, the sweet honey whiskey giving a kick to the fizzy champagne.

“There’s one other thing we’re celebrating tonight,” he said.

“There is?”

“Yup. It’s the first time I said I love you.”

She set her glass down to kiss him. “Do you really?”