Hunter Bear: BBW Bear Shifter Paranormal Romance (Enforcer Bears Book 2) (10 page)

“You’re injured,” she pointed out, even though she was already feeling light-headed with need.

Despite her protest, she stood and shimmied out of her still damp pants. Then Steven reached out for her, pulling down her panties as well. His eyes were dark with desire as he drew her back into his arms.

“I heal quickly,” he growled against her neck, his teeth skimming her skin. “We’ll be careful.”

She gasped, arching against him when her shirt was pulled off as well. Then his fingers unhooked her bra, and she moaned. The air was cold against her sensitive nipples. They were already taut, and when Steven brushed his thumb against them, everything inside her tensed with want.

“You’re gorgeous,” Steven groaned against her skin. “Perfect. Sexy.
Mine
.”

His possessive little growl made more wetness drip from her. She gasped for breath.

She needed him. Here.
Now
.

“Careful,” she gasped as he drew her down.

His hard shaft brushed against her wet folds, and a tremor ran through her. She forced herself to resist the need—just for a moment, just so that she could make certain there was no weight on his injured leg.

She propped a pillow beneath it, and then he wrapped his arms around her waist.

“Enough. I’ve got something else that aches,” he breathed against her ear.

Again she shivered. His breath was hot, and everything inside her pulsed with need for him.

She trailed her hand down his chest, feeling each of the hard muscles tense beneath her touch. When she wrapped her hand around his erection at last, he groaned again. Boldly, she stroked him a few times, aroused by the way he felt in her hand: hard as steel, huge, hot against her palm.

His hands slipped down her back. His mouth was hot and wet against her collarbone, teeth scraping her skin.

Then his hands took hold of her hips.

“Enough teasing,” he said breathlessly.

Cleo closed her eyes, moaning when she allowed herself to be pulled down onto the large shaft. Despite its size, she was so ready for him that it slid inside her easily. He guided her hips until he was fully inside her, and she moaned again at the feeling. It was incredible. Nothing had ever felt like this.

He began moving into her with shallow thrusts, and every motion made her tremble. Sparks of desire ignited every time he pushed into her. She was moaning, clutching at his uninjured shoulder and the couch.

“Wait,” Steven gasped.

He turned a little, shifting as much as was possible while still inside her, and she followed. The changing pressure forced another whimper of need from her throat, and he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her tightly against him.

They’d settled onto their sides. There wasn’t much space on the couch, but in this position, it was a little easier for Steven to move.

“Like this,” he whispered against her mouth. “Don’t hold back. Let me hear you.”

His first thrust forced another moan from her. She wrapped one leg around his waist, feeling him slide even deeper inside her. The heat within her body rose until she couldn’t breathe. The pleasure was nearly too much, her inner walls tightening around him, wanting even more…

Then he pushed his hand between their bodies, and his fingers found her clit.

He circled it gently, again and again, the rough pad of his finger slick with her own wetness, and at last she cried out.

Her body convulsed. Pleasure ran through her, her climax as powerful as a storm, and still he kept stroking her, relentless in his demands as she pulsed around him.

Then his teeth closed down on her skin. His muffled groan was nearly desperate as his hips jerked forward. She could feel his release inside her, a wave of heat as he throbbed within her, and he stroked her through that as well, her climax drawn-out as she trembled and tightened around him one more time.

When it finally abated, she felt weak with exhaustion. Her skin was wet with sweat, her hair was a mess. Her knees were so weak she couldn’t move. She was pretty sure that he’d left a hickey at her throat.

She’d never felt as happy.

She’d worry about everything tomorrow, she decided as she sleepily snuggled into Steven’s embrace. Right now, she’d survived a dangerous treasure cave and a jaguar shifter attack.

All she wanted was to nap in Steven’s arms. The world could wait until tomorrow.

We’ve been here for quite a while.
The voice of Steven's bear sounded suspiciously innocent.

So what?
Steven thought back.
It’s summer. I want to enjoy the sun here for a while.

I’m just saying,
the bear went on.
We’ve never stayed in one place so long.

I don’t think I like where this is going,
Steven replied silently.

It’s summer. We’ve found our mate. We should start to make preparations for the winter… She could use more wood,
the bear pointed out.

Steven frowned in answer, but then quickly concentrated on relaxing his face again.

“I’ll never finish if you keep moving!” Cleo promptly complained, although she was watching him with a fond expression.

They were both stretched out on her patio. Cleo had a large sketchbook in her hand. He seldom saw her without it these days.

“You must have a hundred drawings of me by now. When do I get to see one?” he demanded.

“Once I finish one I’m actually satisfied with.” She grinned and stuck out her tongue at him. “Which won’t happen if you keep moving.”

Steven sighed theatrically, but then couldn’t hold back the smile that came far too easily these days.

Cleo always made him smile. Just being close to her filled him with joy and contentment.

As it should be. She’s your mate after all,
the bear grumbled at him.

Steven ignored him once more. It was a gorgeous summer’s day. He had no intention of wasting it with the same old arguments.

A month had passed since they’d escaped the caves. The jaguar shifter had been arrested by his brother and taken away to prison, joining the other sentenced shifters with whom he’d committed a long list of crimes during the past years.

Cleo had quickly recovered from the ordeal, although the hours in the caves had left her shaken. Of course her grandmother couldn't have known that one day, a jaguar shifter would use her secret waterfall as its lair. Even so, Cleo had been disinclined to visit the waterfall and the cave behind it again, now that her grandmother's surprise was connected to all these bad memories.

But all of that was in the past now. The valleys and forests of Linden Creek were once more as peaceful as they had always been. Steven and his brother Chris were the only shifters left.

And surely any moment now, Steven would feel the old, urgent need to run which he’d inherited from his Dad…

With a curious chirp, a squirrel descended from one of the trees and ran up to the patio. It gave him an unimpressed look when he stared at it.

A moment later, it had hopped onto the table where they'd had breakfast together earlier. It sniffed at a few crumbs, then spied a piece of bread. With a trill, it grabbed the bread and stuffed it into its mouth, then ran back towards its tree, fast as lightning.

Steven chuckled softly. "You'd think they wouldn't steal from a bear."

"Maybe they've decided you're harmless now." Cleo lowered her sketchbook and gave him a critical look. "And you've moved again!"

"Sorry," Steven said and beamed at her, looking unapologetic as he stretched out on the patio, his shirt riding high.

Cleo pursed her lips. The last time, she'd made him take off his clothes, and had sketched for half an hour, her cheeks flushed red. She hadn't let him see the results of that either, but the hour they'd spent in the bedroom afterward had more than made up for it.

"It's not finished, obviously," Cleo said and frowned at her drawing once more. "But you can look at this one, if you want. I think this one is actually turning into something real."

"What do you mean,
real
?" Steven was curious.

He didn't know much about drawing, although he'd grown rather fond it it. Mostly because an hour of Cleo staring intently at him, chewing on a pencil, usually led to more entertaining activities afterward.

"Come and see for yourself!" Cleo stretched and tilted the sketchbook towards him in invitation.

When Steven went towards her to take his first look at one of the many drawings of him she'd done, the picture he found took his breath away.

There was the pond where they had first met. He recognized it straight away.

She'd somehow managed to capture the atmosphere perfectly. Even though it was a simple pencil sketch, the patterns of shadow and light on the rippling surface of the water recalled to him the gold and verdant green of that secret clearing in the forest.

And there, in the middle of the pond, Steven saw himself.

She'd drawn him perfectly. She'd drawn
him
. The real him.

Steven couldn't say how she'd done it, but it was as if she'd drawn two figures at once.

There was the man, Steven, staring up out of the picture. He seemed both wary and calm, as though he was suspicious of any intruder into that quiet place at the heart of the forest, but knew himself to be ruler of that place. And there, in the same place, the bear stood as well, strong limbs and powerful body ever vigilant, a true protector of the forest.

"What do you think?" Cleo asked. Her voice was soft and uncertain.

Steven had to search for words. "It is..." He shook his head, speechless. "It's like you've drawn the
real
me," he finally said, still awed.

How had she done it? It was as though she'd looked into his soul, and put that down onto paper. There he was, the man and the bear, at ease and at home in the forest that surrounded them.

"You like it?" There was visible relief on Cleo's face. "It's a first step, but this... I want to turn this into a painting. Gold and green and brown. Light and shadow and the secrets of ancient trees. I won't show it to anyone if you don't want it, but this..."

She swallowed, and when she looked at him, he could see the hint of tears gleaming in her eyes.

"It's been the first time since I left the city that I've felt the need to draw again. You don't know what it feels like. I thought I had lost it—but it's all coming back. Like a fountain that's overflowing. There's so much I want to draw, and it finally feels right. This feels right."

Steven looked at the picture once more. Was this how Cleo saw him? He hadn't believed it was possible.

A bear was a loner, or so he'd always thought. and he most definitely was a loner. Depending on another person, trusting another person, could only lead to hurt in the long run. How could he ever forget the fights between his parents when he was still a child, the way his Dad had abandoned him again and again?

But Cleo saw
him
. The real him. Not just the man. She also understood the bear. She saw him as he truly was: the person who was most at home in the forest, miles from any living person, who preferred a forest pond to a condo in the city.

Of course she understands. She's our mate,
his bear pointed out once again.
You’re her mate too. She's right for us—and that also means that we are right for her.

Steven swallowed.

"It's perfect," he told Cleo, his voice rough. "And I don't mind who you show it to. Don't worry about me—people don't believe in shifters. No one will suspect anything."

Cleo gave him a mischievous grin. "In fact, my old college teacher would praise my for my symbolic use of the animal in this picture."

"I'm a symbol now?" Steven raised a brow.

They both started laughing at the same time. Cleo put her sketchbook down onto the patio and then wrapped her arms around his neck when he drew her in for a kiss.

"My favorite symbol," she whispered against his lips and giggled. "Now stop distracting me. I wanted to do a few more sketches of you."

"My bear will get lazy and vain." Steven drew his hands through her hair, then stretched again with a satisfied sigh. "Can you sketch me while I sand down a couple more planks?"

Cleo pretended to think about it for a moment. "Can you do that without your shirt?"

"Sure!" Grinning widely, Steven pulled off his shirt.

"Deal," Cleo said immediately, scooting back a little and taking hold of her sketchbook once more.

It was warm in the sun, but Steven didn’t mind. This was work he enjoyed, but rarely had a chance to do.

With the jaguar caught and sent to jail, he’d spent his days helping Cleo renovate her house when he wasn’t out in the forest. He’d sanded and oiled the staircase, repainted the walls, tiled a part of the bathroom where the original tiles had cracked, and now he’d taken on the project of sanding and painting new planks to expand the old patio with.

The house looked as good as new.

More than that, it felt comfortable. The work of his own hands had shaped it—and he’d enjoyed the work. It was satisfying to see something come to life. Knowing that he did all this work to ensure that Cleo would be warm and comfortable during the winter made it twice as rewarding.

I’m building a home for my mate,
he thought, and felt unsettled all over again because the old fear was no longer there.

It was so much easier to live with Cleo than he’d ever imagined when he thought about finding a mate. And yet—was it possible that his Dad had felt the same, long ago?

This is all too good to be true. What if I hurt her after all? What if I end up like my own father? I could never forgive myself for hurting her.

***

Steven raised his head from the patch of berries he had found. His bear had led him straight towards the treat, and he had shifted back into his human form for long enough to gather another bowl of sweet, red strawberries for Cleo. Afterward, his bear had feasted, sniffing out even the berries hiding beneath a bush or behind a fallen tree.

The air had been sweet with the scent of ripe berries and flowers. There was a gentle breeze that made the leaves above him rustle and brought him the scent of places far away. For a moment, his bear contemplated running and exploring, but then focused his attention on another patch of strawberries instead.

He'd get to stretch his legs again when he made his way back home to Cleo. That was exercise enough for the day.

He snuffled at the trunk of the fallen tree. There was the faintest hint of a familiar, promising scent—the scent of wild honey.

He broke off some of the dead wood with his paw, but was met with disappointment. There had been a wild beehive hidden in the fallen tree once, but the bees had moved on long ago. There was no honey left, just the memory of a scent to tease him.

With a huff, he turned away from the tree.

Suddenly he tensed. He raised his nose into the wind again. He sniffed, alert now, all of his senses alarmed.

Another bear!

Steven usually avoided other shifters, except for the jobs he took to survive. His instincts made him bristle at the scent of a rival in his territory—but the scent was familiar.

Another bear, yes—but it was his brother.

A moment later, a large bear with shaggy, brown fur came ambling out of the forest and stopped a few feet in front of him.

Steven couldn't quite suppress a warning growl when he noted how close Chris had come to the basket with berries he'd gathered for Cleo.

Chris tilted his head in response, tongue lolling out, and then made a hoarse, amused sound that would have been laughter from a human.

A second later, Chris had shifted, grinning widely.

"Look at you," he teased. "I can't believe you're still around. I keep thinking you must have vanished again, and then I go out for a run and still catch your scent. You're all over this forest!"

"Do you mind?" Steven said grumpily after he'd shifted back himself.

"No, it's nice. You can keep this part of the wood. If you want, that is." Chris raised a brow. He was still grinning.

God, had his brother always been so annoyingly happy? They hadn't seen each other much since Steven had been old enough to leave home. And there’d never been much happiness at home, for any of them…

"I like this part. Near the lake. Thought I might spend the summer," Steven offered, shifting awkwardly.

"So I see." Chris was still grinning. "Might that have something to do with the woman who's living in the house near the lake?"

Steven narrowed his eyes. How the hell did his brother know...

"Oh. She called you when she saw me naked," he mumbled, embarrassed now that he'd forgotten about that incident.

“Whoah!” Chris gave him a scandalized look. “She didn't mention the naked part!”

“I didn’t know anyone was living there!” Chris said. “And I apologized!”

“Well, it seems she forgave you.” Chris chuckled softly. “Maybe more than that, considering you’re still here…”

Steven looked down. This was about as much brotherly closeness as they’d had in the past decade. Here, with Chris so close, the urge to run and be free suddenly grew stronger—but then there was also the by now familiar tug in his heart. That pull that sought to lead him back to his mate.