Authors: Ashley Hunter
“No. I’m not.”
“Ok, Mr. Shape shifter. What do you turn into? An owl?”
“A bear.” She wasn’t taking him seriously. And he was pretty sure her attitude was turning from amused to slightly freaked out. She probably thought he was crazy.
“A bear?”
“Yes.”
“Barend, I…”
“You aren’t going to believe me until you see.”
“What?”
“You will have to see. But, please promise me something. Promise me you won’t run away. You said you wouldn’t.”
“Barend.”
“Ok, well, promise me you will keep an open mind.” With that, he stood up and began unbuttoning his shirt.
“Barend, shape shifters don’t exist. That’s all fantasy like from the
Twilight
books”
“They do, and I am about to show you. Don’t be afraid. I won’t harm you.” She looked pretty frozen in her spot on the sofa, so he quickly undressed.
---
Barend was standing in front of her, half undressed. And, she was completely confused. A shape shifter? Really? She was sort of scared and she was trying to decide how to get out the door. He had to be crazy, right? He was calling himself a shape shifter for god’s sake.
Then, there was sort of a shimmering around him. She couldn’t quite explain it. It seemed like the air was moving, but it wasn’t all at the same time. Then, he started to change. At first it was slow, and then everything happened really quickly. One moment, Barend was standing there. The next, a large black bear that dropped down on all fours and swung its big head toward her.
And she freaked out.
“Oh god, oh god, oh god.” She heard herself saying as she jumped up and sprinted to the door. She thought she heard the bear make a sound, but she didn’t stop to listen.
Instead, she yanked the massive door open and ran down the driveway to the big gate. She somehow even found herself all the way at the main neighborhood entrance before she pulled out her cell phone and called a cab. Her hands were shaking and she had to dial the number three times before she got it right.
Had she seen what she thought she saw? Had he really turned into a bear? There’s no way. No. No. No. No. People don’t turn into animals. That’s fiction. It just doesn’t happen. No, it doesn’t.
But, she had seen it. He turned into a bear right in front of her eyes.
Yes, he had actually turned into a bear.
Shapeshifters were real.
Oh god.
She had had sex with a shape shifter. She told him she loved him.
By the time the taxi got her home, she was crying. She had tried to hold back the tears because she hated crying in front of people. But, she hadn’t succeeded, but mercifully, the cab driver didn’t say anything. He just dropped her off and silently took her money. She fumbled with her keys, made it in the door, and threw herself on her bed before the real, choking sobs came.
She stayed on the bed crying for more than an hour before the tears abated. At first, she was sad…devastated. This man she was falling in love with was a freaking shape shifter…a were bear she guessed.
But, the longer she cried, the angrier she had become. Ok, so he was a shape shifter. Whatever. She could probably have gotten over that. But, he had lied to her. She was so tired of being lied to. Lucas lied and was cheating. Then, she meets this man who seems pretty perfect and he is lying to her too.
Why couldn’t a man just be honest with her?
Why?
She fell asleep laying on the bed and she never even looked at her cellphone, which had been constantly vibrating in her pocket.
When she woke up the next morning, she had that hungover feeling that always comes with crying yourself to sleep. Her throat was dry. Her lips were dry. Her eyes were fuzzy. And her head felt really heavy. But, she managed to sit up and fish the phone out of her pocket.
13 missed calls and 10 texts.
The missed calls weren’t all from Barend either. 9 of them were. The other four were from Carlie. She didn’t listen to any of the voicemails. She wasn’t ready for that. So, she scrolled through the ten texts:
Barend: Amelia, please let me know you got home ok.
Barend: I’m worried about you.
Barend: I know you don’t want to talk to me, but I just want to know you are safe.
Carlie: Ames, pick up your phone.
Carlie: Ames, we need to talk. Really.
Barend: I love you Amelia. I’m sorry.
Carlie: I told U he was different. Call me now!
Carlie: Ames, we’re all worried. U at home?
Barend: Please talk to me Amelia.
Carlie: I’m comin over at 9:00.
Amelia glanced at the time. It was 8:58. Carlie would be there any minute and she really didn’t want to see her friend. It was clear from the messages that Carlie already knew about Barend. Of course she did. And she had chosen not to tell Amelia. No, she wasn’t happy with her friend. Just then, there was a knock at the door.
Amelia stormed down the hall ready to let her friend have it. She flung open the door.
“Carlie! I don’t want to talk to you! You could have warned…” She didn’t finish the sentence because it wasn’t Carlie at the door. It was Barend. She stopped mid-sentence.
“Amelia.”
“Go away.”
“Amelia wait.”
“No! You lied to me. I can’t deal with that. I’ve been lied to way too much.”
“I…I’m sorry.”
“Sorry doesn’t cut it Barend. Please leave me alone.” With that, she shut the door in his face then peaked out the window and watched him walk back to his car. He looked dejected. That’s when the tears started again and she spent most of the day alternating between tears of sadness and anger.
Chapter Eight
“I’ve lost her.” It had been two days since Amelia slammed the door in Barend’s face. He hadn’t seen or heard from her and he was on the phone with Carlie.
“Why didn’t you tell her sooner?”
“You know why. She would have run away.”
“Not necessarily. You should have given her the chance. The thing about Amelia is she is very accepting of almost anything, but being lied to. You know what happened with Lucas. Lying to her was the worst thing you could have done.”
“I was scared. Now, I’ve lost her.” Barend stared into the fire burning in the fireplace. It was Sunday evening and his whole weekend had been miserable. He constantly checked his phone, looking for any sign whatsoever from Amelia.
But, there had been nothing. He had talked off and on with Carlie, the one mutual friend they had. And, Carlie had both scolded him for not telling Amelia sooner, and acted as a sympathetic ear.
“I don’t know that you’ve lost her.”
“Yes I have. It’s been two days.”
“Yeah Barend. Just two days. You threw some pretty crazy information at her. You gotta give her time to digest it. Just do me a favor, ok?”
“What?”
“Don’t go to her house again. Give her time.”
Barend was still on the phone when the doorbell rang.
“I have to go, Carlie. I will talk to you again soon. Thanks for listening.” He clicked the phone off just as he opened the big door and gasped.
Amelia was standing there. She looked sad, but she was there. And, in that moment, it was all that mattered. He stepped aside and let her through the door, but neither one of them spoke.
Instead she walked into the den…the one with the fireplace where everything had happened…and she began pacing the room. He followed her, afraid if he said anything, she would leave again.
Finally, she started talking.
“I don’t know what I’m doing here.”
“Ok.”
“You lied to me Barend. Why did you lie to me?”
“I didn’t want to scare you away. And I told you the truth Friday night.”
“Yeah, but you let me go out with you. We slept together. I told you loved you. At any point, you could have told me.”
“I didn’t want to lose you.”
“What did you think was going to happen?”
“I don’t know. I guess I knew you would run away. It’s scary.”
“Scary? I don’t care about the bear thing. Well, I mean I do. It’s a little crazy. But it’s whatever. What I care about is you lied to me.”
“I’m so so sorry. I really am Amelia. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”
“But you did.”
“I know and I have been kicking myself since I did.”
She stopped in front of him. They were about three feet apart.
“So, Barend. Here’s the deal. I don’t like being lied to. Lucas did it. Now you have done it. I don’t see how I have any reason to trust anyone anymore.”
“It’s all my fault.”
“So, don’t do it again.”
“What?”
“I said, if you want to be with me, don’t do it again.”
“You aren’t leaving me?”
She sighed heavily. “Barend, I was so mad and hurt the other night. I thought for sure that I was done. But, I get it. You lied because so many women would be out the door the second they found out you were a bear. But the thing is, I am not just any woman. You have to give me more credit than that.”
“So, the bear thing wouldn’t make you run away?”
“Well, it would freak me out. I mean you turned into a bear in front of me. But, I would have gotten over it. I have gotten over it. I talked to Carlie and she explained the whole blood line thing.”
“I hear you Amelia, but honestly the only thing I am hearing is that you aren’t leaving me.”
“No, I am not leaving you.”
He didn’t wait for anything else. Instead, he closed the gap between him and her. And, then he kissed her, tenderly and then fiercely.
She responded with her whole body, pressing herself against him. Then, he leaned down and picked her up, carrying her easily and moving toward his bedroom.
Was she a little scared? Yes. But, that was ok. She understood why Barend kept this from her. And to be completely honest, there was something exciting about him being a shape shifter.
Now he was carrying her to his room. His muscles were hard as he supported her weight like she was nothing. And, they continued kissing all the way to the bedroom.
Finally, he laid her almost reverently on the bed. Crawling in beside her, he kissed a trail down her neck, and began unbuttoning her blouse and following each step with another kiss. When he reached the waistband of her jeans, he looked up at her questioningly.
She just smiled and nodded ever so slightly. So, he carefully unbuttoned her jeans and then grabbed them by the legs and pulled them off. She was wearing soft, silk panties in a lavender color that looked beautiful against her pale skin. He continued to trail kisses over her belly and then down one leg all the way to her foot. He seemed to be worshipping every inch of her.
As he worked his way back up the other leg, he unbuttoned his own shirt and dropped it on the floor. She could look at his toned chest all day, she thought and then laid her head back in pleasure as he trailed butterfly kisses across her belly before making his way to her breasts.
Deftly, he pushed the lavender cup of her bra down, freeing her breast and giving him access to her rosy nipple, which was already hard and alert. Slowly, he lowered his mouth around it. The warmth of his lips and tongue caused her to arch her back, pushing her breasts closer to him, wanting more desperately.
“Oh god” she mumbled. “Please Barend.”
“Please what, my love?” He looked in her eyes with a smirk.
“I need you. I need you now!” Her voice was ragged with want, and everything that had happened in the last few days simply flew out of her mind. All that mattered was right in this moment. He was there. She was there. And, she wanted him.
He stood up long enough to unbuckle his pants and drop them along with his boxers to the floor. It was already obvious how much he wanted her. Then, he hooked his thumbs in the edges of her panties. She lifted her hips and he pulled them down her legs and off before throwing them across the room. Then, pulling her into a sitting position, he used one hand to unhook her bra, which she shed and dropped beside the bed too.
Now, it was skin against skin, heat, sweat, and passion all mixed together as he lay over her, kissing her fervently.
“Oh please” She begged again. She needed him now.
Quickly, before she even realized what was happening, he grabbed her hips, shifted and suddenly, he was sitting with his back against the headboard of the bed, and she was straddling his lap. She had always thought that missionary was the most intimate position, but now she realized she was wrong. Sitting like this, eye to eye, with his hands on her hips, she felt so close to him…so connected.
So, she moved in the right way, lifting up just enough to settled back down as he sunk deep inside her. She let out a soft moan as they connected. Then, she began moving. First, she moved her hips slowly, grinding into him. But, then he tightened his grip on her hips and began using his own strength to move her, faster and harder.
She could feel the climax building up in her as they moved. And, she was looking in his eyes when it exploded. For a second, she saw him smile and then she threw her head back, moaning in pleasure. If not for his hands moving her, she would have collapsed already, and his own climax followed seconds later. He wrapped his arms around her, holding her against him. And, they both breathed heavy, exhausted, sweaty and incredibly sated.
For long moments, they stayed just like that, enjoying the closeness, him still inside of her.
Finally, she pulled back and looked him in the eyes again.
“I love you Barend.”
“Even the bear?”
“I love all of you Barend.”
“I love you too Amelia.”
***