Authors: Writer
When the sun came up, he was still on the sofa, his notebook and pen had fallen to the floor, and his body had crumpled from pure exhaustion. He liked the comfort of writing things out old school. He’d transfer his notes to his laptop later, but working through the equations, he found his brain worked best this way. He got up and stretched, wishing he’d slept in his bed instead of scrunched up on the sofa.
He got a later start than usual, and after a quick breakfast and clean up, he headed into work. He kept changes of clothes there, so after a run he could quick shower and put on fresh clothes. He preferred the freedom of his bear body and not being encumbered by clothes, but because the humans came in and out of the city, clothing was mandated, even though the shifters weren’t as uptight about nudity as the humans were.
He was out the door in a shot and headed up the first big hill. His well-muscled thighs were getting a good stretch when the car came around the corner, taking it way too fast. They slammed on their brakes and with a quick dodge, he narrowly escaped getting hit. The driver got out of the car, panicked, realizing what a close call it had been. She was daydreaming, got lost in thought…and came around the bend too fast…it was her fault.
“
I’m so sorry,” she said as she jumped out of the car. “Are you okay?” The man turned to look at her. The recognition was instant. “It’s you.” Her hand shot to her mouth, realizing she almost hit the man she was fantasizing about the night before.
“
What the hell? You’ve got to be more careful,” he growled at her out of anger. “You could have hit me.”
“
I’m so sorry,” she said again.
“
Ingrid, wait.” He realized he’d snapped at her out of frustration. “Please, use more caution when driving through here.” Jagger reeled it in. He knew she was in the wrong, but she obviously got that, and the girl was already overly nervous in this part of town. He didn’t need to feed into that anxiety.
She nodded, not sure what to say. Shame washed over her. She had a habit of being lead footed when it came to driving. She liked the adrenalin rush of going fast. “I should go. I have a delivery.” She slid back to the shy, frightened girl he saw at the office previously.
“
Wait!” This was silly. She was afraid of shifters, and yet the image of fucking her the night before on his sofa, his body’s primal urge overrode his common sense. “Have dinner with me.” It wasn’t a question. It was more of a statement.
Confusion washed over her face. She arched an eyebrow, not sure what to think, not sure how to respond. She didn’t date…shifters. Half-breeds were, well…according to her father, not the kind you mingle with. Only, her libido told her something different. “What?”
“
Dinner. Have dinner with me tonight.”
“
Do you ask out every girl who almost hits you with a car?” She found her quick-witted remark amusing and smirked.
“
The ones who hit me, I eat for lunch,” he mused, catching her off guard.
Ingrid couldn’t hide her shock, and then giggled when she realized he was kidding. He was kidding, right? He didn’t actually eat people, did he? God, she hoped not.
“
So, I’ll pick you up at seven. I’ll need an address or I can meet you somewhere. Though I’d prefer an address; I’m a gentleman.”
“
I can’t…” she stopped before the rest of the words spilled out.
I can’t go out with a shifter, my father would kill me
.
And isn’t it a little weird, dating outside of your breed?
“
Can’t or won’t?” Jagger challenged.
Ingrid felt cornered. She didn’t want to come off like some prejudiced jerk. “Fine, yeah, sure. I can meet you somewhere.” What was she saying? This was wrong. She couldn’t look him in the eye. Not after last night, not after what she did. She was afraid to admit she was attracted to him, it, umm…him. What do you call a shifter? She felt foolish.
“
I’ll pick you up,” he decided.
“
What?” She stood perplexed. But her father. She quickly calmed herself.
You can’t tell he’s a shifter just by looking at him. He doesn’t need to know
. Her heart quickened at the thought. As her lips formed to say “no”, the word “okay” slipped out. What just happened? This was a mistake.
Take it back, take it back
. Her heart lodged in her throat making her unable to speak. The dampness between her thighs told her she wanted to spend more time with him. He was the most handsome guy, umm, er…shifter, guy, whatever, that she’d laid eyes on.
Jagger smiled and waited for her address. When she was slow to spill the details, he grew restless. “Your address, Ingrid,” he said firmly.
“
Right.” She inhaled deeply and blew the air out between pursed lips. Leaning into her car, she dug through her purse for a scrap of paper and pen and jotted it down. She quickly shoved her hand out to him before she could change her mind. It was the most exciting thing to ever happen to her, even if she was terrified of going out with a man who had the ability to turn into a beast. She flushed, her cheeks heating up, and scampered back to her car. “I have deliveries to make,” she added.
“
Dinner. Seven. I’ll see you then.” Jagger watched as she drove away.
Ingrid’s palms grew sweaty as she gripped the steering wheel too tightly. Did that really happen? Did she say yes? A huge grin spread across her face, and then slid off just as quickly when the reality hit her. She just said yes to a…shifter. Her father would be pissed. He called them half-breeds, told her they were dirty, and said they couldn’t control themselves. And yet, Dr. Quinn seemed normal enough from what she could tell. Of course she’d only ever seen him in his human form. And for barely a few moments…and this was a mistake. She panicked. What made her say yes? Stupid, stupid, stupid. She barely knew him.
Jagger reached for his slacks and pulled them up. He’d need to keep his thoughts of her fertile and round body, or the softer material of his trousers wouldn’t hide his arousal. When he looked at her, the way she smelled, the way she walked… his cock started to fill again, engorging at the thought of penetrating her. The outline of his thick shaft was visible through the gray wool of his pants. In reality, he’d keep it in his pants and be a perfect gentleman, but his thoughts were private and he allowed himself that pleasure.
Jagger finished dressing and checked the time. He grabbed the slip of paper with Ingrid’s address and headed to her house. Pulling into a spare slot in the driveway, his eyes swept over the surroundings. It was well cared for, with a neat manicured lawn, though little ornamentation or landscaping other than grass. Her familiar red car was in the drive; the one that almost took him out on his way to work that morning.
Jagger’s long legs stretched out in front of him. Standing he gave another quick stretch and made his way to the front door. One quick ring of the doorbell and in seconds the door swung open. On the other side was a man with a shotgun aimed directly at him.
“
Do you think we don’t have a database with your half-breed, shifter-ass names on it?” He spat out, pulling the pump action of the shotgun to make it clear he wasn’t fooling around. “I don’t want your kind near my girl, you got that? Now you turn around slowly and get back into your car and make your way back to your side of town and we won’t have any trouble. Otherwise, I’ll send your head to the taxidermy to be stuffed. I’m sure it will look fantastic over my fireplace.” He looked him dead in the eye.
Jagger stared back, but knew not to mess with his kind, the racist, scared, asshole kind that made assumptions about the shifters. Many were known to shoot first and ask questions later.
“
Daddy! No!” Ingrid yelled out from behind him as she scrambled down the stairs.
Jagger didn’t move. He stared at the man. Finally realizing it wasn’t worth his life, he turned to leave.
Ingrid’s father slowly lowered the shotgun, seeing the half-breed turn away.
It took everything inside of Jagger not to turn back and lash out at him. He knew no matter how powerful he was in his bear form, lead was lead, a shotgun was a shotgun, and a crazy fearful person couldn’t be trusted.
“
Dr. Quinn, wait,” Ingrid called out and started after him.
“
Ingrid, you get your ass back in this house,” he said, his voice flushed with anger. “So help me, I won’t be having you dating some half-breed bear.” He wasn’t a fool. The second he got wind that his daughter had a date and got a name, he did the search. It wasn’t a secret that there was a database of shifters. It was for the town’s safety. They needed to know.
A bear
. Ingrid’s heart skipped in panic at hearing the word bear. “You don’t get to tell me who to date. I’m a grown woman,” she said, snapping at her father. She was terrified. She’d never stood up to him like that before.
“
Like hell I don’t. As long as you live in this house, you’ll follow my rules.” His shotgun was up again, his sights triggered on the man.
Jagger turned to look at Ingrid and saw the shotgun aimed at him. She would be hit if he pulled the trigger. Anger rushed through him. He wanted to pummel the man, take him out, tear at him, shred him to bits, but he kept it inside, forcing his bear from showing itself. Not here, not now. It was getting harder to hold it in…a snarl was reeling up from within him. In a bellow, he let out a roar and snarled at the man, but kept his distance. He knew he wouldn’t pull the trigger. His daughter was too close.
Ingrid froze, her eyes growing large. Her head tipped up to look at him… this wasn’t some joke. He was truly a shifter. A real bear. Jagger turned away when he saw the fear in her eyes. He’d been a fool to try to be some social mediator and turn a girl who was afraid of shifters, and let her see they could be what…
he was a fucking bear
. He couldn’t change his primal nature. He couldn’t change his native ways. Who was he to try to bring understanding to some woman he barely knew? He shook his head and got in his car. Driving away, it took everything he had to stay in human form.
When he got home, he tore out of the car and took off for the woods. He needed to run hard, to claw at a tree, to let out an earth-vibrating roar. He needed to vent out the frustration that grew in him. In his shifted form, he could own the forest, cry into the night in a wicked snarl, pound on the earth, and let his coiled up aggression out.
The last thing he expected when he calmed down and went home was for Ingrid to be sitting on his porch steps.
She looked shaken up. Thankfully, he’d come back into his human form before leaving the wooded area. That would have freaked her out. He was grateful he had. Sometimes he didn’t shift back.
“
What are you doing here?” Jagger honestly didn’t have the interest at this point, but there she was.
“
Dr. Quinn, I wanted to apologize for my father.” She lowered her head. “It’s how I was raised,” she said, embarrassed. “I just…I felt badly that he did that.”
“
Go back to your own world, Ingrid.” He was in no mood.
“
I thought you invited me to dinner.”
“
Really?” He shook his head. “You really expect me to go out after that? I don’t need that kind of drama in my life. I’m a researcher. I live a quiet life.”
“
Right.” She stood up to leave. Her insides buckled, ashamed at what took place earlier. “I’m not like that,” she finally got out. “I just don’t know any different.”
Jagger sighed. “Do you want to come in? And stop calling me Dr. Quinn. Call me, Jagger.” She did make the effort to come apologize, not that she needed to. It was her asshole father that pissed him off.
“
Maybe we could try again tomorrow,” she suggested.
“
Tomorrow wouldn’t be smart. It’s the red moon,” he started, and then stopped himself.
“
The red moon?”
“
I won’t be
myself
,” was the only way he could answer.
“
Will you be…” She started to ask, nervous to hear the answer.
“
Yes.” There was no shame in Jagger’s world to be a shifter.
“
When you’re that way, would you hurt me?” The curiosity grew within her.
“
No. I still have my human thoughts. I’m just more primal, and…” he paused. “Some things I have less control over. Carnal urges,” he said, looking her square in the eye.
Ingrid swallowed hard. “Like…” she whispered.
“
Sex.” He looked away. “It gets a little primal on the red moon. Some nights, those things can’t be controlled. The urges are too strong. Nature takes over. It’s not a night for humans to be here.”
She couldn’t look away from him. It felt so brazen to speak so openly about sex.
He watched her reaction. Her breathing grew shallower. He picked up her scent, she was aroused. This wasn’t good. “You should go,” he said. His bear wanted to come out. It wanted to… “Go. You should go.”
“
But…” She felt stuck. Part of her was afraid and yet the other had an insatiable desire to know more about this strange man. She was drawn to him in ways she couldn’t explain.
“
Ingrid, this isn’t a good time.” He balled his hands into fists, trying to focus.
Ingrid looked down, his cock was stiffening. She swallowed hard. He was aroused. He wasn’t sending her away because he was angry. He was sending her away because he was aroused and afraid he couldn’t control himself. Her mind was moving too fast. She couldn’t keep up with it.
“
Ingrid, please leave,” he demanded. If she stayed, it would take everything inside of him to hold back his primal need. Her curves, her soft body, her gorgeous face…his cock pulsed, engorged and hard.
Ingrid looked back down. She saw the outline of the largest, meatiest cock she’d ever seen before. Her heart beat loudly in her ears; her eyes were fixed on it. He knew what she was looking at. Ashamed, she wanted to look away, but couldn’t.