9781631054747HerstoBearHoffa (9 page)

“Yeah,
and you never let me forget it either.” Julia laughed.

Julia set
cups of coffee in front of each of them, along with cream and sugar,
then
took a seat across the table from Jenna. “Since you’re
here, I don’t have to call you about dinner. I talked to all my sisters and
everyone can make it on Wednesday, does that work for you?”

“My
friend Alice is coming into town this weekend, but if you don’t mind her
joining us, that’s fine. Where do you want to have dinner? Here?”

“No,
at Bern’s house of course.”

Jenna
was taken aback for a moment, they invited her to dinner,
did
they expect her to cook? She looked at Bern, “Um, at your house? Are you
cooking?”

“I
could, but no. Julia extended the invitation, so she gets to plan the meal.”

“Oh,
don’t worry about that. All the girls will bring something. We’ve got it
covered.”

“Okay.
Would you like me to make something? I could make dessert. I make a mean honey
cake.”

“Ooh,
that sounds great! I love honey cake.”

“Maybe
I’ll actually get to make it this time. I’ve been trying to make one for the
last week and
something
keeps getting
in the way,” she said with a sassy wink at Bern.

He
waggled his eyebrows at her. “I can’t help it if I have better things for you
to do with your time than bake,” he teased.

They
finished their coffee and Jenna received a hug and kiss goodbye from Bern’s sister.
She could already tell they were going to be good friends. Julia held her just
that extra second longer when they hugged, the extra squeeze that said
,
this isn’t because it’s what I’m supposed to do, but
because I care for you.

Jenna
exited Julia’s house with a smile on her face, hand linked with Bern’s and
swinging them between them as they walked. She was high on life and walking on
air.

The
trip back to Jenna’s house was short and this time Jenna had no doubt what was
going to happen when they got there. Bern would be spending the night, because
she was hotter than hell and she was going to jump his bones the minute they
walked through the door.

Between
his awesome sweetness with Sarah and his growly gruffness with his sister,
Jenna’s motor was revving in high speed. Every step they walked closer to her
house was torture. Her nipples were straining against her bra, and her panties
were beyond damp. Damn, Bern needed to hurry up and get her home or she was
going to attack him right here on the street.

She
took a deep breath, trying to calm her raging libido and instead the delicious
scent her newly awakened senses detected as Bern assaulted her nostrils. She
leaned her head onto his shoulder, seeking more of the alluring
fragrance,
a low growl crawled up from her throat. “Mine.”
The voice in her head murmured.
Yes, I
know
, she answered it in her thoughts.

Bern
stopped and looked down at her. “Are you all right?”

She
looked up at him through her lashes, and then nuzzled his neck. “Mmm, you smell
so good.”

Bern
took her by the shoulders and pulled her away from his body. He looked into her
eyes.

“Um,
Jenna, your eyes are amber.”

That
snapped Jenna out of her trance, “What?”

“Little
one, I don’t know what’s going on, but you seem to be changing much faster than
normal. Your bear is coming through already and it’s only been a day. The full
moon is still weeks away. I’ve never heard of this happening before. The way
you’re acting…it’s almost like you’re going into heat.”

“I beg
your pardon, I may be a little horny, but you don’t have to be rude about it.”

“I’m
not being rude, little one, and believe me, I certainly don’t mind you being
horny, but it seems like more than that.”

“Maybe,”
she muttered, burying her face in his chest, mortified by her behavior.

Bern
tipped her chin up and looked down into her
face,
he
kissed her nose and then gently, tenderly kissed her lips. “Don’t be
embarrassed, please, my little one. I love that you want me. I want you too.
Oh so much.”
He kissed her again with such passion Jenna
felt fire unfurl in her belly.

“Let’s
go home,” she said.

Bern
wrapped his arm around her shoulders and held her close as they finished the
short journey to her house. As she stood on the front porch waiting for him to
check the house Jenna paced, she really was in need. She needed Bern in her
arms, his warmth, his strength, his passion.

Bern
returned to the front door and pulled Jenna inside, before the door had even
closed behind them she was in his arms. He carried her straight to the bedroom
and a trail of their clothes littered the floor along the way. By the time they
reached the bed they were both naked.

No
foreplay was necessary, Jenna was wet and ready, she needed her big bear inside
her. “Hurry Bern, I need you,” she pleaded.

Bern
lay down on the bed and pulled Jenna on top of him. “Ride me, little one. You
control the pace.”

Jenna
reached between them and grasped Bern’s rigid cock. She placed the head against
her opening and slid it back and forth, coating him in moisture. His tip bumped
her clit and she shuddered, God, it felt so
good
, she
did it again. Then she began to take him inside, slowly lowering herself onto
his thick shaft. She’d never been on top before and he felt bigger this way, so
full, so deep.

She
braced her hand on his chest for leverage, massaging his pecs and rubbing her
hands against the hair as she began to move her hips. Oh man this was good, she
ground her hips in a circle, her clit dragged across the hair on Bern’s pelvis
and an electric shiver shot up Jenna’s spine.

Bern
placed his hands on her hips, helping to support her and guiding her movements.
Jenna lifted her hips and dropped back down, faster and faster, rotating and
grinding on the downward thrust. She was in
a frenzy
,
panting and calling Bern’s name, her nails scoring his chest.

Bern
growled deep and thrust his hips up to meet hers, Jenna cried out, pleading for
release. Bern reached between them and thrummed her clit, flicking and teasing
until she finally came in a burst of white light behind her closed eyelids.

Bern
followed a few thrusts later, spilling his hot cum inside her spasming channel.
Jenna collapsed on his rib cage, their sweat soaked bodies sticking together
and she rested her head on his heaving chest. His arms came around her and he
rolled them to their sides.

Bern
kissed her eyelids, forehead and hairline as their breathing returned to
normal. “I love you, little one,” he whispered.

This
time Jenna wasn’t stupid enough to not return the sentiment, she looked deep
into his chocolate eyes. “I love you too, my big bear,” she said, and kissed
him long and passionately.

Chapter Nine

The
rest of the week passed quickly and before Jenna knew it Saturday morning had
arrived. She and Bern were sitting at the kitchen table drinking coffee when a
knock sounded at the door. Jenna squealed and raced for the door. She threw it
open and launched herself at her unsuspecting friend.

Poor
Alice barely managed to stay on her feet when five foot ten inches of
overexcited female grabbed her in a ferocious hug. “I’m so glad you’re here,”
Jenna gushed, pulling back and kissing both Alice’s cheeks. “You look fabulous.
Come inside. Bern will get your bags,” she said as she pulled Alice toward the
kitchen.

Alice
looked shell
shocked,
Jenna should take a picture, because
that never happened. Bern stepped into view and Alice’s eyes widened. She gazed
from Bern’s feet up, up, up to his face, then looked at Jenna and mouthed,
“Wow.”

Jenna
beamed. “Bern sweetie, will you get Alice’s bags, she left them on the porch. Can
you put them in the spare room, please?”

“Sure,
little one.” Bern went to the porch and behind his back Alice fanned her face.
“Oh my,” she whispered.

“I
know, right,” Jenna giggled. She linked arms with her friend and led her into
the kitchen. Jenna pushed Alice onto a chair at the kitchen table and poured
her a cup of coffee. Then she sat and faced her friend taking both of her hands
in her own.

“I’m so
glad you’re here. I’ve missed you so much. How long are you going to be able to
stay?”

“Just
the week, But including the weekends on both sides that gives us nine days.”

Jenna
squeezed her hands. “That’s wonderful. We’ll get to have such a good visit. I
can’t wait for you to get to know Bern. Oh, Al, he is…amazing.”

“You
look so happy, Jenna. You’re absolutely glowing.”

“I
know, I feel like I’m walking on air, and I’m so excited about tonight. Did you
bring a fabulous dress? I really want to impress Bastian Von Drake.”

“Who is
this guy?”

“He’s
the alpha of the neighboring wolf pack. It’s a big deal that he invited us to
dinner.
Very formal.
Ritzy.
He and Bern are kind of frenimies.”

“Oh,
what exactly does that mean?”

“They
get along on the surface, but there
is
all kinds of
underlying politics and shit. I don’t understand it all, but it’s important
that we make a good impression.”

“Is he
as cute as Bern?”

“I
don’t know.” Jenna laughed. “I doubt
it,
no one is as
cute as my Bern.”

“Oh,
you’ve got it so bad girl,” Alice teased.

Bern
chose that moment to return to the room. Jenna could feel the blush color her cheeks.
Bern brushed her hot cheek with the back of his hand. “What are you up to,
little one that has you blushing so sweetly?”

“Nothing,
girl talk.”

“Mm-hmm,
I’ll bet.” Bern turned to Alice. “We didn’t get properly introduced. I am Bern
Allen Helms.” He took her hand and kissed the knuckles.

“Alice
Miller.
Nice to finally meet you.
Jenna has been
singing your praises.”

Bern
gave Jenna a heated look. “Have you been kissing and telling my sweet?”

Alice
burst out laughing. “You can’t ask that.”

Bern
looked at her startled. “I can’t?”

“Nope,
it’s against the girl code.”

“Girl
code?”

“Yep,
men are not allowed to know what best friends talk about. That’s the girl
code.”

“Oh
really.
Does
the same apply for men? Am I allowed to have secrets with my men friends?”

“Of
course not,” Alice and Jenna said together.

“Well
now, that doesn’t seem fair,” Bern replied.

Alice
and Jenna laughed. “Nobody ever said life was fair,” Alice said.

Bern
laughed. “No, that’s true.”

He
turned to Jenna. “I’m sorry, little one, but I need to get going. I have some
work I need to get done before tonight.”

Jenna
leaned up and kissed him. “That’s okay, we have a ton of catching up to do and
it will take us half the day to get ready for tonight,” Jenna said with a
smile.

“We’ll
be here to pick you up at six.”

“We’ll
be ready.”

Bern
pulled her close and kissed her deeply.
“Until then, little
one.”

Alice
and Jenna spent the morning on the couch, drinking coffee and catching up on
each other’s lives. Jenna had little to talk about besides Bern, he seemed to
have taken over her life, even though they’d only known each other a week. It
hardly seemed possible that they had been together that short a time. It felt
like she’d known him forever.

Alice
on the other hand droned on and on about her job. She was a career girl down to
her toes. She was working at a prominent advertising agency in Chicago and had
just landed a plumb account. It looked like a promotion was on the horizon and
she was over the moon.

Jenna
glanced at the clock, it was almost noon. “We’d better start getting ready. I
get the shower first!” she called, jumping up and rushing for the stairs. Since
there was no fancy salon in Honey Corners, the girls had decided to do each
other’s hair and makeup. It would be just like when they were back in college.

Jenna
took her time in the shower, shaving every inch of exposed skin and exfoliating
with her body scrub. She shampooed and used a deep conditioner on her hair and
then rinsed all the lather down the drain, finishing with a cold spray to close
her pores.

Shivering,
she jumped from the shower and briskly toweled herself off, lightly spraying
her skin with Channel body satin
spray,
it smelled
divine and left her soft and silky. Wrapping the bath sheet around herself, she
quickly finger dried her hair with the blow dryer, and plugged in her hot
rollers.

She
rummaged in her vanity for her nail polish case, it was practically a suitcase.
She was kind of a nail polish whore. She carried the case out into her bedroom
to find Alice
laying
on her bed.

“’Bout
time you got out of there. I was about to send in the SEALs for a rescue
mission.”

Jenna
laughed.

“Did
you leave me any hot water, bitch?” Alice griped.

“I have
a tankless water heater.”

“Damn,
that rocks.”
Alice high fived her on the way to the bathroom.
“If I don’t come out in an hour, send in the SEALs,” she said with a wink.

“I’ll
get right on that, but I don’t know if we have any seal shifters in town.
How about a wolf or a bear?”

“Ha ha,
you are so funny. Not.” Alice slammed the bathroom door behind her, and Jenna
fell on the bed laughing hysterically.

Once
her mirth subsided she stood up and dropped the towel on a chair and slipped
into a silky robe. She padded to the closet and pulled her dress for the
evening. She hung it on the closet door and stared at the glorious creation.

Jenna
had prowled the internet and been so lucky to find the perfect dress and have
it delivered in time for the dinner. It was a deep emerald green, empire
waisted, halter
dress,
the skirt was full and flowing,
chiffon. It was so beautiful. She had an adorable pair of sparkly silver peek
toe pumps to go with it, and squee, she got to wear heels! For once, she could
wear a heeled shoe and not be taller than her date.

Plucking
the dress from the door she held it front of her and danced around the room.
She caught sight of herself in the dressing table mirror and stalled, was that
girl really her? The deep green of the dress set off her cream colored skin
beautifully, and her eyes shone like emeralds in the night sky. She
looked…glowing, effervescent,
happy
.

She
stared at her reflection in the mirror and smiled dreamily, all her dreams were
coming true. She was the luckiest girl in the world. Tears threatened, but she
blinked them back, turning and placing the dress back on the closet door.

The
bathroom door opened emitting a burst of steam into the room. “Hot damn, that
shower is amazing,” Alice said. “I’m moving in.”

Jenna
laughed. “I wish you were serious, that would be the second best news of my
life.”

Alice
walked over and hugged her. “Well, I would if I could, but you know I’m a
Chi-town girl. I don’t think I’d ever leave Chicago, except maybe for New York.
I’m city all the way, babe.”

Jenna
kissed her cheek. “I know, I know. You have green beer in your veins, and Polish
sausage in your heart.”

“You
got that right!” Alice chortled. “Speaking of, I’m starving. You got some food
around this joint?”

“Are
you kidding me? Who are you talking to, girl? I’ll go make us some sandwiches.
You get out your dress and find a nail polish to match it while I do. Okay?”

“Gotcha.”

Jenna
jogged down to the kitchen and made them some sub sandwiches, grabbed a bag of
chips, a couple of cokes and headed back up the stairs. She wondered what
Alice’s dress would look
like. In college everyone called
them Mutt and Jeff, because as big as Jenna was, Alice was tiny, five foot two
inches tall, one hundred and ten pounds, soaking wet. Alice only had two big
things on her
body,
well I guess you would say three,
her mouth and her boobs.

She was
not anatomically correct. The boob fairy had given her a double dose, she had a
tiny waist, tiny hips, tiny feet, tiny everything, and huge knockers. She
always looked like she was about to fall over. While Alice had the most
beautiful big cornflower blue eyes you ever saw, men never looked at her face,
they stared at her chest.

Jenna
pushed into the bedroom balancing the sandwiches on two
plates,
she had the chips hanging from one hand and the sodas in the pockets of her
robe. “Room service,” she called.

“Yum.”
Alice plopped onto the bed.
“Bring it over here girl.”

Jenna
crossed to the bed and saw Alice’s dress hanging next to her own. It was a
strapless silver sheath, with sequined accents at the waist and bodice. The
color would look fabulous with Alice’s blonde hair and blue eyes.

“Oh,
your dress is beautiful,” Jenna said.

“Thanks,
yours is fab too. Where did you get it?”

“Internet.”

“Awesome.”

The
girls were quiet for a few minutes as they wolfed down their sandwiches and
drinks.

Four
hours later Alice and Jenna were finally ready. Toes and fingernails painted.
Jenna’s hair fixed in an elegant French twist, with tiny curls
framing her face.
Alice’s short hair bounced in soft waves around her
pixie features. Both had perfectly applied makeup and they sat in Jenna’s
living room sipping a glass of wine and waiting for Bern to arrive.

At six
o’clock on the dot a knock sounded at the door. Jenna opened it to be stunned
breathless. Bern stood on the doorstep decked out in a black tuxedo, a tall
handsome gentleman at his side. He leaned in and kissed her cheek, then took
her hand and kissed her palm. “You look beautiful my little one.”

“Thank
you,” she mumbled, almost incapable of speech. “Come in, we need to get our
coats.”

Alice
had come to stand behind her.

“Let me
introduce my friend, and second, Martin Kramer. Martin, this is Jenna Raynes,
my mate, and her friend, Alice Miller.”

Martin
nodded and extended a hand to Jenna. “We have met before, Miss Raynes, at your
interview with the school board, but it is a pleasure to see you again,” Martin
said.

“Please
call me Jenna.”

Martin
nodded and kissed her knuckles, he then turned to Alice. “Miss
Miller,
pleased to meet you.”

“Since
you’re supposed to be my date for tonight, I think you can call me Alice,” she
teased.

Martin
kissed her fingers.
“As you wish, my lady, Alice.”

Alice
giggled. “Oh this is gonna be fun!”

“We
best get going,” Bern said. “Where is your wrap?”

Jenna
had placed her black rabbit jacket over the chair in the foyer, it had been a
graduation gift from her father and she loved the coat. She picked it up and
Bern plucked it from her hand and held it for her while she slipped her arms
into the sleeves.

Martin
had done the same for Alice and the four strolled out the front door. As Bern
was checking to make sure the door locked behind them, Jenna stared in shock at
the limousine that sat perched in her driveway. Holy shit! She knew this was a
fancy dinner, but she didn’t know it was this fancy.