Bear Mated: A BBW Bear Shifter Paranomal Romance (Pine Ridge BBW Bear Shifter Paranormal Romance Series Book 2) (4 page)

Rick watched her go in wonder, feeling his bear make one of
those long, low moans inside him. It could feel it, too. It could feel
her
. She was bold and brave and sassy,
unlike any woman he’d ever met. He’d never found a woman that could handle his
bear, let alone a bear of her own, but Officer Barbara Thompson …

His jaw dropped open when she
returned a few minutes later. She was butt naked—well, almost. She still wore
her bra, panties, socks and boots. This last part almost made Rick laugh. But
the rest of it made him not. Because she was
smokin
’
. Her cheeks and upper chest turned red when she saw him looking,
and he could tell she was uncomfortable with her own body, probably ashamed at
her curves. Stupid society. It pissed Rick off how it made women feel bad about
themselves. Women like Barbara were not only healthier-looking, but they were
hotter, too.

It was easy to see why she’d
stripped. Since she didn’t have any buckets or helmets to use to transport the
water (and she didn’t want to get the water dirty by using her boots), she’d
soaked it up with her pants and blouse. Now, ignoring his leer, she squeegeed
the water out of the pants, cleansing some of the wounds on his legs, then did
the same with her shirt. As she did, her breasts bunched against each other and
water, evidently splashed on her during her efforts, dripped down from her bra
across her stomach. It was all Rick could do not to lick it up.

She made several more trips, each
time cleaning his wounds a little more. He knew she must be getting tired, but
she kept at it until he was all clean. Getting the dirt and filth out of his
wounds (eagle talons aren’t clean, he’d learned) seemed to speed up his body’s
preternatural healing abilities, and his wounds slowly began to seal up.

Panting after her exertions, when
she was finished she sat across from him and put her back against the opposite
wall.

He patted the spot next to him.
“I’ve got a space available.”

Her jaw was firm. “I’m comfortable
here.”

“What, afraid something might
happen, just because I’m naked and you’re naked and we’ve been through hell
together?”

She didn’t answer.

He lifted one eyebrow. “Well, would
that be so bad?”

She took her time answering. “We’re
too different, Rick. I’m sorry. Let’s keep this professional. Bad enough I
totaled my car, didn’t report in, endangered a civilian and let the criminal
go. I’m not going to compound things by fraternizing with a witness.”

“I’m not a witness. I'm a deputy. You
won’t get in trouble.”

Her voice was set. “No.”

He sighed, letting his gaze roam up
and down her. Noticing this, she scooped up her jacket (she’d left it in the
cave during her trips to the creek) and placed it over herself like a blanket.
Her bare legs stuck out, but the rest was covered.

“You’re no fun,” he said.

“And you’re
all
fun.”

“Is that the problem? You think I’m
too much fun?”

She studied him. “You do seem like
something of a party boy.”

“Parties are fun. What’s wrong with
a party?”

“Nothing, just …”

“What?”

She looked away. “No one ever
invites me to parties.”

There
it is.
“Well, you’re invited to
this
party,” he said. Making sure she got the point, he patted his dick.

“Screw you.”

“That’s the idea.”

She groaned. “I can’t believe you.
After what we’ve just been through, and you say
that
?” She shook her head and looked close to tears again, but
these were tears of frustration and anger, he could tell, not anything
romantic. She looked … well, disgusted with him, actually.

He was stung. What had he said?
He’d just been honest. He wanted her. What was wrong with that? Especially
since she clearly wanted him. He scratched his head, trying to make sense of
it. Women were tricky. He usually relied on his good looks and charm to see him
past any hurdles his occasionally too-fast mouth put up, but for some reason
Barbara Thompson wasn’t going for it.

Rick’s bear growled inside him, and
he could tell it was annoyed—with him.
Don’t
mess this up
, it seemed to be saying.
How?
he wanted to ask it, but he knew it didn’t have any answers.

Barbara still looked upset. Rick
tried to think of something to warm her up, but he couldn’t think of anything.
Now that he was healing, his senses were becoming sharper. Something teased at
his nose. He sniffed, then blinked.

“There’s a bear in here,” he said,
then added hastily, in case she thought he was making a joke, “I mean, another
bear. A normal bear.”

“I know,” she said stiffly.

“How?”

“Obviously, I saw it.” She had been
looking away from him, but now, seemingly reluctant, she glanced back at him.
“It tried to scare me off when I came to the cave. I guess it heard me coming
and wanted me to go somewhere else.”

“How did you get it to leave you
alone? You didn’t …” His eyes drifted to her gun.

“What? No!”

“Then how?”

Now she seemed even more reluctant.
“Well … it sniffed me.”

He drew his brows together. “Yeah?
I don’t get it.”

She cleared her throat and shifted
uncomfortably. “It sniffed … the jacket.”

He threw back his head and laughed.
He laughed long and loud, feeling healing waves of delight flow through him. He
laughed so hard he was sure the other bear could hear it deep in its den. He
laughed so hard he felt tears spring to his eyes. Still laughing, he wiped them
away. The laughter shook his body, maybe widening his wounds, but he couldn’t
stop it.

“I’m glad you find that so
amusing,” she said. She started off by saying it with a straight, stiff face,
but by the end of the sentence a smile tugged at her lips.

Rick had the sudden urge to kiss
that smile. His bear growled inside him, warning him off from that advance.
Too soon,
it seemed to say. Reluctantly,
he relented. Maybe his bear could coach him on dating.

Or … mating?

Could it be? Could Barbara really
be The One? Rick’s
mate
? From the way
his bear was carrying on, he began to suspect that might be the case.

He stared at Barbara in new wonder.

“What are you looking at?” she
said, tucking her jacket tighter around her.

“You,” he said.

“Well, stop.”

He looked away, but he still
observed her out of the corner of his eye. “I know something that will cheer
you up,” he said.

“What?” Sounding wary.

“The eagles. I saw where their
nests are. Big ol’ nests up high in the trees.”

She seemed to be thinking about
that. “And they’re all shifters?”

“Near as I can tell.”

“And they …
live
out here? I mean, the thief, he had a car, clothes …”

Rick nodded. “He was living like a
man. He must have a place in town. I think I know where he was headed in that
Honda. There’s a campsite not far away—you can get to it by the road just a
little ways down.”

“Yes, I know it. I had to break up
a fight there not long ago. The park rangers called me in.”

“Well, I think the thief was headed
toward the campsite parking lot when he got stuck at the bridge and had to lam
it. If he’d had his way, he probably would’ve left his clothes in the car when
it was parked at the lot and Shifted, then flown his loot to his nest.”

“I don’t understand. Why would an
eagle shifter be a serial burglar? And does he live in the nest most of the
time, or in town?”

“Some bear shifters live in caves
part of the year and houses or trailer homes the rest of it. I’ve done it
before. That’s how I found this place.” He rapped his knuckles on the stone
wall of the cavern. “I guess that’s what he does. Maybe all of his clan are
like that, or maybe they just send one of their people out to live among
people. Their eyes and ears in the human world, if you know what I mean. I’ve
heard of that before.”

“You shifters are so mysterious.”
She sounded interested now, not pissed. That was some improvement, anyway. He
would take it.

“You’re interested in my kind?” he
said, just to keep her talking.

“Sure. You’re fascinating. You
know, you never answered the question about why your Great Alpha ordered your
crew to take over the ski resort.”

He shrugged. “It’s a public
relations thing. Everyone wants to know about bear shifters after we came out
of the den. Well, all they see are lumberjacks and the like. We used to be
lumberjacks, but the Great Alpha didn’t think that was the right image for bear
shifters everywhere. I don’t know why not. The ladies didn’t seem to mind. But
he wanted what he called a beacon. A flagship. A symbol representing all bear
shifters everywhere. So he had a lumberjack-off—don’t joke; okay, well you can
joke a little—and our crew won. So we got the gig of restoring the old resort.
It’s a lot of work, harder sometimes than woodcutting, but I can’t wait to see
the place up and running.”

“It would be nice,” she admitted.
“For the town, I mean. It’ll bring a lot of business in.”

“Exactly.”

“But I still don’t get it. I mean,
there are a lot of shifters in Pine Ridge. Why? And then you guys buy the
resort. There’s something not quite right about it all. I
know
you know what I’m talking about.”

“You and your conspiracy theories.
I’m going have to call you Agent Scully, not Officer
Hotpants
.”

She studied him again, and he knew
she was searching for signs of duplicity. He tried to keep his face
honest-looking, but he wasn’t sure if he succeeded. She had a way of looking
right through him, or at least through his façade. Anyway, the last thing he
wanted now was for her to sense that he was lying about something. Her eyes
were narrowing, though, and she looked suspicious.

He released a breath. “If there is
a secret,” he said carefully, “it’s secret for a reason.”

“So,” she said with some finality,
as if she were Hercules
Poirot
solving a murder
mystery. “There
is
a secret.”

“Maybe,” he allowed. “But if there
is, only members of the crew can know what it is.”

“Only other bear shifters, you
mean.”

“Only Pine Ridge Crew shifters.” He
chewed on his lower lip, then added, after some deliberation, “And their
mates.”

Her eyes widened, just slightly. He
could see her start to look evasive, as if she didn’t know what he was talking
about.

“Well, if it’s a state secret, then
never mind,” she said. “Just let me know when you’re able to walk and we’ll try
to make it back to the road. We’ll have to swing around the eagle territory,
but we can do it. Still can’t believe they attacked us like that. Look what
they did to you!” Finally, some concern touched her face, and he could feel the
raw emotion behind her words. In a suddenly thicker voice, she said, “They
could’ve killed you. And for what? Some diamonds?”

“Shifter laws are different from
human laws. We were chasing one of them, in their territory—they were just
defending themselves.”

“Bullshit! They almost committed
murder.”

“Not from their point of view.” He
sighed. She would never understand; it was a shifter thing. The idea that
shifters could have their own laws would probably be offensive to a
policewoman. He decided not to push it. “Anyway, I’ll be ready to go in a
little while.”

Sudden inspiration hit him, and he
smiled.

“What is it?” she said, and again
she sounded wary.

“I know just the route to take,” he
said. He listened for his bear to override him, but instead, to his delight, it
growled in approval.

The sun was dipping toward the horizon by the time Barbara
and Rick left the cave. Her clothes were still stiff from being wet, so she
only wore her jacket in addition to bra, panties, boots and socks. Rick seemed
to find it all very amusing, and she was tempted to punch him in the ribs to
get that smirk off his face, but his ribs still looked a little raw. He had
healed amazingly fast, though, she had to admit. He’d appeared to be on death’s
doorstop just a couple of hours ago, and now he looked liked he’d only been
involved in a fender bender.

At any rate, he’d healed enough so
that she didn’t have to feel guilty about thinking about how damn sexy he was.
He was once more a big, bold, confident alpha male, wearing that infuriating
smile (but nothing else!) and letting his big cock swing as he walked, thumping
against his muscular thighs as he went. His big cock that had already saved her
life once. She still thought she could smell it on her jacket. The wind was
picking up, though, bringing with it a chill, and so she never even considered
taking the jacket off. That was the only reason, though. The
only
reason.

For his part, Rick didn’t seem cold
at all, and when she touched him (total accidents!), his skin seemed almost
hot. Bear shifters really did have amazing metabolisms. It came with a price,
though. She could hear his belly growl and could occasionally see a look of
discomfort cross his otherwise annoyingly confident face. He must be starving.

“We need to get you something to
eat,” she said, mainly for something to say—and also because she couldn’t help
but feel a little maternal toward him—no, wait. Nurse-like. A sexy nurse.
Totally not maternal. Gross!

“Don’t worry,” he said. “I’ll get
some grub where we’re going.”

“Does this forest have a McDonald’s
or something?”

He grinned. “For a bear, the forest
is
a McDonald’s.”

She didn’t know what he meant by
that, exactly, but at least he sounded confident and positive. He knew what to
do, even if she didn’t. Too bad they were walking side by side now. She missed
the view of his backside. Now if she wanted to look, she actually had to go
through all the trouble of turning her neck! She tried to resist. Not because
she didn’t want to admire the view, but because she didn’t want to get caught.
Rick had an awfully high opinion of himself as it was; she didn’t want to make
it any worse.

“You must be hungry by now, too,”
he said. “I mean, you don’t have a shifter metabolism, but you can’t have eaten
since, what lunch?”

“Breakfast.”

He tilted his head cutely. “I think
I can hear your belly rumbling.”

“I wouldn’t be surprised.”

“So you
are
hungry.”

“I guess.” Why was she so reluctant
to admit that? It wasn’t like she was owning up to some deficiency. She
supposed it was because she didn’t want him to rescue her anymore. If she were
hungry, he would feel obliged to correct that. To fix her. She wanted to fix
herself.

On the other hand, she was kind of
touched that he cared enough to wonder how she was doing and what she was
feeling. Did he …
like
her? He could
be so thickheaded and insensitive it was hard to tell.

“So what if I am?” she added. “I
guess this McDonald’s of yours has a super-size option?”

He laughed. “I’ll hook you up,” he
promised, although she wasn’t sure what that meant.

They walked for a ways, and the sun
was edging toward the mountains to the west when Barbara heard the sound of
water. They came to a creek—maybe a river; it was pretty broad—and followed it
for a time. More sound reached her, the sound of a waterfall, and ahead of her
she saw mist. Soon they came on the falls themselves, a beautiful cascade of
crystal water plunging down into a secluded lagoon encircled on three sides by
a curtain of stone. The setting sun threw sparks across the rippling surface of
the little lake, and a fish leapt up into the air, its scales shining
silver-green.

Barbara had to stifle a gasp. “It’s
beautiful,” she said.

He wasn’t starting at the falls or
the lagoon. He stared at her. “Yes,” he said, and his face was as solemn as
she’d ever seen it. “It is.”

Gulp. She twisted away, feeling her
neck grow warm.

“Take a break,” he said. “I’ll find
us some grub.” He started to turn, then said, “Just so I don’t frighten you—I’m
going to Shift.”

She nodded and stepped back. He
faced the river, and a bear exploded from him, superimposed itself over him,
eclipsing his human self. He became the bear, huge and handsome, a formidable
gray-brown grizzly showing terrible scars from the recent battle with the
eagles, and some older wounds that were larger and more vicious. Doubtless
caused by other bear shifters. Barbara had read that they fought a lot amongst
themselves. Their bears could get unruly and wild. Did that ever happen to
Rick? He seemed so calm, so in control. It was hard to imagine him truly
wild—cocky, yes, and living in a seat-of-the-pants manner, but not crazy.

Judging by those scars, though, his
bear might grow out of control at times. He hadn’t talked about it, though. She
realized he was a deeper being than she had thought, that there were facets to
his personality beyond the ones he’d showed her. He had his own pain, his own
struggles. Just who was he? She realized she didn’t know. He’d asked a lot of
questions about her, but when she’d asked questions about him they hadn’t
really been about him but about his people. About whatever mystery they were
guarding. She had acted like a
cop
,
she thought with dismay. Not a friend. Not … well, not a friend.

Rick caught one fish, then another,
and another, laying each one side by side on the river bank, and she was
impressed by his smooth, quick movements, and she had to admit his bear was
very handsome. At last, when he had five fish gathered, he Shifted back into
human, and she had to suck in a breath at the sight of him, all muscles and
slim waist and sly grin. His bear had gotten wet obtaining the fish, and the
water had stayed on him during the Shift so that now it glistened on his
pecs
and trickled down the hollow between them, over his rippling
abs. Some of it even tangled in his pubic hair and sparkled like dew. A little
of it even misted his cock and made it shine wetly. His body was so naturally
hot that a hint of steam rose off him, even his shaft.

Barbara realized she was biting her
lip and staring. Hastily, she averted her gaze. Too late. Out of the corner of
her vision she could see Rick looking pleased. Gone was his gloating smile. In
its place was a quieter, deeper expression, more somber and somehow way sexier.
His eyes almost bored through her, and she wasn’t even looking!

He scooped up the fish by their
tails and said, “Come on, dinner’s on me.”

“You don’t expect me to eat them
raw, do you?” Maybe that was fine for a bear, but not for her.

“What, you don’t eat sushi?”

“Not this mountain girl,” she said.

“I thought you were from Chicago.”

“Not anymore. And I didn’t eat it
there, either.”

He laughed. “Don’t worry, this
isn’t my first rodeo.”

“Meaning?”

“My crew and I come here sometimes.
We call this place Crystal Falls. There’s a little camp down below—” He hitched
his head toward the lagoon. “We can cook the fish there. Come on.”

He held out a hand to her. She deliberated
with herself for a moment, then took it. His flesh really
was
warm. He smiled when she touched him, but it wasn’t that
gloating smile this time. It was a deepening, a warming of that more solemn
expression. Barbara felt
goosebumps
bust up all over
her body, and she shivered.

“This way,” he said, and led her to
the side of the falls, then down a narrow switchback trail that snaked along
the cliffs down to the shore by the lagoon. She almost tripped once or twice,
but he steadied her, and she felt dizzy, not with the height but with the feel
of his hands on hers.

Stop
it
, she told herself.
Rick Barnes is
not for the likes of Officer Barbara Thompson.

Then again, why not? Why not,
really?

But, dang, if she started down that
path, she had a feeling she could fall for him super hard, and super fast. And
that way lay disaster. She knew his type, had known it since the moment she’d
laid eyes on him—his human self. He was a love-em-and-leave-em sort, a true
man-ho of the first order, and she would do well to steer clear of him.

Even if his cock literally did
smoke.

At the bottom of the cliff, sure
enough, there was a circle of stones and an old
firepit
,
even a few supplies buried in a hole in the ground. Rick dug up some firewood,
heaped it in the pit along with some chips for kindling, then lit it with a
fire starter. Before long he was grilling the fish on a metal grill laid across
the flames, and the sumptuous smells wafted at Barb’s nose and made her mouth
water. Rick located some seasoning in the hole, too, and dusted the fish with
it even as it cooked.

“I can tell you’ve done this
before,” she said, sitting on a rock. The sun was just then vanishing over the
mountains, plunging the world into darkness except for moon, stars and fire. It
was as if she and Rick occupied a private space, the only place lit on Earth,
just for them.

“Sure I have,” Rick said easily.

She tried to resist the crushing
wave of hurt. “I knew it,” she said, feeling angrier than she had any right to
be.

He looked at her in confusion.
“What’s wrong? Obviously I’ve been here before. My crew and I left supplies.”
He stared at her, frowning, then smiled. “You mean women. You think I’ve
brought other women here before.”

“Well, haven’t you?”

He shook his head, and he wasn’t
smiling anymore. His eyes drilled straight into her core, and she felt it turn
to jelly.

“No,” he said. “You’re the first
female I’ve ever taken here.”

“Really?”

He nodded.

She sniffed. Was she crying? Good
gravy, he must think she was an idiot.

“Shit!” he said.

“What is it?”

“The fish is burning.”

Quickly he took the fish off the
fire and blew on it. She joined him, blowing out a few last sparks. They had
come very close together and were almost blowing in each other’s face. When the
fire was out, she realized her face was very close to his. He seemed to realize
it, too.

He bent toward her, his lips
questing …

She jumped backward.

“No!” she said.

He looked crestfallen. “No?”

She nodded, adamant. “No.” She
smoothed her jacket and pants, as if they had gotten wrinkled. It was just
something to keep herself occupied with as her mind spun out of control and her
heart smacked against her ribs as if they’d done something wrong.

“Okay,” he said teasingly, “but
then you get the burned fish.”

“You wouldn’t!”

He laughed, eyes sparkling. “I
don’t know … Well, alright, since you are an officer of the law, I guess you
deserve something halfway decent.” He had set the grill down on the ground and
now he squatted over it, examining the fish by the light of the fire. “This one
looks best,” he said. Using a pair of tongs, he lifted it and held it out for
her.

The bear shifter crew had left
behind some basic cooking implements, but they hadn’t bothered with plates or
forks or knives, so Barbara had to accept the offering by hand. It was still
hot, but not hot enough to burn. Still, she blew on it as she joined Rick
beside the fire and sat cross-legged on the ground.

She bit into the fish, and its
juices and spices filled her mouth. “Wow,” she said. “This is really good.”

“This is nothing. You should see me
in a real kitchen.”

“You can cook, too?”

“Hell yeah! You haven’t lived until
you’ve had my quiche.”

She gaped at him in wonder. Rick
Barnes was full of surprises. Not only could he defend her from maddened eagle
shifters, not only could he catch fish but he could cook them, too—and still
look like he was sculpted from marble.
Just
what have you gotten yourself into now, Barbara Thompson?

“I haven’t done this since I was a
little girl,” she said, after another bite.

“Eat fish?”

She blew a raspberry at him. “No, sitting
out under the stars eating at a campfire. It’s just like summer camp at Camp
Squaw.”

“Camp Squaw? That’s a terrible
name.”

“Yeah, well, it was before the age
of political correctness, I guess. It was just for girls.”

“Got it.” He bit into his fish,
too, and a burst of juice gathered at his lips. She had to fight the urge to
lick it away. “You know,” he said, “it’s probably too dark to go anywhere
tonight. I could see well enough, but you’d trip and fall. I
could
carry you back to the road …”

“Ha! I’d like to see the day.”

“Well, then I don’t see any choice.
We’ll have to stay here for tonight.”

She stifled a curse. “Can’t believe
I dropped my phone. The station won’t know what happened to me. I may be the
worst cop ever.”

“Trust me, in these woods it won’t
be the first officer they’ve had go off the radar for a day or two. There are
some funny things in the forest on this mountain.”

“What’s that supposed to mean? More
of your
werebear
mysteries?”

“Call it what you like. But don’t
fret about your job. They won’t fire you for losing your phone, especially not
when they hear how it happened.”

“Think they’ll believe me? Chased
off by eagle shifters?”

“I think so. It
is
the Pine Ridge P.D., after all. Lot
of shifters around Pine Ridge.” Before she could ask him why again, he said,
“You going to be warm enough in that jacket? I could build the fire up if you’re
not.”