Bearly There: BBW Paranormal Bear Shifter Romance (6 page)

Esme leaned over the tub, her arms out. Zachary sank thankfully into them, not caring at all that she was dripping. Not caring about anything but how sweet it was to be nurtured and soothed by the mate he’d spent his whole adult life searching for. And she smelled like lavender, his favorite. Their cheeks pressed together.

Esme stroked his hair for a few minutes, the best feeling in the world. “But you didn’t answer my actual question,” she teased finally.

Zachary realized she was right. “You caught me,” he said, shrugging. “I’ve done what I can in the name of donating time and money and supplies, but what do I
personally
want?”

“Yes,” she said. “Tell me. I really want to know.”

Tell her
, his bear insisted.
She’s even asking you to.

“I want you to know me,” he said simply. “Without reservation, without me hiding anything. All of me.”

“Show me, then,” Esme urged. She watched him with those rich, trusting eyes that spoke in a language only he could understand. “I want to know you, too.”

The last of Zachary’s defenses crumbled like an old brick wall. How was he supposed to resist the wishes of his mate? He couldn’t even if he wanted to. And he didn’t, not at all.

So the powerful CEO of BNS Biopharmaceuticals knelt on his marble bathroom floor, gazed at his mate’s gorgeous brown eyes, and asked, “Remember the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears?”

* * *

Esme still couldn’t believe any of this was happening. First, a billionaire had saved her from her boss. Then he’d made love to her with the most intensity she’d ever experienced, never mind how her orgasm had been so powerful, she’d almost exploded out of her body. Now she understood why people referred to fireworks during sex.

But none of that could stop the whole situation from feeling surreal, like a dream she was doing her best not to wake up from. After they’d enjoyed the leisurely pancake breakfast one of Zachary’s valets had delivered to the bedroom suite, Zachary had asked if she would be willing to accompany him into the woods behind his house. “I have something to show you,” he’d said, and he’d spoken with so much seriousness that she worried something was wrong.

“Of course I will,” she said, taking a sip of blood orange juice and trying to keep her own tone light.

And now here they were, just the two of them, out among the gold-dappled trees and dandelions and violets. A butterfly fluttered past, its orange-and-black wings making her smile in spite of herself. If this were a movie about their love story, it couldn’t have had a better setting.

Zachary took her hand and led her into a cave she hadn’t noticed, a little hole in an outcropping of rock in the side of the hill. “This is my little hideaway,” he said, smiling ruefully, “a place I go when I just need to get away.”

Esme stared in fascination. It was just a cave, and dark to boot, but he’d set it up in a rustic style, with a cozy fire pit and a couple logs for sitting. There was zero technology that she could see, nothing in the way of typical entertainment. Definitely not what she would have expected of a billionaire.

But at the same time, it suited Zachary in a way she couldn’t explain. She imagined him coming here when the business world just became too much. Maybe it was a good place to get away from the memories of his departed aunt. Her heart twinged in sympathy.

Zachary gestured for her to sit down on a log near the entrance, but not before he set a blanket there. Esme appreciated the gesture. He was just so . . . so
gallant
in a way most guys seemed to have forgotten how to be. But with Zachary, it came naturally. She liked it. A lot.

More than she was ready to admit, even.

She sat and waited, wondering what he would have to share with her. Whatever it was, she knew she would accept it with an open heart. How could she not, when this magic link flowed between them? She’d never even dared imagine she might share something like this with anyone, let alone a billionaire who loved her food and wanted to heal the world with his work.

Just outside the cave mouth, the sun shone down, lighting the visible sky an electric blue, the kind that got into Esme’s bones and made her want to climb trees. Or take a nap in the grass. Either one had its pluses.

“So?” she asked at last, trying to hide her curiosity.

Zachary looked like he was fighting an internal battle. But what was being fought, and which side was winning, she didn’t know. It made something inside her ache.

Finally he gave in and shook his head. “I have never shown anyone outside my clan this part of me before. But if you are the one for me, then you need to know.”

Esme’s head spun. The one for him? Really? And know what?

“So I know it was a weird question about Goldilocks earlier, but have you ever considered who the real villain of the story is?” Zachary looked pleadingly at her, like he was begging her to understand whatever it was he wasn’t saying, and though she didn’t know what he was talking about, she just wanted to go to him and kiss his concerns away.

Still, this unspoken thing was clearly bothering him, so Esme set aside the urge to touch him and considered the story. She hadn’t given it much thought since she’d been a kid, and back then, she’d sympathized with Goldilocks and her hunger and exhaustion. But now she tried to put herself in the bears’ shoes, coming home after a hard day of doing whatever out in the woods to find an interloper in the house—who’d wasted their food and slept in their beds! And now they were forced to care for this stranger who had broken into their home and destroyed their day and their sense of safety.

Was . . . was Zachary asking her to have sympathy for the bears? If so, he’d succeeded. But why? What did that have to do with him?

“Do—do you understand now?” he asked, his gaze on her so intense, it almost burned.

Esme wasn’t sure what to say. It was clear he was desperately trying to communicate something, but unless it was that nature mattered, too, she didn’t understand the message. Though he looked pretty great out here in the wilderness, she had to admit. That was nature she could appreciate without a second thought. Her eyes traced the rippling muscles of his chest as he tore off his shirt. “I—”

Wait, why was he stripping off his clothes? She’d already seen him naked, and that definitely was not a problem for her. She thought she’d made that clear last night . . .

Was he . . . were they going to do it right here? In the cave in the middle of the forest, where anyone could just stumble onto them? Slick liquid trickled down between her legs at the thought, and she shivered despite the warm air.

Desire turning his eyes a dark, blustery blue, Zachary ran straight toward her.

Esme’s last thought before he swept her up in his strong arms was that she must have been even clearer than she’d thought. He gently lowered her down onto the makeshift blanket of his shirt, then began kissing her.

Their lips touched, and it was like a thousand sparks leaping back and forth between them. He tasted delicious and sweet, like orange and cinnamon and something wilder, which she couldn’t place. Honey, maybe? From wildflowers?

They sank deeper into the kiss, desperate to be closer. Desperate to hold on to the strange connection binding them. Esme drew his lower lip in between her teeth and nibbled lightly. The result made her quiver; Zachary’s tongue slipped into her mouth, past her teeth, and tangled with hers. The whole gesture was so naughty, so hot, she released his lip and just enjoyed the dance of their tongues.

But she couldn’t forget that Zachary had been so worried, and
that
worried
her
.

“Aren’t you going to tell me?” she managed to get out before their mouths returned to devouring each other once more. “Whatever you said you had to show me?”

“Yes,” said Zachary, pulling back just enough to form words. “But first I want to taste you. To feel you. You’re so beautiful, and you smell so good, like flowers.”

“And I want to feel you!” Esme cried, her neck craning up so her mouth could find his again. But his lips trailed from her cheek down her neck to her collarbone, stopping only to let his teeth graze the skin. Each time he did that, shudders coursed through Esme’s body. Now she knew what instruments felt like when they were played by masters, and she was just as helpless as he coaxed sounds of pleasure out of her.

Somehow, without her even noticing, her eyes fell shut, and she found herself biting the soft hollow beneath his chin, licking and pressing tiny kisses there. She wanted to touch him everywhere. For him to lick her back. For him to pierce her with his huge, sturdy shaft.

Without stopping his oral exploration of her neck and ears, Zachary pulled down her dress and unfastened her bra. She reached down long enough to help him; suddenly clothing felt like a cage, and all she wanted was to be free of it. All of it.

Zachary finished removing her panties, then ran his hands over her breasts, caressing them like they were precious gemstones. He buried his face in the canyon separating them, then took them in his hands. It felt amazing, her softness in his strong palms. She’d never realized how sexy her own breasts could be until now, and she couldn’t help the little squeaks of joy that burst out of her mouth.

Her bare legs spread, and the rush of the passing breeze tickled her clit and caught on the slick juices sopping from her pussy. Oh, she wanted to be taken so badly!

Zachary pressed himself up against her, licking her belly button and following her treasure trail down to her mound. Then he stopped, reaching his hands under her butt to grasp each cheek. “Do you,” he growled, his voice so deep and rasping with desire, “do you have any idea how amazing you feel to me?”

Even through the curtain of pleasure sweeping over her, Esme found that hard to believe. Her bubble butt, the one everyone had always made fun of? How could
that
feel good?

But Zachary’s hands moved over her in something like worshipful ritual, so she had no choice but to believe him.

His head dipped down, and she gasped. His nose brushed against her clit, and his tongue found the lips of her pussy and entered them. Her back arched, and she cried out.

He let out a sigh. “You’re so sweet and musky. It’s the best thing I’ve ever tasted.” Then he went right back to licking her clit, first softly teasing around the edges, testing it, making Esme shudder as arousal shot through her in the form of goose bumps washing all up and down her arms and legs. He made her feel so good, she couldn’t stand it.

She writhed beneath him, but his big, powerful hands held her hips in place as his tongue whipped against her clit and sucked.

“I . . .” she muttered. “I need you in me.”

Zachary lapped at her tight pussy a few more times with his wet, muscular tongue, then lifted his head. He stared down at her with desire-dark eyes, and she could smell herself on his hot, ragged breath. It made her even more aroused, and she moaned.

He pulled down his pants and his boxers. All of a sudden, the sight of his swollen, ready cock with its purpling velvet tip and veined shaft drove her crazy.

“Wait,” Esme protested. “Let me taste you first.” She needed to try it. She needed to taste its salty flavor for herself before she exploded from waiting.

“Are you sure?” Zachary asked, though it was obvious from his trembling arms that he was barely holding himself back.

“Yes!” she cried.

He broke into a beautiful grin and helped her sit up. Then he knelt before her, and she stared at the bobbing shaft before her. It was enormous. It was thick and powerful, and the drop of shining precum on the tip looked delicious. She reached forward and tested it with her tongue. It was salty and smooth. She swallowed, keeping her eyes on Zachary’s face, and then took up his hard rod in her grip. She squeezed it, admiring the sheer girth, and ran her finger along the veins.

He threw back his head and howled.

Her eyes wide with amazement, Esme began to take him into her mouth. She was able to fit a good three or four inches into her mouth, and she pumped the base of his shaft with one hand and fondled his hefty balls with the other. She liked the curly hair that covered them, just like she liked how strong he felt in her hand.

It felt right. It felt so very, very sexy.

She leaned in and started to move along his lengthy shaft, her tongue spiraling over it. Zachary’s eyes went wide as dinner plates, and he buried his hands in her hair, pulling him toward her. He plunged deep into her throat, so deep that Esme had to be careful not to gag or graze him with her teeth. But another thrust, and then a third, and he’d found the rhythm that worked for both of them.

Zachary’s thrusts came faster and faster, and his breathing grew harsher and louder. Esme sucked and licked, loving the salty taste of him. Her pussy grew wetter and slicker, and throbbed painfully, aching to be filled.

Zachary’s hands roved over her body, tweaking a nipple here, stroking her belly there. One finger wandered down to her clit and started to rub in time with his thrusts. Now it was Esme’s turn to breathe heavily, as much as she could around the huge shaft stuffing her mouth. Her lips moved around it as he plunged in and out, faster, faster, faster.