Bear's Baby (Bear Heat Book 4)

BEAR'S
BABY

By

Natalie Kristen

BEAR HEAT series

Bear's Bride (Book 1)

Bear's Kiss (Book 2)

Bear's Claim (Book 3)

Bear's Baby (Book 4)

Copyright
© 201
5
Natalie Kristen

ALL
RIGHTS RESERVED

No
part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever
without written permission except in the case of brief quotations
embodied in critical articles and reviews.

This
is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are
used fictitiously or are the products of the author's imagination.
Any resemblance to actual locales, events, establishments or persons,
living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

About
this Book

Baxter
Sadowski is good at his job and he is good with women. He works
hard, plays hard, and likes to have fun.

But
Baxter isn't one to kid himself. He knows that fun and happiness are
two different things. It takes a lucky bear to find his true mate,
and well, he knows better than to count on luck.

Lindy
Meyers has never forgotten a tough, tenacious, hunky Black Bear she
met ten years ago. When she meets him again, she is no longer the
shy, self-conscious twenty-something woman. She is still plus-sized
and curvy, but with the added dollop of success and independence.

What
was supposed to be just a night of fun with the sassy, curvy human
turns out to be something more.

When
Baxter leaves for an urgent, dangerous mission, he realizes that
everything he has worked for, fought for and stood for is being
threatened by a deadly enemy.

Baxter
can't believe he has finally found his mate, but if he doesn't act
fast enough, he might just lose her forever.

*****

CHAPTER
ONE

Baxter Sadowski totally owned
the dance floor. He was spinning and twirling with two beautiful
brides, showing off all his fancy footwork and expertly fending off
challenges to his dance crown. He was the king of the ballroom, the
bestest of the best men.

All the males in the Black
Bears clan were Caleb and Thor's best men and all the females had
been given the coveted role of bridesmaid. This was the first double
wedding in the clan, and everyone wanted the biggest role they could
land their paws on in the celebrations.

The two lovely brides, Prisha
and Aubrey, laughed and squealed in delight as they boogied with him.
They gamely went along with his outlandish moves and antics, and
worked with him to sidestep and exasperate their grinning, hapless
grooms. Caleb and Thor tried their darnest to wrest their brides
back from Baxter's arms, but they were no match for the King of Rock
and Roll!

The entire clan had crowded
round to watch the show and they hooted and cheered Baxter and his
two lively, playful dance partners on. Caleb and Thor began to
co-ordinate their attempts to retrieve their brides, but Prisha and
Aubrey seemed to take great pleasure in dancing circles around their
grooms. They shrieked and giggled as they spun their way out of
their husbands' reach and gleefully into Baxter's arms.

The Black Bears cheered and
clapped as they teased the two grooms mercilessly. Caleb and Thor
threw up their hands in defeat and shook their heads laughing. They
were good sports. They had been outdanced by Baxter, and they knew
it.

Baxter crowed his victory and
took a deep bow with Prisha and Aubrey. The entire Black Bears clan
broke out in raucous applause.

“Thank you, thank you!”
Baxter shouted as Aubrey and Prisha blew kisses to their clan
members. “I am the champion! I rock! Now where's my prize?”

Aubrey and Prisha giggled,
then leaned in to give him two big, loud kisses on the cheek. Baxter
pretended to swoon. He closed his eyes with a blissful, goofy grin
on his face, placed his hands over his heart and simply fell
backwards. He just rocked back on his heels and let himself fall.
He didn't even glance back to check. He had complete trust in his
clan members. They would catch him.

Sure enough, they did.

Big, strong hands formed a
safety net behind him and caught him neatly before he hit the floor.
Baxter opened his eyes and beamed at Dylan and Luke.

“Thanks, guys.”
He winked as they set him on his feet. “I knew I could count
on you!”

He saw Dylan give Luke a
quick nod of approval. Luke Keller was the newest member of the
Black Bears clan, and Dylan had been assigned to mentor and train the
young man. It seemed that trainer and trainee had already
established a good rapport and could read and anticipate each other's
moves. They had acted in concert, in a heartbeat, and had caught
Baxter together in a swift, seamless move. They would make a good
team, and Baxter had no doubt that Luke would make a great Black
Bear. Their Alpha, Ethan, had chosen Dylan over Baxter to be Luke's
mentor. It was the right choice. Baxter could see that, but he just
liked to yank Dylan's chain now and then.

“Great catch,”
Baxter said, clapping Luke on the back. “One second later and
I'd have ended up with a big bump on my head.”

Dylan massaged his wrist and
grimaced. “Have you put on weight again, Bax? You almost
broke my wrist.”

Baxter turned up his nose
haughtily at Dylan. “It's all muscle. Every pound, every
inch.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

Luke chuckled as he headed
off towards the long buffet table with his mentor. Baxter turned to
see his clan members taking to the dance floor as the ballroom lights
dimmed and a romantic ballad started. Couples slow-danced to the
music and Baxter saw Thor and Caleb leading their brides to the
middle of the dance floor. Thor held Aubrey close to him, and Baxter
could see the joy and love glowing in their eyes as they gazed at
each other. Caleb was holding Prisha possessively as he leaned down
to whisper in her ear and nuzzle her neck.

Baxter leaned against the
wall and watched the newly-weds for a while.

“Congrats, guys,”
he said under his breath. He raised a wine glass in a silent toast
to them and downed the vintage wine in one gulp.

Swiping his hand over his
mouth, he loosened his bow tie and winced. He wished he could get
out of this monkey suit, but this was a special day for Caleb and
Thor and their mates. He would walk through the fires of hell for
his clan, so what was donning a tux for a few hours?

He stuffed his hands in his
pockets and looked around the swanky ballroom. Everyone was enjoying
themselves, and some were still helping themselves to the food at the
buffet table. Baxter let out a loud burp and rubbed his tummy. God,
those bears could really eat. He thought he had a hearty bear-sized
appetite, but his clan members were proving to him that when it came
to good food and good wine, they could outeat and outdrink him any
time.

Baxter exhaled a long, slow
sigh as he watched the happy, dreamy couples on the dance floor. The
flash of white lace and satin drew his eyes back to the beaming,
blushing brides. Aubrey and Prisha looked so beautiful, he could
just see the fierce pride and joy on Thor and Caleb's faces.

They were lucky, so lucky to
have found their true mates.

Baxter was happy for them,
but beneath that happiness was a slight twinge of envy.

The mate bond was a rare,
precious thing, and not every bear was lucky enough to find his or
her true mate. Some searched their whole lives. Some just gave up
the search and settled. Settled, not settled down. Personally,
Baxter felt that those bears weren't being fair to their partners,
but who was he to judge? They seemed happy enough, and many of them
had built strong, stable families with their partners.

Baxter grabbed a slice of
wedding cake off the tray of a passing waiter and absently crammed
the whole piece into his mouth. He made a face as the saccharine
sweetness coated his tongue, but he managed to swallow the whole
mouthful.

He was just reaching for a
mug of beer when two female bear cubs barreled up to him and tugged
at his trousers. They wanted him to dance with them, the way he'd
done with the brides. The two little girls were dressed in identical
puffy-sleeved dresses and had a mind-boggling assortment of
glittering ribbons in their hair. They were the youngest twin
daughters of Karen, a Black Bears lieutenant. He looked up and saw
Karen watching her baby girls with an indulgent smile.

“Ladies.” He
crouched so he could talk to them at eye level. “Can I have
this dance?” The twins squealed and bounced on the balls of
their feet. Gallantly, he took their little hands and led them out
to the dance floor.

As he danced enthusiastically
with the bright-eyed, giggling young she-bears, Baxter stole a glance
at Thor and Caleb and quirked a wistful smile. They were so damn
lucky.

For a fleeting moment, he let
himself wonder if he would ever find his true mate. He frowned and
shrugged away the thought.

He wasn't one to kid himself.

He might be full of energetic
fun and wisecracks, but he wasn't lucky. Still, even though he
wasn't a lucky bear, he would never settle. He would just party and
have fun till he was old, creaky and cranky.

Baxter blew out a breath and
sternly told himself to stop all this navel-gazing. And from the way
those two cubs were yanking at his shirt, his navel would be exposed
to all and sundry in no time.

He had to keep up. He had a
reputation to maintain.

“Come on, baby dolls!”
He winked at the twins. “Let's show 'em some smooth moves!
What do you say to that?”

The little girls jumped up
and down, squealing in excitement, “We say yay!”

CHAPTER
TWO

Baxter pulled up in front of
the brightly lit diner and hopped out of his car. He had meant to
drive straight home but along the way, his stomach had let out an
insistent growl and his bear had woken up with the mother of all
hangovers and demanded a burger and a cup of strong, black coffee.

His bear was an aggressive,
impatient, unpredictable beast. His bear acted on pure instinct and
want, and what his bear wanted, his bear got. Maybe he shouldn't let
his beast have its way all the time. But lashing that big, bad bear
down was hard work. And to be honest, he liked having his bear close
to the surface. It made his senses sharper, keener and kept his
predatory skills and instincts honed. It also made him more
impulsive and reckless, but well, some of the bad guys deserved more
than what his bear dished out to them. The clan owned the Black
Bears Group, a reputable, highly efficient security firm. The Black
Bears worked closely with many law enforcement agencies in the city,
and they'd helped hunt and capture some of the more violent,
dangerous criminals that had eluded the city police for years. His
bear had been perfectly happy to rough those sick fucks up a bit in
the interrogation room. His fist-happy, bear-driven interrogation
methods had always yielded results and had gotten them crucial
information, information that had helped save lives and prevent more
deaths and tragedy.

Baxter was fully aware of his
reputation as a relentless, ruthless investigator and interrogator.
Some said he was out of control, but what did he care about what
people said anyway?

He was what he was, and he
would do what he had to do. He was one of the best trackers and
investigators in the clan, and if his bear wanted in on the action,
he wasn't going to deny his bear a bit of fun.

Baxter paused at the entrance
of the diner, his brow furrowing. Was that why their alpha had
ultimately chosen Dylan over him as Luke's mentor? Baxter's frown
deepened as he recalled Ethan's words:
Luke has to learn to
control his bear. Not unleash it.