Brash Bear: BBW Bear Shifter Paranormal Romance (BRIDES fur BEARS Book 3) (8 page)

He snapped his eyes open to
see her undoing the buttons of her blouse shyly. She let the blouse
slip from her shoulders and reached back to unhook her bra. Josh
reached out to brush a strand of her hair off her round shoulders.
By stripping in front of him, she was showing her determination to
overcome her shyness and the stumbling blocks she had allowed her ex
to put before her. It was a huge step for her, and Josh felt so
proud of his mate.

As her bra fell from her
shoulders to expose her generous, quivering breasts, Josh's restraint
snapped and he lunged forward. His mouth latched on to one erect,
dusky nipple and he suckled her furiously. Bella gasped and arched
her back, wanting more.

Josh unzipped her skirt and
dragged her skirt and panties down her hips. Pushing her on her
back, he pinned her wrists to the mattress and laved his tongue down
every inch of her soft, curvy body.

Growling, he spread her sweet
thighs and buried his face between her legs. His tongue lapped
greedily at her wet, sticky pussy, tasting and savoring every drop of
her juices. He pushed his tongue into her slit and penetrated her.
When he rubbed his thumb over her engorged clit, she came hard
against his mouth. She was so sensitive, so responsive and so
fucking sexy.

Crying out, she shuddered and
fisted the sheets as her muscles clenched and rippled. Josh pushed
her legs wider apart and nudged the head of his throbbing cock into
her pussy.

“Open your eyes,
Bella,” he commanded. “I want you to look at me as I
enter you for the first time.”

Bella blinked rapidly and
focused on him. Josh looked deeply into her eyes as he inched his
cock into her body. He didn't release her gaze until he was fully
inside her.

His forehead fell forward
against hers, and he whispered, “God, Bella, you feel so
good...”

She glanced down at their
joined bodies and inhaled sharply. They fitted together perfectly,
and the sight was erotic and beautiful.

Wrapping her legs around his
hips, Bella cupped his face and whispered, “Take me, Josh.”

CHAPTER
TWENTY-THREE

With a ragged breath, Josh
began to move. His rhythm was slow and gentle at first as he made
love to her. He felt her orgasm silently in his arms as he stroked
steadily into her.

Once he felt her tight walls
rippling around his cock, Josh began to thrust harder and deeper into
her luscious body. Bella arched her back and cried out as she
abandoned herself to another powerful climax. Josh's bear was
roaring and beating its animal chest with pride. He had made his
mate orgasm repeatedly, and he was determined to make her shatter one
final time beneath him.

Pounding into her, he bent
his head and sucked hard on her nipple. Bella panted and threw back
her had. She shivered and screamed in ecstasy as she shattered, her
pussy clenching and milking his cock relentlessly.

Josh roared and bit into her
shoulder as he released his seed deep into her body.

She was his. His mate, his
life and his future.

Holding her, he murmured into
her hair as she fought to catch her breath.

He kissed her and felt her
lips curve against his mouth. “Do you know how beautiful you
are?” he murmured.

Her smile broadened when she
felt him grow hard again. His hunger for her was insatiable.

“Yes. Yes I do,”
she said confidently.

Josh grinned. “That's
my girl.”

Resting her head on his
chest, she traced her finger down his abdomen and back up to his
shoulder. She sat up abruptly and made him lie on his belly.

As she ran her fingers down
his back, she asked softly, “Can you...talk to me about these
scars?”

Josh tensed as he felt her
fingertips brush over his criss-crossing scars. Some of the scars
had faded over the years, but there were some wounds that were too
deep. Those scars never faded.

Taking a deep breath, he
closed his eyes to try to block out the memories, but still, the
horrific images came unbidden to the front of his mind.

“When Jax and I were
cubs, our mother was killed and we were captured by a bear tamer,
Bazl. Bazl tortured and brutalized us, and forced us to perform in a
circus. He beat us so savagely that he damaged Jax's ear forever.
It's my fault. If I had protected Jax, he wouldn't be deaf in one
ear now.”

Bella put a hand on his
shoulder but she didn't speak. Josh forced his anger down and went
on, “Marcus saved us. He was working in the circus at the
time, and he witnessed Bazl's cruelty. He rescued us and the three
of us ran away together. We came to Shadow Point, and Marcus got to
know Nick. They started Beck's Builders. Marcus is our big brother.
Jax and I owe our lives to him.”

Bella wrapped her arms around
him and said, “You may lash out at me, but I'm going to say it.
It's not your fault, Josh. What happened to your mother and your
twin is not your fault.”

“I should have
protected them. I was the elder brother, the older son.”

“And I'm sure you did
try to protect them. You did your best. But you were just too young
at that time.”

“My mom and my
brother…”

“They don't blame you.
And they would be really mad at you for blaming yourself. I'm sure
Jax has fought with you over this many times before. He told you to
stop beating yourself up, didn't he?”

Josh stared at her, then
nodded once.

“You're too hard on
yourself,” she said.

He quirked a lopsided smile
at her. “I thought the same thing about you.”

“Did you?” She
laughed a little. “I guess we're more alike than we realize.”

Taking his hand, she said
solemnly, “I promise I'll let got of my self-doubt. But you
have to promise me that you'll let go of your guilt. We'll help each
other and take small steps together. We can do it. I know we can,”
she said firmly.

Josh squeezed her hand and
yanked her to him. Hugging her, he said, “I'll do everything
to be the mate you deserve, Bella. I promise.”

CHAPTER
TWENTY-FOUR

Bella pulled the two apple
pies out of the oven. With a satisfied smile, she set them on the
kitchen table and pulled off her oven gloves. The pies looked and
smelled heavenly.

She picked up the smaller of
the two pies and went to the door. That larger apple pie was for
Josh and his family. Josh had mentioned that his niece, Ashley,
loved apple pie with ice-cream more than anything in the world.

Bella walked over to her
neighbor's house and rang the doorbell. “Celia! Celia, are
you home?” she called out as she rapped smartly on the door.
“I brought you a freshly baked apple pie.”

She shifted her weight from
foot to foot as she waited. A minute ticked by. At the sound of a
birdsong, she glanced behind her. The neighborhood was really quiet
at this time of day. It was a weekday, and most people were at work.
It was her day off, and she'd spent the day cleaning and baking.
Her house looked really homely and lovely now. Housework was
cathartic, and she felt like a new person, seeing her little house so
spic and span.

Of course, having
mind-blowing sex definitely put a spring in a girl's step as well.

Bella cleared her throat
noisily, hoping Celia wouldn't see her blush when she opened the
door. Josh had been coming over to her place almost every night for
the whole week. They just couldn't seem to get enough of each other.

Josh has asked her over for
dinner with his family this evening. She had already met his family
at the wedding, but Josh said that his brothers wanted to welcome her
properly into the family.

“That's right. We're
your family now,” Josh had chuckled at the look of bewilderment
on her face. “The morning after we mated, Jax and Marcus were
grinning from ear to ear when they saw me at the work site. They
could smell your scent all over me, and—they saw the
shit-eating grin on my face.”

Bella realized she was
smiling as she rang the doorbell again. She smiled a lot more these
days. She was in love, and she was happy and alive. It was an
amazing feeling.

She waited for a while more
and her brows began to furrow. Celia was home almost every day. Her
arthritis made it difficult for her to get out of the house and walk
for long. She only went out for her weekly bridge game at the
community club on Saturdays, and her buddies always came round to
pick her up. Celia's best friend, Meredith, would drop by every
Monday and they would go to the shops together to grab some groceries
and have tea at their favorite cafe. Celia liked order and routine
in her life, and her neat, no-nonsense house reflected her
personality. Everything was in its place, and her lawn was
well-maintained. Meredith's son came to mow her lawn every
fortnight.

Bella knocked on the door
more urgently now. “Celia, are you in there?”

Had the elderly woman fallen
down and was sprawled helplessly on her bathroom floor?

Bella's eyes widened in alarm
and she put her hand on the knob. The front door eased open
soundlessly. Bella shook her head, feeling the first stirrings of
fear. Celia always locked her door. The woman was very careful and
fastidious. She never left things lying around, and she never left
her doors unlocked.

Bella stepped quickly into
the house. Her eyes scanned the living room anxiously. The place
wasn't ransacked, and nothing was broken. The polished floor
squeaked as Bella hurried into the kitchen to check. Nope, Celia
wasn't there.

She put the pie shakily on
the kitchen table and moved towards the closed bedroom doors. She
was about to call out again when she heard a muffled sound behind one
of the doors.

She tiptoed towards the door
and held her breath. There was a muted thud and a soft whimper.

Bella didn't wait. She
wrenched the door open and ran into the room.

“Celia! No...”
Bella gasped at the sight of Celia huddled at the corner of her
bedroom. The poor woman was bound and gagged, and her rounded eyes
darted to the black-clad figure crouching by her cupboard.

The figure turned and
straightened up at Bella's entrance. There was a mask over his face,
but she recognized his eyes.

Involuntarily she took a
small step back. “Harlan,” she said in horror.

CHAPTER
TWENTY-FIVE

Bella stared at her
ex-husband in utter shock and horror. “W-what are you doing
here?” But even before the question left her lips, she already
knew the answer.

That scum hadn't changed one
bit. He was still trying to take from her.
Steal
from her.
Bella felt the rage boiling up in her.

He wanted her heirloom, that
beautiful emerald ring that her grandmother had left her. The ring
had served as her engagement and wedding ring because he was too
cheap and broke to get her a real ring. And now, he was here to
steal the ring from her so he could sell it and get cold, hard cash
for it.

But how did he even know that
she had passed the ring to Celia for safekeeping? In her fury, she
ignored the question and lurched forward to yell at him. “I
know what you're looking for, Harlan! You want my ring, my
grandmother's ring. It's not yours, Harlan. If you want money, you
should try earning it. Yes, don't look so appalled. Many people do
it. They hold down a job and work for their money. You should try
it.”

Harlan glared at her and his
hand twitched at his side. It was then that she noticed that he was
gripping a knife.

She swallowed but she refused
to be intimidated by this good-for-nothing piece of shit. He had
taken so much from her during their marriage, and now, even after the
divorce, he was still trying to get something from her. Something
priceless and irreplaceable, a tangible memory of her beloved
grandmother.

She knew that her grandmother
would never have approved of her marriage to Harlan. And with good
reason. But her grandmother would turn in her grave if she simply
let the scumbag walk away with her ring.

Harlan took off the mask and
smiled. There was no need to hide his identity since she clearly
recognized him. He raised the knife, but he didn't point it at her.
In a flash, he pressed the blade to Celia's face and said, “Give
me the ring, Bella. If I hurt her, it's on you. Just give it to me,
and nobody gets hurt.”

Bella tried to hold Celia's
gaze to reassure her, but the woman had squeezed her eyes shut with
fear.

“What do you need the
ring for?” Bella asked, her eyes sweeping the room quickly.
She had asked Celia to keep the ring for her, but she had no idea
where Celia had hidden it. And it seemed that Celia had refused to
divulge its hiding place to Harlan. She had bravely kept mum,
forcing him to search for the gem himself. Celia's clothes had been
pulled from the cupboard and were strewn all over the floor. Drawers
had been overturned and her toiletries and lacy underwear were
scattered at the foot of the bed. Celia certainly had a fine
collection of sexy, luxurious underwear. Who knew that underneath
her long skirts and buttoned-up blouses were barely-there thongs and
hot, push-up bras?