Colby (BBW Western Bear Shifter Romance) (Rodeo Bears Book 3) (29 page)

“You’re so beautiful,” Jackson murmured in a husky growl. He stepped forward and scooped Olivia up in his arms, swiftly carrying her into the bedroom and closing the door.
 

Once they were in her bedroom, Olivia felt an amazing rush of adrenaline come over her body. She tugged frantically at Jackson’s clothes, desperate to see him naked. When his shirt was off, she gasped and marveled at the shape of his chest. He was muscular and hairy, and she ran a hand through his chest hair and shivered.
 

“You’re so manly,” Olivia giggled. “It’s really hot.”
 

Jackson winked at her and kicked his jeans to the ground. “So pleased the lady finds me attractive,” he teased. The moment turned serious again when he grabbed Olivia and tugged her jeans off, leaving her clad only in panties. Growling, he pushed Olivia back down on the bed and nosed his way down her body. She shivered at the feel of Jackson’s rough, hot tongue on her belly. When he began tugging her panties off with his teeth, she thought she was going to scream with anticipation.
 

Frantically, Olivia tugged at Jackson’s boxers until he was naked. His cock bobbed and stood straight up in the air, thick and beautiful like the rest of his body. She gasped when Jackson crawled on top of her and nudged her legs apart.
 

“Touch me, please,” Olivia moaned into Jackson’s neck. As his fingers stroked the soft inside of her thighs, she shivered and spread her legs as far as she could. Jackson softly stroked her labia and finally slipped a finger inside, making Olivia gasp and cry out with pleasure. Jackson seemed to know
exactly
how to touch her, and she could feel herself getting wetter by the second.
 

“God, Olivia,” Jackson groaned in a husky growl. “I need you.” He pulled his hand away, grabbing both of Olivia’s wrists in one hand and pinning them over her head. She arched her back and moaned as he leaned against her, pushing his hips against her own until she could feel the head of his erection straining at her secret entrance. When Jackson bucked his hips and slid inside, Olivia let out a loud, strangled cry of lust. It felt so good that she didn’t even think she could move, but soon she was moving along with Jackson. Their hips bucked in the same rhythm, their mouths tarried and lingered on each other’s faces. Olivia closed her eyes and moaned steadily as she felt something hot gripping her lower belly. The lust and pleasure spread through her body until she felt every cell, every nerve tingling as if lit on the most delicious fire.
 

Jackson’s body bucked and strained against Olivia and she could feel his muscles clenching and tightening. When he let out a loud growl and slammed her body hard into the mattress, she felt a powerful orgasm rip through her body. It strained her own muscles until she felt happy tears come to her eyes.
 

Afterwards, they lay tangled together in Olivia’s bed. Olivia was sweating and hot, and finally she pulled herself away and went to turn on the fan.
 

“You’re incredible,” Jackson murmured when Olivia came back to bed and rested her face on his shoulder. “You’re so amazing.”
 

Olivia bit her lip and closed her eyes, sighing happily. “You are,” she said softly. “And I certainly hope you’ll be spending the night.”
 

Chapter Four

Olivia slept better than ever before with Jackson beside her. She didn’t even have any weird dreams about what was going to happen in the morning, or Derek, or Lisa. It was the best night of sleep that she’d gotten in years.
 

In the morning, there was a loud knock on the door. It was insistent, sharp. Olivia was awakened by the cries of Max. She leapt out of bed and pulled a robe on. When she opened the bedroom door, Jackson finally stirred.
 

Jackson yawned. “Do you want me to go take him?”
 

Olivia bit her lip. “Do you mind?” She frowned, then winced as the knocking started again, louder than ever. “I don’t know who’s here,” she added.
 

Swallowing hard, Olivia ran a hand through her brown hair and pulled the door open. There stood Derek, looking brutish and angry.
 

“Who’s car is that?” He pointed towards Jackson’s car in the driveway. “I don’t remember you having new friends,” he added with a sneer.
 

“Derek, what do you want?” Olivia shifted her weight and stared right at her ex. It was funny, how little she felt inside with him standing right in front of her. “Can I help you?”
 

“Liv, I need to talk to you,” Derek said. His tone changed from nasty to almost kind, and Olivia sighed. “It’s important.”
 

She swallowed hard. “Why? I think the time for talking is over, Derek. And if it wasn’t then, it definitely is now.”
 

Derek shook his head. “Look, I get it, you’re still angry with me. I know. But hear me out, okay? Max
deserves
a father, Liv. And I slept with Lisa to make you jealous!”
 

Olivia rolled her eyes. “Yeah, right,” she said. “More like you did it because you follow your dick, not your brain.”
 

Derek pouted. “Come on, Liv, hear me out, okay? Just for old times’ sake?”
 

Olivia bit her lip. “I don’t know,” she said, feeling uncomfortable. “I think you made your decision pretty clear, Derek.”
 

“I didn’t, though,” Derek said. He tried to step inside the door. Reluctantly, Olivia let him.
 

“Just hold on,” she said as her eyes flashed with irritation. “Wait outside.”
 

A knot was forming in Olivia’s stomach but she did her best to ignore it as she walked through the house on unsteady legs. “Jackson?” Olivia called loudly. “Max? Are you here?”
 

“We’re back here,” Jackson called from Max’s bedroom. When he saw the expression on Olivia’s face, he jumped up. “What’s wrong?”
 

“Derek’s here,” she said miserably. “I think I need to talk to him…” she trailed off, unable to meet Jackson’s eyes. “I mean, I feel like I have to. Or rather, I feel like I owe it to him, somehow. Does that make sense?”
 

Jackson sighed heavily. “It doesn’t have to make sense,” he said moodily. “It’s your choice, Olivia.”
 

As she watched Jackson leave the house, she felt a pang of regret and longing. Part of her wanted to run after him, to throw herself into his arms and beg forgiveness.
You were engaged to Derek
, she thought unhappily.
You at least owe him some closure. Jackson will understand. It’s okay
.
 

But it didn’t feel okay.
 

Derek followed Olivia into the living room and flopped down on a couch. He kicked his feet up on the coffee table and she winced at the muddy bottoms of his shoes.
Jackson would never do that
, a little voice inside Olivia’s head chirped.
You know he’s too well mannered
.
 

She shook her head, as if to rid herself of any lingering ideas about Jackson. When she lowered herself into a chair opposite from Derek, she stared at him.
 

“So what did you want to talk about?”
 

“About this,” Derek said. He gestured around. “You know, I think it’s time for you to come down from that high horse,” he added. “You need to realize how things are in the real world. Sex doesn’t mean anything to men, Liv,” he said, as if letting Olivia in on some kind of hidden secret. “And I love you.”
 

“If sex doesn’t mean anything, why did you run off and have it with someone else while we were still dating?” Olivia glared at Derek. “Or rather, still engaged.”
 

Derek laughed. He ran a hand through his short hair. “You’re such a puritan, Liv, loosen up! It was just sex! That’s how men are, honey, we have this biological imperative…” he trailed off and winked at Olivia. She shifted uncomfortably.
 

“I don’t know,” she said finally. “I think Max and I are doing much better without you.”
 

“I highly doubt that,” Derek scoffed. “I can imagine he’s suffering, you know, you’re the one who keeps parading men in and out of his life. That isn’t good for a kid, Olivia. I thought you’d know better than that.”
 

Olivia frowned and stood up with her hands on her hips. “What are you even talking about?”
 

“That guy, who was here just now,” Derek said. He smirked. “Can’t have been good for our son, Olivia. He needs a real father, someone who won’t abandon his family for the next best thing when the going gets tough.”
 

Olivia stared at Derek. As much as she hated him, there was a small part of her that was ashamed at his words. It was true. She’d brought a new man into Max’s life with little regard for how it would play out, and that made her a bad mother. She bit her lip as tears came to her eyes. Sitting back down on the couch, she looked down at her shoes.
 

“I knew you’d come around,” Derek said confidently. He stood up and wiped his hands off on his jeans. Olivia noticed a muddy smudge on the coffee table. “I’ve actually got some of my stuff in the car, I thought I’d bring it back over.”
 

Olivia put her head in her hands as she listened to Derek’s heavy footsteps walking outside. Suddenly, there was a loud sound, almost like a roar. Jumping to her feet, she ran to the front door and watched in horror as a big, brown bear chased Derek down the street.
 

“Oh my god,” Olivia mumbled. She clapped a hand over her mouth and shut the door, running back to check on Max.
 

A few minutes later, there was a knock at the door. Warily, Olivia grabbed a hammer and set Max down in his room as she inched towards the door. When she pulled it open, she was surprised to see Jackson standing there, heaving and breathing heavily.
 

“There was a bear,” Olivia said in disbelief. “It…it chased Derek away!”
 

“Can you let me in?” Jackson’s voice was shaking. “I need to talk to you.”
 

They stepped into the foyer and Olivia shut the front door. “What is it?” She looked into Jackson’s face, feeling ashamed.
 

“I had a bad feeling about that guy,” Jackson said uneasily. He shifted his weight from one foot to the other. “And I didn’t leave, I, uh, kind of hung around. When he came out of your house, he was on the phone with someone. And he was saying, well, he was saying that you fell for it, and that you have no idea about Lisa.”
 

Olivia’s jaw dropped. “Are you kidding?”
 

“No,” Jackson said. He winked. “Dead serious. Serious as a bear, even.” He cleared his throat. “You know, I didn’t know how to bring this up, but here goes…”

Olivia swallowed, looking away.

Jackson tilted her chin up, “I’m a Bear Shifter. You know what those are. Well, Max is a Bear Shifter too. That might sound scary, but I promise you that it’s not. You’ve had some idea, right?” he said. “You knew he was special.”

“Yes, I knew he was special. Different. But-“

“I know because we can usually sense one another. And,” Jackson said, biting his lip, “because I’m his father.”

Olivia’s jaw dropped. “But how?”

“There was a research project a few years ago. They wanted to analyze Shifter sperm. It was for science,” he said, a touch defensively. “Anyway, there was a mixup at the lab and my sample went into the donor pool.”

“Wow,” Olivia said, her pulse racing.

“Wow is exactly right.” Jackson looked away, his voice getting quiet. “So there it is. Are you ok with all this?”

“I think so. I’ll need some time to process all this.”

“Well,” Jackson said in a vulnerable tone, “You won’t have to do it alone.”
 

“But-” Olivia said. Her heart skipped a beat. “We barely know each other, Jackson.”
 

“Then will you have dinner with me? A real date,” Jackson asked. He winked at her again. “This time, we go
out
. Although, I have no problems with winding up in bed again…” He trailed off. Olivia threw herself into his arms, covering his face with kisses.
“Yes!” She replied happily, closing her eyes and holding Jackson tightly against her. “Yes.”
 

Breakwater: Leo

Star Bears I

by

Becca Fanning

As a little girl, Annie had pictured how her dream wedding would go. She’d wear a white dress and walk down the aisle, looking out over a sea of smiling faces as she approached the altar. Her groom she had pictured less as a specific person and more as an amalgamation of traits she wanted: kind eyes, a warm smile, broad shoulders… things she associated with a gentle, good-hearted man. Her mother would be alive, and her father would be sober.

She had always known this little fantasy of hers had been a mess of impossibilities. She just hadn’t pictured it going this awry.

Running a hand over the bodice of her dress, Annie stared at herself in the mirror. Her reflection looked morosely back out at her. One pale, manicured hand ran over the bodice of her gown, fingers tracing over the thousands of crystals dotting the fabric like stars. Annie had never been this close to a diamond before. She’d certainly never thought she’d be wearing this many of them. Her auburn hair was piled on top of her head in an elaborate series of braids and curls and there was shimmering powder swiped across the lids of her grey eyes, making them seem bigger and brighter.