Hunter Bear: BBW Bear Shifter Paranormal Romance (Enforcer Bears Book 2) (5 page)

His arms tightened around her. She gasped when she was pulled closer, her nipples brushing against his chest, aching for a touch. She dug her fingers into the powerful muscles of his back, moaning again at the incredible feeling of that strong body pressed tightly against her.

She wanted more. She wanted to see him naked again. She wanted to trace him with her fingers, learn his shape with her hands. She needed to commit his form to memory and then put it down on paper, because this was what she'd worked for for so long.

She'd wanted to create beauty. She'd always felt that need to put her thoughts and feelings down onto paper, and this, this was the most intense sensation she had every felt. Sizzling heat that rushed through her body with the roar of a storm, and at the same time his strength held her close so that she felt safe.

This
was real art, a storm of emotion and desire that swept everything else away.

His lips moved to trail down her throat, and all thoughts of pencil and paper vanished at the touch.

"Come on," she gasped, "I want to..."

A moan escaped her when the tip of his tongue touched the hollow of her throat. She shivered. Her panties were wet with need for him, and all of a sudden she couldn't wait any longer.

This wasn't about Walter anymore. This wasn't about the past, or about trust, or trying to be someone new and different.

This was about
her
. Her desire. Her need. And the answering heat she saw in Steven's eyes.

"Can we," Steven began, his voice hoarse.

His hand trailed up her waist, fingers caressing, and she needed to feel those fingers against her bare skin.

"Bedroom?" he asked, too impatient to form a full sentence.

"Yes!" She shivered at the sensation of his lips against skin, her fingers digging into his arms.

He was hard, she could feel that. She wanted him inside her, filling her; she wanted his mouth on her breasts, that gorgeous, strong body straining against hers as he found his pleasure.

"Come on. This way." Breathlessly, she pulled at his arm.

They stumbled into her bedroom, neither willing to release the other.

Daring, Cleo grabbed her tunic and pulled it off. Immediately, she was rewarded by a groan, Steven's hands sliding upwards until his fingers encountered her bra.

This time, she was the one who moaned when he unhooked it. Somehow, they ended up on the bed. Steven's mouth was on her breast, breathing hot air against her aching nipple while she squirmed with need.

"I'm on the pill," she gasped when his lips closed around the aching nub, teasing her gently with his teeth. "So if you want to..."

"Do you want?" he asked, eyes glazed with need.

She made a helpless, impatient sound and then reached for his jeans, popping open the button. "Stop teasing. Please, Steven, I need you to—"

"I need you, too." His voice was hoarse with need as he looked at her. "I've never needed anyone like this before. God, you're gorgeous!"

She sprawled on the bed before him, flushing at the way his eyes lingered on her. Then he moved towards her once more, eyes heated and intent.

"I could look at you all day," he murmured and pressed a kiss to her knee.

His hands took hold of her skirt and pulled it off. She raised her hips to help him, then gasped when next, he pressed a kiss to her clit through the soaked fabric of her panties.

She shivered with impatience. "You can look all you want later."

His hands stroked up her thighs, fanning the need. She wanted it so much it hurt. Inside her, everything was pulsing with desire. His kiss alone was enough to send waves of arousal through her. No one else had ever made her feel like this. Her first boyfriend in college hadn't even known how to make her orgasm. And Walter had usually been too exhausted after his own climax to care whether she had come or not. And he'd never used his mouth on her…

"I'll hold you to that promise." Steven made another sexy growl somewhere deep in his chest when he peeled off her panties.

"God, you're so wet for me," he then breathed, eyes wide, "you're incredible!"

He leaned down. She moaned when his tongue touched her.

Steven's tongue was hot and wet against her sensitive skin. He licked along her folds while she trembled. She could feel more wetness dripping from her.

His finger slid inside her while his tongue licked further upwards, circling her clit, and she tightened around him with another helpless moan. Everything inside her was pulsing with need for him. No one had ever made her feel like this before, brought her so close to the brink with just his touch alone, and all of a sudden it wasn't enough anymore.

"I want you—inside me, now!" she gasped, and then moaned again when he raised his head and looked up at her from between her thighs.

His eyes were wide, dark with need, and she could could see the bulge between his own legs.

He stood to strip out of his jeans. Cleo watched, her heart beating faster as she finally saw him naked once more. Her memory hadn't betrayed her—he truly was gorgeous, firm muscles all over like an ancient statue, his shoulders broad, his chin firm and square. And he was large.

She had to swallow as she eyed his erection, imagining all of him inside her, filling her completely...

She moaned again when he joined her on the bed. His skin was hot as it slid against her own. His mouth trailed kisses over her breasts as he settled between her thighs, and then he slid inside her.

It was incredible. She arched against him, overwhelmed by the sensation. She couldn't speak, could only gasp for breath as he slid deeper and deeper, filling her so deliciously that she wanted it to never end.

And then he pulled out a little and thrust back inside.

With a soft cry, she arched against him. Every thrust sent new pulses of desire through her core. She was so wet that she could take all of him easily, but she still wanted more and more—and he gave her more until she was writhing beneath him.

She'd wrapped her arms around his strong shoulders, his muscles flexing beneath her touch every time he pushed inside her. He was gasping against her throat, then nuzzling upwards until they could kiss once more.

Every thrust sent her deeper down a spiral of heat and pleasure.

She tightened her thighs around his waist, whimpering into the kiss as she tried to draw him even deeper. With every thrust, he rubbed against her clit now so that she moaned breathlessly into the kiss. Clutching at him, she prayed that it would never end—and then pleasure broke over her, heat erupting from somewhere within to flood her entire body with an ecstasy more intense than anything she had known before.

It went on and on while he groaned, his hips jerking forward. She could feel the heat of his own release spilling inside her while she clenched helplessly around him with every strong pulse of her orgasm.

Finally, overwhelmed, her head dropped back onto the pillow. She was sweaty and exhausted, every nerve of her body still sensitive. When he slipped out of her, she gasped again.

At last, Steven settled next to her and pulled her into his arms. His heart was still beating fast; she could feel it against her own chest. His skin was hot.

She’d never felt as amazing in her entire life.

She sighed against his shoulder, her eyes slipping shut while Steven was still nuzzling contently at her throat.

The next morning, Steven couldn't keep his eyes off Cleo when she walked around the little house wearing just an oversized shirt.

Told you so,
his bear gloated.

Steven found that this time, he had no snappy rejoinder.

You were right,
he admitted silently.
She's my mate. I've never felt so drawn to another person before.

But would it be enough? For so long, he'd chosen solitude. While growing up, he'd had a first-hand experience of just what damage a negligent, loner shifter parent could do.

What if I end up feeling trapped as well? What if I snap at her and make her worry when I end up running from her?

Do you want to run from her?
his bear asked patiently.

After a moment's hesitation, Steven admitted defeat.
No. I want to stay close to her. For as long as she'll let me.

See,
his bear said with deep satisfaction.

Still, it wasn't that easy. Steven couldn't forget what his father's bear nature had done to their family. Steven wanted to be close to his mate now—but what if that would change later on, when it was too late? When Cleo trusted him, the way she'd trusted the last man who'd broken her heart?

"Coffee," Cleo said and came closer, smiling at him with the sunlight gleaming in her hair. Auburn, russet, deep red and reflexes of orange where the light hit—all the colors of the forest in fall.

Gratefully, Steven took the mug from her hand. He pressed another kiss to her nape when she came to join him on the sofa, snuggling against his side.

It was strange how at ease he felt with her. He'd avoided humans for years, and only talked to other shifters when a job required it. After yesterday, he thought he'd feel out of his depth here in her home. He'd been lonely for so long. And Cleo was a gorgeous, smart woman who loved her art, who'd lived in a city in a beautiful apartment and had her heart broken, while he strolled through the forest wearing the form of his bear, hunting for blueberries.

They were complete opposites, and yet he'd never felt as much at ease as he felt now, with the steaming mug of coffee in his hand and Cleo relaxing against his side, yawning and her hair all tousled from sleep.

It wouldn't feel like captivity to wake up to this every morning...

And yet, surely his own father had thought like that too, once.

Cleo sipped her coffee, her head leaning against his shoulder. After a moment, she tensed and then got up to fetch an envelope from the mantelpiece.

"You've been exploring the area around the lake a lot, haven't you," she said thoughtfully.

Steven nodded, his curiosity piqued as she settled against him again and then pulled out a folded sheet of paper. The shirt she wore was so large that the cut of her neckline revealed the tops of her generous breasts, and he felt a sudden jolt of desire as he remembered how she'd felt beneath him, all beautifully soft, gorgeous curves trembling with need.

"Here, can you make sense of this?" She held out the letter for him to see.

It wasn't a letter, he now saw. It was a map. He could make out the outline of the lake and the shape of the various, tiny islands.

"My grandmother left this for me to find.” Cleo held up the letter. “There was no explanation. My parents never mentioned it to me either, so I think she must have told them that I'm supposed to find it on my own..."

"She probably knew you'd come back here sooner or later," Steven replied as he studied the map.

There was a small house drawn near the shore—Cleo's house. There were more symbols scattered across the map. And there—

"The X marks the spot." Cleo sounded puzzled. " Doesn’t it look like a treasure map to you? Only Grandma knew I'm not a child anymore. So I have no idea why she'd leave me a treasure map!"

Steven trailed his finger from the house to the closest symbol. That had to be the pond where Cleo had first surprised him when he was bathing.

"Maybe,” he said slowly, “she thought that when you'd finally return here, you'd need a break from your hectic city life. So she left you an adventure as a gift along with the house."

Cleo sighed. "Maybe. I just wish she hadn't made it quite so mysterious! I can't even figure out the way to the X."

"This is the pond," Steven murmured, pointing at the tiny drawing. "And this—"

"That's a split tree that once got hit by lightning; I know how to get there." Cleo's finger pointed at a leafless tree cut almost in two. "But then..."

Steven looked at the other markers on the map. After the tree came what looked almost like a small castle, only there were no castles here.

"I know that one!" Suddenly a memory came to him. Once, he’d been forced to find a way around a large rock that stood on a hill, surrounded by brambles. "Rocks that sort of look like a fort when you look up at them! It's maybe half an hour from your pond."

“Oh,” Cleo breathed in excitement, “I know! We went climbing there as children! Which means that this…” She pointed to what looked like a V with some squiggly lines to Steven, “is a ravine not far from those rocks. There’s parts of it where you can see the different layers of stone—I can show you!”

Her excitement was infectious. With her eyes alight and her face animated, Steven felt a sudden, helpless rush of desire. He wanted to kiss her. He wanted to hear her sigh at his touch once more.

And he also wanted to follow her out to whatever adventures came calling. After all, the forest was the home of his bear. When it came to following a trail, he was definitely the resident expert.

“The jaguar.” Steven suddenly remembered why he was here in the first place. And why it wasn’t a good idea for Cleo to explore the forest.

Cleo nodded. “I know. I promised I wouldn’t go out hiking on my own. But if you’re coming with me, surely we’ll be safe?”

After a moment’s hesitation, Steven nodded as well. “As long as we go together.”

The jaguar hadn’t attacked anyone so far, after all. After it had run from his brother, it had been trying to hide. There hadn’t even been any sightings of it, apart from the paw prints Steven kept finding.

No, the jaguar wasn’t out hunting. And as long as Steven was by Cleo’s side, he’d keep her safe, no matter what.

She still doesn’t know that I’m a shifter,
he then thought.
Or that the jaguar is one as well.

But what good would it do to tell her now? Maybe this wouldn’t last longer than the week or two it would take to finally catch the jaguar. Maybe afterward, they’d keep going on their different ways.

The thought made something in his chest ache, as though someone had stuck a knife into his heart.

As much as he was trying to deny it, he knew that it wouldn’t be that easy to let go of her again…

***

They'd made their way around the large rocks. From their vantage point at the bottom of the hill, they’d truly looked like a fort. A thicket of brambles kept them from climbing up towards where the rocks stood, but even so, they were obviously on the right track.

After a few minutes of walking, Cleo stopped to wipe her brow, then drank a sip of water.

"The ravine is next. Let's hope I still remember the way," she muttered and looked around.

There had been a couple of ravines Steven had discovered in the area when he'd run through the forest on four paws, but he couldn't remember one with steep walls showing different layers of stone.

Cleo gestured at an incline that was heavily covered in large ferns. "Down there, I think. And then if we keep walking, we'll get to a little valley. Go right into the valley, and eventually it will turn into the ravine."

Steven took Cleo's hand as they slowly descended among the ferns. The ground was soft and springy here, a heavy layer of dry fir needles cushioning their feet. Every now and then, dead branches cracked beneath their boots. Once, the sound set a squirrel racing up a tree while chiding them loudly.

A few times, they almost stumbled when old, twisted roots were concealed beneath the broad leaves of the ferns. Every time, they kept clutching at each other. By the time they had made it to the bottom, they were laughing breathlessly.

"Maybe that squirrel is a spy for your jaguar," Cleo said, raising a brow when the squirrel made another angry sound from a branch somewhere above.

"Oh, you think your Grandma left you a magic treasure guarded by a jaguar?" Steven couldn't help teasing. "Wouldn't that make me the villain who’s come to steal your treasure?"

Cleo giggled a little and then tugged on his arm to follow her down the valley. "I'm sorry, but in that case, you're a terrible villain. You know that you're not supposed to bathe naked in ponds?"

"What, villains don't get to bathe?" Softly, Steven laughed. "Actually, I think in the fairy tales, it's the princess who bathes and is spied upon by the villain."

“Oh, so I’m the villain now?” Cleo stopped and pretended to glare at him, hands at her hips.

Suddenly, her stern expression turned to delight when she pointed at something behind him. “There, look! Come, help me brush that ivy away!”

It took only a moment to discover what the green had hidden. There, just as Cleo has promised, the raw rock lay in hiding. The walls of the ravine narrowed and formed the shape of a V here. When Steven curiously brushed his hand across the rock, beneath the dirt he found a layer of red stone, changing abruptly to gray rock. When he reached upwards to brush away more dirt and dust, he discovered another layer of a darker, brown stone.

“We’re definitely on the right path to your treasure,” Steven said, taking a step back to survey the wall.

The strange squiggles in the map now began to make sense—the V had been the shape of the ravine, and the squiggles showed how the layers of stone were revealed in the steep rock.

“Next up is… I’m not sure what this is.” Cleo unfolded the map again.

Her finger pointed to the next symbol. It looked a little like a tree—but Steven wasn’t certain what the additional decorations were.

“Is that a Christmas tree?” he asked in disbelief. “No, that doesn’t make sense.”

“It really doesn’t.” Cleo squinted at the paper. “But I think you’re right. It’s a tree. I don’t know what else it could be…”

“A tree that looks… strange in some way,” Steven muttered. “Well, at least we know what we’re looking for.”

“Shouldn’t be hard to find.” With another frown at the map, Cleo put it away again.

As they went on, the walls of the ravine came closer. Finally, they came to a spot where it got so narrow that they had to squeeze past a fallen slab of rock and the wall. But once they made it through, before them, the walls fell away and the ravine opened into another valley covered in ferns and fir trees.

“Right.” Steven gave the trees a doubtful look. “According to the map, we’ll have to head north from here on, and then eventually we’ll find your Christmas tree.”

Cleo snorted. “Don’t doubt my Grandma’s map! We’ve found all the other landmarks so far.”

Steven eyed the trees around them, but they gave no hints as to what sort of tree they were looking for. All around them, fir trees grew, rustling gently in the wind. The ground was covered in dry needles. Every now and then, a fallen tree with its branches withered and broken off barred their way.

It looked like any other forest Steven had explored in his life. He itched with the bear’s instinct, yearning to put his nose to the ground and sniff for hints to their mysterious destination—but he couldn’t shift now. Cleo still had no idea that he was a bear shifter.

And how would he explain such a thing to her? He’d never thought that one day, he’d be in the situation where he’d have to tell his mate that he could turn into a huge, shaggy bear.

And worse, even if Cleo could accept that—he’d also have to tell her that there was a good chance that Steven would turn out just like his dad. That he’d hurt her. That he’d run.

Why would we ever run from our mate?
his bear asked patiently.

Steven wanted to shake his head. He remembered the shouting, the nights as a small child he’d spent hiding beneath the covers, trying not to cry when arguments turned to shouting matches and ended with the sound of the door falling shut. His dad would be gone for days or weeks—sometimes even months.

I can’t do that to her. I can’t.

Then don’t. I certainly won’t do that to her,
the bear grumbled in his head.

Steven ignored him.

Cleo had taken hold of his hand again. They were working their way up another steep incline now. The ground was so slippery with dead needles and leaves that they had to keep grabbing hold of each other so they wouldn’t slip all the way back down.

Cleo was breathless; there was a bit of dirt smudged across her nose. Steven grinned and reached out to wipe it away with his finger. For one moment, they stared at each other, and that was all it took for desire to rise up again, as though all it took was one look at her to set him aflame.