Mail-Order Bear: BBW Bear Shifter Paranormal Romance (BRIDES fur BEARS Book 5) (9 page)

He moved faster and Lauren
began to pant. She raised her hips to match his rhythm as Reid laced
his fingers through hers and spread her arms high above her head.

“Come with me,”
he growled, taking her faster and deeper.

Lauren threw her head back
and cried out as her body began to pulse. Reid could feel her
muscles clenching and she shuddered and screamed as she rode wave
after wave of ecstasy.

Reid held her and fucked her
furiously, prolonging her pleasure. As she spasmed and whimpered in
his arms, he bit down on her shoulder and shot his seed deep into her
body.

Mine!
His bear roared.

When her shudders subsided,
he withdrew slowly from her body and held her close.

“You okay?” he
asked, brushing her hair from her face. “Did I...take you too
hard?” This was only the second time she was having sex. She
might still be sore and tender.

Lauren shook her head and
smiled. “I'm good.” She stretched and said, “I
feel...very good.”

Reid drew her into his arms
and kissed her head. “You are amazing, Lauren. I...can't
believe you're mine.”

“Of course I'm yours.
I'm your wife. We're married now,” she said, touching his nose
playfully.

Reid sucked in a breath.
“You're not just my wife. You're my everything. I'm going to
tear up that damned prenuptial agreement.”

“But why?”
Lauren’s head whipped around so fast she almost bashed his nose
in. “Isn't that what you want? Your ex-wife...”

“You're not my
ex-wife.” He tugged his wedding ring from his finger and
showed her. “You're Lauren. Your name is on my ring. And
your name will be on the title deed to my house as well. It will be
on everything I own.”

She started to shake her head
but Reid pressed a finger to her lips.

“You are mine, Lauren.
Truly mine. What is mine is yours. And what is yours is mine. That
means...” he went on before she could speak. “...that
your troubles are mine as well. Those Dire Wolves had better stay
far, far away from you and Eddie,” he growled.

CHAPTER
TWENTY-SIX

Lauren pushed herself up on
her toes and gave Reid a kiss at the door. “Bye, have a good
day at work.” She smiled against his lips, and whispered,
“Love ya.”

Reid wrapped one arm around
her waist and pulled her flush against him. “Love ya, and I
miss you already,” he drawled and kissed her deep and long.

They pulled apart only when
they heard Eddie giggling. “Eww! Stop kissing!”

Lauren turned and saw Eddie
covering his eyes with his jam-smeared fingers. Reid laughed and
called out, “Bye, buddy! Take care of your Aunt Lauren while
I'm at work. I'll see you both tonight.”

The boy grinned and pounded
his chest like a caveman. “Don't worry, sir. You have a man
in the house!”

Lauren rolled her eyes at her
nephew. “Finish your milk and go wash up. You're wearing your
breakfast. You have jam all over your face and shirt.”

Reid gave her another kiss on
the cheek and said, “You know how to reach me.” He
sneaked Eddie a glance and lowered his voice. “You know the
way to…?”

“Yeah, I do. Don't
worry! We'll be fine. Go!” She made a shooing motion with
her hand.

She watched her husband drive
off and stood at the door waving with a goofy smile on her face. Her
husband. Lauren's smile widened.

She was well and truly
married. And she wasn't just a faceless mail-order bride. She was
his wife, a wife he loved and cherished. She had come to Shadow
Point expecting to enter into a loveless, passionless marriage of
convenience. Instead, she had found love.

“You look happy, Aunt
Lauren,” Eddie observed, putting down his empty glass. He was
sporting a milk mustache and had globs of jam on his cheeks.

“And you look a mess,”
she said, planting one hand on her hip. “Go wash up. And comb
your hair. We're going out.”

Eddie scrambled off his
chair. “Where are we going?”

“I want to look for a
job in town,” Lauren replied as she cleared away the plates
from the breakfast table.

Lauren knew Reid would
provide well for them, but she wanted to contribute to the family
finances. Reid worked hard and earned a decent wage, but he still
had to pay the mortgage and all their household expenses. And now,
his household had just ballooned. Instead of providing for just one
person, he now had an additional two mouths to feed.

“Did you say a job?”
Eddie appeared, with water dripping from his face and hands. “You
used to work in a shoe shop, right?”

“Yep,” Lauren
answered cheerfully as she washed up everything in the sink. “I'm
hoping that one of the shops in town will hire me.”

Eddie shrugged.

Lauren looked up and frowned.
“You didn't comb your hair.”

“I combed it with my
fingers.”

“Go comb it again with
a comb,” she ordered. “Now.”

Eddie started to grumble.

“Before we hit the
town, we'll be visiting your school.”

His grumbling ceased
instantaneously. “My school?” The boy gaped at her.

“Uh-huh. Reid said
there's a great preschool just round the corner. We'll go see the
schoolhouse and perhaps talk to some of the teachers. You have to
see if you like the school before we send you there.”

Eddie whooped, his face
glowing. “I'm going to school! For real! Yippee!” He
ran to comb his hair and change his clothes. “Hurry up, Aunt
Lauren!”

“What's the hurry?”
Lauren laughed and went to her room to change and grab her handbag.
Eddie was standing by the front door in a clean shirt and jeans. His
shirt was neatly tucked in and his hair was gleaming with not one
strand out of place.

Lauren smiled as she took her
nephew's hand. It was Reid's idea. He'd suggested that they check
out the preschool near their house. It would be good for Eddie to
socialize with kids his own age and make new friends, he said. When
she protested that she didn't have enough money to pay for Eddie's
school fees, Reid had asked sternly, “Am I his uncle or not?”

“Of course.”

“Then I can well afford
to send my nephew to school.”

Eddie had asked once or twice
if he could go to school. He had heard from Mrs Gururani's youngest
son that school was really fun. But when he asked, Lauren told him
that she couldn't afford to send him to preschool. The boy hadn't
asked again. Instead he created a little schoolhouse with their
pillows at the corner of the bedroom. He would shoulder his backpack
and wave to Lauren, shouting, “Bye, Aunt Lauren, I'm going to
school now!” The boy would sit quietly in the little corner
and pretend to play and talk to his imaginary classmates.

Lauren earned enough to keep
a roof over their heads and put food on the table, but she couldn't
afford to give Eddie more than the bare necessities. She couldn't
afford treats, outings, presents and preschool.

But now, Eddie could finally
have the same chances that other kids had. He could go to school, he
could have his own little room, and he could have books and toys. He
could have a stable home with no creditors pounding on the door and
breathing down their necks.

He could stop thinking he had
to protect his Aunt Lauren from the big, bad world and just be a kid.

Lauren kissed the top of
Eddie's head and smiled. “Let's go, buddy. Let's go see your
school.”

CHAPTER
TWENTY-SEVEN

Lauren took the long route to
the schoolhouse. It was still early and she wanted to show Eddie the
lovely new playground behind the park. The park was quiet and
peaceful, and she could hear the joyful chirping of birds and
insects.

Eddie loved the outdoors and
nature. It was the bear in him, she supposed. The boy released her
hand and scampered ahead, chasing the butterflies and kicking up the
leaves.

He spied a bird that was just
minding its own business hopping along the footpath looking for
insects and began to sneak up on it. The bird flew off and landed a
few feet away. Eddie squealed and ran after the bird.

“Eddie, be careful!
Don't run so fast!”

He didn't seem to hear her.
He spread his arms out like wings and cawed. Bird and boy raced to
the end of the footpath and disappeared behind some trees.

Lauren quickened her steps to
hurry after her nephew. The boy was active and was clearly very
excited to be out of the house. Shadow Point was a small town but it
wasn't cramped or clustered. There were many parks and open spaces
in Shadow Point. She was sure that Eddie would be happy growing up
here.

Hopefully she could find a
job and get settled…

A sudden cry jolted Lauren
out of her reverie.

Lauren recognized Eddie's
voice and her heart lurched.

“Eddie!” Had he
fallen and hurt himself?

She ran at full tilt to the
end of the footpath and darted towards the trees. The playground was
nestled behind the cluster of rustling trees but there was no sign of
Eddie.

“Eddie!” she
screamed. “Where are you?”

Panicking, Lauren scanned the
empty swings and slides. She spun round wildly and saw a grassy
slope behind the playground.

Lauren scrambled up the
slope, swearing, praying and muttering all sorts of threats and
promises. She should never have let him out of her sight. She
should have held him fast and kept him by her side. She shouldn't
have let him run ahead and explore on his own. She would give the
rascal a good scolding and keep him tied to her apron strings from
now on!

Lauren tripped over something
and looked down. She made a strangled sound as she stared at the
shoe on the ground.

Shaking, she picked up
Eddie's shoe and started running forward.

“Eddie!” she
shrieked, skidding to the base of the grassy slope.

She saw him then. At the end
of the park, she saw Eddie being held by a stocky man. The boy was
struggling furiously and attempting to bite the man but the man
clamped one hand over his mouth and shook him roughly.

An older man with short
salt-and-pepper hair was gesturing to the man as he held a phone to
his ear.

Lauren aimed the shoe at the
men and hurled with all her might. “Let him go! Stop! You!
Let the boy go right now!”

The shoe bounced off the
shoulder of the older man and he turned his head to look at Lauren.
Lauren recognized him, and she felt a chill course down her spine but
she forced herself to keep running. She had to reach her nephew.
She saw the tattoos on the men's arms and gulped.

The Dire Wolves had found
them.

“We don't owe you
anything!” she yelled at the two Wolves. “I'm married
now! I don't have to pay Alex's debt!” she screamed in
desperation.

The older wolf motioned for
the other wolf to put the boy down. Eddie immediately tried to
scramble towards Lauren, but the man put a hand on his shoulder and
gripped him tightly.

Lauren reached them and spat
out the words, “I'm free of my brother's debt. You said so
yourself. I'm no longer a Sanchez. I'm Mrs Ken. You can check the
marriage register!”

The two Dire Wolves regarded
her coolly. Finally, the older wolf said, “You're free, Mrs
Ken. But he is not.” His eyes flicked to Eddie. “The
boy is a Sanchez. He is Alex Sanchez's son, so he will carry his
father's debt. We didn't come for you,” he said, looking
straight into Lauren's eyes. “We came for the boy.”

The other wolf jerked Eddie
back by the collar and laughed pitilessly. “Ah, the sins of
the father.”

CHAPTER
TWENTY-EIGHT

Lauren shook her head
repeatedly, tasting ashes on her tongue. She thought that they were
free.

She had done everything she
could. Yet she hadn't freed Eddie. “No...” she rasped.
“You can't do this. You can't take him.” Her voice grew
stronger and angrier. “I won't let you take Eddie!”

“Irfan, let's go,”
the younger wolf snarled. “We're wasting our time with her.”

Irfan stared at Lauren with
interest. She refused to back away and she clenched her shaking
fists as she forced herself to think calmly and quickly. She met
Irfan's sharp, piercing gaze. She remembered him.

He was the one who had hinted
to her that there was a way out of her brother's debt. Maybe he
wasn't as brutal and merciless as the other wolves. He looked older,
so maybe he was wiser, more world-weary.

Lauren knew she was hoping
against hope. Maybe Irfan was just like all the other Dire Wolves.
He was just here to do his job and collect a debt.

“What will you do with
him?” she found herself asking and felt revolted at once.