Shifters on Fire: A BBW Shifter Romance Boxed Set (55 page)

Finally, her eyes wrenched open and she sat up with a gasp, one hand clutched to her chest.

“Easy.” Aiyana put a restraining hand on her shoulder. “You’re safe, honey. Just focus on taking some nice, slow breaths.”

The others filed into the room.

The female’s panicked eyes flicked around the space, and when they landed on Bren, they scorched his skin. Laser beams of soft, sky blue, they reflected all her fear and uncertainty.

The strongest urge to go to her and hold her swamped him, rendering him unable to speak. Only his strength of character stopped him from crossing those few feet of wooden floor and doing something irreversibly stupid. He needed to get her out of there as soon as possible because his pull to her grew stronger by the second. He’d never experienced the mating call before, and he realized now he’d been foolhardy to think it so easily overcome. For the first time, he felt some understanding of why his father stayed with his mother despite her refusing to turn.

“Where am I?” she asked.

“Safe,” Aiyana said again.

“How did I get here?”

Bren cleared his throat. Time to explain.

Chapter Three

Charlie fought her fright. She didn’t want to freak out, but God help her, the men surrounding her were scary as hell. Big, brawny, and serious-faced, they made her tremble where she lay. The woman, though, appeared friendly and warm in her countenance. Charlie swallowed and winced. Her throat ached, dry and scratchy, and her head pounded. Nausea roiled in her belly. She moaned when she moved.

“I found you.” One of the huge guys spoke up. The one to her right and the biggest of them all.

She turned and looked at him, and despite her fear and pain, something about him soothed her a little. His build and stance might be downright intimidating, but his face was open and relaxed, and his rich brown eyes were warm and friendly. She swallowed and focused on his face and the odd sense of familiarity about him. Had she met him before? She didn’t think so.

“You were passed out. I think you fell and hit your head. So, I carried you back here. I couldn’t leave you in the woods. Once you’re feeling better, we’ll get you home.”

An image flashed into her mind, potent enough it made her cry out. A huge bear loomed over her, so close its breath heated her cheek. She reared back against the headboard instinctively.

“Oh my God. A bear. There was a huge bear. I remember it coming toward me… It looked like it wanted to kill me.”

She reached up to her face with shaky hands and rubbed at her eyes.

“There are no bears in Wales, honey,” the woman said.

“I know what I saw.” Charlie wanted to get out of there as fast as possible and back home. Everything seemed so strange here in this room, as if she dreamed the moment. Her rational mind screamed at her to get away from this place and these people, but her instincts told her somehow she’d be safe here.

“I need to find my team. I lost my team, and my boss and colleagues will be looking for me.”

“What the hell were you doing out here in the middle of winter?” The big guy spoke again, and his gruff voice flayed her skin like sparks of fire, sensitizing all her nerve endings and setting her ablaze.

She swallowed hard and focused on making her mouth work as raw lust, the likes of which she’d never experienced before, roared in her veins. “My company organized some sort of team-bonding week, and we were staying at the hostel near Conwy. Today, they sent us on an orienteering task. I spied a red squirrel, and I’ve never seen one before. I stopped to look at it and rest my leg. The others meandered away but didn’t go far, but the next thing I knew, they were gone. It was so strange.”

Yeah.
Strange.
Like this place and these people.

“How weird. Almost as if this is all meant to be.” Another of the men spoke, and his striking blue eyes landed on her to stare with cool appraisal.

“Not now, Kyle,” Mr. Gruff said with a bite to his words. The blue-eyed one hitched one shoulder in a lazy shrug and inclined his head in a half nod. The gesture seemed oddly insolent. Gruff huffed out an annoyed breath and they stared at one another a moment, as if having some sort of silent argument.

“Are you hungry?” the woman asked, snagging her attention. Her long, dark hair gleamed as it fell to her shoulders in a straight sheet.

At the idea of food, Charlie gagged.

“I’ll go fetch a bowl in case she’s sick.” A red-haired man spoke from beside the pretty female. His hand on her lower back made Charlie guess they were a couple.

“Bring some pain killers too,” the woman instructed. She turned to Charlie. “I’m Aiyana. The redhead is Eric, my…erm, my partner. This is Kyle.” She pointed to the blue-eyed guy. “Justin.” Another gesture toward a man with wavy brown hair. “And Brenin.” She pointed lastly to the big, gruff-voiced man standing by the bed.

“You’re Americans.” Charlie coughed as she spoke.

“Canadian, actually. But we live here now.”

“All of you, here in this house?” It struck her as somewhat unusual. Where were they anyway? Still in the middle of nowhere? They must be. No matter how strong the guy looked, no way he’d be able to carry her as far as civilization.

“Yes. We’re family,” she replied simply. “We’ll make sure you’re okay, and then one of us will take you home.”

“I need to call my employers.” Her tongue was thick and unwieldy in her mouth as she spoke. She dug around in her pockets but couldn’t feel her phone.

“Did you take my phone from me?” It came out sounding like a wild accusation.

“Of course not.” Brenin frowned. “Why would we?”

“Because it’s not here and I definitely had it on me.”

“Perhaps you lost it out there.” He shrugged, noncommittal and casual.

She sighed. This whole thing got weirder and weirder. “Fine. Can I use your house phone?”

“We don’t have one,” the woman…Aiyana, said.

“No phone? Okay, erm, a mobile then?”

“Nope,” Brenin said. “We do have them, but we don’t get a signal out here. We did have a satellite phone, but Kyle here broke it.”

“Jeez, still on about the damn satellite phone.” Kyle rolled his eyes.

“It means we have no way of communicating with the outside world without taking a three-mile drive down the lane to where we can pick up damn reception,” Brenin snarled. “Never mind the phone was the only internet access we had.”

“I can lend you some porn vids if you’re getting needy.” Kyle made a lewd motion with his hips, and Brenin moved toward him, fists clenched.

She pressed back farther into the headboard at the aggression rolling off the men. Maybe she wasn’t so safe after all.

“Boys. This isn’t helpful.” Aiyana clicked her tongue, and immediately, the two men backed down, the aggression bleeding out of their stances.

God, these men were Neanderthals, but it seemed the petite, and beautiful, Aiyana managed to exert some control over them.

As she pondered the dynamics of the group in the room, real fear began to claw at her, undermining the lovely, soothing feelings she’d experienced earlier. It didn’t make sense. What sort of people lived out in the middle of nowhere with no working phones or other modern technology? Unless… She looked at the woman’s simple dress and then at the guys. They all wore stubble or short beards. They came strongly built, as if they worked with their hands. The room contained some lovely wooden furniture, too. “Are you Amish?” she asked.

The blue-eyed guy, Kyle, burst out laughing. “No, honey. We’re not Amish, but we don’t have much call for modern technology. I’ll take a drive out to where we can pick up a signal and call your employers for you. If you give me a number, I’ll go in a minute.”

“I’ll come with you.” She sat up and ignored the way the room spun around her.

“No.” The word was harsh on Brenin’s lips. “You’re hurt. You need to rest up. Kyle will call your people for you, and as soon as you are feeling better, we’ll take you home.”

“Oh, crap.” Kyle looked out of the window, his brow furrowed.

“What?” Brenin sounded bored.

“That snow’s getting real heavy. Unless it eases off, neither I, nor she, will be going anywhere soon.”

Brenin looked out the window and then back to her. Did she imagine it or did alarm flicker in his eyes?

Chapter Four

Brenin cursed the weather. He’d not thought this through. Bringing the female here put temptation in his way every single damn minute she remained. Already, her scent taunted him. He needed to get out of the room and take care of himself. Which…just no. Way to feel like a teenager with no control whatsoever all over again.

The blizzard only seemed to get worse as he watched the dizzying dance of a million unique flakes. Perhaps if he took the off-roader, he’d make it.

“Don’t think about it.” Kyle came to his side, gaze fixed out the window. “You’ll end up getting stuck, and then this one will really panic.” He kept his voice low so the female wouldn’t be able to hear.

“She doesn’t seem particularly soothed by my presence.” Brenin hated to admit his mate didn’t benefit from their hormonal link.

“Trust me, she is. You leave, and she’ll likely freak out. Don’t need the hassle. It’ll clear soon enough.”

Bren frowned at the scene out the window again. He didn’t think so.

“I’m going to make some soup,” Aiyana announced. “We can all have some in a while.” At the door, she paused and turned back to their guest. “What’s your name, my sweet?”

“Charlotte. Although, friends call me Charlie.”

Charlotte. Her name rolled around in his head, immediately making itself at home. He loved her name. Both versions of it. Charlie sounded cute, and she certainly had a lot of cute going on. Charlotte rang with sophistication.

Her accent did a number on him, too. All lilting, soft consonants. Coupled with her husky voice, it went straight to his cock.

“I’m going to go see where Eric is with those painkillers,” Kyle announced.

Brenin immediately shot Justin a look, demanding he, at least, stay. But the insolent brat merely shrugged and followed Kyle out of the room with a grin.

Utter bastards. Bren’s rational, human side screamed at him to follow the others out of the room. His instinctive, animal side wanted nothing more than to stay and glory in the female’s presence. His internal tug-of-war already exhausted him and she’d only been around for an hour or so. How would he cope with maybe a day of this?

“Can I have another sip of water, please?” Charlie’s soft voice ghosted across the room, teasing the hairs on his arm.

“Of course.” He rushed to her side, his bear already wanting to do everything in its power to keep her safe and comfortable.

When he handed her the glass, their fingers brushed and a thousand tiny sparks danced along his fingertips. She raised the glass to her lips, but her hand shook and she spilled it down her chin.

Bren grabbed a napkin from the tray and dabbed at her skin. His stare lingered on her mouth as he dried the drops of water, wanting more than anything to lick them from her. Her gaze roamed his face in return, landing on his mouth, only to take flight and alight on his eyes for a brief moment, before taking in his jaw and back up once more to his eyes. A bright blue butterfly, painting his skin with hot, tight lust wherever it landed.

He wanted to taste her so badly it hurt. For one brief moment, he yearned to simply forget all his rules about humans and bears. Forget his parents’ disastrous relationship. Forget everything and simply drown in this female.

Desire sparked so hot in his belly he lost the battle. Moving on autopilot, Bren stretched his arm out and grazed her jaw with his fingers. Charlotte’s eyes widened and her sexy as sin mouth rounded into a perfect little “O” of surprise.

Bastard that he was, Bren took advantage of her momentary shock and leaned in, brushing his lips against the soft skin at the side of her mouth. She stilled, frozen in his grasp, but she didn’t object or pull away. Taking this as implicit permission, he moved his lips to touch hers. Their warm softness immediately became his new favorite thing. Better than ice cream or beer or catching fresh salmon in cool summer streams.

As he deepened the kiss, she moaned and darted her tongue out to swipe at him. He responded immediately and her taste quenched every thirst he’d had. Like eating watermelon and drinking fresh, ice-cold water all at the same time. She both sated him and tormented him. Giving him everything he’d needed…and nothing that would ever be enough.

Charlie pulled away from him with a gasp. Her eyes were wild, her lips red and swollen, and her pale cheeks flushed a gorgeous pink. But her forehead creased and she ran a shaky hand through her hair.

“What the hell was that?”

Shit
. Time to apologize for taking advantage of the situation. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have. Trust me, I’m real sorry. I just—”

“No. You shouldn’t have.” Her voice shook a little when she spoke, and he hated to have scared her. “Don’t do it again.”

Her heartbeat pulsed fast and high in her throat, and he suddenly got it. She ached in exactly the same way he did. Her body responded to him with the same fire and need, and he guessed it freaked her out.

“I don’t go around kissing strangers. I reserve those kind of activities for my boyfriend.”

She had a boyfriend? The image of her with another male hit hard. A blow to the head with a baseball bat. He moved away to the window, needing to dispel the feelings. His bear hated the idea and roared within.

“What does your boyfriend do?” He tried to keep his voice even.

“He…well, he’s…” She sighed. “We broke up. But in general, I only kiss people I am in a relationship with. That’s the point. I don’t appreciate being molested by a stranger.”

Oh, his bear liked this news a lot more.

He hoped the way she’d gotten herself all rattled came down to how fucking intense their kiss had been.

She’d felt safe. Like home. Yet, at the same time, she screamed danger and excitement. A wild thing he’d never truly know or truly tame. He didn’t want to either. He wanted this feral, scary feeling between them to last forever. Oh, its edges may dull over time as their bond grew, but she’d always retain that part of herself capable of felling him with a simple touch of her lips. It was how the mating bond worked.

Wait!
What?
No. No. No. There’d be no
future
. No
time
for their bond to grow. This couldn’t be.

He only had to think of his father, still grieving the human mate who’d refused to turn, and in doing so, died many years before her mate. A bear without its mate proved a sad and melancholy creature. Added to which, Bren himself may have been unable to shift and experience his bear. Young born of a non-turned human only possessed a 50 percent chance of becoming an adult able to shift. He would not take the risk with his own young.

Needing to get away and clear his head, he muttered something about things to do and walked out of the room. He didn’t turn back to see how Charlotte took his leaving.

He wandered about the house aimlessly until the scent of food drew him to the kitchen. Aiyana and Eric worked side by side. They moved around each other in a choreographed dance. Close, but not getting in one another’s way. His heart stuttered for a moment. Charlotte offered him a chance at this, but she also came wrapped up in a huge risk. One he didn’t want to take.

“Stop thinking so loud. Come over here and help us.” Aiyana turned to him.

“Sorry.” He didn’t want to ruin their moment with his depressive mood.

“Don’t be sorry. Here.” She pushed the chopping board at him and some sticks of celery. “Be a sweetheart and cut these up.”

He did as told and chopped the vegetables, the repetitive movement soothing.

“You know, what your father went through is rare.” Aiyana kept her voice low and gentle. “I turned. All the other human mates I know did, too. Jacob turned. As did Clara. Your mother…she’s not usual.”

“I know. But it’s a risk I can’t take. When you’ve seen it up close…what it does to the mate left behind… My father…he’s a ghost of himself. Less than a shadow. I can’t risk it.”

“I understand. But a bear without a mate isn’t much better. And who’s to say such a match will cross your path again? The chances are this is it for you, Bren. Walk away and your bear may never want another.”

He sighed and threw the knife down. He was done talking about this and needed to work out some of his angst. Not waiting to hear any more from Aiyana, he grunted a “later” and headed out of the room and toward the gym at the end of the downstairs hallway. Once there, he set about lifting some heavy weights. At least he didn’t need to change, thanks to already wearing sweats and a T-shirt. Within five minutes, his muscles burned pleasantly and his skin ran slick with sweat.

His burning need for Charlotte receded as he punished his body with the most intense workout he’d done in months. If he needed to come and work out five times a day to beat this, then he’d do so. And tomorrow, he’d take the damn four-wheel drive out no matter what. He needed the female gone. The sooner, the better.