Shifters on Fire: A BBW Shifter Romance Boxed Set (52 page)

Soon the sounds of splashes and laughter were added to the noises of the jungle. Feeling somehow wetter than before, the two slowly made their way back out of the water, still heartily laughing. Then, Bianca slipped on a slick rock.  Mason dove to catch her and felt his foot hit the same rock. He twisted so that he wouldn’t fall on her, which only dragged her down on top of him.

Neither was hurt, so they only laughed harder. Until they realized they were nose to nose. They fell silent, gazing into each other’s eyes. Mason swallowed hard as Bianca’s scent washed over him, potent as ever, in spite of the water.

Bianca slowly leaned down, just as Mason lifted his head. Their lips met; as cool as the water they had been swimming in. They pressed against each other in a gentle kiss. Mason’s hand found the back of Bianca’s head and he pulled her closed. Their bare, wet skin was slick as they slid together, trying to get even closer. Mason’s erection pressed against Bianca’s thigh and the spell broke as the two realized what they were doing.

Bianca jumped off, spluttering an apology blaming her condition. Mason sat up and mumbled one as well.

Chapter Six

Mason had never been more thankful that shifters couldn’t speak in animal form. After the embarrassing moment in the pond, they had both agreed that it was time to head back to camp. Mason was going to work on improving the shelter, while Bianca searched for something that could carry water, so they didn’t have to keep returning to the stream to drink.

They shifted quickly and trotted along in silence.

They were nearly back to camp when Mason spotted a tree with several strange pods, growing right off of the trunk. Each pod was reddish-purple and quite large. He yipped to get Bianca’s attention, then shifted back to human.

“What is this?” he asked as the tiger approached.

She shifted back, laughing. “It’s cacao!”

“Huh?”

“Chocolate!” Bianca pulled off a pod, shifted again, and bit into it. After she had punctured the hard shell, she changed back and bashed it against a rock, until it cracked in half. Mason watched as she pulled out a large number of seeds, all encased in a white, slimy looking pulp. She broke one off and popped it in her mouth, pulp and all, holding the mass out toward Mason.

With a shrug, Mason grabbed one too. The pulp was oddly fruity and the seed inside was crunchy and bitter. And yet… he was sure there was a faint aftertaste of chocolate. He took another and peeled back some of the pulp to see the seed. “So… if this is chocolate, is this a cocoa bean?”

“Exactly,” Bianca said. “You roast it, grind it, and it becomes chocolate. Well, that’s dumbing it down a lot.”

They walked in human form, eating the cacao while Bianca went into depth about just how to turn the fruit into chocolate. She knew she was babbling, but figured any topic was better than their awkward kiss.

Once back in camp, they set about the chores they had agreed on. Mason decided to add a little more padding to the floor of the shelter and, more importantly, widen it. He had a feeling he was going to need plenty of space from the pheromone emanating female while they slept. Bianca still hadn’t returned when he was done, so he started digging a deep post-hole near the shelter. Now that they had something temporary, he figured he could take his time expanding the shelter into something bigger and studier. After all, in order to win they had to demonstrate they could keep living beyond the fifteenth day.

Bianca was unsuccessful in her hunt for a container, but had stumbled onto a capybara. Mason’s jaw dropped as the tigress trotted back into camp with an animal as large as his fox form clenched in her jaw.

“Guess we should try our luck with the fire again,” Mason said.

Bianca nodded as she shifted back. Mason turned to gather the fire starting supplies. He felt like it was getting more and more awkward to be naked around each other.

Maybe it was the hot sun or maybe he was just in a good mood with a full stomach. Whatever the reason, Mason’s tinder started to ignite on only the fourth try. He tossed away the bow and carefully transferred the small spark to a ready-made bed in a little nest of sticks. Gently, gently, he blew on the tiny flame. It grew, spread, and eagerly caught the sticks around it. With a wide grin, Mason started adding larger branches around it.

Bianca had gone in search of firewood, just in case, and returned to see the flames.

“You did it!” she cried.

Caught up in the thrill of the moment, they hugged. They quickly backed apart, blushing.

“Guess we eat well as humans tonight,” Mason said.

“Guess so.”

~~*~~

When the time for dinner drew near, they shifted and tore the capybara into pieces, separating the best cuts of meat for cooking. They ate some of it while shifted, then set about cooking the rest over the fire.

“Twelve more days like today and we’ll be all set,” Mason said, turning his stick to roast the other side of his meat.

“I’d say so. We’ve got shelter, water, and the fish should be a steady food supply, if we can’t hunt. And, thanks to you, we have fire too.”

“If we catch more big prey we should see if we can smoke some. They seem to like when survivors have emergency rations.”

Bianca thought of previous episodes she had seen and nodded. “Yeah, they do. That’s a great idea.” She smiled at Mason. He started to smile back, then they both remembered the kiss and turned awkwardly away from each other.

For the first time since arriving in the rainforest, they were able to stay up long past sunset, thanks to the light from the fire. They talked about everything. Home, family, their jobs, even their dreams. It was late when they finally stoked the fire and crawled into the shelter. Even then, they lay there talking quietly until the sounds of the jungle and the crackling of the fire lulled them to sleep.

~~*~~

Something woke Mason. He wasn’t sure what, but he nearly panicked when he realized he couldn’t see the light from the fire. He rolled out of the shelter and heaved a sigh of relief when he spotted the still glowing embers. Moving as quietly as possible, he crawled over to the fire and added some more logs and branches. The shifter carefully piled up the coals together and tossed some small twigs and leaves onto to it, before bending down and blowing on the embers. Ashes flew all over, but the glowing coals flared to life and ignited the kindling. Mason tended the fire until the new logs were slowly burning again. He was confident it would last until morning.

He crawled back into the shelter and froze. Bianca was having a heat-dream. The light from the newly stoked fire danced off of her bare skin, bathing her in a soft glow. Little drops of perspiration glistened as she writhed sensually in her sleep. The scent of shifter-in-heat washed over Mason, so powerful it felt like he was wrapped in it. He knew he should turn away and give her privacy, but his body refused to budge. Every breath from Bianca held him captivated. She bent in on herself, bringing her thighs tightly together and let out a moan that made Mason gasp.

Mate, mate, mate
, chanted the fox mind. Mason was so focused on ignoring it that he didn’t even realize he was inching closer to Bianca until he was nearly on top of her. She slowly reached down in her sleep, trailing her fingers along her skin. Her scent doubled in potency as her fingers found their goal.

Her eyes opened and locked with his.

Neither moved.

Panic! Panic? Mate? Mate!
Mason’s human mind tried to argue. He opened his mouth, unsure if he was about to apologize or offer to lend another hand.

~~*~~

Bianca was back at the waterfall with Mason. Only this time the kiss turned into more. Just as the dream was getting good, something disturbed her. Bianca wasn’t sure what, she didn’t care. Her body practically ached with need as she clung to sleep – to the dream – and reached down to pleasure herself.
Yes
, moaned woman and tigress together.

For some reason, she opened her eyes. Mason was
right there
watching her.

Neither one of them moved.

Slowly, Bianca raised her hand and paused with it just barely touching Mason’s chest. She wasn’t sure if she was going to pull him closer or push him away.

They stared wordlessly at each other, each wondering if the other was thinking the same thing. They
should
have sex. It would make things easier. No, it wouldn’t end Bianca’s heat, but it would dull it… for the night. They’d both sleep well; Bianca without the dreams and Mason without her scent. Her pheromones would rage again the next night, but they would take most of the day to reach their peak.

If they had sex tonight, they wouldn’t have to worry about fighting the urge for the rest of the challenge. It couldn’t hurt, right? Shifters mated when females were in heat all of the time.

Bianca couldn’t have said if she raised her head a little or if Mason lowered his, but suddenly their lips were pressed together. The cold water of the pond had made Mason’s lips cool before, now they were warm and soft and perfect.

Her hand rested against his chest, where his heart was pounding. Bianca was sure that hers was going just as fast.

Mate. Now. Need,
snarled the tigress in Bianca’s head. “Need,” she groaned, hardly realizing she was saying it out loud. She kissed Mason harder, and twisted his shirt tightly in her hand.

His hand slid down between her legs. Bianca arched against him the moment his fingers touched her. Her scent washed over both of them, as intoxicating as any drug.

Mason tried to speak, but growled instead. Bianca understood anyway. This wasn’t making love, this was mating: sex. And it was best done shifter-style. She bit him,
hard
, on his lower lip, then rolled over.

For the first time, Bianca was glad her clothes had ripped. It made it easy for Mason to touch her. And he touched her everywhere. One hand slid up under her torn shirt, fingertips sliding across her breasts. He gently rolled one of her nipples between his fingers. Bianca moaned and ground against him. She wasn’t sure how he had already managed to get his shorts open, but the penis that pressed back against her was too hot and slick to be still constrained by fabric.

His hand teased up her thigh, almost tickling her. Bianca leaned into his touch with a gasp. She could feel his breath, short, eager puffs of air, on the back of her neck as his fingers pressed into her. The tigress arched against him and drove his fingers deeper. For a few blissful moments, Mason slid his fingers in and out. When he pulled them out completely, Bianca snarled her displeasure, until they were replaced by something even better.

If his human brain had been in the driver’s seat, Mason would have waited a moment to let Bianca adjust to his dick. In fact, he probably would have taken longer with the foreplay. But the fox wanted to mate
now
. Luckily, the animal in Bianca’s mind didn’t care about things like foreplay and comfort either. They moved at the same time. Mason pulled almost totally out of her, then they slammed back together. He grabbed her hips, yanking her tightly against him.

Bianca’s growls of pleasure were hardly human as Mason thrust into her. She reached back and grabbed his thigh, fingernails digging into his flesh. He bent forward and latched his teeth onto the back of her neck. They rocked against each other, harder and faster.

He was going to come. Soon. Mason reached around Bianca and felt for her clit. He knew, from the way she suddenly gasped and stiffened, that he had found it. The tigress practically melted against him as he rubbed it in time with his thrusts.

The pleasure mounted. Even though her eyes were open Bianca felt like she was seeing stars. Her body was shaking. She came in a rush of ecstasy that was nothing like getting herself off. Even orgasms from sex when she wasn’t in heat were nothing like this. Mason kept thrusting and she felt another orgasm building, even as she rode the high from the first one.

He slammed into her and howled against her neck, even as he bit down harder. It should have hurt, but it only intensified the fire in Bianca’s body. The pain didn’t matter, it was only pleasure. She came again and collapsed. Distantly, she felt Mason pull out and drop to the ground next to her.

Neither spoke. They just panted and basked in the bliss of sex in heat.

Bianca felt like she should probably at least thank him. But she felt so relaxed, so
good
. And her eyelids were so heavy… she closed her eyes, just for a moment, just to rest. When she opened them again it was broad daylight. She let them drift shut again with a content sigh. Damn, that had been a good dream. When was the last time she had slept so peacefully while in heat?

She rolled to her side and spotted Mason, sound asleep, beside her. His shorts were still down, tangled around one ankle.

Holy crap, it hadn’t been a dream.

Chapter Seven

Day Four

Mason woke, feeling pleasantly rested, considering he had spent another night on a bunch of leaves on some rocks. It wasn’t until he started to roll out of the shelter and got caught on his shorts that he remembered the night before.

The shelter was empty. He leaned around the side and saw his partner, sitting by the fire. He could see smoke and sparks. At least it hadn’t gone out.

As quietly as possible, he crept out of the shelter and pulled his shorts up.

“Morning,” he said, trying not to sound awkward.

Bianca turned to him and her cheeks flushed. “Good morning.”

Mason was sure he was blushing too, as he sat down next to her.

“Fire’s still going.” Bianca felt stupid for stating the obvious.

“Good.”

Bianca nodded and gave it another poke with her stick. She turned, just as Mason did. Their eyes met and they both jerked their heads away, feeling like a couple of high school sweethearts. Bianca took a deep breath and looked back at him.

Mason met her eyes and waited. Bianca cleared her throat, trying to think of something to say. Mason caught sight of the camera around her head and suddenly burst out laughing.

“Wha-what?”

The fox pointed. “The cameras!” For some reason, he found it hilarious. “Guess they’ll have to edit
that
out!”

For a brief moment, Bianca was mortified at the idea that the cameras had recording her having sex. But, Mason’s laugher was contagious and Bianca found herself laughing too. She imagined some poor video editor going through hour after hour of boring footage of people walking in the woods and suddenly coming across mating. In fact, there was something almost exciting about the idea of someone seeing it.

When their laughter finally faded, they grinned at each other.

“So…” Bianca said, reluctantly starting the conversation she knew they needed to have. “Was that a uh… a one-time deal or… you know… we’re going to be here another week and a half.”

Mason cleared his throat nervously. “Think you’ll… be in heat that long?”

The tigress nodded.

“Do you feel… better this morning? Cause I…” Mason felt embarrassed admitting it. “You don’t smell as strong now. I feel less… aroused.”

“Yeah. I do feel better,” Bianca said.

“So… I guess… why mess with a good thing?”

“Does that mean…” Bianca hesitated.

Mason shrugged. “See how we feel tonight?”

“Sure.”

“What do you want to do today?” he asked quickly. Thank goodness for subject changes.

“Hunt, I suppose. Watch the fire. I think we’re set up pretty nicely.”

“I agree. I’ll hunt first?”

“Works for me.”

Mason almost couldn’t shift fast enough.
How embarrassing
, he thought as he trotted out of the camp. Who has conversations about whether or not they should mate every night with a total stranger? Then again, they weren’t strangers anymore. Sex aside, they had gotten a chance to do a lot of talking since arriving in the jungle.

~~*~~

Bianca heaved a sigh of relief as the fox went out of sight.

“Why, oh why, do I have to be in heat?” she groaned to the camera. “The rest of this challenge is going to be so, so long.”

~~*~~

Day Eleven

The cool water of the waterfall beat, almost painfully, onto the back of Bianca’s neck. She sighed contently as the water drummed down, like her own personal masseuse. But, this masseuse wouldn’t ask why her neck and shoulders were covered in bite-shaped bruises. Nor would it judge her for the fact she and Mason had just had sex in the pond. Again.

For a few days, mating at night had worked. Bianca had always laughed at the expression “wham, bam, thank you ma’am,” but it couldn’t have been more appropriate. They crawled in to their shelter, fucked like a couple of rabbit shifters, and then slept soundly. But, as the full moon drew closer, they had started doing it more. Twice a night. Last night, three times. And even during the day. With the full moon tonight it would be even harder to resist.

But, they weren’t just mating. They were
talking
.

“Ugh,” Bianca said into the water, at the thought of Mason. She shifted and swam to the bank, then shook like a dog to get the water out of her fur. She flopped down into the sun to dry, pulled off the camera, and glared into it. “Dear diary,” she chuckled. “I feel like an idiot talking to a camera, knowing that half of the country is going to see this. But, I guess it’s better than sitting around. I assume you’ve got cameras and mics hidden all over. I hate
thinking
, I like to talk out loud to clear my head. I’d rather just do this directly than let you pick it up as I mumble. Besides, I’ve heard people confess some pretty intimate stuff on your show.”

She turned away from the camera and up to the sky for a moment. The trees around the pond thinned and she could see clouds lazily moving across the slowly darkening sky. She’d have to give Mason his turn before sunset.

“I think I’m in love with Mason,” she said. It was weird saying it aloud. It made it feel more real. “I hope not. I hope it’s just my messed up heat-hormones. But, we talk. He’s funny, he’s sweet.
Cute
. Then again, I’m in heat. Pretty sure I’d feel the same about any guy who mated with me. Not to mention I’ve spent the last eleven days with nobody else. I’ve never spent this much time with just one other person. I don’t even have my phone or a TV. Not even a book. Just me and him. So how the hell am I supposed to know if I love him or if I’m just nuts?”

Bianca heaved a sigh. “Not that it matters. I’m in heat and he’s been stuck with me for the last week and a half. No matter how
I
feel, I’m sure he’s just in it for the sex. What shifter wouldn’t be? I doubt I’m lucky enough for him to like me. I try… I try not to let my weight hold me back. I’m healthy, I’m happy. If some guy wants to judge me by my size, that’s his loss. But, I mean, I’ve been hurt before too. I don’t want to get my hopes about Mason and then find out it’s just my pheromones he’s attracted to. You know?” She laughed. “Too bad this isn’t live and people could call in and offer me advice. By the time this broadcasts Mason and I will be three thousand miles apart. Hell, I’ll probably be out of heat by then.”

With another sigh, she strapped the camera back onto her head, tied her shredded clothes back on, and started walking back home. The tigress chuckled to herself as she walked. She was actually starting to think of their little shelter as home.  Even the walk itself had become second nature. A small path was starting to wear between their camp and the waterfall. With some more supplies, Bianca found it easy to imagine living ‘wild’ for a summer or something. It would be fun. Maybe she’d propose it to her best friend, Susanne, when she got home. Granted, the she-wolf would think Bianca was nuts. But, she’d probably go along with it for a week or two.

She detoured to a stand of banana trees and grabbed a few. They were half the size of commercial bananas, but delicious and growing like weeds. The familiar scent of their fire and roasting fish met her nose. After their watery tryst, she and Mason had fished. The fox left her alone to go cook dinner. Even though they were getting along splendidly, and very, very alone in the jungle, they found that half an hour or so of private time boosted their morale even more.

Sure enough, Mason was sitting by the fire, turning several fish on a spit. They had worked on making their shelter even bigger. Bianca had used her ample spare time to weave mats for them to sleep on. The leaf mats took quite a beating when they were mating, but they were easy to repair. It wasn’t much better than a pile of leaves, but the woven mats were less noisy when they rolled over in their sleep and didn’t get pushed out from under the sleeping shifters like leaves did.

“Hey,” Mason greeted her with a smile.

“Hello. Your turn.” Bianca set the bananas down on their makeshift table and joined him by the fire.

“Looks like the sun is starting to go down. I’ll be quick.” Mason nodded a farewell, then pulled off his clothes, shifted, and jogged away.

Bianca checked on the fish, then speared a banana with a stick and sat back to cook it. They were just as good raw, but it gave her something to do and changed up her diet a little.

~~*~~

If foxes could hum, Mason would have. He was in a great mood. They had a fantastic shelter, a pile of smoked capybara jerky, all the fresh fish they could want, and a fire. They even had a little stash of banana chips. They were no potato chips, but they tasted pretty good. With only four days to go, they were going to rock this challenge.

Four days.

Mason slowed his pace and felt his ears droop. Only four more days with Bianca. He shifted and pulled off the camera.

“I love her,” he told it, turning it to face him as he walked. After a few days of not seeing other people, he had stopped feeling weird about walking naked through the jungle. “She’s great. She’s the only person I’ve talked with in almost two weeks. Literally! And I’m not tired of it. I could talk with her for hours. The other night, after we mated, we talked until we fell asleep. We just cuddled and talked… well, I guess you know that. Every shifter who watches reality shows is going to know that. Still, I’ve never done that with a woman before. I feel like I
know
her.” Mason smiled, remembering the night. “And, let’s be honest, the sex isn’t bad either! I’m going to tell her. Not live though. I think it would be pretty embarrassing to have my heart broken on national TV. But, when this is all over, when we’re flying out of here, I’m going to tell her.”

Something caught his attention. He turned. Nothing. “Hello?” Peering into the trees, Mason slowly slipped the camera around his neck and shifted.

The fox sniffed the air curiously. He smelled… what was it? Mason let the fox mind take control for a moment. That was the only reason his reflexes were sharp enough to leap out of the way as something fell on top of him. The fox tumbled to the ground, then sprang to its feet and
ran
.

It took the human mind several seconds to catch up. A jaguar. He fought for control of his body, just enough to turn and glance behind him. Yep. A fucking jaguar was hot on his heels. Mason started to let the fox take over, when he realized he couldn’t risk it.

The fox would be faster. But, the fox would run aimlessly. It didn’t know jaguars. It understood being startled by larger foxes, even the odd coyote. But nothing back home
hunted
foxes. Mason knew if he let the fox take over it would panic.

He realized that the fox had already unknowingly endangered them. It was going the wrong way. The only hope was to get back to camp, to Bianca.

Even without the looming full moon it would have been hard to get control. Mason fought for every single muscle as he turned – without turning too sharply and running right back into the jaguar’s jaws – and raced back to the camp.

But the human mind couldn’t react like the fox. Dodging and leaping wasn’t quite as instinctive to the human. Mason knew he was going slower than the fox would have. There was no other choice. He started yelping and barking as he ran. He could hear the jaguar behind him, still chasing. Gaining. The scent of tiger hit his nose. It was old, but the fox brain still balked at it. It fought for control and Mason nearly lost his grip. The fox wanted to turn, to run
away
from the tiger too. The struggle in the shifter’s head slowed him down.

And then it happened.

The fox wanted to around a split tree. The human wanted to go through it, hoping the jaguar would be slowed by going around it. Wires crossed and Mason stumbled over his own feet. He scrambled for balance and looked behind him.

The jaguar gathered itself into a pounce. And jumped.

A streak of black and orange flew over Mason’s head and crashed into the jaguar. The rainforest cat roared angrily and backed away, looking at the tiger.

Bianca growled and swiped a massive paw at the wild feline as she stood protectively over Mason.

Of course, the jaguar didn’t know what tiger was. But it surely knew that this orange and black striped beast was larger than any jaguar it had ever seen. It backed away slowly, warily watching Bianca.

When it was gone, the two shifted back.

“Are you okay?” Bianca cried.

Mason stood slowly, legs still shaking. “Yeah… yeah…”

“Thank god I heard you.”

Swallowing hard, Mason nodded. It was a real, terrifying reminder that they were still in the wild. He was having a fun time, maybe too much fun for a survival show, but there were dangers in the jungle.

“Yeah…” he murmured.

“Where the hell are you?” Bianca screamed.

Already on edge, Mason jumped a mile and almost bolted away from her. “What?” he demanded, heart pounding.