So Much To Bear: Shifting Devotions (Werebear Erotic Romance) (2 page)

“It just seems weird to me; you put so much trust in whoever’s handling your food or making it.” Jennifer had to admit that on a certain level it seemed strange that the human race had—at least in the developed world—put most of the preparation of food off on other people. “If someone wanted to kill off a bunch of people, all they’d have to do is poison their food; yeah, they’d eventually get caught—but not until after the fact.”

“You have a point there,” she admitted. “In fact, it’s happened. Not very often, but from time to time. Most people would rather not go to jail.” She frowned. “But that’s just kind of the way it works. If you want people to have the time to build things and make new technology and all the other stuff that goes on, you have to have some people whose only job is making food.”

“When the rest of my clan was still alive,” Damon said, staring off into space down the tracks. “We had something like that—not nearly as particular or specialized, but there was a division of labor. Unless it was a big group hunt, we split up the different things we needed to get done to keep everything working. But not on nearly this scale; everyone contributed to foraging or hunting for food, for their own families and for the tribe.” He shrugged. “Admittedly there weren’t very many of us. There are so many humans.” He looked around at the small crowd of early-afternoon train passengers waiting for their time to board.

“The city’s kind of like an ant’s nest… or maybe a bee hive? Lots of people living in one place.” Jennifer frowned slightly. “Not exactly working towards any kind of common goal. But everyone in one place, working, living…” she shrugged. “I guess you’ll see when we get there.”

The train ride—once dull and a little dreary for Jennifer, a long trek in an uncomfortable seat to or from her campus—became immediately more interesting with company; particularly with Damon’s company. He was fascinated by the efficiency of it, interested in learning about all of the different kinds of trains that Jennifer had taken for granted—the commuter train, passenger trains for long-haul trips across the country, the subway and city rail. She was uncomfortably aware of the fact that Damon looked like the ultimate country bumpkin; in spite of the fact that he was wearing new clothes, and was clean and well-groomed, and even though they both kept their voices down, there were people on the train close enough to hear Damon’s innocent queries about things that—to the average passenger—were perfectly mundane, absolutely normal, and seemingly self-explanatory.
 

It took two hours to get to the city from the small town they had been staying in; Jennifer was glad that they were able to get off at the station before the heavy commuter traffic began—she didn’t want more people overhearing her conversations with Damon. He wasn’t stupid—he was incredibly intelligent, and she was impressed with how quickly he had picked up everything he had so far—but it was exhausting trying to think of everything he needed to know about modern human life, and seeing the sideways looks that her explanations attracted. Normally, Jennifer would have gone a few more stops; the station closest to her campus was deeper into the city, and normally she was going directly to and from campus. But she couldn’t bring Damon onto campus; they wouldn’t even let her stay in the dorms during break on her own without charging her extra money for the privilege—and they wouldn’t let Damon stay at all. So close to the middle of the city, the hotels were expensive and booked almost year-round.

There was also the consideration that Jennifer didn’t want to expose Damon to the full flush of city life all at once. “I can handle it,” he protested when she explained her concern. “You keep acting like I’m going to fall to pieces the first time I have to deal with something unusual.” Jennifer smiled, feeling a little guilty for how she had to hold Damon’s hand—and how much she knew that a powerful, self-willed man who was used to taking care of himself, who had lived through at least one attempt on his life, would resent needing to be taught and coached.

“I just want to get you used to everything before I turn you loose on the townsfolk,” she said with a little grin. “I mean, this place can be miserable if you don’t know all the stupid little details. I know it well.” As they wandered around the stretch of the city where it petered off before becoming suburbs, she told him the story of her first week there; how she had had no idea about where anything was, and had never needed to take the buses or trains in her town—so she hadn’t known how to read a train schedule, look at a bus route. “I ended up curled up on a bench in the bus station crying my eyes out because I had no idea where I was or how to get back to campus, and all I’d wanted to do was to buy some sheets!” Jennifer grinned. “Of course I don’t think you’re even really capable of crying—but I’d rather not give you more stress than I have to. Also I don’t want you to be limited to the hotel and the direct vicinity.”

Jennifer found a cheap motel to stay at for a few weeks without going completely broke. Damon carried their luggage—such as it was, the things he’d preserved from the cave he’d been living in and the clothes they had both packed for themselves—up to the room. “Not too bad,” Damon said, looking around when she opened the door to the suite.

“Not as cozy as your cave, unfortunately—but the bed should be decent.” Jennifer threw herself onto it. She burrowed into the pillows eagerly, groaning with pleasure at the clean linen smell and the thick fluff. “Ooh, I’m almost envious,” she told Damon.

“Why?” Damon laughed, launching himself onto the bed next to her.

“Your bed is cozier than my dorm room bed.” Damon pulled her into his arms and pressed his lips lightly to the pulse point just below her ear, sending a frisson of desire through her.

“Well, you’ll be coming here to sleep regularly, won’t you?” Jennifer nodded.

“I can’t be here every night,” she warned him. “I paid for a dorm room and they’ll get upset with me if I’m never ever there.”

“But most of the time,” Damon said, his eyes darkening slightly with desire. “You’ll be sleeping here with me. Or not sleeping.” He smiled slowly. Jennifer grinned back at him, nuzzling into his neck.

“Yes, most of the time—as much as I can—I’ll be here. Why would I sleep alone if I could sleep with you?”

Chapter Two

For the five days before school started, Jennifer continued Damon’s education in the ways of the non-supernatural human culture in general—and city life in particular. They rode the trains, they hopped on buses to get around the city, and Jennifer taught Damon her hard-won lessons about the lines that ran late or early, the worst times to plan to leave, all of the idiosyncrasies of public transportation. In spite of the fact that he kept insisting he was fine, that he was excited and enjoying himself, and his little teasing remarks about how much time everyone seemed to have to devote to seemingly silly pursuits, Jennifer noticed that he did—occasionally—look overwhelmed by just how many people there were.

Damon confessed to her after a day spent going to the grocery store, running up to campus on the bus, and checking out the job opportunities that Damon might be able to apply for, that he did have a few worries. “I know I can live in the city just fine,” he told her thoughtfully. “But… any one of these people, if they knew what I really was… they’d kill me just as certainly as the people in your town tried to.” Jennifer wanted to protest that the people of the city were much more sophisticated than those in her small town. But she knew that there was no real level of sophistication that would keep people from wanting to destroy something they were scared of.

“So we just make sure that no one knows you’re a were-bear,” she said simply. “It… I mean, it’ll be difficult, but we could take trips to the forest, go camping...” Jennifer saw Damon’s eyes light up at the idea. “And otherwise, as long as you don’t transform…” Damon nodded, less enthusiasm in his eyes.

“I know. Even here—if someone came into the room and I was in my other form, it would be pretty difficult to explain it.” Jennifer couldn’t help chuckling at the image of a hotel clerk coming in to check on something in the room, only to find Jennifer sharing it with a huge bear.

“That would definitely set off some alarms, yes.” She regretted that Damon would have to all but deny that part of his essence—that he would be forced to resort to living strictly as a regular human—until they could figure out the way that they were going to live. It would be months until she was finished with school, and even then, it was difficult for her to know what she would do next. Before Jennifer had met Damon, the answer was simple: she would go to graduate school and get research fellowships to get her experience in the field, and once she had a degree that would allow her to conduct her own research, she’d travel the world on grants, or maybe—if she was lucky—work for a non-governmental organization that would use her as a consultant.

But with Damon in her life, there were more complications. She loved him—she knew that she was making the right choice to be with him—but how would they live together comfortably? She still had the money that her parents’ estate had provided her, but it wouldn’t last forever—and it wasn’t hugely plenty to begin with. “Do you regret taking me out of the forest?” Damon asked her, as Jennifer sat at the little desk in the hotel room, the night before she would have to go back to school. She was catching up on the assignments that she would have to have ready for her classes the first day—doing the readings and going over the pre-class discussion questions. Jennifer turned to look at Damon, who was dividing his attention between her and the room TV.

“No,” she said without hesitation, frowning slightly. “Why? Do you regret leaving the woods?” Damon shook his head.

“Even if you weren’t there to give me an alternative, someone to live with… after what had happened I probably would have just migrated to another forest eventually.” He was silent for a long moment as he thought. “But I’d have had a hard time of it. To get far enough away I’d have to hop on a train… or really, really get used to the idea of walking.” He smiled slightly. “I love you, Jenn. Not just because you’re helping me assimilate… but because you’re the only normal human I’ve ever met who doesn’t think that I’m some kind of monster.” Jennifer got out of her desk chair and moved onto the bed where Damon sprawled, slipping into his arms. “I almost feel like you could have been one of us.”

“That’s a high compliment,” Jennifer said with a grin.

“Well, you know the woods—you were able to find me both times you went looking for me. And you’re so brave; I transformed right in front of you and you came looking for me when you knew I was injured.”

“That was only fair! I wanted to make sure you were okay.” Damon laughed.

“You went after an injured bear, Jenn. Not many people with sense would do that.”

“But you weren’t an injured bear. You were an injured bear-man. Big difference.” Damon laughed. “Besides, it’s not like you mauled me when I climbed up to your lair.”

“I would never have done that,” he said. “You… even if you weren’t dead set on helping me, I would never have hurt you. The other guy…” Damon shook his head.

“You were already a civilized human being, long before I met you. Now we’re just going to make you a certified human being.” Damon chuckled lowly, coiling his arms around Jennifer tightly. Over the course of a little more than two weeks that they had been together, spending time in each other’s company constantly, she had not yet managed to lose her sense of wonder at the fact that he was so much warmer than the average person, her interest in his body. She had mapped out the scars scattered across his body with her fingertips, had learned the taste of his lips and tongue, and wouldn’t be able to mistake the slightly wood-tinged musk of his scent for anything or anyone else in the world.

“I wouldn’t blame you if you wanted to focus completely on your studies,” Damon told her quietly. “I don’t want to completely derail your life.” Jennifer shook her head.

“We can make this work,” she said. “I’ll come over as many times a week as I can… and we’ll find a place that’s a little more permanent for you to live in a week or two. We’ll get you a job, and you can be independent once more.” The job situation would be difficult, Jennifer already knew. Damon didn’t have any work history, and his formal education was limited to high school. It would be difficult for him to get into any kind of college; his lack of employment would leave him in the position to take menial jobs at least to start. But at least, Jennifer thought, he had official records of existence. He had a birth certificate. He had an ID. It wasn’t completely impossible.

“If you’re willing to make such a sacrifice to help me,” Damon said, kissing her lightly on the lips. “Then I will do everything in my power to make it as absolutely successful as possible.” He nuzzled against her neck, making a sound that was somewhere between a growl and a pleased murmur. Damon’s hands began to wander all over her body, not just in the tactile, affectionate way he had of touching her whenever she was close, but with a much more amorous and direct intent. “For now I can only pay you back with love,” he said, his voice low and husky in her ear.

“Don’t forget the interest,” Jennifer told him plainly. She had explained credit cards to him the day before. Damon nibbled along the column of her throat slowly, smiling against her skin.

“What’s the rate?” he asked her, his hands beginning to paw at her clothes, slipping her shirt along her skin slowly. Jennifer draped her arms over her head, tilting her head back to give him better access to her neck.

“Hmm,” she murmured, smiling slightly still as her body heated up. It amazed her that no matter how many times they had sex together she still found him absolutely thrilling to be with, that his surprisingly gentle touch turned her on so quickly. “Fifteen percent seems reasonable.” Damon nodded.

“Very reasonable.” He nipped playfully at the pulse point in her neck with his sharp teeth, pulling back only slightly to tug her shirt over her head and cast it aside. “When we’re settled,” he murmured, his hands gliding along the curves of her body to her hips, “I hope that we can spend most of our time in our home naked.” He unbuttoned and unzipped the fly of her jeans, bringing his lips back up to Jennifer’s and kissing her hungrily. “Though if that were the case I don’t think anything would ever get done—cooking, cleaning, we’d be a total ruin.” Jennifer laughed.

“So then, no clothes in the bedroom, but anywhere else in the house, clothes.” Damon nodded.

“Good compromise.” He tugged her jeans down over her hips quickly, smiling into her eyes as he stripped her naked. Jennifer liked the new, fresher clothes she had bought him in their first week out of the forest together; she had let him pick out the things he liked from the sale section of a discount clothing store. Jennifer had been pleased at the fact that Damon had innate taste, picking things that were not only durable but also sexy on him. She began to slip his clothes off as Damon trailed his lips down from her mouth to her neck, down along the tops of her breasts, lavishing attention all over her body and making her tingle everywhere. Her pussy was getting wetter and wetter by the moment, heating up and tightening and Jennifer was more than a little pleased with herself when she felt the hard ridge of Damon’s erection pressing against her, digging into her thigh as her lover moved lower.

He reached around to her back and found the clasp of her bra by touch, unhooking it and guiding the fabric away from her body gently. Jennifer was always surprised—even after dozens of times making love with the man—at how incredibly gentle he could be, how feather-soft his touch was at times, the way that he combined preternatural strength with sensitivity that the other men who had been in her life—none of whom had an animalistic second side—could have ever matched. Damon cupped her breasts, bringing them up to meet his lips, nuzzling against her sensitive skin as she struggled to keep her focus on ridding him of his clothes. Jennifer moaned out as Damon’s lips closed around her nipples, choosing one and then switching to the other, sucking and licking, barely grazing them with his teeth. He slipped one hand between her legs, caressing her inner thighs teasingly before he brought his fingers up to her slick labia, stroking the folds of her pussy and sending shivers through her body as she became more and more turned on.

He continued his path down along her body, kissing, nipping, and nibbling at her ticklish ribs, her abdomen; Damon paused briefly at her hips, nuzzling the curve of her pelvis and looking up at her with such desire in his eyes that Jennifer was briefly breathless, her body trembling in anticipation. “I love the way you smell, the way you taste,” Damon murmured softly, skimming his lips downward in a teasingly slow movement that was almost torture. Jennifer’s hips were already shifting, twisting, her body determined to get the contact that it craved. Damon chuckled softly, skipping over her pussy entirely to lap at the skin of her inner thighs, where her fluids had managed to drip. He swept his tongue upward, and Jennifer gasped, biting her bottom lip to suppress the low, long moan that came up from her chest. His tongue was rougher than her other lovers, but it felt so good—and he used it so well—that Jennifer couldn’t get enough of his worship.

Damon spread her labia and buried his face against her, sucking her inner folds between his lips, lapping at the fluids that had accumulated at the well of her pussy. Jennifer cried out, arching up from the bed, grabbing at Damon’s shoulders in an instinctive convulsion. His tongue played at her inner labia, slithering into her pussy, wriggling and teasing her, just out of range of her clit. He teased her for moments that seemed like an eternity, almost hitting her pleasure center with the pleasant rasp of his tongue and then dodging at the last moment, moaning against her, rubbing his chin and nose against her sensitive flesh until she was panting, almost ready to beg him for the satisfaction she craved. When she was certain she couldn’t possibly take any more, Damon began to focus all of his attention onto her clit, licking and sucking the bead of nerves, flickering his tongue against it so rapidly that Jennifer lost all ability to think, her body writhing and twisting underneath him as her pleasure mounted, more and more intense every moment.

Damon brought her to the edge of orgasm and then backed off, over and over again, sending hot and cold crackling electric impulses through all of Jennifer’s nerves. “Oh—oh, Damon, god, yes,” Jennifer cried out, her fingers threading in his hair, her fingernails digging into his shoulder. She pitched and arched on the bed, twisting her hips to keep the contact between his mouth and her pleasure center just as she liked it, spasms of pleasure beginning to race along her bones, through the nerves of her body. Damon slipped two fingers into her, plunging them deep inside of her pussy, and in a matter of moments, Jennifer felt the first waves of pleasure crashing through her, her orgasm wracking her with sensations so intense they were nearly overwhelming. She moaned and cried out, throwing her head back against the pillows, words tumbling out of her lips without any thought behind them—praise, compliments, expressions of how much she loved him.

Damon backed off gradually as the spasms began to abate, and Jennifer, her mind dazed from the intense pleasure still working through her body, saw him lick his lips with satisfaction. He had told her more than once that he absolutely loved the way she tasted—that if she would let him, he would pleasure her for hours, devouring her over and over again. “You taste like honey,” he’d murmured in her ear the first night after their escape. “And you know how much bears love honey.” Damon pressed his body to hers as he moved up from her hips, comforting her with his weight, with the radiating heat that would make her comfortable on the coldest winter night.