She took it from him. “Thank you,” she said, shrugging it on. He was right; the mountain air was cold and she shivered despite herself. The night was thick around them under the cover of the trees, and she was glad when he took her hand and led her through the woods, so sure-footedly.
As they came through the other side, the moon shone down on the rocky ground, illuminating his face. He looked nervous, and that worried her.
“OK. Now, you stand there. Please don’t freak out,” he repeated. “This is what all the other couples who share the bond know. It might shock you, but please don’t freak out.”
“I won’t,” she said, knowing she couldn’t promise him more, because she had no idea what he was about to show her. But she knew it had to be bad, otherwise he wouldn’t keep telling her not to freak out.
He let her hand go and she missed his warmth, missed the feeling of being connected to another human being. As he moved away, he turned to look back at her, smiling reassuringly. Alli wanted to run to him, to tell him he didn’t have to show her anything, that it didn’t matter, this thing he needed to share. With him, for the first time, she had felt as if she belonged. She hated the idea anything would change that.
When he stopped, she had to make herself stay still too. Forcing herself to look at him, to watch what he wanted to show her, when her brain told her to close her eyes and cover her ears. Nothing good could come of this; she was supposed to take the easy option, the safe option. Again, she had the awareness that this was anything but safe.
A sensation, which started as a prickling along the hairs of her neck, spread along her shoulders and down her arms, leaving goose bumps in its wake. While a sliver of ice threaded its way down her spine until her teeth chattered; he had certainly been right about needing warm clothes. Then a gut-wrenching judder started at the soles of her feet and reached the top of her head, consuming her whole body.
Alli fixed her eyes on Kian, concentrating on him and only him, as she fought to contain her growing panic. It would be all right; he wouldn’t hurt her. Whatever this was, she could deal with it. At this point her imagination had overtaken reason, leaving her worried he was some kind of axe murderer or something. These thoughts soon vanished from her head as the air around Kian began to shimmer.
“Wh … at’s hap … pen … ing?” she asked through chattering teeth, making it almost impossible to speak.
There was no answer, only the sound of electricity crackling through the air. The man she had come here with, the man she knew as Kian, her lover, was disappearing. His body going out of focus, to be replaced by something closer to the ground, but bigger, much bigger. The air swirled, a mass of browns and golds, all of different hues and shades, spiralling around and around themselves like a dust storm. Then the colours coalesced, becoming denser, until a solid form stood before her once more.
Only it was no longer human. No longer Kian.
The bear stood still, sniffing the air, sniffing her. He was scenting her in a way she found incredibly sexy, he was
tasting
her. She wavered, thinking she should run, because bears were not sexy, bears were killer animals high up on the food chain. But where had he come from? And where was Kian?
Alli needed to know. She took a step forward, ready to run if the bear charged. Although she knew she could not outrun it, she had to be sure this bear hadn’t eaten Kian. In a small part of her brain, a voice was screaming at her, telling her what had happened,
Kian had changed into the bear
, but that was impossible. She couldn’t accept it. However, when she was five feet away from the bear, it turned to look at her and she saw those eyes. The eyes so full of passion, deep pools of desire.
Kian
.
The bear shook its head and then took a step towards her. She held her breath, forcing herself not to run away. She knew this, she knew about the bears, she just hadn’t realised it. All the couples, the snippets of conversations scattered here and there throughout her years at Bear Brides. Damn it, even the name of her shop. It was all there in front of her, if she had wanted to see, wanted to believe. However, before Kian she had not wanted to believe.
But now. He was her link to it all. Her reason for believing.
“Kian,” she said softly, reaching out and running her fingers through his fur. His body shuddered, vibrating under her touch. She could feel the excitement contained in this big bear body, the intense satisfaction of having his mate accept him for who he was, what he was. He took another step and rubbed his body against the side of her thighs. Was it wrong for his fur to caress her skin like a lover’s touch?
But they were one and the same. Kian’s soul was bound up in this bear body as surely as it was bound to his human form. It was Kian she loved, whether bear or man. But she longed for him to turn back to Kian the man, the man with the ability to make love to her once more.
“Kian,” she said again. “If you can hear me, please change back. I
need
you.” Her voice was breathy, her growing arousal affecting her body in every way. An intense heat now replaced the cold chills, which only moments earlier had made her body shudder. A heat that yearned for him to turn it into an inferno which only he could quench, with his body.
He looked up at her, studying her face for one long moment before he ambled away from her. Alli watched as, once more, the air shimmered and electricity flooded the air. She longed to run her hand through the cloud of charged particles which surrounded him as he changed. To feel that magical energy on her skin.
Then he was back, her man standing, watching her for signs of a reaction. Did he expect her to be frightened and unsure? She went to him, closing the distance between them. Flinging her arms around him, she pressed her body against his, feeling his heat and his arousal as his cock pressed against her stomach.
“Make love to me, Kian.”
Kian had never expected his revelation to be accepted so eagerly; it had not been the great shock he had been afraid of. But then, Alli had been in Bear Creek for a number of years, what had she seen that might have already given her some clues? Certainly not a bride at one of the many weddings she attended ever turning into her other form. This gift was always kept quiet; bears protected their other side. It was a secret shared only with human mates or those deemed absolutely trustworthy.
Alli pressed her body against him, her mouth searching for his. He lifted her up and carried her back towards the trees, to give them at least some privacy. Not that there was anyone else for miles, his bear would have been able to tell. The ground was damp, he hated the thought of her lying on the moist ground, and the temperature was a little cool for her to be completely naked.
Instead, he took the coat off her, and placed it on the ground. Then he sat down, his back against the tree. He guided her to him, lifting her foot to place one on one side of his body, one on the other. Then he gently pulled her down so she straddled him. Unzipping his jeans, he pulled them down enough for his cock to be freed. She looked down, moistening her lips. Then she wrapped her hand around him, feeling his cock harden further.
His hips lifted off the ground, thrusting upwards. But he wanted to be inside her. Gripping her hips, he raised her up and then moved her panties to one side, unable to resist dipping his finger inside her to feel how wet she was for him. Kian drew his finger forward, stroking her clit while she guided his cock to her entrance. Slowly she sank down onto him, the sensations flooding his body. Here he was in the wild, with his mate lowering herself down onto his cock. What bliss: it utterly and completely consumed him.
Alli took him inside her slowly, unsurely. He knew she would feel full, that he would stretch her, because she was so tight. Oh, so tight. It took all of his self-control not to reach up, place his hands on her shoulders, and make her take him all at once. His need to be buried deep inside her was overpowering, but he had a strong will.
“Ahhh,” he said when she was at last completely impaled on his cock. She had begun to move, her knees lifting her up and down, her hips circling around as she took control of her own pleasure. Gone was the woman so unsure of herself, a goddess, his goddess, replaced her. Here in the moonlit night he worshipped her and would do for the rest of his life.
She brought him to his climax too soon; he wished it could last forever. That he could be here on the mountain buried inside her forever. In amongst the trees, with his mate wrapped around him, sheathing him in her warm, tight sex, he could forget all of the problems they would have to surmount. Not least of all, the barely renovated farm he lived in. How could he ask a woman like this to live with him in a place like that? Not until it was finished, and he couldn’t afford to finish it. Yet the thought of not having her with him every night for the rest of his life was too hard to contemplate.
Especially when she made him feel as if he had gone to heaven with an angel riding his cock. As his climax hit him, he leaned forward, pushing her clothes aside, tearing them, he feared, in his need to use his mouth on her breasts. He wanted to suck her nipples, to feel her reaction to his mouth while he was buried deep inside her.
She gasped, her sex clamping tighter around him, before the first spasm of her orgasm took her. Pulsing and throbbing, his cock emptied itself inside her, her body drawing it into her womb to make their child. A child he would need to support.
Alli reached her climax; she leaned forward and kissed him, her lips so sweet on his. He reached up and fisted her hair, drawing her to him, his breath ragged as he tried to calm his bear. The animal side of him wanted to pick her up and carry her into the wild where the ways of a human society didn’t matter. His bear could protect her, feed her, and bend her to his will. But Kian wasn’t all bear.
“I will make a good life for us, Alli,” he promised.
“You already have, Kian. You have showed me what love is,” she said, kissing him again.
“No. I mean it. I will provide for us.”
“I know you will. But we are a partnership. Which means you have to accept I want to help. I was lucky, my aunt left me Bear Brides, and so I have managed to save a lot of money. Money that we could use to finish your house.”
“I can’t take it, Alli,” he said firmly.
She pressed her body against his, and he felt himself hardening again. At this rate, he would be crawling on the floor like a dog agreeing to whatever she said. But he couldn’t push her away; she was right, they were a partnership, and she seemed to understand him completely.
“Can’t or won’t?” she asked.
“I’m supposed to be the provider.”
“This is the twenty-first century. Don’t say you expect me to give up work and play the housewife like Graham did.”
“Never. But putting food on the table and a roof over your head is my responsibility.”
She laughed. “I can see we are going to have to agree to disagree.” She moved her hips, feeling him hardening again. When he was buried deep inside her again, she added, “Until I can change your mind.”
Alli never usually got flustered, but the last two days had been a shock to her normally calm constitution. How exactly did you cope with having the hunkiest guy on the planet as your boyfriend, a boyfriend who she knew would soon be her husband, and who was also a bear? Not your everyday situation by any means, and for Alli, who had spent her time in Bear Creek with her head down working all the hours she could, the issue of finding time for Kian was a pressing one.
Luckily, his work on the farmhouse plus a couple of paid jobs he had picked up, kept him busy. It seemed news that he was Alli’s mate had got round Bear Creek fast. In turn, this meant Alli, Kian, and Melanie had instantly been accepted into the Bear Creek secret-shifter community. Although, even that secret was not as small as she thought. Her shop was filled with a steady stream of well-wishers, all of whom knew the secret. Where had her head been for the years she had lived here? It was so obvious now she knew, as any good secret worth knowing usually was.
She was just returning from taking Drew’s dress over to her house, ready for the big day tomorrow. It had been neatly pressed and the bride was delighted, whereas her dad just collapsed in tears. It was going to be an emotional day, one that she was looking forward to, especially since an invitation had been extended to Kian and Melanie. The shop would be closed, so she could spend the whole day with her man.
Her mate
. She still got a kick out of that one.
Parking her car, she got out and locked it, turning to be confronted by Graham.
“Hello, Alli.”
“Graham,” she said, hoping he wasn’t going to make a scene.
“I thought I would come by and see how you are.”
“I’m good, thanks,” she answered warily.
“That’s good.” He paused, the silence uncomfortable. “I just wanted to say I’m sorry and to try to talk you out of making a mistake with that Kian person.”
“Graham, please. It’s not a mistake.”
“I know you went to him on the rebound.”
“No I didn’t. I can’t explain it to you, but it’s just so right.”
“Nonsense. You can’t be attracted to him, he is a loser.”
“No, he’s not. Listen Graham, I am really busy, so if you don’t mind I want to get on. I’ve left Melanie looking after the shop.”
“And you don’t trust her, just the same as I don’t trust her brother.”
“I do trust her. But it’s been very hectic the last couple of days.”
“So what? Has he asked you to pay for that house of his to be renovated? Nice move, shack up with a lonely woman and milk her for every penny.”
“Right,” she said, squaring up to Graham. “You have no right to say these things. Kian is a good man. Unlike you, he is not after my money or my property.”
“So how does he intend to pay for all of the work that needs doing? I mean you can’t exactly ask a woman like you to marry him and live there with a leaky roof.”