Authors: Alicia Wild
Barrett snarled, teeth baring viciously, “Who are you?”
“Oren Beckett,” the older man huffed. “I’m the girl’s father.”
“Step-father,” Melissa wheezed, trying to find a way to stand.
“Are you alright?” Barrett asked her, eyes never moving from Oren.
“I’m okay…” She groaned, feeling tears of pain blind her.
Barrett flashed her a look before something wild and brutal took over his face. He turned that look on Oren.
“Bastard,” He snapped. “What kind of man hurts his family?”
“The kind that isn’t afraid to do what is necessary!” Oren laughed, a harsh biting sound that made Melissa recoil.
“Get out of my way, you oversized beefcake. Before I skewer you.”
“Good luck with that,” Barrett snarled before tossing his blade aside.
Oren watched him, surprised before his expression paled.
Melissa wiped her eyes, shivering against dirt and scratching foliage. Yet all her movements ceased when she saw the change taking over Barrett’s body.
His muscles bulged, hands becoming large as follicles of hair thickened and expanded all over his skin. His face elongated as his teeth began to sharpen and extend.
His hair grew over his head, reaching down his back as his body transformed. In sheer moments, this man was completely taken over by the appearance of a huge beast. Its form was a bear.
You don’t even know what I am.
Barrett’s words echoed in Melissa’s mind as she gasped and pushed away.
What if I was?
Oren let out a shout, falling back as the Bear fell over on huge paws before advancing with a loud roar.
The shock ebbed away now that the Bear was taking steps forward, swiping huge paws and elongated claws in swift movements.
A monster…?
Then, from the corner of her eyes, Melissa saw the buyer rush to his feet, holding high a gun and aiming it at the beast.
Melissa shrieked, “Barrett,
look out!!
”
The bear fell to its paws. Gunfire cracked through the air in an explosion that made her ears ring. Wood from a tree splintered away and the Bear whirled around before lunging. The Buyer let out a scream of fright, gun falling from his hand as he scrambled away.
The Bear’s massive jaw snapped out, biting down over the buyer’s neck and twisting. Melissa looked away before she could see any more, hearing the Buyer’s voice hitch in a choke before falling eerily quiet.
Oren let out another cry and when Melissa looked up he was running into the woods. The Bear turned around, it’s maw stained in crimson before it began to give chase.
Melissa staggered to her feet, crying out.
“Barrett, no! Leave him!”
It was too late to call him back, and Melissa tried to run after them.
In the distance, she witnessed the bear catch up to her step-father. She saw it tackled him to the ground.
She heard a roar, then a final scream. Her feet ached and her body throbbed with cuts and bruises, yet the frantic desire to get close to Barrett overwhelmed her fear. She hoped that he was alright.
When she got close, she saw the collapsed figure of her stepfather’s body, and even saw blood over bush and dirt. She gasped and nearly stumbled to her knees, but she pushed forward.
She reached the bear, landed close to it before reaching out and grabbing its fur.
Suddenly, its head whipped around, roaring in her face and making her nearly pull away in fright.
The animal’s growl stopped short, and she saw recognition churn within its black eyes.
“Barrett,” she whispered desperately, shaking violently against it.
“Barrett, please…”
Something passed through its eyes, and the more she looked into them, the more she could see human emotions.
Surprise, fear, shock, relief…
It looked away, before shuddering against her hands.
Melissa dug her fingers tighter, worried something was wrong.
Instead, it began to change, its huge body returning to a familiar shape and familiar heat.
She could feel the transformation against her hands, and she couldn’t hold back the gasp of amazement, as she hardly believed what she saw.
“Melissa…?”
She heard, the voice low and rich and almost animalistic but familiar.
When he looked back up, his face was familiar and his skin felt like how she had memorized.
“You’re okay,” she breathed, jumping against him and wrapping her arms tight around his neck.
“Barrett…oh, Barrett.”
Her mouth found his skin and the urge to kiss him took force, making her plant and chart kisses against his skin once again.
She felt his lips beneath her, felt him take her affection in frozen silence before he was breathing again and holding her close.
“You’re not…” he began, “You’re not scared of me?”
“Idiot,” Melissa laughed, sniffing back hard as she met his lips with hers again and again.
“Why would I be scared of the man who saved me?”
His grip on her skin tightened, flushed her tight against his chest in a desperate hold that nearly took her breath away.
The following kiss he slammed against her mouth did, and they both fought for air as their bodies collided with need.
Pain burned against her stomach and Melissa let out a sharp hiss when he pressed too tight.
Instantly, Barrett was pulling away, his eyes trailing down her naked skin and finding the bruises the fight had left over her.
“You’re hurt,” he said, worried.
“I’m fine… I’m fine now.”
She shook her head before taking his face within her palms. Her mother’s ring was pressed tight between their skin and Melissa could feel warmth even in the harsh cold.
“I’m sorry I ran… I’m sorry.”
Barrett was shaking his head.
“No.”
He denied.
“This was all my fault. You wouldn’t have gotten hurt if I had just kept my promise.”
“I don’t care about that anymore,” Melissa insisted.
“I don’t. Because you’re here. You protected me. You kept me safe. You’re a good man, Barrett.”
“But I’m not a man, Melissa…didn’t you see?”
He nearly pulled away. “I’m a monster. I nearly hurt you.”
“But you didn’t,” she insisted.
“I may be naïve, but I know ‘good’ when I see it. I know you. The only monsters are the men who hurt me. I don’t see a monster… the man I love isn’t a monster.”
Her confession shocked him, it even shocked her.
But before she could even think about backpedaling, Barrett was crushing her against him, mindful of her injuries but desperate.
His lips rammed against hers, filling her with warmth and the desire to be closer to him.
“Let’s go home,” she murmured against his lips.
He smiled against her mouth.
“Let’s go home.”
He agreed before gently lifting her in his arms and pulling her through the gnarling trees around them.
--
His touch was gentle beneath the warmth of the fire, and each sweet caress made Melissa shiver with anticipation.
His lips trailed over her skin, finding the bruises around her body and giving them special attention with healing ointments and careful massaging.
Melissa stroked her fingers through his hair, watched him with a full heart as he dressed her wounds and kissed her pain away.
Gingerly, he brought her to his room, laying her over the mattress before following her curves with hungry eyes.
Melissa squirmed beneath his gaze, feeling hot and desirable as he stared.
“You’re beautiful,” he said with a smile.
“You’re amazing,” she replied with a grin.
He rolled his eyes, but his smile never wavered as he ducked down to press a reverent kiss to her navel.
Melissa shivered at his touch, felt each bit of skin stand to attention and react harshly at his breath fanning over her, his gaze piercing her.
“Thank you,” he breathed before meeting his lips against one of her breasts.
She trembled, her hands fluttering against his muscles, her legs parting for him.
“For what?” She hummed, curious.
He bent down and gathered her lips into his own.
“For saving my life,” he said and Melissa felt her heart fill again with joy.
He shifted, pushing his hips against hers and reconnecting them deliciously.
He was hard and hot within her, throbbing with desire and making her moan in pleasure.
“I love you, Melissa.”
“I love you, Barrett.”
He pulled back before pressing back down and Melissa let out a keen moan through her lips, feeling it become swallowed by his lips. He thrust back, rocking her body with delicious waves of ecstasy and tender love.
The warmth and pains of their wounds were fading with every bit of friction and connection, winding them higher and higher.
For the first time in her life, Melissa felt herself become free, felt her heart openly accept this new adventure waiting for them.
Her mother’s ring bounced gently against her chest. She gasped when she saw Barrett duck down and kiss the silver and green band with simple gratitude.
For the first time in her life, Melissa felt truly happy and she grinned into a kiss and held this beautiful man in her arms.
For the first time, Barrett and Melissa fell into each other’s skin without secrets and without reproach.
For the first time, they made love and felt love equally and strongly for each other.
--
The End
PREVIEW OF ‘THE BEAR’S CAPTIVE’
Chapter 1
At first, there was nothing. The sound of breath in her ears followed. A hiss and a sudden pressure over her pelvis and torso followed that. There was a constant banging—hollow and dull—and it echoed over and over…
She took a breath and dared to open her eyes, blinking blearily when her eyes found the windshield. A thin film of steam covered the corners, and clear rivers of rain drained and speckled over the glass.
The banging increased and Kara realized the source of the noise was from her own head. Disoriented, the young woman shifted, remembering where she was, remembering the horrible event that had happened.
The drive back home wasn’t unlike other nights, save the fact that it was later than usual and her bones were heavy with exhaustion. She could remember the worried glance from her co-worker, Lia, and with a smile Kara had insisted that she would be fine. It had been another busy night at the restaurant, and honestly all Kara wanted to do was to go home and sink into a tub of hot water.
“Are you sure you don’t want to come over?”
Lia had asked her as their shift ended.
“I’m having a small cocktail party. No one weird. Just some friends.”
Kara knew what that had meant and declined. It wouldn’t be the first time someone tried to match her up with another person, and after ten years of hearing the same thing over and over… Kara had decided that she didn’t really need anyone.
Even if the thought was nice. So she walked to her car, covering her head from the late September drizzle of icy rain, and decided that her bed was her best date for the evening.
It was like something off a Hollywood movie. Girl gets in car. Girl drives in the rain. Girl nearly gets struck by a truck, and is thrown off the road and down the ravine. Girl’s car is ruined and Girl miraculously survives.
“What next?” Kara croaked, lifting a shaky palm to rest against her forehead. “Girl is rescued by strapping young guy?” Her humor is short-lived when she felt a sharp pain over her forehead, and there was slickness over her skin that Kara wasn’t familiar with.
It was dark, but not pitch black and when Kara pulled her palm away she knew the black liquid against her fingers wasn’t sweat. She groaned, sighing when the realization of an injury awakened the rest of the aches and pains in her body.
The stench of burned rubber, gas, and metal curled in her nostrils and Kara gagged. She needed fresh air. Moving, however, brought on a new sensation in her stomach that made her already shaking body tremble fiercely.
Her body was reacting to the feeling of nearly dying. Hysteria making every pump of blood within her veins rush and grate and choke her. Tears welled up in Kara’s eyes, dribbling down her cheeks as she struggled to breath. She needed help.
Coughing, she mindlessly searched for her phone. It was almost impossible to do that when her fingers were too busy scrambling over her seat and clumsily finding the seat belt hook. Her thumb found the button of the hook, pressed it and soon the pressure over her chest lessened.
A gasp filled her lungs, staining her tongue with the taste of burnt rubber and jump-starting her gag reflex. Head spinning, Kara tried to breathe evenly, but the sole desire to escape from this two-ton metal death trap was causing her breaths to hiccup in her throat. It took a few minutes of sobbing and wheezing before she could find the handle of her door.
Kara needed to get out, but the door wouldn’t budge. She took another breath of foul air and shoved against the metal and plastic. It gave a creak. Another hiccup, and Kara grit her teeth. Her head was pounding, her legs were aching. She
needed to get out.
Another shove. Then another. Slowly, but surely, Kara’s door was pried open. An icy draft pushed against her hands, forcing air into her face and frigid rain against her skin. It was almost a relief. She gave one more push and the door gave a loud screech before it slid open. Kara tumbled out of the vehicle with a sharp yelp. Gravity yanked her in another direction, and the hyperawareness that came with surviving revived her limbs to grab onto something.
Rain water was coming down over her, drenching her in just moments as she tried to look around. It was ridiculous and the pain and disorientation kept her from finding out why she was still hanging. A flash and a grumble—thunder… lightning—and Kara saw more of her surroundings.
She was hanging off her car, and practically dangling down the earth as it swooped downwards in a steep decline. Trees and foliage were all around her, digging into her clothes and against her ribs. The smell of pine and sycamore blended awfully with the smell of her damaged car.
What do I do…?
She did the only thing that came to mind.
“Help!” Kara screamed. “Someone please! Anyone! Help me!!”
She cried and pleaded; yet the silence was as deafening as the rain striking her skin and the cold numbing her fingers. Throat aching and body drooping with exhaustion, Kara tried to find a place to steady her feet.
Something scratched her leg, but she didn’t care. She had managed to find a foothold and slowly and carefully pushed herself upwards. Her mind worked even while her brain felt muddled.
As carefully as she could, Kara hoisted herself closer to her ruined car. She knew that her best chance at finding help as soon as she got out was by calling for help. So she focused on finding her only lifeline. Another grumble shook the heavens above and the chill made her skin crawl and quake. Yet something stopped her.
Blinking back blood and tears, Kara looked over her shoulder. For a moment it was too dark to see anything and she almost disregarded the strange sense of foreboding. She panted, chattered breaths between her teeth and waited until she was certain she only imagined it.
A flash…
And there were a pair of eyes staring at her from outside her car.
Kara bit back a scream, stifling the cry back with icy hands. There was no doubt. Several feet away from her car stood a beast. Another flash and another thunderous shake and she could make out the maw, a snout, and the grizzly shape of its body.
A bear.
Another growl of thunder and Kara was jolting towards the other side of the car, wanting to distance herself from the predator as quickly as she could.
Her hands found the handle and she began to give a shove, completely forgetting everything she had ever learned on what to do when being confronted by a bear in the forest. The bear gave a sharp exhale, a burst of steam escaping through its snout and it began to move. Kara let out a high-pitched whimper, pushing as hard as she could at the door. She didn’t want to die.
The bear was just a foot or two away, and she could hear its every breath and animalistic grunt. She saw the flash of reflected light off its eyes from another flash of lightning. Kara gave the door one more shove and it gave abruptly beneath her weight. Gravity bit into her once more, yanking her body out the car and towards the earth. With a scream, Kara tried to latch on to something—
anything
—before she was falling. Falling.
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