Bearly Hanging On: Soulmate Shifters in Mystery, Alaska Book 3

by Krystal Shannan

  “I’m trying,” she whispered. She took another deep breath. In and out. Steadying her hand, she turned the doorknob, releasing the last tiny security measure on the door.

  It swung open and cold air swept all around her from the night breeze. She shivered a little and looked up, even though in the darkness all she could really make out were Owen’s eyes. They weren’t bright yellow like the bear’s had been, instead they sparkled like a fairy had tossed pixie dust into them. The specks of gold flashed and spun and danced in his eyes, like his animal was so close to the surface he couldn’t hide it.

  She reached out to touch him. To make sure he was really standing in front of her. He pulled her against his chest and moved into the house in one all-encompassing movement. The door shut and snicked locked again. Her face was buried in his shirt and his arms were wrapped around her entire body. He buried his face against her neck and kissed the place where he’d marked her.

  They hadn’t really discussed the whole ‘hey I bit you’ thing. And Tara didn’t really feel the need to discuss it. If she was completely honest with herself, she liked that he’d done it. Liked that he hadn’t held back. Liked that there was a physical visible representation of Owen on her. She didn’t have any tattoos. And now she was branded in a way. She belonged to him and it felt so right and natural and there wasn’t a single doubt in her mind or spirit that he was the person she was meant to spend her life with.

  Her whole life. Not just a few uncertain out days before the Tribe hunted him down and killed him. Or the wolves came and killed her. There was always that problem lurking in the back of her mind too. How had everything changed so quickly?

  “How long have you been out there?” She said, her voice barely over a whisper.

  “All night. I followed you from the community center. Did you really think I would leave you alone?”

  She shook her head and couldn’t help the slight smile curving her lips. She’d hoped that he’d gone to his job. She hoped for a slight bit of normalcy. But the honest truth was she was glad he’d never left. Glad he’d followed her. Glad that he was patrolling her parents’ house as a bear while she slept. The wolves wouldn’t come near a bear, especially not a bear the size of a small pickup truck.

  She’d seen bears before. Seen a grizzly before. Owen’s bear made a grizzly look like a harmless little brown bear just poking around in the snow. He was enormous, possibly as big as a Kodiak. Okay, possibly bigger. Bigger than anything she’d ever seen before in person or on video.

  “You know you’re a really big ass bear, right? You freaked me out.”

  Owen’s arms tightened around her. “Forgive me, shuarra.”

  “I do, it’s just. You’re bigger than any natural bear. Did you know that?”

  Owen nodded against her neck, kissing it again.

  “Like record-breaking bigger. If anyone sees you…” She shuddered at the thought.

  “I’m very careful. I promise.”

  She looked up again, meeting his gaze. He stared straight into her eyes, like he could see past them. Like he could see all the way to her soul. It was everything she’d ever wanted to feel from a man. No one had ever looked at her this way. Not once. Only Owen made her feel complete in a way that she’d only dreamed possible.

  He leaned a little closer. His warm breath slid over her skin like a summer breeze, but he didn’t move forward. Not yet.

  “I want you to kiss me,” she said, verbalizing her desire. She didn’t want him to wonder. She couldn’t see his face in the pitch blackness, just his eyes. They crinkled a little, and she wished she could see the smile on his face. Had she seen him smile yet? She couldn’t picture it in her mind.

  His big hands moved up her body, caressing every curve until they settled around her face, cradling her head. He slid his fingers into the loose waves of her hand and tightened his grip, not painfully, just firmly, giving her no option but to take what he would give.

  Excitement sparked through her body as arousal bloomed, pushing away all the scary thoughts and worries.

  He nuzzled her neck first. Then moved to her mouth.

  She held her breath.

  He descended upon her mouth with a ferocity that stole away the breath she’d been holding. She gasped against his mouth. His tongue slid inside her mouth, exploring and claiming. He tasted as good as he smelled, all male and pine and maybe a little bit of car grease. The power though, that was an aphrodisiac all on its own. The way he held her, pressed her to his mouth. Then there was that sexy rumbling growl coming from his throat. The sound that reminded her that he wasn’t all man. He was part animal.

  Everything throbbed when he finally released her from his grasp. Every nerve ending hummed and whined for more.

  “My shuarra, I have missed the taste of you,” Owen said, his voice husky and rough.

  Heat warmed her cheeks. Warmed her entire body. He leaned in again, pressing the whole of her body against his. Desire flowed through her veins sparking every nerve she had to life with a longing for him to do exactly that—taste her. All of her.

  “I need you, Owen.” Tara met Owen’s gaze again. His whiskey-colored eyes flickered with gold and heat and so much desire that she moaned out loud. That was all it took.

  Owen cupped one of Tara’s breasts through her pajama top. The thermal fabric didn’t offer much protection. Her nipple pebbled beneath his touch and her breath hitched. He wanted to touch all of her. And if her words hadn’t been clear enough, her scent told him she wanted him as badly as his straining body wanted her.

  Her hands tugged at the bottom of his coat, trying to lift it out of her way. He released her long enough to shrug out of it and yank his shirt over his head and toss it away. Then her delicate fingers were all sliding across his shoulders and his chest. She moved closer, pressing her body against his and rubbing her silky hair against his chest in a feline fashion. He slipped his hands into her satin locks again, pulling just hard enough to tip her head up.

  Owen took her mouth again, taking his time as he explored every part. Owen let himself get lost in that kiss. Let himself think about what his life could look like with Tara as his mate and no one to stand in their way. No wolves. No tribe.

  They would be happy.

  They would have a family together.

  He wished he would live to see the day Tara’s body would swell with his young. He wished to know if their children would look like her with her creamy skin speckled with cinnamon and flame red hair that glistened in the light like she’d been kissed by the sun itself.

  She was moaning something into his mouth…or was she trying to speak. He pulled back for just a second.

  “More,” she rasped out, clinging to his body. “Owen, please.”

  How could he deny such a delightful request? He never would. He grinned and wrapped his arms around his still fully pajama-clad mate and walked through the living space of her parents’ home toward a darker bit of darkness, he assumed was the hallway leading to bedrooms. He could see in the dark, but it was an unfamiliar space. He passed one door and paused.

  “Which room?”

  Tara’s legs had wrapped around his waist by now and her hot center bobbed up and down teasing his hard dick.

  “Last one on the right. My bed’s not that big, though, it might be hard—”

  “I’ll be fine.” He opened the door he’d been directed to and stepped into the bedroom, pausing after he shut it behind him. The room was light and airy, how he would’ve expected for her to want it. A soft white light glowed in the corner from a round-ball-thing. Some type of lamp. Very feminine. The whole room was white and pink and lacy and girly. But the bed was a problem. He wasn’t sure how she slept on it alone. The two of them certainly weren’t going to fit together.

  “I—” Her body wilted against his.

  Nope. Not acceptable. A child-sized bed wasn’t going to put a damper on this moment with her.

  He took two steps forward and yanked the bedding off the be
d and spread it across the carpeted floor. Then knelt to the ground, spreading Tara out before him like the delicious banquet she was.

  “I tried to tell you it was small.”

  He shook his head. “Doesn’t matter.” He tugged at her shirt, pulling it off and tossing it over his head, not caring in the least where it landed. Her beautiful breasts were once again encased in a lacy bra-thing. Snap. That was gone next and sailing across the room to join her shirt.

  “Hey! I need those to stay intact. Bras are expensive.”

  “Not for me, you don’t.” His fingers traveled to her waist, deftly untying her pajama pants and pulling them off her hips, panties and all in one smooth movement. Her scent assailed him. Sweet and decadent and waiting just for him—better than his first experience in Lily’s Diner with a fresh batch of honey buns.

  Tara leaned back, using her elbows to keep her chest up and hooded needy eyes on his every move. “You’re not naked.”

  He met her gaze and smiled. “I can only undress one of us at a time.” He dipped his head to her wet slit and licked, relishing the moan of pure pleasure the fell from her lips. Her knees fell open wider. “Plus, I’ve really been wanting to do that.”

  “Continue,” she said, her voice shaky. “Far be it from me to deny you something you want.”

  Owen hooked his arms under her knees and lifted her legs up and back, giving himself even better access to her sweet center. He kissed the inside of her thighs, gently licking and nipping her pale flesh. Taking his time. Enjoying every squeak and mewl coming from his mate.

  She was everything he could’ve ever dreamed of wanting. He was hers inasmuch as he thought of her belonging to him.

  He made love to her body with his mouth until she bowed off the ground and fisted the blankets on either side of her. Her legs tried to close on him but had no chance against his strength. A keening cry tore from her lips and he felt her come against his tongue. His lips. Her entire body shuddered through the orgasm, rocking them both and making him harder than he’d been only moments ago.

  Owen shifted his large body between her legs, taking a quick moment to shed his pants and free his straining cock. He wouldn’t take her yet. Not until he’d wrung out at least one more climax. Not until he’d released more of the stress and worry his sweet woman carried with her everywhere.

  He leaned over her, pushing gently on her ribcage between her breasts until her elbows slid out from under her and she rested flat on the floor. Then moved that hand to one of her breasts, where he gently kneaded and tugged on a very hard nipple. With his other hand, he slid two fingers inside her and fucked her slowly and methodically until he felt her body tense again. Shudder against him. Her breath was coming out in pants.

  “I can’t.” Her voice begged, raw and desperate.

  “You can,” He said, driving her over the precipice her body was clinging to. She screamed again and writhed beneath his hands. She relaxed for only a moment before it overcame her again and an addition orgasm came rushing over her with the power of a raging storm. She gasped out his name and struggled beneath his hold, fighting to free her body.

  Then she crashed down to the blanket on the floor, releasing a deep sigh of relief. Owen removed his hands from her body for only a moment, giving her a second to reorient. She was shuddering and sweating and staring up at him through dark eyes. Her room was only lit by the tiny glowing ball in the corner, but he could see her clearly, even in the darkness, and she was breathtaking. The way she looked at him. Like he was her world. Like he meant as much to her as she meant to him.

  His heart lurched in his chest with just the slightest bit of regret. He had been so selfish. He’d taken her as his mate. Joined their souls. Doomed her to an unavoidable devasting loss. He wouldn’t be with her forever. He wouldn’t be able to watch her belly grow round with their young. He wouldn’t still be sharing a bed with her when they were old and grey.

  All of that would be taken from them because of his mark.

  Because he was aonkan.

  Outcast.

  Tara lay still for a moment on the floor of her bedroom panting, sweaty, and noticing that Owen had paused their lovemaking to stare down at her through the semi-darkness. The small moon-lamp she kept on her dresser gave off just enough light that she could make out the lines of his face. She could see the self-doubt, the scowl, the guilt. So many things rolled up into one tight-lipped expression.

  “Owen,” she said, managing to finally catch a breath. “You’d better not be done, because I’m going to need you to fuck me until I literally can’t move.” She raised an arm and waggled a finger in his face. “See…moving…” She clicked her tongue. “You still have work to do.”

  Snap out of it. Be with me. In this moment.

  She needed to feel him. Needed to know that he was in this with her. That he was going to fight, not just let Col and the others end this beautiful thing they had between them.

  Owen’s eyebrows rose and the tight-lipped frown turned into a feral smile. One that made Tara gulp a lungful of air before he dropped down on top of her, growling deep in his chest as only a beast could. She’d always loved that particular fairytale. Beauty and the Beast. Now they just had to make sure their story ended with a happily ever after too.

  “I don’t want to hurt you,” Owen said, his voice a sexy rumble that made Tara’s girly bits hum even more.

  Feeling confident that she’d knocked him out of whatever guilt-funk he’d found himself temporarily trapped in, Tara smiled and shook her head. “I want everything you’ve got, big guy. I won’t break. I promise.” She wrapped her arms around his neck.

  Owen lifted her legs, guiding them to wrap around his waist. Then sunk deep with one smooth stroke, filling her so completely that the ache in her body shifted in that split second and she was coming again.

  He hadn’t moved yet. Just pushed inside her, but the fireworks detonated, and she was flying. She screamed against his chest and clung to him until the muscles throughout her body released.

  Owen shuddered in her arms. She could feel that he was holding back. Of course he was. He hadn’t even moved yet inside her and she was going off like a fourth of July rocket with a two-second fuse.

  She dragged in a deep breath and kissed his chest, which was all she could reach with her mouth at the moment.

  Then he moved and she decided heaven had to have sent her Owen. Every nerve. Every part of her body tightened as he stroked in and out.

  “Oh,” she whimpered. “Oh, God. Yes.” He was finding a rhythm, pumping into her harder and faster. She could feel his heart pounding in his chest like a stampeding herd of reindeer. He was slick with sweat. They both were. He felt so good. Everything felt so good. It was going to happen again. This was going to be her fate—coming so hard and so often when they had sex that she would be absolutely useless as a person for at least twenty-four hours afterward. She’d never be able to walk straight again.

  She was okay with that.

  “Owen,” she cried out with a desperation she didn’t recognize in her voice. “Owen!” her body arched, another orgasm slamming into her like a freight train.

  “Tara.” He lost it with her this time, bellowing out her name with a roar and pounded into her hard, pushing her orgasm to peak again with his.

  It was so much. So blissfully overwhelming that she couldn’t think. Except how much she loved this giant of a man who had come into her life with such a force, her whole view of the world had shifted.

  He jerked one last time and then stilled a moment before collapsing to the floor beside her. One of his arms lay lazily across her chest, keeping them connected even though he wasn’t inside her any longer. It was nice, but it wasn’t enough. Without his body heat on top of her the air in the bedroom felt cold.

  She wriggled her body, struggling under the surprising weight of his arm. She couldn’t move. It was official. “I can’t move.”

  “My work is finished.” Owen came to life again, curled t
he lackadaisical arm around her waist and drew her tight to his body. Once he’d pressed her ass firmly against his still semi-hard cock—how that was possible she didn’t have a clue—his hand moved to cup one of her breasts. “For now.”

  Tara smiled, loving the feel of his strong body against hers. Loving that he wanted to hold her. Loving being held.

  His fingers toyed with her nipple and she felt a familiar stir deep in her belly. There was no more energy inside her. He couldn’t be thinking about more. And thankfully, moments later, before any other floor-play-shenanigans could be started, she drifted into a deep contented sleep.

  14

  Tara opened her eyes and stretched. A smile curved her lips and her soft little body snuggled even closer. Owen traced a knuckle along her cheek and played with piece of her fiery red hair that had fallen across her face like a glistening flame.

  “Morning,” she said, her voice raspy. “Is it morning?” She tipped her head up and turned to look at the clock up on the dresser. Light outside wasn’t a true indicator, though the day length lately had been much more normal in his opinion than when they’d first arrived in this world.

  “Just past seven,” Owen answered.

  “I need to go to the store and work on cleaning up. I need to call Larry and see if he can order me some new doors, not sure the damage to them from giant animal bodies is fixable. Mom is going to flip if she comes home with dad and the store is still a mess.”

  “Why don’t I take a look at it and see if I can help. I’ll take you over there and—”

  “You just don’t want to leave me.”

  “Is that so bad?” She was exactly right. He didn’t want to leave her alone for longer than a second. And he certainly wasn’t going to abandon her right where the wolves were likely to return—the store—where they’d attacked twice already. And now she carried his scent. His mark. She wasn’t going to be able to hide that she belonged to him any easier than he could hide the detested brand on his neck that made her belonging to him a boundary he shouldn’t have crossed.