[The Shifters Committee 03.0] Jealous Flames

by Rebecca Foxx

  Lisa smiled and promised she would. She couldn’t believe it but after weeks of being isolated in San Francisco she’d finally made two new potential friends.

  Chapter 2

  Colton couldn’t believe he’d asked this woman out on a date. He hadn’t dated in months, and his last relationship had ended messily. He hated to talk about it, and found that even thinking about it made him depressed. But when he saw Lisa in the food hall, he couldn’t help himself.

  She was the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen and he couldn’t seem to keep his own emotions in check. Colton was a bear shifter and was a native to the woods of Lake Tahoe. He’d grown up there, and when he moved out of the woods to find work, he found the real world wasn’t up to his standards.

  He preferred living in the woods as it was much easier for him to shift, and he had plenty of food and water to satiate his hungry mouth. One of Colton’s most important rules was to never tell a woman of his powers.

  If they should ever become scared of him, or if he should harm them in any way, he would never be able to forgive himself. In fact, it was his last girlfriend that had seen him shape shift into a bear that made Colton regret ever telling her.

  It was a Sunday afternoon when Colton had told Cora he’d had something to show her. It was raining outside, and his backyard was safely obscured by clusters of pine trees. He’d shed his clothes and turned into a bear before her very eyes, prompting her to scream and run back inside.

  When he transformed back into a human and ran inside after her, he found Cora packing her things. She said she knew that he was different, but this was simply too much for her to handle.

  “But I don’t want you to leave,” he said. “I’ll never do it again, I can change, I—“

  “You can’t change, it’s who you are! I’m sorry Colton, I just can’t deal with this.”

  When they’d spoken on the phone later, she’d called him a monster. She couldn’t bear to stand the sight of him anymore and had left immediately. Colton had never seen or heard from her again. He knew he wasn’t a monster, but he certainly didn’t feel very good inside either. Coming to Lake Tahoe was an escape for him. And meeting Lisa was an unexpected pleasure.

  When Lisa thought about Colton, she thought about how rough he looked. She knew he was strong and muscular, and wanted desperately for him to wrap his arms around her. She daydreamed all day about what it would feel like to have Colton pin her against a wall.

  So obsessed was she with the concept of sex that she barely noticed Sunflower talking. They were taking a walk around the lake while waiting for the sun to set and Lisa’s head was up in the clouds. Sunflower eventually poked her in the stomach, asking if she was okay.

  “Oh yeah, I’m fine,” Lisa said. “I’m just a bit distracted is all.”

  Sunflower grinned at her. “I bet it’s that Colton guy. He sure was handsome. I can’t believe he asked you out on a date!”

  Lisa beamed. She knew she wasn’t slim like most girls, but had found that her curves were what men were really after. All she wanted was the right man to come along who could handle her and her body. Luckily for Lisa, Colton was just the man for the job.

  “You have to tell me everything tomorrow,” Sunflower said. “I haven’t had a friend to gossip with in a while and I’m dying for something interesting to happen.”

  “I know how you feel,” Lisa said. “I don’t have too many friends back home and the friends I do have I barely ever see.”

  “Why’s that?”

  “I work way too much.”

  Sunflower sighed. “I know what you mean. I had a lot of friends but my boyfriend and I broke up almost a year ago and he took all his friends back with him. I haven’t really been able to meet anyone, though I try to attend those group activities. You know, like paint nights? It can be hard when you’re just tagging along with people you’ve never met before, but at the same time it’s a great opportunity to meet people.”

  “I never thought about doing anything like that. I’m usually pretty alone, even when I’m out in public. I guess I have anxiety or something. It’s weird because I always imagined myself to be this strong, confident woman. But I think I’m starting to find that confidence again. I guess breakups will do that to you.”

  Sunflower smiled and looped arms with Lisa. “I sure am glad I met you.”

  “Same here,” Lisa said. “I love nature, but I get the feeling I’d be bored out of my skull with no one to hang out with while I was here. And I’m using up all my vacation time for the summer, so I’d really be feeling lonely in a few days.”

  Next to them, they heard a loud splash as one of the teenagers jumped off the bridge and into the water. There weren’t too many kids vacationing at Lake Tahoe. There were mostly teenagers and young adults who were in love and in lust.

  Lisa watched women in bright pink and purple bathing suits making out either with their girlfriends or their boyfriends on the thick golden sand. She could see through to almost the bottom of the lake, and it made Lisa’s mouth water with anticipation. She loved swimming, and planned on waking early the next day to go for a few laps.

  When she was younger, she’d been on the diving team at school. She’d been bullied a bit by the other girls for being the “chubby” swimmer but her extra weight had actually made Lisa a better swimmer. She won several gold and silver medals for her school, and was soon the object of affection and envy form all the girls and boys.

  The older she got, the more Lisa fell in love with her body. She enjoyed its curves and swoops, the deep caverns that rested near her collarbone. Her eyes were round and watery, giving off the appearance that she was always listening intensely to anything anyone said to her. She wondered if this is what had attracted Colton to her.

  She knew it couldn’t just be her body that made her attractive, and knew she would have to seduce him with her mind as well. Perhaps they would share a romantic kiss under the fireworks and Lisa would fall instantly in love with him.

  “My word you look so distracted right now,” Sunflower said.

  “I am—I have a lot on my mind. Have you eve felt so strongly about a man you just met before?”

  “Oh sure. I’m pretty much in and out of love all the time. I actually think I might be addicted to other human beings,” Sunflower sad.

  Across the lake, they noticed Colton walking towards the woods. His figure was mostly hidden by the trees, and he seemed to be looking back and forth several times before disappearing into the heat of nature.

  “Where do you think he just went?” Sunflower asked.

  “I don’t know,” Lisa said. “Quite curious, don’t you think? Maybe we should go investigate.”

  “Good idea,” Sunflower whispered. They walked past clusters of people sunbathing and eating and headed towards the entrance to the woods. There was a small path that had been carved away by someone and it was lined on either side by rocks. Lisa noticed that halfway down the walking path, it forked. One side had a spiraling path that led towards another small lake and the other path was mostly covered by overgrown trees and vines.

  “Let’s go that way,” Lisa said excitedly.

  “Um okay, if you’re sure,” Sunflower said, sounding a little freaked out.

  As they walked along the track, Lisa felt a presence near them. She could hear someone or something walking with heavy footsteps on their left, then their right. When she and Sunflower finally stopped walking, they noticed a large black bear watching them from several feet away.

  “Oh no,” Lisa sad to Sunflower. “Don’t make any sound.”

  Sunflower had turned white as a ghost and was gripping onto Lisa’s arm so hard that it felt like she was going to penetrate skin. The bear didn’t seem to be moving, for one reason or another.

  Suddenly, they felt a pair of hands on their shoulders. Sunflower shrieked and Lisa turned around to face whoever it was with dignity. It was none other than Colton. He told them to be quiet and walked in front of them to
face down the bear. To Lisa’s surprise, it took one head nod from Colton and the bear had turned around and walked away.

  “What the hell?” she said.

  “Don’t make too much noise,” Colton instructed her. “Or it might come back.”

  Lisa could hardly make any noise. She let Colton lead her and Sunflower silently out of the woods. Only when they were in the clear did she finally turn to him and ask what in the world had just happened.

  Chapter 3

  Colton explained to the girls that the bears were indigenous to those parts of the woods, and that they hardly ever came near the tenants. Lisa wasn’t sure why, but she didn’t believe him. There had been something mysterious about Colton’s standoff with the bear. She’d never seen anything like it in her whole life. It was as if he’d been able to commune with nature.

  “Just try to stick to the designated paths and everything should go smoothly,” Colton instructed.

  “No way,” Sunflower said. “I’m never going back in those woods again.”

  Colton and Lisa laughed. “What?” Sunflower asked. “It’s true.”

  They bid farewell to Sunflower at her cabin and Colton continued to walk Lisa toward hers.

  “Do you want to come in for a cup of coffee?” she asked.

  “That would be lovely,” he said, his eyes sparkling in the sunshine. She stared at his jaw, which was strong and chiseled. All she wanted to do was reach out and touch it until it opened and she stuck all her fingers inside his mouth and then—

  “Lisa, you doing okay?” he asked.

  “I’m fine, sorry. Why?”

  “Because you’re staring off into space.”

  She blushed. “I’m okay, sorry. I guess I’m still a little riled up from what happened earlier.”

  “Understandably so,” he said. She unlocked her front door and he followed her inside. The instant they crossed the threshold, Lisa felt an intense pull in her groin. She turned around to ask Colton a question but found he had been following too close to her and they were now face to face.

  “Do you like your coffee black or with sugar?” she asked, swallowing hard.

  “Definitely with sugar,” he said. To her surprise, he looked from one eye to the other before leaning down and kissing her hard on the mouth. Lisa felt her breath being taken away from the force of his body against hers. In one swift movement, he turned her around and pinned her to the wall. She felt helpless and turned on at the same time.

  Colton bit her lower jawbone and licked his way to her ear. She sighed loudly with pleasure and waited till her hands were free to start unbuttoning his shirt. He was so hairy that it only turned Lisa on more. He tugged her shirt and shorts off, placing one hand between her thighs and coaxing his way slowly inside her.

  She gasped out as his fingers worked in and out, their pressure so intense that her knees practically buckled.

  Lisa trained her eyes down to his crotch for a split second, admiring the girth of his manhood. He crouched down slightly before inserting himself inside of her.

  “Aaah,” Lisa called out, biting his neck hard out of pleasure. He cooed in her ear and she raked her nails down his back so hard she drew blood.

  Colton lifted her slightly off the ground and pressed her against the door. He rocked her back and forth forcefully, making sure to hit all the pressure points with his thrusts. Her breasts had become so sensitive that even the slightest touch of her nipples turned her on.

  She felt like there was an ocean inside her that had been pent up for so many months and was now being unleashed at full force. She was wet and warm all over, and crying out into Colton’s ear to have her harder and harder.

  He pushed into her so that her back was imprinted with wood and the doorknob slammed into her leg but she didn’t care. Everything about this moment was brilliant and she didn’t care if the world crashed down around them—in that moment, all she wanted was Colton.

  They came together, which had never happened for Lisa. She felt her whole body shaking as she wrapped he hands around his head, tugging him closer for one last kiss. They shook briefly in unison until Colton finally sighed and dropped her gently to the ground.

  “Oh my god I’m sorry, I didn’t plan on doing that,” he said.

  “It’s okay it’s totally fine—I really enjoyed myself,” she said.

  He smiled and bit her left cheek. “You’re beautiful, you know that?”

  She blushed and smiled at him. “Thank you.”

  “Can I ask you a question?”

  “Sure,” she said.

  “Is there any way I can still get that cup of coffee?”

  Lisa burst out laughing. “Of course. You’re ridiculous, you know that right?”

  “Who, me? Never.”

  She continued chuckling on her way into the kitchen. Opening up the coffee pot, she dumped out the old filter from this morning’s batch. Her back felt afire from Colton’s gaze and her whole body was electrified from his touch. He was like a moray eel. After having electrified her to her very core, every step she took was like an aftershock.

  “I really didn’t expect that to happen though,” Colton said.

  “You say that like you regret it,” she teased.

  “No of course not. I don’t regret anything. I just didn’t want you to get the wrong impression of me. I don’t know what came over me, though. You do something crazy to my system, Lisa.”

  She smiled, reaching into a yellow cylinder and scooping out cups of coffee.

  “I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you all day,” she admitted.

  “Oh really now?”

  She grinned again, happy he couldn’t see her. She heard towards the sink and filled up mugs of water to scoop into the machine. “I’m just feeding your ego, aren’t I?” she said.

  “Little bit,” he responded. “But I don’t mind it. It’s been a while since someone’s given me a compliment. Usually it’s the old ladies that like to flirt with me, and that’s never a good time for anyone involved.”

  “Oh my god,” Lisa said, laughing. “Please tell me you flirt back with them.”

  “Once one of them actually slapped me in the ass! Stop laughing I’m not joking.”

  “This sounds like the greatest job,” she said. “It is. I really love it here. Lisa?”

  “Yeah?”

  “I know we haven’t known each other long, but I’m glad we met.”

  She turned around and held him a sweetened mug of coffee. “So am I,” she said.

  Chapter 4

  The fireworks started around nine p.m. Colton and Lisa made their way towards the field at a quarter past nine, as they’d lost track of time because they were talking so much. Lisa enjoyed the way that Colton could hold a conversation without becoming anxious or running out of things to say.

  She knew it had been rushed, but sleeping with Colton ad been a real wakeup call for her. He was strong and protective, a hyper masculine man that had the same thorns around his heart as she did.

  He’d brought up the fact that he’d been in a serious relationship before but it hadn’t ended well.

  “What happened?” she asked, curious but anxious to be prodding so much.

  “I, um. It’s complicated. She saw me in a really vulnerable state and she judged me.”

  “I’m so sorry to hear that. Was there a chance for reconciliation?”

  “No. It ended really badly and I don’t think I’m ever going to see you again. It’s all right though. I’m on to bigger and better opportunities now. I came out here, started this resort, and I’ve been feeling much better since then.”

  “I’m glad to hear that. I know we don’t know too much about each other, but I completely understand where you’re coming from. I also came out of a pretty messy relationship recently.”

  But I bet your boyfriend never revealed to you that he’s a bear shifter, Colton thought to himself.

  But when he thought back on it, Lisa had caught him staring down that b
ear in the forest. She must have had some theories about what he was—that he wasn’t entirely human. He decided it was best to keep this information to himself, that it might be too dangerous to admit to her that he was half bear.

  He’d never told any of his friends and had only ever told other bear shifters. It was rare that he met other shifters; mostly he just came across other bears or animals that weren’t able to shift.

  When Colton first came across his powers, he’d just turned eighteen years old. His parents hadn’t told him that he had latent shifting powers that had been passed down his family for generations.