The Bear Prince: A BBW Bear Shifter Billionaire Paranormal Romance Novella (Seattle's Billionaire Bears Book 3)

by Sable Sylvan

  Crystal walked over to a large wooden picnic bench which was situated on top of a large fake grass rug over the dirt. Above the table was a canopy, made of plastic to block out the rain, but underneath that top layer of canopy was another layer, in creamy white tulle fabric that, even thin, looked as warm and bright as a freshly baked sugar cookie. There were little amber glass light bulbs on a string, with glowing orange filaments. As Crystal looked through the curtains, she found herself getting lost in her imagination, before the smell of delicious food pulled her out of one fantasy and into another.

  Crystal turned. Yes, the sausage in a bun was on the tray, as well as a drink she presumed was hers, but in addition to the fries and onion rings, there was every last dang thing she’d seen on the menu. There were jalapeño poppers, breaded, full of delicious ricotta and mozzarella cheese she would’ve been able to smell a mile away. There were broccoli cheese bites, the broccoli crowns peeking through the crispy golden batter. There were the regular fries, golden and straight and long as straws, but there were also salted and peppered potato wedges, as well as bright orange curly fries dusted with brown fragrant spices that almost transported her to an exotic land. There was a pair of corn dogs, with little zig-zags in yellow and red of mustard and ketchup, as well as a large pretzel with big grains of Kosher salt and dipping pots of cheese, mustard made with real mustard kernels.

  “Whoa, you leave any food for the other people?” asked Crystal. “This is really quite the spread.”

  “I’m glad you think so,” said Damien.

  “Where’s the cotton candy?” asked Crystal.

  “Trust me, you’ll wanna wait until after to see it made, up-close,” said Damien.

  Crystal and Damien made short work of the food. Although Crystal was hungry from a long day running around Seattle chasing the hottest scoop, Damien actually ate way more than her. “Where is all that food going?” asked Crystal.

  “I’m a bear,” said Damien. “Don’t tell me you forgot.”

  “Okay, but what’s being a bear got to do with it?” asked Crystal.

  Damien grabbed Crystal’s hand, and then, turned it over so that his hand was beneath hers. “Feel that?” asked Damien, gripping her hand tightly. “That heat? Mammal shifters are hot-blooded, and we bears burn energy like nobody’s business. You think this dinner’s big, you should see what I had for lunch.” Damien let go of Crystal’s hand, exposing his large palm to Crystal. The palm, and the undersides of his fingers, were marked with what looked at first like dark brown tattoos, but which, on closer inspection, were natural dark callus-like marks, forming the shape of a bear’s paw.

  “I guess I don’t know that much about shifters,” said Crystal. “They didn’t have a lot of them in the town I grew up in.”

  “Where did you grow up?” asked Damien.

  “Some small town in the middle of nowhere,” said Crystal. “Well, to be more specific, in the middle of Idaho. I visited Seattle when I was little, with my parents, to see the Space Needle...and now, I visit Idaho to see the stars.” Crystal looked up, past the sheer canopy and lights. Even though they were a few miles outside the city limits, the sky wasn’t clear enough to see any of the stars in the night sky. The closest thing to glistening stars were the blinking lights of planes passing overhead.

  “You know, I’m not from around here either,” said Damien.

  “Really?” asked Crystal.

  “Really,” said Damien. “But my town...well, it’s kind of the opposite. Ever heard of Port Jameson?”

  “I can’t say I have” said Crystal.

  “It’s a shifter town, down in Oregon, on the Willamette River,” said Damien. “And trust me...you can see the stars from there.”

  “I’ll have to visit it sometime,” said Crystal with a smile. “Now...you did promise me some cotton candy, Mr. Michaels.”

  For a second, Damien was confused. Who the heck was ‘Mr. Michaels’? Oh, wait. It was that pesky identity he had half-made up. He could tell her the truth later, but for now, he had to satisfy her sweet tooth.

  Damien led Crystal over to a cart where an elderly Chinese man had a variety of flavors listed on a board. Damien asked the man for the ‘special’, and Crystal watched as the man worked his magic.

  The cotton candy machine was like the one seen at most fairs, but, this man didn’t wrap the candy around a paper cone into a beehive shape. No, instead, he made an upside down circular-based cone, in yellow. He added pink sugar slowly, but then, that’s where the magic started. The man used a metal stick and poked the fluffy candy so that it was forming some shape. Crystal couldn’t tell what it was going to be quite yet. The man added more layers: white, pink again, and finally, a layer of green, and a layer of blue that was smooth. He passed the treat to Crystal and Crystal marveled at the giant cotton candy while Damien paid the man.

  “This thing is frikkin’ huge!” said Crystal. “It’s a flower of some kind...but what kind of flower?”

  “I think it looks like a lotus, floating on the water,” said Damien. “The blue is the water, the green is the lily pad, and the flower, well, there’s a yellow center, with white and pink petals.”

  “It’s almost too beautiful to eat,” said Crystal. “But...the key word is almost.” She ripped a big hunk of the blue raspberry cotton candy and tried it. It was still hot and it melted in her mouth. Damien helped her make short work of the layers of green lime, yellow lemon, pink raspberry, and white cherry confection before they cleaned their hands off and walked around the fair some more to see what activities interested them.

  It was still raining, but for the most part, the carnival wasn’t messy...except Crystal found the perfect activity for them to do. There was a section of the carnival away from the main drag with a large grassy area enclosed by a very tall chain link fence that covered the sides and the top of what consisted of a flat area, leading down to a small valley, with giant glowing bowling pins the size of three people, and large transparent rubber balls to launch at the pins inflated and ready by a carnie. There was no line for the attraction.

  “Let’s do that,” said Crystal, taking Damien by the hand and leading him to the carnie. “Excuse me, how does this game work?”

  “This is human bowling,” explained the carnie. “We put you in the giant rubber ball, your partner helps launch you at the pins, and if you two get a strike, you win a stuffed animal of your choice.” Crystal looked over the stuffed animals. There was one stuffed animal she really wanted: a giant bear with goofy eyes and paws.

  “Can we do it?” Crystal asked Damien.

  “Of course...but do you want to be in the ball, or do you want to push the ball?” asked Damien.

  “Well, you’re stronger, so you can push me,” said Crystal.

  “Great, we’ll do it,” said Damien, paying the carnie with some tickets.

  The carnie helped Crystal get in the ball. The ball had a large opening she could crawl into, and then it was plugged with another inflatable pieces, with perforations on the side allowing air in. She was positioned at the top of the large hill...and Damien got up behind her, and then, just pushed!

  The idea was that Damien would provide momentum and Crystal would direct that momentum into getting a prize. But, physics had something else in store for Crystal. Crystal flipped and flopped in the large ball, and realized that wearing a dress that day might not have been the best idea. She fell forward, and was in theory directing the ball, but in reality, the ball was directing her. It went off course, veering towards a fence. Crystal cringed, but there was no stopping the ball from hitting the fence. She covered her face...

  ...And the ball bounced off the fence, which acted as a bumper, and back into the arena. By now, the ball had built up lots of energy, and Crystal felt more like a pinball than a bowling ball, given how she was ricocheted back and forth against the fences, until finally, the ball was launched up and into the air after it went off of a ramp...

  Crystal could make, out of the corn
er of her eye, the sight of Damien rushing down the side of the fence, in an enclosed walkway for other players, down to the area with the pins. Crystal waved, and he waved back...but then, the ball hit the fence ceiling

  ...And the ball came down on the ground, hard, bouncing up and down like a bouncy-ball rather than a bowling ball. Crystal pushed, with all her might, to direct the ball to the right place, and finally, her pushing worked. The ball hit the pins, and not just one, not just two, but all ten pins came down and their lights changed from red to green, the sign they had been knocked out!

  Crystal was out of breath as the carnie helped her out of the ball, and more than a bit dizzy. “That was...really something,” said Crystal as she followed Damien and the carnie back up the hill in a little golf cart that was driven down the walkway for extreme cases just like these. “At least we knocked down all ten pins!”

  “You did it, Crystal,” said Damien. “It was all you. So what are you going to pick?”

  “Is that really a question?” asked Crystal. Ten minutes later, Damien had his answer as Crystal was clutching a giant plush teddy bear that looked more goofy than scary.

  “So Crystal...you up for a second date?” asked Damien.

  “Of course I am,” said Crystal. “Same time next week?”

  “Works for me,” said Damien, putting his hand on the small of Crystal’s back. Just touching the curvy woman who had graced him with her company sent a chill down his spine and made his cock yearn for release. Yes, the carnival was supposed to be his treat to her, but Crystal had really showed him a great time. She was more adventurous, feisty, and downright fun than any other woman he’d ever met.

  Damien drove Crystal back to her apartment and dropped her off. At the front door, without saying anything beforehand, Damien kissed her cheek...and just her cheek, before wishing her a goodnight, and leaving, like a gentleman. Crystal waved as he drove away, and then, went upstairs to her apartment to tell Tangie all about the man who had treated her as if he were a prince than the slimy toad she’d assumed he’d be.

  Chapter Three

  The next week seemed to pass by quickly, and unlike the week before, Crystal found herself actually excited to see Damien again. She’d filled Tangie in on all the details about the last date they’d gone on, and Tangie had approved of Damien whole-heartedly. This week, Damien told Crystal to wear something nice, cocktail-formal, because he wanted to take her somewhere special.

  Just like the Friday before, Damien showed up right on time, greeting her with a warm hug, a kiss on the cheek, and with a fresh bouquet of flowers as well as, of course, another vase, as the old flowers still hadn’t wilted, as Crystal had taken great care of them. Crystal showed Damien around her apartment. The vase of flowers he’d given her the week before was now on an end table in Crystal’s bedroom, watched over by the large goofy stuffed teddy bear that now called her dresser its home. Her sheets were plain, navy blue and forest green and purchased at some big-box store.

  “You have a nice place,” said Damien.

  “Believe it or not, I’ve had this apartment since I first moved to Seattle,” said Crystal. “I guess I could afford a bigger place, but, I like living alone. What’s your place like?”

  “Oh, it’s...it’s nothing special,” said Damien. Remembering to keep the lie up was hard, but, Damien still hadn’t found the right time to tell Crystal the truth about who he was. Technically, his room in the manor wasn’t anything special, it was just like the rooms his cousins and brothers had, but, compared to Crystal’s small one-bedroom apartment, his bedroom was a mansion. Her entire apartment was smaller than his walk-in closet. “Are you excited to go out tonight?”

  “Very, it’s been a while since I went somewhere fancy,” said Crystal. “Is my outfit going to be fancy enough? Or is it too much?” She motioned over her outfit.

  “Do a turn,” said Damien, twisting his finger around.

  Crystal spun. She was wearing a navy blue dress with lace details on the neckline and hemline, with a black faux-fur bolero. She’d chosen plain silver jewelry, dotted with faux-sapphires, which glistened in shades of not only blue, but also, green and purple, as the glass fake gems had a special coating that made them shine in all the colors of a peacock’s feathers. She was wearing plain opaque black tights, which were warm enough for the windy, cloudy Seattle night, and a pair of matching navy blue quilted leather flats with black patent leather round toes.

  The view, from Damien’s perspective, was breathtaking. Last week’s outfit was casual, slightly dressy, but cute. This outfit was sophisticated, and Crystal looked like a real, grown-up woman in her ensemble.

  “You look great,” said Damien, feeling his cock throb against the bounds of his briefs.

  “You don’t look half bad yourself,” said Crystal, looking over Damien. Damien was wearing a grey suit, with black leather shoes, a black leather belt, and a cream shirt, with a dark grey tie. She’d only ever seen him in casual clothes before, but the suit was well-fitted and if Crystal didn’t know Damien was a gardener, she would’ve assumed he had purchased a custom tailored designer suit. “Are we driving to the event, or walking, or what?”

  “There’s a car waiting outside for us,” said Damien.

  “Wait, right now?” asked Crystal.

  “Yes, right now,” said Damien.

  “Then we better hurry,” said Crystal, grabbing her black cross body purse off the counter and turning off the lights before shutting and locking the door before her and Damien.

  “Hey, slow down,” said Damien. “The car’s not going anywhere.”

  “I don’t want to waste your money,” said Crystal, as the elevator took them down to the first floor of her apartment, to a hallway that could barely be called a lobby. She followed Damien, who opened the door for her before holding her hand and helping her down the steps.

  Crystal held Damien’s hand as they walked to a car that was longer, blacker, and fancier than she expected. “No frikkin’ way...” said Crystal. “Did you really get...a limo?”

  “Yes, because you deserve the best,” said Damien, opening the limo door for Crystal. The inside of the limo had a cold bright blue lighting. The limo was nice and warm, but not too humid or too dry, and there were chilled beverages in a fridge. “May I serve you a refreshment?”

  “I should probably just have water,” said Crystal.

  “Whatever you say,” said Damien, opening a sparkling French mineral water and pouring a glass for Crystal.

  Crystal sipped at the fancy beverage and looked out the tinted windows at the city. “I’ve never been in a limo before,” said Crystal, turning back to Damien, who refilled her glass.

  “Really?” asked Damien.

  “What, this is a normal Friday for you or something?” joked Crystal.

  Crystal had no idea just how right she was. Damien looked over her. Crystal had been not only the most fun and adventurous woman he’d had the pleasure of meeting, but her gratitude made her really special. The enjoyability of every experience with her was amplified by the fact that he was able to show her activities she’d never had the pleasure of trying before. “Well, I have a whole evening planned,” said Damien. “Dinner, of course, and then...”

  “Shh,” said Crystal, putting a finger to Damien’s lips. “Let me be surprised.”

  “Your wish, my command,” said Damien.

  The car pulled up to a curb, and the partition between the driver and the passenger side of the car was lowered. “We’re here, Damien,” said the driver.

  “Thanks, Niles,” said Damien. Damien helped Crystal out of the car and Niles drove off.

  “You knew the driver’s name...is he a friend of yours?” asked Crystal.

  “Yeah, Niles is an old family friend,” said Damien.

  “Then no wonder you had the hook-up for a limo service,” said Crystal. She read the restaurant sign. “Ne Savez Pas Jacques...a French restaurant?”

  “Do you like French food? If not, we can
pick something else—” started Damien.

  Crystal put a finger to Damien’s lips again and looked up into his big brown eyes. “Damien. Don’t worry so much. And of course I love French food, what romantic girl doesn’t?” She took Damien’s hand into hers and looked back up into his warm eyes, the eyes that she couldn’t keep her own eyes off of, and they walked into the restaurant.

  Damien walked straight to the podium, where a tall, blonde woman in a fitted black bandage dress was standing. “I have a reservation, Damien Michaels, for two, for eight,” said Damien.

  “Of course, Mr....Michaels,” said the woman, “Right this way.”

  Damien pressed his hand against the small of Crystal’s back as the pair followed the waitress, who led them to a private pair of chairs in a back room. Well, at least, that’s what Crystal thought it was at first. She soon realized it was a private garden area room, a patio area meant for just a single couple. There was a single table, with two chairs, a candle, and iced water already being filled. Around the wooden deck area, there were gorgeous flowers in bloom, in shades of white and pink and yellow, and above them, there were thin layers of matching fabric with beautiful lights. It was much like the scene at the carnival, except the flowers at the restaurant were real and not made of cotton candy, and the layers of fabric were fluffier and there wasn’t a protective canopy in case of rain. The lights weren’t in large glass bulbs, but were small and resembled fireflies, due to their size, hue, and the way they flickered.

  “Oh, Damien,” said Crystal, looking up at her handsome date. “This is perfect.”

  Damien pulled out the seat for Crystal. “I’m glad you like it, I called ahead to make sure everything would be perfect,” said Damien.

  “I guess everyone in Seattle must owe you a favor!” joked Crystal, although she had no clue just how true that statement was.

  A tall waiter came over. He had a large bottle in one hand, and against his waist, there seemed to be...a large, curved sword. Crystal caught a peak at his hands. He had the marks, the marks of a shifter, although without looking closely, she couldn’t tell what kind of shifter he was. From his shock of wavy blonde hair, she had half a mind to guess that he was a part-time lion.