He led her out to an old and beat-up Bronco. It was black. He opened the passenger side door for her and helped her get in. She smiled as she watched him walk in front of the SUV. It was obvious beneath his t-shirt that he was ripped. He had the muscles of a guy who had worked hard his whole life. Someone like Dylan didn’t know what a desk job was, she imagined. Then her imagination began to wonder what he would look like carrying some wood over his shoulder not wearing a shirt in the summer time. Perhaps she would have to come back to find out for herself.
“Ready?” he asked as he got into the driver’s seat.
“Ready,” she echoed, feeling the pit of her stomach being overtaken by a horde of butterflies.
Dylan put the Bronco in drive and headed out of town towards the mountains, up in the direction from which Amanda had come.
“I want to show you my favorite spot to clear my head,” he said as he shifted and picked up speed.
Amanda had her window rolled down and was enjoying the way the cool night air felt on her hand. It was the perfect weather for a hoodie, she thought. It was just crisp enough to need to be warm.
They cruised down forest roads, winding their way slowly up the mountain. Finally, Dylan turned off on a dirt road that led to an opening in the woods and what amounted to a small dirt parking lot with large logs used like the concrete blocks in a regular parking lot.
He turned the car off and pointed to the sky.
Amanda looked out of the passenger side window and her breath was taken away.
The sky was full of stars. Not just the bright stars, either. It was every star. There were billions of them, she thought. She was only seeing a tiny fraction. She stared at the sky for the better part of two minutes. She felt his hand take hers.
“I hope you don’t mind,” he said as he intertwined their fingers.
“Not at all,” Amanda said, looking back at him.
She wanted him to kiss her with those lips. She wanted to feel his skin against hers. She wanted to know what it was like to make love to a man. All of these thoughts caused her cheeks to flush with heat. She looked back out at the sky.
“It’s beautiful,” she said.
“It’s perfect,” he replied.
He tugged on her hand and she looked back at him. His eyes had become dark in the moonlight. His lips were slightly parted as he stared at her. She could feel his eyes on her skin like a hand, slowly caressing her flesh. She devoured the sensation.
Dylan leaned over and pressed his soft lips against Amanda’s. She yielded to his kiss and he gently began to kiss her. He cupped a hand against her neck and she followed his hand with hers, holding onto his wrist.
He ran his tongue along the crease of her lips, sending her into a nosedive of pleasure that she’d never felt before. What was he doing? Why did it affect her this way? She wasn’t sure, but she was sure that she didn’t want it to stop.
She followed his lead and opened her mouth to him. This was it! She was about to really be kissed!
He slid his tongue into her mouth, gently exploring her tongue with his. She let him and felt desire begin to surge through her body, seeming to rest right between her thighs where the heat of passion was growing each minute.
After a moment of that, he pulled his face away from hers.
“Is this alright?” he asked, almost timid.
A guy like Dylan shouldn’t be timid, she thought. Girls would never say no to a guy like him. She looked at his perfect lips and nodded her head. He dove into kissing her again, this time more urgently.
His tongue went deeper into her mouth and she countered by exploring his mouth with hers. Dylan groaned as he kissed her and she brought her hands up to the base of his hairline.
He swept some hair out of her face and stopped for a second.
“Hang on,” he said and leaned over towards the driver’s side door.
In a second, the back of the front seat lurched backwards and Amanda landed on her back, supported by her elbows. She giggled. It was funny, but it made her more nervous than anything. She wasn’t sure how this was going to go. She needed to just lose her virginity, she thought. Was she ready?
Dylan slowly leaned down against her body, his weight comforting on top of her. She felt secure and safe beneath him. She spread her legs and he crawled up between them.
He kissed her on the mouth and then pulled away. He made eye contact with her briefly and then kissed her cheek softly. Then he kissed along her jawline slowly, letting his tongue flick across her skin. She gasped. She wanted him so badly. She wondered if he could tell.
Dylan ran his tongue from the lobe of her ear down to her clavicle. She breathed deeply, causing her large breasts to rise and fall rhythmically. He took a moment to stop and drink that in.
“You’re so beautiful, Amanda,” he said.
“Thank you,” she said awkwardly.
“Do you get told that enough?” he asked genuinely.
“Probably not,” she admitted. She wasn’t sure that any guy who wasn’t her dad had ever said something like that to her.
“You need to be told,” he said as desire darkened his eyes.
He plunged his mouth into her cleavage, kissing the tops of her breasts where they revealed themselves at the v-neck of her tank top.
She ran her hands through his long hair and used her nails. He stopped and moaned, moving his head against her hands. She’d found something that he really enjoyed.
Dylan leaned onto one side and looked at Amanda.
They stayed there, looking at each other. Finally, he reached a hand up to her neck and cupped it, running his thumb over her cheek gently. She turned into his palm, but before she could kiss it, his hand trailed down her throat, across her collarbone, and dancing along the tops of her breasts.
Her nipples tightened in response to his touch. They ached to be touched, to be licked. She’d never experienced that and she longed to experience it with Dylan.
His experienced hand cupped her breast and squeezed with just the right amount of pressure. She breathed deeply and saw him watch the rise and fall of her breasts.
“God,” he said to himself.
He drew his hand down her body and found the hem of her shirt. Slowly, he teased up the fabric, running his fingers across her belly. They delighted and surprised her and made her want all of him.
Dylan slid his warm palm inside her shirt and made his way upwards in a smooth movement. He cupped her breast that was still shielded from his touch by her bra.
She felt her hips begin to move. She needed more.
Dylan sensed it because he lowered his hips to hers and pressed them into her. Amanda’s eyes widened as she felt how hard he was against his jeans. Even though the fabric of both pairs, she could feel his length pushing against her.
She felt her core blaze with desire. The sensation of him between her thighs was new and she relished every moment of it. They kissed deeply, again and again, their hips grinding into each other as the moonlight poured in through the windows.
Dylan ran his hand down her stomach and touched her heat through her jeans. She gasped at the pressure of his hand there. Her eyes widened and he stopped.
“Is it okay?” he asked.
“Y-yeah,” she stammered, trying to find the words.
It was as though he had read her mind when he spoke.
“Have you ever done this with anyone before?” he asked. His words were tender, not judgmental.
“I haven’t,” she admitted.
“It’s okay,” he said.
She paused for a second.
“Dylan,” she began. “I don’t know if I wanna go—that I wanna do it tonight,” she admitted.
“That’s perfectly fine,” he said with a grin.
She smiled back at him. He’d felt so good against her. She couldn’t quite decide what her hang up was. If she was going to lose her virginity, it should be to someone as great as Dylan. He was sweet, thoughtful, hot, and built. He was perfect. Sh
e just didn’t think she was entirely ready, though.
Amanda was lost in thought when there was a crash in the woods near them.
“What was that?” she hissed, immediately sitting up. Dylan’s posture stiffened as well.
“I’m not sure,” he said. “Stay here.”
He grabbed a rifle from the back floorboard and loaded it with some ammunition in a bag beside it. He crawled out of the Bronco and stepped silently onto the pine needles littering the floor of the forest around them.
Amanda watched as he crept through the night, shining a flashlight here and there, trying to figure out where the sound was coming from.
She darted her eyes around, trying to see something that he might not, so she could warn him, but her realization was too late.
Suddenly three figures stepped out of the forest from three directions.
“Dylan!” she yelled.
“Stay there, Amanda!” he growled protectively.
All of the figures appeared to be men. The one directly in front of Dylan spoke first.
“Well, well, well. What do we have here?” he sniffed the air. “Looks like a little midnight rendezvous in the woods, boys.”
He shifted his eyes to Amanda in the Bronco.
“Leave her out of it, Sean,” said Dylan. Apparently he knew the men.
The man named Sean spoke.
“I’ll do what I want, Dylan. This isn’t your territory anymore.”
What they hell were they talking about? Amanda wondered.
“The hell it isn’t,” Dylan said.
“Why don’t we take a look at little Dylan’s friend, boys?” said Sean and the other two men walked towards the Bronco and got on either side. Amanda felt panic settle on her chest like a weight. Her heart was pounding. One of them opened the driver’s side door and the other opened the passenger’s side door.
She crawled into the back, attempting to get away from them. She looked to see if there was another weapon in the back. There was a knife.
Amanda grabbed it and as she turned and tried to get it out of its sheath, one of the men grabbed her ankles and pulled her towards him. She screamed.
“Amanda!” she heard Dylan say.
The other man pulled her kicking and screaming out of the Bronco. He clapped a hand over her mouth and held her hands behind her back. He walked her to the front of the SUV.
Dylan looked at her remorsefully, as though she was caught in the crossfire of a fight that wasn’t hers. Amanda’s heart beat in her chest like an animal frantic to escape the aim of a hunter.
The man who had hold of her leaned down and sniffed her hair. She recoiled in disgust. He brushed her hair off of her neck and kissed it. She tried to scream again but his hand only clamped tighter down over her mouth.
Dylan raised the rifle towards the man in front of him.
“Let her go,” he growled. “I swear to God, Sean…”
“Or what? Let her go or what?” Sean spat back.
Amanda bit down on the man’s hand and a moment was all it took. She escaped his grasp and he took a moment to observe what damage she had done as he cursed her out under his breath. She darted around to the side of the car.
Then something entirely strange happened.
Dylan dropped his rifle and hit his knees. Had they shot him and she didn’t hear it? But then, Sean dropped to his knees and so did the other two guys. She looked around at the four of them desperate for an answer.
Scared, she crawled back into the Bronco and locked both doors.
There was a violent crunching and popping like the sound of breaking bones. All of the men were crying out in pain, but their shapes began to change.
The three men who had attacked them had shifted into the forms of black bears, but Dylan remained on his hands and knees, his body contorting.
Amanda watched, breathless.
The three bears began to circle Dylan and at the last possible moment, his flesh erupted into white fur in the dark night. He stood on his hind legs, a great white bear. He roared at the other three. They roared back.
One of them jumped onto him and he effortlessly swatted him off. The bear was knocked to the ground and scrambled to its feet, whimpering. The bear that had been Dylan growled at the other two like an invitation to fight.
The three bears that had attacked suddenly ran off into the night.
The Dylan-bear turned to face Amanda. She quickly got into the driver’s seat and turned the ignition.
Amanda looked down at the dash, trying to find the lights. When she did and she looked up, Dylan was standing at the driver’s side window looking at her. She screamed again.
“Amanda! Let me explain!”
“What the fuck was that?!” she yelled.
“Open the door,” he said calmly.
Amanda thought about it for a moment. She had no idea what had just happened. She couldn’t really even believe her own eyes, she thought.
She slowly unlocked the door and crawled as far as possible from Dylan’s side of the SUV. It wasn’t like she hadn’t another way back down the mountain tonight.
He shut the door and leaned back in his seat as though he was exhausted.
“Okay, so,” he began, still looking straight ahead. “The thing is, I’m a shifter.”
Amanda looked at him completely clueless. Was that sentence supposed to explain everything? Or even make sense?
“I change forms,” Dylan elaborated. “My family can become the Kermode Spirit Bear. It’s like a black bear, but white, and much more powerful. We’ve been able to do it for thousands of years.”
Amanda was speechless.
“Those guys—that Sean guy, he’s part of the black bear tribe up here. They’ll do anything they can to keep my kind from repopulating the area.”
Amanda wondered if they’d been watching them all night.
“I’m sorry,” he said, finally looking at her.
“It’s okay,” she managed, not even sure of what was coming out of her mouth.
It was okay, she thought. No one had gotten killed. That didn’t make it any less strange. She tried to accept that this was reality. It felt a little bit like the hallway at school on the day she found out her dad had died.
“So, does this happen often?” she asked gently.
“More often than I’d like it to,” Dylan said with disdain in his voice.
“I’m sorry,” she said, echoing his apology from earlier in the conversation.
“You have nothing to be sorry about. I shouldn’t have asked you out. This is why I can’t be with anyone,” he sounded like he was extremely disappointed in himself. Amanda wanted to tell him that wasn’t true, that she was different.
She had faced so much in the last week. This was hardly anything compared to losing her father.
“I’m not going anywhere,” she said.
Dylan smiled sadly at her.
“You don’t have to make this your fight,” he said. “You barely know me.”
“But I want to know you,” she said softly.
Dylan’s face changed from sadness to hope. She wondered how many girls had walked away from him after finding out his secret. It didn’t matter. She wasn’t going to be one of them.
She smiled at him and took his hand, giving it a squeeze.
“I’m not going anywhere,” she said.
Chapter 4
“Let’s go for a hike,” Dylan said over the phone.
“I’m not exactly a hiker,” Amanda replied.
“Oh, come on. With me as your guide, you’ll do great!” he said with enthusiasm. It was infectious. Amanda couldn’t tell him no.
“I guess with a hunting guide, I’m sure to see some wildlife, right?” she asked sarcastically.
“Well, with me you’re always seeing wildlife,” he said playfully.
“Har har,” she said.
Dylan chuckled. They said goodbye and he had agreed to come pick her up in about an hour. It had been two days since the inc
ident with the black bears and Amanda was starting to regain a sense of normalcy in her life.
Well, as normal as life can be without your father, she thought.
She threw her phone onto the bed and went to the window that peeked right into the woods behind the cabin. She wondered what her father would think of everything that had happened the other night. What would he do?
Passion For the Bear (Series 1, 2, 3 Compilation): White Spirit Bear Romance: Shifter, Erotic Romance, Suspense, Paranormal, New Adult Romance (Shifters Book 5) Page 2