Bear's Surrogate

by Sky Winters

  Thankfully, her momentary crying session hadn’t ruined her makeup either. The sound of Marcus’ key in the door prompted a last deep breath and she fluffed out her long blond hair one more time before scurrying back to the living area. He adored her long hair so much she never cut it, which meant a lot of maintenance, but she loved that he loved it so much.

  This was it – the moment she’d been daydreaming about for days. He’d never be able to resist her.

  “Welcome home,” she said in a breathy voice as he walked inside.

  He froze; his dark eyes fell on the table and the candles and his expression was unreadable behind his rough, unshaven face and wild brown hair. She waited as his gaze slid from the table to her. He lifted his eyebrows, letting out a low whistle.

  “You like?” she asked, twirling. “I know you’ll like dinner. It’s your favorite. I thought we could open a bottle of that nice red we got as a gift from your boss last year and—”

  “Babe. I told you, we’re saving that for a special occasion. What’s all this about?” He asked, his gravelly voice that usually sent shivers of anticipation over her made her heart skitter with nerves instead.

  “What’s all this about?” she echoed. “Isn’t it obvious?”

  “Babe, you are crazy. Nice dress though. Where’s this dinner you spoke of?” Marcus’ lopsided grin wasn’t going to smooth things over this time.

  Corinne seethed as the legs of his chair scraped against the beat-up hardwood. He sat at the table and pulled out his phone.

  Don’t blow this. Breathe. Just breathe and move on to phase two.

  Some part of her anticipated things not going the way she dreamed, so she’d taken additional steps. Corinne smirked as she retrieved her special dinner. But when she rejoined him at the table, the candles were nothing more than wisps of smoke and the overhead light glared down.

  She nearly dropped the pasta.

  “I thought,” she said, trying to control the bite in her words, “that it would be more romantic with the lights out.”

  Marcus didn’t glance up from his phone. In fact, he grinned at something he was reading. “What? Yeah, I couldn’t see, babe.”

  Corinne plopped some spaghetti on his plate. He reached over automatically and started twirling some noodles with his face still in the phone.

  “What are you doing?” she asked, words slightly clipped.

  “Huh? Oh, just business stuff.”

  Business stuff? He was in construction. How much business stuff could there be after hours on a cell phone?

  Corinne cleared her throat and tried again. “I tried something new today. I was reading up on the Internet about fertility treatments, and I found this acupuncture place. It was a little freaky at first, but it really didn’t hurt when they stuck the needles in. Anyway, the lady said I’m primed and ready to receive your sperm within the next few days.”

  She waited, biting her lip.

  Slowly, Marcus looked up from his phone. “And how much money did you spend on this quack?”

  Heat flooded Corinne’s face. “Not as much as I spent on this dress,” she snapped.

  Marcus growled and his eyes glowed yellow. “What the fuck, Corinne? You know we’re saving up.”

  “For what? For pups? Because newsflash – if I don’t try something like this, it’s never going to happen.”

  “That’s not my fault. It certainly doesn’t run on my side of the family.” Marcus gave her his full attention now, slamming his phone down on the table and making the whole thing shake.

  Low blow. Corinne sniffed. Her mother had died having her and as far as she knew, there wasn’t a great track record otherwise.

  “You know what else might increase our odds?” she asked, smiling. “If you actually fucked me once in a while.”

  She couldn’t believe she’d said that.

  “Funny, I don’t feel like fucking you when you’re being a bitch.” Marcus flipped the table so suddenly Corinne barely had time to jump back. The sauce she’d been so worried about an hour ago splattered the floor, the wall, the back of the couch and her dress.

  “Where are you going?” she demanded as Marcus grabbed his jacket and headed for the door.

  “To get some dinner where I won’t be nagged,” he growled. “And clean that shit up.”

  Corrine’s mouth hung open as he slammed the door behind him. Staring around her at the impossible mess, she sunk to the ground and finally let the tears flow free.

  Chapter 2

  “Wanker,” Corinne muttered as she wiped the last bit of sauce off the hardwood. She’d been calling Marcus every horrible name she could think of and had moved on to English terms she’d learned on cable.

  She smiled, sitting back on the floor. She liked the sound of that one. That’s when she noticed it. Marcus’ damn phone must have skittered all the way into the corner beside the bookshelf. Sighing, she stood and stooped to retrieve it.

  About to start playing How Hard Do I Have to Throw The Phone to Break It, it buzzed against her palm.

  Who was texting the wanker?

  It wasn’t a text though, it was an alert from some app. Corinne narrowed her gaze and read the name: ComeShift. Something inside of her went a little numb as she typed in Marcus’ password. He’d never given it to her, but he was idiot enough to use his birthday. 0428.

  It was some kind of shifter dating site. Corinne’s vision went red as she examined his profile. The first thing she noticed was his profile pic – the asswipe (time to go back to some tried and true American names) had actually used a cropped version of their wedding photo!

  Her eyes trailed down the screen. Status: Single and searching. Corinne barely noticed the breath coming faster through her nose as she continued on. His inbox was full, but it seemed he’d been having a conversation with someone over the in-app messenger before he left.

  Corinne hurriedly scrolled back to the beginning.

  I so want to meet you! *hearts and flowers*. Corinne gagged but kept going.

  Why are you so interested? Marcus wanted to know, followed by a winky face.

  Because wolves are so cute and cuddly. I’d love to make you thump your leg.

  Idiot. That was a dog not a wolf. And Marcus was far from cuddly.

  Well, then you’ll have to scratch in all the right places, he replied.

  Don’t tease me. When and where?

  The Tiki Club. 9 PM.

  Corinne glanced at the time. It was almost ten. Had he actually met this skank? Did it matter? He’d gone so far as to download the app and put up a profile. Hell, he’d had a ton of messages. Who knew how often he did this?

  Corinne marched to the kitchen and dumped his phone down the garbage disposal, turned on the water, and let her rip. Pieces flew out, making her duck, but when she’d finally turned off the power, she was feeling slightly better.

  Now the question was, what did she do?

  As sick and betrayed as she felt inside, she knew she’d never be able to trust him again. He was an alpha male, after all – at least that’s what he was always saying. “Babe, I’d be the head of the pack if I decided to run wild. But I’d rather run wild with you in the bedroom.” Then he’d growl for her.

  That always sent shivers down all the right places.

  Creep. Dog. Fuckwad.

  Corinne repeated as many names as she could think of as she ripped her stained dress off and dug through her closet to find her sluttiest outfit. It had to be the little red skirt that landed mid-thigh and crop top that dipped so low it made her nervous her breasts would simply pop right out of the tight halter.

  Corinne fluffed her hair out long and loose, then applied some bright red lipstick to match before slipping on her tallest fuck-me pumps.

  Two could play at this game.

  Corrine pulled up a seat to the old computer, ignoring what remained of the overturned table and spaghetti. He could lick it up as a midnight snack if he wanted to. She wouldn’t be cleaning up after him anymore.<
br />
  She downloaded some free divorce forms from the Internet. It wasn’t like they had money or kids to fight over. She wanted to make it as simple and clean as possible. While those were printing, she started her own profile on the Shifter App.

  Single and ready to mingle, she wrote as her status, trying to keep her fingers from shaking as she typed. She took a quick selfie with pouty lips and lots of cleavage and popped it in the picture space, then she hit the button to make it live before she could second guess it.

  Corinne put her phone aside and retrieved the bottle of wine from the liquor cabinet. If this wasn’t a special occasion, then what was? She popped it open and poured a large glass to sip while filling out the divorce paperwork.

  It didn’t take long to fill out, which made her feel kind of sad inside. Was that really all there was to her marriage of five years? A couple of sheets of paperwork? She gulped down the rest of the glass and poured another as her phone started beeping with messages from the new app.

  The first guy was a skeezer (she wasn’t sure what it meant but she liked the sound of it). He was a wolf like Marcus, but with sandy blond hair and she didn’t trust that he wasn’t cheating on someone who was just like her.

  She swiped left and his leering picture disappeared.

  Next was a lion – intriguing, but clearly too into his own body from all his weight lifting pics. He was even kissing his own bicep in one of them.

  Corinne was about to put the phone aside when she got one more ding.

  The picture that popped up was a guy with dark skin and a warm smile. She couldn’t help but smile back at her phone and the way the skin near his bright green eyes crinkled up. It made him seem more… real.

  She flicked the screen so she could read more about him.

  Confirmed Bachelor. Hmmm.

  Looking for fun and friendship. Is he for real?

  Firefighter. That could be fun!

  Corinne hiccupped and slurped up the rest of her wine as she swiped right and sent a quick message to meet her at the same place her no-good husband went to get lucky.

  Her heart skipped a little when he messaged back right away that he’d be there in half an hour.

  Just enough time to write a Dear John note to dear Marcus.

  Chapter 3

  Corinne paused, hand lightly brushing the door handle to the bar. Her heart beat along with the faint drumbeat coming from inside. She felt ill. This was the place she and Marcus had gone for their last anniversary – quiet, dark and filled with the sounds of actual tropical birds and island music.

  But now all she could picture was Marcus – the old Marcus who used to devour her with his eyes – looking like that at another woman. What if they were still in there? What the hell was she doing?

  Corinne took a ragged breath and spun around, nearly banging into the broad chest of a tall man.

  “Oh!”

  “Are you okay?” Strong arms steadied her as she craned her neck back enough to look up into bright green eyes.

  “It’s you,” she said, unable to form any other words.

  “Corinne, right?” He smiled broadly, flashing bright white teeth against the smooth dark skin of his face.

  Corinne’s heart sped up faster than the drums as she nodded. “And you’re—” She stopped just short of saying ‘hotter than your picture.’

  “Gordon.” Keeping his strong hands on her arms, he guided her gently out of the way when the door opened behind her, almost knocking her aside.

  “Um, thanks.”

  “No problem.” Gordon tore his eyes off her for a moment and surveyed the scene through the door before it swung closed. It was pretty dark, but his expression darkened slightly like he saw something more.

  “Everything okay?” she asked, missing the warmth of his hands after he realized he was still holding her and let go.

  “I’m sorry. Yes, of course. I’m just not used to places like this, I guess. I’m a bit of a homebody to be honest. But if this is where you’re comfortable…”

  “Actually,” Corinne admitted, “I was having second thoughts myself.”

  “I have an idea.” Gordon’s smile broadened – still nowhere near as wide as his chest – and he offered her an elbow before steering her around a pothole and to a black luxury sedan where he opened the passenger door for her and waited for her to get in.

  “How do I know you’re not some serial killer?” Corinne asked, half-jokingly when he took the driver’s side.

  “I guess you don’t. But then again, I know nothing about you either.” He started the engine and was backing up when Corinne caught site of Marcus’ silver mustang on the side of the building. It was only about five seconds, but it felt like an eternity as she watched the naked figure of the bimbo straddling him in the front seat, his face buried in her fake boobs.

  Corinne squeezed her eyes shut, unable to get the vision out of her head as Gordon took off down the street, oblivious to the situation.

  “So… It’s been a while since I’ve done this sort of thing,” Gordon said, staring out the windshield. “To be honest, I only did it to get the guys at the firehouse off my back.”

  “Oh. But you sent me a message,” Corrine said, mind still mostly on what she’d just witnessed.

  “Well, yeah. Your picture was so beautiful. My buddy, Blake, was making me pick someone to message and well… I’m really glad your picture was real. I mean, you look amazing.” Gordon cleared his throat and shifted awkwardly while still focused on the road.

  Corrine couldn’t help but smile. “Thanks.”

  “So… what made you post on a shifter app? Wait. Don’t tell me. Let me guess.” Gordon turned into an older neighborhood with tall brick duplexes lining one side of the street and shops, cafés and other small businesses lining the other. He pulled into a spot on the commercial side of the street and finally turned to survey her.

  “You’re a tigress,” he said, narrowing his green eyes in thought. “Felines are among the most dangerous shifters. People don’t realize the power they possess.”

  Corinne giggled. “Nope. Sorry to disappoint, but I’m actually not a shifter at all.” A thought suddenly occurred to her. What if he wasn’t a shifter either? What if they both went on looking for one?

  “You can’t be one of those women who are obsessed with shifters, you know, for the animal part, right?” Gordon grimaced, looking worried for the first time.

  “What? Oh.” Bestiality wasn’t part of it. She and Marcus had human sex, just wild. “No, I’m not a groupie. I…” Oh what the hell? The worst-case scenario she’d have to use an app to call for a ride. “I was married to a shifter for five years.”

  Gordon’s eyebrows rose in the air. “I wasn’t expecting that. Okay. Recently divorced then? I can deal with that.” He nodded.

  Corinne didn’t bother to correct him. As soon as Marcus signed the papers, she’d be recently divorced.

  “What type of shifter are you?” she asked, tossing her hair back over her shoulder. If he was 100% human she wanted to know. Though she doubted it. Not with those eyes.

  Please don’t be a wolf.

  A grin spread over Gordon’s face. “I don’t want to scare you.”

  Corinne shrugged. “My ex is a wolf. Alpha male. I doubt you could be worse than that. Besides I didn’t ask you to shift.”

  Gordon chuckled. “Alpha male, eh? Is that what he calls himself?”

  “Why?” Corinne asked, a little offended until she remembered she was angry at Marcus.

  “Sorry. It’s just that I’ve met a few wolves in my day. The ones who brag about their standing are usually the ones who couldn’t make it as a pack leader – at least in my experience.”

  Corinne snorted. “Yeah, that’s probably about right.”

  “Dragon,” Gordon said, opening his car door.

  It took a moment for what he said to register. Dragon? Those were the most powerful and rare shifters around. Corinne snapped out of it when he opened her door
from the other side.

  “Ready?” he asked, offering a hand.

  Corinne remembered the warmth and strength of his grip on her arms from earlier and eagerly slipped her hand in his.

  “So where are you taking me?” she asked, noting that most of the stores and even cafés were closed at this hour.

  “Nadine’s,” Gordon said, leading her down the sidewalk. “It’s kind of a diner-dump, but it’s great food and they’re open 24 hours.”

  Corinne realized she was hungry when he mentioned food, though she hoped this Nadine’s offered some kind of alcohol.

  The place was deserted, but the waitress, an older woman with a bun and a pen tucked behind her ear, recognized Gordon and came over right away.

  “Do you like omelets?” Gordon asked, capturing her with those emerald eyes of his.

  “Yes,” Corinne said, surprised. She loved breakfast food. She could eat it morning, noon and night, but Marcus hated it. He skipped breakfast most days.

  “They serve breakfast all day here and it’s amazing,” Gordon raved. “I’ll have the works in mine, Loretta. And a beer.”

  Loretta winked. “Hash browns and wheat toast. Extra butter. I know. But how about your lady friend?”

  “I’d love a veggie omelet,” Corinne said. “And a beer, too, please.”

  Gordon turned out to be as charming as he looked as they chatted and laughed over omelets. She watched, fascinated, as he poured hot sauce over all his food and even in his beer.

  When he caught her staring, he winked. “Dragon thing,” he said. “We like it hot.”

  Corinne felt the heat work its way through her insides until her nether regions burned with desire. She wondered how hot he liked it exactly.

  By the time they finished, it was after midnight and the table was filled with empty dishes and beer bottles.

  “Cherry pie?” Gordon offered, leaning across the table until she could feel the heat roiling off him.