BEAR MATED:
Pine Ridge Shifters #2
by Belinda Meyers
Copyright 2016
All rights reserved
Cover image used with permission
Chapter 1
Barbara grinned as she punched the accelerator and swerved hard around the curve. She could feel her seatbelt tug tight across her chest, but she only pushed her foot down further.
Ahead of her, the asshole she was in pursuit of—driving a sporty red Honda—turned so hard around the next bend in the road that he nearly lifted up on two wheels. Officer Barbara Thompson’s police cruiser wasn’t so flashy, but its engine was just as powerful, and she relished the feel of it revving as she halved the distance between her squad car and the perp.
This is why she’d joined up.
She was tempted to whoop with joy as she reached the next turn and started around it. Her blood sang, and her eyes were riveted on that sporty red Honda. She lost track of it as it vanished around the turn, but she’d see it again in moments. Then she’d force it to the side of the road and arrest the son of a gun. Thinks he can run lawless in MY town? she thought. Not Pine Ridge, baby!
She yanked her wheel hard when she came to the turn, feeling her car shudder around her. Her siren blared and her tires screamed. Once more she smiled, a hard, tight smile, imaging slapping handcuffs on that—
“Oh shit!”
A huge bear stood in the middle of the road.
Right in front of her. The Honda must have just barely missed it. There was no way Barbara could swerve around it and continue pursuit. She had either to plow into the animal or drive into the ditch.
“Damn you, bear!” she screamed and slammed on the brakes, aiming for the ditch.
The police cruiser shuddered as it slowed abruptly, then flew off the road and into the ditch. Barbara righted the car so it didn’t blast dead-on into the side of the embankment but instead at an angle. Still, she swore as the police cruiser’s flanks raked the rock and dirt of the embankment, then slowly ground to a halt.
The air bag exploded in her face, startling her.
Panting, she unclipped her seat belt, shoved the door open and emerged into the cool, pine-scented mountain air. To either side of the road stretched dense forest. The road looked pitifully narrow and small, swallowed by the ancient woods, and for a moment she thought how primitive a thing man’s incursion into the natural world really was. The siren’s wailing distracted her, though, and she reached inside and switched it off.
Smoke rose from the engine. Hell.
Cautiously, she climbed the side of the embankment, putting distance between herself and the car, just in case, and came face to face with the bear.
He stood in the road, a huge gray-brown grizzly, a great beast that must weigh over eight hundred pounds, and stared at her out of its gorgeous wet brown eyes. His black nostrils quivered, as if scenting her. It was less than ten feet away.
Barb’s heart almost stopped.
“Easy, bear,” she said. “Easy.”
Slowly, she pulled her pistol from its sheath.
The bear lifted its lips, revealing long, glistening fangs. In the distance she could hear the sound of the sporty red Honda receding. Damn it all, she’d lost it, and now she was going to get mauled to death by a damned bear, of all damned things! Damn damn damn!
“I don’t want to shoot you,” she said, “but honestly at the moment I’m pretty annoyed with you, so don’t tempt me.”
The bear seemed to shimmer, as if reality itself were folding in on itself, and to pull back inside the form of a human—a man, tall and broad of chest, with sweeping brown hair and hazel eyes, just like the bear had had. And he was utterly naked.
Barbara’s gazed moved from his face, down his broad chest with its well-defined pecs and eight-pack, then down still further, to the huge shaft hanging between his muscular legs. She swallowed, feeling her neck grow hot.
The man smiled. “Hello, officer.”
“Um … Hello. You may address me as Officer Thompson.”
He grinned wider and stepped forward. She tried not to notice as his cock swayed side to side, just slightly, as he walked. It was long and thick, and behind it his balls bounced, just a little, with each step.
“Well, Officer Thompson, if you’re not going to shoot me you might put that pistol away.”
“I should shoot you,” she said, but then, almost reluctantly, she shoved the pistol back in its sheath. “For making me total my car and let that asshole get away. He’s the serial burglar that’s been terrorizing town lately. No one can sleep at night for fear he’s going to break into their home and take off with their prize jewelry.”
“Hey, you were the one that nearly ran into me,” he said. “I was just crossing the road.” He smiled again, an infuriatingly, well, cocky grin. “Why did the bear cross the road?”
She ground her teeth. Don’t lose it, Barb. “Why?”
“Because the road pissed him off.”
She sighed. “Maybe I should shoot you—for telling bad jokes.”
He stuck out a hand. It was huge and muscular and calloused. “I’m Rick, by the way. Rick Barnes, bear shifter extraordinaire, at your service.”
She eyed his hand but didn’t take it. When a giant naked man approaches you in the middle of nowhere, you don’t let him take your hand. Cop Rules 101. Cop Rules 102 was Don’t stare at his dick. She swallowed and averted her gaze, letting it wander back to her totaled cruiser. Smoke still rose from the engine, but not as much. It didn’t look like it was going to burst into flames. That was something, anyway.
She started back down the embankment, almost falling on her ass on the loose stones, reached the car and started to call in to dispatch.
Rick had come with her. She didn’t like such a big guy behind her and turned to keep him in her sights.
“I should’ve known,” she said. “My first real car chase and a damned shifter screws it up.” She shook her head. “Guess that’s what I get for living in Pine Ridge.”
“‘Damned shifter’,” he repeated, scowling. “You’re not one of those shifter haters, are you?”
“What? No. But I’ll tell you one thing—right now I’m not exactly their biggest fangirl, either. Now maybe if you could help me catch that asshole—”
Rick grinned again. Damn he had the sexiest, most annoying grin. “Why didn’t you just say so?” he said. As he spoke, he planted his hands on his hips, assuming a heroic pose, and at the movement his manhood swayed, slowly to the right, then back to the left. Barb felt like one of those people in a movie being hypnotized by a swaying golden watch on a chain, only this time it was the end of his fabulous thick cock.
“Excuse me,” she said, “but I hardly think you can help me. You’ve already ‘helped’ enough for one day.” She started to reach for the radio again—it was still intact, at any rate—but Rick cleared his throat, as if to get her attention. Despite her best instincts, she turned to look. He was tapping the side of his nose with a finger.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” she said.
“Means I can track him.”
“What’s the use in that? He’s long gone by now. But I can put an ABP out for his car. Maybe Gabel Crossing PD down the mountain can get him.”
“Not necessary,” Rick said. “He won’t have gotten far. See, while I was in the forest, I came to a high point, just a few minutes ago, and I saw that there was a wreck out o
n West Falls Bridge. Traffic is jammed.”
“West Falls … that’s just a couple of bends away!” Her heart beat faster. There was still hope. She had been dreading making the call in to dispatch, admitting her utter failure, how she had ruined both a car and a chance to catch the serial thief. Now she realized she might not have to.
“That’s right,” Rick said. “We can catch up to him. What’s more, he probably didn’t see you wreck the car. He’ll think you’re just behind him. So when he comes to the jam-up at the bridge …”
“He’ll take to the woods!”
“And I can track him with my nose.”
She smiled, feeling those juices flooding again. And maybe some different juices, too. Damn it all, she realized, she was getting wet, of all things.
Did Rick smell it? His grin returned, this time looking decidedly raunchy. As if to confirm this, his nostrils quivered, even as his eyes latched on to hers. She stared into his hazel depths, shocked and floored. He was, like, looking at her. Like, in a romantic way. She knew she wasn’t a beauty queen, and, being a lady cop, she made a point never to wear make-up or do her hair up fancy. She was a big-boned, tough-ass policewoman, and she didn’t have time for this arrogantly handsome and damn sexy naked bear shifter giving her the Bang-Me Eyes. Did he really think she was going to fall for that? He would just be teasing her, anyway. A guy like him, he could have any woman he wanted.
She blinked. “Well, Mr. Barnes? What are you just standing there for? You said you could track him—start tracking!”
Chapter 2
Rick led her through the woods, his mind racing. She was just behind him, and he wondered if she liked the view. Who wouldn’t? Countless women had told him he had a spectacular rear end. He’d admired it himself in the mirror a time or two. He was one hot, buff dude, and he often took the time to appreciate it.
This Barbara—Officer Thompson, he corrected himself—wasn’t like all those other girls, though. There was something different about her. She obviously liked what she saw when she looked at him—again, who wouldn’t?—but unlike those other women she was holding herself back. What was it about this woman that could make herself so resistant to his charms? Women in general were helpless before him, and to come across him naked? Come on! Most women would’ve been dragging him off behind the bushes by now. Screw that burglar guy.
That’s when Rick knew: Barbara was special.
And he, Rick Barnes, was going to have to figure her out. And then, of course, totally bang her. Because that’s what Rick Barnes did.
Well, at least it’s what he did now. He hadn’t always been an utter man-ho, but … well, hell. Times change. You either change with them or you get turned into a werebear and stuck in some mountain town condemned to live out your days as an animal. Not that he didn’t like being a bear shifter. He loved it, and he couldn’t imagine being anything else. He and his bear were tight. They were like one. They were one, in some ways.
But he didn’t like that the choice had been taken from him. And so what if he took out his frustration by boffing every horny girl in town? It wasn’t like he didn’t show them a good time and that they didn’t beg for more. He didn’t give more, though. He was a one-and-done man; that was Rick Barnes. When life gives you lemons, you, well, you fuck a lot of lemons. But never the same one twice. Because that shit just don’t fly.
Barbara Thompson, though … When he looked at her, his bear made strange noises inside him. Strange, growly noises of … heck, of longing.
What did that mean?
He tried to put it out of his mind as he and Barbara pushed deeper and deeper into the forest, the stillness and beauty of the mountain surrounding them. It calmed him as it always did. Made him feel at peace with himself. Who he was now. It wasn’t always easy. The bear—it was a part of him, but sometimes it felt like it was about to rip him apart. He’d certainly never met a woman that could handle it. Whenever the bear grew enraged, and Rick turned restless and wild, the chicks would always bail.
Who needed them, anyway? He could deal with life on his own. So what if that meant he would always be alone? Screw it. He was Rick Frickin’ Barnes.
He and Barbara moved downhill, meaning to hit the switchback faster than they would have if they’d stuck to the road—and less chance of getting hit by a car, too. There were no sidewalks on the roads between towns. Barbara seemed tense now, constantly looking around them or overhead, one hand on the butt of her holstered sidearm. Rick grinned when he looked over his shoulder to see her so edgy. She was flinching at every sound.
“Not a mountain girl, are you?” he said.
“I’m from Chicago.”
He snorted. “This is quite a ways from the Windy City. What brought you out here?”
“My mom. She was … well, if you must know, she was dying and wanted to move to the mountains—she’d always dreamt of living here. Wanted to do it before she died. Wanted her last sight to be of the Rockies.”
“And you came with her to take care of her?”
“That’s right.”
“That was noble,” he said, genuinely impressed. “Not everyone woulda done that. I bet she appreciated that.” When Barbara didn’t answer—maybe the memories were still too painful—he said, “Were you a cop in Chicago?”
She seemed to be debating whether or not she should answer, and he thought she was probably wishing the bad guy would pop out from behind a tree so she wouldn’t have to. Not a big talker, this Barbara Thompson. She was a woman of action. He liked that.
When she seemed to realize the burglar wasn’t going to give her an excuse not to answer, she sighed and said, “I was studying to be an attorney, actually. But it never felt right. I was drawn to the law, but as a lawyer? The more I studied it, the less I thought I was cut out for it. When I came here with my mom I met a guy—a cop.”
“There’s always a man.”
“Not meet him like in a romantic way, just, you know, like a person. He was my mom’s age and had actually gone to school with her; she was originally from Denver. Anyway, he was a real stand-up sort, and I loved the way people treated him—with respect. And that he was able to do some good for the town. So I went to cop school, got trained and signed up. All while taking care of my mom. She passed, but she did it after she got to see me wearing the blue. She loved it. She was so proud. And she loved living in Pine Ridge. She bought a little house with a view out over the mountains. I had to sell it when she died, but we spent many hours there, on the veranda, playing Scrabble and watching the sun go down over the peaks.” Barbara smiled, but when Rick looked back he could see that her eyes were misty. “She was very happy here.”
Talking about it seemed to relax her, make her less jumpy, so he said, “And you?”
He glanced over his shoulder to see her eyes drawn like a magnet to his ass, and he had to grin. Seeing that she’d been caught, her cheeks turned bright red.
Sounding a little annoyed, she said, “I’d like it a whole lot better if there weren’t so many shifters here. Why are there so many shifters in Pine Ridge?”
He made himself sound as nonchalant as he could. “Why does there have to be a secret? Maybe we just like the scenery.”
“Bullshit.”
“Language! I have tender ears.”
“I’m a cop. Anyway, I know there’s a reason your kind flock here, I just don’t know what it is. You know, though, don’t you?”
“Don’t know what you’re talking about, Officer Thompson.”
“Liar,” she said.
He shrugged his broad shoulders. “I can’t say anything more.”
“So there is a secret!”
He almost smacked himself in the forehead. “I didn’t say that.”
“You said you couldn’t talk about the secret. That means there’s a secret.” She was sounding excited, like she was on the trail of some grand conspiracy.
Watch yourself, he told himself. She’s smarter than you, and she’s a cop. “I, uh,”
he started lamely, then was saved by the bell—well, the road. He pointed through the trees down the slope ahead. “We’re almost to the bridge.”
She blew air through her lips in exasperation. “Okay, but we’re not done talking about this.”
Heck if we aren’t. He picked his way down the tree-covered slope to the road, where a line of cars sat still before the West Falls Bridge. There a few state police cruisers and some construction vehicles were cluttered, lights flashing. Rick saw a blackened hole in the side of the bridge.
“What happened there?” he said.
“I don’t know,” she said, coming to stand beside him. “There wasn’t any chatter on it from the local PD. Looks like the State Troopers are handling it. Still, they should’ve let us know about the bridge being out. I guess I missed the heads-up during the chase, or maybe after I left the car. We’ll ask them after we apprehend the—damn!”
“What?”
It was her turn to point; she indicated the last car in the line on this side of the bridge, a flashy red Honda. Its driver door was open and there didn’t seem to be anyone else in the car.
“He’s fled into the woods, just like you said,” Barbara sighed, then swore again and slapped her knee. Rick had never heard a woman swear so much. He liked it. In fact, he realized, somewhat to his surprise, he liked her. “I’d hoped we could catch him on the road,” she said. “Well, hell, there’s nothing for it. Let’s go down to the Troopers and see what’s happened to the bridge—is that a bomb mark?—then go after our man.”
“That was the plan,” Rick agreed, and started down the slope.
Barbara stopped him with a hand on his arm. She seemed self-conscious about touching him, though, and quickly removed it.
He raised his eyebrows. “Yeah?”
Biting one corner of her mouth to keep from laughing, she said, “Um, you’re …” Her eyes roved from his face down his body, then back up again, although they might have lingered, just for a second, on his dong. Feeling her appraise his body made the hairs lift on his arms and blood begin to rush to his cock. Weird. Normally she wouldn’t have been his type. He liked wild women, loose women, not law-and-order types.
Bear Mated: A BBW Bear Shifter Paranomal Romance (Pine Ridge BBW Bear Shifter Paranormal Romance Series Book 2) Page 1