If you overlooked their incredibly old-fashioned ideas about dating, her parents were actually quite permissive. Except when it came to her bodyguards. Her very big, ever-present bodyguards. Her friends joked about it, but it wasn’t funny to Kat.
As she gathered up her work, she pretended not to notice the man kneeling beside her, helping her. The collision had apparently stunned him at first, but now he gave her a wide, brilliant smile, his green eyes flashing. Kat’s nerves barely let her lips tweak upward.
Men were a mystery to her — by her parents’ design. Romance of any sort was the one thing they’d denied her. No matter how much she begged and pleaded, they wouldn't explain. When she was twenty-one, they said, she could make her own decisions. Until then, no boys. No dates. Not even group dates. Nothing.
Of course, Kat sometimes met boys anyway. Even all-girl schools had guys around now and then — brothers of her friends and sons of teachers. Then there were the men who worked for her father — some of them quite young and attractive.
But the moment she'd tried to flirt with any of them, they all reacted the same way. They'd turn pale and go stiff, then they'd get away from her as quickly as possible. Whether she took human or bear form, males just didn't seem to like her.
Kat had spent long hours in front of the mirror, trying to figure out what made her so unappealing, but it remained a mystery. The mirror told her she was at least reasonably attractive, and her girlfriends insisted men loved women with curves, but the men of her clan had missed the memo. They all seemed practically terrified by her flirting.
This man didn't seem scared, though. It was hard to imagine him frightened of anything. As they stood, sketches clutched in their hands, he towered over her, and she sensed his power. No doubt about it, he was an alpha — a man used to taking control and getting his way — yet his manner was gentle as he handed over her papers.
"Thank you," she said, forcing herself to speak past the lump in her throat. "And sorry about that. I'm so clumsy…"
“Entirely my fault,” the man said, oozing charm.
He appeared to be relaxed, but an undercurrent of tension she couldn’t identify rippled in the air between them, like heat waves coming off a desert highway.
"Hey, did you draw this?" he asked, looking at one of the pictures he'd just given her. "It's fantastic."
“Um, thanks,” Kat mumbled.
Kat’s art had won awards and sold well at gallery shows, so compliments were nothing new to her. But coming from this man… She wasn't used to anything coming from men like him.
"I'm being rude, sorry. I'm Alex."
He held out his hand, and when her fingers disappeared into his massive paw, a jolt of electricity sizzled through her. Was this…lust? If so, it made her dizzy and tingly all over. A deep part of her, a part that was pure bear, began to rumble. It was all she could to do keep from purring with desire.
There was more between them than the buzzy, effervescent sensation of arousal, though. It defied all logic, but this man made her feel safe — safer than she’d ever felt with a dozen of her father’s bodyguards protecting her. For the first time in weeks, that feeling of being hunted fell away. She felt relaxed and at peace. Almost as if a missing piece of her puzzle had been fitted into place.
“I’m Kat,” she sighed, staring up into the greenest eyes she’d ever seen.
She managed to get a grip on herself and give him her most winning smile, hoping like hell he didn’t run screaming. When his hand tightened around hers in response, she knew he wouldn’t.
"This is very forward of me” he said, “but you're so beautiful and so talented. It's a refreshing combination. Would you go out with me tonight? Dinner and dancing? I'd love to get to know you better."
Kat gaped up at Alex, completely stunned. No man except her father had ever called her beautiful. Her hammering heart drowned out the doubt and replaced it with excitement.
Her father, of course, would have insisted she say no “for her own safety,” but the idea of saying no to this large beautiful bear of a man was unthinkable. Thanks to her self-defense training, Katrina Hamilton probably could take care of herself better than the average she-bear. Besides, she was only a week away from turning twenty-one.
Alex watched her patiently as he waited for her answer. Kat stared up at him, chewing her lower lip, consumed with uncertainty. She’d never disobeyed her father before — at least not at this level — but she'd never wanted anything as much as she wanted to spend time with this man.
A surreptitious glance told her the bodyguards stood at a respectful distance, as usual. They’d learned she preferred them to stay out of her way, which is why none of them helped pick up her sketches. Their bored expressions indicated they almost certainly couldn’t hear the conversation, which meant she might have a chance to get away with it.
“Okay,” she almost whispered. “But we have to be careful and play it cool.”
Alex’s lips twitched up into a smirk that nearly turned her knees to jelly. “Why?”
“Shh, it’s a long story.” Glancing at the guards again, Kat took his arm and tried to ignore the shivers that ran up her spine when she touched him. “Make it look like you’re trying to see my pictures in a better light.”
She led him across the lobby to where sunlight streamed in through the windows, far enough away from the guards they definitely wouldn’t overhear, though they watched her every move.
“I’ll meet you tonight,” Katrina said quietly as she held up a sketch to maintain the ruse. “Where?”
“I’ll have my driver pick you up,” he suggested, completely ignoring the drawing.
Obviously, picking her up at home wouldn’t work, but she could sneak out easily enough. Still, her safety instructors would have insisted doing such a thing was dangerous. They’d told plenty of horrific stories of women going missing — or worse — after getting into a stranger’s car. But one whiff of Alex’s scent overwhelmed her. She could trust him, she felt it down to her very soul.
“All right,” she said, then held up another sketch. “Have him meet me at the Café Orange on Fleet Street at eight.”
He raised an eyebrow, but she just smiled. “I have to meet colleagues there at seven. You don’t mind, do you?”
“Not at all.”
“And…” She hesitated, trying to figure out the best way to say it without sounding like a total weirdo. “I hate being interrupted by people I know on dates, so let’s not go to one of the major dens. I prefer someplace a little more…secluded.”
His eyes narrowed momentarily. “You’re not mated, are you?”
“No, nothing like that. As I said, it’s a long story.” She smiled and tried to flirt a little. “Maybe I’ll tell you at dinner, if you’re nice.”
Better to seem mysterious than pathetic. He surely wouldn’t be interested in a woman who wasn’t allowed to date.
As he gazed down at her, Kat imagined what it would be like to run as a bear with him by her side. What it would be like to hunt with him, to curl up in a den with him, have his cubs…
Slow down, girl! You don’t even know this guy!
Then why did it feel as if she’d known him her entire life?
Four
One mistake and the whole thing would come tumbling down. God only knew what her father would do to punish her if she was caught, but Alex was more than worth the risk. If Kat kept to her plan, it just might work.
Looking back, she should have insisted on having her own apartment when she’d finished school, but her parents had wanted her to remain in the family home. Of course, her ever-present bodyguards would still be there, just like in college, so she wouldn’t have had much more freedom anyway. Besides, at the time, Kat had figured it didn’t matter because she was traveling so much anyway. Now she regretted not pushing harder for her own place.
Getting ready had taken a matter of hours — so unlike her typical ‘shower and run’ routine. Lounging in her huge, steaming tub, sh
e scrubbed, polished and buffed until her skin glowed. It may have been the inner layer of epidermis for all she knew, but she didn’t care.
Lying back in the tub, Kat closed her eyes and saw Alex staring down at her. His green eyes flashed mischievously as he smiled that sexy grin of his. Heat pooled between her thighs and she couldn’t resist dipping her hand below the bubbles. Slowly she explored her folds before concentrating on the spot that took her to the brink. She thought of Alex. The way he’d looked at her as if she was the most beautiful woman in the world. The spark that burned her flesh where he touched her. His ice-on-fire eyes.
She imagined what his lips would feel like when they kissed, what his body would feel like pressed against hers, how big his— Fireworks exploded behind her eyes and her body spasmed with pleasure, releasing the anxiety she’d been feeling all day.
After recovering from her bath, she felt more energized than she could ever remember. She spent an hour on her hair alone, and then took her time with her makeup, carefully applying, contouring, and highlighting — and occasionally plucking, where needed.
Time raced by and she still had yet to pick out what she would wear. She tried on every dress she owned — twice — finally settling on a long, spaghetti-strap number made of shimmery silver satin that hugged her full hips and strained to contain her breasts. She’d bought it on a whim in New York and had never had the nerve to wear it in public. She slipped her feet into a pair of silver Christian Louboutin heels and admired her reflection in the mirror.
The ensemble needed one last touch. Digging through her panty drawer, she pulled out the tiniest black thong she owned, a gift from her best friend Tilly. “Just in case you ever need them,” she’d said with a wink over coffee. Kat had been mortified and amused at the same time, threatening to throw them away. Thank God she didn’t.
Leaving the house would be the biggest problem. Kat quickly scrawled a note saying she felt like a run and might stay out all night and dropped it on her perfectly made bed, where someone would be sure to find it. Her parents didn’t approve of her solitary camping trips to one of the many caves that dotted their land, but they certainly understood her feral need to be out on a beautiful night such as this. They would only start to worry if she wasn’t home by lunch, and she planned to be back much earlier than that.
Carefully shrugging into a big, fluffy, pink bathrobe, Kat stuffed her silver clutch and stilettos into a gym bag with a very long strap. Slipping into some running shoes, she slung the bag over her shoulder and said a little prayer before heading downstairs.
As soon as the guard on duty saw her, he stood. “We heading out, miss?”
Katrina’s bored smile belied the adrenaline pumping through her system. It would be a miracle if she managed this.
“Hmm? Oh no, Edgar. I’m just going for a run,” she replied nonchalantly.
The guard frowned a bit. “You don’t want an escort?”
“It’s fine. I mean, what’s going to happen? No bears would dare bother me on my father’s land, and no other creature would bother a bear.”
Her voice sounded squeaky and frightened to her own ears, but Edgar nodded at the logic of her statement and sat back down, watching as she left through the back door.
There had a been a time when it wouldn’t have been safe for her to run even in her own backyard, but the wars had ended when Katrina was just a cub. Some sort of treaty had been worked out between Clan Hamilton and Clan Fairchild, but she’d never been clear on the details. Probably above her pay grade, as the saying went.
The moment she was hidden in the shadows of the forest, Katrina hung the robe on a branch and stripped down to nothing. She laid her dress in the bag, careful to make sure it didn’t snag on the zipper, then slung the bag over her shoulder. As a human, it hit her right around the knee, but once she shifted into a bear, it would fit snuggly around her broad body.
With a shudder and a ripple of moonlight, Kat transformed into a golden she-bear. She itched to run hard and fast through the woods, to feel branches whipping across her furry face and the earth giving way under her brawn, but she resisted temptation. That kind of run would completely ruin her hair and makeup. If she was careful and didn’t get too sweaty, she’d shift back to her human form looking hot as hell.
Her father’s land was bordered by a great fence that was completely impenetrable — except for one spot. On one of her overnight runs years earlier, Kat had discovered a hole in the heavy-duty chain link fencing. Chafing under her parents’ strict rules, she’d immediately dug up some nearby shrubs and replanted them in front of the hole to hide it…just in case.
Her special secret had given her a satisfying sense of power. She had so little real control over her life, but this simple, human-sized hole had offered her an escape. It was her choice, and her choice alone, when to use it. As it turned out, she rarely did — only on special occasions. And if this wasn’t a special occasion, she didn’t know what was.
The trek to the hole in the fence took much longer than usual — she moved slow enough to not break a sweat — and Alex dominated her thoughts the entire time. How he smelled, how his eyes sparkled devilishly at her, how some deep, secret part of her ached to be released in his presence. By the time she reached the hole, every part of her body tingled in anticipation.
Shifting back to her human form, she shimmied through to the other side, also hidden by carefully replanted shrubbery. Concealed from passing cars on the nearby road, she dressed. Thanks to the moonlight, the compact she kept in her clutch revealed she didn’t look like a complete mess. She’d have to wait for better lighting to be completely sure.
Stuffing her bag deep into the bushes, Kat waited till the coast was clear to emerge. Her favorite ride-sharing app showed a driver just a few minutes away. He’d no doubt wonder about picking her up in the middle of nowhere, but she’d just tell him a story about a bad date dropping her off or something. Drivers were always kind and sympathetic to such tales. She smiled as she tapped in her location. This all had gone so much more smoothly than she’d feared. The rest of the night would be a breeze.
As she waited for her ride, a prickly sensation tickled her arms and the back of her neck. Her satisfied smile fell away, replaced by a puzzled frown. She’d learned to trust her bear’s instincts and right now they were telling her danger was near, but she couldn’t see, hear or smell anything out of the ordinary. Strange…
Of course, a normal human woman standing alone on a dark, deserted road and dressed to the nines in a skimpy dress and stilettos might be at risk, but not Kat. What she’d told her guard was true — no creature would bother her when she was in her bear form, and she’d be able to shift before an attacker could get two steps in her direction. Of course, her dress would be shredded, but she’d be fine.
No, this fearful thinking had been brought on by her father’s overprotectiveness. He’d managed to convince her the world wasn’t safe for her. Silliness! Still, she breathed a relieved sigh when the headlights of her ride flared in the distance.
Five
Kat hadn’t been completely honest with Alex when she’d said she was meeting friends at Café Orange. Her best friend, Tilly, owned it, and Kat had thought it would be a safe place to meet her mystery man.
Standing outside in the chilly evening air, she shifted from foot to foot, anxiously watching traffic as it passed. Having never been on a date before, she wasn’t entirely certain how to behave, but she suspected she probably looked too eager.
“Chill,” she breathed to herself as she tried to rein in her nerves.
That helped a little…until a big black town car with tinted windows stopped in front of her. The driver jumped out and opened the back door. Kat’s breath caught in her throat when Alex exited the vehicle in one smooth movement.
Dressed in a dark blue Armani suit, he might as well have stepped off a billboard and into her dreams. Beyond his striking features, mesmerizing eyes and adorably mussed hair, a power emanated from
him that drew her to him in a way she’d never experienced before…never imagined.
Alex stood by the car door, his hand stretched out, beckoning her forward. “Shall we?”
God, that smile! Slightly predatory, with more than a hint of good humor, and so seductive she nearly dropped her skimpy thong right there on the sidewalk. Despite her bathtub activities earlier, every part of her body tingled and throbbed, ready for him to show her the way of love. It sounded sappy, but she knew in her heart he’d be the perfect teacher. Patient, gentle, and sexy as hell.
Drawing on her training, Kat did her best to hide her true feelings and climbed into the car with practiced ease. No nip slips, no crotch shots, just fluid grace — even though she felt like a nervous wreck inside. Of course, her heart raced at the thought of Alex getting a peek at the humming body parts in question.
“You said something about dinner and dancing,” she said once he climbed in next to her. “Where are we going?”
He gave her a confident grin. “I have something very special planned. You’ll just have to wait and see.”
They barely spoke on the short drive. Kat didn’t trust her own voice to her nerves, and besides, she had no idea what to say. She didn’t know the guy at all…didn’t even know his last name! But she had no idea how to ask, now that she was sitting so close to him she could feel heat coming off him in waves.
They pulled up to a swanky apartment building, complete with uniformed doormen and expensive artwork on the walls of the lobby. Inside the ornate elevator, he punched the button for the top floor. Hmm, there must be a restaurant on the roof or something, she thought. It wasn’t until Alex stepped out of the elevator and pulled out a house key that Kat realized he’d brought her to his apartment.
When she hesitated to get off the elevator, he smiled and raised an eyebrow. “You said you wanted something secluded.”
The Werebear's Unwanted Bride (A Paranormal BBW Shifter Romance) (Howls Romance) Page 2