Bear Naked

by Dana Marie Bell

  “Uh-huh.” Sure she was. And, hell, if she really did, it was their forever home, so he was okay with that.

  “You think Hope will want to live with us?”

  He sighed. “I don’t know, but we’ll make sure she knows she’s welcome. It will give her options. Just being safe, being able to make her own decisions will be huge for her.”

  “I can’t even imagine…” Glory’s shoulders sagged. “I don’t know what to do for her.”

  “We’ll figure it out.” He kissed the top of her head. “I promise.”

  When she rested against him again, he took it for the gift it was.

  Chapter Seventeen

  God, she was exhausted. Ryan’s family left soon after breakfast, and Glory had gotten maybe four hours of sleep before she had to join Tabby and Heather at Cynful. There was a time when that would have been plenty for her, but it had been a couple of years since she partied till dawn.

  I’m getting too old for this shit.

  She huffed out a laugh and drained her soda can dry. No coffee meant sleepy Glory, but she didn’t dare make a pot. Tabby’s sensitive nose would sniff it out, and then Glory would have Technicolor yawn to clean up.

  She scratched absently at her arms, the itch that had been building all morning becoming unbearable. Her vision kept blurring in and out as her muscles jumped and quivered.

  She needed sleep, badly.

  Glory scratched grumpily at the top of her head, hoping to ease the itch at least a little. Ugh. The itchiness was driving her crazy. She’d already snapped twice at Heather and once at Tabby, who’d actually growled at her in that big, bad Wolf voice of hers. The only bright spot of her day so far was Ryan, and Ryan’s family.

  Ryan’s family was beyond awesome. They’d all agreed to table the house discussion—and hadn’t that thrown her for a loop—until after Glory’s first change, when she and Ryan would begin hunting for land. The fact that Ryan had paid enough attention to notice how much she loved Max and Emma’s home hadn’t been lost on her. The man knew her better than anyone. Not even Cyn and Tabby were aware of her desire to have a large family home.

  Hell, that wasn’t all of it, either. Glory wanted to have a large family, period. It was a dream she’d never dared voice, especially after being abandoned by her parents and siblings. The thought of a little Ryan running around their home, driving them both insane with his smirk and his big blue eyes?

  She banged her head against the counter. She did not need another too-cute Williams boy wrapping her around his finger.

  But it would happen. She knew it would. The sun would rise in the east, the coffee maker would remain distressingly empty, and Ryan Williams’s children would drive her insane.

  She couldn’t wait.

  The Bunsun-Williams clan seemed determined to fulfill her desire for a huge family, and Glory was just selfish enough to grab hold with greedy hands and never let go. She thought she’d cried herself out holding Hope, but Ray and Stacey had made her feel so welcome that she’d been unable to stop herself from sobbing on her new mother-in-law’s shoulder.

  She hoped Ryan didn’t find out about that. He’d fallen asleep on his sofa, utterly exhausted, and Glory had lost it in front of her new family.

  “Glory?”

  “Hmm?”

  Heather, who’d snuck up behind her, poked her arm. “You’re fuzzy.”

  Glory grimaced, but refused to lift her head off the counter. It was cool against her forehead, keeping the threat of what promised to be a doozy of a headache at bay. “Thank you so much for pointing out my hairy embarrassment. I know I haven’t shaved my arms in a while—”

  “No, silly. I mean you’re fuzzy. I think you’re changing.”

  Glory blinked blearily down at her arm, amazed to see the rich brown fur sprouting in patchy spots. She laughed, aware how hysterical it sounded. “Fuzzy Wuzzy was a bear.”

  “Fuzzy Wuzzy has some hair.” Heather grabbed hold of her, ignoring Glory’s tired giggle. “Ryan!”

  The sound of him running thundered through her head, louder than anything she’d ever heard before. “Wha—oh shit.” He grabbed hold of her arm and tugged her into the back room. “I need you to concentrate.”

  “On what?” Holy shit. She was changing? Now?

  Fuck a duck.

  “Glory!”

  “What?” Why did he have to be so loud?

  “Do not let your Bear out. Now isn’t the time.”

  “Really? You think so?” She stumbled as Ryan whirled her around, closing the curtains into the back room so that no one could see in.

  “Listen to me.” He cupped her face in both hands. The feel of his skin on hers was intoxicating, his scent enveloping her in a cocoon of calm. “Breathe deeply. In.” She took a deep breath. “Out.” She let it out slowly. “Again.”

  She repeated the exercise until Ryan seemed satisfied. “What now?” The itch was slowly becoming a burn, and something inside her, something large, was waking up.

  “Damn it. It’s too late.” Ryan grimaced. Whatever he saw in her face had him pulling back. He tugged his T-shirt over his head. “You’re going to change here, whether we like it or not.”

  “Oh.” Glory licked her lips as smooth, golden skin was bared for her gaze. Yum.

  “Get naked.”

  “Whu?” Glory dragged her eyes from his abs. “I’m sorry, what?”

  His smug grin was strained. “Get. Naked.”

  “Is this really the time?” She was all for a little back-room loving, but—

  “Glory.” He growled out her name, and she shivered. “I want you bare.”

  She laughed. “Don’t you mean bear?”

  Ryan undid his jeans, pushing them down his legs. “Yeah. I need you Bear naked.” He rolled his eyes at her. “Now, sweetheart. You do not want to try and shift while wearing clothes.”

  “What’s the worst that could happen?” But she tugged off her skirt, trusting her mate’s judgment.

  “You’ll hurt yourself when your clothing rips away. It’s not like the movies, you know.” Ryan kicked off his jeans and underwear, leaving him completely naked. “Most clothing is pretty sturdy. You tug on it, and it doesn’t rip right away.”

  “It constricts.” It made sense. She’d had a boyfriend once who thought it would be cool to rip off her panties.

  That had been one hell of a super-wedgie.

  “At best, you’ll try and claw it off. You’ll have to sit back here, with no clothes, while I run home and get you some.”

  “Or I could work in your T-shirt and boxers.”

  His eyes went wide and deep brown. Someone liked that, a lot.

  “You like the thought of me in your clothes?” She reached out to brush a hand down his chest, startled to realize that she had five-inch claws. The little ones she’d been sporting since he’d bitten her had finally grown. “Whoa.”

  “Get the rest of it off.” He tugged on her shirt, pulling it over her head.

  Glory managed to take her own underwear off, though the claws made undoing the bra a pain in the ass. Ryan didn’t help, laughing his butt off when she began twirling in place, trying to get the hooks undone with nails in serious need of a trim.

  “Ass. Hole.” She glared at him, her shoulders feeling strangely humped, her voice far lower and more gravelly than it had ever been before.

  Ryan stopped laughing. “All right. Deep breaths.”

  She drew in a quick breath and blew it out with a snarl.

  “Okay then.” Ryan chuckled. “Down, SG. No eating the tasty mate.”

  She couldn’t help it. Her lips curled, mostly in a smile.

  “Now, let your Bear out. She wants to come out. Close your eyes and scent…” He looked around. “Well, scent the shop. We’ll head into the woods later, let your Bear really out.”

  Glory closed her eyes and sniffed.

  The chemical scents of the inks and antiseptic, the metallic ting of needles and the dust and cardboard—it was over
whelming. “We have a mouse.”

  He nodded. “I can set out a trap if you want.”

  She shook her head, entranced by all the new scents filling her nose. Her mouth began to water. “I smell Kung Pao chicken too.”

  “Bears are omnivores, so what tastes good in human form will usually taste good in Bear. We’re taught that a Bear’s sense of smell is much stronger than that of a bloodhound. We can track prey over miles, and our mates even further than that.”

  She opened her eyes. “Sight?”

  “Our night vision is better in Bear form, and we aren’t color blind the way most other shifters are. We have the full human spectrum.”

  “That’s cool.” Her voice was almost gone, lost in a deep bass rumble, totally inhuman.

  “It’s okay, sweetheart.” His voice had gone gravelly as well. Ryan was changing with her. “Let go. Follow the spiral path you sense before you. Your Bear will guide the way.”

  She could feel it more than see it, the spiral path Ryan was talking about. It swirled inside her, strange yet familiar at the same time, leading her to the presence that had woken inside her. The creature stirred, stretched, filling her thoughts with its own.

  Her Bear was curious, proud, and filled with need for their mate.

  Glory’s skin rippled, flowed over muscle and bone that was suddenly way too big for her frame. Everything tingled, as if her limbs had gone to sleep and were just now waking up, but the pain she expected didn’t come. Instead, it was seamless, a flow of water over rocks rather than grating of bone over tissue.

  It felt…good. Different, but good, and she understood now why Tabby needed to run in her fur. Glory wanted out, wanted to roam the forest, finding new scents. She wanted to go exploring in her new badass furry skin, and woe to anyone who wanted to stop her.

  She looked up from her hands to find herself nose to nose with another Grizzly. Ryan had changed as well, following his own path to release his Bear.

  Glory made a chuffing noise, running her nose along his chin, his neck, taking in his scent until she was satisfied she could find him no matter where he went.

  Ryan did the same, sniffing around her, rubbing against her until she couldn’t tell her scent from his any longer. The scents mingled, melded together, marking them both as taken.

  Ryan’s massive Grizzly head whipped around, a low snarl startling her. He positioned himself in front of her, his shoulders bunching as he went to two feet in an aggressive stance that shocked her.

  Ryan was protecting her, but she had no idea what from.

  After a minute, he settled back down with a chirring noise, a remarkably satisfied sound that had her rumbling what should have been a laugh.

  She watched as Ryan slowly shifted back to human. It was like watching water flow through him, moving him and bending him, blending man and animal together until one was gone and only the other remained. She wished she’d been able to watch him shift into his Bear, to see the strength in him made flesh, but all that naked skin was worth missing out on the transformation.

  “Change back, Glory.” Ryan began picking up his clothes, laughing when she whined. “Tonight, I promise. We’ll strip down to our skin and just enjoy each other. But until I can get you into the woods and show you what being a Bear is really all about, you need to go back to work.”

  She could call out sick. Hell, she owned the damn place, along with Cyn. Tabby would—

  “No.” Ryan was laughing, but his eyes were still dotted with brown. His Bear was all for her idea of ditching work, but the man ruled. “Shift back, sweetheart.”

  She did as he asked, settling into her human skin with a pout. “You are no fun.”

  He leaned his forehead against hers. “Tell me that again when you’re writhing in my lap, screaming my name.”

  Glory gulped. “Okay.”

  For some reason, it took her just as long to get dressed as it did to get naked. It might have had something to do with the way her hands shook, but she refused to give Ryan the satisfaction of knowing how badly he’d affected her.

  From the grin on his face, he already knew.

  Well. This was going to get awkward.

  Temp had seen them change.

  Ryan didn’t know how to tell Glory that her brother, whom she trusted, had caught how they shifted in Cynful’s back room. Chasing after the man when he ran wasn’t an option. A Grizzly—or a naked accountant, for that matter—chasing a man down Main Street Halle wasn’t a sight the locals were ready for.

  Glory had needed him, needed his strength, his ability to guide her through her shift and back again. And leaving her alone, when she’d been attacked in broad daylight, wasn’t an option. He’d do something about Temp later, maybe after he spoke with Bunny and Julian. The Spirit Bear would know what to do. In the meantime, he’d enjoy the fact that his mate had finally changed.

  My God, she’d been a gorgeous Bear.

  Ryan pulled his mate into his apartment after her shift was done at Cynful, desperate to feel her skin to skin. Seeing her change, watching the flow of her animal over her, had made him realize that Glory really was his. She would forever be his mate, his woman, his to love, to fuck, to have children with.

  “Rye? What’s going oh… Oh.”

  He’d dropped to his knees as soon as the door shut behind them, lifted up her skirt, and kissed her covered pussy.

  “I’m going to go with…you’re horny.”

  The laughter in her voice would disappear soon enough. Ryan had every intention of feasting on his mate.

  His.

  God, he still couldn’t get over it.

  “Bed?” Glory’s voice was breathless and filled with desire.

  Nah. He’d never make it. “Sofa.”

  She whimpered. “You’re going to kill me.”

  He smiled and picked her up. “Consider me baby bear.”

  She quirked her eyebrow at him. “Just right, huh?”

  He loved the fact that she got him, even when they were both exhausted. “Yup.”

  She laughed when he dropped her on the sofa, careful not to hurt her. The only pain she’d feel tonight was sexual. He had every intention of draping her over the arm of the sofa, of pounding into her until they were both screaming.

  But first, he had a mate to taste.

  A bunch of filmy fabric hit him in the face. Apparently Glory was way ahead of him. While he’d been daydreaming about what he wanted to do to her sprawled, naked body, she’d gotten her clothes off. He tossed the clothes aside, moaning at the sight of her splayed legs.

  “Ryan?”

  “Yeah?” Whoa. His voice hadn’t cracked like that since he was a teenager.

  “You might want to check and see if I’m too hot or too cold.”

  The blush on her cheeks was in direct contrast to her bold words. “I’ll have to eat a lot to make sure.” He knelt at her feet, ready to worship her. “You know, blow on it if it gets too hot, warm it up if it gets too cool.” He stroked a finger down her stomach until it rested just above her clit. “Until it’s just right.”

  She shivered, her hips thrusting toward his hand. Her expression was filled with desire as she buried her hand in his hair. Instead of the pressure he expected, the demand, her caress was soft, pleading. “Yes, Rye.”

  He took his first taste of the night, ready to set aside their game. The need to make her come was overwhelming, almost as intense as when she claimed him. So instead of gentle touches, he took her into his mouth and suckled her, enjoying her startled, pleasure-filled cries.

  The hand that had been softly stroking his hair clenched, holding him in place while she thrust her hips against his face. Ryan did his best to follow, but a sharp tug told him to stay still.

  Glory was beautiful, wild, her curls spread out beneath her. Her pink nipples stood, ripe and ready for Ryan’s mouth. He wanted to taste her there, too, to suck and bite and scratch the flawless skin with his beard, just to watch her quiver. He’d mark her with his beard, his
teeth, his come until they were both a pile of satisfied goo on the floor.

  But first, he had to make his mate come.

  She was muttering, tugging at him with impatient hands, demanding that he do something, anything, but Ryan refused to give up his prize. He growled, loving her choked cry as the vibrations of his growl rocketed through her, triggering an orgasm.

  Well, now. Wasn’t that interesting?

  Ryan continued to lap at his mate, soothing her, building her back up as the shivers began to turn once more into moans. But this time he growled for her, kept the sound going, giving her his own version of a hummer, Bear style.

  Glory went wild beneath his mouth. The grip in his hair became painful, but he couldn’t care less. His mate was taking from him, accepting the pleasure he gave her, and nothing could drag him away.

  This time, when she came, her eyes scrunched shut and her whole body shook. Her breath came in panting gasps, her skin flushed, and Ryan nearly came in his jeans at the sight.

  Ryan waited for the spasms to pass, for her eyes to open and focus on him. The precious, rare smile, the one she only gave to him, crossed her face. “Mmm.”

  She stretched, thrusting her breasts up, tempting him. “Just right?”

  She nodded and moaned softly again, a happy, sated sound.

  “My turn, then.” And he wouldn’t last long, not at all. Just watching her had him throbbing, aching. He needed to bury himself inside her again, both fang and cock.

  Glory stood, almost toppling over. He righted her, laughing when she made a face. “What?”

  “Mm. Nothing.” No way was he going to say he was proud that he’d made her knees weak. If he did, she might show him how not weak they were. Once he was certain she could stand on her own, he moved the end table out of the way and gestured toward the sofa. “Over the arm, sweetheart.”

  Maybe she was just as eager for this as he was, because she did what he asked without arguing. Or maybe she was finally done with arguing.

  “Are we fucking, or are you going to frame it?”

  Ryan laughed as he realized he’d been staring absently at her naked ass. “I’m thinking.”