by Chant, Zoe
Raina staggered, exhausted. Her legs hurt, her chest hurt, her eyes burned, and a stitch pierced her side. She was forced to stop to catch her breath, leaning against a tree and gasping for breath. Once she could breathe again and the pain in her side and lungs had subsided, she realized that she had no idea where she was.
Other than the middle of Owen’s forest, she thought grimly.
And he’d driven her there. Her car was still parked in the city. If she could find the road, she could flag down a car, but she didn’t know where the road was.
“Raina Williams, you’re in deep, deep trouble,” she muttered to herself.
A polite cough made her whip around with a scream.
“Owen!” Raina gasped.
Then she saw that it wasn’t Owen. She had a completely irrational sense of disappointment. Owen was a monster. He’d probably brought her to the woods to kill her. She should be relieved and happy that it wasn’t him.
She peered at the man standing in front of her. He looked vaguely familiar. “Have we met?”
The man smiled. It was a perfectly ordinary smile, but something about it chilled her. Instinctively, she stepped back. Then she realized where she’d seen him before.
“Austin Stroud!”
“Raina Williams,” he returned, again with that unnerving smile. “What a coincidence. I hike here all the time, but I’ve never seen you before. Are you all right? Do you need help?”
Raina bit her lip, confused and uncertain. Austin had been creepy and pushy at the bachelorette auction. She didn’t want to ask him for help. On the other hand, he wasn’t a were-bear.
“Yes,” she said. With relief, she saw something simple he could do to help her. “Can I borrow your cell phone?”
Apologetically, he said, “I didn’t bring one. Are you lost? I’ll walk you to your car.”
“I didn’t bring my car,” she admitted.
“Then I’ll give you a ride home.”
Raina hesitated. He still gave her the creeps. But she was probably being unfair to him. So he’d said some things once that had rubbed her the wrong way. He was the one who was going out of his way to help her. And her judgment of men was obviously terrible. She’d liked and trusted Owen, and he’d turned out to be a terrifying monster. Since she disliked and distrusted Austin, he was probably a good guy who was just a little socially awkward. Besides, she could hardly stay lost in the woods.
“Thanks, Austin,” she said. “I appreciate it.”
She stepped toward him. He smiled. There was something strange in his eyes... Something that reminded her of something...
Owen burst into the clearing. As he looked at Raina and Austin, she saw relief, then alarm in his deep green eyes. “Raina! Thank God you’re all right.”
Raina’s treacherous heart yearned toward him. He must have some explanation of why he wasn’t a bad werebear...
No! Raina told herself. You’re being stupid again. A man who seems great and says he’s crazy about you has to have something wrong with him. Like being a monster who wants to eat you.
“Don’t come near me!” Raina said.
“Did you hurt her?” Austin demanded. “Stay away from her!”
Austin put his arm around her. She flinched away, then forced herself to keep still.
“Don’t you dare touch my mate!” Owen yelled. His booming voice seemed to shake the entire forest.
“She doesn’t want to have anything to do with you,” Austin said. “Do you, Raina?”
Miserably, Raina said, “No.”
The look Owen gave Austin made Raina surprised that he hadn’t dropped dead on the spot. “Raina, I can explain.”
“Okay,” Raina said. She knew it was stupid, but she couldn’t help hoping that he did have an explanation that would convince her that he wasn’t a monster after all. “Explain.”
Owen gritted his teeth. “I have to do it in private.”
“No way am I letting myself be alone with you,” Raina said. “I’m not an idiot. Explain here, or don’t explain at all.”
Owen clenched his fists, looking from Raina to Austin. Then he looked back at Austin, seeming to realize something. “Austin, what are you doing here?”
“I hike here all the time,” Austin said blandly.
“This is private property,” Owen said.
Austin shrugged. “Sorry. I didn’t see the signs.”
“And there aren’t any black bears here,” Owen went on, his eyes narrowing dangerously. “A grizzly lives here; its scent scares them off.”
“That’s nice,” Austin said sarcastically. “Come on, Raina, let’s go.”
Owen looked straight at Raina as he spoke. “Raina, I’ll explain now. I’m not going to hurt you. I’d never hurt you. Yes, I’m a bear shifter. I know I looked scary, but all I was doing was defending you against the black bear— Austin Stroud, right here.”
“You’re insane,” Austin said.
Raina looked at the two men. She wanted to trust Owen. Every fiber of her being told her that Owen was trustworthy and honest, and would never hurt her. But what if she was wrong?
“Think about it, Raina,” Owen urged her. “You know that bear shifters exist. You’ve seen one. Is it impossible that there could be another?”
“No...” Raina said slowly. She took a step away from Austin. “It is awfully coincidental that you showed up just in time to rescue me, in the middle of someone else’s forest.”
Owen said, “And it’s just as coincidental that a black bear would attack you, in a forest where there are no black bears, so I was forced to become a bear to save you.”
At that moment, Raina was certain of the truth. “So I’d run away from you, and then Austin could save me!”
“This is ridiculous,” Austin said.
Hot fury filled Raina. She whipped around on Austin. “You played with my feelings! You nearly broke up the best relationship I’ve ever had. Why?”
“I saw you at the bachelorette auction, and I knew I had to have you,” Austin said. “But you went off with Owen. So I followed you here. You belong with me, Raina. I want you for my mate.”
“You son of a bitch!” Raina yelled. “What were you going to do once you got me alone in a car with you?”
Austin smiled his creepy smile. Then he hastily wiped it off. “Nothing!”
Before he could finish his sentence, Raina jerked up her leg and kneed him in the nuts.
Austin bellowed in agony and doubled over. Then he grew, looming taller. His clothes became black fur. As Raina started to bolt, the black bear lunged at her.
A colossal grizzly bear bowled him over, roaring in protective fury. As Raina watched, amazed, the two bears rolled over and over, clawing and biting in a frenzy.
Owen’s shaggy grizzly bear easily overpowered Austin’s black bear. It wasn’t just that the grizzly bear was bigger, it was that Owen’s bear was a better fighter. And Raina somehow knew that Owen’s bear was filled with righteous rage and protective fury.
The grizzly bear beat the hell out of the black bear, while Raina watched with vengeful delight. Owen’s bear was ferocious, but she no longer feared it. She knew that his size and strength and rage would only be used to protect her, and never to hurt her. Once she believed that, she could see how magnificent the bear was.
He’s not a monster, she thought. He’s Beauty’s Beast.
The black bear broke away. It stumbled to its feet, bleeding from bites and slashes. It was also hunched in pain over its groin. Moaning pathetically, it staggered off into the woods, and was gone.
The great grizzly bear roared his triumph.
Raina’s heart pounded. But after she’d run from Owen, she had to make it up to him— prove to him that she saw him as her true love, not as a terrifying monster. Before the bear could change back into a man, Raina ran to him and pressed a kiss on his furry cheek.
The magnificent bear rubbed his face against her. Then he shrank. Fur became clothes and bare skin. Then Owen stood
before her, a man again. He was sweaty and scratched from his fight, with trickles of blood outlining the muscles of his left forearm and staining his shirt. His black hair was rumpled and damp. He, too, looked magnificent.
“I’m sorry—” They both spoke the same words at the same time, then broke off with a laugh.
“I’m sorry I ran away from you,” Raina said. “You were only trying to protect me.”
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner,” Owen said. “Of course you were scared.”
“So...” Raina said. “You’re a were-bear.”
“We call ourselves bear shifters. But yeah. We’ve lived among regular humans since the dawn of time. I spent half my childhood as a cub in the forest.”
“You know, this doesn’t surprise me as much as it should,” Raina said. “The first moment I saw you, I knew there was something special about you. It made no sense, but it felt like we belonged together.”
Owen cupped her face in his and gazed into her eyes. “Bear shifters mate for life. We know our destined mates at first sight. Usually, they’re bear shifters too. But mine wasn’t. I’d almost given up hope... until I saw you standing there on the stage. You were the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen. And you were mine.”
“I’m yours,” Raina whispered.
Her heart was still pounding from all the excitement. But more from desire. She could smell the salt of Owen’s sweat, and the attractive musk of his natural male scent. He’d protected her with his own body. He could turn into a huge, magnificent grizzly bear. He was wild and strong and all hers— and he wanted no one but her.
His green eyes were a flame of desire. Raina swallowed, feeling that heat rise in her too. She reached out to catch the edge of his shirt, then ran her hands over the hard muscle of his belly. She felt his breath catch under her palms. No longer did she have doubts— she could feel for herself how much she turned him on. She could see it, too. His hard-on was gigantic, pushing aggressively against the denim at his crotch.
“Ready for another round? I’ve still got condoms left,” Owen said. He was trying for humor, but Raina could hear the urgency in his voice.
“I’m as ready as you are,” she said.
She pressed herself against his body, as if she was trying to merge herself with him— with her mate. With a growl of desire, Owen caught her in his strong arms and kissed her passionately. His tongue pressed insistently against hers, hot and needy. Raina kissed back, exploring the heat of his mouth.
He pulled back only long enough to strip off his boots and his clothes. Then he stood nude on the soft grass, his magnificent body lit with golden sunlight. His muscles bulged, shining with sweat, and his eyes were green as the moss beneath his feet. His huge cock was hard as steel, straining upward. Ready for her. Raina had never seen anything so gorgeous as Owen, naked and hungry for her.
“You look like a Greek God,” she murmured. “You should be in a museum.”
“What, behind glass?” Owen said with a laugh. “Then I’d never get to do this.”
Owen took off her blouse, then her bra, exposing her large breasts. He bent his head to them, sucking on her already-hard nipples until her body was one great flame of desire. Trickles of moisture ran from her, soaking her panties.
“God, I can smell how wet you are,” Owen muttered. Raina stiffened, self-conscious, until he added, “It’s fucking hot. I’ve never been this turned on.”
He knelt to pull off her hiking boots, his huge hands surprisingly nimble as he undid the laces. With equal finesse, he stripped off her jeans, running his hands lovingly down her hips and legs as he went. She shivered as he stroked her.
“I love every inch of you,” Owen said huskily. “Every bit of your body is beautiful. Talk about museums— you’re like some painting of a forest goddess.”
Raina heard the truth in his voice and saw it in his eyes as he knelt before her, gazing at her body with both adoration and naked lust. For the first time in her life, she looked down at her wide hips, her big thighs, and her plump belly, and saw herself as beautiful and sexy.
They kissed then, running their hands over each other’s bodies. Raina shamelessly rubbed herself against Owen, moaning as his rock-hard erection slid back and forth over her pussy. Her panties were wet. Raina’s whole body was hot. She felt desperate and needy.
Owen rolled off her drenched panties, stroking a teasing finger along her pussy lips as he went. Raina gasped as a bolt of electricity arced through her body, and involuntarily pushed herself against his finger. She felt her own inner lips clench around his finger, as needy as the rest of her.
He settled one strong hand over her hip as he played with her with his finger. Raina writhed with pleasure as he stroked her pussy and circled her clit with his finger pad, sending delicious thrills of excitement along every nerve. Her slick juices dripped down his finger, trickling over the back of his hand as she rubbed herself against his fingers, pushing them inside her.
Raina was gasping, her heart pounding, her every nerve alive and tingling. Pleasure filled her until she thought she might burst with it. She could feel nothing but Owen’s touch on her and inside of her, see nothing but his handsome face and strong body, hear nothing but his quickening breath, smell nothing but his clean sweat and man’s musk. Nothing mattered to her but this perfect moment.
Owen caressed her inner walls until, like a bear sniffing out honey, he found a spot inside her that was exquisitely sensitive. Even the lightest touch on it made her moan with ecstasy. She’d never completely believed in it before, let alone felt it, but that had to be the G-spot. Raina was so drunk with pleasure that she could hardly stand up, but Owen held her steady. He rubbed at her G-spot with one finger and her clitoris with another, teasing a sudden orgasm from her. It rolled over her like a wave of bliss, making her cry and shudder.
Only then did Owen pull her down to the soft grass, roll a condom over his gigantic erection, and rear up over her. She lay back, relaxed and yet ready for more. He was sweating, his face more handsome than ever, his eyes lit with love and lust. She could smell the musk of her own arousal, and of his. It made her dizzy.
“Put it in me!” Raina begged. “Don’t be gentle!”
With a deep groan that was almost a bear’s roar, Owen plunged into her. Raina gasped as his immense cock filled her, stretching her to a delicious fullness. She tilted her pelvis, so his great length would rub against her clit as he thrust. He pounded in and out of her, stimulating the swollen pearl of her clit with every movement. Her body was alive with electric heat, getting hotter and more intense with each pistoning motion of Owen’s rock-hard cock.
“I love you,” Owen gasped. “I want to be with you forever!”
“I love you too,” Raina managed to say, though she heard her voice shake. “My mate!”
Owen’s thrusts became wilder, faster, more frantic. She knew he was near the brink, as was she. She gripped his muscular shoulders, her nails digging into his skin, as the last ecstasy took her. Owen’s growl as he came was followed a second later by Raina’s cry as the most powerful orgasm she’d ever felt exploded within her. She writhed and screamed, not caring what she looked or sounded like. All that mattered was the ecstasy that engulfed her like the heat of the sun.
Once again, Raina became aware of the world around her. She lay limp and languid, still trembling with the aftershocks of that intense orgasm. Owen was holding her tenderly, stroking her back and hair.
“So...” Raina said at last. “You said that bears mate for life. Was that a proposal?”
Owen looked abashed. “Dammit. I meant to get you a diamond engagement ring fit for a princess, go down on my knees, the whole nine yards— wait!”
He scrambled up, fumbled in the pocket of his discarded jeans, and detached the smallest ring from his ring of keys. As Raina began to laugh, he knelt, cupped it in his hands, and said, “I’ll get you a better one later— along with the rest of the nine yards— but I’m not letting you leave these
woods without something. I love you. You’re my princess, and you always will be. Raina Williams, will you marry me?”
Raina’s amusement at the steel keychain ring, presented to her by a billionaire, faded as she saw the true love and commitment shining in Owen’s eyes. She slipped the steel ring on to her thumb, which was her only finger wide enough for it, and replied, “I will. And I wouldn’t care if a keychain was all you could afford. I want you, Owen, not the billionaire— the billionbear!”
He laughed. “I hope you want Owen the billionaire and Owen the bear, too. But if you really like that ring, I could have it melted down and reforged, and set it with a diamond.”
“Steel and diamond,” Raina said thoughtfully. “Strength and beauty. I like that.”
Raina kissed Owen. She was completely happy, with his ring on her finger and his arms around her body. The fairytale was real. Owen was her Beast and her Prince Charming. But more than that, he was her mate.
“Happily ever after,” she said.
***
A Pair of Bears
By Zoe Chant
Copyright Zoe Chant 2015
All Rights Reserved
Table of Contents
Chapter One: Paisley
Chapter Two: Jackson
Chapter Three: Paisley
Chapter Four: Eli
Chapter Five: Paisley
Epilogue: Paisley
Chapter One
Paisley
Paisley Clark pulled the drapes in her hotel room, shutting out the white glare of the street lights. The room was almost certainly too high for anyone to see into— that was why she’d picked it— but you could never be too careful.
She took off her black wig, careful not to disturb the pinned-up braids of her long blonde hair. Then she stripped out of the expensive clothes she’d worn to check in. For a hotel this fancy, she’d needed them to blend in. Her false ID had passed without a blink.
Paisley barely glanced at her nude body in the full-length mirror. It didn’t matter what she looked like, so long as she was agile enough to leap, strong enough to climb, and fit enough to run.