The Easter Bunny's Bear: BBW Bear Shifter Paranormal Romance

by Zoe Chant

  “Oh? Is there?” she asked teasingly, pressing herself a little closer.

  Meanwhile Desmond had opened the door, then carried her inside as though she was as light as a feather. She could feel his iron muscles shift under his skin as he moved. Already, she was wet for him, her body yearning for that hard length to fill her once more, her nipples taut and aching.

  Desmond climbed the stairs to her bedroom with her in his arms, his breath hot against her throat. He didn’t stop until he could gently put her down on her bed. The covers were warmed by the spring sun that fell in through the large window. She’d left it open this morning; now, a gentle breeze carried the scents of flowers and green grass inside.

  She remembered the sensation of his skin against hers, his body hot despite the heat of the cold water of the lake. She was so aroused she could barely breathe, her nipples aching for his touch.

  Desmond’s eyes were dark, his pupils wide with desire. He took hold of the stained shirt he’d put on and pulled it off. The jeans he’d found in the truck were a little too large and rode low on his hips. Lisa’s mouth went dry when she saw the perfect V his muscles formed, pointing downward to the very impressive bulge.

  Then Desmond stripped off his jeans as well, and Lisa moaned when she saw how hard he was for her. His cock was thick and full, dark with blood, and she felt her inner walls clench with need when she remembered how it had felt to have him inside her.

  “Come,” she said, her voice soft with desire. “Now. I can’t wait anymore.”

  Desmond joined her on the bed. He took hold of the shirt, eyes dark―and then he ripped it, the stained fabric tearing easily. Lisa gasped and squirmed beneath him as her pussy pulsed again, more slickness dripping out of her.

  “I hate their scent on you,” Desmond murmured as he lowered his head to press a kiss to her breasts. “I hate that they came to your home. I hate that they almost hurt you.”

  Lisa arched into his touch. “Mmm,” she sighed at the sensation of his tongue teasing her nipple. “They tried. They didn’t succeed. You stopped them.”

  “You stopped them,” Desmond whispered hoarsely against her skin. “You stole the key.”

  His hands trailed down her body in admiration and then pulled off her pants.

  She bit her lip in anticipation. “We stopped them.”

  His hands slowly traveled upwards, teasing her thighs apart. Where his fingers touched, his mouth followed, his lips hot as they brushed her skin.

  She gripped the sheets when the tip of his tongue flicked slowly against her sensitive folds. Then he touched her with his fingers, trailing them through the wetness until she whimpered with impatience. Every touch was torture.

  Gently, his fingers spread her open. She was so ready for him it ached. Then he slipped two fingers inside her, sliding slowly in and out while his tongue licked at her clit.

  “Desmond,” she moaned, overwhelmed, drowning in sensation. Her skin was so hot it felt as if she was burning up from the inside. His fingers inside her felt thick and hard and she clenched around them. Once more he flicked his tongue against her clit, sucking on her until she felt swollen and unbearably sensitive, her thighs slick with the wetness of her need for him.

  “Desmond, please! Need you, now!” she gasped.

  He slid his fingers in deeper, his tongue hot and wet and relentless on her as she writhed beneath him. She’d never felt anything like it. She felt completely spread open, vulnerable, coming apart beneath that skillful, merciless mouth―and she didn’t want it to ever end.

  Climax washed over her like a wave crashing against the shore, an ecstasy so keen she felt shattered as she trembled beneath him, her pussy pulsing and contracting around his fingers.

  “More,” she demanded breathlessly, grasping his arms to pull at him while she was still pulsing with pleasure. “In me, now!”

  He slid inside her easily. She was so wet and relaxed that he could sheathe himself fully with one slow thrust. Her muscles tightened around him, and she moaned again. It felt perfect, as though she’d been made for him.

  Once more his mouth sought out her breasts. Gently, he sucked a nipple into his mouth, and she trembled, overwhelmed by the sensation as he flicked his tongue against it. Every time he slid out and then pushed back inside her, he rubbed against her clit.

  She couldn’t breathe. She felt as though she was burning up. She grasped at his shoulders, his skin slick with sweat, his muscles tense and hard like iron as he worked to bury himself inside her again and again. God, how could this man be so perfect?

  This is it, she thought, nearly delirious with pleasure. My mate. It’s all real. He’s real.

  He buried his face against her neck, breathing in her scent. She slid one hand into his hair to hold him in place as he nuzzled at her. His tongue lapped at her skin, then his teeth scraped gently against her throat, and she bucked up, crying out softly as she clenched her thighs around his hips to hold him in place as she pulsed with pleasure around him. Then she could feel him coming as well. He filled her with hard, fast thrusts, groaning against her skin as he filled her with the wet heat of his release. Her hand was still in his hair, and she slid her other arm around his broad back, panting as she tried to hold him as close as possible.

  At last, when their breathing had calmed, he slid out of her and collapsed by her side. His hand brushed the hair out of her face. They kissed again, slowly and languorously.

  “I could get used to this,” he murmured, his eyes gleaming as he raised himself on one arm to look down at her. “Sorry I didn’t tell you sooner about the werewolves or the Council work. I’d already decided that it would be my last job before I came here, but…”

  “I’ll forgive you,” she said and stretched contentedly when his hand slowly trailed down her side. “As long as you promise there’ll be no more secrets in the future. I might not be a bear, but this is my home. I have a right to know if there’s danger nearby.”

  She felt a little forward, speaking of a future. A part of her was still afraid that a guy like Desmond couldn’t possibly be happy with the life on a farm. Could someone who hunted down dangerous shifters for a living really be satisfied with the company of Lancelot and the sheep instead?

  “I promise,” Desmond murmured huskily. “I didn’t want to lie to you. And I’ve seen what a bunny and a pony can do to a wolf. Also, I hope you know that bears are very territorial. Even if I don’t work for the Council anymore, I’m not going to allow any wolves to attack the sheep.”

  Happiness rushed through Lisa as she imagined a lifetime of Desmond at her kitchen table, entertaining her young guests and painting Easter bears and getting head-butted by the sheep.

  “You’re staying, then?” she asked, breathless as she waited for his answer.

  Her grandmother had always told her that when you recognized your fated mate, nothing would be able to break you apart. But what if she was too pushy? What if Desmond would rather move into town?

  “If you’ll have me.” Desmond watched her quietly, his sweat-damp hair gleaming in the afternoon sunshine. “My bear wants a home. No―my bear has found his home. And I―I want you. I want you and the sheep and your werewolf-fighting ponies. I want your apple orchard and swimming in the lake in the summer and making love to you at the shore. I want our cubs playing in our meadows.”

  Lisa reached out to trace with her fingertips over the scratches and mostly healed wounds at Desmond’s throat. He didn’t even flinch, but looked back at her with warmth filling his eyes. The sun was still shining down at them through the open window, but she knew the warmth that filled her wasn’t the sun. It was the warmth of Desmond’s soul touching her own.

  “Of course I’ll have you,” she murmured. “Don’t be stupid!”

  She was laughing quietly. She didn’t know how to stop. A bear and a bunny―if someone had once told her that this was how she’d find happiness, she would never have believed them.

  “In fact, an Easter bear to pick up t
he slack is just what this bunny has always needed.”

  She gave him a teasing smile and Desmond growled playfully, pinning her against the bed with another passionate kiss until she giggled again, out of breath and helplessly overwhelmed by love and desire.

  ***

  The forecast had promised a sunny Easter weekend, and for once, this had turned out to be correct. Lisa leaned happily against Desmond as they watched the children running through the meadow, laughing and shrieking every time they discovered a nest filled with colorful eggs, and gently guided by their parents when they raced past one.

  The meadow was dotted with golden buttercups, white daisies and purple beardtongue, and overhead, the sky spread in a perfect blue. This morning, she’d woken in Desmond’s arms, as she had for the past week. It really couldn’t be any more perfect.

  “Lisa!” Her mother was waving wildly at her from beneath the trees that lined the meadow.

  Lisa waved back, unable to suppress the huge smile spreading over her face. Her mother was holding a tray in her hand―that had to be the cake she had promised to bring. Lisa watched her family cheerfully and loudly invade the meadow. There was her mother and her father, who usually came over for Easter brunch. But this time, they had brought her aunts and uncles, and the entire throng of her nieces and nephews. Lisa grinned as she felt Desmond straighten next to her in alarm.

  “Looks like you’re in for the family interrogation,” she murmured and poked his side. “Good luck!”

  Her mother drew her into a tight hug as soon as she was close enough, the tray unceremoniously pushed into her father’s arms.

  “Aren’t you glad now I sent you that handsome man?” her mother asked and winked at Desmond.

  Lisa was still laughing. She’d told her mother a little―conveniently leaving out the werewolves and the fact that she’d had to free Desmond from a cage. Usually, her mother was good at sniffing out secrets, but this time, she’d been too distracted by her glee that she’d finally, successfully set her daughter up with a good-looking stranger.

  “Yes, I am. Now stop crowding him,” Lisa complained, secretly amused by the way her teen-aged nieces stared at Desmond the same way they’d stared at Lancelot the pony a few years ago.

  Her father gave Desmond’s hand a firm shake, the cake precariously balanced in his other arm. “Time for the Easter egg hunt, children!” he then declared loudly. “Oh, Lisa, be so good and take the cake?”

  Lisa gave her dad a suspicious look. “You’re not going to make me hunt Easter eggs with the kids when I get back, will you? You do realize I’m no longer a child?”

  Her mother waved away her protests, beaming at her and Desmond. “Nonsense, you’ll always be a child to us. Now hurry up, take that cake inside before your father drops it.”

  Lisa gave Desmond a long-suffering look, but he seemed quietly amused by the entire exchange. She remembered him saying that he missed his own nieces and nephews. She hoped that was true―he might even survive the Easter brunch with her mother and aunt interrogating him in that case.

  I wonder how long it’s going to take until she asks him if he wants children, she wondered as she carried the cake back into her kitchen. Definitely before the cake is cut.

  In the quiet of her kitchen, she paused to take a deep breath. It smelled like freshly-brewed coffee and the cinnamon buns she’d pulled out of the oven before they’d gone out to the meadow where the children’s baskets were hidden. Even inside, she could hear the joyful shrieks of discovery.

  Out of the window, she saw Desmond and her father already deep in conversation, gesturing at one of the apple trees. Lisa smiled. After what they’d been through together, an afternoon with her family probably wasn’t the worst outcome for Desmond’s final job. She couldn’t even say why she felt nervous. They’d have to tell them about Desmond’s bear, but then, her mother’s parents had been shifters too. Surely that wouldn’t scare them.

  No, there was no reason to be frightened. Why had the holidays filled her with such anxiety then? Perhaps, deep inside, a part of her still hadn’t been able to believe that just this once, she hadn’t only met a man who was perfect, but a man who wasn’t scared away by her shifting.

  It’s impossible to scare Desmond. He took down an alpha werewolf all on his own. And just yesterday, he and Lenny dealt with the sheep that were trying to escape.

  Desmond was laughing now, and then applauding when Katie triumphantly spotted another basket full of sweets that had been hidden in a bush.

  No, Desmond had fit into her life right from the beginning. He wasn’t scared of dust and dirt and hard work. He’d appreciated all the little things that had made Lisa promise herself a long time ago that she would never give up this farm, not for anyone. He’d patiently painted eggs with her and the children. He’d sat with her on a stack of straw, watching a new-born foal take its first steps. He’d raced with her to the lake to escape a swarm of angry bees.

  And maybe, one day soon, we’ll sit in this kitchen with our own kids. Little cubs, or little bunny kits.

  She was smiling helplessly all the way back to the meadow. That was what Desmond had done to her: she didn’t know how to stop smiling anymore.

  “Finally!” Desmond drew her into his arms as soon as she arrived. “Look, Katie found the last nest!”

  “It’s not the last one,” Katie immediately protested.

  “It’s not?” Lisa tried to count the baskets and sweets the kids had gathered. She’d hidden them early this morning together with the children’s parents. Each girl had found three nests, which was all that they had prepared.

  “It’s not,” Katie said stubbornly. “I know it’s not.”

  “Maybe the Easter bunny wanted you to have a go as well,” Desmond murmured into Lisa’s ear.

  Lisa raised a brow. “The Easter bunny? Or the Easter bear?”

  “Go and find out.” Desmond was looking amused, standing there completely at ease among her curious family.

  Lisa took a deep breath. She couldn’t even pretend to feel annoyed. To have someone here with her to share the holidays and family brunches, and to have someone care enough to try and surprise her…

  That was a pretty good feeling. Actually, it was the best feeling ever.

  Slowly, she walked towards the bush where Katie had found her final basket. Something drew her gaze to the left―but it was only a colorful cluster of tulips, red and yellow and orange against the green of the meadow. She walked on, her eyes sweeping back and forth. She even made certain to check the bush a second time, but there was nothing hidden within.

  With a frown, she looked up. She thought she knew all the best hiding spots, after all these years of renting her rooms to families with little children during the holidays―but the most obvious spots were empty.

  Where could Desmond have hidden it?

  Suddenly, her eyes came to rest on the old apple tree, and she found herself grinning as she remembered their adventure in the orchard. Unlike the tree that had been chosen by the bees, this one wasn’t split in the middle, and there was no hollow for a hive―

  Her eyes widened when she raised her head. There, on the lowest branch, nestled against the trunk, rested a small nest of hay, filled with painted eggs.

  “I found it!” she called out in triumph, and then stretched to carefully retrieve her present from its hiding place.

  Beaming widely, she carried it back to where Desmond was waiting with her family. She could see now that the nest held three eggs―two of them were large chocolate eggs with colorful wrapping, but the third…

  “It’s the Easter bear!” she exclaimed, laughing as she took it out of the nest to give it a closer inspection.

  She couldn’t stop smiling. There, carefully painted, a little bear sat on the green grass with a wide smile on his face. When she turned the egg a little, she saw that he was holding hands with the Easter bunny.

  “That is adorable,” she murmured, overwhelmed once more by her affection and
love for this man.

  “Take another look,” Desmond said, his voice husky.

  When Lisa frowned, her mother tried to make an inconspicuous, shaking motion. Lisa frowned, but gave the egg a light shake.

  Something was moving inside! The egg had been hollowed out before it had been painted, but how had Desmond managed to fit something inside?

  When she turned the egg around, she saw that the bottom had been cut out and then closed again with a bit of paper. Curious, she pushed the paper away―and a ring dropped out of the painted Easter egg into her palm.

  She stared at it, open-mouthed. The ring was beautiful, gleaming silver and a diamond that seemed to reflect the sunlight in a thousand different directions at once, sparkling as though someone had taken all the stars of the night sky and melded them together into one jewel.

  She looked up in joy. She still couldn’t speak, but even as she watched, Desmond took her hand and moved to his knees in front of her.

  “You already know what I feel for you,” he said a little hoarsely. “But I’ll gladly say it again for every day of your life. Lisa, I love you. You’re gorgeous and brave and as stubborn as Lancelot, and I never want to spend a day without you again. You’re my mate. I knew it since I first saw you. When I’m with you, I feel like I’ve found my home. For the first time in my life, I know what it is like to love.”

  He took a deep breath. Lisa could feel her heart speed up in her chest, pounding as hard as it had when she’d sneaked up on the drunk werewolves. But this time, it wasn’t fear. This time, it was a happiness so huge it seemed impossible to contain it all in her heart.

  “Lisa, will you marry me?” Desmond asked, his beautiful brown eyes filled with hope and warmth as he looked up at her.

  “Of course,” Lisa said softly, breathless and overwhelmed.

  She pulled on his hand until he was standing once more. She couldn’t even say who had reached out for the other first, but they were in each other’s arms, Desmond’s lips on hers. Dimly, she could hear her nieces whooping.

  The breeze played with her hair as they kissed. The wind carried the scent of grass and flowers. Petals from the blossoming apple tree were falling all around them, and Desmond's arms were warm and strong around her.