by Kim Fox
When he’s gone I turn to the other one, which still has his back to me. If I don’t move he can’t see me. Oh shit, is that with a bear or a T-Rex?
I’m trying to figure it out when he turns and locks eyes on me. Gulp. My body starts shaking as we stare at each other.
Oh no. Oh no. Oh no.
I’m going to be eaten alive by a wild animal.
That’s on my top five worst ways to die list right after being set on fire, falling off a cliff, tumbling into a vat of acid, and getting trampled in a Walmart on Boxing Day.
And it’s all that stupid horse’s fault.
The bear never takes his eyes off me as he raises his massive head and sniffs the air. I’m utterly frozen with fear as he moves his big paws, slowly walking toward me.
He doesn’t look as vicious anymore as he approaches, but that’s probably because he knows I’m going to put up as much of a fight as a Chicken McNugget.
I can’t watch. I squeeze my eyes shut and hold my breath, bracing myself as he lumbers forward on his killer paws.
His wet, sniffing nose tickles my ear, and I flinch, nearly wetting myself from terror. I wait for the claws or the teeth—my body tense with fear—but they never come.
After a minute, I slowly open my eyes and see the bear watching me curiously. He doesn’t look hungry. He doesn’t look so scary either.
But still, it’s a freaking grizzly bear.
I notice the horses have calmed down and curse them under my breath when I see the loose leather reins hanging slack. “Now you guys calm down. Assholes.”
I gasp in fear when the bear swings his head forward, bumping me with his cold wet nose. He sniffs my hair and then leans back, watching me with a curious look on his face.
My racing heart starts to slow down as he lies down beside me, looking at me with a warmness in his eyes. They look familiar somehow and my skin starts tingling when I think I know who they belong to.
“Lachlan?” I whisper. “Are you in there?”
But that can’t be. Can it?
Where the hell is Lachlan? He disappeared just as that bear arrived out of nowhere. And I saw Kneecap turn into that other bear, didn’t I?
I don’t know what I saw anymore. It all happened so fast, and clearly my eyes can’t be trusted. But… it kind of feels like him in a strange way.
The bear shifts forward and drops his enormous head on my legs, looking up at me like he has a crush on me or something.
“Okay,” I say in a shaky voice as I slowly reach forward to stroke his head. “We can be friends as long as you promise not to eat me.”
He closes his eyes and rumbles contently as I pet his big head.
“You like that?” I ask as he moans again. His fur is so soft and thick. I dig my fingers into it and scratch his head. He looks like he’s in heaven.
“Remember,” I say as he moves his head to get closer to me, “friends don’t eat friends.”
The fear that was consuming me a few minutes ago is slowly dissipating as he moans louder and louder.
“Enjoy the massage,” I say with a laugh. “But you’re not getting a happy ending.”
He rolls onto his back and starts groaning as I scratch his long belly.
“Thanks for scaring away that other bear,” I say as I dig in deep, making his tongue roll out of the side of his mouth. “I don’t think he was coming for a belly rub.”
I spot some wet blood on his shoulder and cringe when I see a deep gash cutting through the red matted fur.
“You’re hurt,” I say, feeling bad for the poor guy. He got hurt protecting me. There’s grains of sand in the wound from rolling around on the beach, and even with my lack of medical training I know that sand in a wound can’t be good.
“I have to wash that off for you or it will get infected.”
He just watches me with the most beautiful eyes as I slowly get up, making sure not to make any sudden movements. I should feel terrified right now, but I don’t.
I can’t help but get the strange feeling that Lachlan is looking at me through those eyes.
The bear keeps his eyes on me as I grab the water bottle from the saddle and walk back. I screw the cap off and take a deep breath.
“I’m just going to clean it,” I say, feeling a bit nervous. It’s one thing to be around a friendly bear, but it’s a whole other thing to start messing around with his open wound. Still, he saved my life. I have to try and help him.
“How is that possible?” I whisper to myself when I look at the wound and it’s completely healed. It was open and bleeding a minute ago. I make sure that it’s the right shoulder and it is.
I’m so confused. This is what losing your mind must feel like.
I can’t trust my brain, and I can’t trust my eyes. People turning into bears. Wounds healing in super speedy motion. I need laser eye surgery. No. I need something more powerful than that. I need lightsaber eye surgery.
We hang out for a while, and I’m surprised that the horses are so calm, just chilling by the tree like there’s not a bear nearby, only a five-ton puppy.
And that’s what it feels like. For some strange reason that I don’t quite understand, I know that he won’t hurt me. I can feel the affection radiating off him. I can feel the love.
It sounds crazy to say, but it’s true.
Suddenly, he stands up, licks my face with his long wet tongue, turns, and walks away.
“Uhm,” I stutter. “Okay. Bye.”
His big butt sways from side to side as he walks down the beach away from me.
It’s crazy, but I kind of liked his company. It was warm and comforting, and I’m already missing him.
“If you see Lachlan in the forest, can you please ask him to kindly return?” I call out to the bear. “I have a few pressing questions for him. Like where the hell did he go?”
A gasp escapes my lips when the bear suddenly starts shaking violently. I jump to my feet, staring in horror as my new friend has a seizure or something worse.
I take a step forward when that horrible noise rips through the air and the bear explodes into a naked man.
My heart can’t take much more of this pounding. It’s working overtime as the man turns around, and I see Lachlan’s beautiful face and kind eyes looking back at me.
I just swallow hard as I look him up and down from his toes in the sand to his long cock hanging between his muscular thighs to his face that looks like he doesn’t know what to do or say.
We just stare at each other for a long moment before he licks his lips and clears his throat. He opens his mouth to speak, but I say the first words.
“I think my brain is broken.”
Chapter 11
Lachlan
Jessie slides her hands over her head and squeezes her skull as she cringes at me. “It’s true,” she says in a panicked voice. “I’m losing my mind. I saw Kneecap turn into a bear, and then I saw a bear turn into you. I’m hallucinating. Or I’m going crazy.” She tilts her head as she looks at me with wild eyes. “What was in that carrot?”
“It was just a carrot,” I say, unable to hold back a chuckle. The poor girl. I actually made her think that she broke her brain.
“Am I dreaming?” she says as she starts to pace up and down. “This must be like the movie Inception. I pretended that I understood the movie when I went to see it with my friend Angie, but let’s be honest, I don’t think anyone understood that movie.”
Oh no. She’s starting to ramble again. The nerves must be getting to her.
“I mean why would someone make a movie that doesn’t make any sense? So that people will feel stupid as they walk out of the theater?” she says with her voice racing. “But this was like that scene with the turning walls, but instead of Joseph Gordon Levitt it was a bear, and instead of a gun it was a carrot. No, actually, it wasn’t anything like that scene. It was more like the Matrix or, no, it was like The Revenant with that scary bear and Leo who looked so ugly in it.”
She suddenly
stops and stares at me as she takes deep gulps of air. Her hair is a mess and her eyes look wild as they lock onto me.
“Did you turn into a bear?”
“Jessie,” I say softly. “Why don’t you sit down and I’ll explain?”
She stares at me for a long moment, looking half-crazed, and then casually walks to the blanket and sits down, waiting for an explanation.
“Can I put some clothes on first?” I ask, feeling very naked.
She glances down at my cock and then clears her throat. “I’d rather you didn’t.”
“How about just my jeans?” I say as I grab them off the ground. I dust the sand off and slip them on, wondering what to tell her.
I scared the shit out of her, but to be honest, it was even scarier for me. Kneecap’s psycho bear thought I was challenging him for the dead deer and attacked. I managed to fight him off, but then I lost control of my own bear after he left.
Normally, I can pull him in at will, but he wouldn’t listen to any commands or threats that I threw at him. I was hopeless as he approached her way too close for my comfort. My bear could have done anything he wanted to her, and I would have been powerless to stop him.
I felt like a helpless prisoner trapped inside as he walked over and sniffed her hair, wondering if he was going to maul her, wondering if she was going to survive.
This was what I was afraid of. It went fine this time, but who knows what my bear will do next time? This is why she can’t stay with me. This is why she has to leave after I take care of the men who are hunting her down.
I kneel down in front of her and take a deep breath, wondering how I can explain this all.
“So, like,” she says, too impatient to wait for me to start speaking. “You have a bear inside you? That bear is inside you?”
I nod. “I’m a grizzly bear shifter. We all are at the ranch.”
She looks at me funny as she tilts her head. “So, you can change into a grizzly bear and back?”
“Yeah.”
“At will?”
I get a quiver in my stomach as I watch her. “Normally, I can pull him back in,” I say slowly, “but I couldn’t this time. Not around you.”
“Why not around me?” she asks, looking at me curiously. “I don’t understand.”
“Neither do I,” I admit.
We both turn our heads as the ducks return, landing with a chorus of quacks as they slide across the lake.
“This is what I was worried about, Jessie,” I say, feeling sick to my stomach. “I can protect you from the men after you, but I can’t protect you from my bear. When he’s out, I can’t control him. And he can hurt people. He can hurt people I love.”
For the first time, I realize that I do love her. I love her with every beat of my pathetic heart.
Her head shakes as she looks at me. “He’s not going to hurt me.”
She says it with such a sureness and strong conviction that I jerk my head back in surprise.
“No,” she says again, shaking her head even harder. “He saved me. We’re friends now.”
“Jessie,” I say, trying to make her see. “He’s a wild animal. He’s dangero—”
“No,” she says, interrupting me with a curt reply. “It’s not going to happen.”
I let out a frustrated breath. “How can you be so sure?”
She shrugs. “I was with him for a long time. I can just tell. He was like a puppy dog next to me.”
“Even puppy dogs can bite their owners,” I say. “They can turn on their masters and do unexpected things.”
“Not him,” she says bluntly. “He saved my life. The whole time he was here, I could feel the love and affection radiating off him.”
“Really?” I ask as my confused mind races to search for answers. I rub my chin as I watch her. “But he wouldn’t let me pull him back in.”
“Because he wanted to hang out with me,” she says with a shrug. “I am pretty awesome.”
I’m trying to figure it out as I stare at her. I was freaking out while stuck inside, thinking that my bear was going to hurt her, that I wasn’t paying attention to his true intentions. Maybe he did want to hang out with her. He was pretty calm, and I’ve never seen him act so affectionate around a human before.
Is it possible that she’s right?
Could I trust my bear to help protect her against these mobsters?
I swallow hard as I grit my teeth. It’s possible that she’s right, but it’s also possible that she’s wrong.
And that’s a risk I cannot take.
She’s staring at my shoulder and when I look down, I see the wound from Kneecap’s claws. It’s only a faded pink line right now, and it’s continuing to fade.
“Your shoulder was injured,” she says. “I saw it.”
“I heal fast,” I say. “Kind of like Wolverine.”
Her beautiful eyes widen. “Do you have claws too?”
“Not that kind of claws. I’m not that much like Wolverine.”
She grins. “You’re grumpy and moody like Wolverine. Maybe you’re more like him than you think.”
I laugh. “Maybe.”
Her back straightens as she looks around the forest. “Is that other bear going to come back?”
“No.”
“I didn’t like that guy so much.”
“It’s best not to be around Kneecap’s bear when he’s eating,” I say. “He thought I was challenging him for his meal.”
“I almost was his meal,” she says with a shiver. “Thanks for protecting me.”
“Now you know how I can protect you,” I say, cupping her cheek with my hand. “I’m stronger than humans, I’m faster than humans, I heal fast, and I have a vicious bear who seems to have a crush on you that I can call out at any time.”
I just hope I can call him back in.
“Stay with me,” I beg. “Let me protect you.”
Her beautiful blue eyes are filled with anguish. I know she desperately wants to.
She closes her eyes as I lean forward and kiss her, gently running my tongue along her bottom lip.
“Say yes,” I beg. “Stay with me and I’ll keep you safe. You saw what I can do against a charging grizzly bear. I won’t even break a sweat over a couple of greasy wannabe mobsters.”
She opens her sweet eyes and watches me closely. “Okay,” she whispers. “I’ll stay.”
“Oh, thank you,” I say in a gasp as I’m suddenly filled with relief. “Thank you so much.”
She smiles. I give her another kiss and then stand up. “I’m full of sweat,” I say, feeling gross and sticky after a stressful hour. “I’m going to go rinse off with a swim.”
She watches as I take my jeans off and walk to the lake. The water feels amazing as I dive in—cool and refreshing on my hot skin. I don’t know what feels better, the fresh water or knowing that Jessie is going to stay with me. My face breaks out into a smile under water. Definitely knowing that Jessie is here to stay is better.
I pop out of the water and take a sharp breath when I see her. She’s knee-deep in the water wearing nothing but a smile.
Fuck, this girl is incredible. I’m still not entirely sure that I deserve her.
My hungry eyes roam over body, taking in every perfect curve from her thick hips up to her full beautiful breasts. The sun is shining down on her, lighting her silver-blonde hair around her like a halo, and the sight is so perfect that all I can do is stare at her as she walks forward.
Her cheeks redden as she smiles shyly at me, blinking at me with her long dark lashes. I’m always so stunned at how good Jessie’s smile makes me feel. It makes me feel for an instant that I am worth loving. That I can be forgiven.
When the water gets above her knees, she dives in and disappears below the surface, giving me a quick view of her sexy ass before the water takes it away.
She pops up in front of me with droplets of water rippling down her face. “Hello, Mr. Bear,” she says with a sexy grin.
“Hello, sweet gir
l.”
My hands glide through the water and find her thick hips as her tits float to the surface, her nipples as hard as the rocks under our feet.
“I like it when you call me that,” she says, grinning as she kisses my lips. She tastes like lake water and heaven mixed together.
She slides her arms around my neck and wraps her legs around me, gasping when my hard cock brushes against her pussy.
“Oooh,” she says with a grin. “Is there a monster in this lake? I think I just felt the cock-ness monster.”
“Be careful,” I answer with a smirk. “He’s known to make girls scream.”
“That’s my kind of monster.” She bites her bottom lip as she grinds against me. “I like him already.”
I reach down and grab my thick shaft, holding my breath as I slide it through her silky folds. “Well, you’re about to love him any second now.”
She drops her head back and lets out a long moan as I slide deep inside her.
Fuck, she feels good.
Even if the lake water takes away some of the sensation, just having her here, having her in my arms, is enough to get me off.
She digs her nails into my shoulder as I start rocking my hips back and forth, driving into her with hard pumps.
“Oh, Lachlan,” she moans as she rocks her hips, meeting every one of my thrusts.
I drop my head onto her beautiful breasts and start kissing every inch of them as she wraps her arms around my head, pulling me closer. I take a hard nipple into my hungry mouth and suck on it, then I do the same to the other.
She feels so good it hurts. I don’t know why she’s always had this effect on me, but she does. And I wouldn’t change it for the world.
I start giving her harder, faster strokes, and her face twists up like she’s in pain, but the little whimpers coming out of her mouth are telling me that she loves it.
She’s so tight that my own face is twisting up as well. Waves of water are rolling away from our heated bodies, rippling in concentric circles around us.
I’m not going to last much longer. I can feel it coming on strong. She’s so fucking hot. How could I possibly hold it back?