Bear Mountain Bride: Shifter Romance

by Sky Winters

When they broke apart, Jake grinned.

  “What would you say about a bike ride?” he asked slyly, gesturing to one of the motorcycles in the parking lot.

  “Really?”

  Lewis had never been on a motorcycle before. The prospect filled him with a childlike excitement.

  “But haven’t you been drinking?” Lewis said, trying to keep his head on straight. The two shots had gotten him feeling pretty good, and he had no idea how long Jake had been at the bar.

  “One beer ain’t shit,” Jake laughed, and Lewis was captivated by the man’s perfect smile, and even, white teeth.

  “All right,” he murmured, surprising himself with his willingness to get on the bike with a perfect stranger. “Where are we going?”

  “Wherever the wind takes us,” Jake said, leading him to the motorcycle and tossing him a helmet. “Get on.”

  Lewis climbed on the back of the bike and Jake straddled the seat in front of him, kicking the bike into gear.

  “Let’s ride.”

  Chapter 4

  As they rode the bike through the winding mountain roads, Lewis couldn’t help but feel terrified. He gripped onto Jake’s broad chest as they sped down roads that overlooked rocky canyons and miles and miles of beautiful forest. If they took just one wrong turn, they would be goners.

  For the first ten minutes, fear gripped Lewis’ heart, until finally Jake glanced back at him in the rearview mirror.

  “Are you doing okay back there?” he asked, smiling broadly.

  “Y-yeah,” Lewis replied. It was partially true. He was really enjoying the feeling of the open road beneath them. The way the bike moved so quickly that it almost felt like they were flying. Soon, the fear gave way to an entirely new feeling—a feeling of liberation and excitement. Release, in a way.

  Lewis, who was feeling buzzed but not quite drunk from the large shots of whiskey he’d received, allowed his brain to fuzzily process the situation that he was in. He was on the back of a motorcycle with a ridiculously gorgeous man who looked like he’d just walked right off the cover of some outdoorsman magazine.

  Any of the men he hung out with in New York would be insanely jealous of Lewis if they knew what was going on. And although it was nice to know that people would envy him, it didn’t really matter. Those materialistic and superficial people were thousands of miles away. It was time for Lewis to just enjoy himself without worrying about anybody else for a change. He was going to just worry about himself from now on.

  ***

  When the ride finally ended, Lewis realized that they had stopped at a remote wooden cabin. Jake dismounted and held his hand out to Lewis to help him get off the bike. They stumbled into each other, laughing. Lewis’ legs were shaky, but he had never had more fun in his life.

  “Easy there,” Jake said, his dark eyes twinkling.

  He held Lewis closely, his strong hands gripping his hips firmly. Soon, Lewis could feel Jake’s stubble against his cheek and his soft lips pressing firmly against his own.

  “I missed this,” Lewis said, pulling away and panting. “Are you sure you want to?”

  “Are you kidding?” Jake laughed, kissing Lewis again. “Do I look like I do anything I don’t want to do?”

  A deep thrill electrified Lewis as he was swept away in the sensual pleasures of Jake’s tongue. Jake wasted no time pushing Lewis inside the cabin, maneuvering them inside without removing his lips. They were soon stumbling through a small living room, cluttered with bookshelves, full to the brim. Lewis made a note to comment on them the second their mouths broke and he was ready for some conversation.

  Suddenly, Jake shoved his hands down Lewis’ pants and gave his cock a quick squeeze. Lewis forgot everything else he was thinking as he was shocked into a deep pleasure unlike anything he’d ever experienced before. He’d enjoyed the company of multiple men, including the two year mistake he had experienced with Peter, but none of them had ever touched him the way Jake was touching him now. It was almost as if Jake had some sort of strange power or thrall that none of the other men in his life had.

  Lewis moaned out loud when Jake’s other hand slid under his shirt and pulled it off, and his mouth moved from Lewis’ and onto his nipple. Soon, they were kissing passionately and Jake was forcefully stripping the clothes from Lewis’ body.

  He cried out in ecstasy when Jake flipped him around and pinned him against the wall, showering his back with fervent, enthusiastic kisses as he started taking off his own clothes, letting them drop to the floor. Lewis felt a sudden thrill as Jake pressed the length of his cock against his ass. It was bigger than he had expected, possibly the biggest he had ever felt.

  Lewis moaned when Jake reached around and gripped Lewis’ hard member in his hands and gave it a forceful tug. Tendrils of pleasure shot into Lewis’ abdomen and a hot pleasure took him by surprise as Jake buried the head of his cock inside of Lewis. Lewis broke out in goosebumps when Jake grunted with pleasure. It was the most animalistic sound he’d ever heard, and it aroused Lewis so deeply that he released a long strand of precum right into Jake’s hand.

  Jake buried his head into Lewis’ neck, kissing him gently as he moaned with pleasure, nodding in approval at the warm liquid in his hand. It provided lubrication, adding an extra layer of bliss as he stroked Lewis, tugging him gently as he began rocking his hips in a slow, rhythmic motion, gently prying into Lewis and pleasuring them both with his body.

  Lewis succumbed to the bliss of Jake’s nimble, experienced fingers. He knew exactly how to work a man’s body. He cried out in ecstasy when Jake squeezed the shaft of his penis and finally shoved himself wholly inside of him. Jake took it as a sign of encouragement and continued to unleash short bursts of his whole power, until Lewis was used to his force.

  Lewis moaned out loud, and gritted his teeth as Jake dragged his nails down his back. Lewis had to brace himself against the wall as Jake, still somehow able to multitask and pleasure Lewis with his incredible fingers, provided him with the most gratifying fuck he had ever had. He found himself already looking forward to the next time.

  But that was presumptuous. He couldn’t let himself get swept up in fantasy just because he had done one impulsive thing in his life by getting on the back of a stranger’s motorcycle and letting him take him in his living room. Jake broke into his thoughts by lifting Lewis by the hips and throwing him into the couch so that he was bent completely over. He released his grip on Lewis’ shaft and Lewis gripped the edge of the couch, gasping in pleasure as Jake’s body jackhammered into his.

  Lewis exploded with burst after burst of pleasure as Jake’s urgent thrusting created a delicious friction inside of him. The burning inside of him grew to a fever pitch, until he felt the rocking of Jake’s hips pause. The sensitive nerves inside of Lewis were at the height of their pleasure. Jake lunged forward and gripped Lewis’ pulsing member, squeezing it tightly. He suddenly felt Jake’s cock shudder inside of him before it unleashed a hot torrent of cum.

  Jake hissed in pleasure and Lewis groaned as his body was overpowered and Jake’s hand was filled with Lewis’ orgasm. Jake continued thrusting inside of him until every last drop had been spilled.

  When Jake finally pulled away, he looked Lewis in the eyes and grinned. “Want to do it again?”

  Lewis looked Jake up and down, not believing his luck. He had never seen a more attractive man. His powerful chest was heaving as Jake struggled to catch his breath, and his cock was already starting to get hard again. His body was full of tattoos, and his chest covered with thick black hair.

  Lewis nodded without a word and Jake grabbed his hand, leading him down the hall to his bedroom.

  Chapter 5

  The next morning, Lewis woke up in confusion. He was used to this feeling, traveling all over the world to get the best stories, but this time, something was different. His entire body was aching, raw with the results of the pleasure he had shared with Jake the night before. But where was Jake?

  Lewis sat up in bed. His hea
d was pounding and Jake was nowhere to be found. He crept tentatively from the bed, wrapping a sheet from the bed around. He had never had such a wild night of passion in his life. None of his lovers had been able to muster the stamina that Jake had.

  “Jake?” he called. But there was nobody there to greet him.

  Lewis shuffled through the house, frowning as he tried to find the man from the night before. When he glanced at the grandfather clock in the living room, he cursed. He was going to be late for his meeting. And he hadn’t even brought his rental car with him. He was stranded.

  Lewis discarded the sheet on Jake’s couch and retrieved his clothes from the night before. Why had Jake left him there like that without even bothering to wake him up? Had he done something wrong? He couldn’t imagine ever just leaving after being intimate with someone, or leaving a perfect stranger in his house for that matter.

  He dressed quickly, feeling a little bit like he had just swallowed some kind of stomach bile. Maybe Jake was ashamed of what they had done. Lewis couldn’t help but feel cast aside. Why was it that nobody ever really gave his feelings the thought that they deserved? He was always going above and beyond for everybody else. Even Larry, his boss, knew that.

  Shit, Larry! Lewis reached into his pocket and felt a surge of relief when he found his cell phone. If he could get reception in the mountains, which was unlikely, he might be able to call for a cab without being too late for the meeting.

  When he turned the phone on, his stomach dropped. He didn’t have any bars. He would have to go outside and try to find a spot with reception. He grumbled to himself as he left Jake’s house. He might as well just walk into town himself.

  By the time he found a spot with reception, his foul mood was cemented. He hadn’t felt like setting up the meeting so soon, but since they would be expecting him, it would be rude to miss it. He called the taxi service and within a miraculous fifteen minutes, Lewis was on the road.

  He wished that he’d had time to prepare. Maybe if he hadn’t gone to the bar that night to drown his sorrows he would have been able to grab his briefcase from the rental car. It was full of prompts that Larry had hoped he would work on to get an angle on the story. Then again, he usually ignored the prompts anyway and was able to get to the heart of the matter without much help. That’s why they always hired him. He was the best at what he did and everybody knew it.

  Unfortunately, that didn’t leave him immune to the first case of wanderlust he’d had after his break up. And it infuriated him that he had succumbed to his desires for a man who would be willing to leave him stranded in the woods as if he didn’t exist. Wouldn’t most normal people leave a note or something?

  It was infuriating how some men just treated others like they were objects to be used and disposed of at a moment’s notice. Everybody was constantly trying to just move themselves up in the world and they didn’t care whose heads they stepped on. At least Lewis had a noble career. He couldn’t step on anybody’s head. He had gotten there with sheer persistence and hard work, dedicated to refining his craft and becoming the best at what he did.

  When the cab finally made it to the Missouri Department of Conservation to meet his contact and the guides who were going to help him through the wilderness, Lewis sighed in relief. He wasn’t even five minutes late. He must have overestimated how far away Jake’s house had been. He felt a twinge of guilt for not locking up the man’s house after he left, leaving it open to who knew what kind of burglars and animals, but he justified it by thinking that if Jake had just used and abused him for the night, then he had brought it upon himself.

  “Good morning, Lewis,” a jovial man said, coming forward to shake his hand. “I was told to be expecting you today. Come, come. Let’s go to my office and discuss your plans for the article.”

  Lewis was glad he had gone over all of his briefing documents on the plane, otherwise he wouldn’t have had anything to say to the kind man, whose name he discovered was Melvin Blake. He was the head of activities there, and seemed very enthusiastic about all things wilderness. It was a breath of fresh air after being stuck in Mexico, where many of the people he spoke to didn’t give a damn about the contamination so much as they did how they could profit off of the cleanup efforts. Still, that was the case in every environmental issue he covered. That was probably why everybody trusted his reporting. He was never one to mince his words and he called things as he saw them.

  “You’re welcome to stay as long as you like,” Melvin was saying toward the end of the meeting. He led Lewis out of his office and had insisted on giving him the grand tour of the facilities. “We will make ourselves available to answer any questions that you might have. Now if you really want to get up close and personal though, and track the progress of the black bears as they begin to adjust to the reintroduction efforts, you’re going to want to cozy up to one of our bear specialists.”

  Melvin beamed proudly at a door before opening it and gesturing for Lewis to walk inside. When he did, his heart started hammering wildly in his chest. There was Jake, bent over a large table with a huge map sprawled across it, staring closely and tracing a line with colored pencil.

  “Jake! Come say hello to our guest,” Melvin exclaimed, slapping Lewis on the back. Jake glanced up from the table and gave Jake a brief nod, as if they had never met before. Or as if they had met and it had been so inconsequential that it didn’t even warrant a hello. Lewis couldn’t help but feel hurt.

  “Jake here’s busy with the project, of course. Excuse us, Jake.”

  Jake nodded again, this time without looking up from his map, and Melvin led Lewis through the door once again.

  “At about three o’clock, Jake is scheduled to go out into the forest and check on the bears’ progress. He does good work, so I’ve scheduled you to follow him and be his shadow for the rest of your time here. It should give you a firsthand account of the efforts that we’re making to allow this species to thrive in what used to be their natural habitat. I think you’ll be very pleased!”

  Yes, Lewis thought grimly. Very pleased indeed.

  ***

  By the time that three o’clock rolled around, Lewis was a nervous wreck. He hadn’t slept enough the night before, and he wasn’t sure he was prepared to ride through the forest in the little off-road vehicle that the Department of Conservation had commissioned for the project.

  But before he had the chance to back out, Jake emerged from the office, a pencil tucked behind his ear. He was dressed in a white dress shirt and snug black pants, and Lewis couldn’t help but gawk when he remembered how good Jake’s body had felt pressed against him the night before. Lewis hated himself for still being so attracted to Jake, after how the man had treated him but nature was nature, he reasoned. It couldn’t be helped.

  Jake silently got behind the wheel of the car and, without a word, headed into the depths of the mountains. Lewis could take a hint and he knew better than to speak. Jake paused every so often to scribble down some notes on a clipboard that he had wedged between the driver’s seat and the passenger’s seat, and then tuck the pencil behind his ear once again.

  The white shirt hugged his muscular body tightly, and Lewis couldn’t help but stare at him. Finally, Jake sighed and caught his eye.

  “What?”

  “I just…I didn’t expect to see you here,” Lewis replied. “You didn’t tell me about what you do for a living. I just assumed…”

  “What, that I’m a biker?” Jake asked, a smile playing across his lips. “Not hardly. But I know a lot of guys who are. And they respect me up there. I keep to myself for the most part thought. That’s how I like it.”

  “So you really like bears,” Lewis said, trying to make the excruciating ride a little bit less awkward. He knew that Jake had to be regretting the choices they had made the night before. He had all the signs of regret. And although it hurt his feelings, Lewis couldn’t blame him much. What if he thought Lewis might blab about him being gay to his friends.

 
“I don’t ‘really like’ bears,” Jake said edgily, stopping the car abruptly. “Get out. We have to walk from here.”

  “Oh,” Lewis said, his cheeks burning red.

  He couldn’t remember the last time a man had been able to make him so flustered so easily. It was a little bit embarrassing. If he had known that Jake was a bear specialist he would have to work with for the duration of his time in the Ozark mountains, would he still have wanted to sleep with him? He liked to think that he would have had more sense than that. But the truth was that he probably would have done it anyway. It had been too long since he’d felt truly wanted.

  “Don’t take this the wrong way,” Jake said, turning to glance at Lewis as he led the way through the mountains. “But I take my work here very seriously. I’d appreciate it if you don’t interrupt me.”

  “All right,” Lewis said quietly. He couldn’t tell if he was being reprimanded or if he should consider it a half-assed apology for the cold way that Jake was behaving. Maybe they would be able to sort that out after work. He was going to need a ride back to his rental car, after all.

  “Stop,” Jake said suddenly, holding his arm out in front of Lewis. Lewis stopped abruptly, and was shocked to see two bears just ahead of them. “Don’t move.”

  Lewis didn’t need to be told twice. The bears were playing amicably, rolling around on the forest floor and eating something off the ground lazily. They were fairly large, but Lewis got the feeling that they were just babies.

  “Cubs,” Jake confirmed into a voice recorder once they had gone. “Adolescents. Seem to be adjusting well to their new surroundings. Already found a food source and feeling comfortable enough to play.”

  Jake rolled his sleeves up and jotted down a note on his clipboard before proceeding. Lewis couldn’t help but marvel at the man. Outside of work, he seemed like a completely different person. But when he was working, he was so focused and attentive to detail. Maybe he really was just trying to do his best for the bears. He had left in the morning because he didn’t want to be late for work. Maybe Lewis was just being over sensitive.