Slade gawked at her. Her body was lean and muscular. She must have almost no body fat. Her hips curved wide under her rippled stomach. But her breasts spilled above and below her arms. He was glad in that moment that he was still a bear. He’d have to get a hold of himself before he turned back to human form or everyone would know exactly how he felt about Veronica.
For a long while, no one changed. Then, Veronica pointed the gun at one of her clanmates. “If you don’t all start to change, I’ll start to shoot.”
The woman she’d pointed the gun at changed back. Then another, who went to stand by Veronica, trying to hide her naked body the best she could. Then Amir changed. Then Dax and another woman. The rest of them changed almost all at the same time. The group of them stood in a circle, most of them covering various body parts.
Slade had to work to keep himself covered. But he was still hard looking at Veronica, and he could only hide so much. He dared a glance at her, and she was looking at him. Looking intensely and with desire. They shared a long, intense moment, then she turned away from him, letting her arms fall to her sides, revealing every inch of her body, as she walked to the center of the group. Man, was she trying to drive him mad on purpose?
“This fighting must stop,” she said. “Someone has already gotten hurt and more people will get hurt if we continue.” She walked over to Slade and stood by his side. “The clans are merging. We will become one and we will work together. Our truce starts now.”
She looked around, challenging someone to argue with her. Slade wanted to kiss her right then for being so bold. And they were going to join clans? So, she’d decided to step up after all. He wished she’d told him this was her plan, but maybe he hadn’t given her time to. All that mattered now was how they would get their clans to be okay with it. He’d already talked to his guys and while they weren’t thrilled with working with women who had attacked them, they agreed it was better than continuing a war.
“This is ridiculous,” one of the women said. It must be Christina, based on what Veronica had told him about her. “We are not joining them.”
“We are,” Veronica said. “We will form one company to make our products together, and we will be sister clans. Anyone who doesn’t like it, can leave.”
“You can’t be serious,” Christina said.
“You can’t make us do this!” another woman said.
“Oh, yes I can, Abby,” Veronica said. “I am the alpha. You will obey or you will find a new pack.”
“Nothing like this would have happened if Valerie were still here,” Christina said.
“And if you hadn’t been so interested in fighting,” Veronica said, “she would still be here.”
Christina glared back at her. “You can’t just kick me out. I live here.”
“I’m not kicking you out,” Veronica said. “I’m telling you we’re going to work with the Walkers. We are going to stop fighting them. If you can’t do that, then you are free to leave. It’s your choice.”
The men watched, looking back and forth from Veronica to Slade, waiting for direction. Of course, they all knew Slade had wanted them to work together. They probably just never expected it to actually happen. But Slade was happy that none of his guys seemed ready to take off. He wouldn’t expect any of them to do that.
After a few tense minutes, Christina shifted into a bear again and ran off. Veronica looked around at the rest of her clan. He could see the hurt in her face and hear it in her voice when she spoke. She was bothered that Christina had left.
“Anyone else?” she asked.
Veronica saw Abby’s indecision. Her and Christina had been close. Closer once Valerie died and the position of Christina’s best friend was available. She didn’t envy the decision Abby had to make now. It was either her best friend and freedom or her clan and her business.
Abby turned to her, tears filling her eyes. “I’m sorry, V. I can’t just let her go on her own. She’ll have no one.”
Veronica nodded. Abby ran to her, gave her a brief, awkwardly naked hug, then shifted and ran off. Veronica swallowed hard and looked at the remaining members of the group. She’d expected this, though. She had a pretty good idea that Christina would leave. Was half hoping for it. As much as she loved Christina as a sister and clanmate, she was the one always causing trouble. And she reminded her more of Valerie than any of the others. They’d been inseparable before her death and something about Christina being her dead twin’s beset friend made her special to Veronica. But she couldn’t have her causing this trouble.
Abby hurt worse. Though Veronica thought she’d likely leave if Christina did, she was sadder to see her go. She liked Abby a lot, though she was argumentative. In the end, she usually ended up listening to Veronica. Well, until recently with all this fighting. Her loyalty clearly lay with Christina, though, so in the end, it was better.
She looked at her two remaining clan members. She knew Beth wouldn’t leave her in a million years. She was the one Veronica was closest to. And Robin had joined Valerie’s clan because of Veronica, so she assumed that loyalty would continue. They didn’t look confused. They looked sure in their decision.
She looked over at the men. None of them seemed ready to take off, either. She felt a ping of jealousy at that. Slade was a much better leader. His men were much more loyal. Though it looked like one was missing. That must be the injured one, though.
“Anyone else?” Veronica said. “Last chance. Leave now or forever keep the peace.”
She waited for two long minutes. Then, she turned to Slade.
“Okay,” she said. “Let’s make this happen.”
The seven of them gathered in the Harper’s living room, now dressed at least partially. The men were all shirtless. Veronica didn’t mind at all, if it meant Slade would stay shirtless. She considered offering them shirts, but then decided they were just fine as they were.
Her and Slade stood at the front of the room. She could feel the heat coming off him and she wanted to reach over and touch him. Feel the hard muscles of his stomach, kiss his soft lips again. And again. And again. She tried to focus. This was about the clans. They had to make this work to keep the peace, and for the betterment of their business. They could get down to personal business later.
“I think for now, we should start with a basic peace treaty,” Slade said. “We’re all tired from days of fighting, and we’re missing Knox, so I don’t want to make any serious decisions yet. Let’s take some time to think about what we want this to be. What we each hope to gain out of this merger. Then, we can come back together and discuss the terms and set some sort of contract in place.”
Veronica nodded. “So, what do you think? A week? Longer?”
“I think a week is good for our initial discussion. I think it might take a few meetings before we have a solid agreement.”
“Everyone okay with that?” Veronica asked. They received a combination of agreements and head nods from the group.
“So, we’re all in agreement that, for now and for the foreseeable future, there will be no fighting,” Slade said. “We will not go onto each other’s property without permission, we will not damage each other’s property, we will not set out to harm each other’s businesses, and we will not cause physical or emotional harm.” Slade looked to Veronica first.
“I agree,” she said.
One by one, each of them made their agreement. The men stood to leave, but Veronica turned to Slade to whisper in his ear. “Can you stay for a little while? There’s something I want to discuss with you in private.”
He nodded. “I’ll see you at home later, guys.”
Veronica took his hand and led him upstairs, to her bedroom. Once there, she closed the door behind her. He stood in the middle of her room. He looked around for a minute, at her white walls plastered with many photos of her sister of other family and friends. Her bright yellow curtains and comforter, chosen because they felt cheerful at the time.
“So, what’s up?” he aske
d.
“Well.” She walked closer to him and hugged him. He hugged back and she stayed there for a moment, just enjoying the feel of his strong arms around her. Then she looked up at him and said, “I just thought maybe we could talk about our merger.”
He pulled his eyebrows together. “Okay. I thought we just said we were going to take some time to think about it, then discuss things next week.”
She smiled. “Oh no. Not our clans’ merger. Our merger. You and me.”
“Oh.” He bent down to kiss her.
As their lips moved together, she felt the heat rise in her chest and spread through her.
“What is there to discuss?” he asked, tugging gently on her lip with his teeth.
She raised a shoulder. “Do you have any terms you’d like me to comply with?”
“Yes.” He lowered his eyes and pulled his mouth into a half smile. “First, you cannot be wearing clothing.”
“Right.” She pulled off the tank and shorts she’d put on earlier, after the fighting. “But you have to comply with that, too.”
“Fair enough.”
He stepped out of his shorts and she saw the full length of him, hard and ready. She made herself look away. Otherwise, she’d rush things and jump on him right then.
“Next?” she asked.
“Well,” he said, stepping close to her again. “You cannot be more than arm’s reach away from me at all times.”
She stepped back into place in his arms. This time when they hugged, though, she pressed her hips against him, letting his hard cock rub against her bottom lips. She was already wet with desire for him. He slid back and forth easily against her, sending waves of pleasure through her body.
“Anything else?” she asked.
He closed his eyes and moaned. “Umm…”
She slowly slid down his stomach and took him into her mouth. He let out a moan and put out a hand to brace himself against the wall. He let his other hand fall to her head, letting his fingers run through her hair softly as she sucked and stroked him.
“That feels so good,” he said.
After another few minutes, he stepped back to break free of her mouth. Then he picked her up and tossed her onto the bed.
“My turn,” he said.
He spread her legs apart and lowered himself down. With his tongue, he flicked and sucked at her clit and around her lips. She moaned and moved her hips against him, wanting more. He slipped a finger into her as he pressed his mouth harder.
Veronica sat up suddenly. “You have to stop.”
He pulled his eyebrows together in confusion. “Okay…”
She shook her head. “I’m sorry,” she said.
He sat at the edge of her bed, his legs tucked underneath him, and she crawled over to him.
“I just can’t wait any longer.” She positioned herself with her legs around him and lowered down onto his erection.
He growled in her ear and wrapped his arms around her, then rocked forward and back with her, pushing in deeper with each move forward and pulling out slightly with each move back.
She moaned and tugged at his earlobe with her teeth. He growled in response and then made a purring noise that sent chills through her. She dug her fingers into his hair and pulled him closer, smashing her mouth to his. Why did he always feel too far away from her? If his skin melted into hers, he still wouldn’t be close enough.
“You’re so wild,” he said. “I like it.”
“Must be the animal in me,” she said.
She rose up on her knees so she could slam down harder on him, tilting her hips forward and back to rub her clit against him as she did. She pulled at his hair and scratched along his back and kissed him hard. She still couldn’t get him deep enough or close enough.
He squeezed her tight and rolled them over onto their sides. Then he rolled to his back and pulled her on top of him. She sat up, digging her fingers into the hard muscles of his stomach. He grabbed her ass and smacked her, hard.
“Oh, you like rough, do you?” she asked with a smirk.
“I do,” he said in a deep and smoothly sexy voice. “Do you?”
She answered by pulling at his hair and biting his neck, then his nipples.
He flipped her over onto her stomach and took her from behind. He pulled at her hair and rammed hard into her. She cried out in pleasure, putting her hands up to press against her head board so she could push back against him, sending him deeper inside her with each thrust.
The bed was banging against the wall, and she knew Beth and Robin had to be hearing this. That thought only turned her on even more and she moaned louder.
“Yes. Faster,” she said.
He obeyed and sped up. Thrusting into her until she felt the level of pleasure rise and spill over into orgasm. They moaned loudly together as they finished.
He sat still for a moment after, staying inside her while they panted.
“One more term to add to our agreement,” he said.
“Yes?” she breathed.
“There can be as many repeat performances as necessary.”
“Deal,” she said, chuckling.
He withdrew from her slowly and lay to face her on the bed.
“Hi.” She smiled lazily at him.
“Hi.”
“You know something? I think you’re pretty great.”
He kissed along her shoulder. “I think you’re pretty great, too. And I think we’re pretty great together.”
“We are. But, I should tell you,” she said. “And I don’t know what exactly you had in mind moving forward, but it’s been a long time since I was in any sort of relationship.”
“That makes two of us.”
“Okay. I’m not really looking to rush things. Well, I mean emotionally, I guess. Physically, I like fast.” She winked at him.
He smiled and brushed aside a stray piece of her hair. “Me either. I honestly never thought I would be able to trust anyone again. I thought I was done with relationships. My last serious relationship was a disaster and ended very badly.”
She laughed humorlessly. “I probably got you beat, but let’s hear your story.”
“Well.” He lay on his back and stared up at the ceiling. “We were together a few years and we were engaged. Totally in love, planning a wedding, all that. And I realize now that waiting probably made it worse, but I still hadn’t told her I was a shifter. Then one day, when I thought I couldn’t wait any longer, I told her. Then I showed her. She flipped out and ran off and never talked to me again. She wouldn’t even come and get her stuff herself. She sent a friend. I think she was maybe scared of me or something. I tried to talk to her to explain. Calls, texts, emails, letters. She wouldn’t listen and wouldn’t respond to any of it. Just like that, it was over.”
“Hmm,” she said.
“Pretty awful, right?”
“Well, I can see why that would give you trust issues. It’s interesting, though.”
“Interesting? That’s not the response I was expecting.”
“Oh no, it’s awful for sure. But I can imagine exactly how painful that would be. That’s almost what happened to me. We weren’t engaged, but we were together for four years. One night, I drank a little too much and we were making out. I got too excited and wasn’t in control of myself. I started to feel the change. Instead of stopping it, I stood up and said something stupid like, ‘Look how wild I really am,’ and changed, just like that. Obviously, he freaked. He called me lots of names and said he would tell everyone. I had to bite his leg and promise to hurt him worse to get him to agree not to tell. And, of course, I never heard from him again, either.”
Clay (BBW Secret Baby Bear Shifter Romance) (Secret Baby Bears Book 4) Page 106