by Sophie Stern
She watches me, and I realize that I have a choice to make.
I don’t really want to reveal myself to her, but she looks so pained and hurt that I realize I don’t have a choice.
So I do it.
I close my eyes, and I change back into myself. I hear her gasp, and I know my shift is complete before I even really feel it. I open my eyes, and she’s not looking at me.
Not my face, anyway.
Yeah, she’s staring right at my damn cock, and lucky me, it’s hard as fuck.
“I can explain.”
“Shhh,” she holds up a hand to silence me.
“Did you just shush me?” Should I be aroused or annoyed?
“What’s going on?” She asks, but she doesn’t look away from my dick. Okay, now it’s kind of starting to bother me.
“Hey, I’m more than my penis,” I tell her.
“What are you?” She asks.
This time, she does look up at me.
“I’m a bear shifter.”
“What does that mean?”
“I’m both a man and a bear, and I can change between both as needed.”
It’s the simplest explanation I’ve ever given.
Not that I’ve ever given it before.
I’ve only ever dated shifters. I’ve only ever gotten close to other shifters. I’ve only spent time around people who know and understand and respect what I am.
Being around this woman?
It’s kind of throwing me off my game.
“My kids changed into bears.”
“They’re inside.”
She breathes a sigh of relief and turns to the cabin. She looks at it for a long minute before turning to me.
“What happened to them?”
“You didn’t know your husband was a shifter?”
“I don’t have a husband.”
“Their father should have told you.”
She looks at the cabin again and bites her lip. Does she want to tell me something? For a second, I think that she does, but she shakes her head.
Apparently, there’s more to the story than I know. I wonder if it’s something I’m going to be privilege to.
“I’m going to go inside,” she says finally. “Thank you for rescuing them. And us. Thank you.”
She goes up to the cabin and pulls the door open. Then she disappears inside and I hear the bears start to squeal and growl and laugh as they make their way to their mom. Okay, good, so they recognize her.
It shouldn’t be long before they shift back.
I look at Spot for a long minute. He watches me, too, as if to tell me what an idiot I am. Funny. I don’t need anyone to tell me how stupid I am in this moment.
Whatever.
I head inside, grab a pair of pajama pants, and yank them on before going over to the happy little family.
“They’ve shifted back.”
“So they have.”
“It’s usually tricky for bears to shift back the first time.”
“I guess they’re fast learners,” she says, but I’m not totally convinced. Fast learners? I mean, that’s one way to put it.
“I guess.”
The woman takes clothing out of her bag. So she came prepared. She hands it to the kids and they yank their clothing on. Then she turns back to me.
“Thank you again for finding them.”
“I’m Heath,” I say awkwardly, sticking my hand out. She looks at it for a long time before nodding.
“Theresa,” she tells me.
“If you have any questions about bear shifters,” I start to say.
“I know where to come.”
Theresa grabs her kids’ hands and starts to walk toward the door, but I stop her, blocking her path.
“Bad idea.”
“What? Why?” She looks scared, and I hold up my hand.
“I’m not interested in hurting you, Theresa. Just listen.”
We listen quietly and I can tell she doesn’t hear it at first.
“Wolves,” she finally says.
“There are more of them. You shouldn’t go back to your campsite tonight.”
Honestly, I want to know who told her camping up here was a good idea, anyway. It’s a well-known fact that there are wolves out here. Anyone who would risk camping is either an idiot or has a suicide wish. I don’t think either of those terms apply to Theresa, but she definitely got some bad advice from somewhere.
“Then what should I do?”
“Stay here.”
It’s an impulsive move, but I don’t really care. She’s hot, I’m hot, and the night is young. Anything could happen, and oh, I want so many things to happen. It’s rotten and I know it, but I want her here. I want to tie her up and tease her and make love to her. I want to play with her and kiss her.
I want all of her.
And more.
Theresa doesn’t think twice.
“Fine,” she says. “And thank you.”
Chapter Four
Theresa
Once the kids are tucked into the guest room bed, I go back to the living room to find Heath sitting at the table. His dog is resting at his feet. Spot. The dog is called Spot. He’s a good dog, too, from what I can tell. He’s good and very brave.
And Heath loves him.
“Thanks for what you did,” I say.
“Anytime.”
“You didn’t have to take them in. It would have been just as easy to let them keep going, you know.”
He looks up at me and his eyes narrow.
“You think I’m the kind of man who just lets little kids go wandering around in the forest? Are you insane?”
“No, I’m not insane,” I snap. “But I’m also living in the real world.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means that people don’t just help other people for no good reason.”
“Well, that doesn’t really sound like the kind of world I want to live in,” he says. “No offense.”
I look at him now, sitting at the table. He’s got a half-eaten plate of food in front of him, and I realize that we interrupted his dinner. He must be starving. My own stomach rumbles, but I’m not about to ask this guy for scraps. How pathetic would that be? It’s bad enough that I’m shacking up in his house with my kids.
He notices, though, and he sighs.
“Sit down.”
“No thanks.”
“Do it,” his voice deepens, and the way he commands me has me moving faster than it should. Shit. Why am I listening to this guy? Why am I obeying him? I don’t want to be obeying him.
But I slide onto the wooden chair and sit with my hands folded in my lap as he gets up and rustles around his little kitchen.
“So you live here alone,” I say.
“Small talk isn’t your thing, huh?”
“Sorry.”
“It’s fine. Yeah, I live alone. You?”
“Aside from the kids? Yeah.”
“No husband?”
“Nope.”
“Boyfriend?”
“Nope.”
“Girlfriend?”
“I do not have a girlfriend.”
“Why don’t you have a partner?” He slides a plate of food in front of me and sits down next to me. Heath is much too close to me, and he smells so good. He didn’t bother putting a shirt back on when we got back, and there’s one problem with that.
He’s cut.
He’s got these rippling abs that lead down to the most fantastic cock I’ve ever seen. I mean, he’s wearing pants now, but that doesn’t matter because I saw it. I saw all of it.
Shit.
I think I saw too much of him.
“That’s a personal question.”
“I saved your kids,” he shrugs. “I’m curious.”
“Um, I don’t know, I guess,” I pick up my fork and start pushing around the food on my plate. It’s chicken and rice. He must have cooked this himself. There’s a biscuit, too, and it’s topped with warm butte
r. It looks so good. I lift the fork to my lips and sigh as the first bite crosses my tongue.
Fantastic.
Where the hell did this dude learn to cook?
“Has it been awhile since you’ve eaten, Theresa?”
“Too long.”
“When did you eat?”
“Um, breakfast, maybe?” I take another bite and then another. Oh, for dragon’s sake, this is so amazing. I love it. Every bite just makes me feel even more fantastic.
“You haven’t eaten since breakfast, yet you’re trying to camp in the forest?”
“Are you judging me?” I put my fork down and glare at him, suddenly irritated.
“A little bit, yeah.” He crosses his arms over his chest and oh, shit, I’m in trouble now because all I can think about is whether there’s a way to convince this guy to spank me.
Seriously.
He could just pull me over his knee and yank my jeans down like that.
No big deal.
Just a spanking between acquaintances.
He raises an eyebrow as he looks at me. For just a brief second, his nostrils flare, and I blush. Fuck. I forgot that he’s a shifter. For just a second, I let my defenses down. If he’s part-bear, he can probably smell me, right? Some animals have really incredible senses of smell, and if I had to guess, he’s one of them.
Fuck.
I’m definitely aroused, and I’m not sure that it’s a good idea to let this stranger know just how much I want him to yank my hair back and bite my neck.
What the hell is happening to me?
I shake my head to clear it. Focus, Theresa. He was insulting me. He was judging me for not eating.
And now I’m basically starving.
“Look, it’s hard being a mom.”
“No one is saying that it isn’t, but you have to take care of yourself.”
“I got busy.”
It was one thing after another this morning. Between the kids fighting while I was packing to them not wanting their lunch to the failed afternoon playdate before we headed up to our camp...it was just a really, really long day.
“Theresa, eat the food,” he says. His eyes soften just a little, and I obey him. I pick up my fork and I start eating because food is something simple and easy and it’s really not that hard to follow this sort of direction.
Not from him.
Not from the handsome bear.
As I eat, he watches me. Finally, he speaks.
“It’s important to take care of yourself,” he says. I don’t say anything this time. I just keep eating. Suddenly, I really do feel like a starving person. I honestly can’t even argue with him because I haven’t been taking care of myself.
Life with twins is harder than I ever thought possible.
I don’t know what I was thinking when I decided to do the solo-mom thing. I mean, I thought I could handle it, and I can, but he’s right. I need to take the time to look after myself.
Otherwise, how am I going to look after my boys?
“I don’t know your story,” he continues. “But I’m going to offer you some advice you didn’t ask for.”
“Okay.”
“I was raised by a single mom,” he says.
“You were?”
“I was. She was wonderful.”
I have so many questions for him.
Like how did she do it?
How did she keep her sanity?
How did she raise a bear?
He laughs.
“You look like you have a lot of questions, and I’ll answer any of them. Just eat your food, okay? I’ll talk while you eat. Then you can ask.”
I manage to nod.
“My dad died when I was young,” he says. “Hunting accident. You can see how that happens with shifters.” He shakes his head. “Sometimes humans see us in our natural habitat and assume we’re up to no good. Other times, shifters are poached.”
I close my eyes for a second and when I open them, he nods.
“Your boys aren’t guaranteed safety,” he says. “And it’s important for you to know this.”
I don’t want to know this.
I don’t want to think about them being hurt or in trouble.
Or someone hunting them.
“My mother never remarried. She poured her heart and soul into my brother and I, but our lives only worked because she also took care of herself. She didn’t become a shell of who she was. Jean the Mom was only part of who Jean was.”
Was?
“My mom passed away a few years ago,” he continues. “And the most important thing I remember about her is that she loved life and she loved adventures. She was happy woman. She was a wonderful woman. She took time for herself and the people around her. She took time to care for everyone. Most importantly, Theresa, she didn’t let being a mom become her entire world.”
“It’s hard,” I say. “When they’re little. You know, it’s not like I have anyone who really helps me with them.”
“Their dad never comes around?”
I’m not ready to tell him about that.
“Nope. Never.”
“Pity,” he shakes his head.
“What is?”
“If I had cubs, you can bet your ass I’d never leave them. Not for a second.”
Chapter Five
Heath
She finishes eating and then I help Theresa get comfortable in front of the fire. She sits on the couch under a blanket with Spot curled up next to her. I look at them both for a minute before I head over to the sink and clean up the dinner mess.
Okay, so tonight went very differently than I planned.
When I finish putting the leftovers away, I move over to the couch. Theresa looks up at me and smiles. Then she pats the couch.
“There’s room for one more,” she says.
Spot whimpers and hops down.
“You don’t have to leave,” she tells him, but I just smile.
“I think Spot knows there’s really only room for two on here.”
“Is that right?”
Especially if we’re cuddling.
And oh, I really, really want to cuddle with this girl.
My inner-bear is going nuts. He’s chomping at the bit, trying to escape. It’s taking every ounce of my self-control not to shift again because right now, all I want is her.
“That’s right.”
“Suit yourself,” she says to Spot. Then Theresa turns to me.
“So why do you live here all alone?”
“That’s kind of a personal question, don’t you think?”
“A little.”
“You don’t seem to mind.”
She shrugs.
“I’ll make you a deal.”
“What kind of deal?”
“A question for a question.”
“Tit for tat?”
“Pretty much.”
She thinks about it for a second, and then holds out her hand. I reach for it, surprised by just how small and dainty she really is.
“Deal.”
“Okay, so why do you live here alone?” She asks.
“My girlfriend cheated on me with my best friend. I caught them. I guess you could say I ran away from my problems,” I tell her.
“Ouch.”
“Pretty much.”
“I’m sorry that happened to you,” she shakes her head. “That’s completely unfair.”
“That’s a nice way of putting it.”
“I don’t know how anyone could do that to another person,” she says.
“You sound like you have personal experience with this.”
“Not really,” Theresa shrugs. “I mean, I’ve never cheated and I’ve never been cheated on. I just...I’m kind of a dreamer,” she admits. “And I spend a lot of time talking to people and thinking about different situations. Wondering how people will react. That sort of thing.”
She looks over at me, and in the light of the fire, I’m surprised to see she’s not pitying me. That’s good, an
d to be honest, it’s kind of a relief. I think there’s nothing quite as bad as being pitied by another person.
Nobody wants that.
“Okay, your turn.”
“What’s the question?”
“What happened to their dad?”
“My kids’ dad?”
“Yeah.”
Theresa is fucking gorgeous. She’s got a lovely, curvy body and beautiful hair. She’s got a sweet smile and she seems both fierce and brave.
Whoever left her was a fucking idiot.
“They never had one.”
“What?”
“My kids are adopted,” she says.
“Really?”
For some reason, this completely shocks me. It really wasn’t what I expected her to say at all.
“Yeah, well, I mean, I wasn’t married. Not even close. I wanted kids and I’m financially at a place where I could do that.”
“That’s really interesting.”
“It explains why I didn’t know my kids are shifters,” she laughs quietly, but she shakes her head. “Oh, I can’t believe it. What am I going to do?” She looks at me sideways and holds up her hands.
“You’re going to take it one day at a time.”
“I don’t know any shifters,” she whispers. “How am I supposed to help them through this?”
“You’re going to take it one day at a time,” I repeat.
“And then?”
“I’ll help you,” I promise her, but I don’t know why I’m promising her. Maybe it’s because it’s late, and I’m tired, and she’s lovely. Maybe it’s because it was a wild afternoon full of crazy emotions.
Maybe it’s because my inner-bear really, really wants her to be our mate, and I’m fighting him so hard on that.
Maybe.
“You’d help me?”
“Yes.”
“But you don’t even know me.”
“I can get to know you.”
She sits up and scoots a little closer to me. We’re not quite touching, but then Theresa reaches for my cheek and smiles up at me.
“That means a lot to me.”
“Good, because it’s not an offer I often extend.”
She laughs loudly and happily, and then Theresa surprises me. She leans up and kisses me softly, pressing her lips to mine.