“I thought I’d never see you again,” Christian said, his face buried in Marilyn’s hair.
“I thought I’d never see anyone again,” she answered. “I’m so thankful for the tribe. I’m so thankful you found me.”
He pulled away and motioned to me, “Actually, it was because of Veronica here that I even had the hope you were alive.”
“Hi,” I waved awkwardly.
She looked me up and down, then took me into her arms with a deep hug. I hugged her back, feeling her gratitude through her hold on me.
“I always knew you’d be the one to save me,” she whispered. “I knew it.”
“She said she’d seen you at the post office sitting outside and was sure it was you,” Christian continued. “When she told me that, we got out looking for you right away. I always thought the girls died after being taken.”
“Some of them did,” she pulled away, looking into my eyes and smiling. “They didn’t survive the births. I think they were too young.”
“What happened to the others?” I asked, looking to the tribe members. “Did you find any other girls?”
Arlo nodded, “They were taken to the police station. Some of them needed medical attention as well. We decided to bring Marilyn back here because we knew Christian would want to see her.”
“You’re very right,” Christian answered. “I’m so, so happy to see you.”
Marilyn smiled, hugging him again. A stone slowly formed in my throat as I watched them together. It feels selfish, but if I could have Kevin back for just one moment, for just one hug, I would give anything. Still, watching them together, knowing they got a lost chance (even if I’ll never get one), made me feel hopeful about the world around us.
“Marilyn, do you know if there was a girl named Beth there?” I asked. “I have a picture of her, if you need.”
I went to get the tablet from the kitchen counter and searched for Beth’s picture on the Missing Persons. Finally, I found it, and showed her. Christian kept his arm around her, seemingly not wanting to let her go.
She inspected the face, trying to recognize something in it, then shook her head. “I don’t remember her. But I didn’t see all the girls.”
Arlo walked forward, “Let me see. I saw them.” Marilyn handed him the tablet. He took one look and nodded. “Yeah, I remember her. Really pretty. I wanted to ask her out, but I thought she might be too vulnerable.”
The tribe members snickered. He shot them a dirty look, then handed me back the tablet.
“You took her to the police station then?” I asked.
He nodded. “We did. She wept the whole time.”
Rick snickered again, “I can’t imagine why you wouldn’t want to ask out a weeping chick.”
“Shut up, Rick,” Arlo snapped. “Anyway, we should probably get Marilyn to the police station too. They might need a statement from her or something.”
“What happened to the werewolves?” I asked.
“Let’s just say, they won’t be kidnapping any more girls,” Rick answered.
“Yeah, you were a big help with that,” Arlo said under his breath.
Christian laughed and gave his sister another hug. “I think we’ll just stay here and make you some food for when you come back. I don’t think we need to be involved.”
I nodded, though I did want to go and see Beth. I’ll have to call Stevie right away. I would just text him, but I still don’t have my phone. I’m going to have to replace that….
The three left then with Marilyn seeming reluctant, but happy. She gave me another hug before she went, and Arlo patted me on the back. Christian waited a moment after they left, just staring at the closed door.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
He nodded, smiling at me with immeasurable joy, “I’m beautiful.”
I smiled back at him and touched his shoulder. He took me into his arms and spun me around, laughing and seeming as light as air on his feet. I laughed, feeling weightless as well and happier than I’d ever been.
He put me down and brushed stray hairs out of my face, “You don’t know the impact you’ve had on my life. You brought my sister back to me and taught me that I could love someone else.”
“I never thought anyone would ever treat me so well,” I looked up at him, feeling like a shy schoolgirl. “Or that I even could be happy again after my dad.”
“I hope to make you happy every day of your life, Veronica. I love you.”
“I love you too.”
He kissed me then with a different passion than the night before - love and not lust. I like both kisses, but this made me feel complete. I never thought I could meet someone who I was both sexually attracted to and completely in love with. With my size, I never thought I could have both.
“Do you want to go upstairs?” he whispered. “We don’t have much time.”
“Aren’t you supposed to be making food for your sister?” I smiled, giving him an eskimo kiss.
“There’s lasagna from last night. We can just heat that up. So, do you want to?”
I nodded, “Of course I do.”
He picked me up again and carried me up the stairs. This time, I opened the door for him so he didn’t have to kick it down. He laid me on the bed and undressed himself with a grin.
“I like that you’re wearing my clothes,” he said. “They look better on you than they do on me.”
“They’re a little tight,” I blushed.
“I like that. You look good in it.” He crawled toward me on the bed. “But I think they’ll look better on the floor.”
I laughed as he kissed down my neck, filling me with desire. My soreness suddenly didn’t feel so bad as he started to undress me, his hands navigating my body like a familiar, but still uncharted land. The slight awkwardness from the night before was gone, but the electricity remained. And this time, it felt even more tender and loving.
He kissed down my body, undressing me as he did so. He then kissed up my thighs, sending tingles throughout my body. He then looked up at me with a smile and began kissing me again, taking my clit into his mouth and making circles around it with his tongue. I arched into him, already ready for him, but he kept working his magic. I came close to complete ecstasy before he stopped and positioned himself between my legs.
“Are you all right?” he smiled.
I only nodded, “I’ll be better when you make love to me.”
He grinned and kissed my neck before entering me. We spent the morning in his room together, enjoying each other as the sun drifted into the window and made shadow puppets on the walls. As he thrust in and out, I looked around me and wondered if I were still dreaming or if maybe I had actually died and gone to heaven.
“Am I dreaming?” I whispered.
“Only if I’m dreaming too,” he answered.
He kissed me on the lips, enveloping me in a feeling of intense pleasure and pure love.
The End.
FREE BONUS
Owned By Her Bear
Ashley Hunter
Copyright 2015 by Ashley Hunter
All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced
in any way whatsoever, without written permission
from the author, except in case of brief
quotations embodied in critical reviews
and articles.
This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to any
person, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
First edition, 2015
I.
The car door flew open so hard. It rebounded on its hinge and hit Shelly as she threw herself from the car. The force of the impact made her slip on the mud and she stumbled a couple steps before falling to her hands and knees.
“Get back here, Shelly!”
The cold, unspoken threat in Bryant’s voice sent thick fear coursing through her limbs. She pushed herself up just as Bryant rounded the front of the car.
“Where do you think yo
u’re going, huh? Where are you going to go?”
Shelly glanced over her shoulder to see him advancing on her. His wild eyes, those fists clenched at his sides.
Instinct took over. Without a thought, Shelly ran. Her sneakers miraculously found purchase in the mud, and she launched herself forward and into the woods.
“Hey,” Bryant said, shocked.
Then, more forcefully, “Hey! Get back here!”
His steps pounded the forest floor as he gave chase. The breaking branches echoed in the night, as if the forest itself chased her.
“Where’s your fat ass going to go, Shelly?”
Her lungs blew out breaths rapid-fired, her legs sending her through the trees. The side of her face was hot where he’d hit her.
It felt swollen, throbbing with every furious beat of her heart. The torn pieces of her shirt flapped behind her as she ran and some confused part of her brain tried to keep them closed around her to preserve her modesty.
Hah! Modesty. Could she ever consider herself modest again after what Bryant just tried to pull?
Branches snagged at her clothes, some low twigs tripping her up sneakers.
“Shelly,” Bryant screamed from behind her.
“You can’t run from me, Shelly!”
Tears streaked out the corner of her eyes as she ran, her plump legs quickly losing strength. Her vision began to blur just as she plowed through the branches of some tall shrubs, the twigs scraping against the skin of her arms and face.
She cried out in surprise as creepy sharp somethings fell down the collar of her shirt. Spinning and screaming, she shook out of the tatters of her shirt, left in only her bra, and kept running.
The branches of the bushes cracked and bent as Bryant burst through them, only steps behind her.
Shelly continued to run, her steps now little more than exhausted stumbles.
A hand grabbed her arm, nearly jerking her off of her feet.
“Gotcha, bitch.”
Shelly screamed.
That scream was drowned out by a monstrous roar.
The little moonlight shining down on them was completely blocked out by the towering presence of a bear. Huge fangs glistened, dripping with saliva as the bear roared again.
Bryant stumbled backward, pulling Shelly down with him as he fell. Too scared and exhausted to run, Shelly just curled up.
Eyes closed, she could only hear as the bear advanced on Bryant, who went screaming off into the night.
She knew it was stupid, but a part of her was surprised he would just leave her to die at the hands of that bear. They were together, boyfriend and girlfriend. Sure it wasn’t the best relationship, but they were together.
Now the bear was returning, its heavy steps not unlike Bryant’s, as it closed the distance to her. Hot air puffed against her head, moving her hair as the bear snuffed at her.
This was it.
This was how she died.
She squeezed her eyes closed, waiting to be torn to pieces. Instead, the massive wet nose nudged against her back. Too scared and confused to move, she waited.
Nudge.
Was it testing to see if she was dead? Maybe it would go away.
Shelly hugged her knees tightly to her chest, just waiting to see what the bear would do.
After a few long seconds, it grunted, snorted, and then scooped her up in its massive paws. The claws somehow missed scratching her as it lifted her into the air and swung her around to land on its back.
By reflex, she grabbed onto its fur to keep from falling off.
The head, bigger than a microwave, turned to look at her from one eye, and it grunted, as if asking a question.
Shelly looked around her, lost and confused. It seemed to want her to hang on, so she adjusted her seat and got a better grip of the fur around its shoulders.
“O-okay,” she said. The bear snorted, and then began lumbering through the woods.
What the hell was happening? One moment, she was being chased by Bryant, and now she was riding a bear. Was this real?
Not knowing what else to do, she reached up and checked to see if she had banged her head on a rock at some point. Maybe this was all a dream.
She rode atop the bear’s back for at least a couple of miles. The forest rolled beneath her, the back of the bear gently shifting from side to side as it strolled along.
In that time, she’d had a chance to regain her breath and the strength returned to her legs. The bear never made any threatening moves towards her, but just walked along.
Compared to the bear, she actually felt small for the first time in her life. Shelly had never been the paper doll guys always wanted. The bear, though, hardly even seemed to notice she was there.
They came to the base of a boulder set into a hill. The bear, clearly the beast marking its territory, had clawed all the trees surrounding the boulder.
Shelly’s heart quickened. Maybe it was taking her back to its cave to eat her in peace?
That humungous head swung back and nipped at the cuff of her pants, giving her a gentle tug. Shelly swallowed.
Bears don’t carry their prey on their back. She had no idea what was going to happen next, but she had to tell herself that it would be okay. She couldn’t sit on the bear’s back forever.
So, scared but determined, she slid down the bear’s ribcage and landed on her feet. Having straddled the giant spine of the animal for so long, Shelly’s hips suddenly ached at no longer being stretched to the sides.
She sucked in a breath through her teeth and stretched her legs out.
The bear moved and she turned to face it. Just when she thought everything would be okay, the great beast reared up onto its hind legs.
Shelly had never been more scared in her life. Her head barely came to its chest. The moon disappeared behind its head again as it looked calmly down at her.
“Oh God,” she breathed.
Then, right before her eyes, the bear began shrinking. Its arms and legs became longer in proportion to the body. The fur disappeared back into its skin and it took two steps forward.
The bear that had rescued her became a man.
II.
Sharp blue eyes watched her face for expressions, his mouth set in apprehension.
Something in her head said, he should’ve had mussed up hair and a wild man’s beard, but he was surprisingly clean-shaven.
Instead of filthy locks, he had a short crew cut. He had the arms and legs of the bear he had just been, however, all muscle and power.
A man he may be now, but he still looked like he could tear someone apart with his bare hands… or maybe lift her up and press her back against a tree.
Shelly closed her eyes and shook her head. No, where did that come from? What a thought to have at a time like this.
Still, one of the most attractive men she’d ever seen stood in front of her, naked. Naked and blessed, by the looks of it.
“Are you okay?” His deep voice reverberated through her chest.
A swell surged through her, and she had to take a deep breath or risk passing out.
“Who are you?” she asked.
“You can call me Aaron.”
“Well Aaron,” she said, suddenly becoming self-conscious of her own lack of a shirt and tried to cover her supple breasts with her arms.
“I’m Shelly. Would you mind putting on some clothes?”
“Huh?” he asked, confused.
Then he looked down at him, and startled. “Ah, yes.”
Was it her imagination, or was he growing hard as was looking at her? That was absurd, right?
He had turned away before she could see anything else, and moved behind a tree.
After a bit of moving and shaking, he came out, wearing a pair of jeans and some sneakers.
“Sorry,” he said as he approached her with a large button-up shirt.
“One easily becomes accustomed to nudity after so long. Here, take this.”
“Thank you,” she said and slipped her
arms through the sleeves.
He was so muscular that his shirt didn’t just fit; it was actually loose on her.
In all her life, she always wanted to do the cute thing where she wore her boyfriend’s clothes, but they were always skinnier than her, and her arms or legs stretched out whatever she put on.
Inevitably they would just get upset with her, which defeated the purpose. It was the juxtaposition of those memories and the fact that she was currently swimming in this man’s shirt that turned her on even more than she already was.
The shirt had the smell of a piece of clothing that had been laid out in the forest, but also of a man. It wasn’t rank, but instead the masculine musk of a man that didn’t need to wear cologne.
Romance: Stranded With The Alpha Bear: BBW Paranormal Shapeshifter Romance (Werebear, BBW, Bear Shifter Romance) (Sweet Shifters Book 1) Page 7