The Bear Shifter’s Desires

by Martha Woods

  “So what’d you tell him?”

  “I told him to go fuck himself, and then I spent the rest of the night sitting in front of the door just in case anyone tried to come through and drag me back there themselves, just to get me back for turning down the offer. And that’s why I spent the rest of today sleeping in bed and calling in sick, I didn’t really want to waste any energy or put anyone else in danger, if I’m going down I want me to be the only one who actually gets hurt from it.”

  “Wow, that’s considerate,” Holly said, grunting as she pushed herself up and placed her feet on the ground, wiggling her toes to get feeling back into them before she stood. “Have you thought about the fact that maybe some of us would actually miss you? You haven’t been here long, but do you know how long me and Todd have wanted a genuine connection with someone? If you just… vanished one day, what do you think that’d do to us? We’d probably think you were just some asshole that wanted to move on as soon as you got what you wanted, you don’t think maybe that’s not what we want?”

  “I’m… glad that you think so highly of me, but I think maybe putting you in danger is a bigger concern here…”

  “This town is basically run by some jumped up punk with a gun and a complex, everyone’s in danger here! I serve people every night who steal and hurt people just outside of town, there are people here who smuggle things across the border, what am I if not in danger just by still being in this town? You want to protect me from your former clanmates? Congrats, you’ve protected me from one of the literally hundreds of little dangers I run into every day, that’s fantastic!”

  “I didn’t want to involve any of you in this any deeper than I already have…”

  “If you really didn’t want to do that you wouldn’t have reached out to us in the first place, you’d just do nothing except sit out here in your cabin watching the dust build around you until they came to take you back home, instead you made friends and… whatever the hell this is between the two of us, that doesn’t scream out that you’re trying not to involve anyone in anything!”

  “Well I don’t know what I’m doing!” He shouted, “I wasn’t ready for this! I thought that I’d left that life behind me years ago, I didn’t think they would actually come for me for something that I wasn’t even involved in, I thought I’d gotten out! So screw me for wanting to feel something nice!”

  “That’s right, you wanted to feel something nice! And now that you actually feel it you need to accept that we want to be a part of whatever the hell it is that you’ve got going on in your life, you don’t get to just walk into ours and then just shut us out when we want to get involved. Now that I know what’s going on here you think I’m going to, what, just turn around and leave? Tell you to go fuck yourself and then wait until I never hear from you again? What kind of person do you think I am?”

  “I don’t… think that…”

  “Then what do you think Shane? Why would you even bother telling me this about yourself if you really didn’t want to deal with me knowing?”

  “Because I care about you, you asshole! I know exactly what kind of person you are, I’ve known since the night you came around and fell asleep on my couch after listening to me talk about things I haven’t even let myself think about in years. You’re the exact kind of person that would just jump into this to try and help me, but I can’t just… lie to you about this, it’s too important and… you’re too good for that.”

  Holly paused in her thoughts, rubbing her hands together and tapping her fingers along her arms as she said, “You know, that’s got to be up there in terms of the weirdest confessions that I’ve ever gotten, feels like a… cheesy daytime film or something, you know?”

  “What the big, burly mystical creature comes and woos the small-town bartender? Show her that there’s something bigger than the world she knows? I have no idea what you mean, that seems completely reasonable.”

  She cracked a smile, scratching behind her ear and leaning forward to place her head against his shoulder. “You’re… a real dumbass, you know that?”

  “I’ve been told before yes, but I think I’m just now realizing how true that is.”

  “Well don’t act too surprised by it, I’m sure this isn’t the first time you’ve acted like an idiot. But I guess the only question is whether or not you’re going to still act like an idiot, or if you’re going to let us move forward and find a way to actually help you through this. You know, before you get dragged back home and hung upside down from your ankles while they roast you over a spit.”

  “What… exactly do you think we were doing out there in the forest all those years?” He asked, “It’s not like Cannibal Holocaust out there!”

  “You haven’t done a good enough job of saying it wasn’t like that, so I’m just going to assume it’s true. Besides, it makes me feel cooler trying to find a way to help you through this, just let me have this one thing.”

  “And you think I’m being a dumbass…” He shrugged, taking her hand and bringing it to his lips, placing a gentle kiss against the knuckle and looking up at her with nothing except tenderness in his eyes. “You can still back out of this, I wouldn’t blame you, no one would. This is the kind of bugshit insane situation that most people just aren’t really ready for after all.”

  “I’ve needed to move on from this town for a long time now, it’s just been holding me back, and I’m bored of this whole thing if I’m being honest. Seeing the same people, the same arguments, I was convinced that I’d still be getting hit on by the same losers when I’m in my fifties. The chance to be a part of something bigger and better than all of that… it’s better than just spending the rest of my life being miserable, even if it’s more dangerous than usual.”

  “Kind of a long-winded answer just to say yes,” He said with a smirk, “Might wanna work on that just in case time gets to be an issue.”

  “Oh, if you don’t shut up and accept the help then I’m just going to tie you down and ship you off to them myself,” She said, grabbing his mouth and shaking his head lightly, “What an unforeseen betrayal that would be.”

  “If we were keeping with the whole daytime movie thing you’d have a change of heart right at the end and come back to rescue me…”

  “Yeah well, this isn’t a movie. I’d probably just steal your wallet and go out to Vegas, blow it all there and then drink myself into a guilt-induced death. Much more existentially fitting.”

  “Right, of course. Proper aesthetics are important, I forgot. I guess I’d just hope that it was at least a romantic betrayal.”

  “Oh I promise, you’d be feeling a lot of bittersweet love, it’d be very touching.”

  “Fantastic, my dreams come true.” Shane relaxed, letting the breath out that he’d been holding in all day, feeling the tension leech out of his body with every second that passed by. “Do you want me to drive you home or… I don’t know if you’ll be ok to drive, not after fainting like that.”

  “You could drive me home,” She said, “Or I guess I could… stay here, just for tonight. I’m already here, the secret’s out, and you seem to be worried enough already, I think it could be alright.”

  “You’re sure about that? You’re not… scared, or anything like that?”

  “Why would I be scared Shane?” She asked, stepping one leg over his lap and sinking down against him, his face held between her hands as she looked down at him, “You’re not the scariest thing that I’ve ever seen.”

  “Oh really?” He gulped, “What’s the scariest?”

  “Maybe… you should be scared of me.” She grinned, so fully and so sharply that for a moment he actually thought she could be a wolf, the fire dancing in her eyes as she leaned down and captured his lips with her own, thumbs scraping along the edges of his temples as she pulled him closer against her, nails dragging through his hair as she compelled him to move his own hands too, resting them on her hips before sliding them further up her back.

  “Are you… sure about th
is?” He asked, in the small space that he was given to breath, pulling back and staring into pupils so blown from desire that he could see his own reflection plain as day, “I could just be some weirdo underneath all of this, might not even be worth all this effort.”

  “If you turn out to be a weirdo then you’ll be the most interesting weirdo in this whole shitty town, you’ll still have that going for you.” Pulling him back up against her, she groaned into his mouth as his hands gripped around her sides, thumbs digging into the space just below her breasts and his fingers squeezing at every inch of tensed muscle that he could feel, massaging with what little space and strength he could get as she took what control over him that she could muster.

  “I’m just saying because… you don’t know what kinds of things I could be into you know? I know there’s probably some real freaks in this town, but I lived out in a forest, do you really want to go there?”

  “Do you have any idea the kinds of things that I’ve heard these guys want to do to me from behind the bar? I don’t think anything short of you wanting to be the bear could possibly weird me out any more than these people already have.” She paused, looking into his eyes very seriously as she asked, “You… don’t want to be the bear, right?”

  He paused too, taking a great amount of pleasure in seeing her momentarily swallow as he worries seemed to be coming to life right in front of her before he shook his head, grinning widely and confirming that no, he very much did not want to be the bear during. A thought that came as a great relief to her, as there were some boundaries that just shouldn’t be crossed, no matter what the circumstances were.

  “Well, in that case… do you want to take this over to the other side of the room?” She asked, looking back at the bed as it sat lonely against the wall, “It’s right there… wouldn’t even be that much of a trip to get there…”

  Shane looked between the bed, then back up at her, before he nodded and picked her up in his arms with such ease that it was like he was barely lifting anything at all, marching across the room with a purpose and dropping her right onto the mattress as she threw her head back and laughed, looking up at him with teary eyes and a wide grin on her face, absolutely the most beautiful sight that he’d seen in a very long time.

  “Are you seriously sure you want to do this?” He asked, one final time, “Seriously, think about it.”

  “I’ve done enough thinking,” She said, pulling him down and crushing his lips against hers, “Now just do it.”

  His hands were somewhat out of practice, a few years of constantly moving would do that, but they found their way to her waist easily and slid up her sides, fingers hooking into the band of her shirt and lifting it upwards, the two of them pulling apart briefly so he could lift it over her head and toss it off to the side. Leaning back, he let his eyes drift freely and openly across her body, arms hooked around her stomach and a faint blush lighting up her skin, turning redder as he looked further north. He hadn’t considered that she would be embarrassed, not even slightly, but he supposed that being exposed to someone like this was always nerve wracking, he was likely to have a similar reaction if he was being honest.

  But the way he looked at her, it was obvious to her that she was desirable, in fact in that moment she felt more desired than she had in years, years of being ogled by every drunk and half-cut loser in town, now she had someone in front of her had been completely honest with her, who trusted her enough to reveal something that by all rights was completely insane, the same brand of insane that would get someone either thrown in jail or shot, especially out in a town like this where people valued their safety almost as much as they valued their secrets.

  Reaching towards him, she pulled his hand up to her chest and let it rest over her bra, feeling his fingers squeeze down gently, as though he was exploring for the first time something truly miraculous. Thumb hooked in the cup of her bra, he pulled it down and leaned in, lips sealing around her nipple and sucking tightly, her toes curling instinctively as a bolt of pleasure lanced directly through her core. Shane pushed her down, her back hitting the mattress with a barely audible thump, his large form bracing on one hand next to her head as the rest of him reacted to her presence, his free hand busying itself with exploring every inch of her body, tongue drifting from her nipple and dragging down into the valley between her breasts, sliding lower until she was giggling and wrapping her hands in his hair, prompting him to pause and rest his chin on her stomach, right above her waistband.

  “Are you-”

  “I swear to God Shane, if you ask me one more time if I want this…” Pushing on his head, she grinned widely as he rolled his eyes and dragged her zipper down with his teeth, fingers massaging her hip bones and pulling her jeans lower, the familiar blush returning in full force as he pulled her underwear to the side and let out a groan of his own.

  “Beautiful,” He growled, not giving her time to fully process before he leaned in and pressed a kiss to her clit, then another, before he shifted his entire body up and pulled her closer to him, hooking her legs over his shoulders.

  “Oh God!” She moaned, grinding her hips against him as he dragged his tongue through her folds, two fingers pressing into her and curling into themselves, pressing on the space inside of her that flashed lights in front of her eyes. “Don’t stop Shane, please!”

  “Wouldn’t dream of it,” He said, eyes staring into hers from between her legs, fingers pistoning in and out of her as she let her head fall back against the covers and she clenched her hands with fistfuls of blanket, throat closing and preventing the moans she wanted so desperately to vocalize from making themselves heard.

  Lights were popping, blood rushing in her ears as she drew her head back and moaned up into the ceiling, hips grinding against him and drawing him in closer before she finally let herself go. Shane milked out every ounce of pleasure that he could from her, finger and tongue working in tandem to push her deeper and deeper into the throes of climax, until there was nothing she could do except pant and moan, feebly trying to find some way to come to terms with everything before she lost her mind entirely.

  Finally, he pulled back, massaging her hips with his fingers, coaxing her through every shudder that wracked through her sensitive body with his every touch, before she fell limp in front of him. He was almost worried, before a breathless giggle tickled at his ears as Holly propped her head up with her elbow and smiled down at him.

  “Look at you,” She said, “Dunno what I was expecting, but it sure wasn’t that.”

  “I’m normally better,” He replied, “Just… been a dry couple of months, that’s all. I’ll do better next time, if that’s what you’d want.”

  “If that’s what I’d want?” She asked, “I’m pretty sure that next time you’ll just make me go crazy altogether, won’t you?”

  Getting on his hands and knees and crawling up towards her, he leaned in and pressed his lips against hers, her nose instinctively wrinkling at the taste of herself on his lips before she gave back every kiss that she was given. She wrapped her arms around his neck, smiling against him before she felt something hard against the inside of her thigh, looking at his sheepish smile before she connected the dots. “Ah,” She said, “We should take care of that huh?”

  “I’d appreciate it,” He said, “But only if… you know, you’re up to it.”

  “I can’t tell if that’s you goading me or genuinely being concerned.” Holly narrowed her eyes, humming as she looked him over. “Nope, I just can’t read you.”

  “Weeeeeell, I’d say it’s a bit of both.” Shane grinned. “How about it? You reckon you’re game enough for it?”

  “Oh my God that’s the most teenager shit I’ve ever seen,” She laughed, rolling her eyes, “I hate that it’s actually working too.”

  He was about to deliver another witticism, before she reached down and cupped him through his pants, stopping any words dead in his brain as she squeezed gently, working her hand up and down his length before she
slipped it up and into his waistband, taking him in hand and pulling him free. She licked her lips, seeing to him slowly and gently as she angled him towards her entrance, beckoning him closer with the lightest flick of her head, grinning to herself as he pressed a kiss against her nose and guided himself in, groaning in her ear as he leaned his body against hers.

  “Take it slow,” She said, still shivering from her climax and dragging her nails down his back with every inch that he pushed inside, “You feel so good…”

  “So do you,” He said, bottoming out and pausing for a moment before he worked his hips back and forth, thrusting slowly and deeply and leaving them both breathless in moments. Fingers clenched around her sides, small pinpoints of pain that went unnoticed just as much as the nails scraping down his back, both of them throwing their bodies completely into their lovemaking and losing themselves little by little, bed rocking with the growing force of their movements.

  Flipping them over and switching their positions, Shane thrust upwards into Holly as she adjusted to suddenly being on top, the thrust bringing her back to where she currently was as she placed her hands on his chest, biting her lip and slamming her hips down against his, catching him between breaths and making him shudder out his next, grinning as he saw her seize the opportunity and take control, working herself up and down against him, coaxing them both towards the edge little by little.

  “You look like you’re having fun,” He said, grabbing around her hips and driving himself into her, “Look more and more like a mess with every minute.”

  “You should see yourself,” She answered, scratching against his collar bone and shivering at the groan she got out of him, “Your hair’s a mess, you’re blushing, you look like you’re completely hopeless.”