He balked a little at leaving Roman's SUV in the lot, but Doug stared him down. "Mom will have my head if you are locked up for drunk driving."
"I'm not drunk," the old man said indignantly. He discoursed volubly in the back seat on the impossibility of getting drunk without access to a bottle, and the paucity of his winnings. "These little glasses are no good. When you come to Hanover, Madelina, we show you how to celebrate." He belched delicately again.
"I want to make a little stake for those boys, to have a wedding present." He sighed pitiably, an old man oppressed by cruelty. "If you let me stay, I keep winning. These peoples are not so good at poker."
Roman was waiting in room seven. He took the old man by the arm and drew him into the room. "I'll take over. Thanks, Doug." He nodded amiably to Maddie and closed the door with an air of authority.
"Military?" Maddie asked.
"Captain. Air Force." Doug sounded smug. "Mom will have something new to fuss about in the morning."
* * *
Maddie undressed in the bathroom, taking her turquoise sundress off and putting on her prettiest nightgown. It was palest ivory and cut on the bias. The lace bodice cradled her breasts and gave them a little lift even though she was braless. The deep coral of her aureoles peeked through the lace. The bias cut silk skimmed her curves, clinging in all the right places. She had made it herself and packed it hopefully.
She brushed her teeth and put on her blue seersucker robe. It covered her sexy nightie and with a sash at her waist turned her into a lumpy rectangle. She flicked off the light as she came out. "It's all yours," she said. She hung her dress in the closet, took off her robe, and lay down on Doug's bed.
Doug brushed his teeth as if the future of the free world depended on it. How in blazes was he going to sleep in the same room as Maddie? Her scent billowed at him in the confines of the bathroom. His arousal ratcheted up another notch. He tried to think of something else. But all he could think of was how her aqua sundress had outlined her beautiful breasts, and hinted at the lushness of her hips and thighs.
He contemplated a hand job, but jacking off while imagining Maddie seemed sleazy with her in the next room probably listening. Then he noticed his wedding band. He was wearing Cherry's ring and thinking about sex with Maddie? Just that fast his erection wilted. He pulled the ring off and tossed it in his shaving kit.
In the bathroom he stripped to his briefs and in the darkened room put his neatly folded clothes on a chair. He got into bed. He stretched out and his hand brushed against silk and skin. His bear roared into life and he seized her with both hands.
Those big hands roamed over Maddie's silk covered curves, stroking and kneading. Hot open mouthed kisses were dropped on her hair and her forehead and eyes and finally his mouth found hers. His tongue dove into her mouth and danced with hers, twisting and twining.
Doug didn't speak, but his breath huffed into Maddie's mouth and he rolled her on top of him so that she could feel that massive cock hard against her soft thighs. He grabbed her buttocks and massaged them through the silk, using them as love handles to rub her against his mammoth erection. Maddie moaned into his mouth and concentrated on riding the wave of his passion.
Back and forth he rubbed her until she squirmed up a little higher so her mound pressed against his long length. He realized what she was after and adjusted her so that her clitoris was rubbed by silk pressed against his steel. She was spasming now, her long semi-arousal building fast to a climax. She juddered in his arms and he went quite still.
"Are you okay?" he rumbled in her ear. He sounded worried.
"More than okay," she whispered back in his ear. She scrambled up to sitting and lifted her silk skirts to her waist so that her slick crotch could caress his full length. He ran his hands from her dimpled knees to her luscious round cheeks and plumped them. His big fingers found and traced the cleft between her buttocks. Back and forth his fingers went, tickling and teasing the fluff he found.
Maddie squeezed his muscular hips with her strong legs and matched the rhythm of his kneading hands. Her hips swiveled with excitement and her passage grew even slicker. She was ready again, and Doug was still teasing her. She reached for his big cock and pulled it upright. Carefully she fit herself to its broad head. Drops of semen lubricated it. "Do we need a condom?" she asked.
"If you don't want to get pregnant."
"I'm on the pill."
"I'm clean."
"Me too." She lowered herself onto the glans and slowly stretched to take him in. He bucked beneath her and gripped her bum harder, trying to hurry her. But she would not be rushed. She rose slowly and sank just as slowly, undulating as she protracted this first mating.
Doug was bathed in sweat. His breath came hard and his fingers bit into her flesh. "Have mercy, sweetheart," he begged.
Maddie took pity on him and picked up her leisurely pace to a blistering canter. The strong muscles of her passage were contracting around him like a silken fist. He bucked once more and tried to hold her still. He flooded her sheath with his seed and she fell across his chest in a flutter of silk.
Doug held her quiescent and sleeping body against his own and wondered just what the hell had just happened. His bear was purring with satisfaction and the delicious aroma of their mating was cranking up his arousal again. He felt young again.
He had resigned himself long ago to the fact that his life-mate was dead and that his bear would forever be bereft. But holding this woman felt right. More than right. He slid his hand under Madeline's silk gown to the even softer skin of her back and traced a leisurely circle, careful not to wake her and break the spell. If she had merely enjoyed a romp in the hay, he didn't want to know.
* * *
"Is this how you treat an old lady?" said Katrina crossly, slapping at her husband's roving hands. "I was sleeping."
"I am just a randy old man," her mate assured her as he lifted her nightgown. "I can't help it. It's your fault. If you were less enticing. If you smelled less good. I am sure I could control my instincts. As it is," he growled flipping her onto her knees and lifting her rump, "I am helpless." He wet his morning erection in her dew and slipped inside her welcoming passage.
He rocked gently, rousing her slowly, making sure she caught his rhythm. When her ample bum moved back against his hips he quickened his pace slightly, spinning out the pleasure as long as he could. When he felt her passage begin to contract, he followed her to his own release.
Afterwards he pulled her hard against his chest so he could play with her magnificent bosom.
"You are a dirty old man," Katrina told him complacently.
"Alas, my love, you are correct." He kissed the back of her neck.
"This girl of Douglas'. What you think?"
"She is lovely. And she seems nice enough. But I barely got to talk to her."
"Humph. Well I talk. She is good girl. She has her own business, so is not the money like the other one."
"Katy dear," her husband shook her gently but reprovingly.
"Seven years he has mourned that one. Is too long. This one is good, kind girl. He follows her with his nose."
"You are an interfering old bat," Ed told her lovingly. "Don't think I don't know that you offered the Malcoms his cottage when they had a perfectly fine trailer in Rob's back yard."
"Is more better in the cabin. And there is only one bed in that room."
"They've been living in the same house, quite alone, for a week. Doug is forty. He's old enough to do his own courting."
"Is courting you call it? Him still with his ring on his hand? Me I think he needs to—"
"Katrina! Don't be indecent."
Her rich chuckle made him harden again, and he forgot what he was saying.
CHAPTER FIVE
The room was hopping. The four middle-aged musicians playing in the corner had been supplemented by recordings played by a long haired teenager. On the whole, the guests seemed to prefer the efforts of the musicians. Maddie had to
admit that she was having fun.
She was sitting down for the first time in several hours, and Doug was taking a turn on the floor with a stout, grey haired woman in a floral dress. He looked severe and watchful in his dress blues, his medals a blaze of color on his chest, but she thought he was enjoying his brothers' wedding reception.
It was funny to see him with all four of his brothers and realize he was the smallest of them. He fell a full six inches short of Will. And was less broad than the others.
They were a remarkably handsome family. The little church had been overwhelmed by the sheer bulk of the Enright family. Will and Jack had also been in uniform. But so had their cousin Roman, the brides' brother Rob, and a large contingent of the congregation. The elderly veterans had proudly displayed their medals.
But the Enrights' collective display was beyond impressive. Will's medals came to his waist. Jack had fewer on his chest. But of course he had the Congressional Medal of Honor, the nation’s highest award. Together the two burly bridegrooms in their sparkling dress whites had almost outshone the brides.
Hannah was wearing a soft tea length dress that she and Katrina had made. Her pregnancy was not yet showing, but Maddie could only admire the way the dress accented the long line of leg and the rich curves at breast and hip. Martha was a bit taller than her sister, but she had the same opulent curves. She had opted for a strapless white gown of the same mid-calf length that left her magnificent shoulders and arms bare. Both brides were radiant.
Maddie thought her own dress had turned out well. The stiffness of the Nile green taffeta of the under dress had provided structure and the pale silver organza layered over it had added a soft and dreamy shimmer. She was glad that she had made it up in the spring just in case.
She and Millie and Lucy had had a pleasant chat before the meal about sewing. Lucy's deep blue tea length dress was a tour de force of dressmaking. Constructed of crisp silk embroidered with a scatter of tiny sparkling stars, it did not attempt to conceal her pregnancy.
"Nothing could do that," Millie said chuckling. Lucy looked ripe and luscious, rather than bloated with child.
Millie had bought her own dress from her favorite online retailer. "There wasn't time to make two dresses. And honestly, these days, I hardly sew at all. But we couldn't find anything remotely suitable, so we put our heads together and made this one for Luce." Lucy looked beautiful. Ripe and luscious and Tom clearly found her immanently desirable.
Tom was dancing with Martha's cousin, Shelly, whose blue eyelet bridesmaid's dress was a perfect complement to the bride's white lace gown. Even as Tom steered the giggling bridesmaid around the room, his eyes sought his wife. She was being sedately twirled by Uncle Vanya who was regaling her with some tall tale.
Millie's Sam was dancing with a grey haired and jolly elder who was at least a foot shorter. She was explaining something to him earnestly, and even as he bent forward to give her courteous attention, he glanced around to find his wife.
"He's not jealous," Millie assured Maddie. "It's just they can't help themselves." Millie giggled.
Katrina leaned close to whisper to Maddie. "Is not jealousy," she assured her. "Is just they like to be near us."
"They're not talkers," Millie said. "They're doers."
Which was of course a good description of her own brother Adam. He had not wasted his time telling her that her dream home was a wreck. He had reorganized his holiday so he could fix it up. And corralled a pal to get it done.
Ed Enright presented himself and whisked Maddie into his arms. He spun her so her skirts fluttered and settled. Doug smoothly cut in and took her away from his father. As they moved off across the dance floor she heard Ed's warm, deep chuckle.
"Are you enjoying yourself?" Doug asked.
"I am. This is the best wedding I've ever been to. It isn't fancy, but it's very celebratory."
"Good." Doug's voice was a deep rumble she felt as he pulled her against his broad chest to prevent an overly enthusiastic couple from bumping her. He let her rest there for a brief while before stepping back a pace.
Good thing she knew that officers in uniform were not permitted public displays of affection. They could offer a lady an elbow. They could dance. But hand holding and tight clinches and dirty dancing did not befit an officer. But Doug's elaborate courtesy made her feel cherished. The fact that he had not replaced his wedding band gave her hope.
"Did I tell you that you look beautiful?" Doug rumbled into her hair.
"Twice. Thank you."
He shut up. Apparently he was done complimenting or conversing. But at least she knew his silence was not because he was thinking up lies. If there was one thing she was certain of, it was that Doug Enright was honorable clear thorough. Now if only she knew where she stood.
She had been trying to work out the message she was getting about Cherry. Had Lucy and Millie resented her because she was rail thin? Or because she had maintained her professional life after she married Doug? Or were they hinting that Cherry had made Doug unhappy? They had both seemed so sweet and likable, but you never knew in families.
* * *
Gabriella Malcom stepped a shade closer to Hannah's cousin, Roman. He took a deliberate step backward and widened the gap between them. So much for her inner bear. It had been screaming ever since she had been introduced to the handsome Air Force captain. Last night he had seemed just as taken with her, but tonight he was reserved and formal.
She had been feeling ultra-feminine and alluring in her blue bridesmaid's dress. Trust Hannah to pick her a style that would suit her and her sister Gwen's curvy shapes. It was really sweet that Hannah and her sister had chosen to dress their bridesmaids identically so that little Shelly was wearing the same dress.
Gabby had to remind herself that Hannah's newly found cousin was older than fifteen-year-old Gwen. But Shelly’s Down Syndrome made her seem a child still.
Roman was not much taller than her five eleven, which was short for a bear, but above average for a man. He was slighter than his Enright cousins but his shoulders still filled out his dress uniform in a way her inner bear heartily approved. And although he was a decade younger than Jack and Will, he had an impressive collection of medals beneath his wings, and the same genuine modesty about his accomplishments.
"I don't really understand your family's connection to Hannah," Roman was saying. "She's not adopted is she?"
Gabriella smiled and pretended she hadn't noticed him step away from her advance. "One fall, the moms were out in the woods letting their bears run free, when they stumbled upon a shifter-cub acting weird. Hannah was having her first shift—she didn't even know shifters existed let alone that she was one.
"Nearly got herself shot before the moms found her. Long story short, the moms brought her home and we became her bear clan. Your cousin Jack is a lucky man. Hannah's fantastic."
"Jack's a good guy," Roman assured her. "Hannah's in good hands. Besides, I thought he was going into business with one of your moms."
"Yeah. Ma's a contractor—she does roofing—and she figured that if Jack wanted to build log cabins, she had the customer base to get him launched." She paused. "How are you related to Jack? Your family seems awfully muddled."
Roman laughed. "That's because when Uncle Vanya emigrated he brought with him whatever was left of his wives's family. I'm the great-great-grandnephew of his first wife. Katrina is his sister's great granddaughter."
"That's impossible," Gabby laughed with him. "How old does Uncle Vanya say he is? And how many wives?"
"Uncle Van never tells his age, but he claims he took bear form for twenty years to evade conscription. By the Tzar's recruiters."
"The Tzar!"
"Yup. And he admits to four wives. I'm just grateful that when my mother's new husband decided he didn't want little Roman cluttering up his flat, that Uncle Van insisted my place was with my father's family."
"You were born in Russia?"
"Ukraine."
Gabr
iella couldn't figure it out. Roman backed away every time her skirt brushed his pants, but he stood between her and the rest of the males in the Wesheno Community Center gym as if they constituted a threat.
He kept asking her about her life, about school, about her family. He kept asking her to dance and fetching her punch. And he listened as if her words would save his life. But he kept his distance.
"Mom," she complained to Jools Malcom as they walked home in the dark, "You know how you always say my bear will let me know when I've met my mate. Well she got all riled up as soon as I took a whiff of Roman. But it doesn't seem like I made the same impression on him."
"Hmm. You do know that officers in uniform aren't allowed to even hold hands with a woman, don't you?"
Bear Fursuits Books 1-4: Bear Fursuits Page 23