Romance: Bearilicious: BBW Paranormal Bear Shifter Romance Collection (Werebear, Bear Shifter, BBW Paranormal Romance)

by Ashley Hunter

  Forrest Gump rolled his eyes and gave her a small smile, “I do have a middle name though.”

  “What’s that?”

  He gave her a half shrug, “Jeremy.”

  Emily let out a small sigh and shook her head, “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Forrest Jeremy Gump.”

  “Please don’t do that.”

  A few hours later, Emily couldn’t help but laugh in the company of her newest friend, and there was no doubt in her mind that he was incredibly handsome.

  Jeremy—he insisted she addressed him as such—was from a small family that inherited a very vast business that had helped them reach insane prosperity when his father got involved.

  He had been used to living in a small house until he turned seven, when his family had been able to move into a very large estate north of her (new) home. To her relief, he had led her toward one of the balconies of the villa, allowing the two of them to lean over the stone rail that exposed a vast forest line ahead.

  “Some of us just luck out.” Jeremy said, taking a sip from a beer bottle. Emily swirled wine in a glass, unable to share his sentiment.

  “I wouldn’t call it luck.”

  “What would you call it?”

  Emily took a sip of her drink, hating how good it tasted.

  “A test of wills.”

  Jeremy let out a laugh, “I never thought I would ever hear of a woman who hates the idea of becoming rich overnight.”

  “I don’t hate it,” Emily defended, playfully bumping her shoulder against his.

  “I just don’t like the idea of not earning it.”

  Jeremy’s eyebrows rose, taken aback.

  “You like hard work?”

  “I like deserving everything I live with. I like honesty.”

  Then blue eyes met black and she shrugged.

  “There’s nothing wrong with that.”

  “No,” he said, before lifting his beer bottle to her wine glass.

  “No, there isn’t.”

  The sound of crystal clinking with glass was pretty in her ears and Emily couldn’t help but find herself growing warm beneath this guy’s stare.

  “Emilia!” Whatever moment had begun between her and this new guy shattered when Emily heard Spencer call out.

  Turning around, Emily bit down on her cheek when she saw him standing on the entrance, grinning widely and holding two slim champagne glasses in his hands.

  “Come, have a drink with me!”

  “Uh, thanks?” She replied, not wanting to be in Spencer’s presence for too long.

  “I’m already drinking though…”

  Nope. He didn’t get the hint.

  He approached her, his white suit shimmering in the soft light of the dying sunlight. Spencer glanced between her and Jeremy, his eyebrows rising before he set the two drinks down. He took another step towards Emily and she nearly ducked away from him instinctively.

  Without much warning, he reached for her wine glass and plucked it out of her grip easily. Emily began to protest but was silenced when Spencer brought the glass up to his nose and he took a deep whiff.

  Pulling it away with an exaggerated grimace, Spencer shook his head, brown curls swaying around his eyes.

  “Are you kidding me? You’re drinking this? No way, nooo way. No family of mine—be they recent or otherwise—needs to suffer drinking this garbage.”

  Spencer pulled his hand out over the ledge before turning the glass over.

  The drink splashed into the sheer drop below and Emily watched it fall with a disappointed look. She had liked that wine.

  Before Emily could register anything else, Spencer was grabbing the champagne glasses in his hands. He threw an arm around her shoulders before spinning her away, nearly making her trip over her heels.

  Emily was nearly overwhelmed with the smell of Spencer’s cologne. It was soft and masculine, making Emily’s nose tingle.

  “Hey Forrest, don’t mind us, I’m just going to give my new baby sister a tour of the place!”

  “Yeah man, go for it.” Jeremy called back, and Emily had to fight to look over her shoulder to watch him as Spencer ushered her out.

  She didn’t get a chance to even say goodbye as she was being dragged out. One of the slim champagne glasses was pressed into one of Emily’s hands before she could say a word.

  “What do you think?” Spencer was saying animatedly, pressing her flush against him as they walked.

  “Pretty grand huh?”

  “Uh, yeah,” Emily agreed, keeping her gaze anywhere else.

  “I have to say, I’m kind of ticked off,” Spencer admitted as he urged her into a strange hallway in the villa. Emily blinked in surprise.

  “Most of us are born into money, but no. Not you. Lisa happened to meet my father and next thing you know, you’re living the big life. I bet that’s exciting.”

  Emily frowned, but Spencer was throwing her a smile that was meant to disarm.

  “Anyway, I have to say, even if I doubt you deserve any of this, I can’t help it. You are a really pretty girl, Em—you don’t mind if I call you Em, do you?—anyway, I am glad that it did end up that way. See, I would’ve been more than ticked if I found out you were ugly. But you’re not. Which is great.”

  “Are you drunk?” Emily managed, frown more apparent on her face. Spencer let out a small chuckle.

  “Yeah, I guess I am a bit drunk. Sorry, I tend to be really brutally honest when I get drunk. Anyway! I want to make sure there are no hard feelings between us, Em.”

  Emily would have shrugged if she wasn’t so close to Spencer’s chest. Their footsteps continued to disappear down unfamiliar hallways and she couldn’t help beginning to feel nervous.

  “Why would there be hard feelings?” She asked quietly.

  “That’s the spirit!” Spencer said with a laugh, “No hard feelings! Come, we’re almost there.”

  “Where are we going?”

  Spencer gave her another smile, and this one made her feel more worried than the last one.

  “It’s a favorite spot of mine. But before we get there, I want you to join me for this special drink. See, the color?”

  He raised his glass, showing her the soft pink shade of the bubbling champagne.

  “I save this specific champagne for special occasions and I want to invite you to the first of many drinks!”

  “Oh…” Emily said, and they finally stopped in front of a long set of double doors.

  “Alright!” Spencer said, grinning as he let her go.

  Emily took several steps back but was forced to near him when he grabbed her wrist and pulled her close.

  “Here’s how it works,” he said before lifting his champagne laden hand up to her.

  Emily thought he wanted to toast, so she brought her glass up as well. Spencer rolled his eyes before linking his arm through hers so to drink their champagne while locked together.

  “I tell you what I like about you, and you do the same for me, and then we just drink! I’ll go first. Ahem… Emilia, you have a fantastic rack—haha, just kidding. You’re spunky and I like that. Kay, your turn.”

  Emily’s head spun, uncertain how to take in Spencer’s overbearing attitude. Just drink and leave him.

  Sighing, Emily nodded.

  “Spencer, you smell really… nice? I like that… I guess.”

  Spencer nodded, “That’ll work. Bottoms up!” then he tugged her close as he placed his lips on the edge of his glass and downed the whole thing. Emily watched him with some reproach but shrugged and pressed her drink to her lips.

  She took a generous sip and her taste buds sparked happily when she caught the pleasant flavor of strawberry in the champagne.

  Emily drank until the glass was nearly empty, and when she pulled away she saw Spencer’s grinning face.

  “How’s that?”

  Emily could feel the bubbly make her feel giddy. “It’s… great!”

  He nodded again and suddenly Emily didn’t feel worried at all.

/>   “Told you! Come on, ready to see this place?”

  Emily nodded, feeling better after having taken her drink. “Yeah.”

  “Great!”

  And suddenly, she began to feel strange… sleepy… horny? What the…?

  She didn’t know the world was spinning until she was suddenly collapsing forward and Spencer’s arms wrapped around her. “Whoa there, Em,” he said. “How you feeling?”

  “I…” Emily sputtered, clutching weakly to Spencer’s suit. “I…”

  “My god, you’re lightweight,” he snickered.

  “I figured it would take longer for it to work into your system, considering how big you are… did you even have dinner? Aw, who cares?”

  What was happening?

  Suddenly, she felt a grip on her chin and something soft and wet on her mouth. Emily couldn’t register what was happening, only knowing that her body was reacting strangely. It took a crazy amount of time before Emily realized she was being kissed, tasting different flavors on her tongue when she felt a tongue brush against hers.

  Whatever was holding her up was now fondling her, running fingers over the fabric of her dress before pulling her into a strange direction.

  Emily tried to speak, but her tongue felt heavy and she could hardly fight back when she kept feeling that other mouth on hers. Suddenly, Emily felt the world spin again and she realized vaguely that she was lying down on her back.

  The mouth on hers bit against her lip before nibbling with hard little bites on her skin, dragging down her jaw before attacking the tops of her breasts. Emily gasped, feeling weak against every touch.

  She didn’t start to feel afraid until she felt hands tug at her skirt, pulling it up until she felt fingers grabbing around her thighs and pushing her legs far apart.

  “N-no…” She mumbled, flapping her hands uselessly.

  She heard someone speak to her but it was hard to understand what was being said. Blinking open her eyes, Emily felt her insides freeze when she saw a face—Spencer’s face—hovering over hers, a dark smirk playing at his lips.

  His eyes, once playful, now stared down at her with black amusement, and sadistic pleasure. He looked so… angry?

  One of his hands gripped hard to one of her breasts, and the pain made Emily let out a sharp whimper.

  “Don’t worry…” She heard.

  “I’ll make sure you get what you deserve.”

  Something loud exploded near Emily’s ears and suddenly she was alone.

  It felt like an eternity of being caught in a spinning world before she felt someone grab to her hands and pulling her up.

  Emily let out a soft cry, but she felt a hand grip to her chin and steady her spinning eyes.

  She recognized this guy…

  “Forrest…” She mumbled, feeling relieved.

  “…Get you out of here…”

  I’ve been drugged. I’m drugged. Help.

  “It’s okay…”

  It’s okay.

  Emily felt her vision slow to a black sketch of awkward after-images. She didn’t realize she had passed out until she found herself within a black interior that reminded her of the inside of a car.

  Light flickered past and Emily finally allowed herself to succumb to darkness.

  Chapter 3

  Her head was pounding when she woke up. Strong sunlight burned into her eyes as Emily tried to remember what had happened. Nothing.

  “Hey, hey…” she heard and when she blinked open, she saw a familiar face.

  Jeremy sat a few feet away and she realized she was lying down on a mattress in a strange… cabin?

  “Take it easy. You’ve been drugged recently.”

  Emily groaned, feeling her tongue scratch against the roof of her mouth like sandpaper.

  “Ugh… what…?”

  “I got you some water.”

  Emily blinked down, seeing a canteen in Jeremy’s hand. When she glanced up back into his eyes, he was giving her a soft smile of encouragement, “It’s safe. I promise.”

  Emily didn’t budge. Jeremy took that as a cue to take a swig, the sound of the sloshing liquid made her throat feel drier.

  “See?”

  Lifting her hands, she felt him pass the canteen into her hands. Her fingers felt so odd.

  With a slow breath, Emily brought the canteen to her mouth and took in a generous swig. The water was cold and refreshing. She let out a long sigh of relief after she pulled the canteen from her mouth.

  “Where is he?” Emily grunted, feeling her anger skyrocket now that she knew she was with someone familiar.

  “Spencer? Far away.”

  This was relieving, but it only raised more questions.

  “And us? Where are we?”

  Jeremy let out a slow sigh, “I had to get you out of there. Somewhere safe.”

  Emily pursed her lips before she pushed herself to sit up on the mattress. Her dress was all wrinkled and ruined, feeling uncomfortably tight over her chest and torso.

  “Where?”

  “It’s a safe place, I promise.”

  “Okay, but that doesn’t tell me anything?” Emily insisted, lifting a brow at Jeremy. He rubbed a broad hand over his jaw.

  “Do you want to know the whole story?” he asked, peering up at her with a pinched expression.

  Emily nodded.

  “Can you start with why I’m in a cabin?”

  “For protection.”

  “Against Spencer?”

  “Against his family.”

  This earned Jeremy a wide eyed look. Licking his lips, Jeremy waved her to hand him back the canteen.

  After Emily passed it to him, he took a swig. “Would you believe me if I told you I was undercover?”

  Emily scoffed, “You’re a cop?”

  “Detective, and yeah,” Jeremy clarified.

  “Also, my name isn’t Forrest Gump. That… was the result of a lost bet.”

  “Can you get to the part where everything begins to make sense?”

  “Right… sorry. Look, Emily, I’ll just say it. Your family—the Pettigrew-Shawcross family has been found to be heavily tied to a part of the mob. We’ve suspected Reginald of a lot of crimes, many of them we believed were just money laundering.”

  “Turns out, it’s a lot darker than that. I can’t tell you more than that, but I’ve been investigating the family closely. Are you… aware about your mother’s real part in all this?”

  Emily felt frozen until Jeremy mentioned her mother. She gave a jolt at the reminder before she began to fear the worst. There’s no way her mom has been involved has she?

  “She’s not—” Emily began, gasping.

  Jeremy lifted his hands in a soothing gesture, “Relax. She’s one of us.”

  The relief was short-lived before it was quickly overwhelmed with shock.

  “Wait—what?”

  Jeremy nodded sagely, “Lisa Abernathy. She’s one of our agents and one of our deepest covers on your step-father’s case. We felt we needed to get someone more involved several months ago, but it seems it got a bit out of hand.”

  “Out of hand how?” Emily asked nervously.

  The door at the far end of the room suddenly slid open attracting the attention of the couple in the room.

  To Emily’s sheer surprise, she saw her mother standing over the threshold of the door, long blonde hair pulled away from her face into a fierce ponytail. Her body was covered in a black get-up that looked like a Kevlar suit.

  “Mom?”

  Lisa Abernathy smiled at her daughter thinly, glancing over to Jeremy with a nod.

  “I’ll take over, Detective. Thank you.”

  Emily gawked, lips flapping unceremoniously as Jeremy stood and walked out, giving her mother a very respectful nod and muted, “Ma’am.” When the door closed behind him, Emily sputtered.

  “Mom, what the fuck?!”

  “Language, Emily.” Her mother said firmly.

  Emily pushed herself up to her feet, nearly collapsin
g when her legs nearly failed to her own weight.

  “Easy, love. You got pretty messed up last night.”

  Emily cut to the chase, “Right about that. You want to explain to me how you’re involved?”

  Her mother’s face tightened into a look of sheepish exhaustion.

  “It’s like Detective Mortimer explained… I’m an agent for the FBI.”

  “Since when?!”

  Lisa smiled, “Oh, about… what, almost thirty years?”

  Emily could hardly believe it at all, and half-listened when her mother explained she had been a promising trainee when she was Emily’s age and had been a great choice for the FBI’s agency. Anything about her position or what part of the FBI she was in was ‘classified’ and she couldn’t discuss.

  Lisa had taken leave from the FBI to give birth to Emily a few years later, and after her boyfriend—Emily’s father—had died because of a dangerous case, Lisa had decided to stay away from the FBI for much longer.

  “I thought you said dad had been a banker.” Emily muttered quietly.

  “Sorry, my love,” Lisa said sincerely.

  “I’ve had to keep so much from you.”

  Lisa Abernathy hadn’t returned to the FBI until long after Emily graduated middle school, and when Emily moved out to go to college, the older woman had decided to continue her career.

  “Like Detective Mortimer said, we’ve been investigating the case of the Pettigrew-Shawcross family after we received very promising leads for one of the country’s most vicious underground cartels. I had originally been assigned to become a maid for the household, but Reginald took a liking to me when I met him and we decided I would need to follow where that led.”

  “So… the reason why you insisted I move in with you…?”

  Lisa’s face became sullen, “I had exchanged information of my personal life in exchange for information on Reginald’s involvement. He insisted you move in with us after we became married.”

  “So…you don’t actually love him?”

  To her surprise, Lisa’s lips curled downward.

  “Until we know for sure what to do now with you, I need you to stay in this cabin with the Detective.”

  “Wait—what?”

  Lisa glared, “That’s an order, Emily. If there’s anything I learned about Spencer Bradley, is that he’s a sadistic bastard who has had ties with human trafficking. I don’t want you anywhere near that asshole.”