“Whoa, then why did you insist I go to the party?”
At this, Lisa looked abashed.
“Because…there’s reason to believe Spencer may know about my true position.”
Emily’s eyes widened.
“If I didn’t concede, his suspicions would’ve exposed me. Besides, Jeremy was going to be there, so I knew he’d be able to keep an eye on you.”
“Oh, I’m sorry,” Emily snarled, “Did you already forget that I was drugged?”
“We managed to get you out in time, Em.” Lisa said, taking several steps close to pull her daughter into a hug.
“You’re safe now, and that’s what matters. We managed to get critical information on Spencer while he had you. I knew it was dangerous, but I knew nothing bad would happen to you.”
Emily pulled away from her mother’s embrace, feeling disgusted.
“Please…just go, mom.”
“Em…”
“There’s just a lot I need to take in right now, okay?”
Lisa gave her an understanding nod, “Alright. I’m sorry, sweetheart.”
Emily let out a gruff noise before she turned away.
A few moments later her mother walked out the room, her footsteps echoing harshly in Emily’s ears and filling her with the horrified reality that she couldn’t recognize her own mother’s footsteps.
Chapter 4
The following few days had been pretty depressing for Emily. Being mentally screwed over with shocking information was one thing, but being made aware that she had to stay in a cabin in the middle of nowhere for god-knows how long made her antsy.
Emily never liked being caged, which was why she had insisted to move out for college when the time came.
Detective Jeremy Mortimer, her newest roommate, had suddenly closed himself off from her, insisting he had to focus on the mission. Emily had felt sincerely disappointed at that, and so had nothing but a puzzle to entertain herself with a book the agents had passed around during the most boring parts of their stake-outs.
She sat around and waited for news on her mother, and each time she couldn’t help but feel both relieved and angry. She refused to speak to the woman even after being worried sick for days.
Little by little, the more Emily recounted her memories of her mother, the more her story made sense. Like how her mother insisted Emily learn self-defense, or how she would shake her head at Emily’s sharp tongue but never when she heard Emily had punched a boy who had harassed her for her body type.
Sometimes, their conversations had been of things that consisted of how to properly watch people, how to get out of events that could lead to dangerous situations—how to read people.
Even their ability to quietly converse without words had been something Emily never considered based on their relationship as mother and daughter. Sure enough, Emily grew a little angrier at herself for not figuring it out on her own that her mom had been a crime-fighter.
It had been a couple of weeks of quietly living together, however, that Emily found herself under the scrutiny of a new tension. Jeremy wouldn’t speak to her, but she could feel his eyes on her whenever she entered a room, or when they had to cross paths at any point.
Emily would exchange awkward glances with him, and feel warm whenever their skin brushed together, but it was hard to tell whether or not he felt anything like attraction toward her.
After three weeks, Emily had had enough. It had been fairly easy to become familiar with the detective’s schedule. It was like clockwork.
He woke at an ungodly hour to exercise, came back to shower, and finally to make breakfast by the time she was waking up. Emily had forced herself to wake up early enough to beat him to the shower.
“People can’t stand uncomfortable situations.”
Emily had snuck into the bathroom and shed all her clothes, wrapping herself up in a towel to preserve her modesty as she waited for Jeremy to turn up. She didn’t have to wait long.
He walked in the shower, already shedding his clothes as he walked in—oblivious to Emily’s presence until she shut the door after her.
Jeremy whirled around, prepared to fight before his jaw dropped.
“Emily?!”
She felt her body tremble, embarrassed.
Scowling, she faced him surely.
“I want to talk.”
“About what?”
“About all of this. About you… and me.”
Jeremy’s eyes softened and he looked away.
“Look I know you like me,” Emily said, shakily.
“Because I kind of like you too…”
He glanced up at her.
“You’re mistaken,” he said before trying to sidestep around her. Emily took another step to block him.
“Okay, then explain why you keep staring after me? I’m not stupid… and that night on the balcony? I know there was something there.”
Jeremy let out a sigh, averting his eyes to the side.
“That was just me doing my job.”
Emily felt her nerves tingle but she knew she had to try something; otherwise, she would grow stir-crazy. She reached out and grabbed his hand, when he glanced at her, she was pleading into his gaze.
“You’re the only one who’s told me the truth about all this… You saved me.”
“You don’t owe me anything, Emily,” Jeremy said softly, but he wasn’t pulling away.
Emily felt encouraged to take a step closer, feeling his heat radiating from his naked torso, coiling beneath his muscles.
“No,” she said, “But you’re the first person to ever really talk to me without staring at my breasts. I miss that. I miss being able to talk to you. Can we at least go back to that? To… talking?”
“I can’t…” Jeremy said, his voice straining. Emily felt wounded.
“Why?”
Then he looked into her eyes, and she realized his eyes were never black, but a very deep grey.
“Because I don’t think I can hold back from doing more with you.”
His words sent a thrill into her skin, and Emily did something really stupid. She pulled herself up to her tiptoes while her other hand reached up to grip around his jaw. The kiss was soft and warm, making Emily feel warmer than she has before.
Pulling away, she met his gaze through inches of space seeing how the touch of her lips on his made him suddenly look so raw beneath her gaze.
“We shouldn’t… you don’t know anything about me.” Jeremy said, swallowing hard.
“Then tell me,” she replied.
“There’s nothing holding you back, except yourself.”
Jeremy let out a shuddering breath she felt against her lips and he pressed his mouth against hers. Emily moaned into his touch, draping her arms around his shoulders as he pulled her flush against his body.
Their kiss grew increasingly more passionate until Emily rocked her hips against his, and Jeremy had to pull away.
“Abernathy is going to kill me if we keep going…”
“I’m going to kill you if we don’t,” Emily replied, her head spinning nicely.
This was such a different situation than when Spencer had forced himself on her. The memory made her clutch harder to Jeremy, rubbing their bodies together in a way that Jeremy couldn’t restrain from.
He laughed against her mouth before pressing another strong kiss against her lips, and Emily shuddered when she felt his hands tug at the towel around her body.
She had never been intimate with a guy before, but Emily was not the kind of person to stop when she got going and when Jeremy pulled the terrycloth away from her skin, she let him.
Her back was suddenly pressed against the wall, and Jeremy was breathing hard against her, their gazes meeting in the center as their hips ground hard together—his erection was rubbing against her center through his clothes and it was making her shiver.
Emily let out a moan when he ducked his head to kiss her throat, sucking at the sensitive skin until she felt his fingers ge
ntly grasp her breasts.
“You’re so soft,” he said softly.
“You feel so good,” Emily admitted moments later when his fingers found her nipples. Emily rubbed herself against him with more devotion.
Jeremy pulled away, letting his lips trail down to her right breast and latch into her nipple. Emily let out a louder groan, grateful that it was just the two of them in this cabin.
His hands busied themselves with his trousers, and she trembled when she felt his bare skin brush against her thighs.
“Oh, Jeremy…”
“Emily,” Jeremy moaned, dragging his palms down her curves to grasp the fullness of her thighs and rear.
Suddenly, she felt his fingers drag up and down her folds, urging funny noises from her throat.
“You’re so wet.”
Emily felt her body react more, nervousness playing harshly under her throat when she felt him rub his length against her sex. Her fingers trembled over his skin, wanting him to just take her and make her feel better.
She had never done it… but she had read enough on it to know what to do when it was time.
“Oh, please,” Emily moaned after he bucked between her legs, teasing her entrance with his length. Her skin felt so hot.
“Please…”
She felt one of his hands pause over a drawer in the sink. She didn’t dare question why he had condoms in the drawer, but she did feel relieved that he was prepared because she wasn’t.
He paused for a moment to drag the rubber over his length, and when he did, Emily couldn’t stop from staring down at him. He was… so thick!
Was that really going to fit inside her?
Once the condom was wrapped around his erect member, he lifted his head to nibble at one of her nipples, drawing her attention back to his amazing mouth and the way his body felt.
In just moments, she felt him align to her and Emily took in a deep breath.
“Be gentle…” She sighed, meeting his gaze through the haze of lust and desire.
Jeremy nodded, dipping his head down to kiss her just as he braced her against the wall and began to push inside of her.
It was uncomfortable, almost painful. Emily took sharp breaths, fighting the urge to cross her legs and push him away. Instead, she spread her legs further to better accept him.
The angle made it a little easier for him to slip inside her, and she could feel him throbbing against her inner walls.
“Oh god, you’re tight.”
“Is… that a bad thing?”
Jeremy let out a small laugh before looking up at her, “That’s the opposite of a problem.”
Slowly he pushed inside of her, positioning his hips against hers in slow and careful thrusts. Each tug felt more and more uncomfortable until Jeremy let out a soft moan and urged her to relax.
His hands found her breasts again, rubbing her nipples gently and making her feel like puddy in his hands. The sensation between her legs improved the more she got used to his rhythm.
“I’m…” Jeremy huffed, “I’m getting close…”
Emily nodded, but she wasn’t feeling anything aside from a growing sensation of pleasure, “Keep going.”
Suddenly, his fingers were dragging down between her legs and his fingers found the tip of her pleasure. The bolt of pleasure made Emily gasp, made her grind harder against him.
Jeremy rubbed harder in response, making her throw her head back as his thrusts began to increase in pace and intensity. The more he rubbed, the more Emily felt herself fall into a wave of pleasure, until finally he was pounding into her and she was bouncing against him, her breasts rubbing against his chest pleasantly.
Finally, Emily felt the familiar tug of an orgasm snap into her blood, forcing her to come around him.
She bit down hard on her lip to hold back from screaming, more out of habit than necessity.
“No,” Jeremy said, pulling his mouth against hers, “Don’t hold back.”
So Emily parted her lips and let out a high pitched scream, her body twitching rapidly and her heart ramming into her ears.
Moments later, Jeremy was sighing and groaning before he, too, began to shudder and fall hard against her.
Sweat covered her skin in slick touches, and the two held to each other gasping.
“I think…” Emily gasped.
“I think I got to know you pretty well there.”
Jeremy chuckled. When he pulled back, he laced another kiss into her mouth. “I’d like to get to know you a bit more, actually.”
Emily grinned, “Then what are we waiting for?”
Chapter 5
They spent the rest of the day talking to one another, exchanging tentative kisses and more intimate moments of touching that had Emily gasping and Jeremy groaning. Eventually, they began to agree to take it a little slower and settled on a little less sex.
The next morning however, Emily woke to Jeremy greeting her with a kiss and a gentle touch beneath her ribs.
“Sorry,” he said, drawing gentle moans from her lips.
“I guess I can’t hold back at all.”
Emily grinned and parted her legs to him. She was getting used to his girth, slowly, steadily.
She still felt rather sore after their first time, but she found she liked the way he moaned out her name after sex. She could understand now what she had been missing.
They brought out a myriad of noises from each other and as the days passed, she could feel herself growing warmer to him as they talked about her past, as they talked about his. Yet, still, there was something that insisted that he wasn’t telling her everything…
Sometimes they argued over the dumbest things, but Emily found that whenever it got too heated, they would eventually find each other naked and pressing fingers deep into erotic points in their bodies.
Whenever her mother made a call, Emily felt a newer reason to not speak to her, unsure how she would even begin to explain how she had ended up fucking her protector.
It was all happening too fast, Emily knew this… but there was a huge part of her that didn’t care much at all.
Chapter 6
They had been living together for nearly two months until everything exploded.
And by everything, Emily meant everything.
They had been eating breakfast and enjoying each other’s company in silence when Jeremy suddenly straightened in his seat, his eyes wide in the direction of the door.
“Jeremy?” Emily had asked when suddenly he turned and grabbed her.
“Hide!”
He shouted before he shoved her and just a second later the sound of glass shattering in an ear-deafening series of shots surrounded them.
Emily screamed, ducking behind the couch where Jeremy had shoved her into. He wrapped his arms tight around her, shielding her as best he could until the explosions stopped.
“Forrest!”
They both heard after a brief silence fell. Emily recognized the voice instantly. Her stomach froze in fear.
“Come out to play, buddy!”
“Fuck,” Emily heard Jeremy swear in her ear.
When she turned around, to her horror, she noticed a harsh stain of crimson growing on Jeremy’s side.
“Jeremy!” Emily hissed, her hands jumping towards him.
“You’re hurt!”
Jeremy ignored her, “Stay down, don’t let him see you.”
“What are you going to do?”
His expression darkened considerably.
“I’m going to go see him.”
Emily nearly panicked.
“You can’t! He’ll kill you!”
Jeremy smiled at her, “I’ll be fine. Trust me.”
Jeremy pulled away from the couch, leaving Emily to hide behind the couch.
“There you are!”
Spencer’s voice was viciously gleeful.
“It’s about time, man. I’ve been looking everywhere for you.”
“Congratulations,” Jeremy drawled.
“You found me, which was a big mistake by the way.”
Carefully, Emily peered out from the couch, seeing Jeremy’s figure standing close to the window yet out of sight from direct fire.
“No, you wanna know what the real mistake was, old pal?” Spencer called back.
“After all the shit I did for you, you pay me back by betraying everything we ever did… THAT, old buddy, was the biggest mistake. And my mistake? Well, it was letting you walk away alive!”
Jeremy let out a laugh.
“No, Spencer. Your biggest mistake was thinking you weren’t going to get your ass handed to you. Karma’s funny that way don’t you think?”
“Fuck you, asshole!” Spencer roared, “Come out here and face me! You had no problem killing my father, so what’s stopping you now?”
Emily gasped. Had her mother killed Reginald? Was she okay?
“I’d rather not kill you, Spence,” Jeremy replied.
“There’s been too much death already.”
Suddenly, Emily felt hands grab her around her shoulders and hair before yanking her up. She let out a sharp cry, trying to escape but felt those hands wrap tightly around her arms before pressing something sharp against her throat.
Stiffening, Emily was dragged out her hiding space, meeting Jeremy’s eyes through the destruction of the cabin.
Jeremy’s eyes widened when he saw her, “Emily!”
“So, my beloved step-sister is with you!” Spencer called from outside.
“Wonderful!”
“Let her go,” Jeremy hissed at Emily’s captor.
“Or I won’t hesitate to kill you.”
“You better come out, now, Forrest—if that’s even your name.” Spencer called, “Because I honestly have no issue taking something of yours for myself.”
Emily wheezed, nearly hyperventilating as she saw Jeremy’s jaw work tightly. Finally, he nodded before raising his hands and walking out into the outside.
Emily and her captor followed shortly after, tears of pain and fear squeezing out her eyes. There were two other men aside from Spencer, his Armani suit ruined with blood and dirt.
Romance: Bearilicious: BBW Paranormal Bear Shifter Romance Collection (Werebear, Bear Shifter, BBW Paranormal Romance) Page 21