by Sky Winters
But it wasn’t her fault. She hadn’t had any warning signs about Keith before she met him. His profile had just seemed hot… She didn’t want to think about him anymore. She turned and looked over at the strong and silent man who was driving her back to his place, so calm. So caring even though she was a stranger.
Finally, they arrived at a house that Maggie assumed was his. Luke got out of the truck without a word and closed his door, coming around to help her out, too. She unbuckled her seatbelt and gratefully took his offered hand so she would not trip getting out of the tall truck.
Luke’s house was a standard two-level, square home, brick with blue-painted shutters. It suggested ‘family,’ though he very clearly lived there alone. The mantle over the fireplace in the living room – he even had a goddamn fireplace – seemed like it was meant for pictures. He kept it bare.
“Can I get you anything?” he asked her, closing the front door. “A drink or a snack, or both?”
At least he was hospitable.
Maggie gave him a small, unsure smile. “Maybe both? What do you have?”
Luke went into the kitchen and she followed him in. He opened up the refrigerator. “I have milk, orange juice, some beer… Coke.”
She normally preferred Diet, but beggars could not be choosers. “Coke, please,” she said. She watched as he carefully pulled out the two-liter of soda and poured her a glass. His glasses were all cartoon movie themed, like he had received all of his kitchenware from Happy Meals.
As she took a sip from her Tom and Jerry glass, Luke opened up his pantry and placed several different types of snack on the counter. Fruit Roll-ups, Ritz-Bits and Teddy Grahams. Maggie was impressed, as well as slightly confused. “Your pantry seems like a day care center’s,” she observed.
He chuckled a little. “My sister brings her son over a lot,” he explained. “Also, I’ve gotten pretty addicted to the stuff myself.”
Maggie smiled, glad that someone else liked to indulge in such silly snacks. She took the box of peanut butter Ritz-Bits and then followed him out to the living room. Luke brought a bottle of beer with him.
They sat next to each other on the couch, keeping one cushion between them. It was a pale tan leather couch, showing the wear and tear of use and years and consequently very comfortable.
“So, do you build houses with your construction company? I ask because I am in the market. I actually have been having the worst luck lately.” She chuckled a little, even though the thought mostly made her bitter. She sipped her Coke and ate some crackers to try and distract herself from her thoughts.
Luke looked at her as though that was no laughing matter, and she stopped chuckling. “I mostly repair houses, or do add-ons. Things like that. But I’ve built a house or two before. Where are you currently living?”
“With my friend,” she said. “Which is not so bad, but still… I think the situation is less than ideal for her, even though she won’t admit it. I was engaged until recently. It’s a long, complicated and frustrating story, but I broke it off and moved out.”
“And walked straight into another bad relationship,” Luke mused, nodding a little. “I may be biased, but wolves do not make good rebounds.”
Maggie laughed softly. “You could say that again.” She looked at him and the curiosity was too much for her to keep inside anymore. “I assume that you’re a shifter, too, though obviously not a werewolf.”
Luke chuckled, shaking his head. “Not a werewolf,” he replied as if the label were a massive insult. “I’m a werebear.”
That interested her, and it explained why he was so huge. She did not know much about werebears, because the shifters she had always been warned about were the wolves… Did that mean that she could trust Luke more? Were werebears known for being more relaxed, like bears were until they were threatened?
“How old are you?” she asked him. “And don’t worry about asking me. I’ll tell you right now, I’m twenty-five.” She smiled at him. He struck her as the sort of guy who would be wary about asking her age, not only because he was obviously older than her but also because it was impolite to ask a lady her age.
Luke did not respond at first, and she wondered if it was also impolite to ask a man his age, particularly an older man. But then she realized that he was just shy about it, because she had just told him she was basically a baby. Blushing a little, he looked down at his chest. “I’m forty-seven,” he said.
Twenty years older than Tony. Something about that made her feel oddly… safe.
Setting her glass down on the coffee table, Maggie tensed a little as Luke suddenly moved closer to her, shortening the space between them. He placed his bottle of beer onto the table as well, and then moved her into his lap, making her straddle him. He kissed her deeply, hungrily. Maggie forgot to feel so tense and kissed him back, enjoying the closeness between them now. She did not have to be afraid of Luke. He was her friend, at least.
Maggie removed his open button-up and let it fall to the floor. He worked on removing his jeans before slowly and gently pushing her backward onto the couch. Her head nestled against the cool leather arm rest. Luke removed his white T-shirt, meanwhile Maggie fondled the front of his boxers, getting his hard-on nice and worked up.
He undid her pants and she leaned forward, pulling his cock out of his boxers and taking it into her mouth.
“Ohhh,” Luke moaned, closing his eyes. “That’s good…”
She sucked his cock for a few minutes, distracting him from doing anything else. Then, with a light tap on her back, he signaled for her to stop so he could continue removing her clothing. Luke took her tight pants off and then pulled the crop top off of her with ease. It was, after all, held onto her with thin string.
Maggie pulled the boxers off of him and he climbed on top of her, kissing her deeply, using his tongue sparingly until she pulled his tongue into her mouth and explored all over it. She broke the kiss and they were both breathing heavily, almost in unison. “Do you have a condom?” she asked him.
Luke looked at her, his eyes now much less gentle than all the times he had looked at her before. “Yeah,” he said quietly. He got off of her and quickly went into the nearest bathroom, bringing back a condom in the wrapper.
He unwrapped it and together they worked to get it onto him. “Wow,” Maggie said with wide eyes. “You’re almost too big for this.”
“Don’t be so surprised,” he said with a smirk.
Once the condom was on him, he got back onto her, kissing her as he thrust his cock inside her. She moaned deep in her throat. He was bigger than any man she had ever been with. Maggie worried momentarily that he might somehow break her, and then laughed a little, not caring so much if he did.
“Do you like this?” he whispered close to her mouth.
Maggie nodded, “Mmm, yes.”
He brought one of her legs up onto his shoulder and started to drive himself faster and deeper into her.
“Ohh, Luke, yes!” she gasped. Reaching up, she placed her hands on his chest, playing with his dark chest hair that was speckled very slightly with gray.
He licked his fingers then and brought a hand down to the warm wetness between Maggie’s legs. He found her clit immediately, without even looking, and slowly rubbed two fingers against it.
Maggie collapsed like a folding chair against his touch, making loud, guttural noises that she had never made before. She was too overwhelmed with feelings to be embarrassed. “Oh, oh, Luke! I’m coming! Yes! Yes!!”
“Yeah?” he growled back softly. “Come on,” he urged as though she was not already coming. He sped up his thrusting, holding her upper arms and pinning her down against the couch as he came thunderously inside of her.
Panting, they gazed at each other for a moment. Luke leaned over her and kissed her, then pulled out of her, carefully holding onto the condom so it would not pop off inside her.
“Shit,” he said, staring.
Maggie moved some of her red hair out of her face. �
�What?” She sat up on her elbows and looked down where he was looking.
The condom was broken practically in two.
After a few minutes of staring at it in shock, they looked at each other and shared a nervous laugh.
“I guess we were a little too eager,” Luke said softly, pulling off the remnants of latex.
Maggie was so dazzled by him that she refused to think about what the consequences of this might be. Condoms broke all the time. It was just one of those things that happened. It didn’t matter. That sex had been astounding.
“I’m going to go take a shower,” he said. “Please make yourself at home.”
She smiled at him and fell back on the couch, head still buzzing from the orgasms and the fact that all of this had happened to her. Maybe her bad luck was over now.
When she heard the water start up, she got off the couch and put her panties and crop top back on. She got her purse where she left it on the kitchen counter and pulled out her phone. She’d told Trish that she would call her later, but it was way too late for polite phone calls now.
Instead, she decided to text her an update.
Omggg you’ll never guess what the rest of this night has turned into. This guy is a major babe. He’s kind of out of my age group, but maybe that’s a good thing. Anyway text when you wake up. Xoxo
Smiling a satisfied smile, Maggie placed her phone on the counter and plugged it in there so it could charge overnight.
Suddenly, the door to the bathroom opened up and Luke stuck his head out. He grinned at her. “What are you doing?”
She smirked at him. “What do you mean?”
“Get over here and get in the shower with me!”
Well, she wasn’t going to say no. After all, he was the host.
Maggie slowly and blearily woke up the next morning. Her hair was all cow-licked in the front and in the back. Her head really hurt and it took her a few moments to remember where she was. Luke was lying in bed beside her, looking at her. He smiled when she opened her eyes and looked back at him.
“Good morning, sleepy head,” he said softly, petting her hair and her cheek, leaning in and kissing her. “Do you want some breakfast?”
Her enthusiasm for breakfast overrode her enthusiasm for sleep. She nodded her head and got out of bed. “Ugh, I feel like I slept with my head in a vise.”
Luke looked at her as if he knew something she didn’t. “There’s some aspirin if the bathroom if you need it. Top drawer on the right under the sink.”
She mumbled her thanks and went into the bathroom. Maggie looked at herself in the mirror and couldn’t help but laugh at how ridiculous her hair appeared now. She had been solidly asleep all night and wondered if it was one of the effects of being with a bear shifter. Had Luke’s hibernation skills wore off on her?
She found the aspirin where he told her it was and carefully swallowed down two of them with some water. She felt kind of queasy and didn’t know why. Sometimes, in the mornings, she just felt that way. There was one possibility, but Maggie quickly removed it from her mind. She did not want to get ahead of herself or work herself up. Things with Luke were so relaxed and easy-going. Like what being with a bear should be like. She did not want to complicate things…
As soon as she was done in the bathroom, Maggie headed back out to the kitchen to find Luke working on making waffles. He smiled at her, pressing the waffle iron down onto the batter. “Feel any better?” he asked her.
“Well, I don’t think it’s supposed to work that quickly,” she replied, chuckling softly. She sat on a stool at his little breakfast nook, resting her chin against the cool granite countertop. “I feel achy,” she complained.
“Let’s get some food in you and see if that helps.” Luke placed some waffles onto a plate and moved it over in front of her nose on the counter.
Maggie sat up, drawn in by the wonderful smell of waffles.
Luke grabbed some syrup from his pantry and set that in front of her too. “I didn’t know if you wanted something in them or not, so I went ahead and made chocolate chip waffles. Who can say no to chocolate chip?”
She smiled appreciatively and put some syrup on her short stack of the delicious-smelling breakfast. As soon as he was done making his, he placed them on another plate and brought them over so he could sit beside her in the nook versus at his small table.
“I hardly ever actually sit here,” he said. “It’s nice.”
“I imagine cleaning this is easier than cleaning a whole table,” she reasoned. God, the waffles tasted good. She continued to feel queasy, which made her feel bad. Grabbing her phone from her purse, she checked to see if she had any messages.
Girl, did you have sex with the bodybuilder guy?? Take all the time you need if that’s the case!
Maggie could always depend on Trish to be understanding.
As much as she liked the waffles, she had to stop eating them halfway through. She set her fork down, frowning. “I don’t feel so good,” she said. Carefully, she pushed herself away from the counter and walked to the bathroom. She felt like running, but knew that running would make it worse.
“I think I’m pregnant,” she said when she came out of the bathroom, her hair now tied back in a tiny ponytail in an effort to keep it out of the way in case she needed to barf again. “In fact, I most definitely am according to everything I’ve ever heard about it. But that’s ridiculous; I mean, we just had sex last night, so I couldn’t possibly be having the symptoms so soon.”
Luke was in the process of rinsing off the plates and putting them into the dishwasher. He looked up at her and it bothered her a little how unsurprised he seemed. “Well, things are somewhat different when you’re pregnant with a shifter child. The pregnancy progresses much quicker. Do you want to take a test and find out for sure?” he asked.
“Doesn’t this worry you?” she asked him, sitting back at the breakfast nook across from where he loaded the dishwasher. She could reach out and touch him if she wanted to, but right now she almost felt like recoiling from him. She wanted him to be upset that she was pregnant. She wanted him to show some shock, some concern, some ‘how are we going to handle this new situation?’
Instead, she got the calm reaction of someone who seemed to have seen it coming.
“It doesn’t worry me, Red. If you really are pregnant, I’ll be excited… Unless you don’t want it.”
Maggie pouted at him.
Luke looked at her. “What?”
“So you’ll just be supportive of me, no matter what?” she asked him. “You don’t even know me.”
“I’d like to get to know you.” He closed the dishwasher and turned it on.
The sound practically drowned out Maggie’s thoughts. It grated against her brain, and she brought her hands to her head. The aspirin was taking its sweet fucking time to go into effect.
Maggie did what every pained and possibly pregnant woman probably did… She started to cry.
Luke raised his eyebrows and rushed around the counter to her. He wrapped his arms around her and took her off the stool, carrying her over to the couch and setting her down, sitting beside her. At no point did he fully take his hands off of her; he kept one big hand on her thigh. He did not tell her to stop crying. He did not tell her that everything was going to be okay. But he sat with her and let her cry it out, and Maggie appreciated that.
As her tears slowly subsided, she leaned into his chest and he wrapped his arms around her. “Do you feel any better now?” he asked her.
She nodded against him.
“Do you want me to go to the store and get you a pregnancy test?”
She nodded again.
Maggie wanted him to stay with her, but she also wanted to get this over with. At least if they knew she actually was pregnant, they could move from there. Luke got up from the couch and kissed the top of her head. “I’ll be right back. Do not go anywhere.”
“Where else would I go?” she asked, smiling faintly at him.
; He left and she got her phone again before collapsing back on the couch.
I think I’m pregnant.
She did not know what else to say to Trish. This guy was sweet and decent, but he was also a bear-shifting stranger. Was having his baby the right choice for her? Looking around his living room, she noticed the empty mantle meant for pictures again. Perhaps this was something he had been waiting a long time to find… Luke was such a shy guy, really. He had come to her rescue but hadn’t made any moves toward her until she’d made it clear it was okay.
Could she love this guy?
Hugging one of the couch’s throw pillows to her chest, she closed her eyes. The aspirin finally took effect. She felt like lounging in her pajamas all day. Surely a bear would be okay with that plan.
CHAPTER FOUR
Having A Cub
When Luke arrived back at home, he found Maggie sleeping on the couch. He smiled a little. That was a sure sign that the aspirin was working now and her upset stomach had at least calmed down. “Maggie?” he asked softly.
She sniffed and stirred, opening her eyes and craning her head back to look up at him. She’d been sleeping in a strange, almost fetal position, clutching the pillow to her belly and chest as though she was in pain. Maggie felt much better, especially now that Luke was home. “Did you bring the thingy?” she asked, still only partially awake.
He chuckled and sat beside her, clear white plastic bag in hand. “I did,” he said. “I didn’t know which brand was best, so I got three. I think it will help confirm things.” He dumped the contents of the bag onto the coffee table.
Three boxed-up pregnancy tests. What a fun afternoon this was going to be.
“I’ve gotta pee,” Maggie said. She stood up a bit wobbly and grabbed the first test.
Two hours and three used pregnancy tests later, Maggie and Luke knew that they were, in fact, expecting a baby. She held her hands over her mouth, staring down at the short row of pee sticks, amazed. All of them said the same thing, in three different ways. Two lines. A plus. Pregnant.