Sheriff Bear: BBW Paranormal Bear Shifter Romance (Bears of Pinerock County Book 1)

by Zoe Chant

  "You're coming back," he reassured her, and perhaps himself as well.

  "I know," she whispered. "I'm coming back. Promise."

  Epilogue

  She was going home, and it felt so good.

  Not home to New York. New York was where she'd been for the last three weeks, and it had been long, so long. She'd talked to Axl on the phone every day, but it wasn't the same as being there—feeling him, smelling him, having him move inside her.

  She had been in New York first to deal with the pending court case; this was now resolved, all charges against her dropped, and her lawyer had negotiated it down to a fine for the bail-jumping. After that, she'd taken a couple of days to pack up her things and tie up the loose strings of her former life there. Her father was still in excellent health, so he'd be running the company for a long time to come, and she could perform most of her duties at the nonprofit from Pinerock County. In fact, the idea of setting up a branch office on the other side of the country was one her father had turned out to be enthusiastic about. She would still have to come back to testify against Dick Bannon at his trial, which was being held in the jurisdiction where he'd committed his crime, but that was months away.

  And now she was on a plane, crossing the country again, looking down at the wide flat expanse of the Midwest. Now they were announcing their arrival ... now they were landing ...

  ... and finally, at long last, she exited through security and looked up to see Axl waiting for her, grinning so wide it looked like his face would split in half.

  He threw his arms around her, and she leaped to wrap her legs around his waist and buried her face in his neck. He covered her ear with kisses, since it was the only part of her he could reach.

  "I take it you're glad to be back."

  "Home," she corrected him, and covered his mouth with her own, sinking into a deep, long kiss. When she finally came up for air, she said it again, just to hear the sound of it. "I'm glad to be home."

  On the long drive back, she stayed as close to him as she could get, one foot tucked up under her on the seat and her body turned toward him, his hand on her thigh. They stopped halfway there, pulling down a little side road that ended in a small clearing beside a rushing stream. There was a firepit here, and she was reminded briefly of the pullout where they'd had their first conversation, when he'd become the first person to believe her about Dick and her father.

  "What are we doing here?" She was desperately eager to get back to the ranch. She hadn't even gotten to explore it. Now a whole lifetime of exploration stretched in front of her.

  Axl took her hand and placed it on the front of his pants, where she felt the bulge straining against the fabric. "I don't want to wait 'til we get home, do you?"

  She unzipped his pants and pulled him out, filling her hand. She'd almost forgotten how wonderfully huge he was. Now she was glad she'd worn a skirt today, wanting to look nice for him: no pants to pull down. She shivered at the feel of his callused fingertips sliding up her leg.

  Axl took her mouth gently, no hint of the urgency he must be feeling in his careful open-mouthed kisses. As they kissed he tugged down her panties under her skirt, and cupped his hand over her warm, wet mound. She was already dripping and eager. He fingered her clit with gentle, light brushes of his fingertips. She gasped against his mouth, and her hand stuttered, jerking him.

  One finger inside her, and now two, uncoiling molten pleasure inside her belly. His cock was wet and hard, big enough her fingers could barely wrap around it, and his body jerked with reaction every time her thumb brushed across the head.

  Oh, God, how she'd missed this. How she'd missed this man.

  They were both already on a hair trigger just from being near each other, and they came simultaneously, her body arching back with pleasure at the same time as he jerked and spasmed in her hand. Then she wilted for awhile with her head resting on his shoulder, one of his hands still inside her and his free hand playing with her hair. She'd given it a fresh red dye job on her last day in the city, so it gleamed like fire in the sun shafting into the cab of the Chevy.

  I think I'm going to keep being a redhead. That's the new Tara Malloy.

  Afterward she helped him clean up with a tissue, grinning helplessly the whole while. "Sorry. I think you're going to need to change pants when we get home."

  "Worth it," he said, kissing her lightly. His tongue brushed the corner of her mouth.

  From there, it didn't seem long before things started looking familiar. When they passed the crossroads at Wildcat Forks, she glimpsed Marge's Diner. Then there was the climb up into the hills, winding switchbacks and flashes of the river below them to the left. Up and up, the mountains rising above them. She hadn't had a chance to really appreciate them before; it had been raining, off and on, the whole time she'd been here. Now the day was clear and gorgeous, the sky a blue bowl upturned over them, flecked with a few trailing white ribbons of cloud. The mountains' steep peaks loomed over them.

  Axl pointed them out as he drove. "That's Wildcat Mountain there, and Chester Peak—and you'll see Bald Mountain when we come around the next bend."

  Tara soaked it all in. This was her home now. Soon she'd know it as well as she knew her mental map of the streets in New York or Paris.

  And I can always go back for a visit if I miss it, she reminded herself. If she wanted to go shopping at a big-city boutique, it was only an airplane flight away. She would certainly want to visit Dad.

  But this is home now.

  And it felt like home, a little click behind her breastbone as they drove into the circle of buildings that made up the soul of the Circle B Ranch, like a circuit had connected and lit up her heart.

  To her surprise, Axl didn't park in front of the big house this time. Instead he pulled up to the smaller one across the yard.

  "What are we doing here?" she asked as he started to get her suitcase out of the back. The rest of her things, all her books and keepsakes, her new home office equipment and the bulk of her wardrobe, were currently wending their way slowly westward as freight. They'd arrive in a few days.

  "We're going to be living here. We haven't just been wrestling cattle while you were gone. Cody moved all his things up to the main house, and we've been cleaning out the little house so you and I can make a home here."

  "Oh," was all she could say, overwhelmed.

  "The big house is really too big for just two people. Alec and I rattle around in there like two peas in a too-large pod. I think you and I would be more comfortable down here. And we'll have it all to ourselves. Of course, if we want company, all we have to do is walk across the yard ..." He paused for breath. "And—you're not saying anything. Did you want to pick out a house yourself? I thought you'd want to live on the ranch. We could always build something new, but winter's coming and I don't think we could get it up before—mpphhh!"

  She'd thrown her arms around his neck and silenced him with a kiss. "It's wonderful," she said, and kissed him again to punctuate it. "It's the best present ever." Then she touched her fingers to his lips, a quick double tap. "But this is the last decision you make for both of us all on your own, okay? We're a team now. We make our decisions together."

  "Got it." He playfully bit at her finger. "So, want to see your new home?"

  "I would love to."

  They traipsed in through the kitchen door, which she was starting to realize was how everybody around here got into their houses. No one in the country ever seemed to go in through the front door.

  Another little difference from the life she was used to.

  She was looking forward to learning them all.

  Unlike the warm yellow kitchen in the big house, this one was smaller and rather bare-bones, stripped of most of its decorations and amenities, which must have moved up to the other house with Cody. But that was better, Tara thought. This meant she'd get to put her stamp on it, rather than moving into the space that had once been occupied by Axl and Alec's mother.

  As Axl
showed her through the house, she was captivated with love for it. He was right, the big house was too much for just the two of them. This house was exactly right. It had all the furnishings, but had been stripped of most of the finishing touches, leaving it like a blank canvas just waiting to be painted on. She already found herself decorating it in her head. This would be a perfect spot for that painting Dad bought me in Paris—and the antique Russian tea samovar would look amazing in this corner, and it'll be so useful in this cold climate ...

  "Like it?" Axl asked anxiously, and she realized she'd fallen silent again, caught up in her daydreams about the future of the house.

  "It's amazing. You realize, of course, that if I'm going to work from home, we'll need to get Internet out here."

  Axl chuckled softly. "Knowing you, you've probably already called around and gotten price quotes."

  "Guilty as charged, Sheriff." She gave him another long kiss, and he bent her over backwards, dipping her deeply. She came up laughing, and said, "So, what do you say we christen our new bed?"

  Axl's eyes darkened in that wonderful way she was coming to adore, the one that meant he was overwhelmed with arousal for her and only her. "I'll wear the hat if you want me to."

  "I'd rather have you lay me down on our brand-new bed and see how many times you can make me come."

  ***

  It turned out the answer was three: a new record. Or did the earlier one that day make four? A new personal best. It was going to be a lot of fun trying to beat.

  Loose-limbed and naked, she wandered into the kitchen after Axl got up. She found him, still naked, filling a blue and white cooler from the contents of the refrigerator. "Going somewhere?" she asked, leaning against the wall.

  He looked up and smiled at the sight of her, still sex-tousled from their recent exertions. "I don't know about you, but I'm pretty hungry. What about going to the upper pasture for a picnic?"

  "That sounds great," she said, and then, "Wait. You don't mean just you and me, do you?"

  "It could be," he said hastily. "If you want to."

  It was tempting. They could feed each other bites of sandwiches, and make love lying on the blanket ...

  ... but no. She'd known that Axl came as part of a package deal. She wasn't just getting Axl; she was getting his whole clan. She'd had him to herself all morning. Now it was time to share.

  "I would love to have a picnic with your family," she said. "Um, are we going to be riding horses? Because I should tell you, the only time I've ever ridden in my life was at summer camp, and I wasn't very good at it."

  "I definitely want to teach you to ride—if you want to learn—but today let's just drive. It'll be easier." He tamped down the lid of the cooler. "And you couldn't ask for a better 'hello' present than taking lunch to the boys. Nothing makes a good impression like feeding a bunch of cowboys something other than baloney sandwiches."

  Tara donned jeans and the brand-new, low-cut boots she'd bought in Manhattan. In the bathroom, she braided her hair into a long, tight plait. She wanted to leave it loose for Axl, but had a feeling it would be a mess of tangles in no time if she did.

  Better get used to the cowgirl look, she thought, turning her head this way and that to look at her braid in the mirror.

  When she came out, Axl was dressed in his usual casual clothes, a pair of old jeans and an open-necked, short-sleeved shirt. They left the Chevy parked in front of the house and piled into a battered old red Ford truck. The beat-up seat was patched with duct tape. Tara ran her fingertips across it.

  Axl looked over as he settled himself behind the wheel. "I'm afraid it's not going to be the lifestyle you're used to."

  She held up her foot and pointed to her new boot. "I'm ready for this ranch life. Bring it on."

  The truck jolted slowly up a road that was little more than two dirt tracks surrounded by pasture. They drove past pines, which she recognized, and clumps of trees clinging to the hillside that Axl said were willows.

  Finally they drove up a last steep switchback and came to a stop on a natural flat landing at the top of a cliff. The ground turned steep and rocky here, the mountainside soaring above them. It was clear that this was as far as a person could drive.

  Tara stepped out, looking around. Although the day was warm and sunny, the world up here smelled fresh and wet. To one side, a long rolling green hillside, dotted with cows and late-season wildflowers, sloped away into a sheltered upland valley. On the other side the land dropped away sharply, with a cabin perched precariously on the edge of the cliff.

  This must be the cabin Axl had said was his great-grandparents'. The old logs were weathered to a dull gray, but it looked solid and tight. And someone had been taking good care of it. There was a neatly tended vegetable garden to the side, and a large and well-used fire pit in front of it, circled with large rocks and a scattering of camp chairs. Low, gnarled pine trees, looking as old as the hills themselves, sheltered the cabin and its little yard.

  The two ranch dogs, Beau and Chex, appeared out of nowhere and came running over to her like she was a long-lost friend. She hadn't even noticed they weren't down at the ranch; apparently they went along with the cowboys to check on the herd. This time, she knew to put out her hands in approved dog-meeting etiquette, and petted the dogs after they sniffed her fingers.

  "Why don't you take a look around?" Axl said. "Truck was running a little rough on the way up, so I better have a quick look. I'll be through in a few minutes, and we can eat."

  It was the cliff that really called to her, and that amazing view down across the wide blue world. She started to run toward it, then slowed, approaching with great caution. There were no guardrails in a place like this, and she could see how easy it would be to tumble over the edge.

  She saw, however, that while the cabin had looked precarious from a distance, it was actually sitting on solid rock, anchored to the bare bones of the mountain. Nothing was going to make it slide over that edge except the whole mountain collapsing.

  Tara went as close to the edge as she dared, and peered down. Far below her, a winding, twisting mountain river frothed between jagged rocks. It was a striking blue-green. She had never seen water that color before.

  "Is that the same river that runs through the lower part of the ranch?" she asked aloud, not really expecting an answer.

  "Yes."

  Startled, she looked around. Axl was still over by the truck, fussing with something under the hood. And it wasn't his voice, anyway. This was a low, rasping voice, the kind of voice that came from a man who didn't talk very often.

  The speaker was sitting on a flat rock near her. He'd been so still that she hadn't even noticed him. He had a shaggy mane of dark hair that brushed his shoulders, raggedly chopped off as if cut with a knife. He was bare-chested and wore a rough vest that looked like it was made from rawhide. At least his muddy work pants and heavy boots were halfway normal, the same kind Alec and Cody wore.

  Even if not for the twisting scar that slashed across his face below his right eye, she would have known this was Gannon.

  He was sitting with one foot up on the rock beside him and a large knife in one hand, a half-carved piece of wood in the other. He resumed carving as she looked at him, peeling off small, precise slivers.

  There were many things she wanted to ask him, but what she said was, "Why is the water that color?"

  "Glaciers," Gannon said. He pointed with the knife. "There's a small glacier back up thataway. Can see it, if you got good hiking legs on you."

  Tara looked down at her brand new boots, which were already starting to pinch her feet. "Maybe not today. But I'd like to see it eventually. I've never seen a glacier in person before."

  "Take you someday. Just ask."

  "Thank you," she said politely. "Uh, I'm Tara. Axl's mate." She touched the claiming mark on her neck.

  "I know," Gannon said. "Saw you before."

  Of course he had. He'd helped them against the Weezer brothers.

  "I
never got to say thank you properly," she said. "Thank you very much for helping us."

  Gannon shrugged. "Clan trouble. It's my clan too."

  Yes, he was part of the clan. And so was she, now.

  Gannon looked up suddenly, catching her off guard with startling amber eyes. "Glad you're here," he said. "Good to have a woman around. Just what that bunch down there needs."

  She was saved from having to answer by a voice from below calling, "Hellooooo the cabin!"

  Cody was riding up from the pasture on a large spotted horse. The horse was big enough that even his long, rangy frame didn't dwarf it. Farther below him, she saw Alec on another horse, urging a calf back to its mother with short snaps of a length of rope in his gloved hands.

  Cody rode into the yard of the cabin and leaned a careless arm across his saddlehorn. "So, I see you slackers showed up just in time for lunch."

  "Hey, we brought lunch," she shot back.

  "Yeah? You sure know the way to a cowboy's heart, don't you?" Over his shoulder, he called down the hill to Alec, "Hey, they brought food! Stop bothering that calf and get your alpha butt up here."

  Alec waved acknowledgement and kept doing what he was doing.

  "Can't tell him anything," Cody said, shaking his head. He dismounted in a practiced slide. "Hey, Tara. Do you know how to unsaddle a horse?"

  "I'm afraid not," she admitted.

  "Want to learn?"

  Soon Cody had declared her "a natural" and the horse was sent off with a slap on the hindquarters to graze on the hillside. Before too long, there was a fire crackling in the fire pit, with hot dogs and hamburgers sizzling on a well-used metal grill. Axl brought sodas and beers out of the cooler. Even though it was only early afternoon, Tara cracked open a beer. Her body was still on East Coast time and she'd been up at 3 a.m. that morning to finish packing and get to the airport.

  Axl and Cody were cheerfully trying to outdo each other with bad jokes around the fire. Gannon lurked at the edge of the group, sitting a ways from the others, but clearly listening to them. After a while, Alec rode up and quietly joined them, participating in some of the trash talk, but mostly just watching his clan with calm gray eyes.