by Vicki Savage
“More.” Shae widened her legs and let go of the comforter. Reaching down, she grabbed his hips and jerked him forward, pulling him inside her to the hilt.
“Greedy, aren’t we?” He fell forward and placed his hands on either side of her head.
“Just fuck me. Fuck me hard.”
“All in good time, little one.” He moved slowly out, then back in, but the sweet friction only added to her rising heat.
“Faster.” She he no idea why he was holding back, and she didn’t care. His little game was going to end, now.
Shae dug her fingernails into his backside and pulled him hard against her body. As his balls slapped against her flesh, he groaned and nipped her shoulder.
“Harder,” she ordered.
She clawed at him as he increased the pace. The sounds of their bodies coming together filled the room, and the primal feeling she had earlier returned. She dragged her sharp nails over his chest, arms and shoulders, desperate to get him deeper. With each thrust, she felt her bones lengthen and her skin tingle. Something was happening, she realized, although she was too caught up in the moment to care.
“Fuck me harder,” she ordered as she curled her fingers into his back. His skin, previously smooth, had sprouted fine hairs.
Nate straightened and grabbed her legs just behind the knees. “Like this?” He curled his arms around her knees and leaned forward until his hands were back down on the mattress. The position forced her ass in the air and curled her feet up by her head. He retreated and thrust hard, slapping his hips against her body in rapid succession.
“Yes.” She clawed at his biceps and tightened her core muscles. She knew that she was leaving marks on his skin, but didn’t care. “Harder.” Was he growing inside of her? It was difficult to tell for sure. All she knew was that her core was stretching wider and wider.
He lifted his head and closed his eyes. “Fuck, you feel so tight.” He pushed harder, faster, until her entire body was shaking with need.
“It’s happening again.” Panic sliced through her as she watched her hands transform. Fine hairs dotted her skin, moving slowly up her arm until she was covered from the elbow down in fur.
“What’s happening?” she asked.
“Close your eyes, little one,” he commanded
The compulsion to obey was overwhelming. She did as he asked, focusing on the ribbons of pleasure he was creating in her core. Soon, the weird changes were forgotten, and she was panting with each thrust.
“Nathan. Oh god. I need you to come inside of me.”
“You first.” He bent down and took her nipple into his mouth. He sucked and teased the sharp peak until Shae thought she would go crazy with desire.
“Fuck.” She held his head close, threading her fingers into his thick hair and arching toward his mouth. His hot breath rushed against her wet skin, sparking a sense of urgency.
Then suddenly, he slid his cock away, leaving her feeling empty and alone. Shae opened her eyes in time to see his yellow eyes staring down at her. Rough hairs dotted his once cleanly-shaven face, as if he had suddenly grew a five o’clock shadow. The dusting of hairs on his chest grew, and his teeth seemed both longer and sharper. She wanted to question him about it, but with a swift jerk he flipped her over onto her stomach and lifted her hips until her ass was in the air. Positioning himself at her opening, he pushed himself back inside her pussy, slamming his hips against her ass.
“Come for me, Shae.” His voice sounded stained and low. “Let yourself go.”
“Nathan.” He wasn’t gentle anymore and Shae was thankful. She needed to be taken hard, to be dominated.
He reached around her hips and spread open her folds. Lengthening his thrusts, he collided into her with a resounding slap as he rubbed his finger against her clit. Pressure built until Shae was shaking with need.
“Harder.” She moved with him and groaned as his cock hit her cervix. “Yes. Just like that.”
Again and again he pounded into her body, until all that existed was her growing need.
“You’re so big,” she begged. “Oh god, I’m going to come.”
Leaving her clit, he curled his fingers into her hips, and Shae yelped as his long nails bit into her skin.
“Fuck, Shae. I can’t hold on.”
Shae glanced over her shoulder and watched Nathan grind his teeth, pricking his lower lip with his incisors in the process. The stubble on his jaw grew longer, and it seemed as if his face was changing shape.
“Look forward,” he commanded, giving her a hard slap on the backside for emphasis.
“Nathan.” Shae gasped and turned back to the headboard, trying to process what was happening. The slap vibrated through her body, fueling her need. Oh god, her felt so fucking good. It was difficult to think.
“Yes.” Nathan changed position, hitting a sweet spot inside her core.
“Come for me, little one. I want to feel you tighten around me.” Nathan’s cock twitched as his movements became more jerky and desperate.
Shae arched her back, raising her ass and allowing him better access. In response he dug his fingers deeper into her skin. Pain drove her need higher and higher. She grunted like and animal as they came together, curling her hands into the sheets and steeling her jaw. She was stretching, reaching for that unseen goal. The loud slapping of flesh filled the air as he pushed up against her cervix.
“Oh god, harder. Yes!” Shae gasped as pleasure burst from her core, ran up through her torso, and numbed her mind. Never before had she felt an orgasm that was so intense or pleasurable. As she moved against him, ribbons of ecstasy wrapped around her, forming a cocoon of safety and warmth.
Nathan moved faster, pushed harder. It felt as if his cock swelled inside of her, stretching her to the limit. With a fierce growl, he curled his fingers into her flesh and pushed deep inside her core. Bright white and yellow light burst from behind her, but Shae was too caught up in the moment to see what was happening. Suddenly, a fierce, animalistic cry rose up from behind, sounding both familiar and yet foreign.
She felt him orgasm, and his euphoria triggered her to fall over the edge again. Shae groaned as joy pumped through her body, temporarily blinding her. As he coated her inner walls and upper thighs with his seed, Shae felt an odd sense of completeness, as if this was how things were meant to be.
Eventually he slowed his thrusts, lengthening them until the last shreds of her euphoria dissolved and left her feeling exhausted.
“Come here, little one.” Nathan pulled out and gently laid her on her side. After covering her with the comforter, he curled up against her back and wrapped his arm around her middle. Shae felt too exhausted to move or speak, but as the pleasure started to fade, questions filled her mind.
When her vision finally came back into focus, she glanced over her shoulder at Nathan, but all she saw was a sexy, cleanly-shaven man with normal teeth. The changes she had observe during sex must have been in her imagination.
When he caught her staring at him, he quirked his brows in silent question.
“That was. . .”
“Amazing?” he asked.
She nodded. “And strange.”
“How so?”
“Your voice.” It sounded like an animal. She turned until she faced him and laced her fingers with his. “Your hands.” They had felt so large and rough before, but now they looked normal.
“My hands are the same as yours,” he explained.
She digested that information, along with what she had seen and felt. Shae had spent several years trying to figure out why she felt so different from everyone else in her family. The year she had spent learning accounting in college had seemed pointless, as did spending the summer giving snorkel lessons on her parents’ boat in the Bahamas. She hated the sun and sand almost as much as she hated the tourists. The only time she felt calm was when she was out hiking the dunes by herself.
She never understood why being around people had made her edgy, but it did. Her parents had called her a drift
er who marched to the beat of her own drum. Shae didn’t really like the assessment, but she had to admit it suited her. She preferred to sit on the sidelines and observe than to take part in society.
When a friend told her of the job opening in a ski resort in Canada, Shae had jumped at the chance. She took to the Alberta mountain range like she was born to it, navigating the rocky slopes so often that they felt more like home than her one-bedroom apartment in town. The more time she spent in nature, the happier she became. She led guided tours and gave lessons in skiing, snowshoeing and snowboarding. On the occasional nights when tourists wandered too far from the lodge, she’d be part of the search party that went out to find them. Then, after a couple of weeks, something strange started to happen.
First it was the headaches that would come on quick and for no reason. Then it was sensing the presence of lost tourists or animals before they were seen. Once, she told a tourist that he was ill and needed to go back to the lodge. He had laughed at her, but an hour later he was confined to his bathroom, tossing up the shrimp scampi he had eaten for dinner.
“We aren’t normal,” she said as she stared at their joined hands. It was a statement, not a question, but he responded anyway.
Nathan closed his eyes and let out a long breath. “No, little one. We are not.”
Chapter Three
“What’s happening to me?” Even though she had just orgasmed twice, Shae could feel her desire rising once more. “I feel as if I’m changing somehow.”
He opened and kissed the back of her hand. “Have you ever felt different from other people?”
“What do you mean?”
“Hated crowds and cities. Preferred to be alone.” He studied her face for a moment before continuing. “Able to withstand the cold and have a love of seafood?”
“Yes, but I don’t see how that—”
He got off the bed and walked a short distance away. “You feel different because you are different,” he said over his shoulder.
“I don’t understand.”
He turned to face her. “You feel as if you don’t belong, because you don’t. Not with them.”
“Them?”
“Humans.”
“Wait a minute—”
“Don’t freak out.” The air around him began to shimmer and glow a pale yellow.
“What’s going on?”
“You’re safe here.” The familiar voice was in her head, soothing her. She immediate felt a sense of calm. As she watched him raise his hands, her skin tingled and an odd sense of familiarity overcame her.
“What are you . . .?” She stopped when she saw his body elongate, then widen. His skin shimmered, and the fine hairs on his chest and arms lengthened.
“What’s going on?” She pulled the sheets up under her chin and scrambled back toward the headboard.
“Don’t be afraid.” The words rung in her head, clear and true, as the air around him heated. Stubble grew along his jaw and his features started to change. Shae covered her eyes as white and yellow light filled the room. Then, just as soon as it appeared, it was gone.
Shae lowered her arm and stared at the large bear before her. “What the—” She inched back as the bear moved closer to her side of the bed. “Nate, is that you?”
The bear leaned forward and nuzzled her hand. “I am a shifter, as are all of the Natives on this land. We came here seeking refuge from the people who don’t understand us and wish us harm.” The words were crisp and clear in her head, which felt odd, since there was no one else with her. Surely this wasn’t the bear talking to her?
And yet, she knew that it was. The voice sounded like Nathan’s, and it had that same comforting affect over her. She didn’t know how to explain it, but she knew, deep within her bones, that this bear was Nate and he was somehow communicating with her.
She turned her hand over so that the palm was facing up. The grizzly licked it, then rubbed his head against her skin. Shae giggled as the soft fur brushed over her fingertips. There was something very soothing about touching this bear, and the urge to snuggle up with him surprised her.
“Don’t be surprised, little one. You are just recognizing your own kind.”
“My own kind?” She pulled her hand away and gave him a questioning look.
The bear stared at her as Nate’s words filled her mind. “How much do you remember about last night?”
“Not much. There was a storm, and I had run out of gas. I was looking for a family, when this bear came and I fell into a ditch.” She widened her eyes. “The bear was you.”
“Yes.”
“But you tried to attack me.”
“No, I was trying to warn you.” The bear rose up on its hind legs and placed its front paws on the mattress. “That ditch was deep, and I heard your bones crack as you hit the bottom. No human would have been able to survive that fall.”
She looked down at her body. “But I’m fine.”
“Yes.”
“How can that be?” She stared at the bear as realization dawned. “You mean to say that I’m a bear shifter too?”
The bear nodded. “A youngling who is just coming into her powers. All shifters regenerate. If we didn’t, we wouldn’t be able to shift.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Most shifters realize their unique abilities when they are teenagers. For some reason yours came later. Still, the power is strong with you. You just need to learn how to control it.” He bowed his head and nuzzled her hand. “When you realized that you were in danger, you instinctively used your magic to broadcast to the rest of us that you needed help. Then, when you fell, your body shifted into that of a bear so that your bones could fuse back together.”
“This is a lot to take in.” She moved her hand away from him and stared at it. “I don’t remember any of this. I can really change?”
“If you concentrate.”
She closed her eyes for a moment, then opened them once more. “It’s not working.”
“I know. It happened because you were in danger. It was instinctual. Once you learn to control the magic, you’ll be able to shift at will. Like this.” The air around the bear shimmered, and the white and yellow light flashed again. Shae covered her eyes as Nate changed back into his human form.
“Warn me next time you do that.”
Nate chuckled. “Soon I will not need to warn you. You will sense it.” He sat on the edge of the bed. “Your powers are getting stronger by the hour. Soon you will not be able to control your impulses without guidance.”
“The headaches, this desire I’m feeling. . .”
“It’s all part of it, yes. The headaches are your body’s way of dealing with the new energy source. The desire is part of the new animal instincts you are acquiring.”
She considered him for a moment before continuing. “Was that why you wanted to have sex with me? It had something to do with being a shifter?”
“Yes.” He took her hand. “It’s a complicated process, but one you will come to learn with time.”
“Are we. . .” She cleared her throat. “I mean, I read in books that shifters who have sex with each other are mated for life.”
“Lies.” He tightened his grip on her hand. “People like to romanticize what we are. Bonding is more complex than just sex. It involves a ritual and a deliberate exchange.”
“Exchange of what?”
He didn’t answer her question, but instead asked one of his own. “Have you had the urge to break things or hit other people?”
“No.”
“Good.” He let out a long breath and closed his eyes. “Then there is still time.”
She watched him stand and begin to pace. “You don’t seem violent.”
“I have learned to control my urges. Unfortunately, many have not.” He stopped pacing and turned to face her. “Make no mistake. As bears, we can be quite dangerous. Most have difficulty holding on to human thoughts while in that form.”
“But you can.”
&nb
sp; He smiled. “I’m older, and I’ve had training. Which is why you must stay with me, Shae.”
“Stay with you?”
“You need a mentor, a guide who will show you how to live with your abilities without hurting those around you.”
She thought back to the blood on the snow. “The family—”
“Are most likely dead. Killed by a rogue shifter who never learned self-control. We are tracking him, but so far, he has eluded us. Tomorrow, I will speak with someone who will know for sure what happened to that family.”
“What am I going to tell my boss?” Edward was going to freak when he heard all of this.
“You will tell him nothing.”
“Why?”
“Most people cannot comprehend who we are. They are afraid and humans lash out at things that scare them. If you tell them the truth, they will try to kill us.”
“So that’s why you hide out on this land. It’s a sanctuary. You can shift and no one will bother you.”
“Yes.” He brushed a stray hair form her cheek. “So will you stay?”
“You aren’t going to force me?”
“No. Like I told you earlier, I never use force with women. That is, unless they ask for it.” His eyes sparkled, and Shae felt the heat rise to her cheeks as she remembered her begging him to fuck her harder.
She averted her gaze and thought about everything that had happened to her in the past twenty-four hours. It was hard to understand why she felt more at peace with this man than she had felt anywhere else in her life. What was it about him that felt so comforting? While she wasn’t sure if she believed everything he was telling her, she did feel a connection with him, and she knew that if she didn’t at least try to figure some of this out, she would regret it for the rest of her life.
“Okay, I’ll stay, but only until I understand what is going on with my body. Just let me call my boss and let him know—”
“No,” he said. “You must not have contact with any other human. Not until you can control your powers. My magic can help, but there are limits to what even I can do.”
“No contact ever?”
“For now.”
“You want me to be your prisoner.”