Chapter 1
“Are you sure about this? Are you sure that it’s…safe?” Adrien laughed as he tugged Morgan’s hand, pulling her close to his body. They wandered through the sun dappled forest like children, going wherever intuition or a stray breeze took them.
“Of course it’s safe.” Adrien slid his hand up from her wrist, across her arm and up over her shoulder until it was cupping her cheek, tilting her head until her emerald gaze collided with his own gold. “I would never hurt you, Morgan. Never. That I swear.”
“Well, I know you wouldn’t, but what about the other you,” He knew what she was talking about by the emphasis on her words. But he just shook his head.
“There is no other me,” He tried to explain. “It is all part of me, man and bear. It’s just me. No one else.”
“No thing else, you mean,” She grinned cheekily at him and he couldn’t stop the burst of laughter that jumped out of his mouth. He also couldn’t believe what a difference a few days could make. After that night they had spent in the jail cell together, everything was different. Not quite like they had been before the truth had all been tumbling out, but there was a new layer of closeness between them now.
Adrien leaned down, his mouth drawn to hers like magnets. He was simply unable to resist her but just before his lips landed, Morgan pulled back slightly, just enough for him to stop, staring at her with questions in his eyes.
She just laughed, shaking her head, “Oh, no!” Morgan took another step back and instantly missed the feel of her sweet body pressed against his. That was one thing that had definitely not changed at all between them. He still craved her like the most addictive drug, and there was nothing he could do to get her out of his system. And nothing he wanted to do, either. It was exactly where she belonged. Twined so firmly around his heart that he would never get her free.
“Oh no, what?” He asked distractedly, his brain firmly planted far south of where it should be.
“Oh no, if you start that we’ll forget all about why we came out here to the middle of nowhere in the first place.” She tried to pull away but his hand still held hers, and he had no intention of letting go. Not now, not ever. It would just take a while to convince her of that. He understood. It wasn’t like he had been the most steady of boyfriends before, and he knew she had seen that side of him. But it was different now. Everything was different now that Morgan was in his life.
“You mean it wasn’t to come out here and kiss you until neither of us could think about anything beside tearing each other’s clothes off and…”
“I’m serious, Adrien,” Morgan said, still resisting but he could hear the panting breathlessness of her voice and it fired through his blood stream.
“Okay, okay,” He said, finally giving in to her but a second later his molten golden gaze was focused back on her mouth like a helpless moth drawn to a flame, and damn, did he want to be burned.
Before she could try and dissuade him again his mouth was on hers, devouring her and she was kissing him back. It was as if his kiss had flipped a switch inside her, inside both of them, and only instinct and desire remained. All thought fled before the pounding need that swept through him and all he could imagine was laying her down on the soft late summer grass, having her wrap her sweet thighs around him, and sinking into the only heaven he would be likely to know, in this life or the next.
Morgan’s hands were sweeping up from his hips, under his shirt and the feel of her finger’s trailing over his bare skin had him growling deep in his chest. God, he needed her. More than he needed to breath, he needed to taste her.
“Wait, wait, Adrien,” Morgan pushed weakly at his shoulders and he immediately let up. She stared at him with those big, expressive green eyes of her and he knew he could so easily lose himself in them. It would be so easy. Too easy. He shook his head, trying to clear it and regain at least basic mental capacities.
“I’m sorry, I just…I just can’t resist you, you’re,” He paused, looking at her and swept a stray lock of hair to tuck it back behind her ear. “You’re irresistible.”
She snorted a laugh at him and he grinned back at her, the expression dopey, he knew.
“Your vocabulary is…expansive, Adrien, but I’m serious.”
“I’m serious too! You really are–.”
“Irresistible. Right. I get that.” She smiled up at him and he could see a glow in her cheek from the compliment, even though she tried to deny it. “We are here for a reason, Adrien.” Her expression became serious, and he nodded. He had been hoping and dreading for this moment, and now that it was here, he wasn’t sure what to feel.
She had asked him, hesitantly, a few nights ago if she could see him. Daft as he was it took him several minutes to understand and when he finally had, he’d been ecstatic. But now, all he could feel was nerves. He had never shifted in front of a human, and didn’t know how she would react. What if she ran away again? What if she took one look at him in bear form and thought he truly was a monster?
The terrible possibilities ran through his mind, one by one like soldiers marching inevitably to war and he took a deep breath, stealing himself for the battle.
“Are you sure you’re ready for this? We can wait.” He asked softly, his own expression now matching hers. But she resolutely nodded her head.
“I’m absolutely sure, Adrien,” Her gaze collided with his own, “I need to see it. To see you. To really see you, I mean.”
They had spent hours and long nights talking about his culture, his life and history, and the history of his family. He didn’t go into too much detail about his father, or his position as tribe leader. Adrien was surprised to find that it was still too hard for him to speak about.
But telling her about what it meant to be a bear shifter had been like revealing himself to someone for the first time in his life. Never had a human lover known this side of him, and that she was his mate, and accepting him. Well, it had been the best feeling in the world. And uncomfortable as hell, especially when she’d questioned him about the mating process itself.
“For a bear, when you are mated, it’s for life.” He had told her as they sat cross legged on her bed, facing each other. The only illumination had been the moonlight, but it had been more than enough to see her eyebrows climb her forehead in shock.
“Wait a minute, for life? Like, for the rest of my life?” She had tried to get the words out, stumbling over them as she tried to understand. He loved her more for that than anything else. He thought of that that searing kiss. Well, almost anything else.
“Um, not you, exactly. The rules are different when one of the mates are human. There aren’t a lot of cases of it happening, but in those that do, well, let’s just say we are mated for the rest of my life. If,” He had to pause, swallowing hard to get the rest of the words out, “If you wanted, you could leave at any time. Walk away and you would be able to move on with your life just fine. But I…I can never leave you. I will never want to leave you.”
Adrien stopped again, staring hard at her in the dim light, trying to gauge her reaction.
“I know it’s a lot to take in. But the mating ceremony creates a bond between us. Deeper than any wedding or marriage or anything else could. It’s a physical bond that…pulls at me. Like that day at the cabin, when Harris came and, well, did what he did,” Adrien looked away for a moment, remembering that awful day and the events that followed, “I knew that you were upset, angry. That something was wrong. That’s why I had to come back.”
“Wait, but, you’re saying, without the bond you wouldn’t…you wouldn’t be with me?” Morgan asked the question softly and it broke his hear tot hear the uncertainty staining her voice. He was by her side in an instant, his hands cupping her cheeks and forcing her eyes to met his own, because he needed her to know how important this was.
“No! No, that’s not how the ceremony works. Honestly, I never expected the bond to be this strong between us, but…it only effects the emotions that are already t
here. It can’t force a connection between us. It can’t force me to love you, I just do.”
“Wha- What?” She stammered and Adrien leaned close, pressing his forehead to hers as the dark closed around them.
“I love you, Morgan. And that’s something that has nothing to do with the bond. The mating ceremony just…intensifies the feeling that already exist. But it can’t make knew ones, and it can’t make me feel something that wasn’t already there.”
“Adrien, quit stalling!” Morgan’s voice dragged him out of his reverie and back to the present. With a shrug he took a few steps back, slowly drawing off his shirt and then moving on to the buttons of his jeans.
“Hey, I thought you weren’t going to keep trying to distract me.” She said, her heated gaze sweeping over his bared body like a brand.
“I’m not trying too. I just have to be unclothed for the shift. Well, I don’t have to be but I don’t fancy having to walk all the way back to the jeep totally naked, so…” He continued to undress as she stared, and he was more than aware of her burning gaze.
“I wouldn’t mind. I totally would not mind,” Her voice was husky and he had to take a deep breath to get his body back under control as his boxers joined the piled of clothes at his feet.
“You are shameless.” He said with a shake of his head as he turned around and he swore he heard her whistle but when he turned around to look at her she just shrugged innocently. He didn’t miss the humor glowing in her eyes as it gave her away but he just turned back around, trying to clear his mind.
The shift required a calm mind. It was one of the reasons that most bears didn’t shift until well after puberty, although female bears usually got the hang of it much earlier than the males.
Adrien took another deep breath, soaking in the peace of the forest surrounding him. He let nature seep into his bloodstream, inhaling it with every breath he took. Finally, he let his eyelids grow heavy until they slid shut on their own. He focused on relaxing every muscle in his body one by one, calling to the other half of himself, drawing it out little by little until he began to feel the shift come over him.
The sound of Morgan’s gasp was lost to him as it overtook him. The air around him seemed to shift, shimmering as if heat was coming off of his body and Morgan took a step to the side, squinting at him to see. She didn’t want to miss a second. Excitement and nerves and fear all warred within her and she wasn’t even sure which one would be the victor at the end of the battle but at that moment, all of her focus was on Adrien and the magic happening in front of her.
She wasn’t sure exactly when it happened but like a mirror turning, one moment Adrien was standing there, naked and looking more delicious than even against the wild landscape of the surrounding trees, and then, he was gone and in his place stood a giant bear.
“Oh my god,” She whispered as the fear threatened to win out, but she battled it back as the animal took a small, shuffling step towards her. She may have squeaked then, she wasn’t quite sure but as it plopped down, rolling onto its back as it played in the fallen leaves a new emotion filled her. Wonder. “Oh my god!” She said again, this time louder and froze as he turned his massive, fur covered head towards her. It was the most amazing thing she had ever seen, ever experienced, and the sting of tears threatened as the emotion choked her.
Morgan took a hesitant step forward and when he didn’t move, took one more. It took every ounce of strength inside her to make that final step and then she found herself standing in front of the giant animal. She stared down into its eyes and realized then. Not it, but him. It was Adrien starring back at her through those eyes and awe filled her as she reached out a hand, slowly running it down the soft fur of his belly.
He rolled happily on the ground and she couldn’t hold back the burst of laughter. His tongue lolled out of his mouth and she could have sworn that he was laughing right along with her.
“Adrien, you are…” She had to pause, searching for the right word, and when she did, she knew it truly was exactly the right one, “You are beautiful.”
Chapter 2
The next few days passed quickly for Morgan. So quickly that it was almost like a blur as she learned this whole new side of not only Adrien, but the world as she had once known it. She felt like everything was different now, not just Adrien, but her as well. How can you learn a truth like his and not be changed by it?
She stared at the canvas in front of her, the paintbrush still in her hand and smiled at the painting that was emerging. Sometimes she knew exactly what a painting would look like before she started, and others it was as if the canvas had a life of its own, a story of its own it wanted told.
This time, it had been the latter. Morgan looked down at the image of the bear running carefree through a forest more lush and green than had ever existed in nature, but what had made her smile was the other bear, smaller, running along beside it. The connection between the animals was a palpable thing, like an energy emanating from the paint itself.
She wasn’t sure how long she had stood there standing, just staring at the painting that had taken on a life of its own before she looked down at her watch.
“Shit!” She cried as she realized she was supposed to meet Adrien at the bar in five minutes. She would never make it in time.
With another curse, Morgan tripped over her own feet as she scrambled into the bathroom to take the quickest shower in human history before throwing on a slinky black dress and her motorcycle boots. Her hair was still wet but there was nothing to be done except wind it up into a messy bun on top of her head. She grabbed her jacket and was out of the front door in less than fifteen minutes and as she sped away on her motorcycle she prayed there wouldn’t be any cops out that night because she had ever intention of breaking a few speed limits on her drive over.
She got to the bar ten minutes later, another record for her and parked her bike in the parking lot breathless and full of jittery excitement. Slowly, she got off, took off the helmet and locked it to the handlebar before turning towards the bar. It was only then that Morgan noticed the lights on in Adrien’s apartment and decided to go check it out. She knew she was supposed to meet him in the bar, but if he had already closed up for the night it would make sense for him to just wait for her at his place.
Morgan bolted up the narrow stairs and raised her fist to knock on the door when she heard voices. One of them was distinctly feminine, and the other belonged to Adrien. A very angry Adrien.
“Sera, I don’t know how many times I’ve told you before, and I’m not going to do it again. I’m out of patience. Just leave me alone! I don’t want anything to do with you!”
“But, Adrien, baby…don’t say that, I…You know I love you.” The nasal feminine voice whined and Morgan took a deep breath as anger rushed through her. Just not at Adrien this time. At herself. This was the same girl that she had seen that night at the bar and assumed the worst. He had tried to tell her that it was nothing, that it was that old bastard Harris’ daughter, and that she wouldn’t leave him alone. She could hear it in her voice. The obsession, the inability to tell reality from her own twisted fantasy.
“Hah! You wouldn’t know love if you kicked you in the ass, and speaking of which, I need you to get the hell out of my apt, because I really don’t want to have to make you.”
“but, Adrien, you don’t understand! Please, honey, if you’ll just listen–.”
“No, Sera. I’ve heard more than enough. Now get the hell out, and leave me the hell alone. The next time I see you around here I won’t be so nice about it.”
“Is this about that bitch of yours?” Morgan shuddered at the sudden change in the other woman’s voice. It was deeper, unemotional, but just underneath lay a layer of something vile that had chills shivering down her back and prickling at the back of her neck. There was really something wrong with this woman.
“Get out.” Adrien’s voice was hard, harder than she had ever heard, and that made her shiver all over again as he continued
, “and don’t ever talk about Morgan again. She’s my mate. End of story. Now get the fuck out of my house.”
Morgan didn’t hear anything else for a moment and leaned forward, almost getting her nose clipped for her efforts as the door suddenly swung open to reveal Sera. The other woman stiffened painfully, freezing for a moment before sweeping past her. Morgan shied away from the murderous look in her vapid gaze and her breath caught in her through as she stopped, staring hard right at her.
“You better watch out, bitch. You may have Adrien now, but you’ll get what you deserve. And you’re not going to like it.” She smiled then, and Morgan thought it was so much worse than the look of anger, “take care of him for me, will you? Enjoy him while you can, whore!”
Before Morgan could think of anything suitable to say, the other woman had already fled down the stairs and disappeared into the night. Trembling, she turned back to Adrien. He had his arms around her in less than a second and she melted gratefully into his embrace.
“What did she mean, Adrien? What did she mean by that?” She could feel the movement as he shook his head above her.
“I don’t know, love. But I know whatever it is, it isn’t good.”
“Did you hear what happened? I heard that Harris totally lost it over some bad food that his cook had served him and had almost killed him before his daughter came in the room. And she watched him! Thomas said she was just standing there watching when he ran in and stopped him!”
“I’m telling you, Jan,” The older woman just shook her head sadly, contemplatively at the younger as they picked through vegetables at the small farm stand the clan put together every Saturday. It was something that Dominic, their old leader had started to encourage community between the local clans. It sort of took off on its own, and now was looked on as a staple in the Long Pines tribe, as well as several others. A place to meet, exchange news, and especially gossip.
BAD BOY ROMANCE: DIESEL: Contemporary Bad Boy Biker MC Romance (Box Set) (New Adult Sports Romance Short Stories Boxset) Page 68