Bear Claw

by Crissy Smith

  “I was going to tell you.”

  Jamie didn’t turn around at the sound of her voice. “So every time I checked out one of your books you must have had a good laugh.” He wasn’t sure why he was so upset but it bothered him that she’d kept the secret from him for so long.

  Her hand came down on the back of his neck.

  He peered up at her. “No, I wondered if you ever recognized yourself in the story.”

  “If I…?” Then it hit him. Drake Knight, the main character of her series. “Me?”

  Brandy settled on his lap and cupped his face. She hadn’t put on any clothes so they were both naked.

  “You have no idea how much I thought about you as I would write my scenes. There were so many fantasies in my head. I started this new series picturing you.”

  Jamie was beyond flattered. “So every sex scene Drake took place in, you wanted it to be you and me?”

  She blushed and laughed nervously. “Something like that.”

  “I am going to have to take you for a ride on my bike.”

  Moaning, she nodded.

  “Drive you out to the middle of nowhere and put you on your hands and knees as I take you right out in the open.”

  He’d read every single one of her books and knew what parts were his favorite. Brandy dragged his hand off the desktop and brought his fingers to her wet pussy.

  Jamie pulled her firmly into his lap so they both faced the computer screen. “Find the last sex scene you wrote,” he ordered.

  Her hand shook as she hurried to obey. It couldn’t have been easy as he continued to finger-fuck her. Finally, when she’d found what she was looking for, she sat back.

  “Read it to me.”

  Brandy’s voice trembled as she began. Jamie used his free hand to torment her nipple while adding a third finger in her pussy.

  Breathless, she pumped her hips, stumbling over the words. Jamie’s cock was already spreading pre-cum over her ass.

  Reaching the part where Drake slammed inside his girl, Jamie pushed Brandy up off his lap to land on the desk. Quickly, he replaced his fingers with his cock and started to ride her as hard and fast as his character.

  “Yes,” she hissed in encouragement. She stopped reading.

  Jamie didn’t need any more inspiration to know exactly how she wanted it.

  Each time he withdrew, he gripped her hips a little tighter so he could plunge back into her. His vision blurred, his bear so close to the surface as he repeatedly drove himself inside her.

  They came at the same time. Jamie yelled his release as he emptied his seed into her.

  His entire body shook and he gasped for breath. Jeez, Brandy was a remarkable woman.

  * * * *

  With her body sore in all the best ways, Brandy arrived to meet Chris for the protest march. Jamie had learned her secret and everything was all right. Hell, it was more than all right. She didn’t need her fantasies with Drake Knight anymore. Jamie was better than anything she could have dreamed up.

  “Hey, cuz.” Chris waved at her.

  Brandy waved back and hurried over to him. There were already two dozen people standing around, and there was still time to go before they would begin the proceedings.

  Chris hugged her once she reached him. “I’m so glad you’re here. This is going to be huge. Drew called me and he has over forty people on his side.”

  “Wow!” She was truly impressed.

  More people arrived then, and Brandy could barely see around the large group.

  “There is so much support for this. It only proves how right we are.”

  Her cousin had a point and Brandy was happy to see it. News vans started arriving.

  Chris spotted them right away. “If you want to hide in the back, now is your chance.”

  Normally Brandy avoided any kind of media exposure. Not only did she hate the attention, she was always mindful that her last name would be brought up. But after her fights with William and Colby, she wasn’t going to stay in the background this time.

  “I’m good,” she said.

  Chris turned to her, still blocking her from an approaching reporter. “Are you sure?”

  “This is too important. I’m not hiding.”

  His grin was so wide Brandy thought his face might split. “That bear of yours has been a good influence.”

  She shoved at his shoulder but they both laughed.

  “Mr Brooks,” The female reporter called out.

  Hooking his arm through hers, Chris spun around, keeping Brandy close to his side. He smiled pleasantly and went into what Brandy also referred to as his ‘press face’.

  “Do you have a minute for a few questions?”

  “Of course.”

  Brandy tried to appear interested and supportive as she kept her attention on her cousin. She wasn’t hiding because she didn’t actually want to talk to anyone.

  As Chris spoke, Brandy was once again surprised and pleased by the way he handled himself. He knew exactly what to say and what tone to use.

  Chris finished up by thanking everyone for their support.

  The female journalist turned to her. “What’s your name, ma’am?”

  “Uh…”

  “This is my cousin, Brandy Brooks.”

  “Ms Brooks.” The woman seemed to perk up at her name. “You are here showing your support to the opposition of any shifter registration. Can you tell me why?”

  “It’s the right thing to do,” she responded.

  A cheer in the crowd distracted the reporter and cameraman. Relieved, Brandy had said her peace and now wanted to be left alone. Chris pulled her toward the front where the protest would start.

  Down the street, Drew had his group with him to join as a unit. Seeing all the people with signs and banners, she was a little overwhelmed. She hadn’t expected such a turnout.

  Chris left her to check on things and Brandy visited with those around her. The entire feeling of the scene was upbeat with dozens of smiling faces.

  After a while, her cousin came back and grabbed her hand. A poster was shoved at her as she was led to the front.

  “Are you ready for this?” Chris asked.

  “I guess.”

  He whistled and they were off. The first few streets that they passed along were empty, but as they contained their march, more and more people stopped on the sidewalk to watch.

  The entire walk would take them fifteen minutes to reach the courthouse.

  A chant started up, filling the air as Chris jumped around and waved. Brandy held her sign up high and couldn’t help but laugh and enjoy herself.

  * * * *

  Jamie pressed his back against the brick building about a block from the courthouse. Not only was his team scattered about looking for any sign of trouble, but every available unit had been dispatched for today’s protest march.

  Such an open and well-televised event would be the perfect place for someone to try to make a statement. He hadn’t heard from Zak so Jamie was hoping that his group was behaving themselves. Ray had called him earlier and informed him that a large crowd they’d been watching was taking part.

  He kept Ray on them and had called in Aubrey too.

  Brandy had informed him that she intended to march along with her cousin. Jamie had almost told her not to attend but he could see how important this was to her.

  Over breakfast, she had finally filled him in on everything that had been going on with her family.

  Feeling a little guilty about causing her more problems with her parents wasn’t enough to keep him away. But if he ever met the couple, Jamie had a few things to say to them.

  He also wanted to see her brother. William sounded like a Grade A prick and Jamie would love to take him down a few notches.

  That didn’t help his worry for her, though. Earlier he’d called Aubrey and asked her to stay close to Brandy—his friend had eagerly agreed to help. He knew Aubrey was already feeling left out of her own investigation so his call did more than
help his peace of mind. It also gave Aubrey a mission.

  He could also trust Aubrey to do whatever was needed to protect Brandy. He hoped and prayed that nothing would happen. However, he couldn’t get rid of the burning in his gut that something big was coming.

  Running his gaze over the throng that had assembled in front of him, Jamie kept an eye out for any suspicious behavior. There were three older gentlemen to his right. Their expensive suits made them stand out in the casual gathering.

  Taking a deep breath, Jamie concentrated on overhearing their conversation.

  “This may be a bigger problem than we first thought.”

  “Let them have their silly marches and protests. In the end, it won’t matter. We have the support we need from the state.”

  “If too much awareness is brought into this issue, it could cause us a lot more scrutiny than we can afford.”

  “We’ll be fine.”

  Jamie shook his head. He truly didn’t believe that the proposed legislation would ever pass. With the Coalition and the different shifter structures that worked closely with the federal government, he knew they couldn’t afford to have anything like this pass.

  It would be too dangerous for people like himself to reveal too much. Even after the shifters had announced their presence, many of their abilities had remained hidden.

  For the protection of all the shifters, they’d come out of hiding. Hunting had reached an all-time high and too many shifted humans had lost their lives as a result.

  While Jamie had never known anyone who had been killed that way, he’d heard some very sad stories. He was lucky that he didn’t have any family he had to worry about.

  After moving to Lake Worth, he’d been surprised to see a few factions had banded together as bear shifters. At one time he’d considered contacting them about joining. But as soon as he had approached them as an agent with the Coalition, he knew it wouldn’t be possible to join since he was a government official.

  The groups of bear shifters in the area were a little more fanatic than what he was comfortable with. Their anti-human stance bred their children to be open for groups like those that Zak was currently investigating.

  He’d had Ray look as deeply as he could at the different factions they knew about but Jamie had nothing he could use as leverage to see if they knew more than they were saying.

  The fact that they hadn’t contacted the cops or Coalition when the two boys took off concerned him. He still wanted to tug on that line for the investigation.

  A loud chant brought his attention to the street. The three men stopped talking as the large mass of protesters came into view.

  Right up front, just like he’d feared, he saw Brandy holding up a sign. She looked beautiful in her black jeans and pink V-neck shirt with tennis shoes in the same cotton-candy color.

  She laughed, waving the message about equal rights. Two people behind her and two to the right was Aubrey. Instead of relaxing, he tensed as his heart sped up.

  The group was almost at the courthouse. If something was going to happen, it would be soon.

  At that moment, Brandy turned her head and their gazes met. Her smile faltered and she seemed confused. She started glancing at various people and things.

  Jamie had to give her credit. She had a pretty good idea of why he was there. If he’d known they would’ve been ordered down for security, he would have at least warned her.

  Nodding slightly, he let her know as best as he could that everything was okay. She smiled again, but the amusement was gone, and he could tell she was worried.

  She didn’t look back as the crowd passed. She began waving the sign over her head again as she got back into the protest.

  He waited practically on the tip of his toes for someone to make a wrong move. He could see both supporters and the opposition surrounding him, but again, he didn’t see anything out of the ordinary.

  To his left, he spotted Cody strolling up the sidewalk. His buddy had been farther down and was navigating forward now that the crowd had passed his location.

  Jamie waited until Cody was about ten feet away before stuffing his hands in his pockets and moving ahead. Cody would stand watch where Jamie had stood as the rest of the protesters marched.

  The organization of all Coalition was well orchestrated and everything went smoothly as far as the agents were concerned. Once the group reached their destination, the Coalition agents would also have the help of the local police department.

  Putting himself across the street, where Chris was waving at the crowd to move closer, Jamie once again prayed everything would go well.

  Chapter Fourteen

  With the protest march over, and after Jamie had checked in with the commander, he headed over to relieve Ray from his post. Ray had followed the group back to the warehouse on Market, so Jamie snuck into the same alley where he’d previously been.

  “How’d it go on your end?” he asked, walking up to his man.

  “No problems. They came right back over here once they were done. Smoked some pot outside and have been in there about half an hour.”

  “Has Victor managed to break away at all?”

  “Once so far. He ran to a convenience store about eight blocks south but came right back.”

  Damn, Jamie wished he could have caught him. “Why don’t you take off and get some sleep? You’ll be on late night again. Christy will take over after me.”

  “You got it, boss.” With a slight wave of his hand, Ray backed away and was gone.

  Settling in a crouch against the empty building, Jamie prepared for a long wait.

  He was both thankful for the uneventful day and concerned because it would have been the perfect moment to make a move.

  If Zak was right and the group wanted to start a war between the humans and shifters then why hadn’t they hit the protest? He’d only been sitting there about ten minutes until Victor stepped out of the building alone.

  Jamie stood slowly then slid his back against the brick.

  Victor seemed to be looking around. Without seeing anyone, Jaime strolled down the block in the same direction that Ray had reported he’d taken.

  Since he wouldn’t be able to follow on the same block without being seen, Jamie had to hurry back to Production and jog to catch up. He eyed the alleys as Victor passed each one.

  He was sure that Victor was headed for the store. Victor crossed the street to the small rundown mini-mart, Jamie kept to the shadows.

  Once Victor had entered, Jamie ran quickly to the side of the building so he could catch the boy on his way out.

  The kid wasn’t inside long. The door opened, and Victor was once again out in the open. Since he didn’t know who else might be around, Jamie hadn’t wanted to approach him inside the store.

  “Victor,” he called out softly as the kid started walking.

  The young man jumped, looking in his direction. Jamie motioned him closer.

  He saw Victor take a deep breath, obviously scenting him. Once he got a whiff, something akin to hope sprang into his eyes. “Jamie?”

  Surprised, Jamie nodded.

  Victor hurried over. Jamie grabbed his arm and dragged him away from the store window and anyone who might pass by.

  “You’re Zak’s friend?”

  “I am,” Jamie confirmed.

  “He…he sent me out for cigarettes for him. He said you would be around and could get me out. Man, you’ve got to help me!” Victor said desperately.

  “If you want to get away, I can arrange that.”

  “Now, it has to be now. They want to send me on a mission tonight.”

  “What mission?”

  But Victor was too scared. He shook his head as his entire body trembled. Jamie smelled his fear.

  “Okay, this is what we’re going to do. I’m parked a few blocks from here. We’re going to walk casually toward my vehicle. I’ll be by your side the entire time. So act natural.”

  “I can’t go back that way. What if someone see
s me?”

  “I’ll stay with you. Now come on. The longer we wait the better chance someone will start looking for you.” Jamie led him away from the old store, making sure Victor was right behind him.

  They jogged across the street. Instead of taking Market, they stayed on Production. By the energy coming off Victor, Jamie sensed that the kid was close to running.

  “Walk naturally. If someone should spot us, don’t draw attention to us. There’s no one around so we should be okay.”

  Victor bobbed his head up and down. Jamie knew he needed to get the Victor to safety quickly or the kid would freak out. Getting close enough to see his truck, Jamie clenched his hands, trying to hold in his own anxiety. He had to keep Victor calm.

  He couldn’t use his key fob where the small chirp might be heard, so Jamie unlocked the passenger side first and made sure Victor was inside before racing around to the driver’s door.

  Climbing up, Jamie wasted no time sliding the key into the ignition then putting the vehicle in reverse.

  Victor bounced his leg anxiously. Concentrating on getting them away, Jaime realized that the farther he drove, the more Victor seemed to become restless.

  “Hey, relax,” Jamie told him. “That was the hard part.”

  “They’re going to find me. They are. I’m going to end up like that Sean kid.”

  “You know what happened to Sean?”

  “Yeah, they wanted him to attack some human girls in his shifted state. Wanted to draw attention to a bear attack. Sean wouldn’t do it so they killed him.”

  “He’s not dead yet,” Jamie informed him. “He’s in a coma but Sean stands a good chance of waking up.”

  “Really?” Victor sounded relieved. “He was a really nice guy. He didn’t want to hurt anyone.”

  “I’m glad he didn’t.”

  “Where are you taking me?”

  That was a good question. Jamie was heading into the Coalition, but what was he going to do with Victor after that? The kid couldn’t go back to his room on campus.

  “I’m taking you into the Coalition right now. We’ll figure everything else out.”

  “Thanks. Thanks, man. Zak said you’d get me out.”