Lisa stretched her arms out in front of her as Graham began to pound into her. He took her fast and hard, and it felt so amazing. He bent forward and fondled her heavy breasts, tugging at her nipples and making her scream with pleasure.
She rotated her hips as Graham ran his large, calloused hands down her curvy body. He caressed every inch of her soft, lush body and kissed his way down her spine. Lisa turned her head and offered her mouth to him.
Graham claimed her mouth, and his tongue mimicked what he was doing to her with his cock. He slid in and out of her, pleasuring her out of her mind and staking his claim on every inch of her body.
Grabbing her by the waist, Graham fucked her deeper and harder. The sound of their flesh slapping together filled the room and Lisa dug her nails into the covers and just held on. The feelings, the sensations, the raw, exquisite pleasure was so intense she was afraid she was going to burst into flames. Her body was shaking uncontrollably and she buried her face in the pillow to muffle her scream.
As she orgasmed again and again, Graham held her tight and closed his teeth over the mark on her shoulder. He bit down on the mark and thrust hard into her.
Lisa lifted her head and her cry was drowned out by his fierce, proud roar. Graham roared his release and his claim, and shot his seed deep into her body.
Lisa tightened her muscles, clenching his cock possessively and milking every drop of his seed from him. Her entire body shuddered as she came one last time and collapsed onto the covers, utterly exhausted and sated.
Graham fell on the bed beside her and his arms closed around her. Breathing heavily, he held her in his arms and kissed her hair.
For a long while, they just lay on the bed, breathing in the unique, erotic scent of their lovemaking and memorizing the rhythm of each other's heartbeats.
Finally, Lisa opened her eyes and turned to face Graham. She touched his handsome face and whispered, “Is this...mating sex?”
“Yes.” His eyes were glowing faintly in the darkness.
He pushed himself up on his elbow and stared down at her. His expression was both grim and anxious. “What are you thinking, Lisa?”
She blinked. “Think?”
A proud, smug, arrogant smile spread across Graham's face. “That's what I'm going to do to you every night. Fuck you till you can't think straight.”
“I might not be able to think straight, but I can still think,” she answered with a sly, lazy smile.
“So—what are you thinking?”
“I'm thinking that I like mating sex very much.” Before he could move, she rolled him onto his back and straddled him.
“Can we do it again?”
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Graham tiptoed out of the room and quietly pulled the bedroom door shut behind him. He went to the kitchen and blinked at the bright sunlight streaming in through his kitchen window.
Gosh, what time was it now?
He glanced at the clock and was surprised to see that it was almost noon. No wonder he was so hungry. He had slept through breakfast and now it was almost lunch time.
He grinned when he remembered that he hadn't exactly slept through breakfast. He did have the most delectable, mouth-watering, inviting breakfast in bed. And she was still there now.
Lisa, in his bed, spread out for him like a feast.
The very thought made him want to rush back to his bedroom and have her all over again.
Graham growled and yanked open the refrigerator door, hoping to distract himself with food. Lisa needed her rest. He had worn her out and she was probably really sore right now. He would give her a few hours to recover, then he would take his mate again.
His mate!
Not only had he found his mate, he had marked her and claimed her. His bear was rumbling with pride and pleasure, and the big happy beast was reminding him that he had other appetites to satisfy. The hungry beast wanted food right now.
His doorbell sounded. Graham slammed his fridge door shut and frowned. He wasn't expecting anyone today.
The doorbell buzzed again. And again.
“All right, all right, I'm coming,” Graham shouted, marching to the door. He opened the door and staggered back in shock. Everyone was here—his friends, buddies, workmates, even his sister and brother-in-law.
“Surprise!” Damien hollered, elbowing his way into the house. “We're here for your housewarming party! Penelope and I are leaving for our honeymoon this evening, but we wouldn't miss your housewarming party for the world! So—we're having your housewarming party now!”
“But...” Graham sputtered as everyone jostled past him and made their way cheerfully into his house. It looked like the whole neighborhood had turned up. Even his bosses, Nick Sullivan and Marcus Beck, were here.
“Don't worry, we prepared everything.” Penelope grinned and started barking instructions to the guys. “Put the beer in the fridge, Lionel. Thanks! Josh and Jax, can you stack the pizza boxes on the table? Nick, be careful with the hotdogs!”
“Staci will be here soon,” Marcus told Graham who was gaping and wheezing and looked like he was about to have a panic attack. “Staci and her sisters-in-law are baking several trays of lasagne.”
“Zoe will drive them here,” Nick said, grinning. Graham nodded numbly. So the guys' mates were coming too. And that meant all their cubs would be here too. His house was going to be transformed into a giant jungle gym.
“Hellooooo! Are we late?” Gramma and Ne-ma came sailing through the front door, bearing two large trays of Buffalo wings.
The two grinning witches were greeted with hearty cheers. “I don't know if you're cheering for the food or for us,” Gramma said, chuckling.
“For you of course!” everyone chorused.
Gramma and Ne-ma cackled in delight as they placed their Buffalo wings on the dining table and came up to Graham. “Where's Lisa?” Ne-ma asked, looking around.
“She's sleeping.” Graham glanced at the bedroom door. With the noise the guys were making, she wasn't going to get much sleep.
A bear cub climbed up Graham's leg and shifted into a little boy midway. “Hey,” Graham grinned at the mischievous toddler and ruffled the youngster's hair. Reid came hurrying out of the kitchen to pry his son away from Graham's leg. “Matthew!” Reid scolded. “No climbing people! Uncle Graham is not a tree. Mummy will be very cross with you when she gets here!”
Matthew scrunched up his face and looked like he was about to cry. Graham hoisted the kid up on his shoulder and said, “It's okay, buddy. I'm built like a tree, so it's okay to climb me.”
Matthew giggled. Graham winked at the little boy and handed him back to his father.
Graham heard more cars pull up in front of his house and he heard excited female voices and quick footsteps. Girlfriends, wives, mates all arrived, bearing large pots of scrumptious home-cooked food and beautiful desserts.
The women kissed Graham on the cheek and beamed as they presented him with their contribution to his party.
“Happy housewarming!”
CHAPTER TWENTY
Lisa was woken by the sound of loud music and laughter. She blinked rapidly and sat up.
Immediately, she frowned when she saw what she was wearing. This humongous t-shirt definitely wasn't hers. And underneath, she was wearing...just her waist pouch.
“No underwear,” she muttered in mortification.
Whose shirt was she wearing? And whose bed was she in?
Lisa took a deep breath and the familiar, masculine scent calmed her down at once. She was in Graham's bed, wearing his comfortable old t-shirt.
As she slid out of bed, she noticed her blouse, jeans and underwear neatly folded on a chair. She dressed quickly and checked her waist pouch. Everything was inside the pouch, exactly where she had packed them. Not a single item had been touched or removed. Heaving a sigh of relief, s
he tiptoed to the bedroom door.
Putting her ear to the door, she listened to the cheerful, boisterous male voices outside and gulped. There were evidently many people in Graham's house. It sounded like he was having a party!
Party? Lisa's eyes narrowed. Graham never said anything about having a party. He could at least have mentioned it to her. Unless...she wasn't invited to his party.
Lisa scowled but she refused to believe that Graham would do that to her. She stalked to the door and wrenched it open.
She almost collided into a tall, curvy, bespectacled brunette. The woman smiled and greeted her, “Hi, Lisa!”
Lisa gasped and stumbled back a step. “Oh! I...you...you're the bride! Penelope...”
“Yes. We were introduced just before the beer-drinking competition,” Penelope answered, grinning. “Are you looking for Graham?”
“Yes. No!”
“I'm sorry about the noise,” Penelope apologized. “We wanted to have a house-warming party for Graham. He moved into this house last month, and he was supposed to have a house-warming party but the wedding took up so much of his time. My brother did a really good job planning my wedding, and Damien and I wanted to thank him. So we sprung this party on him!” Penelope chuckled.
“Oh...”
“Come and join the party,” Penelope said warmly, linking her arm through Lisa's. “Graham told us you were still sleeping. You drank so much beer yesterday. It's really impressive that you were still standing after the competition! Thank you for coming to my wedding, Lisa.”
“I...I wasn't invited,” Lisa stammered. “I was just passing through...”
Penelope waved her hand in a grand gesture. “A guest of my guests is a guest of mine. Gramma and Ne-ma invited you, didn't they?”
“Yes, but...”
“And you're staying, aren't you?” Penelope said, peering at her over the top of her glasses.
“Staying?”
Lisa caught Penelope staring at the side of her neck. Self-consciously, Lisa adjusted her collar to hide the bite mark at the base of her neck. She looked up and the stunned look on Penelope's face told her that Penelope had already gotten a very good, clear look at that mark.
The open-mouthed look of shock and amazement on Penelope's face turned into one of pure joy.
“Oh, Lisa!” Penelope squealed and enveloped her in a big bear hug. “This is so wonderful! Welcome to the fam...”
“To Shadow Point,” Graham cut in loudly, popping up at her side with a Buffalo wing in one hand and a slice of pizza in the other. “You've got to try this. Gramma and Ne-ma's Buffalo wings are to die for!”
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Graham shot Penelope a warning look when she frowned at him. “That wasn't what I was going to...” Penelope began.
But Graham put his arm around Lisa's shoulder and steered her away. “Sorry,” he whispered urgently to her. “My family and buddies just dropped in out of the blue! They said this is my surprise housewarming party.” He grimaced at the sight of his crowded living room. All his work buddies and their mates were here. “I did promise them a party, but I didn't expect...”
“There you are!” Gramma and Ne-ma waltzed out of the kitchen and waved at Lisa. “Come and eat! There's so much food!”
“And there's more coming!” Ne-ma said happily.
Graham spluttered. “More food or more people?”
“Both! Our grandsons are coming too! With their families!” Gramma replied.
Graham sucked in a breath. Gramma and Ne-ma's eldest grandson, Tristan Gray, owned a successful construction company, Gray's Domain. Graham and his crew often worked with Gray's Domain on building projects. Tristan, Aidan, Mason and Jackson Gray were great guys, but they were big, beefy bear shifters and Graham wasn't sure if his modest little house could accommodate any more guests. The majority of his workmates were shifters, and they were all broad, muscular and very loud. His house was already bursting at the seams, and the noise level was…
Graham glanced at Lisa worriedly. But she didn't seem to mind the noise and the crowd at all. In fact, she was chatting comfortably with Gramma, Ne-ma and a small group of ladies.
Most of his buddies were busy stuffing their faces, but a few of them came up to Lisa to introduce themselves. They introduced her to their wives and mates, and proudly pointed out their cubs to her.
Kids, cubs and pups were chasing one another all over his house, and some had shifted into their animal forms.
There was a thoughtful look on Lisa's face as she watched the shifter kids. A steely glint entered her eye as she clutched her waist pouch and mumbled to herself.
Graham went to her side and whispered, “You okay?”
She started and gave him a quick smile. “Yeah. Just making some mental notes.” She paused and said, “I'm going to start working on my serum today. I'm going to make this work,” she said, her voice rising as she pounded her fist into her palm. “I'll just start experimenting...”
“What experiment are we talking about?” Ne-ma said eagerly.
“We love experimenting!” Gramma added, rubbing her hands together. Apparently, their little conversation had been overhead by the two witches. Graham sighed and gave a lopsided smile. Nobody could keep anything from Gramma and Ne-ma. Gramma and Ne-ma were always the first to know the latest news and gossip around town. They were also the first to offer their help in any situation.
“Um, it's a science experiment,” Lisa began.
“Ooh, science!” Gramma's eyes lit up. “Science is magic. And magic is science. You apply the same principles—more or less.”
“You know, Glynda and I used to experiment with all kinds of spells and potions when we were in Spell School!” Ne-ma giggled and leaned in to whisper, “There was one time when Glynda accidentally turned me into an eagle for a few hours. I pretended to be mad at her when she turned me back, but it was honestly the best two hours of my life! Spreading my wings and soaring high into the sky…ah!”
“Well, you just have to keep trying and experimenting until you get the spell right.” Gramma shrugged. “Sometimes we even had to reverse the spells before casting them again in order to get them to work properly.”
Lisa was nodding rapidly. “Exactly! In fact, I am working on...reversing something right now.”
“We reverse-engineer spells all the time.” Gramma smirked and sidled up to Lisa. “So...can we help you in your experiment?”
Lisa gulped. “I...I don't know,” she stammered at last. “No one has ever tried it before, so...”
“So we'll try it!” Gramma and Ne-ma hooted proudly. “We're always the first to try anything!”
Lisa looked uncertainly at them. “But first, I need a place where I can work quietly...”
“We have just the place!” Gramma snapped her fingers.
“We do?” Ne-ma asked, peering owlishly at Gramma through her glasses.
“Yes!” Gramma snapped, elbowing Ne-ma sharply in the ribs. “We have a spare room at the back of our inn. We can get a long table in there, and anything else you need, and ta-da! You have your own private laboratory!”
Ne-ma rubbed her side and managed to scowl at Gramma and smile at Lisa at the same time. “It's a pretty spacious room. And it's just empty right now. We'll make sure you have all the peace and quiet you need. Broomstick Inn's pretty quiet at this time,” Ne-ma told Lisa. “It's not tourist season yet.”
Lisa nodded and appeared to be giving the suggestion serious thought. Graham was just about to open his mouth to say that he didn't think it was such a good idea, but Lisa beat him to it.
“I think it's a great idea,” she said and turned to Graham with a radiant smile. “Don't you think so, Graham?”
“Actually, I...”
“It's settled then,” she said, her eyes sparkling with excitement and passion. “After the party
, I'll go over to your inn. There's so much work to do, and I can't wait to get started!”
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Graham wasn't listening to his workmates' bawdy jokes and banter. They were putting the finishing touches to a big renovation project and everyone was in a good mood. Their boss, Nick, had promised to buy them dinner if they completed the job on time.
“You okay?”
Graham looked up at Nick. “Yeah.”
“You're unusually quiet today,” Nick observed.
“He misses Damien!” someone called out.
Graham scowled as the guys started to laugh. He and Damien were the pranksters of the crew and they were always playing jokes on the guys. But Graham wasn't in the mood for jokes right now.
Damien and Penelope were presently on their honeymoon. The happy couple had driven off after Graham's housewarming party. They were driving to a nearby resort town for their honeymoon. Just before she hopped into the car, Penelope had given Graham a big hug and whispered, “When I get back, I'm going to start planning your wedding!”
Graham glared down at his power tools. He'd very nearly drilled a hole in his own thumb earlier. He tried to concentrate on his work, but he just couldn't stop thinking about Lisa. She'd been gone for three days. Three whole days!
“What's on your mind?” Nick asked quietly as he worked beside him. Nick was a good boss and a really good friend.
Graham exhaled roughly. “Lisa,” he growled finally.
“She's at the inn with Gramma and Ne-ma, right? Gramma and Ne-ma announced at the party that they've set aside a room at their inn just for Lisa.” Nick shrugged and gave a crooked smile. “I didn't think they were serious when they said they would be helping a top scientist work on a top secret experiment!”
“Oh they're serious all right,” Graham huffed. His voice rose slightly. “Lisa's been at the inn for three days and three nights already!” He stopped short of confessing that he had been watching the inn for three nights. For the past three nights, he had stood under the dim streetlamp and guarded the inn. He squinted and scowled at everyone who went past Broomstick Inn. If he thought anyone looked suspicious, he would watch them and trail them until he was sure they weren't a threat to Lisa. Her ex-boss had political connections, and Graham didn't trust politicians. They would stop at nothing to get what they wanted.
Guardian Bear: BBW Bear Shifter Paranormal Romance (BRIDES fur BEARS Book 7) Page 5