Bear Cop: BBW Bear Shifter Paranormal Romance (10 page)

I have done that,
Chris thought, his heart full.

Despite the odds, they had found and saved each other. He’d set Eve free from her past, and she had freed him from his loneliness, and from the memory of a family that had never cared for him. And now… Now he would come home in the evening to a real home, one he shared with his mate. Or spend his lunch break in the bakery, with his mate and a cupcake. He could hardly believe how lucky he was.

“In that case,” he murmured, taking hold of Eve again and lifting her easily so that she laughed, “in that case I demand that you let me taste-test all your recipes.”

“Maybe I will add a bear pie,” Eve teased.

He grinned and pressed a kiss to the tip of her nose.

She looked ridiculously happy, her cheeks flushed and her eyes gleaming with laughter. Chris promised himself that he’d always keep her this happy, to prove himself worthy of this gorgeous mate fate had sent him.

“What’s in a bear pie?” he asked.

“A lot of honey,” she said.

Her hands drew him down to her, and then they kissed again, her mouth opening hot and sweet for him.

“Wild forest honey, the sort that is all dark and rich and makes you think of fir trees,” she whispered against his skin after a moment. “A bit of cinnamon and cardamom, maybe. Caramel, and chocolate…”

Chris set her down on the countertop, and once he had his hands free, settled them on her generous hips, exploring her curves with a touch that despite his best intentions had already grown hungry once more. He couldn’t help it; Eve kept driving him wild with desire. His erection pressed insistently against his pants, and he knew that Eve could feel how hard he was for her. One of her hands teased at his belt until he groaned and kissed her again.

He’d always hated the kitchen this house had come with. Someone had ripped out all the old furniture and had installed the sort of cheap, modern cupboards that had probably looked flashy for a year, but now were a soulless, battered gray, as though he’d stepped into a five-year-old movie set. But Chris knew what he wanted. He wanted comfortable furniture. He wanted a kitchen where they could linger for hours on a Sunday morning. He wanted a place with a soul.

And he wanted a sturdy table made of massive, dark wood, so that he could make love to Eve in the kitchen.

“I believe it is time to show you my bedroom,” he murmured. His voice was dark with hunger, and he could feel Eve shiver with need at his words. “It has a beautiful view. And a bear-sized bed.”

Eve leaned forward to kiss him again, her hand pressing teasingly against the aching bulge in his pants until he groaned and nipped at her bottom lip.

“Lead the way,” she breathed, eyes hazy with want.

Chris had to swallow and forcefully rip himself away from the vision of her luscious curves.

Chris was proud of the changes he’d done so far to restore some of the old house’s charms. It was the original staircase they now stumbled upwards, clutching at each other and giggling like teenagers. He had freed the stairs from beneath two layers of ugly carpeting with the contractors’ help, and the wood gleamed in a gorgeous, dark brown patterned with red-gold ripples after a day of sanding, polishing and oiling it. He wanted to tell Eve about all the rooms he had no plans for yet, because the bear in him had made him buy a house fit for a large family, even though Chris had all but given up hope of finding his mate.

And now there was so much they could share, and so much they could plan. They would turn this old house into a home that was
their
home. They’d fill it with comfort and laughter and love—and in time, a family.

***

When they made it into Chris’ bedroom at last, out of breath and laughing, Chris gave her another of those hungry looks that melted her insides until she wanted to squirm with how badly she needed to feel him. Instead, she backed away when Chris reached for her, only to spread herself out on the bed in what she hoped was a seductive pose.

“So,” she said and gave him a teasing look. “You were telling me about shifter healing, and how I don’t have to worry that those wounds will affect your stamina?”

Chris’ eyes were dark with desire as they lingered on her. When he finally spoke, his voice was throaty. “Half-way healed already. But I’ll gladly prove how well I’ve recovered…”

Wide-eyed, Eve watched as Chris began to strip for her. He began by simply shrugging out of his jacket and shoes, but as soon as he noticed her eyes on him and the way her face had flushed, he slowed down.

It wasn’t a real strip-tease—not that Eve had ever seen one, but she thought that would have made her giggle. Artfulness didn’t really suit Chris. Instead, he simply took his time, opening button after button so that she had time to appreciate every inch of revealed skin and imagine her own hands performing that task on the many, many nights that now stretched before them.

Forever,
she thought and squirmed a little on the bed, resisting the urge to touch herself when Chris’ shirt at last dropped to the floor.

The room was filled by warm sunlight that shone in through a large window which overlooked the stretch of fields and meadows. In the light, his bare chest gleamed, every ripple of muscle displayed for her. Her throat went dry when she remembered the strength of his arms. He’d saved her—not just as a bear, but also as a man. And, more important right now, she remembered those powerful arms holding her against him as he buried himself inside her until she had to cry out from the ecstasy of it all.

His pants and underwear came off next. Chris didn’t linger this time. She could see how aroused he was; the muscles of his chest tightened with every breath he took, and he was hard for her, flushed with blood and need. She licked her lips.

“Come to me,” she begged, holding out her arms.

Then Chris was there on the bed with her, covering her with his strong body.

She ground herself against him with a gasp as he buried his face against her neck, kissing and sucking at her skin until she moaned with the thought that he’d leave a hickey. That would be quite the thing to show off to Sidney tomorrow.

“You’re wearing too much,” Chris purred.

He pushed up her shirt, covering every inch of skin he uncovered with kisses until she was nearly writhing beneath him. Finally, breathlessly, she sat up at his urging so that he could pull it off. Then her bra came off, and this time, it was Chris who moaned as he looked at her.

Instinct nearly made her cross her arms in front of her chest. That old embarrassment was hard to overcome; that need to cover up the places where she was soft and curvy when magazines told her she shouldn’t be. Jeremy had always looked at her with a hint of disdain, as though he couldn’t understand why she didn’t try harder to look like the thin girlfriends his own friends brought around to bars.

But now Chris looked at her as though she was the most desirable thing he had ever seen. His eyes were wide with desire, and then his hands cupped her large breasts as he pressed her gently back down onto the bed.

“God, I’m so lucky,” he muttered.

He buried his face against her breasts again, his tongue tracing an agonizingly slow, wet path of heat towards one of her nipples. When he sucked her into his mouth, Eve cried out at how good it felt. Every touch was electric. She’d never wanted anyone or anything as much as she wanted Chris.

“Please,” she moaned.

So this was what it felt like to be crazy with desire. She could barely think. All she knew was that she needed to get rid of the remaining clothes that were the last barrier between them. She needed Chris, and she needed him now, and she didn’t think she could survive one more moment without him inside her.

“Please, please, come on…” Her fingers trembled as she started to tug at her jeans in impatience.

She could hear Chris’ soft, muffled laugh, and then he released her. Her nipples were taut and aching for more of his touch, but his hands moved at last to help her.

She squirmed to kick off her jeans once they had succeeded to push them down past her knees together with her panties, and finally she was naked. Her legs fell apart all on their own. She was so wet for him; she ached for his touch inside, and when his hand slid up her thigh, she could feel his cock give a very interested twitch against her hip.

His fingertips were hot against her skin. She could barely breathe, she wanted him that much. Then his fingers brushed against her folds, and she gasped, her head falling back against the pillow when a surge of pleasure ran through her just from that gentle caress alone.

Very, very slowly, Chris drew his finger through the wetness that kept dripping from her. Then, just as slowly and determinedly, his fingers trailed upwards to search out her clit, circling it at such an excruciating pace that she didn’t even realize that she was moaning his name until he leaned over her and breathed hot air against where his fingers drove her to madness.

“Chris!” she gasped. God, he was driving her crazy! How was she going to survive this?

“Mmm,” he purred against her.

The sound vibrated against her clit, and she nearly cried out at how good it felt.

“You know, bears like honey,” he whispered teasingly. “But do you know how we like it best? Lapped straight from the source. Slowly, savoring every… last… drop…”

Her back arched as his tongue parted her folds, licking all the way up to her clit.

She grasped the sheet in her hands, tightening her fingers around the fabric, and then his tongue was back and it hit her like lightning, pleasure so intense she nearly blacked out as her climax pulsed through her.

Her inner walls still throbbed with the need to clutch at him, and when he moved back between her thighs and pushed into her with one smooth thrust, it was as if her climax had never ended. She heard herself cry out; she felt his warm skin beneath her fingers as she held onto his shoulders, and then he pushed into her again and again, his strong body burying itself inside her while she gasped for breath and held onto him for dear life.

He filled her like he was made for her. Every time he thrust forward to bury himself to the hilt, her body throbbed around him. Ripples of nearly unbearable pleasure moved through her. She could barely keep her eyes open; his own eyes, she saw, were almost black, pupils wide from desire as he gazed down at her. Then his strong hips moved forward again, and she sobbed his name as pleasure washed over them at the same time.

She felt his climax inside her, the rush of wet heat; his strong body shuddered in her arms as he groaned and arched, and with each wave of her own climax she contracted around him until it seemed that he’d filled all of her, her entire body throbbing with ecstasy and heat and love.

It took a long time until her heartbeat had calmed and she could breathe easily again. They’d ended up in each other’s arms once more, curled into each other, her head resting against Chris’ chest and his arms wrapped lightly around her.

This is it,
she thought in awed silence.
This is what it means to be perfectly happy.

Tomorrow she would go visit Sidney in the library, and for the first time in her life, she’d be able to completely open up to her friend. Maybe she would call her dad too. She wanted to.

She had spent so many years feeling betrayed and hurt by his actions—but in the end, it was someone else who had betrayed him. He must have been just as lonely as she had been during those past ten years.

Maybe, now that he’d be found innocent of all those charges, he’d come to visit for the wedding.

Eve smiled against the warm skin of Chris’ chest. The thought was a bit scary, because she hadn’t spoken to him in such a long time. But a wedding was a day for family, and for happiness. And now she had finally found all of that.

There was a deep rumble in Chris’ chest. She had to bite back a laugh as she looked up. It was almost as though he was purring with happiness. Or rather, his bear was.

“What is your bear purring about?” she asked.

Chris laughed, raising a hand to gently trail his fingers through her hair. “He’s happy that I have finally found my mate. And telling me not to be an idiot, and to take good care of you. And he says no more jaguars in our territory.”

“Hmm, good call,” she said. “I agree with your bear. On one condition.”

“Yeah?”

“No bears at our wedding,” she said firmly.

Chris laughed again. “What about bears on the wedding cake?”

Eve pretended to think about it for a moment, but then started to giggle and shook her head. “No bears on or in the wedding cake. But if he’s good, maybe we’ll bring a slice home for him.”

“He says he agrees,” Chris said.

Then he tightened his arms around her, rolling them around with a playful little growl so that he had Eve beneath him again. She was still laughing, and kept laughing even as Chris began to kiss his way down her body.

How strange that she had spent so many years living with the fear that one day, a cop would come into her bakery and arrest her. She’d been afraid of so many things for so long. She would have never believed that one day, the arrival of a cop would bring her safety and happiness instead.