Bear Mechanic: BBW Paranormal Bear Shifter Romance (11 page)

Loved by the Lion

by Zoe Chant

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Cole couldn't keep his eyes off her the whole night. He watched her eyes sparkle as she told jokes and laughed and smiled, seeming perfectly at home with his family. With his pride. His lion purred at the thought of Kira as part of the pride.

Across from him she leaned to the side to talk to Marlene over someone else's head, her slim hand curled around the beer he'd given her. Her top pulled against her skin, and he imagined the skin underneath, smooth and flawless, that he could run his hands over and squeeze.

If only there weren't so many people around! Cole knew if he could just get her alone . . .

She caught him looking, flicking her warm brown eyes to his. The edges of her mouth curled just so when she did, before she was called away by someone else. Internally his lion snarled a little, put out by her attention going somewhere else.

The thing was, she didn't even seem to know how beautiful she was. That was a damn shame.

And it wasn't just her physical beauty, either. She was no ditz: smart, competent, kind. If she were a lioness, Cole knew instinctively and without a doubt that she would be an alpha like him. The other members of the pride responded to her in the same way they did to him, with that instinctual understanding of who was in charge, the kind of deference that couldn't be faked.

Since his mother had died, there had been no woman leading the pride. Everything was on Cole's shoulders. He didn't mind the burden, but for the first time in years he thought of what it would be like to not be the only one carrying the weight of the pride's worries on his shoulders.

But that was stupid, he reminded himself, even in the face of his lion's disagreement. She was just a normal human. She couldn't be his mate, no matter how much he might like the idea.

After the last piece of spaghetti had been slurped down and the last meatball had disappeared, Kira even took charge of the cleanup effort. Most everyone wandered out of the dining room in search of a drink and post-dinner chat.

"Oh honey, you don't have to do that," Marlene chided, moving to take some dishes from Kira's hands.

Grinning, Kira pulled them out of her reach. "You think I'm going to let you get out of it?" she teased.

Marlene stared at her for a moment and then laughed with gusto. "Fair enough, darlin'."

"And what about you?" Still smiling, Kira addressed Mason, who was sitting in the corner, sulking. Only teenagers could exude that perfect blend of apathy and disdain while slumping and refusing eye contact.

Mason shrugged one shoulder, but at least his scowl didn't get worse.

Kira seemed to take that as consent. "Grab the pots and bring them into the kitchen," she instructed, and, hearing the note of command in her voice, Mason – miraculously – obeyed.

Cole himself was harangued into dish duty as well, though it wasn't too hard to get him to agree, not when it meant spending more time around Kira. She joked around easily with Marlene and Mason, and for a moment he was a little jealous.

His own relationship with Mason was ambivalent. He loved the kid, like a little brother even, but two alphas in a pride was one alpha too many. A century ago or more, Mason would have gone out into the world to form his own pride. But that instinct wasn't so helpful in modern society, where eighteen years old made you
technically
an adult but not actually independent.

Mason had just begun college, still living with his parents for financial reasons, and over the past several months Cole saw him beginning to chafe. He wasn't doing so well with his parents – that Cole attributed to the human side of him, no mystery there – but he reacted badly to Cole in particular lately: one alpha didn't want to take orders from another alpha, at least not when they were both male. Ultimately they were each other's competition.

That didn't seem to extend to other people's orders, though. He did fine with Kira, loading up the dishwasher while she asked him questions about his college, his major, his plans for the future. She sounded like she was really interested, too. Cole almost swore the kid was smiling by the end of their conversation. How long had it been since that had happened?

Mason still had all a teenager's laziness and interest in video games, so when the conversation reached a lull he wandered off. Not long after, Marlene gave him a significant look and excused herself. Cole had a feeling he knew what that look was about.

"You're good with him," Cole said when it was just the two of them. There was a loud wave of laughter from the rest of the house. Even though they'd loaded up the dishwasher, there were still a few dishes left to be done by hand. Kira spilled some soap in the sink and let the hot water run.

"Mason?" He heard the smile in her voice. "He seems like a good kid."

"He is. When he lets himself be."

She chuckled. "I think all teenagers are like that. Better than having to grow up too fast."

They worked in silence for a few minutes, Kira scrubbing the plates and Cole rinsing and racking them with comfortable ease.

"Are there any plans for tomorrow?" she asked, handing him another plate.

"Most everyone's going out hunting in the morning." Cole rolled his shoulders. "It's been awhile for almost all of us. Just about everyone lives in the suburbs and in cities, you know."

"That must be hard on you."

Cole shrugged noncommittally. "It can be. Everyone appreciates the chance to stretch their legs once in a while."

"And break out their claws, too, huh?" Kira teased.

"That too."

"Too bad I can't come with you, at least not without a ride," she joked.

Cole grinned, his lion roaring to life. "If all you needed was a ride, all you had to do was ask."

"Oh, you're offering?" she said slyly, turning toward him and pulling her hands out of the water. They were covered in suds.

As she turned, a lock of hair fell into her eyes, and before he knew what he was doing, Cole reached back to push it behind her ear. His touch left a droplet of water on her cheek, and her skin was smooth and silky. His hand lingered there; he didn't want to let go of her.

His lion urged him to make a move already:
take her, make her yours, right here, right now
.

"My hands are all soapy," she reminded him, holding them up as evidence.

"Don't care," Cole said with a rough undertone to his voice. Having her skin so close to his was intoxicating. Unable to take it anymore, he leaned down to press his lips to hers.

She melted into his touch immediately, pressing herself up against him deliciously. One of her hands slid into his hair, getting it all wet and messy, but he didn't mind the slightest bit. It was a small price to pay for being able to slip his tongue between her lips and press her back against the counter.

One of his hands cupped the back of her head, tilting her face up. The other drifted lower, finding the hem of her shirt to ride it up and touch all of the soft, warm skin of her back he could find.

His knee slipped between her legs and she parted for him eagerly, moving so she was pressed right up against him and he could feel the heat at her core, heat he wanted to touch, dip his fingers into, explore. The strength of his desire almost dizzied him.

She broke off the kiss – but thankfully only for a moment, pushing herself up on the counter so she was a little higher than him and reaching for him with an eagerness he loved already. He tucked his hands into the back of her jeans, pulling her hips against his so she could feel his hard length, feel what she did to him.

Her long legs wrapped around him, pulling him even closer than he thought was possible. Heat radiated from where their bodies touched.

His hand slipped around to skim up her ribcage and cup one heavy breast through her bra. She moaned, and the sound burned down his body. Cole's lion was growling his satisfaction as his mouth searched out the sensitive spots on her throat, sucking and licking and looking for what would cause her to make that sound again.

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