Bear West: BBW Bear Shifter Mail Order Bride Romance (8 page)

It was intoxicating, being this close to a grizzly bear: beneath her hands was all the power and wilderness and strength she could ever need. When she had pressed as close to him as she could, she took a deep breath, and was rewarded with the smell she had already come to recognize as Diego’s personal scent: leather and cedar and juniper. She realized that other element, the one she hadn’t been able to identify before, was the earthy scent of bear.

This was the secret Diego had been keeping. No wonder he'd been reluctant to tell her. But, strange as it seemed, Carla had no problems with it. Diego Ramirez, her handsome mail-order husband, was also a bear. So what? She still wanted to marry him.

There was a strange sensation, a rushing, shimmering sound, and a shock like static electricity, and suddenly Carla was no longer holding a bear, but instead her arms were around a very human – and very naked – Diego. He smiled at her, his own arms coming up to embrace her.

Without a word, they kissed, a deep, passionate kiss. Carla’s hands searched out Diego’s shoulders – his broad, muscled shoulders, like rock under her palms – and she held onto him as hard as she could. He pulled her closer to him in response, forcing her head to tilt back to continue the kiss. Carla closed her eyes, overwhelmed by feelings of happiness. It was a long, long time before they finally broke apart.

She let her eyes slowly open, and then suddenly gasped. Diego was covered with marks from the fight – red spots that would surely turn into bruises, scrapes and scratches, even a few punctures deep enough that blood was trickling down his limbs.

“You’re hurt!” she said.

Duh, Carla, of course he’s hurt! You watched him fight off an entire wolf pack.

Diego just smiled and shook his head. “I’m feeling better already.”

Part of her melted, but she refused to be distracted. “Do you need to go to the hospital? Or a doctor?”

“No, no, I’ll be fine. We shifters heal fast.”

“If you’re sure....” she said uncertainly. “It looks pretty bad.”

“I’m sure. Besides, I really don’t want to explain how I happened to be attacked by wolves. Then animal control will get involved, or maybe even the police – it’s more trouble than it’s worth.”

“If you say so. But we need to get you cleaned up and bandaged, at least. Let’s go back to my hotel. It’s closer than your house.”

Diego let Carla drive his truck. She glanced worriedly at him while she found the keys and started the engine; he had practically collapsed into the passenger seat, and now was slumped against the door, his eyes closed. Exhaustion and pain had put extra lines on his face, and made his lips look pale and thin. She swallowed down her worry and concentrated on driving back to Pioche.

Once they arrived, they had to smuggle Diego into her room without anyone seeing; he was still naked, after all. They managed not to get caught, or at least Carla hoped they had.

With my luck
, she thought,
I’ll probably come down to breakfast tomorrow and Susie at the front desk will have some smart-aleck comment to make about cowboys without their boots
.

Even as she had the thought, Carla smiled. She wouldn’t really mind if Susie teased her. Carla was growing to love Pioche and all of its people. When she pictured the future, she saw herself here, complete with friends and inside jokes and a whole community.

She pushed aside that daydream and focused on the present. Diego was sprawled across the hotel bed, half-sitting and half-lying. He’d put his head back, exposing his throat, and Carla stood still for a moment, watching him.

She was touched by how vulnerable he looked, despite his size and strength. She knew what he was capable of, had seen the bear that lurked beneath his skin, but she didn’t feel a single drop of fear. He was... what was the word? Her soulmate? She’d never believed in such things before, but then, she’d never felt such a quick connection with anyone either. Somehow Diego had become part of her, as important as her own skin and bones.

Carla shook her head and stepped into the bathroom. She pulled a towel off the rack and soaked it in lukewarm water, checking to be sure it was neither too hot nor too cold. She carried it back to Diego, holding it carefully to keep it from dripping on the carpet.

A few drops fell on him nonetheless, and he opened his eyes. As soon as their gazes met, an expression of warmth and contentment spread across his face, and her heart thumped hard just to see it.

She looked down to stop herself from saying something too emotional, and gently began to clean off the dried blood and dirt from Diego’s arm. “Thank you,” he said quietly.

“Hey, it’s the least I can do. You saved my life, remember?”

Diego frowned. “It was my fault that you were in danger in the first place. They only wanted you to get at me.”

“You shouldn’t blame yourself. They’re the bad guys.” As Carla wiped away the blood, it looked like Diego’s wounds were less serious than they had seemed earlier. Or maybe they’d healed already. What did she know about how shifters worked? “We do need to talk, though. The Sullivans – they changed into
wolves
. That did happen, right? I wasn’t hallucinating?”

Diego put his hand over hers, stopping her motions. “You weren’t hallucinating. Shifters are real. The Sullivans have lived in this territory for generations. They consider it theirs, even though they haven’t been taking care of it. They prefer to rely on the land their ancestors won instead of doing any work themselves.”

He took a deep breath before going on, and Carla sensed that his injuries were still bothering him. “They weren’t very pleased when I moved in. They’ve been trying to scare me away, but when that didn’t work, they moved on to you.” He squeezed his eyes shut in a grimace of regret. “I should have warned you. I never expected them to sink this low – ”

“Hey, hey,” Carla said. She turned her hand over and let the towel slip from her grasp so that she could thread her fingers through Diego’s. “It’s okay. Why did they come after me, anyway? I’m not a shifter.”

Diego’s fingers tightened on hers. “No, but....”

“What is it?”

“You’re my mate. Or, well, you could be. If you wanted.”

Carla looked up at him. Diego’s eyes were focused somewhere over her right shoulder, almost as though he was afraid of how she might react.

“What does that mean, ‘mate’?” She picked the towel back up as she asked the question, and started to clean Diego again. She’d finished with his left arm, so she moved to his other side.

“It’s a shifter thing,” he said, speaking quietly and slowly, as though he was considering each word before he said it. “Every shifter has a destined mate out there, somewhere in the world. Lots of shifters never meet their mates – it’s a matter of chance. Your mate might live on another continent, or speak a different language, or maybe even....”

He swallowed before finishing. “Maybe even die before you ever meet.”

Carla nodded as she listened. What if Diego had died before they’d met? The thought seemed devastating, but of course she wouldn’t have known what she was missing. Still, when she thought back on her life before meeting him, just a few short days ago, it seemed so empty, so lonely, so much
less
than what she had now.

“I’d pretty much given up on finding my mate. I wouldn’t have signed up for Ranch Romeos if I hadn’t. But when I saw you in that airport – I knew from the first instant our eyes met.” A flush crept up Diego’s chest to his cheeks.

He’s actually blushing!
, Carla thought. It was adorable.

“I know it sounds cheesy,” he continued, “but love at first sight is real. At least for shifters. As soon as we see our mates, we know. And once we’ve seen them, there will never be anyone else for us.”

“That’s... that’s amazing,” Carla said. “But why does that mean the Sullivans wanted me?”

Diego reached out and pushed a strand of her hair back behind her ear. His fingers lingered on her cheek, and she leaned her face into his touch.

“For shifters, mating isn’t just about love. Once we find our mate, and once we’ve bonded with her, we can sense one another: their feelings, their location, if they’re in danger. And we become much stronger. If you and I had bonded, the Sullivans would never be able to push me off my territory. They’d do anything to prevent that.”

“Well then, let’s do it,” Carla said recklessly. After all, what did they have to wait for? She knew Diego's secret, and this seemed like the solution to all of her problems; if she could sense Diego, she’d never have to worry that he would abandon her.

Diego blinked at her in shock. “I – this is a really big decision. You don’t know what you’re agreeing to. Bonding is for life. You should take some time to think about it.”

Carla clenched her fist around the towel. “I’m sure. I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life. I was ready to marry you even before the Sullivans attacked. I feel it too, Diego; ever since I saw you, I’ve had this feeling that we belonged together. I didn’t have words for what I sensed, but now I do. You and I – we’re mates. I believe that. Don’t you?”

He nodded, his eyes blazing. “I do. I absolutely do, with my whole heart.”

“Then what are we waiting for?”

Diego caught the back of her head and tugged her forward into a fierce kiss. Carla kissed him back just as hard, pouring all of her love and desire and want into the spot where their mouths met. When she finally pulled back, she was panting. “So, how do we do this? What makes the bonding happen?”

Diego was staring at her like he couldn’t tear his gaze away. He took her by the arms and pulled her up so that she was kneeling over him on the bed, then took hold of the hem of her shirt and pulled it off over her head. He kissed her neck, her shoulders, the upper curves of her breasts, as his hands trailed down her back and took a firm grip on her ass.

He lifted his head to kiss her mouth again, then said, “All you have to do is say yes.”

“Yes,” she said instantly. “Yes, Diego, yes.”

He groaned, and she could feel his cock harden against her stomach. He slid a hand inside her bra and cupped her breast, running his thumb over her nipple to make it tighten. The sensation sent shocks through her, each little burst of pleasure finding its center between her legs. She was already so wet, and every tiny movement of Diego's thumb added to her pleasure.

“Say it again,” he growled.

She threw her head back, arching her spine to press her breast into his hand. She felt so good, and she hadn’t even taken her jeans off yet. “Yes!” she shouted, not caring who heard her.

“God, I want you,” Diego said. He fumbled with the button on her jeans, and then yanked them down her hips.

A tiny bit of common sense fought its way through Carla’s lust-drenched brain. “Wait. Are you sure we should do this now? What about your injuries?”

“Don’t worry, I’ll be fine.” Diego ran his hands over her now-naked thighs and ass, sending shivers across her skin. “We can go slow,” he added, with a sly grin that went straight to her core.

As if to demonstrate, he leaned up to capture her mouth in a slow, deep kiss that seemed to claim every inch of her. By the time he finally leaned back, Carla was breathing fast, her pulse pounding in her ears, and dripping wet.

“Oh,” she said. “Yes. Slow is good.”

Diego reached down to touch her pussy. She was so wet that his fingers slid easily over her folds, and even that light brush was enough to make her moan.

“You’re so beautiful,” he said, his voice deep and quiet, like a rumble she could feel in her chest, like far-away thunder. “I want you so much.”

“Take me,” Carla said, panting. “Now, please. I need to feel you inside me.”

Diego took hold of her hips and began to position her over his cock, when suddenly he hesitated. “Uh... do you have any condoms? I didn’t bring one with me.”

Carla shook her head. Then, throwing caution to the wind, she said, “It doesn’t matter. I don’t mind if you don’t.”

“God, of course I don’t mind! Are you kidding? I want to feel you around me, with nothing between us. My love, my wife, my
mate
.”

Even as he said that last word, Diego raised his hips and pressed his full length into her.

Carla gasped at the sensation of being completely filled, and then carefully began to move, raising herself up and over Diego, then sinking back down onto his cock. She could feel each one of his thick, hard inches dragging in and out of her. It was glorious. Diego held onto her hips, encouraging her to go slower, to take the fullest enjoyment from each moment of their lovemaking, instead of rushing to the end.

“See,” he said, his heavy breathing making his words a little rough. “Slow can be very nice.”

Carla wasn’t capable of speaking, so she just kissed him, panting into his open mouth. His hands slid up her back, tangling in her hair and holding her close against him, their mouths pressed together even while he thrust into her.

Carla had never had such an experience. Again and again she rose almost to orgasm, and each time she was nearly there, Diego would freeze, preventing her from quite going over the edge. It was wonderful and frustrating and overwhelming all at once.

Finally he reached up to cup her face, his big hands covering her cheeks. “I love you, Carla Jenkins,” he said. “Say it back to me, now, and we’ll be mates for the rest of our lives.”

Carla took a deep breath, preparing to make this commitment. She felt no hesitation, no second thoughts, not even a trace of cold feet. She knew this was exactly what she wanted. Then, for the first time, she said out loud what she had already felt in her heart for days: “I love you. Diego Ramirez, you are my mate.”

A sensation burst through her, somewhat like an orgasm but bigger and longer and more intense than any orgasm she’d had before. It was like she was in her own skin and Diego’s at the same time, and she could
feel
all the things she already knew about him: his strength, his gentleness, his quiet humor, his loyalty and persistence.

She could feel his bear too, a wild, animalistic presence that was part of Diego and also somehow separate. For a brief moment, she knew what it was like to be a bear, to be covered with fur and walk on four legs, to navigate the world by scent instead of sight, to be that big and that muscled. Their souls swirled together into a single creation.