Bearly Hanging On (A Werebear Shifter BBW Romance) (Laid Bear Book 3) (6 page)

Sandy had said that most human kids in town didn’t know, not for certain. They knew that the small community outside of town was off limits and that they couldn’t socialize with any of the kids from there but not precisely why. Some suspected they were murderers or aliens. There were more terrifying campfire stories about the clan than Bigfoot, it seemed. As they grew older, they thought maybe it was a polygamist sect or some weird survivalist encampment. It wasn’t until they got jobs at Pearce Forestry that they would learn the truth, and by then, they didn’t want to lose their income so they kept their mouths shut.

Of course, eventually he would have to tell her, but Sandy convinced him that maybe he’d come on a little too strong before, that telling her about his species might blow her mind completely.
 

“First of all, maybe
you
know she’s your life mate but she’s human, dork. She doesn’t have that same primal whatever it’s called.”

“Instinct?”

“Whatever. You need to cool your jets a little. Give her some space to breathe, ya know? She’ll come around, she just doesn’t know it yet. And the more you push, the more she’ll think you’re a whackjob. Dude, you do
not
want to scare her off.”

“But it’s so
hard
,” he whined. He wasn’t even embarrassed at his wimpy, lovestruck ways. He was consumed by the need for Crystal, to make her his, to shout it to the world!
 

“Dude. Seriously, chill.”

“Fine, he said, putting a wicked spin on the ping-pong ball.

“Buttwad,” Sandy muttered as she ran after it.

“I’m not going to lie to her. And I can’t pretend I don’t love her. So what do you suggest?”

Sandy thought on it while they played. “Make her fall in love with you. Do nice things for her, bring her flowers, listen to her stories, ask questions. Girls love that stuff. Just don’t smother her. Girls also hate needy guys.”

“I don’t even know why I asked.”

“Because I’m all ya got, Cuz,” she grinned, taking him off-guard and earning a point.

And now he was sitting at Paulie’s, fidgeting with his sports jacket’s mega shoulder pads — he didn’t want to look lopsided — a pitcher of cola and dipping sticks on the table in front of him. The moment she walked in, all the air in the room whooshed out the door, leaving him breathless.

It was like seeing her for the first time…literally. Her hair was fluorescent pink and pulled into a dozen perfect spikes. Her makeup was heavy on the black, red flames shooting up past her eyebrows. Her black boots were back, though her leggings were half-shredded black fishnet this time, topped by a pink and black layered tutu-style skirt. The black tank top was studded with tiny metal spikes, and a matching pair adorned her ears.

Chet’s jaw dropped at the sight. Only two words came to mind. “Oh, shit.”

~ * ~ * ~

A flutter of disappointment swirled in Crystal’s stomach at Chet’s words. She couldn’t hear them from that distance, but it wasn’t too hard to read his lips. It was just as she suspected. He didn’t want Punk Crystal, only Preppy Crystal. Well, that was that.
 

She almost turned around and walked out the door right there, but she had a perverse desire to mess with him. Holding back her tears, she plastered the most painful fake smile on her face and skipped up the aisle to his table. She planted a big, juicy kiss on his forehead, leaving a smear of black lipstick behind.

“How they hangin’, Tubbs?”

“Crystal, you look…”

Her laughter tinkled through the room, a little off-key, if you didn’t know any better. “Yeah, I just couldn’t take all the lies anymore. This is the real me. Nana and Pop-Pop will just have to deal, and so will anyone else who wants me to give them the time of day.”

“You’re so…”

She fingered a pink spike and grinned darkly. “You like? I normally go for a darker color but supplies are limited around here. Besides, I don’t mind mixing things up every now and then.”

“I just…” He kept trailing off. It was getting on her last nerve.

“Oh, just spit it out already!”

A sheen appeared on his perfect brow and he flushed with what could only be mortification at being seen with her. She worked really hard to nurture the pleasure she felt at making him sweat and ignore the pain from his obvious disgust.

“I need to get out of here,” he spat, leaping from his chair.
 

Yup, that was about what she expected. At least she found out now, before she let herself believe something could happen between them. Now she could bury whatever attraction she had for him and only remember him with contempt.
 

“Later, Tubbs,” she sneered, imitating her teasing farewell from the ferry. She’d been amused by his pretentiousness and obvious discomfort then. Not anymore.

“Oh, no, you’re coming with me,” he said, capturing her black Jelly bracelet-covered wrist and tugging her along behind him.
 

“Hey!” She struggled slightly but couldn’t break free from his grasp. Not that she really wanted to; she couldn’t wait to hear what he had to say, away from the snoopy people in the pizza parlor. So she followed him out the door and around the back of the building.

“Listen, Chet,” she started, feeling a little guilty for taking him so off-guard. Her bratty side had taken over when she saw that can of pink hairspray in the store earlier, and she was regretting being so obstinate “I’m really sor—“

He silenced her with his lips, pressing her back up against the building. It was her turn to be taken completely by surprise. For a moment, she didn’t know how to react so she stood stock still, puzzling things out. But the ferocity of his kiss and his roaming hands chipped away at the ice in her heart until she melted into him, snaking her arms around his neck.
 

His tongue forced its way past her lips, plunging into her mouth and daring her to resist. His hands were everywhere, touching her, burning her. One managed to fight its way under her tutu to firmly grasp her ass and pull her closer to him.
 

She wanted to feel him, every long inch of him, so she wrapped a leg around his hips and pushed her wet heat into him, swiveling her hips for better contact. He moaned into her mouth and ground himself against her. Every muscle tightened within her, begging for release, begging to be taken right there against Paulie’s Pizza. Damn these fishnet stockings!

Chet was the first to break their kiss, panting into her neck as he kissed a trail of heat down her neck. Her nipples had never been so hard in her entire life. What was he doing to her? She barely cared, as long as he kept doing it.

“God, you’re hot,” he murmured, his lips tickling her sensitive skin.
 

Burying her fingers in his hair, she let her head fall back to give him better access. She moaned as one hand found her breast and another cupped her head.
 

“You were supposed to think I was grody,” she breathed.

He choked out a laugh and pulled back to look her in the eye. “What? Are you kidding?”

“Well, on the ferry—“

Once again, she was silenced in the most delightful manner. The ferocity with which he claimed her mouth nearly sent her over the edge. No one had ever been so passionate about her before. It was something she could get used to.
 

The urgency slackened and his caresses became more luxurious, slower, sweeter. Little kisses rained down on her face, heedless of her heavy makeup. Hands cradled her face, fingers stroked her skin, a thigh pushed between hers. She’d never been happier in her life…or so she thought. Chet’s next words set the bar a mile higher.

“Crystal, I love you. I will love you no matter what. Tall or short, pink hair or gray, punk or wastoid. None of that shit matters. What matters is us, how we feel about each other.”

Were those tears shimmering in his eyes? They were! Her heart nearly exploded all over the place.

“And I know I’m not supposed to say this or you’ll think I’m needy, but it’s true. I am needy. I need you. Now and forever, I need you. I’m sorry if that’s too fast for you, but I won’t hide it. If you don’t want me to say it again, I’ll stop, but I had to tell you at least once.”

She’d never felt so loved or so whole before. The future was far away, and she had no idea what was going to happen when she left for school in the fall, but right here, right now, she’d found the perfect guy, and nothing was going to stop her from enjoying every minute with him.

A single tear spilled down his cheek and she couldn’t resist kissing it away. Moving her lips a fraction of an inch away from his, she peered up at him, blinking back her own tears.
 

“Never stop.”

“Remind me again why we can’t tell our families about us,” Crystal murmured into his chest as they cuddled under a wool blanket on a rock outcropping that overlooked Hardy Channel. They’d been meeting before and after work for three days, hanging out and learning about each other. Chet had carefully skirted the topic of his being a werebear, not exactly lying but certainly not fully exposing himself. She was skittish enough as it was because of their different backgrounds, he didn’t want to freak her out completely. Not yet, anyway.

“I told you, my family’s beliefs forbid us from being with, um, outsiders. It’s going to take some time for them to accept this and I don’t want to upset them if you decide you don’t want to be with me.”

She tilted her head up, her ice blue eyes holding a slice of doubt. “Or you. You could change your mind, you know.”

Damn, she was cute. With the smallest shake of his head, he bent down and placed a soft peck on her forehead and pulled her closer into him. “Nope. Not gonna happen.”

He wasn’t sure if the sigh he felt whisper across his neck was bliss or frustration. She so wanted to believe that he might leave her, but the very thought almost brought him to his knees in agony. Every time she hinted at it, his bear threatened to break loose and claim her so passionately that all uncertainty would be literally fucked out of her.

But they’d agreed to take the physical part of their relationship slow. It was absolute torment, but of the sweetest kind. Each kiss, every stroke, taught him what she responded to. When the time finally came to push passed that final boundary and make love, he would know how to make every curve and valley sing with joy.

“And my grandparents? They would cream themselves if they knew I was dating a gorgeous richie.”

“Gorgeous? Hmm, good to know…”

Her elbow jabbing into his ribs stopped his chuckling. “Seriously, Crystal, they would
not
be happy. Trust me on this.”

“I don’t get it. Is it because your uncle is Pop-Pop’s boss?”

“That’s part of it,” he hedged. “Let me ask you this. Have you ever…like,
ever
seen any townies lampin’ with anyone from our group?”

“I haven’t even been here a month, Tubbs. I wouldn’t know who was who. Doy!”

“I’ve been here the same amount of time, and even self-absorbed me can see that neither side is all that jazzed to socialize. No, I honestly believe your grandparents would be righteously pissed off if you brought me home.”

She pulled back a little, creating a small gap between them. Chet could feel the cool, misty air filling the space and he was left yearning for her to snuggle back in.
 

But as much as his bear didn’t understand it, he couldn’t simply drag her back into him. She was a headstrong and very cynical woman, and Sandy had been coaching him on how to handle her.
If she needs to talk, listen. If she needs space, give it to her. If she wants to make out, for God’s sake, do it!
 

That wasn’t a hard rule to follow, but the others rather went against his nature. He was used to getting what he wanted, when he wanted it. It wasn’t easy but it felt right, it felt good. As much as he hated to admit it, this ‘taking it slow’ thing was a way cool chance to do some growing up.

“So where does that leave us? If neither of us can tell our families, then this
thing
really doesn’t have much of a future.”

Pain shot right to his heart at the way she said ‘thing’. This was so much more than a ‘thing’ to him, but she wasn’t fully convinced. She was so freaking aggravating sometimes!

“Listen, my love,” he growled, tugging her back into the crook of his arm and covering her shoulder with the blanket. “You can fight this all you want, but I’m here to stay. Until you feel the same way, there’s no sense in putting anymore strain on our
relationship
—“ he refused to call it a ‘thing’ — “than there already is.”

This time he knew her sigh was a happy one because she snuggled into him, wrapping an arm around his chest. He wanted to stay this way forever, holding her in his arms and envisioning how amazing their life together was going to be. He pictured their home filled with cubs, running around like maniacs and he couldn’t help smiling. That would come in time. Now was the time to enjoy each other.

“Now it’s your turn to remind me of something,” he whispered into her hair.

“Mmmm,” she answered sleepily.

“Why was it that we decided not to make love?”

“That wasn’t
my
idea, you letch!” She burst out laughing and tickled him as punishment. Turns out, he was incredibly ticklish so she used her fingers as weapons whenever he got a little too frisky.
 

Grabbing her wrists, he pulled her body onto his and planted a deep kiss on her soft lips. She relaxed into him and took charge of their kiss, lazily flicking her tongue along his lower lip, nipping after each flick. The light prick of pain only served to heighten his desire for her, which she no doubt felt along the length of her thigh.

His hands skimmed her back and settled on her round rump. He’d never realized what he’d been missing with all those emaciated, flat-assed girls back in L.A. There was nothing to hold onto, only hard edges and angles. Crystal was smooth and soft and oh-so-grabbable.
 

After what seemed like hours of slow and gentle torture, she pulled back, a sad smile on her lips, and said the words he’d come to hate over the past few days.