Big Bear Problems: BBW Werebear Shapeshifter Romance (4 page)

T
hat may have been
a bit too much
, Ethan thought to himself, noticing a dash of color rushing to Jen’s cheeks.

Her voice had haunted his mind since the phone call they had when they agreed that he’d take up the renovation. He couldn’t shake the image of their first meeting. Her tantalizingly curvy body in a morning robe and him, doing his best not to grab her in his arms right there and then. The thought of pushing her hair out of her face and kissing her until both of them ran out of breath had been with him since the first time he laid eyes on her. It was a strange feeling he’d never experienced before, but he was now becoming more and more certain what it was.

She could be the mate I’ve been waiting for. And she’s sitting right here having dinner with me. If only that damned Clearpond hadn’t come along to mess things up.

Clearponds and Grimpaws had lived in the area for as long as anyone could remember. And as long as the werewolves and werebears had been there, there had been trouble between the two clans. Bears and wolves didn’t mix to begin with, but with these two factions, there had been plenty of bloodshed, betrayal and land wars for generations. So it was safe to say it had grown far past simple confrontations and a mutual dislike. They were constantly teetering on the very brink of war and as far as Ethan was concerned, perhaps the best way to settle things for a while would have been to see who bled harder.

“Well, it was our land, after all,” he explained quickly. “Makes me feel kind of responsible and, I’ll be honest, the way you handled yourself earlier with Ryan, well, suffice to say I like your attitude... and more.”

That surprised him. Where the hell did that come from? He was a bear and used to taking what he wanted, but he wasn’t usually so… overt about it. If anything, he was notably bad with words, preferring to act instead of talk. But this woman made him want to bare his soul right away – no reservations.

Great, Ethan. Just throw her over your shoulder and drag her into your cave. I bet she’ll
love
that.

The red on Jen’s cheeks intensified.

Hell. Maybe she would.

Ethan cocked a brow, half-amused by her reaction. Okay, so maybe she would have liked to be carried off into the sunset. He was fine with that. Granted that the sunset also accommodated wild and insatiable fucking. The cave was optional. The backseat of his truck, or a bed, or a pile of leaves for all he cared would do just as well.

She fumbled for words and he found it endearing.

“So, what now?” Jen asked.

The two had finished dinner and the reddish glint of the setting sun was seeping through the diner’s windows, making Ethan antsy for the whole sunset and cave thing his mind was currently cycling through. He needed to snap out of that particular reverie before physical consequences followed – he wasn’t entirely sure if he could hide a hard-on from her if his mind kept wandering.

“I suppose we should be getting back to the house,” Ethan responded. “It’s getting late and there’s still all the stuff in the truck to unload.”

Jen nodded. Ethan paid the tab, ignoring Jen’s plentiful objections, and the two made their way back to the house. As they were unloading the supplies back at the house, he could sense Jen eyeing him up and down every now and then. When he tried to meet her gaze, she swiftly averted it.

Wonder what she’s thinking about and if it’s the same thing that I’m thinking about
, he mused to himself, smirking wryly.

She got him feeling like a teenager, wishing desperately that he possessed the power of reading a woman’s mind. He felt a little goofy, and he sort of liked it. Though his bear, of course, was all over that and would have preferred a full-frontal attack instead. Just shove her against the truck and take what was his.

Jen tried to help where she could, moving groceries and lighter supplies. Ethan marveled at her every movement, getting a glimpse of her full physique. Bears liked their women with something to hold on to and this one had that and a spitfire personality to boot. Occasionally, she’d look back, catch him glimpsing at her, and smile. He tried hiding his curiosity about her, but it turned into a losing battle far too fast and he settled for just keeping things somewhat civil – only letting his gaze linger on those impossibly long, strong legs of hers every now and then, imagining them wrapped around his waist, and so on.

As she reached to get the last grocery bag out of the bed of Ethan’s truck, he took it in his hands.

“Let me get that,” he said, smiling broadly.

She handed the bag over and their fingers touched. Ethan felt a sudden jolt of electricity, the bear in him now growling and rising close to the surface. He’d felt it before when he helped her into the truck, and the signs were hard to misinterpret. Nobody needed to convince his bear any further that she was the one. Now he’d just have to get the human on board and figure out a way to get closer to her without completely freaking her out.

He couldn’t exactly go to her, sweep her off her feet and tell her that the ancient spirits had told him that she was the one he was supposed to spend his life with, could he? Well, maybe he could, but it would take a hell of a big bottle of whiskey to get to that. Human women weren’t exactly prepared for the kind of attention they could expect from a werebear. Even Ethan himself wasn’t entirely sure how well he could control himself when he really let himself loose, giving both the bear and the man equal freedom to love the right woman.

He brought the bag to the kitchen and set it alongside the others, quietly mulling over his rather fortunate predicament. Jen was already busy stacking the shelves with supplies.

Ethan felt somewhat useless, suddenly without a thing to do. His eyes kept going back to her delicious body like she was some kind of magnet and, once again, she caught him staring as she twirled around to grab something off the table. The sly, knowing smile she gave him made him smirk. At least she liked the attention. That was something.

“I’d ask you to stay for a night cap, but I’m sort of tuckered out. But can I make you promise me that you’ll stay for a drink next time? You’ve really been such a big help. I would have been lost without you!” Jen said, smiling.

Ethan nodded, a silent breath of relief escaping him. Thank the spirits above. If she’d asked him to stay now, he would have never left.

I wouldn’t mind staying. But I can’t let her know that. It’s too early and I should really avoid coming on too strong.
And damn was that a hard thing to do.

“Sure thing. Can’t stay up too late anyway if I want to get an early start in the morning. Get those renovations underway so you could be happy in your new home.”

Jen beamed a broad smile. “Thank you! Really, for everything! I’d be lost without you!”

And all of a sudden, she gave Ethan a big hug. Feeling her soft body against his both startled and aroused him. He sure as hell wasn’t ready for a reception that welcoming, though he didn’t mind it the least. Neither did his cock, which was growing harder every second of being pressed against the curvy beauty. He left the embrace much faster than he would have otherwise wanted to in order to keep from completely blowing his suave, laid-back cover. At least what passed for suave and laid-back when you were a 250 pound bear of a man with a 5 o’clock shadow and clad in plaid.

Their bodies pulled apart slightly and he looked into her eyes. She was looking right back at him, her green eyes wide and sort of expectant.

Don’t rush it,
Ethan thought to himself,
if she really is the one, there’ll be plenty of time for that later.

He let go of Jen, catching a hint of a puzzled look on her face. Had she wanted him to kiss her? Dammit, that was going to haunt him now.

Ethan grabbed his hat from the kitchen table and headed towards the door. He stopped with his hand on the handle and gave Jen one more long look, standing in the middle of the kitchen and looking a little flustered and flushed. He memorized that look of frustration. He was going to make damn sure that he’d sweep all of that wanting out of her real soon – if she’d let him.

“Sleep tight, Jen,” he said, slipping out into the cold night air.

I need a cold shower,
he thought glumly, clambering into his truck and revving it up.

With more longing than he cared to admit, he drove off into the darkness of the night, already knowing that he’d be soon returning to patrol her home. He didn’t trust the Clearponds as far as he could throw them, and it was just like Ryan to prey on a city girl without the heed to keep a shotgun by the door. Ethan wasn’t going to let anything happen to Jen. Not as long as he was still breathing, anyway.

No wolf was going to get between him and his mate.

E
than was back early
the next morning, and countless mornings after that one as well. Though the work he had to do on Jen’s house wasn’t backbreaking by any stretch of the imagination, there was plenty of it. He could have invited his brothers to help out, all of them being nearly as handy with a hammer and a bucket of nails as he was, but the bear in him made it very clear that it was in no mood to share.

No, he wanted to keep Jen all to himself.

He was more than happy to ignore his Alpha duties to the clan for a little bit, if it meant being able to spend more time together with his soon to be mate. And that was exactly who she was. His bear was convinced she was the one that was meant for him and him alone, and Ethan was no fool. He knew there was no point in arguing with the grizzly within on matters this important. Besides, the redheaded minx was exactly what he was looking for in a woman – attitude, body and spirit. He was sold and falling hard, and he didn’t mind the process one bit.

It wasn’t hard making himself useful around the house, seeing as he was building the damn thing. Whenever she needed a tall drink of water to fetch her something from the top shelf, Ethan was right there, leaning over her and getting just a tiny bit too close. When she needed something carried in or out of the house, there he was again, usually in a mild state of undress due to the hot weather.

And maybe a little because she obviously enjoyed the view. Hell, Ethan was a gentleman after all – he wouldn’t keep a lady from staring if she wanted to.

All in all, the time spent at Jen’s house went by like a breeze. He enjoyed the work and, more than that, he liked her company. The conversations they had during his lunch breaks had gotten progressively more intimate until both of them had started sharing things with each other they’d otherwise only tell their closest friends. In Ethan’s case, it meant that he’d told her about some things that only his brothers knew – being a werebear in rural Wyoming didn’t really make for having a lot of friends, after all.

Still, he was wary of telling her about the biggest secret of all – his bear.

Shifters were a bit of a common secret those days. People knew they existed but sort of wished they could forget about it. Shifters were stronger, fitter, often cleverer and just damn better at a lot of things than humans were. It made people jealous as much as it made them uncomfortable, and the shifter communities of the world tried their best to keep kosher with everyone. If they didn’t step on anyone else’s toes, no one would stomp on theirs. It was a delicate balance, but one that Ethan had always respected.

Every night, the bear would prowl around the perimeter of Jen’s house, keeping guard of her sleep. Ethan wanted to be sure that the wolves wouldn’t lay a paw on her and, as far as he could figure, the best and only way to achieve that was by keeping close to her. Not that he could have left if he wanted to – whenever he went too far from Jen, his bear immediately objected.

He was sure that with plenty of willpower, he could get over that feeling, but he wasn’t necessarily looking for an excuse to do so. On a few nights, he had smelled the wretched mongrels scouting around just out of reach, hiding in the shadows and snickering like the mangy mutts they were. They did well not to provoke him too much. Ethan wasn’t sure if he’d be in a forgiving mood if any of the wolves tried to test his patience, of which there was little.

So, it was no surprise to Ethan when Jameson Chase came to see him one late afternoon when Ethan was fixing some of the roof shingles.

Ethan stood up, sweat glistening on his broad chest, and frowned as he watched the jet-black truck of his friend roll into the front yard. Jen was out for a bit, getting some groceries and apparently ‘looking for a decent dry cleaner’ (Ethan didn’t have the heart to tell her that she’d be sorely disappointed in the region’s offerings in that regard). By the look on Jameson’s face as he hopped out of the truck, Ethan was glad she wasn’t there to witness the conversation.

“Jameson,” Ethan acknowledged, putting the hammer down on the roof and jumping off the edge with the ease and grace of a big cat.

He never did it when Jen was around, but spirits above, getting around was so much faster when he didn’t have to pretend to be entirely human.

“Ethan. I assume you know you’re in deep shit, yes?” the other werebear queried with a raised brow, blunt as usual.

Ethan chuckled.

“You’re going to have to be more specific.”

Jameson flipped his hat back a bit, revealing his worried gray eyes and the slight stubble that all the men around those parts seemed to carry. There wasn’t much occasion to get all shaved and decent, as far as Ethan was concerned.

“Clearponds. I think they’re out for blood.”

Ethan bristled. Of course it had to be the damn wolves ruining his perfectly pleasant day. He hadn’t slept in days because of them, just catching short naps in the bed of his truck when he could. But that didn’t bother him none, the bear kept him alert and ready. However, it was just one more thing that the wolves were screwing with and the list was growing far too long for comfort.

“They have no claim on the land,” Ethan railed, ready to launch into the tirade of perfectly adequate reasoning he had constructed during one of his many stints of thinking about the situation at hand.

Jameson raised his hand, shushing Ethan. Wiping the sweat from his brow, Ethan reluctantly obliged.

“They don’t, as far as the rest of us are concerned either, but you know that’s not the way they see it. After Danny sold the land out of the clan’s possession, the wolves claim that the old rules don’t apply anymore. It’s not our land, ergo it must be their land. You know as well as I do that they don’t recognize human decency or law. At least Ryan doesn’t.”

Jameson looked as sour as Ethan felt about the whole thing. They were standing as mirror images of one another, their arms crossed and their mouths drawn into hard, thin lines. Ethan had just been eagerly anticipating Jen’s return, if for no other reason than to see if she was wearing that low-cut top that he liked, and now all that happy buzz had been squashed like an annoying gnat flattened under a fist. He grumbled under his breath, his bear joining him in cursing the wolves and all their bloody kin to the pits of nothingness.

“May their tails fall off and their mange scab,” Ethan remarked gruffly, a familiar anger boiling inside of him.

“Way I see it, we have two options. Either we buy the girl out and send her on her way,” Jameson said, but Ethan interrupted him quickly.

“Never,” he said, the word carrying the kind of conviction that came from knowing absolutely and without question that if she left, his heart would go with her.

“Or we fight them,” Jameson finished flatly. “If she stays, we’re putting her into a conflict she has no part in. You sure you want to do that?”

Ethan quieted. Her safety came first, of course. If she’d been the kind of woman that he could just talk out of doing something then hell, maybe he would have tried. But as little or as much as he knew about Jen Howell, one thing was for sure, she wasn’t going to do anything she didn’t want to do, and he couldn’t make her.

“Then I fight them.”

Jameson gave Ethan a hard look and Ethan raised his hand, quieting the other bear. He was the Alpha of the clan and while he appreciated what Jameson was saying, this was going to be his war. If he could sort things out without hurting Jen or dragging the entire clan into a violent exchange, he would do it. And if that wasn’t an option… Well, he’d just have to sort that out then.

He hadn’t been keeping his ear to the ground quite as much as he should have with Jen in his life now, so he appreciated Jameson’s information. But as Alpha, the final decision was his.

“I’ll let you know if anything changes or if I need help. Just let the others know that they should be ready, but not to let the wolves provoke them. We don’t need anyone dying because the wolves are hungry for an ass-kicking again, alright?”

If things were getting serious enough for Jameson to come warn him, Ethan knew that things weren’t far from getting very dangerous for everyone involved. Just stalking around the grounds wouldn’t be enough anymore. He’d have to stay right by Jen’s side from now on. He wasn’t completely sure how he was going to swing that, but he’d think of something. He’d have to.

After a small pause, Jameson nodded.

“She’s got you good, huh. She the one?” Jameson asked, letting an uncharacteristic smirk curl on his worried expression.

“I damn sure think so,” Ethan replied, grinning.

His bear knew exactly what he wanted. And what he wanted was a sexy piece of Phoenix booty. If he had to go through a few wolves to get it, so be it.