Healing the Bear (14 page)

Dane
tried to swallow the lump in his throat, but he couldn’t. It was always the
same when relived that awful day. “I was beside myself seeing that he’d killed
her and our unborn child, so I went after him, chased him through the woods and
attacked him.” He hung his head down.

“You
were acting out of instinct. That’s what a bear does,” said Melanie, putting
both her hands on his forearms.

He
shook his head. “I was in my human form and I beat him and beat him.”

“Oh,
Dane, he’d killed your wife. I know if I could get hold of the person who
planted that bomb, I’d do the same.”

“But
that wasn’t me. I’m not a killer.”

“I
know and it wasn’t your fault.”

“Aiden
wanted to send me away forever, but Trent had recently been shot by a guy out
hunting off season, so he persuaded Aiden to give me a second chance by
banishing me and giving me a chance to think about what I’d done.”

“And
did you?”

“More
than you can imagine.”

“And
what happened to the man?”

“By
the time I was done with him, I had shifted into my bear form and I hit him
with the back of my paw…”

He
put his hand over his
mouth,
sure he was going to
throw up remembering what the guy looked like lying underneath him.

“Aiden
works for Natural Resources. He called it in as a bear attack, but he’s warned
me anything like that happen again and I’m sent away forever this time, no more
shifter group. I’m on my own.”

Melanie
put her arms around him and squeezed him close to her. “You are kind and gentle.
It was a spur of the moment reaction to him killing your wife. No one can ever
blame you for that.”

****

They
were under the night sky. No more secrets between them. Dane lifted his arm and
pointed to the space between two bright stars almost directly overhead.

“Close
one eye and focus on the spot right there. I’m pretty sure that’s where our
planet used to be,” he said.

She
did just that, seeing a gap and that was all.

“So
some of you came here from there and others were born here?”

“Yep,
that’s right. Not many have been born here though. Seems like we have trouble
reproducing, but I guess it’s enough so we don’t die out.”

“If
you discovered that your planet was still out there and you could find a way to
go home, would you, wouldn’t any of you?”

The
thought that maybe he’d find a way home scared her. Losing him after she’d
taken so long to find a man she trusted.

“I
can’t speak for any of the others but I guess I would.”

He
must have seen the sullen look on her face.
“Only if you came
with me.”

“Really?”

“Absolutely.
I’m your
protector now.”

She
liked the sound of that. He rolled on top of her and kissed her.

“We
have sighting gatherings every month. Some shifters have brought telescopes and
we look up there hoping to find home or what we think might be home. I guess we
haven’t given up looking to get back there. In fact, there’s one next week if
you want to come.”

“I
couldn’t. I mean, what would the others think?”

“Charlotte,
Lilly, and Emily all come along so I don’t see why they wouldn’t welcome you
too.”

He
kissed her again. “You’re my mate and as that special human you are welcome in
the shifter’s group.”

Dane
pushed her hair away from her eyes and kissed her again, his tongue running
along her lower lip and then passing its threshold into her mouth. He was hard
and his rigid cock pushed against her belly.

“If
you don’t stop this I’m going to want sex.”

“That’s
the whole idea,” he said, pulling down the zipper on her jeans. Dane pushed his
hand inside, pushing her panties to one side.

“And your great skill as a lover.
Is that part of
the shifter thing?”

“Great skill?
I’ve just been
doing what comes naturally.”

“So
you’re all able to wiggle your dicks?”

Dane
laughed. “Not what we call it, but yes. And I love this little feature.” He
touched her clit.

“Your
female shifters don’t have them?”

He
shook his head. “Or all this hair which I love too,” he said, pulling it.

“Wish
the hair on top of my head could be that color again.”

He
pulled down her panties and jeans, working them off the bottom of her legs and
feet. He threw them to one side and parted her thighs.

“Dane,
someone could catch us.”

He
shook his head. “A bear knows the ideal place where he’s not going to be
bothered by anyone else, but if you’re that worried, how’s this?”

He
grabbed the blanket she’d brought along thinking they’d need it to sit on to watch
the concert that by now they’d missed. He flung it over their bodies and the
next thing she knew he was kissing her mound, moving south and lapping at her
pussy opening.

She
lifted the blanket to see if she was dreaming. She and Mike hadn’t been the
most adventurous of couples, and while she’d given him blow jobs, he’d always
said he was squeamish about putting his mouth near her pussy. She’d accepted
it, not liked it because all her friends had told her how great it was, but
she’d never pressured him.

Now
she was about to experience it for the first time. Dane flicked his tongue
around the very edge of her pussy, making her drift off to a far off place
called
pleasure island
.

She
lifted her butt off the grass, widened the gap between her thighs, and felt Dane’s
tongue slip into her channel. He tongue fucked her, well she hoped that’s what
it was called.

She
gripped the edge of the blanket as he slid it in and out, catching the very
edges of her opening as he did so.

She
groaned and murmured, thinking how much she’d missed by Mike not wanting to
pleasure her this way. She lifted the blanket again, seeing Dane’s head bobbing
up and down between her legs. That in
itself
turned
her on. The feeling traveled up her legs, starting at her toes, zooming past
her knees, and then into her pussy. It was almost as if someone had shocked her
with a high voltage current, but in a good way. She looked up at the sky sure
her orgasm had made her add imaginary stars.

Dane
kissed his way up her belly. She’d been unaware he’d unzipped his pants until
she felt his cock slide deep within her.

“You
like that?”

“I
loved it.”

“Bears
can get a little crazy under the stars, be forewarned.”

“I
like crazy and after we’re done can I run with you? I mean with you as a bear?”

Chapter Eighteen

Dane
hadn’t felt this way since he and Lucinda had moved from being buddies to
girlfriend and boyfriend. Melanie made him feel comfortable in his own skin.
She accepted all his faults. Best of all she was a human who didn’t mind the
little fact that sometimes he transformed himself into a bear.

She
couldn’t keep up with him, but then neither had Lucinda. He turned around,
watching Melanie huff and puff as he waited for her. When she was within a
twelve foot distance, he began running again. He slowed up so she could run
beside him. She glanced at him and smiled. Did she realize he was smiling back
and not grimacing? Wouldn’t it be great if he could teach her how to comminute
through their minds, reading one another’s thoughts? It was a lost art among
the shifters, the ones born here on earth were letting it dry off which he
hated. If he ever had another opportunity to be a parent, his offspring would
be taught it from day one.

He
stopped and Melanie did too. She ran her hands through the fur on his back,
making him arch it because it was so damn sexy and turned him on. He had to
shift back no question about it because he wanted to touch her and kiss her.
His clothes were back there about a mile away but as long as no one was about
he’d be just fine.

He
relaxed, allowing himself to shift slowly back into his human form.

“You
humans are so slow,” he said, standing up.

“I
always thought it was a joke when they said bears can run fast. You always look
like your pants have fallen down.”

He
smacked her on the backside. “Is that what you think about my body?”

“That
and it’s so cute.”

He
put his hand in hers and they began walking along. “I’m getting cold. I need my
clothes.”

“First
time I’ve seen your cock limp,” said Melanie, giving him a cheeky grin. “It’s
still pretty fantastic even in that state.”

He
looked down, seeing it bounce from one thigh to the other.

“I
bet you can say something to make it go hard. I mean even without you touching
me.”

“Okay,
let’s see. I loved your tongue and lips on my pussy.
Loved
your tongue inside my pussy.”

She
glanced over. It was beginning to twitch.

“What
I loved most was having you inside me, pounding up against my pussy walls.”

“Told
you,” he said, feeling his erection come on fast and hard. “That’s enough of
the sexy talk because we’re out of condoms.”

“Maybe
I can take care of the birth control one of these days. I used to use a diaphragm.”

He
had no idea what that was, but he liked the idea that he could ditch those damn
condoms.

“Why
can’t you just be like shifter women, have a mark appear on you during your
cycle, so we know no sex unless we want a little shifter.”

“Guess
that would be easy, but don’t you get tempted?”

“You
do but you have to learn control.”

“Just
like this you mean?”

She
stopped and put her hand on his cock.

“What
did I say? You are a bad, bad girl and I’m going to have to take you over my
knee and spank you.”

“Wow,
I think I just had an orgasm.”

****

Could
it be that her new life was starting to be as good as her old one? While she’d
give anything to have Mike and their life back and for none of this to ever
have happened, meeting Dane had made her finally want to get out of bed each
morning.

She
peeked outside the reception area and heard a bunch of men’s voices getting
closer. The retreat group had arrived. The sliding glass door swished opened
and men starting filling in carrying tents and suitcases, golf clubs and
coolers. They said women over packed for trips, but these guys made the ladies
look like they were traveling light.

“Good
afternoon and welcome to the Lodge,” said Melanie. “We’ll have the staff take
your luggage to your rooms shortly. If you want to start by registering over
here, we can get your door cards activated.”

Melanie
hoped her plan to make everything as streamlined as possible would go without a
hitch.

“The
evening reception will be in the main lounge beginning at 7 p.m. Breakfast is
served from 6-8 a.m. Tomorrow there’s skeet shooting and river rafting, and
then on Wednesday we have a guide taking you fishing and an overnight
wilderness stay.”

“Ms.
Hargreaves,
is it?” asked one of the men, peering at
her name tag.

“Yes,
how can I help you?”

“I
was late registering so my name’s not on the list.”

“Okay,
let’s get you booked in.”

“It’s
Noah August.”

Melanie
typed in his name and luckily one room was left on the main floor with the rest
of the party.”

“Room
256,” she said, activating the card. She slid it across to him. “And if I could
have you fill in this…and I need to see your driver’s license for ID.”

“Sure.”
He dug it out of his pocket and passed it to her. She typed in his license
number and then handed it back to him. “Did you catch everything I said about
the reception tonight?”

“Yep,
made a mental note of it,” he said, tapping the side of his head.

“And
if there’s anything I or the other members of staff can do, just let us know.”

“I’ll
keep that in mind.”

****

Dane
loved the Internet. It allowed him to take a crash course on fishing, and
especially fly fishing. He and Trent had buried the hatchet and Trent had told
him that his father-in-law was a fishing expert. Dane spent an hour on the
phone with him picking up tips he could pass along to the men at the Lodge.

He
still wasn’t comfortable with being a guide, but it was doing a huge favor for
Melanie and anything for her wasn’t really a hardship. She looked more
beautiful than ever as he walked into the reception area and spotted her tidying
up the floral arrangement at the front desk.