Pleasing the Shifter: The Complete Series (BBW Paranormal Bear Shape Shifter Romance) (3 page)

She was still trying to process the fact that he had his investigator look into her, whatever that meant. And also she couldn't help but stare at his mouth, his full lips moving seductively as he spoke. “I’ve only done commercials so far. But that’s just the beginning.”

"And you're obviously very attractive." He glanced down at her body quickly before meeting her gaze with his steel blue eyes. "I've always thought curvy women were so seductive."

She smiled and looked away, hoping he wouldn't notice her blushing. This guy was quite the charmer. And she was definitely falling for it. But that’s the part he wanted her to play it seemed. That was fine with her.

“I’ve always wanted to make a movie,” he said.

“Really? Did you have a story in mind or you just like the idea of making a movie. It’s hard work you know. And it’s probably not the best investment.”

“True. That’s very true. Lots of movies lose money. And I hate losing money. But I think I have a good idea.”

“Okay, tell me. Maybe I can tell you what I think about it. Give you some insight from my perspective. As an actress.”

He moved closer to her on the couch, excited now, and close enough that their legs were touching. “Actually the idea is something of a love story. You’ve heard of Beauty and the Beast, right?”

She nodded. “Of course. So it’s a love story?”

“Maybe. I’m not sure. Anyway so the Beauty in the story would be young. Someone like you. Very pretty, but healthy too. You know, someone with some meat on her bones. So many actresses these days starve themselves. I hate it.”

“It’s what people want,” Hope said.

“Not everyone wants it. Anyway, let’s say, just for the sake of argument, that you would play the Beauty. Or someone like you. Now for the Beast. The Beast is someone that doesn’t quite fit into society.”

“He’s a loner?”

“Not a loner per se. I mean he’s good at playing the part society wants him to play. He has powerful friends, he has fancy parties, he wears the right clothes, says the right things.”

“Okay, but why is he the Beast?”

“He has a secret,” Ethan said.

“A secret. Everyone has secrets; that doesn’t make them a Beast.”

“True. But his secret is that he really is a Beast.”

“What does that mean?” she asked, a little intrigued now, leaning closer to him.

He swallowed and looked at her. “It means that he can turn into a Beast. He’s a shifter.”

“Like a werewolf?”

“Yeah, kind of like a werewolf. Except he’s a bear. Very different. Wolves are pack animals. Bears, not so much. Sure they are social animals, they have alliances if you will, but they don’t have any kind of pack hierarchy.”

“He’s a bear?” she asked.

“A bear shifter.”

“Okay, and then what happens. That’s not a story, that’s just a setup for a story. You have to have something happen. There needs to be conflict. Maybe the girl likes him but she isn’t sure about the whole bear thing. Maybe she’s worried about how it will look to her parents.” She smiled.

“Of course,” he said, not smiling. “What human parents would want their daughter to date a werebear?”

“Yeah,” she said. “But I mean there should probably be more conflict than that.”

“How about this,” Ethan said. “Bear shifters mate for life. When they find their mate, they know it. They feel it in their bones, in their core. It consumes them.” He put his hand on her leg.

Hope’s breathing quickened at his touch. It was like being shocked by static electricity. His hand felt alive. She placed hers on top of his.

“When a shifter picks a mate he’ll do anything to make her his.”

“Anything?” Hope said.

"Can I kiss you?" Ethan said.

God she wanted to so bad but still she was remembering what Sofia told her about not getting involved. This had to be exactly what she was talking about. He was so sexy, though. But no, she was here to do a job. "I'm flattered, Ethan. And under other circumstances I would say yes but I'd rather not mix business and pleasure."

He nodded, his smile never wavering. "I respect that but don't you think it would be good for your business if you mixed a little pleasure in? Besides don't you find me attractive?"

She took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. Then she nodded, slowly.

"So I ask again, Miss Whitehall. Can I kiss you?"

Fuck.

She nodded and he immediately lunged forward to her and pressed his soft lips against hers.

Hope opened her lips to let his tongue inside her mouth. She pressed hers back against his, pushing it into his mouth, exploring him and savoring his taste.

He put his hand on her leg, gripping it.

She moaned slightly into his mouth and uncrossed her legs. What was she doing? This was definitely getting involved.

His hand squeezed her thigh then slowly started moving up her leg.

Her pussy quivered in anticipation. Was she really going to let him touch her so soon? She never did this. But he was so sexy.

His hand continued up her leg.

She moaned again, throwing her head back.

Then his hand stopped and she heard his cell phone vibrating in his pocket.

He frowned and stood up, taking his cell phone out to look at it. "I'm sorry I have to take this." He answered it. "Yeah?" Then listened for a moment before saying, "Okay, I'll be right there."

He hung up and looked at Hope. "I'm very sorry but I'm going to have to take a rain check. I’m so glad you’re finally here with me.” Then he left her there on the red italian-leather couch, all alone with her thoughts and her desires.

Hope spent the entire following day getting last minute things ready for the party. She saw Ethan twice and tried to talk to him but it was like he was ignoring her. And Sofia wasn’t saying a word either; she was all business again. Hope got the feeling she was mad or jealous that she went into Ethan’s office with him alone.

She looked at herself in the mirror then rolled her eyes and tore the dress off, throwing it down to the floor. A pile of discarded dresses lay at her feet. She went back to the large walk-in closet and combed through the few other things she’d brought trying to find something–anything–that didn’t make her look like a little girl. This was a formal party and she wished she brought something that didn’t make her look so young. The problem was she had to leave her house in a hurry and she was so wrapped up in thinking about what the hell she was getting into she hadn’t realized what she threw in her bags wasn’t going to be elegant enough for anything like this party.

From what she gathered from listening to the staff when they thought she couldn’t hear her was this was just an excuse for a bunch of rich white people to get dressed up and drink, patting each other on the back about how much money they’d made that year. She’d never been to a party this fancy but she was dying to find out what it would be like. A woman needed to become accustomed to socializing in these sorts of events.

But she also needed something nice to wear. Something nicer than what she had anyway.

She looked out the large window of her bedroom. It was on the third floor of the mansion and overlooked the giant swimming pool in the backyard. Down in the pool she saw Ethan floating in a lounge chair reading a paper. And he was alone. Perfect. Hope decided to put on the bathing suit she brought and ask him what he thought she should wear. And maybe if he was lucky, she’d let him kiss her again.

After she changed she looked at herself in the mirror. This would be the first time she’d ever worn the bathing suit outside. The top barely covered her young breasts; only a small triangle of green fabric for each one. No padding in the cups and her hard nipples poked through the thin material. The bottoms were a thong and she turned around examining her thick butt. The whole thing was really sexy she thought. There was no way he could ignore her in this. Her shaved pussy started to heat up thinking about him looking at her.

As she approached the pool she started having second thoughts about what she was wearing. What if he thought it was too slutty? Whatever. Nothing else she did seemed to be able to get his attention so she might as well try it.

“Hi, Ethan,” she said.

He nodded without looking up from his paper, his dark sunglasses hiding his eyes so she couldn’t tell if he’d even seen her bathing suit.

Hope laid her towel out next to the pool and dove in, emerging right next to his floating chair, and latched onto its side, resting her breasts next to his leg. His muscular chest glistened with sweat and she stole glances at the bulge in his swim shorts, wondering what his cock looked like. She could just make out the outline of his thick manhood resting atop his enormous bulge. Her pussy quivered at the thought of sucking him off, letting his sticky white cum explode into her eager mouth. She would definitely swallow for him. No other boy had been worthy of that particular act in her young sexual career. But for him she would do everything.

“What are you reading?” she asked. “Anything good?”

He held his hand up to her dismissively, his eyes still hidden behind the dark lenses.

She hated being treated like this. When a man acted like she wasn’t even there. Rolling her eyes, she pushed away then swam out in front of him, put her head under the water and let her perfect ass rise up above the surface–poking it out for him–before she dove down. The small bathing suit barely covered her at all and he was sure to have seen that. But when she came back up and looked at him he hadn’t moved at all, still engrossed in his precious Wall Street Journal. She sighed and swam to the steps, not even bothering to stick her butt out as she exited.

As she toweled herself off, one of her breasts slipped out of the tiny top, exposing her nipple to the warmth of the sun. She fixed it back in place and felt it harden at her touch.

“Ethan?” she said.

Finally he looked up at her. “What is it?”

“Would you mind rubbing oil on my back?” She turned around for him, pointing to her back but showing off her large ass in the thong bikini, then turned back to him.

He looked at her for a moment, bringing the dark sunglasses to his nose, peering out over them. Those hard blue eyes staring at her. “Get one of the maids to do it,” he said then went back to reading his paper.

She flared her nostrils and glared at him, grinding her teeth while she plopped down on her towel in a huff. What the fuck kind of man was he. The other day he’d been so ready to kiss and now? Now, nothing. Nothing she’d done had worked. Once she’d blossomed into a woman her body had become her primary tactic in dealing with men but somehow that seemed to make this one ignore her even more, which in turn made her try even harder to make him notice her. Get one of the maids to do it. Wow.

She shook her head as she laid down on her stomach beside the pool. Once she settled down, determined not to let him get her angry, she reached behind her back and untied her top not wanting to ruin her smooth back with tan lines. She couldn’t help but take this opportunity to look at his sexy body. A man’s muscular arms and sculpted abs always made her wet. And now, watching him read his paper, she felt the familiar moisture and warmth building between her legs. It was infuriating how he could do that to her without even trying it seemed.

Then she remembered about the party and how she needed a dress. She’d gotten so wrapped up in trying to get his attention she’d forgotten the whole reason she came down here in the first place.

“Ethan?”

He ignored her.

She propped herself up on her elbows, hiding her bare nipples behind her arms. “Ethan,” she said, “I’m afraid I came her so quickly that I forgot to bring a suitable dress for the party tonight.”

He looked up at her now. “Party?”

“Yeah, your party tonight.”

“You’re not invited to the party,” he said. “What made you think you were? This is a party for adults, not brats who parade around in cheap bathing suits, trying to show off their bodies to whomever will look.”

She felt her face heating up and did her best to hold back the tears that wanted to pour from her eyes. “But, that’s not fair,” she said. Hating the way her voice sounded. Just like a brat. “I’m nineteen years old. I’m an adult.”

“You,” he said, “are an adult when you start acting like one.”

“But–“

“If you’re going to keep interrupting me then go inside.”

She stood up so fast she forgot about her top being untied and her breasts bounced around wildly as she collected her towel and the rest of her bathing suit. Running back to the house, holding her breasts, the tears started to roll down her face.

When she got inside she slammed the door and stomped up the stairs. The head butler, Mr. Donovan, met her at the top of the stairs with a concerned look on his face, doing his best not to look at her bare chest, asking her if everything was alright.

“I’m fine,” she shouted at him before shutting herself in her room, burying her face in the pillow and trying to smother the sobs that came freely now.

By the time the party was starting she’d calmed herself. It was probably boring anyway. She watched from her bedroom window as the endless procession of limos pulled up to the house, depositing old white men in tuxedos, tugging their wives along. The women weighted down by the gaudy jewelry they all seemed to think was so attractive.

She could hear them downstairs talking to each other about nothing. Laughing at each other’s terrible jokes, and generally just being the fake people she knew them to be. It was good he’d told her not to come. Maybe he’d known she wouldn’t like it and that’s why he’d said what he did. She always found it difficult to stay angry with attractive men. It was one of her most unattractive flaws, she thought. No matter how much they ignored her she always came back for more.

But it was becoming difficult to convince herself she wasn’t bored up here in her room. Ethan told her to stay in here but she got the idea that she could sneak downstairs and take a dip in the hot tub without anyone seeing her. Everyone would be inside at their stupid little party. If she went down the service stairs the only people she might run into where the staff but she could just play it off.