Scrooge's Bear (Erotic Shifter Fairy Tales) (2 page)

His brows bunched together over the
bridge of his nose. “Trained me? Is that right? Like a bear in a circus or
something?”

Was it her imagination or did this
man appear a little bristly. “Well, I would not have used those terms.”

Linking his hands together on top of
the table, he leaned back against his side of the booth and slid down a little
further causing his knees to now reach the sides of her thighs.

Damn. Ebony felt trapped. There was
nowhere for her to scoot to so that she could escape the heat radiating from
his body and crawling up her legs to the apex of her thighs. Pressing her hips
down into the bench seat she stifled the ache that was growing there. She knew
that sexual attraction to this man was a plus and would aid in what she needed
to do with him tonight. However, it was the power of it that shook her inside.

“Look. I don’t want this to start
off on the wrong path. Before we head upstairs—”

“Upstairs?” A single eyebrow rose.

Biting the inside of her
cheek she kept herself from rolling her eyes.
Why was he acting like a
mockingbird?
As if he was clueless to what was going to happen. Maybe it
was their cover so they wouldn’t seem like prostitutes. However, no one was
really fooled by what the real purpose of an escort service was. Even though
Lady Salista had made Ebony sign an agreement that she was only expecting
company and companionship for the evening and that she was not paying for
anything sexual. After the eContract was signed, Lady Salista called her and
said if anything physical happened between her and the escort it was mutual
agreement between Ebony and the escort. But a nice tip was expected to the
escort for the contractual service.

Ebony clearly understood the meaning
of that to be ‘pay the man for the sex so it doesn’t get traced back to her
company’. Ebony wondered if this was how the NY Madam hoped to keep her name
clean.

“This is supposed to be a meeting
over drinks.” She definitely needed one. Lifting her hand she started to wave a
waitress over. “What would you like to drink? Bourbon, wine, beer…”

“Nothing.” Reaching up, he pulled
her hand down. “I’m more interested in our discussion about upstairs.”

She couldn’t keep her eyes off his
hand covering hers. It was sheer will that kept her from pulling her hand from
beneath his much larger one. It was as if her hand was encased in a heating
kiln. A feeling began to spread through her body, itchy, tingling…chills, she
couldn’t put her mind to describe it accurately because it was something she’d
never experienced before.

The contact between them gave her
thoughts of the two of them bare, curled around each other in the forest. Her
lungs began to squeeze and release rapidly as if some invisible fist was
working them, leaving her feeling more breathless than when she ran ten miles
daily on the treadmill.

“Umm…um...” She wanted her lips to
form the words move your hand, but her voice seemed stuck in her throat for the
second time that night. The urge surfaced to grab her purse and coat and walk
out of the bar, not stopping until she was sealed in her car racing down the
road to nowhere, anywhere but here feeling discombobulated and unlike herself.

Thankfully he moved his hand.

Raising her gaze as she filled her
lungs with an excessive amount of air, she looked at him and wondered if he had
sensed her discomfort. She shook that thought away.

Pulling her hand beneath the table
and covering it with the other, she rubbed it slowly trying to stop the wicked
sensation.

“Miss, did you need something.”

Ebony snapped her head toward the
waitress who arrived at the table. Evidently the young black woman must have
caught her signal anyway.

The waitress looked between Ebony
and Dainton as if trying to assess if there was a problem.

“Yes. Water, please.”

The server set a small white napkin
with the name of the hotel bar and logo on the bottom corner in front of Ebony.
“You, sir.”

Looking back at her escort, she saw
that he had not even glanced in the direction of the young woman standing next
to their table.

Are his eyes more
gold? Impossible.

“Nothing. I have everything I need
already.”

Tapping the table with her long
acrylic nails, the worker said, “I’ll be right back.”

Not willing to waste anymore time of
the night, Ebony began to enlighten her “date.” “Were you briefed about my
expectations?”

“I’d rather hear from you what you
want…desire tonight,” he said without missing a beat.

Lifting her chin, she gave him one
of the stares she’d perfected in her many years of being a department head, the
kind that had always clearly shown those on her staff that she was disappointed
that they hadn’t fully researched something before they presented it to her. “I
would have hoped that there was some sort of required briefing before the
scheduled meeting. Evidently I was wrong. Let me explain my request and
requirements for this evening.” 

Unlike her staff, this giant of a
man didn’t appear to be fazed one iota by her frosty glare.

The fact he didn’t cower before her
sent a frission of heat along her spine. No other man had stood up to her. The
main reason she had been without male companionship for too many years for her
to count. What woman wanted a man in her bed who couldn’t give back as good as
he got?

Licking her lips, she
reminded herself that this man was not an option any further than sex.
One
night.
This was not a long-term set up. So a growing admiration for him was
for naught—worthless.

The waitress silently set down the
tumbler of ice water and moved away.

“I will give it to you straight and
short. I’m looking for something beyond drinks tonight, company. Of the
physical kind.”

Still silent, he did nothing but
tilt his head, a testament that he understood her meaning.

She went on. “I know per my contract
with Lady Salista’s agency, the service you agreed to isn’t physical in nature.
That if we are both mutually attracted to each other anything that progresses
beyond the assigned date is exclusively between us. Are we both on the same
page so far?”

“Definitely. The attraction between
us is strong and powerful.” His eyes seemed to brighten even more.

Ignoring them, she reached for her
water and sipped from it several times. She was feeling so heated she would
have preferred to tip it back and finish it off in one gulp or pour it over
herself. But she resisted.

She set the glass back on the table,
but kept her hand around it, absorbing its coolness.

“I’ve rented a room in this hotel
for the night. However, I think what I need shouldn’t take more than an hour.”

“Really?”

The fire coming from his gaze made
her nipples draw up and the seat of her panties become drenched. This man most
likely had no problem giving it to a woman good all night long. Things she had
only heard about from her friends. Her past experiences were dismal at best. In
her youth all the men were jackrabbits in the bedroom but little pleasure for
her. Her desire for this night was for a great mind-blowing orgasm, she just
hoped for what she had to pay for this man he could deliver. After that, she would
put him out, shower, sleep, and be on her merry way to somewhere in the
morning.

Being a corporate nomad didn’t sit
well with her.

“Yes. I need release. Nothing long
and drawn out. Once I’ve had enough it is over.” She felt she needed to be
clear with him. “There are rules.”

“I’m sure.” One corner of his mouth
curled up.

“Are you laughing at me?” she
bristled. Did he see her as some hopeless thirty-four year old that couldn’t
cut it in the real dating world? Maybe that was partly true, she was hopeless
when it came to a date, but that was only because her career had come to mean
everything to her. Now she was ass out.

“I’d never laugh at a beautiful
woman who’s honest about her sexual needs.” This time a smile stretched all the
way across his mouth but there was warmth in his eyes, damping the heat just a
little.

She hadn’t missed that he’d called
her beautiful. Men in her life before hadn’t given her compliments like that,
too afraid of sexual harassment. Not to mention she hadn’t been interested in what
they thought of her looks but her ability to do a damn good job.

“Tell me. How does a sexy, drop dead
gorgeous woman find herself alone for the holiday and in need of paid
companionship?”

Clearing her throat, she
pushed away the hum of joy at his approval. “Christmas, Easter, Groundhog
Day…all just another day on the calendar to me.” It was the truth. In her life
holidays came around just to remind those less fortunate of what they were
truly missing out on.
Bah Humbug
. “Furthermore, there will be no need of
flattery. We both know this is a short business arrangement.”

“Okay.” He nodded. “What are your
other rules?”

“No kissing. No trying to restrain
me, I prefer to be on top. No naughty, wild antics or kinky stuff. I just want
it done. I’d like to climax once…twice if you can manage it.” She doubted she’d
get in more than one. No man had ever made her come more than once in an
encounter.

Stoic for more than a minute, he sat
there staring at her without breaking eye contact. She found it hard to read
his thoughts, know how he felt about all that she said.

Finally, he broke his silence. “When
do we start?” His voice seemed rough, like claws dragged along the side of a
tree—rich, rough, and scratchy.

The visual image that
accompanied the thought made her spine tingle and a bead of sweat roll between
her breasts.
How did something like that turn me on?

Tightening her hand around the
glass, she lifted it again and drank, giving herself some time. This was the
moment where the snow stuck. She had to decide unequivocally to take the
plunge.

“Now.”

He rose. She never would have
figured as squished as he’d appeared in the booth that he would be able to move
with such speed and be standing beside her once again with his hand held out to
her.

With him standing so close, her body
reacted. Every hair on her body stood up on ends. The sensation was unexpected
and odd, making her skin feel foreign and alive. The urge to find a tree and
rub up against it arrested it. Grabbing her glass instead of his hand, she
finished off the water and wished she had ordered something stronger.

Shoving out of the seat she
circumvented his hand, not sure if she was ready to let him touch her yet, then
headed toward the door. “This way.” She spoke to him over her shoulder, but
didn’t pause in stride to see if he followed her. 

I’m in charge. I’m in charge.

Even as she repeated those words to
herself, she didn’t feel in charge. Maybe when she boldly completed the request
form or when she spoke to Lady Salista on the phone and told her what she
wanted. However, once big, tall and fierce stepped up to her table with his
dark, intense, liquid gold gaze...control evaded her grasp. But, she would be
damned if she allowed herself to exhibit that to him. No way. She was a
virtuoso at commanding people to do what she wanted. It was how she’d succeeded
so well in business at such a young age. At thirty she had become the youngest
deputy CEO at her old company. And wherever she ended up next she’d do greater
things.

Right now, she was going to take her
pleasure from a bear of a man and then walk away.

Chapter
Two

Dainton watched her sashay away. He
wasn’t in the least put off by her prickly exterior. He’d met porcupines in the
woods that were more approachable than Ebony. However, it was her hard as a
frozen Lake Michigan persona that made him desire her more—want to see her melt
in his arms.

He’s sensitive ears had picked up on
the exchange of conversation between her and another woman who spoke to her as
if she were a sister or best friend.

Ebony
Scrooge
was
a woman with a story. One he doubted she would be willing to share with him. A
man she considered her one night stand. Correction, her male escort. That
thought brought a frown to his face as he followed her hasty steps through the
crowd partying in the bar toward the door.

What would make a hot as hell woman
need to hire someone to have sex with her? Sex, for sure. If Ebony had not been
forthcoming with anything else about this night it was that she had paid some
service for his, no some unfortunate bastard’s, company and she was going to
top that off by paying the man directly for sexual services rendered. What in
the hell?

He was stumped.

Now that she was out of
the booth, he could take in the full beauty of her body. Full figured, with
curves so prominent and thick they could make a man’s mouth water. Shit, what
the hell did he care about any other man? He’d been salivating heavily
practically the entire time he sat across from her listening to her run on
about her
rules
. List of don’ts was more like it.