The Bear's Reluctant Bride: A Paranormal Bear Shifter Romance (3 page)

His hand traveled the muscles of her stomach and then, slowly, he came closer and closer to her breasts. When his fingers finally caressed her nipples, she yelped in shock at the sensation, earning a broad grin from the man beside her. Her inexperience was clearly something that he found charming. Gently, he loosened the tie on her robe, opening it and exposing her to his gaze. He froze then, staring at her lean body beneath the moonlight. His eyes took in every inch of her. Nobody had ever seen her naked before. She thought it would be mortifying, but it was truly invigorating. The way that he was looking at her gave her a sense of confidence that she had never experienced before. Emboldened by the fire in his eyes, she shed the robe herself, leaving herself naked before him.

He gasped and then he was on her again. His hands were rough from hard work, but there was something tender about the way he touched her. He seemed to be trying to know every inch of her body and it was endearing to her. She had worried her mating would be rough and painful, but there was nothing like that. His touch made her whole body feel electric. When his lips returned to her collarbone, she felt as though she would catch fire. His lips and tongue traveled down her body, latching on to her nipple. When he began to use his teeth to tease the sensitive bud, she felt her entire body opening up to him.

The warmth between her legs was something she had never experienced before. She was craving him then, so eager for him to enter her. Still, he did not rush. He gently laid her on the mattress and continued to tease her nipples, savoring every moan of pleasure that she made. Gently, his hand traveled from her breast to her feminine folds. She was startled by the feeling of his touch. She had never imagined that he would ever touch her there, but the feeling was so sweet that she nearly fell apart from the pleasure coursing through her body.

Just when she thought she could not feel any more pleasure, he entered her. The movement was sudden and he gave her no warning, but she knew then that it was what her body had been craving since he first pressed his lips to hers. There was a moment of pain as he pressed through her maidenhead. He paused, allowing her to get accustomed to the feeling of his manhood within her. She looked up in his eyes as he held himself above her, still and waiting for her to give him a sign to continue. Though he was frozen above her, his expression was triumphant at the knowledge that he had claimed her as his own.

There was tenderness in his eyes that touched her heart. Before she realized what she was doing, she extended her hand to his cheek and caressed his face. It seemed to be all the encouragement he needed. He began to move again and she felt as if she was melting under his thrusts. With each movement, she felt as though something inside of her was growing closer and closer to exploding. Her body seemed to be moving of its own accord, surging up to meet his every movement.

Their pace continued to increase, as though they were both giving in to their inner bear. She had never felt so connected to the bear inside of her as she was in those moments, making love to him. The most primal part of her was surging forward to meet his passion. She bit his neck and scratched his back, earning her growls of approval from him. It was then that he lost all control, thrusting wildly. Just when she thought he was about to reach completion, he pulled completely from her. She moaned in disappointment at the loss of his length within her.

In one swift motion, he flipped her from her back to her knees, pushing her down on all fours in front of him. Without hesitation, he surged in to her from behind and began thrusting wildly again. All she could do was grip the fur pelt beneath her with both hands as she rode out the waves of pleasure that were coursing through her. He gripped her hair and pulled her head back, bringing her mouth to meet his. After searing her mouth with a kiss, he pressed his hand to the small of her back and returned to his blistering pace. She thought that she could feel no greater pleasure until her orgasm finally took her body. He reached completion in the same moment, shaking as he filled her with his seed.

When they were done, she lay with her head upon his chest listening to the beating of his heart. She thought he would say something, but he remained silent. It made the moments they had spent together felt all the more dream-like. Together, they were bathed in the light of the moon and the candles, as they lay with their naked bodies entwined. 

If he was nothing else, he was a beautiful man and a talented lover. She decided not to dwell on exactly how he had become so skilled. Still, her obvious inexperience seemed to please him. When he had entered her and known for certain that he was the first to do so, the expression of pleasure and pride on his face had been unmistakable.

She wondered idly if one of the elders had told him what to expect but she doubted that. He had looked quite surprised to see her there. She knew very little of what the male experienced during the mating selection. She knew, of course, they were the ones who got to choose when they wanted to mate and they went to the elders and told them so.

What she didn't know was if they got any say in who was waiting for them behind the doors of the lodge. She knew they weren't allowed to hand pick their mate, but she wondered if they got to tell the elders what they wanted in a mate. It seemed as though it would be discouraged, but she couldn't be sure.

She was shockingly comfortable lying there with him in the moonlight. She was just then beginning to feel as though she might be able to be comfortable with him in other ways, when he began to stir beneath her. To her surprise, he stood up and began to dress. A thousand questions bubbled to her mind, but she kept silent. When he had pulled his pants back on, he looked down at her in her naked state and could not help but smile down at her. The sight of him took her breath away, but she still forced herself to remain silent.

Finally he spoke, but he did not say any of the sweet words that she had expected. Instead, he said, "I will send my brothers to your mother's home to collect your things. In the morning you will come to my tent. You know where it is, don't you?"
"Yes, I do," she said, trying to keep her voice steady.

She had not known exactly what to expect after their mating ritual, but she had been very certain that they would spend the entire night together. Now, though, he was clearly leaving her.

"Good. I will meet you there in the morning to get you settled, but I have duties to take care of during the rest of the day," he said with a practical nod of confirmation.

"That sounds fine," she said, realizing suddenly that she was still undressed. She pulled the closest fur over her to cover herself.

"You can do as you wish in the tent. It will be your domain," he said as he turned and left.

As soon as he left, she laid back down with a thunk, and stared up at the night sky, trying not to cry. Though she was not sure why he had left her, she was very sure that it was a bad sign of what was to come.
 

CHAPTER TWO

The next morning, she went to her mother's home to find Luke's brothers packing her things onto a wagon. Though it had been less than a day since she had been there, her life in the cabin felt like a different lifetime. Her mother hugged her warmly and she told her that her mate was Luke. The news pleased her mother endlessly. She seemed to finally be at peace with her daughter's future. She thought about telling her mother about how she had been left alone the night before, but she did not want to burden her when she was clearly so pleased.

It was the sight of her bags and cases being carried from the home that finally made the boys realize she was leaving them. They cried and clung to her. It took her mother and her sister to pry them free as she was helped into the wagon by Luke's brother. He was smaller than his brother and his eyes were friendlier. He smiled at her warmly and they fell in to casual conversation while the rest of his brothers sat in the back of the wagon. They were five minutes into the ride when she realized he had already said twice as many words to her as his brother had the night before.

During the short ride, she did her best to look calm. She knew Luke would be waiting for her and she did not intend to let him realize how nervous she was about their lives together. He stood outside the tent expectantly. She was surprised by how small it was. She expected the son of the chief to live more lavishly, but it suited her just fine. In fact, it reminded her of the tent she had lived in with her mother and father when her sister was born. Those had been some of their happiest days and she hoped she and her mate might have similar times in this tent.

It was made of a variety of animal pelts to highlight his skills as a hunter. She knew that all of the warriors used such tactics to show others their bounty. She had always thought it was a showy practice, but as his mate, it was reassuring to her that he was more than the spoiled son of the chief.

He stood near the tent’s open flap. She thought that he would at least give her a smile, but he had no such assurance to give her. Instead, he was pacing back and forth, clearly anxious to get to the duties he had mentioned the night before.

He helped her down from the wagon and mumbled a few words to his brother that she couldn't quite make out. He then motioned for her to follow him. She had expected some sort of warm greeting after their passionate night together, but she was sorely disappointed. He did not even take her hand as he led her in to his tent.

"Welcome," he said with only the slightest of acknowledgment of her presence.

"Thank you," she replied, feeling strange to feel so awkward about the man she would spend the rest of her days with.

"This is my home. I suppose it's ours now, isn’t it," he said, looking as uncomfortable as she was.

He gestured around the room and she took in the full details of the room in which she stood. It was clearly the main living quarters. It was sparsely furnished, to say the least. A rough wooden bench was the only thing one could call real seating and there were no cushions or softness to speak of. A small table stood near a curtain that separated the room from another section of the tent that she assumed was the sleep area.

“Well, I would give you the grand tour, but this is about it,” he said, looking at her to gauge her response.

“It is a good, solid home,” she said, giving him an encouraging smile.

He seemed to accept that answer and left her alone to go help his brothers grab the last of her things. When they had brought her bags and trunks into the space, he turned and seemed to take notice of her again.

“As I told you yesterday, this is your domain. Feel free to do as you like to it. I do hope you will be able to make it a more homey space. It is barren, as you can see. I am sure that would not be comfortable for you so make any change you see fit. There is no need to consult me about any of them. I'll be fine with any change you desire,” he said practically.

“Thank you,” she said with a reserved smile. The thought of making the space a home appealed to her and she looked forward to having a project to occupy her mind. “I will make it a comfortable home for you,” she said quietly.

“I'm sure that you will. I have been told that you excelled in all of your studies,” he said without looking at her.

“I have tried to apply myself to them,” she said, unsure what else to say to him.

“Is it alright with you if I call you Kalia?” he asked formally. The question caught her off guard. It had never occurred to her that he might call her anything else.

“Yes, I would prefer it,” she answered, trying to match his formal tone. “How would you like me to refer to you?” she asked hesitantly. She had never heard him called anything else, but she thought perhaps it would be rude not to ask after he had taken the time to ask her the question.

“Luke will be fine,” he said. “I need to excuse myself now. I have duties to attend to. Will you be alright here?”

“Yes, I'll begin work here immediately,” she vowed, looking around at the space she stood in.

“That's good. There's quite a bit to do. I'll return at sundown. You'll find anything you might need to prepare dinner in the ice chest behind the tent. If you should need anything else, all the kitchen supplies are in the cabinet near the table,” he said, gesturing to a plain wooden cabinet she had not even noticed on her first glance around the room.

“Is there anything you would prefer for your evening meal?” she asked, remembering her mother asking her father such questions before he went off to hunt with the other males.

“I'm sure whatever you choose will do well,” he said, as he turned and walked away with his brothers, who had been silently waiting for him outside the tent.

The first thing she did was draw back the curtain to the sleeping area to confirm her suspicions that it was as barren as the rest of the tent. It was as she had imagined. It was nothing more than a barren mattress on the floor with a wool blanket bundled on top of it. She wondered then if this was where he had chosen to spend the rest of last night instead of in her arms. There was no use dwelling on it, she knew, but still it seemed so strange to her.

She returned to the main room with the intent to begin to unpack her things, but she soon realized there was no use in unpacking until she cleaned the space. She knew she had hours until his return, so she changed from the newly designed dress she had arrived in, to one of her old cotton dresses she often wore while helping her mother around the cabin. It didn't take her long to find a bucket she could use as a scrub bucket and she filled it at the water pump nearby. She rolled up her sleeves and got to work.

Though the space was small, it took her nearly four hours to get in all spick and span. Though it had not been messy, per se, Luke had never really done a proper cleaning of the space. It took her ages just to get the layers of dirt off all of the surfaces in the tent.

After she got the space clean, she knew she needed to do something to get dinner started. She wanted to really wow him with her skills at cooking. After all the time that she spent cleaning the layers of dust and smoke out of the tent, she could not bring herself to start a fire inside. Instead, she used a ring of stones to create a fire pit outside the tent. She moved the cooking rack that he had inside to the pit and got her fire started.

While she waited for the flames to die down enough to begin cooking, she went out back to find the place he had told her she could find all she would need to cook. While there were a variety of meats, there were few vegetables. She pulled venison and began to chop it up, when she noticed the wilds of a garden on the edges of the clearing around the tent; after a bit of digging, she was able to gather enough vegetables to make a hearty venison stew. She also made a mental note that rehabilitating the garden needed to be high on her list of tasks to accomplish in their home.

After she got the stew simmering, she returned to the interior of the tent. Though it was now clean, it was still very sparse and she hated the thought of her mate coming home to such a barren space. Luckily, she had always enjoyed sewing and had long been creating too many pieces to be used by her family. She had packed up all of the extra pieces and brought them with her to her new home.

Her mother had always told her that the kitchen was the heart of the home. Though the tent did not technically have a kitchen of its own, she thought the table was a good place to start. She pulled a tablecloth from one of her trunks and spread it across the table. Just that pop of color made a surprising difference. She rummaged through one of her bags and found an old vase that she and her mother had made together when she was a younger girl. After putting it on the table and filling it with wildflowers, she felt confident he would be pleased with what she had done.

The wooden bench would need to be painted; there was no doubt about it. Still, she could do a little something to make it seem warmer when he returned home. She pulled some pillows that she had embroidered with flowers and laid them along it. When she still had many pillows left over, she decided to use them to make a lounge in the room. She wanted Luke to be able to come home and feel relaxed and comfortable in the home. She looked around the space and felt satisfied he would know how much work she had done in his absence.

After checking on her stew, she was pleased with the flavors and hoped he would be satisfied with it when he returned home, hungry from a hard day’s work. By the look of the sun, she knew she was running out of time, but she still needed to prepare the bedroom. While working on her ceremonial robe, she had also stitched pillows and a blanket in the same style and of the same fabrics. It had been Mali’s suggestion and in the end, they were all pleased with how it had all come together. Because the pieces were already done, it did not take her long to replace his simple wool blanket with the more luxurious things that she had made for their home. She had just put the last pillow in place when she heard him approaching.

“Welcome home,” she said as he walked through the opening.

“You seem to have been busy,” he said, though he offered no word on whether or not he was pleased with what she had done. He did not smile, but he did not look displeased, either.

“Would you like your dinner now or do you usually take in later in the night?” she asked, realizing she should have asked him that before he left in the morning. That was part of why she had chosen to make a stew. It was something she could serve him whenever he chose to eat it.

“I think now will be fine,” he said, sitting down at the table expectantly.

“Very well. I'll be back in just a moment,” she said as she pulled a bowl down and ran out to fill it.

She was too nervous to eat herself and he did not seem to notice that she did not join him in his meal. He ate quickly, without looking up. When he finished, he pushed the dish away and rose from the table without a comment on the food.

“I have firewood to chop,” he said, leaving without a glance back at her.

She quickly cleaned up the dishes from his dinner and waited for his return. Though he was a strong and capable man, it seemed to take him ages to chop the wood. When he finally did return, he had a sheen of sweat on his skin that brought back echoes of the heat from her loins the night before. He seemed to sense her thoughts as he crossed the room towards her. Rather than touching her, though, he simply stared down in her eyes for an endless moment.

“Will you show me what you have done in my absence?” he asked, though she knew that he could see what she had done.

Slowly, she showed him the additions and told him of the time she had taken to clean their home from top to bottom. She wanted them to have the best start possible and he seemed to appreciate her effort, though he did not dole out praise for all that she had done.

Before she took him to the bedroom to show him her work on that space, she had a few things that she needed to know. “Where might I find garden tools?” she asked him.

He looked a bit surprised, but pleased. “I'm afraid I have not yet retrieved them from my brother who borrowed them a few weeks ago, but now that you are here, I suppose I should have them available to you,” he said, staring off towards the overgrown garden.

“I would appreciate that. I like to work the garden and I find it very useful in cooking to have a nice variety of produce and herbs,” she said, wishing that he would meet her gaze as she spoke.

When she pulled back the curtain to reveal his sleeping area, he was clearly shocked by the transformation. She was happy to see the effect that it had on him. He seemed genuinely happy with the work she had done. He entered the space and lowered himself onto his bed, now transformed into their marriage bed.

Luke lay back on the new bed she had made for them. There, propped in the pillows, he looked like the embodiment of temptation. Once again he was shirtless, his trousers made of deerskin. There was a primal energy around him that sent shivers down her spine.

His eyes met hers and he looked her up and down, his intent clear. "Please me," he ordered.

The words shocked her but they also thrilled her. Slowly and deliberately, she lowered herself down beside him and crawled toward him. He bit his lip in approval and she drew closer to him. Her hands, shaking a bit, went to the flap of his pants. She hesitated a moment, deciding to take her time. After all, the night before had all happened so suddenly that she had not had the opportunity to explore his body as she would have liked.