Bearly Camping

by Lynn Katzenmeyer

  “I have clothes for you,” he said slightly embarrassed.

  I whipped around, “Wait, what?”

  Ebsen sighed and motioned to a sealed plastic bag in the corner, “I felt bad about ripping your underwear-”

  “And long johns, and button up, and t shirt, and bra, which was expensive, by the way,” I recited with a chuckle. Truth be told, I hadn’t minded, it was kind of hot the morning after seeing my clothes strewn in shreds all over the floor.

  “So, I took Amber on our last day off and she helped me pick out some replacements,” he said, “You can wear those.”

  My eyes widened, “You...bought me clothes?” I walked up to him. He was honest to god blushing.

  “Are we going to-” I cut off his comment by stroking his face. His stubble was in full force.

  “You’re really sweet, you know that?” I told him, “I’m tempted to break one of your rules, but I know better. So, I’ll show my appreciation another way.”

  I slid my hand down his face and his chest and down to his belt buckle. I smirked when he sharply inhaled. I unbuckled it and slowly slid it from the loops. I unbuttoned and slid down the zipper. He wasn’t wearing underwear. He really was sure I’d be calling on him. Well, he wasn’t wrong.

  “Oh Firebug,” he groaned as I pulled one of my favorite parts of him loose from his jeans, “it’s not fair you won’t let me do---ohh”

  I smirked around his length but kept my focus. He was twitching.

  “I’ve been wanting to taste you since the first night,” he groaned, he threaded his fingers into my braid loosening some of my dishwater hair in front of my eyes.

  I came up for air and looked up his massive frame, “Rule three.”

  “Firebug,” he groaned, “I’m fairly certain rule three does not apply to youuuu. Oooh Sooooulli.”

  I loved it when he moaned my name. I kept working him. He unbuttoned his shirt with shaky fingers. Good, I thought as I continued swirling my tongue over him, it’d make the next part faster. I tugged down his jeans keeping my mouth focused on its task. Nearly there, I could feel the twitches starting in his abdomen. Any second “OOOOh.”

  I sat back on my heels and looked up at the naked giant. His knees were twitching. I smiled up at him.

  “I want to make sure you know that this is not payment or reciprocation in any way for the purchase of goods and or services. I just like seeing that look on your face.”

  He looked down at my self-satisfied smile and lifted me to my feet, “I’m going to go and sit on the bed, you are going to strip down to your skivvies, slowly. Then you are going to sit on my face until you cum.”

  “No can do, teddy bear,” I said watching him walk over to the bed. I started unbuttoning my flannel shirt, “Rule number three.”

  “Bullshit,” he growled, “Rule three is no virgins. I assure you Firebug, you are not.”

  “I’ve never...had that done before,” I said, feeling my face flush, “I feel my lack of experience there qualifies for rule three.”

  “No one has ever tasted you?” he asked sitting up straighter on the bed. My shirt was on the floor and I was untying my boots.

  “Never,” I told him. I took my socks off and stole a glance at him before I unbuttoned my jeans. I felt my face flush at the intensity of his stare, “It makes me nervous.”

  “Why does it make you nervous, Firebug?” Ebsen reached out to me and started stroking my bare arms with a tenderness I doubted many knew he was capable of.

  “It also breaks rule one,” I said, finding another argument.

  “If me doing it violates rule one you doing it does too,” he retorted.

  “No, trust me you’d know if I kissed you,” I said, “I lick, I suck, on occasion I even bite. I have never kissed. If I kissed you, you’d break rule two instantly.”

  “I want to taste you, Souli,” he said, breathing down my neck, “I want to make you cum with nothing but my tongue. I want to be between your legs when you writhe moaning my name begging me for more.”

  My heart raced. A new kind of heat filled my body. The unfamiliar sensation was exciting and scary. I was nervous, I was horny, I wanted everything he had to offer, and that scared me. “I don’t know if that’s a good idea,” I told him.

  “Firebug,” one of his hands cupped my breast and the other was sliding down my stomach and tracing the elastic on my underwear he snapped it gently, “the panties I bought you are plaid.”

  The absurdity of plaid panties took me out of the almost romantic moment we’d been having.

  “Plaid? Where on earth did you find plaid-” my words were cut off by his mouth pressing to mine.

  Ranger Yuri, no middle name, Ebsen was kissing me. It was good. My body twisted to press my chest to his. I raised on my tiptoes and cradled his face. I was kissing him back. Fuck Rule one. Rule two was rapidly approaching the exit on the Ebsen superhighway.

  He lifted me and I wrapped my legs around him. He carried me over and laid me gently, almost reverently on the bed. He broke the kiss and started kissing down my body. He paused at the cups of my bra and looked up at me.

  “Let’s ignore the rules tonight, Firebug,” he said, his breath was hot on my chest. He reached behind me and unhooked my bra, “These really are expensive, I’m sorry for ruining two of them.”

  I started laughing and helped him get my bra all the way off, “I’m nervous, Eb”

  “There’s no need to be nervous, Firebug,” he said gently kissing my nipples. His chin stubble tickled my tender flesh as he slowly kissed his way down my body, “Oh sweet girl, your heart is racing.”

  “What if I’m...” I was embarrassed the closer he got, “gross...down there?”

  He raised an eyebrow, his eyes tinged with a bit of sadness, “You could never be gross to me, Firebug.”

  “Well I guess if we’re throwing the rules out the window tonight,” I said shakily, “if it would please you to....”

  I felt the scruff on his face scratch my stomach as he broke out in a massive grin, he leaned back down and kissed his way down to my underwear, he buried his nose between my legs and inhaled deeply. I felt my face flush and I wanted to squirm away, but his arms were wrapped under my thighs keeping my in place. I felt the rumble from his throat through my core. He started rubbing his nose around in a circle, forcing the friction on my clit in slow deliberate circles.

  “Gods you smell so good, Firebug,” he moaned into me, his eyes met mine, “Are you sure you’re ok with this, say the word and we’ll be out at the fire pit roasting marshmallows.”

  He kissed my inner thighs keeping his eyes trained on mine. I nodded and squeaked out, “I’m ok.”

  He smiled and slowly rolled my underwear down my thighs and down my calves, “Beasts woman you are so incredible.” His large warm hand cupped me between my legs. His hands were so warm. I squirmed under his touch and moaned. His breath was warm against my skin as he murmured, “you’re incredible.”

  He carefully slid a finger inside my folds, “Oh Firebug, you’re so wet,” he slid it in and out of me a few times before taking his finger out and licking it. He closed his eyes and groaned, “So sweet, a honey pot for the grizzly bear.” He pressed his lips to my opening, and I felt tiny flicks of his tongue on my sex. I writhed just as he promised. One of his hands crept up to my breast and gently squeezed. His tongue circled my clit as he slid his other hand’s forefinger inside of me.

  “Ebsen,” I whined, “oh Ebsen.”

  His response was muffled but he continued. His fingers more insistent, his tongue moving faster. I felt it building inside me. My nerves were opening. He slid in a second finger and I groaned. He moved them faster, “Come for me Firebug. Let go.”

  I exploded.

  “Ebsen,” I whispered, heart pounding, legs jelly, breath gasping. He crawled up my body and laid next to me wrapping his large arm over my stomach.

  “Oh Firebug,” he kissed my neck gently, “I’ve never met a sexier woman. I could eat you
all night.” He kissed my shoulders and gently pulled me, so we were spooning. He traced his fingers down my side, “My marks are gone.” He murmured in my neck.

  I chuckled, “Took almost a month. Is it weird I kinda miss them?” I pressed my body against him. I loved his warm skin pressed to my back, “You really never had women come back for seconds?”

  “Bears are the fuck ‘em and leave ‘em type,” Ebsen whispered in my hair, “I doubt the shifters I was with even considered it an option.”

  “Are you?” I asked.

  “Am I what, Firebug?” he asked, pressing gentle kisses to the back of my neck.

  “The fuck ‘em and leave ‘em type?” I asked, mentally steadying myself for his answer. He was a shifter. We were different species, different cultures. Rule one and three may have been broken tonight but I didn’t want to risk rule two, I didn’t know if I could handle the heart ache.

  “I’ve never thought to question it,” he said kissing the space on my back between my shoulder blades, “Until I met you. You’ve trapped my bear with your honey sweet voice and smile of sunshine. You’ve consumed my idle thoughts, Souli Barre.”

  “Rule two,” I whispered. His kisses stopped. His weight left the bed.

  “I... I’m sorry, I thought you felt it too,” he said. He was out of bed and racing out of the cabin. He was out the door before I could untangle myself from the sheets. Damn that man moved fast.

  “Ebsen wait,” I called after him, but he was gone, by the time I made it to the door he was gone, “Ebsen! Fuck.”

  I stayed in his cabin that night planning to stay naked on his bed waiting for him to return. He would come back eventually, see me still there and fuck my brains out. After 20 minutes and no Ebsen, I was anxious and needed to do something.

  I decided to make him a pie. The process would occupy me, and show him that I cared. He had some apples. I dug around in his cabinets until I found all the ingredients I’d need. I made the pastry, no Ebsen. I made the filling, no Ebsen. His oven was a pilot light, I wasn’t super confident in it and didn’t want to risk burning his place down. I wrote out detailed baking instructions and put it in his small refrigerator. He still wasn't back. I washed all the dishes in his sink and managed to find my way around enough to put them away. He still wasn’t back.

  I found a pile of his shirts in the corner, I was going to put them in the dirty clothes bag in his closet, but these were the shirts that had lost the buttons. I found a needle and thread in a long-forgotten sewing kit in his closet. I found some buttons and sat on his bed sewing buttons back on the shirts. It was after midnight now. He still wasn’t back.

  I showered in his shower noticing that he’d purchased unscented shampoo and conditioner. They were for me. I really fucked up. I dried off using his towel. I put on my clothes from the day and sat at his table trying to figure out what to say. I found a notebook and a pencil that had no eraser.

  Ebsen,

  I waited and you didn’t come back. I’d like to talk. You know where to find me. --Firebug

  I stole his Maglite flashlight and walked back to the village. No sign of Ebsen or Yuri the entire way there. I crawled into my bed and cried myself to sleep.

  Chapter 12

  I didn’t see Ebsen at all the rest of the week. WAZ was the most active I’d ever seen it. Packs from all across the globe started visiting. I had a near-constant stream of shifters in and out of my office asking for maps, signing up for activities, and requesting any number of random things.

  Every day, I hoped to see Ebsen. I hoped to hear his voice on the radio calling Souli Barre Channel Four. But nothing. I felt my heart ache with his absence.

  Thursday night after my shift I walked to his cabin, I needed to see him. He’d promised to take me camping this weekend, but I couldn’t do that if he wasn’t talking to me.

  Ebsen wasn’t in his cabin. My note was still on his table. I sat on his bed and shed a few tears. I found his shirt from the floor. It still smelled like him. I took off my coat and put it on, I told myself it was because I liked his smell and that I would sleep better surrounded by it. I knew it was really because I wanted to smell like him.

  I added my phone number to the note.

  I’ve missed you this week, Yuri. Call me when you get a chance. -- Souli.

  ✽✽✽

  I trudged back to my cabin. I made it almost the entire way without incident. I reached the outer halo of the village lights and was about to turn in the direction of my cabin when I heard the crunching of dried twigs.

  “Yuri?” I asked, whipping around. I hoped to catch sight of my favorite stalker bear and that he was ready to hear my apology. But the fuzzy butted tawny furred giant was nowhere to be seen.

  ​“Souli!” a voice startled me from my gloom. I turned in slow circles searching for the source.

  ​“Souli! Over here!” I finished my rotation and saw a familiar shape I’d hoped to avoid racing up the path toward me.

  ​“What are you doing here, Sig?” I asked.

  ​“My mom and some of her friends are taking a girls weekend at WAZ and they said I could tag along,” he said, “I wanted to see you and I… what’s wrong? I haven’t see you look this glum since I accidently broke your favorite coffee mug.”

  ​“You know for a guy angling for reconciliation, reminding me that I no longer have my favorite Santa mug isn’t the way to win me over,” I grumbled, “If you’ll excuse me, I have to pack.”

  ​“Pack? Where are you going? Or were you saying pack as in you need to find a pack? Because I have a solution to that particular dilemma.”

  ​“I’m really not in the mood for this Sig,” I grumbled.

  ​“Souli, I know I messed up. But there are things you don’t understand and that’s okay, we’ll work it out,” he pleaded, “Just come for a drink in the pub with me, one drink. I’ll explain it all then.”

  ​“Sig, I just got off work, I have a lot to do and I-“

  ​He stepped in front of me and wouldn’t move until I looked up at his eyes. At one time, just looking into those eyes could turn me into a puddle. Now, Sig’s soft brown eyes only reminded me of Ebsen’s.

  ​“One drink, please,” he said.

  ​We’d reached the Village. The pub was just across the way from my cabin. I could stand here and argue with him until I was blue in the face, but I knew better. When Sig had his mind set to something, there was very little anyone could do to stop him.

  ​“One drink,” I agreed, “As friends.”

  ​He wrapped his arm over my shoulders, and I was too annoyed to shrug him off. The sooner I got this drink over with, the sooner I could get packed for the back country and find Ebsen.

  ​The pub was crowded for a Thursday night. Considering how early in the season it was, I feared how packed this place would be come July and August. No wonder all the staff cabins were so far from the Village. Drunken rowdy shifters probably didn’t make for a good night’s sleep. I’d have to keep an eye on it as the summer progressed. Maybe I could con Ebsen into letting me stay over on work nights in addition to our nights off. If he ever talks to me again.

  ​Sig navigated the pub with little trouble, finding us a small table in the center of the room. He waved at a table of middle-aged women, one I recognized as his mom. She waved back, her face brightened when she saw me and she got out of her chair and ran over, wrapping me in a hug.

  ​“Oh, Souli! You are just as gorgeous as when I saw you at Christmas,” she said, squeezing me into a bigger bear hug.

  ​I guess it was a literal bear hug, considering Sig’s mom was probably also a bear shifter.

  ​“Hi Ms. Laine,” I said, getting out of the hug, “Fancy seeing you here, I didn’t see your name on any of my guest registries.”

  ​“Oh of course not, we came in under Margie’s den,” she waved over to the table where the other middle aged women were watching us with rapt attention, “Didn’t want to ruin the surprise.”

  ​�
��Ma, why don’t you go back to your table,” Sig said through gritted teeth.

  ​“Oh, right, of course,” she said with a giggle, “I’m just so excited!”

  ​“Ma!”

  ​“Talk soon,” she promised before walking back to her table.

  ​“I take it you didn’t tell her we broke up?” I asked, taking my seat.

  ​“You didn’t tell your parents either,” Sig said.

  ​How did he know that? He motioned for me to sit at the table before he disappeared into the crowd to get our drinks. Had he been talking to my family? No, Ronnie would have mentioned it, right?

  ​Sig returned with two tall glasses filled with a bubbly liquid. Champagne? That was really weird. I only ever saw Sig drink honey mead before.

  ​When Sig handed me a glass, I heard a clink. I glanced down into the bubbly liquid. At the bottom sat the largest diamond ring I’d ever seen.

  ​“What is this?” I asked.

  “Souli, I’ve had to live the past two months without you. And I can’t stand the thought of going another day. When we broke up, it was because I said I didn’t want to marry you. It was because I wanted to make you my mate. Now that you’re in my world as much as I am in yours, I realize that we can do both.”

  I closed my eyes willing tears not to come. I had wanted this moment for years. And I froze taking every detail of this moment. He was dressed the nicest I’d ever seen him. He’d worn real dress pants, not just black jeans. His hair was carefully combed not a hair out of place. His eyes were nervous, pleading, desperate. He was still talking. I couldn’t hear what he was saying. I felt my head shake no. My hands were flying to cover my mouth. My fingers got wet. I was crying.

  “I could go on about my love for you for hours, but: Souli Barre,” Sig was crying too, he had a big smile on his face, “Will you marry me?”

  ​My throat constricted. Why now? Why here? I had a multitude of questions but the only one I really wanted to know was where’s Ebsen? Sig’s mom ran over and engulfed me in a hug. Strangers and coworkers surrounded me. Their mouths formed words of congratulations, but my head continued to shake, no. My mouth wouldn’t form the words.