Rapunzel And The Billionaire Bear: A BBW Bear Shifter Paranormal Romance Novella (The Shifter Princes Book 4)

by Sable Sylvan

  “How would you have known?” asked Lance. “You had no idea who I was yesterday either. To meet a girl who had no idea who I was, and who was able to open up to me without trying to get something from me...I never thought it would happen, but hey, I also never thought I’d go back to being a model for a day.”

  “A day? You promised a few days,” teased Zelda, changing the subject before reaching for a honey bun. She chewed: the soft dough had gotten a bit stale as they’d left the pastries out, but the honey glaze was the real centerpiece. “Lance...these are amazing.”

  “Too bad I can’t really take credit for those,” said Lance. “There’s a little bakery chain I like...Bear Claw Bakery. They’re the best in the business at what they do. I love their bear claws too, but they were all out.”

  “You’ll have to bring me some when you can,” said Zelda.

  “I promise I will,” said Lance. “Not tomorrow: I have to show up late, but the day after?”

  “You better bring at least three,” said Zelda.

  “For you, I’d buy the whole chain out,” said Lance, helping to clear the places and carrying the dishes to the sink. “You do know how to wash dishes, yes?”

  “Of course, that’s easy,” said Zelda, getting a sponge wet with soapy water and getting to work on the plates. “But you can’t just stand there: help me out and dry stuff.”

  “Deal,” said Lance. He picked up a rag and scrubbed the dishes while chatting with Zelda.

  As Lance dried the dishes, his phone started to ring. He looked at his phone and then up at Zelda. “It’s work,” said Lance. “I’d really like to stay longer, but...”

  “Say no more, said Zelda, holding a finger up to Lance’s firm lips. She shocked even herself with her boldness. “You’ve gotta do what you’ve gotta do.”

  “Do you want to do dinner again tomorrow?” asked Lance.

  “That sounds great,” said Zelda with a smile, before teasing Lance. “But you better head out then, if you wanna be done with work in time to see me again.”

  “Fine, fine, I’ll see you tomorrow, princess,” said Lance, pulling Zelda close to give her a kiss on her cheek before he turned and redialed his phone, letting himself out of the apartment.

  Zelda touched her cheek: it was still sore from the slap, but Lance’s warm kiss lingered even after he had left. She hadn’t expected Lance to kiss her, or to give her a small, innocent kiss like that: a man like Lance seemed like the kind of man who would be allergic to romance. The kiss changed everything: before, the events of the afternoon and evening could have been construed as a ploy by Lance to win favor with Lorelei, or to get into Zelda’s skirts...but that small kiss placed the evening as something in the middle.

  It meant that Zelda had just had her first date, ever, and a smile crawled over her face as she realized just what that might mean.

  Chapter Five

  That night, Zelda’s dreams were filled with innocent visions of the moments shared with Lance, from him taking his over shirt off to the jokes he’d told her and the things he’d taught her in the kitchen...and the kiss, that replayed over and over in her head, and she had a smile on her face all night, and into the morning.

  Zelda woke up early, well rested, and got changed into a casual dress and a pair of simple flats. The dress and shoes were designer, like everything in her closet, but she chose the most understated pairing she could, a black dress with small white check marks, and a pair of plain black canvas flats. She brushed her hair back into a ponytail.

  Zelda went into the living room and flipped through the magazines that were left on the coffee table. There were sometimes recipes in the magazines. She found some good looking recipes and then used her computer to order groceries. She had an account with a local grocery store in order to get emergency cleaning supplies, such as paper towels or room freshener, and the store delivered. She made sure to include the passwords in the memo box on the grocery store’s order form page: ‘Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair’.

  Zelda cleaned up around the house: she usually picked up after herself, but she hadn’t around Lance. In her excitement, she forgot to take her pills for the second day in a row. Finally, the groceries arrived, and Zelda got to work in the kitchen, trying her best to follow each of the recipes.

  The door rang ahead of time. Zelda walked over to the buzzer. A familiar voice said, “Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair,” and before he had even finished saying the words, Zelda clicked the button to allow Lance to enter. In a minute he was by her door and he knocked.

  Zelda opened the door, and greeted Lance with a hug, just going for it. Lance smelled the same as always, both cool and minty as well as herbal and green. “Hello to you too,” said Lance, pulling Zelda up for the tight hug.

  Zelda pulled away and looked over Lance. All he was wearing was a tight black shirt and some black jeans. “What’s that?” asked Zelda.

  “Clothes...?” replied Lance. He pulled away from Zelda and looked at her face. There was a huge bruise on her face, and on that day, it was uncovered, no layer of makeup around to keep Lance from seeing it. Zelda had no idea that Lance saw her bruise...until he ran his fingers along her cheek. Zelda cringed.

  “Who did this?” asked Lance. The way that Zelda pulled away from him slightly made him withdraw his hand from the dark mark, a mark that there was no reason he should touch, reasonably, given that he couldn’t make it better with caresses or kisses.

  “It’s just a bruise,” lied Zelda, embarrassed that Lance had seen the bruise. “I must’ve hit my head or something.”

  “Did somebody hit you?” asked Lance, bristling. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up as Lance started to feel the urge to shift, but his own bear held him back, stating that this wasn’t the time for Lance to shift, especially in front of Zelda, who had never seen him shift before, and who would definitely not take a two ton carnivore appearing in her room as a good thing. “Because if they did, I’ll find them and...”

  “And what, in those clothes? I mean, is it a joke or something?” asked Zelda. “Aren’t you freezing cold?”

  Lance couldn’t help but let out a small chuckle before he dropped the topic of the bruise. It was obvious Zelda wasn’t going to give him an honest answer...so he’d just have to ask again later that night, once she was more comfortable around him. “Zelda...I’m a polar bear shifter. Polar, as in Northern hemisphere, lives on the ice?”

  “Yeah, but in your human form...aren’t you cold?” asked Zelda.

  “No frikkin’ way,” said Lance. “Plus your house is hot as heck...hotter than usual. Something smells amazing too.” Lance sniffed the air trying to figure out what exactly was in the air.

  “Any guesses as to what’s in the oven?” asked Zelda.

  “Chocolate cake,” said Lance. “Any human could smell that...but I smell something on the stove too. Are you making potatoes?”

  “I only put those in five minutes ago, how did you guess?” asked Zelda.

  Lance tapped the side of his nose twice with his finger. “Shifter senses, babe, ain’t a thing in the world that can trick them,” said Lance. “I also smell...bacon. No frikkin’ way: loaded mashed potatoes?”

  “That’s where you’re wrong,” said Zelda. “I’m making BLTs for dinner! I know it’s a lunch food, but I wanted to try my hand at simple stuff today, so all that’s on the menu is sandwiches, a potato salad, and a chocolate cake.”

  “You’re a fast learner,” said Lance, walking through the kitchen with Zelda. “I half expected you to burn the place down.”

  “Hey, I’m not stupid, just ignorant of some things,” said Zelda. “But you’re right. I am a fast learner. You’ll be surprised what kind of things I can pick up quickly.”

  Lance was sure that there was no way Zelda knew how dirty she sounded, but the bear inside him had an idea, and was roaring and telling Lance to take his woman to her bedroom and do her. No, the bear was even more impatient: it changed its mind, and wanted L
ance to take Zelda then and there over the kitchen counter. Lance tried to shush his bear, but the bear made Lance’s cock twitch and he hoped that Zelda hadn’t seen it...although the bear wished that Zelda had seen it. Usually, man and beast were allies, but tonight, they were following two different game plans even though the goal was the same: find the fated mate.

  Lance kept Zelda company while she made the sandwiches and potato salad all by herself, although she did commission Lance to help with pulling the cake out of the oven and placing it somewhere to cool, and then, put Lance back on dish duty as she added the last spices to the potato salad. The secret ingredient was dill and just a dash of turmeric.

  “How’s it look?” asked Zelda, carrying the potato salad out to the table where the platter of thick sandwiches sat, ready to be gobbled up.

  “Amazing, honestly,” said Lance. “This is perfect, Zelda. I think the last woman to make me a spread like this must’ve been one of my great aunts.”

  “The women you attract aren’t big into cooking?” asked Zelda.

  “No, they’re more into breaking the bank than breaking bread,” said Lance as he served himself a big dollop of potato salad. “I’ve always valued practical skills in people, and I hope my partner ends up having a bevy of practical skills we can share joy in improving together. I love a girl who can eat...but those are very hard to find, especially in the city.”

  “Why’s it harder in the city?” asked Zelda, trying the potato salad herself. The potato salad was filling and heavy, hitting the spot. The dill was the perfect addition, as it gave the potato salad a ranch-like taste without the need to use actual ranch dressing on the potatoes, a dressing that would have been too heavy. The turmeric gave the potato salad a little bit of a kick too, as well as a bit of a yellowish tinge.

  “Oh, I forgot, you don’t exactly get out much,” said Lance, trying one of the sandwiches. The sandwiches were made with rye bread, which was an acquired taste that Lance had from the business he’d done in Russia, and the bacon was delicious, as was the turkey, although the tomatoes and lettuce weren’t local and fresh, the best they could be, given it was the winter. “Well...the women in the city tend to be a bit...scrawny for my taste. I’m sure it’s what a lot of men like, but they’re just not my style.”

  “Your style?” asked Zelda, confused. “Why wouldn’t you want some model thin girl?”

  “Because I prefer a woman who can take me,” said Lance. “If you know what I mean.”

  “Oh,” said Zelda, blushing. “You mean...”

  “Yeah,” said Lance. “Like that. And shifter babies are big. I need a woman with the curves to handle them and provide for them. A woman with a size zero ass and A-cup breasts would be more at home on a Parisian runway than in my log cabin.”

  “You mean your mansion, right?” asked Zelda.

  “No, I still live in a cabin,” said Lance. “I have a condo in Anchorage, for business trips, and I rent hotels around the world, or stay with relatives, but I’ve never wanted something as big and fancy as Asher Manor.”

  “I’ve seen pictures of it online...it’s amazing,” said Zelda, serving a slice of the thick, moist chocolate cake to Lance before cutting a slice for herself. “Perfect for a prince and princess.”

  “You want me to get you a mansion?” asked Lance. He dug into the cake: it was made using box mix, but the cake was just what he needed. It was something sweet and layered, just like Zelda. The cake was frosted with some German chocolate cake frosting, a simple frosting consisting of coconut flakes with pecan flavors, made with a can as the frosting would have taken Zelda a long time to perfect from scratch...but the combination of nuts, tropical flavors, and deep dark chocolate was perfect, even though there wasn’t any honey for the bear.

  “Me?” asked Zelda.

  “Yeah, you,” said Lance. “A woman like you should be treated like a queen...even if her king’s tastes are different from her own.”

  “And what kind of woman am I?” asked Zelda.

  “A woman who doesn’t just have curves, but brains,” said Lance. “You’re a work of art and an artist. You’re both a foodie and absolutely delicious to look at. You’ve got a sweet tooth and you smell divine. You have curves...and you have heart.”

  “What are you trying to say?” asked Zelda.

  “I’m not trying to say anything...I’ve already said my piece,” said Lance. He picked up his stuff to clear his place, and Zelda followed after with her dishes, loading everything into the dishwasher instead of into the sink this time, as she’d ordered dishwasher tabs. Lance left the kitchen first, heading to the living room.

  Once Zelda was done loading the washer, she headed back out to the main area...but when Zelda turned to look at Lance, she couldn’t believe what she was seeing.

  Chapter Six

  Lance was stripping off his clothes in the middle of the room. It was something out of any hot-blooded woman’s fantasy, and half the women in the Anchorage region’s imaginations hadn’t been able to conjure up anything that matched the vision of Lance, in just a tight shirt and his boxer briefs.

  “What the heck are you doing?” asked Zelda.

  “Getting ready for you to sketch me,” said Lance, turned away from Zelda as he started to take off his shirt. Zelda couldn’t see Lance’s chest, just his strong back, covered with ripples of muscles that were just begging for her to explore them with her fingers and her tongue. “You wanted something new to sketch...how about me, as I was made?”

  “Lorelei said you couldn’t pose nude,” said Zelda, blushing bright red. “Put your clothes back on, Lance!”

  “Couldn’t...or shouldn’t?” asked Lance, putting the hem of his shirt down. “But fine. I’ll be decent and won’t reveal myself to you...yet.”

  “You’re going to pose for me in that?” asked Zelda.

  “I’m still covered,” said Lance. “I’m wearing a shirt and pants.”

  “An undershirt, and underpants,” corrected Zelda. “Fine. If I draw you, will you put your clothes back on?”

  “No promises, but maybe,” said Lance. Zelda walked over and sat on the couch while Lance lay down on the chaise lounge. Zelda opened her sketch book to a clean page and started sketching, first Lance’s structure, and then, his head, before starting to work on his muscles.

  “You like what you see?” asked Lance.

  “Of course,” mumbled Zelda.

  “What was that?” asked Lance.

  “You’re a shifter, I know you heard me,” said Zelda.

  “Hey, I’m a man who knows what I like, and what I like to hear is you flattering me with praise,” said Lance. He flexed a bicep, changing his pose.”

  Zelda blushed. “Stand still. I can’t sketch if you keep moving.”

  “I’m just a pretty thing for you to draw, eh?” asked Lance, moving on purpose to annoy Zelda, who put her sketchbook down, closed, the pencil over the book.

  “Shut up,” ordered Zelda, walking over to Lance to reposition him. “I won’t get anything done if you keep moving, and then what could I use you for?”

  Lance pulled Zelda close by the hand, his strong grip surprising her, although not as much as the fact that around Lance her feet seemed to have a mind of their own and were cooperating with Lance.

  “I know one thing you could use me for,” whispered Lance, looking up into Zelda’s face. “And I know one way you could shut me up.”

  Lance brushed his lips against Zelda’s face as he said this, his lips rubbing back and forth over her mouth, as he teased her, kissing her but also not quite kissing her, not kissing her but still tantalizing her and fascinating her with every motion of his body. Lance took Zelda’s hand and wrapped it around his neck for her as he pulled her waist closer with the other hand so that Zelda was standing but straddling his lap, before he pulled her entirely onto him, pressing her against him, their parts only separated by their clothes.

  Zelda could feel Lance’s manhood harden beneath her sex, which was o
nly separated from his shaft by her panties and by his jeans and boxers, as Lance had pushed Zelda’s skirt away so that she was directly straddling him with her wet panties, each rub back and forth of Zelda’s body over his lap sending her scent into the air and up into Lance’s nostrils, arousing the already excited bear spirit within Lance, a spirit that wanted to mate with Zelda more than anything.

  “I want you so much,” said Lance, rubbing Zelda back before he pulled her close and wrapped a hand around her head, the other around her waist, and kissed her deeply.

  Lance’s lips met with Zelda’s, and he took her in.

  Zelda had never been kissed this way by anyone before: in truth, Lance was the first person of the opposite sex who had kissed her since she’d been sent to the tower, and he was the only person to give her anything more than a chaste chic kiss on the cheek, although his cheek kisses could barely be described as chic or chaste, given how they made Zelda’s panties moister than should be legal.

  Lance explored Zelda’s locks as he pressed into her. Zelda’s thick, long blonde hair covered his hand and he ran his hands through the hair, from base to end, feeling its thickness in his hands. Her hair was thicker than a bear’s fur but softer than a rabbit’s, downy but strong, a rare combination.

  Just as Zelda looked up at Lance, to kiss him back more deeply...it was lights out, literally.

  The lights were out in the apartment and all outside the windows, the usually glistening city of Seattle, a city that rarely slept and always had some shifters ready to cause a ruckus, was dark and black. The only lights were those of the cars in the streets, many honking, as there was a traffic jam due to the lack of electricity to run the traffic lights.

  Zelda remained calm. “Well...I guess that ruined the moment,” said Zelda.

  “We’re just getting started,” said Lance. “But you’re right...you’re going to be freezing in this apartment without power.”

  “I can take care of myself,” said Zelda crossly before crossing her arms of her chest. “I did make a dinner tonight...I think I know how to not die of exhaustion and exposure, bear.”