Second Chance Bear and a Baby: BBW Bear Shifter Baby Paranormal Romance (Who's the Daddy? Book 3)

by Harmony Raines

  “Given you a second chance.” Joel looked at him honestly. “You deserve it, Liam. Louisa wouldn’t want you to pine away. She would want you to be happy.”

  “How do you know that?” Liam asked.

  “Because that was what she told me, the night she went out and that bastard murdered her.”

  “I never knew that.”

  “She knew you didn’t want her to go. The guilt of knowing she was leaving you behind must have been unbearable … at the end. Maybe if you find love and happiness again, her spirit will rest more easily.”

  Wiping tears from his eyes, Liam let that news settle in his chest and found the air hard to drag into his lungs. He watched Carla weave through the tables, and the sight of her was like pure oxygen. His chest began to expand. He took a long draw of air, filling his lungs, letting his heart swell. What was done was done. He closed his eyes and asked Louisa for forgiveness and promised never to forget her. He would make a new life for himself.

  And then he forgave her for leaving him, even though he knew she had no choice, and she had fought so hard to stay alive.

  Chapter Five – Carla

  What was she doing? Taking control of her life and having a little romantic fun with a guy who liked her. All she had done was ask him to walk her home. Nothing more.

  So why had she swilled her mouth out so it didn’t taste of the garlic bread she had eaten on her break, and freshened her makeup? Because she wanted him to like her. Just because she didn’t intend to sleep with him tonight did not mean she only wanted him to walk her home. A kiss and a next date would be just fine with her.

  “Hey, you waited.” She had tried to prepare herself for him not to be there, especially when half an hour before her shift ended she had glanced at his table and found it empty.

  “I said I’d walk you home. I am a man of my word.” He smiled and set her at ease.

  “That’s good to hear,” she said and walked past him. He fell into step beside her.

  “I came outside for some fresh air and to clear my head,” he said, looking up at the stars above them.

  Her eyes drifted upwards too. “I love this time of night. Everyone else is in their homes, probably asleep, the world seems so different, so much emptier. After the noise and smells of the diner, I like it.”

  “Me too. Although I’m surprised you walk home on your own at this time of night,” he said, his voice settling down and sounding more normal, not so strained.

  “I wouldn’t walk home alone, there are rumors of bears and wolves in the mountains.”

  “So do you pick a different man each night to walk you home?”

  “No.” She shook her head. “Only tonight.”

  “Then how would you have gotten home if I had said no?” he asked.

  “I would have driven my car.” She pointed behind them. “It’s back there in the parking lot.”

  “Then I am honored.”

  “You should be,” she said flirtatiously. “I sound like Eloise.”

  “The other waitress?” Liam asked.

  “Yeah. She has men falling over themselves to date her.”

  “Date, but maybe not get serious?” he asked, and she glanced at him sideways.

  “There’s nothing wrong with dating a lot of men.” She felt the need to defend Eloise.

  “I didn’t say there was. I’m just glad you’re not like that.”

  “How do you know I’m not?” she asked defensively.

  “Because you already admitted that tonight is different.” His eyes were deep, dark pools of mystery, and they unnerved her.

  “So why did you say yes?” She decided to go on an exploratory expedition into Liam’s past. “When you got to the diner earlier, you were the most miserable person I’ve ever seen. Eloise asked me to swap tables because she said you were a party pooper.”

  He laughed, and then his face clouded over and he frowned. “When I got there, I was.” He walked on in silence, and she let him. This was something she wanted to hear, but she wasn’t going to rush him into baring his soul. “I lost someone.”

  “On the job?” she asked.

  He nodded. “Yes. While we worked the case, the job consumed me. Getting it done, bringing down the drug ring, that was my focus. Then it was over and I had to deal with my emotions.”

  “Is that what I am? A way to deal with your emotions? A way to let off a bit of steam?” she asked, knowing it would hurt if he said yes.

  He shook his head. “I’m not looking for a one-night stand if that’s what you mean. Take all the time you need, Carla, but I can sense that what is between us goes deeper. So much deeper.”

  She stopped and turned to look at him, suddenly realizing they were alone on a quiet stretch of road, with trees either side of it. He could drag her and rape her if he wanted to, no one would see. The recklessness of her position hit her. Then she reminded herself that he was a police officer, he could be trusted. With her safety, if not with her heart.

  “I bet you say that to all the girls,” she laughed, and then took his hand.

  “No. Only one before you,” he said, and pulled her back towards him so she crashed into his hard, toned chest. His finger went under her chin and he tilted her face up to look at him. “This isn’t a game to me, Carla. I hope it’s not a game for you.”

  She shook her head. “It’s not. This is so out of character for me, it’s like I’m another person tonight.”

  “Let’s call it fate that we met, and leave it at that.” He lowered his mouth to hers, hesitating, holding her chin so lightly she could easily have pulled away. She didn’t. She wanted this, wanted to know what it was like to be kissed by this man who spoke to her in a way no one else ever had.

  Carla moistened her lips, and closed her eyes, waiting for him to kiss her, and even though she was prepared, it still made her start when his lips pressed against hers. An electrical charge sparked between them. Her mind exploded as his tongue slid along her lower lip. Sensations flooded her body, leaving her gasping for breath, but who needed to breathe when Liam was kissing her like this?

  Her hands went to his arms and she held onto him, willing her knees not to buckle under the onslaught of arousal that ravaged her body. Damn, he was a good kisser. So good. Her brain didn’t seem able to make any other coherent thoughts.

  Liam’s hand slid around her waist, pressing against the small of her back, so their bodies were so close together even the night air could not flow between them. He was so warm, his body so inviting, his cock so hard as it pressed against her. He left her in no doubt, between his lips, his hands, and his hard length, that he wanted her. Out here, or at her place, it didn’t matter: he wanted her.

  Breaking away, she did something she knew she would probably regret. She took his hand and walked quickly back to her car. “Let’s drive. It’ll be quicker.”

  “Quicker for what?” he teased, his voice husky with desire.

  “If you don’t know what, you are not a good detective.” She opened her car, slid into the driver’s seat, and had the car in reverse before he had his seatbelt buckled up.

  She must be mad. So what, she asked herself.

  It was a short drive to her apartment. Neither of them said a word, not until she had parked the car and opened the front door. Then he took her in his arms and asked her, “Are you sure? I don’t want you to regret me in the morning.”

  “I might,” she said honestly. “But I don’t care. I want this, I want you. So shut up and kiss me.”

  He ignited a flame of desire inside her. Liquid fire ran through her veins, hot, intense, just like the man who held her in his arms. She pressed herself closer to him, needing to know he wasn’t some kind of dream; his heartbeat thudding against her breasts was proof enough. But his lips on hers hammered it home to her, just as her heart hammered in her chest.

  His lips moved, his tongue searching for entrance into her mouth, and she let him in, let his tongue entwine with hers until she couldn’t breathe. Gr
oaning, he pulled back from her.

  “Are you sure?” he asked.

  No, she thought, but she kicked that sensible part of her brain right out of her head and instead said, “Yes.”

  “Bedroom?” Did he mean where was it, or was that where she wanted them to do it? To have sex.

  Her mouth went dry, nerves kicking in. No, no, no, she thought. I am not going to spoil this. I want this, one night if that’s all it is, one night with a man, to let myself feel like a woman.

  “Upstairs, second on the right,” she said.

  In one fluid movement he bent down, and picked her up, cradling her to him as he strode up the stairs with such ease, such power, he was like a god, or a superhero. She wasn’t exactly light to carry; she had always been what was called curvy. Voluptuous breasts, hips you could hang on to. Damn, she could just imagine him hanging on to her hips while they…

  They had reached the top of the stairs and two strides later he was shouldering her bedroom door open, turning sideways to fit them both through the doorway. There he set her down on her feet, holding onto her to give her some support. She obviously wasn’t the only one who was unsure if her legs could be trusted to stay under her.

  Well, her legs might not be trusted, but her fingers knew exactly what to do. She undid the buttons of his shirt, fumbling some as she worked, but that did not distract her, especially when his bronze hard-toned chest was revealed. Resisting the urge to stop and kiss his skin, she kept working, one button at a time until it was open completely, and then she pushed it off his shoulders, looking up for the first time, to see him staring at her, a smile on his face.

  Was she that funny? No, the smile said something else, it said he could stand here forever and watch her, this wasn’t just about lust, it was about wanting, needing, and that left her confused. They had only just met, and this for her was only one step up from a one-night stand, not an emotion-fueled love affair. If he wanted to see her again, she would be more than willing, but she also knew he might just as easily walk out the door in the morning and she would never set eyes on him again.

  The look in his eyes told her that was not going to happen. Ever.

  A shiver passed through her, and she stood on her tiptoes to reach his mouth and placed a kiss there. She wasn’t short, but he must have been well over six foot four, and she was thankful when he lowered his head to meet her lips.

  Soft at first, their kiss deepened, passion filling it, her question answered by him as he gathered her up in his arms and laid her on the bed. Breaking the kiss for one moment, he stood up, took all his clothes off with a speed she could only wonder at, and then came back to her, his body hovering above hers.

  She tried not to let her eyes wander down his body, to look at his cock, but she couldn’t resist. Damn, he was big, just like the rest of him, he was impressive in every way, and tonight he was hers. Curling her hand around him, she stroked him, hearing the hiss of air between his teeth, and his warm breath tickled her skin as he exhaled.

  “I want to see you naked,” he said, and his hands set to work, peeling her T-shirt up over her head, unveiling her bra, and she gave an inward sigh of relief that she had at least put on something half decent. It was black, with delicate red lace, it set off her breasts in just the right way. She hoped he thought so anyway.

  The way he was tugging at her clothes, she wondered if he was thinking of anything other than stripping her as quickly as possible. She giggled. She was sure for all Liam cared, she could be wearing a sack. It was what was underneath that mattered, and as he peeled her panties down over her thighs, he could see exactly what was underneath.

  “One more item of clothing,” he said, his hands trailing up along her thighs, leaving her clit throbbing to be touched, and her sex aching to be filled by him.

  Her breathing quickened. She forgot all about stroking his hardness as his fingers stroked her skin, slowly inching towards the clasp on her bra. Her breasts heaved. Despite herself, she could not control her breathing, or her excitement.

  Then her breasts were freed into his waiting hands. Liam lowered his head and kissed her swollen flesh, his hands cupping one breast in each, his thumbs rubbing over the taut buds as they hardened under his touch.

  She whimpered, her back arching as she offered herself to him. He smiled, she saw it in the curve of his mouth, right before he sucked her left nipple into his mouth and shattered her world. The ache between her thighs grew stronger, the need deeper. Responding to her, he moved his right hand down the length of her body and touched her there, between her thighs. Fingers sliding over her clit, she opened her legs for him, willing him to explore deeper. But for now he seemed content to rub his fingers over the sensitive place that became the center of her world.

  He switched his mouth to her other nipple, and licked and sucked it until she felt her orgasm coming towards her at a rapid speed, but then it stopped, hovering so close, but just out of reach. Liam lifted his head, her eyes caught in his. With a leisurely movement, he slipped his fingers inside her sex, entering her, pushing deeper, his thumb brushing against her clit at the same time. In and out, it took only a couple of strokes before her orgasm hit her squarely.

  She put her hand over his, pressing his hand so he knew exactly the right amount of pressure she needed to make her come. Whimpering, sounding like a wounded animal, she tried to relax and enjoy the sensations flowing through her body, but the tension was too great. Wave after wave of pleasure washed over her, she was thrown out onto a vast ocean, of which she had only glimpsed edge of.

  As her orgasm subsided, he shifted his weight, and she released his cock, so that he could slide between her thighs. He left her no time to recover, the head of his cock pressed against her sex, then he flexed his hips forward, breached her outer lips, and plunged into her. She brought her knees up, wrapping her legs around him, and urging him to take her hard.

  He placed his hand on the pillow next to her head, his fingers gripping it as he fought for control. This was not going to be some leisurely lovemaking, he was claiming her, she could see it in his eyes, which he fixed on her face, watching her as her orgasm claimed her. She couldn’t tell if it was a residue from her first one, or a second all-new climax, but it raced towards her and she reached out and grabbed it, while he impaled her on his cock, over and over, until he thrust forward, hard, one final time, and filled her with his seed.

  Shit, she thought. No protection.

  How could she be so stupid? Why hadn’t he asked her if she was on the pill? What if she got pregnant after this and he left her forever?

  She would raise the child alone. It was something women did every day.

  Chapter Six – Liam

  “We should have taken precautions,” she accused him, sitting up with a sheet pulled across her fabulous breasts, which he just wanted to stroke and kiss until she was ready for him again.

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t think,” he said, sitting up. Of course it hadn’t crossed his mind. Why would it? She was his mate and they were supposed to have children together, cubs that would make their future complete, whole. If that was possible. He still had a part of his heart that would never be whole, even though he saw Carla as his true mate.

  “Well, we should use something next time.” She got up and went to the bathroom, returning with a condom.

  He laughed and took it from her, the tension in him lifting. “Again already?”

  “Well, the first time was quick.” She stood looking embarrassed. “Only if you want, of course.”

  “Oh, I want to,” he said, and grabbed her, pulling her onto the bed. This time he was going to take her from behind, nice and slow.

  “What are you doing?” she asked, as he put his arm around her waist and positioned her on all fours in front of him.

  “I am going to make you come around me so hard you’re not going to know what day of the week it is.” He ripped open the packet and positioned the condom on his cock, hating that he was not going to expe
rience her fully this time. Until he explained everything to her, who he was, what he was, and what she was to him, he was not going to argue with her or make her feel uncomfortable.

  “I never know what day of the week it is anyway,” she teased.

  He leaned forward and kissed her back, trailing kisses along her spine, and entered her slowly. It took all of his willpower not to lunge into her, but he wanted this time to be special. The first time had been hard, fast, and altogether enjoyable, now he wanted to make love to her.

  With one hand on each of her hips, he slid deeper, his fingers digging into her soft flesh, keeping her still, when he could feel her wanting to push back onto him. He was the one in control, that’s what he kept telling himself anyway. But that control was slipping; his brain filled with the need to impale her on his cock.

  His bear’s voice in his head didn’t help. After so many months of being almost comatose, he was certainly waking up and making himself heard. He longed for a family, for cubs to raise, and the loss of Louisa had robbed him of that future; now this second chance had given him a new lease of life. A very loud new lease of life.

  He stroked her inner walls with his cock, moving in and out of her, the intensity of the friction of her skin against his, not completely lost by the barrier the condom put between them. In some ways it helped, it lessened the sensations, giving him a degree of control he would not have had otherwise, not when his brain and his bear were pushing him to move quicker.

  Carla buried her face in the pillow, her hands fisted into tight balls; he could hear the slow moan escaping her as he finally buried himself to the hilt. It felt so good, and he hoped it was the same for Carla. The newness of their relationship, made it hard for him to read what she was feeling. It would take time for him to forge a deep bond with her. This was all so new, so different.

  Louisa had been a shifter too; they both experienced the bond, but with Carla, he would have to move slower.

  He liked that. He liked that they would have to spend time getting to know each other, and the days of having her in his life stretched forward, the nights of having her in his bed only one facet of what he wanted to share with her. Although right now, it was the most important facet.