Bearllionaire Stepbrother 1 (Bear Oaks Book 1)

by Edith Hawkes

But for now it was just me, the sunshine, and my boots.

  * * *

  The late afternoon sun ducked behind the neighbouring mountain range, casting the east side of Scarfell into shadow. I rubbed my arms as the prickle of gooseflesh made an appearance upon my skin.

  I’d accidentally wandered off the trail – stupid of me, really – but I’d been too preoccupied with the wildflowers to notice.

  No biggie, though. I’d find my way back. Scarfell was only so big, after all.

  Suddenly, from above came a deafening growl, and I stopped dead in my tracks. My heart thudded in my chest as I tried to pinpoint the source of the noise.

  What I saw next made my blood run cold. I was eye to eye with the largest creature I’d ever seen outside of the city’s zoo. A dark brown bear threatened to charge me.

  I stumbled back, my heel caught upon a rock or stone, and I went down hard.

  Oh shit. That’ll teach you for pretending to be Lara Croft!

  Not wanting to but knowing I needed to, my eyes left the bear and searched for something, anything to defend myself with.

  What had all those wildlife and survivalist shows advised? I wracked my brain trying to remember. Was it best to run, charge the bear and bop it on the nose? No, that was sharks I was thinking of… I was sure.

  Fuck it.

  If I was going to die, then I’d die fighting, standing on my feet.

  I pushed myself onto my knees then upright. I’d twisted my ankle, but I knew I couldn’t show any weakness if I was going to get out of this alive.

  Going against everything my brain was telling me, I stepped forward and roared as loud as I could. I sounded ridiculous.

  But to my astonishment the bear stopped its advances and stared at me with what I could only assume was puzzlement on its chunky face.

  Not wanting to give up my advantage, I repeated my step forward and bared my teeth.

  Bad idea…

  The bear did not take kindly to my continuous show of aggression and reared up onto his hind legs. He waved his lethal, razor sharp claws at me. Pretty sure he wasn’t after a manicure.

  Nice pooh-bear… please don’t eat me.

  Maybe it was time to run, I considered, but with my ankle hurting the way it was, there was no way I’d get away.

  Out of the corner of my eye I saw a large brown blur to my left, streaking through the trees. Whatever it was, it was moving fast and heading straight for me.

  Not another one!

  I couldn’t help but scream as another bear pounded up the mountain side. The original one decided he had first dibs to eat me, and he bolted towards me.

  I must be the unluckiest person alive to run into two bears at once on a bloody fenced-in mountain.

  There’ll be nothing left of me once these two are done shredding me to bits, I thought.

  My knees trembled at the size of the two beasts, and I hunkered down on my haunches, ready to assume a fetal position. At the last minute, before I bowed my head and accepted my fate, the second large bear veered off, barely missing me. For a second I could’ve sworn I’d dreamt it, and I was perhaps already dead, but I’d felt the rush of its breath as it grunted past me. I saw no deadly hunger in its eyes.

  The two bears clashed a few feet away from me. Claws flying everywhere and gnashing teeth sounds that made my stomach curdle.

  This was my chance, I thought, as I slowly backed away from the pair.

  Run you moron… Get out of here while you can!

  Careful to avoid stepping on anything that would distract the bears from their fight, I rapidly moved away, grinding my teeth as the pain from my ankle urged me to stop. But I wouldn’t; I could endure a little pain if it meant I’d keep breathing!

  In the distance the roars became whimpers. Guilt filled my thoughts, and although I nearly become a bear’s chew-toy, I would never wish harm upon a living creature. But I was also grateful to the beast that saved me, whether that was its intention or not…

  I didn’t dare look back, but rustles behind me made me stop. Please, not again, I thought, this time on the verge of tears.

  With minuscule movements I turned my neck and slowly glanced over my shoulder.

  I almost screamed again.

  I’m in shock… that has to be it. I’m seeing things, going crazy.

  Turning to face my follower, I blinked rapidly in attempt to understand what I was seeing.

  My saviour, the large brown bear, was shrinking before my eyes. Patches of pink started to show through, in between clumps of matted, bloodied fur.

  I gulped as the transformation was complete. Before me, the hulking bear that had been there moments ago was now replaced with a familiar face, a very naked and bloody face.

  “Hi, sis,” Jake said from where he sat in front of me, without a scrap of clothing on his taut, sweaty body.

  Oh, lordy me.

  Eight

  Jake

  What the hell was I thinking going after her? I knew the risks of my transformation wearing off after expending that much energy trying to keep Doug from ripping her, and me, to shreds.

  Doug was bad enough when he was in human form, but when he turned he lost every scrap of his humanity; he just couldn’t keep himself in control. I should’ve known this was going to happen. I berated myself; I should’ve understood his concerns and planned better.

  But it was too late now… the damage had been done. I now had to deal with Jessica.

  “What… What are you?” she stammered as she walked closer. Her eyes were moist; she’d had a bit of a fright, but from her scent she was more curious than fearful.

  She stepped nearer, her arm reaching out as if she were about to touch me. It shook, but then her hand smoothed over my forehead.

  “You’re hurt - bleeding,” she said and looked around frantically.

  “You’re not scared?” I asked, a little bewildered by her non-reaction. She must be in shock. She isn’t thinking straight.

  Jess knelt down between my legs and studied my wound.

  “Jake, this is really bad.” She was right; the cut on my scalp had been deep. Doug hadn’t held back.

  Without another thought, Jess grabbed hold of the edges of her tank top and peeled it off above her head.

  “What are you doing?” I asked, more surprised than anything. I suddenly became acutely aware of my naked body as her bra and mammoth goodies were inches away from my face. If I stuck out my tongue I would be able to taste her. She straightened up and pressed her top against my throbbing head.

  That wasn’t the only thing that was throbbing, and I had to look away from her chest.

  “Stop squirming, you’re going to make it worse,” she said in a demanding tone. It was right then I knew I was in trouble; her feistiness was sexy as hell. I’d watched from a distance as she’d stood her ground with Doug, not believing what I was seeing. She was strong and oh so beautiful, and I wanted her to be mine.

  My hands desperately wanted to wrap themselves around her hips and over her full bottom, but I dug my nails into the dusty floor beneath us to keep from giving in to temptation.

  I wondered what her reaction would be to that… she seemed perfectly accepting of my transformation before her eyes, and I could sense she was feeling the spark between us, too.

  No, Jake. She’s in shock. Keep your paws off her.

  “Jess, I’m OK. I heal quickly,” I said, hoping to ease her worried face.

  Jess, happy with the make-shift bandage she’d made, bobbed back down, and I couldn’t help but watch as her tits wobbled in front of me.

  She saw where my gaze had landed. She gasped and covered the shelf of her creamy tits with a hand, only then realising she was indecent. Her eyes went wide again after looking down and seeing my rigid cock between her legs.

  “Oh, god,” she whimpered and nibbled on her lip. Her round face turned a glorious and adorable dark shade of pink.

  Before she could get to her feet and back away out of my reach, my hand c
lamped down on her hers, keeping her on her knees before me. I couldn’t stop myself.

  “Jess?” I whispered.

  I could hear her breathing escalate into a frenzy, and when she finally tilted her head, braving a look into my eyes, I pulled her close into an unforgettable kiss.

  As our lips touched, a jolt of white lightening pulsed through my body, right to the very tip of my stiff cock.

  At first I controlled my speed, relishing the taste of her plump lips and wet tongue, but before I knew it my fingers were at the back of her neck, tangled in her thick hair. Urgent and frantic, I wanted her so badly.

  Her chest pressed against my hard body. She wanted this as much as I did, I thought. Jess’ hands were clawing at my shoulder blades, and I growled in pleasure.

  How was she doing this to me? She was making me feel like I could never be without her.

  We came up for air, not daring to say a word. We both knew how wrong this was, how crazy and awkward it would make our lives.

  She panted with her mouth parted. Her lips were red and partially swollen from my roughness. I moved in to take her again.

  “No, we can’t do this,” she moaned. But the look in her longing eyes said otherwise. Her tongue moved across her ruby lips, wetting them as she caught her breath. She wanted me to kiss her again, she was almost daring me to, but before I could say another word, our moment together was interrupted.

  “You son of a bitch!” Doug screamed from beyond the trees behind us.

  He stalked towards us and I released Jess and stood to face him. Jess’ top, now soaked in my blood, fell to the ground.

  “Don’t come near her,” I warned, a deep growl emanating from inside me. My head roared in protest at the loudness of my voice but I ignored the pain, I had bigger issues to deal with. My protective instincts had shot up higher than ever before - I wasn’t going to let him harm her or come close to her again. She’s mine! As soon as I thought those words I knew it was true. There was nothing I wouldn’t do to protect her, to keep her by my safe by my side.

  “You’re a fucking hypocrite! You say you have our best interests at heart but then you let this sub-species onto our land, threatening our way of life!” His lip curled as he spat the words in disgust.

  “Hey!” Jess shouted, knowing full well when she was being insulted. She stood behind me, using my body as a shield, more so to protect her modesty than for actual protection, I thought, but she was ready to go up against Doug if it came to that. This woman could no doubt handle herself in a fair fight.

  “Wait, why is he naked, Jake?” she whispered. “No fucking way…” The realisation hit her hard like a smack to the face. I almost chuckled at her response and with a quick glance over my shoulder I saw the shock in her eyes. Like before she wasn’t scared, shocked yes, but curious and wanting to know more.

  Doug moved closer and my head snapped back to focus upon him.

  “Doug, this is my land. You don’t like the way I do things here, you know where the gate is.”

  “You do realise I could’ve killed her? She has no right to be here; it’s not safe!”

  “Doug,” I said firmly, making sure he knew it was an order, “go home. I’ll come talk to you in a bit once you’ve cooled your heels.”

  He shook his head, “Nah, don’t fucking bother. I see where your priorities lie. The others won’t be happy about this when they hear about it… We’re supposed to be family.”

  “Oh, come on, Doug. We are family, but be reasonable!” I shouted as I took a step toward him, but he was already walking away, disappearing through the trees. It was no use talking to him when he was in a raging state. I’d have to figure something out to make him see reason. Just another fire I’d have to put out. Add it to the ever increasing long list of shit pilling up at my door. If it wasn’t clan members making mountains out of molehills it was outsiders doing their best to make trouble.

  Yes, I’d fucked up; I let her get too close to the east side of Scarfell where clan members could let their guards down and be themselves. I’d been selfish, content to watch her as she admired the land she walked, not realising she was in danger until the last second.

  I had only myself to blame, and I had to make it right.

  Nine

  Jessica

  “So, are you not going to talk to me now? Is that how it’s going to be?” I asked, fuming. For that mile or so he’d been giving me the silent treatment. I had a right to know what was going on. I nearly was dog food, for Pete’s sake!

  My head swirled from everything that had happened: hunted by an angry bear, having another bear rescue me, then that bear turning into a real-life stud of a guy… then, oh god, the kiss.

  I kissed my stepbrother… and he kissed me back. What have I done? Oh, but it was so good and I wanted to do it again.

  I forced my eyelids closed and pinched myself. Opening one eye, nothing had changed. Yup, I was still half naked. How I was going to explain that to my dad, or to anyone who saw me for that matter, I did not know.

  “Jake! Will you stop for a moment?” I slammed on my brakes and dug my heels into the ground. I wasn’t going to move another muscle until he started talking, or at least acknowledged how fucked up the situation was. I couldn’t say the words out loud, but he was a bear, and he really needed to start putting words into a sentence and explain it to me in simple terms before I lost my mind.

  He whirled around once he realised I wasn’t following anymore. My throat contracted at the sight of his full on nakedness; I’d been admiring his steel-like buns, but goodness gracious, the front was a whole load more stimulating and my insides responded with a thundering pulse.

  “What?” he demanded and covered his manhood, preventing my eyes from drifting downwards. Shame, I thought and giggled to myself.

  Will you behave? This is serious, Jessica.

  “What do you want to know?” he repeated, his jaw clenching. He was sexy when he was all riled up. I could see the rapid vibration of a pulse at the side of his trunk-like neck; he was not a happy puppy. Wait… wasn’t that werewolves? Nope, I could not take this seriously - I’d crash landed into an alternate reality; that was the only possible explanation… or I was dreaming extremely deeply? Since when did humans start transforming into other creatures? Had I missed a memo?

  “Well, you never answered my question,” I said and squared up to him, hands on my ample hips.

  “Which was?”

  I inhaled quickly getting ready for what I was about to say.

  “What are you?”

  He sighed. “That’s a long story.”

  “I ain’t busy,” I replied. “So, start talking fuzzball.”

  “Yeah, well if you hadn’t noticed I’m furless at the moment and literally freezing my balls off here. Plus, you are in need of some clothes, too. Not to mention the storm cloud above us is about to rip open and let loose. So if you want to stay here and have a good old natter and get soaked in the process, then be my guest. But you’ll be doing it alone.”

  He turned and continued on down the path, leaving me to decide whether or not to follow. And, of course, I did what any self-respecting woman who was wearing teeny tiny shorts and a bra would do: I hurried after him, you’ve won this round! I scolded internally, and made sure to tread carefully. The last thing I needed was to go ass over tit and do some serious damage to my already swollen ankle.

  * * *

  We made it back to civilisation, or at least, what passed for civilisation up here. I could see our lodge just beyond the treeline. Maybe once we were inside he’d open up to me.

  “Stay here,” he ordered. In a flash he was gone, while I was left to hide behind a tree trunk shivering. As he predicted, the heavens opened up; the rain filtered down through the canopy, splashing heavily onto my already cold skin. In the time it took Jake to get to the lodge, put some clothes on, find me a sweater and then get back, I was already drenched.

  Back by my side, he handed it over, and I pulled it on
grateful the tiny bit of warmth it gave my freezing body. I noticed my tank top was long gone, and his wound had already closed up. Raising my eyebrows, I reflected – he did heal quickly.

  “Are you just going to stand there, or don’t you want to get warm?”

  “As long as I get some answers,” I quipped at his retreating back.

  “We’ll see.”

  After a quick stop in my bedroom for dry clothes and my en-suite bathroom for a towel, I hurried back to the main den that was filled with plushy couches and a huge roaring fire. But Jake was nowhere to be found.

  He better not make me hunt him down – I needed answers, goddamit! No, what you need is his hot body to warm you up, my inside voice teased. It was just one time I told myself. It could never happen again; the kiss was a silly mistake, and I tried to stop myself from thinking it meant something.

  I let my aching, shivery body fall into the sofa cushions and rubbed my head vigorously with the towel. My hair was already ruined from the rain, and I’d have to deal with tight curls in the morning, but for now I just needed to get it dry - no point getting a crick in my neck on top of everything else.

  “And where the hell have you been? Oh…” I trailed off, my mouth watering, as Jake walked into the room. But it wasn’t Jake making my saliva glands run amok, well, maybe he contributed a little bit…

  “Here, eat. I brought you some food,” Jake said as he flopped down beside me – fully dressed, I noted sadly – with a plate in his hand, piled high with ham and cheese toasties.

  Oh, mother Mary, what was I going to do? Never had a man encouraged me to snack on fatty goodness, not to mention make it for me, too. My new stepbrother was a god.

  “What? No fancy caviar or smoked salmon?” I feigned disappointment.

  “Maybe, later.” He winked.

  Not standing on ceremony, I stuffed my face, taking small bites at first, trying to be ladylike, but it was too delicious to eat delicately. And Jake didn’t seem to care as he watched me devour half the plate, his eyes encouraging me to take more.