Romance: My Bear Boss: BBW Paranormal Shapeshifter Romance (BBW Shifter Romance, Paranormal Shifter Romance)

by Ashley Hunter

  “24 years old,” I said. The situation was starting to sink in and fear was rising like a snake out of its pit. I didn’t know what to say and what to do. But Damien was not finished with the story.

  “Now, at first the kingdom was all for it. They tried very hard to find someone for Jacob but couldn’t. Then something happened. One day my father chanced upon Jacob talking to the very Seer who had made the prophecy about him all those years ago.

  The Seer told Jacob that if he can impregnate the virgin, and sacrifice the baby as soon as it is born, then he will be granted eternal life. As soon as my father heard it, he knew what was happening; Jacob is not a benevolent King. He is greedy. He is cruel and above all, he is a coward.

  He fears death. He will not care who dies as long as he lives. Do you understand, Ava? Jacob plans to murder you as soon as he gets the child. And then he is going to murder that child as well. He is a sick man. And I plan to stop him.”

  Finally Damien was done and there was a defiant indignation, a certain righteous anger in his eyes.

  As for me, I was too dumbstruck to say anything. It was no doubt, one of the strangest things I had heard in my life. Bear kings? Shape shifters? Prophecies? Greenworld?

  This seemed right out of a paranormal young adult book.

  “Why did you kidnap me?” I asked.

  “Because otherwise he would have gotten to you,” Damien said simply.

  “I made a promise to my father that I would not let that man find you and kill you. The blood of an innocent would not be spilt. I am your Protector.”

  I didn’t know what to say to that. I always thought I didn’t need protection but here I was, in a world of beasts and non-humans, far out of my element.

  I was scared, I was helpless, I was far from home in the company of an impossibly good looking shape shifter and my head was spinning.

  “Prove it,” I said, challenging him.

  “Prove what?” he said.

  “Everything,” I said. “Prove what you told me. Prove that it is not a lie.”

  He nodded resignedly.

  For a moment he looked downward and it seemed he had fallen asleep while standing up. Then it happened: his limbs started to grow, hair started to sprout out everywhere and his clothes were torn from his body. I recoiled back, the scream that I so wanted to produce, stuck somewhere in my throat.

  Where there stood Damien previously was now a bear: a huge bear with menacing red eyes and sharp teeth. He was looking at me and I felt scared. Can he control himself when he is a bear? Can he think and rationalize like a human?

  These questions were whirring in my head and Damien started trotting towards me. Any sane person would have run at that moment, but I was rooted at the spot. He reached my feet and sat down gently. I breathed a sigh of relief and that was it. I fell down and fainted.

  Fade to black.

  III.

  Light. Finally. The dream is over. I am in my bed. Sleeping. It was one crazy dream.

  I keep my eyes closed, hoping that that way the events of last night which I was more than happy to attribute to a dream were nothing but only that.

  Well, a part of me really hoped that Damien did exist. I slowly opened my eyes and reality came crashing in. The ceiling I was looking at was not mine. The room was not mine. Even the light entering from the window felt alien. I sighed and a knot tightened in my chest.

  Just at that precise moment the door opened and Damien entered. Was it my imagination or did he become ten times hotter overnight? It was actually that he had taken a shower and his wet hair looked alluring to me.

  Then I remembered the bear from last night and recoiled.

  He seemed to have guessed what had transpired in my mind.

  “Don’t worry,” he said. “When I transform, I am still me. I won’t hurt you.”

  He said this and sat on the edge of the bed. This closeness was making me flush.

  “I have bought some clothes for you and there’s plenty of food in the house,” he said. He was saying this in a matter of fact voice, as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

  “How long will I be here?” I asked him.

  He stopped mid-sentence. He knew it was going to be an answer that I wouldn’t like.

  “For now, as long as it takes to protect you from him,” he said.

  “I don’t need protection,” I said, defiantly, though my conviction was shaky.

  “Yes, you do,” he said firmly. “This is a world you know nothing about. It isn’t your world out there. Here the enemies don’t play by any rules. Jacob knows no mercy. He will cross any line he has to in order to get to you.”

  He got up and started pacing up and down again. I noticed that he did that when his brain was working, when he was agitated.

  “Right now, the only thing standing between him and you is me,” he said.

  I rolled my eyes.

  “You think too much of yourself,” I said coolly. “He hadn’t been able to find me for so long. What makes you think he could now?”

  “Because he is desperate now,” Damien said, hatred in his eyes. This emotion did not suit him at all. There was an ugly look on his face. “There is nothing more dangerous than a cornered animal.”

  The metaphor fit.

  “So, what? We continue to play house here like some couple? Like this is normal?” I said, my desperation getting clearer by every word.

  “Listen,” Damien said and looked me straight in the eye. “I know this must be frustrating and hard to understand but believe me when I say that I am the only friend you’ve got right now. Jacob has got everyone convinced that you are answer to their every problem.”

  I nodded, the gravity of the situation dawning me every second and it was not going to be easy.

  “Why?” I said, in a low voice.

  “Why what?” he said, looking puzzled.

  “Why do you care about me so much?” I said, looking at him, trying to decipher the thoughts behind those eyes.

  He looked at me and a strange expression came on his face.

  “Because I made a promise,” he said, stone faced.

  “Is that the only reason?” I said, my words carefully weight, my eyes trying to catch the slightest movement of his jaw, the tiniest flicker of his eyes, something that would prove to be the window to his emotions.

  There was a pause.

  “Yes,” he said and started walking towards the door. Just as he was about to close it, he turned and said. “And no.”

  IV.

  Day 4

  It had been three slow days for me. I had not seen much of Damien these past few days except maybe for dinner. Every time the conversation was scarce and it seemed that he regretted that momentary lapse in discretion.

  He had barely said three words and they seemed to be weighing on his mind. Despite being a shape shifting bear, he was not much different from an average boy. They say something and then go to all the trouble of pretending it didn’t matter.

  Damien seemed to be having an off day from whatever he did when he wasn’t here. He was sitting in the parlor and reading a book when I walked in.

  “I want to go out,” I said. I knew it was not really possible but I had to try.

  He looked up from his book.

  “You can’t,” he said.

  I sighed. “Can’t blame a girl for trying.”

  I sat down on an empty chair beside him. Few minutes passed in silence as he pored over the book. He was so serious all the time. I should be the one all somber and full of despair, being the one kidnapped but he was playing the part of the sad one really well.

  “How old are you?” I asked him, without any preamble or much of thought. I just wanted to have a conversation. It was getting on my nerves, cooped up in a house, all alone.

  “What?”

  “How many years have you seen? Human wise?” I said.

  He smiled and I flushed. There is something about that smile. It starts from the eyes and ends on the
lips. That’s not the usual way.

  “Twenty-six,” he said.

  “Such burden on such young shoulders,” I said.

  He shrugged but didn’t say anything.

  “Is it me or are you usually this quiet?” I said, not giving up. For once in my life I had someone easy on the eyes in my presence and nobody else to distract him.

  “I believe that if you have nothing to say, better keep your mouth shut,” he said, seriously.

  “Oh, message received,” I said, putting my hands up.

  “Ha ha,” he laughed, music to my ears. “Not talking about you. Besides you make me nervous.”

  I felt heat creeping up my neck. Me? Poor old curvy Ava? Make someone nervous?

  “What, me?” I said, trying to laugh off the whole thing, but hoping that he would elaborate.

  He seemed to be blushing and it looked infinitely more apt on him. His eyes moved away from me and an impish grin was on his face.

  “It’s just that---,” he began but seemed to second guess it.

  “Nothing,” he sighed. I deflated.

  “Do you have a wife? Do you guys have wives?” I said, trying to change gears and save him any more embarrassment.

  “Yes, we do,” he said, jumping on the opportunity to change the topic. “But I don’t. Not yet.”

  As he said those last two words his eyes locked at mine but quickly shuffled back. I didn’t get what was on his mind but one thing was clear: he desperately wanted to say something to me but was either too shy to say it, or unsure if it should be said at all or not.

  “Do you plan to?” I said.

  “One day, sure. But have to find someone first.”

  Something in my heart soared. He didn’t have a girlfriend. And despite the predicament I was in, and quite possibly mortal danger, something like a balloon inflated deep inside my chest.

  Day 5

  Most of the next day passed without any event, except that I was getting more and more restless by the minute. This whole uncertainty regarding how long I would be a prisoner was taking its toll.

  I needed a definite answer, a number but Damien was not volunteering that information. I was aware that he didn’t know at this point, but that did not stop me from asking the question time and again.

  I walked to the library and found the book that Damien was reading yesterday. It was a really thick book without a discernible title. It was old and the pages seemed to be torn away at the edges.

  I opened it at the page that Damien was reading. It showed some kind of family tree. I could trace the origin of this to hundreds of years ago and before I could reach the bottom, there was a sound behind me.

  I turned immediately and Damien was standing in the doorway. His head was tilted to a side and his arms were folded. God, did he try or did he always look this alluring?

  “I see you have taken a liking to my family tree,” he said pointing at the book in my hand.

  “I was bored.”

  “I can’t blame you,” he said, and he looked genuinely sorry for this. He closed the gap between us and my breathing seemed to have increased in those two seconds.

  “You asked me so much about me but never told anything about yourself,” he said.

  Is he really this close or am I imagining things?

  “You know everything about me already?” I said weakly. This closure was not helping my nerves. At all.

  “Barely the surface,” he said. His voice was low and that only made it sexier.

  “What do you want to know?” I asked him.

  He moved in a circle around me so that he was behind me. I was rooted at the spot. What the hell was going on?

  “Like, how is that a woman like you,” he said, his lips close to my ears. “A woman like you is still a virgin?”

  I was stumped. I was fuming. It was a totally unexpected and, not to mention, insulting question to ask. Now my heart was beating faster, but it was anger this time.

  “What do you mean?” I said through gritted teeth and turned to face him.

  “Just that I can’t believe someone being able to resist you.”

  If I was stumped before, now I was stupefied. This shifted gears more quickly that I had anticipated. I opened my mouth to say something but then closed it again.

  “Well,” I began. “I have done stuff. But as you can see, boys weren’t exactly lining up to get with me.”

  “Nonsense.”

  “What is?”

  “You think too little of yourself,” he said this and without warning kissed me.

  I was in heaven. It was the strangest feeling in the world: to be desired so much that the other person loses all control. Damien’s lips were playing music with mine and it was beautiful. I was lost in the moment but it ended too soon for my liking. Our lips separated and Damien looked abashed.

  “I’m sorry. I don’t know why I did that,” he said and started pacing up and down.

  I followed his movement.

  “Don’t be,” I said and took his hand and stopped him. He looked at me.

  “Don’t be sorry,” I said and pulled his face to mine. This time the kiss was more passionate. This time both of us were all in. This time we knew it was what we wanted, all the way.

  His hand made his way across my ample body and I wandered in his body; it was all hard and muscly in all the right places. His fingers fumbled with the buttons of my shirt, and his lips looked hungry to continue the kissing that had been momentarily broken to get rid of the clothes.

  He managed to unbutton my shirt and took it off. He threw it in the corner. Usually I would have cared, but at this moment it was the last thing on my mind. He traced the curves of my chest with his hand and placed his lips on my neck. I buried my fingers in his hair and lost myself in his kisses.

  “Take off your clothes,” I said in a voice that I had never heard before. He stopped kissing me and I groaned.

  He took a couple of paces back and took off his shirt. I gasped. He looked a little red. I quickly closed the gap between us and crushed his lips with mine. Both of our hands were exploring parts of our bodies and it was clear that this passion promised unspeakable things.

  We were both too in the moment to go to a bed. Before long, there were no clothes impeding our actions. We had moved to a couch in the room and Damien was on top of me, his lips had replaced his hands and were exploring my body.

  He placed a trail of kisses from my lips all the way to my stomach, spending quite some time on my breasts. The feeling was unlike I had ever experienced. I had had some boyfriends over the years but it never really worked out and this was by far the furthest I had gotten with a guy. And it was awesome.

  His body was all hard and contoured. When he was done kissing my body, the last place being the inside of my thighs, he brought his lips back to mine.

  “God, this is better than I thought,” I said, hoarsely. I was surprised that I still could talk.

  “Are you ready?” Damien said in between kisses. He didn’t need to say for what. I knew. I just nodded a kind of nervous excitement in my gut.

  And just like that, Ava Williams wasn’t a virgin anymore.

  We lay on the couch, still naked, with Damien spooning me. It felt…so right, at this moment, enjoying this with Damien. He was softly kissing my shoulder and neck, now and again and I giggled whenever he did that.

  I ran my fingers across his cheek. He took my hand in his mouth and kissed it.

  “So, that was that?” I said. “Sex.”

  “Yes,” he said and kissed me on my back. I squirmed whenever his lips touched my bare skin.

  “The moment I saw you, I knew I wanted you,” he said.

  “The moment you kidnapped me, you mean?” I said. He chuckled and flipped me around so that I was facing him and was on top of him. I moaned.

  The feeling of his naked skin beneath me was too much. I wanted more. Just after one time I had become insatiable.

  “You wanted me? Despite all this,” I said in
dicating my extra curves.

  He moved his lips to my waist and kissed it.

  “Every single inch,” he said and my heart melted.

  “Then take me,” I whispered. “Take me and make me yours.”

  “Your wish is my command,” he said, his words reverberating through my skin because he had said this with his lips against my chest.

  I was still on top of him and he placed his hands on my sides as I straddled him. I wanted to try out this position. It seemed fun.

  It was. A lot of fun.

  The next few days were a haze of sex and romance. Anytime that Damien was here, we would be on to each other. There wasn’t a room in the house which we had not despoiled.

  The initial reserved Damien had transformed into this loving person, who genuinely wanted me and I could not get over that feeling.

  V.

  One such night, Damien and I were huddled together by the fireplace in the parlor. It was a cold and rainy night, not unlike one during which I had been brought to this place. It all seemed part of a different universe, a different story. It seemed as if it had not happened to me but to someone else.

  Damien had arranged some wine and we were sipping that. It made for a pleasant moment. My head was crooked in his shoulder and he was playing with my hair. I felt so happy and lucky. Never had I thought I would find somebody like him.

  “What are you thinking?” he said, kissing my neck. It weakened my eyes. Whenever his eyes touched my neck, my whole body shuddered, as if an electric current had just passed through it.

  “About you,” I said, teasing him and not entirely untrue.

  “Oh, really,” he said as his hands found their way to the front of my body and landed on my breasts. “What about me?”

  I closed my eyes and enjoyed what he was doing.

  “Oh, nothing in particular,” I said, and my voice got all hoarse and raspy. “Just the things you would do to me. And I to you.”

  He laughed and one of his hands started its journey downward. I knew where it was headed to and I squirmed with lust and wanting.