The Bear Prince: A BBW Bear Shifter Billionaire Paranormal Romance Novella (Seattle's Billionaire Bears Book 3)

by Sable Sylvan

  “Your first appetizers will be coming out shortly, so sorry for the delay,” said the waiter. “In the meantime, we have your first beverage of the evening available.”

  The man stood back from the table, aimed the bottle...but instead of popping the cork, he used the saber at his side, aligning it against the neck of the bottle and then, in one smooth motion along the body and neck of the bottle, pushing hard, causing the top of the bottle to come off entirely! A waterfall of champagne flowed, and the waiter deftly filled both of their glasses with the golden bubbly fluid.

  “Wow!” said Crystal. “Damien, did you see that? It was amazing!”

  “Ah, you like swords?” asked Damien.

  “Swords, knights in shining armor with white horses, damsels in distress, you name it,” said Crystal.

  “I guess you are a romantic after all,” said Damien. He lifted his glass. “To romance?”

  “To romance,” agreed Crystal, clinking her glass against Damien’s before sipping at her beverage. “Delicious.”

  “It’s real champagne, from France,” explained Damien. “While that method of opening the bottle, known as sabrage as it includes the usage of a saber, is not exactly typical, neither is finding genuine champagne at many restaurants. You’ll often see cava or prosecco sold as a champagne, and as much as I love California...California ‘champagne’ doesn’t hold a candle to the real thing.”

  “It really beats wine in a box,” said Crystal.

  The waiter came back out with a tray of appetizers which he laid out on the wide table. There were all kinds of goodies, and by the time the entrees came out, Crystal and Damien had tried goat cheese and peach savory tarts, berries with bacon, cheese puffs filled with herbal brie, and a bleu cheese and walnut spread on baguette slices. For both Crystal and Damien, there were filets mignons, small cuts of steak which were exceedingly tender. Although the portions of the steak were small, the appetizers had really filled them up, and it left them with enough room for dessert, the dessert just as exciting as the serving of the champagne, as a cart with two pots of crème brûlée was wheeled out and the waiter used a miniature blowtorch to scorch and caramelize the top of the puddings, before garnishing them with fresh raspberries.

  “Swords, champagne, and fire,” said Crystal. “Those are truly the three most awesome elements for a second date ever.”

  “The evening’s only just getting started,” said Damien, feeding Crystal the top of his dessert, so that she could have some extra berries and caramelized deliciousness melting in her mouth.

  Crystal blushed as Damien fed her the dessert. This was all like something out of a fairy tale, and anyone (Tangie included) could attest that she’d kissed enough frogs to finally earn a prince. “Well, I can’t wait to see what we taste next,” said Crystal.

  Fifteen minutes later, the pair was back in Niles’ limo, and they were headed to the next mystery location...but when Niles next stopped the car, Crystal couldn’t believe where they were.

  “Are you frikkin’ kidding me?” asked Crystal as they stepped out of the car and she looked around, seeing a series of large pillars and columns, with large banners unfurled and revealing what productions were being put on that season. “Damien...is this a joke?”

  “No joke,” said Damien, reveling in the sparkle of awe in Crystal’s eyes as she realized they were really at the fanciest venue in town, the Grand Seattle Opera House. “This is the next part of our evening.”

  Damien led Crystal inside. He showed their passes, and they were ushered up, past regular seating...to a private opera box with a curtain drawn. The box had a large love seat built for two, with a pair of golden opera glasses on each side of the seat, as well as a program.

  “No frikkin’ way,” whispered Crystal as she settled into the surprisingly comfortable plush seat. “Damien, how did you swing that? Scratch that, I won’t believe you anyway. This is amazing!”

  “I’m glad you think so,” said Damien. “Tonight’s show is Orpheus in the Underworld. It’s a French operetta, so it’s not too long, but it’s in French, so you might need to use the program to follow along. It provides English translations.” Damien opened Crystal’s booklet to show her where to read.

  “And it’s just the two of us up here?” asked Crystal.

  “Yes...while some opera boxes are meant to allow the occupants to be seen by everyone, this box is far more private. Many people don’t even realize it exists, so while we can see everyone else...they can’t necessarily see us,” said Damien. “This production is supposed to be a lot of fun, so if—”

  “Shh!” said Crystal, shutting up Damien for the third time that night, but not with her finger this time...but with her lips! She shushed him with a small peck on the lips. “No spoilers, please!”

  “Well, if you end up needing to hold my hand, you know where to find it,” said Damien, and Crystal held Damien’s hand in hers and squeezed.

  The lights lowered, and Crystal watched the opera attentively. She’d never attended an opera before, because tickets in Seattle were notoriously expensive, and although she didn’t know French, she could easily follow along with the plot.

  The story of Orpheus was one everyone knew: Orpheus’s lover dies, he goes to the underworld, persuades the literal king of the underworld, Hades, and his queen Persephone, to release the lover’s soul, by playing beautiful music. The girl’s soul is released, following Orpheus to the surface, but if Orpheus looked back at the girl while they made the journey to the surface, the girl would disappear...forever.

  While the original story was tragic, the operetta was much funnier, with Orpheus and his wife in love with different people, and of course, the operetta had lots of musical numbers, including the famous Infernal Galop, which Crystal recognized as the stereotypical can-can song! The play had lots of lewd and inappropriate jokes, as well as modern special effects added in, like literal fire on stage, and of course, the costumes and makeup were exceedingly well done.

  By the end of the evening, the entire theater had roared with laughter, cried at a few sad points, and finally, gave the actors a standing ovation! During the whole thing, Crystal held onto Damien’s hand, not because any parts were scary (they weren’t) but because Damien’s hand in hers just felt right, more right than anything else had felt in her entire life.

  “That was amazing,” said Crystal, turning to Damien as they clapped.

  “I’m glad you enjoyed it,” said Damien.

  “So what’s on the menu for date number three?” asked Crystal, pocketing the program and the complimentary opera glasses into her purse.

  “That’s the thing...” started Damien. “I want to ask you on a date that would blow this one out of the water.”

  “That’s going to be hard to do,” said Crystal. “But hit me.”

  “What would you say about going down to Port Jameson with me, for a weekend?” asked Damien.

  Crystal didn’t even have to think twice. “Damien, that sounds awesome!” said Crystal. “Pick me up...Thursday night? So we can spend all Friday and Saturday down there?”

  “That’s perfect,” said Damien with a smile. In the back of his head, the bear, that had been watching all these interactions between the man and the woman, the bear that knew that this was more than just a casual date, was roaring and telling Damien what to do, to cut the games, to tell Crystal the truth, and to make that vital link...but Damien hushed the bear. The bear hadn’t known what to do before, and Damien wasn’t about to let the bear rush something that could be the biggest opportunity of his life.

  They went back to the limo and Niles drove them back to Crystal’s apartment. Damien walked Crystal up to her apartment, and left her with a mere kiss on the cheek again, leaving both of them yearning for more. Crystal found herself feeling a feeling she was never expecting to have felt with Damien of all people, but that feeling was better than any glass of warm milk, and helped Crystal fall asleep, with just the feeling of Damien’s kiss against her cheek
burning against her skin as her eyes fluttered shut.

  Chapter Four

  Crystal had filled Tangie in on all the details on Monday night as they got drinks after work. Tangie couldn’t believe that Damien had managed to live up to Crystal’s standards twice in a row, so she insisted on having his contact info just in case he ended up kidnapping her best friend on this third date vacation. Crystal had asked Damien what to bring down to Port Jameson, and packed accordingly for the weather.

  On Thursday evening, when Crystal was about to leave work, one of the girls she worked with came up to her desk, and asked, “Do you know a guy named Damien?”

  “Yeah, why?” asked Crystal.

  “Then you might want to look out the window,” said the girl.

  Crystal turned. Outside the dirty windows of the small newspaper, there was a familiar large black SUV...and a man wearing a thin grey shirt, with dark blue jeans, a black belt, black sneakers, and dark amber aviator shades that were almost as brown as his chocolatey brown hair which was tousled. Of course, he was holding something for her, but instead of a bouquet, this time, it was a large heart shaped box with a big bow.

  Crystal’s face turned bright pink. Of course Damien knew where she worked, she’d frikkin’ told him the first day they met, and on their first date, and it had come up on the second date and over text, but the last thing she expected was for him to actually show up there. All the girls were staring at the big hunk of meat by the car.

  “So is that your boyfriend?” one of the girls asked loudly, and the others giggled.

  “Ha-ha, save it,” said Crystal. “But...yes, we’re going on a trip.”

  “Guess we know why you asked for Friday off...but from the looks of that guy, you better take Monday off too,” said one girl.

  “Honey, if that was my man, I’d need a whole month off,” said another girl.

  “Whatever, whatever,” said Crystal, packing up her things and walking out the building to Damien.

  “Hey!” said Damien, pulling Crystal in for a kiss on the cheek.

  Crystal kissed Damien back on the cheek, but as she pulled away, she heard the familiar sound of her workmates cooing, going “oooh!” as the pair separated themselves. Crystal turned and stared at them but they just waved back. She looked back at Damien. “Damien, why are you at my office?” she asked, frowning.

  “I got off work early, and wanted to surprise you,” said Damien. “Besides, I had something important to ask you.”

  “What is it?” asked Crystal.

  “Crystal...I’ve had a lot of fun with you over these last few weeks,” said Damien. “You’re fun. You’re adventurous. You make my heart skip a beat and take two beats at once, at the same time. You rock my frikkin’ world harder than any woman I’ve ever met. Will you...be my girlfriend?”

  Crystal didn’t have to think twice before asking. “Damien, of course I will!” said Crystal, pulling herself up to Damien to kiss him, on the lips this time, her tongue parting his lips as their mouths became one and they pressed into one another. She could feel Damien’s rock hard cock even through his thick jeans, against her stomach. “But...why are you asking me right now?”

  “We’re going down to Port Jameson, and I know a lot of people down there,” said Damien. “And I want to know if I can introduce you as, you know, my girlfriend, because you matter a lot to me, and I want to be able to shout that from the world.”

  “Well, before we go down to Port Jameson, we’re going to have to swing by my place and get my stuff,” said Crystal. “I didn’t bring my bag to work.”

  “No problem,” said Damien, helping Crystal into the passenger side of his SUV, before they took off.

  The pair picked up Crystal’s bags (Damien carried them for her, of course) and headed down to Port Jameson. The drive wasn’t too long, and on the way, Crystal opened the present from Damien. It was a box of European chocolates and it served as their snack on the way down to the small shifter town, although of course, they stopped at a restaurant on the way to grab dinner because by the time they got down to Port Jameson, every restaurant in town was closed. Damien drove through the dark, small town, all the way up to a mountain, and into the forested mountain, until they reached a house.

  Calling this place a house is like calling the White House a house. Yes, it’s technically a residence of sorts, but, the large mountain manor rivaled almost every other residence in Port Jameson. Damien unloaded the car while Crystal stretched and looked around the outside of the house.

  “This place is frikkin’ huge,” said Crystal. “You rented this for the weekend?”

  “Not exactly,” said Damien. “I have...some cousins who are from the area, and we all pitch in and maintain the place.”

  “Like a time share?” asked Crystal.

  “Kind of,” said Damien. “Luckily, nobody else was using the house this weekend, so it’s all ours. You want a separate room or...do you want to bunk together?”

  “It’s a bit chilly,” said Crystal. “So what do you think?”

  “I think I’d be a terrible host if I let you freeze to death,” said Damien, pulling Crystal close and giving her a kiss on her forehead. “Are you ready to hit the hay, or do you want to watch a movie, or...?”

  “I’m going to sound like the most boring girl in the world, but, is it possible I could take a shower?” said Crystal. “I shower at night, and I’m feeling kinda funky.”

  “Sorry, this house doesn’t have showers,” said Damien. “We’ll have to go wash by the creek.”

  “Oh, okay, works for me,” said Crystal. “Where’s the creek?”

  “Crystal, you fell for that?” asked Damien, hitting his head with his palm. “Girl, what am I gonna do with you? Of course a place this big has showers! And bath tubs, too.”

  “Ooh...can I be spoiled and take a bath?” asked Crystal.

  “What’re you asking me for permission for?” asked Damien. “Let’s get you washed up.”

  “Sounds like you’re inviting yourself,” said Crystal. “So where exactly is this bath tub?”

  “Come on, I’ll show you,” said Damien, leading Crystal into the house and up the stairs to the room they’d be sharing. He dumped their bags on the side of the bed, and then, led Crystal into the bathroom, where there was of course, all the usual trappings of a bathroom, but in the center, a giant heart shaped tub, made of white porcelain, on what looked like a large platform. It was frankly more hot tub than bath tub. Damien opened the various drawers in the luxurious bathroom, which was decked out in dark laminated wood floors with matching cabinetry. He found what he was looking for, put it down on the ground, and pulled out a bunch of large white fluffy towels, two robes, and then...he pulled his shirt off.

  Damien threw the shirt to the floor, while Crystal sat down on a wooden chair in the bathroom and watched Damien strip down. She’d never seen a man as handsome as Damien get nude for her before...and while his broad, firm shoulders, and his thick abs, as well as his strapping arms, were all exceedingly sensual, what enticed her most was a large, strange tattoo on Damien’s chest.

  “What is that?” asked Crystal, going up to Damien as he unbuckled his belt. She walked up and touched the tattoo on Damien’s chest. The tattoo had cleaner lines than any she’d ever seen before. There was a design that reminded her of her favorite flower, a star lily, except the form of the flower was composed of geometric line work, each set of lines forming different shapes, like triangles and diamonds, to compose a whole floral shape. It was a common design motif in the tattoo world, and Crystal had seen her share of handsome alternative rocker types in Seattle, with nice ink to boot, but none had a chest piece like this.

  “It’s a long story is what it is,” said Damien. “I’ll tell you the story sometime. But Crystal...tonight’s all about you. You gonna get out of those clothes?”

  “Somebody’s excited,” said Crystal.

  “Wonder how you could tell,” asked Damien, pressing closer to Crystal so she
could feel his cock against her torso. “How about you take off a shirt, because I took off mine.”

  “Easy,” said Crystal, undoing the buttons on her button up black blouse and revealing her curves to Damien. “You like what you see?”

  “I’ve waited so long to see these,” said Damien, pressing his hands up against her chest and cupping her buxom breasts. “The question is, what do you want to see next?”

  “Let’s get those pants off of you,” said Crystal. Damien moved his hands back and let Crystal pull down the waistband of his pants. He stepped out of his jeans and took his socks off. “Your turn.”

  Crystal unbuttoned her black jeans and pushed them down.

  “The socks too,” said Damien.

  “Wow, really?” asked Crystal. She sat down and removed her socks, tossing them aside into the combined pile of clothes on the floor. In doing so, she moved her legs, and inadvertently flashed Damien the sight of her nearly-nude crotch, covered only by a thin layer of fabric...the panties that were going to get wet that night, one way or another.

  Crystal was in her bra and panties and Damien was just in his boxers. “You’re still wearing more clothes than me,” said Damien.

  “If I take off my bra, you have to take off yours too,” teased Crystal, pressing her hands to the side of her hips and sassing Damien by wiggling her hips back and forth.

  “Hey, I took off my belt, and last time I checked, you weren’t wearing one,” said Damien. “Bra. Off. Now. Or do you need some help with it?”

  “No, I got this bra on myself, I can get it off myself,” said Crystal. She turned away from Damien and undid her ponytail, tossing the ponytail holder aside. She fluffed up her hair, letting it fall over her back and, looking back at Damien, letting the straps of her bra loosen and fall off her soft, rounded shoulders. She then, reached back, with one hand, and unclipped the bra, holding the cups with one hand while she separated the straps from her back with the other, exposing her back and just her back to Damien.