It took her a few minutes to stop shaking and get in her car. It even took her a few tries to get her seatbelt buckle into the slot. When she arrived home, she unpacked her groceries, and touched her face. She was still crying.
She called Jeanette and told her that she was sick. She apologized profusely and promised to keep her updated. Then she turned off all the lights in her house, set the alarm and crawled under the sheets. She was cold, despite the thick duvet. She took deep breaths and tried to decide what to do.
Her phone vibrated, startling her out of her thoughts. She pealed the sheets back and looked at the caller ID. It was Brian.
“Hello?” her voice had none of its usual pep.
“Carrie? Sweetheart, are you okay? Jeanette told me you were sick.”
“Um, I’m okay.”
“I don’t believe you.”
“I’m fine. I promise.” Better to keep Brian at arm’s length, it would protect them both.
“You don’t sound fine.” His voice was gruff. He was in alpha-male protective mode. She knew it would be hard to shake him. “Do you want me to come over? I can bring you soup or something.”
“I, uh,” her voice wavered. She wanted Brian with her so much. She wanted him here to hold her, to keep her safe. She wanted to tell him about the Tribe’s threats.
“I’m coming over. I’ll be there in twenty minutes,” he growled into the phone. “Stay on the line with me.”
“Okay,” Carrie whispered. She pulled the covers back over her head and brought the phone with her. She listened to his voice as he talked to her. He told her about some of the funny calls he’d been on. He told her about the time Will flipped his bike over and the kickstand went through his calf. It was a gory story but he made her laugh.
“I’m outside, darlin’. Let me in.” She slid out of bed and padded to the front door. She looked out the peephole to confirm that it really was Brian. She turned off the alarm and let him in.
He scooped her up, and held her tightly. “Brian,” she whispered his name against his chest. He closed the door and walked to the bedroom with her. He kicked off his shoes and climbed in. He pulled her close, and she cuddled into his warmth.
“Tell me what’s going on,” the demand was soft, but still a demand.
And then she told him everything.
Two days later, Carrie was in Jeanette’s bar before opening with all the Clan’s bikers. There were a lot more of them than she had assumed. She recognized Brian’s good friends, and sat near them as Brian explained what was happening.
As he was talking Will, the gorgeous, dark haired bear, looked at her. Anger in his eyes. “They’re harassing you?” The growl that came from him would have frightened her if she weren’t already so scared of the Tribe. “No one fucks with one of our people.” For a moment, Carrie was flattered at being considered one of the Clan’s “people.”
Brett put a hand on her shoulder. “We’re not going to let anything happy to you. We protect our own.” She raised an eyebrow at his pronouncement. Carrie wasn’t sure what to think about how quickly the shifters had accepted her as one of their own. She had only been dating Brian for a few weeks.
Brian finished speaking and let someone else take the podium. He crossed over to them and sat down next to Carrie. She looked at Brian. He was looking at Brett’s hand on her shoulder. “Bro, remove your hand from Carrie.”
Brett and Brian exchanged glances and Brett slowly removed his hand from Carrie’s shoulder. “Sorry, dude. I wasn’t thinking.”
Brian nodded tightly, and turned to London, Aiden’s younger brother. “London, take her to the back. We’re going to have a little chat with the Tribe.” London was seventeen, still brand new to everything. Carrie liked him. He made her feel protective, like he was the little brother she never had.
“Why do I—“
“Because you’re still in training. Clan business is Clan business and you’re not wearing the cut yet,” Brett said.
London nodded sullenly. It was clear to Carrie that Brian didn’t consider the younger boy a threat to his relationship with her, but that he considered him strong enough to protect her. She was going to have to take notes on all of her interactions with Bri’s clan until she figured out all the weird shifter rules.
“Go inside London,” Will pointed to the bar. “Keep her safe.”
London took Carrie by the elbow and dragged her behind the bar. She wasn’t sure whether the bar was any safer than going home but she was going to trust the guys. They both sat on stools. “Sorry you’re stuck hanging out with me instead of joining them,” Carrie nodded her head towards the other bikers.
London shrugged, “It’s not my time yet.”
She threw her arm around the young boy. “You’re going to be an awesome biker one day.”
He shrugged her off but smiled. “Thanks, I appreciate that.”
The bar was empty save for London, Carrie and Jeanette. The Clan was out…handling the Tribe. Carrie didn’t want to imagine what was going on. Her eyes were tired, and she couldn’t help but doze off every once in a while. It was torture just waiting around for something to happen.
Carrie was woken by the sound of shattering glass and a whoosh of heat. Her eyes snapped open and she almost fell off her stool. The bar was on fire.
London jumped up and grabbed Carrie. “It’s the fucking Tribe.” He tried to push her towards the back door.
“Hell no, I’m not going out there.” Carrie reached under the bar for the fire extinguisher and began to spray.
There was another crash and a bottle with a rag on fire soared through the window. London eyed it for a moment before picking Carrie up and throwing her over his shoulder. “We’re out of here.”
He ran out the back door. His rapid movement almost knocking Carrie off balance. Carrie looked around for her car but didn’t see it. With a screech of tires, Jeanette pulled in front of them in Carrie’s car. The windows were rolled down. “Get in!” She shouted. Carrie had never been so happy to see Jeanette’s dramatic painted-on eyebrows before. She and London jumped into the back seat and Jeanette floored it.
“The bar—“ Carrie began.
“Is insured. Don’t worry.” Jeanette took a turn with such force that Carrie was sure her car was going to fall apart. “I’m dropping you and London off at your place. Stay inside, lock the doors when you get there.”
London growled. “No. We’re dropping Carrie off. I’m going to help you.”
Jeanette sighed. “Fine, but it’s your ass Brian will tan if anything happens to her.”
“I’ll be fine. Just make sure everyone else is okay.” Carrie directed Jeanette to her house. The drive, which usually took about half an hour, took ten minutes. Carrie was amazed that they weren’t stopped by cops.
They pulled up to her house and she jumped out of the car quickly. “Stay safe,” she said.
“We will. And we’re going to give the Tribe the beat down they deserve. They’ve been going after my bar and shifters for years. It’s ridiculous. I’m a damn human and I see no problem with spending my time with shifters.” Carrie had never seen Jeanette so fired up about anything but business.
“Go get ‘em.” London gave her a thumbs up and Jeanette floored it, leaving skid marks on Carrie’s driveway.
Carrie quickly went inside and locked the door. She punched in ‘911’ on her phone and sat by the window with the knife she had been keeping in her room lately. If they were coming for her, she was going to be as ready as she could be.
She didn’t have to wait long. Fifteen minutes after she arrived home, six bikers pulled into her driveway. Her heart pounded. She ducked out of the view of the window and crawled on the floor. She realized when she was halfway across the room that she had left her phone on the table. She crawled back over, staying low, hoping that they would think she wasn’t home and then leave. She reached the window and peaked outside.
They were still parked in her small driveway, and sat on their
bikes. Her heart pounded, wondering what they were going to do. Were they going to continue to harass her? Were they going to kill her? Would she become an example of what happened when bigots took over a town? She picked her cell phone up off the table and dialed Brian’s number.
“Hey there, sweetheart. Are you and London still at the bar? Are you alright? What—“
She cut him off, her voice frantic. “Bri, the Tribe is in my front yard.”
“What?” his voice lost the kind, drawling tone with the snap of that one word. “Stay inside. I’m coming to you.”
She wasn’t going to stay inside. Not when a bunch of tattooed assholes were threatening her, her boyfriend, and her place of work. This was insanity! There was something so wrong with them. The thought should have freaked her out, convinced her to stay inside and wait for Brian but she was too fired up. She was going to handle this.
She picked up the knife from the counter and opened the door. She slammed it behind her and walked into the driveway.
“Oi, assholes! Get off my property.” There was some chuckling, and she growled. “I’ve called the police. They’re going to be here any minute.”
“Put that knife down, doll. You’re not going to hurt us with it.” It was Dempsey.
Her eyes narrowed. “Watch me.” Anger propelled her forward, the knife clutched in her hand. She was prepared to do damage.
But before she could even get close enough, another motorcycle pulled up. It was Brian. She could tell by the bike, his cut, and his enormous shape. Relief filled her. She meant business, but she knew she wouldn’t have been able to hold her own against six bikers.
“Carrie, get back inside.” His voice was low, controlled, but oh so angry. She shook her head and watched as everyone got off their bikes. “Get the hell out of here, Dempsey.”
“Make me, freak. I’m taking that girl away from you if it’s the last thing that I do. Humans shouldn’t be near things like you.”
“If you touch a single hair on her head, I’ll rip you apart with my bare hands.”
Dempsey made a move towards Carrie. Carrie threw her knife at him, missing by a few inches. And Brian leapt forward, his muscular body propelling him towards Dempsey and his band of merry assholes.
And then he shifted. She wanted desperately to look away but she couldn’t. It was both grotesque and beautiful, horrifying and captivating. His skull elongated and he fell onto all fours, his back rounded and he groaned in pain. Fur began to sprout from his body, and the clothes that once contained his bulk, tore at the seams to accommodate his new bulk. When the shift finished, he looked nothing like what she had expected. Carrie had imagined a movie werewolf cross with a bear, but if she had seen him in the wild, there would have been no way for her to tell the difference between Brian and a real bear. She was surprised at how rapidly it happened. It must have only been thirty seconds.
The sound that tore from his throat made her jump. He rushed towards the human bikers, and reared back on his hind legs. One paw swiped at Dempsey, and sent him flying off the bike. He collided with the ground and there was a crunch that made Carrie feel ill. Brian turned to the rest of them, a low growl sounding in his throat.
Then her heart plummeted into her stomach as she noticed one of the men pull out a hand gun. “Brian, watch out!” He turned his head to the man with the gun but it was too late. A shot rang out and she screamed as blood splattered the drive way. She ran towards Brian, but he seemed unfazed by the bullet wound. He took down two more Tribe bikers.
The man with the gun turned and pointed it at Carrie. “You’re a traitor to your race, bitch!” He went to pull the trigger, but Brian was faster. The man was on the ground, Brian on top of him, his paw at his neck. Carrie ran to the spot where the gun had fallen and picked it up.
“Stop it!” Everyone turned to look at her. Her gun was pointed directly at the man that Brian was on top of. “Get the fuck off my property and don’t come back, or I’ll shoot all of you.” Carrie liked to think that she looked absolutely terrifyingly serious in that moment, enough to make the injured men scramble back onto their bikes and ride away. But it was probably just the five hundred pound bear. Hopefully a combination of the two.
The gun hit the floor, and Carrie realized she was shaking. She didn’t even notice Brian change back into his human form; she was too busy trying to get her breathing under control.
“Darlin’?” Brian’s voice soothed her. She looked up at him, taking in the harsh angles of his face that were lightened by the concern in his eyes.
“You saved me,” Carrie whispered.
Something about the thrill of being rescued made her want to throw herself at Brian. It helped that he was naked too. Gloriously naked. His tanned, tattooed skin was glistening with sweat due to the exertion of changing back into a human.
“I think you did a pretty damn good job holding your own.” He reached out to take her hand, but it was then that she realized he was stark naked.
“Uh, let’s get you inside. I don’t want the neighbors to see you naked.”
Brian raised an eyebrow. “Do I sense a hint of jealousy, sweetheart?” Carrie blushed and looked down. She could still see him perfectly though. He took two long steps, covering the distance between them. “Let’s go inside. I want to show you just how hot you made me when you picked up that gun.”
Brian was sitting on her couch, a towel around his hips, and his hair was wet from the shower. She sat on the recliner that faced the couch, terribly aware of his nakedness. Before today she had never seen him quite as…exposed. The ridges of his abs were hard and well defined. She wanted to touch them to see what they were like. His chest was covered in hair that slowly became sparser as it faded into the v-shape that disappeared below his towel.
“Are you okay?” When she looked up, his eyes were searching her face.
She chuckled nervously. “Yeah.” He stood up, scooped her into his arms, and then repositioned them so he was sitting on the couch and she was on his lap.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” She nodded. “Where the hell did London disappear off to? He was supposed to keep you safe.”
“He did. He saved me from the first at the bar.” Brain raised an eyebrow. He didn’t look impressed. “He’s a good kid. He wanted in on the action, don’t fault him for that.”
“I won’t.” He pressed his forehead to hers and rubbed the side of his nose slowly against the planes of her nose. “You were holding that gun completely wrong.” He whispered. “I’m going to take you to the woods and teach you to shoot properly.”
“Uh, I don’t think I need to learn to shoot a gun.”
“Probably not. I’m a little more…effective than a gun, but sweetheart, you have no idea what seeing you like that did to me. You were like some fire goddess. Fuck.” He pressed his lips to hers, softly, tentatively. His hands went to her neck and hair, holding her to him. She moved slightly, so she was straddling him rather than sitting across his lap. He groaned into her mouth. She could feel his thick erection press against her through the thin barrier of the towel and her jeans. She wanted nothing more than to reach down and take him into her hands, feel the hard ridges of him, explore him, make him come undone.
Her fingers trailed down his chest. She loved the soft hair that covered him. She pushed at the knot that was keeping the towel in place. “Carrie,” his voice was rough with desire. “If you start this I don’t think I’m going to be able to stop.”
“I don’t want you to stop.” The boldness in her voice surprised her. But in that moment, all she wanted was him. She wanted to know what he felt like inside of her. She wanted to know what it was like to have him fully possess her. She ached for it.
He growled. It was such a deep, raw noise that she felt it vibrate through his chest. “I’ve wanted you since you crashed into me at the bar. I was so careful cleaning your wound because touching you was making me hard.”
Carrie felt her face heat with a blush. “Stop talking and s
tart kissing,” she muttered. He clutched her hair and pulled her down to his face. His full lips pressed against hers. The combination of his soft lips and rough stubble drove her crazy.
She pressed herself down against him. She wanted to tease him until he lost control. She wanted to see everything that he had to give her. She pushed the towel off his hips, trying to get even closer to him. Her hand encircled his warm shaft, and she marveled in the feel of the soft skin that covered the hard ridges and veins. He moaned and her heart sped up. She slid down his legs, settling to a kneeling position in front of her. Bri watched her through half-lidded eyes. Carrie had never been a fan of using her mouth to pleasure a lover, but with Brian things were different. She wanted to see how quickly she could make this enormous, controlled man fall apart.
Her tongue darted out to lick the pre-cum off the head of his cock. She started tentatively exploring him with her tongue and hands, taking note when he groaned, or when his eyelids fluttered in pleasure. Then, after a few minutes of gently running her tongue all over him, she sat up and slid his huge cock into her mouth. She felt the muscles in his thighs tense as she began to suck, gently running her tongue back and forth right under the thick head.
His hands went to her hair but he didn’t push her down. His fingernails gently brushed against her scalp, making her purr against length. It was as if he knew that she needed these few minutes of control before she gave everything up to him.
“Carrie, sweetheart. You need to stop of this is going to be finished before it even starts.” At his words she slowly released his cock. She licked her lips, and he cupped her face in his huge hands. “Fuck, you’re amazing.”
He stood, and pulled her up with him. He pulled her close to his body and she could feel his hardness against her stomach. She needed him.
Brian picked her up, his warmth surrounding her. He carried her to the bed and slowly put her down. Carrie reached out to him; she needed to be touching him. “I’m right here, sweetheart.” He crawled over her, his enormous body caging her in. Something about his bulk and his strength made her feel safe. Her fingers ran up his muscled arms, tracing his tattoos. No matter how many times she touched him, she always expected his skin to feel raised and different around the ink. But it didn’t.
Breakwater: Hyde (BBW Bad Boy Space Bear Shifter Romance) (Star Bears Book 4) Page 148
