Jade Crew: Captive Bear (A BBW Paranormal Shape Shifter Romance) (Ridgeback Bears Book 4)

by Amelia Jade

  Darren’s arm dropped off the top of the couch, snaked around her waist, and pulled her right into him. The ease and speed with which it happened caught her completely off guard.

  Holy hell. He’s strong.

  Kierra knew she was no tiny tot, though she didn’t have any issues with her looks either. But the way that Darren, with one arm, and without seeming to exert any effort, had lifted her up and into his lap was a little scary. Some of her thoughts must have made it into her eyes.

  He relaxed and pulled away from her as best he could, considering she was sitting on his lap. “Sorry,” he managed. “Was that too much?”

  She took a moment to compose herself, but then shook her head. “No. I mean, it caught me off guard, but I like being close to you,” she said sheepishly. “It was just the display of strength. I knew you were strong, I just didn’t know—”

  “That I was that strong,” he finished for her.

  Kierra nodded.

  He frowned.

  “Really though, it’s okay,” she said, putting her hand on his chest.

  “No, it’s not. I’m sure it will be okay, but I shouldn’t have been so blatant about it,” he said. “You should never be afraid of me. Never have to worry that my strength is for anything but your protection.”

  She smiled. “I can think of at least oh, two other uses for your strength,” she said with a twinkle in her eyes.

  His nostrils flared in amusement. “I’m serious,” he said.

  “So am I,” she told him. Then, as if to prove her point, she lay her head on his chest. “Tell me more?”

  He nodded from above her, accepting defeat. “If you insist,” he said lightly, his hand coming up to play with her hair.

  Kierra closed her eyes and listened to the vibration of his voice in his chest as he spoke. “When I finally arrived in the Valley, I was initially earmarked for specialty training.”

  “What’s that?” she asked, not moving from her position. His fingers were sending minor shivers of delight down her spine as they threaded through her hair.

  “Stone Bear training,” he explained. “I went through several years of it, and was closing in on finishing it too,” he said remorsefully.

  “What happened?”

  “I’m not sure. I must have pissed someone off, because whoever it was went through a lot of effort to frame me for crimes I didn’t commit.”

  Kierra sat up at that, on edge once more. “What kind of crimes?” she slowly asked, dreading the answer.

  “Destruction of property. Harassment. Theft.”

  She shook her head. “Okay, I think you’re going to have to explain that.”

  “I’m not sure I can, not even to this day,” he said with a frown. “I was involved with a woman at the time. Nothing serious,” he assured her, though she didn’t care. Neither of them were with their first partner. At some point adults have to accept that the person they care for has been with and cared for others before them.

  “Anyway,” he continued. “One night, someone destroyed her car, trashed her house, left threatening love letters all over the place, saying if she cheated she’d be dead. They stole a bunch of expensive jewelry and a few other things. All the evidence pointed to me.”

  She looked at him. Part of her wanted to ask. To hear him answer with his own voice to the direct question. But she couldn’t. Not now. He had already said he didn’t do it, that he was framed. If she asked him now, it would be tantamount to admitting that she didn’t believe him, which meant she didn’t trust him. He hadn’t given her a reason not to trust him yet, so that meant she had to believe him.

  “What happened?” she asked instead.

  “They threw me in jail.”

  “Really? I don’t remember that. I feel like that would be a big deal here. Generally shifters don’t go to jail. Or get in trouble, really,” she said.

  Darkness clouded his eyes, and she could sense that something about what she had just said was wrong. She didn’t know which part, however, because as far as she knew, that was the truth. Shifters rarely were publicly punished. At least not where the ordinary citizens of Origin could see or hear about it. So a shifter going to jail would have made the news.

  “They put me in a cell at the LMC head office. They have a jail complex there. It gets used, though not that often,” he admitted.

  “How long were you there?” She needed to know.

  “Three years.”

  Kierra gasped. “Three years? Oh my God. Darren, I’m so sorry!” she hugged him tightly. “That must have been terrible.”

  His lips narrowed. “It sucked,” he said bluntly. “I knew I hadn’t done a damn thing, but I didn’t have an alibi, and all the evidence pointed right at me. I don’t blame them for arriving at the conclusion they did. In their place, I likely would have done the same thing.”

  “But…three years?” She couldn’t quite grasp how that must have changed him.

  What she could see, however, was the hurt in his eyes as he talked about his past, about where he had come from and what his experiences had been like.

  “Things are better now though,” he said with genuine happiness. “I really like my crew. Surprisingly, they’re a good bunch. Could have fooled me at the start, and we definitely still have our issues, but under it all we’re a team.” He grinned at her, and she could see how proud he was of his crew.

  That happiness was contagious, and Kierra found herself smiling as well.

  “I’m glad to hear that,” she said truthfully. “Not everyone finds a place like that for them in life, so I’m happy to hear you have.”

  “Thank you,” he replied. “Still missing out on something though,” he continued, and his voice turned serious.

  “What’s that?”

  “A mate. A family.”

  She looked up, meeting his eyes, knowing exactly what he was leaving unsaid there. He was asking her if she thought that was a position she could fill if she saw the potential between them.

  Kierra wasn’t sure if she could. That was asking a lot of a woman he had met only days earlier. There was a connection between them, a bond of some sort. She couldn’t and wouldn’t deny the truth behind that, nor would she refuse to acknowledge how powerful it was compared to any attraction she had felt before. Even just sitting with him her heart thundered against her ribcage as blood raced through her body. Adrenaline filled her veins as she did nothing but contemplate a life with Darren, and what that might mean.

  Yet even as she did, all of her doubts coalesced into one. Could she bear him cubs? Would they be shifters? Was she ready to be a mother? Did she know for certain he would stay around? What were the odds he would leave like her father? And what about all shifters who had been vanishing lately? Was she going to give herself to him, only to find that he would end up like them?

  Nerves warred with excitement warred with caution which warred with desire. It was a potent mix, and one that threatened to leave her unwilling to do anything. Which was the exact opposite of the sort of person she tried to be. Kierra was the type who wanted to be able to say she had tried things, even if she failed or if they hadn’t worked out. But this…this was something else completely. It had the power to change her life.

  Did she want to be able to say that she had tried? That in five years, when she looked back at this moment, she could say she had the courage to try?

  That to her was an unequivocal yes.

  So she did the only thing she could think of. She kissed him.

  Fire exploded out from her lips, racing through her arteries to the extremities of her body and then arcing back until it filled her system. His hand cupped the back of her head, keeping Kierra close while their lips pressed into each other.

  There was no romantic buildup, no slow rise of tension. Instead, it was as if an atom bomb had gone off between them. Furious passion that neither of them had known they possessed was released with immediate effects. Her hands began to explore his body, even as she could feel
him becoming erect underneath her.

  A flurry of movement found her divested of her sweater, while her fingers pulled and tugged his thin T-shirt over his head, revealing the hard definition of his picturesque body.

  It’s all for me, she thought, all but drooling over the sight of him leaning back on the couch. Her eyes couldn’t decide where to focus: the ripples of his rock-hard abs, or the glorious spread of his chest, where she could place her hand, fingers splayed apart and still not cover half of one perfectly formed pectoral muscle.

  The sight of him looking the way he did was more than enough to make her forget her concerns as he released the clasp of her bra smoothly with one hand and tossed it to the floor behind her. His mouth dipped forward abruptly, taking one of her nipples into his mouth.

  Oh. The warmth. Oh my. Kierra felt her eyes roll back into her head as his tongue swirled the hard nub around in his mouth, being gentle without being tentative. It was a delightful sensation.

  “Darren,” she moaned, pulling his head tighter to her, not wanting to let go. She did twist it sideways to the point where she could nip at his ear even while he was focused on her chest.

  He shivered visibly and pulled away, his eyes meeting hers. She gasped at the brightness of those silver orbs. They looked almost like miniature moons in his eyes, pools bright with desire as they latched on to her gaze and didn’t let go.

  Kierra’s mouth went dry as she continued to stare. Swallowing hard, she licked her lips just in time as Darren came rushing at her once more. They met with another burst of frenzied passion, hands grabbing frantically at each other’s heads as they pulled themselves close, pushed apart for air, and came back together as fast as they could.

  Her breath came in quick, fast gasps, and she could feel herself becoming slightly faint, though she didn’t know whether that was through blood rush or lack of air. Either way, she felt herself swooning in his arms.

  His strong, gentle, unbending arms. They kept her upright, clasped to his chest with a firm claim of “you’re mine.” She didn’t care. The prospect of being his was all she wanted right then.

  The furnace between her legs cranked from hot to incandescent as she realized just how thoroughly she had underestimated the attraction between them. This was serious, something completely unexpected in its power.

  And she loved it.

  Pushing herself back from him, she slid off his lap and onto her feet.

  He tilted his head quizzically until she started fumbling with her pants. Then he got the idea rather quickly, and while she struggled with the skin-tight jeans, he whisked his own pants off, leaving him stark naked in front of her.

  Kierra felt her eyebrows raise at the sight of his hard dick. It was large. Not so large as to be painful, but big enough that she knew she would have no complaints either. In fact, as warmth began to seep from her legs, Kierra realized she would have a complaint if she took much longer with the pants.

  “Remove these,” she commanded, giving up her struggle.

  “As you say,” he replied with a wink. His strong fingers hooked into the pants and with one sharp tug, brought them to her ankles.

  He had, she noted absentmindedly, managed to take her underwear with them. At least they were even, she thought, settling down onto his lap once more. The firm tip of his cock pressed against her, and she gyrated her hips back and forth, letting him become coated in her wetness.

  The tips of her fingers felt like they were burning as she held them flat against his body. The sheer volume of heat he produced was threatening to overwhelm her.

  “You’re so hot,” she said with a single breath, then gasped as his hands settled onto her hips. The tight, firm grasp gently pushed her down.

  It was enough to push him past the swollen folds of skin between her legs and to enter her.

  “Oh my, Darren,” she mumbled, her earlier thoughts coming apart like a jigsaw puzzle, pushed aside by the fiery-hot needle that was sliding inside of her.

  The hairs on her body felt electrified with each inch of him that she let slip inside of her. The demands from between her legs intensified as well, eventually reaching the tipping point, at which time she simply relaxed her legs and basically impaled herself on him. There was no better way she could describe it, the taking of his entire cock deep within her, when she wanted to. The sense of control combined with the pleasure of having sex was too much.

  Kierra didn’t stand a chance. Her climax caught her off guard, like a tsunami sweeping in from her depths. Her hands clasped tightly around his neck and she pressed her forehead to his, trying to stay upright as her back arched and her legs convulsed. The shudder started between her thighs until she could contain it no longer. The ecstasy slammed into her like a freight train, taking away her breath even as she cried out loudly.

  Her arms gave way and she braced herself mentally for the fall, since she was unable to control her body. But Darren sensed it and he gathered her into his arms, keeping their bodies pressed tightly together as she gave herself up to the pleasure infusing her every nerve, letting it hammer her brain into mush over and over again.

  There were far worse things in life to give in to, a remote part of her brain thought.

  “I don’t know if I can stay upright,” she said, her words slightly slurred by the glow that had settled over her.

  “I think I can handle it,” he whispered into her ear just before his teeth found her neck, biting down gently on the tender skin.

  Goosebumps broke out all over her body as he focused her mind back to what he was doing to her.

  With his hands still holding her tight and ensuring her hips stayed against him, Darren stood up and turned sideways, laying her down on the couch and settling down on top of her.

  Mostly. The couch wasn’t built for someone his size, and his right leg stayed flat on the ground, but the other was wedged between the back of the couch and her. More importantly, his hard cock was still fully engulfed inside of her.

  “This will work,” she told him dreamily, a lazy smile on her face.

  “I’m glad you agree,” he said, pumping his hips like a piston without warning.

  “Yes,” she gasped. “Yes, this will work very well. Again,” she said, her voice gaining strength.

  He obliged, and she felt her nails dig deep into his skin as he plunged back into her from the apex of his thrust.

  “Again,” she growled when he didn’t move.

  They repeated that over and over again. Each time he would only move once, until she told him to do it again. She sped up her requests, and he sped up his hips.

  “Fuck me harder dammit!” she cried, unable to restrain herself, the words ringing off the walls.

  Thankfully he did as she asked, not breaking rhythm this time. His cock slammed into her repeatedly, his hips banging against hers. There was a bit of pain, but she didn’t care; it was absorbed and used by the delirium his actions were causing within her.

  Kierra had never been fucked like this before. Never so strongly, nor with such a big cock. And as Darren moved in and out, over and over again, she realized it was never for this long either. They switched positions several times. He laid her down on the floor and mounted her that way. They cuddled, and at one point he even had her get on all fours as he entered her from behind.

  That was her favorite, and she whimpered when he stopped.

  “I want to be able to look at you when I cum,” he explained.

  She couldn’t complain, since at least two more orgasms had ripped through her body as he did his best to pleasure her. In fact, as the words entered her ears, Kierra realized that she wanted to watch him as well. She wanted to know that he was receiving pleasure from it too.

  He hadn’t remained silent. His grunts, groans, and cries had comingled with hers several times as they fucked. But now it was his turn.

  “Okay,” she told him. “Lie down.”

  He did as he was told, sinking into the thick, soft rug that covered the area in
front of the TV. Settling down next to him, she swung one leg over the top of him and settled back until he was once again deep within her.

  Then she looked down into his eyes. “You’re going to cum for me, right?” she asked.

  He nodded, biting his lip as she began to grind herself into him.

  Back and forth. Very slowly.

  “I mean it,” she implored. “I want you to cum for me. Just for me, you understand,” she said, giving her voice the right mix of command and begging. It was driving Darren wild, she could tell. His cock was all but throbbing inside of her as his eyes devoured her body. She pressed her hands to her hips, ignoring the extra weight she carried there, and instead, slowly ran them up her sides, cupping her breasts for him while he watched.

  His eyes were focused on her, and she shivered when she saw the way he looked at her. He was turned on by the sight of her. Gently she tweaked her nipples, all while he watched and her hips continued to move against him.

  Back and forth. Nice and slow.

  The shaking started in his legs, letting her know he was getting close, that he was going to cum soon.

  “Do you like watching me?” she asked him, her eyes imploring him to cum.

  He nodded. “Yes,” he whispered, his voice barely audible.

  He was loving it. So was she. Kierra wasn’t normally so controlling in bed, but this was the first time she had ever felt like she could take control. It was exhilarating. Knowing that Darren was so turned on just by looking at her, let alone everything else, was unlike anything she had ever known with a man before.

  “I want you to cum,” she said, letting herself sound a little more like she was begging.

  The shaking intensified.

  “Now,” she pleaded, moving her hips faster for the first time.

  That was all it took.

  He cried her name, his hands tightening around her hips as his hard cock pulsed inside of her, spilling the molten liquid of his seed deep within her. She collapsed on top of him, out of breath herself from the anticipation of it, but forcing herself to watch his face, to note the way it scrunched up as the pleasure she wanted to give him played out across his features.