You Bear With Me: A Shifters in Love Fun & Flirty Romance (Bewitched by the Bear Book 6)

by V. Vaughn

  Tears stream down my face as I continue to read the letter of apology from my mother. At the time she wrote it, she’d been clean for a year. The envelope is smooth on my fingers as I place the letter back inside and put it back in my jewelry box.

  Sleepiness falls on me like a heavy fog as I climb into bed. There is a window on the opposite wall of my room, and I look through it out into the dark night sky with stars twinkling against it. When I said I'd be out quickly earlier, I didn't mean it. Falling asleep isn't usually easy for me, but when I lay my head down on the pillow, exhaustion takes over. So does peace, and for the first time since I can remember, I doze off in seconds.

  10

  I have no idea how many strings Elise and Ian had to pull, but right now I'm sitting at a table in the Bear Paw with Elise, Ian, Nina, and her fiancé, Seth. At a table not too far from us are a bunch of firefighters, including one sexy EMT named Leo. I don't dare look at him, but according to Ian, Leo is aware I'm here.

  A young woman is currently butchering a Whitney Houston song, and the pages of the songbook rustle as I flip through the duet section. Elise says, "I'm telling you, ‘You’re the One That I Want’ is what you should sing."

  "That song is so overdone," I say. "I bet that's the first one that pops into anyone's head for a duet."

  "That's the point." Elise looks at Seth. "You know it. Right?"

  Seth sings the first line of the song.

  I chuckle. "He teaches kindergarten. Of course he knows it."

  Elise turns to her husband. "Ian?"

  He replies, singing two lines of the song before Seth jumps in to finish with him. Then the two men lean toward each other and croon in high voices to complete the chorus.

  My girlfriends and I laugh. "Fine," I say. "’You’re the One That I Want’ it is."

  "Great!" Nina pops up and practically skips over to the DJ to let him know what song I'm going to sing.

  I look at Elise as I swipe my sweaty palms on my jeans. "Is this going to work?"

  Seth says, "It will, Sammy. Leo doesn't want to be without you, but his ego's bruised."

  A waitress comes over with a tray, and Ian smiles at me as he hands me a shot of tequila she set down. "You've got this, girl. He's already too far gone. He just doesn't know it yet."

  Nina returns and plops down at our table. "Tequila! Goodie." She grabs a shot and looks at me. "Two more singers, and you're up."

  I let out a whoosh of air and lift my tequila to drink it. It burns on the way down my throat as I shudder, and I remember doing this about a week ago at the club where I met Leo.

  The plan is that I'm going to get up on the stage and then ask for a volunteer to sing the guy's part. Elise has been working on her telekinetic powers and is going to make a spotlight shine on the firemen's table, and Ian's friend is going to yell out Leo's name. My friends promise they'll make sure the crowd starts to chant his name, making it impossible for him to decline. Then once Leo's on the stage, all I have to do is stick the microphone in front of his face to make him sing. According to the two sets of soul mates sitting at my table, he won't be able to resist our attraction and should cave. We'll see.

  I lean in close to Elise. "You're sure you can move the spotlight?"

  She points up at the ceiling. "Already done. All I have to do is turn it on."

  "Nina?" I ask.

  "I will be the world's most annoying cheerleader and run from table to table if I have to in order to make this room chant Leo's name."

  "Okay." I inhale deeply and blow out the breath as a guy finishes up his song, and then I stand up.

  "Crush it," says Ian, and Seth winks at me before I make my way up to the stage.

  The guy who just finished hands me the mic as a few of his friends let out whoops and clap for his performance. I look at the DJ. "I need a minute to get a partner."

  He nods at me, and I glance out into the crowd. Many people are talking and not paying attention, but when I notice the firemen's table, I catch Leo's gaze. I smile at him and speak into the mic. "I'm going to need a partner for my song, and since I don't have one, I need a volunteer."

  Leo's eyes widen a bit before his friend hits his arm and yells, "Take Leo!"

  Without a hitch, a spotlight shines on him, and I hear my friends begin to chant his name. The firemen at Leo's table join in too as Leo shakes his head. But just like what happened to me last Friday night, he can't get out of it. So he stands and lifts his hands up in surrender before joining me on the stage.

  When he gets here, one of his friends yells out, "Look out, sweetheart, he's got moves!"

  The audience laughs.

  I chuckle as I hand Leo a mic and say, "I've heard that." Then I drop my mic and speak softly to Leo. "Just play along, and it'll be over in no time."

  Leo gives me a smirk, clearly remembering that he said the same to me when I was volunteered to help him. The music starts, and we both look at the screen with the lyrics. The song starts with the male part, but Leo barely sings it.

  I thought this might happen. Since I've been around performers enough to know when someone enjoys being on the stage, I know Leo is an attention lover. As such, I'm sure he doesn't want to be shown up. When it's my turn, I belt out my lyrics.

  The icing on the cake is when a random guy yells out, "Yeah!"

  It works, because Leo jumps in with his next part with a surprisingly good singing voice. When I join him for the chorus, I know he's completely on board, and the real show begins.

  Leo definitely knows the words, because not only does he sing his part, when I begin to back away with the taunting lyrics to him about being too shy to show feelings, he follows me. When I sing about feeling your way, I slide my hand down the edge of my body dramatically, and Leo makes the crowd react with whoops and cat calls when he drops to his knees, just like John Travolta does in the movie.

  We prance around the stage like seasoned performers, eating up the crowd’s reaction, and when the song ends, the entire bar cheers for us.

  I gaze into Leo's eyes as we both catch our breath, and he smiles at me.

  "You're good."

  "Thanks. So were you."

  He shakes his head. "I'm not talking about your singing, although you have a great voice."

  "No?"

  "No," he says as we hand the mics to the next singers, who have come up on the stage. As we move to the side, he takes my arm to help me down the stairs. "You knew how to get me to play along."

  "The male ego is a wonderful thing to exploit," I tease as I stop at the bottom of the stairs to face him.

  "It does get us in trouble." Leo frowns. "I’m trying to stay mad at you, but it's not working."

  "I think I know how to help with that." I swallow hard and speak before I lose my nerve. "There are some things I should tell you about my past that will explain how I acted." Leo's eyes narrow, and I add, "Painful things I thought I'd gotten over, but since they got in the way of us, apparently not."

  He takes my arms. "Want to get out of here?"

  I nod. "Let me go tell my friends."

  "I'll do the same and meet you by the door."

  When I get to my table, Nina jumps up and hugs me. "You two were so awesome!"

  "Thanks." I look at my friends. "Leo and I are leaving to talk."

  "Yes!" Ian pumps a fist in the air.

  "Told you it would work," says Elise.

  I smile, because while I still need to open up to Leo, I think they're right. "Thanks, guys. You all went above and beyond for me."

  "We'd do anything for love," says Seth.

  I think about how much my friends do love me, and happiness fills me with a warm glow. "I know. Love you all too."

  I turn to leave. Leo is standing by the door, waiting, and the light above it shines down on him as if it's a beacon calling me. And I know I'm headed where I'm supposed to be.

  11

  The sound of waves crashing is loud enough to hear inside Leo's enclosed Jeep as we sit parked at a loc
al beach so that we can look out over the water. Moonlight dances on the ink-black ocean, and I turn to look at my soul mate.

  "When I was five, my father left, and my mom had to figure out how to raise me on her own. Because she was beautiful and had been a dancer all her life, stripping was an easy fit."

  I go on to explain how my mom believed she would only strip until we were in a good financial place, but the lure of drugs sucked her in and changed the course of our lives forever. Once I start to tell him the things I remember, I can't seem to stop. Memories I haven’t thought about in years come flooding back.

  “On my twelfth birthday, my mother decided she was going to make it special. She woke me up for school looking like hell, but she swore it was going to be a special day, and she handed me a donut and coffee.” I smile as I think about it. “I'd never drunk coffee before, but she doctored it up to taste like melted ice cream. I felt so grown up. She told me that we were having her macaroni and cheese, which she knew I loved, for dinner and the fanciest cake she could find. I went to school happier than I had been in months.”

  I let out a sigh as I recall what happened next. “But when I got home from school, Mom was already blitzed on wine and some drug. She was dancing around the kitchen when she remembered she’d forgotten the cake. She handed me twenty dollars to go buy one so she could watch the casserole in the oven. I returned to the apartment to find my mother passed out on the couch and a burnt dinner in the oven.”

  Leo holds my hand as I gaze at him through tears. His smile for me is sad, but I don’t see pity. I see love. He squeezes my fingers, and I continue on with more stories. After each one is finished, I feel a little lighter.

  When my throat is hoarse, I finally stop talking. I’m tired but relieved, as if I’ve finally removed a weight I didn’t know I was carrying.

  Leo says, "Sammy, I'm honored you shared all of that with me. I'm sure it was hard."

  I shake my head. “Somehow it isn’t with you.”

  Leo pulls me into a hug that is so full of warmth and acceptance I almost don’t believe it’s for me.

  I pull back and look into his eyes. “I didn’t think I was ready for you, but now I realize you’re exactly who I needed in my life. Maybe I couldn’t let go of my past before because I needed to have a reason why I should.” I place my hand on his chest over his heart to feel it beat strongly and steadily.

  He wraps his fingers around mine. “It’s a soul-mate thing, Sammy.”

  “It must be,” I say in a voice husky with desire. But we both know it’s so much more.

  Leo kisses me, and the joy I feel fills my heart with light at first. Then I become feverish with passion. Passion I want to explore further.

  I break away. “Can we get out of here? Whose place is closer?”

  "Yours. But, Sammy—"

  I'm afraid he thinks we should wait, and since I'm not going to be able to think about anything except what Leo's naked body feels like against mine until I finally have him, I make my intentions clear. I flick my finger at the engine, and it roars to a start. "Let's go."

  He smiles at me. "You love to tell me what to do, don't you?"

  I shrug. "You've got a control freak on your hands. I hope you can handle that."

  Leo winks at me and repeats one of the first things he ever said to me. "Trust me—whatever you dish out, I can handle it."

  I laugh as we drive away, and we're at my house in minutes. Once we get inside, I toss my coat on the couch and move to the stairs to go to my bedroom.

  Leo says, "Can we slow this down a bit?"

  The railing is hard in my hand as I grip it with fear. "Oh. I—"

  "You're fine, Sammy. Believe me, I want to rip your clothes off and devour you right now." He holds his hand out to me. "I'm about to tell you something about me. I'm a romantic. I may have even watched a Hallmark movie or two, so…"

  I blink in surprise when I realize he's not joking, and I take his hand. "Romance, huh?"

  He nods as he pulls me into his arms. "Got any candles?"

  I place my hands on his arms and notice the rock-solid strength of them. "I do. I even have wine."

  Leo brushes his lips over mine and pulls back. "Perfect."

  My heart flips as I step back and touch my mouth as if I can keep the feel of his kiss with me. "I'll go get them."

  Leo follows me into the kitchen, where the contents of a drawer rattle as I search for the wine opener. I hand it to him along with a bottle of red and go on a search for candles.

  Once our glasses are full and I've lit candles to set on the coffee table, we turn off the lights and sit on the couch. I take a sip of my drink, and rich cabernet fills my mouth.

  Leo says, "Tell me about your singing. Did you study music?"

  "A little. It was mostly what you can do in public school, and I spent a lot of time working on it by myself. I had grand plans to become a theater actress."

  "Why didn't you?"

  "Once I got to college and took some education classes, I realized that I loved children and teaching. Since theater is a tough nut to crack, even with talent, I gave up on the dream. I'm not sorry, though. I love my job."

  "That's important." Leo reaches over and drags his finger up my arm, studying it as if it's the most interesting body part he's ever seen.

  "What about you and your dancing? I assume you had some training too."

  "I did. My twin, Lizzy, is a dancer and got me involved in a troupe because they needed more males. She had no idea she was training me for a job in which taking off my clothes for women was choreographed."

  I laugh softly as he traces his finger along my collarbone. His touch sends a tiny shiver through me, and goose bumps of pleasure form. I let out a small noise.

  "Your skin is so smooth." He tips my chin up as my breathing gets shallow. "I want to taste all of you, Sammy. Every single inch."

  I let out a shaky breath. "I'd like that."

  "Good."

  Leo leans in and nibbles at my neck. I tilt my head back as he moves down toward my chest, and when he tugs on the hem of my shirt, I lift my arms to let him remove it. He lets out a sigh of pleasure at the sight of my breasts in my demi bra.

  He lowers me to my back and teases me by tonguing my nipple through the sheer fabric of my bra. "You're so beautiful," he murmurs as he flutters kisses down my stomach. When he reaches for the button on the waistband of my jeans, he asks, "Can I taste more?"

  My insides are trembling, and I whisper, "God yes."

  The zipper hums softly as he tugs it down, and I lift my hips to help him remove my pants.

  Leo takes his sweet time getting to where I want him to go, and I'm a quivering mess while he licks at my inner thighs and tortures my sex with his hot breath.

  I let out a relieved sigh when he finally begins to lave my folds with his tongue, and I realize he knew exactly what he was doing, because my orgasm comes fast and hard.

  "Wow," I say as he moves up to hover over me. "That was quite the move."

  "Yeah." Leo holds his hand out to pull me to my feet, and when I stand, he dips his shoulder down and grabs me in a fireman's carry. "Check out this one."

  I let out a squeal as he carries me up the stairs, and he deposits me on my bed.

  I sit up quickly. "Now it's my turn to have my way with you."

  Leo shakes his head. "Not yet, Sammy. You'll have plenty of time once I'm done doing what I need to do." He tugs his shirt over his head and tosses it across the room, where it lands with a soft whoosh.

  "Oh." I scramble up to sit and watch the show, and I remove my bra to add to the pile. "I'm missing those easy-to-rip-off pants right now."

  Leo hooks his thumbs into the waistband of his jeans and ripples his abs for me. I laugh as he says, "Patience, my love."

  I fall back on my elbows as he steps out of his pants. His cock, which I caught a glimpse of clad in shimmery blue, juts up with his arousal as he climbs on the bed toward me. "There is one place I want to be, Sammy.
The place where I've needed to be since the first time I saw you."

  "Yes." I lie back as he slides two fingers into me. I squirm beneath him and reach to hold his long, thick length in my hand. I guide him toward my entrance. "It's where I want you to be too."

  The two of us moan in unison as he thrusts into me, and I lift my legs to pull him in further. He stretches my channel to fit around him as my body welcomes his sweet invasion.

  "You feel so good, Leo." I rock into him and let the music of our hearts lead the way.

  As if we are merging into one, the intense sensations of our lovemaking become intertwined with the song of our souls. White-hot pleasure fills me as I lose the ability to think about anything except the ecstasy coursing through my veins. My cries can't be contained as I let the wave of my climax take me on a deliciously decadent ride.

  Leo drives into me now as our bodies slide against each other with the moisture of exertion. The low rumble of his bear fills his chest, and I think he's about to come. I stare in amazement as his bear fangs poke out from his gums.

  "Oh," I say when I realize he's struggling with the need to mark me as his mate for life with a bite.

  I'm suddenly filled with the desire—no, the need—to let him. "Leo. Claim me."

  He stills. "Sammy? Are you sure?"

  "Yes." I nod vigorously, because I'm desperate for it. "Please, Leo. Make me yours." I flash to a time in the future when I'm very pregnant with his children. He's got his arms wrapped around my waist and kisses me. I know it's a vision, and I smile up at him. "Forever."

  Leo lets out a roar that reverberates through me as he pumps with a primal need. I rise again with the promise of another orgasm. When he's on the edge of his climax, I arch to offer him my neck, and he lowers his mouth to my tender skin. The moment his teeth sink into me, I shatter with my release. The heat of his essence fills me as he comes with me, and the sound of our cries is a perfect harmony that sings with our completed soul-mate bond.

  We tremble in each other’s arms for a few minutes before Leo lifts up off of me. He smiles with the love that is making my heart want to burst.