“I’m an old-fashioned man, Chloe. I believe that two people can be fated to be together. I believe that you and I are fated to be together.”
“That just sounds as if you’re trying to get inside my panties. Which you already have.”
“Chloe, there’s more to it than that. But it’s something I have to show you, not something I can explain. Because if I did, you would head for that door and never come back. You would think I was making fun of you.”
“So show me.”
“I can’t, not here. Let me take you back to my cabin. Stay with me for a few days. Let me show you.”
“I can’t walk back up there.”
“Then I will carry you.” He placed his hand on hers. “Please.”
“Now you are scaring me.”
“I’m not a stalker, I’m not after your money. I just want you, and to spend the rest of my life making you happy. Will you take a chance on me, Chloe?” He sounded so sincere, she wanted to believe him. But it also sounded so strange. Then her mind went back to the scene where she saw Jerry fucking another woman in his apartment, the way he had caught her eyes and smirked.
Yes, she had tried doing normal. She had tried going after men who ticked all of the conventional boxes and it had left her heart broken. Why not take a chance on Nate; he was about as unconventional as they came, particularly in his view of fated love.
“OK,” she said. “But I need to go home first and get some things together.”
“The sooner the better.”
“It’s dark.” She swallowed down her panic.
“I’ll take you home early, you pack, and then I’ll come and pick you up at first light. I’ve spoken to Dermot, given my statement, the only thing that is holding me here right now is you, Chloe. If you agree to come with me, we’ll spend a couple of days getting to know each other. Although I already know everything I need to about you.”
“This is the craziest thing I’ve ever done.”
He grinned. “That means you’ll come with me.”
“OK. I need to tell my dad where I’m going, though. I don’t want him sending those hunters with guns after me again.”
“No, that would be bad, especially since Dermot said they had left Bear Bluff. We can go up the mountain and have plenty of time to ourselves.”
“Want me to help you do the dishes first?”
“Sure, and we have dessert.” He got up and came around to her, kissing her on the cheek as she rose to her feet, unsteadily. “Although you are so sweet, I could eat you. Again.” His soft, warm breath on her skin made her close her eyes, and she fought off the longing inside her.
“Tempting, but I would hate for Olivia to come home and find us…”
“Making love.” He lifted her and sat her down on the table, nestling his body between her thighs. “I wish we could go right now, high up to my cabin, and never come down.”
She kissed him, her lips pressed to his, her tongue seeking entrance to his mouth. He sucked on her tongue, sending thrills through her body. Nate pressed his hand to the small of her back and dragged her so close to him it was as if they were one. Both longed to take it further, but neither wanted the embarrassment of being caught naked by Olivia, although Chloe was sure in Nate’s case it was to spare her blushes, not his.
***
“I’m sure I know what I’m doing, Dad.” He stood in the doorway of her room, watching while she packed. It was early in the morning, and he was just about to leave for work.
“Sweetheart, I only want to keep you safe, spare you heartache.”
“I know. And I appreciate it. But I’ve made up my mind.” She went over to him. “I love you. But the life I have here is not as satisfying as I want it to be. When Jerry proposed, all I wanted to do was settle down and raise a family. His job, your money, didn’t matter.”
Her dad sighed and stretched out his arms. She went to him, feeling safe, like the little girl she once was, when he folded her into his embrace. Kissing the top of her head, he said, “You know, you sound just like your mom. She would have been happy living in a trailer if it meant we were all together. You are so much like her.”
“So you approve?”
“I don’t know if I’d go that far. But I’ve seen how things work in Bear Bluff, so I guess you’ve managed to capture the heart of one of them.”
“What do you mean, one of them?”
“Haven’t you seen it? Watched how many of the true locals fall in love instantly and then there are the marriages that are decades old. Two people truly suited to each other.” His gaze strayed to the window, and he let out a shuddering sigh.
“Like you and mom.”
“Like me and your mom. Don’t get me wrong, I love Charity. But we are suited on a different level.”
She pulled back from her dad. “It means a lot for you to tell me that.”
“I’m sorry I pushed you away, Chloe. And I’m sorry about Jerry. I think I pressured you into going out with him. He just seemed like good husband material.”
“It’s in the past now. Nate is my future.” She went back to her packing. “And at least I found out about Jerry before we got married. I don’t intend to ever get divorced.”
“Then this Nate might be your man. Like I said, the Bear Bluff locals have a habit of getting it right where spouses are concerned.”
“I’ll see you when I get back, Dad.”
“You sure will. I love you, Chloe.”
“Love you too.”
Then he left for work, and Chloe packed the rest of her stuff. Going downstairs, she took some food from the fridge and made some sandwiches, knowing the climb back up the mountain might take a while. Her ankle felt better, but not strong enough for a mountain hike. If he had to carry her, he would need plenty of food and water.
When the knock came at the door, she was ready. Opening it, she looked at Nate, knowing that he was her future. Whatever he had to share with her, whatever secret he thought he had, she didn’t care. He was the man for her. The only man for her.
“Ready?” he asked.
“Yes,” she answered firmly, and meant it.
Chapter Eighteen – Nate
The early morning sun was rising above them as they made their slow way towards the trail leading up Bear Bluff; they were taking a different route than the one Chloe had followed.
“It’s longer, but not so steep; we wind around the back of the Bluff.” He held her hand, and carried her bag, if she had asked him, he would have carried her too.
“It’s beautiful here. We used to come this way when my mom was alive.”
“I’m surprised I’ve never run into you before. If you come on the mountain.”
“Well, it’s one more place we avoided when my mom passed away. Sometimes the memories are hard to deal with. But now, with you, I guess I feel strong enough.”
He kissed her hand, breathing in the scent of her skin. “I’m happy you feel that way.”
They walked slowly, but soon the town disappeared behind them. It was here that he stopped.
“I can walk on,” she said, “I’m not tired yet.”
“No, we should rest. And this is where I want to share my secret with you. Because if you don’t like it, then it’s not too far back down into town.”
“Oh, OK. I thought the secret was in your cabin. That was where it was hidden.”
“It’s not that kind of secret,” he said. Nerves were beginning to get the better of him. What would happen if she hated the idea of living with a man who could change into a bear? It wasn’t something you came across every day.
A fear filled him. He might have found his mate, only to lose her over his other self. However, his bear paced up and down in his mind, eager to be let loose.
“Nate, are you feeling alright?” Her voice told him of her concern and he wanted to reassure her, but there was little he could say. This wasn’t the sort of secret you told, it had to be shown.
“Yes, I just need to share
this with you.” He loosed her hand and moved away from her. “Whatever you do, believe that I will not hurt you. That this is just another part of me. But I’m still me.”
“Nate, you are scaring me.” She shuffled around, her ankle obviously hurting her. Part of him was glad it did; it meant she wouldn’t be able to run into town when she saw him change. He felt that wave of fear, stronger now. She wouldn’t run, she would accept him for who he was.
A penniless pauper next to her rich father. Sure. Of course, she wouldn’t run when she saw he was also a freak.
“There is nothing to be afraid of. I just need you to understand why I was attracted to you, and how I know there will never be another woman for me, Chloe. My kind mate for life. And you are my mate.”
“Your kind? Nate, please come back to me.”
“No, it’s safer if I’m over here. I won’t hurt you.”
With a look of fear on her face, she backed up against a tree. He knew he had to get this over with quickly. Now was the time, before she got scared and did run. So he let his bear loose, and allowed the energy to cover him, knowing that his world would never be the same again. His mate would either accept him or shun him. They would either live happily together, or he would be a lonely bear for the rest of his very long life.
Chapter Nineteen – Chloe
“What’s happening?” she asked, her voice rising in fear. Before her, Nate seemed to vanish. Only to be replaced by something else. Something bigger and lower to the ground. As the thing before her become more solid, she could see it was an animal. A bear.
At first she thought he must have been eaten by the creature. That the bear had snuck up behind Nate and killed him. Because where else would he be? And then she remembered the night on the mountain, when she lay scared and cold and the bear had been there. The bear that sniffed her scent and then disappeared, only to be replaced by her rescuer, Nate.
“Oh, my,” she breathed. “Nate?”
He nodded his head up and down, and then took a step towards her, his paws massive as they touched the ground. Chloe didn’t move, instead she watched him, saw the way he moved, and marvelled at his soft fur and long snout with the big sharp teeth, which could tear a man apart, barely hidden as he curled his lips back and tasted her scent.
The bear, Nate, reared up on his back legs and opening his mouth to roar, then seemed to remember himself and dropped back down to the ground.
“This is a secret?”
He nodded his head once more. OK, she could keep this a secret, who would she tell without risking being carted off to the asylum? So instead, she moved forward, leaving the sanctuary of her tree, and walked awkwardly towards him, her hand outstretched.
When her fingers came into contact with his fur, she felt a shudder of pleasure rush through him, and she smiled. He was incredible, so big and strong, and yet gentle with her, just like the human Nate.
“Can we go on up to your cabin?” she asked, picking up the pack.
The bear led the way, with Chloe leaning on him for support, almost unreal: she walked up the mountain with a bear. A real, live bear.
Only when the trail became too steep and she struggled to cope, her ankle now throbbing painfully, did she ask him to change back.
“You weren’t scared.”
“No. I knew it was you. I think it’s your eyes, they look the same.”
He took her in his arms and pulled her close, burying his face in her hair. “I was so scared you would be freaked out and run.”
“I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little freaked out. It’s going to take some getting used to.”
“You have all the time in the world. Bears take a mate for life and you are my mate. I will never leave you, never cheat on you, There is this bond between us which forbids me to hurt you in any way. That’s how I knew you were mine. The very first moment I saw you.”
“At my engagement party.”
“Yes, it nearly tore my heart out, but I couldn’t tell you. If you were happy, I couldn’t hurt you by trying to break up your engagement.”
“That must have been tough, I can only imagine.”
He lowered his head and kissed her. “You have no idea, but it’s all in the past now. You are here and you are mine.”
He lifted her into his arms and carried her the rest of the way to the cabin. She marvelled at his strength and agility. But she could feel the nervous tension in his body and knew why he was hurrying. He wanted to make love to her, now she knew his secret he wanted to claim her, fully and completely. Didn’t he know she was already his, with every fibre of her being?
Nothing looked familiar as they made their way up the final part of the mountain. Although only a couple of days ago, it seemed like another lifetime when she had been here with him. She had been struggling to come to terms with the end of her engagement and Jerry’s betrayal. While having no idea how he felt about her, or how long he had been fighting those feelings.
Yet as the cottage came into view, all she could think about was how right this all was. He had given her his heart and his soul. And his bear. Now that would take some getting used to. A man who could change into a bear. The words her father had said came back to her, about her being lucky to snag one of these Bear Bluff men.
“Are there many like you?”
He set her down on the porch of his cabin, and said, “Yes, around Bear Creek and Bear Bluff, and other animals, all over the world.”
“And it’s a secret?”
“Yes, I can tell you, because you are my mate. But otherwise we keep it to ourselves. So we don’t get hunted.”
“But Dermot knows. That’s why he was so insistent about the guns and those hunters.”
“Yes.” He opened the front door of his cabin, and pulled her into his arms. “Now, enough talk. I want you, in my bed, right now.”
“I am not going to object.”
He lifted her and carried her straight through to lay her on his bed, the bed she had slept in alone. His bed, which she guessed was now their bed. He didn’t take his time with her clothes; they were discarded as quickly as he could drag them from her body without tearing them. While he worked, she undid the buttons of his shirt, but found her hands almost useless in her eagerness to see him naked.
When she had finally pushed his shirt from his shoulders, she kissed his chest, running her hands across his smooth skin and feeling him tremble with desire. His need for her excited her, made her feel wanton and desirable, so when he pushed her thighs apart, she didn’t think twice about opening them for him. If his words were true, and the desire on his face and the rigidness of his cock told her they were, then she never had to fear him betraying her in any way.
Hot breath on her skin and then the warmth of his mouth covered her clit, nipping the sensitive bud and running his tongue over it until she squirmed beneath him. Her hands fisted his hair, and she lifted herself up to meet his mouth, her orgasm hovering near. But then he pulled away.
“Damn it, Chloe, I need to be inside you or I think I’ll burst.” He guided his cock towards her wet sex, and slid deep inside in one swift lunge. Her sex yielded slowly to him, leaving her feeling impossibly stretched, but full, so full of her man.
Nate braced his arms either side of her, resting his hands on the bed, his eyes fixed on hers as he pulled out of her and then thrust back in. One long hard lunge after another, leaving her flesh quivering. She put her hands on his chest, stroking over his nipples, pinching them between her fingers and thumbs, only to be rewarded by a groan deep in his throat and a hard thrust inside her aching sex.
They drove each other to new heights, his hand cupping her breast and his teeth grazing her nipple, sending thrills through her body. She wrapped her legs around him, holding him close as he thrust in and out of her, circling his hips to gain maximum friction between them. Her slick sex gripped him, until she erupted in a shuddering climax.
She whimpered as she came, kissing his chest, nipping his flesh, driving him t
o the brink, and then feeling him go over the edge, his cock filling her with his seed. With no one else to hear, he did what he hadn’t done in Olivia’s apartment, he threw his head back and roared out his triumph. Here he was the lonely bear no more: his mate under him, coming around him, crying out his name as her orgasm crested and another one began.
When they were both sated, they lay together, his arms around her, and they watched the sun go down through the window of his bedroom. “I can’t believe you are actually here. Do you know how many nights I lay awake, unable to get the thought of losing you to another man out of my mind?”
“I’m sorry. But I suppose it’s the way things had to work. I thought I loved Jerry and that I would have a family and grow old with him. If I hadn’t seen him with another woman, I would have gone on believing that was how my life was meant to be.”
She kissed him, and felt him harden next to her. Lifting her thigh, she placed it over his, and guided herself on to him. As he pushed inside her, she said, “Maybe we had to lose something first to truly appreciate this bond between us.”
He ground his hips forward, filling her with his hardness. “I think you are right, Chloe. And I am certainly going to appreciate you every minute of our lives together.”
Then he kissed her, and all that mattered was the present, that they were here together and that neither of them were lonely any more.
The End
Best Man Bear
After watching the man, she thought she was in love with, fall for Chloe, her best friend, Olivia swears off men, at least until Chloe’s wedding is over. A wedding she has helped to plan. Oh, and she’s also the maid of honor. What’s that phrase? Always the bridesmaid, never the bride.
But she loves Chloe, and knows she deserves to be happy with her husband to be, Nate.
And then Joshua enters her life. As Nate’s best man, they are expected to work closely together, and when Chloe’s past threatens to put a black cloud over her special day, Olivia knows she has to act. Reluctantly accepting Joshua’s offer to help, they go on a short road trip. Will it be the road to happiness for Olivia?
Complete Bear Creek and Bear Bluff Box Sets: Including brand new exclusive book Best Man Bear Page 81
