ROMANCE: Bear Naked Passion (Billionaire Bear Trio Book 2)

by Audrey Storm

  “Andrea?” Reed said quietly, his voice only adding to the serene moment rather than taking away from it. “Are you sure you’re all right?”

  She sighed. Her renewed sense of duty strengthened her guilt—overwhelmed her for a second—before she managed to wear a mask of innocent curiosity. “I was just thinking,” she said, “about you. And this curse. Is it truly a curse if it doesn’t hurt you?” She turned to him, the thought clawing into her for a panicked moment. “It doesn’t hurt you, does it?”

  Reed’s smile widened. “Not at all. No physical pain, anyway.” He turned and stared off at the distance, his lips lowering. “Personally, it does not hurt me, but the fact that there are so many of us…it disturbs me sometimes.”

  She furrowed her brow. “Really? I would have thought knowing there were others like you would be a comfort.”

  “It is, sometimes. But mostly, it worries me. We are instinctively prideful—arrogant, even—to the point where we have no real government amongst ourselves. No law, no sense of order. Each one of us lives as we please, and we all have an unspoken understanding that if one of us crosses the other, then any violence that happens is between those two parties and no one else.”

  Andrea leaned away from him a little, her gaze darting over his form. He wore a large sweater and a dark cap on his head, and as always, his eyes gleamed with such emotion…it made something within her heart twist and warm up all at once.

  “You’re not like that at all though,” she said.

  “Not really,” he said, shrugging. There was something bitter in his tone, yet he spoke so lightly of her assessment that it was almost hard to detect. “But that’s another thing that worries me. Some of us are more connected to our human halves while others are more connected with their bear halves. Some are more prone to hunting, to violence, to expressing their…territorial nature.” He shook his head, a disgusted frown curling his lips further downward. “There’s no accountability among us. If anyone really wanted to, they could murder a bunch of humans as a bear and probably get away with it. It’s an unsettling thought.”

  She thought about this for a moment. While she believed what he was telling her, there was something about his explanation that didn’t add up; if bear-shifters didn’t ‘cross’ each other, then what about the Billionaire Trio? She was about to ask him this when his breath hitched, making her stiffen.

  “What Hank did to you was unforgivable,” Reed snarled, his eyes watering as he glared at the ground. “But what can I do? What can anyone do but keep the secret? Humans would hate us—kill us, probably—if they knew the truth about our existence. To expose one of us means to expose us all, eventually.” He shut his eyes tight. “I should defend you, but I’m just…such a coward.”

  Andrea gaped at him, a horrible weight crashing down on her conscience. She tried to think of the right thing to say to him—to reassure him, but a growing anxiety blurred her thoughts into incomprehensive mental whines. The one thing she felt certain about was Reed O’Connor did not deserve any kind of anguish, and for her to spark this kind of emotion from him…it nearly made her wretch. She would never forgive herself for this, she decided.

  Lost in her turmoil, the sensation thrumming through her in agonizing pulses, she moved forward and kissed Reed. He jolted a bit in surprise, but he was quick to reciprocate the action. His soft lips gently moved in sync with hers, like he instinctively knew how communicate with her through their intimacy. She pressed herself against him—molding her body against his—as she brought her hands to his cheeks. The cold air had made them icy to her touch, but there was also warm moisture that contradicted with the chill immensely.

  Andrea’s heart clenched. With a desperate kind of mindlessness, she wiped away his tears and deepened their kiss. Her tongue was slow, cautious as it licked his lips and his teeth. Soon, she found herself kissing his cheeks, his eyes, and then she lowered her lips to his neck. A primal part of her wanted to soothe away his pain with her lips, her touch. Occasionally, she would nip him and make him gasp, but she made sure not to leave a mark on him. She didn’t want to hurt him anymore than he already was.

  She doesn’t remember lowering—or, more precisely, falling—to the ground. In the soft fog of guilt, need, and adoration, time and events were growing more and more difficult for her to grasp. She put all of her attention on pleasing Reed, and while in the midst of pulling down his collar so that she could kiss his clavicle, she absentmindedly realized that they were horizontal now. Her left thigh rubbed against his member in a slow and steady rhythm. Though she was completely on top of him, Reed didn’t seem hindered by the weight at all. With a beautiful sense of grace, he tilted his head back and arched toward her.

  Andrea, sucking on his neck now, marveled at the feeling of his thready pulse beneath her mouth. She darted her tongue against the tender flesh. She couldn’t recall the last time she viewed anything on a man as precious, but when she thought of Reed—his kindness—precious was the only way to describe him and the feeling of him.

  She blurted out the word against his skin. And for a split-second, fear spiked through her. What if he took her intended compliment as an insult? If she had called Hank ‘precious,’ he would have laughed at her.

  “So sweet,” Reed murmured to her.

  Before Andrea could think of a response, Reed was rolling them until Andrea was the one on her back. The look he was giving her—no longer full of self-loathing but of…she didn’t dare name it, but the sight of it took her breath away. He smiled at her reaction, then he went to kissing her jaw. All the while, he snaked his hands beneath her layers of upper clothing. Unknowingly, he made the tape recorder in her pocket begin to slip out, and she quickly slapped her palm over her pocket to keep the device in place. If Reed noticed the urgent way she pressed her hand against her coat, he didn’t show it, though his eyes weren’t actually on her torso but her face.

  His icy fingers trailed up her stomach, making her shiver and flush with heat simultaneously. She pressed her hand harder against the pocket—felt the rectangular shape of the tape recorder pinch her a bit. She grinned with twisted delight, the rush of guilt and excitement making her hotter. Tilting to the side so that Reed could get better access to the side of her neck, she maneuvered her fingers inside of her pocket and pushed the device deeper in the warm space until it was wedged between the torn seams of her jacket.

  When Reed nipped her, she jumped and giggled. “Oh, Reed.”

  Perhaps without fully realizing it, he gyrated himself against her. His hand had made it to her breast, constricted in her bra, and he gripped and massaged it. His thumb, ever so often, would rub circles into her nipple, hardening it to pebble.

  Andrea gyrated against him, as well, though when she started to do this, she didn’t know—didn’t care. Pleasure coursed through her with every little movement his lips made, his tongue made, his hand made, his hips made—it was all so gentle and inconsistent that it was overwhelming her senses.

  “Take me, Reed,” she whispered against him. Shaking, she brought one of her hands to the waistband of his jeans. “I’m so close already.”

  He moaned, faltering in his movement. “We should go inside,” he rasped into her cheek. “It’s warmer there. More private.”

  “Don’t make me wait, Reed,” she whimpered, lighting grazing his jaw with her teeth. “Please, please, don’t make me wait. I’m so wet for you—need you now.” She snaked her hand beneath his jeans, her nails digging into his rear.

  Reed shuddered, choking on his own breath. Her name came out of his mouth in a feeble whisper, making a wave of heat spike through her.

  “Reed, hurry,” she said, gasping. She widened her legs and eagerly pressed her lower half against him. “Please.”

  “Yes, yes,” he said, his hand leaving her breast, running over her stomach, and then moving up to the zipper of his jeans.

  It wasn’t until he was jaggedly yanking his pants and underwear down that Andrea realized she needed t
o do the same with her own clothing. Releasing her grip on him, she grabbed the waistline of her pants and underwear before snaking her bottom half out of them. She shivered violently against the cold air, and she immediately became aware of how hot and wet her core truly was.

  She squirmed beneath him as he navigated his hard length to her moist folds. Slowly, he pushed himself inside of her.

  Her eyes widened, her body leaning and contorting like a languid cat. She even mewled and moaned when he pushed himself deeper into her core, her walls clenching around him.

  He pumped in and out of her, his lips ghosting over her face as he moved. His pace was uneven—sometimes sluggish, sometimes rapid—and it made her head spin and her muscles clench.

  “Reed,” she gritted out as her orgasm hit her. Ecstasy thrummed and wormed its way through her, making her insides tingle deliciously while leaving an odd but pleasant taste in her mouth. In a delirious lull, she repeated his name over and over again as her body settled down once more.

  Reed pumped into her harder then. He grunted and growled against her throat, his eyes flashing black. Andrea, no longer afraid of such a sight, watched his face morph for a brief second as he came. It was miraculous—she swore his pupils glowed—and she nearly forgot to check her pocket to make sure that the tape recorder was still in there.

  It was, though it had partially slipped out again. She quickly shoved it back inside, her eyes still glued to Reed’s face. As it smoothed back down to its human appearance, Reed pressed his lips against her cheek.

  Chapter 5

  After Andrea had hidden the tape recorder deep in her suitcase, she spent the rest of the day making Reed feel good. Her words of reassurance to him felt empty to her, knowing that she was lying to him—using him—but she could only hope that, in some way, this time they spent together would be enjoyable to him—a reprieve for him, even, from his own fear-filled mind. It was such a nice thought that she was tempted to truly believe it possible, despite the naivety of it all.

  However, the burden of her decisions didn’t truly hit her until the following morning when her boss called.

  Groggy from sleep and the previous day’s amount of…satisfaction, Andrea slid out of bed and practically collapsed next to her suitcase. Once there, she fished out her phone and blindly answered it with a disgruntled greeting.

  “What the hell have you been doing?” Ms. Lee snapped, her sharp voice marred by static.

  Andrea’s eyes bulged. Barely restraining herself from spitting out a curse, she looked over her shoulder and back at the bed.

  Reed snored beneath the covers, his body curled toward her.

  “I’ve gotten a lot of quotes from Reed O’Connor,” Andrea whispered into the phone, glancing away from the sleeping man in question. “It’s taking me a while, but the longer I’m with him, the more he opens up.”

  “With him? What does that mean?”

  Andrea frowned, an ache emerging within her temple. She opened her mouth to clarify—to sound detached and dutiful no matter how much it pained her—but Ms. Lee interrupted her.

  “Forget it,” her boss said, sighing. “I don’t want to know. Just tell me the information you are getting is actually interesting. I can’t condone you wasting money messing around with these dangerous men.”

  “Reed’s not dangerous,” Andrea whispered fiercely, jumping when Reed snorted loudly in his sleep. She glanced back at him, her heart hammering. “He’s…good.”

  Ms. Lee sighed again. “Just tell me if he owns a bear or not. That’s all this story was supposed to be about. If you’re risking your life just for some thrill—”

  “You know I would never do that.”

  “Do I? You never kept me in the dark before.”

  “I wrote about house plants before.”

  Ms. Lee didn’t say anything, but despite that, Andrea could still somehow feel the woman’s rage emanate through the phone. With the silly articles about maintaining plants, Andrea had never had to be daring—never needed to make that kind of choice. But ever since she started this assignment, taking huge risks and crossing lines was all she had been doing. Ms. Lee obviously knew, even though Andrea hadn’t told her everything about her discoveries.

  Aware of this—of the looming threat of losing her job and her credibility—Andrea sagged and huffed out a taut breath. Shame and pride warred with another as she contemplated her choices for a second longer before saying, “Ms. Lee, these people,” She glanced back at Reed—still snoring, “think they are bears. I have recorded quotes from Reed O’Connor confessing as much, and Hank told me the same thing when I spoke with him. They think they are ‘bear-shifters’ in a world ruled by humans. It’s all so crazy, I didn’t know how you would react, but they take it seriously. I think this is a better story than what we initially thought it was.”

  As Andrea spoke, her mind raced with various plans. She wanted to expose the truth of these bear-shifters, not a falsified truth about mentally unstable billionaires. But she didn’t have any kind of evidence that showed Reed or Hank transforming, and even if she did, there would be skeptics of such footage. She bit her lip, and she became frustrated when she didn’t instantly know what to do about this.

  “I agree,” Ms. Lee said eventually, her voice much softer now. “It is much, much crazier than we suspected, and it makes for a good story. Does Fernando share this belief with the other two?”

  “That’s what I’ve been told.”

  “Then get a quote for him about it, and then get back here. Understood? You’ve spent enough time in enough danger as it is, and dealing with some bear-cult is no easy task.”

  “I know,” Andrea said, hunching forward. “But please believe me when I say Reed is much, much better than Hank. I’m safe here.”

  “I do believe you. But danger doesn’t always come from marks; it sometimes come from ourselves. Be aware of this, for your sake and for Monumental Press’s. Don’t waste any more time with Reed. You need to get out of there before you get sucked into…whatever the hell is going on over there.”

  She felt as if Ms. Lee had struck her, the sincerity and the truth in her boss’s words shocking and painful. Stupidly, Andrea nodded with tears in her eyes. When she remembered that Ms. Lee couldn’t actually see her, Andrea managed to choke out, “Yes ma’am. I’ll leave by tonight.”

  “Good. Don’t make me worry about you any more than I need to.”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  Ms. Lee hung up, and Andrea lowered her phone. Reed continued to snore behind her, the sound boisterous and erratic. Andrea closed her eyes and just listened for a while—let herself be distracted from the situation for just a moment.

  The moment passed too quickly, but her frayed nerves wouldn’t allow her to extend it. Swallowing thickly, she put the phone back into her suitcase before she snaked her way back into bed, beneath the covers. She stared at Reed then, his face lax and his mouth wide open.

  Gently, she reached over to touch him, but suddenly, she felt like all of her atoms were tainted. She flinched back, scooting away from the sweet man beside her. But, as much as it hurt her to do so, she couldn’t tear his gaze away from him.

  Would he forgive her? Would he understand? She asked herself these questions repeatedly, and she was terrified of what the answers would be.

  During breakfast, Andrea couldn’t bring herself to eat much. She ate a few bites from the fruit salad Reed had made, but shy of that, she mostly just tapped her fork against her plate. The dining room—hell, the dining table—was much too big for just the two of them to eat, but she and Reed often ate their meals in there, if not in the front room where she conducted her first interview with him. She never questioned this pattern, only appreciated it. Until now.

  “You all right, Andrea?” Reed asked. Sitting close beside her, he reached his hand out and ran his fingers over her arm. “You look upset about something.”

  “I’m tired,” she said truthfully. Dealing with her doubts, her guilt, her pr
ide, her dreams—she was mentally and somehow physically exhausted. She was all but sagging forehead, her eyelids lowering on their own accord. “Very, very tired.”

  Reed gave her a sheepish frown. “Did I snore?”

  It was such an innocent, menial question that Andrea couldn’t prevent herself from chortling. “Yes, you did.”

  “I’m sorry. I could try a nasal strip or something tonight, but those things haven’t worked for me in the past.”

  She managed to keep herself from laughing again at his sweetness—his unfortunate ignorance—and told herself to just get this over with. Resigned, she raised her head and stared into his eyes. “What are you, Hank, and Fernando really up to?”

  Reed blanched. “What? What are you—?”

  “Reed,” She grabbed the hand that was against her arm and squeezed it. Her breath shuddered for a second, but she forced to continue smoothly, “Hank told me that Fernando was up to something, and based on the way you talk about the three of you…it doesn’t make sense. You always make it sound like bear-shifters stay away from each other, but the three of you make appointments to meet with another in the form of parties.”

  “They’re my friends,” Reed croaked.

  Andrea gave him a sweet, patient smile, all the while knowing that she was going to go to Hell for this. “You’ve told me how haunted you feel just being yourself. You told me a little about your ‘friends’ and their significance. Please, Reed…don’t hide from me anymore. I just want to help.”

  Reed stared at her for a long moment, his expression hardening into something unreadable. For several frightening seconds, Andrea was convinced that he was finally seeing her for what she truly was: a liar, a manipulator. But she forced herself to keep looking earnest and ignore the way her heart shattered.

  “All right,” Reed said at last, a whoosh of air blowing past his lips. Relief relaxed his features as he nodded. “All right.