Hard As Steele (A BBW Paranormal Romance) (Timber Valley Pack)

by Georgette St. Clair

  “Do you think we see our loved ones again after we die?” she asked Steele, her voice suddenly turned wistful as she settled down next to him and grabbed her coffee cup.

  “Of course,” he said. “You’re not dying anytime soon, though, so you got nothing to worry about. That bump on your head’s pretty much gone, by the way. You’re fine.”

  “What about you?” she said. “Nobody that you need to call?” She was about to ask if he had a wife or girlfriend, but she decide that since this was her fantasy, he definitely did not.

  “No, I’m fine,” he said. “I was on my way to meet up with some friends and do some hunting. I talked to one of them on the CB, so he’ll let everyone know I’m stuck here in the snow storm.”

  He reached into his shirt pocket. “Let me check your pupils again.” He cupped her chin gently as he shone the light in her eyes, and when he switched the light off, he held on to her chin, just looking her in the eye, for another couple of seconds before he finally let go. The touch of his hand sent shivers through her body.

  “You feel all right?” he asked her.

  “Never felt better.” It was true. This was a very naughty hallucination. She could feel her nipples swelling, and a rush of moisture between her legs.

  “That’s good to hear.” He settled in next to her.

  “So you’re not from around here?” she said.

  “Up north,” he said. “Little tiny town. You wouldn’t have heard of it.”

  “Me too. I come from Lonesome Pine. It’s a little dot on the map. I’m a short order cook at the restaurant there.” She sighed. “I was going to go to culinary school and be a chef somewhere, but then my parents both died of cancer within a year of each other, and the hospital bills ate up all of their savings.”

  “I’m sorry.” His voice was warm and gentle.

  “It was a couple of years ago.” She felt the sharp prick of tears, and blinked hard. She still missed them every day, but with time, the dull ache had eased somewhat. She’d been just going through the motions of daily life since then, showing up at work, paying her bills, then going back to the tiny mobile home that her friend Katherine’s father rented to her.

  “So where were you going today?”

  “I was coming back from the funeral of my great aunt.”

  “Jeez.” He looked sympathetic. “I’m really sorry.”

  “Don’t be. My parents’ loss, that was very hard, but I’d never even met my great aunt. I wasn’t going to go, but my best friend Katherine insisted.”

  “A stickler for tradition, is she?”

  Roxanne couldn’t help but stifle a giggle. “No. Okay, this is going to make me sound like a terrible person, but then again, you’re a hallucination, so I can tell you anything, right?”

  “Are you still on that? You can tell me anything, but I’m not a hallucination. Really, Roxanne, you’re going to be fine.”

  “Katherine told me to go to the funeral so I could scope out single guys.”

  Steele burst out laughing. “Seriously? At a funeral?”

  Roxanne smiled. She liked talking to this guy; she felt totally comfortable with him. “That’s how dire the dating situation is in Lonesome Pine. I mean, the town has like a hundred and eighty two people there. Besides, even if they had a big population, it’s not like it would help.”

  “What do you mean?” he genuinely looked puzzled.

  “Well, I mean, I’m not the first girl a guy would ask out.” She gestured at her body. “Or the second. Or the third.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because of the way I look.”

  “What about it? Guys where you are don’t like attractive women?”

  Oh, that was so cute. Her hallucination was pretending that he thought she was a hottie! She was really enjoying this whole experience way more than she should.

  “I’m fat,” she said bluntly. “I’m a large woman. The girls that get asked out are the skinny, pretty cheerleader types. That is not me.”

  “You’ve got an amazing body,” he said sincerely. “I mean, pardon my being so forward, but you’ve got a delicious, sexy, full figure. The men where you’re from must be blind.”

  She threw back her head and laughed.

  “That is exactly how I know I’m hallucinating. Everything that I’ve experienced since the accident proves it. You’re way too strong. I swear, now that I think of it, that you pulled the car upright and then yanked the door off with your bare hands. You’re also way too hot. I mean, you are just absolutely perfect. If I were going to dream up the most handsome, perfect man in the world, it would be you.”

  “Well, thank you.” He looked both amused and pleased.

  “And finally, the fact that you’re acting like you’re attracted to me. You’re even acting like you’re flirting with me. Are you flirting with me?” she asked him point blank. She’d normally never been this bold, but hey, none of this was real so she could say or do whatever she wanted.

  “Maybe a little bit. Should I stop?”

  “Oh, dear God, no. By the way, you know what the best thing is about this dream?”

  “What’s that?”

  “I can say anything that I want, without repercussion.”

  “Yes, you can. So what do you want to say to me?” Those blue eyes were so intense, so hungry, they tempted her to throw caution to the wind. “I want to tell you exactly what you’re going to do to me,” she said.

  Chapter Two

  “Oh? What’s that?”

  “First I’d like you to kiss me.”

  “Something like this?” He slid a finger under her chin, tipped her head back, and claimed her mouth with a hungry, passionate kiss. His lips were meltingly soft, his tongue probing and passionate. He swirled his tongue around hers, leading her in a firm but tender duet.

  She felt a rush of warmth sweep over her. His strong, muscular arm circled around her waist, pulling her up against him. She pressed up against him, reveling in the feeling of his strong, solid body. The kiss went on and on, as if he couldn’t get enough of her. He tasted warm and sweet.

  “Mmm,” she moaned into his mouth and reached up and unbuttoned the top few buttons of his shirt. He tangled his fingers in her hair and held her in place as he kissed and kissed.

  Finally he pulled away.

  “Then what would you tell me to do?” His low voice came out in a growl.

  She flushed. This was her fantasy, right? There was no shame here, because he was imaginary. Was this heaven? She imagined that this what heaven must feel like – all alone in a cabin, his body up against hers, and the way he looked at her.

  “I’d want you to take my clothes off.”

  He stripped off her shirt. She kicked off her boots and stood up, and he peeled off her skirt and tights.

  He sat there, drinking her in like a hungry man looking over a delicious banquet. A slow, sexy smile curled his lips. “I love what I see,” he said, as his gaze roved over her rounded tummy and soft, dimpled thighs. “I’m just waiting for your lead.”

  Yep. Heaven.

  “Then I’d want you to take your clothes off.”

  He stripped off his shirt, his shoes, his pants, his underwear…oh dear God. He had a massive erection jutting from a thatch of dark curly hair. So that was what one looked like in the flesh, she thought.

  She’d seen porn. She’d oohed and aahed pictures of hot naked guys in Playgirl. She’d just never seen one in the flesh.

  She looked over him the way he’d looked over her – slowly, with appreciation, drinking him in with her eyes. His thighs were massive and muscular, his abdomen was perfection, with every square of his six pack abs standing out as if carved out of marble. There was a light dusting of dark hair on his broad chest, and a treasure trail of dark curly hair leading from his navel downward.

  “Now, kiss my breasts,” she commanded.

  “I thought you’d never ask.” He knelt down and took one nipple in his mouth, sucked it, nipped at it. She spra
wled back on the couch, reveling in the sensations. His warm mouth on her breasts sent rivers of pleasure flooding through her veins.

  He moved on to her other breast, first caressing the swollen bud of her nipple with his tongue and then taking it between his teeth and tugging at it ever so gently. She let out a helpless whimper of pleasure.

  He cupped her heavy breasts in his hands, his fingers moving and caressing as he suckled at her.

  Then, he worked his way down her stomach with a trail of kisses. She flinched, thinking about the rolls on her stomach, then relaxed.

  This is a dream, she reminded herself firmly. I’m in some strange afterlife that I’ve never heard of before.

  If it wasn’t a dream, she’d die of mortification. She’d just told a stranger to take off all his clothes and suck her nipples!

  But it was, so there was no shame about how she looked and no shame in telling him what she wanted.

  “I want you to kiss my pussy,” she said boldly.

  “We want the same things out of life, apparently.” He flashed her a devilish grin, and then slid down on the couch. He firmly placed his hands on her thighs and opened them wide. She sank her fingers into the couch fabric, tensing with anticipation.

  He drew the moment out, nuzzling the inside of her thighs, the light scruff of five o’clock shadow scraping against her exquisitely sensitive flesh, as he lightly traced his fingers along the seam of her pussy.

  Then he spread her open and lightly ran his tongue along her, and she shuddered with pleasure.

  “Don’t stop,” she begged.

  He flicked his tongue against her clit as he slid one finger inside her. The anticipation was killing her.

  He sucked on her clit, his mouth like warm velvet on the small, engorged pearl of flesh. She felt all the pleasure in her body gathering up in a tightly furled bud, deep in her abdomen. His finger stroked inside her, and he licked and nibbled at her until the bud of pleasure unfurled, exploded, and she cried out.

  “Oh, God, yes!” she shrieked, as the orgasm shattered through her, drenching her in hot, wet ecstasy.

  He moved up, his muscular body covering hers, and she felt the head of his cock pressing against her tight entrance. He thrust hard, then pushed again, and broke through. There was a short, sharp moment of pain, and then the sensation of delicious fullness.

  He paused, a look of shock on his face. “You were a virgin?”

  “Yes. Is that bad?” Shame flooded her. She was a virgin because nobody had ever wanted her in that way before. Maybe he wouldn’t want her now that he realized just how undesirable she really was.

  “I-no, it’s not bad. I just didn’t realize, I – Roxanne, I’m honored to be your first.”

  He began sliding in to her, slowly. “Tell me if I’m hurting you.”

  She wasn’t using any birth control, but of course, it was okay – this was a dream. In a dream, you didn’t have to use birth control.

  “You’re so tight,” he groaned. “I love how you’re squeezing my cock.” He pumped into her, harder and harder, one arm wrapped around her, hugging her to him.

  His thickness filled her up, and she could feel how she was squeezing him, clamping like a glove around him. He moved in and out, and every thrust was like the stoking of a fire inside her. His breathing grew harsher and faster, until he let out a mighty roar and plunged all the way in, and exploded. There was a sensation of heat, and sticky warmth, liquid and seeping out between her thighs.

  He held her for a long time, his fingers stroking her back and drawing circles in her flesh.

  “Again,” she begged shamelessly.

  “Are you sure? You’re not sore?”

  “Of course I’m sore. You’re huge. But I like it,” she said.

  He looked in her eyes, and she could see the firelight reflected in them, the dancing flames flickering. “You’re my kind of woman.”

  Well, of course, I dreamed you up, she thought, as he slid inside her again. She loved the feeling of his thrusts, of his testicles slapping against her flesh, and the earthy musky smell of him.

  She felt the heat rising inside her again, with every pump of his hips. He thrust so hard that the couch rocked, and like lightning, bolt after bolt of pleasure forked through her.

  “Faster. I need it.”

  Gripped her hips and slammed into her, fast and hard, until she exploded again, drowned under a tidal wave of sensation. She could feel her muscles clamping down on his cock.

  “Baby. Oh, God. Oh, yes,” he groaned as he shuddered and she felt yet another rush of cum filling her.

  When the tremors inside her stilled, he slid out. “I’ll get you a towel,” he said. “And I’ll make you dinner. There’s cans of soup and there’s pasta here.”

  She sat up. She felt wet and sticky and soreness pulsed between her legs, but she was also deliciously sated, like a hunger that she’d never been aware of before had finally been fed.

  “I can cook,” she protested. “I do it for a living.”

  “I like to feed my woman.” He flashed a grin at her, and she sank back onto the couch with a happy sigh. His woman. She’d never dreamed that someone who looked like him would say those words, and with such tenderness and possession.

  After dinner, she lay there in his arms as he stroked her flesh and she talked about her life in the tiny town of Lonesome Pine. She told him about Katherine, who was her best friend and a total nag and worrywart, and how she loved her job as a cook, and how the town was so small that it was possible to literally hold your breath long enough to drive from one end of the town to the other.

  It had once been a boom town, home to thousands of people, during the gold rush. After the gold mine ran out, back in the late 1800s, many people had moved on, with only a few hundred people left. They supported themselves by farming.

  There was also the odd rumors about the family that lived up in the hills, but she decided not tell him about that.

  “Do you like living there?” he asked her.

  “I basically do. There are a lot of good people in town. I’m friends with the people who own the Red Barn Diner; that’s Katherine’s uncle, Hal Bertelsen. Her dad is the mayor. I just get kind of lonely as a single girl there; it’s such a remote town, you know that nobody new’s ever going to move there. The pretty girls get married young, and girls like me just…I don’t know what we do. I honestly thought I’d die a virgin.” She paused to think about it. “I guess I have, right?”

  “Again with that? Roxanne, won’t you believe me? You’re fine.”

  She giggled. “If I were fine, that would make me the biggest tramp in Montana.”

  “Can you be a tramp and a virgin?” he asked. “Anyway, I liked it.”

  She found herself nodding off in his arms, with the heat of the fire and the warmth of his body enveloping her.

  Later, she woke up. The fire was still roaring; he must have tended to it while she slept.

  He was gone, and she had to go to the bathroom. The bathroom door was open, so he wasn’t in there.

  After she used the bathroom, she came out and looked around, puzzled. It was still snowing outside. He wouldn’t be outside in this weather, would he? Where was he?

  This was her hallucination, damn it. The hot guy didn’t get to run out on her after sex in her hallucination.

  She glanced at the window at the back of the cabin, and a flicker of movement caught her eye. Curious, she walked over to the window, and saw Steele standing there in the snowstorm…stark naked. He wasn’t shivering, or hugging himself in the cold. He could easily have been standing in the sand on a tropical beach, rather than calf-deep in snow. Then, as she watched, he began to change. He sank down on to all fours, and white and gray fur rippled all over his body. His snout lengthened. His ears turned pointy and stood up. A bushy tail grew. He threw back his head and howled.

  He was now a massive, beautiful gray wolf.

  Steele turned and dashed off through the trees. Overhead, the full,
round globe of a silvery moon looked down.

  Okay, then. Just when she was wavering as to whether this could possibly be real, which would truly make her a shameless hussy who’d ordered a man to lick her in intimate parts of her body, she was reassured that she’d been right all along.

  Clearly, not only was she imagining all this, but her head injury must be worse than she thought.

  Chapter Three

  Steele woke up with his arms wrapped around her. It was morning, and flakes were still swirling lightly outside the window, but the mad intensity of the blizzard had abated. The fire was starting to die down, and the air in the room was chilly again, but he lay there for just a minute more, drinking her in.

  He breathed in the perfume of her hair, the light honeysuckle scent of her shampoo swirling in his nostrils. He smelled the delightful musk of her body. The scent of their lovemaking still lingered in the air. He pressed into her delicious, cushiony softness. She was so self-conscious about her beautiful body and womanly curves. He wished that he could spend a lifetime teaching her how wrong she was about that.

  That could never happen. At best, he had another day.

  As soon as the snow storm let up, he’d have to leave and never see her again.

  He felt a dull throbbing in his chest and an aching misery which he’d never experienced before, but he suspected he knew what it was. He’d fallen for her, hard.

  How ironic, he thought, as he disentangled himself from her and stood up. He’d never felt like this about a woman in his life – and the one woman who made his heart pound in his chest was from the wrong species.

  Not wrong species like a lynx, or a bear, or a mountain lion shifter. That he could work with. The Council of Elders, the thirteen Elders who made final decisions over the affairs of wolf shifters across the nation, would be fine with any of those. Granted, he’d never be permitted to start his own pack if he were to marry a woman from a different shifter species, but the Elders wouldn’t have too much of a hissy fit over it.

  But a human? Forget about it. It was the ultimate taboo for a shifter.