Her Hero Was A Bear

by Amy Star

  “See how much we love it?”

  Nadine nodded, the flush in her cheeks deepening. Dylan kissed her again and smiled against her mouth as he felt Nadine dart her tongue out to his lips, tasting herself on him. He let his hands wander all over her body slowly, stroking and caressing; he knew better than to expect her to be perfectly ready for more so soon after a climax—but he also knew, from her pheromones, her arousal was growing once more.

  Nadine tugged and fumbled with his clothes, and Dylan helped her with slightly shaking hands, squirming to get out of his tee shirt, slithering as Nadine pulled down the waistband of his pajama pants. He groaned with relief as his cock sprung free of the suddenly constricting confines of his clothes, and heard Nadine’s startled gasp. He saw that she was looking down at his erection and chuckled.

  “Not scared of that, are you?” He kissed her temple lightly.

  “Not scared,” she said, sounding both proud and uncertain, “just kind of…wow.”

  Dylan chuckled again, taking her hand and guiding it back to his throbbing, aching cock.

  “That’s flattering,” he murmured against her lips. He groaned as Nadine gave him a slow, experimental stroke, her hand sliding along the full length almost as if she was attempting to measure him. Dylan’s hips bucked as Nadine continued to stroke him slowly, her thumb rubbing against the tip of his cock. “Fuck—Nadine, if you keep doing that, I’m going to come on your stomach in a few minutes.”

  Nadine chuckled breathlessly, looking up to meet Dylan’s gaze. He licked his lips and kissed her again, gently pushing her hand away from his throbbing, aching cock. He shifted down between her legs and rocked his hips against hers, rubbing himself along her slick, hot labia. Fuck, she’s just as wet as ever, he thought absently, gritting his teeth as he broke away from Nadine’s lips, struggling with his self-control. He took a deep breath and guided himself against her inner labia, and as Dylan thrust into Nadine’s body slowly, he exhaled in a long, low, growling moan.

  Her wet heat wrapped around him, her inner muscles flexing first as if her body was trying to resist him and then as if she was trying to draw him in deeper. Dylan paused as his hips finally pressed flush against Nadine’s, opening his eyes and looking down into her face.

  “I need to just…be very still…for a minute,” he murmured, his breath catching in his throat as Nadine’s body tightened around him in a little spasm.

  In a few moments, he was just enough in control of himself to begin to move inside of her, pulling almost completely out before thrusting deeper inside of Nadine’s tight, hot, soaking wet pussy. She fell into his rhythm almost immediately, without any sign of hesitation, her hips twisting and bucking underneath him as she met his thrusts. Dylan kissed Nadine everywhere his lips could reach, picking up his pace gradually as the tension mounted in his body. She wrapped her legs around his waist, pushing her hips down to meet his thrusts, her hands wandering all over his body as she moaned and cried out underneath him.

  Dylan took his time—able to feel how tight she was—but after what seemed like hours of tortuously slow movements, he gave into the animal impulse working away at his mind and began to thrust harder and faster, catching Nadine’s mouth with a kiss every few movements, trailing his lips down to her breasts to lick and kiss and suck. Nadine’s hands tightened on him, and Dylan felt her fingernails dig into his shoulders as he rubbed up against some secretive spot deep inside her body.

  “You okay?”

  “God—yes. Yes, I am so okay right now,” Nadine replied, her quick breaths hitching in her throat as her hips twisted down to take him deeper. “If you stop, I swear to god, I’m going to scream.”

  Dylan chuckled and continued moving inside of her, reaching one hand down between their bodies. He found her clitoris by touch and began to rub her in counterpoint to his thrusts, the sounds of her cries filling his ears with the sure knowledge that the woman underneath him was on the verge of another orgasm. He held himself back as he teased her and moved inside of her, knowing that it would be so much better if he waited until she’d hit her climax—instinct ruling him as his human consciousness retreated in the heat of his lust.

  All at once, he felt the ripple of tension in Nadine’s body, and heard her sharp, sudden cry of pleasure. Dylan rode through her second orgasm, thrusting into her hard and fast, working her pleasure center with his fingertips as his own pleasure reached its peak. He gave into every last animal impulse, his hips slapping against Nadine’s as he fell into his own orgasm with abandon. Dylan growled long and low as wave after wave of pleasure washed through him, driving out even animal thoughts, driving away everything but the sensation of Nadine’s body wrapped around his, the smell of her sweat and arousal, the sensation of the orgasm tingling through every nerve in his body. He held onto the climax for as long as he could, groaning as he felt the spasms beginning to abate.

  Dylan collapsed to the bed next to Nadine, sliding out of her body but not quite breaking free of the lax grip her legs had around his waist as his strength left him in a rush. He panted, struggling to catch his breath, and grabbed at Nadine’s face, pulling her around to kiss her on the lips as the pleasure continued to burn through him.

  “God, woman—you’re amazing,” he murmured breathlessly, letting her go and draping his arm around her waist. He took a deep breath and exhaled as slowly as he could, opening his eyes and turning his head to look over at the dark-haired woman next to him. Nadine had the same flushed, contented, satisfied look on her face, her eyes hazy with pleasure, her lips curved in an almost-smile that grew when she felt his gaze on her.

  “That was intense,” Nadine said in between panting gasps for breath. Dylan nodded.

  “It was,” he agreed. He cupped one of her breasts in his hand, giving it a careful, playful squeeze.

  “Is this going to be okay with Matthew?” Dylan glanced at Nadine sharply. “The last thing I want is for the two guys who are supposed to be protecting me getting all…macho or something.”

  “If Matthew wants you,” Dylan started, licking his lips, “would you go with him?”

  Nadine bit her bottom lip and shrugged.

  “Not if it was going to lead to a fight, obviously,” she said, shaking her head.

  “But you like him,” Dylan said, making it almost a question.

  Nadine shrugged again. “On second thought, let’s just not even talk about this,” she said, meeting his gaze.

  Dylan saw that the hazy pleasure had evaporated, replaced by doubt in her eyes, and he leaned in closer, kissing her lightly on the lips.

  “Give me about five minutes,” he told her in a low murmur, “and neither of us will be in any shape to talk about anything.”

  *

  Matthew tugged the blankets over his head, trying to deny the light streaming in through his windows for just a little while longer. He buried his face against the pillows, groaning at the thought of getting up. It was entirely too early; it was always too early when he woke up. Matthew sighed. And of course, it doesn’t help that people fucking kept you up half the night when you could have been sleeping.

  The fact of Dylan coaxing Nadine into his bed didn’t—exactly—bother Matthew. The fact that his longtime friend had been having loud, and obviously incredibly satisfying, sex, wasn’t an issue. Matthew had run into were-bears mating in the woods in their animal forms as well as in their human forms more than once when he’d still been a teenager; he was the last person to be offended at the fact of two people having sex. But if he was honest with himself, Matthew was a little envious; and in addition to that envy, the lack of sleep caused by the moaning, the cries of pleasure, the panting that had filled his ears for most of the night was more than a little frustrating.

  Matthew turned onto his back, opening his eyes to look up at the blanket that covered his face. You might as well get over it, and fast, he told himself firmly. No matter that Dylan had suggested that they could easily share Nadine between them. Matthew had very little opt
imism for the notion that Nadine—a normal human, not even another shifter—would be okay with being shared by two men. He took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, fluttering the sheet over his face. Should have moved quicker. Should have gotten to know her better and sooner. That’s it.

  Matthew threw his legs over the edge of the bed and shoved the blanket away from his body, rolling out from between the sheets and rising to his feet in one quick, fluid movement. He scrubbed at his face and rubbed the heels of his palms against his eyes, stretching against the tightness he could feel in his shoulders and back. He yawned and padded to the door of his bedroom, reaching for the knob by memory. It had only been a little over two weeks since they’d rented the house, but he was already starting to get used to it.

  He opened the door and stepped into the short hallway separating his bedroom from the living room, and Matthew heard low voices—Dylan and Nadine’s—murmuring.

  “We made coffee,” Dylan called out from somewhere in the vicinity of the kitchen.

  He’s been listening for me to get up, Matthew realized. He smiled slightly to himself and walked through the living room and into the kitchen. A full pot of coffee waited, and Matthew took his time pouring, adding the sugar he liked and a dollop of half and half before stirring it all up and taking a sip.

  “You two had a good night,” Matthew called over his shoulder in the direction of the sun room—he thought that was almost certainly where they were. “At least it sounded like that from where I was lying in bed not sleeping.”

  “Sorry about that,” Nadine said.

  Matthew steeled himself against the envy he knew he would feel and carried his coffee mug into the sun room. The sight of Nadine and Dylan, dressed in their pajamas and seated at the small, round table greeted him. Matthew could smell the difference in their pheromones, and there was a subtle shift in their body language that would have told him that they’d had sex the night before if he hadn’t already known, but there was no obvious display of affection; no holding hands, nothing that a normal human would necessarily register as proof of their attachment.

  “It happens,” Matthew said. He pulled one of the remaining chairs free of the table and sat down, taking another sip of his coffee. “I’m just glad someone is getting laid.”

  “Are you though?” Dylan raised an eyebrow, and Matthew met his friend’s intent gaze blandly.

  “What difference does it make?” Matthew shrugged. He felt envious of Dylan—his friend not only was getting laid, but it was obvious to him that Nadine was well worth any amount of effort it took to convince her to get into bed—but he had never let his envy rule him before. He told himself that he wasn’t going to start letting it rule him when it came to a beautiful woman.

  “I was thinking,” Dylan said, pressing his lips together and pausing as he watched for Matthew’s reaction, “that if Nadine is up for it, we could both have her. Share her.” Matthew saw Dylan’s gaze shift onto the woman’s face. “Not in a possessive sense, in the sense of she would be with both of us.”

  Matthew snorted. “Does she have you kowtowing already?” He grinned.

  “Personally I like to continue getting laid once I find out that someone’s great in bed,” Dylan said shamelessly, shrugging off the insult.

  “I don’t want Nadine to have sex with me because you two feel bad for pairing off,” Matthew said.

  “I’m not saying she would do that,” Dylan told him firmly. “I’m saying that if she’s into you, and she’s into me, and we both have needs…” He spread his hands wide. “We’ve never fought each other over anything. We’ve always shared everything—right?”

  Matthew considered the question carefully. It was true that he and Dylan had always shared anything that they had; even as kids, if one of them had some form of treat from their parents, they shared it together. But they had always carefully avoided going after the same women. There were rules in their particular clan—one of those rules included the fact that if two men fought over a woman, or two women over a man, they were punished by the sleuth. Matthew knew there were a few bears of the older generation that occasionally slept around. While bears typically mated for life, that didn’t mean they didn’t occasionally fool around with other bears, or even other shifters, within certain bounds.

  “I don’t want it to be a set-up thing,” Matthew said finally, and turned his attention to Nadine. “If you want to get to know me, and you want me…then that’s one thing. But I don’t want you to come onto me just because Dylan wants to keep the peace or you feel bad for me.” He scowled at the two of them. “Don’t make this weird, either of you two. We have more than enough problems facing us as it is.”

  “He’s not wrong,” Dylan said, glancing at Nadine. “We should probably do a perimeter check,” he added, turning his attention back onto Matthew. “Together.”

  “What about Nadine?” Matthew gestured with his mug in the one-natured human’s direction. “Is she coming with us on the perimeter check?”

  “She’s going to stay here.” Dylan touched Nadine’s shoulder when she started to protest, and for the first time, Matthew felt the first real, true spurt of envy gush through him at the sight of the familiar touch. It had been one thing to hear them having sex, another to see them sitting next to each other, but something about that casual, dominant touch gave Matthew a jolt of desire to have that same connection with the woman who’d received it. “We’ll work on getting you ready to hold your own against a bunch of fucking lions,” Dylan told her, “but you’re still injured and you’re not ready for it.”

  “I hate to gang up on you,” Matthew said, smiling wryly at Nadine, “but he’s got a point. Even without the stitches and the busted ankle, you’d find it hard to take on—say—three or four lions. And we still don’t know how many of them there are.”

  Nadine pressed her lips together, but after a moment she subsided, taking a sip of her coffee and looking away.

  “I’m going to go get dressed in some real clothes,” Dylan said, standing quickly and putting his coffee mug down.

  Matthew watched his best friend leave and then glanced at Nadine, wondering what thoughts were going through her mind. Emotions flickered across her face quickly; her cheeks lit with dusky pink and then paled, her eyes moved without focusing, and her lips twitched in a way that told him that whatever she was thinking, it left her in a confused welter of feelings. That makes two of us, Matthew thought wryly.

  “All that fuss over whether you’d borrow one of our beds and you ended up having sex with him at the end of it,” Matthew said, smiling to take any sting out of the words.

  “I…” Nadine sighed and shrugged, her cheeks taking on a deeper pink tone as she tried to meet his level gaze.

  “I’m not trying to make you feel bad about it,” Matthew told her. “From what I’ve heard, Dylan is worth screwing around with. Maybe, if we’d ever swung that way, our problems would all be solved.”

  Nadine looked at him in shock, and then laughed.

  “Okay,” she said, smiling slowly. “That makes it a little less awkward, I have to admit.”

  Matthew grinned, finishing off his coffee in a few fast gulps.

  “I should probably get dressed too,” he told her, rising reluctantly. “Dylan gets impatient if he’s ready to go and has to wait for anyone else.”

  “I heard that!”

  Matthew snorted and caught the amusement flickering through Nadine’s eyes at the sound of Dylan’s voice.

  “Is it a lie?” Matthew walked away from the table, crossing into the living room. Dylan appeared at the entrance of the hall that led to his bedroom, half-dressed but smiling.

  “No, it’s not,” he admitted, his grin broadening. “Get dressed, asshole, and stop putting me down so you can get your innings in with the pretty woman.”

  Matthew rolled his eyes and turned into the hall that led to his room and the bathroom. He exhaled as he walked through his door, shaking off the fleeting and difficult-to-define
envy that came and went through his mind, twisting his thoughts around. Part of his brain thought Dylan’s solution was a brilliant one; if Dylan and Matthew could share Nadine—if she would consent to it, if she could enjoy being paired with two different bears—neither of them would have to even think about finding anyone else. They could focus on work, and on assimilating into the neutral territory, once they got rid of the threat from the lions. But another part of his mind insisted that it was a total pipe dream. No matter how much he and Dylan had shared in the past, Matthew wasn’t confident of their ability to share a woman.

  Matthew stripped off his pajamas, striding to his dresser and opening up the lower drawers to pull out something to wear. He pushed thoughts of Nadine—and whatever possible future he could have with her, sharing her with Dylan—out of his mind, instead focusing on what he and Dylan needed to do next. We need to figure out just how big a threat this group of lions is. We need to find out if they know where we are. And we need to just get the fuck rid of them, one way or another. Matthew glanced at his reflection in the mirror and decided that as soon as he and Dylan came back from their perimeter check, he was going to get a shower and shave.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  “Are you really okay with what happened?” Dylan glanced at Matthew as they walked along the sidewalk, each of them taking in as much information on their environment as possible.

  In the aftermath of Nadine, and after the confrontation over coffee only a half hour earlier, Dylan still wasn’t sure what his best friend thought of his plan.

  “I’m not interested in charity, man,” Matthew said, shaking his head.

  Dylan sniffed at the air, trying to catch even the faintest scent of something that didn’t belong in the neighborhood. He knew Matthew was doing the same. With any luck, if one of the lions had tracked them down, they would figure it out long before they organized enough to launch an attack.

  “It’s not charity if she’s actually interested in you,” Dylan pointed out.