Primal Temptation: a BBW Bear Shifter Paranormal Romance (Shadowlands Bear Shifters Book 4)
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Primal Temptation
By Olivia Harp
This is a work of fiction. All characters and events reside solely in the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual people, alive or dead, is purely coincidental. All characters are eighteen years of age or older.
© 2017, Olivia Harp. No portion of this work can be reproduced in any way without prior written consent from the author with the exception for a fair use excerpt for review and editorial purposes.
This title is for adults only. It contains explicit sex acts, adult themes, and material that some folks might find offensive. Please keep out of reach of children.
Table of Contents
Primal Temptation
Primal Bear
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Primal Temptation
Chapter 1
The jet finally stopped. It had been a rough landing thanks to the snowy weather and cold wind. Franklin Norwood got up, grabbed his backpack and zipped up his jacket.
The flight attendant walked up to him, he was the only passenger on the plane.
“Everything ready, sir?” she asked.
“I think so,” he said covering his head with the thick hood of the jacket, “Thomas told me someone would be waiting for me here, but I don’t see anyone on the runway.”
“They’re inside the airport, sir,” she said, pointing at a small, warehouse-like building, “the weather outside is minus thirty-two degrees.”
Damn. He’d seen the reports but this was colder than expected. He turned to look out the window: hard snow covered the flat, barren landscape.
Far in the distance, dark clouds threatened with a storm. Work would take longer than he anticipated, he would have to move fast if he didn’t want to get stuck in this frozen Alaskan wasteland.
***
Two soldiers guarded the small runway, their huge winter clothes would probably interfere with their business in case they needed to use their weapons, but the odds of that happening here are so minimal they probably don’t even need them.
Weather was the enemy here, and the best way to fight the cold was staying inside with a cup of hot coffee.
He entered through the arrivals gate and saw only one person, dressed head to toe in heavy, dark brown winter clothes.
He knew she was a woman because of her beautiful, sky blue, almond eyes. They were a perfect contrast against the dull gray interiors of the small terminal.
His bear growled inside of him, but not in an aggressive way, this was something different.
Her mouth hid behind a peach-colored scarf. She stood up the moment he came inside. For a second, he was paralyzed. Then he realized, she froze too. His mind was blank, couldn’t think of anything, then the moment was over and everything returned to normal.
She cleared her throat and walked up to him.
“Are you Franklin Norwood?” she asked beneath the layers of cloth on her face.
“Yes, and you are...”
“Sophia Korbin,” she replied, shaking his hand.
She was nervous. He felt her shiver right at the moment they touched.
Even worse, his bear growled louder this time. Its grunts had a tint of desire in them.
This is strange. Something stirred inside of him. Nothing like that had never happened before.
“Do you need something before we leave?” she asked.
“I can’t think of anything,” he said with a shrug.
“All right, let’s get going, cowboy.”
She turned around and opened the door to leave.
He smiled, “is it that obvious?”
“Well... your hat.”
Oh, yeah. He tied up his cowboy hat to his bag.
“Never met a cowboy who worked I.T.”
“There are a few of us around,” he said, “we just don’t like coming all the way up here to do a simple Repeater checkup.”
She was about to reply something but stopped. It was obvious she didn’t want to be there, just like him.
Going North of the Arctic Circle was a prospect that no one looked forward too, unless you were one of those extreme adventurers.
And he was not. He was a man of technology. An expert on advanced hardware and software. He much preferred being at home in the White Paws Mountain, amidst nature, in front of his screen, or inventing new tools to help his crew against the enemy.
Chapter 2
The big SUV was snow ready, trudging along a deserted road. Everywhere around was covered in snow, the far away mountains down south stretched out along the horizon.
The landscape had a surreal beauty to it. Franklin was used to the forest: green and full of life. It was his home. But here, the serene quiet was, in a way, comforting.
She drove in silence for fifteen minutes, long enough for the A/C to heat up the cabin.
“So,” he said, “what are you doing here? Are you a soldier or something?”
She smiled, “engineer.”
“Oh, I thought I was gonna be the only one around here. Cool to know I’ve got another set of eyes to help me.”
“You’re here to help me, cowboy, not the other way around.”
Funny. She was on the defensive.
“Are you sure? Why would they ask specifically for me?”
She cleared her throat, slowing down as they took a corner.
“You’re the hardware expert, they need to know the Repeater is still one-hundred percent in working condition.”
“Well... Thomas sent me here to fix it up, but I saw the schematics, and the engineering is perfect. The thing was built to withstand anything this weather can throw at it and worse.”
“What are you saying?” she finally replied.
He shrugged, “I’m gonna take a look at it, of course, use the sensors and all, but since the thing is perfectly built, then it must be a software problem, right?”
She laughed, incredulous.
“You wish, Franklin. You know anything about code?”
“I know a thing or two...” he lied. He was an expert coder, too. That’s why they wanted him to come.
“Well, you can take a look at it if you want, but the code is perfect.”
“How do you know?”
“I wrote it.”
That’s what it was.
The government sent him to check out her work, of course she was going to be defensive about it.
“It’s been working perfectly for years and then, all of a sudden it stops working? That doesn’t happen.”
He didn’t immediately reply. This woman was the programmer that wrote the code for the Global Security Network? Shit. On her own?
Why did he had to meet her like this?
Now she hated him for insulting her, even if indirectly. She must be under a lot of pressure, especially when you fuck up a government contract.
He was a White Paw, the government comes to ask him —or his crew— for favors, but he could relate to someone messing up stuff as big as this.
“You’re right.”
“What?”
“You’re right. It’s not like the code’s gonna change by itself. Must be hardware.”
Her eyes shifted to him, then back to the road, her mouth hanging half open.
“What?” he asked.
She shook her head, unable to speak.
“I...”
She cleared her throat again.
“I just, like... I don’t know. I thought you were going to be an asshole.”
He laughed.
“Why? Because they sent me to fix this?”
She thought about her answer for a moment.
“Yes,” she admitted, “it is my job and they send you to fix it? It’s the Agency giving me a warning.”
The Special Circumstances Agency. An intelligence-driven government organization who trains the best shifters in the world and puts them to good use.
A ruthless one, though. Doesn’t tolerate mistakes, and the competition is fierce.
“Damn. You’re an agent?”
“What? No, God forbid. I’m an external asset.”
“And you live all the way up here?”
She chuckled.
“Of course not, I’m a security specialist, they send me everywhere. Last time I had a fixed home I rented a small apartment in Chicago. By the way, who’s Thomas?”
“Who?”
“You said Thomas asked you to come here, back on the airport.”
“Oh. He’s a contact from Washington, he knows I’m good at stuff like this.”
“To check up on me.”
“I wish I knew you’d be here. I would have brought fancier clothes.”
Wait. Did he just say that? He cringed inside, he wasn’t really a people’s person.
She turned to him slowly, blushing.
“Just kidding,” he said, patting her on the leg, then looking away.
Shit. His bear growled loud. He liked her. His bear liked her. But why? He’d just met her and she didn’t seem very interested.
But the way she looked at him when he said that. The way she blushed...
No. Stop that thought. You don’t wanna creep her out. Stay professional, you’re both adults.
He cleared his throat and looked out the window, the bear inside him roaring in anger.
***
The road lead directly to a black, square, one floor concrete building, rising in the whiteness, right in the middle of nowhere. It had no windows, just an entrance and a garage door, which Sophia opened by pressing a button on the car’s visor.
They parked the vehicle, climbed up a five-step staircase to the inner entrance and got in.
They walked through a small, gray corridor with three doors, two on one side and the other one just across them.
The corridor opened to a bigger room with a small kitchen to the right, and a small TV and a sofa on its other end.
“I thought the place was going to be freezing,” Franklin said, leaving his backpack on the floor.
“I arrived in the morning,” she said, “had to wait for you because the suits don’t want me to check on anything without a superior watching over my shoulder.”
“Damn, don’t hate me for that, you know how bureaucrats are.”
She unzipped her big jacket and put it on the sofa. He took a brief glance at her, damn, she was much hotter than he realized. Her curvy waist and full chest almost made him gasp.
Darn it, Franklin, stay focused.
Not only she had the prettiest face he’d ever seen, her curves were almost more than he could handle. His cock got instantly hard.
She turned to him and he shifted his eyes away, faking innocence.
Let’s not make this weird.
But his bear picked up on something from the very beginning, before he even spoke to her for the first time.
And now it roared.
You stay down, beast. The hairs on his arms bristled, but he controlled the animal.
She smiled at him, then turned to the corridor, “Okay, I’ll give you a quick tour of the place. As you can see, this is the common room.”
She walked back to the corridor, her pretty behind wiggling in front of him.
This was supposed to be an easy job. Now it was torture.
She opened each door.
“This is my room,” she said, her suitcase over the bunk, “that’s yours, that’s the server room, and of course, you saw the kitchen and bathroom. The sat-phone next to the fridge works perfectly, if you need to make a call.”
He nodded. The sound of her voice in the silence was more than he could take. His bear wanted her, but he had to make sure he stayed in control.
He was always like a zen master, regarding his animal. Always knew how to remain calm, to not let his emotions take a hold of him.
But the fucking hard-on in his pants proved otherwise. She turned to him, she was so close in that small corridor.
“So, what do you wanna do first?” she asked innocently, her blue eyes and contrasting red, full lips made him wild inside.
“You mean...”
“Rest, eat, what?”
If she only knew.
“Would you mind if I looked at the code? Just to make sure.”
She rolled her eyes.
“Be my guest, but don’t say I didn’t warn you it was perfect.”
“You’re perfect,” he said.
She pressed her lips, looking at him.
Why the fuck did he say that? Would he ever learn to be around people?
“I mean, your code, I’m sure, I have to...”
“Yeah, I understand,” she said, as he went inside the room, pushing his bear down with all his strength.
Easy job my ass.
Chapter 3
Sophie went first, Franklin followed. The room was full of racks with electronic equipment. The soft background noise of fans cooling the components reminded her of those scenes on TV where the nerdy guys work.
This was sort of like that, except this man was not a geeky nerd. Quite the contrary. From the moment she saw him she knew she couldn’t hate him.
And she tried to at first. But come on, he’s only doing his job.
She held up a chuckle, and rolled her eyes.
She was mad when the guys higher up told her another expert would be supervising her. She didn’t need anyone to supervise her.
She thought it was going to be a difficult job.
But then she saw him and damn, he was too easy going, too sweet, even if he was a White Paw shifter.
“It’s cold in here,” he said.
“No A/C, Big Boss doesn’t want them overheating.”
“Big Boss? You mean the suits in Washington?” he laughed.
She shrugged, “they pay me, they’re the boss.”
“No, that’s cool I guess. It’s just the name of a—”
“Game character?”
He turned to her, his dark eyes wide open.
“What, you thought you’re the only one who plays video games?” she said.
He considered for a second, then turned back to his laptop, punching away at the keyboard.
“No, not at all.”
Am I being a bitch? Damn, please, I don’t want to come off as a bitch.
“I love that game series,” she said.
“Me too,” he replied, “it’s just that it’s not that common to see a...”
He trailed off, then pretended to work.
“To see what?” she said.
He shrugged, “nothing.”
“Oh, come on. What were you going to say, smart ass?”
He stopped, took a deep breath and stood up, right next to her.
Oh no, I shouldn’t have called him that. He’s kind of my boss. Did I go too far?
“Want to know?”
She had to nod. It was far too late to change her mind.
“I’ve never met a woman as beautiful as you before. It’s not common to see a hot girl who’s also a gamer. Sorry if I sound sexist.”
She felt a burning bright fire inside of her. He was inches close, tall, and the tight sweater he wore outlined his huge, bulging pecs and biceps.
No, this man was not a regular geek like her.
“Thank you,” she said.
He smiled, “no prob.”
“Although,” she whispered, she wasn’t about to keep quiet about this, “”it did sound kind of sexist.”
“I know, didn’t mean to, I’m not, I swear.”
“I hope you’re not. Do
n’t wanna burst the bubble.”
Woops. Thank you Sophie, thank you for blurting out the exact opposite of what’s appropriate.
There was a moment of silence. Only their warm breath breaking the muted dullness of the room.
Her skin filled with goose bumps, but just as she was about to shiver, a beeping noise broke the silence. His eyes went back to the screen, then turned to the server rack.
She sighed inaudibly, every hair in the back of her neck bristled... and below, between her legs, her center felt warm and lightly wet.
Concentrate, don’t mess this up.
Franklin scrolled down a black screen with letters in different colors.
It was her code, she could recognize it anywhere.
“See any problems?”
“Nothing. Not a single error or bug.”
She nodded slowly, leaning on the rack behind her.
Keep calm. This man is a pro, you’re here to work.
Franklin was silently looking at the screen. Whispering to himself.
“Holy shit,” he said.
“Did you find anything?”
“No,” he said, “it’s just, your work...”
“What? What’s the problem?”
She looked into the screen but everything seemed normal. Did she make a mistake? Was she really the reason all this happened?
“The subroutines,” he said, scrolling down, analyzing everything, “and you did it in only seventy lines?”
He turned to her, his eyes wide with wonder. He looked at her differently now. Full of admiration.
“You’re a freakin’ genius.”
Her smile was so big she was kind of embarrassed so she looked down, averting his gaze.
“This is amazing,” he continued, “no wonder accessing the program is so easy, everything is just, lean.”
“Thanks.”
“Thanks? Sophia, you wrote this all by yourself? And the suits have you on a leash, scaring you out of losing your job?”
“Well... it’s not exactly like that. More like, if I’m not efficient they kick me out, that’s all.”
“You single-handedly wrote the whole system for info exchange on remote areas and you think you’ll lose your job?”
She didn’t reply.
“Let me tell you something,” he said, grabbing her shoulder softly.