Bearly Getting It: A Friends to Lovers, Shifter, MPreg-Possible Love Story

by J. D. Light

  "Bennett," Thompsyn warned, not at all sounding reassured.

  The leopard sighed, pursing his lips and giving his man a sassy glare. "Fine." He waited until Thompsyn nodded and turned his head before meeting my gaze and mouthing, I'll have her ship it.

  ◆◆◆

  I was sweaty and happy, and feeling good after a long run with my best friend in our animal skin, riding high on knowing that I'd already made the decision to have this life for as long as I was allowed. I knew there would come a day when I'd probably have to let him go, but that wasn't now, and if him coming back and getting to spend so much time with him had taught me anything, it was that I'd been miserable without him and didn't even realize it.

  That misery had just become a part of the day, a weight on my chest that I had grown accustomed to, and now that it was gone, I wasn't sure I could go back to feeling like that again.

  "Ew," he said when I plopped down on my couch, still sweaty and shirtless, since the idea of putting a shirt on after getting so damn sweaty did not appeal. "You're going to get the couch all sweaty and gross."

  I smirked, making eye contact as I burrowed further into the crack between cushions. What he didn't know was that this was what I always did after a run. I didn't even feel ashamed.

  "Worried I'll mess up your precious scent with my neutralized sweat?" I wiggled some more, raising an eyebrow. "Uh oh, I bet I'm erasing what was left of it as we speak."

  Wait. We'd never really stopped to try to figure out what that scent he kept smelling actually was, and I was pretty sure he knew all the scents around that belonged to the people who might have come over and not been wearing their delphinium. Wasn't it a little odd that he didn't know this one?

  My heart rate picked up as something started to dawn on me, especially with me practically burrowed into the couch that he spent an odd amount of time sniffing. It had been years since he'd scented me. It had also been years since I'd scented him, since one or both of us always had delphinium either on us or in our systems since we'd been young.

  Occasionally, I wandered around the house without my necklace, because I didn't want to hear about it from my parents, but there had been a couple of times I'd gone on runs without it and had flopped down on my couch just like I was right then, sweaty and happily burrowed against the cushions.

  Hunt watched me for a long moment before tilting his head to the side, and I could see that his wheels were working too. "Do you always flop against the couch like that after a run?"

  Damn. I needed time to process what I was thinking. I needed to run over the information and make sure I wasn't missing something big. I definitely wasn't ready to start answering questions that would lead directly to what I was thinking before I had a chance to make sure I wasn't making shit up.

  Clearing my throat, I nodded pointedly toward the hall. "Yeah. I thought you wanted first shower. Get to moving, or I'm stealing it from you."

  He frowned a bit harder, but after a long moment of watching my face, he turned and headed toward the bathroom, and I knew he knew what I was thinking, just like I knew he'd know I needed a moment.

  He took his shower fairly quickly, not giving me adequate time to process or organize the gazillion thoughts rolling over and over inside my head, and like a coward, I waited until he had left the bathroom and was shut behind his bedroom door before practically running for the bathroom to take my own shower.

  The room was steamy and warm, and I knew if I didn't have my necklace, I'd be able to smell his shampoo. I'd be able to smell him.

  Would that scent tell me what I was beginning to think it might? I knew it was possible I was jumping the gun. He hadn't said the scent on the couch that he'd been smelling––the scent that was probably mine––was the scent of his mate. He'd just found it intriguing, right? Maybe, because it had been so long since he'd smelled me, he was just reacting to the familiarity of a scent he hadn't even known he missed. Like nostalgia… or something.

  Maybe I was blowing this whole thing out of proportion.

  That would be a lot easier to believe if it wasn't for that look on his face when he walked away. He wasn't going to let things go much longer. He wasn't impulsive like Bennett, but the man also didn't have Thompsyn's unlimited patience, either. He was going to make demands soon, so I'd better get used to the idea that my entire life might be about to change.

  How ironic. Hadn't I been the one in a hurry to find my mate before? Just when I'd gotten to the point where I was ready to forget finding him until Hunt found his and moved on from our friendship… bam. Mate.

  Maybe!

  When the bathroom became so filled with steam I could barely breathe, I knew I'd stayed too long, and it was time to face this thing. It wasn't that I wasn't happy about Hunt possibly being my mate. Having my best friend, the person who meant the most to me in the world as my mate? Could life be more perfect? And maybe that right there should have told me long before twenty minutes ago that he was probably my mate. Some things should just be a given. No, the thing that was freaking me out was now that I'd thought that being his mate was even a possibility, I was going to be heartbroken if it turned out we weren't.

  I wrapped a towel around my waist, wishing I had a little more coverage, since I knew he was going to be waiting for me right outside the door, but in being a coward, I'd completely forgotten to get some clothes to put on after, and I was just going to have to deal with the consequences.

  I'd been right. Hunt was waiting for me, leaned back against the wall with his arms crossed over his bare chest, his pants only hanging on by the sheer bubble of his ass, and my entire body reacted to the look in his eyes.

  He moved toward me like the predator he was, immediately reaching out and snagging my wrist before moving me over and pressing me against the wall by the door. His body wasn't touching mine yet, but as one hand braced just next to my shoulder, he held my wrist up with the other, making me realize I was still clutching that damn necklace like a lifeline.

  We both looked over at it for a long moment before he released my wrist, holding his hand out, palm up. I met his eyes again as I dropped the damn thing, gasping when his body brushed mine and his face settled just above mine, inches apart.

  "I can't believe I didn't think of this sooner," he whispered, his warm breath making my lips tingle.

  "But what if it's not? What if we're both getting our hopes up, only to be let down."

  "There's no way. Even if, for some crazy, nearly impossible reason this isn't what we both think it is, I'll wear my necklace every damn moment of my life. I'll cripple myself with scent blockers so that I never find my mate, because there is no way in this world that there is anyone more perfect for me than you."

  A whimper escaped me, because I knew I'd do exactly the same thing, and he tossed that damn necklace down the hall away from us.

  My next breath was filled with a scent so fucking familiar and so fucking delicious, I moaned, leaning forward to press my nose to his neck, needing more, wanting to get high on it.

  "Oh my God," Hunt whispered against the side of my head, his voice breaking.

  I tilted my head back to look at him, needing to see my best friend… needing to see my mate, and he immediately cupped my face, his hands gentle as his eyes moved over my features. He lowered his mouth to mine slowly, and the anticipation and the tingling of my damn lips nearly drove me insane before his mouth settled against mine ever so gently.

  It was sweet and hesitant, as we watched each other for a moment… until the heat took over. Desire like I'd never felt in my entire life swept through me, starting at my lips, and I moaned, melting against the wall and closing my eyes as he pressed closer, tilting his head and slipping his tongue inside my mouth.

  I couldn't believe this was happening. I couldn't believe I was kissing him, and he was kissing me back. Like really kissing me.

  I didn't dwell on how real it was for long. I was swept away in that kiss. Kissing had never really been a thing for me i
n the past. Far too intimate, and though I'd done it, I couldn't say that I'd particularly enjoyed it. I'd been too caught up in overthinking my way through it and had finally gotten to the point where I did everything I could to avoid a questing mouth.

  Hunt was not the same. It was exactly everything I'd heard mates talk about. That world-shifting moment that was almost scary it was so intense, and it was the sexiest experience of my life. I honestly thought I might be able to get off just from the taste of him alone.

  His hands moved over my body, and I let mine slide along his shoulders and up his neck into his hair before sliding back down, letting my fingers ride the swollen mounds of all that muscle.

  He pressed in tighter to my body, and I could have sworn I heard the wall creak behind me, probably seconds away from breaking with how hard he was pinning me to the thing, but I didn't care. Fuck the wall. I loved the way he felt.

  He broke away, eyes wide. "Sorry, Dy. Did I hurt you?"

  Hurt? Only if he didn't get his mouth back on me. "No. Please," I whispered, pressing my swollen dick against his thigh and rubbing. I'd managed to lose my towel, so the only thing between my skin and his was those insanely thin sleep pants that I wasn't sure was made to actually house anything. They seemed like more of a teaser type thing to me.

  He groaned, and pressed back, once again making the wall creak, but instead of stopping, he dropped his hands down to my ass and his mouth to my neck, sucking hard on the skin where he would hopefully put a mating mark someday, and squeezing the globes in his hands, growling.

  "Hunt," I whined, loving the bruising pressure and desperately wanting more. "You feel so good."

  As if suddenly realizing I was naked, he gasped, pulling back slightly to look me over, and I growled, trying to pull him back to me, but he dropped to his knees, grasping my hips and pinning them back against the wall, not allowing me to move as he ran his eyes over my body again and again.

  "Oh, Dy," he whispered reverently before burying his face right up next to my cock and taking in a long, deep breath.

  I shuddered, absolutely stunned that this man who had meant so much to me for so long was sitting on his knees in front of me, looking like some kind of dark angel.

  His hands slid up along my body, and he tipped his head back to look at me, smiling before sticking his tongue out to flick it over the skin at the base of my dick, then opening his mouth and sucking one of my balls inside.

  Letting out a startled cry, I gripped his massive shoulders to keep from sinking to the floor when my knees gave out, and his entire body shuddered.

  His eyes were dark and gorgeous as he pulled back, watching the pre-cum ooze from my body and shoving his underwear down to expose his beautiful dick.

  We'd seen each other naked enough when we were younger, that I'd known he was uncut, but never had I appreciated the sight as much as I did right then when he was so deliciously hard, the skin was pulled back to reveal the pretty pink head, slick and shiny.

  He stroked it once and I made some kind of needy noise in the back of my throat as his big body once again shuddered with need, and then his eyes were snapping to mine.

  He growled, letting go of his dick and grabbing my hips, once again pinning them to the wall before leaning forward and licking a long, hard stripe up along my shaft.

  "Oh fuck, Hunt," I whined, and then stopped breathing all together for a long moment as he sucked the head into his hot mouth, rolling his tongue along the top to gather my fluid and then sinking down further all the way.

  Again, I'd had blow jobs before, and I wasn't crazy, so of course I'd enjoyed them, but there had always been a level of overthinking involved. Also again, that was not the case with Hunt.

  In fact, I was so gone in the feel of him, I lost all track of time and how long it actually took for me to shoot down his throat and then on to his tongue when he pulled back, a long groan escaping him as his fingers dug into my hips hard, but I would guess the whole thing from the time he got me in his mouth to him shooting untouched between my feet just from the taste of my cum was a whole thirty seconds, and that might actually be generous.

  We were both gasping for air, my head thrown back against the wall and his pressed against my hip when the unmistakable sound of my front door opening had our gazes snapping together, our eyes wide.

  "Hunt? Dyer?" Thompsyn called from the living room, and we both got to scrambling, nearly banging our heads together as I tried to bend down to retrieve my towel while he grabbed it and stood quickly, coming off that floor like he wasn't over three hundred pounds.

  He pressed the towel forward against my crotch, as I reached out and pulled his sleep pants back up, praying Thompsyn hadn't brought Bennett with him, and we were both fully covered, but still touching each other when Hunt's Papa filled the mouth of the hall with his massive bulk, bending down to scoop my necklace off the floor and then looking at us as it dangled from his fingertip while we stood frozen, watching.

  "Can't say I'm surprised by this at all," he grumbled before glancing down at my feet and then back up, sucking his cheeks between his teeth in an obvious effort not to laugh. "Briec's here. I'll wait in the living room while you clean that up."

  He gestured with his head to my feet once again, and we both looked down between the tangle of arms that was him still holding my towel to my body and me for some reason still gripping the band of his pants, even though they were definitely back in place, to the mess on the floor where there were the obvious streaks and dribbles of someone's cum, and we both groaned.

  I wondered how hard it would be to bribe Thompsyn into not telling his mate about this little incident. Did I really need that story hanging over my head for the rest of my life?

  Chapter Five

  "Briec, please stop staring at my…" I blinked, glancing around the room at all the people standing around and cleared my throat. "…at Dyer like that."

  I glanced at Dyer and our gazes clashed, his cheeks going a little red before he looked away, trying desperately to hide a smile.

  We hadn't gotten a chance to discuss our newfound realization, and each time we looked at each other, it was like a shot of happiness, excitement and a little bit of nervousness ran through me all at once.

  We had promised Papa we would tell Dad and Dyer's parents today after meeting with Briec, but I would have still rather us gotten to discuss it ourselves before we told people, but I knew Dad would all but kill Papa if he found out the man knew and didn't tell him.

  "But he's so pretty," Briec said, sighing.

  Dyer scoffed, crossing his arms over his chest. "Handsome."

  Briec, my dad and I laughed while the rest of the room tried to hide smiles.

  Poor, pretty Dyer.

  "Briec," Laramy demanded, grabbing her mate's hair and jerking her head back before leaning down to whisper against her lips. "Focus."

  Their kiss was absolutely not PG. I wasn't sure I hadn't just gotten pregnant watching them, but it was strangely hard to look away, and I was one hundred percent gay.

  "Oh," Dad said, blinking at the two. "I think I'm getting the appeal of two women." When his eyes cut to my Papa, I groaned, wishing I could disappear before his mouth opened again. "You don't manhandle me anymore, Papabear."

  Papa rolled his eyes, crossing his giant arms over his chest. "I manhandled you last night."

  "That was like twelve hours ago."

  "Stop, please," I whined, and my Papa sent me a look that spoke volumes about just what I had the right to whine about, since he'd had to see the puddle of my cum cooling on the floor between Dyer's feet.

  Again, my eyes clashed with my mate's, and we both smiled.

  I should have known my overly perceptive––but only when it suited him––Dad would see everything, including the exchange between Papa and me, and immediately draw the correct conclusion.

  "Holy shit," he snapped, drawing everyone's attention, though his own eyes were busy glaring over his shoulder at his mate.

 
Papa groaned, shaking his head. "Don't look at me like that."

  Gasping, Dad slapped his hand against the kitchen table where he was sitting between Briec and Ridley turning fully in his chair to better glare at Papa. "You knew?"

  "I only found out right before we came over here."

  "Are you fucking kidding me?"

  "Dial it down," Uncle Alpha Flynn said, sighing next to Ridley, though he was watching the situation curiously.

  There were few people my dad listened to, but for the most part, he listened to our alpha… well, mostly.

  "This meeting was important," Papa argued dryly.

  "So is this," Dad said, a bit calmer than a moment before, but still motioning between Hunt and me dramatically, flapping his hand around.

  Alpha Flynn's eyes widened, and his mouth formed a big O before a huge smile lit his face, as Uncle Ridley's face screwed up in confusion.

  "So, is what?" Ridley asked, looking around at the people surrounding the table. "What's going on?"

  "I can't believe you kept this from me," Dad said, pouting and turning in his seat to give Papa his back, who only sighed in return. "I feel betrayed."

  Papa grunted in return while Ridley reached out and smacked my Dad on the shoulder. "What the hell, Bennett. What's going on?"

  Briec stood, shrugging as she walked a little ways around the table and started trying to free me of my shirt. "He's freaking out because Thompsyn knew that these two were mates and didn't tell him," she said, grunting slightly when I smacked her hand away as she tried to lift my shirt up and over my head.

  "What?" Ridley gasped, his eyes huge and happy as he looked back and forth between us as Briec moved around behind me to once again try to pull my shirt off.

  "Are you a psychic?" Dad asked her, sounding awed, and Briec peeked around my shoulder, frowning.

  "No…" She paused, glancing up toward the ceiling in thought before nodding her head hard. "Yes. I know everything."

  "She's not a psychic," Laramy said calmly from behind Briec, reaching forward to pull the crazy witch away from me, and I wrestled my shirt back into place, grabbing Dyer and pulling him in front of me. "She knew you guys were mates from the last time Dyer visited the island and the way you guys are together."