Guardian Bears: Karl

by Leslie Chase

  “I know,” he told her. He took another step forward, closing the distance between them, but not threatening. Allison’s fingers flexed as she thought about the button, but still she didn’t move.

  “You had no reason to trust me,” he continued. “You still don’t. But listen to your soul, you know that fate has brought us together for a reason.”

  Without meaning to, she nodded. It was true, she couldn’t doubt him or his sincerity. It just wasn’t in her. But that doesn’t mean you’re right, she reminded herself fiercely. I can’t trust him just because he’s so convincing!

  She tensed, steeling herself, and he laughed again. It was a sad sound, directed at himself.

  “Oh, I know that sounds crazy. Believe me, I know,” he said, spreading his arms. She noticed a deep red mark along his right forearm, much like the bullet wound along her ribs.

  “Did Kirby do that to you?” she asked, staring at it.

  “The deputy at your house? Yes, that was him. I had to stop him shooting you.”

  The wound in her side twinged at that, and she found herself stepping forward to take hold of his arm, examining the wound. She wanted to make it better, to repay him for stepping between her and harm – but the wound was already healing, and if she hadn’t known better she’d have thought it was at least a few days old. Looking up at him, she tried to work out what was going on and failed.

  “I don’t understand,” she said, letting go of him. His touch was overwhelming, and even his closeness was too much for her – she could feel herself respond to the heat of his body, the strength of his muscles, the manly smell of him. And that just made everything more confusing. “How is this possible, how is any of this possible?”

  “I know it’s hard to take in, but you’re not alone. I can help you,” Karl said, reaching out slowly to take her by the shoulder. She laughed bitterly but didn’t pull away.

  “Not alone? If I believe you, I’m a, a werewolf! I’m not even human! How can I be more alone than that? My only choice is to get away from here if I can, and get away from everyone I might hurt.”

  Karl shook his head and squeezed her shoulder gently, then let go and stood back, dropping his backpack to the floor. “I’d tell you I understand better than you can imagine, but you wouldn’t believe me. The only way to convince you is to show you.”

  Allison frowned, confused. How could he possibly understand her situation? Even if he was an experienced werewolf hunter, that didn’t make much sense.

  But before she could ask him about it, he made good on his word and showed her. The huge man before her grew even larger, white fur springing from his body as he changed, tearing free of the clothing that was suddenly too tight for him. With a thump that shook the room, he landed on all fours in front of her, transformed in a heartbeat from gorgeous man to mighty polar bear.

  His eyes are the same, Allison thought, frozen in shock. The rest of her mind was torn between panic at the giant predator’s closeness and a strange feeling of calm acceptance. This was still Karl, and she was still safe in his presence. Somehow she knew that.

  He didn’t move, just stood there looking at her. Hesitantly, Allison reached out and slid her fingers through the thick, soft white fur of the man who said he was her mate. The man who was her hunter.

  “I can’t believe it,” she breathed. “Are you… is this real?”

  The bear nodded, and she saw humor sparkling in his bright blue eyes. Biting her lip, she looked at him, awed by the possibilities that started to run through her mind.

  Karl stepped back, turned away, and then shifted again. This time she heard the noise of it, a faint whoosh of air rushing into the space left as the huge animal shrank back to man-size again. He was, of course, naked, and Allison blushed as she stared at him.

  Should I be more afraid of him now? Maybe she should, but her mind and body were overwhelmed by his presence. Not just his physical presence, but the knowledge that she wasn’t alone, that whatever kind of monster she was, he was the same.

  Before she could consider what she was doing, she flew to him, holding him tight. His arms went around her, lifting her, holding her to him, and she knew in an instant that she was safer with him than anywhere else in the world.

  I’ll just have to hope that it’s safe enough.

  15

  Karl hadn’t been sure what reaction to expect from his transformation. Would she run? Would she cower? Or would she take some comfort from it? All he’d known was that he had to show her that she wasn’t alone in the world.

  He hadn’t expected her to throw herself at him as soon as he changed back, but he wasn’t going to complain. The woman of his dreams, his one fated mate, was in his arms, holding him tight and kissing him as he lifted her to him. The thin top she wore was all that kept their bodies apart, and he felt his body respond to her closeness.

  Allison’s body trembled in his arms, and he knew that she felt the same way. Their animal souls were responding to their closeness, and he wanted her in a way that he had never wanted anyone before. It was all he could do to resist tearing her clothes off, but he forced himself to wait, taking things slowly. Savoring her kiss.

  She melted against him, breathing quickly, her fingers digging into the bare skin of his back.

  “Not here,” she whispered in his ear. “What if Kirby comes back?”

  He growled impatiently, but he had to agree. That wouldn’t end well. But he wasn’t ready to put her down. Shifting her weight to one arm, he reached down and grabbed his bag with the other and walked for the door. Allison gasped and he grinned, enjoying the way she squirmed in his grip as he took her to the car and put her in the passenger seat before hurrying around to get in beside her.

  “Where are you going to take me?” She leaned over and kissed him again as she asked. He stroked her hair, pulling her into the kiss and feeling, rather than hearing, the gasp that got from her. When their lips parted, he grinned at her.

  “Away from here, first of all,” he told her, starting the engine and pulling out of the parking lot.

  His heart felt lighter in her presence, and he knew one thing with an absolute clarity. He wasn’t going to let any harm come to this woman, not while there was a breath left in his body. He didn’t know what he would do, but there had to be some other solution to her werewolf problem. And he’d find it for her.

  Starting to think about how he could deal with that, who he could turn to, he was distracted by the feel of Allison’s hand wandering over his bare torso, stroking down across his abs. Looking aside at her, he saw a mischievous grin on her face as she blushed.

  “Sorry,” she said, not sounding at all apologetic. “It’s hard to keep my hands off you when you’re… well, naked.”

  He laughed, joy filling his heart. “I’m not complaining.”

  Allison giggled, tracing a finger lower, and he felt himself stir and harden. Licking her lips, Allison brushed her hand over his cock, making him gasp at the electric feel of her touch. It was an effort to focus on the road when he wanted to turn all his attention on her, but he kept his hands steady on the wheel.

  Her fingers closed around him, a light grip that felt unbearably sexy as she stroked him slowly, teasing. Karl growled at her, an animal hunger in his voice, and she laughed back, joyful and husky and just as hungry.

  “I’ve never done anything like this before,” she said, voice low. Still stroking him gently, she raised her other hand to her lips, licking her fingers before tracing them around the head of his cock. “I think I like it!”

  Karl laughed again, his heart speeding up as she teased him. His breathing was only barely under control, and he could feel himself hardening in her grip. Their bodies called out to each other, needed each other, and it was difficult to think of anything else.

  Focus, man, he told himself sternly as he felt Allison’s hand tighten around him. Get back to her place, grab whatever she needs, and then we can get out of here. He couldn’t fool himself, though. They wer
en’t going to be able to resist each other that long.

  It didn’t seem like Allison was going to resist him even until they got there. Her face was flushed, her breathing fast, and he could swear he heard her heart racing. Bending over him, she breathed across his body, making him moan.

  When she kissed his cock, it was all he could do not to swerve off the road.

  “This isn’t safe,” he told her, hands locked like iron vices on the steering wheel to keep from grabbing at her. She laughed again, but sat back up, shaking her head.

  “I thought you’d like it,” she told him, still stroking in that slow, excruciatingly teasing rhythm.

  “I like it too much, that’s the problem,” he growled. “And I think you know that.”

  Her laugh was like music to his ears, and she didn’t protest the rest of the way to her house. The cruiser was gone now, and there was no one else in sight as he parked, getting out and coming around to meet Allison before she could step down from the SUV.

  “Where do you think you’re going?” he asked sternly, and she frowned, confused.

  “I thought we were – OH!” Her answer cut off as he lifted her up and put her over his shoulder, carrying her inside.

  “I’ve had enough trouble keeping up with you,” he told her. “So I’m not letting you run off again.”

  She laughed, and he gave her raised ass a playful, lighthearted spank as he carried her to the bedroom. Her suitcases were still there, half packed, but they both ignored them. There was something more important on their minds, something that they couldn’t put off a moment longer.

  Allison yelped as Karl threw her to the bed and leaped after her, pinning her and kissing her hard. Her body burned for his touch, desperate for it, and she gasped with joy as he tore off her t-shirt. Karl bent over her, covering her with kisses starting at her neck and working down, each one a small explosion of joy and need and desire.

  His teeth nipped at her breasts, making her shudder and moan. He knew just where to touch her, just how hard, and it woke feelings in her that she couldn’t name. It was as though he wasn’t just touching her body, but reaching past it to her soul.

  She reached up to pull him closer, but he wasn’t moving. His mouth explored her breasts, lips and tongue playing over her sensitive skin and sending sparks shooting through her. One of his hands gently but firmly pressed her down to the bed, the other brushed down over her tummy and to the waistband of the pants she wore.

  Moaning, she raised her hips, letting him slide them down. Her own hands played across the wonderfully firm muscles of his body, back down to the gorgeous, glorious cock that was hard as a bar of iron between his legs.

  Karl gasped at that touch, a shiver running through him as she stroked. But still he wouldn’t let himself be hurried. His fingers found her sex, stroking across her wet lips, teasing her as she teased him. Together they groaned in pleasure, Allison finding the tension between them unbearable. She arched her back, pressing herself to his fingers.

  The low, throaty chuckle he gave at that drove her wild, and she heard herself growl at him, a hungry, desperate sound that came from deep inside her. The wolf in her needed him even more that the human did.

  Mercifully, he didn’t tease her for too long. His fingers slid inside her, filling her as he kissed her mouth, their tongues meeting with an electric spark. She felt his thumb rub across her clit and her body tensed, arched, trembled under him. The feeling was almost unbearably good, and she felt the pressure building inside her. It filled her as he moved slowly and expertly, inexorably guiding her towards her orgasm.

  Allison felt his pleasure, his anticipation, both in her soul and in her hand as she stroked him. The silky skin of his cock was stretched around what felt like an iron rod, stiff and thick and trembling under her fingers. The thought of him inside her scared her a little, he was so big – he felt even bigger now than he had the night before.

  The memory of how good he’d felt inside her then was enough to push her over the edge. Karl’s fingers moved inside her, urging her on into an explosion of pleasure that rocked her to her core. She heard her cries of joy as though from far away as the room seemed to dissolve into light around her, and all she could see were Karl’s eyes meeting hers.

  After who knew how long, she managed to breathe again, gasping for air and relaxing. Her body shook from the waves of pleasure, but it wasn’t enough. She needed more, she craved his touch and her body felt drawn to him like a magnet to iron.

  “God, you’re amazing,” she whispered, her throat raw from her cries of pleasure. “I need you, I need to feel you inside me.”

  Karl’s smile made her weak as he moved between her legs. From somewhere, he produced a condom and slipped it on himself. “There’s nothing I want more,” he told her, and she felt him position himself against her.

  Her breath caught as he slowly rubbed his cock against her. She growled again, a demanding sound that made him laugh, pushing her down onto the bed as she tried to pull him forward. She might as well have been pulling on a statue for all the difference it made: he wasn’t going to move until he wanted to.

  That should have been frustrating, she thought, but it wasn’t. Being in his hands, under his control, felt right and perfect in a way that she couldn’t have explained but didn’t need to. I don’t care why this feels right, I just don’t want it to stop!

  She surrendered to the sensations he gave her, the ache inside her that cried out for him to fill it, the lightning-crackle of sensation on her skin where he caressed her, the sheer joy his presence brought her. His mouth on her neck made her gasp out loud, her arms tightening around him, fingers digging into his back. His whole body shook as he laughed, his chest pressed against hers, and finally – finally – he thrust.

  In one smooth, strong motion, he filled her perfectly. He drove himself home, the force of it driving the air out of her and rocking the bed into the wall with a crash. Allison could hardly breathe for the sensations that flooded through her, her world collapsing down to the one perfect feeling of her man, her mate, inside her. Nothing else mattered but the two of them and that moment, endless but fleeting, where they were together.

  Karl moved slowly, withdrawing and thrusting again, each time making Allison shout with joy. The room shook around her as he drove her on, filled her, stretched her, each thrust a little faster, a little deeper into her. They panted together, his face twisting above her as he fought for control of himself.

  “Please, oh God please,” Allison begged between gasps. Her voice seemed to be the trigger, to let loose the leash he held on himself, and he gasped something wordless as he let go of his control. The force of his body pounding into hers drove Allison back to the brink and past it, a lightning bolt of pure pleasure shot through her as he buried himself deep in her. She tightened around him and felt him let go inside her as they came together with a shared cry of joy.

  Her nails raked across his back, and his arms squeezed her tight. Together they rode out the sensations as they lost all thought, all words, to the storm of sensation that washed through the pair of them from the point their bodies joined.

  Allison didn’t know how long they spent like that – it felt like hours, and like no time at all. As the feelings receded, she could feel Karl’s joy filling him, and looking into his eyes saw the reflection of her own feelings there. He groaned as he withdrew and let himself collapse beside her on the bed, and she snuggled into his broad, firm chest. She wasn’t ready to start thinking again yet, but she felt the worries starting to creep back in.

  This was wonderful, marvelous, better than she’d any right to expect. But would that hold when the afterglow faded? What would they do then?

  She refused to think about that, instead wrapping her arms around the gorgeous man beside her and savoring him while she had the chance. Her problems would catch up soon enough.

  16

  The sky was dimming when Allison opened her eyes again. The whole day had slipped away whi
le she rested in Karl’s arms.

  I guess that makes sense, she thought. I didn’t exactly get much sleep last night.

  In fact, she hadn’t had any. Karl hadn’t either, from the look of him – he didn’t stir as she sat up and looked down at him.

  Yum! She couldn’t help the thought. He was lying on top of the sheets, naked and beautiful, and relaxed in sleep he was just as attractive as when he was awake. Possibly even more so, since she wasn’t as intimidated by him. Though she had to admit that his scariness did add a certain something to his appeal.

  But in sleep, he was calm and she could appreciate him more clearly. His broad, muscular chest rose and fell in a steady pattern, and his strong body lay brazenly exposed to her gaze. She looked him up and down, a lingering look that she would have been too embarrassed to give him while he was awake, and shivered with delight.

  She would never have thought she’d end up sharing her bed with a man so damned attractive. There was nothing about him that she could find fault with, nothing that she’d have changed given the chance. He was strong and tall, muscular, and for a man so skilled at violence, she was surprised to see that he had no scars.

  That made her frown after a moment, and she gently lifted his right arm. Karl murmured something in his sleep but didn’t wake as she ran her fingers over the spot where his gunshot wound had been. The faintest of marks was still there, but it was almost invisible now, healed.

  That’s impossible, part of her insisted. She’d seen the wound, and it should have taken longer than this to heal even if it didn’t scar. Glancing down at herself, she found that she could no longer see the mark on her own body, where Kirby’s bullet had struck.

  She shivered, gently lowering Karl’s arm again. Maybe shifters heal faster than most people? There was so much she didn’t know.

  But she wasn’t about to disturb Karl’s sleep, not just to answer her questions. Quietly, she slipped off the bed and into the bathroom to shower.