Edward (BBW Western Bear Shifter Romance) (Rodeo Bears Book 1)

by Becca Fanning

  "It's fine. The wolves, they're gone. We don't think they're coming back." He spoke softly, holding her arms gently. She was glad for his grip, she felt as if she might have fallen to her knees without him holding her.

  "Really? Already?" She needed to hear it again, to be sure, before she could let go.

  "Yeah, already," he nodded. "I think Freddy had the wind knocked out of him, he expected Dina to give in and go with him, considering…you know. Everything."

  With everything that had happened, Iris had almost forgotten the biggest revelation of the night, that Dina was a shifter. She shook her head in disbelief, falling back on the bed behind her.

  "How did none of us know she was…like that?" She murmured, half to herself and half to Ian. "I mean…we all…"

  "I've got no idea, but she's hidden it well," Ian agreed. "She's a fierce fighter, too. You should have seen her out there."

  "So where are the wolves now?"

  "Gone. Back to the caves, I think. And the storm's lifting, so we should be able to get away tomorrow morning." He explained. "Thank God."

  There was genuine relief in his voice, and Iris knew it was about more than just the wolves.

  "You shifted," she whispered, looking up at him, and he came and sat next to her on the bed.

  "Yeah."

  "For me."

  "I couldn't in good faith let someone's mother get hurt by one of those things," he shrugged. "It just sort of…came over me, all at once. I didn't have a chance to think about it, and by the time I had shifted, I just knew I had to take him down."

  "But you didn't lose control?" She prompted.

  "Not at anyone but that fucking wolf," he replied, his voice harsh. "It just confirmed to me what I already knew, I don't like the thing I become when I shift, and I don't want to make a habit of it."

  "Thank you," she murmured. "Thank you for protecting me."

  "What else was I going to do?" He shrugged. "Daughter of a bear shifter, I owe it to my kind."

  Iris cocked an eyebrow at him.

  "How do you know?"

  "I can smell it on you. I didn't know for sure until I had shifted, but I felt this…draw towards you. And that's when I knew."

  "Sorry I didn't tell you." She sighed. "I don't know why."

  "Hey, we all get to have our secrets," he smiled at her, and took her hand once again. She couldn't put her finger on why, but she felt calm with his hand covering hers. There was something comforting to his touch, and she savoured it. He skimmed his thumb over her knuckles, and a shiver danced down her spine, what was this? It had been such a long time since she'd felt those butterflies in her stomach that she'd practically forgotten what they felt like. But, as Ian leaned over to her and carefully placed his lips against her's, she knew exactly what she was feeling.

  The kiss was gentle, surprisingly tender, given the situation. She'd always imagined thank-God-we're-alive sex to be more passionate and wild and crazy, but all she wanted at that moment was to be cared for, to be looked after. She tentatively opened her mouth, twisting her head to allow him more access, and slid her tongue past his lips. He tasted good, God, she couldn't remember the last time she'd been kissed like this, the last time she'd felt truly desired. He slid his hands down from her arms and on to her waist, weirdly chaste yet at the same time intimidate. She shuffled a few inches closer to him, feeling like a teenager making out with the door open. She draped one leg over his and drew him closer, cupping his jaw in her hand, his stubble felt rough and satisfying against her skin.

  He deepened the kiss, letting out a long breath through his nose as he gently licked around her lips. It was a motion that made her shiver, made her feel as if she was entirely at his mercy-she ran a hand through his hair, enjoying the feeling of the gel and the spikes against her palm. Everything felt so new, but so familiar, and Iris couldn't get enough.

  The hands around her waist moved across her back, pulling her closer, till the two of them were chest-to-chest. Ian slowly pushed her down on to the bed, straddling her, and meshing a hand in her hair as he kissed her once again. Every single one of his movements was deliberate and careful, as if Iris was some delicate toy he didn't want to break. After everything that had happened that day, it was a relief to be with someone she trusted so implicitly, someone she knew would never hurt her, someone who would protect her. It was the fact that Ian had gone back on the one thing he had sworn he would never do again, shifting, just to protect her. That spoke to a connection beyond just the superficial, and Iris was happy to explore it.

  She pulled her legs up, resting her feet against him and grinding her body up against his. Waves of pleasure spread from between her legs and out across her entire body, and it felt different than the last time she'd done this, different from all the other times she'd done this. She couldn't put her finger on it for a moment, but then it clicked in her brain, it must have had something to do with him being a shifter. She had never (knowingly, at least) been with a shifter before, but here and now, it felt as if he was extra in-tune with her body, as if he knew exactly where to touch and move and stimulate. He slid his hand down her side, and it was as if his touched fulfilled some long-standing craving within her that she never even realized she had. Is this what she had been missing all along? Falling for a shifter?

  She barely had time to contemplate it further before he flipped her on top of him, leaving her staring seductively down into his eyes. She greedily took in his body, she wanted him naked, and she wanted it now. She slipped her hands underneath his t-shirt and pulled it up over his head, it got caught on his chin, somewhat ruining the sexy effect she had been going for, but he just laughed, and quickly threw it aside. She had to suppress the urge to lick her lips when she got a look at his body, it was as good as she had imagined, muscular and strong and toned. She ran a hand across his chest and along his arms, marvelling at the perfection beneath her.

  She could feel his erection straining against her through her dress, and she reached down to massage him through his jeans-she felt powerful, taking control like that, and couldn't help but smile as she saw the look of pleasure pass over his face. Feeling brave, she slipped her hand into her own panties, surprised by how wet she already was, she guessed that it had been so long that her body wasn't willing to wait another second to get what it wanted.

  She quickly undid his jeans and slid them down his body, moving her fingers against her pussy as she did so-usually, when she masturbated, it was a quick, perfunctory thing, but here she wanted to savour it, to lose herself in the feeling of her fingers against her clit. Pulling back his boxers, she wrapped her hand around his thick erection, and slowly began to jerk him off. He pulled her dress aside, so he could see her hands at work in her panties, and glanced between her and her busy fingers as his mouth fell slightly open.

  It wasn't long till she found herself teetering on the edge of an orgasm, it had been a long time since she'd felt turned on, really turned on like this, and she couldn't get enough of it. Even as she tried to stave it off for a few sweet moments longer, the orgasm crested and broke inside her, and she stilled her fingers as she allowed it to wash over her. She sighed softly, a sigh of relief and pleasure and a desire for more, and before she knew it Ian had taken the hand that was in her panties and raised it up to his mouth. Iris could do nothing but stare as he circled his tongue around her fingers, tasting her, licking her, sucking her. She immediately felt desire consume her once again and, before he'd so much as finished with her fingers, quickly straddled him, pulled her panties aside, and began to lower herself down on to him.

  "Condom..?" He began, but she shook her head.

  "I'm on the pill," she reassured him, unable to elaborate any more than that. She had been on strict birth control ever since condoms had failed her at a rather key point in her life, and she was glad for it at that moment. She was so lost in the flow that she wasn't sure she'd have been able to stop to get one either way.

  She slowly lowered herself down on to h
im until he was buried deep inside her. She paused for a moment, taking a long, slow, deep breath and exhaling, before she began to move. He grabbed her, one hand around her waist, one hand on her ass, and propped himself up on his elbows, staring up at her like she was some kind of goddess. She couldn't remember one point in her life when she'd felt more powerful than she did at that moment, with him inside her, spreading her open, her body coaxing him in and desperate for more. She snatched at his hand and guided it to her clit, he quickly obliged, working his index finger expertly against her sensitive nub, and staring up at her as she lost herself to the sensation.

  He felt so indescribably good, as if he was the perfect fit, as if the two of them were meant to be in some way or another. She rocked up and down against him, circling her hips, dipping on and off of him, pulling out every trick in the book just to see the look on his face with each one. And God, was it satisfying, knowing she was turning him on so much, knowing exactly what he wanted, and knowing how to give it to him. Her heart began to beat faster, but this time, it wasn't danger, it was passion, lust, maybe a little bit of love. She slid down on his full length, enjoying the feeling of him buried deep inside of her, and rocked back and forth urgently, her body begging for some kind of release.

  And suddenly, it arrived, gentler than the first, but just as powerful, building slowly until it was the only thing she could focus on, her body going limp on top of his. He gripped her hips and trusted into her a few more times, pulling her down on top of him so she could hear his frenzied breath in her ear, and then he came, his cock twitching inside her before he slowly slid it out.

  The lay next to each other on the bed for a moment, until Iris looked over at him, and started giggling.

  "What? What is it?" Ian asked, pulling his jeans back up and trailing a lazy hand along her leg.

  "Nothing," she shook her head. "It's just…that was different. I've never done it with one of you before."

  "Think you might do it again?" He asked, pulling her on to his chest and stroking down her back. "And that I might be able to get you out of these clothes this time?"

  She propped her head up and looked at him, then placed a small kiss on his jaw.

  "I might be tempted."

  Joel

  Grizzly Groomsmen V

  by

  Becca Fanning

  Lisa had only felt time stop like this one time before in her entire life. It had been when she was eight, and Tom was ten, they were in the car, their parents arguing in the front seat, when the back wheels had caught on a patch of ice and spun out across the empty road, sending the car careering towards a patch of ancient trees standing only a few feet away. It was late, there was no-one else around, and Lisa remembered staring out at the trees speeding towards her side of the vehicle. She felt calm, strangely, totally calm, feeling as if her breath was coming in long, slow gasps, as her brain desperately tried to come to terms with what was about to happen. As it turned out, the car had drifted to a stop a few feet further down the road, leaving her father cursing in the front seat as he tried to get it restarted. She and Tom had exchanged a look, a long, silent stare in which both of them seemed to acknowledge what had just happened, noting their mutual relief and the fear that was still pulsing through their systems. That was the only other time she could remember anything like the feeling she had at the moment she saw one of the wolves lunge towards her brother.

  Lisa remembered rolling her eyes when Tom told her that he and Dina were getting married on this island. It was totally something he would do, she knew her brother well enough to be sure that running off to some tropical locale was exactly the kind of desperate-romantic thing he would try to pull off. But she'd been happy for them both, because they were happy, this was what they had wanted, and she supported that. She had been a little suspicious of Dina after they first got engaged, a little too flighty, a little too hung up on that weird ex of her's, but since she'd gotten to know her, Lisa had found herself growing fond of her sister-in-law-to-be. And it seemed like the feeling was mutual, as Dina had invited Lisa to be one of her bridesmaids. Lisa had never so much as caught the bouquet before, let alone becoming part of the wedding party, so she was pretty nervous at first. But Dina had infected her with her passion for dresses and flowers and locations and cake, God, all the cake in the world. So, when Lisa had arrived on the island the night before, she had been pretty confident that she was in for a good weekend. And then…well, all of this happened.

  On the scale of stuff that could go wrong at a wedding, being invaded by a pack of psycho shifter wolves was probably a fair few steps higher than the caterers forgetting vegetarian option. Up until that moment, though, Lisa had been impressed with how Dina had been handling the whole affair, she was calm, certain they would figure everything out and get the whole wedding party off the island unharmed. But then…well, as Lisa hurtled towards her brother, all she could think was that she couldn't see a way in hell they were getting out of here unscathed-or even alive.

  Grabbing hold of Tom's hand, Lisa dragged him towards the stairs, pushing him in front of her into a small hollow under the steps in the hopes of keeping him out of danger.

  "Lisa, I can't-"

  "Leave it, Tom!" She hissed in response, backing into the dark with him and praying no-one could see them. She knew what he was about to say, his fiancée, the woman that Lisa herself had found herself growing grudgingly fond off over the last year, was out there. Which would have been terrifying, were it not for the fact that Dina had somehow transformed herself into a wolf and taken on the leader of the pack. Lisa was still getting over that part, how the hell had she not figured it out? How hadn't it come up? Tom hadn't acted surprised at all, so he must have known, were they just planning on getting married and pumping out a happy little flock of shifter children without telling anybody?

  Lisa closed her eyes and rubbed her temples, trying to clear her head. Her thoughts had a habit of doing this-piling up on top of one another until she didn't know what was what. She knew it was the shock, well, the shock of finding out about Dina, and the shock of seeing a guy she thought she had the beginnings of a crush on shift into an enormous bear.

  In all fairness, though, Joel had given her fair warning about that part of him. Lisa found herself focusing on the memories from the night before, anything to drag her mind away from the current situation. They were chilling at the reception party, glad to have found someone that either of them even half-recognised. He narrowed his eyes at her as he sat down, and she looked up at him with her eyebrows raised.

  "Lisa, right?" He held out his hand. "You're Tom's sister, unless I'm much mistaken."

  "Yeah, that's me. I'm on bridesmaid duty this weekend." She smiled, taking his hand. "Sorry, I do know you, I just can't place where from."

  "I think maybe at Tom's last birthday party?" He suggested. "Frankly, I'm hurt that I didn't make any kind of impression on you."

  He feigned an insulted face, and Lisa couldn't help but laugh.

  "Well, maybe you'll do a better job this weekend," she suggested, raising a glass in his direction. Was she flirting? Maybe it was the couple of glasses of champagne she'd already had, but she certainly didn't mind finding herself the centre of attention from this exceptionally handsome man. He was right, she had no idea how she couldn't remember him, he had sharp features, a pointed chin, and high cheekbones, and a skinny build that landed him squarely under the "her type" banner.

  "I'll do my best," he grinned back, tapping his glass against her's and taking a sip. Lisa found herself admiring him for a moment longer, she hadn't come to this wedding with any plans of hooking up, but look at him. She'd be kicking herself forever if she didn't at least give this a go.

  The rest of the evening floated by in the most pleasant of hazes, Joel was fun, one of those guys who wasn't afraid to get up and dance like a crazy person just to keep his date entertained. They drank, they exchanged stories about Tom (Joel had met him in college, so he had plenty of embarr
assing stories that Tom had chosen to keep from Dina over the years), and he even convinced Lisa to a dance as the night wore on. She wasn't much of a mover-in fact, she was far more the sit-in-the-corner-feeling-awkward-as-heck type, but she found herself letting go, easing up, and actually having fun. She always associated family weddings with ludicrous amounts of stress and at least three major fallings-out, but now she could drink and flirt and wasn’t stuck at the kid's table picking at her buffet-meal fare, she could see their appeal a lot more clearly.