Claused: BBW Holiday Bear Shifter Paranormal Romance (Christmas Bears Book 2)

by Harmony Raines

  He placed his hand on hers and squeezed it tightly. “I know. But let’s have pizza first, and then one night together, before we take on our next challenge. You know, once we have your wand back, and Naomi and Ron set up with their Kickstarter, the rest of our lives are going to be plain sailing.”

  She shook her head. “If it makes you feel better, you believe that. But I’ll be honest, things will always be crazy in our lives. I know, I grew up with my mom and grandmother and the things they got up to. In some ways, I feel sorry for our kids.”

  “Don’t,” Kain said. “They are going to have the best mom in the world.”

  “Their dad isn’t so bad either,” she answered.

  “This is it!” Ron called from the back seat, pointing out of the car window. “Best pizza in town.”

  Kain pulled into the small parking lot, and Naomi and Ron got out. As the car doors slammed closed, Kain leaned over and kissed Marra. “Let’s eat. Then go home.”

  “My place or yours?” Marra asked.

  “I don’t care, anywhere is home as long as my mate is there.”

  Chapter Seventeen – Kain

  As long as my mate is there. Kain had gone from a strong, fearless defense lawyer to a puddle of mush where Marra was concerned. And he liked it.

  “So, tell us your plans?” Marra was asking as they sat drinking soda while waiting for their pizza.

  “OK. First, we’re going to set up a website. Get word out about the product.”

  “Before you do that, I’m going to help you set it up so everything is legal,” Kain said. “We’re going to make sure this is nailed down and give it the best possible start. I’ll look into some grants that might be available to you too.”

  “I never thought of that,” Ron said. “We need to make notes.”

  “Here.” Naomi pulled the business plan out of her purse, and unfolded it. “We’re partners now, so jot everything down on this.”

  “Partners.”

  “Naomi Fisher,” Naomi said, and winked at Marra. “I’m still not sold on the name.”

  “Call it whatever you want,” Marra said, looking much more at ease in her role as wandless fairy godmother. “I think it’s going to be huge.”

  “Where did you come up with the idea?” Kain asked, sipping his soda, and putting his arm around his mate. His bear stirred in his mind. This was a perfect end to the strangest day of their lives. And later it would be even more perfect. He kissed the top of Marra’s head and then looked down at her, and smiled.

  She smiled back at him, looking radiant. His heart swelled with love, and a need to protect her and make her happy forever. His thoughts turned to Bas and Asher as Naomi started a long story about her mom, and her sisters, and how they were always in need of a way to get things fixed, or jobs done cheaply. They’d learned to trade their skills for those of others. Her mom was a good seamstress, and would alter clothes or repair them, whatever needed doing, in return for their washing machine being fixed, or their car being repaired.

  Matching her skills to someone with the skills they needed, was sometimes tough. And so, they’d gotten together a little neighborhood barter club. Naomi’s idea was to take this, and upscale it into something huge, that encompassed small businesses too. A month’s worth of free meals in return for a day’s work if someone called in sick. A delivery driver might take on a couple of days’ extra work; in return, his van could be serviced free at a garage. But by refining it, they would use a barter currency, which the website would store. A little like a bartering bank.

  “And we make money from ads, and a small joining fee. A bigger fee from businesses. It could save people and businesses thousands, very helpful in the current economic climate.” Naomi finished talking, just as the pizza arrived.

  “I love the idea of people helping each other,” Marra said.

  “Me too.” Kain took a piece of pizza and bit into it. “You are right, this is good pizza.”

  “The best,” Ron agreed. “My brother fitted the kitchen a couple of years ago. The owner gives us free pizza, because he did such a good job and was willing to come in one weekend and fix one of the ovens. So this proves your idea works, Naomi.”

  “Here’s to you and Ron,” Kain said, lifting his glass of soda.

  “Am I in time for the celebration?” a voice called.

  “Hey, George. You made it.” Ron got up from his seat and went to hug the man who had just walked in. “This is my brother, George.”

  “Hi, George,” Marra said. “I like your suit.”

  “Thanks. Fits Ron well. I had it before I bulked up a little more.”

  “Oh, I like the bulk,” Marra said, admiring George’s toned body. His T-shirt clung to him in all the right places, as he took off his jacket and slung it across the back of his seat.

  “You are in time, what can I get you?” Kain asked, letting Marra’s comments pass over his head. She was his, he had nothing to be jealous of, he reminded himself.

  “Ahh, like Ron said, I get free pizza, but I’ve already eaten, so I’m good…” He stopped and stared at Naomi, who blushed, and then went back to nibbling a piece of pizza.

  “This is Naomi,” Ron said. Naomi swallowed, and took a drink of cool soda, before she dared look up.

  “Hi.” Then she ducked her head back down again.

  “What’s wrong, Naomi?” Ron asked.

  “Nothing.” She smiled, but looked uncomfortable.

  Kain knew the look, and read the signs. He nudged his thigh into Marra’s, but she had already seen the exchange. “So, George. Your brother and Naomi are going to be business partners.”

  “So I hear. Ron texted me the news.” George was desperately trying to make eye contact with Naomi, but she was trying just as desperately to avoid him.

  Marra reached out and touched Naomi’s hand. “You know what we were talking about before. About believing, and going for what you want. This is one of those times.”

  Naomi lifted her head and looked at George, her cheeks flaming red as she reached out her hand and said, “Good to meet you, finally, George. Ron has told me all about you.”

  “Likewise. I feel as if I already know you.” George took her hand, and kept hold of it. In fact, Kain could have sworn he never let it go for the rest of the evening as they made plans, and discussed strategies, until finally, it was time for them to go home.

  But even then George didn’t let Naomi go.

  “I don’t blame him,” Kain said. “Now that I’ve found you, I don’t intend to ever let you go either.”

  “I’m going to hold you to that.” She took out her crumpled piece of paper. “I’m sure that is how this tale is supposed to end. But for the life of me, I can’t work out where the frog comes into it.”

  “Maybe you turn me into one when you get your wand back.”

  “And why would I do that?” she asked.

  “Because I left the top off the toothpaste,” he offered.

  “I’ve done worse, for less,” she said, and collapsed into giggles when he gave a ribbit.

  “You know, as long as we keep laughing, and keep giving, we’re going to make this work.”

  “I like the sound of that.”

  Chapter Eighteen – Marra

  Laughing wasn’t the thing on her mind when they got back to her shop, neither was her wand, although she still felt the loss of it inside her. But now she was in Kain’s arms, and he was kissing her, really kissing her, the need to find her wand wasn’t so intense. She could push it out of her mind, and not have it instantly pop back in again.

  Once the kissing stopped, the need to find her wand would take over once more. But the kissing wasn’t stopping, not by a long shot.

  His mouth was firm, yet gentle on hers. Kain was both questioning and inviting in equal measures, pushing her to let him in, and asking her to give part of herself to him. And she wanted to give herself to him, all of herself. If this was the mating bond, she was willing to allow it to control her, becau
se it took her to dizzying heights.

  Nearly as high as the rush of exultation she’d felt as she saw her first Cinderella walk away hand in hand with George, a full-on Prince Charming. Without her wand, she had made a difference. With the help of others, of course. But that just cemented the idea that she was supposed to work with other people, to help other people.

  Except now. Now was alone time, for her and Kain. Time to become acquainted with each other on a deeper level than anyone else in her whole life. Tonight, she would let go of who she had always thought she was, all she thought she was supposed to live up to, and let herself be Marra, the woman who ran the little antique shop.

  “Damn, you taste good,” Kain said, as he broke off their kiss.

  “I taste like pizza,” she said, as she locked the shop door behind them. The grandfather clock chimed the hour behind her; four times its deep bong filled the shop. It should have been eleven.

  “I’m going to get that clock repaired for you,” Kain said.

  “Good luck,” Marra said. “I’ve called in every clock repairer in the area. No one can fix it.” She turned from the door, and laced her fingers around the nape of his neck. “You get used to it. It’s quirky, like everything else in here.”

  “And it will make a great feature in your café,” Kain said.

  “Do you think I’m silly to want to change the shop to a café? It’s been an antique shop since forever.”

  “I don’t think anything you do is silly. I also think you need to strike out on your own. This is your life, don’t live in the shadow of what your mom or grandmother did.”

  “That’s what my mom did, all her life. I think that was why she handed the wand over to me when she was still so young, she wanted to go and do her own thing.” Marra stood on tiptoes and kissed Kain, before saying, “Shall we go to bed?”

  “Yes, please,” he replied.

  She took his hand and led him upstairs, neither of them saying a word as they walked past all the little trinkets that were scattered here and there on the crowded shelves of the shop. Old things that must have meant something to someone once, but were now cast aside, neglected. It reminded Marra of how she had felt before Kain walked into her life.

  Her mom had handed the wand over and left, not long after her grandmother had died. Marra had often thought it was her mom’s way of rebelling at last. Now Marra was going to rebel in an even bigger way.

  “Sorry, Grandmother,” Marra said, as she stroked an old feather boa, its pink feathers faded. It had belonged to her grandmother, who had worn it during her fairy godmother duties. It had always seemed at odds with the dark, rather somber clothes her grandmother wore. “Maybe my grandmother rebelled in her own way too.”

  “All children do. Especially when they have expectations to live up to.”

  “You sound like an expert.” She paused. They had climbed the steps up to her room, navigated the old furniture in the sitting room, and were now standing outside of her bedroom. This was the place where her grandmother had been conceived, and then her mother, and lastly Marra. Her family had a tradition of baby girls being the firstborn, so the wand could pass from mother to daughter. Was this one more tradition she was going to break? Would her firstborn be a son? Would he be conceived tonight when she made love to her bear for the first time?

  “Will our children be like you?” she asked.

  “A bear shifter?” Kain asked, his voice thick with desire. He stroked her face, running his fingers along the length of her neck, and then down lower, over the swell of her breasts. “Yes.”

  “So we will have a bear shifter fairy godmother. That will certainly break the mold.”

  He pulled her close, their bodies melded together, heat spreading from him, to penetrate the thin fabric of her dress. “I’m looking forward to breaking something, right now. Maybe the bed…”

  “Is that a promise?” she teased.

  “I’d promise you anything, Marraine Le Fey.” He lifted her up effortlessly and carried her to the bed, where he placed her down as if she were the most precious thing in the whole world. Then he stood up and began to unbutton his jacket.

  She watched, her attention on him fully, as he undid his bow tie. She smiled, they had been a little overdressed for pizza. The smile vanished when he quickly unbuttoned his shirt, his fingers moving incredibly fast.

  “Is that a bear trick?” she asked.

  “One of the only ones my human form has. Except for my senses, which are all heightened.” He dropped his pants to the floor and stood before her, naked, glorious, and incredibly aroused. A proud man, he didn’t try to hide himself, didn’t hurry to cover himself with the sheets as Marra would have done.

  Instead, he moved leisurely to lie down next to her. “That must come in handy. In the courtroom,” she squeaked, nervous to have him here, so close. So hard.

  “Very. I can hear a heartbeat.” He pressed his lips to the swell of her breasts. “I can hear when a heart begins to race, through fear, or excitement. Which are you, Marra?”

  “Both,” she admitted.

  “You should never be afraid of me. I won’t ever hurt you. I can’t ever hurt you.” He lifted his head and looked into her eyes. “Believe me.”

  “I do.” She touched his cheek, feeling the roughness of the stubble there, and then ran her fingers lightly over his lips. “I truly do.”

  Marra kissed him, nipping his lower lip with her teeth. Kain groaned, his hands cupping her breasts, his thumbs brushing the hardening buds of her nipples. “I think it’s your turn to undress.”

  Her heart rate quickened, and her cheeks flushed pink with the knowledge that he could hear it, and know how excited she was. How much she longed to be naked, skin against skin, with him. To feel his hands stroke her, caress her, and his mouth kiss her.

  “I can’t move as fast as you,” she said. She sat up and turned her back to him. “Unzip me.”

  His fingers trembled, she felt them against her back, and heard him inhale and then exhale slowly. It excited her that he wanted her as much as she wanted him, that being this close to her made him nervous and excited all in one.

  As he pulled her zipper down, he kissed her back, giving her shivers all of her own. She slipped off the bed, and let the dress pool at her feet. Turning, she stood before him, her eyes locked on his face, while she unclasped her bra, and cast that aside too. Then, with her heart pounding so loudly she didn’t need special senses to hear it, she hooked her fingers around the elastic of her panties and slipped them down over her round thighs.

  “Beautiful,” he breathed.

  Kain slid off the bed, all muscle, sinewy and lithe for a man of his size. Standing before her, he reached out and touched her, with the merest of caresses, stroking her breasts, running a finger down over her hardened nipples, which made her wet, so wet, and so ready for him.

  Did he know, could he smell her? Kain leaned forward and kissed her, while his fingers continued to explore her soft body, stroking her stomach, and then her outer thighs, before sliding between them, to the center of her need. As his fingers pushed in her heated sex, there was no doubt he knew exactly how turned on she was.

  He moved quickly, effortlessly lifting her, and turning to lay her on the bed. She moved her thighs apart for him, eager for him to rest his body between them, and then to enter her. Just. Like. That.

  He was big, stretching her, his cock caressing her inner walls as his fingers had caressed her skin. She sighed, this felt so right. As if the magic inside her was at work, making it perfect, making each touch, each stroke of her skin and thrust of his cock just right.

  She closed her eyes and lost herself to the sensations. Kain moved in and out of her, his lips pressing soft kisses all over her skin, his fingers tweaking her nipples, while she stroked him, and caressed him in return. As one they rose, their orgasm hovering in front of their eyes. As they were truly bonded, they reached that climax together, and crashed over the edge.

  Marra crie
d out, calling his name, calling to the magic that coursed through her.

  Chapter Nineteen – Kain

  “That was incredible,” Kain said, as he lay back on the pillow, Marra resting on his chest as they both tried to recover themselves. Their lovemaking had been the most intense thing he’d ever experienced. And he wanted to do it again. Right now.

  He kissed her shoulder, his hand stroking her arm, and then slipping down her body to stroke the sensitive skin of her soft, round breasts. Marra stirred in his arms, her lips pressing against his chest, her tongue snaking out to tease his nipple, making him groan. It was a good groan, an I need you now groan.

  And then his phone rang.

  “Damn,” he said, as the moment shattered. “Sorry, I have to get it, I’m on call again this evening.”

  “That’s OK. I’ll go make some coffee. The caffeine will help keep us awake.” Her hand stroked him beneath the sheets, as she moved, and he hardened instantly. “Oh, it looks as if you won’t have any trouble staying up at all.”

  She giggled as she got out of bed, pulling a robe on, covering her round, curvy body. Then she left the room while he grabbed his jacket and pulled his phone out of the inside pocket. “Hello. Kain Nolan speaking.”

  “Hello, Kain. Officer Partridge here.”

  “Do you work every night?” Kain asked, sitting on the side of the bed.

  “Feels like it.” Officer Partridge chuckled. “I’d be home alone if I wasn’t here. I don’t know what it is, but days alone are a lot easier to handle than nights alone. I get in at midday and work through until midnight sometimes.”

  “I know what you mean.” He raked his hand through his hair, and asked the question burning in his brain. “Is this about Marra?”

  “Marra? Oh, the woman from yesterday. No. This about a girl called Callie … Frasier. She’s gotten herself in some trouble. Or at least she’s had some allegations leveled against her.”

  “You mean someone is making allegations you believe aren’t true?” Kain asked, fishing for information. Sometimes, if you can catch a police officer off guard, you can get more out of them than they intended to give away. Officer Partridge was too experienced to let that happen.