Up at the height of the tree line its quiet strength was a welcome comfort. Inside, Hannah hoped there would be deep armchairs, a heavy hearth and a crackling fire. And maybe, just maybe, not too many people would be obsessed with looking at her.
Hannah was more than aware of the two sins that counted against her. She was born with a big frame and she didn't starve herself, diet or even hide away. She was a big girl with a healthy appetite and if other people had a problem with it, that was just too bad.
Not to say that the glances of disapproval or comments and sniggers behind cupped hands didn't still cut her, but she had been dealing with it since she was at school. Eyes popping in cafés and restaurants whenever she lifted a fork. As though her feeding herself was some kind of an offense against public decency.
Hannah learned to spot the looks from a long way off and she would just glare right back. That wasn't her natural attitude, and she didn't really feel that bravado that it gave off, it was simply the most effective way she had found to get people to simply leave her alone.
Hannah had always found peace high up in the snowy mountains. Since she was a girl she had felt at home at altitude. Sharp, clear air, a crunch underfoot and a view across treetops made her heart sing a song of freedom.
Photography was something Hannah had done since she was a child. It was a way she could keep a moment with her. Take the sense she had of a place and keep it. It was a way of returning.
When she presented photographic projects at school, to her they were just what she would do at the weekends but when she showed them in front of the class, it was the one time the would be no muttering, no notes passing and no unexplained giggles.
Her photographs of animals turned out to have a particular power. When the class first saw her picture of a squirrel, high in a fir tree with it's big eye gleaming and a huge nut in its hand-like claw, there was a soft collective sigh.
Her picture of a grizzly silenced the room. The bear stood, looking right at the camera with its head to one side and his paws raised. There was a long pause before Ms Keller cleared her throat and began to thank Hannah.
"I have more, miss," she started to say.
Leaning towards Hannah's ear Ms Keller told her, "Leave 'em wanting more, Hannah. Exit on a high."
Lately, Hannah had some luck with a few photos of eagles, wolves and in particular, a couple of bears had sold very well. She gave them to the Exotica photo library, simply because their offices were just off campus. Herman Bruin, the boss of the agency sent a personal note with the first month's surprisingly large check. If you have any more mountain pictures, especially bears, please send them.
The check was enough for a month's rent. She was ahead with her college studies for once, due some leave from her job in the restaurant and she really wanted a break from the city. The city, the stares and the 'all-in-good-fun' jokes of the restaurant customers.
So, she had called in to see Herman. A large, whiskered man in his thirties, Herman was distinguished looking, but his size and his fondness for heavy knitwear gave him an unkempt look.
He seemed genuinely pleased to see her and rose to shake her hand. He waved to a chair for her to sit as he settled back behind the clutter of his massive desk.
His bright eyes shone at her when Hannah asked him, "Do you think I could get some expenses for some more pictures? Or a commission, even?"
"Sure," he smiled, showing his teeth a little. " I'll charter you a helicopter. It'll need to be big enough for your sherpas and assistants, of course." She guessed that mean no. He went on, "Will a chopper be okay, or don’t you find them too bumpy?"
He watched her as he left a pause. Then he spread his big hands on the desk. "Maybe I could get you a couple of hundred ahead of your royalties. Would that help?"
Before she left, Herman gave her a check for five hundred dollars. He also gave her the name and details of the Great Bear Inn. "I'll call ahead and make sure you get a good rate. It's a perfect location. Who knows, maybe you can take some pictures for the Inn. That might get you your commission."
Herman smiled, but it wasn't an unkindly smile. Hannah actually found Herman quite attractive. Particularly when he stood and smiled at her like that, his head cocked on one side with his elbows wide. Hannah had a weakness for men who were much taller than her. Bigger than her.
“I’ll be away five days, no more, mamma.”
“Why do you have to go away at all is what I don’t understand. You should be paying more attention to your studies.”
“Mom, I’m ahead on my studies. I’m on for a GPA of…”
“And it’s time you did something about your eating…” Hannah had stopped listening. She always stopped listening to her momma when she started in about food. She’d heard it all a thousand times. Next would come the latest fad diet, and how all the women in my circle are doing it and it’s doing wonders, dear, absolute wonders. Then it would be, Not me, of course, because you know I don’t need it. Your father always said so.
This part was particularly hard to take as her momma really was overweight. Hannah was big, but she was also strong, and she was way fitter than most of the stick insects she saw around campus. The girls who always had the swarms of geeks, nerds and preppy creeps buzzing around them.
Sure, Hannah carried some weight, but she carried it well and it was all in the best of places.
Soon enough, her momma was on to all of the daughters of the ladies in her circle and how they were getting married to hideous hometown dorks. Last but not least would come the lecture about how Hannah would never get herself a man if she didn’t start to take more care of yourself, dear. Because, you know you have such a pretty face and it was all much more than Hannah could stand.
By this time, even though she was trying hard not to hear her momma’s relentless drone, Hannah was tearing up. She cut in, “Gotta go, momma. Traffic ahead.”
“Well, you just think about what I’ve told you, Hannah, it’s only for your own good. Momma knows best.”
“Yeh. Bye, momma.”
Hannah’s eyes were watering as she hung up. Why could her momma never think of anything good to tell her, damnit? Did she take no pride at all in her bright, clever, beautiful daughter? Did she have nothing proud or complementary to tell her bridge circle or her lunch groups?
The little Honda puffed at the end of the drive as she parked up by the entrance to Great Bear Inn.
As she climbed the glistening wood steps to the big, dark door, her feet made a light crunch. The misty chill in the air felt like home to Hannah, and she paused to savor it before she swung her bag through the dark, heavy door.
A huge man with a luxuriant beard and mustache, honey-colored like his mane of hair, towered behind the large polished reception desk. His head lifted slowly as Hannah came through the door. His raised elbows pointed outwards and his hands hung loose from his wrists. His watery brown eyes glowed at her. She felt her knees weaken and her thighs trembled as he looked her up and down.
“Welcome to Great Bear Inn, Hannah. I am Duncan, at your service.” His voice was thick, dark and sweet. Hannah must have looked surprised. When she met his eyes, a charge went off inside her that made her chest heave and her breath caught in her throat.
Duncan went on in his unhurried way, “Herman gave me a description when he called to say you would be coming. I recognized you right away.” The big man's eyes traveled all over Hannah's frame. As they did she saw nothing but delight on his face.
Hannah asked him, “What did Herman say?”
“He said that you were big and tall, and very beautiful.” Herman said that? “That you had the face of an angel and the body of a goddess.” Hannah's thighs trembled and felt hot at the tops. Hot and damp. He said, “Herman didn't do you justice.”
There was no play in Duncan’s voice, no undercurrent. He spoke as though he were simply stating obvious facts. As if to underline it, he moved straight to business without missing a beat. “Herman spoke highly of you
as a photographer, and I think he can be relied on in that area. If you can provide some interior and exterior shots of the Inn; including the bar, the dining room, the porch and one or two rooms, then I could waive the charge for your room and board.”
Duncan watched Hannah, waiting for a reaction.
Then he added, “Assuming the pictures are suitable for the website and promotional material, of course, but I have no doubt. As I said, I think that Herman can be trusted on that.” As he spoke, he hadn't stopped appreciating Hanna's slopes and generous curves. His gaze was frank, although not rude or intrusive, but Hannah was unaccustomed to being openly appreciated.
“Speaking of, I couldn’t get into the website,” Hannah told him. “There didn’t seem any way past the front page.”
He took a moment to reply. As he did Hannah watched his strong tongue moisten his thick lips. “It’s a kind of a membership sort of deal.” He said awkwardly. Odd way to run a website for a hotel, Hannah thought.
She had the distinct impression he was evading the subject as he told her, “I’ve had a bottle put in your room. It's on the house. If you don't drink it, just take it with you, but I hope you’ll like it.”
Hannah couldn’t help herself from asking, “Did Herman say anything else about me?”
“Yes.” The big man looked hard in Hannah's eyes. As he did she was heating up. Especially in her jeans. “He told me that I'd want to fuck you.” Hannah's eyes widened and her mouth dropped open. He went on, “At least he wasn't wrong about that.”
The way he looked at Hannah, it seemed like it was a done deal. In his mind at least. She ought to tell him that it certainly was not. “Doesn’t happen often.“ he said, “Not too many girls have the build and the personality. You do.”
She ought to give him a slap. She ought to reach right across the desk and grab a hold of him. She wasn’t sure that she could trust what she might do if she did get her hands on him.
Then Hannah shocked herself, wondering, And, what are you going to do about it, Duncan of the Great Bear?
He looked in her eye as he said, “Come find me when you get around to the idea.”
Hannah lifted her chin and said, “Or?”
“Or I'll come and get you.” He smiled, “Obviously.”
Her room was upstairs at the front. It was large and well-furnished with a solid writing desk, a table and chairs. The furniture, including the big, thick, soft bed, was plain, rustic and sturdy, but well made and elegantly proportioned.
On the table, as Duncan had promised was a bottle and two clean, heavy tumblers. The bottle was a honeyed bourbon. Special Reserve, according to the gold print on the label. Not Hannah’s kind of a drink but then she wasn’t much of a drinker. She thought about the big man downstairs.
Herman told me that I'd want to fuck you. Hannah was still startled that Herman would talk about her like that. That he would even think it. She was even more startled that Duncan would say it like that. His voice was that of a man who simply said what he wanted and expected to get it.
She thought him some more. About the thick, golden beard, his lustrous dark honey hair. About the glow in his dark amber eyes. And about the size of him. He must be over six and a half feet tall. Her breath caught in her chest. Big, big man.
It didn’t sound like such a bad idea.
Hannah wanted to shower off the feeling of the road and change for outdoors.
Like the bedroom, her bathroom was furnished with simple, sturdy wood. The shower cabinet was solid and looked vintage. Hannah ran the shower and was pleasantly surprised by the quick steaming gush from the big shower head. She let it run to make steam while she peeled off her clothes. As the long mirror steamed up, she caught sight of her plump breasts and her unusually hard, erect nipples.
They softened as the steam rose, but she was surprised to see them so pert. In the shower, she lathered herself meticulously. As she soaped around her breasts, Duncan came back to her mind. Her hand slid the soap over her belly and he wouldn’t leave. She soaped her full, soft butt and his lips were still in her mind. She slapped her buttock cheek, hard to shake the thoughts away.
A slap was usually an instant return back-down-to-earth for Hannah. This time, disconcertingly, she found that she craved another. And harder. As the water cascaded over her, it pooled on her chest and ran in rivers down her thighs. She soaped between her legs. She soaped more and brought up a lather.
Hannah’s thighs and her buttocks clenched. The images of Duncan were becoming more vivid. More complete. Less clothed. She imagined his long, heavy body, in a downy sheen of fur. His muscles flexing. His big buttocks tightening. His massive thighs pumping. All the time his luminous eyes on her. On every part of her. His tongue flicking out along his cruel lips.
She moaned and she kept on soaping, and she slid down with her back against the tiled wall and her hands furiously working between her legs. Under the water, falling all over her, she shook and moaned and rubbed until finally her eyes screwed closed and a long, groaning sigh dragged up through her throat.
After the shower, Hannah felt re-energized. She dressed and grabbed her camera bag and headed out while the light was still good. Late afternoon as the sun got lower, it gave more shadows and dramatic detail. The light was also softer, more radiant with color. All her best outdoor shots were in the late afternoon, early evening or the early morning.
Hannah came quickly down the wide staircase. As she passed the reception desk, she noticed that the man who had greeted her and checked her in, Duncan I'd want to fuck you, was not there. In his place was another man who was also uncommonly big, with darker brown hair but also with a thick, soft beard mustache. He gave her an easy smile as she passed by, heading for the door.
“Look out for the bears, Miss.”
“Purpose of visit,” she called back breezily.
“Wait up!” he shouted after her. “Are you serious?”
“Yup,” said Hannah. He beckoned her back to the reception desk and took out an old map of the mountain. “Your best bet will be to follow the track to the right of where you drove in, and follow it, see here?” he pointed to a trail on the map. As Hannah leaned over the map to look, she caught a dark, sweet scent. The unmistakable, potent musk of man.
Her knees trembled. She followed the man’s strong finger as it traced a path, up into the woods above the inn. She looked up and their eyes met. A thump deep inside her felt like a distant depth charge. She was sure she caught a burst of her own natural perfume.
Hannah hiked up the stony path with her pack on her back. She followed the directions from the man’s smoky, assured voice. Remembering his word and the sound of his voice, Hannah mused, You wait all your life for a halfway decent man, and then two divine alpha males show up in the space of an hour.
Even with her lack of experience, her almost total lack of experience, in fact, Hannah was certain that both of those wonderful men desired her. Well, one had been plain and said so straight out, there was no mistake about that.
The other? Maybe she should have asked him. Straight out in the same way: Duncan, your colleague, said that he wanted to fuck me. How about you? Even thinking about saying it made her feel a little giddy. Thinking about how he might reply, she almost missed her footing.
Okay, time for a rest here, she thought. It was in the area the man had showed her on the map. With his long, thick strong fingers… Her concentration really was wandering. She took a drink from the water bottle in her pack. The light was good and she had a great view down a gentle slope, through tall brown and silver tree trunks and over the undergrowth to where bushes marked the edge of a stream. Farther she could see the valley, with a haze rising before the evening mist.
Birds sang and tweeted in the tops of the trees and the leaves rustled as they caught the light breeze. In the sunlight at the bottom of a clump of trees, by a dark green bush was a crouching BEAR.
Bear Mountain Clan Brides: romantic bbw werebear menage Page 13
