by Amelia Jade
She wanted to reach out to him, to hold him and let him do his grieving, but she knew that wasn't what he needed right now. It would happen, but for now he needed something else. Something that only she could give him, if she chose.
A mate.
But was she ready for it? Harley had her own pain, hidden in the past that she wasn't ready to move on from. Could Calan Winters truly be the man that would heal her? There was only one way to find out. Harley would have to trust him with her fragile heart. A leap of faith was the only way to find out. Something told her that he would catch her no matter what, but there was still that familiar spike of fear when she thought of letting someone else in.
And then Calan didn't give her the option anymore.
He turned to face her, sheer, naked desire evident in his eyes. She almost bit her lip at the sight, his muscles bulging under his shirt, ripples and lines evident in places she had no idea could even do so.
What are you doing Harley? Get it together! This is the first time you've been alone together. He hasn't even kissed you yet!
Her internal pleas melted away as he hooked his hand behind her neck, pulling her close to him. She was tall enough that neither of them had to crank their necks awkwardly, ensuring that she fit snugly into his arms as their lips met. A roaring fire would have felt cold against her skin as he pushed closer, his heat enveloping her, penetrating down to her core.
She felt a tremor run through her legs as his other hand wrapped around her waist, caressing her soft curves as their kiss deepened. Their lips parted, his tongue hungrily probing her mouth, twisting and entwining itself with her own. His touch hardened her nipples to tiny points, poking through her bra and rubbing up against his tight shirt.
A moan broke their kiss as his hard cock pressed into the soft flesh of her stomach, letting her know he was just as aroused as she. It felt massive and as hard as steel, so tempting that she ran her hand across his firm abs, feeling each bump of them before caressing the outline of his dick through his jeans. She was surprised it wasn't ripping them apart, the way the fabric had to strain to contain him.
Heat was pouring out from between her legs, accompanied by the thick, warm honey that would allow him to slid ever so deliciously deep within her. It had been so long since Harley had been touched by a man, and her tight cunt was yelling that as loud as it could. Her bear joined forces with it, the two of them pummeling her senses, trying to force her into mating with him right here and now.
She could feel the animal ferocity contained with Calan as well, trying to get out, to take her for his own. Then, with a savage jerk, he pulled away from her. Gasping for breath, Calan leaned against a tree, his body heaving with exertion as he tried to calm himself. Harley whimpered, the sheer strength of his will and his body leaving her vulnerable to him. She was ready for it, but he took another step back, putting some distance between them.
"Harley, no, wait." He said as she stepped toward him, his hands warding her off.
"Calm down tiger, I get it. Not like this." She stepped away from him, arms crossed.
They both looked shocked at her outburst, which was a complete transformation from her earlier self. It was a disguise she put on for him though. Her clit still ached, begging for his touch. If he tried again, Harley knew she wouldn't be able to resist it, that she would submit to him, and do as he pleased. She would let him take her in ways that other men never had, but for now she knew he wouldn't pursue it.
"Is the inside open? Can we go inside, get a glass of water and talk?" She took a step toward the house as he nodded, pointing toward the garage. They entered through the unlocked door, Calan once again the gentleman and leading the way, holding it open until she stepped inside.
The inside was furnished with a rich mahogany colored hardwood, and mute pastel walls. The decor made it obvious that no updates had been made in the past fifteen years, but the layout and charm of the house was still intact. With a few modern updates, Harley could easily see herself living here, raising a few cubs as they ran around the large rooms yelling and screaming.
What the fuck?!
The thought faded as quickly as it came, though not before it left her in a daze, unsure of things. Just this morning she had despised Calan, knowing it wouldn't be long now before he went rogue and left town, leaving her high and dry. Now though she was contemplating having his children? With a snort of ridicule directed at herself, she turned to better pursuits, such as a glass of cold water that was being held out to her.
"Thank you," she said softly, grateful for the distraction from her mental mind games.
***
Chapter Seven
Calan
"You're the first person to be in this home, besides the police, since I left."
Calan wasn't sure why he was telling her this, but right now, anything seemed better than nothing. His body was still on fire from her kiss earlier. It had taken every ounce of his mighty will to pull away, to wrestle his bear into submission. He had wanted her so strongly, in fact, he still did. The roaring in his ears had barely subsided an octave, still demanding that he stride forward and have his way with her.
"Calan, why did you wait so long to come back?"
There it was. The question he had been avoiding, the one he hoped nobody would ask. He had no idea how to go about answering that question, mainly because Calan wasn't fully sure himself. Part of it was the pain of finally acknowledging what had happened and what he had lost. The other...well, how did he tell her that?
"I needed time," he said finally after a long pause, not sure if the words he needed to say to her were going to come.
If he didn't handle this properly, she would assume that perhaps he wasn't here to stay. That he was only back for a short time, possibly to get the house ready to sell and then drift on in his life.
Am I here to stay?
It was a question that had echoed around in his head, despite the action he had been taking to clean the place up and prepare it. It would not take long at all for the property to sell. He received several offers every year on it, despite never listing it or mentioning to a soul that he was even thinking about it. If he put it up on the market, it would likely sell in a matter of weeks, if that.
No, what he needed to do was settle down. Things were turning a corner with Harley now, it seemed, and if he wanted that to continue, Calan knew he would have to open up to her more. To be completely honest about his intents and motives.
"I spent fifteen years wandering the country, never putting down roots. I couldn't bear the thought of making friends or having anyone close to me. You have no idea how alone I was. I pushed away everyone out of fear, fear that I might begin to care for them, and that something bad would happen to them, too."
He stopped abruptly, not sure what else to say. It was more than he had intended, revealing things about himself he wasn't sure he was ready to say. He knew that in time Harley would come to know his every strength and weakness, along with all his secrets. This wasn't the time for him to be offloading his emotional rollercoaster upon her though. She needed him to be a rock, something she could anchor herself too, to realize that there was more to living out there than being alone.
Calan had already come to that conclusion before he returned to Bear Bluffs. Now he needed to grieve, to finally put the memory of his parents to rest. That time had not yet arrived, though it was imminently approaching.
Looking over at Harley, admiring her beautiful blue eyes for what felt like the millionth time already that day, he gave her a small smile. It felt fake, but he truly was grateful for her presence. She had helped him out today more than she knew, likely more than even he knew yet, simply by being there.
"Harley, I would really, really, like to take you out on a date. I want to get to know you, who you are, and just talk some more with you."
She was blushing slightly as he said that, though he had to give her credit, she was furiously trying to hide the fact and almost succeeding.
> "Would you let me take you to dinner tonight?"
She hesitated in giving an answer, taking so long that he began to assume she was trying to come up with the politest way to say no. Calan couldn't understand why she was being so difficult with him. If she would only give him a ch—
"Yes," she said finally, ducking her head and looking up at him slightly, batting her eyes to great effect. His heart raced at the look, while his cock once more threatened to rip his jeans as it burst free. Calan was thankful that the island counter in the kitchen was between the two of them, for now was not the time to show that he was ready to fuck her.
"Would you like me to drive you home?" She had wandered up to his property with her bear, so it was unlikely she had a quick way back. But since it was only the early afternoon, if they were going to go for dinner, she had several hours to kill, and perhaps she would want to continue exploring. If nothing else came up, he had every intention of spending most of the afternoon lounging with his bear as well.
"I think I'll take the long way, but thank you, Calan." She smiled at him before brushing past on her way to the door. "I had better get going if I'm going to be ready in time."
"How does seven sound?"
"Sounds perfect." And with that, she was gone.
He leaned back against the counter, a smile on his lips. Things were starting to look up.
***
The world seemed to slow to a crawl as she walked toward him. He had always thought Harley was gorgeous, but now he was at a loss for words as her beauty was put on full display for him. She had donned a black dress that hugged her in all the right places from her shoulders to her hips, before becoming loose around her legs. As she walked forward, her long legs forced the dress ever tantalizingly higher, showing just enough of her soft, creamy skin to tease him into wondering what came next.
The deep, plunging neckline exposed an eyeful of large, round breasts that called to him, practically begging for his attention. He could see her nipples already hardening under his gaze, and wondered what other reactions she might be having. This was the woman he would make his mate, he knew.
She stopped in front of him, and for a long moment he did nothing but stare, the world around them forgotten. Harley began to blush under his attention as the silence dragged on.
"Beautiful," he finally managed to gasp out. That sent her cheeks into an even darker flush of red, the perfect tint for her face he thought to himself. Finally managing to snap himself out of his trance for a moment, he gave her a hug and a soft kiss on the cheek. He didn't want to push things too far, but there were niceties to observe, and damned if he wasn't going to do his best to be a gentleman.
He opened the door to his truck, which he had fastidiously cleaned earlier that day so it would look presentable to her. Freshly washed, waxed and detailed as best as he could get it. She had a Jeep of her own, so Calan knew she wouldn't feel odd being driven around in something larger.
They were seated at the one restaurant in town, Bluff’s Burgers, by the owner himself, a bear shifter named Gerard. He was the perfect mix of attentive but out-of-sight as he waited on them for the evening. There were other people there, but the other wait staff tended to them.
"This is delicious, absolutely delicious," he commented as the last bite of steak slid smoothly down his throat. It was sincerely some of the best food he had ever had.
"I know, I love coming here. Gerard only moved to town a year or so ago, but he took over the old place that was here and has transformed it beautifully." She smiled at him, a stunning look that always revved his heart, sending blood pumping to various parts of his body in response. He wanted her so badly it was becoming painful. He often walked around in a state of semi-hardness just at the thought of her. Calan desperately wanted to know why she had been so distant to him when he first arrived, despite the connection he knew they both felt.
"Harley, why have you kept me so far and been so cold to me? I know you feel this between us, too, but you've kept me at arm's length or further ever since we met. What did I do?" He pleaded with her to open up to him, to reveal anything, even if it was what Sam had already told him. It needed to come from her though, or they would never be able to become mates.
She sighed.
"It's not your fault, Calan."
He started to speak, but she held up a hand, indicating she wasn't finished yet. Sitting back he closed his mouth, ready to listen and hear what she had to say.
"Back before I moved here, I lived in a city. Not a metropolis, but big enough. Ever since shifters were revealed, I had never lied about who I was, but I also hadn't gone around broadcasting it like some."
Calan knew exactly what she meant by that. When the word had first broke to the general public, some shifters had gone a little crazy with it. They would shift in parks, shopping malls, the middle of the streets and anywhere else they could, simply to show others that they existed. Many in the shifter community had been appalled by it, and some of the humans had become resentful and annoyed. There had been several incidents of violence against shifters. Generally the humans got the worst of that, and attacks against shifters had stopped abruptly after the first few maulings. It had not been a pleasant time for anyone, including the Winters.
"My last boyfriend hadn't seemed to mind that I was a shifter, which made me feel very comfortable and at home with him. Some of the people I knew through work and the like viewed me differently when they found out. But not Dale."
A tear glittered in her eye, but she blinked it back violently, unwilling to let it fall.
"Anyway, I fell in love with him, and he used me. For money, drugs, sex, you name it and I gave it to him. I was so naive that it's embarrassing to talk about. Yet somehow I fell harder and harder for him, even after he started cheating on me. I felt like it was somehow my fault that I wasn't giving him what he needed, so he had to go elsewhere for it."
Calan desperately wanted to reach out a hand or wrap her within his arms, anything to help ease the pain. But, he knew that she needed this, needed to get the weight off her shoulders so she could move on with her life. He was going to be there to help with that.
Harley took a deep, steadying breath, but continued to talk.
"One day he came to me, said he had made a mistake and needed my help. I was ready to do anything for him, whatever he needed. Then," she choked out a little laugh, "then he asked me to help take care of another woman he had gotten pregnant. That was too much. I finally walked out of there. Packed up my life and drove out here looking for my father."
Harley opened up a bit more after that, telling him about how her mother had passed away several years before she had left her ex-boyfriend. As the evening wore on, he could tell that a large weight had been lifted from her shoulders. She seemed happier, more outgoing, and even began to laugh at a few of his terrible jokes.
"I had a lot of fun tonight. Calan. Thank you for pushing to do this. I needed it, and I appreciate it. Thank you."
They were standing at her door, where he had insisted he would escort her. Now that she was warming up to him, Calan had no intention of letting her do something silly and be caught alone. Jet had told him more than once over the past week that Dusty had been looking for her, asking after her. His bear was telling him that they weren't done with him, not yet at least. Until he could find a way to deal with the moron alone, he would do his best to keep Harley in his sight at all times.
Now though, he may have inadvertently put himself in a bad position. By walking her to his door, he had trapped himself in the close confines of her front walkway. Plants closed in on all sides of them, and there was an abrupt turn of the pathway less than a foot behind him. All in all, it made the area where the two of them were standing very tight.
He could sense her warmth, fighting constantly with his bear to keep his rough hands off her silky skin. Every fiber of his being wanted to reach out and rip the dress off of her, to drink in the sight of her naked before him.
&nbs
p; Her body language practically broadcast in large neon letters that she was feeling the heat as well. Despite his hormones' valiant effort, the practical side of Calan knew that after all she had revealed tonight, sex was not the way to end the evening. If he wanted nothing more from her, then he wouldn't have hesitated. But this was the woman he intended to marry and call his wife and mate. She deserved to make the decision to sleep with him after more than just a day of being on friendly terms.
With more control than he was positive he had ever exerted in his life, Calan held her by the shoulders and chastely kissed those soft, oh-so-kissable lips. She nearly melted under his touch, but he kept it short and as proper as possible.
"You haven't heard the last of me," he whispered conspiratorially, giving her a charming smile and wink before he turned and quickly put some distance between them. His willpower was almost gone, his bear growling at him loudly, demanding an answer as to why he was taking so long to claim his mate.
Even though he knew it was useless, Calan tried to convey the concepts of emotion and human thoughts to it one more time. Like before, his bear simply growled and made it clear that mating was the priority. It sounded like a broken record in his head to constantly be reminding himself that he needed to take things slower, but it was the only way to get the point across to his bear.
His truck rumbled up the road from her house after he made sure he saw the lights turn on inside. The trip to the apartment he was still renting from Jack took only a few minutes, and shortly he was inside trying to fall asleep.
After an hour of tossing and turning, trying to push images of Harley in her dress out of his mind, he sat up with a sigh. It seemed likely that he wasn't going to get much in the way of sleep tonight, so perhaps he should be productive with his time. Throwing off the covers, he slipped into jeans and a t-shirt before beginning the trek up to his parents’ old house.
Calan worked up a sweat, tearing out brush by spotlight and hauling it over to his burn pile. Fifteen years of general neglect to the property had allowed foliage to overrun the area. He tried to take out his excess energy on the manual labor, but soon found it so repetitive that his mind began to wander to thoughts of Harley. She dominated his brain, her smile with its perfect dimples or the way her hair bounced when she laughed. Then there was the way her curves looked in the stunning dress she had worn that evening. It was hard to believe that she could become even sexier than she already was, but he had been so, so wrong on that count.
