Bluff Bears: The Complete 4 Book Collection (BBW Paranormal Shape Shifter Romance)

by Amelia Jade

  But to Tanner she was still tiny, and he must have seen something he liked. She had an inkling that he didn't find her hideous, because she had seen him grow hard at least three times since he had met her. Each time he had been a bit more blatant about it, but she had so far refused to acknowledge it. Not that she didn't touch herself to the thought of his big dick each night anyway.

  Now he had come out in the open and said something, and she was losing the fight with her bear to control her reaction. Between her legs the slow burn of embers flared into life, his words pure oxygen feeding the flames of her desire. Her bear woke up as well, urging her forward, to show him what he could have, that all she had could be his. It wanted her to submit to him, to let him claim her.

  The idea was intoxicating, but it was overruled by her physical demands. The slow, steady throb from her clit was pulsating outward, leveling her barriers as it went. Seeking an excuse, any excuse, to get her hands on him, to run them across the taut muscles of his chest, to feel his arms bulge as he held her tight, it consumed her.

  Standing on suddenly unsteady legs, she took her plate, gripping it tightly in her hands. Tanner was standing next to the sink, and as she approached, their arms brushed against each other ever so softly.

  His touch was like fire, burning her with his warmth. She jerked away in surprise, looking up into his eyes. The brilliant ice-blue orbs that stared back made her mouth go dry. She lost herself upon the azure seas, wondering what sorts of adventures they held and stories they could tell. The room seemed to warm as they melted under her stare, filling with heat and desire.

  When her palm reached out and touched him, it seared her skin once again, but this time she pushed on, gripping him hard to prove that she could control herself.

  Without warning Tanner moved. He grabbed her sides roughly, picking her up and pushing her back until her shoulder blades slammed into the flat surface of the fridge door. His lips pressed against hers fiercely, pent-up desire released in a rush as she wrapped her long legs around his lower back. He held her aloft effortlessly, his tongue pushing its way into her mouth as their kiss deepened.

  A desperate moan escaped her lips as the hard bulge of his cock rubbed against her crotch, soaking her underwear in moments with its touch. She wanted to see it, touch it, taste it, but most of all she wanted him to bend her over and fuck her. The warm, thick honey poured from between her legs, urging her to let him bury his hard-as-steel dick within her.

  "Take me," she whispered in his ear, losing herself to his touch as he explored her neck. His teeth nipped at the skin there, sending tingles down her spine. His attention forced her nipples to harden, until it seemed impossible that they weren't cutting through her shirt.

  "Now. Please," she said, not above begging him for what he had between his legs. Her hand found it, shoving between their bodies to wrap around the outline of it. Licking her lips, Alyssa unwrapped her legs from around him, preparing to sink to the floor and take him within her mouth first.

  Tanner groaned as she bent down, keeping eye contact the entire time.

  The front door shook on its hinges, shattering the illusion as someone hammered for their attention.

  "Tanner! Tanner!" The muffled cry sounded vaguely familiar to her, but she couldn't place it. Whoever it was, they sounded urgent.

  "Shit," he said, pulling away from her as she stood.

  Alyssa panicked as he walked toward the door, adjusting his cock under his pants as he went, trying to hide his erection from whomever was at the door. She had kissed him. He had kissed her!

  Holy shit I was about to suck his fucking cock!

  This was not the way things were supposed to have gone. She wasn't supposed to jump into bed with him. Her temper flared, directed at herself for being so easily seduced, but also flinging mental anger waves in his direction, blaming him for being so damn attractive. If it weren't for his big arms, flat chest or rippling abs, she wouldn't be as turned on by him, especially if he only had his gorgeous eyes, firm jaw, cute butt, and—

  Snorting angrily, she cut off the train of thought, realizing where it was leading her. Walking swiftly to the hallway she splashed water on her face, helping wake her up and focus. The voices coming from the front door were agitated and filled with worry. Whatever was going on, it demanded her full attention, not the rather large package hanging between Tanner's well-muscled legs.

  Feeling more like her normal self, she walked back out into the entryway to see one of the bears who had fought alongside her standing there. Calan, she believed his name was.

  "What's going on?" she asked as they both turned to face her.

  "There was an attack," Calan spoke up first.

  "The wolves?" A sinking sensation filled her stomach.

  "Yes. They attacked a woman outside of the Canyon Quencher, a local bar."

  "That's terrible!" she exclaimed, holding a hand to her face as he continued.

  "She's okay. Thankfully there were enough shifters and people with guns inside that they were able to respond quickly." He stopped talking and flicked a glance over at Tanner before looking back. She caught it, wondering what it meant.

  "Alyssa," Calan began, before stopping, trying to find the right words.

  "Just spit it out, I'm not a delicate flower."

  "The woman they attacked, she looks a lot like you. Taller than average, full-figured and with the same long brown hair of yours."

  "It's chestnut," she replied absentmindedly, her thoughts elsewhere at that moment.

  The wolves had attacked someone like her. There was only one reason that she could fathom, and what it might be.

  "We think it's because they were watching us the other night, and saw you as a woman among men who had fought. We think they're singling you out because you insulted their honor by fighting them as a woman. Now they want to kill you to protect their egos."

  She stared at Calan for a long moment, hardly believing what she was hearing. Here the two of them had come up with a reason to explain away the fact that the wolves had attacked someone who looked like her. It made her feel guilty as all hell to accept it, but it was far better than the alternative.

  The drive over to the Quencher—what a great name for a bar—was mercifully quick. Once there, she lost herself by going and talking to the woman who had been attacked. She had a large gash across her leg, but other than that, she was remarkably unharmed besides some cuts and bruises on the rest of her body. The doctor had arrived not long before she had, and was just now finishing putting in temporary stitches so they could transport her to the clinic to do it properly.

  "Alyssa, come over here!" Calan was calling her, beckoning with a hand. Saying goodbye to the woman, Kiera was her name, she got up and followed him around the back of the building. Several men were rolling a tarp around the body of a wolf.

  "Do you recognize this at all? They must have made this before they attacked." Tanner was standing in front of the back wall of the Quencher, looking back and forth between her and the image. Fear gripped at her heart as she looked at what was painted.

  On the side of the building someone had made a large mark. It was a crude outline of a wolf standing upon a mountain. It was all contained within a circle that had dual hash marks on the top and bottom of it. She tried to hide her reaction, simply shaking her head no, looking over at the dead wolf one more time, hoping she could disguise her feelings by pretending to be uncomfortable around a dead shifter.

  The way Tanner's eyes narrowed, however, told her that the effort had been unsuccessful. He suspected something, or was beginning to at least. Too many things pointed in her direction.

  There were only two days until she got her new car. Then it would all be behind her.

  "Hey, there's another blood trail here. Perhaps there's a wounded one nearby!" Tanner's shout drew several others over, who shifted into their bears and went searching.

  All the thoughts of making it out safely vanished within her mind. If they found a priso
ner, it would only be a matter of time until the truth came out.

  Shit.

  She had a real decision to make now, one that might alter the entire course of her future.

  No pressure.

  Chapter Seven

  Tanner

  Watching Alyssa round the corner as Calan, Sheriff Duncan, and one of his deputies went in search of someone to interrogate, Tanner mulled over her reaction. Something was bothering her, and he didn't like it. She was starting to show signs of anxiety, which could be possible side effects of something within her mind that was just now beginning to develop.

  Many people developed trauma from combat that didn't manifest until days later. He had seen that any number of times from his days in the military. If she didn't receive proper treatment, and soon, she might lose it and do something terrible. Tanner knew he couldn't live with himself if she did, so he would have to be the one to talk to her. As far as he was aware, there was nobody else within Bear Bluffs who was even remotely qualified to talk about that sort of thing with her.

  Tanner sighed, ignoring the looks others shot his way. He wasn't looking forward to that conversation; in fact, he would much prefer to do just about anything else.

  He would give anything to be back at his place, his hands still firmly around her waist as they kissed passionately in his kitchen. Despite the situation around him, his cock stirred at the memory of her hand wrapping firmly around him. She felt good, pressed against him, and she tasted wonderful as well, his lips tingling with the memory of their first kiss.

  Triumphant shouts echoed through the woods as several men hauled a thrashing figure out from the forest, held tightly in their grasp. Duncan and Calan had a firm grip on the man's arms, however, and their vast strength ensured he wasn't going anywhere.

  "Look what we found, Tanner," Calan called as they approached.

  As they got closer, he could see that the figure could barely walk on his own, his one leg quite mangled. His face was a motley collection of bruises and swelling. It seemed likely he hadn't gotten too far before passing out.

  "Who are you?" he questioned as soon as the wolf-shifter was in front of him.

  "I'm not to talk to you," came the reply. The voice was tinged with nervousness and youth.

  Fucking kids. We're fighting kids.

  "Why are you attacking us?"

  "I was told by the Leader, who was told by the Eye, that we must retrieve the wayward."

  The way the prisoner spoke, Tanner felt that the words were specific people of authority, not just titles. He had never heard of a Leader or an Eye before, not in any of the nearby towns. He would have to do some searching online.

  "And what is the wayward? What sort of item are you looking for?"

  "The wayward are people. We hunt them and bring them home."

  "Who is we?" he pressed, but the prisoner looked around wide-eyed, realizing what he had already spilled, and refused to say any more.

  "See what else you can get out of him," he said to Duncan, turning to go. Alyssa didn't need to be around for what was about to happen.

  As he left, he pondered what the young idiot had said. They were hunting the wayward. The wayward were people. People who had lost their way. He wondered about their most recent attack, and if he was reading too much into it. Either way, he definitely had some more questions to ask, because he was coming up short on answers. Something wasn't adding up, and he intended to get to the bottom of it.

  "Hey, saddle up," he called to Alyssa as he came around the front of the Quencher.

  She quit her pacing to look up at him, her face filled with some emotion he couldn't quite catch before it clouded over, replaced with her usual blank slate. Sighing internally, he wondered if the whole incident at the bar had closed her off to him once more. Just when they had begun making progress too, it would appear that she had decided to take a step backward. Tanner hoped it was because of something else, and not anything he had done.

  His time with her was running out; her new car would be available for pickup in just a few days at most. At that point, if he hadn't convinced her to open her eyes and see that he was in love with her, that they belonged together, she would drive off, leaving him alone.

  Again.

  "Where are we going?" she asked politely, closing the door behind her as she buckled up.

  "To visit Dylan and Devon. They came home the other day, but I want to make sure that they're being smart."

  "They live together? Aren't they a little old for roommates?"

  Tanner couldn't help it, he laughed. Loudly. A huge, belly rumbling laugh that shook his entire body, lifting his spirits through the sheer joy of it. At first Alyssa just stared at him in shock, but as he continued to laugh, she let loose with a tiny giggle, which set him off on another round. It took a long time for the two of them to regain control, at which point he wiped the tears from his face, since he had been laughing so hard he began to cry.

  "What's so funny?" she said, gasping for breath while holding her sides to try and calm herself.

  "They aren't roommates. They're together."

  "Oh." The look of embarrassment on her face threatened to set him off again, but he managed to keep himself to a single chuckle.

  "Is that a problem?" he asked warily, unsure of her reaction.

  "No, no not at all," she assured him hastily, looking up in surprise. "I just feel bad that I didn't pick up on it. It's always so easy to tell when a guy and a girl are together, but I just assumed they were good friends when we visited them the other day."

  She hesitated for a moment, before speaking up again.

  "Umm, Tanner?"

  "Yes?"

  "Can we stop at home so I can change before we go over there?"

  He eyed her up and down, enjoying the flush of red that crept into her cheeks as he did, even if he was mainly looking at her outfit. She looked fabulous. What could she possibly need to change for?

  "It's a girl thing," she said by way of reply to his unspoken question.

  With a smile and nod he decided not to argue the point. Sometimes a man just knew when he was destined to lose a fight. Tanner was positive this was one of those times. Shoving the keys in the ignition, the big V8 roared to life and they left the scene behind them. He wasn't sure who was more relieved, him or Alyssa.

  "Don't take too long," he admonished her mockingly as she eased past him and down the hallway to the room that had become hers for the time being. Following at a more leisurely pace, he went to go change his own shirt. He hadn't planned on it, but with the opportunity, it seemed like the polite thing to do.

  The other thing he hadn't planned on was her door not being fully closed as he walked by. Through the crack that was several inches wide, he saw Alyssa begin to undress. His bear roared to life, demanding that he rush into the room. Fighting against it, his human side told him that would be rude and impolite. He needed an invitation.

  She continued to take off her clothes, shirt flying off, exposing the creamy white skin of her back. He hissed softly as she bent forward, pulling her jeans off with a small shimmy of her hips that did wonderful things to the rest of her body. Tanner stuck a hand out to steady himself as she reached up to unclasp her bra.

  The wall creaked under his weight, and Alyssa spun around to see him standing there with a massive hard-on.

  For a moment he froze, hoping she might not realize he had been there for some time. His cover was blown, so he made to turn away.

  "Wait," she called softly, stalling his movement.

  Then, as he watched, she took a deep breath, and let her bra fall away, exposing her breasts for his eyes to feast upon.

  It was all the invitation Tanner needed.

  Chapter Eight

  Alyssa

  Am I really doing this?

  The question echoed in her brain as she felt her hands pull away from her body of their own volition, taking her bra with them. She was nearly naked now, completely vulnerable to him. Her nerves
tingled as she wondered what he would do, but thankfully she didn't have to wait long.

  His long legs took giant strides that covered the distance between them in moments. The door nearly ripped out of its hinges as he practically flew at her, somehow managing to tear off his own shirt in the process.

  The desire that she hoped to see was there, fully evident in the hardness of his cock as it pressed against her stomach when he pulled her close, pressing his lips against hers fiercely. His touch burned but she didn't shy away, letting his heat encompass her until it molded with her own, elevating her pulse as he pawed at her, desperate to touch every inch of her body.

  She moaned loudly as his lips left a trail of fire down her neck and across her chest. His warm mouth closed around her left nipple as he gently sucked on it, swirling his tongue around and around in a maddeningly slow circle. She didn't want slow and tender right now, she wanted to be taken in whatever way he chose.

  "Fuck me, Tanner Bryant. Fuck me right now," she all but ordered him, turning to face the bed as he pulled her underwear aside. She stuck her plump ass out at him, biting her lip as he first caressed her cheeks, then gave each one a firm open-handed slap. The sting raced around her sides until it reached her pussy, drenched with warm honey from his touch, ready to take him within.

  "Fuck you're gorgeous," he murmured from behind her, pushing the tip of his cock against her waiting lips.

  "Don't tease me," she begged as he moved ever so closer to her. Every ounce of her craved his cock, all the wants and desires that she had ignored for the past few days had built to the point that she couldn't deny it any longer. The bear behind her had treated her properly, with care and attention, and now she longed to repay him, in a way that would also keep her satisfied. With a growl she pushed back against him, taking his cock inside of her.

  It was big.