by Lola Gabriel
When she finally fell asleep, she had a smile on her face, thinking about Bastian being as unable to resist her as had been unable to resist him.
4
Bastian’s eyes opened and he closed them again as sunlight streamed in through the window and made them hurt. He opened them again, more cautiously this time. He blinked a couple of times until his eyes adjusted to the bright light, and smiled when he remembered where he was. He was in Rachel’s bed, and she was lying beside him, still sleeping.
He cast his mind back to the night before, how he had known from the moment he set eyes on Rachel that he had to have her, and how she had evidently felt the same way about him, inviting him to go back to her place with her. His mind lingered on the sex they had had last night, and he remembered how tight her pussy had been, how wet she had been. He thought about how she had screamed his name as she came, and how he had had the best orgasm of his life.
He turned toward Rachel now. She was lying on her side, her back to him. Her blonde hair cascaded down her back, looking golden in the sunlight streaming in the window where the drapes remained open. He reached out and swept the hair away from her shoulder and kissed along its length, moving his lips to her neck. She stirred and groaned and then she glanced over her shoulder as he moved his lips away.
Her face was still clouded with sleep and she blinked a couple of times before she smiled at him.
“Well, good morning,” she said.
He pushed his face back against her neck.
“Morning,” he said, his voice muffled by her skin.
He nibbled gently on her neck and she moaned. She started to turn toward him, but he wrapped an arm around her waist, holding her in place. She relaxed against his chest as his hand roamed over her body. He teased her, running his fingers over her breasts, making her nipples harden. He caressed her breasts and then he rolled one of her nipples between his fingers. He moved on to the other breast and did the same thing to her other nipple. She made an mmm sound and ground her ass against his hard cock.
He kissed her neck again as he moved his hand down her body, pushing his fingers between her lips and finding her clit. It was swollen, and judging by the hissing breath Rachel snatched in as his fingers found it, he thought it was likely still tender from last night. He rubbed it gently, easing Rachel in.
She turned her head toward him and his lips found hers. Her tongue snaked into his mouth and she reached behind herself with one hand, enveloping his cock in her fist. He upped the pressure on her clit as her hand began to move up and down his length, making him moan into Rachel’s mouth.
He pulled his mouth from hers, kissing her shoulder once more. He let her work his cock, biting down on the inside of his mouth to stop himself from coming. Her touch was magic, the pressure and the speed just right, like she knew exactly how to work him into a frenzy.
He matched the pace of his probing fingers to the pace she set on his cock. She moaned and writhed against his hand and when he could stand it no longer, he gently pulled her hand away from him. She let him guide her hand away from him without a fight.
He had to be inside of her, had to feel her tight little core clenching around him when she hit her orgasm. He moved his fingers from her clit, smiling to himself when she moaned her frustration at him taking his touch away from her. He lifted her leg, opening her center up to him, and he plunged into her.
She cried out as he filled her, and he paused for a moment, afraid he had hurt her.
“Don’t stop,” Rachel gasped.
Bastian was only too happy to oblige her. He began to thrust his hips, moving through Rachel’s warmth and feeling pleasure spread out through his cock and up into his stomach. He pulled her leg back a little and rested it on his, keeping her open enough to allow him freedom of movement, but tight enough to give him maximum friction as he moved within her.
He could feel his climax speeding toward him and he bit down on the inside of his mouth again. He knew he would have to leave Rachel soon and he wanted this to last for as long as possible. He put his fingers back on her clit, working her in time with his thrusts.
Rachel pressed herself back against him as her body went rigid and she gasped out his name. He felt her pussy tighten around him and for a moment, he was held in place, unable to move. It relaxed again and he plunged deep into her, wanting to fill her all of the way up.
His bear stirred within him, driving him wild with desire. He felt his eyes starting to change and he blinked quickly, pushing his bear back down. He was glad that he was behind Rachel and she couldn’t have seen him starting to transform. There was no way he was ready to reveal his secret to a woman he had known for less than twelve hours, even if she was this hot.
He kept thrusting as Rachel cried out his name over and over again. He pulled his fingers away from her clit and held her as his own orgasm filled him. He couldn’t hold it back any longer and he came with a force that shook him to his core, his whole body tingling as fire spread through his veins.
He buried his face in Rachel’s neck, breathing in her scent as his erection spasmed inside of her. He moaned her name as he started to come down from his climax and his cock slipped out of her pussy. He wanted to be back inside of her almost instantly, craving the intimacy he had felt between them.
He knew he couldn’t, though. He knew he and Rachel could never be together. Geography separated them, but it wasn’t just that. Rachel wasn’t a bear and there was no future for them. He had known when he approached her last night that this could only ever be for tonight. With a possible hunter in the state, it was too dangerous for him to reveal his true nature to Rachel and he couldn’t even contemplate starting a relationship with someone unless she knew who he really was.
Bastian held Rachel against his chest as they both panted for air. After a moment, she shifted in his arms, rolling to face him. She smiled up at him and kissed him gently on the mouth.
“Do you have time for breakfast before you have to leave?” Rachel asked.
Bastian wanted to say yes. He wanted to spend the morning with Rachel, but he knew that the longer he stayed here, the harder it would be to walk away from her and he felt himself shaking his head.
“I’m sorry. I’d love to have breakfast with you, but I really do have to go,” he said.
“Are you sure?” Rachel asked him with a flirty smile. “Because just to be clear, I wasn’t talking about food.”
Bastian moaned at her words. Rachel’s smile widened and she put her hands on Bastian’s shoulders and pushed him onto his back. She straddled him and leaned forward, kissing him hard on the mouth. His hands came up almost of their own accord and ran down Rachel’s back and then up her sides.
She reached behind her and grabbed his cock, her expert hand working it once more. Bastian felt his cock harden at her touch and although he knew he should put a stop to this and get out of Rachel’s place, he couldn’t do it.
Rachel worked his cock to the point where he was almost climaxing and then she stopped moving her hand, clutching the base of his cock. She moved her mouth from his, straightening up. She came up onto her knees and pushed his cock beneath herself and then she lowered herself onto his hardness. Her movement was slow and delicious and Bastian felt every inch of himself being sucked into Rachel’s warm depths.
When he was all of the way inside of her, Rachel held herself still. She looked down at Bastian and he felt her pussy tighten and relax, tighten and relax as she clenched her muscles around him, making him gasp. She grinned and then she began to move up and down on him. Now that she had finished teasing him, she didn’t waste any time. Her movements were fast and desperate, like she needed the release as much as he did.
As Rachel moved, she grabbed Bastian’s hand and pressed his fingers against her clit. He massaged it in time with her thrusts and within seconds, Rachel was calling out his name. The feeling of Rachel’s juices coating him pushed Bastian over the edge and his own climax slammed through his body. His cock w
ent wild and his muscles clenched as pleasure consumed him.
He felt his face contorting as the ecstasy became almost agonizing in its intensity and then he was floating down, sated and happy. Rachel collapsed onto his chest and he held her tightly, not wanting to ever let her go but knowing that he had to.
Bastian sipped his scotch and looked out of the window of the plane. He saw the white, fluffy clouds floating by, but he didn’t really register them. In his mind’s eye, he saw Rachel. He felt as though he could still taste her on his tongue.
Since the moment he had left her house this morning, he had felt a deep-seated urge to turn around and go back. He felt a connection with Rachel, something deep down inside of himself that he had never felt before and couldn’t explain. He knew it could never work, though, and he pushed his feelings aside, telling himself he was making this into something bigger than it was.
Rachel was gorgeous, there was no denying that, and the sex had been mind-blowing, but that was all it was. All it could ever be. The connection Bastian felt had to just be in his imagination. His bear stirred, trying to tell him otherwise, but Bastian pushed it down and ignored it.
Rachel wasn’t meant to be his mate. He had never believed in all of that “love at first sight” stuff. She was just a one-night stand, and Bastian told himself that within a couple of days, he would have forgotten all about her. Now all he had to do was find a way to make himself believe that.
5
One Month Later
Rachel wiped the back of her hand over her sweaty forehead and took a moment to compose herself. She pushed herself up off the floor of the toilet cubicle and reached out and flushed the toilet. She could feel worry stirring within herself. She had been sick every morning for a week, and she knew that as a bear, that should be impossible. How could she have gotten sick?
She unlocked the cubicle door and stepped out of it. She moved to the sinks and washed her hands and splashed water on her face. She examined herself in the mirror. She frowned at her breasts—they looked bigger than usual and they were extremely tender. Tears filled her eyes and she blinked them away.
God, what’s the matter with me? she thought to herself. Why am I always so weepy lately? I’ve only been sick and I’m out here acting like I’m going to die.
The door to the toilets opened and Melanie came in. She frowned when she saw Rachel.
“It finally got you, huh?” she said.
“What?” Rachel asked.
“Working here. The germs. You look terrible,” she said.
“Thanks for the vote of confidence,” Rachel said. “But I don’t think I’ve picked up a bug. I think it must have been something I ate.”
“Well, let’s just err on the side of caution,” Melanie said, giving her a wide berth as she made her way toward the cubicles.
Rachel laughed and shook her head. She left the toilets feeling much better. She had only said the thing about it being something she ate to appease Melanie and stop her inevitable panic at the thought of working next to someone sick, but now she began to think she could be onto something. She couldn’t catch any diseases, but surely even bears got upset stomachs from time to time.
Even as she tried to convince herself that was true, a little voice in the back of her head whispered to her, telling her that wasn’t it and she knew it.
I can’t be pregnant. It’s impossible, Rachel thought, answering the little voice in her head that had been getting louder and louder over the last week.
It’s also impossible for you to get sick, yet here we are, the voice whispered back.
Rachel sighed and shook her head, but the voice wouldn’t be silenced. Not this time. Rachel knew what she had to do to silence the voice once and for all. She needed to pick up a pregnancy test on the way home from work and do it tonight. And once she saw it was negative, she could shut that voice up. She had been telling herself that almost every day, but she had resisted the urge to follow through with it. She was afraid that the voice would somehow be right and she would be wrong.
She shook her head again and told herself she had to do it. What was her other option? Wait for eight more months and see if a baby appeared? That thought scared her way more than just doing a test, and she vowed that today would be the day she did the test and put her mind at ease.
Rachel sat on the closed lid of the toilet, timing the three minutes it took for the test to work. She already knew what it would say. Positive. Just like the last one. But she had to be sure. She had to know that the first test wasn’t just some fluke. The alarm on her cell phone blared out, telling her that the three minutes were up. She silenced the alarm and with a shaking hand, she reached for the test on the edge of the sink. She picked it up and closed her eyes for a second, gathering her courage. She opened her eyes and her breath left her in a rush. Positive.
There was no denying it now. Rachel was pregnant. Tears filled her eyes and she let them come, sobbing quietly as they flowed down her cheeks. There was a time when a positive pregnancy test would have filled her with joy, but not now. Not now that she was a bear. And she knew what this meant. It meant that Bastian must be a bear too.
She felt her insides turn cold as fear gripped her. What was she supposed to do now? She knew enough about bears to know that they were monsters. How could she have a baby with one? Despite her fear, Rachel already knew that she couldn’t have an abortion. As much as this pregnancy terrified her, beneath the fear was a strong feeling of maternal love. Almost without knowing she was going to do it, Rachel rubbed her hands over her belly, smiling through her tears.
“Everything is going to be okay,” she whispered to the baby. “I won’t let anyone hurt you.”
Her sobs began to trail off and she stood up and washed her face. Maybe all bears weren’t monsters. She was a bear and she wasn’t a monster. She had never hurt anyone and she had never felt the urge to do it. She let her mind go to Bastian. He had been funny, sweet, and kind. He had made love to her with such passion, but she also remembered the moment when he had penetrated her the morning after their first time together. She had been sore and she’d gasped when he’d entered her. And he had stopped moving until she had begged him not to stop. He hadn’t wanted to hurt her.
The more she thought about it, the more certain she became that Bastian was nothing like Lewis. Maybe he, too, had been turned into a bear against his will.
She went downstairs and sat down in the living room to think about this. Of course, she could have the baby and make no attempt to let Bastian know he was a father. It wasn’t like there was any chance of her running into him again, and if she did, she could just tell him the baby wasn’t his. He would have no reason to doubt her word. He didn’t know she was a bear, and like her, he would think that the chances of them having a baby together were zero.
As much as she felt like that would be the safest option, Rachel didn’t think she could do it. The thought of depriving Bastian of the chance to know his child, and depriving her child of the chance to know his or her father, didn’t sit right with Rachel. She knew she had to at least try to find Bastian.
The morning he had left for the airport, they had agreed not to exchange contact numbers. They both knew that what they had couldn’t last any longer than that one night, and what was the point of dragging it out with the occasional text or call? Rachel didn’t even know Bastian’s last name and he didn’t know hers. It had felt like a good idea at the time, a way to ensure it didn’t get messy. Now she regretted not getting at least his full name. If she had that, she could maybe track him down.
She thought for a moment longer and then she remembered the moment she had first seen Bastian. He had been coming out of a house opposite the diner she was in. She knew which house it was. It was the one with the yellow front door. Rachel’s attention had been focused on Bastian from the second she had laid eyes on him, but now that she thought about it, she knew she had seen a flash of that yellow door behind him.
She stood up, pu
lled her jacket on, and grabbed her handbag, leaving her house before she could talk herself out of this.
Rachel walked down the street quickly, not giving herself a chance to change her mind. She marched up to the yellow door and knocked on it. It was only after she had knocked that she realized she had no idea what to say. Would the person who lived here also be a bear? Should she tell them she was a bear? She didn’t know and it was too late to formulate a plan. The door was already opening.
A man peered out at her with a questioning look on his face and Rachel knew she had to say something.
“Hi,” she said with what she hoped was a normal-looking smile. “This might sound a little weird, but I need Bastian’s contact number.”
The man frowned at her.
“And how do you know Bastian?” he asked.
“We’re old friends,” Rachel lied.
“If that is true, then why don’t you have his number yourself?” the man asked.
“I lost it,” Rachel said.
“Right,” the man said, the doubt in his voice evident. “I’m sorry, lady, but I’m not in the habit of handing out other people’s cell phone numbers to strangers.”
Rachel felt her hope slipping away, but then she had an idea.
“I understand,” she said. “But it’s really important that I speak to him. If I give you my cell phone number, will you call Bastian and have him call me?”
The man seemed to relax a little and he nodded his head.
“Yeah, sure, I can do that,” he said.
Rachel dug in her handbag and found her little notebook and a pen. She scribbled her name and her number on a sheet of paper and tore it out and gave it to the man. He glanced at it and then tucked it into his shirt pocket.
