Sixteen
Claire
“Now look what you made me do, you stupid whore!” Chuck screamed at me, my head still ringing from his slap. I was kind of trapped in this daze. He’d never hit me before. No one had ever hit me before. And it just came out of nowhere.
My cheek stung, and my hands hurt from where I’d caught myself on the pavement, but that wasn’t the most pressing matter because over the ringing in my ears, Chuck’s yelling had stopped and in its place was… roaring?
I blinked away the swimming images in my vision, squinting through the darkness and all my blood froze. There was a bear in the alley, snarling and rearing up at Chuck. I didn’t know what the hell a bear was doing this far down the mountain, or how he managed to find me at the exact moment I needed him, but I was thankful there was something to take Chuck’s attention off of me.
Chuck’s eyes were wide and he scrambled backwards, tripping over gravel, trying to get away from the bear before it charged. And as much as I was positively gleeful to see Chuck pissing his pants scared, I didn’t really want him to be mauled by a bear.
I knew I should have been scared too, but the bear didn’t even really look at me, he only had eyes for Chuck. And there was murder in those eyes.
“Don’t hurt him!” I shouted, not even sure where the strength in my voice came from. The bear stopped, turned his head curiously at me, and dropped down to all fours, letting Chuck get his footing and run away. The asshole didn’t even linger long enough to make sure I wasn’t in any danger. But I was still happy to see him go.
I slowly pulled myself up to my feet, hoping not to spook the big creature. In all my years on this mountain, I’d never come so close to a bear. Of course, in school they taught you all the safety precautions and what to do if you were ever threatened by one, but now that I was face to face with the animal, all those memories were conveniently out of reach.
But the bear wasn’t frothing mad anymore. His eyes looked softer, kinder… even familiar. And then, right before my eyes, the bear started to fade away, its big bulk shrinking, hair disappearing into nothing, until it was someone very familiar in front of me… and very naked.
“Luke?” I stammered, not even believing my own eyes.
He took a hesitant step toward me, his hands held out in the universal symbol of ‘I’m not going to hurt you.’
“I can explain, Claire,” he said, his voice soft and gentle, like he was afraid of spooking me.
My head swirled with questions and confusion, but my body instantly responded to this sexy as hell man standing naked in front of me after having saved me from my asshole ex. There was a lot of adrenaline running through my veins and all of it was gathering and pulsing between my legs, making my mouth dry and my head fuzzy.
“Luke?” I said again, my voice distant and lost.
He sighed and stepped closer, ever so slowly lowering his hand to my back. I didn’t move away from him, but I didn’t move into him either. Even though his hand was warm and comforting and I wanted to melt right into him, I still had no idea what the hell was going on and I needed answers.
“Come on, I’ll explain everything,” he said, gently guiding me through the side alley to the parking lot behind the diner. There were a few other people milling about, and I was acutely aware of Luke’s nakedness and how they looked away, but they didn’t know the half of it. They couldn’t begin to know how weird this really was.
He led me to his truck and I had a momentary flash of panic that told me I shouldn’t be getting into his vehicle without some sort of explanation, but I couldn’t be suspicious of Luke. He radiated trustworthiness.
“So, there are some things about me you don’t know,” he said softly.
I snorted a humorless laugh. “No kidding.”
His shoulders stiffened and I looked over at him, his dark eyes hurt and guarded.
“I’m sorry… This is all just… Explain please,” I said. Apparently forming coherent thoughts was still beyond me.
Luke nodded and blew out a heavy sigh. “I’m what’s known as a shifter. It’s genetic. We have the ability to change forms into an animal.”
“Like werewolves?”
He sent a little grin my way, but shook his head. “Not exactly. We can shift at-will and it’s not forced by the moon like in some of the werewolf lore. And, of course, I’m a bear, not a wolf.”
“And…”
He nodded. “My brothers are too. Most the people at that barbeque were shifters, actually. Like I said, it’s kind of our family animal.”
I didn’t even have anything to say to that. It was a lot to take in all at once. Luckily, it seemed Luke wasn’t finished.
“There are a few benefits of being a shifter — extra keen senses and the ability to heal really quickly — but there are drawbacks too. Mainly in the way that I have to share headspace with an opinionated apex predator.”
I must have looked as confused as I felt.
“It’s hard to explain. But it’s kind of like having an imaginary friend who occasionally gets to drive the train. I do my best to keep him under control, but there’s one realm where he refuses to be reined in: you.”
My head spun, I was dizzy and finding it hard to breathe. This was all a lot to take in, but surprisingly, I didn’t think he was crazy. I didn’t want to run screaming. I didn’t even doubt anything he was saying to me. It was crazy, but I believed him, which might have actually been crazier.
“Me?”
Luke nodded. “Without getting into it too much, bears can recognize their mate and if they fail to find them by a certain age, they go feral. It’s impossible to control them. That age was getting pretty close for me, but then I found you… And Claire, I know it’s insane and believe me, this is not the way I intended to break all this to you, but… There it is.”
For the first time since we got in his truck, Luke stopped talking. I didn’t say anything either and the silence just kind of lingered in the air around us, falling like a heavy snow until I felt pinned down by the weight of it.
“I get it, it’s way too much. I can just take you home,” he said, shaking his head, his fingers balled into tight fists.
“So… I’m your mate? Does that mean we’re like… meant to be or something? I mean I’ve heard of shifters, but I thought people were kidding. But this is all real?” I couldn’t say why, but the thought had my heart racing, my lungs tight. I wanted to believe it. I wanted to think that this weird pull that dragged me toward Luke wasn’t weird after all. I wanted to have some explanation for why he filled my every waking thought. And why even after learning all of this crazy stuff about him, I still wasn’t running for the hills.
He shrugged. “Yes and no. It’s still like any other human relationship. It still takes work, and sometimes the partnerships fail, but the bear is supposed to be able to recognize a kindred soul. And believe me, he’s very vocal about it.”
That made me laugh, thinking about having a person like Alexis in my head all the time pressuring me to move things along.
“That sounds awful,” I said, still giggling.
“It can be annoying,” he agreed, laughing with me. “But the moment I saw you and Ella, he’s been demanding I make you both ours. I never even really considered fatherhood before, but now… I know it’s crazy, but I can’t imagine my life without the two of you.”
The way he bared his soul to me with those words made him more vulnerable than any amount of nakedness could, and I finally understood what had been going through his mind all this time with me. And I realized that I wasn’t the only one terrified of making a mistake. I wasn’t the only one with a lot on the line. I wasn’t the only one that stood to lose a great deal if it didn’t go well. And yet, here he was, still opening up to me, risking himself and his life and his family’s secret just for a chance with me.
And he was still naked. Have I mentioned that lately? I’d only ever gotten the briefest glimpses of his tanned muscles at the barbeque and the clinic, but now his whole muscled body was on glorious display. All the way from his chiseled shoulders and defined arms to his sculpted chest and abs. He even had those hip grooves that made smart women stupid and a furry little patch of hair that led straight down…
I pulled my eyes back up quickly. I shouldn’t be looking at him at a time like this! But out of the corner of my eye, I saw his dick twitch in his lap and he laughed.
“You’re more than welcome to look. Shifters aren’t really shy about nudity… for obvious reasons.”
Yeah, obvious reasons. My appreciative look had inspired half an erection in him, and even at that point, he looked huge. Somehow, it made my mouth water the same time it made my mouth dry. How did that even work? I licked my lips, biting the bottom one thoughtfully.
“You know, I’m not really in the mood for dinner anymore. And I don’t think you’re really dressed for the occasion,” I teased, crawling across the bench toward him.
“You’re right about that. I’ve got a change of clothes in the back though if you want to—”
I kissed him. Without warning. It was like this overwhelming urge that I just couldn’t deny anymore. I reached around the back of his head and pulled him into my mouth, searing my lips to his with all the intensity and need that was pulsing through my veins. I needed him more than I’d ever needed anything. And he didn’t disappoint.
Luke’s lips worked against mine, coaxing my mouth open. His tongue made me dizzy, made me moan, made me cling to him like my life depended on it. All the pent up desire, all the longing, all the uncertainty and the excitement of him saving me from Chuck, it all came to a head at once, crashing together in a symphony of pleasure.
His hands moved up my body from my waist, skimming over the silky material of my dress to cup my breasts. He rolled his thumbs over my nipples and I sighed into the kiss, clinging to him tighter. When I reached down between us to caress his still-growing dick, he sucked in a sharp breath and pulled me away.
“You should put your seat belt on. I’m not doing this for the first time in my truck and I plan on speeding recklessly all the way back to my house.”
I pouted at him, reaching for his cock again, but he held my wrist and brought my palm up to his lips.
“Soon, I promise,” he said.
I could see the determination in his eyes and knew I’d be better off not arguing about it. Arguing was just going to put more time between now and the moment he was inside of me. So I slid over to my side of the cab and buckled my seatbelt in record time. The click didn’t even finish before the truck was roaring out of the parking lot and off onto the dark mountain roads.
I’d never been to Luke’s place, and I wasn’t going to be able to see much of it now, either, but it was set off from the main road a ways — though his driveway was nice and paved unlike mine. The motion-activated porch light came on the moment the truck pulled up, but I hardly saw the front of the house past the green door because Luke’s mouth was all over me while he fumbled with the lock. I was just getting ready to tell him to stop kissing me long enough to get us in the house, when the door swung open and he scooped me up into his arms.
I squealed and held onto him for dear life.
“I told you I could carry you around like this,” he said grinning. He kicked the door closed behind him, and supporting me with one arm, used his free hand to drag the strap of my dress off my shoulder, revealing my breast to the cool air. My nipple instantly puckered and Luke growled, dipping down to wrap his lips around it, the warmth of his mouth enveloping the sensitive little nub and drawing a sharp cry from my lips. It was like electricity going straight from my nipples to my clit and I could hardly stand it.
“Luke,” I panted, clinging to him, my feet dangling so far off the ground.
But he didn’t need to know what I was saying. He marched me straight through his dark house, navigating obstacles that would have tripped me for sure, and practically tossed me on the bed.
The rough landing made my dress bunch up under my ass and I instinctively moved to pull it down, but Luke stopped me, grabbing the hem and lifting it higher, up over my head until I was on his bed in only my damp, black panties.
I shivered under his gaze. His eyes touched me more intimately than anyone’s hands ever had, soaking in every inch of my moon-bathed skin.
“You’re so beautiful,” he growled under his breath, the barely-contained desperation making me wetter than ever.
“Why don’t you come over here?” I said, my eyes firmly fixed on his now rock-hard erection. I swallowed thickly. It had been a long time since I’d been with anyone that wasn’t battery operated. But with Luke, I knew there wouldn’t be any problems. I knew he’d never hurt me. And I knew that I wanted him enough that there’d be no resistance on my part.
He leaned over me and pressed his lips softly to mine, the kiss gentle and sweet as his hands skimmed my sides and his thumbs hooked into the elastic band of my panties.
Then, the kiss grew harder, more insistent as his tongue started to tease mine, and his hands dragged the panties down my legs.
He buried his tongue in my mouth, kissing me like he was worried he’d never get the chance again as his fingers teased down my seam, exposing my wetness to the air.
I could hardly breathe from the way he was kissing me, but somehow I managed a gasp when his finger pressed against my clit. A jolt zipped through my entire body, making my back arch from the bed, making me cling to him desperately, my nails digging into his shoulders as that one finger slipped inside.
“Luke,” I breathed, my eyes closed tight, my breaths coming fast as I just concentrated on the amazing feelings he was creating in me. The smooth, expert in and out of that finger, curling up to hit the spot inside that made me gasp, made my toes curl. I grabbed onto the sheets as he moved down my body, his hot mouth blazing a burning trail, lighting up my nerve endings with feelings I’d never had.
And then his tongue was on my clit, and he was rumbling words — words that made me even hotter for him even though I couldn’t manage to grab on to their meanings — the vibrations tumbling through me in wave after wave, my whole body poised to shatter under him.
“Luke, I’m going to—”
He latched his lips around my clit and sucked hard, curling the finger inside me up, sliding another in with it. I didn’t even get to finish my sentence before I was screaming his name into the rafters. All that waiting, all that wanting, all the tension and the fantasies I’d concocted, it was all worth it in that moment. Everything was worth it if I got to have Luke. If I could have his mouth on me, his fingers buried in me, and these incredible orgasms.
Yeah, my fantasies had nothing on the real thing.
He crawled back up my body and kissed me again like it might be the last thing he ever did. I didn’t even care that I could taste myself. While I’d never let another guy do that, with Luke, I didn’t even think of arguing. Everything he did turned me on more than I could even say. Even the taste of myself was hot when it was from his lips.
His hips moved forward and I could feel his thick cock head pressing against my entrance as he pulled back from the kiss, his dark eyes shining into mine. I nodded and lifted myself up to kiss him, dragging him back down to me as he slid all the way in in one fluid stroke.
I gasped, my breath gone, nothing but amazing, incredible fullness in my mind. All other thoughts were gone except for how Luke was stretching me, how my muscles clenched around him, and how every time they did, another wave of ecstasy swept through me.
“God, Claire,” he whispered, his forehead pressed to mine, still buried completely inside of me. “I hate to admit it, but I think the dumb bear was right.”
I grinned. “Me too. But we can thank him later,” I said, lifting my hips to force him in deeper. Luke groaned, his eyes sparkling dangerously. I saw something switch inside of him. And he went from gentle, reserved love-making, to the desperate, grasping fucking I was craving so much.
There was no time for words, no time to even breathe really. He thrust into me over and over, each time driving me deeper into the bed and higher towards the heavens. Stars burst in front of my vision and still he was relentless, flipping me over to my hands and knees and driving in even deeper, my moans and cries eventually losing all sound as he drove me to the place where even my own name didn’t make sense any more.
And he was rough, grabbing my hips and slamming into me over and over again, his teeth grazing my shoulder hard enough to leave marks. But in the moment, it just made me shiver. Made me hotter. Made me feel like his. And I was realizing that’s all I really wanted.
“Fuck, I’m gonna—” Luke’s hands tightened on my hips and we powerfully thrust together one last time before he bellowed out his own completion. I could feel him pulsing inside of me and I pressed back harder as he emptied himself. I lost track of how many times I came, but I knew it was going to be a long time before I came down again.
It took Luke a little while to catch his breath and roll off of me, but then I flopped out across his bed, my arms and legs spread wide as the afterglow teased through me. He left the bed long enough to clean up and then came back with a damp rag, gently cleaning my inner thighs, kissing his way up and down as he did.
“If you’re not careful, you’re going to have me ready for round two,” I teased.
He grinned up from between my legs. “You say that like it’s a bad thing.”
I laughed and he crawled up to lay beside me, drawing me up against his chest, idly stroking my sides and kissing the back of my neck as I slowly drifted off to the most peaceful sleep I’d had in five years.