Edward (BBW Western Bear Shifter Romance) (Rodeo Bears Book 1) (70 page)

“Don’t you dare talk about the past now,” she demanded. “Everyone’s healed up fine. I’ve been hanging onto my past for years, and you’ve helped me to move on. This is us now, Ben. This is our future.”

She kissed the very tip of his erection, and Ben shuddered. To Layla’s surprise, however, he began to step forward, kicking his discarded clothes away. He offered Layla his hands and she got up, pulled at once into a deep and delving kiss. She reached down to stroke and tease Ben again as they made out, but soon she realized he was trying to get her out of her dress. Layla stepped back from their passionate embrace, and unzipped her bright summery dress from the back. It fell to the ground, leaving her standing in her white bra and panties.

“Show me,” Ben asked.

She took the bra off first, feeling the warm summer air caress her breasts. When her panties came down, she could already feel how wet and warm she’d grown from Ben’s touch and his kiss. They stood for a moment, watching each other’s bodies, then a wicked grin grew on Layla’s face.

“Catch me, slowpoke,” she teased.

And then she was gone, heading for the bedroom with a giggle. Ben chased her through the living room and swung round the bedroom door just as Layla launched herself onto her soft, huge bed. She wriggled onto her back, breathless with excitement, and in seconds Ben was on top of her and showering her with kisses. She felt his hard-on rubbing against her thighs and the base of her stomach. Her body arched up to rub against Ben’s muscles, craving him desperately.

“You’re never gonna let me forget that you’re a better runner, are you?” Ben asked.

“Nope,” Layla giggled back. “You’ll just have to find something else to be good at.”

Ben gazed down at Layla’s body, then he readjusted his position. He slid into her with one smooth push, and Layla felt her nerves go haywire. He was everything she’d ever wanted in a man, protective and just and sexy as hell. Ben began to thrust with a steady rhythm, his lips finding Layla’s ear again.

“What about this?” he said, half-growling. “Am I good at this?”

“Oh God yes,” Layla told him. Then, after a thoughtful pause, she added: “But I’m still better.”

She took hold of Ben’s hips and rocked him deeper into her body. Her clitoris was burning for contact, and the full penetration helped her to rub herself against him. She guided him through a few thrusts, filled with thrills as he cried out in pleasure. He was pushing deeper, bringing their bodies closer together, until Layla’s legs were wrapped around his back. Her thighs and calves were strong from all that running, and she gave him an extra push every time he went deep.
 

Soon, the ache inside her grew more desperate, and Layla moaned and cried out for release. Ben’s speed was increasing with every second, his stamina unending. He’d get her there, she knew, and that only made the build-up more glorious. When she reached the edge of her climax, her body gave a sudden shudder. The move caused Ben to let out a hard gasp, and he thrust so fast that he was only a blur in Layla’s vision.

They lost control together, a pair of bodies moving as one.
 

When he collapsed beside her moments later, Ben’s massive chest rose and fell with the exertion. Layla reached out and put her arm around him, resting her head on his shoulder. She heard his heart as it gradually slowed back to normal, and by the time it was a steady tick-tock, they were both fast asleep. Neither of them woke when Brent returned from a well-deserved Mojito break and stifled his gasp at discovering them. He covered them with a spare blanket though, just so they’d know he’d been suitably creeped out.

Four months later.

“Hey look! Pantyhose!” Ben exclaimed.

“You need to not be so excited every time you see pantyhose,” Layla replied with a chuckle.

She was behind the counter of the Fairhaven General Store, which supplied tourists and campers with anything they’d forgotten to bring from home. Ben was browsing the shelves, and he’d picked up the hose and rattled the box with glee. He brought them over to Layla’s counter, and leaned over the register to kiss her.

“But it’s us,” he said brightly. “It’s how we met. I can’t
not
buy them.”

“What will you do with them?” Layla challenged wryly. “You only know three women, and Anina, Elise and I have got a plentiful supply already.”

Ben’s grin turned to a mock pout. Layla kissed him again, grateful that there weren’t any customers around to spoil her fun. Ben wandered back to the shelf where the hose was and replaced the box.

“What should I buy then?” he asked. “I ought to buy something. I come in here ten times a day and I never leave with anything but the shop-girl’s lipstick on my neck.”

“That’s no bad thing,” Layla replied.

Something had shifted in her voice, and she left the counter to walk along the shelves of the little store. It was time to have the conversation. Layla looked down at her own cocoa-colored hand, where a bright silver band held a shining diamond on her third finger. She toyed with the ring for a moment, then looked up to find Ben watching her with interest. His thoughtful dimple was firmly in place.

“You know we said we’d get married at Christmas?” she began.

Ben nodded enthusiastically. “Big Christmas wedding, super romantic,” he agreed.

“Well, I’m thinking we ought to bring it forward a little,” Layla explained, “just a month or so.”

“How come, baby?” Ben questioned.

“Well, I’m gonna put on a little weight,” Layla said. She knew she was messing things up, but the actual words that she wanted to say wouldn’t come out. Ben started to laugh.

“You’re intentionally planning to gain weight?” he chuckled. “What, are you gonna weight train or something? ‘Cause, you know I love your muscles, but that might be a bit much.”

Layla groaned, balling her fists. She marched to Ben and took him by the sleeve of his ranger’s uniform, dragging him to the clothing section of the store. Here, on a corner display, there were various shirts, socks and other garments emblazoned with the same slogan:
I came to Fairhaven, and now I’m in love.

“You wanna buy something?” Layla said. “This is what you should buy.”

She took a garment from the rack and put it in Ben’s hands. He held the small item in his muscular grip, the soft cotton shifting against his fingers. The garment was a baby gown, newborn size.

“First Dietrich and now me,” Ben mused. “Gram’s gonna have a heart attack.”

“I’m freaking out, babe,” Layla admitted. “Are we gonna be okay as parents?”

He reached out for Layla, pulling her into his arms. The baby gown was still firmly in his grip.

“So long as we love each other, I reckon we’ll do just fine,” Ben replied with a smile.

Kurt

Bear Dating Agency III

by

Becca Fanning

The car pulled up to the edge of the forest, and Stacey McKinley got her first glimpse of the mark. He was tall and broad, with a chest almost twice the width of the man beside her in the car, and he had a floppy mess of wet, blonde hair that he was trying to tame. It was a damnably hot day, the sun beating down on a happy crowd of campers by the lakeside. The damp blonde had just pulled himself out of the water, where he’d been recovering a small dog who could barely paddle. He was returning the dog to its grateful owners, his damp park ranger’s uniform sticking to every curve and bulge of his muscular frame.

He was, without a doubt, the most beautiful man Stacey had ever seen.

“Kurt Best,” the man beside her said, flicking through a notebook. “Owing seven thousand dollars, payment date was one month ago.”

Kurt looked happy and cheerful, not the sort of guy who was hiding a considerable debt. Stacey watched him among the crowd, seeing how those campers seemed to idolize him. What did he even need seven grand for? Surely a ranger’s salary in a park as large as Fairhaven was damn good money. Stacey found herself drawn to his cheerful face, that playful grin with the dimples. His eyes might have sparkled, if she’d been close enough to make them out.

“Hey, you listening to me?” the man beside her asked.

He’d said something else, after the seven thousand, but she hadn’t heard it. Now, she tore her gaze away from the lakeside and the sunshine, back to the dark recesses of the car. Their windows were tinted to block the sun, and the AC was blasting a frozen stream of air straight at her legs. The man beside her put his hand on Stacey’s knee, and he was just as cold to touch.

“Sorry Jack,” Stacey said with a stammer. “I was just thinking.”

“Good,” Jack answered with a thin smile. “It’s going take strategy to get to this one. Best’s line is that he can’t pay, he doesn’t have the money, but I think it’s bull. You’re gonna get in there and find out if he’s got savings or possessions we can reclaim. A car, a property share, whatever. You got that?”

Stacey nodded. She had to play the role Jack had made for her. It was her job, had been for a few years now, and it paid well. When she’d first met Jack, he was only a doorman throwing people out of nightclubs. Now, he was a collector, and she was too. It was their job to source money back from those who’d borrowed from Big Al Moschino. Once they had Kurt’s seven grand, they’d see a nice slice of commission. Jack took hold of Stacey’s hands, like he was thinking the same thing.

“We do good work together,” he said. “Just focus on the task.”

Stacey felt her stomach do a flip. Jack sometimes tried to cross a line in their partnership. She hated it but the money was too good to pass up.
 

“I’d better get to work scouting this guy out,” Stacey said, breaking their contact to reach for the door.

She was almost out of the car when Jack cleared his throat. Stacey looked back at him, seeing the hope in his dark eyes turn to grim seriousness. He got little lines on his pale face when he was serious, and there were shadows beneath his gaze.

“One other thing I ought to mention,” he began.
 

Stacey waited in silence.

“This guy,” Jack continued, “I’ve got intel that says he’s a shifter. He can turn into a bear, Stacey. Be careful.”

Stacey simply nodded, and walked towards the lakeside.

Kurt Best was probably the easiest mark Stacey had ever had to find. She had watched him at the lakeside all afternoon, reclining in the Californian sun from a respectable distance, until the crowds seemed to be drawn away by an imaginary dinner bell. The sun was fading when Kurt got into his Land Rover and cruised away, but he soon popped up again at the grill-style restaurant where dinner service was beginning. Stacey had booked herself a table for one, and she was sitting alone in the corner when the maître-d’ approached her.

“Excuse me, miss, but I wondered if you wouldn’t mind sharing your table?” he asked politely. “We’re almost at capacity.”

When Stacey looked up and saw Kurt standing behind the waiter with a hopeful grin, she couldn’t believe her luck. She nodded, and the waiter vanished a moment later, leaving the bulky ranger to settle himself in a chair. He was still dressed in his uniform, though he’d dried out, and smoothed his blonde mop of hair back into an unruly wave. He had a shadow of pale fuzz growing about his jaw, and a sprinkling of chest hair visible in the v of his shirt.

“I saw you today at the lake,” Kurt said. “I hope you don’t mind the intrusion.”

Inside, Stacey let out a curse. She had meant to be inconspicuous at first, approach the guy slowly, but clearly he was alert. Whether that was to do with his shifter powers or not remained to be seen. When Stacey offered him a casual smile by way of a reply, she happened to catch his eye. His gaze was golden, shining like two perfect rings, reflecting the glorious lights of the restaurant. He dazzled her for a moment, and she lost her footing.

“I, uh… No. I mean, of course not. I’m Stacey.”

She hadn’t meant to give her real name, and when Kurt gave her his, she tried her best not to look like she already knew it. Stacey nodded and shook his hand, her fingers warm in his grip for the briefest moment.

“I was out catching some sun today,” she explained, hearing the nerves in her own voice. “I’m just here to relax awhile, you know? I live in LA, and it’s pretty busy down there.”

“It is,” Kurt agreed. “I go down to the city most weekends.”

Stacey knew that too. Kurt had to be involved with something in LA, else he never would have met Big Al and borrowed so much money. She took a sip of her drink, hoping that the maître-d’ would be back soon to take their food order. But the grill was overflowing with customers and not very well staffed. She hadn’t had time to plan what she would say to Kurt, to wile her way into his confidence, but she couldn’t throw the opportunity away now that it had landed in her lap.

“You don’t like to eat at home?” she asked him. “I mean, if you’re a ranger here, you must live nearby.”

“I do,” Kurt said with a nod. “Fairhaven’s family run. We all live in a huge lodge in the east sector. But to be honest, if I get dinner at home my Gram tries to make me eat sauerkraut. Like, every night. I’m not joking.”

He made her laugh. It was a natural laugh, something Stacey hadn’t done in quite a while. Her life was so serious, and Kurt was so jolly. They didn’t match, not really, but Stacey could play her part well enough to make him think that they did. Jack had always been very specific about how she should lead the marks on. Give them giggles, be flirty, and she could kiss them if she needed to. Nothing more than kissing, though, not ever. Just enough to make them trust her, and answer her questions.