Hansel's Bear (Erotic Shifter Fairy Tale) (5 page)

One long step closed the gap between
them. He wasn’t touching her, but she could feel the heat of his
body surrounding hers.

“
Sometimes getting away
doesn’t free you.”

He was correct. She couldn’t bring
herself to part her lips and admit that to him. To anyone. It was
barely a confession to herself. It had been almost fifteen years
since the incident, yet she still carried the scars in her mind.
“Look, Hansel. I would love to be your therapist…truly I would,”
she droned on, “But, I have responsibilities, people who count on
me…a life. Unlike you I can’t just take leisure rides around the
country seeing old friends.”

Resting his fists on his hips, he
shifted his weight to one side. “Well, I’m glad you’ve been able to
let it all go and get a life.” He leaned in and sniffed. “Unmated
as it may be.”

Her lower jaw dropped, leaving her
mouth agape as she stumbled back from him. “Etiquette! In Den we
don’t just go around sniffing people when we feel like it.” That
actually wasn’t the truth. Were-bears lived by their sense of
smell. However, they normally were more subtle about it.

He released a low chuckle that rumbled
through the air, however it sounded humorless. “You know where I’m
from, the ways in which I was raised.”

Hell, yes she knew. “Look, I can’t do
this.” She shook her head. “Not now…” not ever she wanted to add
but didn’t.

“
Then I’ll just hang out
until you’re ready.” He called after her retreating
form.

“
Good luck with that. No B
& B or hotels in Den County.” She yelled out without turning
around. Getting far away from Hansel was her aim.

As she kept walking, she focused her
attention on her delicate hearing and tried to pick up any trace
that he was following her. The only sound was her own steps along
the sidewalk. Satisfied, she almost sighed with relief until she
spotted the group at the entrance of the park bold as day, showing
that they may have allowed her to walk away with the stranger, but
they still had her back.

“
I’m fine!” She called out
as she strolled right past Cord, Rorke, Sheriff Smokey, her father,
and her cousin. “Dainton, don’t we have work to do? I’ll see you at
the office.”

Shouldering her way through the big
men she moved with force and purpose leaving the overbearing men of
her life to do whatever the hell they wanted to as long as they
stayed the hell out of her way. She was aching for a fight, she was
hoping that someone in town would just push the right button or
step in her way and she would lay them out flat. It wasn’t that she
was angry, but there was so much energy and tension pumping through
her blood that she wanted something to do with it.

Sex
. Her bear growled inside of her.

“
Yeah, right.” Even though
she knew that part of the tension she felt was her intense and
passionate attraction for the outsider Were. However, in the years
she had entered adulthood, she had not taken any of the males in
town up on their offer to roll around in the forest or sheets. She
didn’t know why, because there were a lot of good-looking males in
town. Females were always panting or discussing whom they wanted to
screw or had recently screwed. But, none of them interested
her.

None of them turned her knees backward
or curled her toes. Not like Hansel.

Her bear attempted to urge her to go
back to him by flashing scenes of her laid out on top of the table
naked with the long, dark-haired male thrusting deep inside of her
as the hot sun beat down on both of them.

She groaned and her legs buckled
slightly, but she kept a tight hold on her resolve.

Trying to distract herself she nodded
at people as she passed by them headed to the office.

Fifteen minutes later she made a left
onto Snout Lane and crossed the parking lot to the front door. She
didn’t have to use her key, since the office door was
unlocked.

“
Hey there. Didn’t expect
you until later, sunshi—” Ebony was coming out of the copier room
and stopped midsentence. “Wow, girl, you look like you want to
shift and maul a hiker.”

Greta laughed at Ebony, her co-worker
and cousin’s mate…well, sort of mate. Dainton had gone down to San
Francisco for a meeting and had come back with a female Were…who
hadn’t know she was a Were-bear. Ebony Scrooge didn’t know much
about their kind so had agreed to come with Dainton to learn more
about who she was. However, with that agreement Ebony had refused
to mate with Dainton until she’d shifted.

It was a bone of contention between
the lovers, because Dainton wanted to give Ebony the last bite and
make her his permanently, but Ebony refused outright.

“
Ebony, I’m pissed.” Greta
made a beeline to her office and claimed her chair behind the
desk.

“
I can see that.” The
stylish were-female leaned against the doorjamb. “Dainton shot out
of the office over and hour ago after a call from Cord about some
outsider in town looking for you.”

Shoving her hands through the twist of
her hair, Greta groaned. “Well, he found me.”

“
Who is he?” Ebony moved
deeper into the room.

Reclining back in her chair, she
avoided her friend’s eyes and stared out the window. “Do you mind
if we don’t talk about him? I’m a little talked out at the
moment.”

“
Absolutely. But, how
about we escape the males of this town and go to the lake tonight
for some girl time and drinks. I hear Riley got a couple bottles of
honey wine from Shardik Farms.”

“
Two to ten drinks sound
good about now.” Greta leaned forward and turned on her
computer.

Ebony laughed. “Well, hold off a few
hours. I’ll call the other ladies and see who’s in.”

She gave her a small smile. It was all
she could muster up at the moment. “Thanks, Ebony.”

“
Hey, since I’ve been
here, you ladies have shown me that these are the kind of things
friends do for each other.” Ebony winked at her and moved toward
the door.

It had been true. Ebony had been a
successful businesswoman, but a loner. She didn’t have family or
friends and kept to herself with the exception of one friend. The
same friend that had set her up with a mystery date that had gone
sideways and she’d ended up caught in a mating heat with
Dainton.

Pulling up the reports she had to work
on that day, Greta began counting down the hours until nightfall.
Maybe getting drunk would help her bury the memory back in the
vault of her mind. And hopefully by then Hansel would have made his
way out of town.

Hopefully
.

Hopefully
not
, her bear countered.

Chapter Three

He had wanted to follow every step of
Greta’s full swaying hips. When she walked away in irritation,
there was a subtle hitch to her purposeful steps. He knew where
that notch in her gate had come from. It was not extremely
noticeable, but he had been intent in his observation of her,
taking in every change that life had gifted her with over the
years.

As a young girl she’d been pretty,
cute and scared. Her big black eyes had practically taken up most
of her face. What had remained had been filled with the thickness
of her lips.

However it was evident in so many ways
how her body had developed into adulthood. A curvaceous beauty with
ample breasts, rounded thighs and enough body that a Were-male
could easily get lost in it for hours. As an adult female, her wide
eyes had a saucy tilt to them at the outer corners and her lips
were still wide and pronounced in her round face, beckoning a
male—him—to kiss them. He desired to see them turn up in a smile or
parted in passion.

The deep nutmeg complexion of her skin
tempted him to run his tongue over it, tracing every path to her
pleasure.

He yearned to see all her ebony hair
spread out on sheets as he thrust deep inside of her.

A groan came out of his
mouth.

His bear panted. Mine.

The intense, erotic and visceral
response to Greta shook his core.

As a youth, he’d felt a bond to her,
but he’d only seen himself as her protector.

Not this…this—

“
I hope you have the
answers you came for.” The Sheriff stood blocking his path with his
hands planted on his hips before a smaller crowd than had gathered
around Hansel when he’d parked in the heart of town. However, none
of the male faces had become any friendlier.

Hansel’s focus had been so intent on
Greta that he hadn’t realized he had migrated out of the
park.

“
And you can get back on
your bike and go.” The additional comment came from the male,
Hansel recalled, as the one he had seen sweeping Greta into his
arms at the lake.

Why was he still hanging
around? What was his relationship to Greta?

Mine
. He bear growled scratching and clawing inside of
him…wanting out.

Hansel kept a lid on his temper, he
wasn’t afraid of any of these six males, but he didn’t come to
fight but to talk with Greta. Ensure she was okay.

Taking his time as he continued
strolling toward the group at the mouth of the park, Hansel said,
“Not really. So, I’ll be around until I do.” Stopping a few feet
before them, he shot his gaze to the Were that had dared to touch
Greta.

“
Listen up, Hansel…right?”
The Sheriff began.

Shifting his attention to the lawman,
he gave him a sharp nod.

“
We don’t want any trouble
in Den—”

“
Didn’t come to bring
any.” Hansel folded his arms over his chest, keeping his heels
planted wide, just in case trouble started.

The same male from the lake stepped
up, aligning his shoulders with the sheriff’s, and took on the same
stance as Hansel—not challenging, but a definite show of
force.

Hansel’s bear dug deep in his core.
And Hansel was tempted to shift, not to kill the male, but just to
let some fur fly. He felt tense and agitated on so many levels he
felt he couldn’t even see straight.

“
Good to know. However,
since it doesn’t seem that Greta wants anything more to do with
you, I think it’s best you continue on down the road.” The lawman
turned as if his words were the final decision.

This Were didn’t know him. Hansel had
stopped taking orders and allowing anyone to dictate to him where
he could go and what he could do. “Don’t think so.”

Three words that might as well have
been a gun going off.

Both the Sheriff and the hugger
stepped forward growling.

Vision going red, Hansel lowered his
arms and released a loud piercing sound of his own. Daring one of
them to shift.

“
Let’s keep our heads
about us now.” Another male standing at the fringe of the group
stepped forward and placed a hand the male’s chest. “Dainton, I
know you want to protect Greta, but this isn’t the way. You know if
she got wind of you fighting all through the park on her behalf
she’d have your ass.”

“
So, what…you just want me
to stand back and let him press his way on her?” Dainton swung his
gaze from the mediator back to Hansel.

“
No. But, don’t go
defending her before she even calls out for help.” The male with
the apparent voice of reason, faced Hansel fully. “I’m Cord, the
Mayor of Den County.” He held his hand out toward him.

Hansel stared down at the palm offered
as he took a few deep breaths to get his bear back under control.
Not wanting to disrespect the first offer of kindness in the
strange county, he gripped it and gave the mayor’s hand a firm
shake.

After they parted, Cord continued,
“How long do you plan on staying in town?”

“
Hadn’t decided. A lot of
that depends on Greta.”

“
Hm.” That came from
Dainton.

Cord shot Dainton a hard look before
addressing Hansel again. “I understand. However, if it takes beyond
sun down for her to give you the time of day again, there’s no
place for you to rest your head here. We’re kind of a closed
community and like to keep it that way…if you can
understand.”

“
I do. It won’t be the
first time I slept beside my bike under the stars.” Hansel wanted
to make it clear that he was not leaving the town until he was good
and ready. He was tired of making that clear to these men and
Greta.
He
would
say when it was time for him to continue on his journey.

Cord sighed and scratched his head.
Hansel could actual see him warring with his thoughts at the
impasse. “Sheriff Smokey will have to be the one who gives
permission for that.”

Sheriff stepped up. “I don’t want the
Den folks uneasy about some strange Were-bear hanging out in the
park day and night. I suggest you find another city to bed down
tonight and just come back in the morning and try to approach Greta
then.”

Hansel cocked his head to the side.
“That doesn’t wo—”