Authors: Casey Elliot
*****
Juliana
Holy hell, he was a good kisser. I had never had such a passionate, panty-dropping kiss. He captured my mouth and owned it, giving me pleasure in a way that a kiss normally would not. It was everything I could do not to tear his clothes off in the driveway and ride him to perdition.
I managed to drag myself away just long enough to pull him to my front door, unlock it, and push him inside. As soon as we were through the door, he slammed me roughly against the wall. It didn't hurt, but damn it was hot.
He found the bottom of my shirt and tore it off. His hands were rough, as they slid across my skin, causing a tingling sensation to spread in their wake. I wanted nothing more than to feel them between my legs.
I didn't have to wait for long.
By the time we were in my bedroom, both of us were naked. Our clothes had been tossed aside on the way, and I knew it would be a hassle to go pick them all up, but I didn't care.
Nick was big. After he threw me on the bed, I took a moment to assess him, and decided there was a statistical improbability in my room. No guy that hot ever has a dick that big. I smiled; James' loss, my gain, right?
"You look so good like that," he said, stroking himself.
Normally, I would have felt self-conscious about my body. Who didn't? When guys wanted to get a good look at me, I usually tried to keep their attention on my tits, not my belly, and that generally involved some yoga-like concentration.
With Nick, I didn't care. I felt sexy. I felt powerful.
I felt a great need.
"Get over here," I said.
He didn't waste any time. One second, he was at the foot of the bed, the next, he was firmly anchored between my thighs, the tip of his cock pressing against me. He kissed me again and I nearly died from the pure erotic anticipation that I felt.
I wanted him so bad and, as he slid along my wet folds, I knew that he could feel how bad I wanted him. I arched my back upward, attempting to thrust him in, but he pulled back in equal measure.
"You look good like this, too," he purred in my ear; "all sexy and horny."
"God, Nick," I said. "Please. Please fuck me."
He growled into my ear and shoved inside of me in one powerful stroke. I arched my back and cried out in pleasure, feeling him fill me to an impossible degree.
When we moved, we moved together; each of us keeping time like we had a metronome. The exquisite fullness in my pussy caused pleasure with each stroke, and I was lost in the sensation. I couldn't think about anything else but him—his rough mouth on my neck, his arms around me. There was only that and nothing else. I was alive.
Tension pooled in my belly like liquid fire, begging to be released more and more with each of his thrusts; release became the only word on my mind, repeating over and over as I dug my nails into his back and pressed up to try and attain it.
Release… Release… Release…
I could almost taste it. I was so close. Nick's ragged breath told me he was close too. I could feel him panting into my ear, straining for his own satisfaction. We were two wild dancers, ready for a grand finale.
And grand it was.
I came apart in a flash of color and heat. My eyes screwed shut, and my mouth fell open in what was, at first, a silent cry. When the first of the waves began to hit me, I screamed in pure rapture, digging my nails even harder into Nick's back. I probably could have drawn blood, but I doubt either of us would have cared.
Nick's thrusts became more frenzied as I came; sinking into me with a fury that was more animal than human. He panted and groaned, finally coming to a shaking climax buried deep in me.
I spared no thought to whether that was such a good idea or not; so gone was I.
I had no idea the implications this night would have for us.
Nick
I spent the night with Juliana, not wanting to cut out too soon and miss hanging out with her a little more. I knew that I shouldn't have, but I was a glutton for punishment. Besides, when I was stuck in an unhappy marriage in a few months, I'd need something to look back on.
I knew that was where it had to end though. I gave her my number when she asked, but sadly, realized I was going to have to ignore any texts or phone calls from her. Even if I was free to be with who I wanted, I couldn't bring a non-shifter into shifter politics or risk exposing our secret; there were too many factors at work that would keep us apart.
I rode out of there in the morning with a sense of guilt and shame. If she was feeling anything like I was about our night together, then she wouldn't want to leave it at that, either. Worse, she'd never even get to know why.
*****
"Where have you been, cousin?" said Parker, bitterly, as I stepped into my house. I hated when he came over without asking, but that was meant to be the whole purpose of us all living in a compound—community.
"None of your business," I snapped back. "Get out of my house."
He didn't move.
"That was an order as your pack leader, not as your cousin."
He got up, but it was slowly. "I came over to try and smooth things over between us."
"Come back another time," I replied. "When I'm a little less angry."
Thinking about the way he'd stood against me on this marriage thing had really pissed me off. Now, it pissed me off even more since I'd spent a whole night being reminded of what I wouldn't have for the rest of my life.
Parker opened his mouth as if to say something more, but my stony expression caused him to think twice. He left my house without a word, slamming the door behind him.
There were a lot of reasons that I was pissed at being pushed into this arrangement. First of all, I didn't like being pushed anywhere. It made me grit my teeth just thinking about it, but I had agreed to it reluctantly after Parker had convinced Heather's pack that it was the best for both of our people. If I had said no after that, it would have caused some serious tension between our packs; well, more serious tension… god knows we already have enough. The last fight between members from our packs had been pretty serious. If something wasn't done about it, who knew how it would escalate.
I was also pissed because Parker had basically betrayed me, and I knew it was because he had his eye on one of the other pack's women. Her name was Crystal, or something like that, and he didn't think he stood a chance of getting her if I didn't bridge the gap between our packs first.
I was even more pissed because Heather didn't seem thrilled about it either. She was a nice girl, pretty too. but she was way too young for any of this crap. Last I checked, she had just turned twenty, and now she would be married off to a pack leader in his mid-thirties just because our people couldn't play nice.
It was a whole mix of reasons to make a guy pissed off, and to have Parker come back and try to make things right? That was ridiculous.
Now, I had another reason to be pissed off—because I didn't want Heather. I wanted Juliana.
Juliana
I tried texting Nick a couple of days after we had sex, but I got no response. It hurt, I won't deny that, but I tried not to dwell too much on it. I figured that he was pretty into me, after he was all sweet and cuddly in the morning, but I guess I had misread his signals… or his personality.
That was fine. Wouldn't be the first time a guy didn't get back to me after a one-night stand. Well, it was the second time. I didn't really do one night stands. I didn't really do anything fun, usually… until he ignored my text, I had thought that maybe I should try and let my hair down some more since apparently, it had worked in my favor.
Now, I wasn't so sure.
I went back to work and back to my old, boring life after that. I tried not to let the rejection get to me and, after awhile, it seemed like I was going to be able to forget it.
Then, I missed my period.
That wasn't unusual for me and, at first, I tried to quell my growing anxiety by telling myself that. No matter how many times I reminded myself of the times I'd been late in the past though, my mind went back to our lack of condoms that night, and how I had never exactly been the best at taking my birth control on time.
Those were the thoughts that finally propelled me to the drugstore around the corner from my house. I wore a baseball cap on my head, the brim tilted down, as if that would stop anyone from recognizing me in the pregnancy test aisle.
I grabbed the first test I saw, scurried to the till, and then practically booked it home. It was a pretty straightforward process, and soon I had a timer set and all that was left to do was wait.
Even as I stared at the thing on my counter, waiting for the lines to show up, I wasn't scared. I was anxious because I wasn't sure what I would do about the dad, but I'd always wanted kids. Though the fear of having it being sprung so abruptly on me freaked me out, it was hard not to wonder what the little guy or girl would look like. I was twenty-six and hadn't had a relationship longer than just over a year. I'd practically given up on having kids. I knew that was a grim way of thinking about it when I was still so young, but it didn't help that none of the guys I ever went out with were in any way life partner material.
The timer on my phone beeped and ripped me from my reverie. It was time.
I walked over to the counter and picked up the stick, looking back and forth between the instructions and the little window on it.
I was going to be a mom.
*****
Even though Nick had originally ignored my text, I decided the next day, after a long period of vacillation that it would be the right thing to do to at least try to get a hold of him and tell him.
My hand shook as I typed out a message to him, telling him that I needed to see him urgently. I didn't want to tell him I was pregnant over text, but if he ignored this one too, then I might have to.
Luckily, he didn't ignore it. He asked me what was up, and I told him to come over as soon as possible. He had to have known what I was going to tell him. Really, there was nothing else that would have been serious enough to warrant my demanding his presence after a few weeks of not seeing him.
He was there within a couple of hours. I heard his bike grumble into my driveway, and my stomach did a little flip. It had been so long since I'd seen his face; so long since that night we made passionate love. I wasn't sure what I would say to him, but I was excited to have the chance—even if I was dreading his reaction to my news.
"Hey," he said gruffly at my door.
"Come in."
I walked over to the living room, him trailing behind me. It reminded me of our long ago trek from the front door to my room when we had discarded all of our clothes in a passionate haze. My stomach clenched. I couldn't be thinking about that.
"What's wrong?" he asked after we sat down.
I winced at his choice of wording. "Whether something is wrong or not kind of depends on your perspective," I said. "But, I won't keep you in suspense. I'm pregnant."
The silence in the room was palpable. I searched his eyes for any indication of what he was feeling, but he was a veritable stone.
"Nick," I said. "Can you say something?"
He blinked his eyes, coming back into focus. "Are you keeping it?" he asked.
I nodded slowly. "I don't expect anything from you," I said. "But, I figured the right thing to do would be to let you know."
He nodded along with me. "Thank you," he said. "I appreciate that."
We spent some more time in silence before I grimaced and stood up. "You can leave now if you want."
He inclined his head toward me, his expression softening. "I’m not leaving, I'm thinking," he said. "There are some things you need to know that will affect the baby."
My heart raced. Oh no. Did he have a family history of heart disease or something? I sat right back down.
"Tell me."
He reached over and took my small hand in his, stroking the back of it with his thumb. I looked down at the tender gesture, confused.
"First, I want you to know that I'm not disappointed or upset that you're pregnant," he said in a low hum. "I'm ecstatic, actually, and if you want to keep the baby, then I would like to be in its life."
I felt warm from his words. I had expected, after the way he had rejected me, that he would want nothing to do with me or the baby.
"I also want to be in yours," he said.
That caught me off guard. "What?"
He sighed and his hand tightened around mine. "Because of what I'm about to tell you, I had to ignore you after our night together." His expression became pained. "I hated leaving it like that, but it was for the best."
I cocked my head to the side. "What do you mean?"
He sighed again and looked down at our hands. When he looked back up, he looked very serious.
"I'm a shifter, Juliana."
I frowned. What the hell was that?
Seeing my expression, he continued. "I'm a bear shifter. My whole family is."
I gazed at him, perplexed, but he didn't waver. I thought he might break out into a smile and tell me how he'd almost had me, but he didn't say or do anything of the sort.
"You're joking," I said flatly. "You've got to be."
He shook his head slowly. "I'm not, and you need to know because it’s more than likely that the baby will be a shifter, too."
I stood from the couch and walked across the room. So, he was delusional; great. I knew there had to be something wrong with him. There was no way that a guy that hot with a dick that big could be all there. And he had just proved he wasn't.
"Juliana," he called softly, following me. "I know it's hard to believe. Come with me and I'll show you."
I didn't want to go anywhere with him if he was crazy. But, when I looked up into his eyes, I saw that he looked so vulnerable and sad that I knew I had to go with him. I still didn't believe it was true, but I couldn't stand the thought of turning him away now.
"Fine," I said. "But, that doesn't mean I believe you."
He took my hand again. "I understand." Then he dropped it and began making his way to the door. "We'll take my bike."
Nick
I couldn't believe that I was going to be a father. And, since it was from a one night stand, I also couldn't believe that I was so thrilled about it. But, the thing was that now I got everything I wanted in one fell swoop. I was going to have a child and, assuming Juliana could forgive me for how much of a dick I had been to her, and could accept what I was about to show her, I could have her too.
There was only one problem: Heather. Nevertheless, I figured I'd be able to explain it to my pack in a way that they'd come out on my side. I hoped so, anyway. I figured I might have to knock a few heads around to get what I wanted, but then again, I was used to that.
I took Juliana out into the woods just outside of the Cranville border. When I got off my bike and turned to look at her, she looked nervous, but I could tell that she trusted me enough to come out here with me, and that was a big step in the direction that I wanted.
We walked away from the road for about a mile, silently trudging through the underbrush. I could smell her, and it was already affecting me. I wanted her so badly, and I couldn't believe that I might actually have a chance to keep her. It was incredible.
"This might be shocking," I said, when we stopped. I began to start stripping off. "But, remember that I'm in complete control of the bear, and that I won't hurt you."
She stood with her arms crossed, likely prepared to turn and walk away if I started doing something weird. Well, she'd get weird... just maybe not the kind that she was expecting.
When I was naked, I called inside for my bear. Feeling his presence, I invited him to take over. My changes had always been quick. It was a huge advantage in a fight, and had helped me out on several occasions. For her benefit though, I slowed it down so that she could watch as the fur grew out of my skin, and my whole body shook and moved in impossible ways.
I watched as her mouth dropped open, her eyes unblinking and wide.
When the transformation was complete, I let out a huffing breath. She didn't move. I wished I could talk to her, remind her that everything was okay. I was scared that she'd run.
But, she didn't run. After she got over the initial shock of seeing me changed, she took hesitant steps toward me. I kept still, not wanting to scare her off. She reached a shaky hand out to me, sinking it into my bushy fur.
I rumbled in my throat to let her know that I liked it, and she smiled.
"This was so not what I was expecting to happen," she said, finally. "But, it's the coolest thing I've ever seen."
I shifted back at my regular speed. When I was finished, I looked down at her, happily. She had reacted far better than I would have expected of anyone.
"Do you have any questions?" I asked.
She nodded, "Lots." She put a hand on my arm. "But, those are a later problem."
I quirked an eyebrow at her, "A later problem?"
She giggled. "Well, I think you should at least be allowed to put some clothes on before I inundate you with questions."
I smirked. "Am I making you uncomfortable like this?"
Her eyes swept over my body, and she bit her lip. I felt heat sweep over me, and my cock twitched.
"I wouldn't say uncomfortable..."
I took a step closer to her until I just grazed her body with mine. If I was crowding her, she didn't show it. She only gazed up at me determinedly.