Shifters, Inc. The Bear Who Loved Me (A BBW paranormal romance) (6 page)

              “Of course,” Tonya said stiffly. “Well, thanks for helping. I’ll go fetch my luggage now.” Heaven forbid that the bear would actually want to have sex with her. Good thing he’d made his intentions – to avoid her – very clear.

              She thought Heath looked puzzled. “I have to go talk to someone. I’ll meet you back here in one hour,” he said.

              Tonya turned and left the room without answering, and let the door slam behind her.

* * *

              Heath watched her go with mingled exasperation and confusion. What was she upset about? If he didn’t know better, he could have sworn she was offended that he’d said she didn’t have to sleep with him. It wasn’t as if she liked him; a rich girl like her would never be interested in a street thug like him. She’d made it clear plenty of times what an enormous jerk she thought he was.                            Having Tonya close by was getting harder and harder for him to deal with, and having her sleep in the same room as him without him being able to lay a finger on her was going to be torture.

              Oh, there would be certain advantages to it; he could easily rebuff everyone’s advances and claim he was doing it because he had already claimed a companion. But how would he be able to concentrate with her so near and yet out of his reach?

              Maybe he could go off and distract himself with the available women on the boat…God knew there were plenty of them, and he’d been given stacks and stacks of beaded necklaces to tip with, so he could fit in.

              Any other time, the idea of no-strings-attached sex with a beautiful woman would have been the perfect tension reliever, but he realized that he had no intention of being with anyone on this trip. If he couldn’t have Tonya – and she’d made it pretty clear that he couldn’t – then he didn’t want anyone.

              Also, he wondered if it would upset Tonya if he were out fooling around with other women. Oddly, he suspected it would. Was she interested? Until he’d sensed her hurt feelings a minute ago, he could have sworn she wasn’t.

              With a heavy sigh, he headed to the bathroom. Maybe an ice-cold shower and a quick self-satisfaction session would help to relieve his pent up frustration a little.

              The maid, a petite, pretty girl with a heart-shaped face and masses of black ringlets, was pushing a cart full of clean linens down the hallway – or trying to, anyway.

              An overweight passenger, his belly spilling over the waistband of his shorts, was harassing her and had her backed up against the wall.

              Tonya stomped over to him, boiling with anger. “Listen up!” she barked at him. “I am not in a good mood, and you do not want to mess with me right now. The lady’s not interested. Back the hell off before you find out what the phrase ‘crazy like a fox’ means.”

              “You’re a companion,” the man blustered. “You can’t tell me what to do.”

              A security guard rounded the corner and stepped directly in front of the man, placing himself between the maid and the angry passenger. “Actually, she can. All of our employees, including the companions, have the right to say no, which you knew when you signed the agreement required of all our guests. If we see you imposing on any of our staff again, we will revoke your rights and you will be confined to your quarters for the duration of the trip.”

              “I paid a fortune to be here! And I can’t help myself, I have a maid fetish!” the man whined.

              “We will deliver half a dozen French maid uniforms to your cabin immediately…modeled by very attractive companions. With feather dusters. I am sure that you will be very generous with your gift beads. Will that suffice?” the security guard asked, his tone leaving no doubt that he meant business.

              “Cabin 3127. I’ll be waiting!” the man said eagerly, and he hurried off.

              The security guard nodded to Tonya and the maid. “If you have any further problems, contact security immediately.” Then he strode off.

              “Thank you,” the maid said gratefully to Tonya, in a heavy Italian accent. She glanced at her red lei. “I see you’ve been claimed already. That’s lucky; nobody hassle you.”

              Tonya shot a dirty look at the portly passenger, who was scrambling up a stairwell, hurrying back towards his cabin. “I’d have turned that jerk down anyway. No amount of beads would be worth that.”

              The maid laughed. “I know, right? I am Antonia. Thank you again for help. I know we are allowed to say no, but they also say keep customers happy, and I am afraid for lose job. This boat, I no like. But good money.”

              “I’m with you there,” Tonya agreed. “This is my first and last trip on a pleasure cruise. Well, I’m staying with a passenger in Cabin 4255 if you want to go grab a drink any time that you’re off. I’ll have plenty of free time.” At Antonia’s puzzled look, she added, “The guest who claimed me is, uh, busy doing work in his cabin a lot. So this will be kind of like a paid vacation.”

              “You are good person. I meet you tonight at the Tropical Rainforest Bar at eight? I have gift for you,” Antonia said.

              Tonya laughed. “Oh, I’ll meet you there, but you don’t have to give me anything.”

              Then she headed off to meet Heath.

* * *

              Heath watched Tonya walk across the room towards him. The dinner banquet was sumptuous. Guests had the option of sitting at the tables, or reclining on loungers and letting the companions feed them as if they were at a Roman orgy.

              In the middle of the room there were long tables stretched out, where naked men and women lay with appetizers carefully arranged on their bare bodies. Passengers were lined up to eat the appetizers off them. They laid down necklaces of beads next to the companions who were acting as living food platters.

              Tonya had changed into a green wrap dress that emphasized her generous cleavage and her soft, rounded tummy. He could see men watching her with admiration as she walked by, and he also realized that she didn’t even notice. She really wasn’t aware of how beautiful she was. He felt a sudden fierce yearning to show her exactly how sexy and desirable she was. If only she didn’t hate him.

              “You look stunning,” he told her as she approached, and he lightly rested his hand on the center of her back.

              “Thank you,” she said, blushing. Okay, she didn’t look too horrified.

He bent down to brush his lips over hers and felt her stifle a whimper of pleasure. The blood roared through his body and he felt himself swelling, hardening, the way he always did when she was near. Was it the sex-drenched atmosphere on the ship? Was she just finally starting to warm to him?

“You…you don’t have to do that to keep up your cover,” she murmured. “Nobody’s really paying attention to us.”

“I know. Maybe I just wanted to.”

              Her eyes widened in surprise at that, and he led her over to his table. He’d selected it strategically. He wanted to sit with his back to the wall, facing the doorway, and the three people who were considered most likely to be targets were seated near him. There were a dozen other Shifters, Inc. agents in the room, some disguised as waiters and waitresses, some as guests. There were several of their employees working in the kitchen, including a wizard who could detect the presence of poison.

              Reshef was sitting very close to Heath’s table. He was a handsome man with a mustache and goatee, olive-skinned and with shiny black hair like a silent-screen gigolo. He was surrounded by beautiful women and bodyguards. Heath realized that many of the women were of the larger, more voluptuous variety. Reshef and one of the bodyguards were staring at Tonya, whispering to each other.

              Heath protectively pulled Tonya over to him, leaned down and nuzzled her neck, breathing in her sweet scent. She let out a tiny gasp, and Heath nearly groaned aloud with desire. Dear God, he wanted her so badly.

              “Just so you know, I’m not acting,” he whispered in her ear, brushing his lips against her earlobe and enjoying her whimper of pleasure. Yes. She wanted him, and nothing in the world would stop him from having her.

              “Oh. I see.” She barely choked the words out.

              They sat down, and he looked around the room. “My God, that’s Benedetta. The fashion designer,” Tonya said, her eyes round with wonder as Benedetta walked past her.  Benedetta wore a filmy black dress of fabric so delicate it seemed to be made of gossamer.

              “I love your clothing! Oh, I am such a dork. Sorry.” Tonya blushed fiercely.

              “Not at all!” Benedetta’s eyes lit on Tonya. Benedetta was holding the hand of a beautiful young man, but her gaze roved lasciviously over Tonya’s body. Her appetites, for both men and women, were legendary. Heath stifled a growl of jealousy and anger. Damn it, everybody wanted his fox.

             
His fox?
Whoa, he told himself. Yeah, he thought she was sexy, and he definitely planned to indulge in a dalliance with her while they were on board…but that was all he wanted, wasn’t it?

              Damn his sister for putting those thoughts in his head. He’d never even considered the possibility that there was a perfect person out there for him until she’d said that…or had he?

              Benedetta winked at him. “You two are welcome to come visit my room anytime. And you, I would love to have you model for me some day,” she said to Tonya. “Contact my office in Rome if you are interested.”

“Oh, goodness, that had never occurred to me. Thank you so much for asking,” Tonya said demurely.

              “Do call me. I hope to see your beautiful body wrapped in my…clothing.” Benedetta sauntered off, with a trail of beautiful young men and women following worshipfully behind.

              Great. Two of the three targets Heath was there to protect wanted his woman, and now Heath wanted to kill them, not save them.

             
His woman. His fox.
He had to stop thinking like that. He’d have sex with Tonya over and over until he burned it out of his system, until he no longer craved her touch.

Heath cast a glance over at Duncan, wondering if he, too, was hot for Tonya, but thankfully he was surrounded by handsome young men only. He was, in fact, kissing one of the young men passionately while another stroked his arm. Publicly, Duncan was always seen with a string of models and starlets, according to the information Heath had received on him, but here he obviously felt free to indulge in what really pleased him.

              Heath was about to order from the waiter when Reshef’s bodyguard walked over to him. “My employer would like to exchange one of his companions for your companion,” he said. He gestured at the table. “Any one of them that you like.”

              It took every bit of strength Heath had not to shift and tear open the man’s insides. He couldn’t act jealous, because that would be out of character for him. He was supposed to be pretending that Tonya was just a companion.

              “Oh, I’m already very attached to her, thank you. She’s perfect for me. I’m afraid I wouldn’t be interested.”

              “Are you sure? My employer is very interested in her. He would offer a substantial cash incentive as well.”

              Heath laughed in order to keep from killing the man. Reshef wanted to buy his Tonya? Hell no.

              “Money is the last thing I need,” he said, lightly stroking Tonya’s arm. “I am here to relax and enjoy myself.”

              The bodyguard shrugged and went back to Reshef’s table.

              “Good lord,” Tonya said. “I’ve never had the opportunity for so much action in my life.”

              “Yes you have. You just don’t notice how attractive men find you. And women too, clearly,” he said.

She giggled. “It’s hilarious,” she said. “But you’re just like my roommate. You’re overestimating people’s interest in me.”

“Well, if I can see it, and your roommate can see it, then perhaps you’re the one who’s misreading the situation. You’re beautiful. People are attracted to you.”

She actually blushed, a rosy flush that stained her cheeks and traveled down her neck.

“Why don’t you know that you’re beautiful?” he asked, genuinely puzzled. How could she not know?

A shadow crossed her face, and he was sorry he’d asked. Clearly there were painful memories in her past that he shouldn’t stir up. Maybe she’d had the kind of parents who wanted her to conform and be skinny, sent her off to fat camp? Kids in school had been mean to her? He hadn’t checked into her past, so he didn’t know what her upbringing had been like, but clearly something or someone had hurt her.

He felt a fierce anger at whoever had made her doubt her self-worth, and a sudden determination to spend all his free time letting her know her real value, inside and out. How beautiful she was, how sexy she was, how kind she was to those who needed protection. How rare and precious a quality that kindness was.

He’d already heard about the incident with the maid. That was just like Tonya – jumping in, literally, to protect someone else from abuse.