Authors: Anya Nowlan
He has to know…
“Did you want to ask me something, Tara?” he asked, and her name sounded like honey as it rolled off his lips. It sent a deep tremble down her spine and made her slit pulse with need. It was ridiculous what just his words could do to her.
Tara squared her shoulders, exhaling deeply. It had gone on long enough. If she didn’t find out if he was interested in her or not, she would pop into a million pieces soon.
Maybe I can get over this obsession if he just shrugs me off?
No way to know other than to go ahead and try.
“Colden, would you like to go out with me some time?” Tara asked, her eyes staying on him even though she wanted to huddle under the table. Her cheeks were beet-red now and she squirmed with discomfort, but the time had come. She couldn’t deal with not knowing for any longer.
He pursed his lips slightly, inclining his head. A twinkle of amusement sparked to life in his soulful eyes.
“Yes. I’ll come pick you up after work, if that’s okay?”
Tara took a sharp breath, a rock falling from her chest. She hadn’t even noticed that she had neglected to breathe while she waited for his answer. Taragrinned from ear to ear and nodded quickly, almost stumbling as she rushed away from the table. She couldn’t really make herself say another word to Colden, but her heart threatened to explode with anticipation.
It wasn’t just me!
CHAPTER TWO
Tara’s head was muddled with thoughts for the rest of the day. She couldn’t concentrate on anything other than the date she was going to have that evening. Questions of where Colden would take her (not that there were that many options) and whether or not he would kiss her made her tremble and giggle. After she dropped the third plate of the day, Mae had told her to go for a walk and clear her head. The diner was going to run out of dishes if Tara continued with her wanton destruction. Reluctantly, she had agreed, and had stalked out of the diner with measured steps.
Without thinking about it, Tara’s legs took her out of the small town and into the plush woods, rolling up gentle hillsides, right outside of it. She had walked all throughout the forests ever since she had arrived in town, reveling in the scents and sights that the wilderness had to offer. The slopes made it not the best place to build a house, though she would have loved to live there, but it was perfect for a walk to clear her mind. She had never seen another person there and that was just how she preferred it. Her lungs filled with the fresh smell of pine, her worries clearing bit by bit. Tara could feel the seemingly ceaseless shudder calm down a bit, allowing her clarity of thought for a change.
Her feelings for Colden seemed out of place for knowing so little of him, but she had thought she could sense a bond between them from their first meeting. It was as if something invisible had bound them to one another and the two had been desperately trying to make sense of it for far too long. It would have been so much easier if she had just spoken up right away, but her shyness and his reserved nature made for a problematic cocktail. Tara took a seat on a small hilltop, overlooking a quiet valley with one of the many streams that came down from the mountains snaking through it. Her hands twisted around a few blades of grass while her mind ran rampant along the paths it had taken so often.
Something caught her attention in the warm sunlight, a speck of motion down in the valley. She squinted her eyes and leaned forward a bit, her hands wrapping around her knees. Tara’s gray eyes widened as she recognized the familiar form of Colden trudging through the low grass, following the path of the river. She never had quite found out where he lived, but it seemed that the rumors about his cottage in the woods were true. What happened next almost made her faint.
Colden undressed quickly, having stopped by a big tree. Tara gnawed her lower lip, knowing that she should look away, but the sight before her was just too delicious to ignore. A soft moan escaped her lips as Colden removed his shirt, revealing his muscled chest and abdomen. The sun licked at every small curve and dent between the bulging muscles and she could feel herself getting wetter by the second. Colden was damn tasty. Tara blushed deeply as he stepped out of his worn jeans and her glance went down to the grass for a second as he shimmied out of his boxers. A moment of hesitation and she looked up again, taking in his powerful thighs and round ass. He stood as a god amongst boys and Tara had never seen a man built quite as squarely while remaining so sexy.
Her breathing had picked up, the beat of her heart muffling her thoughts once more. But, she was in for more surprises. Colden wrapped up the clothes and placed them safely between two large branches. He took a few steps and what happened then made Tara rub her eyes in disbelief. Colden shifted and contorted before her very eyes, his athletic form turning from man to beast in a matter of seconds. Tara gasped and raised her hand to cover her mouth, her eyes filled with disbelief as she watched it unfold. His body seemed to widen and grow at the same time, his tight muscles bulging and expanding. Thick hair thrust out, first from Colden’s neck and then trailing down his back and limbs until he was covered with a dark brown coat. Tara shuddered as his wide palms turned into strong paws and long nails sprouted out, the padded feet making a loud thud as he lowered himself down.
His face contorted into the shape of a fearsome bear, the long muzzle and powerful jaws taking the place of the kind grin he usually wore. The massive bear, bigger than any she had seen before, set off at lightning speed down a track only he knew, disappearing from view into the thicket of trees further up the river. For a long time, Tara simply sat there, completely taken aback by what she had witnessed. Thousands of questions rolled about in her head, unanswered and confusing. Either she was going mad or she had just come across the first shifter of her young life.
Slowly, her expression cleared, the momentary panic subsiding. She knew little about shifters, suspecting that it was how they preferred it, but instead of fear she felt warmth. Suddenly, everything made more sense. Colden’s inability to show her his interest, though she could feel the electricity between them, and how reclusive he was in all his dealings. Tara wrung her wrists, trying to figure out what she would do next. Could she truly go out with a man who was part beast? She had no doubt that he wouldn’t harm her, there was not a cruel bone in his body. Yet, the only right reaction when faced with a beast was to look for safety. But what if her safety waited for her in the arms of the bear?
CHAPTER THREE
Tara fidgeted nervously, her fingers twisting around the strap of her purse as she stood outside of Mae’s. It was ten minutes past the end of her shift and Colden was supposed to show up already, but he was nowhere in sight. Tears threatened to sting her eyes, though she kept them down with valiant effort. It wasn’t so much that he had not shown yet, but that she had been waiting for the date for so long and now it seemed to be going down the drain without any help from her.
Maybe he saw me?
she pondered, but disregarded that possibility quickly. He hadn’t looked up once, though perhaps he felt her presence as strongly a she did hers.
Tara had just resigned herself to her fate and taken a few steps down the street towards her apartment, when heavy breathing and pounding footsteps sounded behind her. She whipped around, a familiar warmth flooding her core even before she could see who it was. Her lips twisted into a hopeful smile, seeing the flustered large form of Colden rush down the street towards her. When he stopped before her, just a small distance from her, she felt a sudden calm brush over her. It didn’t matter that he was a werebear, he was just the man she had always imagined him to be. Though, of course, she would be properly wounded at his tardiness.
“I’m so sorry I’m late, Tara,” he said, his breath heavy and his chest heaving. Her gray eyes rolled over him, noticing that he had changed his clothes since last she saw him (well, being nitpicky, she had last seen him naked, but still). Colden was wearing new jeans and a proper blue button-up shirt, the tiniest hint of a white undershirt and a tuft of brownish chest hair peeking out behind two unbuttoned buttons at his collar. It made her a bit embarrassed that she had not thought to change, but she hoped he would not mind too much.
“I thought you weren’t coming,” she said with a small voice. The man tilted his head and exhaled deeply, his hands clutching her arms. She gasped, her eyes widening. They had never touched before and it was as if lightning strikes of heat and lust coiled through her, starting from his fingertips on her skin.
“I wouldn’t have missed it for the world.” There was no room in his tone to doubt his words.
Tara nodded softly and gave a small smile. She didn’t want him to pull away from her, but she imagined it looked right silly as the pair of them stood transfixed in front of the diner. A glance at the window confirmed her suspicions – curious eyes were drinking in the sight of them. She blushed and brushed his hands from her arms, twirling about and continuing in the direction she had been headed in. Colden fell in step next to her easily, though he had to slow from his usual pace to keep from striding off in front of the girl. After a moment of hesitation, she slipped her hand into his wide palm, her blush deepening. It all felt a bit rushed, but she had been yearning for him for a year and she was going to be damned if she’d allow coyness to mask her true feelings for him.
They walked in silence, neither one knowing what to say. It took Tara a while to realize that she didn’t even know what they were walking towards. The girl glanced up at the much taller man, his eyes seeming pained with thoughts he couldn’t share with her. She was about to ask where they were going, as there weren’t that many options, when alien words spilled across her lips. Before she could stop herself, she had given in to the loud demanding voices in her mind once again. Though, admittedly the first time she had spoken her mind to Colden that day had brought with it rather pleasant consequences.
“I saw you change today.” Her voice wavered, almost wishing she could grab onto the sentence and gulp it back down. The heat that emanated from his rugged palm up her arm was met by a cold jolt, fear engulfing her.
What if he doesn’t want me to know?
Colden looked at her, fear mixing into his expression. It made her heart ache. The last thing she wanted was to cause him agony.
“You did?” he asked quietly, his soothing, deep voice almost a whisper. She nodded, gripping their entangled fingers with her other hand as well.
“Yes, by the river. I didn’t mean to snoop, I was just taking my lunch break to clear my head and then…I…I’m sorry.” The tell-tale sting of tears prodded at her eyes once more and she lowered her head, trying to choke them down. Tara didn’t want to see it all end before it could even start, her thoughts a jumbled mess.
Colden stopped and pulled her to face him, his other hand gripping her by the elbow and urging her to look up at him. Her gray eyes met his soft hazel and she felt like she could melt right into them, the depth and emotion threatening to carry her away.
“You have nothing to apologize about. Is there somewhere we could talk?” Colden’s body was just inches from hers and it seemed he wanted to press her against him as much as she wanted to be embraced, but both of them reigned in their need. Tara nodded.
At least it’s not over yet.
CHAPTER FOUR
It only took a few minutes to reach her apartment, a cozy little attic above a hardware store. When the door clicked shut behind them, she couldn’t help but let out a sigh of relief. Dealing with her thoughts and emotions was hard enough, but doing it all in public seemed nigh impossible. Colden smirked slightly and plodded across her small living room, plopping down on the couch. He patted the cushion next to him and she complied, following his lead. Her home, though impossibly small, had all the touches of a feminine hand without being overdone. It felt homey and safe, two things that Tara needed most in her life.
Tara waited anxiously for him to speak, Colden clearly searching for his words. Finally, he sighed, resting his head in his hands.
“I didn’t want you to find out like that, Tara,” he muttered, rubbing his eyes and his chin with his calloused palms. He leant forward, pushing his elbows on his knees and keeping his gaze on her. Despite the tenseness of the situation, Tara squirmed uncomfortably. Just being around him made her wet and this time was no exception. She was having a hard time telling him to forget all about it and just take her, but she knew as well as he did that it would never work that way. There needed to be honesty and he wanted to give her at least that much. She deserved to know.
“I am a werebear, though I guess you figured that one out already. I live alone, up in the mountains. My brothers are nearby, but we all have our own lives. I guess they are smarter than me – they know we can scare humans by being too careless. Sometimes, when we get angry or excited, it’s hard to control the bear.” She smiled at the sight of the man flushing, his cheeks tinted with color. “I was so glad you wanted to see me that I threw caution to the wind. I wanted to get another change of clothes from home and it’s a bit of a trek, I can’t make it fast enough on foot. And barely fast enough if I shift, as we saw,” he said, smiling weakly.