Bear Fur Hire (Bears Fur Hire Book 2) (9 page)

Jenner yanked her hips back and slid into her from behind. He’d said she would be sore from last night, but she wasn’t. Or perhaps the pleasure of him filling her outweighed any pain. He bucked deep into her, and unable to hold his weight, she rested against the smooth bark of the birch tree in front of her. He eased out and slammed into her again, his powerful hips thrusting faster. Jenner’s arm wrapped around her middle, shielding her from the tree as he cupped her breast, and now his teeth grazed her shoulder blade. “Tell me not to bite you.”

“Why?”

Another snarl rattled against her back. “Because you own me woman. Tell me.”

“Bite me.” It was something he needed, and even if she didn’t understand it, she was lost to lust right now. Jenner was wrong. He was the one who owned her.

Jenner slid into her again. “Lena,” he gritted out.

He was slamming into her now, so deep, so fast, building pressure until she was blinded with how good he felt when he lost control. He was showing her what he was really like. His feral side, and she fucking loved it. Loved him. Loved every single thing about him.

“Do it,” she whispered.

Jenner’s teeth sank into her shoulder just as her orgasm throbbed through her. It was quick, and she gasped out at the pain, but the pleasure in her middle was greater. It was bigger, spreading through her as she pulsed hard around his swollen cock. Jenner bucked into her again and went rigid against her back, yelling out her name, and then he pressed his forehead against her hair.

His seed flooded her in hot jets, filling her until it streamed down her thighs as he slid erratically into her.

Jenner’s breath was ragged against her hair, but his hands had turned soft, brushing up and down her ribs as his pace slowed and eventually stopped. In a whisper against her ear, he said, “I don’t like you out here where you can get hurt. If anything happened to you… Lena, you’re important to me. I feel…”

Lena lifted his hand from her breast and kissed his palm. “Me, too.”

Jenner let off a long sigh and ran a light touch over the sore spot on her shoulder. “Maybe you won’t scar. I didn’t go deep.”

“What does it mean?”

Jenner swallowed audibly. “It means you’re mine.”

She smiled off into the dark woods. “Then I hope it scars.”

Jenner slid out of her and turned her slowly in his arms, then did something he’d never done before. He hugged her. Just wrapped her up in his strong arms and rocked them slowly back and forth. “Tomorrow, I’ll take you to a cabin I know about,” he murmured. “You’ll sleep in a proper bed, and I’ll take better care of you.”

“But—”

“Woman, I know this is what you signed up for, and I know you can sleep rough. You’re the toughest person I’ve ever met. It’s me. I have this need to put you somewhere safe for a night and give my instincts a rest, okay?”

She nodded, her cheek pressed against his warm chest. “All right.”

“Titus is a roamer. I think we are out of his way, but tomorrow will be different. I’ll take you to another spot a couple of young bears have been hanging out at.” Jenner’s lips pressed against the top of her head, lingered there. “We’ll get you all the pictures you want, but we have to do it differently than this. I can’t protect you like I need to out here. A rifle is no match for bears like Titus, Lena. He’ll have you half-devoured before he feels any pain.”

“Maybe he was just after those other bears. Maybe one of them was in heat or something.”

Jenner shook his head and huffed a humorless laugh. Easing back, he lifted her palm to the half-healed red slash marks she’d nursed the first night she’d met him. She winced at how much it must still hurt him.

“Lena, Titus is a man-eater. We’ve had three hikers go missing in the last few weeks, and I’d bet everything I own if you opened up that bruin’s guts, you’d find them. He has a taste for people. I had plans on coming out here and putting him down, but I can’t with you here.”

“Because I don’t want you to shoot the bears? If he’s a man-eater, I understand the necessity.”

“A rifle won’t be the end of him.”

“Then what will?”

“Me.”

“I don’t understand,” she whispered.

Jenner looked sick as he rolled his eyes closed and sighed. “I need to tell you something. I
need
to but I can’t.”

“Why not?”

He opened those dark eyes, the ones that looked so out of place on his face. His voice dipped to almost nothing. “Because you’ll run.”

Up on her tiptoes, she wrapped her arms around his shoulders and hugged him tightly. She understood his want to hide the darkest parts of himself. She’d been hiding for years. “I won’t run, Jenner. I promise. Just tell me. Say it and let me in.”

His heartbeat was pounding against her.

“Please, Jenner.”

He hugged her tighter to him and whispered, “I’m a bear.”

Lena pursed her lips and stared at the moon through the tree branches over Jenner’s shoulder. Whatever she’d expected him to admit to her, that was not it. “Like a bear of a man?”

“No, I mean I’m a bear. Shifter. I’m both. A man and a bear. Shit.”

“Soooo…you’re saying you can turn into a bear. Like Titus. Furry with teeth and claws.”

“Yes.”

Lena pushed off him and stood at an arm’s length distance because she couldn’t hug him while he was saying such ridiculous nonsense. “You’re telling me you are a werebear.”

“No, a bear shifter.”

She blinked slowly and pursed her lips. Okay, sure that explained why he would be so growly, and maybe it even explained his changing eye color. And now his ridiculously heightened sense of smell was making more sense. “You bit me.”

“You told me to.”

“Am I a bear shifter now, too? Like with a werewolf? You bit me and now I’m a bear? Is that what you’re telling me?”

“What? No. Biting doesn’t Turn a person into a shifter. At least that doesn’t work for bears and werewolves. Other shifters have different abilities.”

“I was being sarcastic about werewolves, Jenner! There are werewolves now, too?”

“Yes.” He cleared his throat. “You’ve met some.”

Lena just stared. What else could she do? Jenner was the king of la-la land right now.

“Dalton and Chance are—”

“Don’t you even say werewolves to me right now, Jenner Silver. If you wanted to play a prank on me, you could’ve chosen better timing. For example, not right after you fucked me.” Lena dressed in a hurry, then turned and stormed off toward a pile of supplies. Oh yes, she was going to build the shit out of the tent, zip herself inside, and wrap her head around the douchebaggery that Jenner had just pulled. With a pathetic little snarl, she dumped the tent out of its storage bag and began spreading it out.

“You’re mad.”

“Damn straight, I’m mad! I thought you were going to be serious, Jenner! I thought you were going to open up to me. I hope to God you don’t actually think you can turn into a bear. I fell for you! I did! And now the words that are coming from your mouth are insane. You get that, right? That what you’re saying isn’t real?”

Jenner hooked his hands on his hips and arched a dark eyebrow. “Do you want me to Change so you can see I’m not making this up?”

“Sure, Jenner,” she muttered, driving a tent stake into the ground. “Turn into a werebear.”

“It’s just a bear.”

“Whatever.”

“I won’t hurt you so don’t take off running. It gets my instincts all kicked up when I see something running.”

Lena rolled her eyes and moved to the next tent stake. “Don’t worry. I won’t. And don’t be growling and clawing up your hands trying to scare me either, Jenner, or I’m going to kick you right in the dick.” Silence. “Jenner?”

“I’m here.” The jingling of his pants sounded, and she cast him a pissed-off glare over her shoulder. It was getting darker by the minute, but she could definitely make him out as he undressed.

“Are you serious right now?”

Jenner cracked an obnoxious grin, straight teeth white against the shadows. “I don’t want to rip my pants when I let my grizzly out.”

“Oh, naturally,” she muttered, returning her attention to the next stake. She couldn’t freaking wait until she was inside so she could scream into her sleeping bag and draw mustaches and wonky eyes all over her last sketch of him.

“You should know I’ve never shown Bear to anyone but my brothers.”

With an irritated sigh, Lena stood and crossed her arms over her chest. “You call yourself Bear?”

Jenner’s irritating smile still lingered at the corners of his lips, and she wanted to claw it right off his stupid face right now. This wasn’t funny. Not even close.

“I do because that’s what he is. Are you ready?”

“For you to wiggle around and pretend to turn into a bear? This is all of my dreams about my perfect man culminated into one moment, Jenner, so yes, I’m ready.”

Jenner hunched forward, but relaxed again and said, “First, I should set some ground rules.”

“Are you fucking kidding me? Okay, what?”

“One, I was serious when I said you shouldn’t run. Bear likes to chase critters that give him their backs. It’s instinct.”

“Fine. Check. Go.”

“Two, no shooting at me.”

“Why would I shoot at you? The gun isn’t even anywhere near me. It’s still in the saddle you pulled off your horse you dumbass—”

“Whoa, okay, but just the same, don’t shoot me.”

“Fine! Can we get this pantomime over with, please?”

“Are you in a rush to get somewhere?” he asked, eyebrows high and eyes dancing.

“Yeah, for you to cook my fucking dinner, Jenner. I’m hungry and irritated, and I’m about five seconds away from breaking rule number two. Now shimmy!”

A snap echoed through the woods, and she hunched down, scanning the immediate area. “What was that?”

Three more rattling pops sounded, but it was throatier than a twig breaking. “Jenner,” she whispered, heart hammering against her sternum as she turned in a slow circle.

Another volley of pops sounded, but now the air was growing heavy and too thick to breath. A great weight settled across her shoulders and fear nearly froze her in place as she slowly turned her attention onto Jenner. She didn’t understand what she saw. He was hunched forward, heaving breath, but with each inhalation, he jerked and grew bigger. And bigger and bigger until he threw his head back with another pop.

Breaking bones. The sound was breaking bones. Lena clapped her hands over her mouth as she arched her gaze up and up, following Jenner’s transformation. Tears stung her eyes as fur that shone silver in the evening light covered his skin in a wave. Eight-inch white claws shot from his fingers, and his mouth elongated as curved, razor sharp teeth replaced his own. In the span of a few seconds, it was done, and Jenner stood on his hind legs and rattled off a long growl. That sound—as familiar as her own heartbeat by now because it had been constant since she’d met him. His eyes were dark brown, and so familiar still, but she didn’t know this Jenner. This Jenner was massive, as big as Titus, and now he was stalking closer to her, dragging his weapon-like claws through the earth with each powerful stride.

Don’t run!

Jenner hadn’t lied. He hadn’t been teasing her or making something up to push her away.

Jenner was a damned werebear! Bear shifter! Bear! Whatever!

Lena closed her eyes as he came within clawing distance of her. She sure knew how to pick them. Adam had broken her, and now she’d given her heart to a man who was going to eat her. She hoped he choked on her.

She squealed a high pitched, terrified sound as Jenner…er…Bear…snuffled her stomach. But when seconds dragged by, and he just rested his head there, waiting, she cracked one eye open and whispered, “Good Bear. Don’t eat me. I’m tough and my bones splinter easily and I taste like piss and gristle.”

Bear huffed a breath, and if she wasn’t mistaken, it sounded the equivalent to a laugh.

“I’m going to pet you. Yep.” She reached out, hands shaking badly. “I’m really going to touch you,” she warned, closing her eyes again. She squealed again as her fingers brushed his coarse fur right by his ear.

Bear rubbed his head against her, and she yanked her hand back again, thinking he didn’t like it, but no. Apparently Jenner’s giant fucking
grizzly bear
was a snuggler. And now there was a humming in his throat she didn’t recognize. Was he purring? She touched him again, just a quick pet, there and gone, and since he still didn’t seem inclined to devour her and pick his teeth with her bones, she ran her palm over the top of his enormous head.

His body was overwhelmingly enormous and blocked out the entire forest behind him. The muscular hump over his shoulders was taller than she was and, intimidated all over again, she began serial petting him in jerky strokes, trying to stifle the whimper in her throat. At this rate, if her heart beat any faster, it would just explode in her chest, and she would drop like a log.

Bear, apparently sensing her distress because clearly he could sense everything, eased off her and plopped down to the ground where he rolled to his back and wiggled this way and that until the dirt kicked up and made her cough a laugh.