Bear Temptations (3 page)

Well, I’d certainly be safer if I had as many doors separating me from the wild as possible, so I stumbled into the small bedroom and quietly shut the door behind me. Gingerly placing my bag on the ground, I felt my way towards the cot. My fingers brushed against something furry; exploring further, I happily discovered that there was a pelt blanket carelessly tossed to the side of the cot, out of my vision.
Won’t be needing these, then,
I thought with a giggle as I peeled off my torn, dirty clothes. The booze had really done me good, because otherwise there’d have been no way I’d be able to rest easy tonight. For now, I was filled with happy thoughts in spite of everything that had gone wrong, delighted that I was able to find somewhere warm to sleep, had food in the fridge, and apparently a bear that cared about my well-being. The last thought released another one of my giggles, and I dozed off with a smile.

Chapter 6

The creaking of the wooden boards is what woke me up. I had no idea what time it was as I used my phone for time rather than a watch; what I knew was that I was still exhausted and very much still drunk rather than hungover. So it must have only been a few hours, probably sometime between midnight and 3 a.m. as I had no idea what time I discovered this cabin in the midst of all the craziness. There it was again, the creaking of the floorboards.
Was someone in here?
Then it all clicked into place: of course someone lived here. Who else would keep the fridge stocked or have clothes hanging to dry? It didn’t hang itself.

I was wide awake now and pulled the pelt higher over my body up to my neck, hugging it to me with clenched fists. My eyes were straining against the dark, trying to make out shapes to determine if the person was already in the room with me. There were certainly no breathing noises in the room, that’s for sure. Hugging my knees to my chest as I sat up, horror struck me as the memory flooded back of me stripping naked before crawling into bed. I had no idea where I’d flung the clothes and the lantern was off; I could only feel around with my hands to try to determine where my clothes had gone and tried my hardest to do it from the comfort of the uncomfortable cot. It felt as if things would get a lot realer if I were to walk around the room naked. Especially if, god forbid, the resident of this cabin entered the room to find me like that. Who knew what they’d do. Whoever lived here certainly wasn’t normal, considering the location of their residence and the scarcity of belongings.

Yes! Perfect!
My hands finally grasped the denim fabric of my skirt right next to my tote bag, which was full of my sister’s untattered tops. As I began pulling it towards me, the door swung open with a slam, causing me to hurl my back into bed and drop my belongings at once. “Fuck,” I swore aloud.

Looking up, the person’s body loomed in the doorway, burly and foreboding. Light shone behind the man from the living room, allowing me to appreciate his silhouette. He flicked his hand up, light filling the room as all of the lightbulbs lit within the room. It pierced through my vision and blinded me. “What the hell? There’s electricity here?” was my initial response of shock.
There I was, having gone through all that trouble with the lanterns!

“What’re you doing in here?” he asked angrily, his dark brows furrowing as he studied my surprised face. It took me a moment to respond as I paused to take in his features. He was dressed in a red plaid shirt, folded up over his forearms to expose his muscular triceps, and faded denim jeans. His thick, dark hair was windswept to the side and, together with his facial hair, complemented his dark brown eyes perfectly with contrast to his light skin. In the light, he almost looked angelic; his head and body positioned in such a manner that made him exude stoicism.

Finally lifting my eyes to meet his, I responded apologetically, “I didn’t realize anyone lived here. These woods can be awfully confusing and I couldn’t find my way back to the road while it was dark and stumbled upon your home.” I almost added that I could leave if he wanted me to, but didn’t under fear that he’d take me up on the offer—I couldn’t afford to go back into the wild right now in the middle of the night.

His features softened with the realization that I must have been lost and scared, and it made him look much younger than I’d initially thought. The skin on his face was smooth and glowing, the only creases on his face being those that crinkled at the corner of his eyes from laughter. The man nodded and gruffly said, “I can take you to town in the morning. Rest here; I’ll sleep in the living room.”

Surprised at his chivalry, I smiled at him in awe before quickly realizing that he could be my source of information to find my sister. “Wait,” I said as he turned to leave. “The only reason I was in the woods to begin with was to find my sister, Mary. She’s… she’s gone missing. I saw her camp a ways back. It was completely trashed. There’s no sign of her and especially no sign of her boyfriend as I couldn’t even find any of his stuff. Have you possibly seen them?”

He just stared at me blankly as I explained this for a moment, digesting my words. The seconds stretched between us and I shifted in bed awkwardly as he carried on staring. Then, as if winning an inner battle with himself, he asked, “Do you drink tea? Come out and sit with me; I might have an idea of where your sister is.”

Chapter 7

After pulling up my skirt and throwing one of my sister’s tops on, I wrapped her cardigan around me and tentatively stepped out into the living room. The stranger was just setting down two steaming mugs of tea on the table along with a small bowl of nuts and berries. “Eat. You must be hungry,” he said quietly.

“Actually, I ate right before I slept, but thank you,” I responded as I took a seat, slipping a nut into my mouth all the same. “I’m Nicole, by the way,” I said warmly, extended my hand to shake his.

“Beorn,” he stated, emphasizing the ‘orn’. As he took my hand in his, I couldn’t help but notice how long his nails were: dark, thick, and pointed. They almost looked like claws but were probably due to years of neglect. The warmth of his skin sent electricity through my body and warmed my heart; I’d never felt that strong of a pull with anyone before—let alone from a handshake. I quickly pulled my hand back, shooting him a tight, shaky smile.

“So, Beorn,” I paused to see if I said his name right and carried on when he didn’t indicate otherwise, “you know where my sister is?”

“Not certain,” he stated bluntly. “I have an idea. There’s a… tribe.” Beorn didn’t say it too convincingly, but he continued, “The tribe lives in the woods. It consists only of men. Every few months, I see them with a woman. They bring her in and keep her for a few weeks.”

“Keep her? What do you mean, keep her? Do they let her go after?” I asked frantically, confused.
They can’t keep Mary. She’s
my
sister!

“I’ve never seen ‘em leave. I mostly keep to myself out here. They do their business, I do mine.”

Getting teary-eyed and worried for my sister all over again, I grabbed his hands and pleaded with him, “You have to take me to her, Beorn. She’s only 19, they can’t just take her. She has her whole life ahead of her. She’s supposed to be starting university with me in a few months! Mary’s the only sister I have.” Tears were spilling at this point and there was nothing I could do to stop them. Embarrassed, I raised the tea to my lips and blew on it with shaky breaths, taking a tiny sip.

Beorn looked hesitant; I knew I must have been disrupting his life and his peace with the tribe, but this was my sister, damnit. Nothing mattered but bringing her home. “I can take you to her when light breaks the sky,” he said reluctantly.
Light breaks the sky? Who says that?
“But you must know about these tribesmen. They’re not normal.”

“Obviously. What kind of normal people would just keep an innocent person?” I exclaimed before realizing that the tribesmen must be the people who owned the wolves. “I think… I think I met the tribesmen earlier. I was attacked by wolves and there were people there and this bear saved me,” I began, not caring about how crazy I sounded. Though if he thought my words were insane, he didn’t indicate any such thing. In fact, he actually nodded almost knowingly.

“Those were the tribes people,” he agreed. “They’re dangerous, you shouldn’t be near them without protection.” Beorn’s face was overcome with concern; the soft look on his face completely melting my heart. I couldn’t help but watch the way his lips moved as he spoke, too. They were rather voluptuous lips, just begging to be kissed. As worried as I was about my sister, this man was gorgeous. He had an accent when he spoke, too. Or I guess it’s more of a dialect. Nothing I’d ever heard before, just almost like he’s disconnected from reality and doesn’t quite know how to talk like a normal person. I guess being cut off from civilization will do that to you.

“It’s not like I ran into them on purpose; I was looking for my sister,” I reminded him.

“What’d they say when they saw you?” he asked.

Suddenly, my tea was extremely interesting to look at as I blushed furiously. I studied it for a long moment before mumbling, “They didn’t say anything at all.” Memories of how much I enjoyed the encounter came flooding back; it made me curious as to how much more I’d enjoy a similar encounter with Beorn. Though I can’t imagine him manhandling me like those tribesmen did. When my eyes met his again he was just looking at me quizzically. “It was nothing,” I insisted, “there was really no time to talk before I was saved by the bear.”

Pride filled his face and eyes when I said that last bit and it was my turn to look confused. “I’m glad you’re okay,” he said. “There are a couple of places these w—tribes people could be. If they’re not at the one I believe it’ll be a longer journey… Go get rest. I’ll wake you when day breaks.” He was already clearing the dishes.

Returning to the bedroom, I turned around to say goodnight, but he was already out of my vision. The only thing I could see was the silhouette of a large, four-legged creature in the shadows. Blinking a few times to clear my vision, I looked again and saw that it was just the reflection of Beorn wiping the table clean while hunched over.
I really should get some sleep.
Returning to bed, I passed out even more quickly than before.

Chapter 8

Throughout the night, I had dirty dreams about Beorn. We were in the meadows deep into the forest having a picnic when he confessed something to me. I couldn’t understand the words, but I was overcome with deep shock and arousal. He looked immensely relieved at my reaction and yanked down my panties. His roughness while being physical in contrast to how soft and gentle his personality is drove me wild, and I trailed kisses down his neck and shoulders in anticipation of his thick cock penetrating me. Then hands grabbed me from behind, pulling me down onto the ground.

Looking at Beorn in confusion, he was pinned down, too. A wolf was mounting him, except it wasn’t really a wolf, but a man with a pointed human face and a large, bushy tail. As he penetrated Beorn, the wolfman looked over at me and grinned wildly, tauntingly. Beorn had his head tossed back in ecstasy, and I was suddenly filled with jealousy.
Mine,
I thought, watching him. As quickly as the thought entered my mind, a wolfman entered me, shooting the same wild smile at Beorn. Suddenly, Beorn roared a primal, reverberating sound and flung everyone off him as his feet morphed into paws, a short tail growing on his back along with a bed of fur. His act of dominance got me more riled up as I moaned with this man hybrid pounding into me ruthlessly.

The clunk on the floor jolted me from sleep; I blinked my eyes open, but just barely, looking at Beorn with hooded eyelids. “I brought you water in case you wanted to wash up,” he offered, looking awkward and burly at the same time.

I smiled sleepily in response, wanting to welcome him to my bed. Subtly, I reached over for the water, letting the blanket fall enough to expose my breasts. “Oops,” I feigned embarrassment, studying his face to see if it struck any arousal in him. He certainly didn’t look away. I waited four heartbeats before slowly pulling it back up. “Thank you, Beorn,” my response came more hungrily than intended. It went right over his head as he just nodded his head once curtly before gracefully walking out of the room with an air of strength and power surrounding him. He was strange; it was as if he could be really successful and rule over many people but chose not to because he preferred the wilderness and solitude.

After he left, I quickly splashed water on my face before pulling the compact mirror out of my tote bag. I hadn’t brought make-up with me, so all I could do was apply pink gloss to my lips and pinch at my cheeks to give them some color. Selecting a white, lacy pair of shorts and a rose-colored, thin sweater to wear, I left for the living room. “Will we pass by your cabin on the way back or should I bring my bag with me?”

“You can bring it if you want. But you can’t reach the road where we’re going,” he responded in an odd voice.

“Okay…” It suddenly occurred to me that I was giving this man complete and total trust for absolutely no reason; I didn’t know him. I didn’t know anything about him. I didn’t even know his last name! All I knew was that he was a warm person who didn’t take advantage of me when he had every opportunity to. To me, that spoke measures in and of itself and was a good enough reason to trust him. Well, that and the fact that I had no choice but to trust him.

“So, how long’s this walk going to be anyway?” I asked as I stepped alongside him to leave the cabin, noting that he didn’t bother locking the door behind him.