Bear West: BBW Bear Shifter Mail Order Bride Romance (2 page)

He wanted it immediately, and nothing could have stopped him from swinging his face around and taking a deep breath to draw in more of the scent. His mouth watered, but it wasn’t hunger he felt; it was desire. His pulse sped up, though he hadn’t moved, and he felt his dick beginning to harden in his jeans.

The scent was coming from a woman standing framed in the doorway. She was beautiful, full-figured and curvy, with dark hair that spilled down from her upturned face in a mix of waves and curls that he ached to plunge his hands into. She had the sleepy, disheveled look of someone who’d just come off a plane, and it was fiercely attractive; Diego could imagine her waking up in his bed looking just like that, warm and rumpled.

As though she sensed his thoughts, she turned toward him, and Diego was captured by the loveliest eyes he’d ever seen. They were hazel, with shades of brown and green and gold like the colors of a summer forest. His heart skipped a beat and he was hit with the indescribable, allusive feeling he’d been searching for his entire life: this was his mate.

There was no mistaking the sensation. As soon as their eyes met, he knew that she was the only one who could make him happy, the only one to whom he could possibly dedicate his life. How had he ever considered settling for someone less than his mate?

He fought the urge to throw her over his shoulder and run away before anyone could stop him. This was his mate; he didn’t want to scare her. It was his job to make her feel safe and welcome and loved. Abducting her was not the way to do that.

He wasn’t sure what he
should
do, though. Surely he couldn’t just walk up and say, “Hello, how would you like to spend the rest of your life with me?” He hesitated, desperately searching for a better opening line before she walked away forever.

But instead of turning away, she began to approach him! Diego straightened up, whatever witty greeting he might have come up with lost as he watched the sway of her hips, and caught a glimpse of the tantalizing upper curves of her breasts visible at the open collar of her shirt.

His bear rumbled, demanding to touch his mate immediately, to taste her, to claim her, to make her his. She put out her hand to shake, and he sent up a silent prayer of thanks at the excuse to touch her. He quickly took hold of her hand, reveling in the way sparks seemed to leap between them, heightening the need he already felt for her. He didn’t let go of her hand after they’d shook; she was so warm, so soft, and she fit so perfectly against him.

She seemed reluctant to pull away also. “Hello,” she said. “I guess you must be Diego Ramirez.”

“I... uh... that...”
Think, Diego! Dammit, don’t let her slip away!
“How do you know my name?”
Shit.
Now it sounded like he was accusing her of something.

His mate laughed. She had a wonderful laugh, low and smoky, but she took back her hand to cover her mouth. Diego felt a rush of anger, surprising in its intensity and speed. Someone had taught his mate to be ashamed of herself, to hide her happiness. He wanted to find whoever it had been and hurt them. His mate should be proud, she should be free and uninhibited. She should never feel like she needed to cover her laugh.

He would have blurted out all of these feelings, but luckily before he could she pointed to the sign that Diego had nearly forgotten he was holding. “That’s me. I’m Carla. Who else were you expecting?”

Diego shook his head, speechless. He felt like he’d won the lottery without even buying a ticket. After all the time he’d spent waiting, here was his mate, and it was the woman who’d already agreed to marry him! He owed Ranch Romeos a thousand apologies for every joke he’d made about their name, and every time he’d rolled his eyes while filling out the application; they’d given him everything they’d promised, and so much more.

Carla’s laugh died away, and she began to frown. “I know I’m probably not what you expected,” she said quietly, crossing her arms over her chest. “But since I came all the way out here, we may as well give it a chance.”

“No! I mean, yes! I mean, you’re wonderful. You’re my – ” Diego stopped himself just in time from saying “my mate”. He could tell from her scent that she wasn’t a shifter, which meant that she didn’t know anything about mates. He would have to handle this differently from how he would have with another shifter. “You’re everything I could have hoped for. Let me try this again.”

He reached out and took her hand again; her fingers curled trustingly around his own, and he instantly thought of what it would be like when she touched him in other places. God, he wanted her. He knew that when mates met, the sexual tension was always strong, but it was so hard to keep himself under control.

He cleared his throat and spoke in a slow and, he hoped, reassuring manner. Even when he was just a poor ranch hand, Diego had always prided himself on behaving like a gentleman.

“Carla Jenkins, I sure am glad to meet you. My name is Diego Ramirez, and if you would do me the honor of becoming my wife, it would make me happier than words can say. I believe we are very well-suited to one another. You might not think so yet, but if you give me a chance, I’ll prove it to you. We were meant to spend our lives together.”

She liked that, he could tell. Her cheeks had gone slightly pink, and a smile was threatening to erupt, though she was biting down on her lower lip to hold it back. “Well,” she said, “let’s see how the rest of the afternoon goes first.”

Diego had to laugh. “Sounds like a fair compromise to me.” He took Carla’s luggage from her and led the way to his truck. “We’ve got a couple of hours to drive before we reach my ranch. I hope you don’t mind.”

Carla shook her head. “No, I expected that. You said in your email that you lived in the middle of nowhere.”

“I know it’s not what you’re used to – ” Diego said, remembering his worries from earlier. Could a woman from New York City really be content to live on his boring little farm?

But before he could even finish his sentence, Carla waved her hand, cutting him off. “You’re right, it’s not what I’m used to. But it’s what I’ve dreamed about since I was a little girl. I’ve lived in New York my whole life; I’ve had plenty of time to get tired of it. I’m here because I wanted to turn over a new leaf, start a whole new life.”

She hesitated and glanced up at him out of the corner of her eyes. “I was pretty lonely back there. I don’t have much to go back to. I know that things are going to be different here, and I won’t know what I’m doing at first. But if you’re willing to teach, I’m willing to learn.”

Diego’s bear rumbled in contentment. Of course his mate would be a hard worker, curious and eager, just like himself. Why else would they have been destined for one another? He had to trust the mate sense; it wouldn’t lead him wrong.

He placed Carla’s luggage in the backseat of the truck and then walked around to open the door for her, but she was just standing there with her eyes closed, taking deep, slow breaths. He watched her quietly; her face was full of awe and reverence, like a child confronting a piece of beautiful art for the first time. When her eyes opened again, she met his gaze immediately, and he knew she was as drawn to him as he was to her.

“This is all such a change!” she said, but her voice was bright and excited. “It even smells different here. Like sage, and salt, and dust – not dirt, but clean dust. I’m probably not making any sense.”

“You are,” Diego said softly. “That’s the Great Basin you’re smelling. It’s a desert, just not the sort with dunes and cacti like in the movies. I remember the first time I smelled it too.”

“Aren’t you from here? I’d assumed you’d grown up nearby.” Carla finally noticed that he was holding the truck door open for her and sat down in the passenger seat. Diego closed the door behind her, careful not to catch her in it, and then walked around and climbed in himself. He started the engine and pulled out of the parking lot before he answered.

“No. Actually, I only moved here a few months ago myself. I’ve spent my whole life moving here and there, working for whoever would hire me, going wherever the jobs were. It felt like every year I was in a new town, learning new faces, adjusting to a new environment. It was hard, and the only thing that kept me going was a promise I’d made to myself when I was just a kid.”

He risked a glance at her, wondering if she would laugh at him. It was hard to say these things out loud; he wasn’t the kind of guy who dumped his secrets on people he’d just met. But this was his mate. She needed to know who he was, and where he’d come from. Still, if she looked bored or skeptical, he’d stop. But when he met her gaze, he found that she had turned in her seat to face him, and her eyes were wide with sympathy.

“What was the promise?”

Diego’s heart squeezed his chest, and he had to clear his throat before he could speak. “That someday I’d have a home all of my own, one I’d never have to leave.... It’s the only thing I’ve wanted, my whole life.”

“What about your parents? Didn’t you have a home there?”

“My parents love me, and they’re good people, they’ve given me whatever they could, but they’ve never had a lot of money. They work on farms, and that also means moving. They’re always following whatever needs harvesting or planting, so they’ve never had a permanent home either. I guess that’s why it was so important to me.”

Diego looked out at the highway. There wasn’t much traffic at this time of day, but it was easier than meeting Carla’s gaze. “I dedicated myself to earning the money I’d need, and saving everything I earned. It was hard when my friends would splurge on vacations or new cars or expensive electronics, and I was stuck eating my macaroni and cheese, but I knew it would be worth it.

“And finally last year, I had enough. I bought myself my own ranch.” As always happened whenever he mentioned his ranch, Diego felt a swell of pride, and didn’t bother to hide his grin. “It’s wonderful. The land is beautiful, and there’s plenty of room for the cattle to roam. There’s everything they need – a creek to provide water, gentle rolling hills without too much elevation, even a few spots of actual old forest.”

He loved to talk about his ranch, and he let himself continue. “Wait until you see it in the spring, when all the flowers are blooming and the baby animals have come out – or during a thunderstorm! Out here you can see the storms coming for miles, you can see the clouds and lightening while they’re still too far away to hear the thunder or even feel the wind. It’s better than a movie. Trust me, you’ve never seen anything like it.”

Suddenly Diego realized that he was rambling. His mate probably thought he sounded like a tourism brochure or, worse, a teenager writing bad poetry. “I mean, it’s not that special. It’s just rain. Of course you’ve seen that before.”

Carla reached out and touched his shoulder. Diego’s bear stirred at the touch, excited by the physical proximity. “I’m sure it’s wonderful,” she said. “The way you talk about it... I can tell that you really love this land just by listening to your voice. Living in the city, I’ve never thought that much about the environment around me, to tell you the truth. Just enough to know if I needed to carry an umbrella, or whether I should wear a heavy sweater or turn on the air-conditioning. I’m looking forward to getting in touch with nature.”

As a human, Diego appreciated her sympathy, but all his bear cared about was being able to feel the heat of her skin, even though it was through the fabric of his shirt. The honeysuckle scent of her hair surrounded him in the close confines of the truck’s cab.

He took his eyes from the highway to look at her. They smiled at one another, and the mix of sexual tension and emotional understanding made him want to pull over right there and kiss her until she was breathless. He wanted to lose himself in her scent, in her taste, in the soft curves of her body, and he wanted to find her and learn everything about her: what she liked in bed, her favorite foods, her childhood home.

He forced himself to give his attention back to the road. It was just the mate sense; there was no need to rush when he already knew they were meant to be together.

“I hope you feel the same way about nature after you’ve actually seen the ranch,” he said. “You might change your mind once you’ve had to deal our bugs.”

Carla laughed. “You really think there’s anything out here that’s worse than New York City’s roaches?” She took her hand back and settled in her seat, then added quietly, “I think I’m going to love it too. Any place that’s earned the devotion of a guy like you has to be special.”

When they reached Diego’s house, Carla was thankful to get out of the truck and stretch her legs. She concentrated on easing the kinks in her muscles for a few moments before finally looking around and taking in her first sight of the place where she would be living from now on.

It had taken them almost three hours to reach Diego’s ranch from the airport, and it was now late in the day, the sun sinking behind the rippled hills in the west. No, not hills – mountains. Carla had thought that she was coming out to Rocky Mountain territory, but Diego had told her she’d flown over those in the plane, and they were now a whole state behind her to the east.

These ones she was looking at were called the Mormon Mountains, which she’d never even heard of before. It was another reminder of how new she was to this place, and how much of a change she was making, which made her a little nervous. But Diego was a good teacher, able to answer her questions without making her feel stupid, and tell her what she needed to know without sounding like he was lecturing. They’d made a game of it on the drive: Carla pointing out the window at plants and birds and landscape features, and Diego telling her their names and anything else he knew about them.

She walked in a circle, admiring the view. There wasn’t a single human visible except for the two of them, and not even any other buildings or cars. Instead she was surrounded by what looked like prairie meadows, covered in tall grass speckled with little purple flowers, but she knew enough now to identify it as a field of alfalfa. Further away, on the steeper slopes, were thorny bushes, low to the ground and a pale grayish-green, almost silver: sagebrush.