Her First Time With A Bear (BBW Shifter Romance) (11 page)

Paris stood and looked at Ted, unable to speak. She must have been mixed up, because surely, the two men her mom had talked about, and Wes was worried about, could not have come here.

“You OK, Paris?” Ted asked, concerned. “You look a bit pale. Sorry if you didn’t know about these two guys, but they knew about you and your mom.”

Trying to get her thoughts together she said, “I don’t know them but my mom mentioned something about meeting them. What did they want?”

“Had a flat, so got me to repair it. Seemed friendly enough, we had a chat while I worked. Said they liked your mom and promised her they would look in on you.”

Paris put her hand out, reaching for her chair and then sitting down somewhat unsteadily. “When was this, Ted?”

“Yesterday afternoon. Said they would look in on you as soon as they had the chance.”

“OK. Thanks Ted. Did you give them directions?”

“Sure. They hadn’t been able to find you from the directions your mom had given. They were worried they would let her down.”

“Well, my mom is trying to get home as soon as she can. But I don’t have the money to send her. I don’t suppose I can borrow on my wages till tomorrow can I?”

“Sure, Paris, I’ll get it ready for when you leave later.”

“Thanks Ted. I’ll get on with my work then, do you want a coffee?”

“Thanks Paris, yeah, I’ve got a stack on, so let’s get cracking.” He clapped his hands together and went out into his workshop.

Numbly, Paris made coffee, remembering Ted's two sugars only after she was half way across the workshop. Turning she went back and tipped it in, stirring it round and round absently.

“Alright, love?” Ted made her jump.

“Yes, sorry Ted. Here.”

“Thanks. I’ve left the pile of invoices for you to start on.”

“Right, I’m on it.” Paris went and sat at her desk, and began to shift through the paperwork that had piled up over the week. She answered the phone and took bookings on autopilot, all the while trying to figure out what to do.

Getting her mom back here as soon as possible was probably the best thing, if not she might take Wes up on his offer of staying with him until she got home. She now did not care what people thought of her, this was getting too scary. In fact, the more she thought about it, the better she felt about moving in with Wes. It might be a little premature, but the feelings they had for each other meant it was a foregone conclusion they were going to live together sooner or later. They may as well learn the other’s faults while still in the honeymoon period of their romance.

Once she got stuck into her work the hours passed by quickly, soon Ted's paperwork was sorted, and his accounts were once more straight. She enjoyed the work, putting things in order felt good. It was a shame the rest of her life did not mirror Ted's accounts.

“Looking good, Paris. What’s the plan with the money for your mom? I have it here for you.”

“Thanks Ted. If I work straight through lunch can I leave early and go and send it.”

“Why not go and do it now, that way she might get back sooner. When I was talking earlier, you looked a little upset, now I get it; you want your mom back home.”

Paris decided to leave Ted thinking that, there was no need to worry him about the real reason. She would hate for him to feel bad, he was such a sweet guy.

“Thanks Ted.” She got her purse, checking she had the account numbers she needed before heading across town to the bank, her wages burning a hole in her pocket. Part of her wanted to stop and do some shopping, to eat something tasty, or sweet. The image of chocolate sprang into her head, but she pushed it aside. She needed to get this done.

Stopping to cross the road, she stood watching the traffic, not really taking too much notice, until a car stopped right in front of her. At first she was annoyed, it should not have stopped there, and how rude of them to pull up right in front of her. Her mood changed to fear when the window was wound down and a grinning face peered out at her.

“Hi, Paris. We have been looking for you. Your mom told us all about you, showed us pictures and everything, and me and Chas here figured we should come down and give you a special visit.”

She took a step back away from the car, the person talking to her was rough and unshaven, with a sneer she did not like one bit. How her mom could have gone anywhere with him was beyond her.

“My mom told me. She'll be home soon, you don’t you leave it till then. I have to go.” She took another step.

“Wait! Right there.”

She stopped at the order barked out at her. Her blood chilled, this was not a situation she wanted to be in. All she needed to do though was walk away, there were plenty of people just up ahead, they could not force her to do anything she did not want to.

Or so she thought.

“If you don’t leave me alone, I will call the police.”

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you. I have a gun here,” he said, and moved something under his coat.

“This is a crowded street, someone will see you if you use that thing.”

“True. Your mom said you were smart. So let’s give this some thought. If you don’t get in the car, we’ll leave you alone.” He smiled at her, a horrible sight. “Instead we might have to go and find your mom. We know exactly where she is. And she will be so happy to see us; we gave her a good time.” He rubbed his crotch with his free hand, and Paris felt sick.

“Which is why,” he continued. “We thought we should show you the same attention. Your mom said you were a sweet innocent virgin, and I can’t remember the last time I had one of those.”

His gaze travelled up and down her body, making her skin crawl.

“I’m not a virgin,” she said, although she knew it would not make a blind bit of difference to their plans for her.

“You know sweetie, now I’ve seen you, that don’t matter. There’s plenty of you to go round, and Chas and I are mighty hungry for some sweet lovin’.”

Paris stood still, unable to move.

Then he said, “Get in the car.”

She could not disobey, her head filled with thoughts of her mom, and Wes, even a bear was no match for a gun.

Wes pulled up outside Ted's workshop; he had met the guy a couple of times, and liked him. He was a good and honest man. Wes smiled to himself; he appeared to be vetting everyone in Paris's life. She might be right about him being controlling.

“Hey, Ted,” Wes said as the older guy appeared, looking a little frazzled, not his laid back smiling self.

“Hi, err, can I help you?” Ted obviously did not recognise him, which was cool, even if Wes usually thought of himself as once seen never forgotten.

“Yeah, I’ve come to pick Paris up.”

Instantly Wes sensed a problem, Ted looked even more worried. A deep hole opened up in the pit of his stomach and Wes felt real fear for the first time in his life. So this was what it was like to have a mate, it knifed you in the gut every time they were in trouble.

“I...I don’t know where she is.” He ran his hand through his thinning hair, looking pale and scared. “She went off for lunch to send her mom some cash. Paris said she was coming home.”

“What happened?” Wes asked, trying to keep his temper under control. The bear was banging on his door, asking to be freed so it could track his mate.

“She never came back. I tried her cell, but it goes to voicemail. It’s so unlike Paris, she is the most punctual, respectful person I know. If it were one of my daughters, I would think she had met up with a friend and gone off shopping or something, no thought for anyone else. Not Paris though, she wouldn’t do that.”

“No, she wouldn't,” Wes said tightly. His thoughts had already drifted to the two guys sniffing around, but there had been no other word about them and Wes had thought they had left the area. “Let’s go inside, Ted. Tell me what you know, and I’ll call the police.”

“You think we should call Tom? I don’t want to get Paris into trouble.”

“Don’t worry, I know him, we’ll keep it unofficial if we can.”

He guided Ted into the office, and then went to make him some hot coffee, tipping a couple of nice big spoonfuls of sugar in. He had to get the old man to focus, and do what he had to, to keep himself under control, something that was becoming harder to do. He wanted to be out there tracking her, but this was the town, there were people, he could not simply turn into a bear and amble through the streets with his nose to the ground.

“Here, Ted. Now try to tell me everything you know.”

“OK,” he said, and then hesitated, thinking. “Paris came in this morning as usual, she's always on time. We had a chat; she made coffee, and then went to work. She said her mom was coming back and asked for an advance to send to her mom.”

“And that was what she was doing at lunch time?”

“Yes, she asked if she could leave early this evening to do it if she worked through her lunch hour, but I told her to get it done now, so her mom could get home sooner. That way she might be able to see those two guys that were asking after her before they left town.”

Wes nearly spilt his coffee; his hand had gripped hard on the mug, almost crushing it. “These two men, what did they look like, and exactly what did they say?”

Ted saw Wes’s face, and he went paler, if that was at all possible. “Oh no, you don’t think?”

“Descriptions Ted,” and while Ted talked, Wes dialled the number of the Toms office.

Paris sat in the back seat, her mind numb. This could not be happening, not now, not when she had met Wes. If they did all the things to her, the guy next to her said they would, Wes would never want her. Mate or not, she would be spoiled goods.

“Come on, sweetie.” The foul smelling guy leaned over and placed his hand on her thigh. “This is going to be the best fun you’ve ever had. Two guys at once, there are not many women who get that offer everyday.”

She pulled away, leaning as far away from him as she could, her shoulder pressed against the car door. Maybe she could open it, and jump out. If she got hurt, they would not be able to do anything to her, or if they did, she would not be able to remember. But what about her mom? They would find her and hurt her.

Tears filled her eyes.

“Now, no tears. Let me kiss you all better.”

He gripped her chin, his fingers digging into her flesh, knowing they would leave bruises. Turning her to face him he placed his mouth over hers, she kept her lips pressed together firmly, already the smell of his breath reaching her nostrils and made her feel sick. She could not let him touch her, and certainly, she could not let him rape her.

He pulled back laughing. “Don’t you worry, we have plenty of rope. Once we have you tied down like a squealing pig, and believe me, you will squeal, we can have our fun. You will learn to like it; we’ll have to keep trying until you do.”

His hand reached over and grabbed her breasts, squeezing them painfully; she tried to push him away. Trying to hold her hands down, he groped her again; she flung her arm out at him, cracking him on the nose. “You little bitch, I’m gonna teach you good,” was the last thing she heard before he slapped her face, her head connected with the window, and she blacked out.

***

When she came to, she was still in the car, but they were going slower now, and the road was bumpy. She opened her eyes, and winced at the pain in her temple, her head had hit the window hard. Trying not to move, and alert her captors she was awake, she tried to look out of the car and figure out where she was.

There were huge trees either side of the narrow track they were going along. They were taking her somewhere deep into the forest. Her only chance of getting away was to make a run for it. She had no idea of how much of a head start she could get on them if she simply flung the car door open and made a run for it.

One thing she did know, it was her only chance of escape, or at least prolonging the time she had before they hurt her. If she bought herself enough time, Wes might have a chance to find her. He could track her, surely. But they had taken her off the streets, and she had no idea how long it would be until he even realised she was missing. Perhaps Ted had thought she had wondered off, and Wes might think she had stood him up, it was hopeless. She was on her own.

“So do something,” she told herself.

Without another thought, she reached for the door handle and yanked it open. For a moment, she thought it was locked, but all at once it gave and she fell out of the car, only narrowly missing the wheels. There was no time to catch her breath, she had to get up, and disappear into the trees, before they had a chance to pull the gun on her.

Getting her legs back under her was a struggle, but she was up and into the first trees before the shot rang out. “Stop now, and I won’t hurt you. Run and I’ll shoot you in the leg. We can still fuck you with a bullet in your leg.”

She did not stop. They were going to hurt her either way. Part of her wondered if death might be better than what they would do to her. It was not the physical pain she could not stand the thought of, it was the look in Wes’s eyes when he looked at her after they had finished. If she ever saw him again. Paris doubted they were going to rape her and then simply turn her loose.

The trees whipped at her clothes, and she soon lost her bearings completely. She kept going; it did not matter where she was headed as long as it was away from them.

At first, she would occasionally hear them shout, but after some time, and she had no idea how long because time seemed to have frozen to Paris, she did not hear anything other than the beating of her heart and the sound of her laboured breathing.

At last she stopped. She needed to get her breath back, and try to figure out what she was going to do. Leaning back against a large oak she took huge gulps of air, and then tried to calm down. She needed a clear head, some how she had to work out how to get back to civilisation, if she stayed out here too long those two guys might be the least of her problem. Lack of food and water would be just as deadly. She knew the forest was vast, and not many roads crossed it, and the tracks all looked the same to her.