The Alpha Dating Game: An Extremely Sensual BBW Shifter Romance (6 page)

“No. It was my – ” he hesitated “ –
wish
to honor my father’s wishes.” He composed his features again and she sensed that he had instinctively wanted to use another word. “It’s OK, really. Architecture would have been my second choice.”

Again, she sensed the wistfulness in his voice, as though he didn’t really have a choice in what he wanted to do in life.

“Are you the eldest son?” she asked.

“Yes. Fortunately and unfortunately.” He laughed. “But enough about me. I want to know more about you. Any boyfriends?”

She blushed. “If I did, I wouldn’t be here.”

“Obviously.” His eyes twinkled. “I meant before this.”

“No.”

“Seriously? Not even one?”

She shook her head.

“You’ve got to be kidding me, right? Who did you go to the prom with?”

“Myself. I went to a public school where the girls were always in one clique or another. Lyla and I didn’t quite fit, but at least she fit better than I did. She was always so smart and pretty, and so she got a date to the prom. When I didn’t, she asked me to tag along, much to her date’s chagrin. Lyla spent equal time with me and her date even though I told her I’d be OK. Needless to say, her date didn’t ask her out again.”

Jessica was actually mortified by the whole incident, even though Lyla assured her that not dating basketball Bradley ‘I want to get into every girl’s panties before graduation’ Turner was no loss.

Kyle grinned. “That’s some best friend.”

“I know.” She cocked her head. “You have a best friend like that?”

“I did. Once. But he left to go to college and he never came home. He’s marrying a girl back east. So it’s only me again.”

“Girlfriends?”

“A few. But no one who lasted, and certainly no one I’d like to hook up with again.”

“Why?”

“I guess I was too young. I didn’t know what I wanted.”

“You’re still young. Maybe you still don’t know what you want.” A wistfulness stung her voice.
Maybe you think you want a big, beautiful woman, but it’s just a phase you’re going through.

“Oh trust me. I do know what I want.”

He looked right into her eyes when he said this and she felt goose bumps.

Dinner ended with chocolate pavlova and passion fruit ice cream. It was the best meal Jessica had ever tasted, and it was certainly the best date she ever had. Dates were something to be dreaded for most part because they would inevitably lead to disaster and a no call back. But she was enjoying herself so much that she didn’t even register the passing of time until she realized that all the tables around them were empty and the waiters were giving them politely significant glances.

“Oh! It’s eleven o’ clock,” she exclaimed.

“Why? Do you turn into a pumpkin at midnight?” he teased.

“No. It’s just that I have never stayed up so long on a date before.” She remembered all those times her ‘dates’ had ended early – because neither of them could continue for the embarrassment.

“It doesn’t have to end. We just need to stop for bedtime and then pick up where we left tomorrow. Tomorrow’s Saturday. What do you say to a picnic in the park?”

She knew where he was heading.
Loves walking in the park . . .

“Yes,” she said delightedly. She blinked, afraid to wake up from this dream. He was asking her for a second date! No one ever asked her for a second date!

“Good. I’ll drop you home and then pick you up tomorrow at ten. Or do you need more beauty sleep?”

“No! Ten is fine.”

“Great.”

He signaled the waiter for the bill. When it came, he paid with cash. She was amazed that the bill came up to several hundred dollars.

“That’s too much,” she said in dismay. No one had ever spent so much to be with her before and she was beginning to experience the pangs of guilt.

“Not at all. Family business, remember?”

Gallantly, he rose and pulled out her chair for her. She was so petrified that she would slip or knock over something and spoil this lovely evening. To her chagrin, she hadn’t even gone to the ladies’ at all. Lyla must be gnawing her fingernails off with curiosity.

But oh, she had so much to tell! And so much to look forward to!

*

Kyle drove a distinctive black Mustang. Jessica had never been in a Mustang before and she had to refrain from surreptitiously touching the gleaming wood paneled interiors and the leather seats.

On the way, she chatted to Kyle about her life in college, her professors and her subjects. He was always interested, never seeming to appear bored in what might seem a mundane life. He asked a lot of questions which indicated that he was clearly following her babble.

Jessica had never been so elated in all her life.

He stopped outside her college dorm and paused. She had no idea what to do. She had never gone so far on a date before. That very fact was extremely embarrassing.

Kyle was smiling. In the shadows thrown by the streetlamps, his profile was as well-cut as a coin’s. Jessica thought he resembled something from a more chivalrous age where women were celebrated for their femininity and beauty and considered precious beyond compare.

“We’re here,” he said.

“Yes, we are.” She hesitated. Would he kiss her? Or would he consider it too forward on a first date? Whatever it was, she couldn’t sit here the whole night. “Uh, I guess I better be going.”

“Wait,” he said.

He opened his car door and came around the side to open the passenger door for her. A delicious thrill coursed through her. She could live like this forever.

“My lady.” He smiled.

And yes, she could fall in love with him too.
But I can’t!
Not right now, when he could still dump her after the picnic.

He gave her his hand to help her out of the car. When she touched his flesh, tingles flowered in her palm. Gawd! It was all she could do to prevent herself from swooning. His face was very close to hers. He was very tall and she had to crane her neck upward to gaze at his face, shrouded in the half-light.

“Tomorrow,” he said.

“Tomorrow,” she breathed.

She wondered if he would kiss her. She had only been kissed by a boy once, and that was a middle school prank on chubby Ted Granger, who was promised a cheat copy of a Chemistry essay if he planted a kiss on her lips. Oh, oh, oh, but the air between Kyle and her crackled with electricity, and all her nerves were strained in anticipation. Will he? Won’t he? Will he? Won’t he?

He broke the spell.

“Goodnight, Jessica.” He smiled, and maybe it was the lack of light, but she thought he looked a little rueful.

“Goodnight, Kyle.”

He let go of her hand. Disappointment flooded her.
Of course he won’t kiss you! It’s your first date! He’s not that kind of guy!
And another unbidden thought.
He doesn’t want to kiss you because he finds you unattractive
. No, no, no, but then he wouldn’t be asking her out for a picnic!

She tried to stem the tide of old fears bubbling to the surface like gas, but you could never really turn your back on so many years of repressed memories and embedded shame.

He strode to his car. His eyes lingered on her face.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, Jessica. Don’t forget.”

As if she would! “I won’t. I’ll wait for you.”

He got into his car, still smiling, turned on his engine, and drove off. She watched his car disappear into the night.

She missed him already.

THE PLAN

As Kyle drove off, Jessica’s face came swimming into his vision against the stark contrast of night. Her light perfume of lilacs was still fresh in his nostrils. He wanted to kiss her so badly just now. Every part of his body was twitching and yearning to be with her.

She’s human. How can I want to be with a human so much? She is not my designated mate and she will never be.

And yet, there it was – that pervading, miraculous attraction he felt towards her.

It can’t be.

He had been massively attracted to human females before, of course. But he had always attributed it to his animal hormones. Werebears were attracted to both humans and other werebears alike, but when they took a mate, they mated for life. In the clan’s history, there had been only one ancestor who had taken a human female for mate. That ancestor had been banished from the clan and his name purged from clan records, which accounted for why Kyle couldn’t remember it.

But he had a task to complete, and by his father’s wishes, he would complete it.

If only she wasn’t so wonderful
. He wondered if his father ever had such misgivings. Then again, he was not privy to his father’s machinations. All that was required was that the virgin be willing (and not coerced in any manner) when she first entered the house.

The rest would be up to his father.

Sometimes, he wondered why the rules were as they were. He was one of the few who actually questioned them in secret. Most of the time, he was asked to shut up or face the wrath of the Elders. But gad, Jessica was affecting him in the most primal of ways! He felt his crotch stiffening and his hand crept down to stifle it.

What’s the matter with me?

There was only one way to work it through.

He drove at top speed back to the woods of the Enclave. The woodlands here were copious and crowded, stretching over hilly regions and valleys alike. Jericho Atreides owned a large part of it and the rest was merged into government forest reserve. Here, the air was as fresh as the sweet pines which scented it and there was always glistening dew and squirrels and woodchuck in the undergrowth.

Here he could be free.

He parked the car at his usual spot under the moonlight. No one else was around, and he would know if someone was watching from afar anyway. He climbed out of the Mustang, took his clothes off and shifted. His facial bones changed. His limbs lengthened and thickened and hair sprouted out of his pores. His skeleton grew taller, much taller until he was almost double his human height.

The shadow he threw against the ground was now very different from the one he started the night out with.

Kyle put his nose into the air and sniffed. He wasn’t hungry because he just had dinner, but he caught a whiff of honey in the near distance. He loved honey. As a child, he had a significant craving for it, but it wasn’t until he came into his
change
that he really gave in to his temptations.

He broke into a run. He was extremely heavy and large – heavier than a grizzly because werebears tended to be even bigger than normal bears – but he was graceful for his bulk. He scented the honey in the nest which was wrapped around a tree branch like a parasite. Bees were buzzing around it angrily. Sensing that he was about to steal their honey, they launched their furry little bodies at him.

But a werebear’s fur was thick and long. Kyle took a lazy swipe at the nest despite the cloud of wrathful bees darting at him with their stingers. The nest broke and came apart, and he grabbed the honeycombs. He put one honeycomb into his large mouth and chomped on it happily.

A growl came from the undergrowth. Kyle had sensed the presence of the other werebear from far but chose to keep mum.

“Still gorging yourself on childhood simplicities, brother?” the other bear said.

Bears did not speak as per human speech but communicated through grunts, snarls and gestures.

“Simple childhood pleasures are sometimes necessary, younger brother,” Kyle replied. “They ground us in humility and nostalgic pursuit.”

“Not seemly behavior for a future alpha, some would say.”

“You know me. I like to carve my own niche in life.” Kyle held out a honeycomb. “Want some?”

“No thanks.”

His brother’s refusal of his gesture of friendship was not lost on Kyle. They had not been friends for a long, long time – not since Caleb perceived (rightly) at the tender age of ten that their father favored Kyle.

“Fine. More for me then.” Kyle turned his back on his brother and finished the honeycomb, though every sense of his was on the alert for his brother’s movements. This was one member of the family he could not trust, sad to say.

“Heard you went
hunting
tonight, brother.”

Kyle knew what he meant. “Not hunting.
Dating
.” Suddenly, he felt a frisson of fear for Jessica.
OK, that’s irrational
. He knew what would happen to her.

Caleb said, “Luring in the bait. Are you sure you’re up to the task?”

“What makes you think I’m not?”

Caleb laughed. In his bear form, this came out as a rumbling growl. “You never could rise to the real challenges. You’ve always been overprotected and over-coddled.”

“Depends on your perspective.”

“I’m just waiting to see you fail.”