Bear Cop: BBW Bear Shifter Paranormal Romance (3 page)

It was happening. It was really happening. She felt dizzy, and then all she could feel was the heat of his mouth against hers, the carefulness of the kiss suddenly turning into hunger. She moaned into his mouth with surprised longing, rubbing herself against where she could feel him, thick and hard. How would that feel like inside her?

A part of her was still afraid. For so long, she'd been on the run from her past. She knew she shouldn't let him close. The risk was too great. What would he do if he found out that she had used a fake name all these years?

His hands were in her hair now. He held her in place as he kissed her with such slow desire that everything inside her turned into molten need. When he drew back at last, he was panting, as out of breath as she was, and they looked at each other for a moment with stunned want.

“We really need to find shelter,” he murmured and gave her another slow smile. “Because I want to give you that massage. And I want to take off that shirt and kiss you all over until you make that sound again.”

She was still breathing heavily, her panties already soaked with how much she wanted him. “One condition.”

“Anything you want, my ma—” He broke off.

She wondered what he had wanted to say before desire took over once more.

“Your shirt comes off too!” she demanded, reckless and a little terrified by this risk she was taking. But at the same time, it was impossible
not
to want him!

He grinned when he heard her answer, and then they kissed again. Eve moaned, closing her eyes as her hand trailed over his hard chest. She had never felt so instantly attracted to someone before. It wasn’t just a sudden explosion of lust, although she felt as if she
would
explode if she didn’t get to feel him skin to skin very soon. It was a feeling that went so much deeper. As if she recognized him. As if her
soul
recognized him.

She wanted to scoff at her romantic notions—those certainly hadn’t helped with Jeremy. But Chris made her feel safe, and wanted. He felt like… like she could depend on him. Yes—that was the right word. Even when a bridge came apart beneath her feet, he stood strong and unafraid. She had never felt anything like this before, but perhaps that was simply because she had never met a man like Chris before. Someone who made her feel as if
she
was just right for him, too. If only her life in Linden Creek hadn't been built on an old lie...

Chris checked his phone again, and then shook his head in frustration. “No signal,” he said. “Yours?”

“Same,” Eve answered, still pale and shaken from having escaped death so narrowly.

Chris bit back a curse as he looked around. The car was gone, and with it any hope of communication. Worse, no one knew what road they had taken.

Jim had given Chris a run-down on roads and bridges currently closed, but he hadn’t told Jim what route he’d settled on. To tell the truth, Chris had decided for the picturesque, curvy road through the foothills because it would take a little longer, and he had hoped that he’d get to talk some more with this gorgeous woman who had stunned him with her beauty from the first moment he saw her inside the bakery. They probably wouldn’t be missed for a few hours yet, and once people started to search for them, this road wasn’t where they’d begin.

Chris moved as close to the collapsed bridge as he dared. He couldn't see the car; maybe it was hidden behind the remaining pillar, or else the angry river had carried it away.

“Just a moment,” he told Eve. She was shivering, and Chris took off his jacket and wrapped it around her shoulders. She gave him a grateful look, although she looked tired, now that the shock was beginning to pass.

He checked his pockets once more. They couldn't stay here and wait for rescue, not when it wasn't even certain when they'd start to send people out to search. All the same, he had to leave a message somehow...

He found a pen, but when he tested it against the wet concrete of what remained of the bridge, it was barely legible. He frowned, then picked up a sharp-edged rock and tentatively scratched at the stone.

Much better. The rock left a white line against the dark concrete.

He scratched their names into the bridge in large letters, then, after some deliberation, added the date and the message “Not hurt. Hiking to shelter.” Beneath, he scratched an arrow pointing away from the bridge towards the road that stretched out before them.

“That has to be enough for now,” Chris said when he moved back to where Eve was waiting. He tilted his head. It was difficult to read from this distance—but it was obvious that there was a message.

Eve was still shivering, and he wrapped his arm around her.

“And now we go look for shelter?” she asked as she leaned against him.

“The road is our best option for now,” he said, nodding where it curved towards a small hill. “And who knows, maybe we'll be lucky and run into someone coming from that direction.”

Chris kept a firm grip on Eve as they made their way up the gentle rise. They were both still out of breath, but despite the danger they had just escaped, Chris couldn’t think of anything but the way Eve had felt in his arms. Her generous breasts had pressed against his chest, and he had wanted to run his hands down her curves—but that would have to wait. At least until they found shelter for the night.

Again Chris cursed himself. Here fate had at last led him to his beautiful mate, just when he’d begun to fear that he was one of those for whom it would never happen, and what did he do? Nearly killed her by driving onto a derelict bridge.

“It wasn’t your fault, you know,” she said.

He gave a start, his heart clenching with pleased surprise in his chest at the way she had picked up on his thoughts.

“The bridge,” she continued. “You have that worried look—there’s these grooves between your brows when you frown. You’re blaming yourself, aren’t you? You shouldn’t do that. You couldn’t know.”

He tried to smile instead, but it was hard when they were lost and cold in the middle of a forest. Oh, he wasn’t afraid for himself. He could always shift, and he’d be comfortable enough sleeping in some hollow, bedding down on dry leaves. But Eve wouldn’t be. Most importantly, she still didn’t know, and he couldn’t abandon her.

“I can’t help it,” he said. “I nearly lost you.”

She stopped to face him. The look she gave him was earnest, and Chris was once again struck by how brave she was. She had nearly died—and yet, here she was, worrying about his own well-being instead!

“And I nearly lost you,” she pointed out in return. “Because you saved me and risked your own life to do so. Let’s make a deal. I won’t feel guilty about that if you stop feeling guilty for the bridge?”

Her cheeks were no longer pale, he realized, but red from the wind that continually blew strands of her hair into her eyes. He reached out to smooth them back behind her ear again, a thrill running through him at the warmth of her skin.

Our mate
, his bear grumbled proudly.

Chris thought with helpless adoration,
Our brave, beautiful mate
.

He’d nearly given himself away earlier and almost called her that. Such carelessness had never happened before either, but it was becoming more and more difficult to keep from revealing the truth. He couldn’t keep it a secret for much longer; he was already lucky that she had still been unconscious while he had shifted when he couldn’t open the door to get to her. But she had dealt well with the shock of the accident.

Maybe she would be just as brave when he told her the truth. He’d wait for a good moment—maybe once they had made it back home. He’d take her for a walk with a few of her cupcakes, as he had promised. And then they’d talk, and he’d show her, and he would be very careful.

We would never frighten our mate
, the bear agreed, and Chris released a deep sigh.

“You’re thinking again,” Eve said accusingly.

“Not about the bridge, I promise!” he replied and hastily looked around.

They’d followed the small road up the hill so far, but he wasn’t sure whether it was really the best idea to just keep walking along the road. Of course, if they were lucky, eventually another car would come along—but Jim had told him that this road didn’t get much use. It wasn’t tourist season yet, and so all the small homes scattered through the foothills stood empty, awaiting the return of summer and the hordes of hikers and families coming to spend a week in a picturesque house at one of the many small lakes.

“I’m trying to figure out where we are,” he added after a moment. “From what I remember from the GPS, there should be a few houses nearby.”

“There are no phone lines up here, even if we find one,” Eve said. “The Herberts have a hut, and I sometimes spend a weekend when it’s not rented out to tourists.”

“I didn’t tell anyone I was taking this road,” Chris admitted.

Eve’s arm came around his waist in reassurance. She still smelled like vanilla, and Chris had to keep himself from burying his face in her hair.

Soon
, he told his bear.

“You couldn’t know,” she said.

“I do know how to make a fire, and I’m a pretty good hunter,” he assured her. “But I’d really rather not make you spend a night outside in the forest.”

She laughed at that, and Chris couldn’t stop thinking of other ways he knew to keep warm at night. God, he wanted her still. Wanted her enough that he’d make love to her on a bed of fallen leaves, if he had to.

“Let me see,” she murmured. “I’ve driven along this road a few times. The Herberts’ hut is…” She grimaced. “Probably a few hours walk. And there’s more bridges along the way.”

Bridges that might have been destroyed as well, Chris realized.

“I hadn’t thought of that,” he admitted. “You’re right. Let’s not trust our luck with the road. Anytime you think you recognize a place where we might find shelter, let me know.”

They walked for maybe half an hour. It was eerily quiet. There was only the rustling of leaves and branches, and every now and then a bird sang. To both sides of the road, the trees grew tall, stretching towards the sky where he could see clouds drift by. He hoped it wouldn’t start raining again. Maybe they’d be able to find shelter somewhere beneath a tree or in a cave, but if any other bridges had been carried off by the water, it would make it even more difficult for their rescuers to find them.

He stopped when Eve tightened her grip on his arm with a sound of dismay. There, before them, just behind the bend the road had just made, another river came rushing down from the mountains, gaining volume from the relentless rain of the past week until it had washed the road away as well. The bridge that crossed the river here still stood, although a torrent of muddy water was roaring past the stone pillars—but the road that led towards the bridge had been swept away together with the bank of the river. Now they stood facing a small precipice that could not be crossed, from beyond which the bridge seemed to mock them.

“So much for the road,” he sighed. He tried to hide his disappointment, although he didn’t think he was particularly successful, because Eve wrapped her arm around his waist once more and leaned her head against his shoulder.

“It’s… very romantic?” she suggested.

He laughed despite himself at her effort to find something positive even in this situation. And she was right. It wasn’t as if they were in danger. They’d get rescued tomorrow, and then they’d laugh about their romantic day getting lost in the wilderness.

“I suppose so!” he replied. “And I did say that I’d love to take you hiking.”

“From what I remember, you also promised me a massage.” Eve’s eyes gleamed as she spoke.

Chris felt distracted once more by the heat of her body and the way her shirt clung to her curves. She looked like one of the nymphs an old master might paint, the way she stood before the thundering river with the wind tousling her golden hair. He really couldn’t wait to uncover her body and show her with lips and hands just how gorgeous she was.

“Shelter first,” he said firmly. “Then the massage—and anything else you might want.”

“Mmm,” she purred. “I can think of a few things…”

She rested her hand on his chest, fingers spreading, and he felt his heartbeat pick up in response as she gave him a slow smile. He couldn’t resist, he had to kiss her once more. With a gasp, she pressed herself against him again, and he threaded his fingers through her hair just so that he wouldn’t be tempted to slide them up beneath her shirt.

Shelter
, he reminded himself once more when they parted, and his bear grumbled in approval and made him turn north.

There, the top of the hill loomed above them. There was no path, just the slippery ground they had been walking on so far: earth soft and spongy from the rainfall, with wet leaves and moss on top. But the trees stood less densely, and on the summit of the hill, he could make out dark shapes.

Large rocks,
he thought and smiled a little.

Good shelter for a bear. He’d prefer something better for Eve—but it was a start. And who knew, maybe from the top of the hill, they’d be able to spy the rescue team that would get sent out sooner or later.

***

It had started to rain again by the time they made it to the hilltop. It was just a gentle drizzle, but neither of them had come equipped for a hike in the rain. Or worse, an entire night spent outside in the rain.

Eve gave Chris a sideways look. His shirt was soaked through, showing off those amazing pecs of his, and the corded muscles of his upper arm. No wonder that he had lifted her with such ease from the car. It still seemed strange that a guy like him should be interested in her—but it was exhilarating.

He made her feel that she was just right for him. Jeremy had never missed a chance to make her feel ashamed for all that extra weight, but Chris’ hands had just lingered with appreciation on her hips.

“What is that red spot down there?” Chris asked. “Can you see that?”

She followed Chris’ pointing finger. Before them, a slope descended, more gently than the steep hill they had just climbed. Birches grew in abundance, but there was enough space between their slender, white trunks that walking down this side of the hill would be much easier. And there, a spot of color that seemed out of place among all the muted colors of the wet forest—

“I think that’s a roof!” she exclaimed. There was excitement in her voice, even though she tried to caution herself. It wasn’t tourist season; the house would be empty. There would be no phone.

But we will be out of the rain,
she told herself.
There might even be wood for a fire and a bed…

She flushed when she realized where her thoughts had led her, but the vision of Chris undressing in front of a flickering fire, his chest glistening with raindrops, proved rather persistent, even as they slowly made their way down the slope.

The ground was treacherous, and more than once they had to clutch at each other to keep from slipping on the wet leaves. They could no longer see that spot of red through the canopy of the trees, but Chris kept her hand in his as he led her forward, apparently blessed with an enviable sense of direction. He laughed as she told him so, and then they had to stop in the rain for another kiss. She didn’t even mind the cold anymore after that.

Instead, it suddenly felt like an adventure: exploring the wilderness with Chris, climbing hills and searching for shelter and laughing as they both nearly tripped over roots hidden beneath all the leaves. Maybe it would all turn out all right. And there was absolutely no reason Chris would have ever heard of her father. No one in Linden Creek had ever suspected anything. That was all in the past and long forgotten.