Bearllionaire: (BWWM) Paranormal BBW Bear Shifter Romance Standalone (13 page)

Her brain searched for something that would make everything fit, but she could sense that whatever it was, the answer was just beyond the realm of her comprehension.

So she continued to watch the SUV, letting the fear keep her awake. She’d known the person who left that message wasn’t Scott. It just didn’t fit him.

She checked the clock over the mantle. Midnight. Still too late to call Leslie or Kylie, but she hated being alone. Any of her other friends she’d made in the town had kids and couldn’t be woken.

Maybe it was time to get a cat.

Or go crawling back to Ryder, willing to accept he was a fraidy-cat who liked to run away from bears.

But she knew that was probably just the tiredness talking. She decided nothing was happening in the SUV that she should worry about. Nothing she could do either way. Someone was probably just visiting family. She stood, checked the deadbolt, turned off the lights, and headed upstairs.

She turned on her bedroom light and slowly changed, taking clothes off her aching body. Both the adrenaline of the bear attack and the ardent love Ryder had made to her had tired her out.

But she knew which she preferred. She thought of his large hands smoothing over her body, heating her skin as he whispered sweet words. She changed into soft pajamas and lay there for a few minutes, touching her own skin and wishing it felt like it did when Ryder touched her.

Why couldn’t she stop thinking of him, even when he’d proven her worst fears to be true?

She guessed, as with Scott, it would take time. But she had the feeling it would take a lot longer with Ryder than it did with Scott.

There were moments with Ryder she was sure she would always remember.

On that thought, and a few others about their time together, she fell into weary sleep.

W
hen she woke
, everything seemed clearer. The sun streaming through the icy patterns on the window lit up the room and cast light over the bed. She pushed hair out of her eyes and let out a long sigh. She stood, pulled on a robe, and walked to the window to look down. The SUV was still there, but nothing out of place seemed to have happened.

She checked her phone. No messages.

Did she want Ryder to call? She didn’t know. She’d told him she needed to cool off. Was that true?

She put a hand to her head. She already felt better this morning. Ready to talk, ready to forgive. But then the shock, the fear of being left alone all came rushing back. And he’d done it right after she’d told him how much Scott had hurt her. Right after he’d promised not to abandon her.

Maybe that’s why he’d said it was the worst possible time. Because he knew showing his cowardly side at that moment would ruin things.

But that just didn’t seem like the Ryder she knew. She walked down into the kitchen and turned on the coffee maker. She’d need about a gallon to feel conscious after the night she’d had. Maybe she’d let Sherry run the store this week anyway. Take a much-needed vacation. She’d bet Leslie would be up for traveling somewhere fun, and Kylie too if she didn’t sub any other days this week.

But Ryder…

She couldn’t stop thinking of him. Of how incredible the night had been before it’d gone bad. Of him asking her to spend her life with him. Him saying he loved her. But how was that possible with what came after?

A knock on the door interrupted her thoughts. Ryder? She ran to the door to open it, knowing it was foolish how quickly her heart leapt at the thought of seeing him but eager to work things out between them.

There had to be a way to explain it. There just had to. Part of being rational was knowing when something didn’t add up and the only rational thing to do is look into it until it does.

There’s always a reason if you’re brave enough to find it.

Ryder was worth the chance, and he’d certainly put himself out there for her emotionally after they’d made love.

She yanked open the door and gasped when she saw not Ryder, but Barry. Ryder’s father’s embezzling accountant. His graying hair was slicked in a comb over, and there were dark circles under his eyes.

“Barry!” she exclaimed, pulling her robe tightly closed, glad her pajamas underneath were thick and full length, covering everything but her hands and feet. “What are you doing here? I thought you’d left town.”

“And leave you here to tell everyone what a screw-up I was?” he asked, pushing his way past her and inside before she could block the entrance. Dammit, after this, she was installing a peephole on her door whether her landlord okayed it or not.

Still, the short man didn’t scare her. He was barely 5’10”, just slightly taller than her but much smaller due to being skinnier. If he aggravated her, she could probably sit on him. After seeing what he’d done to Ryder’s family, she’d be happy to.

“I’ve been going over your records, yes,” she said, holding the door open and gesturing for him to go out. “We can talk at my office if you want. Later.”

He eyed her warily. He was wearing worn, faded gray sweats over his bony body, and he looked like he hadn’t eaten or slept enough lately. He looked… slightly feral.

“Fine,” he said. “When?”

She looked at the kitchen clock. Anything to get Barry out of here so she could get ready. “How about in an hour?”

“Perfect,” he said. “You still at the same place?”

“Of course,” she said, lifting her chin. She didn’t like the way he was leering at her as he left.

“See you then,” he muttered, and she took great pleasure in slamming the door behind him.

She sighed and looked at the clock again. No time for coffee. She needed a nice long shower and to get dressed and get her hair back in control. She’d pick something up after meeting with Barry. Not that she expected much to come of the meeting, but at least it’d be safer out in public. Not that Barry would hurt her. But she had some pretty unpleasant things to say to him about Ryder’s family business and how he’d treated it, and she wanted witnesses if something went wrong.

Barry looked like a man with nothing to lose.

She climbed the stairs to her bedroom, looked at the phone again, saw there were no messages, and took the phone into the bathroom, putting it on the counter while she showered.

The heat was hypnotic and relaxing, but throughout the shower and getting ready after, all she could think about was Ryder. His hands, his eyes. That body. It was like he had bewitched her utterly.

She was still in kind of a fog, unsure what to do about the Ryder situation, feeling like her brain was just on the brink of a breakthrough about it when she headed out the door to meet Barry. She kept her phone close at hand in her pocket and wore a heavy trench that concealed her body. She hadn’t liked the way Barry looked at her.

This was exactly the kind of meeting she would have wanted to go to with Ryder. He was probably ace at negotiations and difficult discussions. It was the difference between a simple accountant and someone who made billions. That hard edge she knew she’d never have. She was too soft.

But Ryder could be soft too, when the time called for it. He’d been so gentle. Contrasted with his hard side, the in-control side, the plunging-into-her-while-uttering-oaths-of-wonder side, she wasn’t sure which she loved more.

And that was it. The whole problem. She loved him. As improbable as it was that he could love her after this short time, she was fairly certain, in an animal way deep down inside her, that she loved him back. And didn’t that leave her in a funny position?

She kept her head down as she walked down the street toward her shop. But between buildings, at a place where the woods bordered the street, someone jumped out, startling her.

“Barry!” she said, taking a step away from him. “I thought we were meeting at the store.”

“We were,” he said, eyes narrowing. “I had a change of plans.”

Her stomach coiled in response and she gingerly put one hand in her pocket to feel for her phone, making sure it was still there and she could dial it in a moment’s notice. “I’d really rather meet up at the office. I was looking forward to my morning walk. Alone.” She emphasized the last word and his expression seemed to darken.

“Fine,” he said, and he walked ahead of her and disappeared around a corner.

“Phew.” She breathed a sigh of relief and kept walking, this time at a brisker pace. She didn’t want to talk to him here. It’d be too easy for him to pull her off into the woods. Not that he had any reason to, but she just felt nervous around him.

Her heart sank and she brushed her fingers over the phone again. Had Barry left the threatening message? Because he knew if she stayed at the lodge, she’d expose him? If so, Barry was stupid if he thought Janna was the real threat. Ryder was equally capable with numbers and was clearly on to him. She shrugged, shook her head, and kept walking, but then something darted out, bit down on the back of her coat, and yanked her viciously off the path.

She screamed but was cut off when the animal brutishly jerked her around. It dragged her, stunned, into the woods, and Janna was grateful for her thick coat that protected her from the cold ground and the protruding sticks.

“Let me go!” she said, struggling against the hold on her coat that had it pulled up, almost choking her. “What are you doing?” She craned her neck and gasped when she realized it was a bear holding her. Shit! The bear from the window. “No!”

She thrashed her arms, and the bear ignored her, dragging her farther into the woods where she doubted anyone would hear her.

Even Barry, who might have been close enough to help a minute ago, probably couldn’t hear her now. If she could even scream when the coat was cutting off her air.

“Can’t… breathe,” she choked out, and the bear went a few feet and then dropped her. She yanked at her collar, pulling the coat down and preparing to scream, but the bear got in her face, snarling and snapping its jaws viciously in warning. Each time she dared open her mouth, it did it again.

She cringed away, heart stammering. But because this was her third encounter with the bear, she was determined to try and stay calm. After all, her life depended on it.

The bear paced in front of her, somehow satisfied as long as she seemed afraid. It wasn’t hard. The teeth in that massive jaw could easily tear her apart. Thinking about it was… not enjoyable.

“What do you want?” she asked. She somehow sensed this was no regular bear, and even though her rational mind knew there was no point talking to animals, she knew it couldn’t hurt. And rational thinking didn’t exactly apply to being stalked and kidnapped by a bear who didn’t seem to want to eat her.

Why would it want her, then?

Then the bear stopped, eyeing her, and she swore she could see hunger in those deep, dark depths. But not for food. She opened her mouth in shock, and the bear roared, raising a paw as if to strike her. She put up a hand to block her face and winced, bracing for the blow. This was it. There was nothing she could do.

She wouldn’t even get to say good-bye to Ryder. To find out his mystery.

The blow never came. Instead, with a roar, a large, brown, shaggy mass flew at the black bear, knocking it away from her and wrestling it to the ground. It was the grizzly from the night before. Though it was twice the size of the black bear and truly a terrifying, ferocious sight, for some reason, all she could feel was relief at its presence. She scrambled back as the bears fought, roaring and slashing at each other.

She wanted to look away, but she couldn’t tear her eyes away from the scene. She knew that her life depended on who won.

Luckily, it was over fairly quickly. The black bear was in submission and trying to crawl away, and the grizzly had him pinned with one paw. The black bear winced as the grizzly raised his other paw to finish the job, and then, as if something were blurring in front of her eyes, the black bear changed. She blinked and nearly missed it but could swear that black bear had just twisted and transformed into a man.

Barry. Naked.

Her eyes went wide as saucers and she covered her them as the grizzly bear let out an angry roar.

“You can’t kill me while I’m human,” Barry stammered weakly.

Her heart pounded and her brain struggled to comprehend his words. While he was human? She looked at the grizzly.

The grizzly looked angry, frustrated by Barry’s cowardice, but it stepped back to let him go. Barry put his hands up as the bear stared down at him.

“I’m going. I promise. I didn’t think she was your mate. I thought you were just playing with her. I’m not stupid enough to come between a grizzly and his mate. But I didn’t think you’d take a human with so little bear in her…”

The grizzly roared, and Janna felt lightheaded at what she was hearing. But the weirdest was yet to come.

“Mess with my mate again, and I’ll make you wish you were never born. Human or not!”

Janna recognized that low, growly voice. But had never heard it sound so angry.

“Ryder?” she asked, wondering where he was hiding. Why was he somewhere in the woods when she was being attacked by a bear?

The bear looked at her with something like guilt in its ageless eyes. Eyes that were shadowed by a long, shaggy pelt but nevertheless looked right into her soul with a piercing shade of sapphire blue.

What. The. Hell?

“I’m sorry, honey,” the bear said, mouth moving unnaturally.

That’s it. She was hallucinating. She scooted back another step, then looked over at Barry as he took advantage of the bear’s attention on her to run screaming from the scene.

Somehow, she didn’t think they’d have to worry about him anymore.

“Don’t be scared,” the bear said, coming closer. “It’s me.”

Her heart stammered wildly and she let out a little squeak as she scrambled back. Then the bear blurred in front of her face, as the other had done before Barry appeared, and she found herself looking at a pair of large, naked thighs.

Ryder sighed and dropped to crouch in front of her, eye to eye. “I’m sorry, honey. I tried to tell you.”

Her head went light. “Oh, so you’re the bear,” she said weakly, barely certain if the words were coming from her own mouth at this point.

He nodded.

“Ah,” she said faintly. “That makes sense.”

Then she fainted dead away.