Bears & Beauties - Complete (4 page)

“I know,” I apologized. “Been busy.”

“Well, sir, you might want to be busy getting back to New York. Collin has gone off the reservation.”

“He’s what?” I asked, not taking her meaning.

“He’s flipped his lid, sir. Lost his mind. Gone psycho!” Her voice grew more frantic with each word.

“Calm down, Sarah,” I suggested. “What’s going on?”

“Apparently, after you left, Collin decided that he as going to unseat you, sir. He’s talking with investors and the rest of the Board. They’re going to shut you down, sir. They’re taking over Hammer Industries.”

My jaw all but hit the ground as my bear raged inside. Collin was a dick, but I’d never thought he’d go so far as to try taking my company from me. Everything inside of me screamed for me to head back to New York immediately and utterly destroy the man.

“Sir? Did you hear me?” Sarah’s voice sounded over the phone.

“Yes,” I said flatly, forcing my inner predator to subside. “Loud and clear.”

“Should I charter a flight, sir? I’ve already checked. We can have you home by midnight.”

“That’s not necessary, Sarah. I’m not ready to come back just yet.”

“But, sir!” I heard Sarah say as I ended the call. Despite my better judgment, Hammer Industries could wait. The company wouldn’t fall apart by morning, and I still had plenty to do here.

I heard footsteps walking up behind me and I turned to see Andrea exiting the restaurant. “Everything okay?” she asked, obviously concerned.

I nodded and flashed her a smile. “Would you be interested in continuing our evening elsewhere?” I asked, hoping she’d say yes. I wasn’t about to let an otherwise decent night be ruined by Collin and his schemes.

“What did you have in mind?” Andrea responded, an eagerness in her voice that I hadn’t noticed before.

“Well,” I told her, “There’s a dusty old cabin a few miles from here in desperate need of some attention.”

Andrea gestured toward her dress and arched an eyebrow at me. “Really? I get all dressed up, buy you dinner, and you want me to help you
clean
?”

“Something like that.”

“Well,” she said playfully, “I don’t suppose there’s anything else to do around here.”

Andrea

When Chase said he was in town to clear out his parent’s old cabin, I don’t know what I expected, but I know it wasn’t
this
. For starters, I could see the reason it was taking him so long to clear out. Just the thought of the task was daunting.

The cabin was massive, by any standard, and was partly burrowed inside the face of the mountain. A long winding private road wrapped around the mountainside leading up to the cabin, with just enough width for a single vehicle to fit on. While the road had been paved, the sheer steepness of the trail was more than enough to ward off any but the best-suited off road vehicle. Fortunately, Chase drove a dark colored new Jeep Cherokee that could more than handle the incline.

The cabin itself was larger than most houses I had seen, and it was privy to a view that put that of the
Hanging Rock’s
to shame. The Parkway stretched out for miles in every direction, with the smoky hue of the mountaintops arranged like islands in the sky. Chase’s cabin was situated on one of the tallest mountains in the Parkway, and the altitude change had my ears popping.

We’d ridden in almost complete silence, and I could tell his mind was still on the phone call that had swept him away from the dinner table. I’d followed him out of the restaurant, leaving enough cash on the table to cover the bill, and overheard part of the conversation. While Chase hadn’t said much over the phone, his body language was more than enough to let me know that something was wrong.

Still, he hadn’t abandoned me like I thought he would. Instead, he’d invited me up to this monstrosity of a cabin, and I intended to make the best of it.

There was something alluring about the man, but I couldn’t put my finger on it. He was damned sexy, yes, that much was apparent just by looking at him. Even dressed down in jeans and button-down, with his hair in complete disarray, I’d been dumbstruck by his appearance. In fact, I’d shyly announced my thoughts on his appearance almost immediately upon joining him for dinner. And better yet, he’d obviously taken note of my efforts to dress up. I’d seen him glancing me over back at the restaurant, and even on the ride up to the cabin. His eyes would casually wander over my body, and I’d watch out of the corner of my eye as hit bit the inside of his lip as he took me in.

Just the thought of him looking at me like that had caused a distinct warmth to spread between my thighs and something inside me, something primal and raw, was begging for him to take me.

I barely know him
, I kept reminding myself.
And besides, he didn’t deny that monster comment.

That, in itself, frightened me a bit. My parents had warned me, very urgently, about even seeing Chase again. I could only imagine what they’d say if they knew what my body was craving.

Still, there I was, standing in the doorway of the largest cabin known to man, and staring in at the dank and dusty interior as Chase fumbled for a light.

“You weren’t kidding.” I said flatly as the room lit up.

“About what?”

“This place really is old and dusty. You’ve got a lot of work to do, pal.”

Chase chuckled, a deep guttural sound that I hadn’t heard him make before, and he moved further into the cabin. He reached the center of the room and started unbuttoning his shirt, causing my heart to slam into my throat as he did.

“What are you doing?” I managed, though my throat grew tight at the thought of him stripping. My imagination ran wild with thoughts of his large, muscular frame leaning over me and taking me into his arms.

“Relax,” he said with a smile. “Like you said, there’s a lot of work to do here. And I don’t intend to do it in this shirt.” He finished unbuttoning the shirt and stripped it off, revealing a white tank top underneath. His arms bulged with hard muscles, and I felt that familiar warmth return between my legs.

Holy shit,
I thought as I stared at him.
Now that’s a body.

“You can have a seat over there if you’d like,” Chase said, gesturing toward a sofa in the corner of the room.

I stared at him quizzically. “Come again?”

“Well,” he started, “I’m obviously not going to make you clean with me. I just like the company.”

That - the fact that he liked my company - forced a smile onto my lips. I blushed for what must have been the millionth time tonight and began stripping off my shoes. The hardwood floors felt cool against my bare feet, a nice relief from the agony of the heels I’d been wearing.

“Not a chance,” I told him. “You dragged me all the way up here. The least you can do is show me around.”

“Absolutely,” he said, then threw his hands in the air as though he were presenting a grand prize. “This, my dear, is the den. If you’ll follow me, I’ll give you the grand tour.”

I followed Chase through the cabin as he showed me into the kitchen - a huge and dazzling room filled with rustic features in addition to more modernized appliances and brightly colored granite counter tops that heavily contrasted with the cabin’s dark hardwood interior. From there, he showed me to the rear of the cabin, where we found a large library and study filled with literally thousands of books. We passed by several bedrooms, each of which could easily contain my tiny studio apartment, and several large and modernized restrooms. Though everything was on a single floor, the cabin had incredibly high ceilings that seemed to be made of stone as if they were carved straight from the mountain. Finally, we made our way through a series of spare rooms, none of which Chase said were dedicated to anything in particular, before finding our way back into the main den. All throughout the house, there were enormous windows that offered breathtaking views of the Parkway and the forests below. It was, for lack of a better word, staggering.

“Your parents,” I said once we’d returned to the den. “How long did they live here?”

“As long as I can remember,” Chase said with a shrug.

“And you?” I asked.

He took a breath before answering, a look of pain in his eyes. “Not very long. I was sent off to boarding school when I was five. My parents had money, but not a lot of compassion. I guess they figured a decent education was the best thing for me. I came home during the summers, but most of that time was spent in this cabin or in the woods surrounding it. Finished school and went straight off to university. Then, from there to New York. My parents passed away just after I started Hammer Industries, and I haven’t been back since. Thus the dust.”

He spoke with a tone of uncertainty and sadness, and I immediately felt compelled to comfort him. I stepped up behind him, placed my hands on his bare shoulders, and gently massaged his muscles. The feeling of his warmth beneath my fingertips was electrifying, and the same primal lust from earlier began mounting inside me.

“Chase,” I whispered, drawing closer to him.

In an instant, he turned toward me and threw his hands around my waist, clasping onto my hips with a distinct firmness. Before I knew what was happening, he leaned in and pressed his lips against mine, and I all but melted right then and there. I kissed him back, taking him in totally and completely, as our lips danced against each other’s. The longer we kissed, the more passionate it became, and soon I felt his tongue slipping between my lips and thrusting into my mouth. My own tongue danced against his, and I felt his hands moving from my hips and up my back, his grip still firm and strong. I wrapped my own hands around his neck, pulling him in deeper as our tongues continued to intertwine.

He tasted of sweat and honey, and his salty breath filled my nostrils as the passion intensified. I wanted him. In that moment, I wanted him more than anything in the world. I wanted him to lift me up and carry me into one of the bedrooms and have his way with me. But a single thought kept reverberating in my mind.

Depends on who you ask
, he’d said. He hadn’t denied he was a monster.

Still, my body protested against my better judgment, and I pulled him even closer, letting my fingers trace over the muscles beneath his shirt. At the same time, he moved his own hands over my back, teasing the zipper on the back of my dress. It was obvious that he wanted me as much as I wanted him, but he was, for some reason, hesitant. After building up enough willpower, I pulled away from his kiss before I ended up losing control altogether.

“Is something wrong?” he asked after a moment, his eyes boring into me intently, something dark and almost dangerous seeming to ignite behind them.

“It’s just…” I stammered, my heart and mind still racing from the kiss. “I don’t know…”

Chase pulled away from me then, a look of pain and frustration overtaking his features as he backed against a wall.

“What is it?” he asked me.

“I need to know,” I told him. “Why did my parents say you were ‘different’? Why don’t you belong here?”

Chase closed his eyes and took a long, deep breath.

Chase

I held my breath for what felt like an eternity, my eyes closed, and my heart racing. That moment of passion with Andrea has been the single greatest moment of my life. Her lips were pure pleasure, and the soft curves beneath her dress held more comfort than anything I’d ever come across. There was something about this woman, something wonderful and compelling, and I couldn’t shake the thought that she was destined to be mine. I’d never bought into the fated mates ordeal, especially after having been raised by two bears who all but loathed one another, but I just couldn’t get around the fact that I wanted Andrea more than I’d ever wanted anything in my life. When I’d kissed her, I’d felt, for the first time in my life, completely and totally at peace. More than that, I’d felt
whole.
Like I’d found the other half of my soul.

The entire trip up the mountain, I’d battled with telling her the truth about myself. That not only had I saved her from a bear in the mountains earlier in the day, but that I
was
a bear as well. As far as I knew, my parents were the only shifters in the region, so knowledge of my kind wouldn’t exactly be commonly held. I wanted to be honest with her, wanted her to accept me for who I am - primal beast and all - but, at the same time, I didn’t want to scare her away.

Still, I reckoned, it was her choice after all. She wanted to know if I was a monster, and she had every right to know.

“Yes,” I whispered breathlessly. I opened my eyes and looked deeply into hers.

“What?” Her jaw was firm, and her hands were planted atop her hips.

“At the restaurant, you asked if I was a monster. The answer is yes. I am.”

There was no turning back now. She’d want to know what I meant, and I planned to show her. Without waiting for her to respond, I inhaled sharply and shifted into my bear form, my massive predator’s body filling the corner of the room as I stood upright.