Hansel's Bear (Erotic Shifter Fairy Tale) (17 page)

She was popping her hips back, taking
everything he had to give her and demanding more. Her claws were
out and her nails were imbedded deep in the bark of the
tree.

The sight of her bear claws unsheathed
and the sound of her passion-filled voice, begging and pleading
with him to satisfy her on a deeper level—Were-style

Still holding her thigh in one hand,
he moved his other from her hip up her body until he was sliding it
along her arm. He linked his fingers through hers, needing the
intimacy of the connection.

No longer able to hold back, he
unleashed his bear, giving it liberty to take him and Greta beyond
the superficial level of pleasure. In a swift move, he released her
leg, dragged the collar of her dress wide and below the curve of
her shoulder as he sank his teeth into the firm flesh at the end of
the slope of her neck.

Mine
.

Greta’s scream of fulfillment caused
birds to take flight from the trees.

His growl of passion was harsh and
loud as he seated himself home at the mouth of her womb and
climaxed.

Shivers of satisfaction raced along
his spine as he slowly became aware of everything at once. Assuaged
with guilt, he removed his teeth from her, licked over the opening
and stumbled back.

“
Hansel…oh, no…no, no,
no…”

Fuck! What have I
done?
He yanked his pants up his hips,
then pulled them together as he stared at the woman before
him.

“
Yes, what
have
you done?” She
turned as she put her dress to rights, her gaze landed on him as
she shot daggers at him.

“
Why didn’t you stay away?
You shouldn’t have come here.” He shoved his hands into his hair
wanting to scream, yell, tear something apart, but instead he sank
his teeth into his bottom lip trying to keep his cool, in an uncool
situation.
This wasn’t what I
intended.

“
You! What you intended.”
She charged at him, not stopping until she was a foot away as she
shook with anger, a she-bear full of righteous indignation.
Ugh, males. Always thinking everything is about
them.

“
I know it is not just
about me,” he growled. “I’ve got important things that I
still
need to do.
Between you…this county….I keep putting them on hold.”

“
I’m trying to have a life
finally. Which you clearly stated doesn’t include you.”

Lowering his head and
staring at the forest floor, he sighed. I want it to include
me.
Oh, Blackberry if I could promise you
tomorrow I’d give you the moon forever.

Knowing that doesn’t make
this any easier.
“I had plans to
participate in the Bear Run. Finally get a mate…start a family.”
Her voice hitched and wobbled.
What
were-male will seek me out now?

Two things caused his soul to shatter,
the sound of Greta crying and his bear whining inside of him at the
thought of his mate with someone else. He looked up at her, gazing
upon her profile as she stared into the forest. Seeing her unsure
of herself as she stood clutching her collar tight over the place
where he’d marked her.

I’d seek you.

A laugh broke from her lips.
“You…yeah, right. Don’t tease me, Hansel, this day is bad
enou—”

Lightening of understanding struck
them both simultaneously.

She faced him as she took several
cautious steps away as if she was afraid to make any sudden
moves.

He was feeling just as anxious and
unsettled as he remained frozen in place, his feet stuck as if
weighed down with lead.

“
Please tell me you said
that…with your voice….out of your mouth,” she pleaded.

“
Said what?” He couldn’t
put words to anything right now, he was also too unsettled in his
core. All he could do was hope she was talking about the last words
he
actually
spoke. “What did you hear me say, Greta?”

She licked her lips and fingered her
hair behind her ear as if she wasn’t sure what to do with
herself.

“
What did you hear?”
Finally able to get his body to move, he took a step toward
her.

Shaking her head, she didn’t stop her
retreat until her back was pressed against the tree they had just
had sex against.

“
Tell me!” Birds scattered
and small woodland animals scurried away at his shout. He wasn’t
angry at Greta, more at the universe….definitely pissed at himself
for allowing his bear to take the lead and bite her. What should
have been mark one.

“
I’d seek you. Damn it!”
She yelled back, slamming her hands hard against his
chest.

The impact caused him to titter back
some but he still held his place. “I never spoke those words,
Greta.”

Her eyes filled with tears. “How is
that possible? Every Were knows that mind-linking doesn’t take
place until the second bite.” She shut her eyes.

“
Something must be
wrong.”

There wasn’t a hint of gold in her
eyes when she looked at him again. “Did you at any time the other
night allow your teeth to break my skin?”

“
No.” He folded his arms
over his chest.

“
Think Hansel. Maybe you
thought it was insignificant, a small scrape.”

“
Hell, no. I was careful.
Do you think I want to be in this situation?”

Wrong words.

A single tear dropped from one eye and
rolled down her cheek.

His gaze followed it, his heart ached.
He wished things could be different.

He reached for her. “Greta,
I’m—”

She lifted her hands, warding him off.
“Trust me, I know where you stand on this.” Pushing off the tree,
she walked further into the woods.”

Fuck! Fuck! He quickly halted his
rant, remembering she could hear his thoughts.

“
We have to think. This
has to be a fluke.” She stopped, resting her hands on her
hip.

He could hear the different theories
she was tossing around in her mind as she attempted to sort out why
they were at the second level of bonding. Allowing her her mental
space, he returned to the night they were together and ran every
moment through his mind. He came up empty time and
again.

“
Greta, I’m at a loss. At
no time the other night did I come across any wounds or cuts on
your skin that I licked—transferring my serum into you.”

“
Maybe the Den elder Weres
can help us figure this out.” She turned. Her face was tight with
stress and worry. She took a few steps toward him. Maybe because of
her mental exhaustion the hitch in her step appeared a little more
pronounced than usual.

At that moment his bear brought the
old image up of how they met. Hansel recalled Greta shifting to her
human form in that small filthy cage. The fear and pain on her face
as she stared down at the deep lacerations on her left ankle. Her
face had contorted as she got ready to scream, cry out.

He’d been shocked to see another Were.
The other animals and bears the vicious trio had brought in were
always just animals, none shifters. Seeing her upset and the agony
she showed, he’d done something he hadn’t done since he lost his
parents, he shifted. Taking human form he rushed to her, grateful
that the chain holding him was long enough for him to reach her
cage. He kneeled down close to her and shushed her.

The memory of her gazing upon him with
hope-filled eyes still made his heart swell even now. He’d wanted
to be her savior, in whatever capacity he could. Freeing her was
not in his control, but healing the grotesque wound was.

“
I healed you.”

Her brows tightened.
“What?”

Pointing at her ankle, he repeated it.
“I healed you. Your first night at the carny circus.”

She rotated her left foot in her short
boot. “That can’t be it. It’s possible to lick someone and not
release your serum into your saliva. It’s basic Were-bear first
aid.”

“
I was young and
inexperienced. I wasn’t thinking. I just wanted to help you. Heal
you. Share my strength with you in a horrible situation.” He tilted
his head back and stared up at the dappling sunlight between the
trees.

“
It all makes sense
now.”

“
What does?” Lowering his
head, he met her gaze.

“
How you located
me.”

“
I wasn’t trying to find
you, Blackberry. I was headed somewhere else, when I pulled off to
rest and took a little walk through the forest.” He shoved his
hands into his pocket. That wasn’t completely true, he was more
drawn through the forest than out for a nature hike.

“
I know. But, you still
saw us that day at the stream during the salmon catch. You roared.”
She moved to him. Not touching him, but close enough he could feel
her heat.

“
A Were-male picked you up
in his arms.”

“
Even from that distance I
knew it was me.” She reached out and touched the end of his long
hair, where it lay against his chest.

“
I know it was you.” He
inhaled deeply, taking in her scent. He’d never tire of smelling
wildflowers and rain showers, that earthy scent that was Greta.
Lifting his hand, he covered the back of hers, holding it against
him.

She sighed and slipped it away as she
stepped back appearing contrite as a shadow entered her onyx eyes.
“With one mark I could have still found someone else. A Were ready
to settle down with me.”

Stop fucking saying
that.

“
Why? Are you going to
declare yourself to me, Hansel?” She raised her arms up at her side
and allowed them to fall back against her thighs with a loud slap.
“Maybe you planned to drop to your knees right now and place the
final bite along the side of my pussy.”

He reared back.

A harsh laugh came from her. “I
thought not.”

Turning away from her, he took steps
that widened the gulf between them, not just physically but
emotionally as well. “You don’t understand—”

It was her sharp intake of air that
stopped his sentence and swung his body back around to
her.

The horrified expression on her face
shocked him. Then he knew what it was that she had seen, his
back.

“
Oh, Great Spirit…” she
reached out a hand and grabbed his shoulder attempting to force him
back around’

When that didn’t work, she tried to
move around to get behind him. “Hansel.” She gave him an
incredulous stare, her dark eyelids stretched wide.

“
Leave it
alone.”

“
What happened to your
back?”

He sliced a hand through the air and
stepped back from her. “Just leave it alone.”

“
I will not. Tell me what
happened to you. How did you come by all those scars?” She rested a
hand over her heart.

“
It doesn’t matter.” He
continued to move back.

She kept advancing until she had him
pressed against a tree. “Hansel, with everything else that is
happening between us right now, just talk to me,
please.”

The last thing he wanted
to do was to relive his hellish existence. However, something
inside of him ached, desired to share the burden with
someone.
She
was
the closest thing he had to a family. If not Greta then
who?

“
I know somehow they did
this. Those men from the circus.” Closing the distance between them
she touched his shoulder, urging him to turn.

Letting out a heavy sigh he shifted,
displaying the physical evidence of his harsh life.

Slowly and one scar at a time she
traced each mark from his shoulders down to his lower back. Her
touch was painful to endure, not because she was pressing down or
hurting him physically, but emotionally the gentle brushing of her
fingers brought back every memory to his mind.

“
There are so many of
them. A few of them are close to your kidneys. If they had been
deeper they could have killed you.” She kept caressing them over
and over again, like a painter with a brush trying to bring to life
every detail.

Bowing his head, he stood still and
allowed her touch to do what time could not—heal him.

“
When they first captured
me I was a wild one.”

“
How old were
you?”

He glanced over his shoulder and met
her gaze. “Maybe six winters.”

“
Practically a
baby.”

Shrugging he, said, “I guess in some
ways.”

“
You had to be terrified.
I know I was when they got me.”

“
I was afraid, but I was
angry and violent. I tried hard to attack anyone who came near my
cage. I wanted my family, my life back.” He stared before him, out
into the distance. He could see the warehouse and thought about his
work there this week. Rorke must be wondering where he
went.