Once Upon a Shifter (94 page)

Suddenly, he heard a sound from the upstairs bedroom. He couldn't let Cynthia find out he had spent the night with her niece. He made sure that no part of Keyla's body was exposed to the morning chill and, hearing the approaching steps getting louder and louder down the staircase, he finally found the strength to slip out stealthily into the dark front parlor of the bakery.

Chapter 10

Corin

Corin pulled on the bear skin that was still draped around her shoulders and secured with an ornate lacquered clasp at her collar bone. She shivered underneath and the bear bristles heaved with the slight rise of her shoulders. Despite her primal nature, her nervousness and the excitement of doing something forbidden made her immune to her usual indifference to the surrounding atmospheric conditions. Still, in the deep cavern, it was no more than twenty degrees and there wasn't even a hint of the sunny spring that reigned outside. As she strode even further into the depths of the cave, she clutched the baby tighter and mentally thanked her mother for sticking the potion in her dress pocket in case she got the jitters during the wedding ceremony. Now, she had emptied it into the baby's crying, open mouth and within minutes, it had fallen asleep like an angel in her arms. It felt rather unnatural to hold the small creature in her hands. Its little squirming body and large blue eyes, its pointless smile and loud giggles didn't awaken anything in her, not even a hint of an ordinary bear's instinct to protect its young. Not a shade of remorse or guilt hung over her determination.

They had ruined her wedding. She had been standing there, all covered in red paste, her perfect dress ruined, and she herself humiliated. With an unprecedented force of willpower, she had managed to remain in human form even after all the people around her had shifted into their ravenous bear selves at the mere smell of blood. She had kept her mind clear, she had not succumbed to her nature and to the almost unbearable desire to jump into the fight, to join Damien and her clan, to destroy and kill all that came into her sight.

No, she had thought hard and fast and despite the rage that boiled inside her, she had devised a plan. Unobstructed by the blinded by the fight bears, she had simply walked into the cabin that was Chase and Shona's home and scooped up their unattended baby from its crib, and she had run. She hadn't stopped to catch her breath until she had reached the cave.

Now that there was no hope for her to become the Queen of her own little bear clan, she could see only one option. The thought of revenge seared her insides and kept her going.

When she finally sat down to rest on a jutting rock above a freezing cold underground spring, the baby stirred in her hands. She knew it would be hungry. She'd have to figure that out. For now, she just needed to stay still and hide until it was all over and done with. She knew how these fights went. Soon, all the bears would disperse across the mountains, running away or hunting, depending on their strength. She smoothed down her dirty skirts and lay the baby on its back in her lap, stroking its tiny belly with her fingers.

"Shh, hush, little one," she said, almost in singsong, "You and I are going to have such a sweet life together. You needn't worry. I'll take care of you, little bear boy. I'll teach you all you need to know. I'll be your perfect mommy. Little bear boys grow up fast, you know. Soon, you will be a real man. The strongest, most powerful, most charming man. And when you do, you will finish what your mommy most longs for. You will go against your own kin, against those who wronged mommy. We have a long, long time to spend together little one, but I'll learn to love you and you will learn to do anything I ask of you."

She started singing quietly the only lullaby she remembered from her childhood, and perhaps the hunger and exhaustion were playing tricks on her, but when the baby finally opened its eyes and looked into hers, she thought she saw him wink at her.

***

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More Paranormal Romance by Shelley Shifter:

Accidental Mate: A BBW Billionaire Shifter Romance
:
Brett, an alpha-hot billionaire and a bear shifter, is faced with an ultimatum and a fast-approaching deadline. Either he is to present his chosen mate to the members of his clan before the end of the week, or he would have to take the bride they have already selected for him. 
Simone, a curvy, sassy medical student, has been happily engaged, but recently she has begun to notice another side to her normally attentive and loving fiance. As things between them start accelerating downhill fast, she begins to wonder if he really is the right person for her. 
A horrific accident involving Brett and an unfortunate set of events for Simone bring the two together in the most unlikely of circumstances. WIth the clock ticking and all the odds against them, is it possible that they might turn into accidental mates? 
This is a STANDALONE novella with NO CLIFFHANGER, which contains explicit scenes, suitable for audiences of 18 and up.

Bear Tycoon: A Billionaire Shifter Romance:
Everyone wants a piece of Luke. With his alpha temperament, dashing good looks, and a 9-digit bank account, he is among Boston’s most eligible bachelors. In the past two years that he has chaired the Board of Directors of a multi-billion corporation, his staff hasn’t stopped wondering about his eccentric ways. No one knows he is a bear shifter and he intends to keep it that way. He has never held on to a personal assistant for more than two weeks. Inevitably, the overly qualified, impeccable girls he hires for the position are fired the Friday of their second week on the job. 
Curvy, sassy Jane is a recent college drop-out with a pretty bleak future. Estranged from her family, her credit card debt soaring, and with only her cat and her best friend to turn to, she decides it’s time to take action. After carefully manipulating her credentials, she applies for a job that she is hardly qualified for, but after a lucky turn of events, she gets hired as the personal assistant of the most notorious boss in Boston. Little does she know that the job comes with a two weeks’ notice attached. 
As the deadline approaches, the relationship between Luke and Jane quickly heats up both in and out of the office, but would that be enough to put a stop to the streak of fired assistants? Would Luke let a woman close enough to find out what he really is and why he protects his privacy so fiercely? 
This is a STANDALONE novella of about 15,000+ words with NO CLIFFHANGER. It includes steamy scenes.

And many more!
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The Right Bear’s Arms

By Nora Eli

Chapter One

Every Friday morning, like clockwork, the same rough old teamster would sit in Katie’s section and comment on her ass.

“Hey, sweetcheeks! Why don’t you walk that big ass over here and get me some coffee?” His big, hoarse, three-pack-a-day voice boomed across the diner, followed by a raucous laugh at his own cleverness.

Katie rolled her eyes and raised her index finger to him (instead of the finger she really wanted to raise), and tried to focus on the two customers sitting in front of her. The big one especially. When he’d walked in, he’d nearly filled the diner’s door frame, and he was gorgeous, like, “haven’t I seen you on a magazine somewhere before?” gorgeous: longish wavy chestnut hair, chiseled jaw marked with stubble. It was hard to keep from staring. She smiled at him, desperately wishing she had her camera with her. What a portrait he’d make. “Sorry about that, what can I get you?”

Tall-and-Beautiful gave her a once-over that traced her full curves like fingertips. Men looked at her chest and hips all the time—they were hard to miss in the pink rayon of her uniform, but no one had ever made her feel weak in the knees before. “Do you need somebody to talk to him?” He meant the teamster. God, even his voice was sexy.

“Nah, it’s okay. I can handle him.” She flashed him a grin despite the pulse racing in her throat. “Besides, he usually tips like a dream.”

“He better,” Tall-and-Beautiful rumbled.

“Jake, quit flirting and order, I’m starving.” The other man at the table
looked
starving, scrawny and pinched-looking, like a kicked dog. That’d be another great picture. Black and white, slouched in front of a grimy brick wall and—wait.

Was
he flirting? Oh god, he
was
. Katie’s pulse hit triple-time.

“Yeah, yeah,” Jake said. Not only was he flirting, but he blushed when he got caught. Oh, he was going to be trouble. “I’ll take the special,” he said. “Rafe’s gonna order that awful garbage omelet you make, just watch.”

“I like it, it’s got everything,” Rafe whined. He was kind of cute, in a puppyish way. “And coffee,” he said to Katie. “Lots of coffee.”

“Got it. I’ll be right back with the coffee.” She glanced at Jake and their eyes met. Her breath caught in her throat, trapped by the warm brown depths of his eyes. There
was
something familiar about him, as if she’d met him somewhere before. No chance of that though, she’d remember those broad shoulders and big, capable-looking hands. Hands like that made a girl have dirty thoughts, thinking about what those fingers might be able to do. No, she hadn’t met him before, but she was glad she had now.

“Can’t wait,” Jake said. The way he looked at her made her mouth go dry and her palms go damp.

Instead of trying to say something witty, she turned to put in their order, conscious of Jake watching her walk away.

“Katie, order up!” That’d be for the teamster, ugh.

Mack, the owner and short order cook, pushed the plate across the pass. He’d had tried to speak up for her the first couple times the teamster had given her grief, but Katie didn’t need her boss to stand up for her. She could deal with a few fat jokes. Yeah, she was a big girl, always had been. It was in her DNA. She was built like a mama bear at the end of summer: tall and broad-hipped and plump.

“Come on, I want to see you move it, honey. Don’t send your scrawny little friend over here.”

Katie gritted her teeth. As far as she was concerned, anyone talking about the size of her ass was just stating the obvious. But talking smack about Anna? That was over the line. Anna was about the sweetest person Katie knew.

“Don’t kill him,” Anna whispered as Katie passed her carrying his food.

“Can I singe him a little?”

“Better not, he looks like the type who’s friends with the cops.”

Katie huffed a stray copper curl out of her eyes for about the tenth time that morning, and put on her best smile. She’d grown up dealing with men like him: loud, obnoxious, uncouth—smelly. At least she was willing to bet the teamster couldn’t turn into a nine-foot tall bear and maul her if she pissed him off. And her mother wondered why she never wanted to be the mate of an alpha bear. “Here you go.”

“Took you long enough,” he said as she got to his table. “Where’s my coffee, heifer?”

She kept smiling, and leaned over closer. “Listen, ‘sweetcheeks.’ I know you’re a big man who likes to talk big, and that’s fine. You can say whatever you want to say about me, but you leave my friend out of it.” She looked him in the eye. “Didn’t anybody ever tell you it’s a bad idea to piss off the people handling your food?” She walked away to get his coffee.

By the time she came back with the coffee pot, he’d thought up a witty response. “Hey girlie, you better—”

“I’m just saying.” Katie finished pouring the hot, hot coffee without spilling a drop. “This coffee is really hot, and accidents do happen.” She shook her head. “Floor gets slippery, especially over here. It’d be a shame if all this boiling hot coffee wound up in somebody’s lap.”

“You wouldn’t.”

Katie just smiled at him. “Slippery floor. You stay sweet to everybody, and I’ll be sure to be extra careful.”

“You’re crazy.”

“Now you’re getting it.” She blew him a kiss and went to take care of her other customers. Including and especially Jake and his friend.

“What did you say to him?” Jake asked. “He went white as a sheet.”

Katie poured coffee for the two men, this time with no threat of bodily harm. “We just had a little talk about food safety.”

Jake looked at her with wide, awed eyes. “Damn, woman. Marry me. Anybody who can shake up an old goat like that is somebody I want on my side.”

A tingle shot down her spine, as if she thought he really meant it.
Stop it. Doesn’t matter how much he stares at your boobs, he’s not the type to go for you
.

***

Jake told himself he had to stop staring at Katie’s breasts. He’d noticed her the second they’d come in, like there was a spotlight following her around the greasy spoon. Every inch of her glorious curves made his hands itch to touch her. Statuesque, curvy, and a redhead to boot, it was like someone took a peek at all of his favorite fantasies and turned them into one girl. And then she started talking and the urge to pick her up and run away with her got worse. She was more than sexy as hell, she was sharp and tough. His inner bear was awake, growling, and scenting the air hungrily.

When he blurted out his proposal, he was only half-kidding.