Paige's Bossy Bear (A BBW Paranormal Romance) (A Blackwood Brothers' Book)

PAIGE’S BOSSY BEAR

             
              Copyright 2014 by

MARIE MASON

This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be resold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

ABOUT THIS BOOK:

They said the road to true love could be rocky. Quinn’s courtship of Paige was covered with huge freaking boulders!

Paige Matthews had finally found her one true love, bear shifter named Quinn Blackwood. Raised by an elderly aunt, she has never relied on anyone for anything. Adjusting to a big bear shifter—a big, bossy, bear shifter—was taking some getting used to. Especially, when he insisted they move in together. She didn’t know why she was hesitating. Fate had given her everything she’d ever desired. What it hadn’t done was provide an instruction manual on her to handle her alpha male bear.

One blind date had revealed Paige was indeed Quinn Blackwood’s true mate and he couldn’t be happier with the curvy beauty. Circumstances had placed her in danger and his bear on the edge. Now that the danger had passed, the man—and the bear—was having a difficult time giving her the space she needed.

Perhaps it
was
time to toss her over his shoulder and show her just how bossy this bear could be.

PAIGE’S BOSSY BEAR

A BLACKWOOD BROTHERS’ BOOK             

Paige expected Quinn home from work any minute. She’d made his favorite dinner. Steaks—yes, plural, she would never get use to how much bear shifters ate—baked potatoes, and surprisingly, a large salad. He loved fruits and vegetables. He especially loved one of his mother’s fresh fruit cobblers. Not as much as Paige’s honey cake, but close.

Nothing
had gone as planned this week. An urgent project had kept her busy at work and Quinn had been working late each evening at the construction site. Today she’d made it home only an hour later than usual, but she knew the reprieve would be short lived. More late nights were in her future.

She rubbed her hands
down the outside of her thighs, nervous about her appearance. The steam from a quick shower had dampened her hair, releasing some of the natural curl. She had brushed it until it shown, then left it down, the way Quinn liked it. Her outfit was cute and sassy; a matching skirt and top that clung in all the right places. It was a pretty peachy-pink color that set off the reddish highlights in her hair. It was something one would wear on a weekend date to the park. Not what a woman should wear to seduce her boyfriend. Seduction called for a slinky red dress and four-inch high heels. Just not Paige’s style. She had a difficult time doing seductive. Her clothes usually consisted of black pants and monotone blouses. Functional, conservative, low-key.

While her outfit might be cute and
sassy, the underthings she’d bought were anything but. If she’d thought the white lacy matching bra and panty set she’d worn on her first date with Quinn had been risqué, the one she had on now put her on the slut-of-the-year list. It screamed
do me
and
do me now
.

H
ard and fast.

That
was how she wanted Quinn; no needed him. She felt that need undulate inside her. Her breasts felt heavy and exposed. She thought about the items she’d purchased on her way home and placed in the nightstand beside the big king sized bed upstairs. When Quinn had explained how bears mated, there was one particular fact that had caught the interest of her inner bad girl. He hadn’t mentioned it again. She didn’t know if it was to give her a chance to become comfortable with the thought, or if he had changed his mind about finishing the mating bond.
Stop it, Paige,
she warned herself. She’d just said they’d both been worked off their feet lately.

She
chewed at her fingernail, a nervous habit she knew, and then stopped, not wanting to ruin her manicure. Geez, you would have thought having a big bear shifter at your beck and call, proclaiming to be your true mate, would settle a girl’s nerves. It hadn’t.

Deb
had warned her that she’d feel, umm, horny as the mating bond grew between her and Quinn. She hadn’t told her she would turn into a nympho. Maybe she was in heat or something. She rubbed a hand across her stomach. It was just wishful thinking on her part even though they hadn’t used a condom since the night he’d mated with her, doing nothing to prevent a pregnancy. They were letting nature take its course. Just like their mating. So far, nature had been telling them no, it wasn’t time for children. She was sad, not devastated. But sad. She longed for a baby, but was in no hurry, figuring it would happen when it happened. But it had been three months already. Three months filled with sex, sex, and more sex. She worried that maybe something was wrong with her. That she couldn’t conceive. She knew how much having a family meant to Quinn, how much it meant to her.

No,
everything would be fine she assured herself.

Except for her bossy bear.

She sighed. That really wasn’t a fair description of Quinn. He wasn’t bossy. Not in the ‘I’m going to keep you away from all of your friends and start beating you’ bossy. No, the ‘bossy’ was a direct side effect of his dominant side. Which wasn’t a bad side. He wanted her to give up her rented house and move in with him. Something inside of Paige told her not to do it. Not yet. Not that she doubted her love for him, or his for hers. Who wouldn’t believe the word of a thousand pound bear shifter whose cock got hard the moment she smiled at him? No, this was more about the doubts she carried inside herself because she was a big girl. A curvy girl. A damn sexy girl as Quinn called her. She smiled then frowned. Why was she hesitating? He was everything she had ever wanted in a man. Big, strong, intelligent. So sexy it made her hurt to look at him sometimes. Loving, kind, protective.
Bossy.
There was that word again. Was his instinctive dominance too much for her?

It
felt like forever since she’d been in his arms. She found herself suddenly desperate to feel the stubble of his bread roughened jaw chaffing against their mate mark, and lower, down the slope of her breasts, her nipples, the tender insides of her thighs. Damn it, she wanted him to lick her pussy until she screamed his name and came against his tongue. She fought the urge to touch her clit and provide herself with some much-needed relief.

Instead,
she checked on the food once more before walking back into the large living space. Over the last two months, she’d spent almost as much time here as she had in her own small, rented house. Quinn’s home was beautiful; there was no doubt about that. It was warm, inviting; the perfect place to live. She sat down in one of the soft leather chairs he’d positioned by the fireplace.

She
was not a weak woman. She had an opinion about everything and wasn’t afraid to express it. And Quinn didn’t mind. In fact, she knew he deliberately picked controversial subjects just to argue with her. Of course, he always followed that up with mind-blowing sex, so who didn’t mind a strong difference of opinion. Even though he pushed her buttons and riled her up every now and then, she knew they shared the same fundamental beliefs in most things. The important things.

So why
was she hesitating about taking the next step in their relationship? She scrunched down in the chair, staring out of the huge floor to ceiling windows on the far side of the room. The first official day of summer had been a week ago and there was nowhere better to enjoy the beautiful days of summer. The early evening sky was just turning its brilliant shades of reds and oranges and yellows. Quinn had told her she could change anything she didn’t like about his house. The problem was there wasn’t a thing she didn’t like.

Just like th
e chair she was occupying. The softest, most supple leather she had ever felt. No expense spared, because he liked the best. That’s what he’d said. And that’s what gave her doubts. She wasn’t the best. She was far from perfect. And she was human. Maybe she should do some more research, this time on mated couples. Then she thought better of it. Hadn’t the information on the internet almost cost her Quinn? She’d stubbornly refused to believe she was his mate just because he hadn’t thrown her over his shoulder and had his wicked way with her the very first time he’d scented her.

Of course, the internet said nothing about bears
who were arrogant and bossy. If it did, Quinn’s picture would be the one they saw on the Wikipedia site. Again, she didn’t know why the hesitation. She was an independent woman who wanted and needed a dominate man. A man who realized she wanted to be taken care of, one that instinctively knew she needed to let her guard down, let someone in. Quinn Blackwood was indeed a dominate male and the only one she wanted in her life.

She glanced at the clock wondering if she should get up and do
something. The urge was a product of her workweek no doubt. It had been crammed full of meetings and revisions. Always hurrying, always on the go even when there was nothing left to do. The food was warming in the oven, ready to serve whenever Quinn arrived and they were ready to eat. She yawned and fought to keep her eyes opened. The softness of the chair tugged at her backside, cushioning her tired muscles. It lulled her with its comfort to sink back. Relax. It wouldn’t hurt anything to rest for a few minutes. She was so damn tired and she didn’t know why. She smiled to herself. She did know why. Her big shifter lover was keeping her up until all hours of the night. Loving her like she had never been loved before.

C
losing her eyes, she realized there was nothing wrong about taking a nap. As sleep over came she thought with a sigh, there was nothing wrong about taking a nap.

Quinn opened the kitchen door and the scent of something delicious had his stomach growling. He’d barely taken the time to have lunch, hoping to get through his day sooner, eager to get home to Paige. The smell of grilled meat wasn’t the only thing filling the air. So was the scent of his mate. His bear rumbled its approval. There were times when he still couldn’t believe fate had handed her to him almost on a silver platter. He bent down to remove his steel-toed boots, leaving them by the door. Damn, he was tired. He was ready to get away with Paige where no one could find them. He’d take her somewhere remote and private. And he meant take her. His animal was getting crazy with lust. He’d thought the heat and desire would have died down, settling into a nice, controllable rage. But it hadn’t. Maybe it was the fact that she wasn’t pregnant yet. He knew it bothered her. Hell, it bothered him, but for different reasons. He wanted to plant his seed inside her, marking her as his once again. He wanted to watch her stomach swell with his cub. Maybe that was why he’d been so ill tempered lately.

T
hat and the fact that Paige continued to refuse to move in with him. The woman was so damned stubborn. On the one hand, he understood her reluctance. Well, the man did. The bear was giving him hell for not hauling her ass home and keeping her there. They were mates. Mated.

Maybe
it was time he took her rounded ass and proved to her just who she belonged to.

Quinn hardened at the
thought.

He
knew he was pushing her out of her comfort zone insisting they move in together. Paige had been on her own for a long time and the assholes she’d been involved with before they’d met hadn’t helped either. His bear rumbled and fussed thinking about Paige with another man.

The weeks they stayed at her house
were tough on him and his bear. It was a sturdy house but it was too small. Quinn’s shoulders tensed just thinking about it. He knew it was selfish of him to be happy they were staying at his house this week. It was a longer commute for her from his house and he didn’t like her driving the extra miles. She had not taken kindly to the suggestion that he drive her to work and pick her up every evening. That plan had been shot to hell anyway when his time at the construction site had started eating into the evening hours.

He frowned when he discovered the
kitchen empty. The food was warming in the oven as if she’d given up waiting on him to come home.
Shit.
How late was he? The clock on the wall told him he should have been home over an hour ago.
Double shit.

That still
didn’t explain where Paige was. His bear became agitated. He strode out of the kitchen into the living room and breathed a sigh of relief when he heard a slight noise. A steady snore filtered through the air and a smile touched his lips. For such a little thing, she could sure belt one out. He chuckled. When had the sound of his mate’s light snoring become so beautiful?

The house
was large and spacious, more than enough room to house his already rambunctious brothers and sisters and their offspring. He knew it would be years before the family holidays and celebrations moved from his parents’ house but he’d wanted to be prepared. He’d built his house with a family of bear shifters in mind. His future family. Unlike his twin brothers, he’d always known he wanted a family. A mate. Cubs. A family he’d only dreamed would include someone he loved so damned much.

Paige. His mate. His heart.

He found her slumped in one of the large leather chairs that flanked the fireplace. Her eyes were closed, her lips parted. She was beautiful. Her hair was loose around her shoulders, just the way he liked it. She’d dressed in a peachy frothy blouse that made her look like a fairy princess.

He
couldn’t blame her for falling asleep. He had paid an arm and a leg for those chairs and he had dozed off in them too many times to count. Paige shifted but she didn’t open her eyes. Instead she half turned, snuggling deeper against the soft leather. Her scent filled his head and oddly enough, his arousal didn’t ramp up any higher. Instead, he felt a sense of peace he’d never felt before settle in his soul.

His mate
. His mate was in his house.

Boy,
would the twins give him hell if they knew he had a beautiful woman in his house and all he wanted to do was gather her in his arms and take a nap. If this was what being mated did to a bear…he was all for it. He wanted to pick her up and settle her across his lap. Or across his knee until she agreed to move in with him. That thought had his cock stirring to life and he clenched his fists, resisting the urge to scoop her up in his arms and carry her upstairs. Two things prevented him from doing just that. He smelled like the devil himself and she looked tired as hell.

A small measure of guilt crept up inside him. He
knew why she looked so damn tired. She hadn’t had a full night’s sleep since they’d mated. He loved her well into the night, reaching for her time after time until dawn streaked across the sky. She never said no, as eager for his touch as he was for hers.