The Playboy Bear's Baby: BBW Paranormal Shape Shifter Romance (3 page)

Someone
bumped into her side. “Get a room.”

Mara
reluctantly pulled away from his luscious lips and opened her eyes. She sighed
and shook her head. “Stupid people.”

Gray
grinned down at her. “They have a point. Too much more of that and all the
rednecks in here might spontaneously combust just from watching us.”

She
laughed. “I highly doubt that.”

“I
don’t think you realize just how beautiful you really are.”

Mara
bit into her bottom lip and looked away.

Gray
caught her chin between two fingers and guided her face back around so she was
gazing up at him again. “I don’t know who hurt you or convinced you not to
believe you’re beautiful, but they were a fool.”

Mara
melted under his attention. She lifted up on her toes and kissed him, not
caring who might be watching or what they’d think. She buried her fingers in
the short hair at his nape and poured every ounce of the passion she felt into
the melding of their mouths. The kiss went on and on until her head spun and
her pulse raced. Her body heated like she was standing next to an open flame.

Gray
eased back. “You want to find somewhere more private?”

She
blinked up at him and licked her lips, still tasting him there. “Okay.”

He
grabbed her hand and hurried her through the throng of partygoers toward the
back of the bar. They rushed down a dim hallway and through an unmarked door
that lead outside. She glanced left and right, looking over the dark alley
behind the bar to assure they were by themselves. They were alone with a
massive quantity of empty crates and a big ugly dumpster.

Before
she could question the sanity of hooking up out in the open, Gray was right up
against her, ushering her backward against the brick exterior of the building.
She wrapped her arms around his neck and lifted her face up, anxious for more.
He didn’t disappoint. He claimed her mouth, caressing her lips with his own,
and licked inside to explore the recess beyond her teeth. She closed her eyes
and kissed him back, relishing the taste and feel of him against her.

Passion
ignited between them and made her blood rush hot. She’d never felt so attracted
to someone she’d just met. It was like their bodies were somehow already
attuned and desperate to reconnect. Whatever was happening between them, she
wanted to explore it. She wanted to explore him.

Gray
kissed across her cheek and up her jaw. He nipped her earlobe and soothed away
the sting with his tongue. She shivered at the hot contact with his mouth and
the cool sensation of his breath wafting over her damp flesh.

She
let go of his shoulders and ran her hands down his broad chest, feeling his
firm pecs through the thin material of his shirt. Beneath her palms, his heart
beat fast and true. She trailed her fingers lower and rubbed over his hard
stomach. The heel of her palms brushed up against his belt. Was he hard? How
much did he really want her? Unable to resist, she pressed her palm over the hefty
bulge behind his fly. Her fingers automatically curved inward, wrapping around
his swollen cock. It seemed to grow longer, harder, beneath her touch.

He
rocked into her touch and moaned against her throat. That was all the incentive
she needed to continue. Without waiting or asking for permission, she unbuckled
his belt and undid his pants. She reached inside and wrapped her fingers around
him and stroked his heavy length as best she could while trapped inside the
confines of his jeans. His cock pulsed under her fingertips, making her yearn
to do more than touch him.

Gray
growled and claimed her mouth again. While they kissed, his large hands moved
over her body, caressing her shoulders and arms, her midsection, and finally
her breasts through her blouse. She pushed into his touch, wanting more.

She
kept stroking him, running her fingers up and down his hard shaft. At that
moment, she desperately wished she could transport them to the nearest bedroom
and make their clothes vanish with a snap of her fingers.

He
tore open her pants and worked her jeans and panties over her hips and down her
legs. Mara gasped, suddenly naked from the waist down. That fact took second
fiddle because Gray squatted in front of her, slipped off one of her shoes, and
tossed it aside. He tugged her panties and pant leg over her right foot.

Once
he was finished, he leaned back on his heels and regarded her with hot eyes.
“Perfect.”

Exposed
and vulnerable, she stared down at Gray and wondered what he would do next. The
cool night air outside washed over her bare skin, causing goose bumps to rise
all over her body. Her nipples drew up into tight beads and pressed against her
bra, aching to be freed.

Gray
brushed his knuckles over the strip of trimmed hair covering her mons, and then
caressed lower, over the bare lips of her sex. His thumb slipped between her
lips and teased the bud of her clit.

“Oh
God.” Mara quivered and closed her eyes, resting her head back against the
wall.

Hot
air blew over the moist petals of her sex. The chill was quickly replaced with
the heat of Gray’s mouth. His tongue swiped through her folds and zeroed in on
her clit, sweeping back and forth over it with gentle persuasion.

What
he was doing with his tongue felt great—
damn great—
but she needed more.
“Gray.” She reached for him, running her fingers through his hair. “Stop. Come
up here. I need...” There she stood, outside and virtually naked, and she still
couldn’t manage to tell him what she wanted. She was too embarrassed to put her
needs into words.

Gray
looked up at her. “What do you need, Mara?”

“You,”
she whispered. “I need you.”

A
growl rumbled from Gray and his eyes flared up at her, reminding her that the
man she was with wasn’t entirely human. He rose to his feet and grasped her
hips between his calloused palms. He lifted her off her feet with ease, his
fingers digging into the soft padding of her backside, and pressed her back
against the cool brick wall.

Shock
at the ease with which he picked her up, Mara gasped and immediately wrapped
her legs around his waist, locking her ankles behind his back, and held on to
him as best she could. She buried her fingers in the thick hair at his nape and
pulled his lips down to hers.

Gray’s
tongue plunged into her mouth at the same time he reached between them and
guided his long, hard cock inside her, stretching the delicate tissues of her
sex wide around his incredible girth.

“Oh
God, Gray,” she cried out, her head tilting back and her eyelids slamming down.
The sensation of him inside her was too much. He felt huge and impossibly hard.
Even so, she wanted more. She needed friction.

As
if he read her mind, Gray began to move. His first thrusts were long and slow,
giving her time to adjust to his invasion. Gradually, he built up the pace
until he was slamming into her, giving her every inch of him, over and over
again.

Gray
shifted, changing the angle of his thrust, and began to hit something deep
inside her that had never been touched before. Tension coiled in her stomach,
winding ever tighter. “Yes! Oh God, Gray, don’t stop!”

“Never,”
he vowed. “Oh fuck, I’m close. Let go, Mara. Come for me.”

His
cock expanded inside her, pulsing with life, and tipped her over the edge. She
threw her head back, slamming it into the wall behind her, and moaned as her
climax barreled through her with the strength of a hurricane.

Gray
shoved forward, thrusting deep inside her, and trembled. Her name poured from
his lips. He buried his face in the curve of her throat, his hot breath washing
over her skin, and bit down on tender skin at the base of her neck.

Pain
lanced through her. “Ow. What the hell?” Acting on instinct, she shoved him
away from her. Unfortunately, she forgot he was the one holding her up. Her feet
hit the ground hard. Agony tore through her right heel as something sharp
jabbed into her skin. She cried out and lifted her foot, feeling over her heel.
A jagged piece of glass stuck out of her skin. It must have sliced right
through her sock and into her flesh.

Gray
loomed over her. “Are you okay?”

“I’m
fine.” She took a deep breath to steel herself for the pain, yanked the glass
out, and threw it aside. While she was bent over, she grabbed her panties and
jeans hanging around her left ankle and jammed her right leg through them both
so she could pull them back up. She stood upright and almost headbutted Gray,
where he hovered over her. “Just back up, all right?” She snapped, irritated
and confused by the turn of events. “Why did you bite me anyway?”

He
held his hands up, palms facing her. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what I was
thinking. I’ve never done that to anyone else before.”

She
touched her throat, running the pads of her fingers over the sore skin. To her
surprise, there was no blood. She exhaled, relieved. “It’s all right. You
didn’t break the skin.”

Gray
tucked himself away and did up his pants. “I’m still sorry. I really don’t go
around biting every woman I sleep with.”

Every
woman?
Man, that made her feel
special. “Don’t worry about it. We both lost our heads tonight.” She buttoned
her pants and bent over to shove her bloody foot back into her shoe. Tending
the wound would have to wait until she got home. “We should go before someone
catches us out here.”

“I
guess you’re right.” He strode forward and pulled open the door. “After you.”

Chapter Three

Mara
was in the produce section of the supermarket when she spotted Gray entering
the store. She plunked a small bag of oranges into her basket and ducked around
the corner before he saw her.

It
wasn’t the first time she’d accidentally ran into Gray in town since the night
they hooked up and she doubted it would be the last. Marion was a small town.
They were destined to bump into each other occasionally. The problem was she
was embarrassed by how wild she’d behaved that night and could only imagine the
impression he had of her. She wasn’t wild or wanton. She didn’t normally act on
impulse the way she had with him. What had seemed so perfect and right that
night now seemed sordid. She couldn’t even blame her behavior on alcohol since
she’d only had a few shots. She might have had a little buzz at the time, but
she’d been far from drunk. Everything she’d done had been of her own choice.

It
wasn’t until the next day that she figured out why Gray looked so familiar. He
and his family had been big news when she was in high school. The
Wells family were well known for being the wealthiest
family in the area until their tragic deaths at the hands of shifter-phobic
radicals who took issue with the human layoffs their manufacturing plant had
issued shortly before their murders.
Gray had only survived because he’d
been away at college at the time of the attack.

Not
only was Gray handsome and hung like a horse, he was wealthy as Midas and had a
past so horrific it broke her heart. He was like one of the damned heroes from
the gothic romance novels she’d read as a teenager.

She
hurried up the bread aisle and crossed the store, moving away from where she’d
last seen him. While her instincts screamed for her to leave, there were a
couple more items on her list that she didn’t want to leave without. Chicken
soup was chief among them. As poorly as she’d felt over the last few of days, a
nice savory broth and noodles sounded divine. It wouldn’t hold a candle to her
grandma’s homemade recipe, but Mara didn’t have the energy to cook anything
from scratch at the moment.

She
rushed down the canned foods aisle, grabbed the brand of soup she liked best,
and then turned the corner to fetch some crackers to crumble into her broth.
Dropping the box in her basket, she whirled around and ran smack dab into a
solid wall of muscle. Without looking up, she already knew who she’d run into.
Of course, it would be
him
. Who else? 

She
lifted her head and made eye contact with Gray. “Hey,” she said. “How’re you
doing, Gray?”

“I’m
good.” He looked her over, his scrutiny intense and palpable. “What about you?”

“I’m
fine.” Her stomach clenched. “Yep. Perfectly fine.”

He
frowned. “You don’t look so good.”

Ouch.
That stung and made her feel worse than she already did. “Gee. Thanks.”

“I
mean it. You look a little peaked. Are you feeling all right?”

“I
think I’m coming down with a cold. Hence, the soup and crackers.” She held up
her basket.

“Oh.
I’m sorry to hear that. If there’s anything I can do…”

“I’m
fine,” she repeated. “But I should probably head out.”

“Hang
on a second. I’m actually really glad I ran into you today.”

That
surprised her.
“Oh?”                                                                    

“Mm
hmm. I’d like to take you out sometime when you aren’t busy. We could grab a
bite to eat and get to know each other a little better.”

Mara
wondered if he was being sincere or if that was code for getting into her pants
again. Not that it mattered either way. “I don’t know. I’m just getting out of
a long relationship that crashed and burned and I’m not really ready to start
something new yet.”

“You
have to eat, don’t you?”

“I
suppose so.” She glanced down at the items in her basket and wished she was
already at home, curled up with a hot cup of soup. Anywhere other than standing
in front of Gray, who looked as handsome and put together as he had the night
they’d met, while she undoubtedly looked like an extra in a zombie movie.

“So
what’s the harm in sharing a meal with me? It doesn’t have to mean any more or
less than you want it to. I’ll take you out for a fat, juicy steak…”

An
image of raw, bloody marbled beef popped into her mind and her stomach twisted
and heaved.

“…with
all the fixin’s or seafood, if you’d rather. I know a great place that serves
the best fresh salmon in the state.”

She
opened her mouth to reply and her breakfast rushed up her throat and exploded
from her mouth in a torrent of sickly pink vomit.

Gray
jumped backward far enough that the puke splashed his shoes rather than his
shirt. “Oh shit.”

An
icy wave of humiliation washed over her skin. She dropped the shopping basket
and slammed her hands over her mouth. “Oh my God! I’m so sorry.”

Mortified,
she spun around and rushed from the store.

* * * *

Mara
drove straight home and resisted the temptation to drown herself in the sink
while she brushed the rancid taste from her mouth. She couldn’t believe she’d
thrown up on Grayson Wells. What the hell was wrong with her? It was like her
body was out to get her. First there’d been the explosive chemistry between
them and now she’d spewed all over his shoes. Great. Just great.

After
rinsing out her mouth, she wiped the excess water and toothpaste off her chin, and
left the bathroom. She made a beeline for her bedroom, threw herself down on
the bed, and pulled a pillow over her face. She didn’t ever want to show her
face in that grocery store again. From now on, she’d have to start driving to
the next town over to buy food.

She
inhaled deeply once, twice, and again. Apparently vomiting was all she needed
to settle her queasy stomach. Go figure. She felt perfectly fine now—wonderful,
in fact, if she set aside the mental distress of embarrassing the hell out of
herself.

Tossing
the pillow aside, she stared up at the ceiling and reminded herself that she
was a strong and confident woman. People threw up every day. It happened to
everyone. In time, the whole transgression would be forgotten. She just had to
suck it up and wait for everything to blow over. In the meantime, she had a
very comfortable house within which to hide.

Somewhere
in the house, her cell phone rang. She pushed up off the bed and went in search
of her phone, which she found sitting on the foyer table next to her purse.
Since it stopped ringing before she reached it, she pulled up her missed calls
and breathed a sigh of relief when spotted Sara’s name. She didn’t waste any
time returning the call, wanting to share what was going on with a friend.

Sara
answered on the first ring. “Are you screening your calls?”

Mara
smiled. “Not intentionally. I just didn’t get to the phone in time.”

“You
are so weird. You’re the only person I know who doesn’t keep their phone on
them at all times.”

“Yeah
yeah. I called you right back, didn’t I?”

“Yes,
you did. So, the reason I was calling was to invite you out for drinks tonight.
Conrad has some serious cabin fever and wants to get out of the house.”

“Should
he be drinking while he’s taking pain meds for his ankle?”

“Oh,
he’s not going to drink. He just wants to hang out.”

“Okay.
Well, as fun as that sounds, I think I’m going to stay in tonight. I’ve had an
epically shitty day.”

“Why?
What happened?”

Mara
sat down on the recliner. “You aren’t going to believe me.”

“Sure,
I will. Now quit teasing me and dish.”

 “Well…”
She took a deep breath. “Since I haven’t been feeling well the last few days, I
went to the grocery store for oranges, soup, and whatever else I could think of
to help fend off a cold. Since my luck sucks, Gray strolled into the store not
five minutes after I got there. I tried to avoid him, but he caught up with me
and asked me out.”

“Oh
my God. What did you say?”

“I
didn’t get a chance to say anything because I puked all over him.”

“You
did what?” Sara exclaimed.   

Mara
winced. “My stomach has been unusually queasy for the last few days. So when he
started describing the dinner we’d share in graphic, bloody detail, my stomach
lurched and that was all she wrote. I ralphed all over his shoes.”

Sara
burst out laughing.

“It’s
not funny. I was humiliated.”

“I
bet,” Sara said, still chuckling. “I can almost imagine the look on his face.”

Mara
sighed. “You have no idea. I’ll be seeing the horror stamped on his face in my
nightmares.”

“Oh,
Mara. I’m sorry. I don’t mean to poke fun at your trauma. I’m sure it wasn’t as
bad as you think.”

“Trust
me, it was bad.”

“It’ll
be fine. Just give it a few days and then pretend it never happened. If Gray’s
any sort of gentleman, he’ll do the same.”

“I
guess.”

“So
I take it that’s really a hard no when it comes to going out tonight?”

“Yes.
Definitely. Even if my stomach wasn’t acting up, I’m exhausted. I don’t think
I’ve been sleeping well.”

“Add
sore boobs to that description and I’d say you’re knocked up.”

“Very
funny.” Mara frowned and looked down at her chest. Her breasts were a little
tender, but that was only because she was overdue to start her period.
Overdue.
“Oh hell.”

“What?”

“My
chest is sore.”

“Ha
ha. You shouldn’t joke about things like that.”

“I’m
not kidding.”

“But
you used protection when you with Gray, right?”

“I…”
She thought back to that night, to the spontaneity and passion. “No. We didn’t
use anything.”

“Shit,
girl. You know better than that.”

“Yeah.”
She’d always been careful about birth control. In all the time she’d dated
Richard, they’d never once had a slip up. She rested her hand on her stomach
and tried to imagine it growing round and extended. “What the hell am I going
to do?”

“Well,
first you need to find out if you really are pregnant. Don’t freak out until
you know for sure.”

That
was easy for her to say. She yanked her hand away from her belly and rested it
back on the arm of the chair. “I’m not freaking out. I’m not pregnant. I can’t
be.”

“That’s
the spirit. Just stay calm until I get there. I’ll stop at the pharmacy on my
way over and pick up a test for you.”

“You’re
a lifesaver.” Mara breathed deeply and tried to slow her pounding pulse.

“Nah.
I’m just an awesome friend.”

“Yes,
you are.”

“Okay.
Hang tight. I’ll be there in fifteen minutes or so.”

“I’ll
be waiting.” Mara disconnected the call and set the phone down on the end table
by the chair. She got up to get herself a stiff drink and paused with a bottle
of rum in her hand. Alcohol and pregnancy didn’t mix—not that she truly
believed she was carrying Gray’s child. Just to be on the safe side, she’d have
to wait until after she got a negative result before she indulged.

She
sat the bottle down and grabbed a diet soda out of the fridge instead. While
drinking her soda, she paced back and forth across the kitchen, and walked over
to the window to look outside. She stood there, blindly staring outside, while
her mind raced over all the ways her life would change if she had a baby.

A
loud rat-a-tat-tat on the door jarred her out of her reverie and sent her
racing through the house to let Sara in. The sooner she took the test, the
quicker she could put her worries to rest. “Hey,” she said. “Come on in.” She
stepped back and held the door open.

Sara
walked into the living room. “You look like you’re freaking out.”

Mara
shut the door. “Nope. I’m fine. I’m sure this is all just a waste of time.”

“Mm
hmm.” Sara dangled a small white bag from her fingertips. “So you wouldn’t mind
if I returned this little tidbit to the store then?”

“I
wouldn’t go that far. I mean, I might as well give it a whirl since you went to
all the trouble of buying it for me.”

“Nice
reasoning.”

“I
thought so.”

“Catch.”
Sara pitched the bag through the air.

Mara
caught it. “Thanks for this. Let me know what it cost you and I’ll repay you.”

“Don’t
worry about it. Just go pee on the little stick so we can find out how screwed
you are.”

Mara
snorted. “You definitely have a way with words.”

“You
aren’t the first person to say that.” Sara flopped down on the couch and
stretched out. “Now quit stalling and go do your thing. I’ll be right here
waiting when you’re done.”