Desired by the Bear Book 2: Werebear Romance Read online

  I croak out, “Nadia.”

  “René.” He steps back from me as he rakes his hand through his auburn hair. Fine lines are around his eyes, making me think he’s got about ten years on me. His shoulders are broad, and his neck is so thick he’s got to be a warrior. My kind of man. When he licks his lips as he scans my body with his gaze, I’m sure we belong together, because I like them feral. He asks, “Wanna go for a ride?”

  I glance at Xavier out of consideration for my friend, and he winks at me. I say, “Hell, yeah.”

  René places his hand on the small of my back as we walk out of the bar. His touch sears me as my desire oozes from my pores. I can smell René’s lust for me too, and I wonder if we can make it beyond the parking lot before tearing each other’s clothes off. It occurs to me that he’s probably the René who leads the clan warriors, and I smile to myself because I bet I get a spot on the warrior team now. His voice is husky as we walk across the asphalt. Leftover dirt thrown down for traction after a snowstorm crackles under our feet as he says, “I only live a couple miles from here, or do you want to go to your place?”

  I think about Abby and have no doubt she’d hear us through the thin walls considering I know when she’s flushed the toilet. While I’m not modest, I don’t think she’d appreciate being kept awake all night so I say, “I’m in the apartments at Ouellette Yachts. Let’s go to your place.”

  He stops us at a large truck and nods in reply.

  My foot clunks on a metal step as I hoist myself up into a huge cab that is high off the ground. The faint aroma of pine tries and fails to mask the odor of René’s musk. I guess it has permeated the leather seats because of the number of times he’s driven home from the gym without showering. The smell reaches deep into me, and I’m tempted to throw the tree-shaped freshener hanging from his rearview mirror out the window.

  When René gets behind the wheel, I notice he grips it so hard his knuckles are white. I squirm with my desire as I ask, “Are you okay?”

  A low growl rumbles in his chest. “I’m trying to hold on until we get to my house.” The engine lets out a roar of it’s own as he mashes the petal and we squeal out of the parking lot. It’s a ridiculous high school move that makes me laugh, and I glance over at René to see a mouthful of white teeth as he grins too. “Yeah. I’ve gone Neanderthal, but I can’t believe I finally found you.”

  “I know. I’m shocked too.”

  “You’re the model, right?”

  “Not any more.”

  He chuckles before he says, “Bet you didn’t expect to end up with a hick.”

  I reach over and place my hand on his crotch. His stomach trembles under my fingers as I work on the button of his jeans. “Don’t judge me by my appearance. I’ve spent more time as a bear than as a human. You’ve got your hands full with me.” I release his cock, and when I notice the size I say, “And apparently so do I.”

  He groans as he turns onto a dirt road, and his voice is gravelly as he says, “Babe, you have no idea.”

  3

  Isabelle

  I stretch my legs out, and my muscles tighten as I wake from a nap. My body’s working hard to create three children, and I spend a lot of time sleeping these days. When I sit up on the couch, I notice my mother-in-law Grace at the kitchen table. She’s working on one of her crossword puzzles, and her pencil scratches as she fills an answer in. Without looking at me she says, “There’s hot water on the stove for tea if you want it.”

  “Thanks.”

  As I walk over to the kitchen, Jean Luc sends me a telepathic message. “I’m bringing an old friend home for dinner, and I’m going to need your mind reading powers to let me know if she’s telling the truth.”

  When I was mated to Jean Luc, I learned I have magical powers. Tally, our medicine woman, has been working with me to hone my talents. While one of my gifts is healing, it takes a lot out of me, so I save it for when it’s really needed. Another of my powers is the ability to read minds, and fortunately, it doesn’t take much effort to do. I can determine what people are thinking and if they’re lying. I say, “Sure. This sounds interesting.”

  “It is. And her name is Rachel.”

  “Tally’s Rachel?” Tally was sucked through a portal she and Marcel created when he kissed her the other day, and she witnessed a woman giving birth to twins. Tally was in the body of the woman who delivered the two babies, and she could feel the woman’s intention of stealing one. The mother of the babies was named Rachel.

  “I don’t know. But her daughter is Kelsey, my intern.”

  “I’ll tell Grace. See you soon.”

  I turn from the stove to say to Grace. “Jean Luc is bringing home a guest for dinner.”

  “That’s fine. I have a lasagna in the oven, and there will be plenty for all of us.”

  My stomach growls at the mention of food, and I open the fridge to look for a snack. I grab the blueberries, and tart juice explodes in my mouth as I bite one. I place my hand on my stomach as I recall more of Tally’s experience in the portal. She said Rachel was told one of her twins was dead. Anguish squeezes my heart with an iron grip as I imagine the pain of losing a child. My hormones make my eyes fill with tears.

  Grace asks, “Is something wrong?”

  I shake off my morbid thoughts as I wave my hand in dismissal. “No. I’m just being an emotional pregnant woman.” We both detect the rumble of my husband’s truck coming down the road, and I say, “I suppose we should get ready for our guest.”

  I go to my bedroom to freshen up while Grace takes care of the kitchen tasks. I return as Jean Luc opens the door, and he greets me with a kiss before he introduces me to Rachel. I take in her wavy dark hair and bright blue eyes. She’s taller than most human women, and I wonder if maybe she’s a half. Jean Luc says, “Rachel and I went to University of Maine together.”

  I smile at her. “Does this mean I get to hear about the foolish things my husband did as a college boy?”

  As I wait for her reply I tap into her thoughts. Sadness fills them as she says, “He wasn’t very wild.” She glances at Jean Luc before she says, “And I’d probably incriminate myself more than him if I started to tell stories.”

  I lead them into the kitchen and stools scrape over the floor as Rachel and Jean Luc sit. Jean Luc says, “We were thick as thieves for a while there when Rachel and Henri dated.”

  Henri? Now I’m very interested in Rachel. Henri is Jean Luc’s lifelong best friend. He’s a quiet guy with a quick wit and a kind heart. I enjoy the man immensely, but his wife, Julie is another matter. Henri has a lot of power in the clan as Jean Luc’s second in command, but you’d never know it by the way he lives his life. Julie, however, is constantly strutting the status Henri is often embarrassed about. Since they’re not true mates, their marriage is based on the bond that occurs when werebear bite each other. Because the love wears off, it requires they bite each other every few weeks to keep it going. I’m well-versed in that kind of relationship since I was in a similar situation before I met Jean Luc. So while I can’t judge her too harshly for that, other things about Julie make me uneasy. I don’t know why Henri got involved with her, but I think he stays with her because of their children.

  Grace introduces herself to Rachel and asks, “What can I get you to drink? We’re having lasagna, and I have a nice red to go with it.”

  “That sound lovely, thank you,” says Rachel.

  The cabinet clicks open while Grace gets glasses, and I ask, “What brings you to town?”

  “I came to see my daughter. Jean Luc was kind enough to give her an internship this summer.”

  “Kelsey, right?” I ask.

  “Yes.” She glances at Jean Luc and he nods at her before she says, “Boat building is in her blood, and I couldn’t keep her from it.” Now I detect guilt, and I see flashes of her with a little girl and a memory of the child asking about her father.

  Is it Henri? I ask, “She’s a Ouellette?”

  Rachael nods and
takes a deep breath. She glances down at her drink and her voice is low as she says, “She’s Henri’s daughter, but he doesn’t know.” Grace roughly sets a goblet of wine down on the granite countertop, and the contents splash up with impact. I glance at my mother-in-law to see her eyes are as wide as mine probably are. Rachel continues. “Yet.” She sighs as she looks at me. “Part of why I came here was to tell Henri about Kelsey.”

  My nurturing instinct kicks in with sympathy for the woman when I read the guilt in her emotions. I reach out and touch her arm in support, even though part of me is furious that she kept a child secret from Henri.

  Rachel says, “When Kelsey informed me she was in love with a man she just met, I suspected it was her true mate. And I knew I had to come and tell her what she was.”

  I offer a sympathetic smile to Rachel as I say words I’m not sure are true. “The Henri I know is a forgiving man. But if you don’t mind me asking, why did you keep this a secret all these years?”

  Her pain is still the dominant emotion as she says, “While I now know I’m a half, at the time I thought I was only human. As you can imagine, knowing Henri, I thought he would abandon the clan to be with me and our children. I know how important he is to the Ouellettes.” She glances at Jean Luc. “He was in line to be the right hand man to the alpha of the clan. I couldn’t ask him to give that up to be with me.”

  I can tell she’s not lying, and I say to Jean Luc in his head, “So far she’s telling the truth.”

  Suddenly Rachel’s thoughts turn to giving birth, and I’m shocked when a younger version of Julie is in the replay. I hear Henri’s wife tell Rachel that she’s doing the right thing by not telling Henri, and how brave she is. A low rumble forms in me as my anger surges. Rachel hears it, because her thoughts turn to strong guilt and she says, “I did a terrible thing, and I’ve lived with it for a long time. I convinced myself Henri found his true mate and was happy with a family, and that I’d only hurt him.” She twirls her glass of wine and her eyes are glassy as she gazes at me. “I was a coward. And now that Kelsey is here, I’ve got to make this right.”

  I stare at her as I communicate with Jean Luc. “I just saw a memory where Julie told Rachel she was doing the right thing by not letting Henri know about the babies.”

  He replies, “This isn’t the first time Julie has lied to get what she wants. I’m not sure the other twin died.”

  My jaw drops, and I snap it shut before Rachel notices.

  Jean Luc appears to change the subject abruptly when he says, “Today we had an incident that’s presented an interesting turn of events. Nadia and Xavier saw Kelsey and thought she was a hunter they noticed a few days ago.”

  “What?” Grace asks. Her brow knits in confusion.

  “She’s not,” says Jean Luc. “But the hunter my warriors mistook her for is named Caitlyn.”

  Realization relaxes Grace’s frown, and I ask, “Do you think she’s Henri’s daughter Caitlyn?”

  “Maybe, but it doesn’t make sense.”

  I only know a little bit about the story, but supposedly Henri and Julie’s oldest daughter ran away when she was twelve, and they’ve never been able to find her. I’m still tuned into Rachel’s mind, and she stares at Jean Luc with disbelief as the pieces begin to fit together. Anger surges in her when she says, “When I gave birth to Kelsey there was a twin. She was stillborn.”

  Jean Luc shakes his head as he reaches for Rachel’s hand.

  Rachel’s knuckles turn white when she grabs Jean Luc’s fingers. “Is she alive?”

  “How old is Kelsey?”

  “Twenty-one last December.”

  Jean Luc says, “If Caitlyn is alive, she’d have been twenty-one in December too.”

  Rachel inhales sharply. “Oh, god. Julie...”

  Jean Luc looks at me, and I see his alpha flash in his eyes. His anger, pain, and need for vengeance screams in my mind as he says, “I think we need to talk to Henri.”

  4

  Nadia

  We pull into a dirt driveway, and the truck clunks into park. René barely turns the ignition off before he pounces on me. He pushes me down on the bench seat and kisses me with a roughness that makes my entire being throb. When he moves down to my neck I say, “Make me feel it.”

  Fabric tears as René rips my T-shirt, and he gazes down at me as his bear flashes in his eyes. He extends a claw and slices the tiny bit of fabric between the cups of my bra. A low sound comes from the back of his throat before he latches onto my breast with strong suction. I moan in pleasure as I grip his hair with one hand and rake my fingernails along his back with the other.

  René lifts up and says, “Out of the truck.”

  I sit up and scramble to his side of the cab to jump down after he gets out. The impact of my landing radiates through my legs before René tears at my jeans to get them off me. I remove my ripped shirt and bra as I step out of my pants. René is on his knees, and he tosses my jeans before he grips my thighs to spread my legs. He lets out a huff of hot breath that heats my skin before he swipes his tongue over my folds. “Sweet Jesus,” he says, “You taste so fucking good.”

  I fall back against the truck with a thud as he nips at my clit with his teeth. I moan at the ripple of pain mixed with pleasure. “Yes. Make me know I’m yours.” He shoves fingers inside me, and now I begin to writhe as my orgasm approaches. I hold René’s head as a roar builds all the way from my toes, and it escapes as I come.

  I’m quaking with my release as he stands and lowers his pants. I want to taste his long thick cock, but he’s got other ideas. He reveals his incredible muscle mass as he removes his shirt and says, “Turn around and get on your knees, babe. I’m going to make you scream so loud the kingdom will know you’re mine.”

  The ground is hard on my knees as I fall to them, and gravel bites into my palms as I brace myself and arch my back to present myself to René. He grabs onto my hips as he drags his cock along my moist sex. “Oh god,” I pant as he teases me.

  His breath tickles my ear as he leans over me and asks, “What do you want, Nadia?”

  “I want you inside me.”

  He guides himself to press the head of his dick against my opening. “I thought you were a bad girl.” He pulls away, and I tremble with my need. He says, “Try again.”

  “Fuck me, René.”

  He lets out a low growl and drags his cock along my seam again. This time with more pressure and he presses against my channel again. “How do you want to be fucked, Nadia?”

  “Hard.” I’m panting with my desire as I shove my bottom back to get more. When he still doesn’t push into me I whimper and add, “Please.”

  He rams me with a force that makes me slide across the driveway a bit as he says, “That’s more like it.” René pounds me as if he’s trying to get as deep as possible, and I revel in the growl in him that grows as he comes undone. The friction is rough as his groin smacks against my bottom, and I push back so I can feel more. He lets out a low roar when he comes, and his hot essence fills me as I get closer. He continues to pump his hips and reaches around to rub my clit. It sends me over the edge, and I cry out before René collapses on top of me.

  I notice that bits of gravel are digging into my arms now, and I sigh as René lifts himself off of me. He says, “Sorry about that. My bear had to have you.”

  I get up too, and turn to face him with a grin. “Don’t be.”

  He smiles back. “Yeah?”

  “Yeah.”

  My clothes are soft in my arms as I gather them up, and René says, “Come on inside. I think I have a bed somewhere.”

  My thighs are sticky as I walk, and I take in the saltbox-style home before me. I ask, “And a shower?”

  René’s key turns, and a lock clicks before he opens his door. “The shower’s good. I can bend you over a kitchen counter, a couch, a deck railing. Whatever you want. The list goes on, beautiful.”

  After I shut the door behind me he crowds me against it, and our clothing thu
ds as we both drop our things to attend to other matters. His hands slap against the wood above my head as he leans in and kisses me. I fall into it as our true mate connection twists and twines us together in an unbreakable bond. His fingers dig into my thighs when he lifts me up, and I wrap my legs around him tight when he carries me through the house to the bathroom. We spend the next few hours discovering the pleasure of each other’s bodies in and out of water.

  * * *

  I lift up on an elbow to gaze down at the man I’ll spend my life with. A candle flickers on the bedside table, and I take in the expanse of René’s hard body. I was married for a while to a man who wasn’t my true mate. We forced our bond when we bit each other, because with our clan so close to extinction and fighting for our lives on a daily basis, we needed to feel connected to something. Sven and I chose each other, and I think we’re both alive today because of that decision. But we both knew once we were relocated to Maine that a true mate could come along and ruin what we had. Unfortunately for me, Sven found his first. While our break up was painful for me, I shut the door on my marriage days before coming here. And now I know why.

  My heart is so full of love for a man who I haven’t even had a serious conversation with. I imagine as we get to know each other, our love will deepen even more. René sighs and opens his eyes. He smiles as he reaches up to stroke my cheek and says, “I can’t believe I have you in my bed. You are the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.”

  “I bet you say that to all your true mates.”

  “I do. Good thing you’re the only one.”

  “You’re my only one too.”

  René sits up, and I suddenly feel self conscious about how thin I am since it’s not an admirable werebear trait. He asks, “Hungry?”

  “Always.”

  “I’ll cook for you.” René reaches out his hand, and I let him help me up. I follow behind him and watch his perfect naked butt flex as he walks. When we get to the kitchen, René grabs me by my hips and lifts me up to place me on the counter. He does it with such ease that it makes me feel small and protected. Warmth surges in my heart. The idea of someone taking care of me is nice. The counter is cool under my bottom as René backs away and smiles. “I want to keep you there so I can stare at you while I cook.”