Claimed At First Sight (Curvy BBW Paranormal Bear Shifter Romance) (2 page)

I turned my head from her reflexively. 
This is it,
I thought,
I’m going to die!

But before I even had time to recognize the large sharp stone in my hand, my instinct for survival had already kicked in and my arm was swinging full tilt towards my attacker.  A sickening crunch sent Gerri reeling.

“Please,” I begged, but Gerri was already back on her feet, her eyes locked on mine with a vengeful hatred. 

“Case,” our eyes met briefly as the massive creature towered over me, his light green eyes having the same calming effect as they did before.  The bear said nothing at all, but his eyes conveyed a sorrow that seemed to beg my forgiveness. 

His maw dropped down next to my cheek, and his massive paws drew my body up in a bear hug and pressed me hard against his chest.  Then his teeth sank into my shoulder with a fiery heat that left my body in agony.  My heart beat out of control, and my breathing ratcheted up to a furious pace.

The last thing I remember was seeing Gerri’s bear stalking close behind Case.  My last breath was spent on a warning. “Behind you,” I breathed before succumbing to the darkness.

****

“She’s awake,” he whispered softly.

I didn’t need to open my eyes to recognize his voice, or to know that there were three others standing nearby.  The individual heartbeats were enough to tip me off to their presence.

My eyelashes fluttered and blinked as a room came into focus. I was still in Gerri’s grandfather’s cabin.

Lucas, Micah and John all huddled at my bedside, each of them touching my hand and giving me a silent nod before making an exit. When they were gone, Case closed the door, coming now beside me and sitting at the edge of the bed. 

He shook his head, let out a sigh, and said, “This isn’t what I wanted for you.” 

Even through the fog that my brain was in, I knew what he meant.  I could sense the change in me just as clearly as I had sensed the heartbeats.  Everything would be different now.  I was different.  Case stood up and walked to the window, shaking his head with disgust. 

“Turning a human.  I’m no better than Gerri,” his voice cracked.

My chest tightened at his regret.  “You saved me,” I countered, “that’s the most human thing you could have done.” 

Case turned towards me, his eyes dark.  “You don’t get it, Layla.  This is forever.  You can’t go back to being
just
a human.”  Case slammed his fist against the heavy wooden wall. “This is what destroyed Gerri.” 

“Come here,” I begged him, sliding over and making room for him to sit comfortably next to me.  “Tell me everything and let me be the judge.  Don’t persecute yourself for saving my life.”

His eyes lightened and his face softened.  I patted the mattress next to me and gave him a nod.  “Please.”

Starting at the beginning, Case explained the history of his people.  The long lives they lived, the remarkable healing, the ability to shift.  When he got to Gerri, and her story, his voice began to shake.

I bit my lip, unable to refrain from giving him the comfort that I so desperately wanted him to feel.  I let my fingertips slide across the mattress, softly tracing the back of his hand.  Electricity sparked up through my fingertips, and by the way that he paused, and stared down into my eyes, I wondered if he could sense my desire.

“When Gerri was just a girl, she met Micah.  He was a human.  By the time they were older, Gerri had convinced herself that Micah was her fated mate.  She pursued him, despite the council’s decision forbidding her to change him.  Micah, however, was only human.  Though he was infatuated with Gerri, he was young, and lust ruled his heart.  When he fell in love with another woman, Gerri went off the deep-end.  Against his will and against his heart, she claimed him, turning him into a shifter and locking him into an agreement that he never chose.”

“You mean, the marriage?”

Case rested his head in his hands.  “It’s different for us, Layla.”  He turned, reaching his finger up to my neck to trace the fresh wound that he had left across my shoulder.  “When a bear claims, it’s for life, Layla.”

His gentle touch and the way he said the words sent a shiver down my spine. 

“You’ll never find happiness with another man, Layla.  I’ve turned you, and until the day I die your soul will be irrevocably linked to mine.”

“You mean, you’ve sacrificed your heart in order to save me?”  My chest was suddenly tight.  He had sacrificed everything to save me. I was a complete stranger.  He would never have the chance to find his own true love. 

My emotions roared to life, an unfamiliar rumbling grew in my chest.  Every bit of self-loathing I had ever felt came bubbling to the surface in a miserable wave.  Compared to him, I was nothing.  Not in the same planet, let alone the same league.  He was a good man, one who any woman would be happy to have.  A man who deserved the woman of his dreams, not to be stuck with a small-town curvy girl that he never truly loved.  I felt sick.  Death seemed a more inviting future than one where my existence was the bane of his.  I rolled away from him, tears streaming down my cheeks.

“Talk to me,” Case pleaded.  “Don’t shut me out. I know I have taken everything from you, but I’ll be damned if you won’t let me try to prove myself to you.”

“Prove yourself to me?”  I croaked. “How could I ever be good enough for you?  I’m nothing but a broken fat girl that you took pity on.  You should have just let her kill me.” 

“Damn it, Layla,” Case roared, “I knew it from the moment I saw you.  Every cell in my body was destined to be yours.” 

I looked up at him with confusion.

“True shifters can sense these things.  We are born with a fated mate, and you were mine, Layla.  You are the most beautiful woman I have ever laid eyes upon, and my heart was yours before you ever even spoke to me.  It’s you who will suffer.  You are human; your heart is different than ours.  If you wind up like Micah, and grow to hate me, you’ll spend the rest of your life alone, and you will destroy me. But for me, it doesn’t matter. Because I love you. And I always will, no matter what you do or say to me.”  

Fire burned from my core out to my fingertips.  My lips quivered and my hands shook.  “Fated mate,” I said softly to no one in particular. 

It was all so much to take in--this beautiful, wonderful, protective man was spilling his heart and soul to me.  His regret was not for his own predicament, but for that of mine.  He despised himself for having made the decision for me. 

I reached up and slid my fingertips into his thick dark hair.  He leaned down and pressed his lips softly against my forehead. 

But it wasn’t enough, the flame in my heart had been set ablaze, and I needed more.

“Kiss me,” I begged him, needing to prove to him that he had done nothing wrong. 

His lips met mine in a passionate kiss, a growl escaping from deep in his chest.  The hair on the back of my neck stood on end, and my nipples tightened with desire.  With an uncontrollable passion overwhelming us both, our hands ran freely over one another.  His every touch was new, and my body was covered in goose bumps left in the wake of his exploration.  I wanted more.  I needed more. 

Never once did I look back and question my decision.  I gave my heart to him then and there, promising my heart to him for better or for worse, and throwing caution to the wind. 

Case tore the shirt off of me, exposing my bare flesh.  “You are absolutely beautiful,” he groaned, his tongue lathing my hard nipples. 

I slid myself up to my knees and sat down on his lap, straddling his midsection as I rocked my hips against his jeans. His thick cock pressed stiffly up between my thighs.  My fingers worked to unsnap the buttons of his shirt until his tanned chest was bared to me.  My clit pulsed with excitement, reveling in the beauty of his powerful body.  He was built like Adonis, and he was mine, every last inch of this god-like beast.  I ran my nails over his hard, sinuous muscles, drawing the familiar vibration from his chest. 

My back arched hard as his fingers drew up beneath my panties and pressed against my heat. 

“I want to make you cum,” he breathed erotically, sliding two fingers along the length of my wet slit as his thumb pressed into my clit.

My breathing hitched and I let out a moan, his lips tracing softly up to my neck, kissing over the sensitive tissue that marked me as his own. 

I gasped at the sharp pain that sang up through my body as Case bit down softly on my neck, his fingers plunging deep inside of me.  But it was a good pain, a deep, sensual throb that radiated through me and brought me to another level.  Another finger slid into my wetness as his lips met with mine. 

“You taste different when you’re horny,” he growled.  “Sweeter.  Are you ready to be mated now?” he asked, his fingers writhing within me, working me like I’d never been worked before.

I was panting with need.  “Yes,” I begged him between kisses. 

With the strength of a bear, Case lifted me, the two of us slamming hard against the wall as he dropped his Jeans to the floor.  In an instant he’d torn my panties in two, his animalistic side taking over.  He was wild, his eyes glowed with an intense crimson.  He pressed against me, his rock hard cock thrusting against my clit, working me up, teasing me. 

A deep ache was building between my thighs, and all I wanted was to be filled, to be fucked hard and fast and to cum all over his thickness.  I had been with other men, but none of them could have prepared me for this. 

Case gripped his dick and slid the tip along the length of my slit. 

“I’m going to fuck you now,” he growled, his lips mashing into mine as his hips drew back and then came plunging forward into mine. 

I wailed with sensual urgency into his mouth as his dick fucked in and out of my tight little hole, stretching me beyond my limits.  My nails dug deep into his back, drawing blood, but only furthering the frenzy that was driving him.  He liked it rough, liked to hear me scream. 

Gripping my ass he spread my pussy wider, slamming his body against me with such force that I knew it was only because of my bear that I could handle his power.  He was so much stronger than a man, and he was releasing every bit of himself as he claimed me as his own.   Hot fire burned through me as my body began to shake and tremble, edging on release. 

Claiming a mate was the way of the bear, and I wanted him to know that I was willing to give him all of myself. Reaching climax, I sank my teeth into his neck, and reveled in the delicious sound he made: a deep, powerful, delicious groan.  I could feel the heavy throb of his cock as his body tensed and he released deep inside of me.  Warm wetness splashed my insides with his seed and dripped heavily down from my sex.  Waves of contractions deep within me massaged his cock and drew from it every last drop.

In a state of elation and exhaustion the two of us fell to the floor, panting and pleased.  Case wiped his fingertips across his neck and examined the blood.

My cheeks blushed crimson as I rolled onto him and stared down into his eyes.  “I guess this means we’re even,” I whispered, leaning down and kissing him softly on the lips. “You’re mine forever, and I’ll never let you go.”

THE END

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