Bear Next Door (Shifter Protection Agency Book 1) Read online

  “I have plenty of taste, good taste.” He pretended to think it over and then dropped his hand. “I suppose that means you won’t be stealing any of mine… I’ll allow it.”

  “You’re too kind.”

  The last chorus of Crazy in Love cut out and Sam completed the order while Laura took the opportunity to look around the room.

  It was obvious Sam hadn’t been here for very long since there were a few half-finished interior decoration projects in various stages of completion scattered around the room: an empty drape rail here, a patch of blue paint on an otherwise white wall there. There also weren’t that many personal belongings that she could see, no family pictures or random nick-nacks in sight.

  “Pizza is on the way,” Sam said, hanging up with a flourish and patting the floor beside him. “Care to join me on the floor?”

  “Is it more comfortable than the couch?”

  “Not at all but I’m intimidated by tall women so I would greatly appreciate it.” Laura raised an eyebrow at him but complied, settling down beside him on the floor. She moved around a little, trying to get comfortable, it really was way less comfortable than the couch, and when she looked up, Sam was watching her admiringly.

  “Hello,” he said.

  “Hello,” she replied. “Better?” Sam lifted a hand, checking first her height, then his own, and gave her the thumbs up.

  “Perfect, thank you.”

  The smell of melting cheese drifted through the open doorway as Sam paid the delivery driver, a young-looking boy called Danny.

  “I thought we’d made a mistake for a minute there though – I remember you saying pineapple on pizza was ‘the work of Satan’?” Danny joked.

  Sam turned to send Laura a look and she laughed from her place in the doorway.

  “Don’t remind me.”

  Back in the front room, they retook their positions on the floor and dug in. Laura felt relaxed for the first time in a while – so much of the last few months had been nothing but a frenzied scramble trying to transition from college to real life, but now, eating pizza from a cardboard box on the floor of a cute guy’s front room, Laura felt like a carefree student again.

  “So go on,” she said around a mouthful. “What made you want to be a doctor?” She pictured him in the cliche white coat, sleeves rolled up toned forearms and shifted in her seat, pressing her thighs together.

  “Oh, uh, my mom was ill a lot when I was younger and I always wished I could make her feel better.” There was something off about his response but Laura couldn’t put her finger on what it was. He seemed kind of detached from what he was saying. Maybe he just doesn’t like talking about it?

  The mood was soured somewhat and Laura tried to think of something to bring back his smile. She reached forward and plucked a slice of pizza from his box, taking a large obnoxious bite whilst his mouth dropped open in shock. She started to retreat back but a hand wrapped around her wrist, keeping her in place.

  “What do you think you’re doing?” he asked quietly, sending shivers of arousal down her spine. Laura bit her lip and Sam followed the movement.

  “I thought yours looked good,” she said innocently.

  “It was. That’s why I was eating it.”

  Laura realized, distantly, that she was practically draped across his lap. Her pulse jumped and she got slowly up onto her knees, keeping her eyes locked on Sam’s, and straddled him.

  Sam let out a shaky sigh and both of his hands came to rest on her hips.

  “Let me make it up to you?” She didn’t give him a chance to respond, closing the distance between them and kissed him.

  7

  Sam

  Sam’s mind was a blur. Laura’s lips felt just as amazing as he’d thought, pressed against his. His hands moved on instinct, pulling tighter at her hips, trying to bring her impossibly closer. He could feel her breasts against his chest, feel the breathy little whimper she let out, and the sound went straight to his cock. She licked at the seam of his lips and he opened his mouth, accepting her deepening the kiss.

  Her hands came up to grasp at the nape of his neck, pulling lightly in a way that had him panting into her mouth. His neck was aching from being pulled back and his legs were tingling from staying in the same position for so long but he never wanted this kiss to end.

  There was a small nagging voice in the back of his mind that told him this was wrong, that he was lying to her, using her, but he ignored that part of him. Right now, he was being honest. He wanted her, more than he’d ever wanted anyone in his life.

  He bit softly at her full lower lip and Laura arched back in his arms with a moan. Her small hands cupped his face, rubbing softly across his cheeks and they broke apart, both breathing heavily. Her hands were rougher than he expected, calloused from working in a lab, and it sent shivers down his spine.

  “Fuck,” she whimpered, lower lip caught between his teeth. Sam reached up with a thumb to pull it free and he could feel her stuttering breaths. Their eyes met.

  “For the record,” he rasped, rocking his hips up into the heat between her legs and watching her head fall back as she moaned, “I really like you.”

  She smiled, wild and beautiful, gasping, “I really like you too.”

  Heat spread from his chest to his dick. He reached for the hem of her shirt, feeling her thighs grip him tighter to make up for her hands releasing him so she could hold her arms above her head. Sam pulled the shirt off and sat back, taking in every glorious inch of her. He immediately started trailing kisses over every bit of exposed skin he could find, flicking his tongue into the divots of her collar bone whilst Laura squirmed and sighed above him. He could get drunk off of this, he thought.

  “Not that- fuck- not that I’m not having a good time,” Laura sounded wrecked and that drove him on, nipping at her collarbone and marveling at the red mark he left behind. “‘Cause I’m- God, Sam…I’m having a really good time...but you don’t have any drapes in here and I don’t know any of the neighbors well enough to let them see this. I mean, it isn’t even my best bra.”

  Sam smiled against her skin but reluctantly pulled back, resting his chin on her chest and gazing up at her.

  “You babble, you know that?”

  Laura squeezed her thighs around his hips, grinding down onto his lap in smooth little circles.

  “You complaining?” she asked. Sam’s hips thrust up, seeking more friction and they both let out a stuttered gasp.

  “Definitely not.”

  “Sam,” she keened, “bedroom. Please.”

  “Okay. Okay, baby.”

  Laura moaned again, a shiver shooting down her spine at the pet name, and Sam couldn’t help but grin smugly. He trailed a hand up a side, cupping her breast through the fabric of her bra.

  “For the record, I think this is a very cute bra,” he said, rubbing a thumb over the thin fabric and feeling her nipple harden under his touch. Laura whined, arching into the touch and Sam’s cock strained against his jeans.

  “You wait until the second date,” she huffed breathlessly, “you won’t know what’s hit you. I’m gonna romance the fuck out of you with my sexy underwear…” She paused, face flushing with embarrassment and, nope, no, Sam wasn’t having any of that. The thought that she was already planning for a second date? That he’d get to do this again?

  He couldn’t keep the megawatt grin off his face if he tried. He surged up to kiss her, wrapping her legs more securely around his waist and climbing to his feet.

  Laura squealed in his ear and he grinned, moving across the room and up the stairs to his room.

  “Oh god, you’re so fucking strong,” Laura gasped against his throat. “That’s really fucking hot. Do not drop me.” Sam huffed a laugh, thankful for his shifter strength; she hardly weighed a thing.

  “I won’t drop you,” he assured her, pressing a kiss to her neck.

  The second they passed through the doorway to his bedroom, Sam dropped her onto the sheets and started pulling at his
clothes impatiently. Laura propped herself up on her elbows and watched him hungrily.

  “Eager, are we?” Sam asked before climbing onto the bed and crawling his way between her legs until he was bracketed by her thighs once more.

  “Have you seen yourself?” she asked, brow raised. He leaned down to kiss her, licking hungrily into her mouth – I can’t get enough of her. His bear growled possessively and he nipped at her lips, loving the small, needy sounds he elicited from her.

  “Let me take care of you?” he asked in between kisses. “I want to make you feel good.”

  “Yes, oh god, yes, please.” Her voice was high and Sam reached excitedly for the button of her jeans, dragging the material down her legs and throwing them on the floor.

  She was bare before him, stretched out on the bed like an angel and Sam could do nothing but stare for a solid minute, watching the way her chest rose and fell, eyes half-lidded.

  Mine.

  “Laura, baby, you’re so gorgeous, fuck – it’s like I dreamed you up.” He followed the lines of the thin blue fabric of her underwear. He pulled lightly at her ankles, spreading her legs and leaned down to lick a strip up her pussy through the fabric of her panties.

  Laura bucked, nearly throwing him off the bed.

  “Sam,” she gasped. “Again.” He did as she asked, licking another stripe over her clit before pulling the fabric aside and sinking one finger into her.

  “Fuck you’re tight,” Sam rasped, crooking his finger and feeling the warm wetness of her around him. “Can’t wait to be inside you.” His cock was rock hard and he snaked a hand down to stroke at it as he thrust his finger into her.

  “I can take another,” Laura panted above him, hips rising up to meet his fingers. Her hands gripped the sheets at her sides and Sam hummed in displeasure. He wanted them back in his hair, pulling him to where she wanted him… He groaned, low and guttural, reaching to tug those clever fingers to the back of his head. Laura grunted softly, fingers threading through the short hair at the back of his head. “You like having your hair played with, baby?” she asked. Sam shivered, and oh he understood the appeal of that name now. He nodded, unable to speak through the fog of arousal and Laura smiled crookedly at him. He slid another finger in alongside the first and that mouth fell open in a soundless moan.

  “Sam, if you don’t get inside me in the next ten seconds I swear I’m going home-” He twisted his fingers, leaning down to tongue her clit and she broke off with another whine.

  “What was that?” he asked innocently, “I didn’t quite catch what you said there.”

  “Please, stop teasing, I- fuck- I’m gonna cum if you don’t get in me right now.” The last bit of Sam’s resolve snapped, his bear snarling and he reached over Laura for the bedside table, pulling out a condom and rolling it on.

  He pushed into her slowly, savoring the feel of her clamping down around him. Laura moaned, loudly and roughly and Sam cursed, gripping her hips hard enough to bruise. She was perfect, writhing and whimpering so sweetly beneath him and he pulled her into a kiss, wanting to claim every inch of her.

  He could barely think, thoughts consumed with every tiny contented gasp she made. Sam buried his head in her neck, breathing in her intoxicating scent. He wasn’t going to last long.

  Laura reached down hesitantly, fingertips grazing Sam’s chest before settling over her clit as he pulled out and thrust back in. He groaned, the image of Laura pleasuring herself whilst he fucked her almost too much to bear. She looked up at him shyly and he moved one of his hands to cup her face.

  “That’s it, baby, play with yourself, let me see you cum, Laura.” He sounded desperate, he knew, but he didn’t care. “You look so beautiful like this, fingering your clit whilst I fuck you, god.”

  “You feel so good inside me,” she whispered, fingers moving in tight circles, and huffed a breathless laugh. “I’m not going to last long.”

  “God, me neither.” Sam snapped his hips, the idea that Laura was just as desperate as he was making him lose his composure. Laura bucked to meet his thrusts, driving him deeper inside her. He couldn't get enough, hands moving from her hips to her waist, wanting to reassure himself that she was real. Laura’s free hand found its way back to his hair, pulling so hard, sparks of pleasure-pain coursed its way through him.

  “Yes!” Laura gasped, trembling beneath him. “Sam, ah!” Laura screamed, repeating his name like a mantra as she came and the sound of his name leaving her lips drove Sam mad with pleasure and he came soon afterward.

  They lay together for a long while until their breathing evened out. Sam traced lazy circles on Laura’s hipbone when she suddenly bolted upright.

  “Oh, fuck.”

  Sam hummed, still too fucked out to move with any sort of urgency and Laura looked down at him with a smile that was half-amusement, half-embarrassment.

  “I forgot about the damn repairman.”

  8

  Carmen

  Carmen Young whistled merrily as she walked down the dimly-lit corridor of Adrian’s laboratory. The entire building had been abandoned officially for years before she’d found it and no amount of decorating had managed to brighten up the place. She tried not to spend too much time here. Sounds of distress, human and bear, echoed off the walls but she paid them no mind; she was used to it by now.

  She stopped at a large door at the end of the hallway, the bear inside her preening in expectation. Every week she had to drag herself away from her lovely spacious apartment and down into the dingey depths of a Frankenstein-wannabe warlock’s lab, but at least she got to see the progress for herself.

  For years she’d wanted to create a bigger sleuth and push back against the Shifter Protection Agency. They were nothing but tame little cubs, coming to humanity’s rescue even after the brutes had hunted and killed hundreds of their own kind. One of her remaining sleuth had told her about a warlock that was boasting about being able to turn human beings into shifters, and Carmen had sought him out immediately.

  She opened the door, blinking to adjust to the darkness. She hadn’t even bothered doing up this room; after all, the only people who saw it with any regularity were the test subjects, and they weren’t really capable of complaining. Jagged-looking stone steps led from the doorway down to the filthy floor. The air smelt stale and rich with fear and pain. The scent made her want to gag but Carmen just held her breath, breathing shallowly. She couldn’t show that she was affected by them, not if they were to see her as their alpha.

  An old glass chandelier lay smashed in the corner of the room and the remains of floral wallpaper still clung to crumbling bricks; the only evidence that this room wasn’t always a prison for her experiments.

  Cages of varying sizes lined the walls and Carmen stalked between them like the predator she was, flaunting her power. Her eyes darted from face to face as she passed, reveling in the misery she saw there. The patrol wasn’t strictly necessary; there hadn’t been an escape attempt in weeks, not since she’d upped the number of bears she’d placed on guard duty. But she needed to remind them who was in charge; who owned them.

  As an alpha, it was only her right to have as many shifters under her control as possible, but her numbers had dwindled the longer she’d been in charge; an unfortunate result of the territory wars she had entered them into. When she’d found Adrian, who was willing to use his magic to get her an endless army of loyal shifters, it was an opportunity she couldn’t pass up.

  They were fifty-strong now, and still growing, but there had been…side effects. Walking through the cages, Carmen was reminded vividly of old freak show attractions; bearded woman and dog boys contorted hideously and cowering around her. The spell was supposed to turn humans into shifters but they were more animal than human – feral creatures bigger and stronger than the rest of her sleuth but nearly impossible to control.

  Oh well, she thought, they’re only humans.

  Amidst the submissive whimpers and plaintive stares, a quiet growling made her pa
use. The girl in the cage was filthy. Her hair was lank and limp, barely brushing her shoulders and her clothes were ripped and covered in grime. She was barely human, the beast was bubbling under the surface, barely contained beneath flimsy skin. The girl growled again, her hatred radiating from her in waves. Carmen stepped closer and smiled, forcing alpha pheromones out into the air. She hunkered down to look the girl in the eye.

  “Got something to say, darling?” The growling increased in volume and Carmen laughed. The girl didn’t seem to realize what noises she was making, kicking the cage and making it rattle against the wall. “Now, now, don't forget who your master is, little bitch.”

  “Someone will come for us,” the girl said fiercely, voice morphed somewhere between growls and speech by the jungle of over-large teeth crowding her jaw. “The police, our families, our friends.” Adrian appeared at her side, the warlock silent as usual. Carmen stayed on her knees, not breaking eye contact with the girl in the cage.

  “Ah, Adrian, always around when I need you.”

  “I try, Miss Carmen.” She’d always found Adrian weirdly old fashioned. If the man ever smiled at her, she knew it’d give her nightmares. But business was business.

  “I think this one is in need of her next injection, be a dear and give it to her?”

  Adrian nodded and left without a word. Carmen watched the girl’s face contort in panic and reached through the bars to run a hand down her cheek.

  “Now, now, none of that,” Carmen said calmly. “You are animals now - circus freaks that no one will ever love. You see them over there?” She moved the girl's head, turning her to face the other side of the room. The creatures within were the most feral, eyes glazed over with no humanity left. “That is what you’ll be – a mindless killing machine that’ll do whatever I ask of her.”

  She climbed back to her feet, dusting off her pants nonchalantly and leaving the room without a second glance. With every new person they took from Mystic, the side effects were getting more under control.