No, it was pure lust.
Ugh. I was not pleased to see a man out here, no matter how hunky he was. And he was. Almost too handsome, with thick and wavy brown hair, a square jaw, strong nose and soft looking lips.
He looked like a cowboy.
On steroids.
Did I mention he was big?
He held out a gigantic meaty paw. Without thinking I reached forward and placed my hand in his. Jolts of electricity shot through me as his hand closed on mine.
His touch was firm but gentle.
In other words, perfect.
"I'm Jake Harrison, Park Ranger."
She nodded stupidly. Of course he was. He was wearing a brown cotton uniform. It fit him in ways that a uniform should not fit anybody. Of course, not everybody had so many muscles to contend with.
So, so many muscles.
"I'm Alana Kellor."
His face broke into a wide grin.
"You must be Janet Kellor's girl! She was a right spit fire."
My mouth dropped open as he continued to pump my hand up and down. I pulled it away, suddenly feeling like the world was tilting a bit on it's axis.
"Janet was my great great grandmother."
His face showed no emotion, though there was a flicker of something in his heavily lashed eyes. No man should have lashes that thick and flirtatious looking. Whatever it was he was thinking, he covered it easily.
"That's right. I must have been thinking of your Gran."
"Bessie."
"Right."
We stared at each other for a moment. He was looking at me with friendly curiosity, while I was fighting down lust. And annoyance. I had come out here to get away from men, not to throw myself at them.
And I was very close to doing just that.
"I've always been curious about what this place looked like from the inside..."
I couldn't politely ignore the hint so I backed up and gestured that he should come inside.
"Please, come in."
He brushed past me and I was hit by a wall of heat and something else indefinable.
Oh. That's what it was.
The man smelled incredible. Suddenly I was feeling a little light headed. Almost as if I was drunk. Or drugged.
He turned to look at me and grinned wolfishly.
"Do you need to sit down?"
I stood there, swaying on my feet.
"I think you should sit down."
I nodded, allowing him to take my arm and guide me to a chair.
"You know, it's risky for a woman out here alone in the woods. I'd feel a lot better if I knew there was someone else around to check on you. A boyfriend, maybe?"
I shook my head in a daze. The effect of his nearness was overwhelming me. He was leaning over the chair, closer than he needed to be.
Much, much closer.
Oddly enough, I didn't seem to mind.
Not. One. Bit.
"I came out here to get away from all that. I'm- working on a book. Of recipes."
"Oh you are, are you?"
I nodded stupidly as he brushed my hair away from my face. His rough fingers sent chills through my body.
Argh! Why was this happening to me? I struggled against the spell this larger than life stud muffin was weaving over me. The saddest part was that he barely even had to try and I was putty in his hands.
I really really wanted to be his putty. In his hands.
He smiled at me, his gaze boldly flickering down to my chest and staying there.
I started breathing heavily, feeling almost as if he were touching me there.
Licking me.
"I'd love to try some of your recipes... soon hopefully."
I shook my head, shooting to my feet. I backed away from him, trying to regain my equilibrium.
"Sorry. I'm here to be alone. No men."
His eyebrows shot right up. He walked closer and closer and I kept backing away. Right into the wall.
Next thing I knew he was leaning over me, his hands braced on either side of my head.
"That doesn't seem right. Luscious little thing like you deserves to be worshipped."
He leaned in and whispered in my ear, sending lust spiraling through my body.
"Thoroughly..."
Humanahumanahumanahumana...
For a moment I could have sworn I saw cartoon bridies flying around my head.
"I'll come back and check on you tomorrow. Make sure we get some bear bells outside."
He pushed away and walked slowly to the door.
"Maybe you'll be ready to share one of your recipes with me then."
And he was gone.
<3<3<3<3<3
Six ~ Jake
I sat on my porch swing, staring out into the night. She wasn't far away. I could still feel her.
Smell her.
And if I closed my eyes, I could see her too.
Ooooeeee, what a woman!
I twisted off the cap on a cold beer and took a deep swig. I'd exerted all my control trying not to take her right then and there. Of course, she'd tried to resist me. But it was next to impossible for a mere mortal to resist a shifter. Particularly not an Alpha such as myself.
Never mind that we were destined to meet.
To mate.
Once she was well and truly mine, she would stay by my side for hundreds of years, my magic keeping her young and fertile for centuries to come. Maybe a thousand years. No one knew for certain how long we could live without interference.
It was a wild world and other shifters passed through now and then, some of them looking for a fight.
That's what had finally killed my parents and just recently, my grandfather.
Another Bear was out there somewhere.
I was almost sure of it.
No other shifter could defeat a Bear. I'd heard of WereLions that were possibly our match, but none had been seen on this continent. They stuck to the hot, wild grasslands of Africa.
So I waited and watched, looking for trouble. Hoping this day would finally come.
And it had.
By god, it had.
Now I just had to exert my will on little miss Alana Kellor. Once she was in my bed I would calmly explain the truth. The power of the Alpha would keep her calm as she absorbed the mysteries unknown to humans since the beginning of time. That there were creatures living among them, half human, half... not.
Then all there was to do was to breed her and begin the next generation, living happily ever after.
I was really looking forward to the breeding part.
<3<3<3<3<3
Seven ~ Alana
I stared at my reflection in the mirror. My red hair was wild. My face covered in smudges of dirt. My eyes tired.
I'd worked furiously to get the place habitable. Once I'd snapped out of my stupor that is.
That had taken a while.
Still, I could feel a heavy warmth between my legs.
Jesus! All the man had to do was whisper in my ear and I'd been ready to jump into bed with him!
Not just bed either. The table had looked mighty comfortable at that moment, truth be told.
No. No no no no no.
I sighed and splashed the well water on my face. The electricity was working but I had yet to tackle the ancient boiler, so would have to do without a shower. I stripped my filthy clothes off and slipped into my pajamas. Then I put my boots back on. No use cleaning the floor with clean socks.
Well, cleanish anyway.
Thankfully, I had an excellent sleeping bag which I draped over a musty smelling mattress in the largest of the bedrooms. It would be silly to call it a master bedroom, being so tiny. But more or less, that's what it was.
The moment my head hit the pillow, I was out.
Or rather, running.
I dove head first into the most vivid dream I'd ever had in my life.
I was outside, running in the woods. The full moon hung low in the sky. An owl hooted overhead and I followed the direction of her gaze.
There! Something large was lumbering towards me in the moonlight.
I fought the urge to run again, needing to know.
To see.
A dark shadow took form. It lifted itself to its hind legs, standing nearly ten feet tall. It was-
It was him.
The ranger. Jake.
But it was not... he'd changed somehow. His face was different, the muzzle forming the snout of a bear. Razor sharp teeth were visible in the moonlight. A dark pelt covered his enormous muscles. His hands were stubby and ended with razor sharp claws that looked to be six or seven inches long.
But the eyes. The eyes were the same.
Oh my god.
I turned to run but he was on me in an instant. Turning me over. Tearing my clothes from my body. But he didn't devour me as I'd expected.
No, he started to explore me. Lick me. Tease my body until I was writhing naked on the forest floor.
And then I felt something enormous nudging against me. Smooth and hard and hot.
His shaft.
He pressed it at my entrance, making me moan. But it was too large! I gasped as it slid inside me, inch by inch, stretching me wide...
Oh!
In the dream I was cumming, arching against him as he rode me again and again, low growls erupting from his throat. It seemed to go on forever. But I didn't wake up when we were through. No, I stayed in the dream, shivering in the cold as he cleaned my body with his rough tongue.
Then he lifted me up and flipped me over, setting me back down on my hands and knees.
I could feel him behind me, guiding that enormous erection to my sopping wet pussy again.
Inhuman hands gripped my hips as he drove into me without mercy. Dawn lit the sky as he took me again and again, seeming to never tire, seeming to never lose his hunger for me.
I collapsed on the damp earth just as the forest came to life.