Bear My Love: BBW BWWM Paranormal Shapeshifter Werebear Mail-Order Bride Romance (Shifter Grove Brides Book 4) (5 page)

“It’s easier to cook a deer when you can carve it up, is all I’m saying.”

Yeah, Keesha wasn’t convinced. But she wasn’t going to push him – not yet. Rationally, she knew she should have been at least a bit apprehensive around this mountain of a man who could ram through walls as a bear if he felt so inclined, or carve up a body of meat if he needed to. But being around him just made her feel safe, homey, calm – things she hadn’t felt in a long, long time.

“So tell me something about you. Something I don’t know,” he said.

Battle was making his way through the bigger of the two fish so quickly that Keesha was really beginning to see his point about eating fast or being left hungry. She took a few bites, rolling their previous conversations through her head. She’d done the bitching and the moaning and the upfront flirting, but she hadn’t really told him much about Keesha Bailey, the person.

“Well. I live in Boston with three roommates equally as high-strung as I am. I don’t own anything that’s comfortable, as you can probably tell,” she said, pointing at her skinny jeans.

Battle huffed, nodding.

“We need to get you some sweatpants if you’re going to stay around here. Can’t have a woman walking around looking uncomfortable. I’ll have five shifters offering to give you a better life if I take you to town like that.”

Keesha chuckled, but Battle looked completely serious. Shifters took their comfort seriously, it seemed!

“I’m waiting on the results of my bar exam, but I think I made it. My mom is still around, my dad has never really been in the picture. I don’t have pets. I don’t have hobbies. I don’t have leisure time. I have work. Or, better put, I
had
work. And this might be the first time in at least five years I’ve been somewhere without cell reception.”

Remembering the last bit, she plucked her phone out of her pocket and was in the process of turning it on when Battle pinched it out of her hand and put it down next to him.

“Hey! Maybe I have a bar or two now!”

“Doesn’t matter. Dinnertime. And even if it wasn’t, you’re stuck in the middle of nowhere, Idaho. You really think there’s something you
need
to check on?” he asked, giving her a stern look.

He was right, of course. And it was as endearing as it was annoying.

“Fine, you win.”

“I usually do. Treat it as a vacation. A low expense, low possibilities kind of vacation. Do you want a beer, Keesh?”

She usually hated when someone called her in some
endearing
way, but when it came from Battle, she was completely fine with it. In fact, it made her feel a little goopy inside – which was a nice sensation compared to the rigid worry and proper vigilance she’d come to know on her occasional dates in Boston.

“Sure.”

Another thing she didn’t really do – drink beer. It wasn’t that it was
oh my God going to make me fat!
as much as it was her never really having an occasion to grab a beer. A glass of wine at work, sure. A tequila shot after a hard exam, hell yes! But beer? Just kicking back, relaxing with some good conversation and a decent brew? Never.

Battle got up and walked to the fridge. Keesha’s eyes followed him the whole way, unabashedly checking out his ass. He grabbed two cans and stalked back. He looked as if he could move the world around him just as easily as the world could move him. Battle sunk back on the couch, closer to Keesha this time. He cracked open one can and handed it to her, taking the other one for himself.

The fish was all but gone, just white bones sticking out of the greasy pan. For the first time in a long time, Keesha felt completely sated, physically and mentally. Without thinking much of it, she curled her legs under her on the couch and leant on Battle, resting her head on his shoulder. He put his arm around her and pulled her close, squeezing her a little. It felt damn good.

They talked all night, and it still wasn’t enough.

CHAPTER SEVEN

Keesha

Keesha wasn’t sure when she’d last taken a vacation. Unless half a day hanging out at Starbucks, furiously writing briefs for her boss counted (it probably didn’t). Anyway, it felt weird, and she wasn’t entirely sure what to do with herself.

Her feet swayed back and forth, tailgating in the back of Battle’s truck. They’d been out in the woods for a few hours now and, as much as Keesha was appreciating the somewhat cool Idaho sun, she was becoming more and more easily distracted. It wasn’t hard to understand why – Battle had, yet again, been without a shirt for a good hour or so.

She’d become
very
adept at memorizing his body. So much so that she could barely deal with not having it against her at every moment. Whenever Battle swung that heavy ax of his, the muscles on his back tensed and coiled, taunting her. He’d offered that she could stay at his place and relax, but she’d preferred going with him for the day and seeing what he did for work. Keesha had to admit that she was not regretting the decision – at all.

“So what should I call you?” Keesha yelled to him as Battle was inspecting a tree he’d cut down.

“What do you mean?” he asked, looking up.

Dammit, he was so adorable with his hardhat and safety goggles. She just wanted to eat him up. Purest form of torture – being close to
that
kind of a man and not knowing what he
really
felt like. He was a painful reminder of how long she’d been single and how she hadn’t had a real man in even longer. And by real, she meant one that could give her a run for her money. Battle definitely looked like he could.

And should
, she added silently.

“I mean, are you a lumberjack? Or are you something fancier, like a Tree Felling Senior Technician?” she asked, smiling cheekily.

Okay, it wasn’t her best material, but she was getting kind of bored and needed some Battle in her life. Might as well go on the offensive. A girl’s gotta get what a girl needs, right? Battle stopped, straightening up. A smirk curved his lips and he looked even more devastatingly hot – unfair. He leant on the handle of his ax, the blade squarely stuck in the timber.

“Well, I jack lumber, don’t I? As such, I am a lumberjack.”

There was something inherently dirty about the way he said he jacked lumber. Coming from anyone else, it would have made her giggle, but now it just made her lick her lips in heated expectation.

“And do you like your work?” Keesha continued, trying her best to ignore the pooling heat between her legs that urged her to go and climb him like a tree.

Battle shrugged, walking over to her. Yes! Her body tensed in anticipation. They’d talked the whole night until she’d finally nodded off. Hadn’t done so much as even kiss, but it wasn’t a big deal. He’d given her time to feel comfortable around him and she certainly did now. So much so that the lack of a building to hide in in their near vicinity didn’t seem like any reason to
not
have some fun. It felt good, being bad.

“I do. I’ve always liked working with my hands,” he said, stopping in front of Keesha.

I can think of a few things you could work with your hands
, she thought, blushing a little at the banality of it all.

His thick, muscled torso tucked into a V that disappeared under his belt. She had to fight with herself to keep from pulling him into her and undoing the belt without further ado. He probably wouldn’t mind, but could she look at herself in the mirror later? Probably. When in Idaho, right? Still, she hesitated a little, marinating in her own overwhelming sense of desire for the bear of a man.

“Ever tried anything else? Working at an office?”

“Let’s just say I’ve had enough confined spaces to last me a lifetime,” Battle said with a wry smile, shrugging his shoulders back and stretching a bit.

Sweat glistened on his skin, a single droplet streaking down his neck and then his chest. He was tanned from working long days outside and everything about him screamed rugged masculinity. Keesha loved it. He was nothing like the
boys
she met in Boston. It was almost uncomfortable, thinking back to some of the men she’d dated and shared a bed with there. Why hadn’t she been getting it on with these cowboys all along? They definitely looked better, and treated a lady better, too.

“But what about you, Keesh? You’ve been stuck in your little cubicle for years. Ever thought about doing something with
your
hands?”

I can think of a few things I could do with my han… oh for fuck’s sake, Keesha, stop it.

Frustrated at herself, she shook her head.

“Do I look like the kind of woman who is made to work outside?” she asked, pointing at her skinny jeans and tight white tank top. “All the muscle I have is from three BodyPump classes my friend dragged me to, before I stopped going in favor of Netflix and popcorn.”

Battle looked at her thoughtfully and with a twinkle in his eyes, his head cocked to the side.

“I think we could make a country girl out of you yet,” he said, reaching out a hand to her.

Reflexively, she took it (she liked being close to him and took any chance she got, really) and Battle pulled her to her feet. She was wearing ballerina flats – the one pair of flat shoes she’d found in her baggage – and they definitely weren’t made for walking in the woods.

“What are you plotting?” Keesha asked tentatively as Battle proceeded to guide her to the tree he had just cut down.

“I’ll give you a crash course in being a lumberjack. How does that sound?”

“Scary. But as long as it doesn’t require me to write a brief or go through eighteen years worth of notes, I guess I’m in?”

She giggled and Battle smirked mildly, oozing calm confidence. It was one of the traits she really liked about him – the way he seemed almost impossible to faze or knock for a curve ball. He was just completely centered, like he’d seen everything the world had to offer and he’d come to peace with it. Despite his tattoos and somewhat intimidating look, she couldn’t think of him as anything other than a perfect cuddle bear – even after seeing him swing an ax around the whole morning.

Battle stopped her at the tree and stepped behind her. He raised the ax in front of her, holding onto it with one hand.

“Grab it,” he said, and she did as she was told.

“Jesus, that’s heavy,” she gasped, feeling every bit the blushing damsel that she was.

Keesha Bailey hadn’t done a day of physical labor in her life, unless weeding her grandma’s garden as a teenager counted. And you could be sure she had been bitching and moaning about that experience the entire time. It wasn’t so much that she didn’t want to do anything that could possibly wind her, as it was that her career choices hadn’t exactly left a lot of room for physical satisfaction – in or outside of the sack, to be quite frank.

Against all odds, she found herself actually excited for this little lesson. It didn’t hurt that Battle was the one giving it.

“It’s supposed to be, and sharp. Put one hand over the other. Just like that. Now, I’ll hold onto it as well and you’ll raise it up and then swing it down hard. Aim for the tree, not your shins, okay?”

Keesha snorted. She wasn’t
that
inept at the basics of cutting firewood… Right? Choosing to not dwell on it, she gripped the handle harder. Battle was pressed against her, cradling her from either side with his big, strong arms. She could feel his heartbeat going thump-thump steadily, though it quickened just a little as she wiggled into a better position. He was like catnip to her and she got the feeling the interest went both ways – as it should.

Taking a deep breath, she raised up the ax and then cut down with it. She yelped as it jammed halfway into the trunk, slicing through the timber.

“Again,” Battle’s calm, rumbling voice said.

He helped her pry the ax loose and then swing down again. Adrenaline shot through her veins like pure fire, making her tingle. This time, she yanked it out of the wood herself and made the next cut all on her own, her breath catching a little as she heard the satisfying crackle of the blade cutting entirely through the wood. The fairly slim tree trunk broke in half where she’d been hacking away at it and she grinned ear to ear.

Okay, so maybe trying the unknown could be fun – a lot of fun. Which reminded her of something else she’d been too chicken to try.

Sticking the ax into the wood with a well-aimed chop, Keesha spun around. With deft, determined fingers, she plucked off Battle’s hardhat and pushed his safety goggles up. Heat was wafting off of him, the sweat and his masculine scent only feeding that adrenaline that was still pumping in her veins. He looked like he was about to ask what she was doing, but she made it very clear when she rose up on her tiptoes and kissed him hungrily on the lips.

CHAPTER EIGHT

Keesha

Her world fell away and that was exactly how she wanted it. Battle’s hands locked around her waist as soon as their lips touched and any worries she might have had about her interest not being well met disappeared into thin air. He kissed her back as savagely as she had wanted and needed him to. Her hands scuffed up his neck and through his short-cropped hair, the buzzed cut smooth under her fingertips.

His hands roamed down her body, grabbing her ample ass. Keesha gasped into his mouth, a hint of a smile on her lips. A man who knew what he liked – she loved it. Her teeth nipped at his lower lip, coaxing a growl out of him, half man, half bear. The presence of his animal side so close to the surface just made it more thrilling, taking a great kiss squarely into the realm of the fantastic.

Their tongues twisted together, Battle’s thrusting into her mouth and claiming it easily. She moaned into the kiss, her body ablaze with desire she’d barely managed to contain during their time together. Now it could all flood forward. She didn’t have to hold back anymore.

A thought crossed through her mind, asking her whether she’d
really
fuck him in the middle of nowhere, during the day, in the forest. A second later, the next thought she had screamed a resounding
Yes!