A Bear's Seduction (Forbidden Shifters Book 2) Read online

  A Bear’s Seduction

  Forbidden Shifters

  Vanessa Devereaux

  Copyright © 2016 Vanessa Devereaux

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

  The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, or events, is coincidental and not intended by the author.

  This is the work of erotica and therefore intended for mature audiences.

  Published by Coldstream Publishing

  After Dark Imprint

  www.coldstreampublishing.us

  Table of Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  About the Author

  Welcome to Bay Harbor Springs, one of the first towns in Benningan County to experiment with the idea that their bear shifter population and non-shifter residents should finally be allowed to date, have sex, and possibly mate.

  Before legislation passed, all shifters were known as forbidden and any shifter found to have anything but a platonic or business relationship with their non-shifter counterpart would be forced to wear a radio tracker, be fined, sometimes jailed, and repeat offenders were banished from Benningan County for ten years.

  The non-shifter female residents sometimes found this rule the hardest to abide by because everyone knows that a bear shifter is downright hunkalicious.

  Many women found themselves unable to resist these sexy werebears and many of the bad boys paid the price by handing over huge fines for a short kiss while others spent time behind bars for a quick rendezvous in the backseat of a parked car.

  The Non-Shifter Alliance (all male) had decided that each month a limited number of permits will need to be issued before any sexual activity can commence and it’s on a purely first come first served basis.

  As you can imagine, a record number were applied for just minutes after the ban was officially abolished and sexual encounters with the Forbidden Shifters began soon after.

  These are the stories…

  Chapter One

  “Are you sure you can handle this one?”

  I turned to look at my boss, unsure how I wanted to answer that question. This was a huge account but the thought of spending a few days and nights in Bear McCready’s presence made me want to run from the office and never come back.

  My apprehension didn’t have anything to do with him being a bear shifter. I’d been around my fair share of those. My uneasiness stemmed from his reputation, and that’s reputation with a capital R. He’d been to jail twice for violating the no sexual contact between shifters and non-shifters ban and had once been on the point of being banished from the county for continual non-compliance. However, he’s filthy rich, with a capital F, and as we all know, money talks.

  I’d never met him personally, but rumor has it he has a thing for non-shifter women. Maybe it’s the whole “you always want what you can’t have” and hence his reason for serving time. Or maybe he’s just plain arrogant and figured with his clout and money, he should be able to do what he damn well pleases. I remember seeing photos of him being handcuffed and led away by Enforcement. Once he’d even been caught right in the act and the tabloids had a field day. Splashed across the front page was Bear with his fly wide open as they threw him into the back of a waiting Enforcement van. Women passed it around cubicles in their offices, debating whether or not it was really his cock peeking out from the teeth of the zipper. I’d tried to not get caught up with it, but it had somehow landed on my desk. If that was indeed his dick, then whoever he’d been with must have had the time of her life. I guess I’d become a little obsessed with him from that moment onward. I never thought I’d have the chance to meet him in person but then…

  Oh yeah, did I mention that he’s hired my boss’ company to do all the event management for his upcoming business party?

  “Allison, have you heard a single word I’ve said?” asked Josie, who’s been my boss for the last two years.

  Had she said anything else since the are you sure you can handle it bit?

  “You okay? Because you’ve been acting very strange since we landed this account and gig,” Josie said.

  “I’m fine and yes, this is going to be a piece of cake,” I said.

  Another thing I forgot to tell you is that Bear requested I oversee the whole thing.

  “I have to say I envy you.” Josie struggled to her feet and rubbed her belly. She was due to have her first child in a few weeks’ time and then I’d be taking over running the company during her maternity leave.

  “Single, and at a time when the ban’s been finally lifted. It would have been nice to know what having sex with a bear shifter was really like.”

  I’d already heard rumors that words could not describe the sort of orgasms they gave you.

  “And Mr. McCready is one handsome bear,” Josie said, swinging the computer monitor around so I could see his photo.

  “I promise I won’t mix business with pleasure,” I said.

  Josie rubbed her belly again, a sure sign the baby boy she was carrying was kicking her. She shook her head.

  “If he makes a move on you, you have my permission to have sex but only on the understanding that you tell me all about it. I haven’t had any action since my stomach grew so big that Simon can’t get anywhere near my pussy. I guess with a new baby I’m not likely to in the foreseeable future either. Living vicariously through you is about as close as I’m going to get to having an orgasm anytime soon.”

  Fucking a bear. Fucking Bear. I glanced at his photo again. His deep blue eyes looked back at me almost as if they were seducing me.

  “Have you got your bags packed?” Josie’s voice stirred me out of my train of thought once again.

  “No, but I’m going straight home to do just that.”

  “And make sure you add an evening dress because he requested you mingle during the party just to make sure everything’s running smoothly.”

  I took a deep breath. I sensed he’d keep me busy with all the party arrangements so I wouldn’t have time to lust and drool, and that was just fine with me.

  Chapter Two

  I glanced at my watch before I took it off and placed it on the vanity. If she was punctual as I sensed she would be, Ms. Bixby would be arriving shortly after I got out of the shower. I turned on the tap, stepped inside the stall, and leaned into the stream of warm water.

  In less than fifteen minutes I’d been meeting her in person. I lifted my face up and let the water cascade down it and onto my chest. My grandmother who’d raised me had predicted my mate would be a non-shifter.

  “And how am I to meet and woo a non-shifter woman when we’re banned from even giving them a playful look,” I’d asked my grandmother when I’d turned fifteen.

  “I feel it in my bones, and by the time you’re ready t
o fall in love, I’m guessing this ridiculous ban will be history.”

  I soaped my chest and let the foam run down onto my belly. I’d loved and trusted my grandmother, but I thought she was being overly optimistic about the ban being lifted so I’d broken the rules to try and find my mate.

  None of the women had turned out to be the one, and all I’d gotten for my trouble was a couple of good beatings from the Enforcement officers who wanted to prove a point. I’d also received jail time where I’d sat and pondered whether grandmother was totally wrong with her prediction. However, she’d never let me down so I’d given it one last shot and almost lost it all, my home, and the business I’d taken so many years to build. However, not all humans are bastards, and one lenient judge had decided to give me one last chance.

  My last chance to find my mate I’d called it. And then last month when I’d been looking for an event company to manage the party, I’m stumbled across Everett Management and the account executive’s photo that had stirred something within me.

  I hadn’t realized my hand was now on my cock until I felt a stirring in my groin. I could see the photo in my mind’s eye. Each time I thought about her, this woman I hadn’t even met yet, I’d grow hard and eventually end up jerking off.

  My hand slid up and down my shaft. I squeezed my eyes shut, wondering what it would be like to fuck my intended. They said you sensed something as soon as you set your eyes upon them and you knew the first time your cock introduced itself to their pussy. None of the non-shifter women I’d been with had made me feel a thing for them emotionally or sexually. Ms. Bixby was already ahead on both accounts.

  I rested my forehead on the tiles in the shower, sensing I was close to finding release. I gripped the floor with my toes and lifted my head and groaned when at last I came. I was almost forty years old, and I had everything but a mate and children. Maybe, just maybe, Allison Bixby would be the woman my grandmother had predicted I was destined to pair with.

  Chapter Three

  Wow. I’m not usually a person who utters that word and for that matter, not the type who talks out loud. However, that rolled off my tongue as soon as I turned into the driveway of Bear McCready’s house. No, it wasn’t a house. It was a mansion. A McMansion or in this case, a McCready. Two black iron gates loomed in front of me with the initials BM engraved in their centers.

  A silver box similar to the one at the drive-up window at fast food restaurants, sat close by. I pressed the switch to lower my driver’s side window and put my finger on the call button.

  “Good afternoon,” a man’s voice boomed from the speaker.

  I wondered if it was Mr. McCready but then guessed that the rich don’t oversee their own security.

  “I’m Allison Bixby with Everett Management, and I’m here for Mr. McCready.”

  What I meant to say was I was here to see him, but I wasn’t going to correct myself and draw more attention to my slip of the tongue

  “Ms. Bixby, Mr. McCready told me to be on the lookout for you. I’ll open the gates for you. Drive straight ahead and turn to the right when you get to the end of the road. Park wherever you wish. By the way, I’m Ted.”

  As in teddy bear, I wanted to ask.

  “Thank you,” I said.

  “Oh and don’t worry about your luggage, I’ll come collect it for you.”

  The gates parted and I drove through them and up a slight hill. The place was massive; trees, shrubs, flowers everywhere, and I wondered how many people Mr. McCready hired to run all this for him.

  I saw the house up close and knew my mouth had dropped open. Wow, I said for the second time within the space of ten minutes. I turned into what looked like a parking lot at my local shopping center and decided to park beside a statue of a bear. I popped open the trunk and was about to get my suitcase out when a man in his late fifties ran toward me.

  “I told you I’d get that,” he called to me.

  I guessed this was Ted. He put out his hand.

  “I’m Ted Finley.”

  “Nice to meet you,” I said, slipping my hand into his. “Sorry, I’m not used to people doing stuff like this for me.”

  “You’ll have to while you’re under Mr. McCready’s watchful eye. If you’d like to follow me.”

  I let Ted lead me to the house, and up what seemed like thousands of steps and then through the double front doors that were bigger than my townhouse. I made sure the third wow didn’t escape my mouth as I stepped onto the marble floor of the foyer.

  “Mr. McCready is just showering and said he’ll be right with you. So if you’d like to go through to the drawing room and wait for him. In the meantime, I’ll take your bag upstairs to your room.”

  Ted left, and I walked over to the room where he’d pointed just a few seconds ago.

  Drawing room seemed such an old-fashioned word. Was it what Ted called it or Mr. McCready, perhaps? Books lined most of the walls, a huge drink cabinet sat on the back wall. And lots of couches and chairs that looked like you could sink into them and snuggle up with a good book, dotted the room. Speaking of which, I walked over to the first bookcase and checked out what sort of titles Mr. McCready favored. I’d always believed choice of books tells you a lot about a person.

  I fingered the binding. Most of them were leather, first editions no doubt.

  The Bird and the Cat. I remember my parents reading this to me when I was a child. I loved it. I hoped he didn’t mind me pulling it out and looking at it. It was as I’d thought, a first edition. This one was highly illustrated, and each creature in the story was just how I imagined they’d look.

  “Ms. Bixby,” a man’s voice said. It had been so quiet in the room that his voice startled me. I dropped the book, watching it fall to the floor with a bang and, shit, there was now a dent in the binding.

  I dived to retrieve it, but this man beat me to it. He smelled downright wonderful. Freshly shampooed hair, a hint of aftershave, and something else I couldn’t detect but I knew I liked it.

  Our hands overlapped as we reached for the book simultaneously before standing. I turned to look at the man whose scent made my heart beat faster. It was him. Bear McCready. I recognized those piercing blue eyes from the photo.

  “I’m so sorry about this book. I mean I’ll pay for it,” I said.

  “I very much doubt you could. It’s a priceless first edition, illustrated by the author.”

  Well, listen to Mr. High and Mighty. I decided to bit my tongue and not give him a come-back line.

  “I take it you’re Mr. McCready,” I said, hoping I sounded just a tad sarcastic without appearing rude.

  “I am.” He put out his hand to me. I slipped mine into his, realizing it was huge and strong as he gripped my palm and curled his fingers around the back of my hand.

  “You have to call me Bear,” he said.

  There was Ted and now Bear. I hoped my smile wasn’t that obvious.

  “You find something amusing, Ms. Bixby?” Bear asked.

  Damn, I was never known for my poker face.

  “No, nothing is funny. And perhaps I could try and get this dent out of the book.”

  He took a deep breath and leaned against the bookshelf. “Do you always make it your business to go snooping in other people’s homes?”

  I bit my lip this time because I knew some cutting remark was going to fall out of my mouth. This was going to be a fun couple of days with Mr. Grouchy Bear.

  “I don’t, but I was drawn to that one because it’s a favorite of mine.”

  He took it from my hand and ran his fingers over the dent and then placed it back on the shelf. “I’m being rude. How about a drink and we can go over the plans for the party and make sure we’re on the same page?”

  “Sounds good to me.”

  “I was about to have a white wine. You want to join me?” he asked.

  White wine was always my drink of choice.

  “I’d love one,” I said.

  “Take a seat and I’ll bring it over to
you.”

  I chose the couch near a glass coffee table and decided from now on I was going to keep my hands off any of his stuff. I watched him slyly watching me as he uncorked the bottle and then poured two glasses of wine. I remembered Ted saying Bear had been in the shower when I’d arrived. He looked like he hadn’t bothered to dry his hair. It was thick, dark and wavy, and had the telltale still damp look to it. The white shirt he was wearing looked like it was brand new. Its collar stiff around his neck, its top two buttons opened to reveal a slightly tanned chest. The navy blue pants obviously had just been pressed, and they pulled across his groin that I couldn’t take my eyes off of as he walked toward me.

  “Ms. Bixby or can I call you Allison?”

  “What, oh, I, yes, that’s fine. I mean Allison is fine.”

  I took the glass from him and quickly put it down on the table, hoping my now shaking hands wouldn’t cause me to spill anything on what looked like an expensive rug that no doubt I couldn’t afford either.

  “In fact, you look more like an Ali. Is it okay if I call you that?”

  “I’ve a few friends who call me that so, no, I don’t have a problem with it.”

  He sat opposite me and crossed his legs. “Where shall we start?” he asked.

  I took a sip of wine before answering but suddenly didn’t feel like talking business or work. I wanted to put my feet under my body, enjoy the wine, and read The Bird and the Cat all over again.

  “The guest list,” I said, making myself pull out of the sudden lazy mood I was in. Maybe being in this house was making me feel like the princess in the castle. “You said you might add a few more to it.”

  “That’s right. I went through my list of business contacts and decided I should add these four people to the list so as not to offend them.” He pulled out a sheet of paper from his pants pocket and handed it to me.

  “I’ll make sure the electronic invites get sent out today.”

  “I’ve had Ted place a desk and chair in your room if you want to do some work there, or you’re welcome to use my office.”