The Island Of Bears: A BBW Paranormal Romance Read online

  Holden sighed, his gaze going from my face to my chest, then back to my face again. “I really, really cannot continue this conversation with you the way you are right now.”

  While we’d been talking, I’d been noticing his gaze periodically sliding down to my chest, but I’d ignored the action. I really couldn’t understand what the big deal was. He’d seen me in a bikini at least a dozen times before.

  I snorted. “No way. Don’t think me being in a bikini is going to let you off the hook from having this conversation.”

  His ocean-blue eyes danced with just a glimmer of amusement, which positively mystified me.

  He shook his head, seeming to be fighting a little smile as well. “Well, no, it’s not just that. It’s not just the fact that you’re in a bikini. It’s, well...it’s just the specific way you’re in your bikini right now. Or not in it, rather.”

  I had no earthly clue what he was talking about, though I was soon to find out.

  *

  Hands on hips, I studied the little twinkle in Holden’s eyes, sure I was glaring in return. “Just what are you trying to get at? Why can’t you continue this conversation with me, and just what exactly does that have to do with my bikini?”

  With his full lips still twitching with amusement, he looked down at my chest, letting his gaze linger for a moment, before lifting it back to my face. “Just think about what I said, Haley. It’s just the specific way you’re in your bikini right now. Or not in it, rather. Maybe have a glance down yourself.”

  I suddenly got what he meant even before I glanced down, which confirmed my suspicions. I was not in my bikini, at least not entirely. One of my breasts was completely out, even while the other was still covered by the red bandeau top.

  Embarrassed for some reason, even though Holden had seen me totally nude numerous times, I quickly yanked my top up and over my exposed breast. “Well...excuse me for that, I guess. I guess when a person is trying to get back to a village to escape a possible Form attack, they really don’t have much time to pay attention to whether or not they’re still all in their top.”

  Holden was now clearly fighting a grin.

  “Of course. No time for things like that. But now do you see why I was having difficulty continuing our conversation? How could I not, with one of your gorgeous breasts completely bare, spilling over the top of your bikini like that, only inches away from me?”

  I huffed, pulling my top up a little higher. “Well, you might have tried to focus better, or alert me to the fact that I was hanging out like that a bit sooner.”

  “How could I, though? When you looked so beautiful like that.”

  “Well, you—”

  “When you looked like such a gorgeous, sexy little freak.”

  I scoffed, glancing down at Holden’s feet. “Look at your own self! One black boot on, and one off. You look ridiculous.”

  “Well, you should know that when the Forms siren sounded, I’d just shifted back into human form and had sat down for my first patrol break in about ten hours, and I’d dared to begin taking my boots off in hopes of getting comfortable for a brief nap.”

  “Regardless, you look like a freak. One sock foot in the sand like that next to one black boot... You look like a son of a freak.”

  Suddenly, so suddenly, in fact, that I gasped, Holden pulled me close with a low growl, then whispered near my ear. “Call me that again and see what happens.”

  Looking up into his eyes, I didn’t even hesitate. “Son of a freak.”

  Doing exactly what I’d thought and hoped he might do, he immediately lowered his mouth to mine and began kissing me hungrily, his mouth firm and warm, nearly taking my breath away.

  Several moments later, he broke the kiss and lifted his face from mine with his eyes slightly glassy. “Ready to say you’re sorry for calling me such a terrible name?”

  I gave my head a quick shake. “No. And actually, I think you’re even more of a son of a freak than you were before. Just look at you...standing on the beach kissing a woman while wearing one black boot on one foot and just a sock on the other. You’re a double son of a freak now.”

  “You may not want to say that to me twice, Haley. I may have to show you just exactly how much of a little freak I think you are, and just how exquisite I think your breasts are, and just how much seeing one of them a minute ago only whetted my appetite to see them both. So, call me a double son of a freak again at your own peril.”

  Like before, I didn’t even hesitate. “You’re a double son of a freak. Triple, actually.”

  “Well, now you’ve done it.”

  He immediately pulled away just slightly, took the bright fabric of my bikini top in his hands, and pulled it down slowly, revealing both of my full breasts. With his breathing accelerating, he seemed to feast his eyes on them.

  “Beyond exquisite. Absolute perfection.”

  While ocean waves rolled in right beside us, filling the air with a potent scent of salt, Holden moved his hands to the small of my back, pulling me close, then lowered his mouth to one of my nipples and began teasing it with the very tip of his tongue. I bent my head back with a moan, wrapping my arms around his strong shoulders.

  “Yes. Keep doing that.”

  He did, but after a short while, I sucked in my breath wincing.

  “Oh...ow!”

  Instantly, he lifted his head, his expression one of horror. “I’m so sorry. What did I do wrong?”

  “No. No, it wasn’t you at all. What you were doing was... absolutely perfect. It’s just my ankle.”

  Holding it somewhat aloft, with just my toes in the sand for several minutes, I’d almost completely forgotten it was injured; but while Holden had been giving my breast such careful attention, I’d absentmindedly went to shift my weight from foot to foot, and a sharp pain in my ankle had been the result.

  “When I heard the siren, it startled me, and I tripped on a piece of driftwood and twisted it or something. And I don’t think very bad, but...just bad enough to keep me from walking on it. Which is why I bounced right out of my top. I was kind of hopping on one foot to get back to the village.”

  Frowning, Holden knelt to examine my ankle. “I’m so sorry. Instead of asking you what you were doing away from the village, my very first question should have been to ask you if you were okay.”

  “Oh, it’s fine. You were upset, and I don’t blame you. It’s okay.”

  “No, it’s not. I feel terrible. Very first thing, I should have asked if you were okay.”

  “Well, you can make it up to me right now by continuing what you were doing a minute ago.”

  I couldn’t have cared less about my ankle at that point. I just wanted to feel his tongue circling my nipple again.

  Still frowning, he finished checking out my ankle and stood. “Not a chance. We need to get you back to the village and have the doctor check you out right away. Your ankle’s clearly swollen, and it could get even worse if we don’t—”

  “But I don’t care. A few minutes isn’t going to make a difference in whether or not I recover from a little sprained ankle...and by the way, I’m pretty sure that I will make a full recovery. So, let’s just stay here on the beach and keep on doing what we were doing.”

  “While all the while, your ankle swells to the size of a grapefruit.”

  “A little dramatic, don’t you think, Holden? But then again, I’d expect nothing less from a triple son of a freak like you.”

  He sighed, trying to maintain his stern frown, I could tell, even while a hint of a twinkle came to his eyes.

  Encouraged, I smiled. “Now, why don’t you help me get off my sprained ankle. You could lie me down right here on the beach if you wanted to. Just to take the pressure off my ankle, you know.”

  The twinkle in Holden’s eyes became a bit more pronounced, and all traces of his frown disappeared.

  Holding me around the waist, he lifted me off the sand, pulling me close to his body and a distinct hardness straining against t
he front of his jeans. “Well, I’ve never been one to refuse help to an injured person. Especially when that person is as stunning and sexy as you are.”

  Grinning, I pressed my lips to his for a moment. “That’s the right attitude.”

  After returning my kiss, scooping me up in his arms at the same time, he lowered me to the warm, pale sand and then positioned himself beside me. We began kissing again with our hands roaming freely, and it wasn’t long before we were both completely naked. It crossed my mind that anyone could come along and see us at any time, but I quickly dismissed the thought. I figured that the majority of Holden’s men were off chasing the Form, and those who weren’t were guarding the village. And as far as Cora, Amy, and everyone else in the village, they’d been told not to step foot outside, and unlike me, I doubted anyone else would be absentminded enough to wander down the beach. I hoped they wouldn’t be, anyway.

  But after a short while of Holden caressing my naked rear while we kissed, limbs entwined, I heard a noise that made me immediately break our kiss, gasping.

  “Oh, God.”

  The sound had been like someone saying hello repeatedly from a distance of only thirty or forty feet away.

  I glanced at the gently rolling ocean, which was only a few feet away from the tips of our toes. “Maybe we can hide in the waves. We’ll get in up to our necks and just pretend we’re out for a swim.”

  Holden just chuckled, still running a hand over my rear. “That was just a parrot in the jungle. And I doubt he or she is all that interested in what we’re doing. Definitely not enough for us to have to hide and concoct a cover story.”

  I chuckled a little myself, relieved. “Oh. Probably not.”

  I’d never been one for any kind of exhibitionism, but I figured making love in front of a parrot likely wouldn’t fall under that umbrella anyway.

  Clinging to each other while the sun began sinking, painting the sky bright orange and red, Holden and I resumed kissing, our desperation clearly increasing. I ran a hand along the hard ridges of his broad back, hiking a leg up on his hip, and he slid a hand between us and began exploring my femininity with light touches and gentle strokes, making a few quiet grunts and growls of desire while he did so. He soon located my most sensitive spot and began stroking it slowly, making me moan, breaking our kiss and throwing my head back.

  “Yes. Yes, just like that. Don’t stop.”

  He didn’t, except to periodically slide two fingers in and out of my slickness, slightly curving them so that he could hit a specific spot inside of me that when touched, made my legs do weird little involuntary spasms of pleasure. Soon my legs were doing tiny jerks and shakes nearly nonstop, and my breathing was coming in a series of short, shallow pants.

  “Now, Holden. Please. Make love to me. I need to feel you inside of me. I’m getting kind of desperate.”

  Kind of desperate was quite an understatement. More than any other man I’d ever been with in my life, he had a way of getting me turned on to the point I was even a bit lightheaded, which I was right then. I’d also developed a frustrating, insistent ache low in my belly, and this was an ache that I knew could only be relieved by Holden filling me and moving deeply inside of me. This was part of the reason I couldn’t stand the thought of being separated from him. The thought of months, maybe even years, of unsatisfied need just didn’t particularly appeal to me for some reason. It actually made me feel nearly sick.

  Mere moments after I’d made my request for him to make love to me, Holden was on top of me, sliding his rock-hard shaft inside of me with one long, powerful thrust, groaning. I barely even heard him, though, over the sound of my own prolonged, loud moan. While the turquoise blue waters of the ocean began lapping at our toes, we soon began moving our bodies in unison, Holden thrusting into me while I lifted my hips to meet his every stroke. Every so often, between kisses and cries of passion, we briefly looked into each other’s eyes, and each time we did, a little thrill raced through me. I saw in Holden’s eyes a man I could easily fall deeply in love with, and a man I could easily spend the rest of my life with. Partly because of how he was so caring and protective of me, even if I didn’t always like it, I was beginning to think that we might be able to develop the kind of relationship that went way beyond the physical. I myself was definitely starting to care about his heart just as much as I did his body.

  Although, right then on the beach, his body, and how he was using it to bring me to dizzying heights of pleasure, was, of course, my primary focus. I was only human, after all.

  After a while, I could tell Holden was nearing climax, but holding back because I hadn’t reached mine yet. However, I was close. So, to increase my pleasure even further, I reached down between our slightly sweaty bodies and began stroking my throbbing sensitive spot, an action that almost immediately tipped me over the edge. I cried out, clutching one of Holden’s muscular shoulders with my free hand while he dramatically increased the pace of his thrusting with a long, low growl, finally letting himself go.

  A short while later, we rested on our backs, side by side, while the sun sank even lower and a balmy, salt-scented breeze cooled our warm bodies. For several minutes, we just relaxed quietly, fingers entwined, watching the sky turn from shades of fire to dusky purples and pinks. Somewhere behind us in the jungle, the parrot called out what sounded like “Hello” a few more times, each one quieter than the last, as if the bird was getting tired.

  Eventually, I became so relaxed that I might have soon drifted off to sleep if Holden hadn’t turned to me with a very serious expression, saying that he needed to tell me something.

  Praying that something wasn’t that he’d decided to try to take me back through the portal to New York City early, I pulled myself up on my elbows, studying his face. “What is it?”

  Frowning, he rolled onto his side and hesitated for a long moment before responding. “This is very, very crucially important to our relationship. So, please...hear me out, even though you might not like what I have to say.”

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  I sat up fully in the wet sand, my gaze on Holden’s face. “What is it you have to tell me? And why do you think I won’t like it?”

  “Here. Let’s get dressed first. Just on the off-chance that we get any more company other than that parrot back there. My men who patrol this side of the village should be coming back around here within the next hour or so, I expect.”

  We brushed the sand off ourselves and got dressed, with Holden helping me back into my bikini since I couldn’t do it on my own because of being hobbled by my ankle.

  After tying the spaghetti straps of my top behind my neck, Holden gently turned me toward him, frowning. “Actually, before we talk, I think we should get you back to the village, and the doctor. I think your ankle should be tended to as soon as possible. And actually, I feel like a complete jerk for not suggesting this first.”

  I scoffed, though at the same time thinking that his concern was sweet. “There’s no need for urgency with me seeing the doctor. He’s probably just going to wrap it in a bandage and tell me to put some ice on it, which I think can wait. It’s really not even that severe of an injury. I’ve had a sprained ankle once before, and it actually hurt much worse than this, so I think this one is mild. So, please. Let’s sit again, and tell me whatever it was that you wanted to tell me before we got dressed.”

  Holden agreed, seemingly a bit reluctantly, and we sat in the sand again.

  With his arm around me, he looked into my eyes with his expression one of unmistakable sincerity. “Basically, all I wanted to tell you is that I want you to trust me. I want you to trust me to do what’s best to keep you safe, even if that includes sending you back to the city, which it definitely does. I also want you to trust me that this will all work out. We can still stay together and continue on with our relationship, but it just may take some time before you can come back to the island. Believe me when I say I’m going to try my absolute damnedest to try to make that period of time a
short one, though. And in the meantime...well, I’m sure I’m going to be a bit busy trying to take out the remaining Forms as quickly as possible so that it will be safe for you to return, but I’ll still be able to come through the portal and visit you in New York every so often.”

  “‘Every so often.’ I just don’t like the sound of that, Holden. That sounds like we’d only be seeing each other every month, or every several months or something, which isn’t nearly as often as I’d like, and I don’t think it’s nearly as often as our new relationship needs. And there’s something else about what you’ve just said that I don’t like. Although...I guess I’m not sure how to say it.”

  “What is it? You can be completely open and honest with me about anything that you’re feeling or thinking right now. Anything at all.”

  I knew that I could, but I really couldn’t think of exactly how to explain specifically what I was thinking right then.

  Trying to sort my thoughts, I looked out at the very last rays of the sunset and the sparkling waters of the ocean briefly before turning my face back to Holden. “I guess I’ll just be blunt. I feel like by you saying that you want me to trust you to do what’s best to keep me safe, you’re taking the responsibility of my own safety off of me, and putting it onto yourself.”

  Holden scoffed, seeming incredulous. “Well, that’s exactly what I’m doing. I care about you. A lot, I might add. Why wouldn’t I want to protect you? Why would me taking responsibility for your safety be a bad thing?”

  I hesitated in responding once again, taking a few moments to think. “Taken at face value, it’s not a bad thing. You wanting to protect me is something I appreciate a lot, actually. I like it. But at the same time...there’s something about you wanting me to trust you to do what’s best to keep me safe that makes me feel... I don’t even know what the right word is. ‘Uncomfortably passive,’ I guess. I feel like we should be working as a team to keep me safe. We should share responsibility for my safety.”