Bad Boy Bear: BBW Paranormal Bear Shifter Romance (Bears of Pinerock County Book 2) Read online

  "I'm Remy," he said over his shoulder, and she actually had to laugh at the realization that she hadn't even told him her name.

  "Saffron. Saffron Blake." She leaned into his back, tipping her head to one side to keep from bumping him with the helmet. The helmet that smelled like him, she realized—a masculine musk that fueled the flames of the desire surging through her.

  Mate. So this was what it was like. She'd known him for a few minutes and already he made her feel things Creed never had ... never could have.

  Which reminded her that the last thing they wanted to do was meet Creed and the Black Wings on the road. "Remy, go!"

  He threw the bike in gear and swung out onto the highway. The vibration of the engine kicked up a notch, and the wind began to stream past them, pulling the ragged tails of her skirt out behind her.

  They were going to be the most conspicuous thing on the road for a hundred miles. Forget tailing them with birds—all Creed would have to do was monitor the trucker chatter for news of the biker with a passenger who was trailing streamers of a long white skirt like party decorations.

  But right now, all she wanted to do was lean into Remy's broad back, hold onto him as hard as she could, and enjoy the feeling of Silver Hill falling farther and farther behind her.

  Chapter Three

  Remy was acutely aware of the beautiful woman pressed against him. More aware, in fact, than he'd ever been of any woman in his life. She wasn't the first rider he'd had on the back of his bike, but she was the first one who made him so distracted that he had to throw all his concentration into keeping them straight and not running off the road.

  He hoped she hadn't noticed the erection tenting out the front of his jeans. He'd expected his sudden intense attraction would be less powerful once he could no longer see her, but it was even worse now, with her voluptuous body pressed against his back—that leather jacket she wore over the top of her dress did nothing to conceal her amazing curves—and her bare, luscious thighs rubbed against his hips every time he took a turn.

  Mate.

  He'd known the instant he'd looked at her—just like he'd always heard, just like Axl said it had been with him and Tara. There had been a flash of recognition as he realized she was the blue-eyed woman who had been haunting his dreams, and then it had hit him and hit him hard: this was her. This was the one. Even if his bear hadn't affirmed it, he'd still have known.

  He hardly even cared what she was doing wandering around in the woods in a ragged wedding dress. Had she run away from her own wedding? Who were the people she said were after her?

  There'd be time for all of that later.

  Right now, he was still fixated on the fact that this was his mate, and she was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen. He had never expected he'd find his mate before most of the other bears in his clan. He was the youngest of all of them, the baby of the family. Back when he used to play in the woods with his brother Cody and their cousins, he'd always felt like the tag-along, trying to play catchup with the other, bigger boys. Even after he'd grown up and was physically as large as they were, he still couldn't help being aware that the rest of them had a power and confidence he lacked.

  Now, with his newly discovered mate holding onto him as he roared down the wide-open highway, he felt a brand-new surge of confidence flood through him. He wanted to run through the woods roaring his dominance; he felt like he could take on Alec in a fight for clan alpha and actually win.

  Saffron Blake.

  Even her name was gorgeous.

  She looked just like she had in his dreams. All he had ever remembered about her upon waking was those striking blue eyes and a faint lingering echo of dark hair. Now he had discovered—or, rather, rediscovered—that her hair was a rich dark brown, that she had a heart-shaped face with a hint of suntan on her cheeks, that her mouth quirked up just a little higher at one side than the other when she smiled (and oh, he hoped to make her smile a lot, because that smile was amazing).

  But one thing he hadn't remembered from his dreams at all was how sad her blue eyes were. Even when she smiled, there was still a deep and aching sadness lingering in them. It made him wonder what in her life had led her to this point, thumbing down a ride from a stranger while wearing a ragged wedding dress. Both he and his bear desperately wanted to fix things for her.

  The first step was just figuring out where they were going. He hadn't been riding with a destination in mind. Maybe she actually had one, and if so, he was more than happy to take her that way instead.

  He pulled over onto the shoulder and killed the engine. Saffron sat back on the padded passenger seat and pulled off the helmet. Dark hair spilled free, falling over her shoulders. She looked dismayed. "What is it? What's wrong?"

  "Sorry. Nothing's wrong." Nothing except his overwhelming urge to lean forward and kiss those amazingly kissable lips. But he wasn't sure how things were done in her shifter clan—he'd never met a fox before. And he didn't want to scare her off before they'd even had a chance to begin. "I'm not going anywhere specific, just driving. Can I take you someplace?"

  Saffron hesitated, then shook her head. "I don't know where to go. I don't really know anyone outside Silver Hill—that's my hometown. And I definitely can't go back there."

  "Who's after you?"

  She cast a nervous glance skyward, although the sky above them was clear. "Creed. He's the alpha of a shifter clan called the Black Wings who run my town, at least the shifter parts of it."

  Remy had heard about that kind of thing. For the most part, all the shifter clans he personally knew were back in the hills, away from other people, and kept to themselves rather than bothering anybody. His own clan operated a cattle ranch in the mountains. But he had heard about clans that got aggressive and territorial, and ran their territories like their own little private kingdoms. From the sound of things, these Black Wings were one of those.

  "What about ... that?" he asked, nodding to the dress.

  "Oh, this." Her lip curled, and she yanked on a handful of the ragged skirt as if she meant to tear it off. It held, however. "This wasn't my idea. The Black Wings are allowed to claim a mate for their alpha from any of the eligible shifter women in town. And he claimed me."

  A sharp surge of emotion lurched in Remy's chest: jealousy, anger, hurt. "You already have a mate?"

  "What? No!" Her eyes went wide. "No, no. He isn't my true mate at all. I hate him. He's been keeping me a prisoner until my wedding day, but I finally got a chance to run away, with my family's help." A shadow crossed her face, like a cloud drawing a veil over the sun. "I really hope they weren't hurt for helping me."

  No wonder she looked so sad. Remy fought off an overwhelming urge to turn his bike around, ride straight back to Silver Hill and rearrange this Creed's face. But reason prevailed. He couldn't take on a whole shifter clan by himself, and the important thing right now was just to get Saffron safely away from them. "So he's going to be coming after you. Anywhere specific he might look?"

  She shook her head, and looked nervously skyward again. "No. Like I said, I don't know anyone outside the town. All my family is there."

  "Can you go to the police?"

  Now her headshaking was even more vigorous. "No, I don't dare. Not with my parents in danger."

  "My cousin Axl's a sheriff," Remy suggested. "I can call him—"

  "No," Saffron protested. "No police, please. You don't know how dangerous he is."

  Remy decided to shelve that argument until later. Right now, the important thing was getting away. "So you don't have anywhere to go?"

  "No," she said softly. "And, listen, I really want to tell you everything, but I don't think this is a good place to have this conversation. We lost them for now, but all they have to do is follow the highway and they'll find us."

  "Then we need to do something they don't expect." He leaned over and rummaged in his saddlebags. "I've got a road atlas in here."

  Saffron grinned in delight when he pulled out the crumple
d and coffee-stained road atlas. It had long since lost its cover, and was missing a couple of pages as well. (With luck, their travels wouldn't take them to Arizona or Arkansas.) As Remy opened it, she said, "I didn't even know people used those anymore, with GPS and everything."

  "Hey, you don't always get 4G on little mountain highways. Besides, GPS is mainly useful when you want to go somewhere specific. Usually I just drive to find out what's around the next bend. I like being able to see the whole road system all spread out, instead of looking at one little piece at a time."

  She bent her head over the map, close to his. Her scent was intoxicating, a blend of floral shampoo and the natural smell of her skin. He tried to concentrate on something else, but everything about her was fascinating; he wanted to drink in every little detail. The light trail of freckles down the back of her neck, for example, visible where her hair was still pinned up. Most of her luxurious dark tresses had fallen in a large mass, tangled with pins, over her left ear and the side of her face. Saffron pushed it impatiently back over her shoulder.

  "Here's Silver Hill," she said, pointing. "And we're on this road."

  "So there's a crossroads with another highway coming up. Several little towns around there. You want to go into one of those, see if we can find a Walmart or that kind of thing, and get you something a little less conspicuous to wear?"

  Saffron grimaced. "I don't have any money. I left my purse behind when I ran away, along with everything else."

  "I'll pay for it. I don't mind." He smiled. "You can pay me back later, if you feel like it. But it really is no bother. I've been saving for a long time, but I don't have anything to spend it on except for things like this."

  She looked up, and he was suddenly, sharply aware that, with both of them bending over the map like this, their faces were only inches apart. Her lips parted, and he felt as if a magnet was drawing him forward, caught in a helpless pull that drew him forward until his lips met hers.

  She opened her mouth to receive him. Her lips were warm and inviting and tasted as good as she smelled. She kissed back eagerly, wantonly, her tongue darted out to flick along the corner of his mouth whenever he started to pull away.

  When they finally broke apart, she was gasping, her chest heaving in the dress's white décolletage under the unzipped leather jacket. "You know," she said a little breathlessly, "if we're looking for a Walmart, we might look for a motel too."

  "We'd probably be safer there than on the road," he agreed, mesmerized by the flush of desire in her cheeks. "As long as it's off the highway so my motorcycle isn't visible. They wouldn't expect us to stop so soon, so they can just keep going, looking for us, while we hide out."

  Her eyes sparkled. "I like that plan. Let's find a town."

  She pulled on the helmet, while he put the map away. With Saffron nestling snugly against his back, he kick-started the bike and pulled out onto the highway. He could still taste her on his lips, sweet and tart like candied oranges.

  Chapter Four

  The town was called Clover, according to the sign outside the city limits. There wasn't much of it, just a little cluster of businesses along a county highway off the main road, but it was big enough to have a Walmart.

  At Remy's urging, Saffron bought more than just a pair of jeans and a top to change into. She picked out two changes of clothing, packages of underwear and socks, and a number of other small things: a toothbrush, a hairbrush, deodorant, sunglasses. Finally, there was a small backpack to shove it all into, and a pair of cheap sneakers to replace the white slippers that were now falling apart.

  It was a very strange feeling to have to replace literally everything she owned from scratch.

  She was still terribly nervous and jumpy, constantly looking over her shoulder for the Black Wings' red-and-black jackets. After Remy paid for it all, she took it into the restroom and changed. She also took the opportunity to strip the pins out of the rats' nest her hair had turned into, and brushed it out until it streamed, long and shining, over the shoulders of her leather jacket. She jammed the rags of the wedding dress into the trash. Good riddance.

  When she came out of the bathroom, she saw Remy's face change when he saw her, lighting up in incandescent delight. "Wow," he said.

  "What?" She looked down at herself. She hadn't bought anything nice, just regular jeans and a cheap purple top.

  "You." He reached out hesitantly, and brushed a hand through the silky strands of her hair, letting them ghost off his fingers.

  Saffron didn't think of herself as a great beauty, but she did have nice hair, and was proud of it. She seldom cut it, and it fell almost to her waist when it was down. The fact that Remy obviously liked it made her heart do a happy little flip. "It's going to get totally messed up on the bike, I'm afraid. I forgot to buy hair ties. There are so many little things I don't have."

  "I need to buy a second helmet anyway. I prefer riding without, but on a long drive, it does keep the bugs out of your teeth."

  "And your brains off the pavement," she pointed out archly. "Does Walmart carry motorcycle helmets?"

  "I thought they had everything."

  Walmart did, in fact, have a very limited selection of motorcycle helmets, so they got a small one that fit her. She also picked up a package of hair fasteners, as well as some other things she'd thought of: shampoo and conditioner, a hat to help hide her appearance for going out in public, and some wrapped sandwiches from the deli for later.

  The whole time they were shopping, she stayed close to him, so close that her hip kept bumping into his. It made her feel safer. If Creed did show up—she pictured him storming out of the pet-food aisle with a murderous glower—she wanted him to see Remy, all six feet whatever of him, and know that she had a defender now. Let Creed just try to take on an enraged grizzly shifter protecting his mate. She'd like to see that!

  Besides, every time she bumped against Remy, a happy little thrill ran through her. She wanted to see what he looked like under that leather jacket. She'd already glimpsed tattoos on the backs of his hands, now that he had his motorcycle gloves off, and she wanted to find out how far up (and down) the tattoos went. Did he have ink all over? She wanted to trace his tattoos, follow them down to see where they led ...

  She shivered inwardly, a delicious thrill racing through her core and shooting straight down to the heat between her legs. He was so nice; that was the best part. He was big and powerful and had all the trappings of a true bad boy, but he'd been so kind to her, and the worshipful way he looked at her was something she could never, ever imagine coming from Creed. She didn't even think Creed had those kinds of emotions in him. Every time Remy turned to look at her, with his eyes so soft and warm, she felt some soft inner part of herself, something she'd tried to freeze out of existence as soon as she'd understood what was going to happen with Creed, start to thaw.

  "So," she murmured, "about that motel."

  "Way ahead of you. I looked around on our way into town, and I think I saw a good place."

  He was right. There was a little motel tucked away on a side street, behind a trailer park. It would be totally invisible from the highway, and she was surprised Remy had been able to see it from the road going into town. He stopped to gas up the bike at a gas station on the corner, then parked in the motel lot and checked in.

  When they came out of the motel office, with the room key jingling in Remy's hand, Saffron pointed out, "We don't just have to worry about someone seeing your bike from the road. If they got a good look at it before we drove away, they can spot us from the air. The Black Wings have a number of bird shifters. Creed's an eagle."

  "Damn. Good point. I'm used to dealing with shifters who go on all fours."

  There were no convenient trees around the motel's parking lot, but there was an overhang at one end of the long, low building covering some Dumpsters, and he rolled the bike behind those.

  "Do you think it's safe there?" Saffron asked.

  "I think most people know better than to m
ess with a big, shiny, newish bike that obviously belongs to an enormous biker."

  "My mistake. I thought you were a big teddy bear."

  "That's grizzly bear to you." He grinned at her, making her knees go weak.

  "Do you think the grizzly bear could unlock the door to our room before I pull you down right here in this parking lot?"

  The room was a typical roadside motel room, clean but plain. The bed squeaked when she sat down on it to take off her shoes, and the carpet was a rusty off-orange color with burnt spots. Still, there were clean towels in the bathroom, and the blinds closed all the way without any broken or bent parts.

  Remy dropped the bike's saddlebags on the floor. "Before we settle in, I'm going to scout around. You stay here."

  "Do you think they're here?" she asked anxiously.

  "I don't know. I'd feel more comfortable if I can make sure we weren't followed."

  She jumped off the bed and came over to give him a kiss. It was meant to be a peck on the cheek, but he turned his head and opened his mouth. His tongue teased around her lips before he captured her mouth fully with his own. He slid an arm around her waist, pulling her in as he kissed her more deeply, and she felt the hardness of his erection pressing against her. She stood on tiptoe to push the crotch of her newly purchased jeans against him, grinding into him, and was rewarded with a stuttering of his breath and momentary slackening of his lips against her own. Then he kissed back, harder, with a flourish of his tongue all around her lips as he pulled away that left her gasping and loose-limbed.

  If just kissing him was like this, what would sex be like?

  "A little more of that," he said cheerfully, looking down at her, "and I won't be able to walk straight.