Smolder: A Werebear + BBW Paranormal Romance (Bearpaw Ridge Firefighters Book 2) Read online

  "It's the shapeshifters. First, they kill the witness, then they go after anyone else who might have evidence of their existence," Jake said firmly. "Who else would do something like this?"

  "But you didn't post the video yet, right?" Caitlyn countered. "Or post any kind of teaser on the site?"

  Even as she spoke, she knew it was hopeless. Jake had made up his mind that the shapeshifters were after them, and nothing short of hard proof to the contrary would sway him now.

  "Not yet. I wanted to wait until we were all safely away from Albuquerque," Jake said. "And now…you've got the only copy, Caitlyn. Whatever you do, don't come home, not yet."

  "That's actually why I was calling," Caitlyn admitted. "I'm still working on the Roger Pemberton story too, and I, uh, wanted to stay a bit longer in Bearpaw Ridge. I was thinking about telecommuting for…" Wait, how long did Mark want her to stay? How long could she stay here without imposing on his hospitality? "…a while," she finished.

  "Yeah, sure, that's a great idea!" Jake said enthusiastically. "I need to figure out where Jen and I can go…I don't want to put her sister and Dave in danger if someone's really after us. Once we're in a safe location, we'll post the story and the video."

  "I have a few more phone calls to make, but I'll try to have a draft of the story for you by tomorrow or the day after."

  "And the video?" Jake asked anxiously. "Is it safe?" Another pause. "Put it somewhere safe. Real safe, and don't tell me where it is. And if anything happens to me…post it."

  "Jake, it's safe. And I'll make sure it stays that way," Caitlyn assured him.

  "And don't tell anyone about the video, Caitlyn. Not anyone," Jake repeated.

  "I won't," she promised, before they said goodbye and ended the call.

  Her hands were shaking as she put her phone down on the table. She felt queasy at the thought that someone apparently wanted the video badly enough that they had found out where Jake and Caitlyn both lived and broken into their homes.

  Did that mean that Montoya's video wasn't a special effects extravaganza after all? But how on earth could something like that be real?

  People couldn't just turn into animals, and vice versa. They just couldn't, no matter what her boss wanted to believe.

  There had to be something else going on.

  Chapter Nine – Movie Night

  "My mom invited us over for dinner tomorrow night," Mark said, his tone casual and his body language anything but. "I was thinking we could come back here and watch a movie afterwards."

  "That sounds nice," Caitlyn said warily.

  His mother wanted to meet her? She glanced nervously at the vase of tulips, then back at Mark.

  Returning from his afternoon chores around the ranch, he had showered and changed into a clean long-sleeved T-shirt and jeans.

  Now he was standing at the kitchen counter, preparing dinner. The air smelled enticingly of the garlic and ginger sautéing in a wok. Plates of julienned red and yellow bell peppers, a sliced jalapeño, strips of raw beef, and leeks were lined up on the granite countertop, along with a bowl of homemade stir-fry sauce flavored with sherry and fragrant Chinese five-spice.

  On the other side of the stove, a rice cooker was doing its thing.

  Outside the kitchen window, dusk was falling, tinting the clouds in shades of gold, tangerine, and rose against a background of cobalt blue.

  Tired of sitting, and unused to being waited upon, Caitlyn had insisted on helping with dinner.

  After a brief argument with Mark, who wanted her to remain seated with yet another ice pack on her ankle, she was permitted to stand at the counter and slice the peppers and the leeks while Mark whipped up the stir-fry sauce and minced cloves of garlic and pieces of ginger root.

  He drew the line at letting her set the table, though, insisting that walking back and forth between the cupboards and the table wouldn't be good for her sprain.

  Caitlyn's ankle was aching by the time she finished prepping the vegetables, so she surrendered and sat and watched him work, admiring the way his T-shirt stretched across his broad shoulders.

  "Mom's been dying of curiosity about my house guest," Mark continued. "But she doesn’t bite, I promise, and she's an excellent cook. Also, Annabeth will be bringing dessert."

  "Annabeth's coming?" Caitlyn asked. "Uh, and Dane?"

  Now it was Mark's turn to shoot her a wary look. Then he grinned, and she saw mischief glint in his eyes. "And Evan and Ash too, I bet. We usually do our family dinners on Sunday nights, but since I missed this week's dinner…" He shrugged.

  A family dinner. Great. Caitlyn forced herself to smile. What am I worried about? I'm only here for a few days. And how bad can dinner with Mark's mom and brothers be? Not as bad as Mom and Dad's used to be, just before they finally divorced…

  "Sure, that sounds great," she said, trying to convince herself. "It's, uh, really nice of your mom to include me."

  "Good. I'll call her after dinner and let her know we'll be there," Mark said,

  The first strips of thinly sliced beef hit the wok with a sizzling sound. Caitlyn watched him, her mind returning to the mental movie of someone—a stranger—in her apartment, going through her things.

  She wondered what it would feel like to go home and know that someone could apparently come in any time they chose. She felt…violated.

  "Is everything okay?" Mark asked after a few minutes of silence.

  "Not really," she confessed. "I talked to my boss this afternoon and found out that someone broke into my place, probably yesterday. They hit Jake's house too and stole his computer and all of his backups."

  Mark moved the wok off the gas burner and turned to face her. His dark brows drew together in a concerned expression. "You and your boss both…does he think someone's targeting you?"

  "Maybe," she said slowly. "I've been thinking about it all afternoon, and there's some weird stuff going on right now with another story I'm working on." She looked at the wok. "But don't let me interrupt your cooking."

  "You're not interrupting," said Mark, putting the wok back on the burner. "Why don't you tell me what happened, and if I can help, I will."

  An unaccustomed feeling of warmth flooded through Caitlyn at his offer. "Thanks. It's really bugging me, and I haven't been able to think about anything else since I talked to Jake."

  She had managed to push down the uneasy churn of speculation long enough to make a few more phone calls regarding Sergeant Montoya, then write the first draft of a story to accompany the video.

  Jake would probably want to punch up the shapeshifter aspect of the story, but the mystery surrounding the APD officer's mailing of the video and subsequent gruesome death would bring in readers by the bucket load, whether or not they believed the video was real.

  Caitlyn took a deep breath and relayed a carefully edited version what Jake had told her over the phone.

  She wanted to tell Mark about the video and the possible connection to Sergeant Montoya's death, but Jake had warned her to not to tell anyone about the video. She thought she could trust Mark, but the truth was, she'd only known him for two days.

  Better to play it cool. She was already unsettled enough by the realization of just how much she wanted to be with him.

  "Do you know what the burglars were looking for?"

  Feeling weirdly guilty about lying to him, Caitlyn shook her head.

  "It could be anything," she said. "You know the kind of stories we post. The site attracts a fair number of, uh, weirdos. And an awful lot of conspiracy theorists. Oh, God," she exclaimed, as the thought struck her. "Jake will probably want me to write a story about how Mythtrust News was targeted to suppress a story."

  "Which story?" Mark asked immediately, and Caitlyn knew she had almost given herself away.

  Trying for casual, Caitlyn shrugged. "They erased all of the video files that Jake had on our cloud drive and took all of his hard drives. But I'm sure he'll come up with something that sounds plausible." She sighed.
<
br />   "Caitlyn, why do I get the feeling that you're not really excited about reporting on the paranormal?" Mark asked gently, as he dished up mounds of fragrant jasmine rice from the rice cooker, then ladled the five-spice beef stir-fry over the rice.

  "Don't get me wrong," Caitlyn said, feeling guilty. "I adore working for Jake. It's a fun job, and he's a real mensch, you know?"

  Mark nodded as he brought the plates over to the table. "He was always a pretty nice guy."

  "But I wanted to be a real journalist, someone people took seriously. That's hard to do when you're reporting on UFOs and Bigfoot sightings," she continued. "And I don't even believe in any of this stuff!"

  "You don't?" Mark forked up a mouthful of dinner and chewed contemplatively.

  Caitlyn shook her head. "I try to debunk most of it, but Jake…well, let's just say that he wants a 'fair and balanced' view of the stories that our readers send in, so anything that's not an obvious fake gets reported as if there's a chance it's real. I mean, look at your brother."

  Mark abruptly stopped chewing and fastened her with a penetrating stare.

  "What about my brother?" he asked in a quiet voice.

  "I mean, really," Caitlyn said, digging in to her own plate, "Your brother Dane turned into a bear? Seriously? He's a big guy, and I can imagine him looking like an angry grizzly if something pissed him off…but turn into an actual bear? That's, uh, highly unlikely."

  She took her first bite and smiled blissfully. The stir-fry was utterly delicious, all the flavors blending into a complex and harmonious whole.

  "So," Mark said, putting down his fork. "You're telling me that you don't actually believe in any of the stories you work on?" He looked upset now. "Like that haunted hotel story you did about Eddy Ornelas' place?"

  Caitlyn stiffened. Why was he making her feel like a hypocrite for trying to earn a living?

  "I only report what witnesses…well, alleged witnesses…tell us they've seen. And we received at least three different reports, from three different people, about ghost sightings at the Bearpaw Springs Resort." Mark was still frowning, so she added, defensively, "And I wasn't the one who added the bit about the deaths at the resort."

  Nope, that part had been all Jake, after she had turned in her draft of the story to him for posting on the site.

  "So if you don't really believe that my brother can turn into a bear, then why are you here?" Mark asked.

  "Because my boss sent me to follow up on a lead. It hasn't panned out so far, but I owe it to him to investigate as thoroughly as I can. I still want to talk to Dane and maybe Sheriff Jacobsen…and possibly interview Roger Pemberton."

  Mark's expression turned glacial at the mention of Roger's name. She added hastily, "It'll give me an excuse to stay in town longer."

  Gathering up her courage, she reached across the table to touch Mark's hand. His skin was very warm, almost hot to the touch. "And get to know you better."

  His expression softened as he captured her fingers in his. "I like that plan."

  * * *

  Caitlyn had never done "Naked Movie Night" before, but sitting on Mark's lap in front of his widescreen TV, she decided she liked it. A lot.

  He had made the suggestion while they were cleaning up after his excellent dinner, and Caitlyn had said yes, though not without a bit of shyness.

  She wasn't sure why she was feeling shy, though, not after their lunchtime activities.

  Though the rest of his home was decorated in an old-fashioned style that matched the Craftsman architecture, his den—Caitlyn guessed it was probably really called a "parlor"—was the exception, featuring a huge TV sitting on a low stand with shelves below for a host of electronic equipment, including a stereo receiver, a Blu-ray player, and what looked like a game box of some kind.

  The couch was leather, overstuffed, and featured several built-in recliners. Speakers for the surround-sound system were mounted high on the walls all around the room, and a big subwoofer stood on the hardwood floor next to the TV stand.

  It looked the perfect place to spend a rainy weekend afternoon.

  "Wow," Caitlyn said, in genuine admiration.

  "You like it?" Mark sounded almost shy. "Mom calls it my man cave."

  Caitlyn grinned at him. "Complete with hunky man, I see."

  She watched a flush rise from his throat up to his bearded cheeks, and her smile deepened.

  "I've always wanted a home theater of my very own," she confessed, "where I can crank up the volume on an action movie without bothering my neighbors. Kind of impossible when you live in an apartment…"

  "You like action movies?" he asked, brightening.

  Caitlyn nodded. "Love 'em! I'm not really into chick flicks, but I love movies with hunky men and lots of car chases and explosions."

  "Woman after my own heart," he commented. "After we get settled, I'll let you browse my Netflix queue and see if anything appeals."

  "So, um, does the nakedness come before or after the movie?" Caitlyn asked, eyeing the couch with some interest. It looked very comfortable.

  "During," Mark said.

  He moved close behind her, lifted her hair, and grazed the sensitive skin of her neck with his lips and beard, sending a shiver of pleasure straight down her spine to the place between her legs.

  "Mmm, you like that," he murmured, his breath hot against her skin.

  "I like everything you do," she said and turned her head to kiss him.

  The kiss was gentle but very thorough, and it went on for a long time, until Caitlyn's knees were weak and her pussy was throbbing with need for him.

  "I love how I can turn you on by just kissing you," he said softly when he drew back at last.

  Caitlyn noticed that his breathing had gone ragged, and there was a satisfying bulge pressed against her belly. "It looks like the feeling is mutual."

  He laughed and bent for one more kiss, this one deeper and harder. His mouth didn't ask with gentle seduction this time—it demanded. Conquered.

  And Caitlyn surrendered willingly, every nerve on fire with wanting him.

  This time, when Mark drew back, he fingered the neck of her top. "I want to take your clothes off now."

  "Yes, please!" Caitlyn said, liking this idea very much. "Do I get to undress you?"

  Mark's dimple reappeared through his beard. "I don't know about that," he teased. "Having a gorgeous, sexy woman tear my clothes off…that might be more than I can take."

  Caitlyn pursed her lips. "What if I promise not to tear anything?"

  That got her a full-throated chuckle. She loved how his eyes lit up and his normally serious expression melted into something heart-stopping when he laughed.

  His big, sinewy hands dropped to her hips. He pushed up the hem of her top and slipped underneath. She felt his warm, callused palms against the skin of her waist and the slow slide as he moved them up to cup her breasts through her bra.

  "I loved watching you come for me this afternoon," he said huskily. "Will you do it again?"

  Her breath caught in her throat. "Sure," she managed.

  "Good."

  Mark drew the top over her head. She had showered after their lunchtime encounter and finally changed her clothes, thanks to the suitcase he'd brought her.

  Then he proceeded to drive her crazy by stripping her slowly, stopping to nuzzle, kiss, lick, and caress every inch of skin as he bared her to his hot gaze.

  She already knew he could bring her right up to the edge of coming just by paying attention—very thorough attention—to her breasts.

  But who would have thought that his tongue circling her navel as he knelt before her would make her knees shake so badly that she nearly collapsed?

  By the time he finally eased her soaked panties down to her ankles, he was naked too, and his cock was stiff and straining against his flat belly.

  At his urging, she stepped out of her panties. His hands came up to curve around her hips, and she felt his breath against her pussy as he inhaled her scent wit
h half-closed eyes.

  "Mark, please fuck me," she begged.

  She was so turned on that it actually hurt, a hot, throbbing ache that pulsed hungrily between her legs.

  He swallowed hard, his Adam's apple moving convulsively. "Not…yet," he whispered hoarsely.

  "When, damn it?" she demanded.

  His lips thinned. When he spoke again, his tone was grim. "When you're ready."

  "I'm ready now," Caitlyn insisted. And she was. More than she'd ever been in her life.

  "But I'm not."

  That silenced her as Mark rose to his feet, big and tall and intimidatingly nude. He scooped her up and carried her to the couch, where he put her on his lap with her back to his chest, straddling his hard, muscled thighs.

  His body seemed to radiate heat, and she could feel the hard length of his erection pressing against the base of her spine. He was big in every way, and she couldn't wait to see what he had planned for them tonight.

  Keeping one arm around her waist and kissing his way slowly over her shoulder to her neck, Mark picked up the remote.

  A movie began to play, but Caitlyn was immediately distracted by the soft brush of a thumb across the tip of one breast, just as Mark gently bit her nape.

  On screen, a car chase picked up speed and intensity as Mark put down the remote and used both hands—and his mouth—to drive her frantic distraction.

  "Has anyone ever told you how beautiful you are when you're turned on?" he whispered in her ear, over the roar and crash of the special effects on the screen. "God, Caitlyn, you're perfect. Sexy and perfect."

  His right hand stroked her leg, a long, caressing stroke, then his fingers trailed down to the soft skin on the inside of her thigh. She squirmed in anticipation.

  Meanwhile, his left hand continued to tease the tip of her left breast, and his lips were finding every sensitive spot on her neck and stoking the flames higher and higher.