Find Him: The Bear's Curvy Girl (BBW Paranormal Erotic Romance) (Mates of the Walkers Book 2) Read online

  FIND HIM: THE BEAR’S CURVY GIRL

  BBW WEREBEAR EROTIC ROMANCE SHORT

  BY

  ANYA NOWLAN

  HINT OF WHAT IS TO COME IN THIS BOOK

  “Oh, you’re up. Good! I’ve re-made that tea about ten times now,” the voice said, his chuckle echoing through the cabin. Christie whipped around on the couch to face the voice, finding herself staring at the brown-eyed man from the trail. Her head spun for a moment, reeling at the implications. For once in her life, Christie was caught without anything to say.

  “I hope I didn’t scare you too bad,” the big lug of a man said, sheepishly scratching the back of his head. He was tall and built like a house, broad and powerful. She could imagine him throwing together a moderately sized building in half a day’s work and then stalking off to slay mythical beasts and save fair-haired maidens. Though, in this case, she seemed to be playing the part of the maiden. Christie cleared her voice with a small cough and eyed the man, her green pools littered with worry.

  “I…um. Where am I?” The man stood just a few feet from her, at a respectful distance, but close enough that she could see him fidget as nervously as she was. If she weren’t so entirely confused, she would have found his slight anxiety endearing. In fact, if she was in the right state of mind, she would have quickly realized that there was a familiar heat starting to grow in her core and that she felt far too relaxed around an unknown man who may or may not be a werebear.

  Copyright © 2015 Anya Nowlan

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and any resemblance to any persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Find Him: The Bear’s Curvy Girl

  BBW Werebear Erotic Romance Short

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this work may be used, reproduced, transmitted in any form or by any means by anyone but the purchaser for their own personal use. This book may not be reproduced in any form without the express written permission of Anya Nowlan. Any reproduction or other unauthorized use of the material is prohibited without the express written permission of the author.

  Cover image © DepositPhotos, user curaphotography

  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  A SMALL OUTTAKE…

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  RELATED BOOKS

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  CHAPTER ONE

  It had been a rough, long slog through the Colorado mountains. Christie was cold to the bone, wet and miserable and the oncoming weather promised to make her even more so. She had been walking down (or up and very occasionally down) the trail for days on end, expecting it to finally lead somewhere. So far, no luck. The sun had made itself scarce all day and since the last rainfall in the morning, she hadn’t managed to dry up. If she had a warm set of clothes left, she would have changed into them long ago, but as it were, all of her things had gotten thoroughly doused by torrential rainfalls plighting her trip and there hadn’t been a chance of drying them.

  Christie had started feeling more and more like a drowning kitten as she trudged onward, the heavy pack on her back weighing her down and making her legs ache with more than just the long journey she had had. Every time she closed her eyes, she could imagine a toasty fire and her toes wiggling under a soft blanket, with her hands wrapped around a mug of tea, but so far she had no such luck. It was just rainstorm after rainstorm and even her tent had become sagged and sad in the constant dampness. She almost dreaded the hour when she would have to set it up again and pretend to try and get warm by the light of a fire, before curling up in the musty tent and falling into a dead-man’s sleep. There was nothing she looked forward to less than another miserable night out in the wilderness.

  By all accounts, she had come well-prepared. Being an experienced hiker, Christiehad packed all the right things and spent months planning her trip. It was just her luck that a few days into the trek, the rain had washed out half her maps and shorted the batteries on her handheld GPS and her phone.

  Next time, I’m packing everything in ziplock bags, she grumbled to herself under her breath for the umpteenth time. Despite her misfortune, she had stubbornly decided to go on. Her hike was supposed to take her through a set of gorgeous mountains and unpopulated valleys between them over the course of two weeks and in a stroke of pigheadedness, she had been sure that she could find her way through by sheer wit and cleverness. She had, of course, been rather off the mark in all of her assumptions. The rain ruined any chance of making out landmarks and by the end of the first week, Christie was pretty sure she had passed the same ridge at least three times.

  A few days prior to her current damp state, she had happened upon a small trail leading up along the sloping curve of a mountain. For lack of a better option, she had decided to follow it. She kept hoping that any moment a puff of smoke would appear on the horizon and if she could only run a little, she would reach a house with a fireplace, blanket and the tea she so desired. It seemed less and less like a reasonable possibility, but there were really very few other things she could try aside from banking her hopes on the faded road. Though desperation was slowly clawing at the back of her mind, she had refused to give into the hysteria threatening to burst forward.

  None of that. You wanted adventure, well, here you go. The knowledge that she would at least not die of thirst was of little condolence.

  Christie took a trip like that at least once a year. She loved getting away from the hustle and bustle of the city and her dreary job as a manager at a department store. There were only so many customer complaints she could deal with before her brain wanted to explode from the rampant ignorance she had to deal with. There was something about shopping that really seemed to lower some people’s IQ by a good thirty points and she was always the hapless target to the ones who were both enraged because of this or that (mislabeled toilet paper, lack of fluorescent party plates, etc). Getting out into nature seemed to be the only thing that could truly calm her down in a short period of time and make her capable of facing the drudgery of everyday life again.

  So, when a trip she had looked forward to for so long went as badly as this one was shaping up to, it really killed her mood. Each step she took came with an unwelcome sloshing sound, her methodically chosen hiking socks as wet as the ground around her. Christie pursed her lips in mild annoyance as she felt a droplet of water hit her neck, promising another downpour soon enough. Her long auburn hair was put up in a sloppy bun and her cheeks were red with exertion (and maybe just a little bit of annoyance), the trail leading uphill once again. As much as she enjoyed a decent workout usually, it was no joke crawling up an incline with a full pack and being as exhausted as she was.

  Her green eyes kept darting about, eager to catch a glimpse of some bit of civilization or someone who could help her. Christiehad rounded a corner in the thin trail, walking past a pile of rocks, when she stopped, frozen in her tracks. Her hands gripped the straps of her bag harder, momentarily forgetting all about the hunting knife on her hip. Eyes as big as platters, she stared at a giant grizzly bear, standing just feet from her on top of the very path she was following. Christie gulped and her hand reached for the knife, pulling it out quickly before her thoughts could catch up with her. The bear seemed to pause, eyeing the girl while standing just out of her reach. Wide nostrils flared and h
uffed in her scent, the gigantic animal taking in her smell and making small grunting noises as it circled on his tongue and in his nose. His chestnut eyes seemed to be filled with intelligence, an almost human sensitivity staring back at Christie, who by now was shivering like a leaf.

  Another raindrop hit and the bear reared up to its back legs, seeming to have made up his mind about the woman. It didn’t roar or barrel down on her, so Christie tried to stay perfectly still, though her knuckles had turned white around the knife. She felt an odd connection to the animal, something deep within her soul reaching out to the presence of the bear and instead of feeling scared to death, she felt at ease. Yet, the simple will to survive overrode her sensitivities, making her hold onto the knife and be prepared to bolt at a moment’s notice. What followed a moment later was something that she couldn’t have prepared for in the best of cases, so it was no wonder it took the breath from her chest.

  The huge animal, towering above Christie’s head as it stood up on its hind legs, suddenly started transforming right before her very eyes. Its features contracted and pulled into each other, the hair slowly seeping into its skin. The heavy head with its monstrous jaws shrunk and took on a decidedly human form, with a chiseled chin and a strong nose in place of wide nostrils and teeth that could rip apart just about anything. When the change was complete, a tall man with broad shoulders and a slightly lopsided grin stood before her, naked as all sin. Christie promptly decided to black out, strong arms clutching her under her arms just as her vision went to black.

  CHAPTER TWO

  When Christie’s eyes fluttered open, she had to weigh the facts before her and reasonably estimate that she must have lost all of her marbles. Christie found herself wrapped up in a fluffy blanket on a wide leather couch, staring into a happily crackling fire and at a mug of steaming tea sitting in front of her on a small table. She blinked a few times, trying to wake up from the pleasant dream, but her consciousness did not want to shift. A deep frown etched onto her features, the woman struggling to make sense of what exactly had come to happen to her.

  She moved her limbs one by one and shrugged her shoulders back, making sure that all the bits and pieces were still where she expected them to be. Christie noted a surprising lack of pants, but being clad in an oversized t-shirt now, it seemed to be of little importance. A quick check with her fingertips confirmed that she was still in her underwear, which had mercifully dried. She was half-way through trying to figure out if this could in fact be heaven, when a deep voice seemed to shake the walls around her.

  “Oh, you’re up. Good! I’ve re-made that tea about ten times now,” the voice said, his chuckle echoing through the cabin. Christie whipped around on the couch to face the voice, finding herself staring at the brown-eyed man from the trail. Her head spun for a moment, reeling at the implications. For once in her life, Christie was caught without anything to say.

  “I hope I didn’t scare you too bad,” the big lug of a man said, sheepishly scratching the back of his head. He was tall and built like a house, broad and powerful. She could imagine him throwing together a moderately sized building in half a day’s work and then stalking off to slay mythical beasts and save fair-haired maidens. Though, in this case, she seemed to be playing the part of the maiden. Christie cleared her voice with a small cough and eyed the man, her green pools littered with worry.

  “I…um. Where am I?” The man stood just a few feet from her, at a respectful distance, but close enough that she could see him fidget as nervously as she was. If she weren’t so entirely confused, she would have found his slight anxiety endearing. In fact, if she was in the right state of mind, she would have quickly realized that there was a familiar heat starting to grow in her core and that she felt far too relaxed around an unknown man who may or may not be a werebear.

  “You’re in my cottage. When you passed out, I didn’t really know what to do, but the rain was coming so I took you up here. You weren’t far from it anyway, coming up the trail and all that. Uh, I’m sorry if I startled you,” he apologized again, a slight blush tinting his cheeks. For such a big man, he had a certain boyishness about him that immediately appealed to Christie. She had always been rather strict as far as her personality went, so being around people who didn’t take themselves quite as seriously was always an odd sort of relief. His stuttered apologies and the fact that he had clearly done his best in trying to make her comfortable while she rode out her unfortunate fainting spell made Christie calm down a bit, her senses slowly returning to her.

  “I…I think I’m alright, thanks. I’m Christie,” she said, casting a quick look around her surroundings. The cabin was spacious enough but not overly so. It was built for comfort and set up after a man’s hand, not a thing that wasn’t needed cluttering the walls or tabletops. She grinned to herself slightly, realizing how quickly her worries seemed to fade away.

  Only you can meet a werebear and then think his house is more interesting than the fact that he’s some sort of man-bear, Christie mused to herself, bringing her eyes back to the man.

  “I’m Callum, pleased to meet you,” he said, his deep voice like honey to her ears. It made her core tighten and twist, an odd sense of need starting to bubble within her. She had been alone for a while, but it had been by choice. No man ever made her knees tremble or her thoughts skip a step, but this lumbering beast of a man seemed to have a rather sudden and unexpected effect on her sensibilities.

  “Callum…” she said, letting his name roll off her tongue. She smiled at the man and gave him a nod. “Likewise. Now. Have I gone insane and started seeing things or did you in fact turn from a bear into a man in the forest earlier?” One eyebrow quirked up, Christie fairly amused that she got to ask a question like that in the first place.

  A heavy load seemed to be lifted from Callum’s shoulders and he perked up visibly. With a few quick strides, he had crossed the distance between himself and the couch and hopped over the backrest to land on the cushions with trained ease. He moved much faster than Christie would have expected and she barely had enough time to curl her legs under her before the man plopped down next to her unceremoniously. He smelled like pinewood and ginger, a bit of edge to his calming presence. She breathed him in and being so close to him made her physically ache for him, something that struck her as both entirely odd and deliciously compelling. Her worries were brushed to the back of her mind and all of her attention was centered on the mysterious man next to her.

  Who is he and why does he have this effect on me?

  Callum turned to face her, sprawling out comfortably on the couch. Christie gripped the edge of the blanket a little harder, still wondering why she felt so safe and secure around a man who had just a bit ago scared her out of her wits.

  “Yup, I was a bear. No point in trying to hide it, I guess, seeing as you watched me shift. I’m a werebear, my pack lives in these parts. I was just making a trek to town when I met you, almost on my doorstep. I think I panicked a bit and didn’t want to have you running down a cliff screaming, so I turned into my human form.” He blushed again, thinking back to their awkward first encounter. “But you can be assured that your sanity is intact.” Callum flashed a quick grin and Christie couldn’t help but mirror it. There was something about him that drew her to him and she found it hard to resist. As if she had always known him, but just never met him in person until then.

  Callum gave her a long look and Christie fell into his warm gaze, his eyes much the same no matter what form he was in. Her breath caught in her lungs as a feeling of warmth flooded over her, like she was at just the right place at the right time and now everything would be alright, because she was with him. All her stress wafted away from her, leaving behind the invisible string that tied them together and that had suddenly given her such comfort. Callum exhaled deeply after a long while, their eyes locked in a silent conversation. He wetted his lips with the tip of his tongue and heat pooled between Christie’s legs, the desire to kiss him taking over her senses.
>
  “You feel it too, don’t you?” he asked with a quiet voice, making Christie’s brows furrow and then arch in surprise. She nodded slowly, hesitantly, and he chuckled in response. “Well, I never expected it to happen quite like this, but there you go. Life doesn’t exactly plan itself according to your wishes, does it.” He slid towards her on the couch, eating up the space that was left between them. His body was large and imposing, Christie feeling insignificantly small next to his muscled torso and thick legs. The realization that he must have carried her back to his house struck her suddenly and she bit her lower lip, warmed by the thought that it must have been no strain to the impressive man. She wanted badly to reach out and touch him, but by twisting the fabric of the blanket between her fingers managed to control that urge. Christie didn’t know what to say, as confused about what she was feeling as she had been about how she had gotten there.

  “I think I’m piling too much on you too fast, but…Sometimes, when a werebear finds the person meant for him, both of them feel an immediate connection. It’s like someone binds them to each other and it is impossible to ignore. I’ve only heard about it before, as it is rare we ever finding someone that can understand us, but that’s what I think is happening right now. That’s how my brother found his mate and as forward as it sounds, I think I may have just found mine.” He frowned, listening to the words coming out of his mouth and being as dumbfounded by them as Christie was. Their eyes met again and she could see the hesitance starting to pool in him. Without thinking about it any longer, she gave in to the immense fire that had roared to life in her and wrapped her arms around his neck, kissing him deeply.