Read Big Bear: BBW Bear Shifter Paranormal Romance (BRIDES Fur BEARS Book 4) for Free Online Page B

raging animal down, Nick asked quietly, “What are you scared of, Zoe?”
    “I...I don't know.” She had stopped sniffling, and there was a trace of anger in her voice now. “I don't know what I am. And I'm scared...of me.”
    Nick pressed his forehead against the door and said, “Zoe, will you open the door? Just let me in. We can figure this out together. Whatever it is, whatever you are, we'll figure it out. And if we can't, there are people who can help us. You don't have to do this alone. You are not alone, Zoe.”
    He waited. After a minute, he heard the lock turn and the door opened a crack.
    Zoe gulped audibly and opened the door wider.
    Nick stepped into her apartment and watched her as she locked the door behind him. The glow was gone from her eyes, but her scent had definitely changed. The human scent was fading, and something else was coming to the fore.
    Zoe turned to face him but she didn't make any move to come nearer to him. “You're a shifter, right?” she said without preamble.
    “Yes. I'm a bear shifter.”
    She nodded. “Can you...see everything clearly in this apartment?”
    “Yes.” He didn't ask her why she didn't switch on the lights.
    “So can I.”
    Nick understood at once. “Your vision has changed. You can see well in the dark now.”
    “Y-yes. I don't...”
    “Zoe, are your parents shifters?”
    She gave a jerky nod. “Both my parents are half-shifters.”
    “What kind of shifters?”
    “My dad was half human, half eagle-shifter. And my mom was half human, half lion-shifter. But neither of them could shift. The shifter gene seemed to be dormant in my family.” She let out a strange little laugh. “I am not even half shifter, like my parents. I'm only what? Less than a quarter shifter? Right? So how could I have an animal in me? And what animal is it? Is it an eagle or a lion? How the fuck...” Her voice was rising in pitch and volume, and there was a note of hysteria in her voice.
    “Hey, hey, it's okay,” Nick said, taking her by the shoulders. “It's okay. You have shifter blood in you. Sometimes the shifter gene skips a generation. It happens.”
    “You're a bear, right?” She gripped his arm desperately. “You have a great sense of smell. Can you...smell my animal? What am I? Tell me, please. What do I do? I don't even know what to do! I think I'm going mad. I don't want to lose my mind and turn into an animal...”
    “You're not losing your mind, Zoe.”
    “I am! I so fucking am! I...oh God, Nick.” She was gripping his arm so tightly her nails were digging painfully into his flesh. “Please...you have to leave...just go, Nick!”
    “Why?”
    “Because...” Her eyes snapped open suddenly and her golden eyes flashed with a feral, predatory hunger.
    “I...can't control myself...I want you, Nick. You!”
     

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

    Zoe tried to pull away from Nick but her body wouldn't let go. Her fingers stubbornly clung to his shoulders even as her brain screamed at her to release the man.
    Nick wasn't helping. In fact, he seemed to be conspiring with her body to defy her brain. His arms circled her waist and pulled her flush against him.
    “Nick...let me go...”
    She felt his lips curve against her neck. “Never,” he growled.
    Unconsciously, she writhed against him, increasing the delicious friction between their bodies. Her hands should be shoving him back. She should be pushing him away. Instead, she was clinging to his powerful shoulders, begging him silently to take her.
    “What's happening to me?” she sobbed. Her body was begging, screaming to be touched and she felt a bone-deep need to be with Nick, to have him completely, fully, deeply. She wanted, needed to have him inside her, to join their hearts and bodies…
    Her eyelids fluttered as she tried to focus. She shook her head but there was no clearing that fog that was shrouding all her senses. She was just crazed with lust, with hunger and need.
    “You are in heat, Zoe,” Nick said, his voice