Bear's to Mate

Chapter 1-2

THEY ARRIVED AT THE club at a fashionably late hour. So late, in fact, that Tarsha was sure that it would be filled to capacity and they would be turned away. That, however, was not the case at all. They were issued past the two hundred people waiting outside, through the gilded doors and before she knew it, she was surrounded by the world of beautiful people and glitz and glamor that Gwen so often lived in.

They found their way to the glass staircase that led to the main dancefloor and the bar. It shocked Tarsha when the eyes of every male in the place turned and locked on them. It wouldn’t have surprised her if their focus had been entirely on Gwen. She had chosen a tight black dress and a necklace with a ruby pendant that accentuated her chest nicely. With her bright green eyes and her blond hair piled on top of her head, she was a vision. Gwen was always a vision. Men always flocked to her. They stared at her. Their eyes followed her everywhere.

Tarsha knew that she was a pretty girl herself, but knew that she was no Gwen. She never drew the attention of men in that way. She had dated often enough in school and since. She did not have a shortage of gentleman callers of her own, but she had never gotten the kind of attention that Gwen got and she was fine with that.

That was why it was so shocking when just as many eyes were locked on her as were focused on Gwen. She could not deny that she looked more impressive than she usually did. Her brown hair was usually tied back in a ponytail. That made it easier when she painted. Tonight, it was long and flowing. Gwen’s hair stylist had insisted on it. She never wore much make-up. She never really had the time or money for it.

Gwen had other plans, though. Tarsha had successfully argued against the smoky look, but Gwen had insisted that her make-up artist be allowed to make her look like a golden goddess, to match her dress. When they were done with their work, she could not deny that she looked the best she ever had, but she was proud that she had been able to keep a bit of herself in the look.

They were halfway down the stairs when she felt one particular gaze locked on hers. She felt heat run across her skin before she even looked up. It was like something within her was beginning to boil. Her head snapped up and her eyes locked with a man across the bar. He was tall. Even at a distance, she could see that.

His hair was dark brown, nearly black. It was combed back, sleek as could be but she was overwhelmed with the desire to sink her hands in to it; to mess up that illusion of perfect. His black eyes were locked on her, traveling every inch of her body like a caress. It felt so intimate that it took her breath away.

He wore all black. He looked almost as though he was made of the night and she could not deny that she very much wanted to see what lay underneath the jacket that draped his broad shoulders.

She knew who the man was, of course. Everyone in New York knew him. Cole Barron was a billionaire investor. He was in the paper every week for one thing or another. She had seen his picture dozens of times, but she could never remember finding him as attractive as she found him in that moment.

Hundreds of people stood between them, but it felt as though they were the only two people in the club. She did not even realize that she had frozen until Gwen tugged on her arm and guided her down the stairs and towards the bar. She lost sight of Cole Barron in the crowd, but she was sure that she could still feel his gaze upon her as she moved across the dance floor behind Gwen.

From the moment that Cole saw the girl in gold, he was mesmerized. He was at the club’s opening with a group of a few friends, as he attended every major social event. He never bothered with a date for such things. It was unnecessary. He always knew that he would find someone to go home with him. On this particular night, he set his eye on the girl in gold. She was stunning and it was clear that every other man in the room wanted her, which would make it all the more sweet when he took her home with him at the end of the evening. Making love to her, knowing that hundreds of men had wanted that too, would be his own victory.

He had gotten where he was in life by setting his eye on what he wanted and then willing himself to make it happen. It was how he had gotten where he was in life and in business. It was no different for him with women. When he chose a woman that he wanted, he did not rest until she begged him to take her. It was the thrill of the chase that he enjoyed so much. So often, women crowded around him.

When he had first found success, such easy prey had built up his ego but he quickly bored of such conquests. There was no real victory in it. It was choosing the most appealing woman in the room and seducing her that brought him pleasure now. The fact that he never called or saw them again was of little consequence to him once he had gotten what he wanted.

There was, of course, another reason for his heightened prey drive. Cole Barron was no ordinary man. When he was written about, stories often mentioned his quiet upbringing by a family with traditional values in upstate New York. When he had decided that he preferred city life to his own, he had decided that his back story needed to be as close to the truth as possible. It made things easier for him and it endlessly amused his father.

In truth, he and his brother were raised by their father in upstate New York. The traditional values that they e were raised with were not just human values. They were the centuries old traditions of the werebear tribe that he had been born into and that his father was the chief of.

He was the eldest son of the chief, so it had always been expected that he would take his father’s role as chief one day. That, however, was never the life that he saw for himself. From the time that he learned that the outside world existed, he had longed to be a part of it. It had worried their tribe elders endlessly, but his father had always had faith in him to do what was best. He had even encouraged him to go off to college in the human world when he came of age.

He had gone off to college and never looked back. Cole had paid for college through an athletic scholarship. He had used his superhuman abilities and the skills he had learned when training as a werebear warrior to walk on to the wrestling team and he had been the champion of his division every year after.

He visited his tribe when he could, but it had been less and less as his life became more firmly rooted in the human world. After college, he had realized his dream of moving to New York City and working for a top investment firm. He had risen up the ranks quickly, soon earning enough capital to start his own firm.

Articles about him often speculated about what it was that made him such a success, but he did not need to ask that question. He already knew the answer. It was his inner bear that had allowed him to do all that he had done. He was cocky by nature, but not cocky enough to discount the role that his instincts had played in all that he had accomplished. When others shied away from danger and risk, he ran towards it. He had never met a challenge that did not call to him.

He was living the life that he had dreamed of since he was a young boy. Every man in New York wanted to be him and every woman wanted to be with him. Keeping his secret was not even that difficult with the life he lived. The friends that he had were as absorbed in their careers as he was, so they rarely asked any questions of him beyond the most superficial. As women went, he did not keep them around for any longer than a one-night stand so none grew attached enough to realize that something was different about him or to ask questions.

Where women were concerned, his inner bear was usually silent. When he felt desire grow in him for a woman, it was his desire as a man to have her. His love of the game and the chase were as close as his inner bear came to playing a role in his romantic affairs. That was why it was so shocking to him when he felt a growl growing in his chest and his inner bear stir as he stared at the girl in gold. There was no denying that his bear wanted her and he intended to oblige it.

He watched her for nearly an hour as she sat with her friend at the bar. They sipped their drinks and she brushed off each man who approached her. She seemed to have no interest in any male company. That fact made pursuing her all the more appealing to him. When he finally did approach her, he did so with intent. Everyone stepped out of his way, clearing his path to the lovely brunette at the bar. She sensed his approach, looking up and locking eyes with him as he approached her. He could hear her heart beat quicken and smiled to himself, knowing that she wanted him already.

When he finally reached her, he didn’t say a word. He merely held out his hand to her. She froze before looking to her friend, who nodded in encouragement. He had not considered that she might not let him lead her to the dance floor. Most women enjoyed his attention. Getting a lady to dance with him was usually the easiest part. Then, she took a deep breath, sat her whiskey down on the bar and took his hand.

As his hand wrapped around hers, he heard the bear within him roar. The word “Mine” echoed in his ears as he led her to the dance floor. The dance floor was too loud for words between them. Instead, he spun her quickly away from him and then quickly drew her back against him, the curves of her body pressed against his.

He could feel every eye in the club focused on them, which made the moment all the more enjoyable. Everyone in the room wanted to be with her and she was his for the night. As their bodies swayed together, he tried to think of a time when he had felt as drawn to a woman. If he could have, he would have taken her right there on the dance floor with everyone watching.

“You dance splendidly,” he whispered in her ear as the song changed to lower tempo, making it easier for them to hear each other. His warm breath in her ear sent chills of desire through Tarsha, though she tried her best to hide it.

“You must be drunk,” she teased playfully, doing her best to stay within just that moment and the pleasure that it offered. That had been her promise to herself when she decided to embrace Gwen’s plan for the night. It was, in fact, why she had agreed to dance with him in the first place. She had rejected everyone else who had asked her to dance or offered to buy her a drink that night, but her first thought when she saw him was that she wanted him. She had just decided not to deny herself that pleasure, especially now that the risk of getting pregnant was gone. There was no reason not to take physical pleasure from the handsome man who had offered his hand to her.

“I never drink to excess. I do not like to be out of control,” he said as he pulled her even tighter against him.

“Yes, I imagine you are very fond of control,” she said as she went up on her tip toes to whisper in his ear. The look of shock on his face told her that women rarely jested with him. It also told her that he whole heartedly approved of it.

“You have no idea,” he purred, smiling down at her like a predator about to pounce on its prey. She thought for a moment that she should have been a bit more nervous or even frightened, but the only feeling that she had was exhilaration.

“Oh, I imagine I could take a guess,” she replied in kind as she let her hands run up his strong arms, savoring the feeling of his muscles beneath her delicate touch before settling on his broad shoulders.

“Maybe you could,” he mused to himself, giving her a look of what she thought was admiration. Clearly, few women sparred with him verbally while he was in the process of seducing them.

“Or you could show me,” she said boldly. She’d decided the moment that she put her hand in his that she was going to sleep with him. She wanted to spend a night with him; a night where she could pretend that the rest of the world and the sadness that it held for her did not exist. Cole Barron was the perfect man to give her that pleasure. She knew his reputation as a lady’s man from the papers. He could give her the pleasure she was seeking and she did not have to be worried that she would hurt him by leading him on. He had no more desire for a tomorrow than she did. He was the ideal man and she saw no reason to delay any longer.

“What is your name?” he asked as he took her hand and led her towards the door of the club.

“Do you really care to know it?” she said, unable to suppress the laugh of amusement that bubbled from her lips. He seemed a bit uncomfortable then, as though he did not like to be questioned, but he quickly shook it off and returned to their playful banter.

“Well I never like to scream the wrong name while I am making love to a woman. It would be rude,” he teased as his hand came to rest on her hip while he called for his car to be brought around.

“I promise you, I will not mind,” she said as she gave in to her earlier impulse to bury her hands in his hair, pulling him down in to a long, passionate kiss that left them both breathless.

“My name is Cole, Cole Barron,” he stammered, in shock at his body’s reaction to her kiss. Never in his life could he remember a kiss feeling so sensual and alluring. This woman was going to be a delightful mystery to unravel.

“Cole Barron, I am about to give you the night of your life,” she said before swaggering off to the car that the valet had just brought for them. She did not wait for the door to be opened as she let herself in to his Ferrari’s passenger seat and looked back at him as though to challenge him to join her.

He watched her in unmasked admiration. His senses were humming, trying to make sense of the fascinating creature before him. She was bold yet aloof. At the same time, she was beautiful and yet cloaked in a sadness that he could nearly taste, it was so strong upon her. Never before had a human woman intrigued him so. He considered for a moment that she night be a bear herself, living under the cloak of humanity as he did, but the fact was that none of the female bears he had known had ever had such an effect on him, either. No, whatever it was that made her stand out to him, it was deeply rooted in her humanity.

He got in the driver’s seat of his car and took off. Usually he would have driven like a demon, eager to get to his apartment and make love to his nightly conquest. That night, though, there was a sweetness to those moments together, just the two of them in his car. He caught himself trying to memorize her scent and the sound of her voice, which he could hear clearly now that the sounds of the club were far behind them. There, in the warmth of his car, he smelled the allure of black orchid on her skin and could not resist watching her as she settled in to the leather seat.

The advantage of his werebear senses allowed him to focus more on her than the road. She seemed completely relaxed and in the moment. She never even asked him where they were going. She just looked forward and trusted him to get her where she needed to go. Most women would have used the time alone to try and flirt with him or to try and forge some sort of connection with him beyond the physical.

His mystery woman made no such attempts. She wanted what he wanted and he could not remember a time when he had wanted a woman more. Perhaps it was her lack of desire to share more of herself with him that made him long for it. Beyond his desire for her physically, he was beginning to know more about her. That was, in fact, a first for him and he was not sure what it meant. What he did know what that he wanted her underneath him, screaming his name before the next hour chimed on the clock.

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