Too Much to Bear (BBW Shifter Ménage) (4 page)

Then the tempo of Will’s lips picked up speed and his mouth
danced along hers, his tongue just teasing the tip of her own with ache-filled
promises.

But there was something else hypnotic about the kiss; it
wasn’t just their touching skin, the dancing of their tongues. It was also the
feeling of heat that passed between their bodies, that moved in some invisible
line between her torso and his. It was just like when she was around Caleb.

Caleb
, she suddenly thought and pulled away from the
kiss in mortification. And though it felt so long, so filled with seconds
longer than years, it ended all too quickly.

“I-I’m sorry…” she stammered. She felt a hot wash of shame
come over her. What was it with her and men lately?

“What’s wrong?” Will asked, searching her eyes with his own,
the color of fresh basil. Just his gaze was enough to melt her into a puddle.

“It’s not you,” she said quickly, pulling her body away so
that she couldn’t be seduced by the current of electric thrills his touch sent
throughout her being. “I’m just...I came here to escape a relationship, and
relationships in general. And there’s someone else up here that’s pursuing me…”
She hesitated. She meant to be as vague as possible, but then she realized that
it was impossible in a microscopic town like Titusville. Why wouldn’t he be
able to guess who she was talking about? He did live with him after all.

“I know,” Will said calmly, lifting a finger to trace it
along her forehead and down the length of her cheek. It was so soft and slow,
so the opposite of how Caleb had touched her, and yet, it was just as magical.
Just as strong.

“You know?” Madison’s eyes fluttered close for a moment as
she tried to push back the pangs of desire.

“Yes,” he said, finally pulling his hand away from her. She
took a deep breath and opened her eyes, but seeing his gorgeous face wasn’t
helping any. “And I’m not asking you to choose.”

This confused Madison. She screwed up her face, trying to
decode the mysterious meaning in his words, but he simply kissed her cheek and
smiled at her.

“I’ll see you soon I’m sure, but my editor will kill me if I
miss another deadline. I’ll have to cook for you one of these days.”

Then he turned and saw himself out, leaving Madison to watch
the perfect angel of a man disappear out her front door.

“What the hell?” she mumbled to herself, bringing her arms
over her shoulders and running her fingers against the goose bumps that had
sprung up along her arms.

Madison spent the rest of the day cleaning the cabin
obsessively in an attempt to banish her crazed sexual thoughts from her mind.
She couldn’t believe herself; sure, she had a romantic streak, as was made
evident by all the books she read with buff men holding beautiful women on the
covers. But she had never lusted over two men at once before.

And they live together
, she thought as she scrubbed
at the grout on the kitchen’s tiled floor.

But she still couldn’t get what Will had said out of her
head:
I’m not asking you to choose
.

How could she not make a choice? While she wished that she
could keep her hands off of both of them, spend the next few weeks in relaxing
solitude before moving to another city again to start over, she knew it was
impossible.

There were two sexy as hell men vying for her attention.
Hell, that was a modest way of putting it; they clearly both wanted a little
more than her consideration. This might be the only time in her life that she
had such a fine specimen of man after her, let alone two.

After she finished cleaning the kitchen floor, Madison
decided a small hike through the woods might be nice before it got dark. She
knew she shouldn’t be out too late because evening was the time that bears started
to prowl around. She wondered briefly about the mountain lions, but pushed the
thought out of her mind.

She didn’t even want to
think
about mountain lions, much less what time they got up to roam around and munch
on bones. The chances she’d run into one were so rare that she knew it wasn’t
worth the fear it would cause her to feel.

So she put on her hiking boots and her worn out denim shorts
and went out to the small, Titusville trail, which was the only one
specifically designated for the townspeople and not the nearby state park.

The trill of calling birds and the scenic flora reminded
Madison of why she came here to begin with. Almost completely lost in its
peaceful elegance, in the sharp scent of trees and grass, of the calm burbling
of a nearby stream, she was able to forget about all of the loud human things
that were vying for her attention back at the cabin. This, she realized, was
the true respite from her chaotic life.

But, she realized with dismay, that the trail was coming to
an end sooner than she had hoped. Turning on her heel to get back, she tripped
on a gnarled root and fell onto the dirt path, breaking her fall with her
palms.

“Dammit,” she murmured, feeling the sharp, stinging pain in
her hands. She was about to get up and dust herself off when she heard a low,
terrifying sound.

It was a growl, and it was inhuman. Turning her head slowly,
her heart caught in her throat, Madison quickly prayed to God that it wouldn’t
be what she thought it was.

It was worse.

Standing behind her on all horrific fours was a muscular
feline that was nearly as tall as she was. It snarled, its fangs bared and the
muscles along its side flexing, as if it were preparing to take its prey.

No
, was all
Madison could think, flinching as she saw it pounce up into the air. But
instead of seeing her life flash before her eyes, of feeling a large weight
crash into her body and crack her bones, she saw a quick blur of dark brown
flash before her eyes, pummeling the mountain lion to the ground.

She was utterly confused for a moment, suspended between
reality and her own fear. Then she realized what she was looking at was
undeniably real—a big, dark brown bear had the giant cat beneath its
claws, and it was roaring viciously. Before Madison even had a chance to think
she got up and ran, ignoring all the advice she had heard throughout her life against
running from large mammals.

She ran as fast as her legs could carry her, the adrenaline
searing through her body in the form of hot fear. She didn’t stop until she
reached her cabin, and the sight that greeted her filled her with dread.

The front window to her cabin was completely smashed in, as
if someone had taken a sledgehammer to it and was sure to wreck it entirely.

“No,” she gasped, trembling at the sight. She felt her
entire body go numb.

“Hey Madison,” someone said behind her. But it took her a
moment to register anything outside of the immediate horror that consumed her.

“Oh, Will,” she responded faintly. Everything had happened
so fast that she couldn’t even try to find words to describe it.

“Caleb will be here soon,” he said gently, putting a
comforting hand on her shoulder. “I already called a guy I know in Ashton and
he’ll be up to fix the window tomorrow. Thank God you weren’t inside when it
happened.”

“Is...is someone in there?” she said, her eyes still
transfixed on the shattered window.

“No, there isn’t. I already checked. Sorry for going in your
house without permission, but seeing as there’s a giant hole in it I figured
knocking was an unnecessary formality.”

Madison let out a humorless laugh and then brought her hands
over her face. She took a deep breath in and out, reminded herself she was
okay, and then dropped them.

“Sorry if I’m overreacting. I just ran into a panther and
bear fighting back on the trail.”

Will’s reaction was peculiar. He didn’t look shocked or
surprised, but instead just concerned. “Are you alright?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. Just a little shook up.” Madison tried to
force a smile on her face, but failed.

“Why don’t you spend the night at our place?” Will said,
looking back to the smashed window. “Caleb has to come by and do a report
anyway, and I know him. He’ll put a tarp over it to keep the critters out.”

“I wouldn’t want to impose…” Madison said, suddenly feeling
very awkward about staying with the two of them overnight.

“I don’t think you want to wake up with a raccoon on your
face, now do you?” Will teased, but she knew he meant it. The idea of waking up
to some little animal in her house, or worse, whoever or whatever tried to get
into it earlier, was so absolutely terrifying.

“Alright, I’ll take you up on it then,” she said. “I’ll just
add it to the debt I owe you. Let me just go in for a change of clothes.”

“You don’t owe me anything. And sure, I’ll come in with you,
just to be safe.”

Madison didn’t want to admit how much she appreciated the
small gesture, since she shouldn’t be afraid to go in the house if it was
empty, but she smiled at him as a silent “thank you” anyway.

She quickly walked through the house, horrified at how her
living room and all of her grandparents old furniture had been torn, stuffing
flowing from the couch as if someone had slashed it with a knife, or, she
thought with a shudder, a sharp claw.

She rushed to the bedroom fighting back the tears, and she
gasped when she saw how thoroughly the bedroom was shredded up. When Will heard
her gasp he followed behind her.

“Are you okay?” he asked, and then went quiet for a moment
as he realized what she was reacting too. “We’ll figure out who...or
what
did this,” he said firmly. When she
turned to look at him she was surprised by the hardness that was in his eyes,
which were usually so soft with understanding.

“Thanks,” Madison said quietly. Will came over and held her,
the warmth of his embrace soothing her pained heart.

“I won’t let anything bad happen to you, ever,” he said
fiercely, kissing the top of her head as he squeezed her tighter. For some
reason she believed him. Every part of her being trusted this ghost of her
past, and the sweet promise of his embrace.

Will and Caleb had a cabin very similar to her own, but
theirs was even more cut off from the rest of the town, nestled between sparse
trees with no other sign of civilization in sight. It took a good two miles in
Will’s truck to get to their neck of the woods.

“This was Caleb’s place growing up wasn’t it?” she asked,
remembering the cabin faintly, the memories coming back to her when she spotted
the tire swing fixed to a tree in the front of the house.

“Yeah, his dad left it to him. Since my aunt sold her house
I was thinking of moving, but Caleb convinced me to move in with him and stay
here in Titusville. He’s a pretty persuasive guy.” Will gave Madison a look
that made her question if there was a secret meaning behind his words.

“Uh huh,” was all she responded as she stepped out of the
truck onto the dirt driveway.

Will frowned at her. “You didn’t let me open the door for
you,” he said, leading her up to the front door.

“Oh, sorry? I can open the door myself though.” She was
slightly amused by the things that upset him. It was just like she had
remembered him when he was fourteen.

“I know. I just don’t interact with too many people these
days, let alone women. So it’s nice to get to practice my chivalry.”

When they reached the front door Madison indicated to it
with a wave of her hands. “By all means.”

He laughed and opened the door, standing back to let her in.
“After you.”
“Why thank you dear sir,” she teased, stepping into the cozy cabin. It looked
as though they had changed a few things since she had last been there, but not
much. The television looked newer, and there was a desktop computer in the
living room, but it had the same floral couches and wooden furniture that she
remembered.

“A bit feminine for two guys, don’t you think?” she teased,
nodding towards the couch.

“It’s only a cover for how insanely masculine we are,” he
retorted, and then within seconds he swopped Madison up into his arms, holding
her body against his hard torso.

“Holy crap,” she muttered.

“Don’t let the townspeople here you saying things like
that,” he joked, moving his face closer to hers, making her heart pound at a
million beats per second.

“So I’ve been warned,” she responded, and he kissed her,
stealing away her breath with his hard, passionate mouth. Her world went dark
and she felt like she was falling away from reality, like her limbs were
weightless, as if she were underwater. But her mind was heavy, as though with
an impenetrable fog of longing. She couldn’t say no to him anymore. She was
completely, irrevocably his.

Will moved her across the room, but she could barely be
bothered with where they were going. His kisses grew wilder, frenetic, and his strong
fingers dug into the small of her back. He smelled like coffee and musk, like
heaven in the carnal form of man.

She gasped as his mouth trailed southward, moving down the
length of her neck, taking her flesh into his tongue and teeth. She opened her
eyes and realized that she was in a bedroom just as he laid her down on a firm
mattress, his mouth still at her throat.

When he pulled back to look at her she gasped. For a split
moment she swore she saw a pair of thick fangs, but then they were gone. It was
just Will as she knew him, a round, deep lust in his gaze.

“Are you alright?” he asked.

“I’m just crazy,” she breathed, shaking her head slightly.

“So am I,” he growled. “I’m crazy about you.”

Then he pulled her up with surprising ferocity, removing her
shirt within a matter of seconds. Where she normally would have felt exposed in
front of a man she hardly knew well enough for such intimacy, she felt alive,
like hot lava was running through her body.