Bearllionaire Stepbrother 2 (Bear Oaks Book 2)

  Bearllionaire Stepbrother

  Bear Oaks Book 2

  Edith Hawkes

  Contents

  1. Jess

  2. Jake

  3. Jess

  4. Jake

  5. Jess

  6. Jake

  7. Jess

  8. Jake

  9. Jess

  10. Jake

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  One

  Jess

  I had no choice, I had to leave.

  A few days ago the notion of leaving would’ve had me cartwheeling for joy. OK, truth time, I can barely run with my jiggling plump ass let alone turn a cartwheel, but you get the gist. But now that I was here I’d found a delicious reason to stay: a tall, sexy mountain of a man with arms as big as tree trunks, who actually was turned on by my cute me and who, now, I never wanted to leave.

  Jake, my step-brother, had literally just fucked my brains out hard, in the woods, up against the bark of a tree and heavens forbid but there was no place I’d rather be.

  My heart - and raw pussy - demanded that I turn right around and go back to him, tell him what had happened, but if I let my resolve weaken, Doug would relish spilling the beans to my dad about my illicit affair with Jake.

  I could just imagine the look upon my dad’s face when he was told: the disappointment, the disgust… the shame.

  Goddammit Doug! I cursed his name loudly and repeatedly in my head. Screw you and the bear you rode in on!

  Doug ruined everything, blackmailing me into not only silence but forcing me to leave Scarfell Mountain. If I wanted to keep my dirty little secret, just that: a secret, I had to go; abandon Jake.

  I was lucky no one had seen my dishevelled state as I crept into Bear Oak lodge. Most of the lights were out and I presumed my dad, Tom, and his new wife, Alex, were tucked up in bed.

  In my room I quickly gathered a few of my belongings which wasn’t hard, half of my boxes had barely been touched since we’d only gotten here a few days ago. To think how much had changed in those few hours.

  Argh! Fuck you Doug! I screamed again internally and balled my hands up into fists, feeling the tips of my nails dig into my palms.

  Enough Jess, get your shit together. I was right, there was nothing I could do about it if I didn’t want my whole world to come crashing down around my head - but then the sky was already falling, wasn’t it? And just when I’d found a guy that wanted me for me.

  I grabbed a notepad and a pen I found in my bag and scribbled the nib upon the back to make sure it was working.

  My head clouded with jumbled up words. What could I say to my dad that would explain my sudden absence? He would never truly understand no matter what I put in the note I left behind, he would worry and try and track me down. The tears I’d been holding started to flow and I roughly wiped them away with the back of my hand.

  There was no way I could face my dad, not if I wanted to keep the truth for him; I was a terrible liar. And there wasn’t any time. Jake would be back soon and I had to be gone before then, otherwise…

  Just the thought of him brought our dirty outdoors encounter back in full force and I squeezed my thighs together remembering where he’d been.

  Concentrate you little hussy. Write the note and leave.

  I nodded to myself and started writing. Better to keep it short and sweet than to waffle on and perpetuate the lies, I thought.

  Dad,

  Decided to go travelling after all - must be all this mountain air. Sorry to leave without saying goodbye, but you know me: strike while the iron is hot!

  Love you - will text you to let you know I’m safe!

  Jess

  P.S. Borrowing the truck. Hope you don’t mind.

  Hopefully that should do it. It had a whiff of truth in it so perhaps my dad wouldn’t be too mad or upset when he read my words. I folded the note and put it safe in my pocket for now; I’d leave it on his study desk on my way out.

  Biting my lip I stared at the blank notepad debating whether or not to write something to Jake.

  I shook my head. No, it would only make matters worse. If I mentioned anything about Doug’s successful attempt at blackmail I instinctively knew it would cause a whole heap of trouble and complications and I was sure Jake would get angry. He’d already gone to bat for me once with his people, I doubted he’d stick up for me again and choose me over Doug. There was no way. After-all, it was like Doug had said, they were family… they had secrets to protect.

  And even if Jake did choose me… no don’t even go there. I sighed. My decision was made. I had to live with the consequences of my wholly inappropriate actions; we had a fling and it was incredibly wrong and yet why did I have this intense burning inside me urging me to stay?

  Bloody hormones.

  It was a mistake and I had to do what was right. Get off Scarfell Mountain, away from Jake and let my father keep his happiness he so rightly deserved.

  I threw my backpack over my shoulder, grabbed my suitcase and left my room. Now for the tricky part, find the keys to the truck, start it without waking everyone up and hope the guard at the gate will let me through without asking questions.

  Two

  Jake

  “You’re back,” Hank said with a grunt. “Did you think about what I said?”

  I’d been thinking of nothing else since I’d left; had given into what I’d previously thought was temptation and lust but now realised was something much more.

  If Hank was right, and he was right most of the time, Jess was destined to be my mate. And after what we’d just done, I couldn’t stop thinking about her and what it all meant.

  It wasn’t just about the sex either, or the way her tight pussy wrapped perfectly around my cock and her goddamn kissable lips, I had this uncontrollable need to protect her with my life. It had been excruciatingly hard to leave her to walk home herself, and a bit of a dick move when I thought about it now, but I had to know and understand what this meant before I or we could plan for the future.

  There wasn’t just me and Jess to consider, there was my mom and Tom, and the whole goddamn clan. How would they all react to our news? It was scandalous.

  “Yeah, I thought about it,” I replied, an involuntary grin spreading across my face.

  “Oh, really?” Hank replied, his salt and peppered bushy eyebrows twitching.

  “I need to talk,” I said seriously.

  “Pull up a stool.”

  “Back for more? What you having, Jake?” Chris, the barman, asked.

  “Thanks, Chris, I’m not staying.” I said, looking around. There were too many ears in the Green Oaks tonight, still drinking their fill after a hard days labour at the mill. This was something I could only discuss with Hank right now, the only one I could trust.

  “Let’s go somewhere a little more private?” I asked in a low whisper so only Hank could hear me.

  Hank studied my face for a second then drained his glass. He dug his hands into his worn faded jeans and laid a couple of bills on the bar. “Follow me, then.”

  As we were leaving the door opened and I came face to face with Doug. He was the last person I wanted to see. He’d done pretty much everything he could earlier in the meeting to undermine and turn the members against me. I braced myself for a barrage of insults - Doug was always looking for a fight.

  “Evenin’,” Doug said politely, smiled like a Cheshire cat and passed us without another word.

  “What’s up with him?” I mumbled to Hank.

  “Beats me. You never can tell with Doug.”

  Hank and I walked in silence and I jammed my ha
nds into the pockets of the overalls I’d quickly grabbed from my office at the mill. My last outfit was currently littering the trail of the mountain at the moment. I really had to stop shifting fully-clothed.

  Something about Doug’s creepy smile niggled in the back of my mind. Had he had a change of heart? Or was he up to no good? I didn’t have time to deal with another one of his stunts and he was rapidly approaching my last straw.

  Tomorrow I’d figure out what he was playing at and give him his last warning. Enough was enough. And Mick, I reminded myself. He was another trouble maker I had to keep an eye on. You would’ve thought after all I’d done for them, the least they could do was to keep the peace around here. But, no. They always had to find a way to cause drama. Like they were old women or something, desperate for the attention.

  “I can’t believe you’re still in this old shack,” I said as we approached Hank’s rickety cabin.

  “It suits me,” he replied and shrugged.

  “Well, my offer still stands if you ever want an upgrade. We can get the lads to build you a newer house. One that’s a little more structural…” I replied as I entered the small enclosure, the front door was practically coming off its hinges and I could see daylight through a couple of the slats.

  “Nah, I like it here. I don’t need no fancy house. Bigger house means more rooms to clean, and you don’t see a wife around here do you?” he chuckled.

  “You’ve got a point there,” I joked.

  “Sit,” Hank gestured to two comfy chairs in from of the fireplace. “Tell me what’s on your mind.”

  I sank in to the chair, the cushions sagging under my weight, and gathered my thoughts. Where on earth to begin?

  “You went to her tonight, didn’t you?”

  I nodded and felt a burn of colour upon my cheeks. God this was so embarrassing, but better talking about this stuff with Hank than my mom! Hank would know more about it all anyway, he’d been around the block a few times from what I could tell.

  “No shame in it, lad. Instinct is what that is,” he reassured me.

  “Yeah, but she’s my step-sister,” I countered.

  “That certainly does put a wrench in the works, but like I told you she’s not blood. And I doubt it’ll matter in the long run. You just have to approach it the right way. I’ll be behind you though, no matter what.”

  He was right, it wasn’t the end of the world. It was weird, that was sure, but people could be open minded. And really the only ones that mattered were already accepting of some crazy ass thing anyway. My mother already knew she had a shifter for a son, and she’d stuck by me all those difficult years; what was one more bump in the road?

  “So what do I do now?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “With Jess,” I said, impatiently.

  Hank burst out laughing, a deep rolling growl-like chuckle filled the small cabin. He slapped his hand against his thigh as his eyes wrinkled from laughter.

  “Hank, this is serious, stop laughing at me,” I said, not understand the joke.

  “Oh, lad. I’m not laughing at you. Not really,” he said as he caught his breath and calmed down, a few chuckles escaping as he looked at me. “You don’t have to do anything… it’s already done.”

  “I don’t understand,” I said shaking my head.

  “Don’t you feel it? The moment you laid eyes upon her, she was destined to be yours.”

  The ball of fire that had been burning a hole in my chest sparked within me as if were reminding me it was there. My mouth dropped open.

  “You mean that isn’t lust?”

  “Oh, god, no!” he chuckled again. “You feel like you’ve been hit by a freight train, right there in your heart, don’t you?” he said and he placed a fist over his chest.

  I nodded.

  “Well, there you go then. Lust ain’t like that… lust just makes your balls ache,” he grinned and shook his head from side to side. “No, my boy, you have truly imprinted on that girl.”

  “How the hell can you tell?” I gasped, the wave of realisation finally crashing down upon me.

  He sighed. “Takes one to know one…”

  I regarded his face as sadness crept into his ageing eyes. “You too? What happened, Hank?”

  “It’s rare but it does happen.” He paused. “That’s a story for another day. Over a drink sometime. But now, someone is probably waiting for you and I’m sure she’s much prettier to look at than me,” he said and smirked.

  I scoffed. “She’s everything I’ve ever dreamed about but didn’t know I needed,” I said knowing every words was true. I rose to my feet and took the a few short steps to the door. “Thanks for the talk, Hank. I’ll hold you to that drink.”

  * * *

  The weight that had been pressing down on top of my shoulders, causing all the worry, seemed to have floated away and fucked off for good. Leaving me with a sense of a bright future ahead.

  I couldn’t wait to see Jess again, to take her in my arms and smother her with kisses. It was going to be alright, I would see to that. A few calm conversations with my mom and step-father, Tom, and it would sort itself out; they’d understand that Jess and I were meant to be together regardless of our family ties.

  Tom, was already fully aware of the situation at Scarfell, it was one of the main reasons he’d decided to come live up here with us. He had his fair share of secrets that he’d trusted my mom and with me, and I believed it would make revealing my love for Jess to him a lot less troubling.

  I smiled to myself thinking of Jess as I passed the bar and headed for the trail that led to the lodge.

  “Where’s your girl, eh?” Slurred a voice from behind me.

  Keep walking, Jake. He’s not worth it. Not right now.

  Thoughts of Jess waiting for me propelled my legs forward as I tried to ignore my drunken follower.

  “Was she good? I bet she was. That fuckin’ ass man.”

  “Doug, go home, before you say something you regret!” I yelled over my shoulder. He continued to follow me, laughing between sips of an open beer bottle.

  “She a screamer? Nah, that’s OK, don’t tell me. I already heard her creaming her knickers a mile away tonight.”

  One more word, Doug… just one.

  “Hope she was worth it… I wonder what her dad—”

  The burning ball in my chest ignited the whole of my body and I launched myself at him.

  I grabbed his shirt and pulled him millimetres away from my face. Doug grinned and the stink of stale beer escaped his mouth.

  “If you do anything to fuck with Jess, or even go near her, I will make your life a living hell. Do you understand?”

  Doug laughed in my face, spewing forth more nauseating gases. “You’re too late,” he said and slammed his hand hard into my chest. He was drunk, but he was still powerful.

  It took everything in my power not to shift, to keep my head, and not rip Doug to shreds right there and then.

  I grabbed for him again, this time clamping a large hand upon his throat, squeezing so he knew I was serious. “What the fuck are you talking about?”

  “Don’t worry, Jake. I sorted out our little problem. There was no need for a vote.”

  “What did you do?” I growled, a feeling of dread lingered, waiting to pounce in my stomach.

  He barked out a loud final laugh and smiled, his eyes full of hate and malice. “She’s gone, Jake. Gone.”

  Three

  Jess

  I winced as the truck roared to life and then accidentally revved it as my foot slipped hard on the accelerator.

  Easy girl, take a breath.

  I did what was commanded, rolled down the driver’s window and sucked in a lungful of mountain air. The smell of heavy night-time pine and dense moist earth drifted into the cabin of the truck. I was going to miss that smell now that I was used to it.

  Distracting myself was the only thing that was going to get my through the next few minutes and I replaced the smell of the
mountain with memorised sweet scents of pastries from my favourite bakeries in the city and pulled onto the road and headed down the mountain.

  Keeping my head straight I resisted the temptation to glance in my rear-view mirror or make any attempt of looking for a figure coming out of the woods. But my eyes betrayed me as I turned a bend and the headlights bounced and shone upon the entrance to the bar. Slowing the truck down to a crawl I searched the area for any signs of Jake. One last glimpse was all I wanted.

  The parking lot was deserted and streaks of lights, around the edges of the windows of the building, filtered out; the bar was still open. I wondered if Jake was in there. Where had he gone that had been so important? I could go check and perhaps say goodbye.

  Don’t you fucking dare. You do that and you guarantee giving your dad a broken heart.

  My resolve almost wavered but at the last moment I braced my arms, locking them in position, hands tight on the steering wheel, to prevent from turning into Green Oaks Bar.

  I bit the inside of my lip as a fresh new set of tears tumbled down my face, onto my chin and down my neck.

  He’s only a boy. You’ll get over him, it was only one goddamn night, my inner voice said trying to convince me. But I knew it was more than that; what? I wasn’t quite sure, something I’d never experienced before. And the ripping pain in my chest from leaving him told me otherwise. There was no doubt in my mind that it was far from just a typical one-night stand.

  My heart ached for what could’ve been. If only he wasn’t my stepbrother. The bear thing didn’t bother me at all… that I could live with.

  I’d fallen for him bad, from the first second our eyes had met, I understood that there was something beyond lust and even love. What I felt in that instant, looking into his caramel eyes, was unmistakably primal. Our souls had entwined and interlocked. A repeat of that rush, I experienced again as Jake claimed me up against the tree.