Too Much to Bear (BBW Shifter Ménage) Read online

  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.

  Chapter Four

  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.

  “You’re more beautiful than I imagined,” he said, his eyes wide as if he were looking at a goddess. Her cheeks flushed and she kissed him quickly, unsure of how to take the compliment.

  Dustin didn’t say such kind things to her. In fact, he hardly said anything at all. The extent of his compliments were, “you’ve got big tits,” which was more of a fact than a commendation.

  She felt Will’s hands trail southward to her shorts. He shifted his weight once he had them unbuttoned, so that he could access her pelvis and pull down the damned denim off her legs, leaving her in nothing but her black cotton panties and pink bra. She suddenly wished that she had worn something sexier. But it hadn’t occurred to her that after her hike she would be ravished by an extremely sexy angel of a man, much less the author of one of the hottest books in the known universe.

  But it didn’t seem like Will minded. He just trailed his gaze up and down her body, appraising every inch of it with a look of wonder. Then she felt it. The strong pull between them, the searing force that told her a part of her belonged inside of him.

  “What’s going on?” she whispered, a tremble in her voice. She had to know, had to ask. There was just no way, she decided, that he couldn’t be feeling what she was feeling.

  “”You belong to me,” he said, bringing his face down to her neck as his hands cupped over her breasts. “You belong to us.”

  Madison shivered, unsure of what he meant or who he was referring to, but completely turned on by the conviction in his words. She wanted to belong to him. She wanted to be his forever.

  She tugged at the bottom of his shirt, desperate to see the hard masterpiece she knew was hiding beneath the green cotton blend. He pulled it over his head for her, revealing a chiseled wonderland of flesh, of deep groves and hard peaks so glorious that she couldn’t believe what she was seeing. It was better than she could have ever imagined.

  She gasped, running her hands over his stone of a body. He looked back down at her with the same degree of lust, pulling his hands behind her back and unhooking her bra. He pulled it down off her shoulders, freeing her large breasts, the pink nipples hard as diamonds under his lascivious gaze.

  He groaned just looking at her and immediately brought his mouth down to her right nipple, kneading the left one between his thick fingers. She curved her spine, thrusting her hips upwards into the bulge beneath his denim, the hot fire of his body awakening a hungry demon within her.

  “Please,” she gasped, “please take me.”

  He pulled his mouth off her nipple for a moment, only to respond. “I can’t. Not yet.” She whinnied in disappointment.

  “But...why not?” she whined, thrusting her hips up into him again. He groaned. She knew he wanted it, and she wanted him more than she had ever wanted someone before. It was uncharacteristic of her to be so forward, but there was a
driving force within her that told her she needed him, that she couldn’t be without him. She needed him to pummel through her, to drive her blood and heartbeat…

  But instead of responding to her, Will sank his serenade of kisses down the length of her body, capturing every curve with his fiery lips. She was enslaved to each moment, to each press of his tongue against her flesh.

  Then he reached just above the elastic band of her underwear, his mouth hanging just below her navel and his fingers pressed flat across her hips, in that strip of skin just above her desire. She cried out in desperation, clawing her fingers into the back of his shoulders in a wordless plea. He complied, pealing away the fabric that kept them apart, his hands running down the length of her voluptuous thighs.

  Then he met her mound with his mouth, teasing it at first with just his hot breath, before finally moving his tongue in circles around the nub, sending her into a dizzying frenzy. She called out despite herself, the building of a pleasurable ache numbing her thoughts and blistering through her skin.

  She was no longer a separate being, and no longer knew the words to even think such things. She was a part of him, her longing, her soul, fused to his in a way she couldn’t understand, couldn’t even contemplate. But as his fingers found her opening, his mouth still clamped onto her clitoris and deriving her the ultimate pleasure, she couldn’t try to make sense of anything. She just knew that she could feel him within her body and that she was inside of him, feeling the power of his lust.

  Madison’s eyes rolled back into her head as she came, a tidal wave of explosive energy surging through her body, so intense that she convulsed as the extreme burst of perfection overtook her. She was falling through the mattress, through any understanding of time. Will held onto her, his body flush with hers, so that all she could know in those moments was him.