Santa Paws: BBW Holiday Bear Shifter Romance (Christmas Bear Brothers Book 1) Read online

  Table of Contents

  Copyright

  Chapter One – Dermot

  Chapter Two – Vicky

  Chapter Three – Dermot

  Chapter Four – Vicky

  Chapter Five – Dermot

  Chapter Six – Vicky

  Chapter Seven – Dermot

  Chapter Eight – Vicky

  Chapter Nine – Dermot

  Chapter Ten – Vicky

  Chapter Eleven – Dermot

  Chapter Twelve – Vicky

  Chapter Thirteen – Dermot

  Chapter Fourteen – Vicky

  Chapter Fifteen – Dermot

  Chapter Sixteen – Vicky

  Chapter Seventeen – Dermot

  Chapter Eighteen – Vicky

  Bear Humbug Sneak Peek

  Also By Harmony Raines

  Santa Paws

  Christmas Bear Brothers

  (Book One)

  *

  Note from the author: My books are written, produced and edited in the UK where spellings and word usage can vary from U.S. English. The use of quotes in dialogue and other punctuation can also differ.

  ***

  All rights reserved. This book, or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner without the express written consent of the author or publisher.

  This is a work of fiction and is intended for mature audiences only. All characters within are eighteen years of age or older. Names, places, businesses, characters and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, actual events or places is purely coincidental.

  © 2015 Harmony Raines

  Silver Moon Erotica

  Kindle Edition

  Chapter One – Dermot

  Dermot took a sip of his beer, relaxing into his seat. He was in the local bar with his brothers for a pre-Christmas drink. Afterwards, they would go their separate ways, each putting in long shifts to make up for their lonely Christmas.

  “Here we are again. Another Christmas, and we are all still bachelors.” Declan looked at his two brothers. Trust his older brother to put a downer on the festivities, but he was right, another year had gone by and still no mate. However, there was always hope for the New Year.

  “Come on, it’s not that bad. You get to spend the holidays with other sad, lonely people,” Damon said, taking a sip of his beer.

  “Speak for yourselves—I love Christmas at work. Between calls, I get to spend time with all the people stuck on the wards. The nurses work hard to make it special, particularly for the kids who are in over the holidays.” Dermot grinned. “I bet I could rustle up some lonely nurses for a bit of fun.”

  “I might take you up on that. I’m stuck with my crew at the fire station. And although there are the delightfully curvy figures of Kirsty and Sonia to gaze at, they are firmly off-limits. Work and relationships don’t mix,” Damon stated.

  “Unless you are bonded,” Declan said evenly.

  “Which we’re not,” Damon stated firmly.

  Dermot began to feel their pain. He wished he could make it right for them, that he could spread a little Christmas magic and help them find their mates. But this kind of thing was down to fate, and he had no control over that.

  “Let’s face it, we hate Christmas,” Declan announced. Dermot glared at his brother, and Damon shook his head. “What? We do. It reminds us of everything we haven’t got, everything that we long for.”

  Talk about zapping all the fun out the holiday season! Even Dermot was beginning to lose his Christmas cheer. He had to turn it around, make them all feel positive about life. After all, Christmas only came once a year, and alone or not, he was sure going to enjoy it.

  “OK. So, let’s make a toast. Or a pact. By this time next year, we will all be looking forward to our first Christmases at home with our families. It will be some other lonely bachelor’s job to keep things rolling, while we eat too much food and make love to our mates.” Dermot raised his glass.

  “Sure, why not,” Damon said.

  “I’m in.” Declan raised his glass, but then added, “But I still think it’s pointless. After all, we can’t change our fates just because we promise to.”

  “Damn it, Declan. Lighten up. You never know what’s round the corner,” Dermot said, slapping his brother good-naturedly on the back, and then he had a thought. “And, if you haven’t found your mate by mid-summer, I’ll stick your bad-tempered bear face on one of those dating websites. I heard Marjorie in Bear Creek was thinking of starting one.”

  “If you do that, I will disown you,” Declan growled. “I don’t need help finding a woman.”

  Dermot and Damon collapsed into fits of laughter. “Right, because your social diary is full of dates with women.”

  “That’s through choice. I’ve gotten to an age where it seems shallow to date a woman, when you know you are never going to settle down with her because she isn’t your mate.” Declan looked as if he was going to sprout claws and swat his brothers round the head, but he reined his bear in.

  Dermot wasn’t finished pushing Declan’s buttons. “See, you are a romantic at heart, and there was us thinking you were a miserable bear.”

  “Listen, it’s hysterical to sit around and shoot the breeze with you guys,” Declan said sarcastically. “But some of us have got more important things to do than have their social life pulled apart.”

  “Hey, just because you’ve hit a dry spell,” Dermot laughed.

  “I have not hit a dry spell,” Declan ground out. “It is my choice not to date. The same as it is my choice to work at Christmas.”

  “It’s also your choice to be miserable at Christmas,” Damon said.

  “I am not miserable.” Declan got up, drained his beer, and then headed for the door.

  “Come on, any minute now the words bah humbug! are going to come out of your mouth as you tell some kid off for being too cheerful in front of you,” Damon said.

  “Bear humbug,” Dermot said in his deep, growly voice, making Damon collapse with laughter.

  Declan came back towards them, placing one hand on the back of each of their chairs.

  “Thank you for the beer. I am so glad that no matter how miserable I am feeling, I can always count on you two to cheer me up.” Then, with a broad grin, he ruffled both his younger brothers’ hair and growled “bah humbug” as he left the bar.

  Damon wiped the tears from his eyes. “Damn it, Dermot, we need to find ourselves some women.”

  “I know,” Dermot said, drinking the rest of his beer. “It’s sad that none of us have got a family. I wouldn’t even mind being an uncle at Christmas. At least I would have someone to spoil.”

  “Least you have the kids at the hospital to look in on. Now, that has to be tough on a parent,” Damon said. “I don’t know how I would bear having my kid sick.”

  “That reminds me,” Dermot said, “I offered to take one of the kids home. She’s been given the go-ahead to spend the next couple of days at home, and her mom doesn’t have a car. You might remember her. Sorcha. Her dad died in that pile-up a couple of months ago.”

  “How could I forget? Now I feel bad moaning about the small things that are missing in our lives.”

  Damon was right. All three of them had attended the accident, one of the worst they had ever seen. It sure brought home to him how lucky he was to be alive, even if he was without a mate.

  Dermot stood up, stretching his arms, and then said, “See you on the
other side, Damon. Maybe we can all get together after Christmas. And definitely for New Year’s.”

  “You never know, Dermot. By some Christmas miracle, we might have found our mates by then.”

  Dermot nodded. “That would take some Christmas magic, Damon. But a man can dream. Have a good one.”

  He headed for the door, waving at Penny, who always gave him a longing look. If only, he thought. But she wasn’t for him, and Declan was right, no point leading a woman on. Not when you knew she wasn’t the one.

  Chapter Two – Vicky

  Vicky unlocked the door of the small cabin she was renting for the holiday season; she had come here to get away from everything. Oh, who was she kidding, she had come here to hide.

  “Now, if there’s anything you need, you just ask,” Mrs. McKinley said.

  Mrs. McKinley owned the cabins, which were usually used for summer holiday rentals, and Vicky had managed to get a great deal for the holidays. Everyone else would be in their own homes for Christmas, not amongst strangers in a small town where everyone else knew each other. This was why she was here, she wanted to be invisible, but Mrs. McKinley had other ideas.

  “I will. And thank you again.” Vicky pushed the door open. “Oh, you lit the fire.”

  “Yes, well, since you don’t seem to have brought a man with you to keep you warm on these cold Bear Bluff nights.” Mrs. McKinley had already pried into Vicky’s personal life and established she didn’t have a husband, a boyfriend, or a mate of any kind.

  “The fire will be just the thing to make up for not having a man, Mrs. McKinley,” Vicky said with a smile.

  “There are plenty of good men here in Bear Bluff. You never know, the fates might have brought you here for a reason, Vicky.” Mrs. McKinley nodded sagely.

  Vicky felt the need to put an end to any matchmaking plans she might have. “I am not looking for a mate, or a man of any kind, but thank you anyway. Now, if you don’t mind, I would love a cup of tea and a soak in a hot bath.”

  “As you like.” Mrs. McKinley turned to go, but pulled up short when the sight of flashing blue lights came into the small courtyard. There were several other cabins and Vicky wondered who was ill. But Mrs. McKinley smiled and went out to meet the ambulance, calling to Vicky, “If you want to meet a good man, then you should let me introduce you to Dermot.”

  “Thanks, but I don’t need a good man,” Vicky insisted, but found herself taking a step back outside the cabin and pulling the door shut, to keep the heat in. Several other people had started to come out of their cabins now, all looking happy, waiting for the ambulance to stop. “This is a weird town.”

  “Oh, no. They aren’t happy because someone is ill,” Mrs. McKinley said, reading her thoughts. “They are happy because the ambulance is bringing Sorcha home for Christmas. Wee small bairn has been on the hospital ward these last three months and the doctors have finally said she can come home for a few days. Nothing like Christmas under your own roof.”

  The ambulance pulled up in front of the cabin next door to Vicky’s, giving her a strange sensation along the length of her spine. Her brain grasped hold of the sensation and clung on to it. Maybe she wasn’t a lost cause after all; maybe she could feel the same happy feelings as other people. As her friends.

  It was why she had run here to Bear Bluff. Where no one could find her. She had been very careful not to leave a trail that could be followed by the one person she knew would be searching for her. As hard as it was, she didn’t want to be found. Not when she was such a useless fraud.

  “Here is our Dermot,” Mrs. McKinley said. The door of the ambulance opened and a huge, broad-chested man got out. “Hello, Dermot. Oh, is there something wrong?”

  Dermot had the same expression on his face as Vicky knew was on hers.

  She told herself to open the cabin door, go inside, and shut it firmly behind her. Yet she couldn’t move; his eyes held hers, captured in their beautiful green web of desire. In her chest, her heart hammered so hard, she was sure they would be taking her to the hospital in the back of this ambulance, if she couldn’t calm herself down.

  He can take us anywhere, the other voice in her head said.

  “Oh, dears,” Mrs. McKinley said. “What did I tell you about Christmas magic?” The old lady slipped out of the way, leaving them alone.

  Behind him, the ambulance doors were opening, and a voice was calling Dermot’s name, but he couldn’t move either. That told her he had another side too, a big beast of some kind, if Vicky wasn’t mistaken. Probably a bear—after all, Bear Bluff was famous for them.

  “Dermot,” the voice came again.

  “You should go,” Vicky said, and while she meant, to help with his patient, she also meant from here, from Vicky’s life. She was too mixed up to be good for anyone right now. Let alone her mate, at Christmas. If one thing was guaranteed, she was going to be miserable this Christmas, and she didn’t want to inflict herself on anyone else.

  “I … should.” He nodded, taking a step back, but not taking his eyes off her. “Don’t move.”

  If she could have persuaded her feet to move, she would have run away. But no part of her would obey the screaming urge to get as far away from here as possible. Her other side was leaping up and down joyfully, frolicking in the snow. Well, at least someone has found their Christmas spirit. Yet even as she thought that, her creature stopped playing and stood mournfully, with her head down.

  “Maybe he can help us,” Vicky said quietly. “Or maybe we’ll just be a let-down to him, too.” She didn’t know how he would react when he found out that his mate was about to ruin Christmas for everyone.

  “Sorcha! It’s so good to see you,” Mrs. McKinley was saying, kissing the young girl who sat in a wheelchair being pushed across the courtyard, which had been cleared of snow.

  “Thank you, Geena,” a woman, who Vicky guessed was Sorcha’s mom, said. “I can’t tell you how much it means to me for you to let us stay here for so long.”

  “Don’t be silly now. You two need all the help you can get. Now, let’s go and get this young lady settled. You push her in here, Timothy,” Mrs. McKinley said to the other paramedic. “I think Dermot has some personal business to attend to right this minute.”

  The older woman, her face bright with happiness, bustled around, organising everyone, until only Vicky and Dermot stood alone in the cold evening, the snow falling more thickly around them. Yet neither of them noticed the cold. Even the snow, beautiful as it fell to the ground, didn’t distract them. There was nothing but the two of them in that moment in time, as he walked towards her and stood staring, his eyes so full of hope, so full of love.

  Vicky wanted to match those feelings, let herself drown in wonder that they had found each other at last. But she felt so unworthy of a mate, especially one so hopeful.

  “Hello,” he said, and she could feel the tension in his body. This was a predator, and as she looked into his eyes, she saw there was more than hope, there was longing too. Heat pooled between her thighs: he wanted her, and she was his. He wanted to take her, to claim her as his own. So why not let him?

  He could take all her pain, all her fears and regrets, away with his touch. He could make love to her until she could think of nothing else. Why fight it?

  Wasn’t this how it was supposed to be?

  “Would you like to come inside?” she asked, opening the door and stepping backwards into the cabin, not taking her eyes off him.

  “Yes.” He took a step forward, following her as though they were connected. “But I have to go back to the hospital.”

  “Oh.”

  He shook his head. “Damn it. I want to stay. But I can’t.”

  She saw how hard he was fighting the urge not to give in and follow her inside. But when the sound of excited voices came to her, she knew Timothy was coming out of the cabin next door, and the ambulance would soon be leaving. Taking Dermot with it.

  With her heart thumping in her chest, she took the initiative. Sh
e stepped towards him, standing on tiptoe to wrap her hands around his neck, and pressed her lips to his. He groaned, his hand going around her waist and pulling her close. Fierce, his mouth on hers claimed her, his tongue pressing for entry, which she gave him.

  She tasted Christmas spice on his lips, felt the warmth of his body against hers, and the hard length of his cock. Toppling backwards, she released him, leaving him shocked and confused. “Sorry. I shouldn’t have done that, you have to go back to work.”

  “I’ll come back. My shift is over in two hours.” His eyes pleaded with her to say yes.

  “I’ll be here,” she said. But deep down she wondered if she would be, or if she would find the strength to run away.

  Chapter Three – Dermot

  “You OK?” Tim asked as they drove back towards the hospital.

  “Yeah, why?” Dermot asked, not ready to talk about meeting Vicky. Not with Tim, anyway. Although Tim was a good friend, he was not a shifter and had no idea of Dermot’s other side. It was tough, but that was the way things were in Bear Bluff: you didn’t share your secret with non-shifters, unless they were your mate.

  He smiled to himself. But his mate was a shifter. She had seen the connection between them; she knew they were fated to be together. So why was he worried? Because she had a look in her eyes that told him she might just bolt for it. Feeling a little subdued, he turned into the hospital entrance and parked the ambulance.

  “OK. Time for coffee. I think that was our last drop-off, so as long as we don’t get any emergencies, we can put our feet up for half an hour. It’s been a long day.” Tim opened his door and slid out. Dermot did the same.

  “Are you working tomorrow?” Dermot asked.

  “No. They didn’t need me. I offered.” He sighed. “I haven’t lived in Bear Bluff too long, gotta say it’s going to be a lonely Christmas for me.”

  “Don’t you have family you can visit? If not, I can make a few calls, I’m sure I can find someone who will take in a good-looking paramedic,” Dermot laughed, thinking of Penny and her longing looks. Especially since this one is spoken for.