Big Bear: BBW Bear Shifter Paranormal Romance (BRIDES Fur BEARS Book 4) by Natalie Kristen Read Free Book Online Page B

thirty years of your life as a human. My bear was with me since I was an infant. But for you...”
    “But why?” She fretted and wrung her hands. “Why didn't my animal emerge earlier? Why now?”
    Nick shrugged. “Sometimes a shifter's animal is awakened by a traumatic event. The animal may emerge suddenly to protect the human from danger. My old neighbor shifted into his bear for the first time when he lost control of his car during a rainstorm. His bear emerged and saved his life. He was sixty at the time of his first shift.”
    Zoe was silent for a long while. “So what made my animal emerge now?”
    “Well...” Nick smiled and puffed out his chest. “Sometimes when the animal recognizes its mate...”
    Zoe rolled her eyes at him and punched his arm. “You're saying that my animal recognized you as its mate. So my animal emerged for you.”
    “You went into heat when I was kissing you,” he pointed out.
    “I...you...” she spluttered.
    “You can't deny it,” he teased. “You want me.”
    Growling, she wrestled him down and straddled him. “I am going to torture you, Nick. For hours. You will be in agony, the whole night.”
    Nick let his feisty little mate pin his wrists to the mattress. “I'll tie you up so you can't touch me,” she threatened.
    At that, Nick groaned. “You are serious about torturing me, aren't you?”
    “Dead serious.”
    Nick stretched himself out, wondering if he would splinter her bed frame when he jerked himself free of whatever flimsy restraints she had in mind and lunged for her. “This will be the sweetest agony,” he drawled.
    He admired the way her wide hips swayed as she sauntered to her drawers and pulled out some colorful fabric.
    “What do you have there?” he asked lazily.
    “Scarves. Silk scarves.”
    She came to him and stretched his arms out. “I'm going to tie you up with these soft, silk scarves,” she breathed in his ear. “And you will have to remain still and let me do what I want with you. You must not tear any of these delicate scarves, understand? These are my favorite scarves.”
    Nick's eyes widened. It would have been better if she strapped him down with steel handcuffs or iron chains. He could easily break them, but this. “Oh, you evil, evil woman.”
    Zoe laughed. “It's not me. It's my animal—whatever it is!”
     

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

    Zoe clapped and hooted with the rest of the hospital staff when they heard the announcement. It was now about a week after the auction night, but people were still talking about the thrills and spills of that night. It had indeed been a wild, incredible night, in more ways than one.
    All the checks had come in. Nick had promptly sent a check to the hospital for fifty thousand dollars, and had a gigantic box of chocolates delivered to Zoe while she was at work so she could share the chocolates with her colleagues.
    The hospital director had announced that they'd raised more than enough money to upgrade the children's wing. The renovation and extension works would be starting soon, so some of the beds and equipment would have to be moved. The renovation works would be done in stages to minimize disruption to the hospital operations, but still there would be some inconvenience and disturbance.
    “Nick donated the biggest amount, so he has the honor of naming the new wing,” her colleague, Georgia, told her. “I think we can expect it to be called the Zoe wing!” Georgia added with a giggle.
    Everyone seemed to know about Nick and her as soon as she came back to work.
    It took her a while to figure it out, but she finally realized that they could see the claiming mark on her neck and the shifters could smell Nick's scent all over her. The nurses, and even some doctors, teased her and congratulated her. Some of her patients pretended to be heartsick and heartbroken at the news. “Mated already? Aw, I thought you and I had something special going on. Whenever you looked into my eyes, I see a beautiful, bright