#bear shifter

Just then, a singular knock on the bathroom door made her jump. Through the door, Zeke’s deep voice wafted, “You alright in there?”

“Yeah, sorry!” Bambi shrugged on the tee-shirt and turned to the door, flinging it open. She smiled up into the frowning face of Zeke, who held a pair of scuffed up sneakers. At least Yona’s shoes should fit fine.

“Everything fit alright?” His tone was dubious as he eyed her.

“It’ll do. I did have to truss up the pants with some hair ties, though.” To present the evidence, Bambi lifted the shirt and showed off her work. But Zeke’s sharp, sudden inhale made her look up at him, heat flushing through her as she wondered if that was a reaction of disgust or something else…

But just then, one of the hair ties gave up against the tension and snapped loudly, launching off and smacking Zeke near his eye.

“Motherfucker!” He dropped the shoes noisily, stumbling back as his hand whipped to his eye.

“Shit, are you okay?” Bambi jolted toward Zeke as he hunched over, holding his eye.

When Zeke lowered his hand, she was relieved to see his eye intact but then his gaze slid down her body. And that was when she felt the draft. Apparently, the rogue hair band had been a lynch-pin in keeping the jeans on her hips and now they pooled at her feet.

The large band tee-shirt hung to her mid-thighs and it wasn’t hard to imagine the shirt was all she wore.

“Get the pants back on,” Zeke bit out as he spun to face the wall, crooked fingers braced to the wood as if he was about to claw into the grain.

“Sorry!” With shaking hands, Bambi fumbled with the jeans. A wave of embarrassment seared along her spine, twisting sharp as she thought Zeke’s words were ones of disgust. She realized too late the heat she felt wasn’t just embarrassment, but shame as tears swelled at the back of her eyes. Her hands were too busy holding the jeans and her mindless mumbling apologies broke as tears slid down her cheeks. “Sorry, is your eye alright?”

“If it wasn’t, I wouldn’t need you to get yer pants back on so fast,” he muttered, but Bambi was too caught up in whirling emotions and crying to catch his meaning. She wouldn’t have had a chance to think on it as he turned to face her, concern spitting out, “Why’re you cryin?”

“I…” Bambi started but her words cut off in a choked sob. She tried again, but the crying continued to cut her off and – without thinking – she started to swipe the rivulets of tears from her cheeks, which only resulted in the jeans dropping again.

But she didn’t care.

Why was she crying? She didn’t even know herself. Her pants falling and Zeke’s sudden aversion were just added to the pile of fuck-ups that had happened over the last 24 hours and it ended up being a couple fuck-ups too many. Whatever grit she had liquified.

Zeke took another step closer and she felt his hands hovering over her shoulders, but they never landed. “I’m not actually mad, ya know.”

“I-I know. It’s n-not you,” Bambi stuttered, still trying to stem the flow of tears with her palms and failing.

“Then what’s wrong?”

“Everything,” she blurted out before she could even stop herself. Her mouth, as it had a habit of doing, ran off without her and once the flow started, she couldn’t turn it off. “Life ain’t easy after divorcin’ Barfield’s darling Duke Walker, but I can’t very well leave ‘cause my kids’ have friends and family here. And last night was my first night back on the datin’ scene and he kidnapped me.”

Her eyes swung up to Zeke, watching him nod and the words were just encouraged to continue pouring. “If it wasn’t for you, who knows what he woulda done to me. But I know all this is a lot and you don’t wanna take care of my sorry ass an’ you got no reason to be helpin’ me.”

As she spoke, her hands waved in the air, before pressing to her chest and then moving to cover her face as she continued to gripe, “An’ my kids are goin’ to judge me, cause they’re gonna think I was out sleepin’ around – didn’t even get to have that kind of fun – but I can’t very well tell ‘em their dad kidnapped me.

“An’ now I almost blasted your eye out with a hair tie,” said Bambi as she motioned sharply to Zeke, her lips wobbling, “because I’m old and fat and now I’m standin’ in front of you without any pants on and you can’t even look at me.”

After a few more wayward tears and a deep breath, Bambi settled. Unable to meet Zeke’s eye, she mumbled another quiet, “Sorry.”

Silence stretched between them, punctuated by Bambi’s occasional hiccup or sniffle. Eventually, Zeke quietly rumbled, “You don’t got to apologize to me for anything.”

“But-“ Before Bambi could finish her protest, Zeke’s large palm pressed gently – insistently – over her mouth. It was the first time he’d touched her since last night and the contact seared over her body, making her mind think where else that big hand could press and drag and grab.

Zeke leaned forward, forehead almost pressing to Bambi’s own. “And I can’t look at you when you ain’t wearin’ pants, because I am tryin’ to be good, alright?”

He was trying to be good. Her heart jumped at the very proclamation. But Bambi narrowed her eyes at him as if she didn’t know what he meant. Even though she was pretty sure he was saying he was attracted to her, there was still that rotten part of her, the part that was masked in Duke’s voice, that tried to remind her that she was fat and old and unattractive.

Logically she knew she wasn’t. But emotionally? After all the fuck-ups? It was hard to convince herself.

“I know you ain’t a fool, so I ain’t spelling it out for you,” Zeke grumbled softly in response to her narrow-eyed look. He withdrew his hand from her mouth, getting distance with a step back and a turn down the hall. “I’m gonna go get Ma’s overalls again. I know you said they rode up too high, but better that than losing yer britches in muck.”

She didn’t argue, instead she stayed where she was and rubbing her burning cheeks as Zeke stomped off down the hall. A ball of complicated, conflicting feelings tangled in her chest.

xxx

They spent the morning feeding a variety of animals. As it turned out, Zeke didn’t just tend to a farm, but also had an animal sanctuary on the premises. As the bulky man trudged over the grounds, a whole litany of animals came to greet him as he approached their areas. A few cows and sheep and pigs. A couple horses. A flock of barn cats – all ear-tipped and shiny-coated compared to other barn cats Bambi was familiar with – that seemingly got along with the dogs that tagged at Zeke’s heels. Even a couple donkeys, a llama, and an emu.

They had fed, mucked, and watered until the sun inched closer to high noon. The whole while, they made small talk between Zeke’s instructions and Bambi’s playful half-hearted whining.

“Yeah, some of the content I make online does cover the costs. Mostly get a lot of donations, though,” Zeke said casually in reply to Bambi’s passing comment about making content about the farm.

They had just finished their jobs and were putting equipment away when he said such an innocent – yet damning – thing. Bambi had taken a step outside the shed, but her head whipped around at the unwitting admission. “You make online content?”

Zeke appeared to realize this wasn’t something he should have shared and, slightly, tension knotted through his shoulders. “Yeah?”

“Like wholesome animal rescue stuff or…” Bambi narrowed her eyes playfully and roved her eyes up and down his form in an obvious fashion.

The man shook his head and looked away as he put away a bucket on a high shelf. Bambi’s gaze slid along the curve of his well-built arm to his chest to his soft middle. She almost missed his vague, “A little of this, a little of that.”

“Interesting,” she purred, grinning the longer Zeke refused to look at her, even as he stepped out of the shed and passed by her. “And what’s your username? Which platforms?”

Zeke didn’t answer. He only made a choked growling huff, before shutting the shed and stalking off. Bambi cackled after him, but she was quietly determined to find his account and see what this-and-that he posted.

He began hurriedly leading the way back toward his house. “Well, that about wraps it up, so-“

Bambi jogged to walk alongside Zeke, but motioned toward a huddled group of buildings they hadn’t even gone into. She could hear the occasional bleating or some animal-like sounds coming from the area all morning. “What about that barn over there? Ain’t there, like, a whole pasture and a few other buildings over that way too?”

Zeke shook his head and kept walking. “That ain’t for your eyes.”

“But-“

She started to protest, but Zeke made a frustrated sound and, to Bambi’s shock, a sharp slap smacked across her rear. “No!”

With a theatrical gasp, she bounced away from him, holding her stinging ass. “Did you just spank me?!”

Zeke froze, looking from Bambi to his hand before quickly folding the offending appendage behind his back as if he could hide the evidence that easily. “No.”

All morning, all through their work, there had been a buzz in the air between them. At least, Bambi thought so. Every time they brushed against each other or handed something over, her breath caught. But she thought it was all her. After all, just because a man got physically riled up at the sight of a woman in his tee-shirt that didn’t mean he wanted to do anything, right?

She was the one with sexual frustration, not him.

But that buzz sang through Bambi again as she shot Zeke a Look and sarcastically replied, “Oh, so what happened? The breeze kicked up a little?”

“Musta been.” He still didn’t meet her gaze, his hands shoved into the pockets of his jeans.  

Bambi scoffed, her lips pulling into a pout. “I ain’t that delicate, Zeke Clements.”

“Maybe those overalls are too tight for you then, Bambi Barker.” He shrugged his massive shoulders. Too bad he unintentionally gave Bambi a slick idea.  

“They certainly are riding up something fierce,” Bambi admitted as she shifted, wiggling a little. She may or may not have intentionally shifted in a way that made her boobs bounce just as Zeke found the nerve to look at her again.

“Then lets get you back inside and into something more comfortable.” Zeke turned back to the farmhouse, expecting Bambi to follow and all-too-eager to get her attention away from the other buildings.

Too bad for Zeke, Bambi’s curiosity was like a bulldog with a fresh bone.

“Why, Zeke, are that eager to get me undressed?” Bambi shot back, but she had started to back away, toward the forbidden area of his land. Her ‘getting into trouble’ instinct was in full control now.

His hearing must have been damned good, because he realized something was wrong – realized she was still too far back – and he slowly turned. Bambi spun around and booked it across the grass before his eyes landed on her. A thrust of adrenaline burst through her bones as she heard Zeke snarl, “Bambi!”

Then she heard heavy footfalls racing after her and, despite herself, delight nipped along her back. It was almost enough to forget the pain in her still-tender feet. Zeke was just about breathing down her neck, and she thought she could feel his body heat just before he tried swiping at her. Luckily, Bambi dodged and proceeded to serpentine toward the nearest building with Zeke grousing behind her.

Success ballooned in her chest just as her fingers touched the cool metal of a handle. High on adrenaline, her curiosity sparked, Bambi unlatched the door and flung it open. Her sun-drenched eyes adjusted to the shadowy depths within seconds.

Shadows moved.  

And what she saw when her eyes adjusted made her heart pitter-patter. And maybe even piss itself.

Teeth. Glowing eyes. Fluttering wings. Scales. Too many details to really see one cohesive thing. The echoes of tall tales flooded her thoughts, the stories told at diners at 3AM or in bars or when she hung out with friends in random spots about town.

They were legends, like the big white bear sometimes spotted in the forests.

Then something launched at her, hissing and snarling like a cross between a cat and a crocodile. Claws glinted in the light. It would have pounced on the awestruck Bambi had Zeke not come up behind her and slammed the door shut. He leaned over her, caging her against the door as he kept the rattling piece of wood firmly shut.

Sheepishly, Bambi peered back over her shoulder. She could feel his body almost pressed against her back, his body heat – heightened and sweaty from work – like an obvious weight against her. His huffing breaths weren’t helping, almost pressing his chest against her with every inhale. When Zeke peered down at her, her teeth sunk into her bottom lip as she smiled up at him. Her smile twitched a little wider, seeing how his gaze flicked to her lips.

“There’s a reason I told you it ain’t for you,” he mumbled, though there was little bite behind the words.

Despite her earlier breakdown, some old daringness shook off some dust within Bambi. Under his beefy arms, which were still braced against a still-rattling door, she turned to face him. “Are you assumin’ it ain’t for me, because you think I won’t understand ‘em or are they really all that dangerous?”

He frowned and nodded toward the door, behind which that odd hissing gnarl was sounding again. “That don’t sound too friendly, does it?”

“You ain’t so friendly sounding all the time neither,” hedged Bambi, a realization dawning. She nervously licked her lips, her gaze intent on Zeke’s face as her mind and mouth worked in tandem, “Maybe they’re just lonely and… excitable. Ain’t their fault.”

Zeke breathed a sigh, but leaned toward her a little further. “Both. You won’t understand and they’re dangerous.”

With the close proximity and their body heat raised from their race, that buzz zinged over Bambi’s body again. Stronger than ever. “You talkin’ about the critters in there or you out here?”

Now Zeke took another deep breath and Bambi suddenly wondered if all his sighs earlier – and now – had actually been covert attempts to smell her. Did were-bears have superhuman senses? She was wearing his shirt. Did he like their mingling scents?

“Both,” Zeke finally answered after a long moment.

“Aw, I’d never be scared of you,” laughed Bambi, feeling brave and slinking her arms around Zeke’s neck. She leaned up against him, thrilling at the feel of his strong body against hers. “You’re just a big teddy bear, Zeke Clements.”

He gave such a long, low groan, Bambi almost mistook it for a growl. Before she could grinningly come up with another quip, though, Zeke leaned into her touch. Or maybe melted was a better description as he sunk lower until his full weight was on her and she, unable to withstand the heaviness, buckled slowly.

“Zeke!” She gasped, caught between laughter and outrage as he went boneless. It was a tactic he did way back in high school too, whenever he could get away with it. They’d be sitting at the lunch table or hanging out at a bonfire party or wherever, and – if she was getting a little too mouthy or teasing him just a smidge too hard – he’d flop against her, occasionally so heavily he’d pin her to the ground or whatever surface she sat on.

She thought he just liked showing off just how easily he could subdue others just with dead weight. But when they were young adults, his arms hardly curled around her and his face never burrowed against her neck like he was doing now. His beard razed against her, making her gasp as prickles raced over her skin. Without thinking, she squirmed against him, partly to relieve the pressure of him – the sensations – and partly to feel more of him against her.

Bambi had just realized her back was flush to the ground, Zeke blanketed over her, and he was situated between her thighs when he shifted. He dragged his face from her neck, lips pressed to her ear. His words were words were low and raspy, tinged with threat and promise that sunk straight to her center, “Keep wriggling like that and I’m gonna fuck you right here in the dirt.”

*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ