Gay Shifter Romance: Daddy Bear Read online

  “Are you all right?”

  The man’s amber colored eyes bored into Zander’s intensely and Zander instantly felt foolish. It was embarrassing to show such weakness, especially in front of a man like this. He was an older, rugged man with long silver hair and a mysterious smile. He wasn’t wearing a shirt, and his broad, muscular chest was thick with a mane of hair that made the man appear strong and virile despite his age. Zander’s heart thudded as the man’s thick, muscular hand wrapped around his and helped to pull him to his feet.

  “Yeah, I’m fine, thank you,” Zander said, eager to escape the man’s scrutiny and look at the damage that had been done to his bike.

  But when Zander tried to take a step forward, he hissed in pain and nearly fell to the ground. The adrenaline from the initial crash must have been starting to wear off because he was suddenly aware of agonizing pain in his leg. He looked down to find that his jeans were soaked with blood; his leg must have been crushed by the bike.

  “Doesn’t look like it to me,” the man said, frowning. “Wait here.”

  Zander sat against the guard rail, gazing down at the wreckage of his bike and trying to ignore the stabbing pain coming from his leg. Soon, the sound of a roaring engine came toward him and the man, now wearing a leather jacket over his bare chest, stopped his own beastly motorcycle in front of Zander.

  “I have a friend coming to get your bike to my garage, all right? We’ll get it fixed up. In the meantime, we need to get you fixed up.”

  “Really, I’m…”

  “Come on,” the man said, not giving Zander a chance to fight him about it. “Get on the back and hold on tight.”

  Zander wasn’t in any position to argue, and without another word, Zander let himself be helped onto the bike. He wrapped his arms around the stranger, and held on tight as the bike rumbling between his thighs sped off down the highway.

  Chapter 5

  “So what in the hell are you doing in Montana if you’re from the suburbs over east?”

  Zander’s face burned with embarrassment. The ridiculously charming man, whose name he had recently discovered was Drake, had been a biker for nearly his whole life. He’d given Zander a ride to his remote mountain cabin, where as promised, Zander’s bike had been delivered not long after they had arrived.

  “I just needed to get away from my life for a while,” Zander said. “I don’t like where I live. I always pictured a life that was a little more—”

  Zander hissed in pain as Drake spread a salve over the scrapes on his leg. They had been keeping up a conversation as Drake dressed his wounds. They had determined that his leg wasn’t broken, but he did have a wicked sprain. He wouldn’t be able to continue riding on his way for at least another couple of weeks. In the meantime, Drake had offered to have a look at Zander’s bike and see what he could do to get it fixed up.

  “Oh don’t be a baby, now. It’s not that bad,” Drake said, laughing.

  Zander glared at him, but Drake’s smile was infectious and he couldn’t manage to stay mad about it.

  “So you came to Montana?” Drake asked, wrapping a sheet of gauze around Zander’s leg. The salve was beginning to take the edge off the pain and Zander relaxed.

  “Well yeah,” Zander said. “I want the life I want, not what she wanted for me.”

  Drake nodded.

  “Good choice, son,” Drake said. “I can respect a choice like that.”

  Zander felt himself blushing. For some reason, this man’s respect meant everything to him. They had barely known each other a few hours, but in that short time, the man had proven himself to be nothing less than capable, intelligent, and caring. Despite his rugged looks and impulsive approach to life, he also seemed to have an instinctive sense of how Zander felt. It was completely foreign to how he felt in a house with his wife. Lindsay spent the majority of her time in her own little world. And it was a world in which she was the center of the universe.

  It took him by surprise that this man was so exceptionally kind and caring. From the outside, he seemed tough. Like the kind of biker who wouldn’t take any shit from anybody. He towered above Zander, and was thick and wide with a body of pure muscle. But the way Drake had been taking care of him, Zander knew there was more to this biker than his rugged exterior.

  “How’s that leg of yours feeling now?” Drake asked, looking down at his handiwork admiringly. Zander was shocked. The majority of the pain had somehow dissipated. Maybe he wasn’t as hurt as he originally thought.

  “Better,” Zander said, shaking his head in amazement. It was still unbelievable. “I guess I can get going now.”

  Zander tried to stand up and immediately staggered backwards.

  “Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hold your horses there, kid,” Drake said, his amber eyes sparkling in amusement. “Don’t over-do it. That salve needs a chance to soak into your leg. It’s not going to help you much if you make it worse before it’s had a chance to heal.”

  “Oh,” Zander said, a little bit crestfallen. “I thought…”

  “It might feel better. It’s a secret family recipe,” Drake said with a wink. “But don’t let that fool you. It’s probably going to still sting for quite a while. You need to stay off it for a bit. But don’t worry. I don’t mind nursing you back to health.”

  “I couldn’t possibly ask you to do that. Let me just call a cab and I’ll find a hotel somewhere,” Zander said, trying to rise again.

  “Damn it kid, what did I just tell you?” Drake asked, pushing Zander by the shoulders until he plopped back into the bed. “Take it easy.”

  “But I don’t want you thinking you have to take care of me or something,” Zander protested. “You’ve done more than enough. Now if I could just have my phone…”

  Zander reached out expectantly toward the table across the room where his phone was sitting. But Drake grinned and shook his head.

  “Not gonna happen,” he said. “Besides, you call a cab all the way out here and into an area where you can pay for a room and it’s going to cost you a fortune.”

  “It’s not any of your business how much it’s going to cost me. I don’t want to be a burden on you.”

  “You’re not getting it kid,” Drake said, leaning down and peering deeply into Zander’s eyes. “I want to do this for you. And there is nothing you can do to stop me from wanting to do this for you. So whether you like it or not, I’m going to take care of you. You’re going to stay here. Then you’re going to go on your way thanks to the help of a stranger in Montana.”

  Zander clamped his mouth shut. The nearness of this powerful man caused his heart to quicken. How was he going to get out of this? What if the man felt like Zander would owe him? How could he ever possibly make it up to him?

  He opened his mouth again to protest and Drake sighed, cutting him off by shaking his head at him. “Don’t even try to backtalk me, boy.”

  Zander, who was at first horrified, couldn’t help but crack a smile. He found himself unsuccessfully choking back laughter, and before he knew it, both he and Drake were cracking up together. He hadn’t laughed so heartily in a long time. As he laughed, the absurdity of how sullen and unfulfilling his relationship with Lindsay was made him laugh harder. The two of them had never shared a moment like this before, and when he looked up at Drake, the man paused and smiled warmly at him. A gesture that made his heart skip a beat.

  “Please, don’t worry about it, all right? I’ve been needing some company out here anyway. I’m getting to be an old man. Friends are hard to come by.”

  “What about that guy who brought my bike up here for you?”

  “Who, Angus? Well, he’s friendly but we’re more acquaintances. We respect each other and around here, that’s enough.”

  “Oh, I see…” Zander said thoughtfully. “Well, since you put it that way I guess I wouldn’t mind hanging around for a while. But you’re going to have to let me pay for my meals and board.”

  Drake scoffed.

  “We’ll see about t
hat.”

  Chapter 4

  In the morning, Zander woke to the amazing smell of food wafting into the guest room where Drake had put him. He sat up with his stomach rumbling, and without thinking started to climb out of bed. Before he could, the door burst open and Drake eyed him menacingly.

  “Don’t you dare!”

  “But—”

  “Wait a minute,” Drake said. Zander gazed at him, frowning. He looked handsome, dressed in formfitting blue jeans and a snug white shirt that clung to his broad chest. “I made you something during the night.”

  Zander waited, mystified as Drake disappeared and he heard rustling in the living room. Drake suddenly appeared, smiling broadly and holding two wooden crutches out in front of him, one in each hand.

  “How in the world…”

  Zander’s mouth dropped and Drake laughed.

  “I’m good with my hands.”

  Zander’s heart thudded hard in his chest. What was the strange attraction he had to this gorgeous man? He had always known that there were times he felt a small longing toward other men, but he’d always dismissed them. The only person he had ever told about it was Lindsay and she’d made fun of him, used it to blackmail him into keeping dates with friends of hers that he didn’t like.

  “I really appreciate everything that you’re doing for me,” Zander said, lowering his eyes to the ground. He was a little bit embarrassed about how much he enjoyed Drake’s attention, and wanted to make sure that there was nothing about it that the man might be able to sense. It would be humiliating for such a masculine person like Drake to find out that Zander was a little bit queer.

  “It’s really nothing,” Drake said, his voice soft and kind. He walked toward Zander, offering the crutches to him. “Here you go, try them out. I had to kind of guess your height but I’m usually pretty good about things like that.”

  “They’re perfect,” Zander said, shocked. Somehow Drake had guessed exactly the right length to make the crutches. Again Zander got the inexplicable feeling that there was a lot more to Drake than met the eye. Something about the man was so compelling.

  “I love them,” Zander blurted.

  Drake’s face lit up and he laughed deeply. “You do huh?”

  Zander nodded.

  “Well I thought it would be nice for you to be able to get around some while you’re here. I can’t exactly lift you out of bed every time you have to take a piss.”

  Zander blushed and laughed down at the floor. “No, not really.”

  “Anyway, glad you like them. Now test them out for me and come out to get some breakfast.”

  “Okay, thanks.”

  Zander had to work at it a little before fully getting the hang of swinging his weight on the crutches, but before long he was hobbling into the kitchen like a self-sufficient man, smiling proudly. He would have been so embarrassed to have Drake force him to hold onto his broad, muscular arms so he wouldn’t fall and injure himself more.

  When he made it into the kitchen, he was surprised to find a complete meal spread across the table. The cabin where Drake lived was surprisingly spacious for how small it looked from the outside. It was mostly open, with a beautiful living room and a stone-inlaid fireplace. There was a fire roaring, spreading a comforting cedar smell throughout the house. The table where the food was laid out had a red and white checkered tablecloth on it, and Zander inhaled deeply. If he wasn’t careful, he would start to feel too comfortable here.

  “What’s the matter?” Drake asked, leaning against the kitchen counter. Zander tried to put on his poker face too late. Drake’s amber eyes were already boring through him.

  “Nothing,” Zander mumbled, stuffing his mouth full of eggs. If he was chewing, maybe he wouldn’t have to answer to the startlingly assertive man who was staring at him.

  “Bullshit,” Drake said. But he said it kindly. Zander’s heart hammered in his chest but he wasn’t sure what to do about it. He couldn’t tell Drake the truth. He looked like the kind of man who could kill him with his bare hands and not think a thing of it.

  “I just don’t get why you’re being so nice to me,” Zander said. It wasn’t a lie, but it wasn’t what he’d really been thinking about.

  “I don’t know. There’s just something about you I like,” Drake said, sitting down across from Zander. Drake’s hair was pulled back away from his face in a neat ponytail, and Zander found the way his goatee moved when he smiled mesmerizing. Drake was a real man’s man, that was for sure. And a ridiculously good looking one. Zander could only hope he would look that good when he got older.

  “Oh,” Zander said, unable to keep his voice from sounding small. He took a long swig of orange juice and cleared his throat, hoping to disguise just how inferior he was feeling. Drake said nothing. He watched Zander carefully and picked at his own plate of food until he seemed unable to hide what he was thinking and let his fork clatter to the plate.

  “You can stay here for as long as you need. And I won’t take no for an answer. If you take off on me, I’ll find you. And I will consider it a very grave slight.”

  Drake’s amber colored eyes became hard as he stared at Zander, and Zander’s heart quickened. This time, however, it was quickening in fear. He didn’t want to insult Drake. He got the feeling that he would be in huge trouble if he did, that was for sure. But the thing was that he didn’t want to go. And he had a feeling that the longer he stayed with Drake, the harder it would be for him to leave.

  Drake abruptly pushed his chair back away from the table and headed toward the back door of his cabin.

  “Well, you eat up. I’ll catch up with you later. I have some things to do.”

  And with that, Drake disappeared through the door, leaving Zander alone with a table full of food.

  Chapter 5

  Zander was looking through a few books on Drake’s coffee table when the man burst through the front door with a load of firewood over his shoulder. Zander looked up, startled. Drake’s shirt was off and he noticed for the first time the intricate tattoos that covered his back and upper arms. How hadn’t he noticed those last night? They were designs of bear silhouettes and paw prints, trees in the snow and trees lit by the sun. Nature in all its beauty and glory and mystery, all in a powerful display on this man’s perfectly chiseled body.

  The thick mat of silver hair on Drake’s chest nearly made Zander shudder. He was as masculine as they came. Zander himself chose not to have hair on his chest. He worked out at the gym and kept himself neatly groomed, choosing to go for the streamlined look of many body builders his age. But Drake was above all of that, and his broad chest was covered with a mane he was probably very proud of. Zander couldn’t help but be impressed.

  “How you feeling, kid?” Drake asked, carrying the wood over to the wood stove in the living room. The entire room immediately smelled like fresh cedar and Zander closed his eyes, basking in the smells of the forest. This was nothing like the life he’d lived back with his wife. Well, ex-wife now. She wasn’t Zander’s problem anymore.

  “I’m feeling great,” Zander said honestly. It was surprising how great he felt. By all accounts, he should be miserable. He had just found his wife cheating on him, wrecked his new bike, and hurt his leg. But for some reason, none of that mattered. Because it had led him to this moment, in this cabin, with this incredible specimen of a man. And Zander actually felt happy.

  “Well good. You ever work one of these things before?” Drake asked, nodding down at the woodstove. Zander’s eyes lingered on Drake’s body for a moment before he answered.

  “Not really,” he said. “We always had a hot water heater.”

  Drake laughed, a cheerful rumble, and shook his head.

  “Well now’s the time to learn. Come here.”

  Zander swallowed hard when he sat before the woodstove and Drake knelt down behind him, so close that they were touching. Zander had to do everything he could to remind himself to breathe, and Drake seemed to sense his tension. He laughed softl
y, but he didn’t do anything about it and didn’t acknowledge how Zander might be feeling.

  “I’m going to show you how it’s done, boy,” he said into Zander’s ear. A sharp thrill arose in Zander and he closed his eyes as the man’s deep voice washed over him. He had never experienced a sensation so overpowering before.

  They spent the next few minutes in an alarmingly sensual lesson on the proper usage of woodstoves. Zander thought at first that he was misreading the situation, but when he looked back into Drake’s eyes, it was clear that he was perfectly aware of how his every movement was being perceived by the young man in front of him. Even more surprising was the enjoyment on his face. He was orchestrating every little touch and movement, knowing perfectly well exactly how it would affect Zander, and when it worked, he would push his boundaries that much further. He kept pushing, farther and farther, until finally Zander leaned back into Drake’s broad chest and sighed out loud, his groin aching in anticipation of a touch that never came.

  Finally, the exhausting lesson was over and Zander suddenly felt the rough sensation of facial hair burrowing into his neck and the gentle, hot sensation of Drake’s lips against his skin. Zander gasped in surprise and excitement. Drake lifted him gently from the floor and placed him on the couch effortlessly, his eyes locked upon Zander’s. Zander opened his mouth to protest, unsure of what this amazing new development might mean, but then Drake’s hands were on him, and he didn’t care about anything else. He sighed with pleasure as Drake moved his strong hands up and down his tense body. Soon he was caught up in a gentle, lingering kiss that awakened something profound deep inside of him.

  Zander groaned as his cock grew hard and Drake continued the blissful assault on his senses. They were both beginning to pant heavily, and before he knew it, Drake had begun to unbutton his shirt. His strong hands roamed the smooth curves of Zander’s pectoral muscles, and Zander sighed in pleasure as Drake hovered over his belt buckle. Zander gasped when Drake’s eyes met his, flickering oddly. Zander wasn’t sure if it was a trick of the light or what, but they almost seemed to change color. It had to be his imagination. Then Drake’s nimble fingers worked at his belt until it came undone, and Zander forgot all about anything else. Smiling, Drake freed Zander’s massive shaft from his denim jeans.