Billionaire Bear’s Human Mate by Alicia Banks
Chapter 9
Shane
Dinner was nice. He probably hadn’t eaten at the table in years, but it was nice. It was made pleasant by the company that was on the other side of the table from Shane. She had many great stories for someone so young and he was very interested in her. She was entertaining, beautiful, and seemingly wise beyond her years. Shane had never met someone like her before.
There was a moment after dinner when they both got up, where Shane had this strange urge to pull her in for a kiss. He hadn't done it, of course. Shane knew better, but the idea was there, the urgency so strong that he had to step back for a moment just to let the wave pass. Shane didn't know what the hell was going on. It was like his inner beast was trying to come out and he was trying hard to hold it back.
As soon as Vivica had gone up to her room to bed, Shane had left the house and went to the edge of the woods. Only there was he able to breathe again. Shane needed physical space between him and Vivica, or he wasn’t going to be able to hold his bear back for too long.
Shane shifted into his true form, his bear form, and ran hard and fast until his lungs felt like they were going to burst, and his legs were on fire. All he could do was try to run away from the feelings that he had. Vivica was human. She was off limits. Shane knew this and didn’t understand why he was having feelings in the first place.
Shane wasn't supposed to have feelings. What the hell was going on? In his thirty plus years of life, he had never felt anything and now, he couldn't get away from it. Shane knew that there was something different about Vivica. He had realized that from the moment he had met her, but realizing that and experiencing it was two very different things. Shane didn't know what to do with the latter. He didn't know what to do with all the emotions that had just bubbled up. Shane had to hold it together.
Shane went on for many miles, before the forest ran out and he had to turn back. He still hadn’t gotten the feeling out of him, but with Vivica there with him, staying under his roof, he probably wasn’t going to get peace of mind while she was there.
He didn't know what the hell to do with it all, and he certainly didn't want to go back to his house because Vivica was there, sleeping a few doors down from him. He could already imagine how easy it would be to slip into her bed and take her. She already wanted him, so how hard would it really be to convince her?
That thought, along with several others, kept Shane up most of the night, tossing and turning. He’d hoped that he would find a way to work through his issues with Vivica, but it was only getting worse. He’d barely slept when she had been brought home and now, Shane still couldn’t get past his bear’s inner need. He’d never had to fight an urge in him so hard before. It was exhausting and when he finally went to sleep, all he dreamed about was Vivica and what it would feel like to have her underneath me, calling out his name into the night.
It was haunting and Shane was ready for it all when he woke up. The dream was so vivid. It was like he could feel it all and it was hard for him to deal with everything that was going through him. His body was bucking his brain, overriding and sending Shane into a tailspin.
Shane wasn’t used to his head being so full of bullshit. He was used to it being his own, his own thoughts and feelings. Not recently though. Not last night either. Shane had been tossing and turning then as well. Whatever it was that Vivica had over him, however she did it, Shane was bothered whether she was there with him or not. Just knowing that she was down the hall was enough to make his mind play out far more scenarios than it should have. It was literally making him crazy, and he tried to go back to sleep.
Shane wasn’t going back to sleep, so he went to the one thing that kept him steady, work. If he couldn't sleep, there was no sense in anyone else getting any either.
***
“Shane, you can't be serious.”
“I am. Get up and get over here. We have work to do.”
“Do you know what time it is?”
“Of course, I know what time it is, Devin.”
There was a silent pause and then what could be described as a frustrated sigh. Shane knew that his assistant had a lot to say about the late-night call, but he wouldn’t say it. He’d give him dirty looks, but Shane could handle that. He needed something to sidetrack him anyway.
“Alright, Shane, I'll be over there in a little bit. I hate when you can't sleep. None of us get any damn sleep.”
Shane probably should have felt bad about that, but he didn't. Shane told him that they had taken off too much time earlier in the day and now they were going to make up for it. Devin got off the phone with a disparaging sound and Shane had to smile. At least he was going to get some work done.
