Riding Bearback (BBW Shifter Cowboy Romance) (Bear Ranchers Book 1) Read online

  Emma felt the pit of her stomach drop and she watched as the hackles on the three men rose. Tension was in the air. The danger was electric. To the nurse's credit, she didn't seem to notice. They took an elevator up two floors before she lead them to the room, knocked, and was on her way.

  Inside, a female doctor was checking on Brock's vitals. She smiled when she saw Emma. “You must be Officer Miller. Emma. Besides his family, you're all he talks about. I'm Doctor Flynn.”

  Emma shook her hand and watched her eyes take in each man. Her eyes found their golden eyes and she stiffened slightly. Emma was sure she would have never noticed without her police training. She must not see many shifters in here…

  “How's he doing, Doc?” Judge asked.

  “Well, all things considered. He took four bullets, three in his chest and one in his neck. He lost a lot of blood and he's not out of the woods yet, but he's a fighter. I'm optimistic.”

  Emma watched the smile falter, concern flashing on Doctor Flynn's face for a split second. “What's wrong, Doctor Flynn?”

  She hesitated, but then asked, “Can I speak to you out in the hallway, Officer Miller? It has to do with what he's said about his attacker. It's sensitive police information.”

  Jace nodded at her. Emma was nervous, but she would only be out in the hallway. “Call me Emma, please.”

  “Emma,” the doctor said, once they were out in the hallway. “Look, I didn't want to say this in front of the other men, but Sergeant Franklin has been saying some interesting things. About his attackers, and how Officer Anderson is not to be allowed into his room. He was here about 15 minutes ago, but left to get food. He said he would be back soon. I don't know how much longer I can keep him out of the room. What's going on?”

  “It's complicated. But know that Anderson, and any other officers shouldn't be allowed to see him. He's in danger. Two of those men have been sent here to protect him. The third is to protect me.”

  “So it is true,” Flynn said, thinking. “I knew he was telling the truth, but I didn't want to believe what he was saying. We'll have him moved up to a higher security unit. I'm assuming his family won't be coming to see him?”

  “They're in protection, too. I'm sorry to get you involved in this,” Emma said, regretting that she was involving civilians in her problems.

  “It's fine. I became a doctor to help people. I can do that in more ways than one. I will make arrangements to get him moved. There's one more thing, Emma. Anderson told me to tell him if you showed up. He's looking for you.”

  “Thanks,” Emma said. Flynn left to arrange Brock's move to another unit. Emma went back inside the room, seeing the three men standing around Brock's bed.

  “What's the word?” Jace asked. Emma quickly explained what was going on. Within minutes, the doctor was back with a few nurses, ready to move Brock.

  As his bed was rolled away, Brock came to. His eyes fluttered open. “Emma,” he whispered, holding a hand out weakly.

  “Brock,” she said, grabbing his hand tightly. “It's going to be okay. We've got protection. I will not rest until we've taken everyone down and you're safe.”

  He smiled, then closed his eyes, lost to sleep again. Emma nodded at Doctor Flynn, and the bed was wheeled off. Derrick nodded at Emma and Jace, then followed the bed.

  “We'll keep him safe, don't worry,” Judge said, before he too moved out of the empty room. Emma and Jace stood in silence for a few moments.

  “Let's get you back to safety,” said Jace.

  “No,” Emma said. “I'm tired of running.”

  “Emma, please. Don't be stupid,” Jace said, grabbing her hand. She tried to pull away, but he held firm, turning her around and making her face him. “This is serious. It's dangerous. Let's go back to the HQ and let me keep you safe.”

  “That's all I am to you, huh? A job? A package to keep safe?” she asked as Jace shook his head. “My job is dangerous. I'm a cop. I'm supposed to arrest the bad guys. I will not stop now just because everyone else wants me to.”

  “Emma, you're more than that. You're strong. Brave. Maybe even a little stubborn. You don't have to throw it all away just to prove a point. You're more than just a job. Let me keep you safe.”

  “Yeah, Emma, let him keep you safe,” a voice said from the doorway. She looked over, seeing two cops standing in the doorway. One was Anderson and the other was Martin.

  “Anderson, you can stop while you're ahead. Let me take you in. We're still cops.”

  “Correction, Emma,” he said, a slimy grin on his face. “I'm still a cop. You've been discharged. Guess you didn't hear, huh?”

  “No,” she murmured. Things weren't supposed to go down like this.

  “No,” he mimicked in a whiny voice. “Yes. You've been charged with the murder of Officer Forman and the attempted murder of Sergeant Franklin. She's reaching for her weapon, Martin.”

  His hand moved to his holster. Emma had enough time to think, "He won't!" before he pulled his pistol out, aiming it right at her chest. Anderson pulled the trigger twice and she felt the bullets slamming into her. She stumbled back, struggling to breath, leaning against the window. Her chest tried to rise but it couldn't.

  Jace yelled in anger and then there were more gunshots. Jace yelled in pain for a few seconds before the yells became roars. Leaning against the wall, fumbling at her chest, she watched as Jace shifted in front of her. She'd only seen it once before and had been terrified at the time, but now, she welcomed it.

  People were screaming in the hallway as Anderson and Martin moved into the room. Jace lunged forward, his massive bear form taking up most of the room. Anderson ducked a swipe, shooting his pistol into Jace's side. Blood exploded across the floor.

  Emma looked down, ripping her shirt open, seeing the two bullets embedded in her bulletproof vest. Seeing that she wasn't harmed gave her a second wind. She rose to her knees, pulling her gun, and aimed at Anderson. She fired once, the bullet hitting him in his thigh. He screamed in pain, dropping to the ground and crawling out of the room.

  Martin, meanwhile, was moving towards Emma, his gun pointed at her. Jace had frozen, unsure of what to do. Martin could take her out in one shot.

  “Put the gun down, Miller,” he ordered. Emma complied, setting the gun on the ground and kicking it towards him. “Good, good. Tell your bear friend to step back.”

  Jace held his ground for a split second, then conceded, moving back towards the exit. Emma couldn't tell where Anderson had gone, but there was a good trail of blood leading out of the room. She'd got him good. That was almost enough.

  Martin was behind her, his gun pointed at her head. Still, he was trapped. Emma knew the only way out was taking out both her and Jace. She saw Jace slumping in pain. He'd taken a couple of bullets. She knew that she'd learned in training how much punishment a shifter could take in bear form, but she couldn't remember. Please, she thought. Don't be hurt badly.

  “I'm sorry it had to be this way,” Martin whispered in her ear. This was it. Before he could pull the trigger, she lifted a foot backwards, striking him between the legs. Martin screamed in pain, letting her go for a split second. Emma dove to the side, a split second before Jace crashed into Martin. Their combined force blew through the top of the wall, shattering the window, and they were flying out of the hospital.

  Emma ran to the edge, watching them fall towards the ground. She screamed when they hit, a sickening thud. Jace had landed on top of Martin. She watched his limp hand open, the gun falling onto the ground. Blood and shattered glass littered the ground all around them.

  She ran out of the room, following the blood trail down the hallway. Anderson was crawling towards the elevator. As he reached it, it opened and Judge stepped out. Emma reached the two of them, handcuffing Anderson and telling Judge what had happened. He stayed behind, making sure Anderson went nowhere.

  Next, she was running down the hallway, chest still hurting every time she took a breath. People got in her way, but she yelled, “
Police! Please move!” Am I really, though? She wondered. If what Anderson had said was true, she wasn't a cop any longer. She realized she didn't care.

  Outside, two men lay on the ground. Jace had shifted back into his human form and rolled off of Martin. The officer was clearly dead, though whether from the fall, Jace's weight on top of him, or a combination, she couldn't be sure. Jace was covered in blood but didn't seem to be wounded. She knelt beside him, looking his body over – his naked body – checking him for more serious damage. He'd been clipped a few times and the one serious hole in his stomach was already closing. Her eyes found what was between his legs and gasped, averting her eyes while she blushed.

  “My eyes are up here, lady” he said, slowly sitting up, a pained grin on his face.

  “Payback?” Emma offered, and Jace laughed for a split second, before clutching his side and grimacing.

  “I thought you were dead!” Emma yelled, wrapping her arms around his large body. She felt him grab her, embracing her and she willed him never to let her go. As she had ran up and saw his body on the ground, she had feared the worse, and realized she couldn't ever forgive herself if something happened to him.

  “I'll be okay. We're tough. I was more worried about you. I saw you get shot,” Jace said. He grabbed her face in his hands, putting his forehead against hers. “I thought I'd lost you.”

  Emma felt his lips inches from her own. She longed to kiss him, to give in to her feelings. She peeled off her shirt, covering Jace's lower body.

  “I'm glad you wore that thing,” he said, knocking a hand twice against her bullet proof vest. “We need to get out of here before we draw more attention.”

  Reluctantly, Emma pulled away from Jace. She helped him limp back towards the SUV, explaining what had happened after he'd taken a tumble out of the window.

  “The others are staying behind at the hospital. I cuffed Anderson. He won't be going anywhere soon. We need to get you back to Russell.”

  “No. We've got to move fast. After what just happened at the hospital, the cops are going to be looking for us. We have to get to the bottom of this, and fast. If we don't, we might be the ones getting arrested. Here, you drive,” he said, tossing her the keys.

  Emma hopped in the driver's seat, pulling out of the parking lot. Jace climbed over the seats, moving towards the storage in the back. In the rear-view mirror, Emma got an amazing view of his toned backside and felt a stirring between her legs. Why am I falling for this shifter? We're too different. I'm a police officer. His kind aren't liked by us. We're not liked by them. We're from two different worlds.

  He ruffled around in some boxes, pulling out an extra pair of jeans and shirt. Emma raised an eyebrow at him, and he responded with, “What? We go through a lot of clothes. It pays to keep some extra pairs in the vehicles. Now, where are those shoes?”

  They parked outside of the police station. It was dark and looked deserted. Emma's station certainly wasn't the largest in the city, but she couldn't remember the last time there hadn't been anyone on duty. Odd, she thought.

  “So what's the plan?” Emma asked. She was all for finishing this, clearing her name, and putting everyone responsible for this behind bars, but she wasn't sure how to go about it.

  “How many more officers are in on this?”

  “Honestly, I don't know. Almost everyone in the precinct was complicit in the murder, or at least covering it up. But if we can take down Chief Radmacher, we can take down everyone at once with his testimony. We just need to get him. He never leaves, but I don't think he's in there.”

  “He is,” Jace said, assuredly. “It's a trap. They knew you would come here after the hospital.”

  “Yeah, you're probably right.”

  “I'm going to shift into bear form and lead the way. I'll be able to pick up the Chief's scent and track him. You stay behind me. If anyone gets in my way, I'm attacking. I don't want to kill anyone, but I will if I have to. We have some zip-ties and other gear in the back. Emma, there's one last thing.”

  She said nothing, realizing that now, it was Jace's turn to talk.

  “If this goes bad for me, I want you to get out of there. I also want you to know that earlier today, I was just as guilty as you. I didn't trust police officers. Hell, I hardly trusted anyone that wasn't a shifter. I hope I get the chance to know you better. I know people will say we're probably not right for each other, but I'd like to give that a chance.”

  Jace got out of the SUV without waiting for her reply. He moved to the back and opened the doors, rummaging through the gear in the back. Emma sat in silence for a few moments. Jace had just echoed everything she had been feeling. Were they right for each other? Probably not. But she'd felt something with him she'd never felt with anyone else before. Despite being seemingly opposites, she felt they were more alike than either of them really knew.

  She got out of the vehicle and moved towards the back, grabbing Jace's large arm and stopping him. “We don't have to hide anymore, Jace. Especially not from each other.”

  Without waiting for him to say anything, she grabbed him, wrapping her arms around his neck and placing her lips against his. She kissed urgently, feeling his lips move against hers, unsure if they would even survive the night. Still, it didn't seem to matter. Together, they lost themselves for long minutes, hands exploring each other, lips leaving wet trails wherever they touched. Emma felt Jace's lips wrap around an ear, his huge hands grabbing her butt, lifting her into the back of the SUV.

  He broke the kiss, his nostrils flaring. “I smell him.”

  “Who?” Emma asked, confused.

  “That man, Anderson. His blood scent just washed over me.”

  “He got away? How?”

  Jace shrugged. “It's time.”

  Emma watched as Jace peeled off his tight shirt, his muscles rippling. Where there had been bullet wounds earlier, now there were only small, puckered areas.

  “Look away?” he teased, unbuttoning his jeans.

  “Not a chance.”

  Emma watched him undress, then he came close to her again, grabbing her head in his large hands and kissing her deeply, faster, more sensually than he had seconds ago. When he broke their kiss, his golden eyes blazed bright in the darkness. He took a few steps back, shifting in front of her. She watched as his limbs lengthened, his already large chest expanded, fur growing out all across his body. In seconds, there was a fully grown bear in front of her.

  He moved off, nose sniffing the air, straight for the precinct's front doors. Emma followed, grabbing the gear she had found and crouching down behind him. She had her pistol drawn and a handful of zip-ties in the other hand. Together, they moved across the dark parking lot.

  He pressed his large paws against the front doors, pushing with his full weight. “Hold on,” Emma whispered, moving past him and using a key to unlock the door. She held the door open for Jace, following him into the building and quietly closing the door behind her.

  Despite his large size, Jace moved almost silently down the hallway. The first police officer they encountered was a fat man whose name Emma couldn't remember, asleep in front of the security console. Emma slunk into the room behind him, taking his gun and pressing it against him. She fumbled around in his desk, finding a roll of duct tape and covering his mouth before zip-tying him on the ground. Grabbing his gun and extra cuffs, Emma moved out of the security room.

  “One down,” she whispered. Jace moved down the hallway, guarding Emma with his large body. Together, they moved up a stairwell to the top floor. They reached the top of the police station without seeing another living soul.

  Emma slowly opened the door to the massive room that held all of the offices. All lights were off except for Chief Radmacher's room. She could see the Chief sitting behind his desk, fingers crossed over his stomach. Anderson was standing in front of him, facing away from them, his leg bandaged.