Page 18

Bryn

Snuggling deeper beneath the blanket, I curled into-

My eyes shot open and I fumbled, quickly trying to get my wits about me.

“Shh.”

He snatched me, keeping me from falling off of the couch. Pulling me back to rest in his lap, I realized he’d held me the entire time I slept.

“You’re okay.”

He brushed his hand gently up and down my arm.

Breathing a sigh of relief, I took in my surroundings. The living room was dark, the only light coming from a movie playing on the TV. The pizza box sat closed on the coffee table, an empty beer, an unopened bottle of water and my glasses on either side of it. A blanket lay atop my curves yet I immediately knew I was naked beneath it.

He studied me, lightly sweeping his hands across various parts of me. The athletic shorts he’d donned earlier covered him now.

I frowned.

“How long was I asleep?”

“A couple hours.”

His hand stopped moving to rest across my plush stomach.

Feeling my cheeks warm, I moved to sit up, accepting his help. Tucking the blanket beneath my arms, I held tightly to it as he pulled me onto his lap, my back resting against his arm and the side of the couch. “Sorry.”

“Honey, I’d rather have you well and rested.”

Leaning over me, he pulled the coffee table closer.

“Part of being well is eating regularly.”

How could I explain that I’d never had a traditional eating pattern? When you were in school, had a sick parent or relative, were working on your feet fulltime, when you were busy in general, you ate when you thought about it and when you had the time to.

Reaching down, ensuring the blanket stayed in place, I slipped on my glasses and opened the box. I was surprised to see that half of the extra large pie was gone already. Grabbing a slice, I sat back, settling into his embrace again. Glimpsing at the flat screen TV, just in time to see a buff male character whip out a gun, I asked.

“What movie is this?”

Absently, I took a bite of the pizza.

“We can watch it later.”

Moving his arm behind me, abruptly, the screen went to a menu of channels.

“Right now, we need to talk.”

Taking another bite out of the slice, I looked at him. Nodding my head, I chewed and swallowed. “Okay.”

“If you ever have a question, you ask. I don’t care if you think it’s stupid; I don’t care if it is stupid. I’d rather you have definitive answers than to walk around wondering, especially when it comes to me and my bear.”

He watched me closely. His eyes weren’t illuminated, but I knew he was seeing every detail.

Sobering fully, waking fully, I braced myself for what was to come. No one ever said ‘we need to talk’ when it was good news. Using the food to distract myself, I bit into it again.

“Earlier you asked if I shifted into an actual bear, and I do. We are two spirits and two minds in one body that shifts, but, even when I am in bear form, the human mind reigns supreme. His thoughts will never overpower mine, even if he does manage to force a physical shift. I know that may be hard to understand. Logically, it doesn’t make sense, but it’s how it is. All you need to remember is that while my bear and me are two separate beings, whether I’m in my human form or my bear form, you will always be dealing with me. I’m the dominant.”

He wrapped his arm around the front of me, resting his hand on my left hip.

“And I meant it when I said that neither of us would ever hurt you. Ever. You’re the one person on this Earth we couldn’t live without.”

Biting into the pizza, I mulled over his words. I tried to wrap my head around sharing a body, but having two minds in one body was out of my reach. The only thing I could think of was the book The Host by Stephenie Meyer.

When I remained quiet, he pressed.

“What else do you want to know? You have to have questions.”

Working my bottom lip, I considered him.

“What do you think it is about me in particular?”

“All I can tell you is what I love about you.”

He searched my depths.

I continued eating, thinking; well, trying to think. He made sense, yet he didn’t make sense. Shaking my head negatively, I struggled with the logical, sensible part of myself.

“Why do you love me? How do you love me when you don’t know all that much about me?”

His gaze remained steady on me. His breathing was rhythmic, a calming cadence. He grazed his fingers along the strands of hair closest to my face.

“I watched you for five years. I memorized every conversation we had and replayed it over and over again in my mind.”

My heart skipped a beat. I’d done the same thing, but, with time, the information faded into the abyss of my mind and the generalizations were all that remained, the topics and vague important details.

“You interacted with every customer as though they were your best customer, even if you were tired or having a bad day. You rarely took your scheduled break, and kept things running smoothly. Before that, you dropped out of school to take care of your mom until she passed away. Those things tell me that you’re a leader, but one who doesn’t need the title. You’re what we call a gentle alpha. You don’t boast about what you’ve done; you simply do it.”

His gaze intensified.

“You take care of everyone else before you and ask for nothing in return.”

I stiffened, hearing the disapproval in his tone.

He pursed his lips.

“I saw you pay for Harry’s breakfast the first time he came into the shop after his wife passed away, and I was there when you slipped Annie fifty dollars to buy her kids a Christmas gift last year, even though you couldn’t afford it.”

Another piece of the puzzle came together.

“You were the one who stuck that envelope in my door.”

I narrowed my gaze on him, my lips parting. I’d assumed Annie got a bonus at work and had simply returned the money. But it was Bear.

His expression darkened.

“I should have done more for you over the years.”

His upper lip curled in disgust.

“I should have taken better care of you. You were always mine, even without my mark.”

Pushing my hair aside, he traced the wound with his fingertips.

“If you ever need anything, you tell me. If you want anything, you tell me. Okay?”

Stuffing the last bite of my pizza slice in my mouth, I chewed and swallowed.

“Thank you, but all I want is you.”

I smiled up at him.

He gave me a charming grin.

“Well you have me, honey. Forever and ever.”

Leaning in, I kissed his cheek.

“I think I can handle that.”

“Good.”

He jerked me tighter against him.

“Because I’m not letting you go.”

“Ever?”

I quirked a brow.

His eyes glittered, dancing with mischief. “Ever.”

It was a single, definitive declaration.

Warmth spread through me as he flexed his muscles around me.

“What about work?”

I smirked.

He pretended to think it over for a second.

“You’ll have to earn time off.”

I laughed.

“Isn’t it supposed to be the other way around?”

He growled playfully, maneuvering me to straddle him. He tore the blanket away from my figure and tossed it aside.

“Are you contesting me, honey?”

Biting my bottom lip, I fought back a smile.

“My, my, Mr. CEO, such a big word.”

I ran my hands up and down the hard plains of his chest.

His nostrils flared around a snarl, all humor gone this time. Abruptly, he stood, holding me tightly to him, kicked the coffee table away and stalked to the closest wall, pushing my back into it. His hands molded to my rear asset as I locked my legs around his waist.

“You want me to make you scream a big word?”

Securing my arms around his neck, I kissed a trail up to his ear.

“Do your best, honey.”

Who was this vixen and where did she come from? I felt wanted and wanton; I felt confident and sexy. I felt all that he made me feel, including loved.

With a single jerk of his shorts, he freed himself. He drove into me, smothering my cry with his lips. He set a rapid pace, furiously fucking me, furiously assaulting my nerve endings.

I arched into him, riding him, meeting his every upsurge. Gone was all embarrassment; vanished was all uncertainty about him enjoying my curves. No man had sex this many times in a span of eight hours without being attracted to her. The edge was taken off the first time. The rest was pure indulgence, pure desire to experience me again.

Pleasure licked every pore, delighted every nerve ending as he took me roughly, rapidly. I was moving, but he was a blur, my glasses fogged from our heavy breaths.

His nails dug into my flesh as he grunted around each smack of his balls against my slit. He thrust to the hilt over and over, never slowing.

“You’re so fucking sexy.”

He ground the words out through gritted teeth before sucking a single nipple into his mouth.

Gasping for air, tingles shot through my chest as tension bound my womb further. Liquid heat had him gliding in and out of me with ease, made every sensation fleeting, over too fast. It was the culmination, the way he overwhelmed all of my senses that had me climbing swiftly, that had me bracing myself around him, that had me bowing into his mouth, pleading with him for more.

I’d never clung so tightly to someone, to the point that pain simmered in my left arm. But I ignored it. My need was greater. I craved him more than relief.

“Oh, God. Please, Bear. Please.”

I whimpered as I strained. Clamping my eyes shut, I tried to focus on the feel of him, on the sound of us coming together, on the minute flickers of delicious feelings that burst through my pussy.

Switching breasts, he licked and sucked my bud before drawing a trail to my neck with his tongue.

“You’re so damn beautiful.”

His voice was breathy, husky. The rumble in it seemed to zap my core.

“If I could fuck you non-stop into next week, I would.”

Abruptly, he shoved his hand between us. The moment his thumb connected with my clit, I tumbled over the edge. Tightening my grip on him, I crushed him to me, darn near suffocating him as I screamed around the pleasure bursting through me. Wave after wave crashed over me as he continued to fuck me with the same ferocity. My lips parted around my cries, as I gasped for air with each contraction that shook me. I vibrated, shuddered violently around him. My heart pounded in my chest, competing with my pulse’s heavy whooshing.

Suddenly, he paused before increasing his speed, sending another group of shockwaves through me, sending me plummeting into another orgasm as his heat coated my womb, as he roared, the sound sending yet another tremor through me. When he finally stopped moving, we both remained where we were, unmoving.

I felt certain that when I spoke again, my voice would be hoarse. I was certain that when he attempted to put me down, that my legs would give out. I’d never experienced anything so intense, so all consuming.

Realizing I was still clinging to him, I loosened my grip, feeling the weakness in my limbs. “Sorry.”

It came out breathless, on the end of a pant.

It seemed like hours passed before he stirred; yet neither of us was in a hurry.

Pressing his forehead to mine, he blew out a breath.

“We need to stop. You’re going to be sore tomorrow as it is.”

“Yup.”

I continued to work on calming myself, on bringing my rates back to a normal level.

He groaned as he leaned back, his gaze immediately going to my breasts before gradually traveling upwards.

“You’re going to be the death of me.”

I grimaced.

“That’s quite a leap.”

Sucking in another deep breath, he continued to watch me, to take me in. A solid minute passed before he seemed to shake whatever he was thinking about off. He gave me a chaste kiss.

“It’s a good one. Promise.”

Giving a slight nod of approval, I met his gape. “Good.”

Stealing my lips again, he lingered this time. Gone was all the urgency. Instead, a persistent sensual softness remained. He brushed my lips with a tenderness that made the kiss romantic; his gentility had my heart melting, had all of me softening around him, and had me never wanting to let him go.

My curves simmered against him. It wasn’t an arousing touch; it was an appreciative one. It was one that could have brought tears to my eyes. It was a kiss you gave someone when you were pouring your heart out to them; it said the words he didn’t: that I was a treasure to him. That I was beautiful, worthy, cherished. That I was more than anyone had said I was before. That I was everything I ever wanted to be, but thought I wasn’t.

Wordlessly, he fulfilled my heart’s desire to be loved, to be more than a name, more than a body, and more than a number.

He smiled against me.

“I love you, Bryn.”

His words were a whisper, one that bound my heart and tied me to him.

Stroking his cheek, I knew my eyes were glimmering.

“And one day, I know I’ll love you too; because I’m already on my way to doing just that.”

I pressed my lips to his one last time.

Grazing his lips across my shoulder, across the mark that would forever be there, he peered at me, his irises flickering with honey.

“That’s all a bear could ask for.”