Page 30 of Mated to the Mountain Bear

I remember how he looked, pacing by the trees. Shirtless and powerful. How he turned to look at me through the window as if he could sense me watching.

The longing on his handsome face was… intoxicating.

My back arches off the bed as I get closer. The T-shirt has ridden up, cool air kisses my heated skin. I turn my face into his pillow and breathe him in, surrounded by his scent, as my pleasure builds. I feel wild and unleashed.

This coiled tension building inside me is stronger than anything I’ve felt before.

In the fantasy, he’s above me now.Those dark brown eyes burn bright gold as he watches me fall apart. His weight presses me into the mattress. His hands pin my wrists while he nudges my thighs apart with his knee...

“Oh,” I gasp, louder than intended, as the first wave hits.

I press my face harder into the pillow, muffling the sounds I can’t quite contain.

Ben’s mere feet away in the living room. The embarrassment should be overwhelming, but rationally, I know he can’t hear me, and all it does is fuel my excitement.

My body shudders with release, with Ben’s name a silent prayer on my lips, as pleasure crashes through me.

I feel languid. Satisfied in a way I haven’t been in years. Maybe ever.

For long moments after, I lie still, breathing heavily. The cotton shirt is twisted around my waist now. My skin is damp, flushed and oversensitive.

I pull the covers back up and close my eyes.

Tomorrow will bring new awkwardness, knowing what I did. But tonight, surrounded by his scent and the lingering warmth of release, I let myself drift toward sleep.

If I dream of dark eyes and capable hands, well... he’ll never know.

10

BEN

The couch creaks as I shift for the hundredth time, trying to find a position that’s comfortable, but it’s just not going to happen. I can’t relax. Not because of the couch, but because she’s just down the hall.

I should be grateful for the distance while I struggle to maintain appropriate boundaries, but instead, my bear prowls restlessly, hating every inch of separation.

One arm is over my eyes with my guilt and frustration gnawing at my insides. Beau left her in my care; he’d kill me if he knew what was going through my mind.

Or he’d try.

The darkness presses in, but I’ve given up on sleeping. All I can do is lie here and breathe through the torture of having her so close.

Then I hear it.

A soft gasp, barely audible to human ears. But I’m no mere human, and my enhanced hearing picks up everything. The whisper of sheets. A quickening breath. Another small sound that sends heat racing through my veins.

She can’t be…

But then, her scent hits me. Sweet with unmistakable arousal, and so potent, it makes my head spin. And even stronger than earlier when she was on her knees before me.

My hands clench into fists as I fight the urge to go to her.

“Ben.”

My name on her lips, whispered like a prayer. So quiet, she probably doesn’t even realise she said it aloud.

But I hear it. Feel it like a physical touch, and inside, my bear roars with pride.

She’s in my bed and thinking of me as she pleasures herself.