Soon he lifted his head, pulled me close, and slid his hands down the back of my jeans. When he spoke, his deep voice was even lower and huskier than usual.
"These jeans are completely soaked. How about I take them off for you?"
I nodded, kicked my shoes off, and removed my socks, catching sight of Aaron's fully erect manhood. And I couldn't help but pull away a little for a closer look. It was the kind of manhood a girl could never get sick of seeing. Thick, long, and rock-hard, it pointed straight at the sky, the shaft nearly touching his trim, muscled stomach.
I wrapped my hand around it and gave it a few slow strokes, making Aaron suck in his breath and let it out in a hiss. But before long, he covered my hand with his to stop me, his jaw clenching.
"Your jeans. I want to see every gorgeous inch of you."
I released him reluctantly, and he unbuttoned and unzipped my jeans and pulled them down over my full hips, sinking to his knees, his gaze slowly traveling down every inch of my stomach and legs. The ache low in my belly intensified. I stepped out of my jeans, and he pulled down my underwear with a low growl, his gaze locked on the feminine folds between my thighs.
"Absolutely beautiful."
He pulled my underwear down to my ankles, and I stepped out of them, desperate to have him touch me. Desperate to feel his hardness inside of me. He rose to his feet and pulled me close, his hands cupping my bare bottom. The feel of his shaft against my stomach made me moan, burying my face against his chest.
Growling, he moved a hand from my bottom and began exploring the slickness of my feminine folds, parting them, his long, strong fingers soon locating my most sensitive spot.
Crying out and curling my toes in the damp earth beneath my feet, I threw my head back, squirming against his fingers. The ache low in my belly became almost unbearable.
"Please, Aaron. I need you inside of me."
Pressing his shaft against the side of my hip, he moved his mouth to my ear. His voice came out in a husky, gravelly whisper.
"Not quite yet. I need to examine you even more thoroughly. I need to appreciate every single part of you, and give every single part the attention it deserves."
His gaze swept the nearby forest, settling on a giant moss-covered tree stump that was probably about the height of my upper thighs.
"Perfect."
CHAPTER TWO
He led me to the moss-covered stump and gently bent me over it, one hand caressing my naked rear. I rested my elbows on the soft, carpet-like plushness of the moss, the action raising my rear very high in the air.
Suddenly a little self-conscious about my position and nakedness, I stepped my feet together and looked over my shoulder at Aaron. "Are you sure this is...this is how you want me?"
His glassy eyes gleamed.
"Positive. Are you comfortable?"
Realizing that being bent over and positioned like this had made the swollen folds between my thighs even slicker, and the stiffened bud between those folds even more tingly. I nodded, panting a little.
"I'm actually getting really comfortable."
Kind of panting a little himself, Aaron sank to his knees and began trailing a line of soft, slow kisses from the back of one of my knees to the fullness of one of my rear cheeks. The bud at the center of my womanhood throbbing, I whimpered into the moss covering the stump, stepping my feet apart just a little. Aaron repeated the kisses on the other side, starting at the back of my knee, his mouth firm and lingering, continuing up to my bare cheek. I stepped my feet a little farther apart, wanting to feel his mouth on my most sensitive spot.
I didn't have to wait long. After nudging my feet even farther apart, to about shoulder-width, he took my hips in his hands and paused. I pressed the side of my face into the moss, sighing, relishing the feeling of having my most intimate parts exposed to his gaze and his touch. Soon he positioned his face between my thighs and began stroking my most sensitive spot with his tongue. I cried out, the sensation almost more than I could bear. Lifting my rear even higher than it already was, I dug my fingers into the mossy surface of the stump. Aaron gripped my hips tighter, the movement of his tongue accelerating, his strokes becoming firmer. Before long, I bucked and rocked my hips, throwing my head back, waves of pleasure crashing over me.
When the last shudder of ecstasy had passed, Aaron stood and positioned himself behind me, his breathing fast and ragged. He nudged the lips of my womanhood apart with the throbbing head of his shaft, and then slid inside of me with one long, powerful stroke, growling. I moaned, a tense ache building low in my belly once again.
He began sliding his granite-hard shaft in and out of my slickness, slowly at first, pulling out almost completely before sliding back in. But soon, his thrusts became harder, faster, and more powerful. He groaned, his hands squeezing the softness of my hips. I moved my feet even farther apart, taking him deeper and deeper inside of me. Before long, his thrusts became even more powerful still as he neared completion. He reached around and stroked my feminine bud, knowing that the sensation of being stroked and filled at once usually brought me over the edge along with him. Within seconds, I shuddered, every muscle in my body tensing and releasing. My moans joined his groans and seemed to become one animal-like cry in unison. He thrust his thick shaft inside me one final time, his breath coming in ragged gasps, before collapsing over me, holding me.
Soon he led me to a grassy patch of forest floor nearby, and we both sank back into the soft green grass, sunlight sparkling through gaps in the tree canopy above us. Several minutes went by before I was even able to think coherently. But when I was able to, I turned to Aaron.
"Oh. I wonder if my painting made it. Probably in Lake Superior by now."
I wasn't sure if the painting and easel had fallen into the water with me or not.
He said he'd make a quick trip upriver to check, and then he squeezed my hand before shifting into bear form and running off. This was just one of the many advantages of having a bear shifter boyfriend. In bear form, he could run much faster than any human, and sometimes this came in handy, like if we set out on a hike or a camping trip and I realized I'd left something at home. And sometimes it was just fun to watch. Several times over the past couple months, I'd asked Aaron to let me watch him run in bear form, just so I could see his power and strength.
Within ten or fifteen minutes, he returned from his trip upriver, fully dressed, and in human form. He and his brothers and sisters-in-law kept little bundles of clothes in waterproof bags all over the forest, the bags usually kept in tree hollows, just to make things more convenient with their frequent shifting.
Aaron held my art kit and easel in one hand, and my painting in the other.
He grinned. "Everything was sitting right where you left them."
Later that afternoon, we went to my cabin, where we both showered and changed clothes, and then we went to his family's settlement for a meal in the big meeting room cabin. Aaron and his all-shifter family could and did eat human food, but usually only a couple times a week, and some of them, only at Sunday family dinners. Most members of Aaron's family preferred to hunt and eat in bear form.
I sat next to Aaron at the table, with his sister-in-law Emily on my other side. Over many hikes, and laughs, and late-night talk sessions during the last couple of months, she and I had become best friends. On her other side at the round table sat her husband Calvin, and then Sarah and Lucas, who were married, and then Jasmine and Andrew, who were also married. On Aaron's right side sat his brothers Cole, Samuel, and Seth, who were all single.
Seth, normally on the serious side, looked even more so during the meal. He frowned, looking down at his plate during most of it, his hazel eyes dull. I wondered if something was wrong, and by the way Emily kept glancing up at him, she did, too. But Seth was the type who tended to keep things inside, as Emily had told me, and didn't like being questioned about anything; he preferred just to talk about things and share when he was good and ready. So nobody at the table question
ed him. He was Aaron's second-in-command in terms of leading the family, and everyone tended to give him space and respect. Though judging by a few looks Aaron and Calvin gave him, Emily and I weren't the only ones wanting to know what was wrong.
After everyone had finished eating, there was a lull in the chatter, laughter, and conversation, and Seth finally looked up and cleared his throat.
"Everyone's having a good summer. Emily and Calvin, Sarah and Lucas, and Jasmine and Andrew, I know you've all been enjoying selling our family's woodworking items and furniture at all the different festivals in town, and I know you look forward to a few more before summer's over. Cole, Samuel, and I have been enjoying all our hunting trips. And Aaron and Kyla, I know you've both been enjoying your new love and happiness. We're all having a great summer. Which is why I've been putting off saying this, and I really don't want to say it even now. But I don't think I can put it off any longer, as it may affect all of us." Seth looked at Aaron. "And Aaron, I realize that I probably should have come to you about this first, and I was intending to soon. But just now, just thinking about all this through the meal...I guess I'm just ready to get this off my chest, and as it may concern all of us, maybe it's good to just discuss this while everyone's all together anyway. So unless you'd rather I talk to you first privately, I'll just say what I need to say."
Aaron nodded once. "Go ahead."
"All right. Well...." Seth raked a hand through his sandy-blond hair. "I guess I don't really know how to say this, but...something really weird has been going on since we killed all the wolves."
About two months earlier, Aaron and his family killed a pack of shifter wolves, with a little assist from me and my gun. The shifter wolves had been created at the same time that Aaron and his brothers were, and by the same Native American mystic. But unlike Aaron and his brothers, the shifter wolves had become evil. They'd committed several rapes and murders in Houghton while in human form. So Aaron and his brothers drove them all out of the wilds, with a warning never to return, or they would be killed. But the shifter wolves returned anyway, challenging Aaron and his brothers to a battle. And they'd all been killed. All except one, that is. His name was Victor, and he fled from the fight, and Aaron and Lucas decided to let him live and drove him out of the wilds, toward Canada.
Seth raked a hand through his hair again. "And I wish I could explain it better than that, but I'm not even sure myself what's going on. There's just been...strange things since we killed all the wolves."
Aaron unfolded his muscled arms, his gaze on Seth. "All but one of the wolves, remember? Lucas and I decided to let Victor live and drove him toward Canada."
"Well, yeah. Strange things happening since we killed all but Victor, then."
Aaron knit his dark brows together. "So what kind of strange things?"
"Well...my 'hearing' has been really out of whack, for one thing. And by that, I don't mean my regular hearing, but my ability to 'hear' the wolves' thoughts."
Seth was the only member of the family who had this ability.
"See, I'm still 'hearing' bits and pieces of the wolves' thoughts. Even though they're all dead. All except Victor, that is. And it really is just the briefest bits and pieces. Sometimes I'll just hear a word or two, and then nothing for several days. And the words aren't anything remarkable and they don't seem to have a specific theme or anything. They're just...random words, I guess."
Emily leaned forward in her chair, her red hair throwing sparks in rays from the setting sun slanting in through a row of windows behind her. "Well, is it Victor's 'voice' you're hearing? Is it his mental thoughts?"
Seth shook his head. "No. Well, actually, yes. I've heard a couple words from him, once or twice. But it's also the six other wolves. The ones who died. It's Alexander more than any of them. Alexander, whose carcass we buried along with the others." Seth sighed, rubbing his temples. "I'm really...I'm very confused by what's happening. I've never been able to pick up on the wolves' voices, not even faint bits and pieces like this, when they're any further than about fifty miles away. Not quite sure why I am now, when all but one of them is, you know...dead."
Aaron's dark brows drew even closer together while he scanned the faces of everyone around the table.
"Has anyone felt even the faintest hint of a shifter wolf's presence?"
Seth may have been the only family member able to 'hear' the wolves, but every member of the family had the ability to sense a shifter wolf if they were closer than fifty miles away.
Seth finished taking a sip of water and set the glass down. "Well, that's the other strange thing I've been experiencing. Twice over the past few weeks, I've detected shifter wolf presence, or thought I did, for just maybe a split second. And each time, for that split second, it was very faint. Far too faint to determine from how many miles away it could have come. And with losing a little sleep recently over being troubled about hearing the wolves' voices, I tried to tell myself that I was just tired and had maybe just imagined it. And after a few days, I'd thoroughly convinced myself I'd just imagined it."
Everyone else said they hadn't detected anything, not even for a second. Aaron spent several moments appearing to be deep in thought before speaking.
"I also haven't detected any wolf presence, not even the faintest hint of it. But, Seth, you've always been able to sense it more accurately than any of us. I have to wonder if Victor is making moves to return. Although I can't imagine why he would. If he with his six brothers couldn't take us, I don't know why he'd think he could alone."
Emily looked over at Aaron. "There's another possible explanation for all of this." She shifted her gaze across the table, to Seth. "Seth, what if all you're experiencing is just some sort of...residual energy from the wolves or something. From when they were alive. What if it's just like, some sort of psychic echo, like a ghost? And for some reason, you're just picking up on these energy echoes. Maybe just because you heard the wolves' mental voices so often when they were alive. After all, there's just some things in the world that don't seem possible or don't seem to make sense, even though they're real things. I mean...we're shape-shifting bears. We're living proof of that."
Seth said maybe, and Aaron agreed with Emily that it was possible that everything Seth was experiencing was just some sort of psychic echo.
"It's definitely possible, actually, but the only thing that disturbs me is that you're hearing not only the dead wolves' voices, but Victor's as well. If the voices were just some kind of residual energy from when the wolves were alive, it wouldn't make sense for Victor's voice to be included in the chatter. But you said you've just heard bits and pieces of their thoughts. Are you absolutely positive that Victor's is one of the voices you've heard? Only hearing a word here, and a word there, I'm sure it's been hard for you to identify each voice with certainty."
Seth shook his head at Aaron. "No. I'm positive. I've heard all seven of the wolves' voices, including Victor's. After having shared this forest and even having some level of friendship with them all for well over a century, how could I forget what each of their voices sound like? Even when hearing only a single word, I can still tell them all apart."
The shifter wolves had shared the wilds with Aaron and his family in relative peace until the wolves’ hearts had become dark for reasons unknown in past decades.
Aaron conceded that he was sure Seth was right, and that he had indeed heard Victor. "Which disturbs me greatly. And not that we can't dispatch him swiftly if he decides to be foolish enough to return to these wilds, but it is something of a mystery why he would even attempt it. And it troubles me because if this is actually his plan, we don't know how he may attempt to pull it off, and who he may attempt to hurt. And with Kyla not being able to shift into bear form to defend herself, like we all can if any of us were to be somehow caught alone, I do not like that."
I thought back to the battle with the wolves. How most of them were several times the size of normal wolves. How their sharp teeth had been several times
as long. A little shiver rippled through me, and I closed my eyes for a moment.
Aaron turned to me, taking my hand under the table. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to scare you. I shouldn't have even spoken that thought out loud, especially since it's something that will never, ever happen. If Victor dares return to these wilds, I'll kill him immediately, before he ever has a chance to get anywhere near you. I will always keep you safe."
I nodded. "I know."
Emily put a hand on my shoulder. "We'll all look out for you. You don't have to worry about a thing."
I gave her a little smile. "Thank you."
Jasmine smiled at me from across the table, her pearly teeth glinting even in the fading light. "She's right. We'll all look out for you."
Everyone chimed in with agreement, nodding their heads.
Aaron squeezed my hand. "And remember, no matter what is throwing Seth's abilities off-kilter, we all have the ability to sense the presence of a shifter wolf from fifty miles away. So, if Victor does decide to launch some desperate sort of attack on us, we'll have ample warning and will be able to protect you without a doubt."
I nodded. "I know. I know you all will keep me safe."
"I'll never let Victor or anyone else harm a single hair on your head."
I nodded again. Just then, there was a knock on the front door of the cabin. A sharp, loud, confident knock. Everyone whipped their heads in the direction of the door. Being that the cabin settlement was deep, deep in the wilds of copper country, with Houghton, the closest town, about four miles away, Aaron and his family got a visitor maybe only once a decade, usually a lost hiker.
Aaron rose from his chair, frowning, went over to the door, and opened it. A man with dark, almost black, hair and dark eyes stood on the front steps.
Her Bear Protector Trilogy Page 8
