by Selena Scott
Ruby turned the faucet on to warm and ducked down, splashing some water on her face. She wanted a shower, but she felt that would be rude to do without asking. As she washed her face, she felt a warm hand slide around her hip. Ruby stiffened in surprise but instantly melted after she rose up from the water and Ansel handed her a towel. She dried her face as he stood behind her, both hands snug around her waist. Ruby watched in the mirror, amazed, as the hottest man in the world walked a line of kisses up the back of her neck. His eyes were sleepily hooded as he nuzzled his nose into the crook of her neck and took a hearty sniff.
He was… smelling her? Ruby blushed deeply and he chuckled as he reached over her and grabbed his toothbrush. Ruby stepped around him and carefully hung up the towel she’d used to dry her face and when she turned back, his eyes were still on her as he brushed. She knew that he was trying to gauge her, to guess how she was feeling this morning. Their morning after. She blushed just thinking those words.
He cocked his head to one side as he watched her for another second before he spat out his toothpaste and cupped water to bring to his mouth. He splashed more water over his beard and neck and even over his hair. He didn’t bother with a towel, just let the glistening water drops flicker off over his chest and back, Ruby’s eyes greedily following the path of each one.
“What are you blushing about?” he asked as he took her hand and led her back to his bedroom.
“Um,” Ruby said as she bit her lip. “Everything?”
Ansel chuckled as he started digging through drawers. He pulled out a red flannel button-down and tossed it over to her. “I hope in a good way. If you wanna shower you’re welcome. Those are the only clothes I have for you, I’m sorry to say. Unless you wanna try and belt some of my pants or something?” She shook her head. “Alright, then I’m gonna start on some breakfast.”
And then he was gone, out the room and she was left holding his shirt. She did take the shower. And it went a long way toward soothing away her nerves. The water was warm and the soap smelled like Ansel. And so did his shirt. She absolutely refused to wear dirty underwear, so unfortunately, she was naked underneath the button-down. But the dang thing went down almost past her knees, so it wasn’t that scandalous. She rolled and rolled the sleeves until they went up her arms. Ruby finger brushed her wet hair and decided to leave it loose for now.
When Ruby entered the kitchen, Ansel had half a stack of French toast already made and another stack on the burners.
He glanced up at her. Froze solid as his eyes traced over the shirt, her wet hair, her bare feet. He cleared his throat. “Take over for a minute?”
She nodded and he wasn’t gone long. Just long enough for her to finish the French toast. Long enough for him to come back, damp from a shower, a pair of jeans slung low over his hips.
Ansel slid into his seat and watched her carefully. Ruby sighed. She was being stiff and she knew it and the only way to fight it at this point would be to be as sweet as her body wanted her to be. The mild embarrassment she was fighting was coming from her, and her alone. Ansel was trying to put her at ease.
So it was with a deep breath and mild pep talk that Ruby opted for Ansel’s lap instead of a chair. It was just the way they’d sat last night at dinner. The smile he gave her went a long way toward soothing her nerves, as did the fact that his hands instantly banded around her waist.
She went to start eating, but thought better of it and turned toward him instead. One finger reached out and started tracing the black tattoo on his pec. A bear paw, she realized. It suited him. His muscle tightened underneath her ministrations.
“I’m nervous,” she whispered.
He tipped her chin up with one finger and caught her eye. “Why?”
“Because you’re so handsome and made me feel so, I don’t know, sexy?”
He grunted, a little smile on his lips.
“I’ve never really felt that way before,” she admitted.
He nodded.
“And I don’t know what happens next.” These words she said in a hurried rush, her eyes stubbornly on his tattoo, on her finger tracing and tracing it.
He doggedly tipped her chin again, his eyes finding hers. “What do you want to happen next?”
To not feel lonely anymore. To have some semblance of a normal life. To get her brother back. To get her brother back. To get her brother back. Ruby didn’t say any of that out loud. Instead she exhaled, long and low, and shifted gently in his lap. “Whatever normally happens next, I guess.”
Ansel chuckled and it sounded pained and joyful all at once. “Darlin’, we’re way beyond normal right now.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean I’ve never done anything like this either.”
“Wait,” her eyes narrowed. “You mean…”
He laughed. “Nah. I guess I just mean that,” he cleared his throat and shifted his hips underneath her, “well, to be honest… I’ve had feelings for you for a long time, Ruby Red.”
Ruby furrowed her brow. “Like you found me attractive?”
“Well, yes. But all the other stuff, too. You get me all, I don’t know. Wanting to see you. Wanting to be around you.”
Ruby wracked her brain; besides the renovations, they hadn’t had a ton of interactions over the years. Although, now that she thought about it, whenever they saw one another in town he was always coming over to talk with her for a minute or two. It was just that she’d barely been able to look at him then.
“From when you worked on the house?”
“Yeah.” He stroked a hand up and down her back. “I liked the way you were with Griff. Firm and funny and sweet all at once. And I liked that you were always straightening things up. Even my tools sometimes.”
Ruby blushed. She was definitely guilty of that.
“And I liked all your photos on the walls. And your voice. And your hair. I like the red you always wear. And the way you smell. And your eyes that you just started giving to me. And I like that on a weekend, you went to an aviary to take pictures. And I like that you asked to stay last night. I don’t know. I just have all these feelings for you. And I’ve never done this before. Touched and kissed on a woman I felt that for. So it’s not normal for me either.”
It was the longest she’d ever heard him talk all at once and each word melted her more and more.
“So,” she started slowly, her bottom lip between her teeth. “We’ll eat some breakfast.”
“Yeah. And then we’re gonna go over to that couch and fool around.”
“Okay,” she nodded, immediately turning to her food to start eating. Her reaction made Ansel grin but she didn’t see it. Something clicked into place. It wasn’t the moving forward that was making her nervous, it was the unknown that was making her nervous. The wheels turned and he realized exactly how he was going to proceed from here.
***
“Oh God,” Ruby whispered, her eyes heavy and almost closed as she whipped her head from side to side. It was two hours after breakfast and they were tangled on the floor of his living room. Ansel was on all fours over her, kissing along her neck, and one hand had just moved to the button-down shirt.
“I’m gonna unbutton this shirt, darlin’,” he told her, following his new plan of mapping everything out. “And then I’m finally gonna see what you’ve got under here.” He undid the top button and pressed a kiss to her lips. “And I’m gonna touch on you. And kiss you there.”
She moaned and her arms slid bonelessly from his neck to the floor. He clenched his jaw. She was so dang pretty it discombobulated him.
“Ansel,” she started as he unbuttoned the rest of the buttons but didn’t part the shirt. “I should tell you–” she cut off right as he brushed the halves of the shirt to the side and gave a full-bodied groan.
“No panties,” he growled, his eyes devouring her. “Christ fuck, no panties.”
He rolled to the side and threw an arm over his eyes.
Ruby couldn’t help the little lau
gh that exploded from her lips. Or the powerful feeling that rolled through her. Ansel Keto, humongous, electrifying Ansel Keto, had rolled to the floor when he saw her naked.
Ruby liked that. She liked it a lot. Over the last two hours he’d petted and talked her into a heated, purring puddle. He’d kept himself on a tight, controlled leash and Ruby wanted very badly to see what it was like when he was unhooked. Him groaning and covering his eyes was the closest to that she’d seen him and she wondered if she couldn’t tip him the rest of the way over the edge.
He laid on his back, the outline of his cock straining at his unbuttoned jeans. Ruby sat up, the shirt still on her arms but completely gaping open in the front. She quickly swung a foot over his hips and straddled him.
His arm instantly came off his face and his eyes went even darker when he saw what she was doing.
She thought about trying to say something sexy. Or teasing him about his reaction. But she found herself simply lifting one of his heavy hands and placing it on her chest, over her racing heartbeat.
Neither of them needed words after that. His hand cupped and weighed her breast, his thumb stroking over her nipple and making her tingle all the way to her toes. When he sat up and sucked her breast into his mouth, Ruby felt everything in her body pull instantly tight. She yanked at his hair and he groaned, his beard scraping her flesh in a hundred places at once.
He tugged and suckled at her breasts. His lips, his tongue, his teeth, he used absolutely everything. Ruby moaned when he pressed her breasts together and buried his face in the softness, groaning and biting.
The whole time she straddled him, her hips moved over top of the hardness she could feel under his jeans. Ruby was rising the way she had in bed last night, with his hand and her hand. She’d had that feeling before, knew what it was, of course; she wasn’t completely naive. But she’d never really tried on her own. She’d had a few dreams, of the steamy variety, that had led her to that result, but not nearly so explosive in the least.
But this? This realization that someone could do this to her body? She was amazed and thrilled by it. And she wanted nothing more than to explore it. With someone she trusted. Namely the blond giant she was currently grinding against on the floor.
Ansel groaned as she found a rhythm, riding him, her body tightening, heating, pulling deliciously tight. This girl was trouble. So much trouble. She was gonna make him blow in his pants like a kid. And even though he didn’t think she’d judge him for it, a man had to have standards.
He anchored a hand around her waist and rolled them so that he loomed over her again. Ansel planted one hand next to her ear and slid the other hand slowly up the inside of her thigh, dominating her eyes with his own. She wiggled underneath him like a rabbit in a trap.
“Ansel, I feel so funny,” she said, wiggling underneath him.
“How’s that, darlin’?” he asked, sucking for a second on her lips.
“I’m burning up and itchy and empty and– God!” She cut off when he traced his finger through the heat between her legs. Not enough to press inside, but just enough to really feel her.
Ansel’s eyes burned but his head sagged. Jesus. She was so wet for him. His cock grew about an inch, aching to be inside her.
“Oh, God,” she moaned, coming up on her elbows. “I think, I think I wanna have sex right now.”
He laughed a mirthless laugh and wondered what the hell God was torturing him for. “I’m gonna make you feel good, darlin’. Don’t you worry.”
He traced her pussy again with his middle finger but she was so snug and tight that he found he might hurt her if he pressed even a finger inside. Not a particularly subtle man, he dropped a kiss on her lips, reared back, pressed her knees apart, and buried his face between her legs. Ruby yelped and came full up to sitting, but Ansel, without looking up, pressed a firm hand on her chest and laid her back down.
She was the sweet-salty perfection of his dreams. Her slippery silk opened and bloomed against his lips and tongue and he could hear the ravenous grunting groans that were grating out of him, but he couldn’t stop them.
He loved how unstudied she was. Some women had a practiced, over-sexualized approach to receiving pleasure, and that was fine with Ansel; to each her own. But this? What Ruby was doing? Was blowing his absolute mind. Every gasp, every moan, every tremble of her flesh, tightening of her muscles, it was genuine, surprised, thrilled, and so responsive. He pressed forward and her legs parted even further for him. He sucked at her clit and one hand raked across his scalp, her back arched. He pressed his tongue, ever so slowly, inside her, and she sang his name.
Her first orgasm was as much for him as it was for her. He relished the way her body arched, her silent scream, her gasping, begging pants. It was the sexiest fucking thing he’d ever seen. Her second orgasm was accidental; he was simply pulsing his tongue inside her, pressing against the walls of her pussy, circling and circling, attempting to stretch her enough for his finger. He’d been surprised and thrilled when her walls had suddenly, almost violently started contracting around his tongue. Her heels had dug into his back before she’d whispered gibberish and fallen blankly back to the ground.
He’d stroked her back to life with her third orgasm. Slowly, patiently, and gently, knowing she was sensitive, he’d painted his tongue across her juicy flesh, eating her like a peach. Savoring every last suck. She built slowly, generously, and he could feel her legs shaking as it came on.
“Ansel,” she whispered, and there was trepidation in her voice. “I don’t know if I can.”
“Come on, darlin’,” he whispered against her clit. “Give it to me. Just give it to me.” And then he’d sucked and tongued her until her voice gave out. Her chest rose and fell in juddering gasps as she came down from an orgasm that had made her dizzy with its intensity.
She thought they were done. That she was done. That there couldn’t possibly be more. But then he was sitting up, his back against the couch and his legs spread. He dragged her against him, her back to his chest.
“I’m gonna try something here, darlin’,” he muttered in her ear. And that’s when she felt the solid, firm press of one of his fingers inside of her. Somehow her body came alive again as his finger made it all the way in, his thumb stroking her clit the entire time.
CHAPTER EIGHT
The next few days passed in a sweaty blur. They were the happiest and most torturous days of Ansel’s life. He was seriously worried for the health of his dick. Though Ansel was now extremely familiar with pretty much every inch of Ruby’s pretty little body, she’d yet to meet him below the waist. She’d tried a few times. But unsure of how he’d react to her touch, he’d held her at bay.
Especially right now, when he hadn’t let out his bear in days. It had been years since he’d gone this long and he could feel the animal rising within him. Honestly, he didn’t want to spend a second away from her, but he knew that he needed an outlet soon. All this rising, rising, rising tension for him was going to give him a heart attack.
So it was both sad and necessary when he kissed her goodbye on his front porch on Wednesday afternoon.
“I don’t want you to go,” he mumbled against her lips.
“I don’t either,” she sighed as he nuzzled against her ear. “But I’ve completely gone dark on my work projects. And besides. We have to come up for air.”
He knew she was right. But now that the moment was here, he was terrified of letting her out of his sight. Everything had been so perfect, so intimate, for the last four days. He didn’t want to let her go.
“But what about the warm blanket of happiness that you were talking about. Are we risking it?”
Ruby smiled and let him sway her forward so her weight was against his chest. “I don’t think so. I think four solid days was enough flower watering that we can stand a few hours apart.”
Ansel cleared his throat. “A few hours?”
“Oh,” Ruby blushed. “I was gonna invite you to sleep over tonight, but
if–”
“Yes,” he cut in immediately. “I’ll be there at 8.”
She smiled at his immediate acceptance of her invitation. He just knew how to make her feel good. “Alright. I’ll have dinner for you.”
He smiled, kissing her once more and walking her to the car. Ansel watched her drive away before he turned and jogged immediately into the woods that surrounded his house. He ripped his clothes off and left them one by one on the ground, not caring if he ever saw them again. As a rule, he and his siblings never shifted during the day, but this was an absolute emergency. The second his pants were off, the air around him went syrupy and wavy and Ansel exploded into his golden bear, a faster shift than he’d ever done before. He took off through the woods, sprinting and barreling up toward the most remote part of the mountain. He paused just long enough to sniff heavily at the air. He caught a whiff of a few humans on the far side of the next mountain over. He smelled that mama black bear maybe two miles away. But that was it. He was alone.
And if he was seeing her in just a few more hours, he needed to work some of this tension off. He wished Milla was here. She would beat the shit out of him and really make him relax.
But instead, he realized he needed to swim. Swimming in bear form was the fastest way to wear himself out, no question. He found the river in no time and swam methodically upstream for two solid hours before he began to feel like himself again. The zinging, viral energy that had built over the last four days began to subside. And as it did, another feeling started to creep in.
A sleepy feeling. Hypnotic and dozy. Ansel realized that he’d swum so far, he’d gone all the way to Ruby’s lagoon, where Griff had disappeared. Ansel dropped his massive paws onto the river bank and clawed his way up, huffing back onto his haunches. He stared at the waterfall where Griff had disappeared. He was far enough away that he could easily resist the pull of it. But there was an undeniable gravity about this place.
He stayed there for a long time. Thinking. He knew, without a doubt, that what he wanted was to make Ruby happy. He also knew that Ruby’s happiness could only go so far without her brother.
