by Reina Torres
Before she could think, she lifted her hand to touch him and froze when the bear turned to look at it.
She held her breath, sinking her own teeth into her bottom lip for a moment to ease her nerves.
The bear followed the movement with his eyes.
“Can… can I touch you?”
The bear chuffed and she smiled when he turned his head into her hand. She splayed her fingers through his fur, feeling the heady sensation of touching this powerful animal, and having him lean into her touch.
“Goodness,” she lifted her other hand and saw the bear look at the bandage on her arm. He lifted his head and she saw the question in his eyes. “I'm okay. Relax, will you?”
As she said the words, she saw his eyes narrow on her, the expression so familiar she felt tears welling up in her eyes. “Oh, Salvatore, I can't believe it's you! But those eyes,” she laughed and leaned forward until her forehead touch the bear’s sloping brow, “it’s you inside.”
She felt him lean closer, it was only a gentle pressure when he could so easily crush her. Sliding her hands into the thick fur at his neck, she pulled him closer.
Turning her head to the side, she drew in a long breath and sighed. She didn't know what she expected him to smell like, but her senses were filled with the mountains and grass and meadows brimming with wildflowers. She could almost smell the sun on her face.
She felt heat trace her skin, warming her inside and out to a fever pitch. She didn't just tremble with him in her arms.
She burned.
He groaned, a sound that was mostly human, and Natale felt his skin under her hands, the pressure of his lips against the column of her throat.
Her eyes opened on a gasp and she found herself looking at Salvatore, human and perfectly naked. That was the moment she developed a new appreciation for the medium of sculpting. Staring at every gorgeous angle of his body and the stretch of skin over muscle, she ached to touch him again.
“Salvatore,” she reached out and hooked her hand around the back of his neck, tugging him closer, needing to feel his whole body against hers, “don’t make me wait any longer.”
He didn’t give in to her unspoken request. Salvatore wanted to cover her body with his, but he wasn’t ready to, not just yet. Turning his head, he tugged her hand away from his neck. He placed a kiss on the inside of her wrist and felt her body sigh against his lips.
Opening his mouth, he grazed her skin with his teeth, holding her securely as the muscles in her arm tightened and released. He turned his head and brushed the sensitive spot with the rough scratch of his beard.
“Oh,” she moved closer to the edge of the bed, leaning toward him, “that tickles.” And yet, she didn’t pull away, she moved closer.
Hooking his fingers into her waistband, he tugged her to the edge of the bed until her legs slid over the side, setting her feet on the floor. His hands reached for the buttons of her blouse, tugging at each in turn.
He saw Natale look down at his progress, blocking his view.
He grumbled under his breath, struggling with one of the army of tiny pearl-like buttons that had looked so lovely marching down the front of her blouse, but now only served to torture him. All he wanted to do, was remove them and her blouse as quickly as he could.
“Then do it,” he heard Natale’s breathless voice, felt it on his hands. When she looked up at him, he saw the bright fever in her eyes. “Do it, Salvatore.”
And he knew he had to, because she wanted it as much as he did. The buttons didn’t rip free of the fabric under his hands, just the fabric, and the scream-like sound of silk splitting in two had them both breathless.
He reached for the clasp of her bra and she pulled way, reaching for the light on the table, her fingers almost touching the cord dangling from the stand. “No, Natale.”
She stopped moving and looked up at him with an entreaty in her eyes. “Please, let me-”
“I want to see you.”
Natale hesitated. “I don’t want you to see me. I don’t want you to regret-”
“You don’t have to hide from me,” he promised her. “You never have to.”
He heard the words in her head, just as if she'd spoken them aloud. There were many people in the world, too many of them, who didn't understand real beauty. They looked for a narrow slice of nature and ignored the true loveliness that surrounded them. Certainly not the beauty right before their eyes if they didn’t see Natale’s true worth.
He wasn’t going to make the same mistake.
She moved her hand away from the lamp, but didn’t set it down. Instead, she took hold of the clasp at the front of her bra and with a twist of her fingers opened it.
Natale looked up into his eyes as she rolled her shoulders back and let the straps of her bra slide down her arms, falling to the bed behind her. She tugged at her waistband, struggling to push her pants down over her hips while she was still seated, but he was more than happy to help.
“Here,” he tucked his fingers in her waistband and leaned forward, “lift up.” He gave her a smile, pleased that he hadn’t scared her away. She set her hands by her sides and lifted her hips from the bed.
A moment later he was peeling her pants down and dropping them on the floor at his feet.
He saw the uncertainty in her eyes and shook his head. “When you’re with me, Natale, the last thing you need to feel is hesitation. Tell me what you want.” He meant it. Whatever she wanted, he would find a way to give it to her.
She opened her lips to answer him and his body tensed, hardened, needed to touch her.
“I want you to come to bed, Salvatore. Show me what I almost lost tonight.” He saw her take in a breath that drew his eyes to her full breasts. “Show me what I have to live for.”
He couldn’t resist her.
He knew he never would.
He crawled up onto the bed, using the opportunity to brush his bare skin against hers as much as he could. His arm against the side of her breast, his thigh slipping between her legs, the heavy caress of his erection against her hip. He heard a soft moan pass her lips as he leaned down and breathed in her plea.
“Please,” she wrapped her arms around his chest, sliding her calf over the back of his knee, drawing him closer to her heat, “love me.”
“Closer,” his lips traveled along her jaw before pressing against the sensitive skin under her ear, “I need you closer.”
Natale dug her fingers into his back, her leg lifting higher, until her knee pressed against the taut curve of his backside. “Is that better?” She didn’t even wait for him to answer. “Because it’s not close enough for me.”
He drew his hand up from the bed and over her hip and down between her legs. She rolled her hips toward him, pressing into his palm.
Natale must have heard the question in his head, shaking her head from side to side. “Not close enough.”
“Then I’ll need to get closer still.” Salvatore smiled and he knew that the way his lips pulled back from his teeth, it was nearly a feral grin, felt the prick of his fangs against the inside of his lip. The blood that touched his tongue only made him hungrier, for her.
Leaning down, his lips closed over the base of her neck where it met her shoulder, his tongue swirling over the tender skin there. “One day, Natale,” he felt her body tense against his, shivering at the heavy sweep of his tongue, “when you decide that you’re mine, forever,” he drew a fang over her flesh and heard her breathless sigh reach his ears, “I’m going to mark you here.”
“Yes,” she turned her head to give him more access to her skin, “yes.”
“But for now,” he growled against her shoulder, his lips moving lower inch by inch, “I’m going to enjoy learning what makes you tremble.”
He brushed his cheek against the side of her breast, turning his head slowly to tease her skin with the crisp brush of his beard. Her back arched as his lips parted, and when she gasped in a breath his lips closed gently over her nipple.
&nb
sp; “More,” she swallowed and he felt the movement shiver through her body, “that and more, please.”
He smiled and laved his tongue over the plump flesh in his mouth.
She grabbed at the back of his head, holding him tight to her breast, her other hand scored lines on his back.
Salvatore continued his loving attention to her body, tasting the sensitive valley between her breasts before closing over the other peak. When he tasted her skin, his bear roared in frustration, wanting to end their wait as soon as they could. He fought the beast back, determined that Natale would be the one to decide when he would finally find his release.
The bear sank its claws into their bond, shooting pain through his body, but Salvatore didn’t waver. He wanted his mate happy and he was going to take her over first. And to that end, he drew her deeper into his mouth and rolled his tongue against her nipple, lightly sinking his teeth into the sweet curve of her breast as he parted her curls with his fingertips.
Natale’s shoulders lifted off the bed, her hands tightening on him, digging into his skin.
He moved his fingers against her tender flesh and felt her heat coat his skin. “Close enough?” He wanted to wait for an answer, but he knew what it would be.
His finger slid into her warmth, pressing against her soft inner-walls. She arched against his hand, a cry tearing free from her lips. It felt like she was struggling to free herself at the same time she was trying to pull him deeper into her body.
“Yes,” she sobbed, “no.”
He lifted his head, his body going still in a heartbeat. “Natale?”
It took her a moment to slow her breath, to open her eyes, but when she did, she easily focused on his face and he saw frustration written plainly on her face. “Why did you stop?”
“I had to,” he struggled to put his thoughts into words, “you said no.”
Her eyes closed for a moment, her lips pressing together into a thin pale line as she pondered something. When they opened again, they flashed with a sharp emotion. “I meant,” she groaned, “that you weren’t close enough. Not nearly close enough.”
Before he could say a word, she shifted slightly beneath him and reached into the nightstand beside her bed. Natale lifted her hand up until it was just a few inches from his nose and peeled her fingers back. Spread on her palm was a trio of foil-wrapped condoms.
He felt his bear bristle with anticipation, hunkering down for the challenge ahead. Salvatore met her eyes with a hungry growl in his voice. “Three?”
Her eyes darkened as she rubbed her body against his, creating the most delicious friction between them. “I have more,” she darted a glance at the drawer.
There were no words for how he felt for the woman beneath him. He’d been searching for her for years, wondering how he’d ever find a woman who matched him in every way.
Having her there, wanting him, made him feel truly invincible.
And completely vulnerable.
And he wouldn’t have it any other way.
He knew they didn’t need the condom, not for safety when it came to her health. Shifters didn’t have those problems like humans did, but knowing she was the woman he was fated to love, he knew that babies were a real possibility and this wasn’t the time. Not until he knew she was safe.
He leaned down, took the edge of the wrapper in his teeth, and when he looked down at her he held the challenge in his eyes.
Natale smiled, her widening grin baring her teeth. Dropping the other packets to the bed, she reached up and grabbed the edge between her fingers and ripped it open.
“I need you closer, Salvatore.” She didn’t let go of his eyes as he smoothed the condom over his thick length. “I need you inside me.”
He shifted above her, crouching between her legs as he drew her body closer. When he felt the heat of her body envelop him, he closed his eyes and sank slowly into her body until she’d stolen his breath as well as his heart.
Natale shifted beneath him a few moments later and he opened his eyes to see her staring back at him, her lips parted in long, shuddering sigh.
Salvatore moved, just a little twist of his hips and she drew in another breath. “Well, Principessa,” he goaded her with his tone as much as his words, “is that close enough?”
She shifted under him, drawing him deeper. “More.”
He reached over her head, taking hold of the headboard with one hand, the other fisting in the sheet at her side. “I’m going to give you everything I have,” he told her, his voice rough in his throat, “everything, Natale.”
Her hands caressed his chest as he began to move, her eyes focusing on his face as her lips parted in a gasp at his first hard stroke. In no time at all they were both lost in each other.
Chapter Ten
By lunchtime the next day, the Durante workroom was abuzz with conversation and an energy that had everyone moving a little faster, smiling a little more.
It had everything to do with their leader.
Natale couldn’t help the smile on her face.
Just as the crew broke for lunch, Natale started to walk toward the front of the room, only to have Ericka snag her by the arm and march her back into her office. The leggy woman didn’t even bother to close the door before she nailed her friend with a look and dug right in.
“Details! I want- no,” she shook her head, “I need details!”
Shrugging her shoulders, Natale saw her friend’s eyes widen in a stare. “What?”
Ericka narrowed her gaze at Natale, searching her friend’s face for a clue.
Natale had been the recipient of that stare many times over the years and let the intent perusal roll of her back. Folding her arms over her chest she leaned back against her desk and winced.
“Oh My Goodness! You didn’t!” Ericka pointed a finger at her friend. “You did!”
Turning her head, Natale looked away with a lopsided grin tugging at the corner of her mouth. The motion moved her loose curls back over her shoulder, baring the pale bit of her neck visible over the top of her Oriental banded collar.
Natale squeaked out a gasp when Ericka grabbed her arms and leaned in to look at her neck. She tried to move away, but Ericka wasn’t having any of it. “Oh no you don’t, Missy!” Holding her still, Ericka lifted one hand and tugged the edge of the collar down. “You have a hickey!”
She could tell by Ericka’s shrewd look that her friend was expecting her to try to deny it. Instead, Natale gave her oldest friend a wink and gave her another little tidbit of information. “I have more than one.”
Ericka was one of those people who kept her heart securely in her chest instead of on her sleeve, but her thoughts were suddenly on display as if Natale could watch the gears turning in her head. It was fun, really. Normally, Ericka was the one shocking Natale with her scandalous comments and outrageous innuendos, but it was finally Natale’s turn to shock her friend.
Shifting her weight from one foot to the other, Natale couldn’t stifle the groan that worked its way up from her hips and brought back the most amazing memories of the night, and that morning.
“You minx!” Ericka laughed, a full-throated hearty sound, that had them both grinning from ear to ear. “You got some!” She whistled and then grabbed her friend in a breath-stealing hug. “I’m so proud of you!”
Natale hugged her right back and leaned in to answer back with. “I got… a lot.”
Ericka pulled back slightly and nodded with approval. “One of the stitchers thought you’d twisted your ankle or something. I thought you were walking a little stiff, but I had my suspicions.” She sobered a bit and searched Natale’s eyes. “Last night, I was so worried!”
Natale felt a little of her good humor drain from her body as tears prickled on her lashes. As much as she’d been working on a high, memories of her stupidity flooded into her head, rocking her back and left her off balance. “I’m sorry I didn’t call you after.”
“Valerio called, and let me tell you,” she could tell tha
t Ericka was forcing a smile into her tone, “that sexy growl of his is the only thing that saved you from me knocking on your door in the wee hours of the morning.”
Natale flushed. “You could knock all you want, but I wouldn't have answered.” She reached out and gently touched Ericka’s cheek with her fingertips. “But I need to thank you for coming back to the workroom. If you hadn't-”
“Hey now,” Ericka forced out a laugh. Natale knew her too well to think it was real. “No sobbing or teary moments, okay? I don't have waterproof eyeliner and being around models is hard enough on my psyche.” She let out a sigh. “I'm just glad I listened to my intuition and turned around.” Turning slightly, Ericka leaned against Natale’s desk beside her friend. “What was so important about that list from storage? You're not using them for the show and,” she cocked her head to the side, “you didn't even write the list. That squiggly-little handwriting was Caprice’s wasn't it?”
Natale could feel Ericka get worked up over the idea. She leaned her shoulder against her friend’s. “Look, I don't want to argue. I know the two of you don't really get along-”
“Get along?” Ericka scoffed at the idea. “We’re about as copacetic as Mrs. Weasley and Beatrix le Strange.”
Natale felt a silent chuckle shake her shoulders. “And who am I in this analogy?”
Ericka stared at her, wide-eyed. “Ginny, of course!” She sighed. “Your cousin isn't exactly cheering you on, sweetie. You need to let her get her own things if she needs them. You have a show to put on,” she looked down at the daily calendar on the desk, “and two more days to do it in. Caprice is a big girl, and your older cousin, let her sink or swim on her own. You know,” Ericka leaned closer and gave Natale a loud smooch on her cheek, “she wouldn't lift a finger to help you.”
Ericka pushed away from the desk and headed for the door.
Natale shook her head, silently agreeing with her friend. “Ericka?”
