“To catch right off. Women of thirty-three take an average of six months to conceive.” Despite her racing heart, she kept her voice clinical.
He answered her by putting his nose behind her ear and breathing deeply. “You’re going home pregnant,” he said calmly. “You’re in season.”
She laughed and pushed his face away. “Women don’t have seasons!”
“Bears do. It’s spring. I’m your mate. You’re ovulating right this second.”
“You can’t possibly know that!” She began to laugh harder.
He just shook his head and brought her hand to his mouth. “Laura Bascom, will you marry me?” he asked.
“I thought I had already agreed to.”
He just waited, smiling slightly.
“Yes, Steve I will marry you.” It felt important once she had said it, as if something irrevocable had occurred.
He kissed her fingers again and then her mouth softly. “Can I undress you?” he asked.
She swallowed hard. This was the part she dreaded. She sure wished she had put on her fancy bra and panties this morning. “Sure,” she said, but even to her, her voice sounded strained.
He began by taking her hairpins out and running his fingers through her hair until it lay in ringlets on her shoulders. “You have such beautiful hair,” he said holding it to his nose.
His big hands rubbed the tops of her shoulders and all the way down her arms, his thumbs smoothing little circles as if he had nothing better to do than to feel her muscles. He stopped at her cuffs and undid the snaps before tracing the same path up to her collarbones. He kissed her mouth and waited until she opened hers before he opened his. He lured her tongue inside his mouth to explore.
She felt the snaps at the front of her western style shirt pop open and those calloused fingertips moved reverently over her skin.
“Mmm,” he murmured appreciatively into her mouth. He hummed his pleasure and the vibrations in her tongue shot all the way to her pussy which clenched in anticipation. But Steve was agonizingly slow. She didn’t have a lot of experience, only Mark and Chester. But this leisurely kissing and touching felt nothing like the hasty groping that had preceded the main event before.
Only Steve didn’t seem to realize that he was preparing her for his pleasure, he seemed to think that fondling her and murmuring her name, and telling her she was beautiful with his hands, was so important that he had to take his time. It felt like being groomed.
She had spent her life around big horses. Currycombing Dakota wasn’t something she rushed through. She liked grooming her gelding. And he liked it too. He would nibble her hair and blow down her neck to signal his appreciation. Of course, brushing Dakota didn’t feel sexual. But she loved her horse, and combing the tangles from his mane and tail, and making sure he had no ticks or dirt in his coat, was how she showed it.
Something tight inside her that she hadn’t been aware of holding let go. Laura relaxed and gave herself up to Steve’s unhurried caresses and sensual kisses.
* * *
He felt the moment when Laura relaxed and trusted him. They were both aroused and had been for ages. He was hanging on to his self-control by his fingertips. But he needed his mate to feel her beauty. To feel like the sexiest woman on the planet. He needed her to realize that love made sex better.
Not that he had any personal experience of love making sex great. But when even the sternest of his uncles freely admitted that making love to your mate was the difference between twelve-year-old Scotch and moonshine, he listened. And it was true. He had never in his life reined in his desires so completely to make sure everything was perfect for his partner. Enjoyable had always seemed good enough. But Laura deserved perfection their first time.
He eased her blouse off her shoulders and down her arms. And then he was looking at her tits in their supportive bra. Well, Laura’s pair could rock an ace bandage. He made himself tease the skin at the very upper edge of that plain white bra when he wanted to grab and squeeze. He followed that satiny skin along the strap and down her shoulder. His mouth left a damp trail of kisses on the right side before he moved to the left.
“Touch me,” she begged, and he let his fingers lightly circle her stiff nipples through the jersey.
“May I take your bra off?” he asked.
“Yes, my god, yes.” Her voice was hoarse from panting.
It came off in his hands leaving those pink and white glories exposed to his gaze. Laura’s cheeks were pink and her blue eyes unfocused.
“May I kiss them?” he teased.
She pulled his head down and he buried his nose in the fragrant valley between her breasts where her scent was richest. Her soft skin was moist with dew and she was writhing beneath his tongue. He licked each areola and blew gently on it to make it pucker even more tightly. When both red berries were as hard as kisses could make them, he sucked first one and then the other until she stiffened and he felt the convulsions when he pressed between her legs.
Her thighs gripped his fingers as she came and he let them linger on the damp place he had made.
“Can I take your jeans off?” he asked.
She stiffened. “You’re still dressed,” she accused.
“So I am.” He popped all the snaps on his shirt with one rough pull.
Her fingers took the edges and pulled the shirt off. She buried her fingertips in the curls she found on his chest and it was his turn to purr. As she hunted through his fur seeking his nipples, he unbuttoned and unzipped his jeans and yanked them down.
“Let me,” she said and tugged them to his ankles so he could kick free. Her eyes widened flatteringly when she saw his tented shorts.
He slid his thumbs in the waistband and kept his eyes on hers as he slowly lowered them. Unfortunately, the fabric caught on his erection and he had to fiddle. She giggled and covered her mouth with her hands. That action brought her lovely breasts together and he licked his lips. Her pupils expanded until the vivid blue was barely there. She lay down and leaned back on the pillows, and extended her arms to him.
He knelt on the bed and stalked up to her. She giggled. A happy, celebratory noise. Appropriate for a joyful occasion. He left her panties on as he pulled her jeans off. And then she was lying there before him with dark blonde curls peeping out the edges of her plain, white cotton briefs. He covered her mound with his hand.
“Beautiful,” he said. “May I taste you, darling?”
Her legs fell open and he kissed her between them. Her panties were soaking wet and smelled deliciously of aroused Laura. The world’s most enticing aroma. He remembered she would have to wear them home, so he eased them off. Her delta was a thickly curled golden garden. Her labia were a deep swollen maroon. He buried his nose in her curls and inhaled. Ambrosia.
Her clit was stiff and the hood retracted. He made his tongue as lax as possible when he began to lap, but even so, she was already too sensitized and squirmed away from the gentle pressure. He contented himself with lapping at her slick petals and probing the entrance to her body.
“I’m going to come again,” she wailed holding his hair hard.
He couldn’t tell if she was trying to make him stop or urging him on. But with his mouth full of Laura, he couldn’t talk either. He couldn’t see how another climax would hurt her. He wanted her to drown in pleasure. He nibbled his way along her outer lips and then switched to the tenderest of kisses on the engorged inner lips. He made a hard rod of his tongue and thrust into her passage. She splintered and he sat back on his heels and watched her face as she came.
Her mouth was a quivering ‘O’ and her keening cry an indistinguishable shriek of pure ecstasy. He waited until she was recovering, her breasts and chest and face flushed a deep rose. “May I?” he asked, waving his cock at her.
“Yes, yes, yes.”
Plunging home was the most wonderful experience in his life. Her passage instantly began to convulse again, around his shaft this time. He thrust once, twice. She gripped him with h
er thighs. Her mouth sought him with urgency and she sucked hard on his tongue. She wrapped her arms around his sweating shoulders and held on tightly. He bellowed into her hair as he flooded her depths with every drop of semen he could manage.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
The shadows in the little bedroom were long but it was still light out when Laura’s eyes flickered open. She was curled against Steve and everywhere they touched was damp. Even though the evening breeze through the window was chilly, she did not move. She cuddled a little closer and enjoyed the sense of belonging.
She had no doubt that when Steve woke up he would want to go shower or get moving. It had been an amazing experience to make love with him. Have sex, she reminded herself sternly. She couldn’t tell what game he was playing, but it seemed unlikely that he had no agenda. Everyone had an agenda. Everyone. Steve was no different.
Except he had a unique way with sex. It was all about foreplay. She had heard of men who delighted in it. How could she not have? But until now, extensive foreplay had seemed to be in the realm of fantasy. What guy would want to spend as much time stroking and tasting a woman, as Steve had spent on her? Either a gigolo or her own true love.
It seemed unlikely that rugged, hardworking Steve Holden was a gigolo. But it also seemed madly unlikely that he had taken one look at fat, no-nonsense Laura Bascom and decided she was the loveliest of women. How plausible was that?
Laura knew she wasn’t beautiful. She had a fat face and her arms were thick cylinders of solid muscle. How could it be otherwise when she worked all day, every day at heavy physical tasks? She had long ago realized that the ideal of slender, permanently-defined muscles was unachievable for her.
She had found that most people who had big muscles that looked the same at rest or in use were not strong in a useful way. They could not work all day and still have something left for the evening chores. A woman who fatigued when her tight and ropy muscles got a workout, was not going to have the stamina needed to run a ranch.
But even though her body was covered with supple muscle, she jiggled. Her breasts were large and drooped when she removed her bra. She remembered how Steve’s eyes had lit up when he uncovered them. Surely he couldn’t have faked that?
And his cock had been hard from the moment they sat together on the couch until he had put himself inside her. The memory of that big, hard shaft scouring the sensitive mouth of her vagina overwhelmed her with renewed arousal.
As if her thoughts had woken him, Steve stirred and reached for her. He kissed her softly on mouth and cheeks and followed the line of her jaw to her earlobe which he suckled hungrily.
“Hmm,” he rumbled into her skin. His big hand found a breast. He palmed it and held it possessively. “Anything you need to do, darlin?” he asked.
What could he mean? She was so stunned, it took a moment for her to realize that he meant did she need to use the facilities. Of course, she did. Only that meant getting up and walking away with his eyes on all her wobbly bits. But she couldn’t stay here needing to pee. And wasn’t it better to know the worst before she married him?
She tugged at the sheet, but it was anchored by his big body. Steve chuckled. “Don’t be shy, sweetheart. I like your body.”
He tucked his hands behind his head and leered at her. His expression was so avid that she almost felt pretty. But it was so obviously put on that she had to remember it was all part of an act. She sucked her tummy in and scurried out of the room.
A glance in the bathroom mirror showed her that her hair was a tousled, frowzy mess. Her body looked pudgy and blotchy. And surely that was a hickey under her left breast. She had never had such a thing before. When had he done that? He had been so gentle, she would not have believed that he had marked her in any way.
He was outside the bathroom door, splendid in his bare skin, his cock as rampant as if they had not been going at it like teenagers for hours. He kissed her. “I won’t be long, love,” he promised.
She got into the bed and pulled up the covers, wondering if he meant she should dress so they could leave. This was no rent-by-the hour place, but neither of them was prepared for an overnight stay. And Carlos and Daddy would be wondering where the hell she was. She leapt out of bed and searched her jeans for her cell.
“I texted your dad and Mr. D. to say we were delayed,” Steve said from the doorway. His eyes twinkled lasciviously at her. “I said we would miss evening stables altogether.” He advanced on her and took the phone from her hand. “I think we have time to play some more.”
His mouth tasted of mint. So he too had brushed his teeth with his finger and the toothpaste in the bathroom cabinet. He hauled her hard against his hairy body. The dark curls on his chest and the ones on his six-pack tickled her belly and breasts. He took her hand off his bicep and put it over his erection which was pressed up against his thicket.
“Wanna be on top this time?” he asked.
She did. Oh, she did. Only she wasn’t sure exactly how. She nodded and wondered how to make it work.
“Forward or backwards?” he asked.
“What?”
He chuckled into the top of her head and picked her up by the waist as if she were thistledown, instead of six feet of hefty woman. He brought her face to his and kissed her before he spoke. “You can face me, or face my feet,” he said. “First one is friendlier, because we can see each other. Second one might give you more pleasure.”
“Facing,” she said her throat tightening. It sounded enticing. But it was just proof that he had shared a lot more beds than she had. He was bound to discover she had no moves at all.
He lifted her so her open pussy rubbed against his furry abs. “Put your legs around me,” he said.
She clamped her thighs around his waist wondering if they were going to do it standing up. She gulped. She didn’t feel ready for this. But he sat down on the edge of the bed and lifted her by her buttocks. His big hands gripped her globes and held her above his straining dripping cock. Pleasure sparked from his hands all through her body. Her nipples tightened and he licked them.
“Are you ready?” he asked, as if he had not spent two hours priming her earlier.
She felt disappointed, but she was wet and slick and her pussy ached for him. She nodded.
“Can you do it?” he asked. His arms bulged and his tattoos expanded. His hands did not shake, but his voice was urgent and hoarse.
She groped for his cock and its thickness was too much for her hand to encircle. How the hell had it fit inside her before?
“Part yourself,” he instructed, “And I’ll let you down nice and slow.”
She separated her folds and guided him into her. True to his word, he let her down so slowly only the most sensitive first inch of her inner tissues enveloped his sensitive glans. He shuddered as her entrance tightened hard. “More?” he groaned.
“Yes,” her voice was husky.
He let her down another quarter inch and lifted her back up again. The next descent was even slower, but she had her feet on the mattress and had a little purchase. “Are you ready to canter?” she asked.
“Have mercy, sweetheart,” he begged. “Anything but cantering.” His face was hard and glistened with sweat.
She laughed, feeling powerful and feminine. “I want to ride you, cowboy,” she said distinctly and bore down. He slipped in almost to the hilt. She levered herself upright, feeling strong and sexy. Steve’s groans were muffled by her forehead.
He let her control the pace. The muscles of her thighs and calves were inured to hours in the saddle, and she set a brisk cadence that excited her. The pleasure was stronger this time than before. Her passage was rippling and threatening to finish but she suppressed her climax wanting to drag this out.
Steve’s broad shoulders were wet and she could smell him in the room. A raw, male essence of Steve Holden compounded of musk, masculine sweat, and some intangible extra something.
He whispered into her ear. “I’m done sweetheart. I can’t h
old off.” She tightened her passage rhythmically and sank down all the way so their deltas tangled and blended. He filled her a second time and toppled sideways taking her with him.
“Lord have mercy, Laura,” he said into her hair. “I’m a dead man.” His eyes shut and his hands relaxed completely and he was instantly asleep.
His flaccid babymaker slipped out of her passage. Some half-remembered fact came back to her. It was important to stay supine after insemination to insure that conception happened. Was lying on her side good enough? She fell asleep facing him before she had decided.
* * *
She still wasn’t too sure of him, Steve decided after a sideways glance at Laura’s pensive face. She was wondering what that little episode at the motel meant. It meant that they were married was what it meant. Just as if they had actually got to the courthouse.
He sniffed deeply. She was still ovulating. Twins ran in his family as well as hers. His sister had been stillborn, but he too had been a twin. Laura’s lost twin was a constant and deeply felt grief. But maybe they could both heal if their baby was a two-fer.
But one cub or six, it was all the same really. He would love whatever they wound up with. And he knew that his mom and dad would want to be grandparents to his children, just as they already were to his sisters Cassie and Emma’s kids. Laura was going to have her family circle expanded by a whole new clan. His woman was going to have to come to terms with her repressed inner bear.
It was an astonishment to him that she had no appreciation of how intoxicating she was. How could she not think that her lush body and beautiful features added up to loveliness? Those assholes in college had done a number on her for sure. It made old Clive’s decision to throw his great-granddaughter into the arms of a fortune hunter remarkably cruel. Too bad the old SOB was not around to be dealt with appropriately.
Not that he had any moral high ground left to stand atop, himself. When he had come into Denver last week, he had provided a DNA sample to Thompson, Thompson and Willis. He had had his sperm count checked, like he was only a goddamned sperm donor. He was as bad as that old fart, taking Clive’s money when he despised him.
Bear Pause (BBW / Bear Shifter Romance): A Billionaire Oil Bearons Romance (Bear Fursuits Book 6) Page 12
