by Liv Brywood
His powerful thrusts impale me on his rigid shaft. Bronzed skin glistens as the moon rises over the mountains. Blood pounds through my veins as his feral need takes over. He flips me over and rolls me onto my belly. He grabs my hips and pulls me back until I’m on all fours. He thrust inside, pulling me to my knees. His hands cup my breasts. His fingers scrape my nipples. I tremble against him.
He scrapes his teeth across my shoulder. I lean my head to one side, exposing my neck. He sucks and licks and nibbles the edge of my throat.
When he growls, I know he’s close. His thrusts become frantic. My clit throbs as his balls slap against it. The smoldering heat in my core spreads like wildfire, whipping through me like a fiery tornado until he reaches around to stroke my clit.
I scream, convulsing against him as he strums my orgasm into a crescendo of ecstasy. He joins me with one final deep thrust before he falls forward, mashing me into the bed. His cock twitches, filling me with his seed. I’m glad I’m on birth control and that shifters don’t have to worry about disease, because I love the feel of his cum in my pussy.
We lay like that until he rolls over. He’s face down; his face is buried in the bed. I gently stroke his shoulders.
“Are you okay?” I whisper.
“Yeah.” He turns his head and reaches his hand toward me. I interlock my fingers with his and kiss his knuckles one by one. “Stay with me.”
I nod. Nothing he could say would make me leave his side, but I’m glad he wants me to stay with him.
As we cuddle under the sheets, I smile. He’s scared and skittish, but he’s allowing himself to be vulnerable. We have two weeks to see if we’re a potential match. It’s not long, but I’m confident I’ll know exactly where I stand at the end. If nothing else, I’ll know I’ve done everything I can to try to find a mate.
Chapter 6
Jagger
I wake up the next morning to find Angela in the kitchen. She’s humming and making huckleberry pancakes. My bear’s instantly alert to its favorite food. I don’t know where she got the berries, but I don’t think I want to know. The thought of her wandering off again makes my hair stand on end.
“Good morning,” she calls over her shoulder. “Coffee’s ready and I have some bacon on the counter over there. I don’t know how you like your eggs.”
“Uh, fried is good.” I’m too stunned to come up with anything else. She couldn’t have been up longer than maybe thirty minutes, yet she already has breakfast almost done. That’s magic in my book.
I zombie-walk to the coffee pot and pour a big, steaming cup. I add a little cream and sugar before sitting on a stool. Normally I’d sit at the breakfast nook, but I want to watch her. She’s wearing a silky robe which clings to every curve. Although we made love most of the night, my body stirs. I’ve never met anyone like her. I can’t get enough.
It’s terrifying.
I avert my gaze, looking out at the snow-covered forest. It feels like winter again. We can’t go outside for very long, so I need to come up with some other way to keep her entertained today. She seemed to like the library, so maybe we could hang out there and read books today.
“Fried to a crisp,” she says as she slides two eggs onto a plate. She adds a stack of huckleberry pancakes and some bacon before carrying it to the breakfast table. “Is it okay if we eat in here?”
“Sure.”
I slide off the stool and take a seat. She leans forward to move the plate in front of me. The slight motion sets her breasts swaying against the fabric. The outline of her nipples is so enticing that all I can do is ogle her.
“Eyes up here,” she says in a playful tone. “As much as I’d love to let you throw me down on this table, I’m still recovering from last night.”
I grin as she sashays back into the kitchen.
“Well, if you can’t handle all of this hotness,” I say.
“Don’t let your ego get too big. For someone out of practice, you did pretty good.”
I burst out laughing. She flashes a smile before cracking two eggs into the frying pan. They sizzle in the left-over bacon grease. It’s exactly how I like to cook my eggs. Why waste all that flavor?
I shake my head in wonder. She’s amazing. Almost too perfect. It makes me circle back to my original concern—if she’s so great, then why is she single?
“So, have you been dating a lot recently?” I ask casually.
“My last date was almost two years ago.”
“Why did you go so long between dates?”
“Honestly? I got burned out on meeting new people.” She sets her plate on the table and takes the chair across from me. Her robe slips open enough to give me a great view of the curve of her breast. Not the whole thing, just the edge. Just enough to make me want to strip her bare.
“What made you decide to try again?” I ask.
“My friend Talia told me about Gerri. She said if anyone can find me a mate, she can. I met her in LA and told her what I was looking for. A brooding lumberjack who wasn’t ready for a relationship.”
“What?” I’m mid-chew, so I quickly slap my jaw closed.
She winks and chomps the edge off of a piece of bacon.
“Maybe the lumberjack isn’t a broody as you think.” I arch a brow and chomp on a slice of bacon.
“That remains to be seen.”
“Oh really?” I sit up straighter. “You want to see the lumberjack not broody and full of angst?”
“It would be a refreshing change.”
I laugh, unable to retain my fake indignant expression. She smiles and takes a sip of her coffee. She’s nothing like the last woman I dated. Karla was uptight and snooty for a country girl. Although she was born in her parent’s backwoods house, she’d always longed to move to the city. She hated country life. I never understood it and had tried to change her mind. Eventually, I gave up and she left me for some city-slicking investment banker.
“Do you like living in LA?” I ask. It’s out of the blue, but I need to get this off my chest.
“Honestly?”
I nod.
“It sucks.” She sighs. “It’s too dirty. There’s too much traffic and too many people. You know what I dream about?”
“What?”
“Quiet mornings. Mist hovering over an open field. Snow-capped mountains and spring wildflowers. No artificial turf within a hundred miles. No useless lawns. I want farm land, and rivers, and miles of hiking trails. I want to walk into the local mom and pop café and have everybody know my name. I want peace.”
“You won’t find much peace when everyone knows your name. People are all up in your business when you live in a small town.”
“It would be worth it,” she says wistfully.
“You’d miss the big shopping centers and having movie theaters with more than one screen.”
“Doubtful. You can get packages delivered here, right?”
“Right. As long as the road’s plowed, they come up here. If not, they leave it at the post office in town and I can do pick it up there. Cooper will give me a call. He works down there.”
“See!” Her face lights up. “That’s what I mean. You know your mailman by name. I have no idea what my mailman’s name is.”
“Why don’t you ask him?”
“Because I’m at work when he comes.”
“What will you do for work if you lived her—in a small town?” I narrowly miss saying ‘here’. That’s far too presumptuous to imply when we’re still getting to know each other.
“I’d work from home on my computer. Or…”
“What?”
Her face flushes slightly as she toys with her fork.
“Well, I’ve always wanted to sew doll’s clothes,” she finally says.
“Doll’s clothes?”
“Yep. When I was a little girl, I had several dolls from a line of collectables. I loved them and used to dress them up all the time. But the clothes were so expensive. I want to make clothes cheaper for all the girls who can�
��t afford the high-priced options in stores. I spent some time looking into it and I could easily set up a shop.”
“You should do it,” I say. “Never let a dream stay a dream. If you really want something, you have to go for it.”
“That’s easy when you’re rent isn’t half your paycheck. Right now, there’s no way I could afford my place if I left my job. I could start working on nights and weekends, but it would take years before I’d become profitable enough to leave my day job.”
“Hum…” I don’t say anything, but I can’t help but wonder how I can make her dreams come true. Again, it’s not my place, but if we did end up together, then she could move here and not have to worry about rent.
“Anyway, enough about me,” she says. “What do you want to do today?”
“We could bundle up and take the canoe out onto the pond.”
“Isn’t it frozen?”
“Not yet. The freak snowstorm we got yesterday will melt by tomorrow. It looks like a ton of snow, but that’s just a dusting around here. Wait until December when the roads are basically impassible and you’re stuck in the house for weeks. You’ll be ready to run back to the city by spring.”
“I doubt that,” she says with a smile. “I love the idea of being snowed in all winter. I could spend my days in the library reading and sipping hot cocoa, and my nights finding other ways to stay warm.”
Her eyes sparkle with mischief and I know exactly how she’d want to stay warm. I can’t argue with that. I still want to scoop her up and carry her back to bed. But we’ll never figure out if we’re a good match if all we do is have non-stop sex. Even I know there’s more to a relationship.
“Let’s go out on the pond and if the weather holds up, we can go on a short walk. How’s that sound?” I ask.
“Glorious.”
For a second I’m not sure if she’s joking, but she’s beaming. Her radiant smile is such a stark contrast to what Karla used to say when I’d suggest going outside. She was always afraid of breaking a nail or getting her boots scuffed. Boots were made to be scuffed.
I clear the dishes and clean them while Angela goes to take a shower in my room. We both know she’s not sleeping in the guess bedroom after what happened between us last night. There’s no way I’m going to keep her from climbing into my bed whenever she wants. All she has to do is curl her pointer finger at me and I’ll come running.
After finishing the dishes, I wipe down the counters and re-arrange the items she’s moved around. I’m not OCD about my stuff, but I like to know where I can find things, so I keep everything in its place. It also helps with clutter. If an item has a home, there shouldn’t be any junk laying around.
I wait until enough time has passed that she should be dressed. If I walk in and find her naked, there’s no way we’re making it outside.
She’s sitting in a chair brushing her damp hair when I walk in. For the first time, I notice she never wears makeup. She doesn’t need it. I hate it when women cover their natural beauty with paint. Most of the time it ends up looking fake, so I’m glad she’s confident enough to go without it.
She’s dressed in jeans and a thick sweater. I’m not sure if she’ll be warm enough, but I don’t have anything to loan her that will fit. I will bring some snow jackets though. Mine will be too big, but it’s better than nothing.
“Let me take a quick shower and we can head out,” I say. “I have a blow-dryer in the drawer on the left in the bathroom. You should dry your hair before we head out so you don’t get cold.”
“You have a blow-dryer?” Her eyebrows jump up.
“Yeah. I don’t like going to work with ice in my hair.”
I head into the bathroom. After waiting for the shower to get steamy, I step inside and close the door. Angela comes into the bathroom, opens the drawer and starts blow-drying her hair.
The whole scene is so domestic that it stops me mid-suds. My life could be like this, with her in my bed, in my kitchen, in my bathroom. I could finally have a mate. She already has many of the qualities I’d look for in a mate. She’s smart, beautiful, sexy as hell, and she can cook. She loves nature and country life. I never expected to find a mate, but maybe I have.
Soap gets in my eye. I quickly rinse it away, along with my fantasies. I don’t know if finding a mate can really be this easy. It seems impossible. Time will tell. I should be careful about jumping to conclusions without more evidence.
After the shower, I dress and grab snow jackets. My jacket looks ridiculous on her. It’s huge. But if it doesn’t keep her warm, I’ll just have to bring her back inside.
The canoes are red. They seat two people. I pull one off of the rack and carry it to the edge of the pond. A thin layer of ice clings to the shore. I break through it with my waterproof boot and set the canoe on the water.
I help Angela into it, then take a seat across from her. We should technically be facing the same direction, but I want to look at her. A few rays of sunlight have broken through the clouds. A soft glow illuminates her face. She’s looking around with unrestrained wonder, as if mountains and trees that I take for granted are the most amazing sights in the world. If I didn’t know better, I’d think she was staring at heaven.
“It’s so beautiful,” she murmurs.
“Don’t you have mountains in LA?”
“Sure, but it’s not the same. The more popular trails are super crowded and I don’t like hiking in the backcountry. I don’t like running into wild bears. It’s their home, not mine. I feel like a trespasser.”
“I know what you mean. There’s a wild bear with her cubs hibernating on the mountain over there.” I point and she follows my gaze. “I’ve stayed off that part of the mountain. I don’t want her to waste energy chasing me, especially in the winter.”
“That’s good. I’d hate for her to starve because she’s too busy chasing you away instead of conserving her energy until spring.”
“Yep.”
We sit in silence for several minutes. Her eyes close. She inhales the frosty air before exhaling with a soft sigh. She belongs here. She’s not a city girl. I can tell the difference. It warms my heart and makes me want to give this a real chance. She’s nothing like my ex, and for the first time in years, hope blossoms in my heart.
Chapter 7
Angela
I can’t believe how fast the days have flown by; the nights seem even faster. I’m lying in the circle of Jagger’s arms, watching the sun rise on my eighth day here. He’s been nothing but sweet and attentive since the night he rescued me. I think I’ve broken through whatever wall he had up, but I’m not completely sure. I’ll know more after our bears get a chance to spend time together. They met briefly the night he saved me from the storm, but it wasn’t a proper introduction.
We’ve been waiting for all of the snow to melt so that we don’t freeze our paws off. My bear refused to let me shift until I could convince it that we wouldn’t end up with frost-bitten toes. I don’t blame the beast. Looking back, it was stupid to try to run away instead of staying to confront Jagger. But in the end, it all worked out. At least I think it did.
“You’re already awake,” he murmurs against my ear.
“Um hum.”
“Are you ready for today?”
“Looking forward to it.”
“I don’t know if I can get out of bed after last night. That thing you did with your tongue…God!”
I laugh and lay my head on his chest. I love listening to his heartbeat and his bear’s soft rumbles. The beast hasn’t been freed in a week and it’s getting restless. I completely understand his bear’s need to run. Mine has been extra growly ever since the cave. I promised I’d make it up to my bear, but I haven’t been able to do so until now.
“If we don’t go outside and shift today, there’s a good chance my bear will shred both of us to pieces,” I say.
“In that case, I’ll have to wait to show you how much I want you again.”
I lift the blanket and peek u
nderneath. “You don’t have to show me anything. I see it.”
He laughs and tackles me. We roll around in the bed until he kisses me. Every time feels like the first. He takes my breath away with the softness of his lips. Calm and in control, he’s so different now that he was the first two days after I’d arrived. He’d been too afraid to show me who he really was, but now I know. He’s kind, gentle, and passionate. He’s everything I’ve ever wanted in a man. I just hope our bears get along.
After playing around in bed for another thirty minutes, we head outside to shift. The morning air is fresh, but chilly. I shiver. We’re naked so we don’t tear our clothes during the shift.
As I summon my bear, my bones crack. Searing pain shoots down my nerves for a split second, enough to make me gasp. Fur sprouts from every inch of flesh to cover me in a thick coat. The chill is gone. My hands and feet morph into paws. I land on them at the same moment my nose finishes shifting into a snout.
I roar with joy at finally being free. My bear and I can finally coexist in harmony. I never feel this free in my human form. It’s strange, being torn between my base instincts and all the trappings of humanity. Maybe that’s why I hate LA so much. It takes me away from my true self.
I pad around, sniffing the ground while Jagger finishes his shift. When he’s done, he pads over to me. Our bears regard each other with caution. I take a step forward and sniff the air around his face. His rugged scent is a mix of spicy cinnamon and musk. Before I can stop myself, my snout is pressed against his throat. It’s intoxicating. I can’t get enough of his bear’s scent.
He leans into me and shoves his snout into the fur on top of my head. He inhales, then grunts softly. As he continues to scent me, he moves toward my rear end. I’m okay with this investigation until he gets too close to my butt.
I quickly whip around and hold up a paw. No way, buddy. We’re not playing sniff the butt today.
