The BEARly Reluctant Grizzly (Bear Clan, 4)

by Jenika Snow

  He had the white shirt off, and the sight of his chest, the tattoos that I could see, had my private inner muscles clenching almost painfully. I squeezed my thighs together and turned around quickly, but I found myself looking over my shoulder once more, taking in the hard planes of his chest, his pectoral muscles, the washboard abs.

  His chest was bare aside from a line of hair that started just below his navel and disappeared underneath his dark boxer briefs. Yeah, he’d taken off his jeans. And of everything that was holy, that man looked like he was carved out of marble.

  I focused on making the tea, waited until the water heated, until the kettle whistled that the water was hot. I swallowed, my throat so dry and tight, desire racing through me as if it were trying to get to the finish line.

  Once I had the water poured and the teabags in the mugs, I turned and faced him, cups in hand.

  He was already staring at me, completely unaffected that he was nearly naked in front of me. I felt myself blushing even more.

  The closer I got, the way he watched me, his head slightly lowered, his eyes trained right on me, told me maybe I wasn’t hiding my emotions very well. And then when I was a foot from him, holding out the cup of tea, I watched as his nostrils flared slightly and he inhaled deeply. Shivers raced up my arms and legs, and I realized—remembered—he was a bear shifter.

  There was no denying or hiding the fact I was aroused right now.

  For a suspended moment, he didn’t even move, didn’t take the mug out of my hand. He just watched me, continuing to inhale deeply, as if taking my scent into his body. This moment seemed very primal and wild, and the longer I stared at him, the more I saw the subtle changes in his body.

  His muscles seemed to become more pronounced, his features more brutal. His eyes flashed dark, the light blue irises being swallowed up by the pupils before retracting and becoming blue again. And I knew without him telling me, without really knowing much about shifters or what they went through during the change, that I was witnessing his bear trying to push forward, trying to gain supremacy.

  I knew that as well as I knew myself. And it was such a strange thing to be so positive about.

  He finally took the mug and I occupied myself with grabbing one of the towels I’d set on the couch. I picked up the one he’d already used to dry off, the terrycloth damp and smelling of him.

  Fresh. Clean. Like the forest.

  He wrapped a towel around his waist, and I couldn’t help but see the way his abdomen clenched, his six-pack becoming even more pronounced. I sat down and held my mug with both hands, staring at the fire because if I didn’t focus on that, I’d be checking him out. And that would be grossly inappropriate.

  I’d hired him to renovate my home, not to eye him up and down like a piece of meat.

  Long moments passed and I felt his gaze on me, knew he was watching me even though I wasn’t looking at him. And then it was like reality snapped to attention and I finally turned my focus to him. “I’m really thankful you showed up, but I’m surprised you’re here.” A boom of thunder shook the house, and I jumped, a little surprised by how close it sounded.

  He moved to sit next to me on the couch, and instinctively I shifted a little so that I could look at him. I set my mug on the table and swallowed, the silence moving between us, this knowing feeling claiming me. The way he looked at me, the vibes I got from him, had me feeling like this moment was so intimate, so important and profound.

  “Why did you show up tonight?” The words came from me on a whisper, and I knew it sounded a little more sexual than I intended. But all I could think about was being with Asher, wondering what it would feel like to have his body pressed to mine, to have him on top of me, his hands pushing my thighs apart…

  I shook my head to clear those thoughts. Now wasn’t exactly the most appropriate time for all that.

  Was any time appropriate to lust after him?

  He still had a towel wrapped around his waist, but his chest was on full display, the light from the fire causing shadows to bounce off his broad shoulders. He seemed very sure of himself, confident. He wasn’t arrogant, didn’t have this cocky persona about him. It was just as if he … knew.

  “Asher?” I said softly when he had yet to answer me.

  “I tried to stay away, Ainsley.” His voice sounded so thick, with a touch of animalistic magnetism.

  “Tried to stay away?” My heart was thundering a mile a minute at his words.

  I knew what I wanted him to mean.

  “I tried to stay away,” he said once again and moved an inch closer to me. “There’s no denying this. I can’t fight it.” He swallowed, and I watched his throat work from the act. “I tried, and it was the worst fucking mistake I’d ever made in my entire life.” He looked down at my lips. “Walking away from you the first time we met...” He shook his head and glanced back up at me. “I’ll never forgive myself for that.” He exhaled slowly, and I sensed this internal war, this remorse come from him. “I thought staying away was the best thing, that being with you, and maybe losing you …” He shook his head slowly, this painful, anguished expression on his face. “But I realized that not having you in my life is more painful than anything I have or will ever experience.”

  My hands started to shake, and I placed them on my thighs, curling my fingers into my legs, trying to keep them steady. I didn’t know what was happening right now, or why he was saying these things, but what I did know was that I felt them too.

  Strange and crazy, but also so incredible.

  And then he lifted his hand, about to touch me, but he stopped right before he got to my cheek. He looked like he was fighting a war with himself, that he was trying to go slow. But I didn’t want slow or easy. It was like that rope wrapped around me had pulled so tightly it finally snapped in half.

  I lifted my hand and curled my fingers around his thick wrist, brought his palm to my cheek, and leaned against it, moaning softly at the contact. It was like a tiny thousand ants moved along my skin where his touch was, but it wasn’t painful.

  It was the most incredible feeling I’d ever experienced.

  “What’s happening, Asher?” I thought I said those words in my head, but the low growl that came from him, the heat slamming from his body into mine, told me he’d heard me.

  “What’s happening is two mates who have finally found each other.” His voice was so masculine.

  We stared at each other for long moments, neither speaking, the only sound that of the fire crackling and the storm raging outside.

  But I didn’t know what to say regardless. He’d admitted we were mates, something I’d felt from the moment I saw him. The many things I thought about telling him, my emotions and feelings, this intense attraction I felt toward him, all made sense.

  Fated mates.

  Two souls drawn together.

  A lifetime connection.

  My breath hitched at that knowledge, at the deep-rooted realization that settled in my core.

  “Mated?” I didn’t know why I phrased it like a question, but this low hum left him, and I knew it was one of approval.

  He moved an inch closer to me, his hand still on my cheek, his thumb running right beneath my eye.

  “For fucking life, baby.”

  I grew wet between my thighs at hearing that endearment.

  “I felt it instantly,” I said honestly. He made another low hum and moved another inch closer. His leg was pressed against mine now, his gaze lowering to my mouth. Involuntarily, I glanced down and saw the way he tented the towel, his massive erection thick and long and because of me.

  All for me.

  I watched as he lowered his gaze to my mouth and I licked my lips, desperately wanting to feel him on me, his tongue spearing into me, tasting me, claiming every part of me. My entire body tingled, and I felt a surge of electricity move through me. Excitement and anticipation were at war, and all I wanted to do was beg for him to finally take me in the way true mates did.

  �
�I can smell your desire, Ansley.”

  His voice didn’t sound human any longer, and that had me squeezing my thighs together, arousal so heavy inside of me that I was losing my mind with lust.

  “It’s saturating the air, this sweet, needy aroma that has my bear clawing to get out.” He looked me in the eyes and I saw the flash of his inner animal, his eyes going black before glowing yellow. “Can you see how much my bear wants you?” His voice was husky. “Can you see him flashing at the surface?”

  I nodded because that was all I could do right now.

  And still his eyes changed color back and forth, over and over again. I knew without a doubt it was his bear trying to gain supremacy. Maybe that should’ve frightened me, but all I felt was unadulterated lust.

  Everything seemed to be moving in slow motion as I looked into his eyes, as I thought about all the obscene, dirty things I wanted him to do to me. And it was as if that tether that had snapped earlier wound its way back around me tighter and tighter until I couldn’t breathe, until I couldn’t even survive unless I finally did this with Asher ... until I finally became his mate in every single way.

  And I knew without a doubt that would be our reality tonight.

  8

  Asher

  There was no way I could have stopped this even if I wanted to. Which I didn’t.

  I was having a hard time keeping my bear under control. The beast wanted out, wanted to claim Ainsley right now, to show her what it truly meant to be owned by a shifter, to be mated.

  But I needed to remind myself that I didn’t want to move too fast, be too feral with her. I’d never experienced these feelings, these needs and desires before. But with Ainsley I felt so fucking out of control, I couldn’t even think clearly.

  The images in my head had me imagining obscene, filthy things. I wanted to push the hair off her shoulder so I could see the long, smooth column of her throat. I wanted to spread her thighs, lick her, suck on her, to see how she felt wrapped around my cock.

  She was my female.

  “Asher?” she whispered, this pleading, needy tone in her voice. I could smell how aroused she was, how wet she was. It was this sweet scent that filled my head, made me hungry, drunk for more.

  I wanted to drown in her.

  “Yeah, baby?” The words were a rough growl from me. I leaned in and wrapped my hand around her nape, pulling her impossibly closer to me.

  “Asher.” She said my name again.

  I ran my tongue along her jawline and groaned at the sweet flavor of her flesh. My cock throbbed, and my bear paced right below the surface of my skin, needing out so damn badly I could taste the wild nature of him, feel it consume every cell in my body.

  In this moment I was feral, territorial, and wanted to possess every inch of this female until she acknowledged that she was mine, and that she always would be.

  I’d never felt this kind of intensity before, but I wanted to soak it all in, keep it forever.

  She made me feel … alive.

  With her I wasn’t alone. With Ainsley, I was everything I’d ever wanted to be.

  A low growl left me, and in a matter of seconds I had her in my arms and was striding to the bedroom.

  “There’s only a mattress,” she said on a gasp, her legs wrapped around my waist, her arms around my neck.

  “What?” I said harshly, only thinking about one thing … claiming her.

  “I don’t have a bed, only a mattress.” Her words were nothing more than puffs of breath against my neck.

  “That’s all we need,” I groaned.

  Once in the room, I shut the door with the heel of my foot but refused to let her out of my arms. The sensation of holding her, of her warmth and curves molding against me, had me feeling primal.

  I needed to feel her, touch, lick, suck at every inch of her body.

  I was about to eat her alive until she came so fucking hard my ears would ring from her screams and my bear would be able to sample the nectar that would flow from her lush, curvy body. I walked toward the mattress, let her slide down the length of my body until her feet touched the floor, and reluctantly took a step back.

  And then I just stared at her.

  She wore these little denim shorts, the material having risen up when she slid down my body. Her thighs were smooth and creamy in color, and all I kept thinking about was parting them and watching as her pussy lips spread wide so I could see her wetness. My mouth literally watered when that image slammed into my head.

  I reached down and pressed my hand right over my dick, applying pressure and trying to ease the ache in my shaft.

  Fuck, I was already losing control and I hadn’t even really touched her, didn’t know how wet and hot she was.

  “Your eyes,” she whispered, and I knew what she was talking about without even asking.

  “It’s my bear,” I growled out and took a step closer. “He wants out, Ainsley.”

  She swallowed, the sound audible.

  “Why?” she whispered.

  I made another low, animalistic sound. “He wants out because of you, because he wants you that fucking badly.”

  I inhaled, the scent of her desire coating the air and causing my cock to jerk even more. As she stood there, I kept my focus on Ainsley. “I’m hungry for you.” My voice was distorted, my bear rising up. I was more animal than human right now.

  “Get undressed for me, baby.” I could hear my bear in my voice. It had a rough, harsh quality to it, one that was slightly distorted and on edge. I could see the way her nipples hardened under her shirt, and my cock jerked at the sight. I wanted to bury my face between her breasts and rub my cheeks on the stiff peaks, lick at her flesh, gently bite her.

  The whole time she got undressed, she watched me, and I stared right back at her, letting her see how obsessed I was for her already.

  And then she was naked for me, and I couldn’t help but stare at the large, perfect mounds of her breasts. Ainsley wasn’t skin and bone. She was thick and curvy. She was fucking perfection.

  She looked up at me with her big blue eyes, and I watched her throat work as she swallowed. “I’ve never done this before,” she whispered. “No man has ever seen me naked, has ever kissed me.”

  Fuck.

  I made quick work of getting fully undressed.

  “Ainsley.” I groaned her name. “I’ve never been with a female, never wanted anyone but you. My mate.”

  I couldn’t stop myself from grabbing the base of my cock and stroking myself from root to tip.

  “Is this really happening?”

  I nodded. “It’s really fucking happening, mate.” I couldn’t breathe, couldn’t even think clearly. “Touch yourself for me.”

  I was breathing so hard and fast, I felt my chest rising and falling almost violently. “Imagine it’s me touching you, Ainsley.” A drop of pre-cum lined the tip of my dick, and I spread it around the head, adding lubrication as I jerked myself off and watched her obey me. I could have easily gone over there and touched her myself, but watching her lift her hands and grab the mounds, doing what I said, was such a fucking turn-on.

  What I wanted to do was go over there and touch every inch of her, lick every part of her body, and feel her writhe beneath me, but I wanted this visual temptation first. I wanted to erotically torment both of us before we caved and gave ourselves over.

  This had been a long time coming, and I wanted to prolong it. If I went to Ainsley now and touched her, I’d come before I even felt how hot and tight her virgin pussy was.

  “Like this?” she whispered, and I couldn’t hold back the groan. She sounded, looked, so fucking innocent.

  “Just like that, baby.”

  I watched as a blush stole over her cheeks and covered her chest. Ainsley ran her palms up and down her breasts, and then curled her fingers into the giving flesh.

  “Fuck, Ainsley. Just like that.” I was jerking myself off now, running my palm up and down my dick, staring at her tits as she moved her palms over
the mounds. But the truth was, I couldn’t take any more of this delicious torture. My control slipped, nearly broke in half, and I found myself moving toward her, getting onto the mattress and curling my hands around her hips.

  She made the sweetest little sound at the contact.

  I stared at her chest as she continued to touch herself. The scent of her arousal slammed into my nose, her pussy soaked, the sweet aroma filling my head and making me crazy with lust.

  “What do you want, Ainsley?” I lifted my gaze from her breasts to her face. She had her mouth parted, her eyes wide.

  “Asher,” she breathed out. “I want this. I want you so badly.” She had her hands off her breasts and her fingers now digging into my biceps, pulling me closer to her.

  I’d never deny her anything.

  “If you knew how much I want you right now, it would scare the fuck out of you.”

  She was already shaking her head before I even finished speaking.

  “If I don’t have you now, Asher, I’m going to die,” she pleaded.

  I placed a hand on both of her thighs and slowly moved my fingers toward her pussy, staring at her face for a suspended moment before looking between her thighs. I exerted pressure until she spread even wider for me. I couldn’t breathe as I watched her pussy lips spread open, saw her darker pink, soaked flesh being revealed.

  I’d be the first one to have that, to claim her, and nothing would ever take this moment away from me.

  “So fucking hot,” I found myself saying out loud.

  With my wide shoulders between her thighs, keeping them open for me, I closed my eyes and just inhaled. The scent of her pussy was musky and sweet, and I felt my tongue swell with the need to run the length through the center of her body and taste her.

  To devour her.

  And I wasn’t going to deny us any longer.

  I placed a thumb on either side of her pussy, pulled her lips apart, and covered her entire cleft with my mouth. I worked my tongue in her hole, moved it in and out, and then flattened it and slid it all the way up her slit, closing my mouth around her clit. The breathy sound she made was like adding fuel to the fire of my need.