Bear Trapped (Bear Creek Grizzlies #5)

23. Finn

FINN

H e deserved a fucking medal for his restraint. Eating her out had been the kind of feast he dreamed of, and watching her in the throes of her orgasm had been fucking glorious. But it hadn’t been easy to keep from immediately burying his cock in her. If she’d been anyone else, anyone less important to him, it would have been an easy choice to push for more, to assume he could take the next step. But this was Lauren. She was at the center of his soul; he want her questioning his motives for a damn second.

Which meant he faced a very cold wank in the back room after she stretched and murmured and looked like a tasty fucking treat after her third or fourth climax.

Except she looked at him with those wide doe eyes and reached for his jeans and said something about wanting him. Then it was an eternity of holding his breath as she struggled to get his pants off and he finally took that goddamn sweater off her, and the only things between them were his briefs and her bra.

Finn stretched out next to her, stroking her body from hip to breast and back, squeezing and petting and worshiping every inch. He took his time with her breasts, too, once he got that fucking bra out of the way, and could have spent most of the night teasing her nipples and watching her expressions change when he used his teeth.

Lauren’s hand slid against his briefs, though, as her back arched and she gasped when his free hand slipped between her thighs. Finn groaned when he found her still wet and needy, and even more when her soft fingers closed around his cock. Fuck him. He might die. He might actually fucking die if she kept up the tentative, slow stroke.

And he’d fucking die if she stopped, too.

Finn squeezed his eyes shut to focus. He was going to unload all over her hand if he didn’t get his shit together. She wasn’t practiced at handjobs, that was for sure, but that just made it more difficult to stay in control. The tentative, slightly hesitant stroke, the breathy way she murmured to him, shifting her weight and trying to find a different angle…

He groaned again and eased away so the cool air would knock some sense into him. “Hold on, babe. You’re getting me too fired up.”

Lauren lay back, the firelight casting shadows and turning her into some kind of moon goddess. His moon goddess. The bear heartily approved. Finn leaned to retrieve a couple of condoms, just to have them close. “You look gorgeous.”

“You’re too far away,” she whispered, and held out her hand.

He was lost. Fucking done for. Stick a fork in him. He’d never put a condom on so fast in his life.

He tried to move to her side, find a position she was comfortable with, but she moved her hips so he lay between her thighs and her knees pulled up against his sides. Breathing grew challenging. Damn near impossible.

Her core radiated heat. His cock slid against her and his fists clenched the mattress by her shoulders. Finn fought the bear for control. He didn’t want to unleash the beast and just pound into Lauren like some regular lay. But with her in front of him like that, her legs spread in welcome, her trust in the way she left her throat exposed…

Before he really calmed himself, she reached down and guided his cock to her entrance. His breath hissed in his teeth and he almost kept his shit together except she lifted her hips and then the tip pressed into her soft, welcoming flesh and…

He groaned and thrust hard, deep, all the way to his root until their stomachs met and Lauren made a soft, surprised sound. He would have retreated but she locked her legs around his waist and linked an arm around his neck. She breathed against his ear, “Make me feel good, Finn.”

His control shattered. His arms slid under her to grasp her shoulders and hold her in place as he thrust. He’d learned enough to know what sounds she made when she was enjoying something, and when she was really enjoying something, and managed to at least listen for those cues as he moved.

Finn meant to draw things out, meant to ensure she came at least a couple more times before he finished, but the tight clasp of her channel meant control quickly slipped away. Her body clutched at him every time he retreated until he was groaning and panting along with her.

He didn’t want or need any acrobatics. He could have moved into a new position or tried something fancy but instead he couldn’t stand the thought of losing the connection of seeing her eyes, feeling her breath against his cheek, having her arms and legs wrapped around him. Finn groaned and kissed her deeply as static filled his brain and pressure built in his back before he came.

It severed the connection between his brain and the rest of him, and both the bear and the man couldn’t have moved if Shotgun kicked down the door and threatened them both. He came back to himself slowly, in bits and pieces, as Lauren sighed and her thighs slid against his sides in a soft caress that nearly set him off again. Finn rested his forehead against her shoulder, breathing in the scent of her skin and the perspiration that clung to them both.

Her fingers drifted down the back of his neck over and over, like she petted the bear’s ears earlier. He should have moved, he knew that, but he couldn’t convince himself to lose the soft warmth of her against him. Under him. Her knees drawn up and her heel moving against his calf. He turned toward her neck and nuzzled closer behind her ear, whuffling along like the bear would have.

“Question,” she said, still absently stroking his neck and moving her foot against his leg. The girl fidgeted even while half-asleep and obviously sated and well-loved.

He grumbled and kissed her shoulder, pushing up on his elbows to see her clearly. The fact that it also gave him a chance to study her breasts and watch the way her hair tangled against the pillow was just happenstance. “Anything.”

He’d expected something about him being a bear, maybe, or the plan for the rest of the night, or something odd about the mechanics of sex. With Lauren, he really didn’t know what to expect. It was part of what he loved about her without even thinking, without knowing much more about her than he’d seen in the past two days. She damn well could have said anything.

“Why did you bring condoms on a hike through the woods?”

And she delivered. Finn snorted and rolled to the side, though he took her with him so they stayed pressed together as he hiked her thigh up on his hip and squeezed her ass. Lauren squeaked but stayed burrowed close, her hips rocking in response to his touch. His lust reignited and he normally would have snapped off one condom and gotten a second but he didn’t want to pressure her. “Same reason I have tampons in the first aid kit. They can be useful for things other than what they were intended.”

“You have tampons in the first aid kit?” She pushed up on an elbow to peer over his side into the darkness of the cabin where the first aid kit spilled its guts onto the floor. Lauren made a thoughtful sound and rested her chin on his shoulder as she surveyed the interior of the dilapidated building, like somehow more useful items would appear out of nowhere.

Finn didn’t bother to hide his smile and instead took the opportunity to kiss her shoulder and along her neck, his palm on her waist so he felt how she breathed. “Yep.”

“You’re so prepared.” Lauren flopped back on her back, arms above her head as she stretched and yawned, and studied him with hazy, half-closed eyes. “And you actually used the condoms for what they were meant for, too. Do you have enough for whatever you were going to use them for, too?”

Finn studied her face, running his fingertips along her eyebrows and cheekbones, then down the line of her jaw and the curve of her lips. God help him, she was so beautiful he wouldn’t ever get tired of looking at her. “I use them for waterproofing stuff that I don’t want to get wet, and I’ve got plenty, yes. Even if I didn’t, I’d rather use them with you.”

And he waggled his eyebrows to make a joke of it, in case she got nervous again. He didn’t particularly like tiptoeing around and being so worried about everything he said, but he didn’t like her getting uncomfortable a lot more.

She laughed, squirming around a little, and patted his bare chest. “You’re probably the first.”

Every inch of him went on full alert as alarm shot through him. The first? He was the first for what? Panic brewed. Had she been a virgin, somehow, despite being so fucking sexy and delectable? Finn cleared his throat and leaned back slightly, suddenly worried that he’d been too aggressive even if she’d been into it. “Uh, when you say the first, do you mean…”

Lauren’s head tilted as she looked at him, puzzled, then she laughed even more. “No, not the first the first. Just the first who actually wanted to use a condom and didn’t have it break or fall off halfway through.”

He breathed easier at the same time he wanted to hunt down any dude who’d lied to her or put her in danger for their own selfish fucking reasons. Finn took a deep breath to steady the bear’s rage and very carefully kissed her cheek. “Well, safety first, darlin’. Unless you’re looking for a baby, we’ve gotta be careful.”

She looked mostly asleep, not really paying attention as she moved to watch the dying flames. “The possibility of a baby never stopped anyone else, they just expected me to deal with it or whatever.”

Finn closed his eyes briefly in an effort to control his temper and the urge to race off into the night to hunt down the fuckers who’d touched her. He untangled his limbs and carefully settled the sleeping bags and extra blankets over her to get up and clean off. And go into the back room to growl and break logs with his bare hands in a fury.

He suddenly understood a lot more why Simon and the others went out of their way to keep their mates happy and content; the emotional swings of wanting to correct those wrongs might kill him. He even stuck his head through one of the broken windows so the cold air might shock some sense into him, and breathed in the crisp, woodsy scent of fresh snow. God help him if Shotgun or those smugglers threatened her. They’d need a lot more than God on their side to survive if they did, but he’d need all the morphine in the medic bag to keep him from going on a full fucking rampage. He squeezed his eyes shut and breathed. He had to get them out of there, and fast.