Chapter 12
Carl couldn’t stop touching her. She’d cried for hours, curled quietly against his chest. He’d tucked her close and let his shirt sop up her tears.
There weren’t any words he could say to her.
The whole situation haunted them both. Any boy trapped like that was bad enough, but holding a new shifter in a cage was beyond horrifying.
The animal was strongest during the First Shift.
To lock it in three square feet of space would make it choke on its own claustrophobia.
So they’d held each other while they waited for news.
Eventually exhaustion claimed her, and her body fell lax against him in sleep.
He could have left her then, but he had no desire to.
She fit right where she was. And in time, his own eyes drifted shut until dawn, when she stirred against his side.
He woke immediately, delighting to see her eyes flutter open, the sunlight warming them to a brilliant blue. He watched awareness enter, then embarrassment. “I’m sorry,” she said as she pushed up onto an elbow. “Your arm must feel awful.”
“You don’t weigh hardly anything,” he said, his voice thick with lust. Thankfully he was on his side, otherwise his morning wood would be tenting the sheets. “And I slept deeper than I have in years.”
“You must have been really tired,” she said.
He stroked the curve of her cheek, watching the skin turn rosy under his caress.
“I’m with you. It makes things…settle.” He said the words because it was true, but the meaning reverberated in his mind.
Man and bear were quieter around her. The war in his head went still for long moments.
She had no idea what a miracle it was. In truth, he was only now beginning to understand the scope of it.
She didn’t answer, just held his gaze. Then, because he was sure she was thinking, he gave her a quick update.
“The police didn’t finish processing the crime scene until late last night. Tonya will call as soon as there’s news, but the earliest we can expect anything is noon tomorrow. They’ve got their hands full getting all of Bryn’s information. That other boy was his nephew.”
She winced. “How awful.”
“Yeah.” There was nothing more he could say to that, so he didn’t. He just held her gaze and lost himself in the way her hair fell across her cheek and the soft curve of her breast in his borrowed shirt.
Then she moved, rolling out of his arms and his bed. “I’m just going to use the bathroom.”
“Use whatever you like.”
She went in, shutting the door quietly behind her while he lay in bed and listened.
The sounds were normal domestic noises. Running water, the sound of brushing teeth, even the flush of the toilet had him smiling with a soft yearning.
How strange to want those noises in his life.
How bizarre to want them with someone who—up until a few days ago—hadn’t even known shifters existed much less understood the burden of being an alpha.
He’d always assumed that when he mated, it would be with a woman who comprehended the nuances of being a shifter.
Who knew the complicated dance of being his Maxima.
He’d assumed that she’d be a fierce grizzly fighter who could go toe-to-toe with any bear in his clan.
In truth, he’d thought often of Tonya, but the only thing he liked about her was her grizzly.
The woman left him cold. Becca, on the other hand, was all woman, and that seemed to suit his man and his bear just fine.
Go figure.
He was still mulling over the strange twists of fate when she returned and looked at the bed. Thankfully, he’d already rearranged the blankets to hide his erection. He turned to her as casually as possible, making sure his eyes were half lidded, as if he weren’t painfully awake.
“You should try to get more rest,” he said.
“Don’t you want your bed to yourself?” She glanced at the door. “I could take the couch.”
“You’ll sleep here,” he said firmly. Then he started to sit up. “I’ll go.”
“No! No, I won’t throw you out of your own bed.”
He flashed her a slow smile. “Guess we’ll just have to share.”
She looked at him a long moment, her thoughts unreadable. “Is that what you want?”
“More than you can possibly imagine.” Well, that was a bit more honest than he’d intended, but it worked. Her lips curved into a beautiful smile and she climbed back in the bed.
He held out his arm to her, and she set her hand on his chest. Tiny palm, slender fingers. It burned straight through his shirt like a brand.
“You sure I’m not too heavy?”
“You do know I’m a grizzly bear, right? Three of you wouldn’t be too heavy.”
She chuckled, a low sound that had his dick leaping toward her. “Good to know.”
He wanted to offer her food. He wanted to provide for her in the most basic way, but he didn’t want to disrupt the way she settled back into bed.
She crawled up into the open space between his chest and his arm.
She sank slowly into the mattress, tucking her hand beneath his chin as she snuggled her hips against his.
She accidentally bumped his dick, and his breath caught on a gasp.
He held himself still by an act of will, but, damn, his lust ratcheted up another hundred percent.
Her scent perfumed the air. It saturated his clothing and made his head dizzy with want. But he kept himself frozen. He didn’t want to frighten her.
Meanwhile, her hand stretched open, flattening against his chest. God, could she hear how his heart thundered for her? Did she know how much he wanted to—
“Carl?”
“Umm?”
“It’s a weird situation, isn’t it? Between us, I mean.”
Understatement, much? “It’s only weird if you want it to be. I just want to be here with you. No strings attached.”
She nodded, a shift of her face against his ribs. Her hand drifted over his left nipple, and one of her fingers moved, sending lightning straight down to his groin. She was killing him, but he’d be damned if he moved one tiny inch. And if he was really, really lucky, she’d do it again.
“So do bears have strong sexual needs? Or are you the buttoned-down type?”
If he’d been drinking, he would have choked. As it was, his breath caught and his head nearly exploded from the sudden triple beat of his heart. “Um, it depends on the bear, I suppose. But usually the drive is pretty strong. Especially in spring.”
She was silent a moment, and—praise God—she moved her fingers again. Twice more across his nipple, and his hips jerked involuntarily. It was a tiny movement, but undeniable.
“It’s spring now,” she said softly, and he scented arousal. But was it his or hers? Then she pushed up from the bed, her hand exerting a soft pressure as she levered up to look at him. “So do you think you could have sex with me?”
Yes! Yes! Yesyesyesyesyesyes!
“Um, I think you can already tell that answer,” he said. He’d thought the way she’d curled against his groin had been accidental. Apparently not, and the joy of that blew his mind. But he didn’t move yet. He couldn’t. He would leap on her like an animal.
Meanwhile, she smiled, the expression both shy and filled with mischief. “It’s no strings, I promise. I just…” Her expression faltered. “I want to be touched.” She reached up to stroke his jaw, brushing fire across his beard-roughened skin. “I want you to touch me.”
He lost his control then. It snapped like a rubber band pulled too tight.
His arm tightened where it was wrapped around her, hauling her up and over until she lay across his torso.
Her mouth opened on a gasp of surprise, but he caught it with his own.
Then he invaded the dark, wet recess with his tongue, and he plundered her like the animal he was.
She murmured a sound of appreciation, deep in her chest. She began dueling with him, tongue to tongue. And she wiggled against him, making his cock buck for attention.
He wanted to ask her if she was sure. He wanted to be gentlemanly and hold back. This was a stressful situation. She wasn’t thinking straight. But he couldn’t make himself stop.
So he grabbed her hips, stilling her as he rocked his dick against her core. Even through his jeans, it felt heavenly. And her eyes widened as she took in the size and girth of him.
“Be sure,” he rasped, praying that he could stop if she asked it of him.
She smiled and ground her pelvis down on him. His eyes rolled back in pleasure. “I am sure,” she said. Then she supported herself on one hand as she pulled something out of the front pocket of her shirt. A roll of five condoms unfurled from her hand. “I found these in your bathroom.”
“Did you check the expiration date?” God knew it had been a while since he’d needed one of those.
She nodded. “We’re okay, if you’re okay.”
“Baby,” he growled. “We’re headed for something exponentially better than just okay.”
* * *
Becca felt laughter bubble out of her as the world suddenly flipped upside down.
He’d done nothing more than roll them over, dropping her on her back in the middle of the bed with him on top.
His groin settled perfectly between her thighs and she had a sense of forces working beyond her control.
Ever since he’d walked into her bakery, she’d been riding a roller coaster of worry, joy, terror, and peace.
But the moments with Carl had been beacons of sanity even when she felt upside down and inside out.
She’d tried to hold herself together, but as of last night, she’d given up. The most she could do was ride the experience, and if that meant grabbing onto the distraction that was Carl, then who was going to judge her? Not him, certainly. And not herself. Nobody else mattered.
So she kissed him. She let him unbutton her shirt. And she reveled in the glorious magic that was his tongue on her breasts. His hand shaping her and twisting the nipple. The suction and nip of his teeth on the other side. And the keening hunger he built inside her.