Chapter 13
Had she ever felt this sated? Frankie stretched out a hand and traced the curve of Ryan’s jaw, liking the rough abrasion on her fingertips. When he dropped his mouth to nip at her hand, she laughed and let him suck her pinkie finger inside his mouth.
“Why, Detective,” she chuckled, “I do believe you’ve found the one area on my body that hasn’t been thoroughly pleasured.”
“Mmmmm,” he said as he coiled his tongue around her finger before sucking in a thoroughly delicious way.
He played there exactly as he’d played with her nipples.
And, come to think of it, he’d used a similar technique on her clit.
And wow, it had been one amazing orgasm after another.
She hadn’t thought she’d ever find a lover who matched her endurance, but he certainly lived up to her fantasies and then some.
“I’m going to start calling you Ryan,” she said. “Detective Kennedy is too much of a mouthful.”
He nipped at her finger before releasing it. “Seems to me your mouth can hold a lot.”
Wasn’t that true? Because whoa, he was a big guy in all areas.
Probably the bear genetics, but she wasn’t complaining.
She could have settled into sleep right then.
God knows, her body needed rest, but she didn’t want their interlude to end yet.
And if her life was ending soon, then she wanted to wring every moment of joy out of it first.
She rolled over until they were face-to-face.
“Can I ask you a question?”
He was on his side. His face had been resting against her upper arm, but had dropped to a pillow when she moved. Now he adjusted so he could match her position.
“What do you want to know?”
He was awake, alert, and open to talking with her.
That was a surprise, especially since they’d already used another condom.
Any other man would be snoring now. Since he wasn’t asleep, she wanted to deepen their connection.
Even though she’d made it clear this was only for one night, she couldn’t resist learning more about him.
“You’re adopted, right?”
He nodded.
“But your parents aren’t shifters, are they? Did they know anything about what you are?”
“Not a thing. They still don’t like talking about, and they might not even really believe it. But I like to think it makes my mother feel better about me being a cop. Like I have an extra layer of protection because I can shift.”
“It is an extra layer of protection.”
He snorted. “Not against a bullet. And frankly, I’m better off as a man with a Kevlar vest on than I am as a bear. But it gives her comfort, and that’s a good thing.” Then he frowned. “Was that your question?”
“No. I’ve always wondered about your first shift. If you didn’t know anything about anything—”
“I didn’t.”
“Then how exactly did that go?”
“How often have you thought about this?”
She felt her face heat. Did she confess just how much she fantasized about him? “As someone who never shifted as a teen, I have a fascination with first shift stories.”
He nodded, accepting her explanation at face value.
“All in all, I got really lucky. As a teenager, I was really antsy. I couldn’t sit still, couldn’t stop moving, always needed to be doing something.
I barely slept, ate everything in sight, and needed something to occupy my mind all the time.
The only place I felt a little at peace was in the woods. ”
“Sounds like a typical shifter teen.”
“Yeah, but my parents didn’t know what to do with that. And my sister was as quiet as a mouse, so she was no help. Luckily, my grandfather liked to go fishing. My dad wasn’t much into it, but Grandpa loved it. He’d take me all over Michigan, and while he fished, I would prowl around.”
She adjusted her position so that their legs were touching. When that wasn’t enough, she entwined her legs with his. “Is that a bear thing? To go foraging in the woods?”
He teased his foot along her calf. “Wolves don’t do it?”
“Not alone. We’re all about group hunts. Packs of six or eight of us would go running together through the woods. All my favorite childhood memories are from doing that, before everyone started shifting, that is.”
“Did they still run as wolves?”
She nodded. “Then it became more about who was the fastest, biggest, meanest wolf. Even if they wanted a straight human with them—which they didn’t—it would be too dangerous.
I would have gotten ripped to shreds. The only reason our teens survive is because they shift back to human when their wounds get too bad. ”
He nodded. “The bears do some of that as teens, but it’s not important to us.
” He raised his arms high as if he were an attacking bear.
“Roar! I’m an evil bear! Oh, look at that.
It’s a girl bear. Hi!” He dropped back down on the bed as he grinned at her.
“I don’t know if it’s the human or the bear that’s so hyper-sexed.
The minute we scent a female, it’s all about her.
And girls don’t usually like big, bad bears.
We’re too scary, even if she’s a shifter, too. ”
“The big predators don’t need to show off their strength, but take it from a girl—we notice.” She stroked her knee up his thigh. “And we do appreciate it.”
He grinned at her. “That’s good to know.” He waggled his eyebrows at her. “I’ve got a cabin in the UP. Come up there with me and I’ll get big bad bear on you.”
She laughed, and her heart beat with yearning. She couldn’t imagine anything more perfect than wandering around the UP with him. Bear or human, hybrid or vanilla woman, she wanted to wander the forest with him.
But she had to live through the next few days in order to get there.
And the longer Noelle stayed silent, the more likely Frankie’s death became.
But rather than give in to those darker thoughts, she reached out.
Ryan’s penis was thick and heavy where it lay against his flat belly.
Not a full erection, but damn it was nice to stroke it.
Large enough to hold on to, thick enough to fill her to bursting, and within easy reach.
The wolves she knew would never be this relaxed with her.
Not enough to expose their belly and their organ to easy reach.
Even with a lover, wolves had an ingrained guardedness.
Pack culture led to a kind of hive mind at times, but instead of making intimacy more open, it had the opposite effect.
Private things were guarded obsessively.
Made it hard to reveal oneself even when one wanted to.
“Hey? What are you thinking?”
Her gaze hopped to his. And even though her hands were busy stroking him, his eyes were focused on her. “Nothing really. Why?”
“Your expression went sad.” He stroked a finger along her cheek. “We don’t have to go up to the UP if you don’t want to.” And with his other hand, he stilled her movements down below. “And you don’t have to distract me, either.”
Even if she was distracting herself?
He gently disentangled her fingers and brought them up to his mouth. “What’s going on in that very scary brain of yours?”
She arched a brow. “Scary brain? What are you talking about?”
He rolled his eyes. “Maybe I haven’t been stalking you for years, but I noticed you.
I’ve never seen anyone keep as many balls in the air as you do.
You were the force behind the community center.
I know you managed the books for the wolves after you got your CPA license.
I’m just figuring out how many people you support in wolf territory, and I know you’ve been trying to get a free clinic off the ground.
Any one of those would be a full-time job, but you’re doing all of it. Easily.”
“Not easily.”
“It looks it.” His eyes narrowed. “Just how much does Emory take for granted?”
“A lot,” she said softly, inordinately pleased that he’d noticed.
Ever since she’d turned hybrid, the need to be seen for who she was burned especially bright.
Like an itch under her skin that she couldn’t get to.
Until him. His words, his understanding, even his gaze told her that he saw her.
And that soothed her as nothing and no one else ever had.
Oh hell. It would be so easy to fall in love with him. A wolf head over heels for a bear was bad enough—the jokes alone would be humiliating—but she intended to take over her pack. She’d never become alpha with a bear by her side. No one would follow her.
Meanwhile, he was still pressing to find out about her place in the pack. “Do the wolves know how much you do for them?”
She smiled. “The women know what I do. They’re my main support and my connection to what the men are doing.”
He nodded. “Smart.”
“And my father takes it all for for granted. Everything.” She sighed. “Or maybe he sees it, but can’t acknowledge it. What I do is usually reserved for the alpha female.”
“Your mother isn’t up to it?”
She shook her head. “My mother is in upstate New York hanging out with her friends. She only comes back for special pack events and when my father insists. It wasn’t a marriage for love.
They had good genetics, and I’m told they were super hot for each other once upon a time.
But Mom never really wanted to be a mother.
After three kids, she got her tubes tied without even telling Dad. After that, he lost interest in her.”
“Because she couldn’t have kids?”
“I guess. He’s always been about the pack.
Having strong kids to hold it together is his driving force.
” She sighed, the memories making her melancholy.
“They made an effort with each other when we were younger but gave up after Hunter died. She moved to New York, and we don’t even see her at Christmas anymore. ”
“Ouch.” He wrinkled his nose. “My mother is all about the holidays. Decorations galore. Family dinners. She buys us ugly sweaters and makes us wear them.”
She smiled, seeing the way his expression softened as he spoke. “You love it.”