Chapter 4
EVETTE
Letting a stranger into my hotel room, almost having sex with him, and then passing out were all risky decisions that could have resulted in the end of my life.
I should have been worried about sleeping with Leyton in the same bed, but I’d never felt safer than last night.
And waking up with his arms wrapped around me was something I yearned to experience as often as possible.
Maybe even for the rest of my life, as wild as that sounded when I didn’t really know much about him other than he was the good friend to Aaron and Cressida who had been able to keep calm under the pressure of driving a pregnant woman in labor to the hospital.
But there was a lot to be said for a guy who gave me my first orgasm without asking for anything in return.
Especially when he followed that up by treating me to breakfast in bed the following morning.
“How did you manage this?” I asked, staring down at the tray of food he’d just set on my lap after stacking and fluffing the pillows behind my back.
“I might live in the wilderness, but even I know there’s an app for just about everything.”
His answer made me smile because it confirmed my earlier guess about him spending a lot of time outdoors. “Define wilderness. Do you have a tent in the woods? RV? Tiny house? Log cabin?”
“That’s a lot of guesses. You listed just about every option except for a cave.” Lifting my legs, he sat on the edge of the mattress and placed them on his lap. “I’m looking forward to learning how your brain works.”
“That doesn’t answer my question.” Before stabbing a piece of French toast with my fork, I pointed the tines at him, ignoring his ridiculous suggestion of him living in a cave.
“No matter how delicious this breakfast is, it’s not going to distract me.
I want to know more about you, including how you managed to find me last night. ”
“First things first…I live in a log cabin.”
“Really?” I squealed, eyes widening. “I’ve always wanted to see one. They look so cool in pictures and movies.”
“Come back home with me, and you can explore mine to your heart’s content,” he offered. “I’ll even serve you breakfast in bed as often as you’d like.”
“You better be careful,” I warned, beaming a smile at him. “I could get used to being treated like a princess and expect stuff like this all the time.”
He didn’t seem the least bit bothered by setting unrealistic expectations in our relationship. Assuming that was what was happening here, and this wasn’t just a fling before I left. Instead, he just shrugged and murmured, “Go ahead. I have no problem with treating you the way you deserve.”
“Are you for real? With all the horrible dating stories I heard in nursing school and at the hospitals I’ve worked at, I didn’t think guys like you existed.”
“I am very much for real,” he murmured with a grin. “But it’s funny that you worded it like that.”
Tilting my head to the side, I asked, “How come?”
“You get enough to eat?” I nodded, and he lifted the tray off my lap. Then he took my hands in his, squeezing gently. “I promised that I’d explain how I found you if you let me into your room last night, but…”
My cheeks heated as he trailed off. “Yeah, things kind of spiraled out of control when I kissed you.”
“In the very best way possible,” he agreed.
“For me at least,” I mumbled, ducking my head.
“Hey.” Leyton pressed his finger beneath my chin until I met his gaze again. “I enjoyed making you fall apart for me.”
“Yeah, but you didn’t…um…get anything out of it for yourself.”
“Sure I did,” he disagreed with a wink. “I had the taste of your sweet pussy in my mouth all night long. Best thing I’ve ever eaten.”
The blush in my cheeks intensified at his dirty talk. It also made my inner thighs clench. “So you’re not mad that I didn’t return the favor?”
Licking his lips with a heated look in his dark eyes, he shook his head. “Not at all. We have all the time in the world to explore what we like in and out of bed.”
The way he didn’t hesitate to openly talk about a future with us together was yet another example of how incredible he was. “You seem awfully sure about that.”
“Because I have no doubt that you’re meant to be mine.”
His certainty was incredibly attractive, especially when I was so confused by the depth of the connection between us when we barely knew each other. “How can you be so certain about that?”
“This is the tough part of the conversation.”
My brows drew together as I straightened and drew my knees toward my chest, wrapping my arms around my legs. “Why?”
Wrapping his hand around my ankle, he gave it a comforting squeeze. “I need you to keep an open mind about what I’m going to share with you.”
“Okay,” I drawled, my breath caught in my chest as I wondered what kind of explanation could need this kind of prelude. “I’ll do my best. That’s all I can promise without knowing more.”
“I’m going to guess that you’re the kind of woman who likes facts and data since you chose nursing as your profession.” He heaved a deep sigh. “So I’m not expecting you to accept what I’m about to reveal to you without some incontrovertible evidence.”
I bit my bottom lip. “You’re starting to scare me.”
“You have nothing to fear from me,” he vowed. “Mates are wired to protect—not hurt—each other.”
“Mates?” I echoed, my brows drawing together.
“I’m a grizzly bear shifter, and we’re destined to be together. In my world, we call that being fated mates,” he explained.
I wasn’t sure how he kept a straight face while talking about something that was a physical impossibility. “You’re a big guy, but don’t grizzlies weigh in around five hundred pounds?”
“For males, more like six hundred.” He shrugged as though our topic of conversation was totally normal. “Mine clocks in closer to six hundred and fifty. My brother’s is even bigger, which is why he’s the pack alpha. And because he’s older than me.”
I pressed my knees closer to my chest. “You have to realize how unbelievable this all sounds.”
“Which is why I’m prepared to demonstrate that I’m telling the truth in the only way possible.” After giving my ankle another squeeze, he got to his feet and shoved the king-sized bed I was sitting on to the side as though it weighed nothing.
My squeak of surprise turned into one of shock when he started to strip off his shirt. “What you need to show me requires you to be naked?”
“Only if you want me to still have clothes to put back on once I’m done.” Clenching his shirt in his fist, he quirked a brow. “The choice is yours.”
The thought of him walking out of here with his muscular body revealed to anyone in his path was something I couldn’t stand. So my answer was easy. “By all means, please get naked.”
“Feel free to tell me that whenever you want.”
My reaction to the wink he aimed my way almost distracted me from the sight of him shoving his jeans and boxer briefs to the floor. Luckily, I was able to pull my scattered wits together in time to take in the glory that he revealed to my eyes.
The muscles roping his tall frame were impressive.
I’d seen more than my fair share of the human body during my studies to become a nurse, although most were women once I decided to focus on maternity care.
But I had never seen a fully naked man up close and personal like this.
And definitely not with a raging hard-on that had a bead of precome dripping from the tip.
As I licked my lips, wondering what that little drop would taste like, Leyton followed through on his promise to give me irrefutable proof that shifters existed. After some popping sounds, his large body grew even bigger…and started to sprout fur. Before I knew it, a giant bear stood before me.