My heart started racing even faster, beads of sweat pooling along the length of my spine, between my breasts. I felt those droplets on my temple, as if I’d run a marathon and was trying to catch my breath. What was it about this shifter? I asked myself that over and over again.
I couldn’t place it, but it felt… right. And my bear—my animal—she kept pacing, crying out for more. She wanted to escape me. I’d never felt this kind of power from her befo
re. It was exhilarating, exciting, liberating.
“You didn’t answer my question.” I licked my lips, my voice a little tight.
He cleared his throat and went to lift his hand to rub the back of his neck, as if he were a little bit sheepish over the fact that he’d been caught and called out for creeping on me. I didn’t know why I found that endearing.
“I didn’t mean to be a fucking creep.” He dropped his arm to the side, his other hand still wrapped tightly around the blanket, covering himself, covering the massive erection he still sported.
It took a hell of a lot of self-control not to stare at it, trying not to notice how he tented the material of the blanket.
“I’m on vacation. I don’t know what you want….” My voice was nothing more than a whisper, because the truth was, I didn’t want him to go, and I didn’t know why that was.
“This property is owned by myself and my brothers.” He didn’t say those words as an accusation, not as a judgment, just a fact.
“I—I didn’t know. I didn’t know this was private property.” And I hadn’t, hadn’t seen any signs posted, didn’t even think about it. I felt like a fucking idiot now, my cheeks heating in embarrassment. “I’ll leave.” That was the first thing I thought of, the only thing I could say now. Here I was giving him shit for hiding in the woods, yet this was his property and I was the one trespassing.
“I don’t want you to leave.” His words had me freezing, had my eyebrows lifting up in shock.
“But you said it was private property. I’m trespassing.” Truth be told, I didn’t want to leave either.
We didn’t speak for several long seconds, just stared at each other. I wondered what he was thinking. Did he wonder the same, questioning what was going through my mind? Did he feel the same way I did?
I inhaled deeply and could smell his arousal, his desire for me. But there was something else deep down, something that was overpowering, that had taken control even more than his lust was.
And that was possessiveness.
Toward me.
He took a step forward and I took one back. I didn’t know I was retreating. There was a different kind of fear settling in me. It had this feeling of the future, of all kinds of possibilities, of how far things would go, filling me.
But still, he kept coming closer, almost stalking me, his head slightly lowered, his eyes trained on me. I took one more step back, my foot catching something on the ground, my body propelling backward as I fell. A startled cry left me, and just as I expected to feel the hard ground greet me, he was right in front of me, his big, strong arms wrapped around my waist, stopping me from falling, pulling me toward his wide, expansive chest.
I dropped my gaze and surprise filled me as I noticed I had my palms flat on his chest, instinctively placed on his pectoral muscles to steady myself.
It felt good to touch him.
His skin was warm, hotter than what I thought it would be. Maybe because he had just shifted from his bear form.
I had to tilt my head back to look into his face, his focus still trained on me, his pupils dilated so much they almost ate up his blue irises. I felt myself fall even deeper, even harder for him.
“I don’t know what’s going on,” I whispered more to myself than to him. I didn’t know why I was saying this stuff, having this verbal regurgitation, this messy commentary. It’s not like I wanted to say anything at all, because I was confused as hell.
My bear was so powerful right now, stronger than she’d ever been in my entire life. It felt right in his arms. And as she clawed forward, upward, I felt the hair on my arms stand on end, felt my muscles tighten for a moment.
I thought maybe I would actually shift.
But that was impossible. I was too much of a human.
I blinked a few times, reality and common sense slamming into me. I let go of his chest and took a step back, although everything inside of me screamed that I needed to be pressed right to him.
“Maybe I should just go?” Honestly, I was asking myself more than I was him. But he slowly shook his head.
“I told you I don’t want you to go.”
I took a step back and he followed me one forward. The tent now stopped me from retreating any farther, and I reached out and grabbed the bar that held the structure in place and kept its form.