She’s looking up at me now, with innocence on her face, and I know she wants me to answer her. But instead I gesture for her to follow me and I go to the back door of the house. I don’t look behind me, because I know she’s there, I know she’s following me. Stepping outside, I start to remove my clothes. I stand there facing Penny the whole time, looking at her face, daring her to watch. Her eyes are glued to me, but as soon as I reach for the buttons of my jeans, her face turns red and she turns away quickly.
I don’t stop though. Before I shift, I tell her, “It’s been too long since I’ve shifted, since either of us has. Run with me?” I don’t wait for her to answer. I shift into my bear, the bones creaking during the transformation, and she turns back around to watch. I stand here on all fours, waiting on her.
She reaches her hand out like she’s going to touch me, and I lower my head a little to let her. She jerks her hand back though and I won’t lie. I was wanting her touch.
She reaches for her shirt and then twirls her hand around, telling me to turn. I blow out air and turn away from her, the need to watch her and the need to run battling inside of me. I keep my back turned until I feel her walk up beside me. Seeing her bear is nothing I expected at all. She’s a beautiful spirit bear, pure white in color. Her eyes are even bluer in her shifted form. Her kind is very rare and very beautiful. My own brown bear is oversized, fast and strong but not graceful like Penny’s white bear.
After I stare at her for the longest time, she starts to walk past me. I watch her for a second. It’s the first time I’ve seen a spirit bear and I’m taking this moment in, committing it to memory. I catch up with her easily and we chase each other through the forest. Our breaths heaving, we stop in a cleared area next to the spring. We watch the water and it’s calming. I could stay out here all day.
The sound of bones creaking causes me to look around and see her. Penny has shifted into her human form. I paw at the ground, rutting the rocks around, unable to take my eyes off her. I should urge her home, push her back the way we come, but I’m weak. I shift into my human form and we both stand there naked.
I thought her bear was beautiful. But it’s nothing compared to her human form with all her curves. Her legs and thighs are thick and creamy white with curly, short hairs at the apex. Her belly and hips are full and I want to walk over to her and run my hands across them, feeling her soft skin. Her breasts are large, with her cherry tips hard and extended, making my mouth water. When I finally reach her eyes, still blue but darker now, my breath is rapid and I’m fighting not to ravage her.
“I know that my time is almost up, Bruin. I know it. You know it. I’ll do anything to earn my freedom. Anything at all.” The fear in her voice is palpable, and I can feel it in the steady beat of my heart. Since the day I met her, everything she’s felt, every emotion, I’ve felt it too. I’ve tried to deny it, tried to tell myself it’s not true. But I know it is. She’s my fated mate. But right now, she’s pissing me off.
I walk up to her. “Is that what you think of me? You offer your body to me… you, uh, get me off, and I let you free?” I don’t know what pisses me off more, that she thinks so little of me or the fact that if another man was keeping her, she might offer the same thing. I pray not, because I would kill him without a second thought, brother or not.
Disgusted with my thoughts, I turn away. I want to lean her against the tree and take her right now. I could have her right now, but this is not how I want it. I don’t want her to give herself to me out of fear.
“Bruin, please,” she begs me.
I turn back to her, ready to argue, and she’s sitting on a rock, her legs wide open and her hand between them. She’s stroking her finger along her wet folds and even from here I can see the juices coating her fingers.
I stalk over to her and drop to my knees, my body pushing her legs further apart. I told myself I wouldn’t do this, but I have to taste her. Just one taste.