Bear Naked

Chapter Four

My sex was a red-hot brand of need. I slid my fingers to it and touched it, determined to ease the ache there.

“Damn it, Nikolina,” I heard Leif rasp, and his hands grabbed at mine. “Don’t do that with me sitting here.”

I sighed a protest, my hips lifting off of the mattress as if I could follow the hand being pried from my skin.

…Mattress?

My brain fuzzy, I sat up, panting, and tried to make sense of what my brain was feeding me. There was a low, whistling roar in my ears, followed by the sound of what seemed like air beating on sheet metal. I smelled - and heard - a crackling fire. And Leif. I smelled Leif.

I could feel the soft weight of my sleeping bag covering my naked body and I was laying on a cot in what seemed to be a dark cabin. I blinked my eyes at the wooden rafters above my head, and glanced around, looking for light. There was a hole in one corner of the building, and I saw snow drifting in on the far side.

“Leif?” I murmured, confused. I rubbed a hand across my eyes and the smell of my own sex nearly drowned me. It was all over my hands, and my body. Need - aching female arousal - perfumed the air.

“I’m here,” he told me, and a shadow fell over my cot once more. His hands tucked the sleeping bag closer to my body.

“What…what are you doing here?” My hands twitched, and I curled them into fists so I wouldn’t reach for him and drag him against me. God, he smelled amazing. God, I wanted to fuck him so badly. “You should go.”

“There’s a blizzard outside,” he snarled. “Why didn’t you leave?”

“Can’t,” I gasped. “Why’d you stay?”

“For you,” he sounded incredibly frustrated. As I looked up at him in a daze, he raked his hand through his hair. “Why are you doing this, Nikolina?”

“I have to tell you the truth, Leif.” I clutched at the blankets, miserable. “I’m in heat.”

He stared at me for so long that I wondered if he’d even heard me. The wind was roaring outside, rattling the walls of the ramshackle building. Then, he shook his head. “I know you’re in heat. It’s obvious to any shifter with a nose. God, did you think I wasn’t aware of that?”

I gazed up at him in horror. “You knew?”

“You’ve been throwing off intense amounts of scents for the past week, Nikolina. I’d have to be dead not to notice.”

Mortification swept over me, and I covered my face with my hands and moaned. “I’m so sorry.”

“Why are you sorry?”

Was he truly not getting it? “I came here looking for you.” When he said nothing, I peeked through my fingers and saw him gazing down at me with a wry half-smile, the blue of his eyes blazing. “What?”

“How clueless do you think I am?”

I swung a fist at him - and missed. “Considering you’d forgotten how to speak English last week? Pretty fucking clueless.”

“Okay, fair point,” he said, stepping back out of my reach. “But you’re the first person that’s come looking for me in sixteen years. You’re an old family friend, and a bear shifter going into heat. It’s not hard to put the pieces together, even for my scrambled mind.”

He knew…and he knew I was an awful person. Because I’d known he was grieving, and I still came after him, waving my pheromones under his nose so he’d have to pay attention. It was selfish. I’d manipulated him until we were both backed into a corner. “This is wrong,” I told him.

“Does it matter at this point?”

Hot tears began to seep from my eyes again because no, it really didn’t matter at this point. Our paths were set since my heat was here. I didn’t have any other options, and since Leif hadn’t abandoned me, he’d have no option either.

“Nikolina,” Leif said, and he sat on the edge of the rickety cot. His hand cupped my jaw and brushed my cheek, the feel of his skin against mine so sweet that it started a new round of tears. “Don’t cry. What is it that you want from me?”

His tone of voice was so kind and understanding that I felt even worse. I sobbed. “I want a mate. I want you to come home with me. I want us to be accepted by the clans as a mated couple. I’m tired of being a spinster.” Of being so utterly alone and unwanted.

Leif’s thumb continued to stroke my cheek. “And this is that important to you that you’d risk your life - and the possibility of your child - to come after me?”

“It’s what I’ve always wanted,” I said between hiccuping sobs. To be accepted and loved instead of rejected? To have my own family of people that cared for me instead of a father who was more interested in clan politics than his daughter?

That was my dream – unconditional love.

His thumb brushed my cheek, followed the curve of my mouth. After a long moment, he said, “Sometimes what we think we want is not always the truth of the matter.”

My cheek followed the light touch of his fingers, leaning into his palm. It was hard to concentrate on his words - his fingers were on my face but they might as well have been between my legs, diving against the slick, needy flesh there. “What do you mean?”

“Nothing,” he told me softly. “I’m simply talking because I’m nervous.”

I frowned at that, even as his thumb brushed over my mouth and I bit down on the tip. “Nervous?” I asked breathlessly. He was delicious and I wanted him so badly. I flicked my tongue over his fingertip. Why was biting on his thumb so incredibly erotic?

His gaze seemed glued to my mouth, to where I licked and sucked at his thumb. “It’s my first time, too.”

I stilled. “Um…what?”

“I said, it’s my first time.” And he had the gall to smile at me.

I struggled to sit upright, pulling away from him so I could think without his touch driving me nuts. I stared at his handsome face, unable to believe what I was hearing. “Are you kidding me?”

As I watched, his ears turned bright red. “Why would I joke? Why is it bad? It will be special for both of us.”

I wanted to cry all over again. “It’s bad because I want one of us to know what the hell we’re doing!”

Leif laughed at my expression. He slid a bit closer on the bed, and I automatically shied away, because my body wanted to fling him down on the rickety cot and do bad, nasty things to him. “I’m a guy, Nikolina. I have instincts. I think I can figure out what goes where. And I can think of plenty of things I’ve been picturing doing to you.”

That made my breath catch in my throat. “You’ve been picturing doing things to me?”

“Are you kidding?” His hand moved back to my jaw and he brushed his fingers along it. “You’re incredibly beautiful. You’re strong and brave…and I’m a thirty-four year old man that has never had sex. Of course I’m imagining all kinds of things to do to you.”

I moaned at the husky note his words took on. “Really? You’re not just saying that because of the heat?”

“I’m afraid that some of it is the heat,” he said, sliding a bit closer to me on the bed. His other hand lifted and then he was cupping my face in his hands. “That can’t be removed from the situation. But the fact that you’re beautiful and smart and strong and I’m incredibly attracted to you? That’s all you.”

“Then will you kiss me?” I asked as he leaned closer. My gaze seemed to lock on to his mouth. Why had I not noticed until now that he had the most sensual lips? They were the most sexual thing I’d ever seen. I was fascinated by them, and the way they parted as he neared me.

“You couldn’t stop me,” Leif said, and his thumbs brushed my cheeks a scant second before his mouth touched on mine.

Heat touched my lips; warmth and the taste of Leif. I moaned as his tongue slicked against mine, tasting me in the world’s most gentle caress. Immediately, my body responded, and desire shot through me, so hot and heavy that it made my skin hurt. I broke off the kiss with a whimper.

“What is it?” Leif sounded concerned, and he pulled away from me.

“I hurt. Everywhere.” The smell of my arousal was practically soaking the cabin. “I don’t think I like being in heat.”

He chuckled.

I punched him in the arm.

“Ow!” He rubbed his arm, but the smile remained on his lips. “I wasn’t laughing at you. I was laughing because I doubt most people like being in heat. I imagine it sounds sexier than it really is.”

“Everything aches,” I said, and cupped my breasts to support them. The tips seemed to be two blooms of sensitivity, well past the point of pleasure. “I think I waited too long.”

Leif’s face lost its amusement. “I should have realized. I’m sorry, Nikolina. This is my fault.” He reached out and gave my shoulder a comforting pat. “What can I do to help?”

“Fuck me,” I said bluntly. “I don’t think…I don’t think I can stand foreplay right now.” The thought of teasing touches on my body seemed more like torture. The ache inside me wouldn’t subside. I didn’t need to be aroused - I was already there in the worst way.

His eyes gleamed, and he grabbed my hips, dragging me down on the cot. “Get down to business? I think I can do that.”

I moaned again. “Yes, please. Sex now. We can do foreplay later.”

Leif stood up and stripped off his piecemeal clothing, flinging it to the creaky wooden floor of the cabin. I watched with eager eyes as his chest was revealed, and then his hips…then his groin.

His cock sprang free, thick, proud, and erect. It seemed like I wasn’t the only one that didn’t need any foreplay. I began to pant at the sight of it. God, it looked good. I wanted to touch it, stroke my hands along it like I had that day in the tent when I’d washed him, but more than that, I wanted him deep inside me, taking care of the ache burning low between my hips. “Please,” I whispered, when he sat down on the edge of the cot again, entirely naked.

“I’m getting there, Nikolina, love,” Leif said in a gentle voice. His hands went to my long-sleeved thermal shirt, and he began to peel it off of my body, careful not to touch my skin and set me off again. I raised my arms and torso off the bed to help him, and when he gestured that he’d move to my hips next, I lifted them to drag the pants down my legs. Then, I was clad only in my panties and my bra, both of which felt confining and horribly constricting…and terribly unsexy. I’d dressed for function when coming down to the Antarctic, and my clothing was bought at a sporting goods store, not Victoria’s Secret.

But he looked at me as if I were wonderfully sexy, and my nipples ached in response to his gaze.

“Let’s get these off of you,” he told me in a gentle voice. As if I couldn’t do it myself, he pulled me forward and reached behind me to unclasp my bra.

My breasts pressed against his chest, my nipples brushing at his chest hair. And it was too much. I couldn’t wait any longer. With a whimper of excitement, I reached for his cock, wrapping my hand around it and tightening my grip.

He groaned, and I felt his hands fumble on my bra, taking forever to undo the clasps. “‘Lina,” he murmured, shortening my name in a way that made me all giddy inside.

I stroked my hand up and down his shaft, instinct guiding me.

“Slow down—“

“No—“

He groaned as my hand jacked him, and Leif continued to fight with my bra. A moment later, I heard the tearing of fabric, and then the material was falling off of my shoulders. He pulled away from me and shimmied it off of my body, and then tore at my panties, even as I reached for him again. “No, ‘Lina,” he said softly again, and when I reached for his cock, he grabbed my hands and pinned them above my head even as he tore at my panties with his free hand.

Oh yes. His hand trapping mine was incredibly erotic. I lifted my hips with need, panting and moaning in response. “Leif,” I moaned. “Need you.”

“I know, sweetheart,” he told me.

“Please.”

“I know. I’m hurrying.” He flung my panties aside after working them down my legs, and then I was naked on the little cot in front of him. His gaze moved over my body and he groaned at the sight. “You are beautiful, ‘Lina. So beautiful.”

My scent was thick in the air around us, so strong that it seemed to envelop everything. “I want you inside me, Leif.”

“I know.” He shifted his long, lean body, and released my hands so he could move over me. I watched him with increasing excitement, unable to take my gaze off of the long, thick shaft curving from his groin. “Open your legs for me, Nikolina.”

He didn’t need to ask twice. I spread my legs wide, and as I did, he moved to settle between them, his knees digging into the mattress. His hands propped on the bed next to my shoulders, and he gazed down at me with those impossibly blue eyes.

“Tell me if you get afraid or want me to stop,” he said, searching my face.

I didn’t want him to stop - we were moving too slow as it was. I simply ran my hands along his chest and nodded my agreement.

“You sure you don’t want foreplay?” He asked, and his gaze flicked to my breasts, the nipples taut and aching.

“Positive. Please, Leif,” I told him, and dug my nails into his shoulders as way of encouragement.

He grunted his acknowledgment of my words, and he lifted a hand to slide between my legs, seeking my heat.

I hissed at his touch, startled by the intense intimacy of it - and how good it felt. My sex was incredibly slippery, my pulse seeming to throb between my legs.

“God, Lina,” he murmured, voice hoarse. “You’re so wet.”

“Please,” I panted. This was torture. “Explore later. Sex now.”

“Sex now,” he agreed, and I felt his finger press against the opening of my sex. He slid it against my sex, and then pushed in.

I gasped, my body immediately flying into an orgasm. My pussy clenched hard around him, and I cried out as my muscles tightened and spasmed in response.

“Oh, Jesus,” Leif moaned. “You’re tight.” His finger stroked in and out of my sex, and then I felt him add a second one.

The orgasm didn’t seem to be stopping. If anything, my body continued to grow more tense as he stroked his fingers in and out, preparing me for his cock. “Leif,” I moaned, bucking against his hand. “I need you—“

“I know,” he said, and the words were issued through gritted teeth. His fingers slid out of my pussy - and I whimpered at the loss. It had almost felt like too much when they were there, but now that they were gone, I wanted him back. A moment later, the head of his cock pressed against my warmth.

“Yes,” I moaned. “Yes, please. Please!”

Slowly, he began to push his way inside of me. “Stop me if you hurt, ‘Lina,” he told me.

I raised my hips up, panting, trying to sink him further and faster into my body. If I hurt? I was an endless mass of aching hurts and need. This was actually making me feel better.

“‘Lina,” he began. “Don’t — I — stop squirming. I can’t keep control. I’m going to—“ He shook his head as I continued to buck and whimper under him, and then bit out a curse.

And then he slammed deep into me.

The breath ripped out of my lungs at the stab of pain that flared through my body. My eyes opened wide, and I stared up at Leif. His blue eyes were dazed with sex, but I could see the shock in them, too. He hadn’t expected to do that.

A moment later, though, pleasure flooded through my body. I gave a small cry and clung to Leif, wrapping my legs around him. “Oh god, yes!”

“Yes?”

I nodded tightly, my entire body so tightly wound with pleasure I could scarcely breathe. This was what I’d needed. Him - deep inside me. Filling me. This was what the heat needed.

He groaned and his mouth moved down to mine, kissing me as he began to move slowly inside of me. His strokes were small at first, the movements barely noticeable. But as his tongue slicked over mine and I returned his kiss with greedy fervor, his motions began to take on more power. It was like he’d been holding back, not sure of how I’d respond, and now that he knew he hadn’t hurt me, he was abandoned. Leif sucked on my tongue, distracting me, and as I moaned my pleasure, he drew back and slammed back into me again.

I screamed in pleasure, my nails digging into his back. My hips lifted to meet his next thrust, and I wrapped my legs around him, linking my ankles to keep my body in place.

He groaned deep, clearly not anticipating my response. His next thrust was even wilder, and was met enthusiastically. Again, he slammed into me. There was no finesse in the meeting of our bodies. I was too frantically clawing at him, need overtaking everything, and Leif couldn’t seem to keep control, not while I was writhing under him. He pushed into me and I bucked with each thrust, screaming out my pleasure. It felt like my body was moving through one continuous orgasm, and I kept coming. I could feel my pussy tightening and flexing around Leif as he stroked inside me, hammering harder and faster deep within my core. All the while, his mouth worked on mine, and I screamed my pleasure against his lips.

Then I was shattering all over again, stars exploding behind my eyes. My back bowed and my entire body trembled, my senses on overload.

“’Lina,” Leif panted. “Oh god, ‘Lina. Can’t hold out — so sorry—“

He groaned, body stiffening over mine, and then I felt the hot flood of his come deep inside me as his thrusts became wild and shuddering. A moment later, he collapsed on top of me, and I went limp under him as the ceaseless orgasms seemed to finally die off.

I sucked in deep, long breaths, trying to re-orient myself. My entire body throbbed and felt twitchy. The slightest touch, and I felt like it’d set me off all over again. The deep, terrible aching was gone, like a toothache that had been soothed. It seemed to linger just below the surface, though, and I knew from hearing others talk about their personal heat experiences that it’d take more than one round of sex to rid myself of the feeling.

But I clung to Leif’s body, enjoying the press of his skin against mine. He was covered in a fine sheen of perspiration, his body damp. His control had been shot to hell by my wriggling and insistent touches. Poor man. I smoothed a hand along his back, feeling the muscles and tendons that twitched under my touch.

He struggled to his elbows and looked down at me, panting hard. There was a dazed look in his expressive blue eyes. “‘Lina…you okay?”

I gave my body an experimental, testing wiggle. I didn’t hurt, though I suspected I’d probably feel like hell in the morning. “I’m fine. How are you?”

Leif gave a small, wry laugh. “I’m not the one in heat. Speaking of, are you…?”

“It’s going to take more than just one round,” I told him. “I can still feel it in my body. You have time to catch your breath before we go again, though.”

He gave a wry snort and moved off of me, and the small cot creaked as he moved to my side. “Why do I have a feeling you’re going to work me into a boneless puddle before the day is over?”

I didn’t correct him. Even now, I was fighting the urge to roll over and pin him down on the bed and take what I needed from him. “Did I exhaust you already?”

Leif rubbed a hand on his face. “It’s not that. It’s…I don’t know.”

I frowned, rolling onto my side to face him. The movement pushed my breasts against him, and I thrilled at the contact of our skin. “What is it?”

“I…I keep thinking of the first time I saw you here on the island. I didn’t think you were real. I’m still half afraid to touch you for fear of hurting you.” A haunted look crossed his face. “Hurting you again,” he corrected. “I hate that I did that to you.”

I ran my fingers over his breastbone. “That was as much my fault as it was yours. I didn’t realize just how…feral you’d be.” Or completely out of your mind. “Once you realized what you were doing, you stopped.”

“After you kicked your way free,” he grumbled, and there was self-loathing in his words. Apparently it still weighed heavily on Leif’s mind. “If you hadn’t been strong enough—“

“But I am,” I reminded him, and slid my fingertips over to one of his nipples to tease it. Were his as sensitive as mine? A light furring of chest hair darkened his skin on each pectoral and met across his breastbone. It was fascinatingly soft, and I tickled the hairs with my fingers as I explored his body. “I’m just as strong as you, so there’s nothing to worry about.” It wasn’t a total lie - I was much stronger than a normal human girl, but a were-bear male in his prime would always be stronger than a were-bear female. Still, he’d know what I meant.

As I watched, his body twitched in response to my light, exploring touches, and he reached out to grasp my hand. “What are you doing, ‘Lina?”

“I’ve never touched a man before. Can I?”

“Never?” He released my hand and placed it back on his chest. “I thought you were promised to someone…” His brow wrinkled as he tried to recall.

“I was,” I said. “Ramsey Bjorn. Remember him? When he was fifteen, he was exiled for breaking the laws, and he never came back. After that, everyone just seemed to kind of ignore me.”

My few attempts at dating human boys had encouraged such scorn from my father that I’d given up. Better to be lonely and accepted than reviled, right?

“Poor ‘Lina,” Leif murmured. His hand brushed my hair off my cheek, and he couldn’t resist touching my nose ring again. “He’s a fool for leaving you behind.”

I shrugged, inwardly pleased at his words. “I was just a gawky girl when he left. He probably wasn’t thinking about me at all.” But that didn’t explain the later years, when I’d grown into my adulthood and still Ramsey hadn’t returned, despite knowing full well that there was no mate for me if he didn’t.

It had been incredibly selfish of Ramsey to leave me behind while he took off to live a life of exile, and I still burned with the resentment of that.

“He’s in your past,” Leif said, and there was a possessive note in his voice. His hand brushed over mine. “And you’re welcome to touch me any way that you like, though I’ll probably need some time to recover my stamina before pleasing my woman again.”

I giggled, the sound high and girlish. Your woman? But instead, I just said, “Is it because you’re so old now?”

Leif gave a mock growl in his throat.

I tangled my fingers into his chest hair and then slid them lower down his stomach, following the darker trail of hair down his stomach. It arrowed down to his belly button and then widened again, and I slid my fingers even further down, exploring his groin. I enjoyed his sucked-in breath, and my experimenting grew bolder. I reached down and cupped his balls, fascinated by the softness of the skin that covered them, and the heat of his body. Touching Leif felt good.

Then, I brushed my fingers over the soft length of his cock, now flaccid against his leg, and watched as it stirred to life. “Well now,” I said in a low voice. “That’s interesting.” The heat between my legs had begun to pulse again, excitement flicking through my veins.

“I think my body likes you,” Leif mused, and his hand began to smooth over my shoulder, caressing my skin.

His words ruined my teasing mood. His body was responding to mine because of the pheromones I was throwing off. That was the heat, not me.

Uncertainty leapt up again and I pulled my hand away. “Leif…you know that this will mean a baby, right? We’re not using protection and I’m not on the pill.” And females only went into heat when ovulation was assured. That was why a female shifter’s heat was such an important event in her life - they didn’t come often. My own mother had only gone into heat once in her life - and I was the result.

“I know what this means, ‘Lina,” he said softly. “Don’t worry about that.”

“But…I just want you to know,” I began, then paused. The words tore out of my throat haltingly, as if they didn’t want to come. “You…it doesn’t mean you have to be the father, though.”

He tilted his head, frowning up at me, as if trying to understand where I was going with this.

“I mean, you will be the father, of course.” I felt my face become red as I tried to put the words out into the air. “Just that you and me…right now…it doesn’t mean you have to be involved in the baby’s life if you don’t want to be. I can do it on my own. I don’t want you to feel obligated.”

Leif stared up at me for so long that I began to get uncomfortable. His blue eyes watched my face, and I wondered what he was thinking. I had the distinct impression that I’d angered him.

And that made me unhappy and nervous. “What?” I snapped. “I’m just trying to give you options, here. I—“

His hand went to the back of my neck, and I fell silent mid-thought. Leif said nothing more, just rested that hand on the back of my neck. I flexed and tensed, waiting for him to do something.

It came a moment later. He surged off of the bed, likely intending to roll me onto my back. However, the cot was so creaky and the bed so narrow that we ended up tipping it over, and both of us rolled to the ground in a heap of tangled limbs and blankets. I winced as Leif’s weight thumped on top of me.

I expected him to apologize again for startling me, but he didn’t. Instead, he crawled over me, his heavier weight pinning me to the cold wooden floor. His blue eyes were intense as they watched me. His head dipped low to my neck, and I felt his mouth press against my skin, hot and delicious.

I moaned, desire flaring through my body. “Leif—“

His hand tightened on the back of my neck. Before I could question what he was doing, I felt his teeth sink into my skin, and he nipped me at my neck.

Hard.

I gasped in shock as the bite deepened. He had the blunt teeth of any human, but for some reason, I felt the scoring of his teeth on my skin like a brand. A moment later, I realized what this was — a mate mark.

Leif had just claimed me as his.

Startled, I clung to him for a moment longer as he continued to bite me, cementing his claim. The mark would show, livid as a bruise, for a few days, and then would fade into a faint scarring that only a shifter could sense. But after this, no male shifter would ever think to touch me again, because Leif had declared me as his property.

To say that I was stunned by this was an understatement. “Leif,” I said softly, stroking his now-short hair as he licked at my neck, over and over on the place that he’d left the bite. “You don’t have to—“

He moved up, then, kissing my jawline in a tender caress that left me aching with need. I forgot my protests as his mouth moved up and covered my own, and my tongue greedily accepted the return of his as he kissed me.

“Foreplay now?” Leif asked, his voice low and husky when his mouth pulled from mine.

I blinked at him, startled. “Huh?”

He took my hand and guided it back to his groin. His cock was as hard as a rock, and I could practically feel it throb in my grasp. Leif leaned in and kissed me again, and when his tongue thrust back into my mouth, I felt him thrust against my hand. It sent a spiral of excitement through my body in response, and I whimpered a protest when he pulled his lips away from mine once more. “Foreplay now?” he asked again.

I nodded.

“You’ll tell me if it gets to be too much for you?”

Again, I nodded, not trusting my own voice to be more than a series of breathless mewling sounds. I watched him as his big body propped on his side, and he kicked the blankets - my poor, torn up sleeping bag - aside so he could stare at my body. My breasts were decent but nothing spectacular, the nipples small and so pale a pink that they almost blended in with the rest of my pale skin. But Leif studied them with great intensity, and after a long moment of consideration, he brushed his thumb over the tip of one.

A zing of pleasure hummed through my body, and I couldn’t resist the moan that escaped my throat. His fingers on my nipples felt…incredible. Why had I skipped foreplay before? I was clearly out of my mind.

Pleased by my response, Leif cupped my breast and his thumb began to circle the tip in a gentle motion that both aroused and tormented. The tease of his rough fingertips against my soft skin was an incredibly erotic sensation, and before long, I was panting and arching, pushing my breast against those teasing fingers. But Leif ignored my silent begging, and his hand moved to my other breast to give it the same ministrations.

I could feel my sex throbbing in response, the slickness between my legs returning along with the mating scent. I was aching again, but I didn’t want to tell Leif and ruin the exquisite sensations he was bestowing upon my body. I loved his touch.

Once both of my nipples were teased into twin aching peaks, he leaned in and lightly tongued one nipple with his mouth.

I cried out, my body clenching in need. My hips flexed, but there was nothing between them to ride, and my cry turned into a needy moan. My hands dug into his hair and I pressed his mouth against my breast, wanting more.

“Sweet ‘Lina,” he murmured, and I felt the fan of his hot breath against my skin. Felt the tickle of his lips on the curve of my breast as they moved. “I love your body.”

I made a sound of pleasure in my throat, letting him know how much his touch - and his words - delighted me.

His mouth descended on my nipple again, and as his tongue swirled patterns onto the peak, his hand slid over my belly, exploring me the way I’d explored him. I felt his thumb graze my belly button and then traveled lower, and I whimpered again, parting my legs in anticipation.

Please, I begged silently. I wanted him to touch me where I ached the most.

He made that same, possessive growl in his throat that made me so wet, and his big palm cupped my mound.

I gasped at the sensation.

“This is mine,” he told me, pressing down with his hand. “I’ve claimed you.”

“Yes,” I breathed, stunned by his words. Was this my easygoing, artistic Leif? This possessive, dominating man who was claiming me for his own? It was everything I’d ever wanted - but had scarce hoped to dream for.

“My mate,” he rumbled, the feral edge returning to his voice, and his fingers parted my wet folds, gliding through them and exploring my flesh.

I cried out at the touch, only to be silenced into a gasp by the bite of his teeth on my nipple. The feel of his mouth on my skin was shockingly decadent. I wanted it everywhere.

His fingertips slid up and down my pussy, exploring it, seeing which touches I liked the most. Then, he dipped those fingertips deep into my core, and I arched in response, trying to bear down against his fingers.

“So impatient,” Leif murmured, watching my body try to sink onto his fingers. “I love the way you demand your release.” He sank a finger deep inside me, but just as quickly pulled it out again.

I moaned a protest. I needed more than just that teasing touch.

He raised his hand to his mouth, and gazed up at me. “Your smell has been driving me wild for weeks. You know that, right? That I’ve woken up with the scent of you thick in my nostrils every morning, my cock hard? That I wondered what it’d be like to bury my face at your center and taste you for myself? And now that I’m with you, I get that chance.” He raised his fingers - wet and gleaming with my juices - to his mouth and began to slowly, sensuously lick them before my wondering gaze. His blue eyes closed and a look of bliss crossed his face. “You’re the most delicious thing I’ve ever tasted.”

“Oh,” I breathed, unable to process the raw carnality of that move. I stared at him, wide-eyed, as he dipped a finger into my pussy again, and then licked it once more.

Then, that intense blue gaze moved back to my face. “Can I taste all of you?”

I trembled at that. Nodded.

He shifted and slid down my naked body, moving lower. His face moved between my thighs, and I heard him suck in a deep breath. “You smell like both of us. I like that.”

And then his hands pulled my legs apart, and he pressed his mouth to my pussy.

I cried out, fists clenching at my sides.

He jerked away as if scalded. His anxious gaze met mine. “‘Lina? Too much?”

“No,” I sobbed, and my hand went to the top of his head and I shoved him back down again. “It’s good. Keep going!” God, I didn’t want him to stop. That had been the best thing I’d ever felt.

“Jesus, you scared me, screaming like that.”

“I’ll be quiet,” I told him, and obligingly bit down on one knuckle. If I had to be quiet to get him to put his tongue there again, I’d shut up even if it killed me.

He bent over me again, pushing my thighs over his shoulders until they were cradling his head, and he knelt between my legs. I watched, fascinated and trembling, as his mouth descended onto my pale blonde curls again, and then I felt his tongue slick between the lips of my pussy again.

And then it swiped over my clit.

My entire body jumped, and I groaned, biting down on my knuckle. Must be quiet. Must be quiet.

“Ah, damn, that’s so good,” he murmured, and I felt his tongue flick over my folds again. “I can’t get enough of you.” His mouth pressed to the top of my pussy, and I felt his tongue push against my clit, rolling it against his teeth like he had my nipples.

I bit down harder on my knuckle, keeping back the cries that threatened to spill out again. My thighs trembled in response, my body alive and aching with desire at his touches.

He continued to tongue at my clit, fascinated at playing with the small bud of flesh and the way I jumped in response. I felt his thumb press against my core, and then he began to move it in and out, even as his tongue rolled against my clit in teasing circles.

I bit so hard that the coppery tang of blood filled my mouth. My cheeks were moving like bellows as I struggled to breathe and retain control, but I was slipping close to the edge. I didn’t want to, though; I didn’t want him to stop.

It felt way too good for him to ever stop.

His hand reached up and dragged my hand out of my mouth. “Don’t hurt yourself, ‘Lina. If you need to cry out, I want to hear it.” And then his mouth descended again.

I screamed as the orgasm shattered through me again, as hard and violent as the one I’d had just a short time ago. As the pleasure spiraled through me, my thighs clenched against his shoulders, and I could feel my pussy clamping down on his thumb, trying desperately to milk it.

Then, I was left panting, the ache between my legs intensifying. I’d had an orgasm, but the heat demanded more. “Leif—“

That was all I needed to say. Leif surged forward, covering me again, and my legs remained trapped over his shoulders, my calves resting there as he leaned forward, pushing deep into me again, my body bowed like a V under him, my legs in the air.

I cried out again at the feel of him, seated deep inside me.

“Tell me if I’m hurting you,” Leif growled, and the feral edge was back in his throat. Oh, that just made me all the more aroused.

I bucked my hips in response. “More, damn you. More.”

He groaned, and then began to pump furiously into me, pushing forward. I was trapped under him, my legs in the air as he fucked me. There was no tenderness or carefulness with this second round; it was pure need and adrenaline. I screamed my pleasure every time he thrust deep, and with the angle we were at, he was so deep inside me that I felt impaled against him.

I’d never felt anything better. I clawed at the floors, the blankets, trying to find a way to anchor myself against his wild, frantic pumping that was driving me across the flooring. God, I loved it.

Then I was coming again, the force of it hitting me like a freight train. I screamed once more, the pleasure shooting through me like stars in the midnight sky, bursts of light flooding behind my eyes. Every muscle in my body responded, clenching and tensing as I came, and Leif’s movements grew more savage as he worked fiercely toward his own orgasm.

And then he came with a roar of my name that had been almost as loud as my own scream. I felt the flood of his come inside me once more and then he stilled, my hips pinned to his as he filled me.

This time, I didn’t miss the flash of possessiveness in his blue eyes. Were all males like this when they claimed a mate?

He groaned as he came down from his own orgasm, and slowly let my legs down before sliding down to rest his weight atop of me. He burrowed against my neck, and I felt his mouth lick at the mate mark he’d left on my skin, as if renewing his claim.

I clung to him, exhausted and pleased. “Thank you,” I murmured against his skin.

A soft chuckle escaped his throat. “Why are you thanking me?”

“Because that was…really good,” I said, feeling a bit shy. How could I possibly describe to him I think a supernova burst behind my eyes, I came so hard?

He lifted his head and grinned down at me, then pulled my hand to him, studying where I’d bit down and broken the skin. Then, he gave me a reproachful look. “You’re noisy when you come.”

“Excuse me,” I huffed. “I wasn’t exactly paying attention to what kind of noises I was making.”

Leif grinned. “I don’t mind. I’m just thinking the penguins are probably scared.”

I smacked his shoulder. “That’s not funny.”

He only kissed the marks on my fingers, but he was smiling his pleasure.

We had sex at least five more times that day, though after a while, the sessions began to run together. The heat was relentless. Every time I thought I couldn’t take any more, that familiar itching need would return and I’d touch Leif to let him know I needed more. He was always ready for another round. He couldn’t get enough of me either, and I liked that, liked the possessive flash in his eyes when I screamed out his name at my climax.

Eventually, we fell into an exhausted slumber that even the heat couldn’t disturb, and when I woke up the next morning, the fire in the fireplace was out, snow had risen to the ceiling in the small corner of the cabin where the roof had caved in, and the floor was freezing cold.

I was also sore in every muscle, and feeling a bit raw and abused between my legs.

But happy. I was so, so happy. So content.

Things had worked out beautifully. I had Leif, I’d had my heat, and inside me, our child was growing. I’d gone from having nothing overnight to having everything.

It snowed and stormed for three days straight. That suited me just fine, because it meant we were trapped in our cabin together. We had food in the form of protein bars, some firewood, and mostly we just snuggled under the blankets and let our shifter metabolism do the hard work of keeping us warm. When nights got too cold, we shifted into bear form and cuddled together. Every time Leif shifted, I was a little afraid that he’d up and leave, letting the animal take over his brain again. But he’d only nose me and protectively herd me into the warmest corner of the rickety cabin, and then curl up next to me.

It was as if we’d truly mated.

The days in the cabin were my favorites, of course. In human form, we’d frolic in bed, explore each other for hours, and just talk. I tried to fill Leif in on everything that had gone on for the past sixteen years, from advances in the internet to politics to which bear shifters recently married and had children. As I talked, Leif borrowed my knife and carved small things in wood, keeping his hands busy. I’d watch, fascinated, as the curve of a woman’s hip came to life under the blade, and I wanted to keep all the carvings he made. They were all beautiful. But Leif would only laugh, claim that he was rusty, and toss them into the fire.

I managed to rescue a small wooden statue of a woman with a baby on her hip when he went out into the storm to relieve himself, and my heart warmed to see the woman had a nose piercing.

No way was I letting him burn that.

I was sad when, on the fourth day of our idyll in the cabin, I woke up to see the sunlight leaking in through the hole in the far corner of the roof. That meant the storm was gone and we could leave our cozy nest.

“I’m kind of sad to see the sun,” I told Leif from under the sleeping bag, my hands moving over his warm, delicious skin.

He grinned at me, and kissed my mouth. “This means we can fish, though. Don’t you want something to eat other than a protein bar?”

I made a face at the thought. Fish didn’t exactly sound appealing, but my stash of protein bars was getting low. “I suppose so.”

Leif gave me another long, seeking kiss before dressing in his patchwork clothing. I can’t say that I was displeased to see that. It would have been much easier for him to shift to bear form and fish that way, but staying human was for my sake. It showed he was trying, that he didn’t want to be what he’d become for so long - a mindless animal.

He was also extremely protective of me. I wasn’t used to the snow and the cold, he argued. Not like he was. So I was to stay inside and tend the fire, and melt some snow for drinking water while he went and fished us a meal. It was a new experience for me to be coddled and doted upon, and I wanted to protest, but when Leif argued that he knew the island better than me, I had to agree with him.

Tomorrow, though, I’d suggest we fished together. Everything seemed like it’d be better with Leif at my side. I smiled at the thought and pulled one of our last logs out to feed into the fire. As I did, a different scent caught my nose, just as Leif came storming back into the cabin, a look of concern on his face.

“Someone’s here,” he said. “Were-bears.”

I lifted my nose, scenting the air. “I smell my father…and Mikkel.”

And Jokkum, but I cringed at the thought of that. If my father had come after me, he’d brought Jokkum for ‘just in case’ I was still in heat. A small part of my soul shriveled at the thought of crawling all over fat, elderly Jokkum like I had my sexy Leif. I turned to Leif and looked over at him, masking my unease. “Mikkel’s back early.”

Leif picked up one of the heavy branches and began to brandish it like a weapon. His teeth were bared in a protective snarl. “I’ll chase them away. I won’t let them take you from me.”

“What? No,” I said, tugging at his sleeve. “You misunderstand. They came to retrieve us. You and me.” My hands soothed down his chest. “It’s okay.”

I didn’t like the wild look that had returned to his eyes, but I couldn’t do anything about it. Leif would have to get used to more people eventually, if we were going to move back to the bear clan together…though at this moment, I wasn’t sure if that was what he intended at all.

Uncertainty swept through me as the scents of the others grew stronger, and I pulled my body closer to Leif’s, pleased when his arms encircled me and pulled me close. “You’re coming back with me, right?”

His hand smoothed over my thick braids, his gaze searching my face. “I won’t leave you.”

I exhaled in relief and hugged him close, just as the door to the cabin flew open.

Mikkel stepped inside first, an apology written on his features. He was bundled up for the storm, and his scanning eyes lit on me. I watched his nostrils flare, no doubt smelling our thick scents - and the aftermath of my heat - in the small cabin. “Good, you’re here. Both of you. Everything…okay?”

I gave him a silent thumbs up. “My father?”

“About two minutes behind me, with Jokkum.” Mikkel grimaced and rubbed his jaw. “I’m sorry, Niko. I tried, I really did. But they’re the elders. I couldn’t refuse them when they said they were coming after you. They made me tell where you were.”

“It’s okay,” I said softly, still clinging to my new mate. “Everything turned out fine.”

“I see that,” Mikkel said, and his gaze moved over Leif. “You found him after all. Look, I think I should tell you—“

“Daughter,” my father roared from a distance. “Daughter, come out here!”

I winced, pulling out of Leif’s arms. “That would be me.”

To my surprise, Leif put his arm around my waist. “We’ll confront him together.”

I shot him a look of gratitude and offered him my hand. He took it, and we headed out of the cabin, Mikkel trailing behind us with an unhappy look on his face.

My father stood some distance away, snow up to his knees. Behind him stood Jokkum, and both men were heavily bundled. They watched me with frowns on their faces, assessing me. I wondered if they were staying distant because they were worried I was still in heat, but that didn’t explain why Mikkel had come in.

Leif’s hand tightened on mine.

I raised my free hand to shield my eyes from the sun glinting hard on the snow. “Hello, Father. You came a long way to find me.”

“Yes,” my father said in a displeased voice. “And I’m very unhappy with you. Come here.” When both Leif and I stepped forward, he raised a hand. “Just my daughter.”

I frowned and looked over at Leif. He was unshaven this morning, and his hair was messy from sleep, but it was much better than before. He no longer looked like a wild man. His clothes were a bit ridiculous, but they were just clothes. Why was my father treating him so coldly? “Father, Leif is my mate now.”

“No,” said my father succinctly. “He is not.”

I heard Mikkel sigh unhappily behind me. “I tried to tell you,” he muttered in a low voice.

My stomach clenched with worry. “What do you mean, Leif isn’t my mate?” I moved one of my braids aside, showing my mate mark. “He’s claimed me. I’m going to have his baby. He—“

“He’s exiled,” my father said flatly. “Just like Ramsey.”

I sucked in a breath and looked over at Leif. He’d never said. The glare in his blue eyes as he stared at my father was cold with anger. “What? Exiled? Why?”

“I would have told you if I’d have known of this ridiculous scheme of yours,” my father said in a cold voice. “But you ran away before I had the chance.”

“What was I supposed to do?” I cried. “I didn’t have many options.”

Leif’s hand tightened on mine. He pulled it to his mouth and kissed my knuckles. “It’s all right, Lina.”

“It’s not all right,” I said, upset. Why was this happening? “I don’t understand.”

“Leif abandoned the bear clan sixteen years ago, so he was exiled,” Jokkum said, finally speaking up.

At my side, Leif gave a wry snort of derision, and hearing that actually made me feel better. So he hadn’t known he was exiled when we’d come together? The absurdity of the rule struck me. “Wait. He left and so you decided to exile him after the fact?”

“If he wants to come back, he’ll have to petition the elders,” Jokkum said.

“I’m not leaving ‘Lina’s side,” Leif said quietly. “I don’t care what the two of you think.”

“You will have to formally petition the elders,” my father said sternly. “Once you have, we will meet and decide your fate.”

“His fate?” My voice rose a hysterical note. How had things gone from so perfect to so wrong so quickly?

“Come, Niko,” my father said, and gestured for me to come to his side. “You can’t stay here.”

I looked at Leif, utter terror in my eyes. I’d just found him and now I was losing him again? This couldn’t be happening.

Leif saw the panic on my face, and he cupped my cheeks in his warm, callused fingers. “It’s all right, ‘Lina,” he told me softly. “Your father is right — you can’t stay here. There’s nothing on this island but penguins and snow.”

“There’s you,” I choked out.

He smiled, and his smile was beautiful. “I’m coming with you.”

“Are you sure?”

“Wherever you go, I’ll go,” Leif told me, and his blue eyes were warm. “I won’t leave your side.”

“Thank you,” I whispered, and pressed my cheek to his chest. His arms wrapped around me in a comforting hug.

“Come,” my father said again, clearly impatient.

So we went. Together.