Bear to the End (Bear Claw Security Book 5) Read online

  “Now home to claim my prize,” he said. “Did you have a fun time?”

  She felt herself blush. “Maybe. Why did you get our stuff to go?”

  He grinned. “I could tell I was having quite an effect on you. It’s empty now, but I want to be the only one to see that. I don’t want anyone else to walk in and see you looking at me like you want to ravish me.”

  She was speechless for a moment because she couldn’t really argue. All she wanted was to go home and spend the day rolling around in bed with him. She hadn’t done anything like that maybe ever, and now was the perfect time.

  It was just nice feeling safe.

  “Do you forgive me for hustling you?” he asked, leading her out to his truck with his arm around her.

  She nodded. “I suppose so. I guess you’ll have to make it up to me at home.”

  He laughed and opened the truck door to help lift her in. “I will. I’ll even give you that back rub,” he said. “Maybe more if you’re lucky.” He wiggled his eyebrows.

  She laughed. “And maybe you’ll get more than just a kiss.”

  His eyes widened, and he got in on his side and revved the engine. “Lucky day. Hopefully, there isn’t traffic.”

  Ten

  They got back to Char’s apartment and quickly ate their lunch, joking about the surprising twist the pool game had taken.

  Mark just counted his lucky stars that the pool bar had happened to be across the street from the five-star restaurant he’d initially intended to take her to. It was one of his favorites, and he’d never taken a woman there before and supposed a part of him had been excited and just gone without thinking. Good thing it worked out, because he couldn’t imagine a more fun time than they’d had at the burger joint.

  Thankfully, everything came natural between them. Just the easiness of everything they shared. The conversation, the leisure time. The chemistry.

  “I think I’ll take a quick shower,” Char said, standing and stretching, showing off her perfect curves no matter what she happened to wear.

  Ever since they’d arrived back at her place, the air had become more and more heated, as if sizzling with anticipation.

  “Fine, but you still owe me that kiss,” Mark replied with a wriggle of his eyebrows. He saw the slight squirm she did and the way she was reluctant to leave as she turned and walked to the bathroom.

  He figured he shouldn’t follow unless invited, so he waited until she poked her head around the corner.

  “You know, I was thinking of inviting you in… for your prize, I mean. But I’m not sure you’ll fit.”

  Mark stood and followed her, stopping at the door as she went inside.

  Sadly, her apartment didn’t even have a bathtub that doubled as a shower, like most places. Instead, in the back of the cramped room was a small glass box that looked barely big enough to fit one person comfortably.

  But despite Mark’s preference for comfy, luxurious furnishings, he wasn’t about to let glass and tile stand in the way of pleasuring his mate.

  “I’m up for the challenge if you are,” Mark joked lightly, eager to see his mate with nothing on again, but never wanting to rush her into anything she wasn’t ready for.

  For a second, she gave him a look so full of longing that his knees nearly went weak. Then a smile crept over her face as he saw lust light up her eyes.

  “You know I am. Game on,” Char said over her shoulder with a teasing wink as she cleared the few steps between her and the shower cubicle. She opened the small door and turned on the hot water, and steam immediately began to form in the room.

  With only a little hesitation, she pulled off her T-shirt and slipped out of her jeans, revealing her bra and panties. She gave him a shy smile that deepened when she saw the look of sheer desperation on his face when he looked at her.

  She quickly removed the remaining clothes and then hopped into the shower, closing the door almost completely behind her as she peeked out to watch him.

  Even the slightest view of her curves and her silky skin made him instantly hard, and he couldn’t wait to get in there and make her cry out in ecstasy.

  “Now you,” she said playfully, only her face showing, the rest of her body partially obscured by the steam behind the glass.

  Mark started by pulling off his shirt, watching her reaction to him as he slowly approached the shower, noting it seemed to get smaller the closer he got to it.

  “First things first, though. I want my prize,” he said, next taking off his jeans and taking the last steps to reach the door. A small part of him was starting to doubt whether or not this was a good idea, but he was doggedly determined to pleasure his mate whatever or wherever the scenario called for it.

  “Come and get it, then,” she said, wagging a finger at him tauntingly.

  Ooh. Game on indeed.

  Char reveled in the sight of his naked body filling the too-small bathroom as he came closer and closer, removing clothes as he did. His smooth skin and muscled physique was even better than she remembered, more defined, more taut and strong, and she couldn’t wait to be in close proximity with him again.

  Granted, close was kind of an understatement, given that her shower was already a tight squeeze, and on more than one occasion, she’d bumped or bruised her elbows trying to get clean in it.

  It was her fault for suggesting it in the first place, but when he seemed eager to not back down from the challenge, her body was more than happy to oblige the opportunity of having another shot to feel the way she felt when they were together like that.

  Mark opened the door to the shower and gave her a onceover, unable to contain his rakish grin that he only showed when looking at her in that certain way. As if she were more precious than gold and more beautiful than Aphrodite herself. The kind of look that sent shivers down her spine.

  “Here goes nothing,” he said, looking inside once more and stooping down to clear the worn brass bar that made the top of the shower.

  Char moved back into the corner, hoping to make space for him, but was surprised at how little space remained for his hulking size even when she did.

  Realizing his shoulders were too wide to fit through the skinny doorway, he turned to make himself perpendicular to the door and edged in slowly, giving her a perfect view of his gigantic pecs as he stepped in with one foot, then another.

  “There we go. Now, wasn’t that easy?” she said playfully as she reached behind him to shut the door, her hand grazing his taut ass.

  Once the door was closed, their two bodies were sandwiched together awkwardly close, which for Char only made it that more erotic.

  “And now for my prize,” he said.

  “You mean my prize?” she said, trying to keep her own breath from catching as his hands wrapped around her, her breasts grazing his hard muscles along the front of his body.

  Then with perfect control, his lips came over hers in a claiming, sensual kiss, the heat from the steam and the spray from the showerhead behind him causing rivulets of water to course down his back and neck to run over and between their enmeshed bodies.

  Unable to contain herself, Char let out a soft moan and opened her mouth, his tongue coming in immediately to intertwine with hers and diving deeper into her mouth, lighting a fire inside her that not even a hydrant could extinguish.

  For a long moment, his mouth covered hers, his hands supporting her as she went weak in the knees from the overwhelming kiss that made her want to lose a thousand more pool games for the chance at just another moment like this one.

  Once his mouth left hers, he quickly eyed the surrounding shower and found a small square receptacle in the wall that held a bar of soap.

  “Mind if I do the honors?” he asked, his voice deep and arousing.

  “Be my guest,” she said, her heart racing from the kiss, but other places on her body wanted attention now.

  With one motion, he reach behind her to grab the soap. But as he pulled back, he didn’t pay attention to the showerhead behi
nd him, hitting it with a loud bump.

  “Are you okay?” she asked, trying not to giggle at the sight of her huge man with all that mass trying to navigate the tiny space.

  “I’m fine. But your soap doesn’t look like it’s doing too well,” he said, holding the thin piece of soap in his hands as if it were a small wafer.

  “I think you can make do,” she teased, running her index finger up his abs and circling his pecs as he started to rub the bar between his hands, making it disappear completely as suds slowly began to form.

  “Next time we’re at the store, I’m getting you some real body wash,” he said as he continued to lather the quickly waning bar in his hands determinedly.

  “The only thing I need in this shower is you,” she said, surprised at how mushy her own words were.

  Mark just looked at her with surprise, seemingly pleased at her remark but not wanting to press the issue. Instead, he placed the almost-transparent sliver back in its tiny cubby and ran his hands along her body. Instantly, everywhere he touched burned with erotic pleasure, sending tiny sparks down her spine.

  He started at her hips, his soap-laden hands gliding along her skin, up her sides and then down her shoulders to cup and massage her breasts. The slick heat from the water only further intensified the sensations, his deft hands working lovingly over her.

  His hands dipped lower, down the curve of her back to hold her ass, and he bent forward, putting his mouth directly at the height of her breasts. As he propped against the wall directly behind her, he sucked deeply on her breasts, his lips warm and wet as the water continued to pour down over them.

  In the air, intertwined with the steam and water, she was surrounded by his scent, masculine and spicy and crisp. The fragrance alone aroused her, but the combination of his hands holding her tightly and spreading soap over her body while his mouth made love to her breasts was entirely overwhelming.

  How she’d ever get by without this man was a mystery. She was just glad to have him, right here, right now, with her.

  Mark straightened, bumping an elbow into the shower frame in the process but appearing unaffected by it, and towered over her once again.

  “So if this is a game, how would you say I’m doing?” he goaded, watching her intently with those deep-blue eyes that made her think of waterfalls in far-off places as his hand cupped the side of her face and intertwined with the hair at the back of her neck.

  “Pretty good.” She sighed, unable to think of anything witty as she relished the feel of his body against hers, in particular, his hard length as it pressed into her, making her wild with want to have him inside her. The sooner the better.

  “I’d say we need to install a new shower, but this seems to be working out pretty well,” he said, his body crowding her closer as his hand came between them and his finger rubbed against her clit, sending a powerful shock of pleasure through her.

  Immediately, she felt her knees go weak, and he held her against him with his free arm as he continued to stimulate her, first slowly with tiny circles and then moving into a fast rhythm.

  Her entire body was already taut on the inside from so much pleasure and having such a perfect view of so much man, and his finger only intensified her arousal.

  Before she could even process what was going on, she felt her body explode with release hotter than anything she’d experienced before, completely unaware of the water and the steam or anything else as her insides lit up like a sunrise.

  And as she came, Mark was just there with her, holding her as she rode out her release, surrounding her and making her feel safe to experience such wondrous pleasure without fear of anything in the whole world.

  As her body finally relaxed, she could still feel the want, could hear the bear inside calling for its mate.

  Not mate.

  At least not yet.

  But maybe.

  She looked up at Mark once more and saw incredible care in his eyes, a sweetness she’d never known a man could have. And desire, for her and her alone.

  “Do you think we have space for…?” she asked, her body wanting what it wanted but unsure about that logistics.

  “Hell yes,” Mark said unabashedly, grinning as he clicked the door open just slightly and reached into the back of his jeans on the floor outside the shower. But before he could open the small foil packet, she snatched it from his hands, her own heart racing with excitement and anticipation at having a repeat of the previous night.

  “Allow me,” she said, wanting to take care of it for her own lustful reasons.

  Mark just raised an eyebrow as she tore open the packet and slid on the condom slowly, marveling at how incredibly hard his thick length was, how perfectly large it was, as if it were made just for her.

  Perhaps the thought was jumping the gun a bit. But apparently, he hadn’t dated anyone else before, so who could say it wasn’t?

  Once it was on, her body almost ready to come just at the thought of having him inside, Mark took over for the both of them, lifting her off the ground as if she were lighter than a feather and propping her on the wall behind her.

  For a moment, his tip teased at her entrance as he positioned her over him. Then, with one impossibly long, impossibly delicious stroke, he came inside her, his thickness filling her completely and arousing her in a way nothing else in the world, nobody else in the world could.

  “So damn hot,” he gasped, his body surrounding her as his head nestled in the crook of her neck, the gentle feel of his breath brushing over the wet skin there a stark contrast to the wild, uncontrollable pleasure she felt between her thighs.

  Charlotte had no words, but instead just hung on as he moved slowly out and then back inside. Each time he came out, wet friction sent sparks flying through her, leaving her empty and wanting for just a split second before he dove back in, engulfing her with unimaginable sensations even better than she remembered.

  As he moved into a heated rhythm, her hands dug into his back and her legs wrapped around him, wanting to be closer to him, so close she would make their bodies one it felt so amazing, so incredible.

  She could feel his release getting closer, the way his muscles bulged, the way his thrusts quickened and intensified, the way he grunted with effort as he brought their bodies together over and over.

  If it were in her power, she would make it last a lifetime. But the build was so intense, so wild, so tight that she could hold back no longer. With one last, powerful thrust, she came apart in his arms, feeling everything inside her give in to the pleasure this man offered.

  Immediately after she felt herself tip over the edge, Mark came with her, holding her deeply as his body tightened with hers and he jerked deep inside, only further stoking the waves of pleasure moving through her and into every part of her body.

  The hot water of the shower continued to pour over them as they were caught up in the throes of release, the steam swirling around them as indescribable pleasure swirled inside both of them.

  She could feel his body relax against her, his arms still holding her suspended in the shower, as her own orgasm slowly washed away from her, leaving her satisfied and tired. Mark gently pulled out of her, and they quickly rinsed off before he wrapped her in a towel and picked her up, carrying her off to the bedroom to lay her on the bed.

  She stretched slowly as she directed him to her pajama drawer so he could pull them out for her. When she was changed and snuggled into the covers, he walked into the other room and came back wearing soft sweats and a tee that was tight on his chest and loose at his trim waist. His blond hair was still damp from the shower, his skin glowing and tan and clean and gorgeous.

  She took a moment just to take it all in.

  And then he was carrying her TV into the room and hooking it up on the dresser across from her small bed and getting into bed with her.

  “What’s this?” she asked.

  He sat in bed next to her and wrapped his arms around her. “I want to watch a movie with you. That okay?�
�

  She snuggled in next to him. “Of course.”

  She’d never done anything like this before, and it was warm and fun and casual. With Mark, she felt she wouldn’t mind staying in quite a lot.

  “You going to stay in here tonight?” she asked.

  “Am I invited?”

  “Of course,” she said, batting at his arm.

  “Good, because even if we are just talking about my job, I can protect you better in here.”

  She grinned and then hesitated. “But we aren’t just talking about a job anymore, are we?”

  “I think we both know it’s far more than that now,” he said. “Maybe it was from the start.”

  “Maybe,” she said, feeling a little thrill go through her. She didn’t know if it was fear or excitement. Things were moving fast, but it was just amazing how comfortable you could be with someone despite barely knowing them when they were the one.

  And she was beginning to think he really was the one. Her mate.

  But as she snuggled into him and waited for her heartbeat to calm down, she decided that was something that should wait for another day.

  Right now, she’d just enjoy him.

  Eleven

  The next morning, Char felt extra refreshed as she got ready in front of her small bathroom mirror. Mark was still sleeping in the bed just a door away, and she felt her heart stutter just thinking of him.

  Last night had been wonderful. Once again, he’d made her feel beautiful and treasured. It was odd how close you could feel to someone you hadn’t known that long. But you couldn’t always just judge things by time. After all, she’d known Clay a good while and never really known him.

  But with Mark, she felt like she knew him. His touch, his smile, his habits. He didn’t want to talk about the bigger details, but they felt unimportant compared to how treasured he made her feel. And how right he felt to her bear.

  She pulled her hair into a twist and pinned it up and then put on a little extra makeup, wanting to feel pretty for Mark. Then she undid the first button of her blouse, for once not wanting to be buttoned all the way up.