by Lola Gabriel
Ash had probably been letting her win, because he was soon on top of her again, pinning her. He rubbed his snout against hers one more time, and then he rolled away, rubbing himself in the grass like a happy puppy. Then, he was Ash again. She had hardly noticed it happening, rolling in the grass herself, feeling the sun warm her fur.
I didn’t ask about changing back, Easton thought through her bear-haze, and she began to feel panic rising from her gut that made her want to bolt even more.
“It’s okay,” Ash told her. “Focus on me…”
She was almost surprised she could understand his human words. They just came at a slight delay. She had to wait for them to float from his mouth to her. She looked at Ash.
“Just imagine it,” Ash continued. “Think about the most human things you can. Think about making coffee and toast, or holding Penelope in your arms, or writing with a fancy pen…”
One at a time, she thought of all these things. Then she thought of kissing Ash with her human mouth and running her long fingers through his curls.
The first gasp into her normal lungs almost hurt, but not quite. Easton lay on her back in the grass and laughed. She was naked in the sun. Ash was beside her. He took her hand.
“Good job,” he said. “Next time, maybe you’ll be able to walk.” Easton just kept laughing, until finally, she could stop.
“That’s wild,” she said. “All I wanted was to run, to test myself out…”
Ash pushed himself up on an elbow, the grass tickling at his pale skin so that she wanted to touch it, too. “It’ll be a while until you’re running, I’d guess. But I can’t wait until we can do that together.”
Easton gave in and stroked his chest. “It’s like… being far away from your brain. Quite meditative.”
“Right?” Ash agreed. “But you have to be careful not to stay shifted too long. As you get used to it, there’s more leeway, but you can almost forget your life as a person if you’re not careful.” Easton looked thoughtful.
“Could be a good escape,” she said.
Ash nodded. “It’s been used as both an escape and a punishment, at various times.”
Easton creased her forehead and searched Ash’s face for… she wasn’t sure what. How he felt about this, about having to walk her through it. “I have a lot to learn, I guess?”
“Yeah,” Ash said, tracing her hip bone with a thumb. “You do, but you have me. And it’ll be fun, I promise. You got the scariest part down. You shifted and came back. What did you think about to be you again?”
Easton smiled her cheeky smile and put a hand behind Ash’s head, drawing him down to her. She kissed him slowly, making sure he felt every flick of her tongue, every soft nibble of his bottom lip. Her hands were in his hair, lightly tugging, stroking, playing with his curls.
When they broke for a second, she whispered, “This,” and Ash pulled her close toward him and rolled over. She pressed herself to him, his hands running up and down her, his mouth on her shoulder, on her neck, on her mouth again. She could feel him growing hard against her stomach, and he was making sweet little noises in her ear. When he slipped a hand between them to find how slick she was between her legs, she gasped, holding his arm still.
“That feels so good, Ash,” she said, “but we’re in the yard.” Ash was almost breathless.
“The neighbors all probably at work,” he said between kisses that landed everywhere he could reach.
Easton laughed. She whispered in his ear, “Wait, or make a run for it?”
“Oh, run for it, for sure!” Ash said, also smiling.
“And you’re everyone’s boss…” Easton shook her head. Ash wriggled free of her grip and moved his fingers to make her gasp again.
“More like leader,” he said. And then, “On three?” Easton nodded, but as soon as Ash had said, “One,” she hopped up and dashed toward the back door of their home, which opened right into the living room. “You cheat!” Ash called from behind her, moving fast enough to grab her hips as she slipped through the glass door and closed it behind them both.
His hands moved up to her breasts, cupping from behind, sucking on the skin where her neck curved into her shoulder. Her arms bent back over her own head. She played with his hair and then pulled it, moving him around to the front of her. She laughed at his surprised noise, then put her arms around his neck and jumped up so he instinctively caught her. Like this, he could slip inside her, and they breathed pleasure into one another’s mouths. He walked with her to the bedroom she hadn’t even seen yet and sat on the side of the bed. He tried to lie down, but she wouldn’t let him. She moved with him like that and sat up, her knees around his waist, feet meeting at his back, heels digging in, pushing him closer to her.
“Easton,” he muttered into her cheek, “I’ve missed you…” His words dissolved into those little noises again, and he wrapped his arms around her and flipped them, pushing himself deep, holding her arms above her head, although they were slippery with sweat and hard to keep ahold of. Easton was as lost as she had been as a bear. All she wanted was to move, taste, feel, give in to the call of her skin, of his skin. She shook him off her arms and clawed at his back, her teeth finding his shoulder.
Ash gasped. He pushed into her one more time, and her whole body was on fire with pleasure. It was deep inside her and outside her, too, and she could feel his pleasure as he tensed up, kissed her like he wanted them to become one being. For a moment afterward, they just looked at one another, panting, smiling. Then Ash rolled onto his back. He took her hand and pushed his teeth against her palm, kissing its heel. Easton wasn’t ready for them to separate, to be two people again, either. She wrapped one of her legs around one of his.
They lay in silence for a long time. So long that Easton was beginning to drift off, to dream of being a bear and being able to run, to crunch through snow and not feel cold, to feel how real wind felt on her fur. Ash snapped her out of it.
“We have to get up,” he said, looking at his watch, which was laid on the bedside table. “Avery is bringing Pen over in… Like, now. Up, up, up!”
Easton sat up. She yawned and stretched, watching Ash rush for clothes. He pulled on his underwear and looked back at her. “I think we need to shower, Ash.”
Ash stopped. “Good idea.”
Avery knocked on the door while Ash was in the shower and a wet-haired Easton was cooking pasta. She had Penelope in her arms, who, on seeing Easton, squealed “Eassy!” and scrabbled to get down from her aunt’s arms and attach herself to Easton’s right leg.
“Hi, Pen,” Easton said, and she picked the girl up and gave her a kiss on the cheek. “Do you know what day it is tomorrow?” Penelope looked at Easton like she was an idiot.
“Birfday,” she said, as though worried Easton had forgotten.
“Right!” Easton said. “And we’re having a party!”
“Good luck getting her to sleep!” Avery said. “Glad it isn’t my job.”
“It was your job to tire her out, though, so we’ll blame you.” Ash had come out the shower and was seeing to the pasta and sauce Easton had all but abandoned.
“Is there spare?” Avery asked, looking at the food.
“Easton has made enough to feed a small army,” Ash said, “but we have no table, so it’s sofa or floor.” Avery shrugged.
“Works for me,” she said, “and dinner as payment for childcare.”
Soon, the family was all sat on the floor, eating. Penelope was between Ash’s knees, and he was blowing on her food for her, only occasionally getting to grab a mouthful of his own, trying not to spill it on his daughter’s head.
“So,” Avery asked, “did you do it?”
Easton nearly spat out her pasta, “Excuse me?”
“Aw, gross!” Avery exclaimed. “Not that! I’ll just keep assuming no one I’m related to ever does that, despite clear evidence to the contrary sitting right there. I mean, did you shift?”
Easton laughed, dropping some of her pasta off her f
ork. Ash launched into the story of how very, very bad at being a bear she had been. Penelope was smearing pasta sauce on her father’s trousers, and he didn’t seem to notice at all.
Easton looked around and didn’t think she had ever been so happy.
* * *
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Thank You
Thank you for reading my book. Readers like you make an author’s world shine. If you’ve enjoyed this book, or any other books by Lola Gabriel or another author, please don’t hesitate to review them on Amazon or Goodreads.
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Lola Gabriel
About the Author
Lola Gabriel loves reading and writing paranormal romances. Growing up in the Pacific Northwest, she has fond memories of retreating to the woods for long hikes. The towering evergreens, natural waterfalls, and soothing rain often set the scenery for her characters’ romantic encounters.
Find out more about Lola Gabriel at SecretWoodsBooks.com