She slipped forward over the edge and down the slope before he could finish. She compensated by trying to pull back on her heels, but the soft, heavy snow made it hard to move. She flailed her arms as she rushed toward the trees at the side of the run, and then face planted in the deep snow to keep from hitting them. The snow was several feet deep, and she struggled to push her head out. It packed down around her, but she found herself unable to get over her board.
She stayed on her stomach and heard deep laugher above her. Then two strong hands lifted her under her arms and pulled her back onto her butt, snowboard in front of her once again as she sat.
Ryan shook his head. “Turns will be a little harder. That’s what I was trying to say before you went all dare devil on me.”
“My board had a mind of its own.” She sniffed. But she couldn’t stay snobby when she saw him up to his knees in powder, with snow all over his hair and shoulders. “Sorry you had to dig me out.”
He scratched his head and shook snow off his hair. “It’s fine. My pleasure. So, what do you think about pow?”
She shivered. “I think it’s cold. And my face hurts.” She looked around. “Where is your board?”
He pointed a few feet up the hill, where the board was jutting out like a fork stuck in a cake. His helmet was perched atop it. “I stuck it in so I could get down here without pushing more snow over you. Plus I didn’t want to have to worry about holding an edge while trying to get you out.”
“Won’t it be hard to get back up there?” she asked.
He folded his arms. “Please. I’m an athlete. Not to mention, I walk up slopes all the time when I’m working on a trick and have to reach a jump.”
“Ah,” she said. “Right.”
He leaned forward and reached out his hands, but her board wouldn’t move. She looked down to see the flat surface was stuck in the snow, having moved itself there while she was sitting.
“Um, I’m sort of stuck.”
“Right,” he said, blushing slightly as he let go of her arms and bent to dig for her board. When he got there, she felt him undo her bindings. She sighed in relief and pulled her feet free as he yanked the board clear of the snow and stuck it hard into the snow like he had his own. “There, that should stay. You okay?”
She nodded and flopped back in the snow. He leaned over to look down at her and once again she noticed the slight pink on his cheeks. “Why are you blushing?”
He rubbed his neck and stood up straighter. “Am I? Ha ha, I didn’t notice.”
“What is it?” she asked.
He flopped down on his butt next to her and gave her a wry grin. “I don’t know. I guess I kind of like saving you.”
“Saving me?” Her eyebrows raised in shock.
He laughed and looked away. “You’re kind of cute when you’re stuck.”
She reached for his head and forced him to turn and look at her. As he’d done to her multiple times. “Aw, does it embarrass you to be the big hero?”
He grinned. “No. I like it. Do I get a hero’s reward?”
“Sexist!” she said, grinning at him and throwing a handful of snow over him.
“Hey!” He grabbed his own handful and chucked it back, and she growled and made a ball and threw it straight into his face. His expression changed, and she squeaked and turned away as if to run, but the snow was too deep for her, and he was on her in an instant. She squealed as he took them both down into the snow, rolling slightly as they settled in on the hill.
She came up on top of him, but he had his hands rooted around her waist, holding her over him. Her hands were on his firm shoulders, and she caught her breath when she looked down at him.
His lips were sprinkled with snow, and he was laughing as she shoveled more at him in an attempt to get away. But he was much better on snow than she was, and simply rolled over until she was on bottom. The snow was packed down beneath them but rose in fluffy tufts around them. She could see their breath mingling in little puffs of steam as he leaned over her.
He was so large, so powerful here in his home on the mountain. She could sense that this place was truly part of him, and she wanted to be part of it too.
She reached up to wipe snow off his nose. “You can let me go, now.”
He shook his head, spraying snow off his hair in all directions. With him close to her, it didn’t even feel cold. “Like hell. I still haven’t gotten my revenge for your snow shenanigans. Or my hero’s reward.”
“Hm,” she said thoughtfully, biting her lip and tasting fresh snow as it melted against her tongue. “What kind of reward?”
He leaned back, still straddling her. “I don’t know. Maybe a kiss?”
She threw another ball of snow at him and he blocked it with one hand and growled at her as he leaned forward to pin both of her flailing hands over her head. “I surrender,” she gasped.
“Good,” he said, looking down at her with a dominant gaze not unlike the one he’d had in the bedroom the other day.
“Um, Ryan? We’re friends, remember?”
His pursed his lips. “Do friends rescue each other from danger, bravely I might add, and wrestle in the snow?”
She nodded. “I guess so.”
He nodded. “Then it shouldn’t be a big deal if friends kiss.”
Before she could answer, his lips were on hers. Insistent, warm, with little sparkles of cold snow melting between them. Then his tongue slid into her mouth, warming and caressing and exploring. It was a slower kiss than the one before. She could still feel her heart pounding from the exertion of the snow fight. Could still feel the excitement of trying to get away, turning into a different kind of excitement altogether as he pinned her there and kept his lips on hers.
It felt so right to kiss him. It felt as right as she’d always known it would. But she’d stopped hoping that attraction, that rightness, would lead to something permanent when he’d left her before.
After all, if it was such a good thing, how could he leave it behind?
But things were different. Even if it had happened because of his accident, he was here with her again. And he was being the man she’d wanted. The man she’d known he could be, if he wasn’t running and hiding from her.
Life with him would definitely be an adventure.
She kissed him back, entwining her tongue with his, feeling heat and pressure build inside her as her body remembered other things they’d done together. She almost wanted him to take her to the lodge right now and make her his. She reached up and stroked his hair with her gloved hand as the kiss went on and on. It felt almost magical, embracing there on the mountain with only the wilderness as witness.
When he pulled back, he had that same fire in his eyes that he’d had before. Was this it? Was he going to pick her up and carry her off to another mountain cabin somewhere? She quivered at the thought.
But then he pulled back, looking her over with a satisfied smirk. “Reward received.” Then he got to his knees, stood, and gave her a grin before hiking off to get his board.
“Ryan?”
“Just a sec. I’ll be down there to clip you in after I get my board.”
She let out a huge breath in a huff. He could really just walk away like that? He looked smug as he cruised toward her in an easy arc on his board. When he reached her, he turned sharply and sprayed snow in front of him. She glared up at him, and he gave her a cocky grin.
“What’s wrong, princess? Left wanting more?” He tilted his head and gave her that infuriating smirk once again.
She shook her head and crawled over to her board, trying to yank it free. It wouldn’t budge. He slid over and easily yanked it out and set it in front of her.
She tried not to seethe as he helped her buckle in to her bindings. When she was safely in, he reached out to lock forearms with her again.
“Should we work on some turns?” he asked, helping her stand.
She pushed away from his hands, feeling her way over the powder as she slowly started down o
n her heel-side edge. “No thanks,” she said. “I think your turns are a little too abrupt for me.” She gave him a flat look that made the double meaning in her words clear, and he just threw back his head and laughed.
“All right, then,” he said. “I guess I’ll just wait until I need to rescue you again.”
“Ha!” she said. “Fat chance.”
“Remember, I get a reward each time I save you,” he taunted.
She grimaced and promised herself that that was the last time he’d have to dig her out of the so-called pow.
She was wrong.
He had to do it three more times, and each time, he gave her the kind of kiss that made the snow melt around them and made her wonder if this was the reason he’d brought her over to the pow in the first place.
The third time, she fell on purpose. But he didn’t seem to mind.
Chapter 10
By the time they undid their bindings for the last time at the bottom of the slope, they were both utterly exhausted. Ryan couldn’t stop looking over at the little woman who’d managed to keep up with him most of the day. She really was strong, and fun, and he wished he hadn’t been too hardheaded to see it sooner. He put an arm around her to steady her as she stood up, and when she looked up into his eyes with those perfect gray-blue ones, he felt something inside him melt a little more.
The urge to pick her up and run for a cave was almost unbearable, but he resisted. Instead, he grabbed her board and carried it along with his on his shoulder. She followed him toward the small restaurant lodge at the base of the mountain, her boots scraping along the snow in a cute way.
He hadn’t been lying when he’d said he liked rescuing her. He’d been almost embarrassed by how right it felt, like he was supposed to take care of her forever. Like that had been his purpose all along. It was embarrassing to be so wrong about oneself. But then she’d called him on it, and snowballed him, and then…
He stopped for a moment, thinking about the hot kisses they’d shared on the cold snow. He sent her a short glance as he waited for her to catch up. He tilted his head, wondering if he was right that she’d fallen on purpose that last time. He was almost afraid to hope.
She whistled lightly as they went up the stairs to the lodge. He set their boards on a rack right outside and followed her in, holding the door for her. Once inside, he got her seated at a table and got in line to order chili. Surely after dragging her all over the mountain he at least owed her sustenance.
He looked over at her where she sat, pulling off her gloves and blowing on her hands to warm them. He swallowed. He wanted to take her back to his place and warm her all over. With his body.
He desperately wanted to repeat what had happened the other day. See if it felt just as good, just as right. He knew it would, but he needed to take things slow. Needed to woo her, show her it wasn’t all about the sex. That he could be patient.
She’s our mate, his bear said. We have to be careful.
Now that he was listening to the damn thing it never seemed to shut up. It was always there in the back of his mind, reminding him that she was his. Theirs. He had a complicated relationship with his bear. He was his bear, and yet the being he was once he shifted was somehow separate from the being he was as a human. Different feelings, different memories, though they shared them all, it was like they hadn’t both been the ones to experience them.
It was an odd thing to think about, let alone try to explain.
Speaking of which, how was he going to explain it to her? He bit his lip as he paid for their chili. When it was ready, he carried the tray over to her. For some reason, he hadn’t thought about how she’d react to finding out he was a bear. He’d known about shifters since he was little, but how would it be for someone who’d grown into adulthood believing things like that didn’t exist?
He’d been so busy worrying about when to tell her, when it would be safe to, that he hadn’t considered how she would react when he did.
He continued worrying the inside of his cheek with his teeth as he set out the chili in front of her. She tore open her utensil packet and dug right in. She moaned happily as she started to eat, and he couldn’t help sitting up a little taller at that, smiling. Her happiness just seemed to light him up.
But he couldn’t shake his dark thoughts completely. What if she thought he was a freak? What if she rejected him? He hadn’t even considered that.
“What’s wrong?” she asked, setting down her spoon. “You seem upset.”
He shook his head and pulled his chili toward him. He took a large bite and burned himself, so he swore and spat it out into a napkin. When he looked up, she was giving him a nervous look. He sighed and apologized. “I’m sorry, I’m just a little out of it. Long day.” When her face fell slightly, he waved a hand. “No, a very good day, just a long one. You know, I’m still adjusting to the mountain again.”
That seemed to make sense, and she nodded and went back to enjoying her chili. And he went back to watching her, trying not to think about the fact that it was a lie that he was adjusting. Getting back on a board would always be instant for him. What he was adjusting to was the fact that he’d come to realize this woman meant everything to him, and she could find out everything about him and then decide to tell him no.
And that was a horrifying thing for a shifter who’d found the one they knew was their mate. There would never be another for him. He’d felt it from deep inside him when he’d looked down at her on his bed. Then stronger when they had come together. No, there would never be another woman, so he’d better make sure to win this one.
He’d just have to keep wooing her and looking after her. She seemed to like being “rescued” as much as he’d enjoyed “rescuing” her. He grinned remembering it. She’d given him a mild heart attack when she’d fallen the first time, and hadn’t immediately emerged from the snow. It was like his heart hadn’t remembered to beat again until he’d lifted her out and seen she was fine. And then the flood of relief when he’d freed her, when she’d smiled mischievously at him.
She was quickly becoming addictive.
When she finished her chili she looked up at him with a shy smile. It was late in the afternoon and a warm, dusky sunlight was resting over the snow at the base of the mountains. She leaned on her forearms to look out and he watched her. When she turned and caught him watching, she blinked a couple times and then stood, yawning. Then she tucked her hands in her pockets. “Should we head out?” she asked.
He nodded, standing as well. He got rid of their tray, stalling for time so he could stay with her longer. He didn’t want to drop her off. Didn’t want the night to be over just yet. “I’ll take you back,” he said, trying to hide his reluctance. He’d already gotten far more from her today than he had planned, he had to be grateful with that. He didn’t want to come across as a stalker, regardless of what his brothers might say.
The walk back to the lodge was quiet. She insisted on carrying her new board. She seemed to like it a lot, seemed to want to stay close to it. That made him happy, that something he had picked meant so much to her. He wondered if she’d ask him to sign it. But then again, they had a lifetime to figure that out, even if he did go back to snowboarding. He’d signed many snowboards in the past for people, it was funny thinking of signing one for his wife.
He stopped dead in the snow, and she walked a few steps forward before realizing he wasn’t following. But even as she waited, he found himself rooted in place.
Did he just think of her as his future wife? It made sense, but it was so foreign. It was ridiculous how fast this was going now that he’d decided she was the one. He could hardly believe he was charging in like this. Yet every step he took with her felt more and more right. He knew to follow his intuition now. At least in this case, where he’d been so resistant before. He sighed.
“Coming,” he said. “Sorry.” He’d just have to get used to the fact that words like “forever” and “wife” were going to come to mind now that he’d
accepted her as his future mate. It wouldn’t be so bad, once he had her agreement and knew that she wanted him just as much as he wanted her.
But did she?
They’d had a fun day. He didn’t want it to end. He wanted to take her back to his suite and show her once again just how much she meant to him, just how perfect they were together. But all too soon, they were back at her cabin. He helped her carry her stuff in and get her boots off. Something that was difficult when one was tired, since snowboard boots tended to be very tight and stiff.
When he was done, he stood to leave, but she called him back.
“Ryan? You can stay if you want.” She looked away shyly, and he felt his groin tighten in response. What was this woman doing to him?
He thought about it. About how much he wanted to.
She fidgeted. “We could watch a movie. Or, um, you know, have a repeat of what happened yesterday?” Her eyes were hopeful, sparkling up at him, and he couldn’t believe he was so lucky that this amazing woman wanted him. He truly felt terrible for all the times he had hurt her, rejected her.
Especially since he was going to have to do it again right now, for the good of both of them. They weren’t ready for sex again. It would only complicate things. It would be hot, intense, and would validate everything he’d felt during their first time together. But she needed time to see that it wasn’t all about that between them. That it wasn’t only sex that made him want her, even if sex had helped him see the truth about it.
He shook his head. “I have to get back to the lodge. I told Riley I’d help him with something.”
“You could come over after,” she said hopefully, biting her bottom lip in a way that begged him to say yes. Everything in him didn’t want to reject her. But he knew that he had to reject this so that he could show her how much he accepted the rest of her. The rest of everything.
There was so much more to them than this, and he needed time to show her. Needed more play dates in the snow. Needed to take her out to a nice dinner. Needed to take her stargazing and just snuggle. Needed badly to do all of the things he would have done if he had known she was his mate from the start.
Beary Sexy: A BBW Werebear Boxed Set Page 37