by Kit Tunstall
Lindy experienced a foreboding shiver but held her ground. “Don’t be ridiculous,” she said nervously, her eyes widening as the plump head of his cock broke the surface of the water. “Don’t even think of me as a woman.” Her heart began beating faster as it suddenly became harder to breathe. “We’re just two friends enjoying a bath and a little conversation.”
Rafe came up out of the water with a roar. “Friends!” he shouted and stalked across the pool, his massive, rigid erection leading the way. He reached down and wound his hands around her upper arms, forcefully yet carefully pulling her to her feet. “It’s not my friend I want to sink my cock into, it’s my woman! I think that’s exactly what you want…and I’m just animal enough to give it to you.”
Lindy squealed as Rafe hauled her up and over his shoulder and stalked from the pool. Mindful of hurting her, he placed her facedown on a patch of grass and draped his body over hers. Holding her prone, he growled in her ear. “I’m an animal, Lindy. Say it,” he ordered.
“No, you’re not.” She gasped as he pulled her up on her knees, positioning her soft, rounded buttocks up like an offering.
He slid a large hand over the smooth creamy skin of one cheek then gave it one sharp swat. “Say it, Lindy.”
“No!”
A second swat landed on the other cheek. “Say it.”
“No, I won’t!”
Rafe let his hand travel between her thighs and found her pussy, fevered and swollen. He dipped a finger into the slick, wet heat and slowly fucked it in and out. “What am I, Lindy?”
“Rafe,” she moaned, her hands clutching at the grass under her.
A second finger joined the first, spreading her wider, preparing her for his invasion. “This is what an animal does, it takes what it wants,” he growled in her ear. “Admit it, you’re afraid of me I’m not a human, I’m a beast.” He bestowed a stinging nip on her lush bottom and bathed a third finger in the flowing juices of her body. Forming a cone now with three fingers, he thrust them inside her.
Lindy moaned and pushed back into them. Far from hurting her, Rafe’s dominant invasion was setting her aflame. Her body was clamoring for more and she could barely reason, but retained enough of her sanity to know that she’d never give him the confirmation he wanted from her.
“You’re not a beast. Not, not, not!” she yelled and felt him position himself between her thighs.
He withdrew his fingers and she felt the plump, throbbing head of his cock take their place. She moaned at the blanketing sensation of Rafe as he draped his body over her back, his skin hot and moist, the hair on his chest and abdomen rough against her own sweat-dampened skin. “When Nancy said my bark was worse than my bite?” His lips touched the swirls of her ear, his breath misty-moist and warm. “She lied.” His mouth moved down to the juncture of her neck and shoulder, his teeth clamping down as he thrust.
Lindy screamed, not in pain but with pleasure. Thick and solid, Rafe’s cock filled her completely. She could feel it pulse against the stretched walls of her welcoming channel as he froze in place, unmoving.
“Ah, Lindy. God, baby, I’m so sorry…so sorry I hurt you.” Rafe’s voice was deep and husky with remorse.
She felt him begin to withdraw and was surprised by the near growl that rumbled from her throat. “Don’t you fucking dare,” she ordered, panting. “You’re not hurting me, but I swear if you don’t fuck me I’ll make you pay, Rafe Kutter. Somehow, some way, when you least expect it, I’ll…” Her sentence ended on a gasping moan as Rafe slid back home, hard and deep.
He nipped her earlobe. “You fucking talk too much. Shut up,” he breathed softly in her ear, and Lindy could hear something in his voice, something new that sent a warm shiver down her spine and brought tears to her eyes.
She wasn’t given the chance to analyze it. Rafe began to move. With exquisite and tender slowness, he thrust forward and back, forward and back, again and again. Each forward thrust brought him deep, the swollen head of his cock nudging against her cervix. She eagerly welcomed the contact and ground her pelvis back against him.
“More, Rafe, faster!”
Rafe ignored her pleas and continued his steady pace, deliberately driving them both into a frenzy of need. Lindy’s impatience began to show as she struggled under him, but he held her firmly, directing the pace of their pleasure. Eyes closed, every cell in her body was zeroed in on the thick, pulsing rod that pierced her flesh. Slick, wet flesh that shuddered and gripped in an effort to keep the teasing invader from retreat.
Past caring about any kind of decorum and all inhibitions gone, when begging failed to elicit a response, Lindy began a low litany of curses calling him every dirty name she could think of, beginning with asshole and working her way through the alphabet. She’d have cursed with even more vehemence if she could have seen the grin that wreathed his face.
Just when she thought she’d die from frustration, Rafe picked up speed and began a hard, satisfying stroke that steadily increased to a pummeling rhythm that never stopped until it brought her to a howling climax.
Waves of pleasure rippled through skin, muscle and nerve until it seemed that every cell in her body was contracting and shivering with electric spasms that threatened to knock her unconscious from the overload.
Rafe gripped her hips tightly and pumped hot streams of semen into the fluttering welcome of her womb until, with a final pulse, his cock declared itself satisfied and he collapsed, rolling to his back and pulling her on top of him.
Sated and boneless, they lay breathing heavily, slowly recovering their sanity. Lindy snuggled against him, purring like a cat as his hand slowly stroked up and down her back.
Finally feeling as though her bones had solidified, she leaned up and over him. “I told you I was no coward,” she said smugly.
Rafe grinned up at her, his hand coming up to stroke her cheek and gently push the hair back from her face. “You’re no coward,” he agreed. “You’re bold and brazen and beautiful…and you’ve got one hell of a potty mouth,” he teased with a chuckle.
A rosy flush lit her cheeks and she ducked her head, resting her heated skin against his chest, feeling the rise and fall of it and the reverberations from his laugh. She lay content and sated against him, rubbing her cheek against the satiny heat of his skin.
“You know what I’d like to do?” he asked in a husky rumble.
“Have more sex?” she asked hopefully.
“That too, but first I’d like to finish my bath.”
“With or without me?”
“With, sweetheart, definitely with.”
*
The bath that began as a leisurely exercise in relaxation, became a hot, sensual teasing torture in which they touched and kissed and explored each other’s bodies until the temperature in the pool felt as though it had risen more than a few degrees.
Each seemed intent on driving the other insane with need in an effort to see who would give in first. Lindy teetered on the edge when Rafe’s clever fingers dived into her ready pussy to tease and torment, but Rafe admitted defeat when she bent down and engulfed the tip of his aching cock in her mouth, her tongue doing a sensual dance over the ripe, swollen head.
Rafe pulled himself from her teasing mouth and rose up out of the water, taking her with him. Scooping her up in his arms he marched to the campsite and deposited her in front of his tent. “Inside,” he ordered tersely, and Lindy, fighting the smile that pulled at her lips, scooted triumphantly in to claim her victory.
Aside from necessary bathroom breaks and to rustle up a quick meal, they spent the afternoon and evening making love and sleeping, only to wake in each other’s arms to make love again. Having given in to his instinctive need to claim his mate, Rafe had put aside all his doubts and reveled in the kind of physical closeness he’d denied himself so long.
It was only later that night that his former uncertainty began to surface and took the form of a dream that forced him awake and sent his thoughts down paths he’d avo
ided for far too long. He rose carefully so as not to wake Lindy, picked up his jeans and left the tent to don them. Gliding silently over the path that led to the spring, he sat down on convenient boulder to contemplate his thoughts and watch the moonlight reflected in the rippling water of the pond.
His thoughts were disturbing and melancholy and brought to the surface a sadness and guilt he’d hoped was long buried. A cool breeze stirred through his hair and he absently brushed it away from his face, too preoccupied to be distracted by such a petty annoyance. He was distracted when Lindy appeared at his side.
“Rafe, are you all right?” she questioned softly.
“Sure,” he lied, not certain he could share what he was thinking with her.
“You want to talk about it?”
Rafe reached for her and pulled her onto his lap, burying his face in her shoulder. “Talk about what?” came the muffled reply.
“Whatever’s bothering you,” she answered, one hand moving with soothing strokes over the tense muscles in his back.
“You’re killing me.”
“What do you mean?” she asked, wide-eyed with worry.
Rafe reached up and cupped her face in his hands. “You make me see possibilities I thought were beyond me, make me see things as they are and not how I fooled myself into believing they were.”
“But that’s a good thing, isn’t it?” Lindy asked with rising hope.
“It could be, but it hurts, Lindy. It hurts to admit certain things to myself.”
“Like what?”
“Like the fact that, for a while, I hated my mother. I hated her for leaving me alone with this…this gift.”
Lindy noted his use of the word gift instead of curse and her heart soared. “Rafe, you were a child, you were hurt and alone, it’s perfectly understandable.”
“I know, but I still feel guilty about it. I know she wouldn’t have left me if she’d been given the choice.” His voice shook.
Lindy could see the emotion roiling in his eyes as well as a sheen of unshed tears that gathered there. She wrapped her arms around him and pulled him close. “It’s all right, it’s all right, baby. Just remember how much she loves you and how much you love her. Nothing can change that, and all the bad things can just fade away. Just let it go, Rafe. Let it go.”
For a moment he stiffened in her arms, then sagged against her as though a huge burden had been released. His long, muscular arms wrapped around her and he silently rocked, their bodies moving with a slow rhythm that soothed and calmed. Rafe eventually stopped the easy movement and pulled back to meet her loving gaze. His lashes were wet, and Lindy reached up to brush away the single tear that graced his cheek.
She gave him a tremulous smile. “Better?”
Rafe nodded. “You were right.”
“About what?”
“I’m not an animal, I’m just a man with flaws and fears, and I’ve been given a very special gift.”
“Oh Rafe, I’m so glad you can accept your mother’s legacy now.”
“That’s not the gift I’m talking about.”
“Then what?” she asked, puzzled.
“You.”
“Me?” she asked as tears flooded her eyes. “I’m not a gift, I’m just…just me.”
“You certainly are,” he answered.
Rafe stood and guided her back to his tent, urging her inside. Without a word, he slowly undressed her while his hands and lips touched, caressed, and aroused. Deeply moved by the tremulously vulnerable look in her eyes, he whispered soft words of encouragement and praise, firing her blood and heating her body until he lay her down and slid between her thighs.
Lindy groaned, an orgasmic shudder shaking her as Rafe slowly eased his swollen cock inside, its girth spreading muscle and caressing the warm, wet length of her sheath until he was fully seated.
Rafe caressed her cheek and feathered a soft kiss over her lips. “This is my gift to you, a part of me no one’s ever seen. Will you take it, Lindy, take this part of me?”
She reciprocated his move and lovingly caressed his face. “With pleasure.”
Rafe smiled. “Always pleasure, sweetheart, always pleasure, I promise.”
He began to slowly move, his hips undulating, his cock gently pushing and pulling inside, stirring the flames, building tension as he lost himself in the growing ecstasy in her eyes. On and on he moved, endlessly, the same slow, steady pace, refusing to be moved by Lindy’s pleas until his own patience ended and a wild flurry of frantic strokes brought them both to a wrenching climax.
Outside the tent, Lindy’s wails of pleasure echoed into the night, underscored by Rafe’s muted, guttural roar.
Chapter Six
Sometime in the early morning hours before the sun began to lighten the sky, they were awakened by a chorus of howls. Rafe was immediately alert and began gathering his clothes.
“What is it?” Lindy asked, confused and sleepy.
“Trouble. That’s Cade’s pack, they’ve spotted a potential poacher.”
Waking up fast, Lindy stood and began throwing on her own clothes.
“Where do you think you’re going?” Rafe growled.
“With you.”
“No, you’re not.”
“Yes I am.”
“No, you’re not, Lindy. I—”
He was interrupted by the sound of a rifle shot.
“Fuck! I don’t have time to argue with you. You stay behind me and do exactly as I say or when we get back I swear I’ll blister that luscious backside of yours. Understood?”
“Understood,” she agreed, grateful for his cooperation, no matter how grudging. It saved her from having to sneak out and try following him again.
They rushed from the tent and as soon as the terrain leveled out, Rafe began a fast and silent lope across the grassy meadowland. Light from the waning moon and stars was beginning to be replaced by light from the sun, which had yet to make an actual appearance on the horizon. Lindy uttered a silent thank you to the powers that be, glad for what illumination there was.
Rafe was pulling ahead of her and she was becoming afraid she’d lose him, when he began to slow. In the not-too-far distance she could see trees. They were closing in on a forested area. Panting and trying to silently suck in much-needed oxygen without drawing attention to herself, she caught up just as he disappeared into the trees.
Frowning, she mouthed a silent curse, she was going to lose him! Deciding the best course was just to go straight in, Lindy found herself on a lightly worn game trail and slowly picked her way through the underbrush, trying to be quiet while scanning the area for signs of Rafe or anyone else.
Just when she’d reached the conclusion that she was hopelessly lost, a shadowy figure loomed up at her from the side of the path. Her startled gasp was muffled by a large hand as she was pulled up tight against a warm, familiar body.
“Quiet,” Rafe breathed in her ear.
Lindy nodded and he pulled his hand away and signaled for her to follow him.
Trying to calm her pounding heart, Lindy followed, staying so close she was nearly treading on his heels. She wasn’t taking the chance of losing him again, especially if he was going to sneak up on her and inadvertently induce a heart attack. It wasn’t long before she could hear some kind of movement up ahead. A light breeze blew over them and Rafe froze.
She watched him for a moment from behind. His body had gone absolutely still and rigid. Worried, she eased around him until she could see his face. His eyes were closed, a look of anguish on his face as he took deep, silent breaths. Lindy reached out and touched his arm. Rafe opened his eyes and swung his gaze to her. She swallowed a gasp of surprise. His eyes were a glowing, rich amber-yellow that blazed with tinges of red.
She watched in awed fascination as Rafe’s hands came up, his fingernails lengthening before her eyes as he began unbuttoning his shirt. “It’s him,” he growled, his voice husky, rough and guttural. “The man who killed my mother.” The last was barely recognizable.<
br />
“Are you sure?”
Unable to speak, he nodded and Lindy held back another gasp as his shirt came off. Rafe’s body had begun to shift. Thick, dark hair had begun to run over his skin like water and he hunched over as his body changed. Claws tore at his jeans, shredding them, and there was a sudden blurring of the very air around him that—when it cleared—revealed a full-grown male grizzly at the very pinnacle of his power and grace.
Breathing hard, Lindy could only watch as the bear gave her one backward glance before rushing away. A shred of blue jean fabric stuck to one paw and she was reminded of someone leaving a bathroom with toilet paper stuck to their foot. The thought would have been funny, but it suddenly struck her that her lover, in the form of a thousand-pound, enraged grizzly bear, was going to confront, and probably kill, the man who’d killed his mother.
“Rafe, no!” She felt her heart stop at the sound of a rifle shot. “Oh God, no! No, please no.” She uttered the prayer as she sprinted through the brush, unmindful and uncaring of the branches and brambles that slapped and tore at her.
She arrived at a scene of blood and chaos. Closest to her in the small clearing, a bull elk lay on the ground, blood seeping from the entry and exit wound that took its life. Across the clearing, a wounded and maddened grizzly bear stood over the terrified form of a hunter who saw his own death looking him right in the eye.
“Stop him.”
Lindy jumped and turned to find the man Rafe had called Cade standing next to her.
“Stop him. You’re his mate, you can stop him.”
Scared to death, knowing she was going to put herself between Rafe and his vengeance, but also knowing what it would do to him if he killed this man, she walked across the clearing calling his name.
“Rafe, don’t do this. Come back to me, baby. I’m scared, I need you.”
The enraged bear turned his gaze to her, roared and made a mock charge at her. Lindy flinched but kept coming. “Rafe, please, you know who I am. Listen to me, don’t do this.” Tears flooded her eyes and streaked down her cheeks. “If you kill this man you’ll regret it for the rest of your life. Please, we just found each other, don’t let this come between us.” The bear turned back to its prey and raised a huge paw, claws extended, ready to strike.