by Bianca D'Arc
This place was going to be the perfect compromise between the dual parts of his nature. As soon as he got the place built, that is.
Zak looked over at Tina, to make sure she was okay with the rough terrain.
“How are you holding up over there? Sorry it’s a bit bumpy. Nothing’s been levelled or graded yet.” He raised his voice a bit to be heard over the increased engine noise, accompanied by the scrape of leaves on the outside of the vehicle.
He wasn’t worried about the SUV. It was built to handle tougher stuff than this. But he wasn’t sure about his passenger. Did human females like off-roading? The males seemed to enjoy it from what Zak had seen, but he’d never really run across a woman on the trail.
“I’m fine,” she replied. She’d reached for the handhold that was placed conveniently above the passenger door and was holding on as they bounced along. “This is fun,” she added, sending him a grin.
Well, that answered that question. This female—human or not—was adventurous. Just one more thing to like about her.
Before too long, he reached the spot he’d chosen for their picnic. It wasn’t too far, as the crow flies—or the bear rambles—from the site he’d staked out for his den, but they hadn’t been able to see it from the path he’d taken through the trees. That was partially by design. Zak wanted to show her the floor plan he’d laid out with poles and twine, a little later, and see what she thought of it. He had it all planned.
Picnic first. A glass of wine. The food he’d prepared. Then he’d show her around his new home site.
He parked the SUV at the side of the little glen, surrounded by rocks on three sides. There was a small opening in the rocks on this side, close to where he’d parked, that would give them easy access to the vehicle and the feast he’d packed in back.
Zak got out and rushed around to the passenger side to help Tina down from the high seat. It amused him that she was so petite. She made him feel huge, and that was a feeling he didn’t often have since he hung out with massive grizzly shifters most of the time.
Oh, sure, he was larger than most human males, and that had been useful in the service, but the guys he worked with day to day were even more massive. If he’d had a weaker personality or was less sure of himself and his place in the world, it could have given him a complex. As it was, he felt himself grin as he helped Tina slide out of the seat.
He spent a little more time holding her than was strictly necessary, and she didn’t seem to mind, so he dipped his head and stole a kiss.
Damn. She was as amazing as he remembered. He’d been wanting to taste her lips again since that very first kiss. She was just as sweet, just as luscious, with a hint of spice that intrigued him. But he counseled himself to leave her be for now. They had a lot of getting-to-know-you stuff to get through before he could jump her bones. At least, that’s what he thought human females wanted, and he wasn’t going to do anything that might scare her off. She was already too special to frighten away by being too aggressive.
So he let her go, stepping back so she could walk past him, through the rocks and into the little clearing.
“This is amazing,” she said, looking out to the water, her hands behind her back as she paced forward. Was it his imagination or were her cheeks pink? He took it as a good sign, though he wasn’t entirely sure what that charming little blush meant. “You own this property?”
“Just signed the deed last week.” Pride filled him. He’d worked a long time to be able to afford this little slice of heaven right here. “I hope to start construction in the next few weeks.”
“It’s a gorgeous spot on the cove. Not too far out toward the ocean, and not too far from town.” She turned toward him, her expression alight with pleasure. “It’s perfect, Zak. I’m very happy for you.”
“Thanks.” Their gazes met and held for a long moment until her cheeks went a little pink again, and he realized it was probably a bit rude to stare without speaking for so long. “Uh, I’ve got lunch in the back of the truck. You like spicy food, right?”
“Love it,” she confirmed. “Can I help?”
She walked a few paces back toward the SUV while he went around to the back and opened the lift gate. He tossed her the large blanket he’d packed for them to sit on.
“You could spread that out and have a seat. I’ll take care of the rest,” he assured her as he began lifting parcels out of the back of the truck.
There wasn’t all that much. Just a cooler that held their food and the bottle of wine he had on ice. Glasses, napkins, plates and utensils were in a bag he slung over his shoulder. He brought the whole lot over to the blanket she was smoothing over the grass and set it down on one corner.
He felt more than a bit of pride as they shared the meal he’d prepared, especially when she praised his cold Cajun chicken, black-eyed peas and corn bread. The meal was easy and carefree, and they talked about their families a bit. He hadn’t expected that, but when she launched into a discussion of her sisters and their new mates, he felt compelled to share a bit of his own background.
He wasn’t looking for sympathy, and he especially didn’t want pity, but if they were going to get involved, she deserved to know at least the bare bones of his past.
“My father never got over my mother’s death,” he admitted, though he’d rarely ever spoken about this topic with anyone. “He blamed me a lot of the time and, sometimes, took it out on my hide.”
“He beat you?” She looked appalled, which was what he’d tried to avoid, but he was in it now, and he had to see this through. He figured it was going to be hard to make a human understand how it was for shifters, but he tried his best.
“Some,” he acknowledged her question with a shrug. “But when you can both turn into bears, there are other ways—other weapons—besides just fists. And we heal fast. I learned to run fast. And climb really high onto thin branches, where he couldn’t reach.”
“That’s pretty awful,” she said, and he dared to look over and meet her gaze.
What he saw there didn’t hurt like he’d expected. She didn’t pity him. No, she looked angry. Angry on his behalf. That was unexpected. Then again, Tina had more fire than any human woman he’d ever known.
“Well, that’s over now. It’s been over a long time. I got out of there as soon as I could and never looked back. I joined the Army and met up with Big John and the other guys. Things have been really good since then. They’re my family now.”
She was silent a moment before answering. “I like that,” she said finally. “From everything I’ve seen of these guys, they’re all pretty amazing. Strong. Steadfast. Like brothers who would never leave one of their own in the lurch. I like that you found that and made it your own.” She smiled at him, and he felt the impact clear down to his soul.
He leaned over and just had to kiss her.
Finally. She was getting some lip action from Zak. She felt wanton as she encouraged his kiss to grow hotter and deeper. She’d been wanting to kiss him since forever, it seemed, and the little tastes she’d had of him already had only whetted her appetite for more.
She climbed over him, straddling his lap without breaking their kiss. Feeling bold, she pushed his shoulders back so he was lying beneath her, her hair cascading around them, enclosing them in a private world of hot lips, swirling tongues and pleasure the likes of which she had never felt from just a kiss.
Zak lit her on fire, and she wanted more. So much more. She was through waiting for him to make a move. They were alone, on his land where nobody would trespass, and she had him almost precisely where she wanted him. The time for games was over.
What she wanted most was for there to be no clothing between them. No fabric barriers, nothing to keep her from climbing on his cock and riding him to the stars. Or, at least, that’s what she’d been imagining it would be like with him. She wouldn’t know for sure until…well…until a few minutes from now, if all went as she planned.
She clutched at his shirt, wanting it gone
. Zak seemed to get the message, lifting up to rip it off over his head. Their lips were apart only long enough for the fabric to slip in between their bodies, and then, he was back, kissing her like she’d never been kissed before. There was something special about Zak. Everywhere he touched her, she tingled. His lips brought her to another state of consciousness, it seemed, where all she wanted was more. More of him. More of his lovemaking.
She pulled at her own clothing, helping him remove it until she felt the slight breeze off the water against her bare skin. But he still had his pants on. She reared back, rising up just a bit, knowing he could see everything and reveling a bit in the way his gaze flowed over her body.
His hands followed the path of his gaze, cupping her breasts and then roaming lower. One of his hands toyed with her nipples while the other sought entrance between her legs. She arched into his touch, encouraging his fingers to find what they were looking for.
She had her inner bad girl on speed dial and felt like some sort of sea siren, claiming the man she wanted to fuck.
But this would be more than just a quick fuck. She knew that in her heart. This time with Zak was going to alter the course of her life, and she was okay with that. She wanted that. With him.
Even if he wasn’t sure he wanted her permanently yet. She was going to work on him until he gave in, and she was going to grab for happily ever after with her very own cuddly, exciting, badass bear shifter. Zak wouldn’t know what hit him.
Speaking of which, she groaned loudly as he found the spot and sank two fingers into her needy core. She couldn’t help but move on him, fucking his hand.
“Do you want to come?” he whispered.
And that was all it took. Unbelievably, she felt her pussy contract on his fingers, and she was shaking in pleasure.
Zak laughed, and the vibrations of his rumbly chuckle made her knees go weak. He was holding her up with one arm around her waist, while his other hand remained between them, between her legs, fingers deep inside her.
“You like that, eh kitten?” he mumbled against the side of her face. He’d sat up when she came so she was spread over his muscular thighs, wide open and weak after the quick, hard climax he’d given her.
She took his lower lip between her teeth before moving into a deeper kiss. When she pulled back, she spoke her thoughts against his lips.
“I like everything you do to me, Zak, but I want you inside me. Don’t keep me waiting anymore.”
“I am inside you,” he teased, wiggling his fingers and making her squirm in renewed sensation.
“You know what I mean,” she whispered, ready, just like that, for more.
“Say it,” he dared her. “Say what you really want.”
“I want your cock in me, Zak. I want you to fuck me with that big bear shifter cock until I scream in pleasure.” She whispered the daring words against his ear, not sure where the wild child inside her was coming from but glad Zak seemed to like it. Maybe it was his inner bear speaking to some previously unknown primitive part of her nature. Maybe it was that Zak brought out things in her she’d never known before.
And she liked it.
Almost as much as she liked him.
He was going to be hers forever. At least, that was her dearest dream. Now all she had to do was convince him.
Zak surprised her by removing his hand from between her thighs somewhat abruptly. He then picked her up, his muscles bulging in a way that made her mouth water, and placed her on her back on the blanket. She was completely naked, but he still had his pants on. They had to go, but it seemed he wasn’t through positioning her just yet.
He lifted both of her legs straight up into the air in front of him, running his hands appreciatively along her thighs and calves. He rested her ankles on his shoulder as he met her gaze.
“Spread your legs wide for me, honey. Show me where you want me,” he whispered in that low, compelling tone that made her abdomen quiver.
Channeling that inner bad girl again, she did as he asked, spreading herself in a way she hadn’t ever done for another man. She made herself completely vulnerable to him, utterly his slave. She discovered in that moment how much she loved the feel of his gaze on her body.
She watched him watch her from between her thighs. He was on his knees, sitting back on his heels, watching the scene unfold before him. Watching her unfold before him. A willing puppet to his mastery.
He licked his lips as he looked at her, and then, his talented hands went to the fly of his pants. One button, then two, then three, and the restrained monster was released. Zak’s hardness was revealed, and it was time for her to lick her lips and think about how much she wanted to learn the taste of his body. But judging by his expression, that would come later.
For now, he was stroking his cock, lining himself up for the possession she’d wanted since almost the first moment they’d met. He leaned forward and slid inside.
There was no need for protection. She knew from her sisters that shifters didn’t carry disease, and she was on birth control. Nothing would come between them, which was just the way she wanted it.
His gaze swept upward to meet hers
When he was fully seated, he stopped, breathing hard. She realized her own breathing was hitched and ragged. The feeling of fullness was unlike anything she had felt with the few human men she’d been with before. Zak filled her completely, touching areas inside her she hadn’t really known existed.
She couldn’t wait to find out what it was going to feel like when he moved.
“How are you doing, Tina? All right?” he asked, panting as he held back what she most wanted.
“It’s sweet of you to check on me, but if you don’t start moving your ass right…now…” She panted between words as she felt her body quiver in need.
Zak chuckled and gave in, starting a slow rhythm that just scratched the surface of meeting her need. She’d never felt like this before. She’d never had this desperate desire, this aching need. Only with Zak, and it felt like only he would ever be able to make her feel whole again.
He pumped within her, changing angles and moving over her so their bodies aligned. He held her gaze, checking on her comfort again, and she felt her heart melt a little at his consideration. But what she really wanted was something a little rougher.
She leaned up and nibbled on his earlobe, biting just once, letting him know her mood. Zak complied, reading her like a dream. He sped up his thrusts and let loose more of the wildness she knew he kept bottled up inside when he was in human form. She needed that passion, that wild abandon. It met and answered the need deep within herself.
A few strokes more and she was calling out his name, coming hard as he joined her in ecstasy.
Chapter Seven
Zak’s impulses said to spend the rest of the afternoon right there, in Tina’s arms, making sweet love to her, but he squashed that thought for the moment. He didn’t want to overwhelm her. He’d had this whole afternoon planned, and it had already gone way off the rails. Time to bring them back to earth.
He didn’t want just a physical relationship with her—though the sex had been amazingly awesome, he had to admit—but he wanted more. A foundation to their relationship that could only be built by being her friend and getting to know her.
He hadn’t bothered getting to really know the women he’d bedded before Tina. They hadn’t mattered to his bear, except as a way to get some relief. But with Tina, everything was different. His bear liked her. Hell, it more than just liked her. It wanted to rub up against her and cuddle.
Never before in his life had his bad-ass, got-something-to-prove-to-the-bigger-bears-he-hung-with bear wanted to cuddle anyone or anything. Not for as long as he could remember. Such soft ideas didn’t fly back in the bayou, when he’d been young.
If he’d ever had any softness, his father would have been sure to beat it out of him. And the hard road Zac had traveled since hadn’t invited any show of vulnerability. He wanted to be gentle with her and feel h
er tender touch on him. He wanted to spoon her and just feel her breathe.
Damn. He had it bad.
For a human. His heart sank.
What if she laughed at him? What if she didn’t feel the same?
Things were different for humans. They often went from lover to lover from what Zak had observed. So did shifters, for that matter, but not when their beasts started thinking these kinds of thoughts about one particular person.
Shit got serious then. And Zak was very much afraid—and cautiously delighted—that his bear was thinking that way about Tina. At long last, he might have a shot at a mate of his own.
If he could navigate the human rules of dating and figure out if she could truly be his. If she’d been a shifter, he wouldn’t be so worried, but she was fully human. She might easily make love to him today and move on tomorrow, leaving him, and his bear, broken hearted.
Uncomfortable with the direction of his thoughts, Zak rose to his feet and stretched, looking out at the water not too far away. He was a man of action, unused to sitting still for so long. Then again, he was seldom in the company of such a delicate—human—lady with nobody else around.
“Want to take a walk down by the water?” he asked, sticking to his plan for the day.
“Sure.” Tina sprang to her feet and grabbed her clothes.
Although John had issued warnings about going out on boats or even swimming too far out into the water, Zak figured a walk down by the shore would be safe enough. The thing that had attacked Hiram had been outside the cove, in the deeper ocean, and likely wouldn’t venture too close to shore. If it could eat a yacht, it was probably way too big to swim in the shallows near land anyway.
They dressed quietly, but he noticed Tina shooting him teasing glances as she briefly wrestled with him over his T-shirt.