by Terra Wolf
“You should put your seat belt on. I’m not doing this for the first time in my truck and I plan on speeding recklessly all the way back to my house.”
I pouted at him, reaching for his cock again, but he held my wrist and brought my palm up to his lips.
“Soon, I promise,” he said.
I could see the determination in his eyes and knew I’d be better off not arguing about it. Arguing was just going to put more time between now and the moment he was inside of me. So I slid over to my side of the cab and buckled my seatbelt in record time. The click didn’t even finish before the truck was roaring out of the parking lot and off onto the dark mountain roads.
I’d never been to Luke’s place, and I wasn’t going to be able to see much of it now, either, but it was set off from the main road a ways — though his driveway was nice and paved unlike mine. The motion-activated porch light came on the moment the truck pulled up, but I hardly saw the front of the house past the green door because Luke’s mouth was all over me while he fumbled with the lock. I was just getting ready to tell him to stop kissing me long enough to get us in the house, when the door swung open and he scooped me up into his arms.
I squealed and held onto him for dear life.
“I told you I could carry you around like this,” he said grinning. He kicked the door closed behind him, and supporting me with one arm, used his free hand to drag the strap of my dress off my shoulder, revealing my breast to the cool air. My nipple instantly puckered and Luke growled, dipping down to wrap his lips around it, the warmth of his mouth enveloping the sensitive little nub and drawing a sharp cry from my lips. It was like electricity going straight from my nipples to my clit and I could hardly stand it.
“Luke,” I panted, clinging to him, my feet dangling so far off the ground.
But he didn’t need to know what I was saying. He marched me straight through his dark house, navigating obstacles that would have tripped me for sure, and practically tossed me on the bed.
The rough landing made my dress bunch up under my ass and I instinctively moved to pull it down, but Luke stopped me, grabbing the hem and lifting it higher, up over my head until I was on his bed in only my damp, black panties.
I shivered under his gaze. His eyes touched me more intimately than anyone’s hands ever had, soaking in every inch of my moon-bathed skin.
“You’re so beautiful,” he growled under his breath, the barely-contained desperation making me wetter than ever.
“Why don’t you come over here?” I said, my eyes firmly fixed on his now rock-hard erection. I swallowed thickly. It had been a long time since I’d been with anyone that wasn’t battery operated. But with Luke, I knew there wouldn’t be any problems. I knew he’d never hurt me. And I knew that I wanted him enough that there’d be no resistance on my part.
He leaned over me and pressed his lips softly to mine, the kiss gentle and sweet as his hands skimmed my sides and his thumbs hooked into the elastic band of my panties.
Then, the kiss grew harder, more insistent as his tongue started to tease mine, and his hands dragged the panties down my legs.
He buried his tongue in my mouth, kissing me like he was worried he’d never get the chance again as his fingers teased down my seam, exposing my wetness to the air.
I could hardly breathe from the way he was kissing me, but somehow I managed a gasp when his finger pressed against my clit. A jolt zipped through my entire body, making my back arch from the bed, making me cling to him desperately, my nails digging into his shoulders as that one finger slipped inside.
“Luke,” I breathed, my eyes closed tight, my breaths coming fast as I just concentrated on the amazing feelings he was creating in me. The smooth, expert in and out of that finger, curling up to hit the spot inside that made me gasp, made my toes curl. I grabbed onto the sheets as he moved down my body, his hot mouth blazing a burning trail, lighting up my nerve endings with feelings I’d never had.
And then his tongue was on my clit, and he was rumbling words — words that made me even hotter for him even though I couldn’t manage to grab on to their meanings — the vibrations tumbling through me in wave after wave, my whole body poised to shatter under him.
“Luke, I’m going to—”
He latched his lips around my clit and sucked hard, curling the finger inside me up, sliding another in with it. I didn’t even get to finish my sentence before I was screaming his name into the rafters. All that waiting, all that wanting, all the tension and the fantasies I’d concocted, it was all worth it in that moment. Everything was worth it if I got to have Luke. If I could have his mouth on me, his fingers buried in me, and these incredible orgasms.
Yeah, my fantasies had nothing on the real thing.
He crawled back up my body and kissed me again like it might be the last thing he ever did. I didn’t even care that I could taste myself. While I’d never let another guy do that, with Luke, I didn’t even think of arguing. Everything he did turned me on more than I could even say. Even the taste of myself was hot when it was from his lips.
His hips moved forward and I could feel his thick cock head pressing against my entrance as he pulled back from the kiss, his dark eyes shining into mine. I nodded and lifted myself up to kiss him, dragging him back down to me as he slid all the way in in one fluid stroke.
I gasped, my breath gone, nothing but amazing, incredible fullness in my mind. All other thoughts were gone except for how Luke was stretching me, how my muscles clenched around him, and how every time they did, another wave of ecstasy swept through me.
“God, Claire,” he whispered, his forehead pressed to mine, still buried completely inside of me. “I hate to admit it, but I think the dumb bear was right.”
I grinned. “Me too. But we can thank him later,” I said, lifting my hips to force him in deeper. Luke groaned, his eyes sparkling dangerously. I saw something switch inside of him. And he went from gentle, reserved love-making, to the desperate, grasping fucking I was craving so much.
There was no time for words, no time to even breathe really. He thrust into me over and over, each time driving me deeper into the bed and higher towards the heavens. Stars burst in front of my vision and still he was relentless, flipping me over to my hands and knees and driving in even deeper, my moans and cries eventually losing all sound as he drove me to the place where even my own name didn’t make sense any more.
And he was rough, grabbing my hips and slamming into me over and over again, his teeth grazing my shoulder hard enough to leave marks. But in the moment, it just made me shiver. Made me hotter. Made me feel like his. And I was realizing that’s all I really wanted.
“Fuck, I’m gonna—” Luke’s hands tightened on my hips and we powerfully thrust together one last time before he bellowed out his own completion. I could feel him pulsing inside of me and I pressed back harder as he emptied himself. I lost track of how many times I came, but I knew it was going to be a long time before I came down again.
It took Luke a little while to catch his breath and roll off of me, but then I flopped out across his bed, my arms and legs spread wide as the afterglow teased through me. He left the bed long enough to clean up and then came back with a damp rag, gently cleaning my inner thighs, kissing his way up and down as he did.
“If you’re not careful, you’re going to have me ready for round two,” I teased.
He grinned up from between my legs. “You say that like it’s a bad thing.”
I laughed and he crawled up to lay beside me, drawing me up against his chest, idly stroking my sides and kissing the back of my neck as I slowly drifted off to the most peaceful sleep I’d had in five years.
Seventeen
Luke
When I woke up the next morning, the first thought in my head was actually not from me at all. It was from my bear, and it wasn’t so much a thought as it was a feeling. A victorious, proud, possessive feeling. It took me only a moment to remember the warm shape in the bed next to me wasn’t just a
nother random girl from the bar, but it was Claire. The woman I’ve fallen head over heels for.
I didn’t want to admit it. Not before I’d spent real time with her, not before she knew about my furry pal, but all that was behind us now. She’d seen me for what I really was and she accepted it. I wasn’t sure that last night could have gone any better. It was the most perfect outcome I could have hoped for — more than I could have hoped for if I was being honest.
Memories of her moans filled my head, the look of her complete ecstasy forever etched into my memory. I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her close against me, her golden halo of curls pressed into my nose, the sweet scent of vanilla filling me with a calm and contentment I’d never had before.
Was this what it was like to not have the curse looming over your head? To have your bear finally at ease? Because for once, he wasn’t being an unbearable asshole. He was quiet, just as happy to spend this time with Claire as I was.
I knew in that moment that there was no way I could ever let this woman go. I could never let her out of my life. We were bound in a way that could not be broken, and even though it should terrify me, it just made me happy.
The only thing that was missing from this perfect morning was Ella. I could imagine her on Saturday morning charging into our bedroom and jumping on the bed, trying to drag us out for fun activities or French toast for breakfast. The thought brought a smile to my face, but there would be time for all of that. Right now, I was happy to have Claire to myself with no interruptions.
If anyone had asked me a month ago if I thought I’d find the woman I was meant to settle down with, I would have laughed in their face. But it wasn’t just one woman I found to fill my home with love and laughter, it was both of them. I only hoped she’d be as eager for the idea as I was.
“What are you smiling about?” Claire asked, her voice groggy and slow as she turned toward me, blinking away sleep.
“What’s not to smile about when I’ve got you in my arms?”
She rolled her eyes, but her grin only grew. “That’s the cheesiest thing I’ve ever heard.”
“I hope you’re not lactose intolerant because there’s a lot more cheese where that came from,” I said, leaning in for a kiss. She melted into me for a moment, but then pulled back quickly, her eyes wide and horrified, her hand coming up to cover her mouth. For a split second, panic gripped my chest. Was she suddenly regretting things now?
“What’s wrong?”
“Morning breath,” she said, not moving her hand.
I laughed and pulled her hand away, kissing her anyway. “It’s going to take more than that to stop me.”
It was a slow lazy kiss, the perfect way to wake up, full of soft sighs and slow exploratory touches. When Claire pushed her hips back against me, she gasped and I chuckled under my breath, our lips never parting. I pushed my hips forward, grinding against her sweet plump ass, and she moved one leg forward, letting me slide into her from behind. Our sighs rose up in unison as I entered her, my arms still around her, her back to my chest. I kissed along her neck, across her shoulder, every sound from her a new delight. Every moan, every sigh, every gasp. And I knew I’d never get enough.
I moved slow, teasing us both, but enjoying the leisurely pace. It wasn’t the frantic, desperate need of the night before. This was love-making. This was me knowing I had all the time in the world to enjoy this woman, and I planned to make every moment count.
Claire’s hands lifted to her own breasts, slowly twirling her nipples as I ground in deep, making her push back against me with a needy whimper. Her pale skin had a warm sensual glow in the morning light. This had to be the best damn way to wake up in the whole world.
“Luke,” she whispered, her eyes shut tight, her fingers still on her nipples as she sucked in a sharp breath.
“Come for me Claire,” I said, my voice hardly any louder than hers as I nibbled her neck. We continued pressing against each other rhythmically, low, passionate moans coming from us both as we took each other in. It was a quiet, shuddering climax that claimed us in a single moment, her fluttering muscles working me while I poured myself into her with every surge until all I saw was white and then I was lost to the pleasure of it all too.
It took a few minutes for us to catch our breath and come back down to earth. There was something so intense about that quiet, slow love-making that had me shook to my very core. And from the looks of it, Claire was too.
She eventually turned to face me, long after I’d slipped out of her, and flattened her palm against my chest, kissing right above her fingertips.
“Good morning,” she said, an impish grin fighting its way through her innocent look.
I laughed and pulled her closer, kissing her with all the exuberant joy I felt. “Good morning. How about some coffee?”
She groaned, grinning and kissing me even harder. “Yes please. As much as I enjoyed that wake-up call, caffeine sounds amazing.”
I didn’t say it then, I knew there would be plenty of time later, but I was sure that just about anything would sound amazing as long as I was sharing it with Claire and Ella.
Epilogue
Claire
A Year Later
“Well, are you ready?” Dana asked, popping into the bedroom that’s been repurposed as my dressing room for the day.
“Um… I think so?” I said, looking out the window over the sprawling lawn behind the den. The same lawn where Luke tried to woo me by pleading his family to throw a party I could be invited to. Hard to believe how far we’d come since that day. Now I couldn’t imagine my life without him. Not only was he an amazing partner — both in and out of the bedroom — he was an amazing father to Ella. Which was great, because after seeing a man turn into a bear, Chuck was kind of laughed out of town. Ella asked about him for a little while, but I think she much prefers having Luke as a daddy, and before too long, she’ll probably forget she ever had Chuck in her life. Kids are resilient like that.
“How big is his family?” Dana said grimacing out the window with me.
I laughed. She wasn’t wrong. There had to be a hundred or more people in the chairs set up downstairs and only a handful of them belonged to our side of the family. But I knew something that Dana didn’t: that they were almost all shifters. According to Luke, shifters were quite prolific with reproduction, something he’s teased me about endlessly. Not that I mind. The idea of more kids isn’t something I dread anymore. Not now that I have a partner I know I can trust. Not only trust, but I can count on him. And Ella can too. That’s the most important thing.
“You should see how many people we didn’t invite. These were just the people that would never speak to him again if they were snubbed.”
“What are you getting yourself into?” Dana laughed. I shook my head, grinning too. She had a point of course, but it wasn’t going to dissuade me. Luke could have brought a thousand people with him and I’d still want to marry him.
“Is my hair okay in the back? I don’t know why I ever try to straighten it. It has a mind of its own.”
She stepped back and tightened a couple of pins. “I think it’s as good as it’s ever going to be. You look gorgeous, by the way.”
“Thanks.” I knew it wasn’t much. It was a simple country dress for a simple country wedding. My bouquet was made of wildflowers picked fresh yesterday and I definitely wasn’t the first owner of this dress, but Luke’s aunts had done a really nice job of tailoring it to make it look like it was made for me. My hair was kind of doing its own thing as usual, but the overall look was good. I felt pretty, and what girl didn’t want to feel pretty on her wedding day?
I still couldn’t believe the day was actually here. All the talking and planning and waiting finally over. It seemed unreal, and I couldn’t decide if I was more nervous, excited, or sad that that chapter was over. But I knew what came next would be even better, so it was hard to be sad.
“Mommy! Mommy! Mommy!” Ella burst into the room, her face flushed,
out of breath. Her dress was a much smaller, simpler version of mine, but she looked so grown up in it that it made my heart ache a little. How had five years gone by so fast? I hoped that the next five would take their time. I wanted to enjoy them more.
“What’s up elephant?”
She gave me a stern look. We’d already had numerous discussions about how she’s five now and too old for baby nicknames. Of course, that only made me want to use it more, just to tease her.
“Auntie Alexis said you forgot this. You need something blue!” She thrust her balled up fist toward me and I opened my palm to accept the offering. It felt like a pile of rocks when it hit my hand, but then I looked closer and it was a string of turquoise, with one single charm dangling from the end: a bear.
“She said she wore it when she got married and it’s good luck.”
I laughed, slipping the bracelet on. “I don’t know about that, she’s gotta be married to Uncle Zion,” I said, pulling a face and making Ella giggle.
“Whaddya say, kiddo, you ready to do this thing?” I asked, giving her dress a once-over for any blemishes. Remarkably, it seemed spot-free. My little girl really was growing up.
She shrugged and I spotted the first signs of nervousness.
“You’re not worried, are you?” I asked.
“She’s probably just nervous because there’s a billion people down there and they’re all going to be watching you.”
I shot Dana a glare, but she smirked at me.
“I’m not nervous!” Ella protested.
“Oh good. Cause I sure am,” I said with a sigh. Her eyes went wide.
“You are?”
“Well, yeah. It’s a big day. But it’ll be over before you know it and then it’ll just be a bunch of happy memories and we’ll get to start our brand new life together with Luke. So it kinda seems worth it, right?”
She chewed on her bottom lip for a minute, but finally, slowly, she nodded. “Yeah, I guess so.”