Captivating the Bear

by Jane Godman

  “Don’t.” She clutched his shoulders, urging him on. “Feels so good.”

  Reassured that he wasn’t hurting her, he pushed further. She gave a soft cry as she took all of him while gazing into his eyes. Ged was trying desperately not to lose control. Pleasure surged through him, sending electric currents down his spine, and he stifled a groan. He never wanted this moment to end.

  Tentatively, Lidi began to move her hips. The sensation of her pelvis grinding against his groin was like scalding honey. The sweetest torture. He tried to hold back the building storm just another second...

  “Feels like you are inside my soul.” Lidi’s whole body began to tremble as she whispered the words.

  It was too much. As her hips jerked upward and her frame tensed, Ged gave a groan of surrender.

  “Too much heaven.” He grasped her hips and began to drive into her. “Oh, Lidi. I won’t last.”

  Lidi’s muscles were already quivering around him, massaging him into a frenzy of desire. Carried away on a wave of sensation, his own release flooded through him. With a final thrust, he cried out her name as the waves pulled him under and everything faded except a white-hot flash of ecstasy and her arms twined around him.

  As he turned onto his side and looked into Lidi’s eyes, he realized she was laughing. “Care to share the joke?”

  “I was scared that I might not know what to do, or that we wouldn’t be compatible.” She traced a fingertip along his collarbone. “Now, I wonder if we’ll ever be able to stop.”

  He cradled her face in his hands. “Why don’t we get some sleep? Give me time to recover before we put that theory to the test.”

  * * *

  When Lidi woke, the orange glow of the fire was the only light in the room. Conscious of the warm body pressed tight against her back, she turned on her side, studying Ged’s features. He looked younger, some of the cares of wakefulness driven away by slumber.

  Her feelings threatened to overwhelm her. Keep it light? She almost laughed out loud. The words had become meaningless, just like her vow to devote her life to the peacekeeping force of the northern region. All that mattered was her need to be close to him. Always.

  She gave a little cry as Ged’s arms clamped around her and he trailed kisses down her neck.

  “I thought you were sleeping.” She gasped as his hands gripped her buttocks, lifting her against him.

  “I was.” His grin was wickedness personified. “You woke me with your lustful thoughts.” He slid a hand down over her stomach. “Do you know what I’d like to do now?”

  Lidi bit her lip. “I think I can guess.”

  “You might be wrong. At least about the starting point.” He sat up abruptly, reaching for his clothes. “I want to go for a run in the forest—” He looked back over his shoulder. “As a bear.”

  They dressed quickly, managing to sneak out of the house without waking Bruno. They walked until they reached the dark depths of the forest.

  Ged turned to face her. “This looks as good a place as any.”

  He quickly undressed and Lidi began to remove her own clothes. Although she had seen Ged in his bear form once before, the danger of the situation at the Palais Hotel meant she hadn’t been able to fully appreciate his beauty. Now she paused to watch him, her breath catching in her throat as he shifted.

  He rose up to his full height and kept on going, his body thickening as his face elongated and dark fur sprouted from his skin. Lidi had spent her whole life among the brown bears of Callistoya. Her father was an alpha and she had seen other dominant males, but none of them came close to Ged’s magnificence once he had shifted. As he rose onto his hind legs, he towered over her, his shaggy winter coat adding to the impression of size.

  Lidi tilted her head back to gaze up at him, exulting in the moment. Right now, just for this instant, he was hers and she was going to enjoy him. Ignoring the impatient rumble that started deep in his huge chest, she stood on the tips of her toes. Stretching as high as she could reach, she managed to get her hands either side of his face so she could pull him down and press a kiss onto the end of his snout.

  The rumble became a growl, although she sensed he wasn’t displeased at the action. Laughing, she finished shrugging off her clothes. “Patience, my bear.”

  Lidi shifted fast, exulting in the feel of the cool forest air rippling through her fur. Moving to stand next to Ged as he dropped onto all fours, she sniffed along his neck, rubbing her face against his jaw to signal her submissiveness. In response, he rested his head briefly on her shoulder in a gesture of acknowledgment, before turning and running deeper into the trees.

  The woods, although much smaller than the enchanted forests of her childhood, beckoned them. Black shadows lurked in the groves and frost-hardened snow crunched underfoot. Dawn mist lingered, writhing around their feet like the effects she had heard of at Beast’s legendary concerts. Most of the time stillness hung like a canopy over the treetops. Nothing stirred in the early-morning depths. Only rarely, the piping of a songbird broke the silence.

  Mahogany-brown tree trunks soared heavenward like guards lining the path. Lidi’s sharp ears picked up the metallic tinkling sound of a stream, and she caught a glimpse of its tinsel-bright ribbon through the lace of leaves. Veering away from Ged, she charged toward it, splashing into the icy shallows.

  This was what she craved. The earthy smell of the forest floor and the sweet scent of pine sap. The crisp snowy remnants and now the clear stream running over her fur as she drank from its crystal waters.

  And her mate at her side, nudging her playfully with his nose. Then swiping her with one giant paw until she was lying on her back in the gurgling brook. Then rolling over and over with her until they were both drenched.

  Clawing her way to the bank, Lidi changed back into human form. Although she was laughing, her teeth started to chatter. “Enough bear games, Ged. I’m frozen.”

  Shifting back, he scooped her into his arms with a purposeful look in his eyes. “I know a way to warm you up.”

  Twining her arms around his neck, Lidi nestled into his embrace and, as he carried her into a dark copse, allowed herself a tiny daydream about forever. An eternity with this strong, sexy man. She knew it was too much to ask, but she could fantasize. Just a little.

  She shivered as he placed her on her back on a bed of leaves, but this time it was the look on Ged’s face that was the cause of her tremors. Hunger and determination, all of it directed at her.

  He knelt and ran his hands along the length of her thighs. Lying back, she stared at the canopy of leaves through which the first light was just peeking. It lent a secret, magical tone to the scene.

  Ged’s breath was warm on the inside of her knees as he moved them apart. Lidi held her breath as he slowly kissed and nipped his way higher. Her legs opened wider of their own accord and she caught the gleam in Ged’s eyes as he gazed at her.

  The first soft kiss on her sex had her jerking wildly in shock. Then, as his tongue traced a lazy path back and forth, she melted into the forest floor. By the time he pressed his tongue deep inside her she was clutching his hair and crying out his name as she lifted her hips in time with his movements.

  Deep growls issued from his throat, vibrating against her clit with each pass of his tongue. The intimacy of him licking, sucking and driving his tongue into her roused so many intense emotions she hovered at a point between ecstasy and tears.

  Helplessly, she grabbed handfuls of the leaves either side of her, wild animal sounds pouring from her as she tumbled over the edge. Arching her back, she came so fast and hard she thought there was a danger she might never breathe again. Drowning in pleasure, she gazed up at Ged as her body pulsed.

  He was watching her, jaw tight, muscles tensed and his gaze on her like he had just discovered a treasure for which he’d searched all his life. He was glorious in his nakedness. With his
bulging muscles and aristocratic features, he looked like a statue of a Greek god. His erection pulsed rigid between them and Lidi reached out a hand to stroke the silken flesh.

  “We should maybe do something about this.” Her voice was breathy. Ged’s reply was a helpless groan.

  Somehow he found the strength to flip her over. Gripping her hips, he positioned her on all fours and moved his body in place over hers. The combination of his strength and tenderness, the bear mating position, the scent of the outdoors...all those things combined to send Lidi’s already-heightened senses into overdrive.

  As Ged nipped the flesh between her neck and shoulder, she arched her back, rubbing her body suggestively against his.

  “Is this how you want it?” His voice was hoarse in her ear.

  “Oh, yes. Right now, please.”

  His breathing came fast and uneven as he angled her until she could feel him teasing her opening with the head of his cock. She was so wet and ready that one quick push and he was halfway inside her. Gasping, Lidi dropped onto her elbows, electric shockwaves of pleasure radiating through her.

  Turning her head, she craned her neck until she could reach Ged’s lips, tangling her tongue with his. He growled louder as he pulled her back, stretching her and driving deeper. He moved his mouth to the back of her neck, his teeth sharp on the tender flesh as he rocked his shaft in and out of her.

  “More.” She barely recognized her own ragged cry.

  “More than this?”

  She could feel his thigh muscles quivering as he battled to keep control. The pressure inside him matched her own coiled tension. The coarse hair on his chest rubbed against her back and his pelvis was iron hard pressed into her soft buttocks. She didn’t want him to hold anything back.

  “Let it go. I want all of you, my bear.”

  His roar joined her cry to shake the treetops as his hips bucked and he filled her completely. How could anything feel so good? How could pleasure be so powerful it threatened to tear her in two? How, when it felt so wonderful, could her body still be demanding more? She closed her eyes, giving herself up completely to the intensity of a connection that was more than physical, more than human. This went beyond their bodies meeting in this time and place. This was about the bond they had forged when they ran through the trees and rolled in the stream, but it was so much more. Ged was her mate and nothing would ever replace the potency of that emotion.

  Ged drew out, then drove back again, picking up the pace each time. Lidi moved in time with his thrusts, her buttocks slamming against his groin. Her growls turned to whimpers as she writhed beneath him. Ged’s fingers dug into her flesh as he pulled her up and slammed even harder. The next masterful thrust of his muscular hips gave her what she needed, dragging his length along her sensitive nerve endings with exquisite friction. Lidi threw her head back with a hoarse, sobbing cry.

  Pleasure burst through her, hot and heavy. It spun out from her core in waves that grew stronger as Ged continued to drive in and out. As her muscles tightened around him, he was like iron, pumping in and out and in. His pelvis slapped hard against her once more before he stilled, pulsing inside her as he bit her on the shoulder, the action muffling his howl until it was a deep grunt.

  Lowering her slowly, he turned her and cradled her in his arms, kissing her forehead, her nose and, finally, her lips. Lidi tightened her arms around his neck, scared of what he would see if he looked into her eyes in that moment. Afraid he would see it all, that he would know she had given him more than her body. How would he react if he knew she had been changed by him on a soul-deep level? She didn’t want that pressure, for Ged or herself.

  “Which reminds me—” She sat up, gazing into the trees. It was fully light now, and while the shadows were a blend of ghostly outlines and inky shapes, she couldn’t see any movement in their depths.

  Ged had been lazily tracing circles on her shoulder with his fingertips, but he frowned. “What is it?”

  “I saw Allie again last night. Right here in the trees.” She turned her head to look at him, unease making her chest constrict. “But Sasha didn’t see her, even though she ran right past us.”

  “It was dark when you and Sasha went out. If Allie was running, perhaps it was difficult for Sasha to see her?”

  Although Lidi was glad Ged accepted without question that she had seen Allie, she couldn’t agree with his summary of the situation. “No.” She shook her head. “Allie’s pale coloring is so distinctive it’s impossible to miss her, and with the moonlight shining on that silvery hair of hers—” She broke off when Ged flinched as though he’d been struck. “What have I said?”

  He sat up, staring down at her. “Have you ever met a member of the noble house of Ivanov?”

  “No. Why?”

  “They are a very distinctive-looking family.” Even though he spoke slowly with no emotion in his tone, she could sense that he was stunned by what he had just heard about Allie. “Unlike other Callistoya bear shifters, the Ivanovs do not resemble Siberian brown bears when they shift. They are a unique species of white bear. And in their human form they have pale skin, light eyes and silver hair.”

  “Oh.” Lidi drew her knees up under her chin, hugging her arms tight around them. “Allie? Alyona? Is it possible?”

  He frowned, following her train of thought. “You mean could the woman you have seen be Alyona Ivanov? My fiancée, who was supposedly strangled then stabbed the night my father and most of my family were massacred?” Ged sucked in a shaky breath. “I have to say no. How can it be her? Her body was identified by several people including my own uncle, a man I trust with my life. And yet...”

  “And yet, we are shifters. We have to believe in the impossible.” Lidi’s voice sounded lost, even to her own ears. “Because we are the impossible.”

  The possibility that Ged’s rightful queen could be alive cut like a knife. Lidi had never believed there was an “us” in any true sense, but the idea that their closeness was a sham was brought home now with an abruptness that splintered her happiness like the icicles dropping from the trees.

  She could tell from Ged’s expression that he knew what she was thinking. The change in atmosphere from the warmth of their lovemaking to this sudden chill of foreboding was unmistakable and dramatic. He got to his feet, reaching down and holding out his hand to help her up. “If it was Alyona, why would she only show herself to you? Surely she would approach me? She knows me. She’d be comfortable enough to confide in me. And why wait thirteen years?”

  Drawing her close, he wrapped his arms around her, pressing his lips to her forehead. Comforted by his nearness, Lidi melted into his embrace. He was right. Of course he was. Alyona was dead. Lidi didn’t know who Allie was, or why she was following them, but the name and the coloring...they were just coincidences.

  She lifted her head to smile into Ged’s eyes. Then she looked just beyond him. And froze. “You are certain Alyona would speak to you?”

  “Absolutely. We might not have been lovers, but we were friends.” His tone was firm. His manner confident and reassuring. “Why do you ask?”

  “Because Allie is standing right behind you.”

  Chapter 14

  Ged’s heart was still racing out of control as he pulled on his clothes. Although he hadn’t seen anyone else in the forest, he knew Lidi was convinced she had seen someone standing behind him a few minutes earlier. And she had left him in no doubt that the person she had seen was the woman who had been his fiancée.

  Lidi had never met Alyona. Yet the description she had given had been perfect, right down to the other woman’s height and build. Even if that hadn’t been the case, Ged knew Lidi was telling the truth. He trusted her absolutely. In the short time he had known her, he had come to believe in her more deeply than anyone he had ever known. More than Khan and the other members of the band, more than his uncle, more even than the brother he h
ad just rediscovered. He didn’t question that faith. It just was.

  That didn’t make it any easier to fathom what was going on. Had Alyona survived? If so, how? Why was she following them? And why did it seem that Lidi was the only person who could see her?

  There were other issues, ones that would have to wait. Ones he didn’t want to probe. Not now. Not ever. Because if Alyona was alive, everything was different. His future, never certain, had just undergone a radical change. Once, in what felt like another life, he had accepted the inevitability of his arranged marriage. Now he looked at Lidi as she tugged her sweater over her head, and he wondered if there was any such thing as inevitability.

  “We don’t know what the future holds.” Her face was forlorn as she took his hand.

  “No.” They retraced their steps toward the cottage. Was there a chance a king of Callistoya could decide his own fate? It was a radical idea and there was only one way to find out.

  Since he wasn’t officially the monarch, right at this moment he was more concerned about Lidi. She looked lost, as though seeing Allie again had pierced her soul. Ged wanted to take that look away and make sure it never came back. He wanted to make sure all he ever saw on her face were smiles of joy. If he had his way, Lidi’s life would be one of sunshine and roses. Gallant thoughts for a bear.

  He took her hand, twining his fingers with hers, and she turned her head to look at him. Although her smile was a watered-down version of her usual expression, it still caused his heart to swoop with delight. And while the things going on around them either made no sense or were life-threatening, the thrill he got when he gazed into her eyes had somehow become the most important thing in his life.

  As they stepped through the door, Bruno hurled himself on them with hysterical barks, as though he had been under the impression they had abandoned him. It was some time before the noise died down and they were able to sit down to enjoy the breakfast Sasha had prepared.

  “As soon as we’ve eaten, we have to leave for Frankfurt,” Ged explained to Andrei. “We’ve delayed long enough.”