“Please, Bear—”
As she said the words, he did something with his tongue, and his fingers, and her orgasm crashed over her in waves of exquisite pleasure. He sealed his mouth over her sex again, plunging his tongue inside her, and she rocketed to the peak again. And then he was tearing off his briefs, and gathered her in his arms. His wet beard crushed against her chin as he took her in another passionate kiss. She didn’t care that he tasted like her. She wanted to climb inside his mouth and experience everything it had to give.
She grabbed at the back of his hips, arching up, slicking her wetness against his shaft and earning another heady groan. Their mouths parted, both of them panting as he reached for his wallet and retrieved a condom. He kissed her softly, and when he gazed into her eyes she heard his silent question loud and clear.
“Yes,” she whispered confidently.
He sheathed himself and came down over her, kissing her cheeks, her forehead, her lips. His love for her seeped into her skin, burrowed deep in her bones, and when he said, “I love you, sweet girl,” she was so caught up in him, it was all she could do to say, “I know.”
He was smiling as their mouths came together, the head of his arousal pressing against her center. She wasn’t scared, wasn’t anxious, was only needful and wanting—and wishing her brain worked because I know didn’t begin to cover what she felt.
“Wait,” she panted out. He stopped so abruptly, she knew he thought she’d changed her mind. “I love you, too, Bear. So much. I just had to tell you.”
The smile that crawled across his face was worth the momentary heart attack she was sure she’d given him. “I know you do, sugar. I see it in your eyes every time you look at me.”
“You do?”
“I do, baby.”
Her heart was so full, her body so alive, she didn’t hesitate to pull him into another kiss. He entered her slowly, his strong arms cradling her as her body adjusted to the unfamiliar, and welcome, visitor. She could barely breathe as their bodies melded together for the very first time. He felt so good, so right. When he was buried to the hilt, they both stilled. His heart beat as crazily as hers. She opened her eyes and found him watching her, searching for that silent blessing he’d already so caringly sought time and time again. She couldn’t speak, could only hope her smile conveyed how very okay she was. She lifted her hips, letting him know she was ready for more. Ready for him.
She expected to feel awkward, to wonder if or how they’d find the right rhythm, but there was no room for worry. There was only Bear taking control, finding their rhythm for them, holding her, loving her, kissing her, and whispering the sweetest, sexiest things she’d ever heard. His body was hard and insistent; his touch was loving and gentle. Too swept away to think, her body took over, rising to meet him.
Every thrust of his hips came with a whisper of love: “Only you, baby. Feels so good. I’m yours, sweet girl.”
His hardness electrified her, his tenderness made her melt, creating a storm of uncontrollable passion. Wanting to savor the excitement, their closeness, the newness of the heady scent of their lovemaking, she dug her fingers into his arms, trying to stave off her climax. But the harder she resisted, the more consuming it became. Every thrust brought a rush of new and overwhelming sensations, and her body betrayed her, yielding to the searing need that had been building for months. Her core flooded with fire seconds before his name burst from her lungs in a cry of sheer ecstasy.
“Bear—”
He tucked his face in the crook of her neck as her body pulsed around him. Thrusting once, twice, he reared up, his face contorted in the clutches of passion as he followed her over the edge.
“Fuuck, baby. So sweet. So good.” He kissed her shoulder. “So right.”
She clung to him, dizzy with emotions, as they fell limply to the mattress wrapped in each other’s arms. He pressed his lips to hers, tucking her body tight against him.
“Hey, sweet girl,” he said tenderly, bringing her eyes up to his.
He was searching again, needing confirmation that she was okay, and she loved him even more for it.
She touched her lips to his and whispered, “Perfect.”
He took care of the condom, then rolled onto his back and pulled her on top of him, making her feel petite and special in his arms. She rested her cheek on his chest and closed her eyes. Her legs fell naturally between his, his sex nestled against hers. He curled one arm up behind her head, holding her as he pressed a kiss to her forehead. He pulled the blanket up over their waists, cocooning her in the safest, most loving position.
She snuggled in and closed her eyes, reveling in their intimate new world, and drifted off to the sure and steady beat of his heart.
Chapter Sixteen
BEAR LAY AWAKE with a purring kitty curled against one side and his beautiful girlfriend draped across the other. He’d thought of her that way for so long that as the sun crept in through the blinds, bringing her private world into focus, he wasn’t surprised by the intensity of his feelings. He wanted to go to sleep with her in his arms every night and wake up with her every morning. He wanted to watch her creative mind at work, and cook with her, and take her on long motorcycle rides. He wanted to give her enough good memories to wipe away the bad. But tonight he had to bartend again, and if he honored his father’s demands and took on the expansion, he’d have little to no free time in the foreseeable future.
As he looked around her bedroom, his thoughts returned to last night’s conversation on the beach, and Bullet’s words came back to him.
You always do what’s right, little brother. It’s that simple.
Right for who? That was the question.
Bullet stood behind his convictions even when it was clear to Bear that where Dixie was concerned, his brother’s convictions were wrong. Did Bullet know something he didn’t? Or was he just as hardheaded as his father? He’d fight for his brothers even if the odds were 50:1. Club brothers, Truman, Quincy, blood brothers. Brotherhood was brotherhood. The difference between Bear and Bullet was that for the sake of their sister, Bear would stand up to the one man Bullet wouldn’t. And though he had no concrete evidence of what Bullet would do in a situation like his and Crystal’s, he had a feeling that in his brother’s mind, doing the right thing meant nailing the fucker who had attacked her to the wall and dealing with the aftermath of Crystal’s heartache later.