Bearly Breathing (Alpha Werebear Shifter Paranormal Romance) (18 page)

Okay, you horny thing
, I had to remind myself.
That’s just about enough of that. One thing at a time, missy, one step and then another. Don’t complicate things with rushing, don’t get your own heart broken again.

But somehow, I knew if there was any heart breaking going on, it wouldn’t be Orion doing the breaking. The way he watched me, the way he smiled? Those weren’t looks you could make up. He had it at least half as bad as I did, but somehow he was able to hide it better. For that, at least, I was a little jealous.

Then came the next message.

“I doughnuts knowing the golf.”

I snickered, and then I coughed and then just about burst a kidney laughing.
“Autocorrect?”
I sent back.

“Doughnuts Walter, it’s limo beans.”

The loudest, and possibly most irritating snort-snicker combination I’ve ever made burst out of me, along with a fine mist of wine.

I was just about to respond again when I heard the roar of the motorcycle that made me feel funny things in my lady parts. I’d never admit that to anyone, well probably, but there it is. I saw the headlight a couple seconds after the engine’s roar surged through me.

What am I doing? Why am I throwing myself at this guy?

Throwing myself. That’s what Liam always said – stop throwing yourself at people – every time we’d go to a party and I’d talk to someone new. But this wasn’t... I wasn’t throwing myself at anyone. For once,
I
was the one being chased.

By Walter Doughnuts.

“Hey Walter!” I shouted, waving to Orion and then crossing my arms over my stomach, holding my elbows. “Get any doughnuts?”

Orion furrowed his brow.

“What are you talking about?”

“Check your last pair of texts,” I said, stifling a giggle. “I know you’ve been kind of disconnected from the rest of the world for a while, but... yeah, I think you might need a remedial course in text messaging.”

Grumbling, my big bear opened up the side saddle and pulled out the gigantic mobile we’d bought. He said he needed one with a big screen and “buttons, because I don’t want to be touching the damn screen all the time,” which admittedly makes him sound like a cranky octogenarian. Which, okay, fair enough.

“You’re gonna need a course in, uh, getting over, uh, being beaten in mini-golf,” he said in return.

I was trying to hide my grin. I didn’t want him to know exactly how much of a comical farce this chase actually was. He had me the second he caught that tree, and I think he probably knew it, but he was far too much of a gentleman to ever say anything.

“That was a truly masterful comeback, Orion,” I said, smiling despite myself.

I knew my eyes were glittering, the way they always did when I felt like this. Well, let’s be honest – I’d
never
felt like this before, not exactly. But I knew all the signs. My cheeks were burning, those tiny hairs on the back of my neck – and hell, on my face, too, no shame in being human... or whatever – were all standing on end, waiting for him to touch me.

I reached out and grabbed one of Orion’s dangling hands, pulling it up and squeezing it with both of mine. “Are you sure about this?” I asked, suddenly afraid of something I couldn’t quite put my finger on. “I mean, we’re gonna be out in the world, and you’re...”

“Hiding?” he asked, knowing exactly what I was about to say. “Yeah,” he got gruff in the way that made my stomach go all wiggly. “I am, but sometimes you have to stop caring so much about danger and take a few risks. Especially when there’s something this important on the line.”

“Important?” I asked.
You mean you really love me? You really feel the way about me that I feel about you?
I wanted to say. “What’s so important about a date?” is what actually came out.

“Not the date,” he said. Orion’s pale brown eyes took on that stormy, golden-gray hue they did when he was about to make me wish we were naked. “It’s you.”

Yep. Who knew that was about to happen? Oh right, me.

I grabbed him, pulling his beautiful face to mine, and pressed my lips eagerly to his. I felt his mouth curl in a smile, and he kissed back, sliding a hand down my back, tucking it underneath my faded cotton tee.

“How do you do this to me?” I asked, when he pulled away and the raspy stubble on Orion’s face slipped through my hands.

That gave him a grin that gave me a squiggle of electricity running down my back. “This is how I think things feel when they’re right. At some point you’re going to just have to admit that
I
am right.”

He went to kiss me again, but I turned my face to the side with a smile. “We gotta get going,” I said, cutting him off. The left side of Orion’s lips curled up in a crooked grin.

“Right,” he said. “Good timing on that thought.”

I grabbed his hand and tugged him toward the bike. “Dean and Malia are waiting,” I semi-lied. We still had about forty-five minutes before we were supposed to meet, but I had the feeling that if we stayed here for a second longer, all those naked fantasies were going to come true.

“Takes eight minutes to get from here to the Fun Plex,” Orion said.

Uh-oh, he’s got that grin. He’s got that damn grin that’s gonna make me forget all about my good sense. Actually? You know what? Fuck good sense.

“I can’t do this anymore,” I said in a rush, stopping stiffly in my tracks. “I can’t... you and me, me trying to act like it’s some kind of hunt and chase, I’m just playing a game at your expense for my own benefit, and I can’t—”

His kiss, hot and heavy and hungry and delicious, warmed me from head to toe, instantly quieting my rambling.

“You don’t have to be afraid, Clea,” Orion whispered. His breath sliding around my neck prickled the skin. “You don’t have to worry. We’ve both been hurt, we’ve both been through terrible things. But if we have each other?”

He squeezed me tight against his massive chest, kissing me again so hard that it forced my head back. I struggled, pushing back, gripping and scratching at his back. “I’ve needed this for longer than I want to admit,” I said. “But I’m scared, I—”

Orion’s rough hands moved up my back. He grabbed my hair and gently pulled my head back before kissing my neck and sucking gently behind my ear. “Sometimes,” he said, “danger is just an invitation to try something new.”

Suddenly, I started wondering what those books were that he lugged around everywhere.

“Do you have that backpack?” I asked.

“Always,” he said with a shrug. “Why?”

“Because you’re done staying in the forest, and I’m done being afraid. I want you, Orion. I have since you caught that tree like it was nothing, I...” I looked down at the ground, almost embarrassed for some reason. But then I summoned up all my courage. “You’re done with the forest and I’m done with fear.”

No kiss had ever tasted sweeter, no caress of hands on my neck ever been more thrilling.

“You think Dean and Malia will mind if we’re a little late?” Orion asked.

“Shit,” I said, laughing. “I don’t know who you are, or who you think
I
am, but we can do this twice and still be on time.” I laughed to keep myself from crying. Fear bubbled up inside me, but I remembered what I said – I was done with fear, done with hiding my heart.

He smiled, disarming me slightly and also making the tightness in my chest relax a little. “I knew there was a reason I loved you,” Orion said, as I jerked his hand, tugging him toward the front door.

The final frontier. The threshold no man has crossed before
, I thought with an embarrassed giggle.
Holy shit have I needed this.

A look back at him as he stepped through my front door and I knew – just
knew
– that for once? My heart wasn’t making a mistake.

––––––––

S
weat ran down my cheeks, and soaked into the neck of my old, soft sports bra. Don’t even ask me where my shirt went, because I couldn’t tell you.

“This is for real?” I asked breathlessly as Orion’s lips painted a track from behind my ear to the sensitive place right between my collarbones. “Like... Oh my God,” I whispered as wet heat crept out from inside me for the first time in, oh, five years. “Oh yeah, It’s real.”

I heard and felt him laugh. A slow, soft circling of his tongue preceded a gentle suck and a little nibble. He pushed me backwards against the roughly textured wall. The pinprick points jabbed into my bare shoulders, and into my sides as I rolled back and forth to accommodate his hungry, thrilling kisses.

“Oh God yes,” I whispered. “Oh my shit this is so,
so
real.”

Orion’s kisses went down my neck, following the line of my body. He kissed over my breasts, lingering just long enough outside my bra to wet the fabric covering my nipples. He sucked gently, tugging just a little with his teeth before continuing his slow path to my jeans.

Arching my back, I ran my hands through his hair. “Pull it,” he commanded. “Get those hands full of my hair and pull on it.”

I did, hard, and he hissed with pleasure. His sucks grew harder, hungrier, the further he got. “Your scent,” he whispered as he neared my aching, soaking-wet sex. “I can’t... keep myself from... it’s making me crazy, you,” he paused, looking up into my eyes as I looked down at his. “I’ve never needed anyone, never hurt for anyone like this before. Is this what fate feels like? No, not fate. Love.”

The word rolled off his tongue like a drop of the sweetest wine, and hit the sensitive skin just above my waistband. Somehow, that single word – love – felt like honey running down my skin. Honey that Orion needed to lap up. He slid his tongue along me, and pushed his rough palms up my chest, grabbing me, squeezing me. My sports bra’s old fabric sliding across my sensitive nipples made them prickle slightly, and then when he pinched them, I let out another breathy gasp.

“I want to make you feel everything you’ve ever wanted to feel,” Orion whispered. “I want to make you see how badly I want you to be mine, forever.”

“I don’t think you need to make any more speeches,” I said, flushed all the way red and looking down at his perfect face. The tattoos around his eyes were entrancing, and the scar on his cheek, and the one across his lip – no matter how much he hated them – made Orion who he was. The man I wanted, the man who made me burn deep inside. “I think you’ve already made me feel better than anyone ever has.”

He gripped my jeans between his teeth and pulled the button through the button hole, then unzipped me. My trembling knees were struggling to keep me upright, but bracing myself on Orion’s massive shoulders helped a lot, as did how he had me pushed backward against the wall.

I twisted back and forth, relishing the mixture of hot scratches and sweet kisses as this incredible man’s tongue kneaded me through my panties.

“You want those things off?” I asked, half-laughing and half-panting.

“Not yet,” he groaned, inhaling deeply again and sliding his tongue along the line of my sex. It was impossible to tell which wetness was from him and which me, but one thing
was
certain – it didn’t matter one goddamn bit.

A slow lick went from between my legs to my clit where he paused, circling me and massaging gently. A wave of pleasure crept up my belly, puckering my nipples against my bra. I had to let go of his hair with one hand and cup it around my breast, gently pulling, tugging, and pinching my nipple.

I was hot all over, a heated flush ran from my neck to where Orion was kissing, pleasing, and worshipping me, in a way that I never imagined was real. Not for me, anyway.

His fingers against my skin, prying my panties away from my softest place, sent a mixture of terror and pleasure crawling up my reddened skin. “It’s been so long,” I whispered. “I’m still... I’m still a little scared.”

“I won’t hurt you,” Orion said, nipping softly at my thigh and sliding his tongue underneath my panties, tasting me. “Unless you want me to.”

He laughed softly and
hummed
against my pussy before he slipped his tongue against me, testing my entrance. I gripped his hair, mostly to hold myself up, and then I felt one thick, hard finger slide inside me.

“S... slow,” I groaned. “I’m... oh good God yes.” I started purring. Purring! I’m a lynx, damn it, not some kind of house cat. I don’t
purr
for just anyone, but the way he was rotating that finger inside me, and matching the pulses of his tongue against my clit? Yeah. Purring. Seriously.

When I caught my breath a little from my embarrassing housecat impersonation, I almost lost it again. He was turning his finger slowly, and after the first rotation, when he found the place that made me groan and writhe and twist, he lingered there, flicking his tongue back and forth across my button and massaging me.

My skin was prickled from head to toe and my nipples pressed, sweetly rough, against my bra. The motion of Orion’s rough palm against my softest skin had me almost hypnotized, at least it did until he pushed a second huge finger inside me, stretching my walls and stroking that place that makes my knees go all funny.

“That’s it,” he whispered. “That’s it, show me how good that feels, show me how good...”

“Ah!” I squealed softly, my knees buckling underneath me. “I’m... oh yes, oh yes, harder-harder-harder... Unnn... yes, yes, yes,” the last three words came out in one single, stuttered, halting syllable.

The muscles between my legs and the tendons running up the sides of my neck went taut. I could hardly stand the delicious tension... but then as soon as it vanished in a rush of relief quickly followed by
release
, I burned to have it back immediately.

“That’s it,” he whispered. “That’s it, beautiful girl...”

Weak knees preceded my vision getting warm and fuzzy and then I finally collapsed, held up only by Orion’s powerful arms and the wall behind me. The scratching as I slid down ignited a sweet heat in my belly that made me ache to do something... else.