His lower jaw parted as he panted quietly. The TV volume must’ve been loud enough to smother his heavy breathing earlier. I felt bad for not noticing. How was hestillin his polar bear form? He was going to bake to death.
“Dude, seriously, you can shift whenever you want,” I insisted. “I don’t want you to overheat.”
Rorik stopped panting. I practically saw the mental war waging in his brain, though I didn’t understand why. Shifting was natural and normal.
What is going on with him?I thought, starting to worry.
My concern for his safety opened the floodgates of general anxiety. Did Rorik dislike me? Was that why he acted withdrawn? Did he want to leave? Worse, did he feel pressured to stay?
Cobalt’s words came back like a slap in the face:You don’t want to overwhelm your potential mate.
Shit. Was I doing that right now?
Rorik exhaled a long breath through his nostrils. “All right. I’ll shift.”
My heart quickened. Excitement bubbled within me, killing off my anxiety.I still hadn’t seen his human form. What did he look like?
Rorik closed his eyes. He was still for a few seconds, as if remembering how to shift. Then an ancient magic washed over his massive polar bear body, twisting and transforming.
The next time I blinked, there was a huge naked man on my couch.
Rorik was... big.
Really big.
Even sitting down in human form, he towered over me. He wore his light blond hair in a handsome crew cut, short but thick. He had the same bear-dark eyes below a pair of strong brows, and rugged pale stubble lined his jaw.
Mesmerized, my gaze drifted lower. The first thing I noticed was Rorik’s big belly. It looked so soft, especially with the dusting of pale hair. I wanted to bury my face in it.
Rorik was fat, but clearly fit. Powerful biceps lurked beneath the flab of his arms, and his hairy thighs were as thick as tree trunks. He looked strong enough to lift the couch with one hand.
In summary, he was really fucking hot.
I stared at him like a wolf drooling over a raw steak. I was already drawn to Rorik before, but now I was deeply, wildly attracted to him.
Iwantedhim.
My haze of lust was tempered when I noticed the many scars crisscrossing his body. I hadn’t seen them beneath his fur, but they stood out plain as day against his human skin.
Anger sizzled in my chest, and my instinct to defend him reared its head again. Where did those scars come from? Who’d dare lay their hands on Rorik?
He sighed in contentment, wiping the sweat off his forehead with his arm. “That’s better.”
His relaxed tone sucked me back into the moment. I was glad he wasn’t dying of heat anymore, and it let me focus on other things—like the fact that he was stark naked.
“Hey, uh… Did you want some clothes?” I asked. Somehow, my eyes resisted the urge to stray lower. “Totally okay if you don’t.”
Rorik glanced down at himself, then back at me with the same stoic yet confused expression. It was already adorable as a bear, but it was somehow cuter in human form.
“Would you prefer I put clothes on? Because I didn’t bring any,” Rorik said.
I was about to tell him it didn’t matter to me when his second statement hit me like a truck.
“You… didn’t bringanyclothes?” I repeated.
“I brought nothing at all.”
Rorik spoke as if it were incredibly normal to get on a plane and fly to a freaking island without a single possession.
