“Not anymore,” I said through my tears. “I’m broken.”
“Feeling broken doesn’t mean shit about who you are. You are still that person, even when you don’t feel it’s true. I know it because I can see it.”
I wanted his words to be true, but I felt like the person I’d been before all this was fading away… and had been fading away for years.
“Can you feel my body against yours?” Bear asked, brushing soaked strands of my hair out of my face.
“Yes.”
“That’s right. Because you’re here with me, you’re real, you’re not fucking breaking because I won’t let you.” Bear’s words came out in a deep growl that sent a shiver through me. A shiver that told me I was still capable offeeling.
I tugged at his shirt. “I need to feel your skin.”
Bear quickly took off his soaking wet clothes, leaving them in a pile in the corner of the shower. He pulled me back to his chest, pressing his face to the top of my head.
“I’ve got you, baby,” he murmured, rocking me back and forth.
I wrapped my arms around him, the heat of his skin finally warming me in a way the water hadn’t. I’d retreated into myself to protect myself from the unknown and the terror of having to return to the hospital, but maybe I was ready to face it all again.
“Sorry for shutting you out,” I whispered against his skin.
“Don’t apologize. I know it’s been hell. It was scary enough for me to just witness it. I can’t imagine living it.”
“Can we go for a ride soon?” The idea sparked something inside me. I wanted to adventure, to do something dangerous. Maybe it would help me feel alive again.
Bear tipped my face towards his, and a hint of a smile played at the edge of his lips. “You never have to ask for that, baby. I’ll take you out anytime.”
God, he was so handsome. I couldn’t stop my eyes from trailing down his muscular chest and chiseled abs. Suddenly, I wanted something else to help me feel alive again. I wrapped my fingers around his cock, which twitched at my touch.
“No, baby, that’s not why I came in here.” Bear tried to shift away.
“I know,” I said, not easing my grip. “But I want to feelsomething. To know that I still can.”
Bear gripped my face with both hands and looked deeply into my eyes, as if he was searching for an answer.
“You need this?” he asked, his lips skimming across mine.
“Yes. Make me feel.”
Bear’s resolve broke, and he pressed me against the shower wall. I arched my back as it came in contact with the cold tile, and my nipples brushed against his coarse chest hair.
“You’re so fucking beautiful, so perfect. I’m going to make you feel every fucking thing.”
Bear grasped my wrists with one hand, pressing them to the wall above my head. He dropped his face, sucking on my neck, hard.
“I can’t wait to fucking mark you permanently, to sink my teeth into you and tie you to me forever.”
My breath stuttered at his words. Bear had alluded to wanting to bond me before, but this was the first time he’d said it so clearly. I wanted to be bonded so much it scared me. The treatment had to work, had to fix me, but I was terrified of wanting it too much.
Bear slapped the side of my thigh. “Am I losing you, baby? You’re supposed to be paying attention to your alpha.”
He pressed three fingers into my core, curling his fingers so they hit my pleasure spot. I cried out, my orgasm taking me by surprise.
“Have I got your attention now?”
“Yes, yes,” I cried out.
Bear continued thrusting his fingers inside me and I whimpered at the stretch. The burn quickly morphed to languid pleasure as his thumb circled my clit with the perfect pressure. I pressed my face into his as I came, needing his skin against mine.
