“Because my parents were shifters. Strong ones who shouldn’t have mated. But the drive hit and nine months later, I was born. They tried to make it work for my sake. Mom stuck around long enough to get me out of diapers, but in the end the wanderlust got her. Or at least that’s what Dad says. I don’t remember her.”
“None of this is in your bio,” she said. He shot her a surprised look, and she shrugged. So yeah, maybe she’d read every inch of his company website. It was mostly gaming stuff, but his bio was front and center in her mind. Plus Ellen might have sent her links to every article about him. Which was a lot. “It talks about a glorious childhood in a welcoming community.”
“That’s all true. The Gladwin grizzly clan raised me. Plus, Dad stuck around, and his girlfriends helped. Carl’s mom was a steady female until she died. All in all, a good childhood.”
“And yet you say you can’t connect easily. If at all.”
He nodded. “I can’t. I try. I talk to people. I look them in the eyes and fight for the empathy.”
“And what happens?”
He shook his head. “I don’t know. It’s just not there.” Then he looked at her. “Except with you. Except every moment I look at you, I want you.”
She sighed, knowing the truth now. Hearing it loud and clear. “That’s mating, isn’t it? The instinct to carry on the species.”
“Yes.”
Talk about stabbing her in the heart. It hurt so bad that she had to turn away.
“But I think it’s more. We connected when we were teens. Do you remember eating ice cream together? I do. I remember what you wore, how you laughed, and how I wanted to lick the chocolate sauce off your lips.”
“Horny teen.”
He didn’t even deny it. “But I knew I wasn’t getting laid. I knew you lived in Chicago and whatever happened would be temporary. We had nothing in common and I couldn’t tell you anything about who and what I really was. I didn’t care. I just wanted to be with you. I still do.”
None of this made sense. On the one hand he sounded like he was warning her off. Reminding her every way possible that a relationship between them was doomed. He didn’t connect. His only attraction to her was the instinctive need to mate. And then he said despite all those things, there was something else. Something that drew him to her, that made him want to be with her outside of animal hunger.
“Why?” she pressed. God, she just wanted to know where she stood with him. “What makes me so special?”
“You just are. In every way, you just are.”
That wasn’t a satisfying answer, though only a fool expected a man to be articulate about his feelings. Still, his words resonated with her. He sounded sincere, and though she’d been fooled before, he’d done everything he could to dissuade her from an attachment. Was it his fault—or hers—if she felt special when she was around him? He made her believe in her own beauty when he was beside her.
“Okay,” she said softly. Then she repeated it with more strength. “Okay. I’m awesome. You’re magical. Let’s go eat something really fattening.”
He looked over at her, his lips curving into a slow, sexy smile. “Yes,” he said. “Exactly that. Yes.”
So they did. They had steak and cheesecake. They chowed on hot rolls with butter and tiny salads because it was served with the meal. And they talked. He wanted to know everything about her job and her plans for the future. She delved deep into his thoughts about his company and where he would take it if he had all the time and money in the world. They talked about her college and his lack. And by the time she was waddling back to the truck from being overstuffed on good food, they were laughing together like old, dear friends.
Well, old, dear friends who wanted desperately to get into each other’s pants.
And when she struggled in her now-tight dress to climb into his truck, he swept her into his arms and lifted her inside. She squealed, of course, and laughed as she threw her arms around him. He was strong and she had tumbled headlong into love. She didn’t want to admit that to herself. Didn’t want to acknowledge the way the moonlight made his hair glow like magic or that she could drown in the mystical blue of his eyes. So rather than think, she kissed him. She pulled him close when he set her down in the cab, and she let herself play with his mouth, the contours of his chest, and the hard ridge of his cock through his jeans.
It didn’t take him long to respond. Not when he began to growl his words and lick her face. She thought she’d be repulsed by the way his bear took over when they made love. But the way he touched her was all need. Fingers, tongue, teeth—all of it everywhere.
Thrilling.
She couldn’t stop stroking him, and he returned the favor to her breasts. Oh wow, she loved it when he touched her like that. She arched into him, loving the squeeze of his large hands. Needing the pinch on her nipples. And wishing they were home already. Wishing…
He separated her knees simply by pressing closer. Then it was a simple matter to brush aside her skirt and stroke her wet panties. She jolted at the feel and grabbed his shoulders to steady herself.
“Get me home,” she said against his mouth.
He’d dropped his mouth to her neck, scraping his teeth across her flesh as both his hands found their way to between her thighs. “Citrus honey,” he murmured. Then he ripped the thin cotton apart.
She jolted as he suddenly stroked her without the fabric barrier. “Did you just?—”
“Come for me,” he said as he pushed a thick finger inside her.
