His hands followed the path of his gaze, cupping her breasts and then roaming lower. One of his hands toyed with her nipples while the other sought entrance between her legs. She arched into his touch, encouraging his fingers to find what they were looking for.
She had her inner bad girl on speed dial and felt like some sort of sea siren, claiming the man she wanted to fuck.
But this would be more than just a quick fuck. She knew that in her heart. This time with Zak was going to alter the course of her life, and she was okay with that. She wanted that. With him.
Even if he wasn’t sure he wanted her permanently yet. She was going to work on him until he gave in, and she was going to grab for happily ever after with her very own cuddly, exciting, badass bear shifter. Zak wouldn’t know what hit him.
Speaking of which, she groaned loudly as he found the spot and sank two fingers into her needy core. She couldn’t help but move on him, fucking his hand.
“Do you want to come?” he whispered.
And that was all it took. Unbelievably, she felt her pussy contract on his fingers, and she was shaking in pleasure.
Zak laughed, and the vibrations of his rumbly chuckle made her knees go weak. He was holding her up with one arm around her waist, while his other hand remained between them, between her legs, fingers deep inside her.
“You like that, eh kitten?” he mumbled against the side of her face. He’d sat up when she came so she was spread over his muscular thighs, wide open and weak after the quick, hard climax he’d given her.
She took his lower lip between her teeth before moving into a deeper kiss. When she pulled back, she spoke her thoughts against his lips.
“I like everything you do to me, Zak, but I want you inside me. Don’t keep me waiting anymore.”
“I am inside you,” he teased, wiggling his fingers and making her squirm in renewed sensation.
“You know what I mean,” she whispered, ready, just like that, for more.
“Say it,” he dared her. “Say what you really want.”
“I want your cock in me, Zak. I want you to fuck me with that big bear shifter cock until I scream in pleasure.” She whispered the daring words against his ear, not sure where the wild child inside her was coming from but glad Zak seemed to like it. Maybe it was his inner bear speaking to some previously unknown primitive part of her nature. Maybe it was that Zak brought out things in her she’d never known before.
And she liked it.
Almost as much as she liked him.
He was going to be hers forever. At least, that was her dearest dream. Now all she had to do was convince him.
Zak surprised her by removing his hand from between her thighs somewhat abruptly. He then picked her up, his muscles bulging in a way that made her mouth water, and placed her on her back on the blanket. She was completely naked, but he still had his pants on. They had to go, but it seemed he wasn’t through positioning her just yet.
He lifted both of her legs straight up into the air in front of him, running his hands appreciatively along her thighs and calves. He rested her ankles on his shoulder as he met her gaze.
“Spread your legs wide for me, honey. Show me where you want me,” he whispered in that low, compelling tone that made her abdomen quiver.
Channeling that inner bad girl again, she did as he asked, spreading herself in a way she hadn’t ever done for another man. She made herself completely vulnerable to him, utterly his slave. She discovered in that moment how much she loved the feel of his gaze on her body.
She watched him watch her from between her thighs. He was on his knees, sitting back on his heels, watching the scene unfold before him. Watching
her
unfold before him. A willing puppet to his mastery.
He licked his lips as he looked at her, and then, his talented hands went to the fly of his pants. One button, then two, then three, and the restrained monster was released. Zak’s hardness was revealed, and it was time for her to lick her lips and think about how much she wanted to learn the taste of his body. But judging by his expression, that would come later.
For now, he was stroking his cock, lining himself up for the possession she’d wanted since almost the first moment they’d met. He leaned forward and slid inside.
There was no need for protection. She knew from her sisters that shifters didn’t carry disease, and she was on birth control. Nothing would come between them, which was just the way she wanted it.
His gaze swept upward to meet hers
When he was fully seated, he stopped, breathing hard. She realized her own breathing was hitched and ragged. The feeling of fullness was unlike anything she had felt with the few human men she’d been with before. Zak filled her completely, touching areas inside her she hadn’t really known existed.
She couldn’t wait to find out what it was going to feel like when he moved.
“How are you doing, Tina? All right?” he asked, panting as he held back what she most wanted.
“It’s sweet of you to check on me, but if you don’t start moving your ass right…now…” She panted between words as she felt her body quiver in need.
Zak chuckled and gave in, starting a slow rhythm that just scratched the surface of meeting her need. She’d never felt like this before. She’d never had this desperate desire, this aching need. Only with Zak, and it felt like only he would ever be able to make her feel whole again.
He pumped within her, changing angles and moving over her so their bodies aligned. He held her gaze, checking on her comfort again, and she felt her heart melt a little at his consideration. But what she really wanted was something a little rougher.
She leaned up and nibbled on his earlobe, biting just once, letting him know her mood. Zak complied, reading her like a dream. He sped up his thrusts and let loose more of the wildness she knew he kept bottled up inside when he was in human form. She needed that passion, that wild abandon. It met and answered the need deep within herself.
A few strokes more and she was calling out his name, coming hard as he joined her in ecstasy.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Zak’s impulses said to spend the rest of the afternoon right there, in Tina’s arms, making sweet love to her, but he squashed that thought for the moment. He didn’t want to overwhelm her. He’d had this whole afternoon planned, and it had already gone way off the rails. Time to bring them back to earth.
He didn’t want just a physical relationship with her—though the sex had been amazingly awesome, he had to admit—but he wanted more. A foundation to their relationship that could only be built by being her friend and getting to know her.
He hadn’t bothered getting to really know the women he’d bedded before Tina. They hadn’t mattered to his bear, except as a way to get some relief. But with Tina, everything was different. His bear
liked
her. Hell, it more than just liked her. It wanted to rub up against her and cuddle.
Never before in his life had his bad-ass, got-something-to-prove-to-the-bigger-bears-he-hung-with bear wanted to cuddle anyone or anything. Not for as long as he could remember. Such soft ideas didn’t fly back in the bayou, when he’d been young.
If he’d ever had any softness, his father would have been sure to beat it out of him. And the hard road Zac had traveled since hadn’t invited any show of vulnerability. He wanted to be gentle with her and feel her tender touch on him. He wanted to spoon her and just feel her breathe.
Damn. He had it bad.
For a human.
His heart sank.
What if she laughed at him? What if she didn’t feel the same?
Things were different for humans. They often went from lover to lover from what Zak had observed. So did shifters, for that matter, but not when their beasts started thinking these kinds of thoughts about one particular person.
Shit got serious then. And Zak was very much afraid—and cautiously delighted—that his bear was thinking that way about Tina. At long last, he might have a shot at a mate of his own.
If he could navigate the human rules of dating and figure out if she could truly be his. If she’d been a shifter, he wouldn’t be so worried, but she was fully human. She might easily make love to him today and move on tomorrow, leaving him, and his bear, broken hearted.
Uncomfortable with the direction of his thoughts, Zak rose to his feet and stretched, looking out at the water not too far away. He was a man of action, unused to sitting still for so long. Then again, he was seldom in the company of such a delicate—human—lady with nobody else around.
“Want to take a walk down by the water?” he asked, sticking to his plan for the day.
“Sure.” Tina sprang to her feet and grabbed her clothes.
Although John had issued warnings about going out on boats or even swimming too far out into the water, Zak figured a walk down by the shore would be safe enough. The thing that had attacked Hiram had been outside the cove, in the deeper ocean, and likely wouldn’t venture too close to shore. If it could eat a yacht, it was probably way too big to swim in the shallows near land anyway.
They dressed quietly, but he noticed Tina shooting him teasing glances as she briefly wrestled with him over his T-shirt.
“You look sexy without a shirt,” she said playfully.
“So do you,” he countered, loving the way she blushed. “When my house is built, you can go topless here any time you like.”
She laughed, even as her blush intensified, and she let go of his shirt. “Play your cards right, deputy, and I might just take you up on that.” She turned away to finish dressing while he pulled on his shirt.
He’d leave it off except for the chiggers that like to nibble on his human flesh. He knew they hung out closer to the water, and he didn’t want to itch for a week. He’d already been there, done that—and wore the T-shirt now to stop it from happening again. There was nothing worse than an itchy bite on your back you couldn’t reach to scratch. No, thank you.
He made sure everything was in place—his cell phone, his badge, his weapon—and was charmed when Tina came to his side, surprising him by taking his hand. He liked the way their fingers fit together. It reminded him of the other ways they had fit so nicely together.
Down, boy.
They walked, hand in hand, the short distance down to the water. There was a bit of a steep incline before the beach started, which would keep his future home safe from tidal changes and storms and would also allow for a magnificent view of the water, once he got his house built. He helped Tina down the dune and then onto the rocky shore.
They walked for a while, moving slowly toward the edge of the water. Little wavelets lapped at the coarse sand, and the occasional seashell, or bit of kelp, littered the path. Gulls cried in the distance, and the peaceful calm of the gentle waves did their magic, bringing their serenity to Zak’s spirit.
As did the woman at his side. Tina both excited him beyond all reason and calmed the raging beast inside him. She was a balm to his soul, just by her existence. How he wished he could tell her everything he was feeling, but he didn’t want to scare her off. Maybe, in time, he would be able to share more with her. He looked forward to that day with great anticipation.
Tina paused and looked out toward the mouth of the cove, shading her eyes.
“This is a beautiful place, Zak. You have a gorgeous view of almost the entire cove from here.”
“Yeah, that’s a big part of the reason I chose this spot,” he replied, watching her instead of the water. She was so incredible. Her loveliness rivaled that of this beautiful spot he now called his own.
“What the—?” Her words trailed off as she looked down at her feet. Zak saw the dismay on her face before he, too, looked downward.
Something in the water had reached out a… Tentacle was the only word he could come up with for the long appendage currently wrapped around Tina’s ankle. She tried to pull free, but the thing wouldn’t let go.
“Zak?” A hint of panic laced her tone as she looked up at him.
“Hold on to me,” he cautioned, reaching for his concealed weapon. She clutched at his left arm while he sought the gun with his right.
Zak never went anywhere unarmed. It was part of his job, but also something he’d done since leaving home all those years ago. He was a natural with weapons and felt a little naked without at least one on his person.
He pulled the 9mm handgun out of the ankle holster he’d kept hidden beneath the hem of his jeans and took aim at the tentacle that was working its way up Tina’s leg. She was holding onto Zak, but he felt the strength of the pull on her body. That thing—whatever it was—was exerting some force to drag her toward the water.
Zak wasn’t about to let it have her.
He fired off several rounds, all direct hits on the tentacle, but the slugs just barely slowed the sea monster down. That’s when Zak realized he really only had one choice. He had to go bear. He just hoped it would be enough.
Kicking off his shoes and unbuttoning his jeans, he got as close to naked as he could as quickly as possible. Tina was panicking now. He could tell from the way she clutched at his arm.
“I’m going to shift. I’ll get between you and it. I won’t let it take you,” he rasped out quickly. “I promise.”
He held her gaze as he let his change come. One moment, he was a man, with Tina clinging to his left arm for dear life. The next, he was a giant black bear. Not as large, maybe, as the grizzly shifters he hung around with, but still far bigger than any regular black bear.
Zak growled as he turned and attacked the tentacle, just clear of Tina’s foot. He slashed with his claws and bit with his sharp teeth. The flavor of the creature’s blood on his tongue was acidic and like no blood Zak had ever tasted before. It was disgusting. Not fishy, as he would have expected.
Something wasn’t right with the creature.
Hell, nothing was right with this situation at all. Sea monsters didn’t just appear in the Pacific Northwest and pull unsuspecting women to their depths in the ocean.
Zak applied all his bear strength to tearing the limb off the creature and freeing Tina. All that mattered right now was her safety.