Page 53 of Coveted By the Bear

I was shocked into stillness, but as the masses around us kept dancing, I gave into him. I was reckless to be closer to him. I splayed my fingers against the expanse of his chest and felt the hard planes there through the thin cotton of his shirt. A delicious desperation fed his kiss. I touched the long scars that ran down his neck, and he shuddered and dragged my waist closer to him. I wasn’t concerned with hurting his healing wounds. I wanted him to feel me. My mind had stayed stubbornly on those beautiful marks across his flesh for weeks, and I couldn’t wait any longer to feel them beneath my touch. “Caleb,” I said, raggedly. I would lose my mind if he didn’t stop.

He pulled away, panting. “Dance with me.”

It was a natural transition from touching him to dancing with him. I had never danced with a man before, but my body didn’t seem to care. I wondered where my shyness had gone as I moved and laughed and spun. Caleb didn’t take his eyes off me, and when the song was through, we giggled our way off the dance floor.

“Caleb! Mira!” someone yelled over the crowd.

I turned to see Brian waving us back to the table. Tempting if Evan weren’t there watching me like a tiger watches a mouse, and if Becca wasn’t shooting me with flaming death daggers from her eyes. I shook my head at Caleb’s questioning look and waved to his brother before I darted out the front door. Caleb paid for our meal and joined me a few minutes later.

My blood hummed with the high of dancing with Caleb, and I couldn’t quite stop myself from smiling. His hand was warm and strong in mine as he led me to his truck, and an unfamiliar warmth spread to unknown depths inside of me. We dodged comers and goers, and Caleb jerked the tailgate of his truck down and set me easily upon it. I leaned back on locked elbows, the palms of my hands griping at the contrast between the cold metal and Caleb’s absent warmth.

He put his hips between my knees and talked easily. “Sorry about the crowd. Apparently somebody called Sheriff Clancy and warned him about the party going down at the McCall farm. Brian thinks it was Becca who blew the whistle. So, they peeled out as soon as they saw the flashing lights and moved the party to Rooney’s.”

“I don’t mind,” I said quietly, my shyness returning little by little. “It was actually kind of fun.”

“Yeah?” He donned a slow smile. “For me, too.”

The moon sat full and low in the sky, and I scrunched my nose. “It’s getting late.”

“Yeah, I’d better get you home.” He helped me down from the tailgate and closed it while I scrambled into the cab of his truck.

The remnants of recklessness clung to me as he pulled into first gear. Desperate to cast away the creeping shyness that seemed determined to overshadow the remaining high from dancing, I slid over the bench seat and pressed into his side. He tossed me a quick smile that said he liked me this close and pulled out of the lot. At the one stoplight in town, he leaned over and kissed my temple, and I rested my head on his shoulder. The radio played a soft country song, and Caleb’s fingertips stroked the palm of my hand until my heart raced. My traitorous knees opened for him, and his eyes churned as he watched their movement. He ran a light touch up the inside of my knee, and I closed my eyes against the shiver that shook my spine and shoulders.

When I opened them again, the light was yellow and we’d definitely missed our chance to go. No one was behind us, though, so it was really hard to care. Caleb’s mouth covered mine, and my cheek caught fire where the pad of his thumb rested. Parting my lips, I tasted him and ran my fingers down his stomach. I wanted to feel all of him. His breathing became ragged as he dragged me closer still. The red glow changed to green against his cheeks as the light turned, and he hit the gas and pulled away as I ran kisses down his neck. His breath came unsteady, and a fierce look of concentration took his face as he stared at the road in front of us. His mind was on me, though. I knew it with certainty. I ran my hand down the length of his erection, rock hard under the tight fabric of his jeans.

“Dammit, woman. You have to stop.” His voice was rough like gravel, and he bucked against my hand.

This was too fun to stop. His knuckles shone white against the steering wheel. A muscle ticked under his right eye, and his neck strained with every stroke. He made it all the way up Dark Corner, past my gate, and into the woods before he slammed the truck into park and cut the lights.

I was on fire, burning from within, and the only thing that would save me was his skin against mine.

I loved him. I loved him. I adored every single thing about him.

“Mira,” Caleb growled. “You’re making it really hard to be a gentleman.”

Gentle sounded overrated. “Caleb,” I breathed, laying back on the bench seat, “I already know you’re a good man, but so does everyone else. I want more. I want to know all of you.”

My mind was gone. All logic had fled me at the stoplight, and now the only thing that would satiate me was Caleb’s to give. His eyes never left mine as he rose above me and lowered himself against my hips. He was big, strong, and captivating, and just when I thought I would suffocate under his power, he reached back and shoved the driver’s side door open. Cool air assaulted us, and I gasped as he rubbed against my pelvis. A desperate sound clawed its way up the back of my throat as I fumbled with the button on my jeans.

“Stop,” Caleb said.

“But—”

He shook his head, cutting off my complaints. “We’ve got time.” His able fingers plucked the button where I’d failed, and the slow rip of my zipper filled the cab. He peeled my jeans from me, but the red, lacy underwear I’d picked up from Bealls last week stayed irritatingly on my hips. He studied my pout, and a smirk took his lips. “I told you the first time would be special, Mira.” He made a show of looking around, one golden eyebrow winged up. “This ain’t it.”

“Damn you, Caleb.” My voice had dropped to a whisper, and I crossed my arms over my chest like a shield. “I feel like I’m falling apart.”

He leaned down with a smirk, and his kiss was slow, languid, and teasing. I wanted to bite him. After he moved his hips to the side, the lightest brush of his fingers trailed up the inside of my bare thigh. Nuzzling my neck, he murmured, “Don’t damn me, woman. I haven’t let you fall apart yet.”

Cool air hit my moist skin as Caleb pulled my panties to the side. He blocked the breeze by cupping my sex, and I gasped at the feel of his hand against me. As I drew my knee up, I uttered, “Please.”

His lips moved against my throat, and he rubbed torturous circles against me with the softest touch. The man was going to make me beg, and sadly, I wasn’t above it. And just as I opened my mouth to plead, he slid a slow finger inside of me, drawing a shudder from me as I bore down. The moan that came from my throat overshadowed the cicadas and crickets of the night woods. Frantic for more, I slid my hand over his and pulled him into me again.

The shake of his head was unrushed. “No.” Prying my palm away, he pushed it above my head with his free hand and held it there. “Tonight you’re mine, and I’ll go as slow as I like.”

He pressed into me again, and I trembled, desperate for more. Long, languid strokes built pressure I was insane to banish, but still, he held me there, just on the edge. I pulled my hand from his wrist and clenched his shirt, arched back against him until my stomach brushed the fabric of his black, thermal sweater. Caleb hunched in on himself at my touch, letting me see that he wasn’t as in control as he played at. He was hanging by a thread, too, and when he dragged his hungry, inhuman gaze back to mine, I whispered, “I like you.”

Oh, he knew what I meant, and his eyes turned to blazing gold flames. Cursing, he bucked against my hip and dropped his head until his teeth grazed my shoulder. I rocked, and he let me set the pace now. Clutching onto him, digging my nails into his skin through his shirt, three more fast strokes and I shattered, yelling his name as he pressed into me and held.