The BEARly Reluctant Grizzly (Bear Clan 4)

?I can smell your desire, Ansley.”

His voice didn’t sound human any longer, and that had me squeezing my thighs together, arousal so heavy inside of me that I was losing my mind with lust.

“It’s saturating the air, this sweet, needy aroma that has my bear clawing to get out.” He looked me in the eyes and I saw the flash of his inner animal, his eyes going black before glowing yellow. “Can you see how much my bear wants you?” His voice was husky. “Can you see him flashing at the surface?”

I nodded because that was all I could do right now.

And still his eyes changed color back and forth, over and over again. I knew without a doubt it was his bear trying to gain supremacy. Maybe that should’ve frightened me, but all I felt was unadulterated lust.

Everything seemed to be moving in slow motion as I looked into his eyes, as I thought about all the obscene, dirty things I wanted him to do to me. And it was as if that tether that had snapped earlier wound its way back around me tighter and tighter until I couldn’t breathe, until I couldn’t even survive unless I finally did this with Asher ... until I finally became his mate in every single way.

And I knew without a doubt that would be our reality tonight.

8

Asher

There was no way I could have stopped this even if I wanted to. Which I didn’t.

I was having a hard time keeping my bear under control. The beast wanted out, wanted to claim Ainsley right now, to show her what it truly meant to be owned by a shifter, to be mated.

But I needed to remind myself that I didn’t want to move too fast, be too feral with her. I’d never experienced these feelings, these needs and desires before. But with Ainsley I felt so fucking out of control, I couldn’t even think clearly.

The images in my head had me imagining obscene, filthy things. I wanted to push the hair off her shoulder so I could see the long, smooth column of her throat. I wanted to spread her thighs, lick her, suck on her, to see how she felt wrapped around my cock.

She was my female.

“Asher?” she whispered, this pleading, needy tone in her voice. I could smell how aroused she was, how wet she was. It was this sweet scent that filled my head, made me hungry, drunk for more.

I wanted to drown in her.

“Yeah, baby?” The words were a rough growl from me. I leaned in and wrapped my hand around her nape, pulling her impossibly closer to me.

“Asher.” She said my name again.

I ran my tongue along her jawline and groaned at the sweet flavor of her flesh. My cock throbbed, and my bear paced right below the surface of my skin, needing out so damn badly I could taste the wild nature of him, feel it consume every cell in my body.

In this moment I was feral, territorial, and wanted to possess every inch of this female until she acknowledged that she was mine, and that she always would be.

I’d never felt this kind of intensity before, but I wanted to soak it all in, keep it forever.

She made me feel … alive.

With her I wasn’t alone. With Ainsley, I was everything I’d ever wanted to be.

A low growl left me, and in a matter of seconds I had her in my arms and was striding to the bedroom.

“There’s only a mattress,” she said on a gasp, her legs wrapped around my waist, her arms around my neck.

“What?” I said harshly, only thinking about one thing … claiming her.

“I don’t have a bed, only a mattress.” Her words were nothing more than puffs of breath against my neck.

“That’s all we need,” I groaned.

Once in the room, I shut the door with the heel of my foot but refused to let her out of my arms. The sensation of holding her, of her warmth and curves molding against me, had me feeling primal.

I needed to feel her, touch, lick, suck at every inch of her body.