Simon grabbed double fistfuls of his hair, unable to look away from her breasts. "This is your bear. Your bear and my bear are — friends."
"I don't think she wants to be friends," Zoe said, soft and slow, and got close enough to drift her fingertips across his abs. She gazed up at him, a hint of uncertainty working its way through the fog of lust and a new kind of hunger. She couldn't live without his touch, without his hands on her. Zoe slowly undid his belt buckle.
Simon sucked in a breath and caught her hands, though his hips jerked forward. He growled, trying to hold her away. "We should wait, Zoe. There are a lot of things we need to talk about. Things are different now. I don't want to hurt you, but you smell so damn good I'm about to lose my mind. My bear might not be able to hold back."
The thought that she had that effect on someone as competent and capable and impervious as Simon made her smile. She swayed forward, pressed full-length against him, and went up on her toes to kiss at the corner of his mouth. "I'm cold now, though. I need you to warm me up."
Another groan, a savage noise torn from his throat, then Simon seized her waist, lifted her until her legs locked around him, and carried her to the unmade bed. He growled and grumbled as he dropped her on the mattress, one hand pinning her shoulder to the bed, and his expression grew grim. "You tell me if it hurts, damn it. I don't want to hurt you."
Zoe tugged at the front of his jeans, the wild part of her practically singing in anticipation, and tried to drag him on top of her. "So don't hurt me."
Simon scooted her closer to the headboard and ran his palms down her sides. He sat back and surveyed her, taking in every inch of her, and Zoe squirmed a little under his attention. His eyes remained gold, like liquid heat, as he leaned down to kiss her. She drowned in the kiss, melting under his passion as Simon stroked her side and maneuvered his knee between her thighs. She linked her arms around his neck and sighed, murmuring into the kiss as he retreated. Simon kissed her throat and shoulder, down her chest, then her breasts. Zoe's breath caught as Simon squeezed her waist and continued a slow trail down her chest and stomach. She didn't want an inch of space between him, wanted to touch as much of him as she could.
His beard tickled against her thigh and she jumped, watching with parted lips as he eased her legs apart andbreathed against her slit. Simon made that grumbly bear noise and ghosted his fingers along the back of her thigh, kissing just above where she really wanted him to. "You taste amazing."
She flushed, about to close her thighs on his head, but he didn't give her the chance to think. His mouth sealed to her sensitive flesh and he teased her entrance with one large finger. Zoe moaned and rolled her hips, grabbing handfuls of the sheets to try to anchor herself. Fire spread through her in a rush. She'd only had one boyfriend, and he'd never done anything like that.
She melted and burned under Simon's expert mouth and hands, and as desire crested higher and higher, she wailed. Cried out. Froze as her muscles convulsed and seized but Simon kept up the delicious torment.
The wild part of her growled and grabbed his head to pull him closer and he chuckled as he grumbled in response. He kissed a slow trail back up her body and nuzzled behind her ear before taking her earlobe in his teeth. "Are you ready?"
She pushed her hips up at him, desperate to feel him, and locked her arms around his neck. "More than ready."
Simon squeezed the back of her thigh and eased her leg up and out, until his hips sank closer and the blunt head of his cock pressed against her slick channel. Zoe sighed and stroked his sides, gazing up at his intense expression. That wild part of her anticipated, waited.
He nudged into her and Zoe moaned, the sound echoed by Simon as he paused. Zoe's head fell back on the pillow as he stretched her, split her open, and all of her muscles seized up. Simon kissed her again, though he sounded tense. "Relax, baby."
She felt so full already. Felt like he'd invaded every inch of her. But she pulled her knees up until she could wrap her legsaround him. Her fingers stroked the back of his neck and she kissed him back. "More."
Simon pressed forward, slow and inevitable, and she shattered. Every nerve ignited until she was lost. Zoe clung to him as Simon started to move, slow and steady, and wave after wave of ecstasy rolled through her. The wild part of her wanted to bite him, to mark him as hers, and for him to bite her. She cried out and moved to meet him, desperate for more. Hunger consumed her and she sank her teeth into his shoulder.
11
SIMON
Simon lost control when she bit him. Whatever restraint he'd managed to hold onto disappeared as her bear growled and his bear growled and then lust consumed them both. The soft welcoming warmth of her drove him insane as her channel drew him in, tightened around him. Between her climax and the desperate noises she made and the bright spark of her bite, he was lost. Utterly addicted.
He couldn't stop. Not even if the roof came down around his head. He thrust, driving through the tremors of her orgasm, until his sweat dripped onto her and marked her. Until her scent curled through his brain. Until the feel of her under him, around him, branded onto his body that she was his.His. Always and forever.
As pressure built and he careened toward his own finish, Zoe arched underneath him and her breasts crushed against his chest and she cried out again. Her dark hair spread across his pillow in a tangled mess. Simon groaned and froze above her, filling her, and bit the soft point where her neck met her shoulder. He moved slowly, and collapsed on top ofher. Her bear grumbled as Zoe lay still and quiet, eyes half-closed.
Simon loved her with a desperate intensity. His odd little criminal. He kept his weight off her chest as he tried to catch his breath, letting his forehead fall against her shoulder so he could kiss where he'd bitten her. She shivered, her fingers trailing down the small of his back, and she sighed.
He moved to the side, not wanting to lose contact with any of her body, but fearing he would crush her. The sheets rucked up at the foot of the bed, and Simon dragged them up to cover her. He kissed some of the sweat from her forehead, her lip, her cleavage. Loving that some of it was his sweat and she smelled like him. He traced shapes on her stomach, under the sheet, and studied her sated expression. "You're so damn beautiful."
It slipped out before he could think, and he almost regretted it. He should have come up with something poetic or at least not profane.
But a hint of a smile touched her lips. Her green eyes glinted at him in the dim room. "She likes you."
"Who?"
"The bear." A hint of unease drew her eyebrows together, and Simon smoothed his thumb over her forehead.
He wanted to hold his breath after asking his next question, but forced himself to concentrate on her only. She could cut him low with a single word, and that terrified him. "And what about Zoe?"
Her eyes drifted closed but the smile returned. "Zoe likes you too."
"I'm glad." Relief eased the band around his chest and Simon relaxed next to her after making sure she had enough pillows and another blanket to keep her warm. He pulled her close to his chest and pressed his nose in her hair, inhaling her.
