“You can?” She pulled back slightly and looked upathim.
“Tomorrow we’ll spend all day shifting. One day with me and you’ll have much better control of her. Being a shifter isn’t a bad thing. It can be very useful in somecircumstances.”
“Likewhat?”
“Well, you never need a blanket when you’re cold. You can justshift.”
“I could use a blanket right now.” She shivered inhisarms.
“I have an idea,”hesaid.
“What?”
“Let me hold you tonight. I’ll show you one of the benefits of beingabear.”
“Okay.”
Since her tone held a hint of skepticism, he decided to be extra careful with what he was about to do. He pushed back the sofa until it hit the far wall, then moved the recliner out oftheway.
“Do you trust me?” heasked.
“Yes.”
“Then let my bearholdyou.”
She swallowed. For the second that she hesitated, his heart seemed to stop. But then she pulled him close and kissed him. Unlike the fervent kisses from just a few minutes ago, these held an intimate quality beyond simple seduction. In offering up her trust, she was giving him more than he everwanted.
He reluctantly released her and stepped back. As he summoned his bear, the cracking, popping, gnarled scrape of bone against bone sounded through the room. His paws returned as his nose lengthened. He grew larger and stronger until his grizzly loomed over her. To her credit, she didn’t shrink back or display any fear. Trust. He had every bitofhers.
After turning in a circle, he lay on the carpet in front of the fire. He reached a paw out, hoping that she’d be comfortable enough to lie nexttohim.
When she dropped to her knees and crawled into his arms, his bear chuffed with happiness. He carefully pulled her into an embrace, wrapping her in a genuine bear hug. She nestled into his arms and pet his fur for severalminutes.
“You’re so cuddly… and warm… I could get used to this,” shemurmured.
As her breathing slowed, he inhaled her scent. He couldn’t get enough of her smell—it was better than honey. He wanted to lick her to get the taste of her on his tongue again, but he didn’t want to wake her. As much as he needed to claim her as his own, he couldn’t.Notyet.
Chapter9
The next morning,Kate woke with a kink in her neck. Something warm and heavy lay across her hip. As she opened her eyes, she looked down to find a huge bear paw resting on her thigh. She smiled as she listened to Logan’s bear snore. She had no idea bears couldsnore.
The bear huffed a breath and shifted to pull her closer. She could have lain in his arms all day, but she needed to go to thebathroom.
“Logan,” shewhispered.
She’d never woken up a bear before, so she wasn’t sure how to do it without getting a face full of claws. As she eased out from under his paw, a low growl came from deep within his throat. She turned to find him lookingather.
“I have to get up,”shesaid.
Growl.
“I need to go to thebathroom.”
Chuff.
“Logan, letmeup.”
He relented, sliding his paw off her hip and rolling onto all fours. She gave his head a pat before hurrying downthehall.
