"Broke something in me. Or rebuilt it. I dunno."
“Bear…” Is it a question, the way she says my name? A statement? Neither, both.
The way she says my name is everything.
She hooks her fingers in the waistband of my underwear at each hipbone. "Take my bra off, Bear. Please."
I growl, a wordless rumble in my chest—anticipation, fear, need…all of it is so overwhelming in me that all I can do is let out that one growl.
She shivers at the sound. "Love it when you do that.”
"Growl?"
She nods, shaking her head. "I'm not sure why. It just…it drives me a little wild."
"Wild? How?"
"Crazy. For you."
I slip my fingers under the wide elastic band running around her middle. Tug upward. The fabric cups catch at the weight of her breasts, and I pull upward further. Huge, tear-drop breasts fall free, bouncing and swaying—lifting as she raises her arms so I can draw it off and toss it aside.
"Ohmygod. Ohmygod. Oh god." She's breathing hard, almost hyperventilating.
I wrap my arms around her, marveling that she's naked for me, and pull her soft warm body against mine. "Breathe. Just breathe, Noelle. We can stop if you’re not ready.”
Her cheek goes to my chest, and she slows her breathing. After a minute, she tucks her chin against my breastbone and looks up at me. "Sorry. I just…I freaked out a little. I'm…I guess I'm feeling sort of self-conscious now that I’m naked."
"Should I leave?" I ask, the question burning a hole in my gut; I'd walk through fire if she asked, so there's no hesitation in me if she were to say yes.
"No!" She cries. Her fingernails dig into my back. "Please don't leave. I just…I haven't been naked with anyone for a long time."
"Noelle…" I frame her face, keeping her body pressed against mine so the sight of her perfect breasts doesn’t distract me. “You’re a gift. Priceless. Perfect.” I ever-so-carefully free her hair from the long braid—it falls free around her shoulders, a cascade of coppery sunfire and luminous gold. “Kill me now and I’d die a happy man because I got to see you like this, just once."
She digs her fingernails into my pecs and buries her face in my chest, shaking her head—I feel wetness. "The things you say to me, Bear. You’re a poet. You make me feel like…god, I don’t even know how to say it. Like I’m the only woman in the world. Like I’m the most beautiful woman in the world."
"You are."
She backs away, out of my arms. Stands a few feet away, inhales deeply, the heavy globes of her breasts lifting, and then lets it out with a shake of her hair. Hands at her sides. At ease. Waiting.
Letting me just look at her.
"So…fucking…beautiful,” I growl each word, and she shivers at each growl. "Don't deserve to look at you. So goddamned perfect."
I just look.
Toes to hair. Soak in her beauty. Every inch, every curve. Her fingers wriggle at her hips, moving to cover stretch marks there. I cross the space between us.
"Don't." I catch her hands. Put them to my lips. "Don't. Don’t hide a fucking thing. Ever. Not from me. Every inch of you is perfect."
Her eyes water and she shakes her head. "I'm not."
"You are to me."
She swallows hard, tears sliding down. "You really mean it."
"To my fucking bones, Noelle."
"God, Bear, you're killing me." She slides her hands out of mine and cradles my neck. Pulls me close. "In the best way."
