He's softening in my hands, and I no longer taste his seed seeping out of him, so I move away, letting his organ pop out of my mouth to flop softly against his belly.
I sit up, hyperaware of my body, of the way my breasts sway, how my nipples stand out hard—aroused at his pleasure, and, yes, at the power I feel knowing I can make such a massive, mighty man shatter into desperate ecstasy. I wipe my lips and chin with the back of my wrist, staring down at him.
He looks absolutely stunned. "Noelle. Dear god."
I giggle, licking my lips, grinning at him. "Hi."
He jackknifes upright, brawny arms snaking around me and hauls me down to him. "C'mere, you."
I sigh happily, enveloped by him, held, protected. "Yes, please."
For a few minutes, he just breathes, his panting slowly reducing to normal breaths, his heartbeat slowing to normal as well. "I don't know what to say."
I rub his chest. "Whatever is on your mind. You can always tell me anything."
"Sorta stunned right now."
"Then you don't have to say anything. Just hold me."
"Wanna savor this moment." He runs his hand over my shoulders, smoothing it down my spine, capturing the upper swell of my backside and back up to my shoulders, caressing me in a long, slow circuit. "Can't quite believe you did that."
I giggle. "Me either, actually." I bite my lip, hesitate, and then tell him the truth. "Never done that before."
"What?" He sounds shocked. "Never?"
I shake my head. Cheeks flushed, I continue to admit the truth to him—scary and liberating all at once. "I…it's been a secret fantasy of mine for a long,longtime. Part of me never thought I'd ever feel brave enough to try it. But you…Bear, you give me courage. You make me bold. I know I'm safe with you."
"What a gift," he breathes. “What a priceless gift."
"That's how I feel about you, Bear."
He rumbles—a sound of disbelief. "I'd honestly given up on…on life. On myself. On love. Sex. Spend the amount of time I did locked up, you gotta find ways to cope. For me, it was putting that part of myself away. Killed it. I focused on reading and lifting. I just…I never thought, even after I got out, that anyone would want me like that. I felt like…like a reject."
"Bear, no.No.You're not. You're so far from being a reject."
“You changed everything," he says. "Changed me. Gave me a reason to not just live but to want more out of life. I want more. I wannabemore—for you."
My eyes sting. "You already are more." I roll onto him, resting my breasts on his chest, hands folded on his breastbone, chin on my hands, gazing into his beautiful, endlessly deep eyes. "I need you to understand something, honey. I have never, ever,everfelt the way you made me feel, just now. I’m talking about the way you made me come, first and foremost. I’ve never come like that. To the point that I’m not entirely sure I everhaveactually come. But getting to makeyoufeel good? That wassohot for me. I'm still so turned on it's crazy. Makingyoufeel good makesmefeel good."
He slides his fingers into my hair along my temple. "Noelle. God, Noelle. This all feels like a dream."
"For me too." I smile at him. "The best dream I've ever had. May we never wake up."
"Amen to that." His eyes droop, heavy.
I shimmy higher so I can nuzzle my face into the side of his neck, most of my body on his, greedy for his warmth, his solidity, his strength. His hand cradles my bottom.
"Close your eyes," I tell him. “Rest with me."
His only response is a soft, happy little growl.
The last thing I think before dozing off is that I’m very much aware of one fact: I’m absolutely falling in love with my big, handsome Bear.
Thirteen
BEAR
Iwake up alone in Noelle's bed to the scent of frying meat.
