had changed her mind and wanted to go home, he had walked a little way away from her. There he stood and faced her, smiling that smile of his once more, trying to put her at her ease. Which at this point was impossible.
But she had to stay and see what he was going to do. Because she had the feeling it would make or break their relationship. She prayed it would not break it. She wanted to be with him, and images of his hands and mouth on her body made their way into her head. Her fear and excitement mingled with her arousal now. Beth felt mixed up, almost perverted in some way.
Then Ben changed. Her head snapped back to attention, In front of her, Ben began to shimmer, the hard edges of his outline fading from sight, the air charged with electricity, which sparked through the air. Beth stood still. So still, it was as though she was frozen in time, while all around her the world moved. Yet she could only focus on the thing in front of her as it faded from this world, and then something different came back. Something big and broad, low to the ground, and covered in brown fur. A bear .
She staggered back, her foot catching on a tree root, making her fall on her butt. She yelped in pain, and the bear reacted, taking two quick steps towards her. At this angle, he looked fierce and aggressive. Opening her mouth, she was about to let out a long, piercing scream, when she caught his eyes, Ben’s gorgeous blue eyes, looking at her with concern.
Her addled brain processed this information: bears don’t have blue eyes. That’s right, she had never seen a bear with blue eyes; it was impossible. This could only mean one thing. Ben really had changed into a bear.
Maybe there, her consciousness should have left her, but she clung to it. She trusted Ben; deep down she knew it was him. It had to be, because they were the only people here and there was no way he could have done that with special effects so high up on the mountain.
Reaching out her hand, she beckoned to him to come closer. Despite her head telling her she was crazy, she had to know for sure if this bear was real, tangible. And when her fingers threaded their way through his fur, she knew that he was.
It was then that she had trouble stopping herself from seeing stars.
Chapter Fifteen – Ben
A low rumble in the bear’s chest made its anguish clear; his mate had fainted at the sight of him. He thought she was ready, that she would understand, but he had been too eager to share this world with her. His world. Now he had put their future in jeopardy.
Instantly shifting back to his human form, he went to her and placed his arm under her head, lifting her up to rest on his chest. Her breathing was normal; her heartbeat strong in his ears. She would be OK, but he had to get her down off the mountain. He did not want her to get too cold out here; it was best if she were tucked up in bed. His bed.
With his strong arms cradling her against him, he lifted her and took her to his car. This was not the moment to think of taking her to bed. He needed to give her time to come around to the idea of him as a bear. Yet he had thought that tonight, they would have made love for the first time. That she would have been under him and he would be buried inside her. He had hoped…
Placing her down gently, he kissed her forehead, breathing in the scent of her, part of him worried this would be the last time he would be able to touch her, caress her. If she rejected him, she could quite easily leave town. Go back to this doctor of hers, the one she had run away from.
His hands gripped the steering wheel tightly. That was never going to happen, she was his, and he would never let her go to another man. These thoughts swam about in his head, and he realised what her presence was doing to him. He was becoming something he had never been before; he was becoming selfish and greedy where she was concerned. The man he was before might disappear to be replaced by something else if he
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