Read Online Look Before You Bake by Cassie Wright - Free Book Online Page B

And I almost lost control. I close my eyes and remember how her face went pale then flushed a deep red when I told her just how beautiful she is. Can she really not know? Can she really be oblivious to the kind of bombshell she is? Petite and curved and wickedly innocent?
    Her body is soft and molds just right to mine. As if we're two puzzle pieces that have finally found each other, and now interlock perfectly. I look down at her face. She's still wearing her glasses. I reach over and carefully take them off. She wrinkles her nose in just about the cutest way I've ever seen, and snuggles in closer to my side. The fire paints her cheeks in dusky rose and dusty orange hues. There are blue glints deep in her black hair. Her lips look so kissable. There's a tigress hidden under this quiet exterior. I can sense it. Years of passion have been repressed, held back. When that passion is finally allowed to escape, it won't be a trickle. It won't be a slender river. It will be a torrential flood, and it will wash away the years of timidity and pain.
    My heart is starting to speed up. These thoughts won't lead anywhere good. I can see just a hint of cleavage above her top button. I swallow and avert my eyes, staring into the depths of the fire. But my imagination is heating up. In the dancing flames I can see two naked bodies coming together, sinuous and alive, mating with the energy that I know flickers between us.
    My bear growls deep in my chest. I may be holding back, but he doesn't understand human restraint. He just knows that the perfect mate is lying against my side. He knows that she would welcome my advance. He wants her. He wants her on all fours, looking over her shoulder at me, a wicked smile on her beautiful face.
    I shift my hips, my cock growing hard and constrained within my jeans. Holding her this close is becoming a torment. I can feel my own skin growing flushed, warm, beyond that which the fire can provoke. Would she be able to take all of me? She's strong. This day of hiking showed me that. She's got surprising reserves. I'm sure she'd welcome every inch. How many years has it been since I've mated? How many solitary winters, lost in the depths of winter, alone in the dark and the cold, warmed only by fading memories of my few times with Selune?
    My bear is rising to the surface. If I don't move, it will take over. So, carefully, I shift up onto my knees and scoop Anita into my arms. Hold her against my chest. She's so light. She nuzzles against me, rubbing her cheek against my shirt. I rise and move to her tent. Kneel by the front flap, and gently duck into it so as to lay her on her sleeping bag. She sighs contentedly, and her eyes open for a moment before closing again, her lips moving into a smile. Is she asleep? Awake? I can't quite tell. She moans and cups my cheek, before dropping her hand to her breast. I watch, my eyes going large as she squeezes it, and then slides her hand down between her legs. She rubs herself there before turning onto her side, trapping her hand between her thighs, and drifting off to sleep.
    My heart is a sledgehammer, pounding at the walls of my chest. Each thud leaves cracks in my resolve. My mouth is dry. My bear roars within me, wanting out, wanting release. Wanting Anita.
    Carefully, slowly, I withdraw from her tent, and shaking, stand tall under the stars. I feel feverish, unhinged. The contentment from before is gone, burned away by the forest fire of my lust. My desire. I've had plenty of opportunities over the years to mate. To take any number of willing human females who fall for my looks, my reluctance. Something about my reserve seems to draw them on. But none of them have tempted me, because I've always wanted more than just sex. I've wanted communion, a connection, to bond with a mate who loves me for my soul, just as I love her for her own.
    And in Anita, my bear tells me, I've found her. The human side of me may still be figuring things out, but my bear knows when