Smolder: A Werebear + BBW Paranormal Romance (Bearpaw Ridge Firefighters Book 2) Page 12

  "I want to hear you," he urged.

  And his fingers slid a quarter inch higher on the inside of her leg. Close…so very close to her pussy.

  And then he stopped.

  "Please, Mark! Please," she begged, breathlessly.

  No one had ever spent this much time just turning her on. He was driving her crazy in the best possible way.

  She felt him nip her earlobe, and the shock of sensation made her gasp.

  "Tell me what you want. Talk dirty to me," he said, his lips tickling her ear with hot breath at every work.

  "Touch me," she said and put her hand over his on her leg.

  "I think I'm going to need a little more guidance here," he said teasingly.

  His voice gave the illusion that he was in complete control, but she could feel the frantic pounding of his heart against her shoulder blades.

  Caitlyn, her voice cracking with need, told him exactly what she wanted him to do to her. She shocked herself with the raw, dirty details that came spilling out of her mouth, but Mark seemed to like it. As she spoke, his hips jerked, sending the iron-hard length of his cock sliding against the base of her spine.

  "I'll make you a deal," he said hoarsely, when she finally ran out of words. "I'll make you come harder than you've ever come before, Caitlyn. But you have to promise me something."

  "What?" Anything!

  The hand on her leg moved a teasing fraction of an inch close to her swollen, needy pussy. "Tell me that you're not seeing anyone else. And promise me that you won't, not while we're together. Dating, I mean."

  "I'm not seeing anyone!" she gasped. Her fingers scrabbled against the back of his hand, trying to force him to just touch her. "I swear!"

  "Good," he said, simply. And rewarded her with a gentle brush of his fingertips over her clit.

  It felt like an electric shock of the most pleasurable kind. Caitlyn made a noise, and Mark did it again.

  The third time, he used his other hand to gently pinch her nipple, and Caitlyn thought she was going to pass out from the overwhelming combination of sensations.

  "So how are you enjoying the movie?" he teased, as his fingers continued to work their magic on her.

  "What…movie?" she asked, dazed. She was close now, so close. She whimpered with need and bucked her hips up, trying to rub herself against his hand. Harder…she needed more…

  "Right answer," he responded, and she could hear the smile in his voice.

  And then, finally, his touch firmed. He stroked her with maddening slowness, exploring her responses as she writhed and panted on his lap.

  "I want you to come for me now," he said, just as she found herself teetering on the brink of her climax.

  Then he did something that made stars dance in front of her eyes like a white-hot shower of fireworks sparks, and she screamed as she fell over the edge.

  Mark didn't stop touching her. Somehow, he knew just how to draw out the waves of pleasure that raced through her, lifting her up into new heights.

  When the last pulses of her climax finally died away, she found herself sprawled bonelessly against him, her head lolling on his shoulder.

  "Damn," she said weakly. She summoned all the strength she had left and turned her head to kiss his neck. "Thank you. That was…amazing."

  "You're amazing," he said, gathering her up to curl against him. He sounded shaken. "And perfect. I'm glad you're staying for a while."

  "Me too."

  She closed her eyes and rested against him. He smelled so good, and he was so warm…she wanted to stay here forever.

  The afterglow still hadn't completely dissipated when she became aware of unfinished business poking her in the hip. She'd been selfish, and he'd worked damned hard to show her a good time without getting any for himself.

  Caitlyn reached between them with languid grace. "Someone's been a very good boy and deserves a treat," she murmured.

  "Caitlyn, you don't have to—" he protested, as she began to wriggle her way off his lap and onto the couch. The leather felt cool against her heated skin.

  "But I want to," she said firmly.

  She moved further down on the couch until her face was in his lap.

  Then she set to work reducing him to the same shaking, begging bundle of need that he'd made her just a short while ago.

  It was fun. And it made her feel good to know that he wanted her, responded to her, just as fervently as she did to him.

  She kept him on the edge for a while, as her own arousal quickly rekindled, and the hand knotted in her hair began to shake.

  And when she let him come at last, his growling cry and the sharp taste of salt and musk in her mouth filled her with bone-deep satisfaction.

  He drew her back up onto his lap and kissed her fervently.

  And not too much longer after that, his mouth was working magic on her breasts as she rode the fingers he had buried deep inside her and his thumb did wicked, wonderful things to her clit. She came again, harder than before, pulsing around his fingers as he grinned up at her and used his teeth in the most delightful way.

  She was still turned on when he was done, which only made his grin widen. "I love a woman with stamina," he told her.

  Moments later, she found herself on her back, with Mark's face between her legs. "And I love doing this," he added.

  "Are you sure?" she asked.

  And he promptly and with great enthusiasm proved that not only did he enjoy it, he was very, very good at it.

  When he finally finished with her, she felt like a stick of melting butter, warm and completely relaxed. She had never been so thoroughly worked over. And she certainly had never come so many times in a single day. On most of her dates, she felt lucky if she came once.

  "You are definitely an overachiever," she told him, spooned against him on the couch.

  He stroked her hip with lazy appreciation. "I've heard that before. It's a good thing, right?"

  Caitlyn managed a laugh and looked at the TV screen, where closing credits were rolling over a heavy metal soundtrack. "Let's put it this way—I have no idea what movie we just watched."

  Mark's arm looped around her waist, drawing her even more tightly against him. "Making out with you was better than any movie." He kissed her shoulder. "Now, let's move on to my next fantasy."

  Oh no, Caitlyn thought in mild panic. How can he expect me to do anything when I can barely move?

  "Oh, yeah?" she managed. "What were you thinking of?" Maybe I can promise to do whatever-it-is in the morning…

  "Feeding you ice cream as we cuddle." Mark sounded completely serious.

  "Mark, I'm beginning to think that you might be a keeper," she told him, snuggling against him.

  "Good," he said, sounding smug. "That means my plan is working."

  What plan?

  But then his mouth was on hers again, and another one of his long, hot kisses drove the thought out of her mind.

  She almost forgot about the promised ice cream. Almost.

  Chapter Ten – Family Dinner

  Maybe dinner with Mrs. Swanson and the rest of Mark's family might not be such a good idea, after all, Caitlyn thought when she woke up the next morning.

  She had slept late and felt better than she had in days. The soreness from the car accident was fading away, as were her bruises. Her ankle still hurt, but she could put her full weight on it now and manage cautious steps without having to use her crutches…or having Mark carry her.

  Darn it. I kind of liked being swept off my feet like that…

  Mark was already gone when she made her way downstairs, but he had set up another breakfast for her, including the carafe filled with his excellent coffee. She was going to miss his thoughtfulness when she went back home.

  When she logged in to her laptop, it was to find email from Jake.

  He had really liked the Montoya article and was planning to post it as soon as he and Jen got their truck repaired and he figured out a safe place for them to go.

  That
left her to sort through the plethora of email submissions to Mythtrust News' email inbox, since Jake wouldn't be able to get to it until he replaced his stolen computer. She found a few likely items, wrote up short teasers for them, and then spent an hour or two updating the website with these tidbits.

  That taken care of, her next task was to arrange an interview with Roger Pemberton. From past experience, she knew she had a better chance of seeing him if she skipped contacting the prison warden and instead contacted Pemberton's lawyer with a request to add her to Pemberton's visitor list.

  After hearing that Pemberton had initiated the contact with Mythtrust News, the lawyer agreed to her request.

  Caitlyn spent the remainder of the afternoon researching Pemberton himself in preparation for the interview.

  What she read about him wasn't encouraging. He had graduated summa cum laude with a degree in Finance from a prestigious West Coast university, followed by an MBA from one of the Ivy League schools. Then he had landed a job with a well-known Silicon Valley venture capital firm and seemed to be on the fast track to an executive suite before his career and his life crashed and burned—literally, in his case.

  According to the court records, he had stalked his ex-fiancée Annabeth Jones to her new home in Bearpaw Ridge after they broke up. There, he had harassed her with a barrage of phone calls before threatening her at her place of business in front of witnesses.

  Mark Swanson had been among those witnesses, Caitlyn noted with interest.

  Then, as Annabeth had described, her apartment had caught fire in the middle of the night, trapping her inside and nearly killing her.

  The subsequent arson investigation had revealed that the fire started simultaneously in several places inside the bakery as well as on the stairs leading to the apartment above the bakery. Gasoline had been used as an accelerant.

  Through the combined efforts of Dane Swanson and Sheriff Bill Jacobsen, Pemberton had been arrested while trying to flee town and was later convicted on charges of arson and attempted murder.

  Pemberton's repeated claims of being attacked by a grizzly bear who then turned into a man had led to a court-ordered psychiatric evaluation.

  In the end, he had been deemed fit to stand trial for the crimes he was accused of, though he continued to cling to the grizzly bear story.

  Caitlyn, remembering what she had seen on Montoya's video, felt a chill as she read that. She definitely needed to speak with Roger Pemberton…and Dane Swanson too, if she could convince the big firefighter to talk to her.

  Well, I will have my chance tonight, she thought. Dane had seemed like a nice guy when he showed up at the scene of her accident. She would test the waters when she saw him at dinner.

  When Mark returned at dusk, she had showered and changed into one of her nicer knit pullovers. Unfortunately, she'd only packed jeans, so she hoped that would be okay.

  She was happy to have access to her blow dryer again as well as her makeup kit, so that she could cover up the fading bruises on her face and neck from the airbag and shoulder belt.

  Then Mark escorted her over to the big Victorian ranch house that stood next door to his home.

  Caitlyn's ankle was feeling much better after three days of rest, ice, and elevation, so she left the crutches behind in favor of the arm that Mark offered her, and only limped a little.

  Elle Swanson opened the door while Caitlyn was still climbing the stairs to the porch, Mark hovering protectively at her elbow.

  The matriarch of the Swanson family was a tall woman with frosted blonde hair and a no-nonsense air.

  "You must be Caitlyn," she said with a warm smile as Caitlyn reached the top of the stairs. "I'm Elle, and I'm glad to finally meet you. I was beginning to worry that Mark was holding you prisoner in his house."

  Caitlyn met the other woman's eyes, which were a warm brown, and decided she liked Mark's mother.

  "Hi, Elle. Thank you so much for inviting me over, and for the beautiful flowers. I got pretty banged up when I rolled my car the other day, and Mark's been spoiling me, actually."

  "Has he?" Elle's smile turned wistful.

  Her gaze rested on her son, whose hand rested lightly on the small of Caitlyn's back. Caitlyn felt the warmth of his hand even through her pullover.

  "Please come in. Dinner's almost ready, and I'm sure Mark or one of the other boys will pour you a glass of wine."

  Caitlyn looked around with interest as she entered the foyer.

  The front door had a semicircular antique stained glass panel set above the doorframe, and a wide wooden staircase curved in a crescent up to the second story.

  The wall of the foyer was covered with framed photographs ranging from nineteenth-century daguerreotypes in silvery grays and blacks to more recent color photos. Unable to resist, Caitlyn limped over to take a closer look.

  "The Swansons have owned this ranch since 1870," Elle said proudly. "And my husband's great-great-grandfather was among the first Europeans to settle in this area. His great-great-grandmother was Agaidika Shoshone, so her people had been living here since time immemorial. My own ancestors came out during the gold rush and ended up farming down in Challis."

  "That's a long history," Caitlyn said. "My family's only been in Albuquerque since the 1960s. My grandpa was a physicist at Los Alamos, and my Dad worked as a researcher at Sandia Labs."

  She peered at a more recent photo, which showed a handsome, broad-shouldered man who looked like an older version of Dane, sitting on a patch of grass under a tree with four little dark-haired boys clustered around him.

  "That's my late husband Ashton, with Dane, Mark, Evan, and Thor," Elle said quietly. "My youngest, Ash, came along six months after Ashton was killed in a car accident."

  Caitlyn winced. "I'm so sorry for your loss," she said.

  Elle looked at the photo and sighed. "It's been eighteen years, and I still roll over in bed and reach for him sometimes."

  A momentary silence fell. Searching for a safer topic, Caitlyn said, "I don't think I've met Thor. Is he the one who lives in Denver?"

  Elle nodded. "I wish he'd come home, but I guess he needs time. He says he actually likes living in a big city!" She shook her head with a wry smile. "Not like Evan, who spends half his time living in a tent in the back country somewhere, doing goodness only knows for the government."

  "Hey, Mom," a male voice bellowed down the hallway. "You're not telling embarrassing childhood stories about us, are you?"

  "I wasn't, but thank you for the suggestion," Elle called back. Her eyes twinkled as she said, "Well, Caitlyn, would you care to hear some embarrassing childhood stories about Mark…or Evan?"

  "I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be bored," Caitlyn protested. She was pretty curious, actually.

  Mark's dimple appeared under his beard. "Only if Caitlyn tells us some of her stories in return."

  "I'll start with Evan," Elle said, her eyes twinkling.

  "No! Please don't!" Evan protested.

  Caitlyn heard the floorboards creak under his heavy tread as he hurried down the hall towards them.

  "Hey, Caitlin, it's really nice to see you again." Evan was dressed in a cowboy shirt and clean jeans tonight.

  He gave her a dazzling smile and held out his hand.

  She took it, but instead of shaking it, he held on. His grip was warm, dry, and a little callused. His gaze scanned her, warmly appreciative, and lingered on her breasts.

  She felt Mark move his hand from her back and circle her waist with his arm, drawing her close to him.

  "Glad to see that you're feeling better after that wreck," Evan continued, ignoring his brother's possessive gesture. "You look fine. Really fine."

  Mark's muscles tensed against her, and Caitlyn fought the urge to smile.

  She realized she liked Mark behaving jealously, but she told herself that she shouldn't. It wasn't healthy.

  But it was damned flattering, especially when it was two hot men competing for her attention.

  Not that
she wanted to date Evan. He was a little too slick for her taste. Besides, Mark was almost more than she could handle.

  "Have you gone to see your car yet?" Evan asked. He shook his head mournfully. "It's a pitiful sight, let me tell you."

  "No, but I feel very lucky to have walked away—well, limped away—from that accident," she said. "Thank you for rescuing me. I owe you—" and she felt Mark stiffen even further. She amended hastily, "—all of you my life."

  Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Mark glare at his brother. Evan smirked as he finally released her hand.

  Trying to defuse the tension between the two of them, she turned to their mother.

  "Elle, you've raised some real heroes," she said. "You have no idea how scared I was, trapped upside down in the dark, and how kind they all were when they were getting me out of there. I really do owe them everything."

  Both Mark and Evan went red.

  "You can thank the Jacobsen boys," Mark said, sounding embarrassed. "They were the ones who called it in. We couldn't have come if no one had seen the accident."

  "Yeah," agreed Evan. "I heard that Bill, uh, the sheriff, put in a good word for them with their parents, so that they wouldn't be grounded until Michael graduated from high school."

  Elle smiled. "I'm sure their father was very proud of them. And I know your father would so proud if he could see you now."

  Mark's fingers squeezed Caitlyn's hip at his mother's words.

  They heard footsteps coming up the porch stairs, and Elle turned to open the heavy front door. "Annabeth! Dane! So glad you could join us on a weekday!"

  Caitlyn saw Annabeth come through the door first. She was wearing a long cardigan over a bright teal blouse and comfortably worn jeans. Two large free-form loaves of crusty, flour-dusted bread stuck out of the top of a paper bag she carried.

  Dane, as tall and dark-haired as Mark and Evan, followed close behind his wife. He was carrying a stack of bakery boxes.

  Annabeth gave Elle a big hug. "We almost ran out of lemon bars again, so I made a couple of lemon tarts and made sure they stayed hidden in the back of the bakery." She giggled. "It's great to have assistants—I put Hannah and Jodie in charge of clean-up tonight. It was great being able to leave the bakery today right after we closed at five."