I climbed up the stairs and shook my fur. Droplets of melted snow smacked against the cabin’s French doors. Being as dry as I was going to get, I shifted. The icy night air blasted against my naked skin. I shivered and reached for the doorknob when the dark shadow moved. It wasn’t a shadow at all, it was Tanner.
One hand rested over his mouth. His emerald eyes widened in what I thought was surprise but could have been fear. He seemed to be rooted to the floor.
I guess the fifteen-hundred-pound bear in the room was out in the open now. Literally.
With a heavy heart, I turned the door handle and walked toward my doom.
7
Tanner
I’d woken up feeling completely disoriented. It had taken a minute for me to remember the frat reunion, my disastrous walk, and Kodi. I don’t know how I knew, but he wasn’t here. There was an emptiness to the cabin I hadn’t felt before falling asleep.
I pushed back the covers and gave my limbs a stretch. Kodi had been right about all of his clothes being too big for me, but he’d given me a pair of cut-off sweats with a drawstring. They were still miles too big for my slim hips, but at least I didn’t have to worry about them pooling around my ankles.
Not that I would have minded being naked in front of Kodi.
Running my hands over my clothes, I could feel how damp they still were. It was going to take ages for the heavy denim of my jeans to dry. Near the fire was the best place for them. Who knew when the power would come back on so I could put everything in the dryer?
After a trip to the bathroom, I stood by the back porch, looking out over the yard. It was a beautiful piece of property. The kind of place I’d love to live someday. There was a certain freedom to being in the mountains. Standing there, my day job and responsibilities seemed so far away. Movement from the tree line caught my eye. At first I thought maybe it was a deer or a moose, but a moment later, I realized it was too compact and low to the ground to be a deer.
It was a bear. I gave my head a shake. It couldn’t be a bear. This was January, and bears hibernated. Didn’t they?
I watched stunned as the animal ran full-out toward the cabin. If it didn’t slow down, it was going to crash through the French doors. A niggling thought resurfaced. Kodi tried to downplay it, but he’d reacted when I told him I’d seen a bear. I’d touched its fur, and now that I really thought about it, the animal seemed to somehow smile at me. Did Kodi have a pet grizzly he allowed to run free like some kind of search and rescue dog?
As the animal got closer to the cabin, it slowed and then stopped in front of the stairs leading to the back deck. What was it going to do now?
I was glad for the power being out. The large great room was in shadows with the only light being from the fireplace. My eyes narrowed on the bear as it lumbered up the back stairs. I felt my hands start to tremble. What the hell did I do now? Did I stay put or run? Where would I even go?
Before I could make up my mind, the most amazing thing happened. The bear became a naked man. Kodi. Holy fucking shitballs! Kodi was a shapeshifter like Jacob in Twilight, only he was a bear, not a wolf.
I wasn’t losing my mind at all. Kodi had found me and rescued me in the woods, and I’d woken up just as he’d set me on the porch. Thank Christ I hadn’t woken up when he had me in his jaws.
Kodi took two steps forward toward the French doors. We stared at each other. The look in Kodi’s dark eyes was filled with uncertainty. My paralysis broke and I grabbed the door handle, yanking it open. “Get in here, you’re going to catch your death.” The icy air blasted against my bare feet, chilling me to the bone.
He grabbed a set of clothes from a chair near the door and walked into the cabin. “Aren’t you scared? Or thinking you’ve lost your mind? Or about to call Fish and Game on me?” Kodi stood by the doors looking as if he were about to make a break for it.
“You’re a bear, for goodness’ sake, not Jack the Ripper.” I raised an eyebrow at him before grabbing his arm and tugging him toward the fireplace. He came willingly. God knew I wouldn’t have been able to budge him if he’d wanted to stay put. I pushed him down in front of the fire and covered his back and shoulders with the blanket I’d been wrapped up in when I’d woken up.
“Jack the Ripper?” Kodi burst out laughing. It was a full, rich laugh, sounding as if the last thing he expected was to be laughing over this situation.
“Do you want some tea? A glass of water maybe? Raw meat?” What the hell did one offer a man/bear? Or was it a bear/man?
“I’m fine. I had something to drink when I was out.” Kodi seemed amused by me trying to mother him.
“When you were out?” I took a seat next to him, trying not to laugh. In my mind, I could see a bear sitting on a barstool.
“You must have a million questions.” Kodi looked as if he’d rather be sitting in the electric chair than answering my questions.
He was right. I did have questions. Lots of them. Instead of asking any of them, I reached up to run my hand down the left side of his face. Kodi’s skin was surprisingly warm against my hand. He’d been out running in the woods for who knows how long, and then standing naked on the porch, but his skin was rosy and perfectly warm.
Without overthinking it, I leaned forward and kissed him. His lips were full and hot as if he had a fever. The kiss was electric. Attraction and need zinged through my body like a pinball.
Kodi growled low in his throat. His hands came up to frame my face.
I felt as if I were going to explode. The heat of his hands sunk into my skin. He pulled back, his intense dark eyes bouncing back and forth. I panted for breath, feeling dizzy from his kiss. I couldn’t tell if he was looking for a sign of weakness or if he was trying to see if I was into him.
My erection had managed to free itself from the confines of the borrowed sweats. All Kodi had to do was take a look at my lap, and he’d know how into him I was. I chanced a glance at the naked bear who’d just kissed me to within an inch of my life. He was in a similar state, only his cock was much bigger than mine.
“Are you waiting for an engraved invitation?” I panted. My dick jerked in agreement. I didn’t know what was wrong with me. I’d never been this forward in my life, but I wasn’t done yet. I wrapped my fist around Kodi’s weeping dick. He gasped in shock, which gave me the confidence I needed to keep going.
Kodi’s eyes widened, but his obvious shock didn’t stop him from wrapping his hand around my erection and giving me a couple of fast strokes.
“Keep that up, and I’m gonna come on the spot.” I’d never wanted to come more in my life.
“We can’t have that, now, can we?” Kodi’s hand slowed down. His eyes darkened further.
I matched the rhythm of my hand to Kodi’s. My free hand roamed down the column of his neck, over the divot in his collarbone to tangle in the thick mat of fur on his chest. His muscles rippled beneath my fingers. “So powerful,” I murmured.
“I won’t hurt you,” Kodi promised.
My dick twitched, nearly going off. Kodi pulled his hand off my cock and used it to push me onto my back in front of the fireplace. I gasped in surprise as he positioned himself over me. With his ass raised high in the air, Kodi lowered his mouth over my dick.
“Jesus!” I gasped when he took me to the root. I was lost in the rhythm of Kodi’s mouth. His tongue lashed against my heated fleshed as his lips continued to slide up and down my erection. Looking above me, Kodi’s dick dangled down, just out of reach of my greedy lips. I needed to taste him more than I needed my next breath.