An Alpha's Storm (Water Bear Shifters 1) by Sloane Meyers Page A

not ready to open my heart up again right now.” Aubrey did her best to keep her voice firm, even though she felt like she was shaking on the inside. She couldn’t stop herself from wondering whether she was throwing away the best chance at happiness that she would ever have.
    Brett stared at his hands, which were firmly gripping the steering wheel. After a long pause, he sighed. “Fine,” he said. “I’ll respect your wishes. But can we at least be friends? I don’t really have any other friends besides the guys you met tonight. It’d be nice to have someone to hang out with who has a life outside of the Coast Guard, you know? Sometimes you just need some space from work.”
    Aubrey felt her heart leap, and she smiled. It looked like she wouldn’t have to completely say goodbye to Brett, after all. “I can understand that,” she said. “I could definitely use some friends who aren’t work colleagues, too.”
    Brett smiled and looked over at her. “Okay then,” he said, and held out his hand to shake hers. “Friends?”
    Aubrey took his hand and shook it. His grip was warm and strong “Friends,” she agreed.
    “With benefits?” he asked, lowering his voice.
    Aubrey looked into his eyes, which were blazing with desire. He continued to hold her hand, even though their handshake was done. She didn’t answer him, because she didn’t know what to say. Her heart and her head were tangled up in a confused mess of emotions and reason, and all she could think about was how sexy he sounded when he spoke in a deep, quiet tone like he just had.
    He took her silence as encouragement, and leaned in closer to her, until his face was only about an inch from her face. He smelled like the ocean, salty and fresh. The heady scent made her forget her list of reasons why sleeping with him would be a bad idea. The only thoughts passing through her mind right now involved wondering what it would feel like to have his strong arms wrapped around her naked body.
    “With benefits?” he asked again, his voice husky.
    Aubrey nodded. “Friends. With benefits,” she said.
    And then his lips covered hers. He moved his hands up to hold the sides of her face as he pushed his tongue into her mouth and let her taste his mouth. The evening was warm, and a few beads of sweat had formed at his hairline, but he didn’t seem to notice them. His eyes were closed as he focused on their kiss. When he pulled away this time, Aubrey didn’t try to brush off the moment, as she had done a few days ago during their sunrise kiss at the beach. Instead, she lifted her gaze to his, and spoke, her voice laced with desire.
    “Do you want to come in?”
    He nodded, and pulled his keys out of the ignition. Aubrey waited while he got out of the car and walked around to her door. He opened it for her, then followed her to her house as she fumbled with her keys. The moment they made it through the front door, she dropped the keys as he pushed her up against the wall. Their lips met in a frenzied mess, and Aubrey felt the flames of desire burning hot within her. His hands rested on her hips as his tongue pushed deeper into her mouth, searching for her tongue and dancing with it as she placed her hands on his broad chest.
    It had been a long time since Aubrey had kissed a man, and even longer since she had done so with passion. She’d spent most of her last relationship worrying about what kind of fight she and her partner were going to get into next—fights that always revolved around the fact that Aubrey spent the majority of her life out on the water. But since Brett had agreed to being friends with benefits, she didn’t have to worry about that. She could enjoy the passion of their bodies coming together without worrying about whether she was spending enough time with him to keep a fight from starting.
    She just had to be careful not to fall in love.
    Brett was reaching down now, trying to grab the hem of her dress as he continued kissing her. He