how magnificent the bear was.
He’s not a monster, she thought. He’s Beauty’s Beast.
The black bear broke away. It stumbled to its feet, bleeding from bites and slashes. It was also hunched in pain over its groin. Moaning pathetically, it staggered off into the woods, and was gone.
The great grizzly bear roared his triumph.
Raina’s heart pounded. But after she’d run from Owen, she had to make it up to him— prove to him that she saw him as her true love, not as a terrifying monster. Before the bear could change back into a man, Raina ran to him and pressed a kiss on his furry cheek.
The magnificent bear rubbed his face against her. Then he shrank. Fur became clothes and bare skin. Then Owen stood before her, a man again. He was sweaty and scratched from his fight, with trickles of blood outlining the muscles of his left forearm and staining his shirt. His black hair was rumpled and damp. He, too, looked magnificent.
“I’m sorry—” They both spoke the same words at the same time, then broke off with a laugh.
“I’m sorry I ran away from you,” Raina said. “You were only trying to protect me.”
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner,” Owen said. “Of course you were scared.”
“So...” Raina said. “You’re a were-bear.”
“We call ourselves bear shifters. But yeah. We’ve lived among regular humans since the dawn of time. I spent half my childhood as a cub in the forest.”
“You know, this doesn’t surprise me as much as it should,” Raina said. “The first moment I saw you, I knew there was something special about you. It made no sense, but it felt like we belonged together.”
Owen cupped her face in his and gazed into her eyes. “Bear shifters mate for life. We know our destined mates at first sight. Usually, they’re bear shifters too. But mine wasn’t. I’d almost given up hope... until I saw you standing there on the stage. You were the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen. And you were mine. ”
“I’m yours,” Raina whispered.
Her heart was still pounding from all the excitement. But more from desire. She could smell the salt of Owen’s sweat, and the attractive musk of his natural male scent. He’d protected her with his own body. He could turn into a huge, magnificent grizzly bear. He was wild and strong and all hers— and he wanted no one but her.
His green eyes were a flame of desire. Raina swallowed, feeling that heat rise in her too. She reached out to catch the edge of his shirt, then ran her hands over the hard muscle of his belly. She felt his breath catch under her palms. No longer did she have doubts— she could feel for herself how much she turned him on. She could see it, too. His hard-on was gigantic, pushing aggressively against the denim at his crotch.
“Ready for another round? I’ve still got condoms left,” Owen said. He was trying for humor, but Raina could hear the urgency in his voice.
“I’m as ready as you are,” she said.
She pressed herself against his body, as if she was trying to merge herself with him— with her mate. With a growl of desire, Owen caught her in his strong arms and kissed her passionately. His tongue pressed insistently against hers, hot and needy. Raina kissed back, exploring the heat of his mouth.
He pulled back only long enough to strip off his boots and his clothes. Then he stood nude on the soft grass, his magnificent body lit with golden sunlight. His muscles bulged, shining with sweat, and his eyes were green as the moss beneath his feet. His huge cock was hard as steel, straining upward. Ready for her. Raina had never seen anything so gorgeous as Owen, naked and hungry for her.
“You look like a Greek God,” she murmured. “You should be in a museum.”
“What, behind glass?” Owen said with a laugh. “Then I’d never get to do this .”
Owen took off her blouse, then her bra, exposing her large breasts. He bent his head to them, sucking on her already-hard nipples until her body
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