Heart Of The Bear (Appalachian Shifters #1) by Alanis Knight Page A

frightened.
    “Penny!” he shouted.
    “I’m here!”
    His eyes immediately turned to me, and he took me into his arms and squeezed me so tightly I heard my bones crunch slightly.
    “Ouch,” I muttered, and he eased his grip slightly.
    “I thought you were gone!” he said.
    “I’m right here,” I said, stroking his back as I held him. “I never left.”
    “I thought you didn’t want me,” he said. I could have sworn it sounded like he was about to cry.
    “Caleb, I never said I didn’t want you,” I told him. “I was just confused, that’s all.”
    He buried his face into the hair that fell over my shoulder and I felt his teeth nibbling at the delicate flesh there. Chills erupted across my skin, and I moaned slightly.
    “I need you, Penny,” he said quietly.
    My insides were bathed in warmth at this revelation, and I suddenly realized that this Alpha who seemed so strong might actually be quiet vulnerable.
    “I’m not going anywhere,” I said.
    He nuzzled my neck with his nose, and then touched his lips against my shoulder. His lips trailed up my neck, and then he kissed my jawline, my chin, my cheek, my nose. His hands closed around my neck and pulled me closer to him, his thumbs brushing across my jaw as he pressed his lips against mine.
    His hands slid down my throat and around to my back. He gripped the back of my shirt at the bottom hem and pulled it upward. I lifted my arms and allowed him to pull my shirt off. He threw it aside and dipped his head, running his tongue into the depression at the base of my throat between my collarbones.
    He fumbled with the hooks of my bra and tore it away from my skin, tossing it across the room. He cupped my breasts in his hands and seemed to marvel at their sight before lowering his head further to suck my nipple between his lips.
    My hands gripped his shoulders and he winced and sucked in a breath. I quickly took my hands away from his body, but he grabbed them and put them onto his chest.
    “I don’t want to hurt you,” I murmured.
    “You not touching me is the only thing that can hurt me,” he said.
    I was gentle as I slid my hands carefully over his wounded body, and I could see him shiver with pleasure. My eyes raked downward to his erection, and I remembered that I hadn’t been able to suck him during our last encounter. I took him in my hands and bent my head, taking him between my lips. He moaned and leaned back against the stack of pillows at the head of the bed.
    His precum tasted salty and slightly bitter. I swirled my tongue around the head of his cock before taking him deeper into my mouth. I had to stretch my jaw to take his full girth.
    “God, yes, baby,” he groaned. “That feels so good.”
    I cupped his balls with my palm and softly massaged them as I sucked him. He started to thrust slowly in and out of my mouth, and I found myself wanting to swallow his cum. I’d never done that before. I’d always found the very thought of it disgusting. But somehow it was something I wanted very much when it came to Caleb.
    “Stop,” he whispered hoarsely, putting his hand on the top of my head. “Stop, stop! I don’t want to cum, yet.”
    I moaned with disappointment and forced myself to stop sucking him. I wanted to please him fully, but he wasn’t ready.
    “I want inside you,” he said.
    He pushed me back onto the bed and tugged at my pants. I allowed him to take them off, and he tossed them, along with my panties, into the floor.
    I could tell he was desperate to take me. He wasted no time sliding between my legs and pushing the head of his cock against me. I was so wet from sucking his cock that he slipped easily inside, and he began to thrust quickly.
    “Oh, wow,” I moaned. “Oh, my god!”
    The first time he’d penetrated me was amazing, but this was somehow transcendent. I guess it was the fear that I might lose him, but I’d grown exponentially more attached to him ever since his encounter with the panther. Now the sex was