"You gotta stop trying to die on my watch," he mutters.
"Wh-wh-where's the bear? Did you see a bear?"
"Yeah. I'm the bear. I'm a shifter. Okay? Let's get you in the shower. Tell me they have warm water in this place." He hustles me toward the bathroom. Did I mention he's buck naked? And his cock is at full mast.
"Um. They do. Wh-what's a shifter?"
He's all business, yanking the shower curtain open and turning the water all the way to hot. I work to get out of my soaked boots and socks.
"Like a werewolf. Only a bear. Dog, come here."
"His name is Bear-" I break off when I realize how ridiculous that must seem to Caleb. Who apparently is a bear. I start giggling.
The salmon and trout. The blueberries. The honey. Hibernating for winter.
Caleb is a bear!
No, this can't be. I'm totally hallucinating.
My dog obeys him and now I understand why. Yeah, I guess a bear outranks a dog in the natural order. I giggle some more. I'm laughing so hard I can't get my pants off. Oh, that may also be because my hands are shaking and my fingers are still numb. And I'm delirious.
The hypothermia must've really set in, because I thought Caleb was a bear. A giant black bear that picked me up out of the icy Pecos River.
Caleb scoots Bear under the spray of water then turns to help me get my wet clothes off.
"I thought you were a bear," I giggle. "When you rescued me."
Caleb frowns. "You're losing your shit, Doctor. I told you not to flip out."
I stop laughing and blink at him. "Is this really happening? You're a bear?"
He purses his lips, but nods.
"So when the moon is full…" I raise my brows at him.
"No, that full moon thing is bullshit. We shift at will. And we don't hunt humans when we're in our animal form. Or ever."
I gape in shock but my hands reach out to touch his sculpted chest. Like I'm verifying he still feels like a man. I brush my fingertips over the taut muscles, the tattoos. He catches the back of my head in his huge palm.
"A bear?" I whisper, still not believing, even though I saw it with my own eyes.
His expression is still tight, gaze more of a glower. "Are you scared?"
I shake my head, my wet hair throwing out freezing droplets of water. "Entranced," I murmur. A more violent shiver overtakes my body, so he releases me and hustles me under the shower water. I gasp at the burn of the warm water on my frozen skin.
"Out, dog." He snaps his fingers and Bear slinks out, head bowed low in submission. Caleb rubs Bear with a towel.
"Shouldn't you come in, too?"
He doesn't answer at first. He's still busy rubbing Bear down. I watch through the gap in the shower curtain. When he gives Bear extra loving, rubbing the sides of his face and ears, my heart melts.
"If I come in there, you're gonna get fucked hard," he rumbles after a moment.
"Um, yeah, I kinda noticed your, um…"
He rips the shower curtain open and steps in. Yep, his cock is still sky high. Thick, veined and beautiful.
I don't think, I just drop to my knees and take hold of it.
Caleb sucks in a heavy breath and leans his hand against the tile. "You like giving head?" His voice is so thick I have to work to decipher the words.
I put my lips around the tip of his cock and swirl my tongue underneath. "Not usually," I say when I come off. "But it's not every day a man-bear saves my dog and pulls me from an icy river before I die a horrible cold death." I wrap my lips again and take him deeper this time.
It's true, I've never liked giving head. I always found it kinda gross, but right now it's hot as hell and I'm so ready to give to this man who's done so much for me. I take him deeper and deeper, playing with how far I can go before he hits the back of my throat.
God, I guess with my past partners and relationships, I was so busy putting up walls and defenses to shield from getting hurt, I never was able to give. With Caleb, there's no expectations. On either side. It's like we can just be with each other. Open up and receive and give without worrying about what comes next.
And holy shit, he's a bear! I still can't process. A million questions flit at the edges of my brain, but right now all that matters is giving him pleasure. Because I'm horny as hell knowing I'm getting him off.
I go as slow as I can, try to relax my gag reflex to take him past the back of my throat. He lets out a long, long groan that echoes off the shower walls.
I cup his balls and massage them with one hand, gripping the base of his cock with the other. My jaw already aches from opening so wide, but I'm not going to stop until Caleb gets off. I need to show my appreciation fully, and this is one way I know how.
All cold vanishes from my body. Heat both infuses my skin through the warm water and pushes out from my molten core.
"Beautiful," Caleb mutters. "Fucking beautiful." He grips the back of my head and urges me faster.
My control issues rear up for a moment-like I need to fight for my sovereignty, but then I look up and see the feral need on his face. Like he's in lust-pain. Like he'll die if I don't suck harder. Go faster.
So I do. My hips buck, pussy clenches around nothing. I give it everything I have and more. Suck, bob, close my eyes and submit to the moment. It's ecstasy. Ecstasy in giving. Not even receiving.