Page 14 of Goldie's Grumpy Grizzly
What could I offer her? Nothing but a small, quiet, simple life in a tiny, tucked-away cabin. Only simple pleasures. Maybe some kids.
I shake my head.
To someone like that, what am I? Some small-town nobody. The owner, handyman, and tour guide for adventurers and campers.
Bullshit, my bear snuffles. Scents don’t lie.
It’s true. I didn’t get a whiff of glitz and glamor or the greed that I associate with rich-and-famous, red-carpet types—and plenty of them come to my mountain looking for respite in my lodges. But even if Rae’s perfectly happy giving all that up, I know being mated isn’t for me.
The best thing I can do right the fuck now is forget it.
Forget Rae.
Forget our kiss.
And especially, forget about our mating bond.
By the time I get back to the cabin, the sun’s dipped behind the mountain and the sky’s turned an inky kind of blue. Rae’s perched atop one of my chairs that’s too small for her with tiny earbuds shoved into her ears, blasting what sounds like some awful boy band pop music as her fingers fly over the keyboard.
I glance to the corner where a collapsed chair lays untouched and shake my head. That’ll need fixing pronto if she’s planning on planting her sweet ass in a chair for hours on end.
Then she turns, jumping half out of the chair and unleashing some kind of half-frightened squeak when she sees me standing there staring at her.
“Hey. I just got back. Didn’t mean to scare you.” I nod at her empty, sweating glass of ice on the table beside her. “Need another drink?”
“Oh, yes. Thank you.” She blinks several times, as if she’d been so absorbed in her work, she hadn’t even taken time to blink.
I frown as I go to refill her glass with the pitcher of honeysuckle tea sitting in the fridge. How long had she been sitting there?
“What time is it?” Rae pushes her glasses up her nose and makes a face as she peers outside.
“Time for a break,” I say simply, handing her the glass and watching her drink deeply from it. “Have you eaten?”
“Oh. No, I was on a roll. I didn’t realize how late it was. Should I heat up one of my casserole dishes?”
Grimacing, she rolls her shoulders and twists her head, trying to stretch out the tense muscles in her neck. My jaw clenches as I fight to keep my hands at my sides.
Do not offer to massage the woman. Do not—
“Come here,” I say gruffly, spinning her around and squeezing my hands along the tight muscles stretching over her shoulders. I work my fingers into her flesh, gritting my teeth when her head lolls back and she lets out a guttural moan that makes my dick spring to half-mast straight away.
Fuck me.
“Oh, right there. That’s it. That’s good. A little harder. I can take it.”
My cock hardens to steel, pressing painfully against the zipper of my jeans as I increase the pressure and try not to picture her naked in my bed, perched on all fours with her dripping cunt sliding over me.
Sweat breaks out on my brow as I focus all my attention on working out the knots in her back and not her soft sighs and throaty moans.
“Harder, Cole.” She sighs blissfully as I slide my fingers over her stiff muscles. “Ohhh, God.”
I grit my teeth. If she keeps this up, I might blow my load at the sound of her voice alone. How fucking embarrassing would that be?
“Get ready. I’m taking you to dinner. You deserve a real break.”
Then I hightail it into the enormous bathroom, slam the door behind me, and turn on the shower with the setting on blisteringly cold. I shed my clothes as fast as I can, then dunk under the spray and wrap my hand around my shaft.
Fuck, fuck, fuck.
