Arousal rushed through his veins. Oh hell. He backed into the lake to hide his growing erection. His bear flailed and clawed at his chest.
Mate! Mate! Mate!
“Shut up, bear,” he whispered under his breath. Now was not the time to let the beast out. He silently promised the creature that he’d let him out to run off the sexual tension later. Right now he needed to focus on keeping his libido under control.
“Is the water cold?” Sasha yelled from the shore.
“Nope. It’s perfect,” he said.
As she waded into the water, her face screwed up in a grimace. “It’s freezing.”
“You’ll get used to it in a minute.” He waded toward her and she moved deeper into the lake. “It helps if you dunk your head.”
“No way, it’s too cold.” She flashed a wicked smile before splashing him.
“Oh, now it’s on,” he said.
He lunged forward and grabbed her. She shrieked as he hoisted her into the air.
“Hold your breath,” he teased a second before dropping her into the lake.
When she emerged, she pushed her hair away from her face. Rivulets of water cascaded down her body, flowing down her throat and across her full breasts. He wanted to lap up every inch of her.
“You’re so dead.” She splashed him mercilessly until he ducked under the water.
He waited several seconds before returning to the surface. Her laughter rang across the lake as she played and roughhoused with him. When she finally slowed down, he waded beside her.
“You were right,” she said. “I did need this.”
“Sometimes you have to stop being so scared and uptight and just enjoy life,” he said.
“I’m not uptight.”
“Not even a little?” he asked in a teasing tone.
“Okay, maybe a little.”
“I’ll wring it out of you,” he said.
“Really? And how do you plan on doing that?” she asked.
“With my bear hands.” He shifted just enough to reveal a pair of huge furry paws.
She glided closer to him.
“My, what big paws you have.”
After taking his paws into her hands, she ran the pads of her thumbs across his palm. Shivers of delight raced down his spine. His bear fought to finish the shift, but Jack managed to keep him inside. He’d have to be very careful around her. If he lost his concentration for more than a few seconds, the big, hairy beast would burst free and wreak havoc on their budding friendship.
Chapter 3
Sasha sluiced water from her arms as she padded across the shore toward her towel. As the lazy afternoon stretched toward night, contentment calmed the restless hum in her soul. She sat on the towel and turned to watch Jack emerge from the lake. Every inch of his masculinity—every inch—was on display as he prowled toward her. His swim trunks did little to hide the huge bulge in front. She averted her gaze before he caught her.
After settling onto his towel, he shaded his eyes and turned to face her.
“You’re thinking too hard again,” he said. “Are you still worried about your sculpture?”
“Yeah,” she sighed. “The longer I go without creating something new, the more I feel like maybe I’ve already exhausted all of my ideas.”
“Have you ever had a dry spell before?” he asked.
“Never. Usually I have so many ideas flowing that I don’t have time to do all of them. But the last few months have been brutal.”
“Has anything changed in your life recently?” he asked.
“I’ve been plowing through my savings,” she said. “After the economy took a nosedive, I cut back my expenses as much as possible. I shouldn’t even be on this retreat right now, but I had to do something.”
“You’ll be able to create something.”
“You seem so sure about that,” she said. “I wish I had your confidence. It’s hard to know what’s going to happen now that my client base has dried up. I never used to worry about getting new commissions, but now it’s all I do. With all the pacing I’ve been doing, I’ve practically worn a hole through the floorboards in my studio.”
“You need to get out more.” When she laughed, he added, “Maybe you need to explore the world to get more ideas.”
“That takes money,” she said.
“True,” he said. “But it might be worth it in the long run if you’re able to find your muse again. I find that the more I travel, the more I learn about life.”
She nodded. He had a point, but she didn’t have enough time to do any traveling right now. If she could just get one piece done, it would buy her the time she needed to dream up new designs.