As she looked into those flaming, green and gold eyes, she was sure it really was Stone. Whatever clamminess had been around was gone. The cloudy, confused look on his face had vanished and all that was left were those beautiful cheekbones, that golden-bronze skin and the stubble that seemed to always be just the right length.
He kissed her again, the power behind it forcing Claire’s head back against the grass and pine needle mat that they’d build to use for a bed. She arched her back, pushing her hips upward against her bear lover’s muscled stomach and let out a soft, quavering trill.
“I was wondering when this hot box would boil over.”
Fury stepped through the flap of their old, green canvas, army-issue tent and dropped a bundle of logs unceremoniously on the floor. Before the dust cloud settled, he was ripping his clothes off with a ferocity that almost frightened Claire.
Almost.
She welcomed him with spread fingers that enveloped his calf muscle as soon as he was close enough. Immediately, the heat from his skin burned through Claire’s hand, coursing up her arm and prickling her skin all the way to her neck. Fury crouched and brushed the back of his hand against Claire’s soft, full cheek. Even with his incredible strength, he was so gentle in his touch.
“I can’t believe how softly you touch me,” she whispered as one of Stone’s hands slid down the front of her shirt, unbuttoning it on the way down. “I expected a lot more roaring and hair tossing,” she giggled. “Maybe a dominance posturing or two, but certainly not soft touches and, oh,” Claire gasped lightly as first Fury, and then Stone, flitted butterfly kisses on her neck. She let out another hot, breathy groan when Fury ran his lips along her then-bare collarbones and kissed between her breasts.
With each kiss, he spread his lips, tasted her skin with the tip of his tongue, and then sucked gently.
“Yeah, really didn’t expect... God almighty that feels good,” Claire whispered. She ran her fingers through the thick, black mane on Fury’s head, and then reached for Stone’s. His hair was finer between her fingers, but it was just as voluminous and wonderful to get lost in. He leaned close to kiss her again, and she interrupted him to nuzzle against the side of his head and inhale a lungful of the natural scent he carried.
That mixture of work, man, and musk sent a chill, then a wave of warmth through Claire’s body.
Stone adjusted his position, turning himself and incidentally let his naked thickness brush against her leg. Without a second thought, Claire stuck out a hand and wrapped her fingers as far around him as she could – which was about three-quarters of the way. A prickly heat gathered on her cheeks and the back of her neck, but when both of them stood, and Fury stripped off the jeans he’d grown to love, she stopped worrying so much about embarrassment.
“How have we never done this before?” she asked, slightly awestruck. “We’ve been out here longer than it took me to fall for Jonathan Stapleton at senior year Chemistry camp.”
The two bears exchanged a quick glance, then a shrug. With him standing up, Stone looked even bigger, somehow, in Claire’s hand. She gave him a squeeze, then a stroke with a little flick of her wrist. Unexpectedly, he took hold of her wrist in his rough, callused hand. “Not yet,” he whispered before kneeling and kissing the inside of her wrist and then her elbow.
“Relax,” Fury said with one of his easy smiles. He sniffed the air and closed his eyes, relishing whatever he smelled. “Your scent, it’s... I can feel it in my chest, making my muscles tight, making me feel...”
Instead of speaking anymore, he unbuttoned the top of Claire’s jeans.
“Like an animal,” he finally finished, kissing on the outside of her panties as he unzipped her fly. “Like a wild, uncontrollable animal.” When he looked back up at her, his lips leaving a hot trail on her panties that mixed with her eager sex in the air, his eyes really were more feral than they were before.
He opened his mouth, closing his jaws around the sweet ache between Claire’s legs. He pushed the tip of his tongue against the cotton covering her slit, forcing the fabric between her folds. She threw her head back, awash in pleasure, as goosebumps covered her chest. With her nipples pebbled, Stone kissed the hollow of her throat, and followed the line down to the front of Claire’s bra.
“Oh wow,” she breathed, before biting her lip. “Oh that’s... so good, so good...”
“With everything that’s been happening,” Fury said, his breath warming Claire’s sweetest place, “we haven’t had time to do the things we should have been doing all along. This is one of those things. Taking care of you, giving you what you need. That’s what we do for our mate.”