Eleven

Nessa slowly rose, slipping the shirt back up her shoulders and resting her elbows on her knees. She let out a shaky breath and propped her chin on her hands, staring back out at the view. The ache of longing she’d had when she first saw the sunset had grown to a shamefully strong bout of pure envy. But buried deeper in her desire to have this place was the burning fire Gaius had ignited with that first kiss.

There wasn’t much to the house itself, beyond her unshakable vision of what it could be if he found his inspiration again. But there was so much more to him than she’d realized. Even though he had a stubborn streak almost as wide as her own, she couldn’t help but feel like she’d found her home.

And she didn’t mean the place where her parents lived, or where she’d grown up. Her parents’ house would always be home to her.

This was different, this bone-deep conviction that she was exactly where she belonged, and the very idea of leaving it, even to go back to her kitchen at Ig’s and the little cottage in the garden, made her unreasonably sad.

Homesick. Which was a ridiculous thing to feel for a half-built house she’d only just set foot in that afternoon.

When Gaius stomped back in with a big bundle in his arms, her pulse quickened and she forced herself to shake off that feeling. Whatever this was, it was temporary, so she may as well enjoy it while she could. Perhaps they could at least stay friends once they got this out of their systems.

Because one thing she was sure of was that she wasn’t finished with that big bear’s body yet. Sweet fuck, the man was majestic, and he certainly had the stamina of a Champion despite his old injuries.

Gaius unfastened a buckled closure on the thick roll he held in his arms and flipped it out in the center of the big room. The moon was higher now and cast his shoulders in silvery light, enhancing the way his tattoo-adorned muscles bunched and rippled while he completed his task.

A hiss slithered out of the object he’d laid on the floor, and he stepped back as it expanded into a thick, narrow rectangle. He stooped down once and poked at a glowing button in the center of a little pad at the foot of the mattress, and it suddenly sprouted wings that flipped out and then lay flat as they inflated.

Nessa sat transfixed by him, even though all he did was stand there waiting for the bed to build itself. The man was all muscle, and lots of it. She would have loved to have seen him compete, but over the past week, she’d had ample opportunity to see him in action. He wielded his tools with perfect skill, so she could easily imagine him in the arena. Except when she witnessed him work, he was dressed in jeans and a t-shirt, which he wore exceptionally well, and focused his attacks on expertly cut lengths of lumber with a hammer and nails.

But he certainly hadn’t worn those clothes better than he wore his own skin.

Nessa hopped off the steps and walked over to him, slipping up behind him to wrap her arms around his torso. He tensed for a second, then relaxed, a low, contented rumble vibrating through him as she pressed her breasts against his back and lay her cheek between his shoulder blades. He slipped the fingers of one hand through hers and raised it to his mouth, kissing the center of her palm. It was a tender gesture that made her heart beat faster and was completely at odds with the wild fucking they’d been doing moments ago.

He’d been ready to go again, but now Nessa was conflicted. Some part of her wanted nothing more than to just stay like this, with her skin flush against his and their breaths coming in tandem. The silent intimacy she shared with this man she’d barely gotten to know filled a hole in her she hadn’t even known existed until tonight, and she dreaded the moment it would inevitably end.

Gaius turned in her arms and gazed down at her, the look in his eyes telling her he felt the same—that the moment was more precious than either of them were prepared for, and that neither of them were in a hurry to let it end.

Bending his head, he captured her mouth, sealing that silent communication with a confirmation that it didn’t have to end yet. His hands drifted down her back and slipped up beneath the hem of her shirt to squeeze her ass and caress it. Nessa tilted her hips into his and found he’d roused to full hardness once more.

With a wicked tilt to her mouth, she pressed a hand against his shoulder and pushed. Gaius fell onto his ass, landing on the bed in a patch of bright moonlight and gazing up at her with a fierce, defiant look.

Nessa half-expected him to complain again about how bossy she was, but instead he just reached for her, a low growl erupting from his throat. He yanked her to him, and she had no choice but to spread her thighs and straddle him or else bang into his bandaged knees. Her thighs slid against his hips and her soaked core grazed his hard length.

Any semblance of tenderness he’d displayed a moment ago was long gone. He urgently pushed the shirt off her shoulders, tearing it away impatiently.

“Thought you wanted me in that thing,” she said, laughing.

“Need you naked more.” He pushed his hips up into hers, making her gasp at the raw, silken heat of his cock as it grazed her tender folds. His big hands roamed up and down her back, his beard brushing against her chest as he covered her neck in kisses and soft bites, gradually moving down to pepper her breasts with more.

All the while he tortured her with the slow, languid thrusts of his hips, rubbing the length of his shaft along the slick, swollen flesh between her thighs to the point she was close to climax again.

She tried pushing him back so she could climb on and fuck him, but he just growled and gripped her ass harder, grinding his hips more fervently against hers.

“Dammit! I need you inside me so bad.”

“How bad?” he asked.

“Gaius, will you just lay down so I can fuck you?”

He chuckled around her nipple and lifted his eyes as his lips popped off the tip of her breast. “How bad do you need it, Ness? I think maybe it’s not bossy if you beg.”

It was her turn to growl. “Down,” she said, pushing with bear strength against both shoulders this time. Gaius went, laughing up at the moon as she moved to straddle his cock.

“Hang on, baby,” he said. “Let’s do this right.” He hooked an arm around her and pushed himself farther up the bed until they were fully on it, bathed in moonlight. “Better?”

“Yes. Much.” She braced her hands on his chest and fixed her gaze on his as she lifted her hips again and positioned him between her thighs. His tip pierced her perfectly, sliding deep with a long, smooth stroke that she savored every second of. She dropped her head back as she began to move, enraptured by the sensation of his entire length receding from her before plunging back in hard.

They maintained a slower tempo than before, Gaius seeming content to let her set the pace. When she glanced down at him, he had both hands propped under his head as though he were merely a spectator to their fucking. He seemed entertained more than involved, which irritated her.

“What are you doing?” she asked.

“Getting fucked by a gorgeous she-bear. You wanted to be on top, baby. I want to lay back and watch you take care of yourself on my cock. Make yourself come on me.”

She lifted off him and sank back down, slower now, enjoying the way his gaze heated with each slow increment of her sheath encompassing his length.

“I don’t need you to get myself off,” she said. “I could just go home and finish.”

“But you won’t. You’re enjoying yourself way too much, and so am I. So let’s compromise. You got me on my back, now let me boss you around a little. Make yourself come, baby.”

The slow strokes along his length were affecting her sanity. She desperately wanted to come, but after the last two rounds had somehow built up an expectation that he would be the one to do it.

“I want you to come with me,” she said, though the excuse was a weak objection.

“Honey, I’m ready to explode right now. Just waiting for the right moment to let go. Now touch yourself.”

Her thighs ached from the slow lift and fall of her hips against his, and she almost wished for him to flip her over again and nail her hard like he had before. But she did as he demanded anyway, the bossy bastard.

Sliding her fingers between her thighs, she found her clit, slick and hot and unbelievably swollen with need. She couldn’t help but gasp as she gave herself one light stroke, her eyelids fluttering closed at the intensity. Her channel clenched hard around him and he emitted a low growl of encouragement as he rose up to meet her downward thrusts.

Biting her lower lip, she couldn’t help but watch his face as he watched her. She clutched one breast, squeezing and pinching her nipple while she swirled her fingers between her thighs in quicker strokes, a rush of sensation already flooding her lower extremities.

Gaius’ lips parted and his chest heaved. His eyes blazed with need and he dropped his hands to her hips, squeezing and urging her to a quicker tempo.

He’d taken over control, easily guiding her up and down his cock as he rocked his own hips into her with increasingly needy, violent thrusts. Nessa’s eyelids fluttered half-closed and she let out a long, rough moan when her orgasm blasted through her. Gaius looked completely enraptured at her crumbling, and a second later, he slammed hard into her and held her tight against his hips as his cock pulsed. The slow throbbing beat of him sent prolonged tremors through her body and she licked her lips, exhausted yet unwilling to move just yet and interrupt the delicious sensations.

His body relaxed by increments, his cock slowly softening inside her. He reached up and pulled her down to his chest, kissing her deeply and wrapping his strong arms around her torso. She settled against him, oddly content and more sated than she’d ever been after sex.