Brenna restrained a sigh of pure bliss. She’d never been kissed before. Not that she would tell this man so. His mouth devoured hers hungrily, as though he were starving, and the sensation left her tingling and dizzy.

She returned his kiss, savoring the taste and smell of him. Pure man. His hand traveled to the back of her neck, landing gently on her nape, caressing the sensitive flesh there. His other arm curved around her hips, pressing against the small of her back.

His tongue sought hers, seeking, finding, claiming.

Brenna was caught off guard by the arousal he brought out in her. Her body was reaching in ways she had never imagined. Her nipples hardened and pressed against the tunic’s fabric, whilst between her legs, a heat grew that left her breathless.

They kissed and kissed while Brenna marveled at the connection a kiss could create.

Calder pulled away, leaving her lips lonely, locking his steely gaze with hers.

“What?” she whispered, astounded at how breathless and husky her voice was.

“I want you. I want you with a ferocity I’d not have thought possible.”

“I feel the same,” she breathed.

He ran a finger along her jawline, tracing it down, over her neck and into the hollow where she could feel her pulse beating strongly. “Are you saying what I think you’re saying?”

She didn’t know what the future held, but she knew one thing for certain, she would not rest tonight if it was not in this man’s arms, after…

A blush made its way to her cheeks.

“You are embarrassed?”

“Only slightly. I’ve not… you know my situation.”

He nodded gravely. “I won’t be rough. I’ll have control.”

“And if I want you to be rough?” She surprised herself by asking.

“I’ll be what you need me to be.”

His hands traveled along her waist, pushing the tunic over her ribcage, over her breasts, cupping them at the same time and lowering his head, claiming each pebbled peak, sucking, kissing, licking.

That heat between Brenna’s legs grew and her core arched closer to Calder.

He raised his head and she sighed as his thumbs grazed over her dusky nipples, then raised her tunic above her head.

She stood before him, torn between feeling shy and feeling wanton.

“By the gods, you are a goddess.” Lust shown in his eyes, and the bear’s amber depths flickered within. He threw the tunic aside and slid his hands down, over her hips, cupping her arse, kneading the flesh, tempting the core of her which felt like it had the utmost of sensitivity at that moment, pulsing and throbbing.

Or perhaps that wasn’t her pulsing and throbbing alone, for pressed against her was an insistent hardness. His length on her cleft, tempting her with a pleasure she had never experienced.

Brenna wrapped her hands around his neck and pulled him closer, only to find that he was pushing her downward, laying her into the soft furs. She raised herself to her elbows and watched him undress, marveling at the muscles, the rock-hard stomach, the thick legs, and the massive erection between them.

She drew in a sharp intake of breath. He was huge.

He lowered himself, placed a finger over her lips. “Do not be nervous. I would not hurt you.”

She nodded apprehensively.

He leaned down, stroking her legs, her stomach, his fingertips making patterns over her flesh, threatening to consume her with a desire unlike one she’d ever thought existed. She ached for him. An ache evident in the soft moans that escaped her lips. In the center of her cleft, a sensation of a current running through her made her moans turn to panting.

While exploring her body, he lowered his lips to hers, his tongue taking hers in a primal dance that left her head spinning. He lowered his head, his tongue sliding between her breasts, licking the valley between, then worshiping her nipples while his large hand cupped and hefted the weight of her breast, making sounds of approval that spurred her passion higher.

He lapped and licked at her hardened peaks while she felt a moisture building within and her muscles contracted, over and over, wanting him within her.

He raised his head, studied her face. “You are the most beautiful woman.” His voice was not much more than a growl, his bear close to the surface.

He lowered his face, tracing a trail from the valley between her breasts to her stomach.

And lower.

Lower.

Lower.

Brenna held her breath.

He placed his hands on either side of her mound, and spread her open.

She gasped at the excitement this brought her.

When he lowered his mouth and warm air touched a part of her that nothing had ever touched, she flinched as the most delightful of pleasures seared its way along her nerve endings.

“Calder.” Her voice was husky.

His only response was to lower his head farther and take her core into his mouth and suck on it gently, at first. Then his sucking grew with intensity as he drew more of her tenderness into his mouth.

She raised her hands, clasped his head, scoring his scalp with her nails while fluxes of pleasure pulsated throughout her being. She ground her body into his mouth, wanting more.

“Greedy,” he muttered.

She blushed, felt the heat rising to her cheeks and was thankful that he wasn’t looking at her face, that all of his energy and attention was riveted to giving her pleasure.

“I love that you’re greedy for me,” he affirmed.

She rode more and more waves of sheer desire, surrendering herself to him until all she could do was grab his shoulders and try to pull him up.

Her need for him was overpowering.

He nodded, his face passion filled, his handsomeness rugged, fierce, and filled with promises of a passionate forever.

She wasn’t even sure what promises he could make her, a captive, but tonight, she was his, and he was hers.

He rose, his hard body on top of hers as he pulled himself until their lips were touching and his hardness was pressing against a part of her that wanted him so completely.

He rubbed his shaft from her core to her entrance and back, over and over, until she was sure she would scream at him to take her.

And just when she was a breath away from crying out for him, he pressed inward, filling her, slowly, then pushing forward.

Her body took him in as if he were made for her. His width spread her, filling her, touching ever part of her, leaving her breathless, with just a twinge of pain to merge with the pleasure of it all.

Until his first real thrust.

She released a cry. He ceased moving and covered her mouth with his, drinking in her gasp.

Then he raised his head and studied her face. “I’ll stop. I did not think it would hurt you so.”

“Don’t stop.” She smiled at him while tears formed in her eyes at his sweetness for worrying about her.

He thumbed a tear away. “You are crying? It hurts this much?”

She shook her head. “Tears of joy. To have a wonderful man like you for my first time.” She wondered, too, what the future held. Would they be torn apart when the ruse about her husband was learned? “Please, continue.”

He kissed her tenderly. And slid in and out of her, gently, expertly, as if instinctively knowing what to do for her. After several moments of this, he pulled completely out, then plunged in with one long stroke. Over, and over again.

Her body surprised her by delivering more of those waves of pleasure that she rode while she buried her nails in his back. Gasp after gasp, moan after moan, he drove into her, until finally, the wave crested so that she knew she’d be spent, completely and fully.

“Calder! Oh!”

With that, he drove in hard, and she felt a pulsing heat merging with her own. He buried his face into her neck, whispering her name over and over.